John K. Jenkins Sr - Financial Freedom Series: Overcoming Debt

Father, we honor You this morning, and Your name is worthy to be praised. Thank You for waking us up and giving us the activities of our limbs. Thank You for protecting us all week and bringing us to this point. We pray that You open our eyes and our hearts to the truth of Your Word and help us apply it to our lives. If there are persons here today who are unsaved, backslidden, unsure, or unchurched, draw them to Your Kingdom, Almighty God. This is our prayer. I pray that You put a hedge around this place. I pray, Father, that not only here but in every location that is viewing and watching this service, You would help the Word penetrate hearts, even of those who are not in the building. Let the name of Jesus Christ receive all of the glory and honor. In His name, we pray, amen and amen.

All right, you can be seated. Hallelujah! Let me celebrate that we have 24 states, I believe, watching us this morning. Let 's see if I got that right-24 states and 16 countries: Jamaica, Kenya, Portugal, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Barbados, Ireland, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts, and Japan. Wow! I’m thankful for those who are viewing and watching us today. I want to continue my series on finances. I know it’s been a week or two since I’ve talked about it, and I want to continue on. This is actually part seven of the series, and I want to talk about overcoming debt. Thank you both for that shout of amen! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised because debt has become a normal behavior; we’ve accepted it, we love it, we embrace it, we practice it. But debt is not God’s plan for your life. What is defeating most families is debt. What is keeping most families from moving ahead is debt. Look at your neighbor and say, «I think he’s talking about me.» Go ahead, tell them. We embrace debt; we talk about it, we practice it, we’re proud of it, we make plans for it-but it kills you. We think that as long as we can make the monthly payments, everything is fine, and the credit card companies will encourage you to do that because they know you’ll be paying until Jesus comes back. Some of you may not understand that when you have debt and you make those minimum payments, most of that money you’re paying is going toward the interest and not toward the principal. Amen? That 's right! How many of you can agree with that? Do you all understand that? So we want to get out of that. I want to challenge you today; I want to press you, I want to push you to get out of debt. Tell your neighbor, «You need to get out of debt.» Just tell them, look them in the eye and say, «Get out of debt.»

Now, what I believe-here’s what I believe-don’t hear me say that all debt is bad. Amen? Most debt is bad; the majority of debt is bad because we’re borrowing for depreciating items-like that car which you’re still making payments on that didn’t start when you tried to get up and go to church today. Depreciating items we’re charging for: food that we ate that we’re still paying for, food we borrowed for that has long since been disposed of. Amen? But you’re still paying on it. Are you hearing what I’m saying today? Clothes that you can’t even fit anymore-are y’all listening to me? Yes, sir! Accessories to go with clothes that have long since gone out of style. Oh! I must have hit something over here. I mean, why would you borrow for a pair of jeans with tears and holes all in them? I can’t comprehend it! Are y’all with me?

So what I want to do today is take you through something. Here 's what I want you to know: God will help you get out of debt if you make a commitment to get out of debt. Now, I’m going to tell you two stories — two biblical stories that show people who had debt and how God supernaturally helped them get out of it. But first, I need to ensure that you have a mentality to reject debt as a lifestyle. I need to drive you toward getting out of debt as a lifestyle. Here 's what I discover when I talk to people and God brings resources into their domain, into their control, and they have the opportunity to get out of debt: 99% of the time, when I’m coaching, mentoring, teaching, or trying to help someone, here’s what they do-they want to take a portion of the money they have and apply it to the debt, then take the rest of the money and do something else with it, when God will give you the money to help you get completely out of that!

What if I-what if I take this $10,000? I remember I’ve told this story a thousand times. I remember when my wife and I, early in our marriage, accumulated $34,000 worth of debt. I remember like it was yesterday. I came across this teaching on getting out of debt, and I made a commitment to get out of debt. Then I got down to $115,000. That 's-that’s all I had left of that $34,000.