Sunday, November 25, 2012

The BLESSING of Joseph

4 For truly my words are not false; One who is perfect in knowledge is with you.

The ONE who is perfect in knowledge is Jesus. Elihu : (El being the name of God, Elihu means "He is my God".) Elihu is a type and shadow of Jesus who is to come. He is the only one of the speakers in Job who is not rebuked by God. He comes as a prophet and messenger of God. His entire speech to Job is riddled with the message of Jesus and a foreshadowing of His coming. It is Jesus that we turn to, and Jesus that is our light and life.

11 If they obey and serve Him, They shall spend their days in prosperity, And their years in pleasures.

This is a promise to every born again believer to this day. If I will obey God and Serve Him I will spend my days in prosperity and my years in pleasures! But What does it mean to serve and obey Him? He is not looking for religious rituals and outer service. Jesus showed us that our service to God is a heart first service. Let us take a look at Joseph, one of the greatest examples of prospering despite adversity in the bible.

Genesis 39

8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. 9 There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"

This woman is trying to sleep with him. But she is not Joseph's wife, she's not even a single lady looking to get a man, she is his Bosses wife! Now that is a predicament to be in. As a server for 5 years in restaurants I know the life of a servant. Hospitality and Service breed with them a desire to do anything it takes to please your guests and do what it takes to make them comfortable and happy. It is bad service to deny someone something you could get them if it's in your power to do it. Many times, if the guest is particularly friendly, we may feel the need to go out of our way to make something happen for them that is not on the menu or is not usually done. Not only that, but Joseph is a man with inner hormones like any other man, he must at least feel some pressure to give in to this request, however faint. This request, however, is outside of the realm of things that are proper and good for Joseph to do.

10 So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.

This wasn't just a one time request. This lady is after him DAILY. Every day she's asking him to do this. I would have thought of telling her husband... "Um... Listen sir... there is a problem and I really don't know how to tell you this... I don't want to cause problems here.... Your wife is asking me to go to bed with her..." Sure that would cause ruffles but at least I'd be in the clear. That may have been the one error here, Joseph is not wanting to upset anyone, so he keeps telling her no and hoping it will go away. As a man with a servants heart he doesn't want her to get into trouble either so he just keeps turning her down hoping she'll be giving up. But that doesn't happen. Eventually she is so frustrated by his turning her down that she decides to get back at him and cause him trouble. This is bad for her, but she doesn't know it. Her whole house was prospering because of Joseph. Her and her husband will be worse off for having treated Joseph this way. I think the master knew something was up and that Joseph wasn't totally at fault here because he could have had him killed. In the end he only through him in jail.

20 Then Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison. 21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. 23 The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph's authority, because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.

Now Joseph is in prison and it's not his fault. He's been framed! So of course he goes into a 3 year depression spell and throws a self pity party... ? That's what I would have done. But He is back at it again, servants heart going to work immediately. He's just listening to and obeying God every step of the way. It's God's favor on Joseph that is caused him to prosper, and he knows it. Therefore he pays no attention to circumstances or situations. He is not relying on his position to prosper him, he is relying on his FAVOR. That is the word I see repeated in his life story. Favor and Mercy were his greatest tools of prosperity.

We see in Hebrews more elaboration about another aspect of Joseph, his Faith. (Heb 11:22 Joseph gave instructions to his kids regarding future events... he did it by faith. Even after years as the vice president of the greatest nation on earth he was living by faith up to the end.) Joseph himself was a type and shadow of another servant leader, Jesus.

Jesus, the greatest servant of them all came to serve and not to be served, Matthew 20:28. What does Hebrews say about Jesus greatest trail? When Jesus was facing the cross how did he overcome that ordeal?

Hebrews 12

1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For the JOY set before Him he endured the cross... What Joy was set before him? You and I. We would become his brothers and sisters in a new and glorious kingdom. That kingdom is living in us now. We are ambassadors of that kingdom here on this earth. We are imposing and enforcing the Word of God as final authority in this earth today as citizen's of that kingdom. Just as an ambassador in another country is there to see to the interests of his home country in the country he resides in so too we see to the interests of our king in this foreign land. So what JOY is set before us? THE BLESSING of the THE KINGDOM OF GOD. We are sent into barren lands to do the same things Joseph did. He didn't get sent to prosperous places to get prospered. He got sent to places that needed God and the BLESSING inside of him created prosperity everywhere he went. THAT is our mission and our message on this planet.

Whether we be at work, ministry, play, or just shopping at the grocery store, we are to constantly mindful of THE BLESSING that is in us and on us. How are my actions co-operating with that BLESSING right now?

But wait! Before we think it's automatic where did Joseph's BLESSING come from? Abraham, Issac, and then his Father Jacob all had it passed down to him and his brothers. So if that blessing was available to all 12 kids, why was Joseph the only one walking in it? There is no direct answer in the bible about this. But if you look at the life and actions of these kids there is a clear delineation between his 10 oldest brothers and him. (The youngest who is younger than Joseph is not really mentioned until later).

Then, just to give us example and contrast we are given the story of Judah. Right smack dab in the middle of Joseph's story we are taken aside and told about Judah first. Here is a man who is NOT looking to do the right thing. His first two children displeased and angered God. He did not consult God on where to live, where to take a wife, or how to conduct his life. There is not mention one time that Judah has God on his mind at all. Then he deceives his daughter in law and robes her of her rightful inheritance. This action wasn't just about loosing a husband. In ancient culture a woman with no husband or son was in poverty. He literally was robbing her.

Notice: BOTH stories involve how a man deals with sexual issues. One who has no right to withhold withholds and is cursed. One who has no right to give withholds and is BLESSED. God cares how women are treated. But more importantly he cares about how we mind Him and His BLESSING and His ways in all we do. It's not just about having a servants heart, that is merely part of it.

Ultimately the common denominator with Jesus and Joseph is that both had God and God's ways on their mind. Constantly. We must have our mind saturated with the Word of God and His BLESSING. This doesn't just mean thinking about bible verses, although this is important. It means having THE BLESSING in mind in all decisions. When you speak about that person, customer, co-worker, table, whoever is involved. Are you speaking to them/about them in Love? With THE BLESSING as your motivation? Let THE BLESSING affect your words, actions, etc...

THAT will cause the breakthrough you are waiting for. If you find yourself depressed at work, angry at people or situations... it's because you are not operating with THE BLESSING as your primary thought and motivation.

Darrell

I call you empowered 2 prosper with good success!
http://empoweredtooprosper.blogspot.com/
Facebook.Com/EmpoweredTooProsper

For other sites by Wolfe Family Conceptions:

http://wfconceptions.wordpress.com/

Darrell G. Wolfe

See Also N2 Good Success:

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Written November 25, 2012 by Darrell G Wolfe

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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

A Nation on the Brink of Civil War... Or Revival... Or both?

This is the most amazing article I've read regarding the state of the United States of America. It summarizes where we've been and what lies before us. We have some lessons we can learn. I suggest you reading this.

It’s a difficult Thanksgiving season. The nation is deeply divided, facing serious threats abroad and an uncertain economy at home. An unpopular war drags on, and the controversial incumbent president, after a bitter and divisive campaign, has just won re-election with barely 50 percent of the popular vote.
Welcome to November 1812. The war against the British is going badly. President James Madison, after winning a landslide victory in 1808, almost lost this time around. The citizens of a worried nation, in between the name-calling and rancor, nervously ask one another what exactly there is to be thankful for. Is it possible that the solutions of their fraught age could hold lessons for ours? ...Continue Reading

We must find a way to heal the land. But how? The ideals the two sides fight for could not be more opposite. But are there just two sides? Which two sides? Both Republicans and Democrats are full of Satan's forces, and peppered with God's. The real issues differ depending on which person you talk to. Both sides are filled with Christians who have sold them selves to a party that doesn't truly serve their best interest.

God's platform is not Republican or Democrat. It's not really even "Conservative" or "Liberal". It's God's! When Christians can sit down and talk to each other about the things God wants to see happen for the nation. THIS nation is his launching pad for ministry and ministries to the world. THIS nation will be the source and and funding for the spreading of the message of THE BLESSING and the Word of God around the world.

The Bible has rules about treating people fair, fair business practices, but it also limits government, and authorities. So here's a thought. What if all the real Christians got together to talk... we could either control both parties... or form our OWN coalition government... now that would be an idea!

Darrell G. Wolfe

Have questions about anything I said here? Disagree? Have an update? Want to share your story? Comment Below!

I call you empowered 2 prosper with good success!

Darrell G. Wolfe
http://n2gs.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/n2goodsuccess

See Also:
Book Suggestion from the N2 Good Success Amazon Store
Product Offerings from N2 Good Success Zazzle Store

Bulldog Publications:
Bankings Basics for Believers; Now Available on Amazon.
Print Edition

Kindle Edition

Written November 21, 2012 by Darrell G Wolfe

News & Events No comments

A Nation on the Brink of Civil War... Or Revival... Or both?

It’s a difficult Thanksgiving season. The nation is deeply divided, facing serious threats abroad and an uncertain economy at home. An unpopular war drags on, and the controversial incumbent president, after a bitter and divisive campaign, has just won re-election with barely 50 percent of the popular vote.
Welcome to November 1812. The war against the British is going badly. President James Madison, after winning a landslide victory in 1808, almost lost this time around. The citizens of a worried nation, in between the name-calling and rancor, nervously ask one another what exactly there is to be thankful for. Is it possible that the solutions of their fraught age could hold lessons for ours? ...Continue Reading

Written November 21, 2012 by Darrell G Wolfe

News and Current Events No comments

Monday, October 8, 2012

Credit Cards

Question:

"I've heard that you have to get a credit card to build credit, but so many people build up credit card debt and I'm afraid to do it... "

" I was told to get a credit card and put a $300 balance on it and make payments on it for 6 months to year... I'm very concerned because I've heard so much about credit cards causing harm..."

"I had a card when I was young and totally messed up my life with it... I don't want another one..."

"I don't want to use a credit card, I pay cash for everything..."

Answer:

I want to take a moment to talk about credit cards. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, and The Not As Ugly As You Think Because You Aren't Thinking Of Them Right... Is that too long?

What you are about to read takes me 30 minutes to an hour to explain verbally with people sometimes, because they ask questions and I have to keep checking for understanding. It took me two hours to write. You can read it in less than 10 minutes.

**If you read nothing else, read the end: How does a credit card affect you?**

The Bad and Ugly

Credit Card Debt... is evil! It's a tool of the enemy to keep you subject to fear and bondage. Satan has designed this debtors system from the ground up. Every time you vote for a person, from either party, that wants more Government Spending, you are voting for more debt. Debt is BAD. The Borrower becomes a servant or slave to the lender. After years of working with people's finances I can assure you this is TRUE!

Is debt a sin? No. God said that he'd make you a lender and not a borrower. Well, you can't lend to people if it's a sin, because you'd be helping them sin and God doesn't empower you to help people sin. But it's not God's Highest will for any person to be in or stay in debt.

A young child get's out of high school and goes to college and gets a credit card. He sees an $800 limit. He's never even made $800 a month at his job yet, but he sees this as a path to get things he wants. "I can't afford that... wait, no problem, I'll put it on the credit card..." 10 years later he's still paying that card off... Sound bad? It was me! I know first hand, credit cards can be a powerful tool of slavery if used incorrectly.

However...

The Good

Money, Credit, Hammer, Nail. What does these four have in common? They are just tools. Neither good nor bad. A hammer can be a powerful tool to smash a vase! A hammer can be a powerful tool to build a home. It's just a tool. It's the heart and understanding of the one who uses it that determines it's effectiveness and direction. Passion, without direction, is pointless. So having the right heart, but not the knowledge and skill is still without any positive effect for you.

A credit card is a tool. What is that tool for? The bank divides credit card users into 2 categories. There are Debtors and Transactors.

Debtors

A debtor is a person who looks at their checking account and sees $500. Then this Debtor looks at their credit card and sees $1,000 available credit. In their lightning fast mind they see $500+$1,000=$1,500. Whoo Hoo! I can spend $1,500 right now! Momma needs a new pair of shoes... Daddy needs that new sports thingy he's been dreaming about... etc... This person can't pay off that card, so they now set in to the LONG task of making payments on that card. Hopefully they're smart enough to realize they must pay A LOT more than the minimum payment if they ever want to see that card paid off, and more than likely it will take them a year or two to pay it off... unfortunately the mindset that had them creating the debt, usually prevents them from seeing clearly how to get out of debt also.

Transactors

A Transactor sees that SAME $500 balance in checking and the SAME $1,000 available credit, but does some different math. They say I have $1,000 on the card and $500 in checking $1,000-$500,... So I have $500 to spend this month. In other words this person doesn't see this as extra money. This person sees that they have $500 and they could either spend that with their credit card, debit card, checks, cash, etc... but they still only have $500 to spend.

A transactor pays off their card, IN FULL EVERY MONTH. They carry no balance over, and pay no interest. They use the card as a tool.

Why use a credit card at all? Here are some reasons:

Protection

FRAUD: Your card is lost, someone uses it, you file a claim and the money is refunded. This takes 7-10 business days many times. It doesn't matter if the fraud was on a Credit Card, Debit Card, or Check... It's going to take a little while to refund. BUT on a credit card it's only tying up your "Available Credit" NOT your "Cash Balance" like fraud on a check or debit card would. Yes you'd get the money back either way, but the credit card makes that wait more comfortable.
Purchase Protections: There are things SOME credit cards offer that debit cards typically don't.

If you rent a car, the credit card may cover the insurance so you don't have to pay extra for that.
If you pay your monthly cell phone bill through the credit card the card may cover the insurance on the phone so you don't have to pay for that.
Certain items you purchase are guaranteed against loss or damage.

Rewards

GET PAID to spend your own money. With credit card rewards you can earn cash back, gift cards, and more for making purchases you were going to make anyway. This way your money is working for you more.

Debit Cards used to offer this, and at most banks they don't anymore. But even when they did the rewards were less than the credit cards rewards were.

Building Credit

You CANNOT build a GREAT credit score without a credit card. You can't. There are idiot bloggers out there saying "You don't need a credit card, just do XYZ..." Here's the thing. You can build SOME credit without a credit card.
You CAN build GOOD/DECENT credit without a credit card. You cannot build GREAT credit without a credit card... more on this in a moment.
Again, despite the bloggers who love to misinform you, paying rent, utilities, insurance, cell phone bills, etc... does NOTHING for your credit. All of that positive info you are building helps with certain public profiles, but it does not help your credit reports or scores at all.

NOT paying them may send you to collections which could ruin your credit, but the positive stuff doesn't help. You must pay on a "Credit Product" or "Trade Line" to build credit. These are Credit Cards, Loans, and Lines of Credit. That's pretty much it. Only these build credit.

The Things You Didn't Think About...

What do you mean by building GREAT credit?

FICO is the company that creates the credit score that most banks use to make credit decisions. They are THE credit score. There are others, but non as popular as FICO. At this time (10/08/2012) FICO doesn't look at your job, income, rent, phone bills, etc. They only look at Credit Products, because they only look at your "Credit Reports" which are reports about how you use your "Credit". There are three credit reporting agencies. Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.

You can and SHOULD obtain a free credit report at least once a year, from EACH of the three credit reporting agencies. Each agency will have a different mix of items reported and therefore you have THREE credit scores by default. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com, or use a free/low cost trail offer of Identity Theft Protection. I prefer the latter because those companies usually tailor the reports to make them easier to read and understand. I also suggest having an on going service with one of these companies because you can keep tabs on your reports that way without affecting your score. Pulling your own score, through any monitors service has NO downside effect on your score.

Here are some reputable credit report/ID Theft Monitoring companies.

Wells Fargo Identity Theft Protection

I've used this one and like it!

LifeLock

Have not used it myself, but heard great things about it from others.

IdentityGaurd

Don't know them but they are among the top listed providers

Trusted ID

Don't know them but they are among the top listed providers

FICO sees your credit score like this:

Payment History (Making payments on credit products)
Amounts Owed on credit products
Length of Credit History ( how long credit products have been open)
New Credit (when was the last time you applied for new credit)(this is where those "Inquiries" or "Hard Hits" affect you.
Types of Credit used (They want to see experience with ALL credit types, including credit cards)

How does a credit card affect you?

Payment History

ANY time a credit product shows that something was due, and you paid at least what was due you get an "OK" stamp for that month. Whether you paid a $25 payment on a $300 card balance, or you had a balance of $1.50 and you paid the whole $1.50, either way you get an "OK" stamp for that month.
Therefore the idea of getting a balance on a credit card and making payments could have some merit... BUT...

"Usage" part of "Amounts Owed"

Usage kills the idea of putting a $300 balance on a $300 limit card and making payments on it.
Usage asks two questions. How much is available on the card? How much are they using?

$300 credit limit (Available Credit)
$300 balance on the card
=100% Usage
Grade F.

FICO actually wants you to use LESS than 30% of your credit limits, less than 10% would be best.

$300 credit limit
$1.50 Balance
= 0.5% Usage
Grade A

To figure out how much of your credit limit you can use and stay in good graces take the credit limit ($300) times 10% (0.10) [or 30% max (0.30)]. On a $300 credit limit you should not use more than $30-$90 during the whole month.

$300 credit limit
$30 balance ($90 balance)
=10% Usage (30% Usage)
Grade A

If you pay the balance in full you will not pay interest. But the card, and credit report, will STILL show your balance as of the statement date so don't use more than 30% tops!

Length of Credit History

The older your credit history and average age of all your credit accounts, the better.
Credit Cards (and some other credit lines) are the only products that stay open forever.
Loans (Mortgages, Student Loans, Auto Loans, Etc) all eventually get paid off, refinanced, or closed/sold). Every time you close a loan it is removed from the average age of your open accounts. Every time you get a new loan it reduces the average age of your accounts.
If you have 3 CC's. One is open 2 years and two are open 5 years. Your average age is 4 years. (2+5+5)/3=4.
Close one of the 5 year old cards (2+5)/2=3.5 and you now have an average age of 3.5 years.
Close the 2 year old card (5+5)/2= 5 and you now have an average age of 5 years.
FICO prefers that you have 1-3 credit cards and no more. Department store cards like dillards, kohls, target and walmart count as credit cards. You should have no more than 3. Closing them may hurt you because of the above math.
Because you don't want to open new cards or close old ones unless you have to, choose 2 great cards, keep them active, used regularly, and open forever. Never close a card unless you must or get a new one unless there is a significantly good reason to do so. If you already have 5 credit cards do more research before closing any.

TYPES of credit used

The more variety of good history you have the more secure your credit looks to be.
Some people with high credit scores are still declined for auto loans because they've had no "loan" experience. Adding a credit card or two can balance out your experience.

BOTTOM LINE, My Advice:

Get 1 or 2 credit cards (NOT 3). Make sure these are cards you can use everywhere (Visa, Master, Discover, Amex logos) NOT a department store card or jewelry store card. These should be cards you can use frequently for small amounts. Walmart/Target may be OK, IF you shop at walmart/target frequently already.

Go out ONCE A MONTH and make a RIDICULOUSLY SMALL purchase. Go buy a $1.50 Dr Pepper, a $5 Cheeseburger, or $30 in gas. Put the card in the back of your wallet and don't touch it again. Wait for your statement, PAY IT IN FULL!

This way you'll NEVER pay interest on a credit card, you'll NEVER get into credit card debt, and you'll STILL build credit. In fact, because of usage scoring, your credit will be BETTER than the one who put the $300 balance on his card and made min payments for a year.

Do this every month, from here on and into the future. DO NOT put big purchases on your card. DO NOT use more than 30% of your available credit during the course of the month. DO NOT use more than 2 cards (3 if you must, no more). DO NOT EVER carry a balance over (paying less than the total statement balance).

It's not that hard. If you don't have the discipline to make one purchase and pay it off you shouldn't be even talking about credit. You should be building a habit of saving and budgeting first. Until you have a savings started, it's a waste of time to start building your credit. Once you have developed the habit of saving and NOT touching that savings, and you are working some form of a budget, THEN build credit. Don't touch credit until you have that down first.

Live Long and Prosper! Selah... Darrell G. Wolfe

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Have questions about anything I said here? Disagree? Have an update? Want to share your story? Comment Below!

I call you empowered 2 prosper with good success!

Darrell G. Wolfe
http://n2gs.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/n2goodsuccess

See Also:
Book Suggestion from the N2 Good Success Amazon Store
Product Offerings from N2 Good Success Zazzle Store

Bulldog Publications:
Bankings Basics for Believers; Now Available on Amazon.
Print Edition

Kindle Edition

Written October 08, 2012 by Darrell G Wolfe

Finances, Keys To Success, Problem Solving, Prosperity, Studies No comments