What Are The Desires Of My Heart?

Before we start the podcast, we want to announce a new resource to help you discover what it truly means to be rich toward God. We've just published a study based on the parable of the rich fool found in Luke 12, 13-21. Journey through this challenging yet life-giving parable where Jesus invites us into a more abundant life with Him. Just go to faithfi.com slash give to request a copy of the Rich Toward God study today with your gift of $25 or more. That's faithfi.com slash give.

Thank you in advance for your support and partnership. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. That familiar verse from Psalm 37 begs the question, what are the desires of my heart?

Hi, I'm Rob West. We may be so interested in getting what we desire that we forget the other side of the equation, delighting in the Lord. Today we'll talk about desires and how they can either direct us or distract us. And then we'll take your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey. Think about a time in your life when you didn't want anything.

You can't do it, can you? Desire is a part of being a human being, whether you're looking for love, money, success, attention, peace, or just something quick to eat. Desire can be a positive or negative force in your life. A desire to pay off debts or save for a car can motivate a person to work harder and spend less. A desire for attention can cause a person to buy flashy clothes or a fancy car they can't afford. A desire for power can convince someone they need to put themselves first.

The desire to protect and nurture children is part of what makes families work. God knows this about us, of course. He made us that way. Genesis 1 tells us Adam and Eve were created in God's image, perfectly designed for a relationship with each other and the Lord. In His wisdom and love for His creation, God also set boundaries and allowed humankind to choose whether to obey Him or not.

Adam and Eve desired independence, and as a result, their rebellion severed that perfect relationship with God. So what are the desires of your heart? There are so many things you can want.

Most of it probably seems good to you. But if you're a Christian, you must ask if what you desire draws you away from your Creator, who has called you to set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth in Colossians 3.2. A moment ago I said that desire can either distract us or direct us in our walk with the Lord.

Let me explain what I mean. Sometimes your desires can distract you from following Jesus, with dire consequences. James 1.14 explains this. It reads, There's another example of distracting desires in 1 Corinthians 6 where Paul warns Christians about immoral behavior. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?

You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20. On the other hand, desires that align with God's will can direct you away from sin and into a deeper walk with Jesus. As the Lord told his followers in Matthew 5.6, Do your desires line up with what God wants? David wrote about the desires that please God in Psalm 40 verse 8, Your law is within my heart. Later, Hebrews 10.16 quotes Jeremiah, who foretold God's new covenant in Christ.

I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds. When Jesus is your Lord and Savior, he gives you a new heart and identity as a child of God. Your old nature and old desires don't define you anymore.

You can choose to let those old desires back into your life, but they will distract you. It takes prayer and discipline, but when you choose to delight in the Lord's ways each day, he will begin to refocus your desires on him and his purposes. Psalm 37, where we started today, is full of instructions for living in a way that pleases the Lord.

Here are just a few. Trust the Lord. Do good to others all the time. Make faithfulness a way of life. Offer your plans to him every day. Wait patiently for God's guidance.

Don't let anger get control of you. And don't be anxious about what evil people do. Ephesians 5 one sums this all up by reminding us that Christians who desire God more than anything else look like Jesus. Be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us. A fragrant offering and a sacrifice to God. Well, I hope that encourages you to begin delighting in the Lord so you may have the desires of your heart.

When your desires align with God's, you have perfect peace. By the way, our study Rich Toward God can help you dive deeper into this topic. You can check it out at our website, faithfi.com.

Just click the button that says Shop. All right, your calls are next. 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West and this is Faith and Finance. Are you looking for a financial professional who aligns with your biblical values? Certified Kingdom Advisors are trusted financial, legal or accounting professionals who have completed a rigorous certification program to ensure they provide biblically wise financial advice as part of their practice.

You can find a local CKA professional in your area by going to faithfi.com and clicking Find a CKA. We are grateful for support from the Eventide Center for Faith and Investing. ECFI is an educational initiative of Eventide Asset Management that seeks to help Christians understand and practice biblically faithful investing. They do this through their podcast and online journal featuring articles from industry thought leaders and their course called Discover God's Story for Investing. More information is available at faithandinvesting.com. That's faithandinvesting.com.

I'm so glad you're with us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West, your host. I've got two lines open taking your calls and questions on anything financial. 800-525-7000. Let's head to Little Rock, Arkansas. Hi, Beverly.

How can I help? Hi. I have two questions that I would like to ask about finances. My first question, as a sole proprietor, do we tithe off the gross, the profit net or the owner's draw? Yeah, that's a great question, Beverly.

So let's back up for a second. When we look at the tithe, I love the principle of the tithe, and that's certainly an appropriate way to begin your giving. My friend Randy Alcorn calls it the training wheels of giving. Now, we recognize we're no longer under the law of Moses. We're under the law of Christ, and so giving that we see in the New Testament is giving proportionately and systematically, and that's where I think the tithe comes in. Clearly, we're to give to the local church. I think the discipline of giving to the local church first is incredibly important, not only for us as an individual, as a Christ follower, but also for the church itself. I mean, this is the place that is feeding us spiritually, and I think we're called to give proportionately to the church. So I like the tithe, the principle of the tithe is a great beginning point. The other kind of hallmarks of New Testament giving beyond systematic and proportionate giving is giving freely, and I think even giving sacrificially. We see that modeled with Jesus' comments related to the widow and her sacrificial gift out of her poverty.

So I think that's the framework that we operate in. Now, if we're applying the principle of the tithe to your giving to the local church, which again, I would affirm, the tithe has to do with your increase. So to your question about being a business owner and giving a tithe off of the business revenues, you have to determine what is my increase. And it does become a little bit more challenging when we own a business, because it's very simple to determine your increase when you're getting a paycheck from an employer.

You're a W-2 employee, and 100% of what you get in your paycheck is absolutely your increase, and so I'd give a proportionate gift on the gross amount. It's a little different though with your business, because 100% of what comes into your business is not your increase. Because you've got expenses and overhead, and you might have some employees, or you might have some marketing expenses, or a business license, or tax filings, things like that.

And so what you would do is you would look at probably two pieces. Number one is, what you're paying yourself out of the business, you mentioned the owner's draw, that's absolutely part of your increase. But beyond that, you may have retained profits in your business that you would want to look at on some periodic basis. Generally, I would say for that portion, you may want to look at it annually when you file your taxes and determine how much profit you had left over in the business, and then you could give a tithe on that as well. But depending on the type of business you had, if you tried to tithe on the gross receipts, you may not be able to stay in business. I mean, think about a grocery store. I mean, they get a very small percentage of what they bring in, they retain as profits, because they're buying all the products that are going on the shelves. So I would say, kind of to boil that down, the tithe would be given on the owner's draw plus any profits that you determine you have at some periodic interval, and I would generally look at that annually.

Okay, thank you. You answered part of my second question, and when the Scripture says what exactly, I want to know exactly what it means when it says, every man according to, as he purposed in his heart. So when you said that part about the tithe and it being Old Testament, so it kind of answered that question. It says, so let him give not grudgingly, and I took that to be mad or reluctant or of compulsion, and sometimes I think compulsion is impulsive, but God loves a cheerful giver. So I was thinking compulsion is kind of impulsive, like different times you'll be in church services and people will stand there and say, well, I hear the Lord saying give X amount, and then they might stand and say, the Amplified thinks there's out of necessity, and then if they say we have a need at the church, and then they might ask for X amount, and then sometimes in our congregations or denominations they might have a pastor's anniversary or something of that nature, and people feel compelled to meet those obligations or those dues in our organization. So I was just wondering, could you give me some clarification on that?

Yes, I'd be happy to, and I appreciate that question. You're referencing the passage we find in 2 Corinthians 9.7, each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Well, it's interesting, the original Greek word for cheerful is hilarios, which is what we get the English word hilarious from, and I love the picture that that creates in our minds, Beverly. We're to be joyful givers. And one of the things that I mentioned a moment ago is that New Testament giving is giving freely.

That's another way to say that. And so the big idea here is that we're to give cheerfully and not reluctantly. Now, how do we give cheerfully?

Well, I think what that says to us is the key to cheerful giving is to yield ourselves to Christ and ask him to direct how much he wants us to give. My son is turning 18 tomorrow, and if he were to tell me that he wants a gift and he's requiring that of me, well, it changes it. Or if I were to say, I feel obligated to give this to you because it's your birthday tomorrow, he may not be as joyful. But when I give it to him and I say, buddy, I'm so proud of you and I love what God's doing in your life and to celebrate your birthday, I want to give you this gift. You know, all of a sudden he's receiving that differently because it's coming from a different place in my heart.

It's an overflow of my love for him. And I think the same thing is true with our giving to the Lord. When we yield ourselves to Christ, we ask him to direct how much he wants us to give. So ultimately, it's not between you and your pastor or you and your church, it's between you and the Lord. Now, I think a proper instruction as a church or a pastor needs to include rightly dividing God's word, and that means that they're going to need to lay out what it looks like for biblical generosity and that a part of stewardship is taking a portion of what we've been entrusted and returning it to the Lord and in part to the local church. So I don't think there's anything wrong with the church or your pastor teaching on giving, even teaching that the tithe is an appropriate way to give.

But at the end of the day, I think your heart motivation and your giving needs to be driven by you yielding yourself to Christ and asking the Lord to direct how much he wants you to give, not responding to a mandate from someone else. Does that all make sense, though? Okay, yeah, it makes sense.

I have clarification on it. I have an understanding of it. And I'd like to say I appreciate you addressing this area for me, and I'm sure me and other people, when we listen to your financial advice, it helps us to navigate through life. And I, again, say thank you, and I got a better understanding.

I'm delighted to hear that. You know, at the end of the day, it's not what God wants from us, it's what he wants for us. And here's my experience, that when you give freely, and you give sacrificially, and you give as an act of worship and an overflow of your gratitude to God for what he's done for you, beginning with his work on the cross, it's something that will result in incredible joy. And we know that the kingdom will be advanced and will help people in need along the way.

What a beautiful picture of the body of Christ. Thanks for your call, Beverly. Let me take this opportunity just to remind you that if you value the program, maybe you listen regularly, perhaps you've found something to be helpful, and you want to be a part of making sure that this program continues and others can benefit from God's wisdom of financial decision-making, well, we'd invite you to be a financial contributor to the ministry with a gift of $25 or more. We'll send you our brand new four-week study, Rich Toward God. Just head to faithfi.com and click Give, faithfi.com and click Give.

We'll be right back. Have you downloaded the Faithfi app yet? You need to do that today because this is going to make your life easier. Yes, you can manage your money through the in-app envelope feature, but also plan out future goals. I want to buy a house in five years, and I'm on track to do that.

Here's also what I like. You can connect with people around the country. It's like social media, but better. Ask a question, get an answer, and share what you're learning about money and investing. So why don't you grab your phone right now and download the Faithfi app? Are you a financial advisor or CPA seeking to build your practice on biblical wisdom? Not only does the certified Kingdom Advisor education provide you with deep biblical insights, the CKA designation sets you apart. Each year, almost 50,000 people search for a Christian financial advisor. Join our community and share your expertise with clients looking for someone who shares their faith and values.

Find more information at kingdomadvisors.com slash get certified. Thanks for joining us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West for taking your calls and questions.

800-525-7000. We've got some lines open. We'd love to hear from you today. Let's go to Freeport, Illinois. Hi, Lorraine.

How can I help? Hi, Rob. I have a question regarding partnership in a business. Wondering if there's any biblical reasons or any red flags for not going into partnership in a business. Hmm.

Yeah. You know, here's the big thing I always counsel folks when it comes to partnerships. I think the end result is you never want a partnership to get in the way of your testimony. And so in that regard, you know, you have to think about this being just like a marriage. I mean, in a partnership, there's give and take, there's negotiation, there's undoubtedly going to be conflict, and I think that's really the key here. And so this idea of being unequally yoked, which is spoken about in the Bible, I think we've got to consider that as we, you know, consider whether or not we, you know, can go into a partnership situation, especially with a non-believer, because we're going to have perhaps a misalignment in values there. And I think the other key, and this is where it differs from the marriage relationship, is you want to make sure if you do decide to go into a partnership that you decide in advance before you do it about a realistic and equitable exit strategy. And so you go into it knowing that, okay, if at any point this partnership is going to get in the way of my testimony or there is a misalignment in values, I've already defined in advance or we've defined in advance in writing, and everybody's agreed to it, on exactly how we're going to exit this partnership. Because in that regard, it's not a marriage.

We're in a marriage relationship where before God, you know, for better or worse, you know, committing to one another for the rest of our lives. That's not the case with a business partnership. And so I think in that respect, although you may decide not to do it at all if you're unequally yoked, regardless, when you go in, you need to define that exit strategy on the front end.

And I think that will, you know, alleviate all kinds of problems because that gives you now the freedom at any point to say, okay, we've already decided in advance how we're going to value the business and how we're both going to exit if either of us want to exercise that opportunity at any point along the way. Does that make sense? It does. Yes. Okay. And does that get to the main questions you have?

Or was there anything else specific? Yeah, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything biblical that we should be aware of to maybe stay away from it. But I understand you compared it like a marriage, but then there is a little difference too in the other aspect of deciding in advance, you know, the things.

Yeah. I think at the end of the day, if it were me, and there's a mismatch in values, you've got a believer and a non-believer, I would probably pass on it just because of the situation. But I don't think that's prohibited in God's word. I think we just need to go into it understanding that we're never going to allow it to affect our testimony. We're going to have to deal with the give and take and in the management of it, and we absolutely have to define the exit strategy on the front end.

And if you do that, and you still decide to go ahead with it, then I think you've at least put yourself in a position, you know, to be God-honoring in that relationship. Lorraine, I hope that's helpful to you. Thanks for your call today. Let's go to Longview, Texas. Hi, Gail. Go ahead.

Hi, Rob. Thanks for taking my call. I'm 67, and I just went part-time last week, and I'm taking my Social Security, and I'd like to establish a stable income stream. I've got $58,000 in a 403b, and one of the options on taking that was if I could do an annuity. If I took it now, it would be $400 a month.

If I wait till I'm 70, it's $586 a month. Do you think an annuity is a good investment? Yeah, and so this currently is in a 403b, and you'd be rolling it into an IRA annuity? Is that what's, or are they offering an annuity option inside your retirement plan, or what is it you're looking at? I'm not sure exactly how that works, but it is one of three options that I have with my retirement plan, because my company will not contribute to it anymore.

Oh, got it. Okay, and so they're saying you can either get the $400 a month now, the $580 a month in three years when you're 70, or the third option is to take a lump sum, is that right? Take a lump sum, yes, or I could take it monthly. They would just divide it by however much it is monthly, and they pay me out until the balance is zero. Oh, okay, you could take the lump sum monthly until they've eventually paid you out.

That's correct. And do they give you any interest on that, or is it just an equal distribution over time? Yes, I think it's earning either 3.4% or either 6%. I'm not quite sure.

I didn't look at that. Yeah, you would want to know that, because depending on what they're going to give you, that may eliminate that option. What is the lump sum that they're willing to give you? Oh, the total, the $58,000. $58,000, okay. And are you married, Gail?

I am now my widow. Okay, all right. And you said you're working part-time. Do you need this income stream today to make your budget balance?

I do not. All right, and is that because you're working part-time? I have other income, but it would be nice to be able to manage that. Yeah, and is it conceivable that you could wait the three years to be able to get this higher payout for the rest of your life? Yes.

Okay, all right. You know, the nice thing about taking the lump sum is that, you know, you could invest it and have access to the full amount. And we would typically say you'd pull, you'd want to pull, you know, maybe 4% a year.

The challenge is that's only $193 a month. Now, you'd always have access to the $58,000 if it was invested with the long term, but that $580 seems pretty attractive. Now, do you know if that just goes away at your death, or is there a portion that would be payable to your heirs?

It is. I don't think it's payable at death. I would have to check into that to see if there was a survivor benefit to it. Yeah, got it. Okay.

I'd want to know if there's a survivor benefit and also what the interest rate is on the monthly payout over time. Why don't you check those and give me a call back or connect with an advisor in your area at faithfind.com. God bless you, Gail. Thanks for calling.

Well, that's going to do it for us. Before we go, let me remind you to check out the Faithfi app on our website at faithfi.com. It's the best money management app out there to get godly counsel, encouragement, great content rooted in Scripture, but also what I believe is the very best money management system as well. You know, with expenses up everywhere and high inflation, you're probably struggling like I am to stay on budget.

Well, having a plan and a system to control the flow of money is essential. The Faithfi app was built on Larry Burkett's tried and true envelope system, but in a modern, beautiful and simple interface right there in the palm of your hand. Julie and I use it every day and we wouldn't be able to stay on budget without it because whether we're taking one of our kids shopping or we're checking our vacation category or anything else in our financial lives, we know exactly where we stand with the Faithfi app. You can check it out in your app store or at faithfi.com. On behalf of our team here at Faithfi, thanks for being along with us. Come back and join us next time. May God bless you. Faith in Finance is provided by Faithfi and listeners like you.