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Life is often compared to a pathway, or a journey. God called Abram. I wonder if the conversation went anything like this:

“Follow me, Abram I want to take you down a new path.”

“To go where, Lord I’m ready for retirement and my mortgage is just about paid up on this place.”

Have you ever thought that your choice seemed the more practical choice? God’s choices often seem unclear. There are a lot of voices calling for our right to choose these days but they’re not God’s voice.

What’s God’s pathway like? Well, it’s straight (Psalm 27:11), and level (Isaiah 26:7), well lighted (Psalm 119.105) so we won’t stumble in darkness, and also peaceful. (Luke 1:79). To be sure the trail leads upward (Proverbs 15:24) and it’s not always an easy climb. Gods paths are beyond mapping (Romans 11:33) which means that our GPS won’t do us any good so a measure of faith and trust will be needed.

Abram choose Gods path, taking his nephew Lot with him. When Abram and Lots flocks and herds had grown so big that the land around them could not support them both, quarrels broke out between their herdsmen. It was time for them to part. The whole land lay before them.
Abram said, “Lot, you choose. If you go left, I’ll go right, or if you choose right I’ll go left.” Abram didn’t need to choose. He trusted God to choose for him.

Lot chose the path of least resistance. The Jordan plain was well watered, like a fertile garden. It seemed like a good choice. How often have we chosen—like Lot, the path that provides immediate gratification?

The sad end to Lot’s choice was that he was caught up and carted off into bondage and needed Abram to come and rescue him. (Genesis Chapter 14)

I have determined to allow God to choose my pathway. It’s not an easy path, sometimes the gradient feels way too steep, but I’m expecting a panoramic mountain vista at the top in His presence. God has promised us that His pathways lead to life. (Psalm 16 11)

Dear Lord, Thank you for your awesome faithfulness. Thank you that you have a plan for our lives and a path for us to follow. As we look to you for guidance, you have promised to make our path straight. (Proverbs 3:6) Help us each day to eagerly follow. If we stray call us back, Lord. Thank you that you travel with us. Amen

Questions: Whose path are you on? How can we make sure that we are on the right path?

About the author Beverley Rayner

“But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1. Timothy 6:6).

The telemarketer was trying to convince me that the product he was trying to sell me would greatly improve my life.

“Thank you,” I said. “But I have everything I need to be happy.”

“Wonderful!” he said and hung up. It works every time! Try it!

But really, I wasn’t just joking. When I think of where I’ve come from and where I’m now, my heart is overflowing with gratitude. Let me tell you what I mean.

A few decades ago, my mother came to Canada as a war widow with four small children and a huge travel debt. She worked as a farmhand, a cleaning maid, and in a cannery until the day she turned 65. In time she had paid off all her debts, even the mortgage on her own home. Moreover, each of us children were able to pursue post secondary education and land good jobs: two of my siblings as teachers, a sister in secretarial work, and I as a nurse. In time we married and had our own families. Our children have also been able to realize their God-given dreams: some as doctors, teachers, missionaries and proud parents.

“Would your children have done as well had you stayed in Germany?” my aunt wondered. I don’t think so. Canada is indeed the land of opportunity.

But the greatest blessing of all is the fact that in Canada we enjoy religious freedom. In Ukraine under communism my parents and grandparents attended secretive meetings in a barn. To own a Bible or to go to church was a crime punishable by death or deportation to Siberia. But here in Canada we can still worship freely in whatever church we please.

And that is why when I see a Canadian Maple Leaf unfurled in the wind or hear the majestic sound of our Canadian anthem, my heart swells within me and tears come to my eyes. I’m eternally grateful for being able to call Canada my home.

And yes, I do have everything I need to be truly happy.

On this Canada Day let us thank God for our country and spend some time in prayer for our leaders using the words of 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

NB: To buy a copy of Lead, Kindly Light, our family’s story, go to my web page: www.helenlescheid.com

Questions: Today, let’s take the time to thank God for all the blessings that He has bestowed upon us.

About the Author Helen Grace Lescheid

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Fellowship with God, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

Lately the economy is big news. As someone who discusses personal finance I’d have to say that the discussion is good. But, if you add up all the news reports (print, radio, television, internet) you wonder whether Jane and Joe Consumer are really learning anything. So much of what is being reported has no practical value for folks like you and I. So let’s see if we can learn something from the turmoil all around us.

Lesson #1. “Zero Down” mortgages can be dangerous. “No money down” – sounds like every would-be homeowner’s dream offer. No need to struggle saving a down payment. No need to wait until you do. Just sign on the dotted line. Only one problem. You’re upside-down in your home as soon as you close on it. Yep, you owe more than it’s worth. Unless you managed to keep all the closing costs, origination fees, attorney’s fees, etc out of the mortgage. And, that doesn’t typically happen (because your goal was to show up at closing with nothing but your ball point pen).

So maybe being upside-down in your home isn’t so bad. Guess again! You can’t sell your home (unless you can afford to bring a check to the closing). Yep, you’re stuck. And, you’ll stay stuck until the house appreciates to the point where it’s worth more than the balance of your mortgage.

Lesson #2. “Interest Only” mortgages can be dangerous. Interest only mortgages were sold to help keep your payments “affordable” (oh, how I hate that phrase – it means we’ve done something to your loan that’ll hurt more later so that it doesn’t hurt now). Yes, it’s true, you won’t have a pay a portion of the principal you owe each month. So your payment will be lower. But, because you’re not paying any principal the amount you owe doesn’t go down each month. That means that the only way that you’ll actually own more of your house is if the value of your home increases. If home don’t appreciate? You could end up owing more than the home is worth (see “zero down” mortgage comments).

Lesson #3. The 30 and 15 year fixed mortgages have advantages. Both the lender and homeowner benefit. Because the interest rate is fixed, both know how much the payment will be. For the entire life of the loan. No worry that increases in the interest rate will outpace the borrower’s income.

Plus, with every payment a portion of the mortgage is paid off. In small amounts at first, but increasing as time goes on. That means that every payment check is just a little more efficient than the one before. And, the homeowner’s equity increases each month. Even if house prices fall, a portion of the monthly payment will help increase the amount that the borrower owns.

Lesson #4. Not everyone can afford the home that they want. We’d all like it if everyone could afford a nice, spacious home in a good neighborhood. After all, that’s the American dream. But, the truth is we’re not there yet. When you want to own a home badly enough you’ll be tempted to believe anyone who will lend you the money to buy your dream palace. Don’t be fooled. You won’t find them anywhere nearby when you struggle to make the payments. They won’t even recognize you on the street. They sold your mortgage to Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae and you are so yesterday. They’re busy working today’s deal. Don’t place all the blame at their feet. If you buy a house and take on a mortgage without thinking about how different future situations (like a falling housing market) will play out, you have no one to blame but yourself. (and ignorance is no excuse. You don’t have to be too smart to ask for help from someone who knows more)

Lesson #5. Just because the government says it’s okay doesn’t mean that it really is okay. Back in 2004 Congress held some hearings. Problems were identified at that time. You can read what the NY Times reported here. Shortly thereafter the head of Fannie took early retirement as reported in USA Today. At the time some in Congress said that there was nothing seriously wrong and let business go on as usual.

If you took out one of these mortgages since the fall of 2004 you might want to do a little research and see what your representative was saying about Fannie and Freddie back then. They could have prevented you from falling into this trap. It’s sad, but you trusted people for good financial advice and didn’t get it.The rest of us should also check the voting record. Instead of solving a $9 billion problem, now we’re going to have to pay to clean up a $700 billion problem.

Lesson #6. Assuming that house prices will go up is dangerous. Back in 2004 housing prices had been increasing for 25 years. No one knew for sure what the future would bring. History said that prices were going up. But, there was no guarantee that it had to continue without a break. In fact, from about 2002 on many people were predicting that housing prices had to retreat.

Homeowners who bet the house on a rising market are doing just that. Betting their house. Shame on the people who promised them that prices couldn’t drop. And shame on the borrowers’ who believed them.

Lesson #7. Accumulating a down payment before buying a home is a good thing. Sure it’s nice to be able to buy your dream home today even if the only thing you have in your pockets are your hands and some credit cards. But, it’s not a good idea. Here’s why. When you save for a down payment you’re forced to live below your income. So you get used to sacrificing. You also limit your standard of living. Then later when you’ve saved the down payment and buy your home you’ve created the habit of controlling your finances. Not so if you buy with no money down.

Lesson #8. Americans had too much of their wealth tied up in their homes. For the last 25 years housing prices went up. So we didn’t need to do anything to become wealthier. Just stay in our house. That would be ok, but during the same time we’ve been spending just about every dollar we earned. In fact, it was very tempting to use the newly created home equity loans to tap into that new wealth to buy cars, vacations, pay off credit card debt or anything else that came into our little noggins. It also caused us to think that we were wealthier than we really were.

Lesson #9. Just because someone will lend you the money doesn’t mean that you should borrow it. You’d think that if a bank or mortgage company were going to lend you $250,000 that they want to be fairly sure that you’d be able to repay it. Only seems logical. But, in this particular case you’d be wrong. The reason is that the bank/mortgage company was only going to own your mortgage for a short period of time. They sold the loans to Fannie and Freddie. So beyond the first few months they didn’t care whether you could afford the mortgage payments.

They say that one way that we differ from the animals is that we can pass what we learn on to future generations. Let’s hope that’s the case with this mess.

Keep on Stretching those Dollars! Gary Foreman

Save Money and the Environment – It’s possible to do both at once! Find out how in this short article.

After years of negotiating and trying to keep up with our repayment plan, we have lost the house we fought so hard to keep.  Our mortgage payment continued to escalate along with other bills throughout the last few years.  My husband of 10 years and I have two precious daughters ages 3 and 5.  It seems like we could either pay daycare and household bills or the mortgage.

Every morning DEBT stared us in the face.  In addition to our regular jobs we have videography business.  We have humbly shared Christ and prayed with couples when filming their weddings. Each time, watching them grow and reap a harvest while we remain bound by debt.

Two weeks after we got the foreclosure papers in the mail, my husband ended up in the hospital with complications caused by stress.  Still we pressed on believing that God would provide a way to keep this house.  We talked to foreclosure prevention counselors, we fasted, we prayed we rebuked the enemy and pleaded with God to help us.  He did, but I never imagined the help would come in letting the house go.

I have watched my husband suffer from depression and respond in ways that damaged our marriage.  The stressful environment has caused me to snap on my children who’s only crime was acting their age.

When the phone call came and we found out the house was foreclosed after all we have been through, my husband and I sat down and laughed.  Have we cried too much?   Were we in denial?  No, we are free.  The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness there of.  God has a new place for us physically and spiritually.  No house, or job, or any amount of money is worth a broken family.  We are the righteousness of God and he has called us to live life more abundantly- John 10:10. I never thought I would be happy to move from this house.  By the Lord’s mercies, we are not consumed, because his compassion fails not.  I am convinced that this trial was sent to make us stronger, increase our ministry and glorify God through testimony.  He has a new home for us. God has kept us and loved us through this entire process.  Even now as we have had to disclose the foreclosure to family and friends, I feel God’s love.  Rather than be ashamed, I try to focus on Mary and Martha, when they told Jesus, “If you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”  Jesus prayed and thanked God that others were standing by and afterwards performed a great miracle and resurrected Lazarus from the grave.

Remember, we can not be conformed to this world – Romans 12:1.  There is nothing on this earth that can satisfy me and make me whole like God.  When we wake up in the morning, He should be what we meditate on, because He has everything else in control.  God’s will came in a way that we didn’t expect but I welcome it and embrace it just the same.

As we pack our earthly possessions in this house and look for our new home, my family is covered in the peace and love of Christ. Although my address is changing, I am confident that “goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life: and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6).

Questions: Are you facing financial struggles today? What adjustment in your lifestyle is God asking you to make?

About the Author From the Mailbox: Stacey Wiggins

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Nevertheless…, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog