Category: Finances

Bible Verse of The Day – 1-20-17

Matthew 11:28 (NKJV) 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

There is no rest when we find ourselves struggling from day to day with finances. It can pull on our relationship with God, our family, and any other relationships we may have.

The heaviness of it can cause us to lose our desire to fight or to keep going. Depression, negativity and loneliness can set in, making us feel like we are in a constant battle that we can never win.

How do we win this battle? How long will it take to feel like we are above and not beneath?

Many people have financial issues. Why? Because, there are very few that grow up being taught how to properly handle finances; How to save, how to give, how to spend, etc.

There is a lack of preparation and teaching in the home when it comes to how to properly handle our finances.

God’s word teaches us His principles regarding money.

He makes us think about what place money holds in our heart. Is it first place? Is it second place, or third etc.?

Only we can answer this. When we figure out what place money holds, then we can begin, because this very important question will tell us where the change needs to come in.

Matthew 6:21 (NKJV) 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If we want to fully serve Jesus, we need to give Him our finances. Ouch. That’s tough, because many of us like to think our finances are our finances, period.

And many of us probably think that this is the one area of our lives that we can handle and have some control over.

If we are financially broke and things are not good, then really, what control do we have? We may say, “well if I had more money I could make it work”.

That is the point…it’s not about how much we have. It’s about what we do with what we have.

Once we know the right steps to take with our finances, we won’t have to think about how much we have or need. What we have will begin to work for us as we put it in its proper place.

Our finances have come from God. He owns everything. It is time we acknowledge Him with them and say…

Dear God, take my finances. Forgive us for this mess and help us do what is right with the money you have blessed us with. No matter how much we have, we are thankful for it and give it to You. Show us how to handle it properly, that it may glorify YOU. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Let God move on our hearts today in taking the first step. We may need to sit down and start a new budget by giving Him first place on that list.

We are excited to hear of the changes to come as you step out in obedience and in faith today!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 4-12-16

Proverbs 3:9-10 (NKJV) 9 Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

So many people today struggle with their finances. They never seem to have enough, always just making ends meet. And this is a hard thing to swallow.

The first question we have to ask ourselves is, “are we honoring The Lord with our possessions, are we giving to Him our firstfruits or are we believing that it’s ok to just take whatever God blesses us with and just spend it on our own needs first?”.

It’s easy to take our finances and put it in our bank account and pay our bills and tell ourselves that if there is any left over we will give it to God.

It happens all the time. That’s why people are broke, because it happens so often and there is never any left over. Why? Because me, myself and I can always find something else to spend it on.

Why does God want our firstfruits and not our in between or last fruits?

As we give to God first it shows Him that we are putting Him before ourselves, our needs and our wants. This means a lot to Him. This shows Him where our heart is.

When we put God first with our finances, He pays attention. Our giving does not go unnoticed. He knows if it is painful, or if it is easy. He sees if we are doing it out of the right heart, etc.

Luke 21:4 (NKJV) 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

Now, just because we don’t give God our firstfruits doesn’t mean He love us any less or He won’t help us from time to time. God is good and He helps His children. He is a forgiving God and full of mercy.

But, can we cause our own problems at times by not obeying this?

Malachi 3: 10-11 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts,“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts;

According to Malachi, we could possibly be tying God’s hands from a protection and a blessing that He would love to give us as we obey Him with our tithes and offerings.

Give to God what He is asking for and be blessed!! Amen.

Malachi 3:12 “And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” Says the Lord of hosts.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.

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Bible Verse of The Day – 1-28-16

Proverbs 21:5 (NKJV) 5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.

God wants us all to be diligent with our money.

Finances can be a tough thing to get a handle on for some people. Much of this depends on our upbringing. If we were raised in poverty, or we weren’t taught proper handling of our finances, we will most likely grow up with poor money handling skills.

Much of what we need to know is based on common sense principles. And God’s word is full of advice when it comes what to do, and what not to do with our money. One of those things is to count the cost before doing something that requires us to spend money.

Luke 14:28 (NKJV) 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it…

What does it mean to count the cost?

It means that we take the time to look at the numbers and figure out if we can really afford to buy that thing that we want so badly. It means that we don’t rush blindly into buying something, even if it seems like a small purchase or a great deal.

We need to seek God in many of the things we want to buy. Ask Him if He wants us to have it. Get in His word and see what He says about it. Sometimes the answer will be yes. Other times it will be a resounding no!

God wants us to enjoy ourselves. So He’s not against us buying things. But He wants us to make wise choices, so as not to put ourselves in a bind later on down the road because we spent too much money.

So let’s spend wisely and count the cost. If we do this, we’ll be well on our way to being better managers of the resources that God blesses us with.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.

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Bible Verse of The Day – 11-3-15

Proverbs 3:9 Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.

Are we struggling today with finances? Are we tired of trying to always make ends meet? Does it seem like we are working so hard, but we keep falling behind?

Even though we work hard, we get increases, and we are doing everything we can,  it is not enough if we are not honoring God with our firstfruits. This step is crucial if we want to grow.

God does not force us to do anything, He give us the answers to our problems and it’s up to us to believe in Him and take the steps.

If we are serious and we want to change the outcome of our present situation, take this verse to heart and act on it today.

He is faithful!!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

To have the Bible Verse of The Day delivered to your inbox each day, please Click Here and then enter your email address in the box near the upper left corner of the page.

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Bible Verse of The Day – 10-7-14

Malachi 3:11 (NKJV) 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts…

Anyone feel like every time we start to get ahead, something else comes up and tries to pull us back again?

That’s because there is a devourer. What does the devourer do? He devours!

To devour something or someone,  means to eat up greedily or ravenously.

What is he trying to devour? The fruit of our ground.

But thank God we have a Father that works on our behalf and rebukes the devourer for us. When does God rebuke the devourer in our situation? When we obey what He instructs us to do in the previous verse.

Malachi 3:10 says, Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.

Today, if you are struggling to get out of a mess and to get ahead in life, this is one way to get started. Take your first step today.

Our prayers are with you. We want God’s victory in your life!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 5-15-14

Proverbs 3:9 (NKJV)9 Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase;

We get a lot of emails from our readers, asking us various questions about a wide range of topics.

Many of the questions revolve around financial situations. We hear many stories from people who are struggling to make ends meet and don’t know how to make it all work.

So today we want to tell you what God showed us close to 20 years ago. And it is this:

Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase.

This has been the key to us making it through everything with victory. This was the piece of the puzzle that we were missing for so many years before.

We were broke and drowning in debt. I was out of work because the factory where I worked had closed up, and Pastor Ellie was working a full time job to try to help us make ends meet.

We were getting further and further behind on everything. There seemed to be no hope.

And then God spoke to us through a Sunday message at the church we were attending at the time. He told us to do one thing: Tithe.

Despite the fact that we were broke and in debt, God told us to give to Him first. Give to Him from everything that came in.

And so we did. We tithed from everything that came in. No, we didn’t suddenly get out of debt. But we saw God move in some serious ways on our behalf. And we knew beyond any doubt that it was God.

After a while we started to get caught up and after a long journey, we were able to get back on our feet. And we know that it was God. We know that it was due to our obedience and trust in Him.

So give to God the firstfruits of all your increase. It doesn’t make sense to our heads, but God is way better at math than we are.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 4-7-14

(Luke 18:22 NKJV)  So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

What if Jesus was talking to us today, asking us to sell all that we have, all our material things and give it to the poor? Would we be willing?

Material things are nice, but if we give them too much importance, it can become a problem in our lives known as materialism.

Some people may think that obtaining certain material things makes a statement that they are successful. It may give them a certain level of self esteem, but in reality it does not hold any weight.

People work so hard each day to get to this place in life, only to find out afterwards it was not worth it, and on the way they lost and missed out on the important things in life that meant so much more.

We are fooling ourselves if this is what we believe to be success. Jesus says it is not success, but lack. He said sell it and give it to the poor. Our treasure will be in heaven, and to come and follow Him. That is success right there!

Materialism will steal our joy, and suck the life right out of us.

There is so much beauty in this earth to enjoy that is free. Let God teach us the important things in life as we say no to materialism and yes to His way of living.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 9-5-12

(Mal 3:8 NKJV)  “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.

God is looking for our tithes and offerings.

Being a Christian isn’t just about going to church, sitting in the seat and learning how to live a Christian life.

God wants all Christians to give. He wants us to obey Him in every aspect of the Bible, not just part of it.

Does He need our money? Yes; He wants to take it and use it to help those that are in need. Whether they need to hear the Gospel or they need food. Maybe they need a doctor or they may need their bills paid because they have fallen on hard times. It takes money to reach these people and to meet their needs.

Every time we forget to give or we choose not to give our tithe, we just neglected to help someone or many that are in need.

Tithes and offerings are very important to God. We need to be faithful and diligent in our giving.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

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Bible Verse of The Day – 4-18-12

(Luke 6:38 NIV)  Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

We just want to take this day and thank each and every one of you personally.

You don’t know how “AWESOME” you have been to us!

You have helped us through some pretty big hurdles; things that we can’t even share right now.

God has used you in one way or another, to either give us an encouraging word, to lift us up in prayer or even to support us financially with tithes and offerings. Your love and support have graciously helped us through!!

We sincerely thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. The scripture today is our prayer for you. God bless you!!

Love in Christ,

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

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Bible Verse of The Day – 3-30-12

(Mal 3:10-11 NIV) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. {11} I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty.

When people come to us and say they are having financial trouble, we ask them “do you tithe? Do you give? Do you help anyone other then you?”

A lot of times they say “well, we can’t really afford to tithe.”  We say, “OK, that’s where your problem is.” We immediately get them on track with their tithes. That is the start of a new road for them!!

Bring our tithe into the storehouse. When God says “storehouse”, this is a place where God directs us to give. It’s important to Him as to where we give our tithe.

If we don’t go to church it doesn’t mean we are exempt from this. A lot of people don’t  go to church these days. It’s hard nowadays to find a good Biblically-grounded church with heartfelt worship and accurate teachings.

(Isa 29:13 NIV) The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.

However, God will direct us to a place where it is safe for us to give our finances. Please don’t fall into the trap of not giving. We want to stay diligent about bringing our tithe into the storehouse and not take it lightly.

Why? The obedience toward God is what protects us. As we obey His Word, and do as He asks with our finances, we come under a covering and this covering breaks the chains that try to keep us in bondage.

If we are having trouble financially today, it could be because we are not faithfully giving into the storehouse or we are giving to the wrong storehouse.

Let God help us with this today!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

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Your Daily Bible Verse – 2-6-12

(Mark 12:41-44 NKJV)  Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. {42} Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. {43} So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; {44} “for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”

We very often have people ask us how they can give of their finances when it seems that they don’t have anything to give.

Most times this is related to a situation where the person has very little because they have been through a hardship or tough financial situation. Most often, people say that they can’t afford to give.

Speaking from a Biblical perspective, we can’t afford not to give.

Giving is the key to receiving. This is a Biblical truth. Fruit can only come when seeds are sown. Whatever we sow, we will reap. If we don’t give, we can’t expect to receive. If we sow a little, we will reap a little.

How our giving is perceived is based on our abundance, or lack of it. If we have been financially blessed, we need to sow big seeds. If we are in a tough time, we will sow smaller seeds. But the key is that we still need to be sowing.

Giving out of our need is the biggest sacrifice we can make. Jesus drew attention to this when the widow gave a small amount because it’s a truth that needed to be made known. What she gave might have been small compared to what the rich men gave. But what she gave was huge for her in light of her situation.

So if you’re struggling with your finances today, don’t ask God how you can afford to give. Ask Him how much you need to give.

Trust Him in this.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

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