Hey friend, can I speak right to your heart today?

Have you ever opened up your bank app?

You've taken that deep breath and felt that wave of stress hit

before the numbers are even loaded.

Like your money just vanishes each month and at the end you're

not even sure where it went.

I. Well, you're not alone in that feeling, and if you've been carrying

that kind of anxiety day after day, then today's show is just for you.

Welcome back to Financially Confident Christian.

I'm Ralph and I'm so glad you're here.

This isn't just another show about numbers.

It's about breaking free from that cycle of financial shame

and stepping into a new season of clarity, a new season of confidence,

and yes, a new season of peace.

All with God at the center.

We're continuing our new series on dealing with the stress of money worries, and

today we're talking about the foundation of financial peace, what I call your

intentional spending plan or budget, as most people call it now, maybe when I

say budget, your gut reaction is, ugh, not that word again, Ralph and I get it.

See, for years I thought of a budget as this huge restriction, kind of

like a diet, like putting my money and my freedom on some strong leash.

But here's what's changed everything for me.

One day I stopped calling it a budget and I started calling it what it really is.

And what it really is, is an intentional spending plan.

And you might be thinking, Ralph, you've lost it.

Why?

Why is that?

Why is it an intentional spending plan?

That's exactly what it is.

It's not about deprivation, it's about direction.

It's not about what you can't do.

It's about being intentional with what God has given you so that every

dollar that you have has a purpose.

It's a plan that tells your money where to go on purpose instead of

constantly wondering where it went.

And see when you live with that kind of clarity, your stress

just starts to fade away.

You move from chaos, You move from chaos to confidence.

Let's just look at scripture for a moment.

The Book of Proverbs, chapter 16, verse nine, says this in their

hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.

See, this is stewardship.

This is trust in action.

Let me just tell you something.

When you make an intentional spending plan, you're saying this boldly to God.

You're saying, God, I trust you've given me enough and I'm

gonna choose to be wise with it.

Now, I'm gonna share today's action step in just a few moments, but first, as we

continue in this series together today, I wanna give you something to help you.

So for the first hundred listeners that go to the website, financially

confident christian.com/master, I'm giving away a free copy of my book.

Now that book is called Mastering Your Finances.

It's not some huge elaborate plan.

It's just 47 pages, but it's packed with practical steps to help you

finally take control of your money, and maybe more importantly, your mindset.

See this isn't just a giveaway.

It might be the very tool that you need right now in the season that you're in to

break that cycle of financial shame and step into your next season of confidence.

So please do this.

Don't wait.

Head to financially confident christian.com/master and grab your copy

today because I really wanna share this resource with you 'cause I've walked

this path before and I do know what it feels like to finally breathe again.

Out.

Here's today's one small step.

I want you to do your own intentional spending plan.

I want you to start by writing your monthly income at the top of the page,

that snapshot we took the other day.

Use that.

Then I want you to list your most important categories first,

those things like housing.

And food and transportation, and then utilities.

Then I want you to add a line for giving and saving, and then a couple

fun money things, but I want you to be sure to give every dollar a job.

This is what we call in the trade zero based budgeting.

Income minus expenses should equal zero.

That way no money is drifting on its own without a mission.

Finally, I want you to remember, keep it simple.

You don't need a fancy spreadsheet.

You just need seven or 10 items.

A pen and paper works just fine.

What really matters the most is that you start, that you do it.

So go do that today.

Well, how about we pray together?

Father, we thank you for being our ultimate provider.

And Lord, we just confess that often we've lived without a plan.

We've reacted instead of stewarding.

But today, Lord, we wanna live intentionally.

Lord, we ask that you would help us to see this not as a

burden, but truly as a blessing.

Lord, give us peace in the process.

Strength to stay the course Lord, and wisdom to walk in your truth.

And Lord, we just ask this in confidence.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Friend, you don't have to live in stress and shame anymore.

You can create your own intentional spending plan.

You can begin today to break that stress.

You can do it right now because listen to me, you can do this.

I have confidence in you.

So have confidence in yourself.

Now, tomorrow we'll be talking about the real work of budgeting.

We're gonna be tracking your spending with purpose and not guilt.

You don't wanna miss it.

So make sure you join me tomorrow and let's go out there today

and be financially confident.

Christians stay financially savvy.

God bless you, and you have a great day today.