KINGDOM EQUITY

[Laela]

Kingdom Equity
written by Mary Whelchel
April 16, 2012


Do you know what Kingdom Equity is?
A friend of mine introduced me to this term, and it has really caught my attention. I'm sure you know what equity is. For example, if you bought a house, you invested money in that house, and the amount you invested is your equity in it. And as we make investments-whether in real estate or stocks or gold or whatever-we are doing so with the hope that our investment will grow in value, and we will receive a profit from our investment.

Well, God has invested Kingdom Equity in all of his children because our purpose here on this earth is to bring glory to God by doing the good things he prepared in advance for us to do:

Ephesians 2:10:
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

If you are born from above, God has predetermined your list of good works he wants you to do, and he knows what resources and talents and gifts and experiences you will need to do those good works. So, from the beginning of your days he has been investing in you what you will need to do those good works.

This Kingdom Equity comes in two different forms:

• The gifts and abilities and talents and opportunities and education and experiences we have been given that will be needed to do Kingdom work.
• The difficulties and hardships and troubles and failures we've gone through which teach us to trust and know God like nothing else can do.

Whether you are aware of it or not, God has been making investments in you and he expects a return on his investment. He expects us to multiply our resources, our gifts, and to use them for his glory. So, the question is: Have you overlooked those investments God has made in you? Or have you wasted them on yourself instead of on the Kingdom? Or have you failed to recognize them? It is Kingdom Equity, and you will give an account to God as to your stewardship of the investments God has put in you.

I hope you will begin to think about how much God has invested in you, both through positive and negative means. God doesn't waste anything and he doesn't want us to waste our Kingdom Equity.

 

[Laela]

Kingdom Equity
written by Mary Whelchel
April 17, 2012


Kingdom Equity is what God has invested in you to use for his glory. It comes in two forms, the first of which is:

Kingdom Equity of Gifts and Abilities

God invests equity in us through our gifts, our talents, our skills, the things we've learned, our education, our years of simply living life! For example, a great deal of my experience in the business world was to make presentations. For years I conducted customer service seminars all across the country. That experience was planned by God to teach me how to make a presentation and think on my feet, which was part of the good works he planned in advance for me to do.

I have a friend who has begun a ministry to widows in Africa, teaching them how to make things that they could sell to support their families. They have to use treadle sewing machines that work without electricity, and guess how she learned to sew as a young girl. On a Singer treadle machine. So, she can teach them how to sew on a treadle machine. That's Kingdom Equity that God is now using.

What about the skills you've acquired through your life. How are you using that Kingdom Equity for God? He didn't invest that experience, that talent, that gift in you just for your enjoyment. He expects a return on his investment.

Paul wrote to Timothy: "For this reason I remind you to fan into a flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands" (2 Timothy 1:6). Fan into a flame the gifts God has invested in you. Improve them, enlarge them, and expand them. Get better at doing what you do.

I look back on the 28 years I've had this radio ministry and I see how God has given me abilities and skills that I never dreamed were in me. That's because he promises that if we use what he has invested in us, he will invest more in us. The parable of the talents teaches us this principle.

God has invested in all of his children. He never compares what he invests in you with what he invests in me. He expects you and me to use the Kingdom Equity he has given us and multiply it.

 

[CoilyFields]

A good response to the question..."Why me God?"

 

[PinkPebbles]

Laela - I appreciate these messages...always timely!

I remind myself daily that faith without works is dead. I have to continuously utilize and cultivate my God given skills, talents, or gifts; whether it's going back to school, getting certified, promotion, working in a ministry, etc.

I made a declaration to myself that I will walk in everything that God promised and predestined for my life. And God will receive all the glory and honor.

 

[Laela]

Kingdom Equity
written by Mary Whelchel
April 18, 2012

Kingdom Equity comes in another form, too, and that is:

Kingdom Equity of Suffering and Failure

We don't usually think of the difficult things in our lives as investments, do we? Can it be true that the hard things we've gone through, the difficulties we've encountered, the heartaches we've known-even our sins and failures-can be seen as God's investment in us? How can that be Kingdom Equity?

Well, the truth is that it is these hard things that drive us to know God, that keep us humble, that show us our total inadequacy and force us to depend on God. Yes, it is Kingdom Equity that God has allowed in our lives for his purpose. And they include things such as:

• Your childhood experience. If you were deprived of what you needed as a child-love or protection or security or safety-any of those basics and instead you were abused or misused or abandoned or ignored-that is Kingdom Equity.
  
• Your health issues. Maybe you've faced some real health fears-cancer or some other diseases or disabilities that have been very difficult-that is Kingdom Equity.
  
• Your financial hardships. You've lost a job, and you've faced month-ends without enough money to pay your bills-that is Kingdom Equity.
  
• Your unfulfilled dreams and hopes. That person you wanted to marry never came along. That child you wanted to birth, and you couldn't-those are Kingdom Equity.
  
• Broken relationships. That marriage that fell apart, or that friend or family member who is estranged or distant from you-again, Kingdom Equity.
  
• Disappointments in people. That adult child who has left the church and the truths you taught him or her about God. That friend who betrayed you. That boss who fired you-more Kingdom Equity.
  
• Significant losses. That parent who died-or mate or child or close friend-Kingdom Equity.
  
• Sins from your past. Yes, even those things of which you are ashamed, those times when you chose to live in sin and stray far from God-Kingdom Equity.

All of these are Kingdom Equity that God wants to use for good in your life. That means that none of these things are meaningless. God doesn't waste anything-not even sorrows and heartaches.

 

[Shimmie]

Thank you, Laela.

I'm enjoying my cup of Green Tea and reading.

I love these messages.

 

[Laela]

Kingdom Equity
written by Mary Whelchel
April 19, 2012

What is it in your life which is your greatest sorrow or regret? Did you know that even those things God has allowed in your life and they can be used for good?

Please understand I am not saying that God is the author of all these difficult investments; God never condones sin or evil and it is never from God. But our God is so great that he never wastes anything in our lives, even our sorrows or our sins or abuse we've suffered, or our failures.

We are so prone to say, "God is good" when something favorable has happened to us. A friend just got a job after a few months of unemployment. We say, "God is good." A baby is born without any problems; we say, "God is good." A journey is traveled without any accidents; we say, "God is good." We got money back from our income tax, and we declare, "God is good." We got a report back from the doctor and the lump is benign, and we shout, "God is good."

Are those signs of God's goodness? Absolutely. But what about the hard times and the disappointments and the bad news? Are we just as quick to affirm that God is good-all the time? When Job's wife suggested that he curse God and die, he said, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10)

The truth is, everything in your life is Plan A with God. It's all Plan A. Whatever has happened to you, is happening to you, or will happen to you is already written in his book, because all of your days were written in his book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16) And yes, that includes the evil done to you or by you, the failures of your own or of others that have made your life difficult, the harmful and hurtful things that have happened to you, the sins you have committed willfully, the times you've gone astray and disobeyed. All if it was written in his book. It's all Plan A.

That simply means that he doesn't waste anything in our lives. He uses everything that has happened to us as a means to display his glory. All of that junk, the stuff you would have eliminated from your life story if you had written it-all of it is his mercy in disguise to you.

 

[Laela]

Kingdom Equity
written by Mary Whelchel

What Kingdom Equity are you wasting?

What part of your past-or your present-have you put in the category of "Not good" or "Not fair" or "Shameful" and therefore tried to hide it from others as well as yourself? Or you've let it sit there so long that bitter roots are growing in your heart and those bitter roots are causing trouble and defiling you and others. Or you've allowed yourself to live in the lie that God can't really use you like he uses other people because of your past.

The thing about this kind of Kingdom Equity-the kind that is filled with sorrow and heartaches and failure-is that it's very difficult to see how God can use it when we're in the middle of it. It's usually only in hindsight that we can say, as Joseph did, "God meant it to me for good." So that means that when we're in the middle, we have to walk by faith and not by sight. We have to decide if we're really going to trust God or not-against our feelings and our emotions.

Not long ago I was suddenly faced with a situation that was potentially very harmful. And that situation was not resolved for almost an entire year. More than any other time in my life, my trust in God was tested. I had doubts; I certainly had fears; I wanted to run away and forget it all. My faith was tested. I wish I had come through better than I did; there were days that I did not have the victory. But in the end, by God's grace, I came through as gold refined in the fire. I now have much more sympathy and empathy with those who are in the midst of a struggle than I ever had before. It's Kingdom Equity that God allowed in my life, to be used for his glory.

When we allow God to use all his Kingdom Equity in us, it brings meaning to every aspect of our lives. Nothing is wasted, and we find that the pains and hurts of our lives can be used for good, as well as all that experience you've gained in your working world, the talents you developed when you were young, the skills you've added through your life. It's all Kingdom Equity, and God is looking for a return on his investment in you.

 

[Laela]

Glad you've been enjoying this series Shimmie... I felt like I was doing homework with this one... I'm enjoying some oatmeal, topped with cinammon, chopped walnuts and honey as I read this last entry....

Enjoy your day... :Rose: I HEARD from a bird...it's someone's birthday tomorrow, God's willing...shhhhhhhhhhhh...

Thank you, Laela.

I'm enjoying my cup of Green Tea and reading.

I love these messages.