September 3, 2025 • 35 mins
S3 Ep.1 — It’s All God’s Anyway: Rethinking Ownership & Living as Faithful Stewards
Season 3 launches the V in INVESTED: Valuing Stewardship. Allen & Stacy Jo explore the freedom of living as stewards, not owners—inviting the Holy Spirit into your paychecks, calendars, conversations, and decisions so you can live open-handed and watch God bring the increase.
What you’ll learn
- ✅ Moving from belief to followership and why maturity changes stewardship
- ✅ Practical rhythms to steward time, talents, relationships, and finances
- ✅ Letting go of control, comparison, and idolatry—without slipping into chaos
- ✅ “Open hands” that help you release and receive
- ✅ Making God the CEO of your work and home
📖 Scriptures
Psalm 24:1; Romans 12:2; Isaiah 55:8–9; Luke 6:38; Matthew 11:28–30; 1 Corinthians 4:2; John 13; John 16
✨ Takeaways
- You’re not the owner—you’re the steward.
- Seek His presence over provision; let Him order your steps.
- Stewardship replaces striving with peace, clarity, and fruitfulness.
If this episode helped you
- 👉 Follow/Subscribe to Faithfully Invested
- ⭐ Leave a 5-star review so other faith-driven leaders can find the show
- 🔗 Share this episode with someone who’s ready to steward well
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Are you ready to build a life,business and legacy that truly
lasts?
Welcome to Faithfully Investedwith Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne,
where Faith meets real talk.
Biblical wisdom meets everydaylife and leadership meets
laughter.
Together we will uncover God'sblueprint for leadership,
marriage, and mission, helpingfaith-driven leaders invest in
(00:21):
what matters most.
Each episode, we explorebiblical wisdom, have real
conversations, and of course,have some fun along the way
because let's be real.
Walking in faith is anadventure.
It sure is.
So pull up a seat, grab yourcoffee or your sweet tea, and
join us as we steward ourcallings with intention, because
(00:42):
when we invest in his kingdom,he brings the increase.
Hey friends.
Welcome back to FaithfullyInvested, where we explore God's
blueprint for leadership,marriage, and mission, one
Kingdom principle at a time.
(01:02):
So by now, if you've been herefor a little while, yeah.
You know that we embrace ourreality of being followers of
Jesus Christ in our everydaylife.
We deciding move from gratefullysurrendered hearts.
Yeah, and we're so glad you'rehere.
I'm Stacy Jo.
And I'm Allen.
(01:22):
And I first want to point outthat we are now in season three.
Can you believe season three ofour invested framework?
Here we are, and we are jumpinginto the theme of valuing
stewardship.
That's the V in Invested, andthis is actually our 16th
episode here on FaithfullyInvested with Allen and Stacy.
(01:44):
Jo Sweet.
16.
Yes.
And today's episode is a goodone because it touches
everything.
Literally.
We are talking aboutstewardship, but not in a boring
budget and spreadsheet kind ofway.
I personally love spreadsheets,but that's my business.
But this is about your life.
(02:06):
It's about your time, yourtalents, your relationships, and
we're even gonna touch on yourwallet, right.
Today we recognize that it's allGod's anyway.
Mm-hmm.
Personally, as a believer of 16years and a follower of Jesus
Christ about four or five years,wait, can you stop for a second?
(02:27):
Can you explain?
Like, explain the differencebetween a believer and a
follower in case someone,'causesomeone might be like, yeah.
So someone's out there on ninefive Confused right now, right?
Sorry.
Um, yeah, absolutely.
I mean, when we come to faith inJesus Christ, we, we believe
that a man, uh, sent from God toearth, uh, Jesus Christ as a
(02:51):
baby to a virgin, uh.
That, that he existed, that,that he, uh, walked this planet
for, for 33 years.
That he was, um, yeah, that hehad a mission, that he was
again, sent by God, that, thatGod was pleased, uh, well
pleased with his son and, uh.
(03:11):
And we believe that we believe,uh, everything that the Bible
says, we believe as as truth.
Mm-hmm.
We, uh, but as as time goes on,as, as we mature in our faith,
which we should, we shouldmature in our faith, we see
evidence of, of his work in ourlife, we see evidence of.
The capital, teach Ruth, uh, wesee transformation and that, uh,
(03:37):
that experience.
So that's what our faith walksall about.
It's about experiencing,encountering our creator,
encountering our savior,encountering the Holy Spirit.
And as we, as we experiencethose encounters, were, were.
Absolutely convinced.
Not that we weren't convincedbefore, we believe by faith, but
(03:58):
as we have experienced those,those encounters, we, we follow
closer.
Mm-hmm.
It matures our faith and itdraws us closer to him and and
him closer to us.
So does that make sense?
That makes sense.
Yeah.
We go from just believing.
To heartfelt following.
Heartfelt following and doingthat, that 180.
(04:21):
Right.
And going in the oppositedirection.
Right.
Yeah.
And it comes, it comes from, andnot going from believer to, to
following.
That's a relationship.
Mm-hmm.
It's, it's an investment.
It's, it's a faithfulinvestment.
Yeah.
Uh, so, and it's, it's thegreatest decision I ever made in
my life.
Mm-hmm.
And he, uh, yeah.
(04:43):
And, uh, yeah.
And I think, I think our, ourold friend, Brad Parsley said,
uh, that we're, uh, why, why arewe so jubilant?
Why are we so wound up?
You know?
Because, because we've beensaved by the blood of Jesus
Christ, and we just haven'tgotten over that yet.
That's right.
Right.
That's right.
But, uh, yeah.
So, uh, and nor will we get overit, he doesn't let it.
(05:05):
Mm-hmm.
The Holy Spirit doesn't let usget over it.
That's right.
So, uh, buy that experience.
Yeah, because, you know, thefaith walks, it's all about our
experience with them.
It's more than just words on apage, it's experience.
Uh, so by my experience, I'velearned that nothing, uh, that
we own is, is really ours.
(05:25):
Right.
You know, not our money, not ourstuff, not even our kids.
Um, and especially not ourplans.
Right.
What I've learned, what we'velearned.
Um, is that the more that weyield, the better.
Yeah.
And you know, this might be oneof those episodes where the Holy
(05:47):
Spirit might tap you on theshoulder a bit, and that's okay.
Don't resist it.
We've been tapped on theshoulder plenty of times by the
Holy Spirit, but it's because hewants to set you free.
He doesn't wanna tie you inguilt.
The Holy Spirit will never dothat.
Right.
We will never do that.
We are not about guilt or shame.
Right.
So it's a good thing when hetaps your on the sho taps you on
(06:09):
the shoulder.
Absolutely.
And that, and that comes backand this is an episode for
another time, discerning thevoices.
If you're getting tapped on theshoulder and you're feeling
guilt, that's not the HolySpirit.
That's right.
You gotta discern those voices.
'cause the enemy deals incondemnation, the spirit deals
with transformation.
He's, he's very positive.
He's moving you forward.
(06:30):
Right.
Uh, so, uh, so yeah, that one'sfor free.
I'm sure we'll come back to thatsometime.
Yeah, we'll go.
But you can even go back andlisten to our first season where
we talked about hearing fromGod, right?
Yeah, absolutely.
So, so I think.
I think that we could all agreethat our culture celebrates
ownership.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, ownership of what about a mycar?
(06:54):
Uh, my house.
Uh, my job.
My truth.
Goodness.
Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine,mine.
It wasn't the seagulls on, uh,the seagulls on and, uh, Nemo.
Yes.
Mine.
Mine, mine.
Yes.
Yeah.
Uhhuh.
Anyway, Stacy hates birds.
Is that why?
But, uh, anyway.
Uh, but yeah, my stuff, my, mytruth.
(07:17):
Uh, don't get me started onsubjective truth.
I will digress immediately andmove on to mention that.
You know, Psalm 24, uh, it pullsus, it, it centers us back to
God's created truth.
Uh, when David recognizes thatthe Earth is the Lord's and all
that it contains the world andthose who dwell in it.
(07:42):
Is we're all created by God.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, David writes that, that Godhas has founded it upon a sea,
and he is established it uponthe rivers.
Friends, this isn't just poeticfluff, this is foundational
capital T truth.
Right.
You know, we weren't created tobe owners, but we were created
(08:05):
to be stewards.
And that means that everythingwe've been given.
That has been given to us fromGod.
Yeah.
Our part of the deal is to takecare of it.
Yeah.
To multiply it and then to offerit back to him with joy and
surrender.
And that includes our ministriesand our businesses.
Yeah.
As well.
(08:25):
Absolutely.
Our families, our money,everything.
Everything, everything.
Our time, you know, everythingevery, you know, everything is,
uh.
Yeah, it's his, it's all his.
It's all his.
It's all his.
And that the challenge we faceis when we see things as, as
owners instead of stewards, isthat we get tight with the
(08:46):
stuff.
Right.
Tight with the money, thebelongings maybe not as
generous, you know, and, and to,and you know, touch on this a
little later too, but I got oneword for that.
It's called idle.
Mm.
That's an idol When, yeah, whenthe stuff becomes more important
than, than the provider of thestuff, which is, which is God.
(09:08):
Um, then we have a challengewith idolatry and that's not too
cool.
Mm.
Right.
Um, but, uh, anyway, when wealso, when we get tight with the
stuff, uh, we fall into thatnasty comparison trap.
The whole keeping up with theJoneses.
Right.
What a bunch of nonsense, um,comparison leads to stress while
(09:31):
we try to control the situationto no avail mind you.
And in the end, we're left withfrustration and exhaustion as
well as landing well outside ofhis plan for us.
He has a plan for all of us, andif we get caught in comparison
and all this other nonsense, thenoise.
Uh, if we get caught in thenoise, then we're not gonna be
(09:53):
fulfilling this plan.
We're gonna land over here.
That's, that's a distraction.
That's where the enemy wants, isthe enemy of our souls.
Uh, Satan, the devil.
You call him who you want.
He wants us.
Well, outside of God's plan forus.
Yeah.
He wants us distracted by thestuff and the busyness and that,
but, um, but a better way.
(10:15):
Uh, starts with listening.
Mm-hmm.
Following and staying in yourlane, uh, considering all things
a blessing.
Yeah.
Don't get me wrong, it's we're,I'm not badmouthing the stuff.
I'm not, I'm not demonizing thestuff.
Having nice things isn't wrong.
Uh, it's when the nice thingsbecome an idol, that's when the
(10:36):
challenge, uh, yeah.
That's when the challengestarts.
Yeah.
And when things don't go the waywe expect.
Like a job loss or a shift in arelationship, or even a
financial hit, right?
It can feel like our identity isbeing stripped, right?
But think about this.
Maybe God is just asking us torelease what?
(11:01):
Was never ours to begin with.
Right.
Where are we finding oursecurity?
Maybe it wasn't ours.
Well, we know it wasn't ours tobegin with because it's all on
loan from him.
It's all his anyhow.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm just gonna share whereI've gotten this wrong, and
y'all probably know that'causewe've talked about it in
previous episodes, that I have abusiness and for the longest
(11:25):
time I considered it my baby.
I started it when the kids were,were grown and Allen was pouring
his time into school andministry.
So I poured everything into it.
Um, but I didn't invite God intothe decision making.
(11:45):
Right.
I mean, he led me to start thebusiness and I was very
intentional about making surethat this is what he wanted me
to do.
But I somehow, in my busynessand in my, um, distractedness
ownership and my distractedness,I forgot to continue consulting
(12:05):
with him.
And as the business started togrow, I was, I was in crazy
train mode.
I, I tried to hold it alltogether by force.
I was burnt out.
I was anxious and, and honestly,I was prideful because I
considered it mine, mine.
(12:26):
And it wasn't really, it wasn'tjust, wasn't until I fully
submitted it and said, God, thisis yours.
You lead it.
And it was then truly that peacestarted.
To enter the situation.
And when I truly made God myCEO, when I say, God, you are
(12:50):
the CEO of Freedom SupportSolutions.
And I took my control off of it.
Yeah.
And I started allowing thosethat he had brought around me to
really help me instead of tryingto do it all on my own.
I mean, we talked about thatlast week and when I started
consulting him about thedecisions that I had to make.
(13:11):
Actually slowed down long enoughto hear what he had to say.
Yeah.
And got quiet long enough tohear what he had to say.
There was a major shift inmyself and in the business.
Yeah.
And we started getting the rightclients.
The finances improved.
(13:32):
And my workload actuallydecreased because I was allowing
others to take on some of thoseresponsibilities that I was so
adamant that I had to take careof because it was mine, mine,
mine.
Right, right.
So something I, I, I thought onjust, just earlier today is, uh,
I wonder, you had mentionedthat, um, that he, he, he gave
(13:55):
you the idea mm-hmm.
For, for the, the BusinessFreedom Support Solutions.
Yeah.
And that you had, uh.
You hadn't, um, given himcontrol of it.
You were, it was yours, yours,yours.
Yeah, mine, mine, mine, mine,mine.
Yeah.
And, uh, but something like thetitle of the business, which has
been the title I remembersitting on here thinking about
(14:19):
titles for the business.
Mm-hmm.
But Freedom, support Solution.
Had it, had it ever occurred toyou that, uh, that where our
freedom is found?
Freedom found in Christ Jesusalone.
Christ.
Yeah.
He, he, uh, has the son as, asfree indeed.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, who, who could, who is ourgreatest support?
(14:41):
Uh, Jesus.
Jesus.
Right.
And who is the solution has beenand always will be the solution.
Yeah.
Jesus.
Jesus, that's it.
He's the Free Freedom SupportSolutions.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
Blammo bla I, yeah, no, I hadnever thought about that.
(15:01):
Right.
Yeah.
He hit me with that in thekitchen today.
I was like, I wonder if she everconsidered that, but yeah, no
freedom support solutions.
I never, I never consideredthat.
I mean, I remember when he gaveme the name and I was getting
onto 95 and I had had severalnames I was looking at, but.
I really wasn't sure which one.
Right.
Um, and through a book that Iwas reading, it was, he said, he
(15:23):
said, pick one and watch itgrow.
Right.
And I was like, okay, this isit.
This is the one.
But no, I had never.
Well considered now, you know alady now I know.
No, you not.
That's awesome.
Put that on your business card.
Right, right.
Uh, but, uh, he is my freedom.
He is my support, and he is mysolution.
(15:46):
He is a solution.
That's it.
Amen.
That's it.
Amen.
But, uh, going back to.
To mentoring, mentoringrelationships.
Mm-hmm.
I, or stewarding ourrelationships mm-hmm.
Or stewarding everything.
Well, everything, yeah.
You know, I've, I've beenthrough challenges there as
well.
That, and I, I, I'll mention a,a mentoring relationship.
There is a time that, that Iheld too tightly to the fellas
(16:07):
that I cared for.
Um, if you've been listening,uh, you know, I, I'm, we're
we're heavy into the recoverycommunity, but I was, I was too.
Holding on to them too tight.
I, I wanted their recovery, uh,sadly more than they did at the
time.
Mm-hmm.
Thinking that I was the catalystfor change and that, and that I
(16:28):
was gonna fix everything if theywould just listen and do what
I've done.
Uh, maybe if we prayed harder,but Nope, it wasn't working.
And you know why we mentionedthis, uh.
On one of the other episodes,you know, it didn't go that way
(16:50):
because I'm not the savior.
Right.
I think that was last episode.
Maybe I'm not the savior.
Codependency is not the way,especially in recovery, you
know, there's recovery forcodependency.
Right.
And we can't want, we can't wantthe recovery more than they do.
Mm-hmm.
And we don't want to get intothose weeds too much.
(17:11):
Others, we will get into that.
On down the line.
But, um, but, um, I was notstewarding that relationship
well at all, and I had tosurrender it to the Lord.
And when I did, I, I experiencedhis freedom, uh, and they
experienced his freedom.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, it was a tremendous learningexperience, uh, early in my
(17:33):
recovery of people here.
This is like, I ain't doing thatun bouncing at all.
But this was very early.
Very early.
Yeah.
In my recovery, like, uh, likeyear two, year three.
Um, because, um.
You know, the, it was a learningexperience because the Holy
Spirit met me where I was at.
Uh, and he met me in thatrelease and he taught me, uh,
(17:56):
the, the word says, I think it'sin John, uh, John 16, that, uh,
that the spirit will come and,and he will remind us of
everything.
Jesus said, everything that Itaught you, everything that I
said, he will remind you of thatand he'll bring us all the
truth.
Um.
But, uh, he, he met me in thatrelease and, and as well, he
(18:19):
just the same, you know,'causehe's with us all right.
He met with these, uh, thefellas that I was mentoring
there.
Uh, he met with them as well andI'm happy to say that they're
doing pretty well these days.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
Sometimes you gotta let it goand you gotta recognize that we
are not the saviors, right?
(18:41):
Right.
Yep.
We are not.
And we're also not our owntimekeepers, so you know.
Right.
Let's talk about time.
I mean, there's only so much ofit, and Yeah.
Don't you think we shouldprobably be wise and be good
stewards of that as well?
Yeah.
I mean, we think we're incontrol of our calendars, but we
(19:04):
can be stingy with our time.
Mm.
And then wonder why we feeldisconnected from God and
people.
Right.
Because we're not making time todo what God has called us to do.
We're not making time to spendwith him.
Yeah.
That's why we're disconnected.
We're not ma making time to leadand disciple others.
(19:24):
Right.
It's a, a little crooked.
Teach them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Gets a little, little lopsideddown when we uh, right.
So our, our busyness is, seemsto be the way of the 21st
century.
Uh, and I remember, uh, again,early in my recovery that, that
my mentor told me he is, he islike.
(19:46):
One, you gotta exercise your nomuscle.
Mm-hmm.
Learn to exercise that.
No muscle.
You gotta build that muscle.
He goes and remember this, andI, and I always have obviously,
um, busyness isn't of the devil.
Busyness is the devil.
Yeah.
He intends on keeping usdistracted with the busyness or
the noise.
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, and if we're.
(20:08):
If we're all caught up in ourbusyness, we're gonna miss the
Holy Spirit's nudges.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, and we're gonna begin tobelieve or continue to believe
that, that we're actually incharge.
And then that's, uh, whew.
That's a snowball effect there.
It's not, it doesn't land well.
No.
So, uh, the sooner we, thesooner we exit that lie, uh,
(20:33):
that, that horrible busynessmindset, the better, the sooner
we recognize that he's in chargeof everything, yeah.
The better we are.
Absolutely everything.
Yeah.
Um, so.
Are you ready for somesolutions?
Because we Yeah.
Practical.
Are they practical?
They're always practical.
They gotta be practical, youknow, we have to be able to
(20:55):
apply them to our daily life,so.
Exactly.
So let's, um, so how do we shiftfrom ownership to stewardship?
Mm-hmm.
I think first we gotta welcome aparadigm shift mm-hmm.
And renew our mindset.
Mm-hmm.
You know, the, the simplicityof.
Romans 12, two, uh, uh, we canmake it hard, but it's, it's
(21:18):
really, it's not hard.
It says, be transformed by therenewing of your mind.
And, uh, we have to allow, and,and, and the spirit wants to do
that.
He wants to transform our heartsand minds.
And we just have to yield, wehave to allow him to, uh, to
show us a better way and, andrenew our minds.
(21:41):
So we gotta, we can start bysaying that, Hey.
When it comes to Steward, thisis God's and I'm just managing
it and you know, thank him.
You know, it says enter hisgates with thanksgiving and
praise.
Yeah.
Thank him for trusting youenough to, to take care of it
(22:06):
and take care of it.
Well, thank him for guiding youhow to take care of it.
Well, and uh, yeah, that's,that's.
A good way to renew our mindsetthere.
Yeah.
It really is a paradigm shift.
Um,'cause I can remember when Igot to that point, you know,
where I needed, I needed thatparadigm shift, otherwise I was
(22:26):
gonna burn out.
And Freedom Support Solutionswas no longer going to exist and
it wasn't gonna be.
You know, because of him.
Right?
It was gonna be because of me.
Right?
But second, we wanna invite theHoly Spirit into the practical
stuff.
I mean, ask him, Lord, how doyou want me to use this
paycheck?
Yeah.
(22:46):
How do you want me to use thislunch hour?
What about the conversation withmy family?
When he leads, it may surpriseyou, but it will be life giving
100% of the time.
So remember, his thoughts andhis ways are always higher and
greater than ours.
I mean, Isaiah 55:8-9 says, formy thoughts are not your
(23:09):
thoughts.
Neither are your ways.
My ways.
Declare the Lord.
Right?
So we went, when we invite himinto the every day.
We align with divine wisdominstead of human striving.
Yeah.
And I'd rather have divinewisdom than human striving.
Any day of the week, I'm gonnatake divine wisdom.
(23:30):
Yeah, divine wisdom.
Number one answer.
Yeah.
You don't wanna strive.
I strive.
I think we, we strive.
There's nothing wrong withstriving, but you know.
Right.
Take it back to Solomon.
Solomon could have asked theLord for anything, but he asked
for wisdom.
He did, you know, divine wisdom.
Divine wisdom.
(23:51):
So I, I'm gonna definitely gowith wisdom.
I was thinking that same thing,right?
Yeah.
So, so next we want to, we wannapractice open hands.
Mm-hmm.
Open hands one.
So, so we can release and so wecan receive.
Yes.
You know, we gotta practice, uh,open hands.
It's not always easy, but I willtell you, we will tell you, we,
(24:14):
we practice open hands.
Um.
Not to brag or not to post atall.
Always.
Not always.
Sometimes, sometimes we have toremind ourselves, but well,
we're feeling we do our best.
Yeah.
We, we need to be reminded.
Mm-hmm.
So, yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
There you go.
She's transparent, you know?
Yeah.
Very nice.
And I, and anyway, moving.
Oh, we gotta practice.
Uh, open hands.
(24:35):
It's not always easy, but wewill tell you.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, it's worth it.
Yeah.
1 Corinthians 4:2 reminds us.
Go figure, Paul reminding us.
And now, uh, it's required ofstewards that one be found
trustworthy.
Mm-hmm.
Gotta be trustworthy.
If you, if you don't have trust,you don't have anything.
(24:57):
All right.
Everything breaks down ifthere's no trust.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, holding things with openhands shows us that we trust the
giver.
More than the gift.
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
It's not about letting go orlosing, it's about opening up so
that he can pour in more.
Yeah.
It's about releasing andreceiving.
(25:19):
Yeah, releasing and receiving.
So start with something small.
Yeah.
Uh, maybe give generouslywithout expecting anything in
return.
There's a great idea.
I think Jesus might have donethat time or two, uh uh, saying
yes.
Uh, to his divine insightconcerning your schedule time.
(25:40):
Uh, maybe since he's God and youare not, uh, maybe we do better
to cut loose the stressfulfuture.
Plan.
And remember, frustration,anxiety, and exhaustion are
never part of his plan for anyof us.
No, never.
Never.
Right.
Um.
(26:01):
In one of our episodes.
It just reminded me'cause youwere talking about the gift
instead of, you know, the giftinstead of the giver.
Yeah.
Where we talked before about theprovider over the provision.
Absolutely.
His face over his hand, hispresence over his hand.
Yeah.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
(26:21):
Absolutely.
Mm-hmm.
But he offers both, but Right.
You know, when we, when we res,when we're.
Content.
And when, when we, when wewelcome his face, his presence.
Yeah.
Uh, it's so much more fulfillingthan just his hand.
Yeah.
When we, when we, when we gethis presence, when we welcome
(26:41):
his presence and, and we drawnear to him and he draws us near
to us, the hand comes.
Yeah.
But it's the presence thatmatters.
That's it.
That's it.
And so fourth.
We wanna celebrate surrenderbecause when we steward God's
gifts, instead of clutchingthem, you know, again, going,
(27:02):
kind of going back to the openhands, he multiplies them.
Yeah.
Uh, Luke 6:38 says, give and itwill be given to you a good
measure.
Press down, shaken together, andrunning over.
Yeah.
And when we surrender what wethink is small.
God shows us just how big hisabundance really is.
(27:22):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
And I think I, I always go backand I think of the boy with the,
the loaves and the fish.
Yeah.
I mean, his little.
In the hands of Jesus became anabundant miracle, right?
For thousands, right?
And I could go on and on withscripture that give examples of
God pouring out abundance overhis children.
(27:44):
Um, I'm sure you know a lot ofthem too, but.
I would've loved to have seenhis fa, I would've loved to have
been on the scene, and I would,I would love to see, uh, and the
chosen did the, the feeding ofthe 5,000.
Yeah.
But I would love to see theexpression of this kid, uh, and
have these two grown men takehis lunch.
And he is like, dude.
(28:05):
Right?
And, and then, and then have hislunch be the ca uh, well, not
the catalyst, but the, thelittle, the of which Christ made
much of.
Yeah.
You know, just, uh, I, I meantwhat, what about the kid?
What about the boy with thelunch?
We don't hear anything abouthim.
Yeah.
But yeah, we can only imaginethat he was.
(28:25):
His jaw dropped, to say theleast.
To say the least, but, uh, so,but he can do so much with so
little.
Well, that's what we say.
Uh, and that's one of our, ourmain points in, in reviving
recovery, Unbound, is that theHoly Spirit can do more in a
moment, uh, than we couldaccomplish in a lifetime.
(28:47):
100%.
Absolutely.
So, so friends for clarity,we're not ever talking about
shame.
Mm-hmm.
Shame has no place in God's planfor any of us.
Uh, but instead we're, we'retalking about a shared
experience, uh, a freedom foundonly in placing God first daily.
(29:10):
Right.
Placing God first, daily,welcoming him into our daily,
because from Genesis toRevelation.
God says me first.
Yeah.
And when we decide to do that,when we make that decision to
make him first daily, I promiseyou, not my promise to you, but
his promise to you mm-hmm.
Is you'll never regret that.
(29:31):
That's right.
So when you stop, when we stopliving.
Like an owner and we startliving like a steward.
We're more able to, uh, to walkin the light as he is in the
light.
And in turn we're able to hearhis still small voice just a bit
clearer every time we do that,and every time we decide to stop
(29:55):
and listen to him.
Yeah.
Right.
It's more our relationship withthe Lord is so much more about,
and then, and then we couldbring, talk about stewarding
relationships, you know?
Mm-hmm.
Our stewarding properly, ourrelationship with the Lord.
It's more than our, our laundrylist.
(30:15):
Yeah.
It's, it's about, you know, aconversation.
Uh, do you, have you ever been,you know, with someone and just
talked, talk, talk, talk, talk,and never listened?
You know.
Don't be that person with theLord, the, or.
The relationship includesconversation and, and, uh,
conversation.
(30:35):
The mo really the most importantpart of the conversation is
listening, right?
So we, when we, and, and the,the word says, bring our request
to him.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, but also.
He's got something to say too.
Listen for what he says becausethe creator of the universe,
your creator who knitted you inyour mother's womb, uh, and and
said that you are fearfully andwonderfully made.
(30:58):
Yeah.
He has something to say to you.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I guess our question to youis, what's one area of your life
that you need to surrendertoday?
Yeah.
Maybe it's finances or arelationship.
Maybe it's your business or.
Your calendar.
Right.
You know your time, you know,take it to Jesus and say, Lord,
(31:20):
this is yours.
Yeah.
Show me how to handle it likeyou would.
Yeah.
Show me how to handle it likeyou would.
I have a friend who, who is aCFO and she's, she talks about
Jesus's books because, you know,he was a business owner and she
says, do you think his, hisbooks.
(31:42):
We're all messed up.
Do you think that he did shoddywork as a carpenter?
I'm guessing not.
His books were in order.
His product was good.
He did everything withexcellence.
Right.
And so if we are asking him toshow us how.
(32:03):
To handle it like he would.
Yes.
It's gonna be done withexcellence in all things.
Absolutely.
So if you're a business owner,make God the CEO.
Yeah.
Make him the CEO.
Let him lead you.
Right.
And I will tell you fromexperience that you will not be
sorry.
Doesn't mean that you're notgonna have issues now and again,
of course.
(32:23):
But if he's leading you.
It's going to be a whole loteasier to come through those
valleys.
Yeah.
Than if you're trying to do iton your own.
Yeah.
The issues in the valleys areopportunities to learn that.
That's right.
Opportunities to trust him more.
And uh, and we have to rememberthat he's the God that puts
(32:48):
order to chaos.
Yes.
And if, and if, and if you're,if you're currently dealing with
chaos.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
His name is Jesus, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, yeah.
So anyway, uh, it's important toinvite the Holy Spirit into our
dailies.
Mm-hmm.
He's ready to speak with you.
He's just waiting on you tostart the conversation.
(33:11):
Uh, the spirit is personal.
Uh, he's relational and he's thespirit of truth who's been sent
to guide us.
All the truth, not just some ofthe truth, but all the truth.
And uh, and all the truth is, isthe capital of teachers, all the
truth comes from Jesus.
Yeah.
You know, he is the truth.
(33:32):
He is the way, he is the life.
Mm-hmm.
But the spirit in his, in hisrelations with us, he, he's
called to bring us the truth.
And part of that truth is.
That, that he can do more in amoment than we could accomplish
in a lifetime.
Yeah.
But we gotta believe, we gottalisten and we gotta trust him
faithfully.
Absolutely.
(33:52):
You know, you are never meant tocarry any of this alone.
Yeah.
You know, not yourrelationships, not your
finances, not your business,nothing.
You are not meant to carry yourlife alone because.
It's all Gods.
Anyways, that's it.
Remember, that's it.
That burden doesn't belong toyou.
No, it's all his.
Matthew 11, all his says, andthis, this was a huge verse last
(34:16):
year and uh, and carried intothis, it's a huge verse, is, uh,
Jesus says, take my yoke uponyou and learn from me.
Yes, take my yoke.
And so when.
Release that burden to him.
Yoke up with the one who came tocarry the burden and, and who
defeated, the one who's tryingto distract you and learn from
(34:39):
him.
Alright, come on, we love y'all.
That's the word.
So, until next time, next week,I wanna tell you though, before
we go, that we are talking abouta commodity.
We're talking about thecommodity of time, time, and
that it's a gift and not aguarantee.
Right on.
So until next time.
(34:59):
Until next time.
Remember, when you arefaithfully invested, God brings
the increase.
Yes, he does.
God bless.
Take care.
Thanks for joining us onFaithfully Invested with Allen
and Stacy Jo, if today'sconversation encouraged you,
challenged you, or helped yousee your calling more clearly,
don't keep it to yourself.
(35:20):
That's right.
Share it with a friend.
Leave a five star review andkeep leaning into God's
blueprint for your life, yourleadership, and your legacy.
So until next time, remember,when you invest in his kingdom,
he brings the increase.
Are you ready to build a life,business and legacy that truly
lasts?
Welcome to Faithfully Investedwith Allen and Stacy Jo Thorne,
where Faith meets real talk.
Biblical wisdom meets everydaylife and leadership meets
laughter.
Together we will uncover God'sblueprint for leadership,
marriage, and mission, helpingfaith-driven leaders invest in
(00:21):
what matters most.
Each episode, we explorebiblical wisdom, have real
conversations, and of course,have some fun along the way
because let's be real.
Walking in faith is anadventure.
It sure is.
So pull up a seat, grab yourcoffee or your sweet tea, and
join us as we steward ourcallings with intention, because
(00:42):
when we invest in his kingdom,he brings the increase.
Hey friends.
Welcome back to FaithfullyInvested, where we explore God's
blueprint for leadership,marriage, and mission, one
Kingdom principle at a time.
(01:02):
So by now, if you've been herefor a little while, yeah.
You know that we embrace ourreality of being followers of
Jesus Christ in our everydaylife.
We deciding move from gratefullysurrendered hearts.
Yeah, and we're so glad you'rehere.
I'm Stacy Jo.
And I'm Allen.
(01:22):
And I first want to point outthat we are now in season three.
Can you believe season three ofour invested framework?
Here we are, and we are jumpinginto the theme of valuing
stewardship.
That's the V in Invested, andthis is actually our 16th
episode here on FaithfullyInvested with Allen and Stacy.
(01:44):
Jo Sweet.
16.
Yes.
And today's episode is a goodone because it touches
everything.
Literally.
We are talking aboutstewardship, but not in a boring
budget and spreadsheet kind ofway.
I personally love spreadsheets,but that's my business.
But this is about your life.
(02:06):
It's about your time, yourtalents, your relationships, and
we're even gonna touch on yourwallet, right.
Today we recognize that it's allGod's anyway.
Mm-hmm.
Personally, as a believer of 16years and a follower of Jesus
Christ about four or five years,wait, can you stop for a second?
(02:27):
Can you explain?
Like, explain the differencebetween a believer and a
follower in case someone,'causesomeone might be like, yeah.
So someone's out there on ninefive Confused right now, right?
Sorry.
Um, yeah, absolutely.
I mean, when we come to faith inJesus Christ, we, we believe
that a man, uh, sent from God toearth, uh, Jesus Christ as a
(02:51):
baby to a virgin, uh.
That, that he existed, that,that he, uh, walked this planet
for, for 33 years.
That he was, um, yeah, that hehad a mission, that he was
again, sent by God, that, thatGod was pleased, uh, well
pleased with his son and, uh.
(03:11):
And we believe that we believe,uh, everything that the Bible
says, we believe as as truth.
Mm-hmm.
We, uh, but as as time goes on,as, as we mature in our faith,
which we should, we shouldmature in our faith, we see
evidence of, of his work in ourlife, we see evidence of.
The capital, teach Ruth, uh, wesee transformation and that, uh,
(03:37):
that experience.
So that's what our faith walksall about.
It's about experiencing,encountering our creator,
encountering our savior,encountering the Holy Spirit.
And as we, as we experiencethose encounters, were, were.
Absolutely convinced.
Not that we weren't convincedbefore, we believe by faith, but
(03:58):
as we have experienced those,those encounters, we, we follow
closer.
Mm-hmm.
It matures our faith and itdraws us closer to him and and
him closer to us.
So does that make sense?
That makes sense.
Yeah.
We go from just believing.
To heartfelt following.
Heartfelt following and doingthat, that 180.
(04:21):
Right.
And going in the oppositedirection.
Right.
Yeah.
And it comes, it comes from, andnot going from believer to, to
following.
That's a relationship.
Mm-hmm.
It's, it's an investment.
It's, it's a faithfulinvestment.
Yeah.
Uh, so, and it's, it's thegreatest decision I ever made in
my life.
Mm-hmm.
And he, uh, yeah.
(04:43):
And, uh, yeah.
And I think, I think our, ourold friend, Brad Parsley said,
uh, that we're, uh, why, why arewe so jubilant?
Why are we so wound up?
You know?
Because, because we've beensaved by the blood of Jesus
Christ, and we just haven'tgotten over that yet.
That's right.
Right.
That's right.
But, uh, yeah.
So, uh, and nor will we get overit, he doesn't let it.
(05:05):
Mm-hmm.
The Holy Spirit doesn't let usget over it.
That's right.
So, uh, buy that experience.
Yeah, because, you know, thefaith walks, it's all about our
experience with them.
It's more than just words on apage, it's experience.
Uh, so by my experience, I'velearned that nothing, uh, that
we own is, is really ours.
(05:25):
Right.
You know, not our money, not ourstuff, not even our kids.
Um, and especially not ourplans.
Right.
What I've learned, what we'velearned.
Um, is that the more that weyield, the better.
Yeah.
And you know, this might be oneof those episodes where the Holy
(05:47):
Spirit might tap you on theshoulder a bit, and that's okay.
Don't resist it.
We've been tapped on theshoulder plenty of times by the
Holy Spirit, but it's because hewants to set you free.
He doesn't wanna tie you inguilt.
The Holy Spirit will never dothat.
Right.
We will never do that.
We are not about guilt or shame.
Right.
So it's a good thing when hetaps your on the sho taps you on
(06:09):
the shoulder.
Absolutely.
And that, and that comes backand this is an episode for
another time, discerning thevoices.
If you're getting tapped on theshoulder and you're feeling
guilt, that's not the HolySpirit.
That's right.
You gotta discern those voices.
'cause the enemy deals incondemnation, the spirit deals
with transformation.
He's, he's very positive.
He's moving you forward.
(06:30):
Right.
Uh, so, uh, so yeah, that one'sfor free.
I'm sure we'll come back to thatsometime.
Yeah, we'll go.
But you can even go back andlisten to our first season where
we talked about hearing fromGod, right?
Yeah, absolutely.
So, so I think.
I think that we could all agreethat our culture celebrates
ownership.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, ownership of what about a mycar?
(06:54):
Uh, my house.
Uh, my job.
My truth.
Goodness.
Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine,mine.
It wasn't the seagulls on, uh,the seagulls on and, uh, Nemo.
Yes.
Mine.
Mine, mine.
Yes.
Yeah.
Uhhuh.
Anyway, Stacy hates birds.
Is that why?
But, uh, anyway.
Uh, but yeah, my stuff, my, mytruth.
(07:17):
Uh, don't get me started onsubjective truth.
I will digress immediately andmove on to mention that.
You know, Psalm 24, uh, it pullsus, it, it centers us back to
God's created truth.
Uh, when David recognizes thatthe Earth is the Lord's and all
that it contains the world andthose who dwell in it.
(07:42):
Is we're all created by God.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, David writes that, that Godhas has founded it upon a sea,
and he is established it uponthe rivers.
Friends, this isn't just poeticfluff, this is foundational
capital T truth.
Right.
You know, we weren't created tobe owners, but we were created
(08:05):
to be stewards.
And that means that everythingwe've been given.
That has been given to us fromGod.
Yeah.
Our part of the deal is to takecare of it.
Yeah.
To multiply it and then to offerit back to him with joy and
surrender.
And that includes our ministriesand our businesses.
Yeah.
As well.
(08:25):
Absolutely.
Our families, our money,everything.
Everything, everything.
Our time, you know, everythingevery, you know, everything is,
uh.
Yeah, it's his, it's all his.
It's all his.
It's all his.
And that the challenge we faceis when we see things as, as
owners instead of stewards, isthat we get tight with the
(08:46):
stuff.
Right.
Tight with the money, thebelongings maybe not as
generous, you know, and, and to,and you know, touch on this a
little later too, but I got oneword for that.
It's called idle.
Mm.
That's an idol When, yeah, whenthe stuff becomes more important
than, than the provider of thestuff, which is, which is God.
(09:08):
Um, then we have a challengewith idolatry and that's not too
cool.
Mm.
Right.
Um, but, uh, anyway, when wealso, when we get tight with the
stuff, uh, we fall into thatnasty comparison trap.
The whole keeping up with theJoneses.
Right.
What a bunch of nonsense, um,comparison leads to stress while
(09:31):
we try to control the situationto no avail mind you.
And in the end, we're left withfrustration and exhaustion as
well as landing well outside ofhis plan for us.
He has a plan for all of us, andif we get caught in comparison
and all this other nonsense, thenoise.
Uh, if we get caught in thenoise, then we're not gonna be
(09:53):
fulfilling this plan.
We're gonna land over here.
That's, that's a distraction.
That's where the enemy wants, isthe enemy of our souls.
Uh, Satan, the devil.
You call him who you want.
He wants us.
Well, outside of God's plan forus.
Yeah.
He wants us distracted by thestuff and the busyness and that,
but, um, but a better way.
(10:15):
Uh, starts with listening.
Mm-hmm.
Following and staying in yourlane, uh, considering all things
a blessing.
Yeah.
Don't get me wrong, it's we're,I'm not badmouthing the stuff.
I'm not, I'm not demonizing thestuff.
Having nice things isn't wrong.
Uh, it's when the nice thingsbecome an idol, that's when the
(10:36):
challenge, uh, yeah.
That's when the challengestarts.
Yeah.
And when things don't go the waywe expect.
Like a job loss or a shift in arelationship, or even a
financial hit, right?
It can feel like our identity isbeing stripped, right?
But think about this.
Maybe God is just asking us torelease what?
(11:01):
Was never ours to begin with.
Right.
Where are we finding oursecurity?
Maybe it wasn't ours.
Well, we know it wasn't ours tobegin with because it's all on
loan from him.
It's all his anyhow.
Mm-hmm.
And I'm just gonna share whereI've gotten this wrong, and
y'all probably know that'causewe've talked about it in
previous episodes, that I have abusiness and for the longest
(11:25):
time I considered it my baby.
I started it when the kids were,were grown and Allen was pouring
his time into school andministry.
So I poured everything into it.
Um, but I didn't invite God intothe decision making.
(11:45):
Right.
I mean, he led me to start thebusiness and I was very
intentional about making surethat this is what he wanted me
to do.
But I somehow, in my busynessand in my, um, distractedness
ownership and my distractedness,I forgot to continue consulting
(12:05):
with him.
And as the business started togrow, I was, I was in crazy
train mode.
I, I tried to hold it alltogether by force.
I was burnt out.
I was anxious and, and honestly,I was prideful because I
considered it mine, mine.
(12:26):
And it wasn't really, it wasn'tjust, wasn't until I fully
submitted it and said, God, thisis yours.
You lead it.
And it was then truly that peacestarted.
To enter the situation.
And when I truly made God myCEO, when I say, God, you are
(12:50):
the CEO of Freedom SupportSolutions.
And I took my control off of it.
Yeah.
And I started allowing thosethat he had brought around me to
really help me instead of tryingto do it all on my own.
I mean, we talked about thatlast week and when I started
consulting him about thedecisions that I had to make.
(13:11):
Actually slowed down long enoughto hear what he had to say.
Yeah.
And got quiet long enough tohear what he had to say.
There was a major shift inmyself and in the business.
Yeah.
And we started getting the rightclients.
The finances improved.
(13:32):
And my workload actuallydecreased because I was allowing
others to take on some of thoseresponsibilities that I was so
adamant that I had to take careof because it was mine, mine,
mine.
Right, right.
So something I, I, I thought onjust, just earlier today is, uh,
I wonder, you had mentionedthat, um, that he, he, he gave
(13:55):
you the idea mm-hmm.
For, for the, the BusinessFreedom Support Solutions.
Yeah.
And that you had, uh.
You hadn't, um, given himcontrol of it.
You were, it was yours, yours,yours.
Yeah, mine, mine, mine, mine,mine.
Yeah.
And, uh, but something like thetitle of the business, which has
been the title I remembersitting on here thinking about
(14:19):
titles for the business.
Mm-hmm.
But Freedom, support Solution.
Had it, had it ever occurred toyou that, uh, that where our
freedom is found?
Freedom found in Christ Jesusalone.
Christ.
Yeah.
He, he, uh, has the son as, asfree indeed.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, who, who could, who is ourgreatest support?
(14:41):
Uh, Jesus.
Jesus.
Right.
And who is the solution has beenand always will be the solution.
Yeah.
Jesus.
Jesus, that's it.
He's the Free Freedom SupportSolutions.
Oh my gosh.
Yeah.
Blammo bla I, yeah, no, I hadnever thought about that.
(15:01):
Right.
Yeah.
He hit me with that in thekitchen today.
I was like, I wonder if she everconsidered that, but yeah, no
freedom support solutions.
I never, I never consideredthat.
I mean, I remember when he gaveme the name and I was getting
onto 95 and I had had severalnames I was looking at, but.
I really wasn't sure which one.
Right.
Um, and through a book that Iwas reading, it was, he said, he
(15:23):
said, pick one and watch itgrow.
Right.
And I was like, okay, this isit.
This is the one.
But no, I had never.
Well considered now, you know alady now I know.
No, you not.
That's awesome.
Put that on your business card.
Right, right.
Uh, but, uh, he is my freedom.
He is my support, and he is mysolution.
(15:46):
He is a solution.
That's it.
Amen.
That's it.
Amen.
But, uh, going back to.
To mentoring, mentoringrelationships.
Mm-hmm.
I, or stewarding ourrelationships mm-hmm.
Or stewarding everything.
Well, everything, yeah.
You know, I've, I've beenthrough challenges there as
well.
That, and I, I, I'll mention a,a mentoring relationship.
There is a time that, that Iheld too tightly to the fellas
(16:07):
that I cared for.
Um, if you've been listening,uh, you know, I, I'm, we're
we're heavy into the recoverycommunity, but I was, I was too.
Holding on to them too tight.
I, I wanted their recovery, uh,sadly more than they did at the
time.
Mm-hmm.
Thinking that I was the catalystfor change and that, and that I
(16:28):
was gonna fix everything if theywould just listen and do what
I've done.
Uh, maybe if we prayed harder,but Nope, it wasn't working.
And you know why we mentionedthis, uh.
On one of the other episodes,you know, it didn't go that way
(16:50):
because I'm not the savior.
Right.
I think that was last episode.
Maybe I'm not the savior.
Codependency is not the way,especially in recovery, you
know, there's recovery forcodependency.
Right.
And we can't want, we can't wantthe recovery more than they do.
Mm-hmm.
And we don't want to get intothose weeds too much.
(17:11):
Others, we will get into that.
On down the line.
But, um, but, um, I was notstewarding that relationship
well at all, and I had tosurrender it to the Lord.
And when I did, I, I experiencedhis freedom, uh, and they
experienced his freedom.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, it was a tremendous learningexperience, uh, early in my
(17:33):
recovery of people here.
This is like, I ain't doing thatun bouncing at all.
But this was very early.
Very early.
Yeah.
In my recovery, like, uh, likeyear two, year three.
Um, because, um.
You know, the, it was a learningexperience because the Holy
Spirit met me where I was at.
Uh, and he met me in thatrelease and he taught me, uh,
(17:56):
the, the word says, I think it'sin John, uh, John 16, that, uh,
that the spirit will come and,and he will remind us of
everything.
Jesus said, everything that Itaught you, everything that I
said, he will remind you of thatand he'll bring us all the
truth.
Um.
But, uh, he, he met me in thatrelease and, and as well, he
(18:19):
just the same, you know,'causehe's with us all right.
He met with these, uh, thefellas that I was mentoring
there.
Uh, he met with them as well andI'm happy to say that they're
doing pretty well these days.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
Sometimes you gotta let it goand you gotta recognize that we
are not the saviors, right?
(18:41):
Right.
Yep.
We are not.
And we're also not our owntimekeepers, so you know.
Right.
Let's talk about time.
I mean, there's only so much ofit, and Yeah.
Don't you think we shouldprobably be wise and be good
stewards of that as well?
Yeah.
I mean, we think we're incontrol of our calendars, but we
(19:04):
can be stingy with our time.
Mm.
And then wonder why we feeldisconnected from God and
people.
Right.
Because we're not making time todo what God has called us to do.
We're not making time to spendwith him.
Yeah.
That's why we're disconnected.
We're not ma making time to leadand disciple others.
(19:24):
Right.
It's a, a little crooked.
Teach them.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Gets a little, little lopsideddown when we uh, right.
So our, our busyness is, seemsto be the way of the 21st
century.
Uh, and I remember, uh, again,early in my recovery that, that
my mentor told me he is, he islike.
(19:46):
One, you gotta exercise your nomuscle.
Mm-hmm.
Learn to exercise that.
No muscle.
You gotta build that muscle.
He goes and remember this, andI, and I always have obviously,
um, busyness isn't of the devil.
Busyness is the devil.
Yeah.
He intends on keeping usdistracted with the busyness or
the noise.
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, and if we're.
(20:08):
If we're all caught up in ourbusyness, we're gonna miss the
Holy Spirit's nudges.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, and we're gonna begin tobelieve or continue to believe
that, that we're actually incharge.
And then that's, uh, whew.
That's a snowball effect there.
It's not, it doesn't land well.
No.
So, uh, the sooner we, thesooner we exit that lie, uh,
(20:33):
that, that horrible busynessmindset, the better, the sooner
we recognize that he's in chargeof everything, yeah.
The better we are.
Absolutely everything.
Yeah.
Um, so.
Are you ready for somesolutions?
Because we Yeah.
Practical.
Are they practical?
They're always practical.
They gotta be practical, youknow, we have to be able to
(20:55):
apply them to our daily life,so.
Exactly.
So let's, um, so how do we shiftfrom ownership to stewardship?
Mm-hmm.
I think first we gotta welcome aparadigm shift mm-hmm.
And renew our mindset.
Mm-hmm.
You know, the, the simplicityof.
Romans 12, two, uh, uh, we canmake it hard, but it's, it's
(21:18):
really, it's not hard.
It says, be transformed by therenewing of your mind.
And, uh, we have to allow, and,and, and the spirit wants to do
that.
He wants to transform our heartsand minds.
And we just have to yield, wehave to allow him to, uh, to
show us a better way and, andrenew our minds.
(21:41):
So we gotta, we can start bysaying that, Hey.
When it comes to Steward, thisis God's and I'm just managing
it and you know, thank him.
You know, it says enter hisgates with thanksgiving and
praise.
Yeah.
Thank him for trusting youenough to, to take care of it
(22:06):
and take care of it.
Well, thank him for guiding youhow to take care of it.
Well, and uh, yeah, that's,that's.
A good way to renew our mindsetthere.
Yeah.
It really is a paradigm shift.
Um,'cause I can remember when Igot to that point, you know,
where I needed, I needed thatparadigm shift, otherwise I was
(22:26):
gonna burn out.
And Freedom Support Solutionswas no longer going to exist and
it wasn't gonna be.
You know, because of him.
Right?
It was gonna be because of me.
Right?
But second, we wanna invite theHoly Spirit into the practical
stuff.
I mean, ask him, Lord, how doyou want me to use this
paycheck?
Yeah.
(22:46):
How do you want me to use thislunch hour?
What about the conversation withmy family?
When he leads, it may surpriseyou, but it will be life giving
100% of the time.
So remember, his thoughts andhis ways are always higher and
greater than ours.
I mean, Isaiah 55:8-9 says, formy thoughts are not your
(23:09):
thoughts.
Neither are your ways.
My ways.
Declare the Lord.
Right?
So we went, when we invite himinto the every day.
We align with divine wisdominstead of human striving.
Yeah.
And I'd rather have divinewisdom than human striving.
Any day of the week, I'm gonnatake divine wisdom.
(23:30):
Yeah, divine wisdom.
Number one answer.
Yeah.
You don't wanna strive.
I strive.
I think we, we strive.
There's nothing wrong withstriving, but you know.
Right.
Take it back to Solomon.
Solomon could have asked theLord for anything, but he asked
for wisdom.
He did, you know, divine wisdom.
Divine wisdom.
(23:51):
So I, I'm gonna definitely gowith wisdom.
I was thinking that same thing,right?
Yeah.
So, so next we want to, we wannapractice open hands.
Mm-hmm.
Open hands one.
So, so we can release and so wecan receive.
Yes.
You know, we gotta practice, uh,open hands.
It's not always easy, but I willtell you, we will tell you, we,
(24:14):
we practice open hands.
Um.
Not to brag or not to post atall.
Always.
Not always.
Sometimes, sometimes we have toremind ourselves, but well,
we're feeling we do our best.
Yeah.
We, we need to be reminded.
Mm-hmm.
So, yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
There you go.
She's transparent, you know?
Yeah.
Very nice.
And I, and anyway, moving.
Oh, we gotta practice.
Uh, open hands.
(24:35):
It's not always easy, but wewill tell you.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, it's worth it.
Yeah.
1 Corinthians 4:2 reminds us.
Go figure, Paul reminding us.
And now, uh, it's required ofstewards that one be found
trustworthy.
Mm-hmm.
Gotta be trustworthy.
If you, if you don't have trust,you don't have anything.
(24:57):
All right.
Everything breaks down ifthere's no trust.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, holding things with openhands shows us that we trust the
giver.
More than the gift.
Mm.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
It's not about letting go orlosing, it's about opening up so
that he can pour in more.
Yeah.
It's about releasing andreceiving.
(25:19):
Yeah, releasing and receiving.
So start with something small.
Yeah.
Uh, maybe give generouslywithout expecting anything in
return.
There's a great idea.
I think Jesus might have donethat time or two, uh uh, saying
yes.
Uh, to his divine insightconcerning your schedule time.
(25:40):
Uh, maybe since he's God and youare not, uh, maybe we do better
to cut loose the stressfulfuture.
Plan.
And remember, frustration,anxiety, and exhaustion are
never part of his plan for anyof us.
No, never.
Never.
Right.
Um.
(26:01):
In one of our episodes.
It just reminded me'cause youwere talking about the gift
instead of, you know, the giftinstead of the giver.
Yeah.
Where we talked before about theprovider over the provision.
Absolutely.
His face over his hand, hispresence over his hand.
Yeah.
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
(26:21):
Absolutely.
Mm-hmm.
But he offers both, but Right.
You know, when we, when we res,when we're.
Content.
And when, when we, when wewelcome his face, his presence.
Yeah.
Uh, it's so much more fulfillingthan just his hand.
Yeah.
When we, when we, when we gethis presence, when we welcome
(26:41):
his presence and, and we drawnear to him and he draws us near
to us, the hand comes.
Yeah.
But it's the presence thatmatters.
That's it.
That's it.
And so fourth.
We wanna celebrate surrenderbecause when we steward God's
gifts, instead of clutchingthem, you know, again, going,
(27:02):
kind of going back to the openhands, he multiplies them.
Yeah.
Uh, Luke 6:38 says, give and itwill be given to you a good
measure.
Press down, shaken together, andrunning over.
Yeah.
And when we surrender what wethink is small.
God shows us just how big hisabundance really is.
(27:22):
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
And I think I, I always go backand I think of the boy with the,
the loaves and the fish.
Yeah.
I mean, his little.
In the hands of Jesus became anabundant miracle, right?
For thousands, right?
And I could go on and on withscripture that give examples of
God pouring out abundance overhis children.
(27:44):
Um, I'm sure you know a lot ofthem too, but.
I would've loved to have seenhis fa, I would've loved to have
been on the scene, and I would,I would love to see, uh, and the
chosen did the, the feeding ofthe 5,000.
Yeah.
But I would love to see theexpression of this kid, uh, and
have these two grown men takehis lunch.
And he is like, dude.
(28:05):
Right?
And, and then, and then have hislunch be the ca uh, well, not
the catalyst, but the, thelittle, the of which Christ made
much of.
Yeah.
You know, just, uh, I, I meantwhat, what about the kid?
What about the boy with thelunch?
We don't hear anything abouthim.
Yeah.
But yeah, we can only imaginethat he was.
(28:25):
His jaw dropped, to say theleast.
To say the least, but, uh, so,but he can do so much with so
little.
Well, that's what we say.
Uh, and that's one of our, ourmain points in, in reviving
recovery, Unbound, is that theHoly Spirit can do more in a
moment, uh, than we couldaccomplish in a lifetime.
(28:47):
100%.
Absolutely.
So, so friends for clarity,we're not ever talking about
shame.
Mm-hmm.
Shame has no place in God's planfor any of us.
Uh, but instead we're, we'retalking about a shared
experience, uh, a freedom foundonly in placing God first daily.
(29:10):
Right.
Placing God first, daily,welcoming him into our daily,
because from Genesis toRevelation.
God says me first.
Yeah.
And when we decide to do that,when we make that decision to
make him first daily, I promiseyou, not my promise to you, but
his promise to you mm-hmm.
Is you'll never regret that.
(29:31):
That's right.
So when you stop, when we stopliving.
Like an owner and we startliving like a steward.
We're more able to, uh, to walkin the light as he is in the
light.
And in turn we're able to hearhis still small voice just a bit
clearer every time we do that,and every time we decide to stop
(29:55):
and listen to him.
Yeah.
Right.
It's more our relationship withthe Lord is so much more about,
and then, and then we couldbring, talk about stewarding
relationships, you know?
Mm-hmm.
Our stewarding properly, ourrelationship with the Lord.
It's more than our, our laundrylist.
(30:15):
Yeah.
It's, it's about, you know, aconversation.
Uh, do you, have you ever been,you know, with someone and just
talked, talk, talk, talk, talk,and never listened?
You know.
Don't be that person with theLord, the, or.
The relationship includesconversation and, and, uh,
conversation.
(30:35):
The mo really the most importantpart of the conversation is
listening, right?
So we, when we, and, and the,the word says, bring our request
to him.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, but also.
He's got something to say too.
Listen for what he says becausethe creator of the universe,
your creator who knitted you inyour mother's womb, uh, and and
said that you are fearfully andwonderfully made.
(30:58):
Yeah.
He has something to say to you.
Yeah, absolutely.
So I guess our question to youis, what's one area of your life
that you need to surrendertoday?
Yeah.
Maybe it's finances or arelationship.
Maybe it's your business or.
Your calendar.
Right.
You know your time, you know,take it to Jesus and say, Lord,
(31:20):
this is yours.
Yeah.
Show me how to handle it likeyou would.
Yeah.
Show me how to handle it likeyou would.
I have a friend who, who is aCFO and she's, she talks about
Jesus's books because, you know,he was a business owner and she
says, do you think his, hisbooks.
(31:42):
We're all messed up.
Do you think that he did shoddywork as a carpenter?
I'm guessing not.
His books were in order.
His product was good.
He did everything withexcellence.
Right.
And so if we are asking him toshow us how.
(32:03):
To handle it like he would.
Yes.
It's gonna be done withexcellence in all things.
Absolutely.
So if you're a business owner,make God the CEO.
Yeah.
Make him the CEO.
Let him lead you.
Right.
And I will tell you fromexperience that you will not be
sorry.
Doesn't mean that you're notgonna have issues now and again,
of course.
(32:23):
But if he's leading you.
It's going to be a whole loteasier to come through those
valleys.
Yeah.
Than if you're trying to do iton your own.
Yeah.
The issues in the valleys areopportunities to learn that.
That's right.
Opportunities to trust him more.
And uh, and we have to rememberthat he's the God that puts
(32:48):
order to chaos.
Yes.
And if, and if, and if you're,if you're currently dealing with
chaos.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
His name is Jesus, right?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, yeah.
So anyway, uh, it's important toinvite the Holy Spirit into our
dailies.
Mm-hmm.
He's ready to speak with you.
He's just waiting on you tostart the conversation.
(33:11):
Uh, the spirit is personal.
Uh, he's relational and he's thespirit of truth who's been sent
to guide us.
All the truth, not just some ofthe truth, but all the truth.
And uh, and all the truth is, isthe capital of teachers, all the
truth comes from Jesus.
Yeah.
You know, he is the truth.
(33:32):
He is the way, he is the life.
Mm-hmm.
But the spirit in his, in hisrelations with us, he, he's
called to bring us the truth.
And part of that truth is.
That, that he can do more in amoment than we could accomplish
in a lifetime.
Yeah.
But we gotta believe, we gottalisten and we gotta trust him
faithfully.
Absolutely.
(33:52):
You know, you are never meant tocarry any of this alone.
Yeah.
You know, not yourrelationships, not your
finances, not your business,nothing.
You are not meant to carry yourlife alone because.
It's all Gods.
Anyways, that's it.
Remember, that's it.
That burden doesn't belong toyou.
No, it's all his.
Matthew 11, all his says, andthis, this was a huge verse last
(34:16):
year and uh, and carried intothis, it's a huge verse, is, uh,
Jesus says, take my yoke uponyou and learn from me.
Yes, take my yoke.
And so when.
Release that burden to him.
Yoke up with the one who came tocarry the burden and, and who
defeated, the one who's tryingto distract you and learn from
(34:39):
him.
Alright, come on, we love y'all.
That's the word.
So, until next time, next week,I wanna tell you though, before
we go, that we are talking abouta commodity.
We're talking about thecommodity of time, time, and
that it's a gift and not aguarantee.
Right on.
So until next time.
(34:59):
Until next time.
Remember, when you arefaithfully invested, God brings
the increase.
Yes, he does.
God bless.
Take care.
Thanks for joining us onFaithfully Invested with Allen
and Stacy Jo, if today'sconversation encouraged you,
challenged you, or helped yousee your calling more clearly,
don't keep it to yourself.
(35:20):
That's right.
Share it with a friend.
Leave a five star review andkeep leaning into God's
blueprint for your life, yourleadership, and your legacy.
So until next time, remember,when you invest in his kingdom,
he brings the increase.
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