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Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

Have you ever had one of those weeks where your emotions were all over the place and you could not quite figure out why? This was that week for me but through it, I had a breakthrough moment. At the time of this writing, I am honing in on the moment and creating plans with God to keep the momentum of the breakthrough going.

In 2011, I started my journey to financial wisdom in hopes to earn a higher income. I have some high moments but not many. I struggled to do the work the business folks said I needed to do to see my cash flow change and my profits grow. Still only some high moments and many more low moments than I really cared to deal with.

© Andres Rodriguez | Dreamstime Stock Photos

As I considered my financial setbacks and you know money issues, I asked God to show me “ME”. Where was the block that I was causing and how do we remedy this? I wanted to see if I was in my own way. The first thing God showed me myself as a young girl getting whatever I desired from my parents; especially Daddy because he just spoiled me. I just never wanted for much until Daddy died in 1985 and my mother could no longer afford to do for me what my Daddy did. Then he showed me myself in the birthing room, giving birth to AJ and becoming a single mother who had to make it work the best way she knew how. Then He said I could not be trusted with the much right now because I was a “money manipulator”….whew! WHEW! Do not sleep because that just freed someone.

The Path of a Money Manipulator

There are many ways that one becomes a manipulator of money. For me I was groomed to manipulate because as child I was molested and molesters teach you to deceive and manipulate. Money was one of the areas where manipulation ran rampant. While I never did anything illegal, I did dishonor God by not being a good steward and continuing to rob Peter to pay Paul, and then excusing it away with the fact that I was a single mother, trying to do the best for my son. Every month there was a bill that did not get paid and a tithe that missed the envelope.

Fast forward to 2011 I decide to find avenues to help me earn more money and get real with my money story and still after a year I did not get the money manipulation thing. I just thought that all I needed to do was learn to better manage what I had. But the management was still in a rob Peter to pay Paul manner. I still avoided looking at my Paypal account, still used my Paypal card to buy instead of pulling the money out or transferring it to my bank and marking it as a payment to myself. Nope, not me! I still had to manipulate. I still avoided the overdrafts because I did not pay attention as I manipulated and sometimes payments would hit but there would be no money or little to work with. I would find another avenue, like a flash sale or a coaching offer to get quick money, instead of running my business for a more consistent cash flow. Get this…..EVEN MY BUSINESS BECAME AN AVENUE OF MANIPULATION!

Manipulation Breakthrough

I did better in 2012 and by 2013, I was really good with being more responsible with my money and often had some cash flow but just enough. Something had to change. God has whispering to me that I needed to go deeper and it had to start with giving, instead of always expecting to receive. That was just backwards. But remember I was a money manipulator. I fought hard to get money and even spending it became hard to do and I would find myself hyperventilating when I saw my cash flow getting low.

I decided to do a 90-day tithing challenge and my goal was to see if God would really come through for me in a financial manner. So on January 26, 2014, I started the journey and made my first journal entry, asking God to help me figure this all out. That tithing challenge then became a 90-Day Journey to Wealth. I started the journey with a devotion on YouVersion by Andy Stanley called “How To Be Rich”. I learned so much in those 10 days but the number one thing was that wealth is about an attitude of giving and doing so to the glory of God.

I also started reading through What on Earth Am I Here For. It was day five that opened my eyes and answered the question why I was struggling so. That is when God told me I was a money manipulator. It was with these words that I decided enough was enough. It was time to change:

God says there is a direct relationship between how I use my money and the quality of my spiritual life. How I manage my money (“worldly wealth”) determines how God can trust me with spiritual blessings (“true riches”). Let me ask you? Is the way you manage your money preventing God from doing more in your life? Can you be trusted with spiritual riches?

The moment God showed me that, I laughed out loud and said “Wow God! That is me, huh? This has been my block for years,” and then I took a step of freedom! That step of freedom has already been a blessing to me already as I make phone calls and send emails so that I am no longer in manipulation mode. In gaining my freedom, there are some pointed things that must be done to see do but I will share that in the next post.

Action Steps:

  1. Consider your relationship with money?
  2. Take a look at your stewardship quotient
  3. Is your life blessed or cursed because of how you handle your money?
  4. How have you tried to manipulate the flow of money in your life?
  5. What three steps will take today to become a money mover and not a money manipulator?

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