 Okay, let's start. Why don't we just pray? Father, we thank You, Lord, for this morning. We thank You, Lord, for the reality, Lord, of Your Word. Lord, Your Word is living, powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. Lord, able to cut through, Father God, whatever barriers there could be in the Spirit Rail. Lord, Your Word is a weapon. Father God, we thank You for the sword of the Spirit, the quickening Word. And this morning we choose to, Lord, use the sword of the Spirit. You know, just begin to just think about, you know, whatever challenges you might have and what the Spirit of God is quickening, the Word or the promise or the instruction that the Spirit of God is quickening to Your Spirit, to Your heart. And let's begin to just meditate on it and speak it out, right? Maybe it's something to do with some challenges, some struggles that we might be going through. Maybe something to do with health. Maybe something to do with finances. Maybe something to do with our emotions, right? You're feeling a little down. And what does the Word of God say about that? What does the Word of God declare about that? About You, about Your condition, about Your situation. What does the Word of God declare? You know, may this Holy Spirit quicken it to our hearts and you speak it out, right? You declare it. You declare the fact that you are seated with Him, that we are seated with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. You declare that we are being led in a triumphant procession in Christ Jesus. We declare the fact that we are victorious in Christ Jesus. We declare that we are clothed with the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Let's just begin to just speak that out, declare that out, right? And loud enough so you can hear, just say, I'm more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus. I'm a new creation in Christ Jesus. The old has gone, the new has come. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for me that I might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Or there's victory in the blood of Jesus. I just declare that. Father, thank You. Thank You, Lord. We thank You, Lord, for the sword of the Spirit. We thank You that the sword of the Spirit needs to be used, employed in everyday daily situations or in circumstances, Lord, that seem to intimidate or bring us or force us down or oppressed us down. God, we rise up. We rise above God about these circumstances. We rise above these situations in our spirit man, Lord, because you've caused us to be overcomers, Lord. You've caused us, you've made us, created us, oh God, to be people, to hear Your Word, Father God, and walk in Your Word, Master. We thank You, Lord. Thank You. Oh, great is Your power that is at work in us. Just begin to declare that. Great is the power. Great is the resurrection power of God that is at work in us. You say that is at work in me. There's resurrection power that is at work in me. The same power that raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. That resurrection power is at work in my spirit. According to the working of the Holy Spirit who indwells me. So great is that power. And Lord, we ask today, God, Lord, You show forth Your glory. You manifest Your glory. Let the chains be broken, Father God. Let the stone be rolled away. Let the mountains move in our lives, Father God. Yes, Master, we thank You. We thank You. Yeah, You are the captain of the host. You are the victorious one. You are the one who goes before us and leads us in triumph and victory, God. We thank You. We bless Your name. We give You all the praise. We give You all the glory. In Jesus' matchless name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Okay. Okay, we've almost come to the end of this course. Okay, we are starting with our last chapter, which is on stewardship, and also some practical things that we can do with our finances. Some of the things that we can do with our finances. So, you know, these topics and these, this material has been adapted from the Christine Financial Professions Network, and you can check more of that. Okay, so, you know, there are about 15 topics. Some of us, you know, when we go through these things, because like most of us are students, so maybe some of these things may not make so much sense. Okay? But I just want to encourage us to pay attention to each of these so that when you come to, you know, situations of, let's say, investing, or even if it's going to be in, you know, work, or even, you know, this is talking about retirement, because retirement is something that we don't think about now. It's not there, but at some point in life, we will come to that season, right? So, we're just going to talk about a little bit about that and so on, right? So, that's the general plan for this section. Okay, let's talk about stewardship. Okay, the first one. Now, let me share the notes. Class. Okay, so what do you mean by a steward? Anyone? What is meant by stewardship? What is meant by a steward? Any thoughts? Steward, have you used this word ever? Okay. Well, actually, a steward is basically, simply put, is an overseer. Okay, someone who's like a manager. In a hotel, you will have someone who's managing the hotel, any place, any organization. You will see someone who is an overseer. When we say steward, that means that person is not the owner, but who is an overseer, who's a manager. Okay, so something has been given to the steward, that is not his or her own. Okay, so that is what it means. Okay, something has been given and that person has to manage it well. Okay, so managing it well would mean that person has to guard it, that person has to make sure that it is not wasted. The person also has to make sure that it's used well and maybe there is even growth or multiplication in terms of money. Suppose something has been given. So it's not that person's money, that person has been given this money, but they're supposed to, the steward is supposed to make sure that it is not wasted. That it is not stolen. Right, so the person has to guard it. The steward has to make sure that it is used well and maybe invested so that there is return, so that there is growth. Okay, so one of the qualities of the steward that we see is that a steward should be faithful. Okay, faithful in what has been entrusted. So that is what we see. If you look at Luke chapter 16, the Lord Jesus talks about a parable, Luke 16, and it's a parable of the unjust steward. So we won't get into the details of it and why did the Lord share this parable and so on, but I just want us to go right down to verse 10, Luke 16 and verse 10, where the Lord talks about stewardship and he talks about the qualities that is required in a steward. Okay, so he says in verse 10, he who is faithful in what is leased is faithful also in much. So that is another quality that we see. One is faithfulness of a steward. The second one we see is faithful in the least, meaning a steward should not think, oh, I have only 10 things that have been given to me. Oh, maybe one thing that has been given to me. I'll wait till I get 100, I'll wait till I get a thousand or a million, then I'll be faithful. No, the Lord says he who is faithful in the least will be faithful also in much, which means that as a steward, as believers in the Lord Jesus, as children of God, when God gives us entrusts us something to take care of, he looks at us as stewards. He looks at us as children. He looks at us as sons and daughters, but he also looks at us as stewards. How is this person going to manage the things that I've given to him or to her? What I've put in his hand or her could be material positions, it could be talents, it could be time, it could be ability, whatever, resources basically. How is this person going to manage that, handle that? Okay, so it says here, the Lord says he who is faithful in just, in least, sorry, is faithful also in much, and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Okay, so if I'm thinking that, hey, this is just a few rupees, I can do what I want with it, or I can waste it, or things like that, then what I've got is very clear. If you're going to have that attitude about the few things that you have, you will carry it on in life when the bigger things come into your life also. So which means that needs alignment, that needs change. Okay, then if you, it goes to verse 11, therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous man, then who will commit to your trust the true riches? So it's comparing between money and something that is of eternal value, true riches. And then verse 12, if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own? Okay, so that is another lesson that we learn. There's someone else's, and they've given that to you for maybe safekeeping, maybe to manage it, maybe to steward it well. If you have not been faithful in what is another person's, how will you handle what is your own? Who will give you what is your own? So these are some things for us to keep in mind when it comes to biblical stewardship. Now this is what the Lord requires of me as a steward, what has been given to me. It could be time, resources, abilities, talent, money, whatever it is. So that's the basic understanding of what I need to do with all these things that has been interesting to me. If you look at the another aspect of stewardship, this is about the qualities or characteristics of a steward. If you go to Psalm 24 and verse 1, it talks about who the earth belongs to, the possessions of what is there, who does it belong to? Psalm 24 and verse 1 it says, the earth is the Lord's and all its fullness. The world and those who dwell therein for He has founded it upon the seas and established upon the, because Psalm says, the world belongs to Him, everything in it belongs to Him. So all the riches, all the material things, all the possessions, it belongs to Him. Another scripture that we can turn to is 1 Chronicles and 1 Chronicles, chapter 29 and verse 10. So the Psalm is chapter 29, verse 10. So David, he praises God. This is what he says, therefore David blessed the Lord before all the assembly and David said, blessed are you, Lord God of Israel, our Father forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty for all that is in heaven and in earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honour come from you and you reign over all. In your hand is power and might. In your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, O God, we thank you and praise your glorious name. But who am I and who are your people that we should be able to offer so willingly as this for all things come from you and of your own we have given you. So this is the understanding, this is the reality and this is the revelation that David received and is saying, God, all it is, you know, he says this when he talks about the temple and all that and so he's blessing God and he's saying, God, when we give also what is it that we have brought? You have given us because everything belongs to you and of your own do we come and offer to you, right? So as biblical stewards for us is to have the understanding that all that we have, it actually rightfully belongs to him. So which means that he has the authority, he has the access, that he has the right of way and he has the authority to direct our finances, direct our possessions, right? It is a very humbling thing to come to that understanding, to come to that realization that all that I have is yours and many times we, because of our ability to generate wealth in the right way, because maybe God has given us the grace to do that, sometimes we could come to that, you know, come to that wrong conclusion that I am able to do this. This is mine. Yeah, it will be in your name in the bank account. Of course, if you bought something, it is, you know, a vehicle or a land or whatever it is. It is going to be in somebody's name but the fact is it's because of the grace of God. This is made available for us to steward it in the right way. Okay, so those are some things for us to keep in mind. So, when you look at biblical stewardship, you can explain it this way or define it this way. It's the use of God-given resources for the accomplishment of God's objectives. God-given objectives. Okay, so you think of it that way. You know, many, many times we think of money. We are thinking of, you know, how do I pay my bills? Right? How do I pay my bills? How do I, you know, meet my expenses? It is mostly focused towards us. And there's nothing wrong in that because it is to be used. It is to be used for food and shelter and clothing and et cetera. But over and bigger than that is the understanding that God owns it all. He owns it all and He has the right of way to direct our lives. If we are willing, you know, it always comes like that. If we have a willing heart, in the wilderness when they made the tabernacle, the Lord very clearly says, all those who want to give out of a willing heart, you take. These are all the materials that are required. This is the design of the tabernacle. But all those who are willing to give, these are things that are required. But if we are willing, out of giving, out of a willing heart, you take. Paul, again, you know, we studied it, he says that in 2nd Corinthians 9, he talks about how we ought to give. Not out of compulsion, not out of necessity. God loves a cheerful giver. So if we, you know, give, if we come to that place of saying, God, all this is yours. So what do you want me to do? What do you want me to do? How do you want me to live your life? And believe me, the Lord will ensure that you be a vessel or you be a channel through which he can actually bless a lot of people, a lot of people, right? And he can make sure that finances pass through your hands, right? Through whatever avenue, maybe through your ministry, through your business, through your work and ensure that finances pass through your hands so that, you know, you can be his hands and you can be his body as you help being a channel of blessing to others, right? One does not have to be super rich in order to be a blessing to others. It's just a timely need and it's a joy and a great contentment to be used by God in this manner. Many times we think of, okay, when we think of to be used by God, Lord, I want to be used by you, we're thinking of ministry, we're thinking of, you know, sharing the gospel and yes, there is central to it, that's God's heart. But God can use this in this manner also to bless other lives, you know, whether it's your work, whether it's your skill and art, craft that you have or, you know, the business acumen that you might have, use it to be a blessing in the right places, you know, where God will direct and say, okay, you know, and we've heard so many testimonies, right? Testimonies of people who are used by God. I just want to share one particular thing and yeah, I'm not going to mention names here, okay? So, yeah, because it's kind of sensitive information, but to this person who we know, a very simple lady, right? Simple lady who's used by God, uneducated, okay? Meaning not literate at all. She doesn't know how to read, doesn't know how to write and doesn't know how, what the numbers are even. So, so illiterate, okay? So, she became a believer, God saved her. She was actually working in the fields. She used to take this, you know, lunch for the people who are working in the fields and you should sell coming from a very traditional, very strong, very orthodox kind of a family, you know, beliefs and so on, but God saved her. She had, you know, an encounter with God and she got saved and God started using and she was so dedicated and, you know, she was poor, right? She didn't have her own place, living out of a rental place, but God used her because she was very obedient, no matter what, you know, no matter what time in the night, God would tell her and she will go. Sometimes it will be, the weather will be pouring rain. God will say, okay, you go to this village, you need to pray, she will go, right? So, what happened was she knew the driver of the chief minister of a state, right? Because the driver, his wife was unwell and she prayed and she got healed. So, the driver knew that this was a, you know, and the family came to the Lord. So, the driver was actually the driver of the chief minister of that state. So, the driver once said, you know, I'm taking you to the CM and please pray for this person. Please pray for the CM. CM has given permission because the CM is having a terrible health condition, not able to sleep. Please pray. So, she went. Now, all this is true because, you know, we knew her, we know her and she explained the very simple person. So, she went she went and prayed for the CM and the CM was very taken aback. CM felt like what, this is like a person who would work in my house, work in the kitchen or, you know, as a house help. Okay, pray. So, she prayed. She prayed and then she came back. The next day the CM calls her phone. CM, chief minister calls and says who are you? And, you know, how did you, you know, you prayed? Oh, yeah, I forgot one detail. While she was praying for her, she had a word of knowledge about some puja that was done for the elections, right? For the elections, some yagna, something was done and the kind of animals that were sacrificed. Okay, she's, so she said, okay, this animal was sacrificed. What was sacrificed? A lion was sacrificed. Okay, and a lion is protected. You can't, you can't hunt a lion but because of the CM political power and all that, a lion was sacrificed in that yagna, right? So, she said, this is the, so the CM was taken aback. How could you know this? No one else knows. Not even my closest, you know, no one else knows but he said, the Lord Jesus I worship, He reveal and this is what it is. And she came back, right? The CM calls the next day to say, you know, I want to meet you. For the first time in so many years, I slept peacefully. I was able to sleep peacefully. Come. So, she goes back and the CM says, wait and she brings a bag and in that bag are bundles of cash. Okay, now this lady who she's barely finding it, you know very difficult to meet the daily expenses, monthly rent, all that she's brings on bag full of cash and says, okay, this is for you. Take it. And the lady said, I cannot take it. I cannot take it. Now this is the Lord very clearly told me, I have to come and pray. So, I cannot take it. So the CM was even taken aback. She was like, you know there is probably lacks in this and you look like someone who needs money and you're refusing. So she was even more taken aback because she's used to people giving money or expecting money, expecting favor. He said, no, I don't need the money. I don't want it. And the CM was taken aback and the thing is, you know the reason I'm sharing this is if a person can be so dead to the material things in life that you have a hold on money but money does not have a hold on you. God will ensure that you be a blessing through to many people and he can ensure that he puts money in your hands so that you can serve the purposes of God. So like this many times when this lady, you know, God would say, okay somebody would come and give because she has ministered and prayed and the Lord would say, you give the entire thing entire thing. It will be a huge amount like maybe 20,000 25,000, you know, for her if it's a huge amount the Lord would say, you take the entire thing and you give it to the next person who comes for prayer will be a poor person or whatever and she'll say, okay Lord, I'll do it. So God will make sure if we are faithful if money does not have a hold on as if we are dead to it, dead to the flesh the God will make sure that we are being used as stewards for His glory. So that's something about biblical stewardship that God has or wants this for each one of us that we come to such a place that yes, we don't consider money to be bad but at the same time we ensure that that does not have a hold on us. We use it. We use it for kingdom purposes. We use it so God is glorified. We use it for whatever need there is personally for us and for others around us, okay. Okay, the second thing that we see is some practical thing about planning with our finances, okay, financial planning. So what is financial planning? Financial planning is allocation. What is allocation? You set a site or you put it in different categories, different expenses or different heads of expense, different reasons for use, right. Allocation of limited financial resources to unlimited alternatives because the end there's no end to whatever you can use it for, okay. And it's applicable to anyone with an income or all resources are ultimately limited, right. So that is the thing, you know, finish a financial planning. So when money, when we get a monthly income or you know, some God ensures that somebody comes into our lives to plan for it, okay. So the question is, is it okay to plan or should we not plan? Is it okay to plan in life or should we just you know, just go with the flow? What do you think? Is it spiritual enough to plan overly planning is not planned? In a sense like to be too stringent or you know, to be so cautious and very careful on planning, that is not required but Bible definitely speaks about wisdom in how you handle and how you plan and you know, I think. Right. So not to be cautious, stringent, overly cautious, okay. Okay. Yes, we need to plan. Right. Okay. So the thing is, God is a God of plan and purpose. Right. The Bible talks about how His plans endure till the end. Right. So the thing is that God is not against us planning. No, the Lord Jesus talks about that parable. Okay. If you want to build a tower, will you not sit and consider? Right. What are the expenses? Or will you just start and then you realize that, hey, I don't have to finish it, finish the project, finish this construction. Right. So definitely, you know, it's okay to plan. It's okay to think ahead. Planning is just thinking ahead. Right. You're thinking ahead and you're saying, okay, when it comes to this this date or this time or this place, I will do this. Okay. But the Bible also cautions us about planning in a certain way. Let's say we look at the Book of James. Right. Let's go there. Okay. So James 4 and verse 13. Okay. Come now, you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell and make a profit. Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, if the Lord wills we shall live and do this or that. But now you boast in your arrogance, all such boasting is evil. Okay. So many times we look at this verse and we say, okay, I'm not going to plan because how can I say, you know, I have to be there. I have to do this and even in ministry, like you're saying, okay, let's see what God's will is and then we don't plan ahead. But here, you know, it's very clear. If you look at verse 16 he says, but now you boast in your arrogance. See this this is the basic premise of their planning. What is it? They are boasting. What is their heart condition? They are arrogant. So boasting arrogance is not part of our planning. That is not the intent with which you plan. So what is it? We're saying, okay, today and tomorrow I will go there. It is foresight. They're thinking ahead. But what is wrong in this situation is that there is boasting and there is arrogance. So what does James say? You know, instead you ought to say if the Lord wills, then we will live and do this or that. So, you know, this doing this or that is again planning. We will live. We will do this. We will do that. It's again planning. But the only difference here is that there is no boasting. There is no arrogance. But you're involving God in the planning. God is involving. God is not, you know, you don't shut the door on God. The Lord is very much part of our planning or it is spirit-led planning. So definitely if you need to plan for our finances, you know, I'm going to do this. I'm going to spend it in this way. Invite God. And say, okay, God, you know, you speak to my heart if there's anything that I should not be doing, should not be considering, you let me know if I'm being greedy, if I'm being covetous, you let me know, God. But, but Lord, this is, this is what, you know, I feel in my heart. This is what I feel, you know, I'm going to look around. This is what I see the need is and this is what, you know, thinking ahead. This is what I feel I should be doing. That's what I sense that I should be doing in maybe two years time, three years time, etc. So I want to put aside or keep aside some money towards that. So that's the difference. So we need to understand. So planning is not bad. Planning is good, but we need to involve God in the process, involve the Lord in the process. And several scriptures we can look at, you know, again, considering that everything belongs to the Lord, that He is the owner of everything. He is the owner. Okay, so some practical things to consider. Okay, let's say if you have an income of whatever amount that you get, that is your gross income. I mean, the term gross means that it is tax is not taken away from it. It's the whole thing that we receive. So it's a gross income. So there could be a deduction of tax which goes towards the government for whatever, you know, if you come under that bracket, you come under the taxable bracket. Is paying taxes okay or not? What do you think? Should we? Karab government, how will they manage the money? You know, they're all not doing anything good. Look at the road electricity doesn't come all that. So there's no reason. We can't give reasons like that for not paying taxes. The Lord himself said, what did he tell Peter? He said, Peter, whose inscription is this? The coin. And he said, okay, go do this and pay whatever is required for you and for me. This is more than enough to cover that. So the Lord, when the people came and asked the query, is it okay to pay taxes? And he took the coin, showed the inscription and said, you pay the Caesar, render unto Caesar what belongs to. So we need to pay people who need to pay taxes. Yes, there are different ways by which we can and the government itself gives us what we can call as subsidies or gives us some benefits to reduce the tax. If we would save in some things, we could reduce the tax. But paying taxes is something that we cannot escape. Okay, so sometimes we think, okay, I'm a man of God, I'm a ministry, why should I pay tax? No, that's not correct. Or in our ministry, we should make sure the accounts are proper, we should make sure that everything that is needs to be paid for according to the law of the land needs to be done. Okay, so you get gross income, then out of that you have a tithe, out of that you pay the tax. So this could be the possible, the table that you see down. You know, I'm sure most of you would be many of you could be doing this but yeah, just for us to go through it. So we post or after taxes, after the tithe, we have the next net, sorry, net spendable income in that they normally say that one third of it is used for your housing. Okay, house which means that if you don't live in your own house it will go towards rent or maybe you know, even if you're paying some kind of EMI, one third of it goes towards your housing. So this is based on the financial experts. Now I know that this could vary from place to place, like from a city to a village to a different country maybe some of e-learning students could be watching from a different country. So in your country, whatever these things could vary. So just be mindful of that. This is just a simple template or a pattern. So these could be the several heads of expenditure. So housing we need to spend some money food, we need to spend some money. Auto meaning on your vehicle, bike, car travel, whatever. There could be an insurance debt. What does that mean? That means if there is some kind of a loan. So debt, maybe some leisure, some entertainment, recreation clothing, there's savings, there's medical expenses some miscellaneous and if you're married and have children there's school expenditure and so on and investments. So I think all this should add up to 100%. So the thing is that many times we don't know see the law says your left hand should not know what your right hand is giving. So meaning that you give generously don't be too analytical about it etc. But the fact is that we don't know what is coming, we don't know how it is going. Sometimes we think, I had so much money beginning of the month I don't know where it went. I don't know how it got spent I don't know. And that is because we have not actually made note of it. We have not recorded it what it's going to be used for and how we are going to use it etc. So so the thing is this that once we start tracking so tracking the money means you make a record of it. How much did you receive? Maybe as students maybe there's someone who is sponsoring you so they might give some money to work with or maybe you are earning your own money, whatever. Your parents family give some money through somebody contributes so some way you give some money you get some money. So how do you, what do you do with it you track it today I spent. Now tracking is very painful it's very painful that you need to keep a record of it every now and then and right now we actually have I don't know, I'm sure there are some apps for spending on your smartphone you can actually download the app and you can use it so you track it. So the thing is that when we track it then we begin to understand how much and where am I spending and where can I make changes where can I make changes to my lifestyle. See I don't have to order from Swiggy all the time. So that's the thing many times which is Swiggy or Zomato I just feel like having it I order or I feel like doing it and we order. So this would actually help us very early in life to have a track of what we are spending to it's not that we don't want to spend. Many times when we track down we feel that okay this is like one Kanju's guy. He doesn't want to spend anything he's just so tight-fisted. No it's not for that. It's so that it's a discipline so you know where you're spending and where you can make changes just think about it at the end of the month if you look at it and say okay hey I spent here and I think this is wasteful maybe I should just shift it I can actually make some changes here. So it is just for us to give an understanding the thing is it might be small when we start off with I remember when when I first we got married I was here in Bangalore and I was earning and then so I won't say that we had I mean it was very less money to be living in a place like Bangalore so I won't say that our expenses were not met but it was tight. So we had one policy so what we would do is have envelopes covers those days it was there's no UPI no online transfer you know put the money in the bank go withdraw the whole thing take it and put it in different covers different envelopes okay this goes towards the rent this is towards the milk this is towards electricity this is towards whatever other things you know grocery and vegetables this is for the gas cylinder put it in several covers this is for the petrol and all that and take it only you know take that cover and use it something like that it helped right it helped for a long time you use that over and over again and then you know all this online transfer and everything came and then messed up our discipline okay so now you know it's an excel sheet that we can use right okay so this is something that all of us can try out where am I spending what once you start once you finish and you move out of here and you start you know handling your own finances and all that this will come in handy okay let's look at five basic principles of basic guidelines for financial success okay five basic things and this might seem very very simple but it is difficult to actually apply implement the first thing is spend less than you earn okay so it's very very logical okay so the question is can I spend more than I earn yes how yeah exactly right you can use credit cards and borrow you can take loans and now things are very very dangerous right dangerously easy to get loans right it's it's so dangerous it's it messes up people's lives right off late very recently I've seen I've come across like maybe three of four people whose lives were so messed up because of these easy loans easy loans in the sense it's not big money it's not one lakh two lakh or it is like twenty five thousand thirty thousand right so you you take like five loans like that it's already crossed one lakh and the interest is too high and they will come they will come knock on your door right these are not you know very well mannered people they will come and they will force and make sure that you pay up or whatever is there let's take it so so that's the thing the danger is that we can actually end up spending more than we earn so be careful right okay we'll continue the next class and thank you