LEARNING TO MANAGE FREEDOM

Genesis chapter 1






Today we are walking in: Learning To Manage Freedom








Exodus 5:1


And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. H4057








WILDERNESS






Today we look to the word-WILDERNESS-H4057 midbar--wilderness pasture; uninhabited land; a pasture (i.e. open field, whither cattle are driven)--an uninhabited plain fit for feeding flocks, not a desert--a pasture









The Torah testifies...............


Numbers 9:1


And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness H4057 of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,







The prophets proclaim..................




Jeremiah 31:2


Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; H4057 even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.








The writings bear witness...........................




Joshua 1:4


From the wilderness H4057 and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.







Learning to Manage Freedom


What lies before us and what lies behind us are tiny matters compared to what is within us.


In this teaching we are going to look at some important principles of management and mismanagement that will add some depth to the management elements covered in the second teaching. Nothing makes the owner of a company angrier than a manager who thinks the company and its resources belong to him personally. So we will start in principle with the irresponsible realities of mismanagement.


If you want to get fired very quickly on any job, go ahead-I dare you to act as if you own it all. Take the paper and paper clips home when you feel like it. Take the computer home for your daughter's history report. "Borrow" the fax machine for a few weeks. Just act as if you own everything, and see what will happen. You'll be fired so quickly you won't know how to manage the disappointment.


The owner can take whatever he wants out of the office, whenever he wants, because he owns it all. But the manager can't. So if you mismanage the owner's resources, he will replace you. He has the right to come and get his resources anytime he wants, no matter where you put them. In essence, the manager is accountable to the owner. Stewards must be faithful to their proprietor.


PUNCHING THE TIME CLOCK FOR YAH


In the larger scheme of life, Yah owns His resources-the earth and everything in it. If we mismanage them, He will fire us and give them to someone else.


Yahusha gave us an excellent example of this in His parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30). In this teaching, a master left some of his resources-in this case, money called "talents"-for his servants to invest while he was away. When he returned, he asked his servants to give an account for the resources he left in their care.


The servant who was given two talents doubled them to four. The servant who had five given to him doubled them to ten. But the servant who was given one mismanaged even that one. He buried it and didn't even earn interest on it. His master therefore commanded, "Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents" (Matt. 25:28).


The master could deal with these men in the way that he did because they were investing his talents. When the third servant mismanaged the talent, the master took it from him.


Let's take a look at four principles of management that can be gleaned from this important teaching of Hamachiach 's.


The Four Principles Of Management


1. Yah created everything (stewardship is not ownership). In the beginning Yah created the heavens and the earth.
-GENESIS 1:1


First of all, we must understand that Yah created and owns everything. He claims the right to it all, and He can therefore give it to-or take it from-whomever He wants,whenever He wants. Those of us who follow Him don't possess the right to claim anything we own as being ours. The minute we think we obtained it by our own ingenuity, Yah will make other arrangements with His investment. Yah owns; we just manage. Therefore, as long as we mismanage the resources entrusted to our care, Yah, who created and owns everything, will keep His resources from us.


2. Yah organized before He gave His best (order and organization are the foundations of management).


And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of Yah moved upon the face of the waters.
-GENESIS 1:2, KJV


In this second sentence of the Bible's revelation about earth and man's origin, the scripture says the earth was without form. That means it was out of formal order. The Hebrew word tohuw, translated "without form" in this verse, literally means "confusion." It speaks of the disorder of things. The word implies that nothing was in formal order.


The Hebrew word for void is bohuw; it literally means "empty or void." It implies "chaos, confusion." So the earth was without a formal order or position. It was confused, disorganized and steeped in chaos.


A third word in this verse is darkness, which is translated from the Hebrew word choshek, and it means exactly what it says. But it also implies an absence of knowledge and revelation. Things were out of order; therefore, confusion reigned.


As you read Genesis 1 carefully, you will see that Yah created nothing between verses 3 through 26. Everything mentioned was already there. Verse 1 says, "In the beginning Yah created the heaven and the earth." As you read the text carefully, you will find that water initially covered all dry ground. You will also see that when dry ground was added as an earth component, the clouds, which were already present, had probably fallen from the firmament to rise up as a mist to water the ground. So although the heavens and earth had been created, they were disorderly and disorganized. Nothing yet was in its proper place.


Let's look at an example of something in a disordered, chaotic state like this. Let's suppose that you invite me to stay in your home for two weeks while you are on vacation. I accept, but I really don't like the way you have arranged your house. So I put the kitchen appliances in the bedroom and move your bedroom furniture into the bathroom. I change your living room into a bathroom and put your bathtub in the dining room. I change everything without taking anything out of the house. But my rearranging has taken everything out of formal order.
When you return home from vacation, you want to take a shower. So you go to the area that used to be your bathroom and find your bedroom furniture crowding the place. You look for the refrigerator, but it's not in the kitchen anymore. The result? Everything is present and in the house, but it is in the wrong place. This is the principle of disorder.


Disorder causes confusion-this is what void means.You don't know where everything is; you are in the dark about what is going on. This is how I see the Genesis account. In the beginning everything was present, but it was misplaced and out of order.


Yah saw the disorganization, but He had something special in mind. So He said, "I have this ultimate dream to create a being in My image and likeness who will rule and reign as a king over creation for Me. He will be My manager over the whole planet. But I can't bring My best until I organize the rest."


So Yah turned the lights on to see the mess when He said, "Let there be light" (Gen. 1:4).


If your life is disorganized in the areas of finance, marriage, children or your job, don't keep stumbling in the dark. Stop and turn the lights on. When you do, you will see problems, and you won't like what you see. But you have to see your problems in the light before you can fix them.


Yah needed to shine the light on the confusion of creation so He could see what needed to be put into place. So He turned the light on and took a look. Then He pushed the clouds back up into the firmament and moved the water to produce dry ground. The water and land were there after creating it in Genesis 1:1; they were just in the wrong place.So He reorganized it. He raised up the ground and blew on it, and it dried up. Then He separated the salt water from the fresh water to make the lakes and the sea.


And Yah said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." So Yah made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. Yah called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning- the second day. And Yah said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. Yah called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And Yah saw that it was good.
-GENESIS 1:6-10


Yah also spoke to the soil and the water, because He knew what was buried in them. He said:
Let the land produce vegetation.
-GENESIS 1:11


Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.
-GENESIS 1:20


Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds.
-GENESIS 1:24


In the ground Yah had created a wealth of trees, plants, fruit, birds, animals and all the great creation that mankind enjoys today. Yah just reorganized everything. And the Bible says that when it was all finished, "Yah saw that it was good" (Gen. 1:25).


Yah is a Yah of order. He loves organization and detests confusion (1 Cor. 14:33). So Yah withheld His best-the creation of man-until He was organized. He would not create man, who was the apex of His creation, until everything was in order.


And when all was ready, Yah gave Adam an organized garden and said again, "It is good" (Gen. 1:31).


So here is the initial management message of Genesis for you: If you want Yah's best in your life, don't ask for the best- organize for it. Organization and order attract Yah's favor, blessings and resources.


3. Yah delegated management over the earth to man (man was created for the management of the earth).
Our third principle of management speaks of delegation. Man was created for the management of the earth. Man was given rulership, not ownership, of the earth. Genesis 1:26 says:


Then Yah said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
Yah granted man dominion and entrusted him with the resources He placed within the earth. Yah didn't give man the title deed to the earth, as some have taught, because He is the owner. Only He holds the title deed to everything we have right now. So Yah-who owns it-can take it back whenever He sees mismanagement. His written will and testament states, "The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein" (Ps. 24:1, KJv).


Yah owns your car. So if you don't want Him to take it away from you, clean it, service it and use it to bring people to the house of Yah. Use it to bless your children so you can say, "Yah, I'm using this thing, not just leaving it for display in my garage." Manage it.


Did you lose your house? If you did, it may not be the devil who took it. The bank repossessed your house because you didn't pay. Why didn't you pay? It wasn't the devil who had your money. Luke 16 says if you cannot manage another man's property, who will give you property of your own? So if He gave you your own house and you mismanaged it, He will put you back on another man's property to teach you management all over again. When you recognize setbacks in this light, you will see new opportunities instead of failure.


The New Testament writer Paul gives us a good teaching on delegation in the Book of Galatians. In Galatians 3:26 he tells us, "You are all sons of Yah through faith in Hamachiach Yahusha." Then he continues in Galatians 4:1-2, "As long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father."


The message of these verses tells us that children of inheritance are treated like employees in regard to their inheritance when they are children. Why? Children don't manage things well. If you give a child a jar of peanut butter, it will soon be all over his face, head and eyes. He doesn't manage the peanut butter; it manages him as he puts it everywhere it shouldn't go. Give your child a beautiful diamond ring, and he will chew on it for a while. Then he will spit it out or throw it through the window where the dog will pick it up and run off with it. A child is a mismanager. So, even though Yahusha Hamachiach is Lord, and we are His sons through the re-creation of our spirits by faith, Yah doesn't trust any of us with His estate until we are mature. Yah will give you what you can manage, not what you ask for.


What is the key to His giving you more ownership in the estate? Let's look at what parents do. They don't release authority until children are capable of managing the authority.


The earth is the Lord's, and the Lord is your Father. And since you are His son, you are heir to the gold, silver, trees- everything. But we can't just walk around waiting for Yah to dump stuff in our laps. We must learn how to manage in order to receive from Yah.


One of the most mismanaged areas in the lives of believers who need Yah's light today is the area of personal finances. Many Hebrews borrow money continually and never stop to realize that they don't own themselves anymore. The next time someone comes to you and asks you for money, ask that person to whom else he owes money. Why? Because people never ask the person they already owe for more money. They create bigger problems by going to new people with the same old problem. They perpetuate their own darkness and stumble around, never stopping to turn the light on.


If you are deeply in debt, don't get nervous about the thousands you owe. Stop. Take a good look at your situation. Don't be afraid to see that you owe money to half of the folks in your family, ministry or community. Realize why you avoid those you owe and slip through the back door. Be honest with those you owe. Turn the light on and confess your obligations. This will start the training process through which Yah can mature you. Integrity is the key to everything we do.


First, hold yourself accountable to Yah, who delegates all. Then, enlighten yourself to see how much you owe. Take a piece of paper and add up all the amounts you owe to people. Then, because debt doesn't go away by avoiding it or hoping your debtors don't call, hold yourself accountable to call each debtor and check the numbers. Let them know you're sincere about paying back every cent.


Have you noticed that you can't pray phone bills out of existence or cast light bills out in Yahusha' name? Being filled with the Holy Spirit doesn't cancel any debt. Unless there's a miracle, you still owe the money.


Prosperity is not dependent on the resources Yah gives you, but on your delegated management of what you are given. So never pray for things you are not willing to manage. If you don't feel ready or qualified to manage something, don't waste your prayer, because Yah will withhold from you what you will mismanage .


When a child inherits money, it is placed in the management of a guardian or trustee until he or she is mature enough to handle it wisely. The same is true of your inheritance on earth. Yah gave you rulership, not ownership, so He can always take back what you mismanage. The problem is, when He withholds or removes resources from us, He usually gives it to people who are not too far from where we live. And many times those people may not necessarily be committed to His kingdom, although they are good managers.


We have this funny idea in the ministry that everything is for the righteous. Proverbs 13:22 does say that "a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous," but let me tell you, if you mismanage, Yah will give it to the unrighteous. Oh, Dr. J, what are you saying? I can hear you thinking. But listen: Yah allowed the devil to have the earth. We can see that in Luke 4 when Satan offered Yahusha the kingdoms of the world with their wealth if Yahusha would bow down and worship him. "For it has been given to me," the devil said (Luke 4:5). Yahusha didn't bow, of course, but neither did He dispute the devil's claim that the world and its kingdoms had been given over to him.


The devil will hold on to whatever is yours until Yah trains you to manage it. As you will see in coming teachings, you must raise the cows for the milk and scoop the honey out of stinging beehives to get your milk and honey in the land that Yah has promised you. And until you can take them from him, the devil will hold on to your goods.


Using this Promised Land allegory, the wicked of this earth are guardians holding on to the wealth of the righteous until the righteous are ready and qualified to manage it. They have been placed in these positions by Yah, but what they have doesn't belong to them-it belongs to us. Remember the scripture: "The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just" (Prov. 13:22, KJv). But the question is: How did the wicked get the wealth? And, does Yah know they have it?


Some people are bitter toward the rich. They hate "those wealthy people." When they pass by their two-story houses up the street, they get jealous thinking about their crowded, little house with its small kitchen. Stop being jealous. Those people learned how to manage and earned your dream house. You've been trying to fast and pray it out of their hands, but it hasn't moved because Yah doesn't move resources as a result of prayer. He moves resources as a result of efficient management. When you prove faithful over a little, He will make you ruler over more (Matt. 25:23). Management attracts resources.


4. Yah gave clear assignment and instructions (you must understand the assignment and instructions).


The fourth management principle we want to deal with has to do with understanding the will and objectives of the one for whom you are managing. Yah clearly told Adamhis assignment: He was to work, cultivate and protect (Gen. 1:28). Then He gave Adam the instructions: He was not to eat of one particular tree (Gen. 2:17). Adam had no question about his assignment or instructions. He was directed to manage the earth, and he was to obey Yah implicitly.


The forbidden tree wasn't a setup to trick man. With His instruction to avoid the one tree, Yah established a fulcrum where man's conscience and will power could be activated and come into obedience. Adam was not a robot but a creature of will with the power of choice. He was a free agent. The power of "will" is activated by the power of choice. Therefore, the tree was forbidden in order to activate Adam's will power-not to destroy it.


Yah was Adam's Creator, Father and Boss. It is impossible for you to be a proper manager if you don't obey the boss. You can't manage the company any way you feel like doing it. You have to stay in touch with the boss's vision and the company's vision. If you manage Kentucky Fried Chicken,you can't decide you want to make hamburgers. You can't manage without obedience to the authority in the company.


Every time you mismanage, your incompetent reputation will follow you. If you get fired from a job because you've mismanaged the company's resources and you apply for another job, the first question they usually ask is who your former employer was. So don't think that you can mismanage and start over fresh. Yah will always take you back to where you stumbled until you learn to manage right.


I was recently talking to a young man who had mismanaged his business and was in financial straits. I told him to accept whatever job he was offered, no matter how humbling it was. He used to be in business for himself. But now, because of poor judgment, he needed to go back to the bottom so he could regain his credibility and work himself back up to the top. I told him to start over again so his employer could see consistency, faithfulness and management to rebuild trust. Then I told him that when Yah saw his new diligence, He would entrust more to him once again. The young man was teachable, so I know he will be fine. Some I have counseled to humble themselves again at the bottom haven't been as teachable as he was. They want to start where they blew it, but restoration doesn't work that way.


Every Hebrew believer has a clear responsibility to manage Yah's resources well. People who keep jumping from problem to problem will never be given much. Yah knows right where those people are. Every time they show up, He is there waiting for them. When they ask for something, Yah tells them no. Why? Because Yah protects His resources from mismanagers- including mismanagers who are full of the Spirit, speak in tongues and know the Bible.


Sin Is A Product Of Mismanagement


If Yah's fundamental purpose for man is management, man's fundamental problem is mismanagement. And that's true. Why are three-fourths of the world's people living in poverty? Why are you having such a hard time living on your meager salary and struggling to keep a job? If you are a business owner, why is your business having such a hard time? Why don't people have the money to buy your product? The answer: mis management.


When you look at the Scriptures with your management hat on, you will see that man's number one problem is not sin. It's mismanagement. Sin is the result of Adam's mismanagement. Let me show you what I mean.


The introduction of sin to humanity was actually a mismanagement problem. Yah's first man was given a job to oversee the Garden, and he literally sold out the company to an illegal entity, the devil. Adam made the worst of deals. And because of Adam's gross mismanagement, sin, with all of its destruction, was unleashed within the earth. Yah's command to Adam was: "Have dominion over the earth and everything in it." The word dominion means "to govern,rule, control, cultivate and order." In essence, Yah gave Adam the management contract for earth. Another word used for management is stewardship.


If Adam would have managed his affairs properly, mankind as we know it would have remained as he once was. But Adam mismanaged. And since the loss of Adam's management commitment in the beginning, all of mankind has followed in his footsteps as incompetent mismanagers. We've mismanaged the environment so that many lakes and rivers are contaminated. Earth's air is full of contaminants. Our water teems with pollutants. We've poisoned earth's fish with lead and other toxins, and on occasion we murder our entrusted livestock through "accidental" poisoning. We've mismanaged the whole thing to the point that our actions are killing ourselves. Greed has overshadowed our common sense. Fallen man prefers to line his own pockets with his greed-gotten gain instead of ensuring that the environment is safe. Yah has been trying to reinstill His management perspective into the human race since we lost it in Genesis 3.


Mankind was created to be managers, but now we're experts at mismanaging. This is why our Third World countries today have such problems. Many Third World leaders are responsible for countries that are rich in natural resources, but the people stay poor due to mismanagement. When people mismanage, Yah protects His resources from them.


Every time you spend a dollar without being aware of the value of that dollar, Yah will take another dollar out of your control. I believe Yah is frugal, and that every time you spend money on something for which you cannot justify its reasonable value before Yah, you give Him the right to take that money from you. I know this because of my dealings with Him.


And I will tell you, Yah will bless you financially if you are in the center of His will, managing wisely the resources He provides you. If I were to misuse the provision designated for Fiveamprayer on a whim, He would find someone else to bless. He would take our ministry dollars and give them to someone else. This is why people who mismanage always get poorer and poorer.


Many governments, and the nations they oversee, are poor because of mismanagement. Haiti is the oldest republic in the Caribbean and was the first country to gain independence, yet it is still the poorest country in the region.


Trinidad has oil, Jamaica has bauxite and Guyana and Nigeria are rich with gold. Yet every one of these countries is borrowing money and is a victim of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Why? Because of greed, misplaced priorities, mismanagement, distorted ambitions and personal agendas. Poverty is ultimately a product of mismanagement.


Yah created everything, and He will not have it mismanaged. He will keep it from people if they don't oversee their resources with intelligent oversight.
Some people have so much money they'll never spend it in their lifetime. I heard of a baseball player who received a contract for $91 million over five years to play baseball you know, hitting a little ball made of leather with a piece of wood. I couldn't cheer that announcement because I think about the millions of poor people who need that $91 million. And I'm sure Yah isn't excited about that.


No wonder Yah allows the earth to be cursed. No wonder we have so much tension, crime and difficulty. It's because the earth and its resources are mismanaged.
The poor of this earth deserve a better life. But Yah will only give people what they won't waste. People who have much get more because they manage well, and the poor who are poor because of laziness and mismanagement will probably always be jealous of them.


These mismanagement principles are eternal. If you don't learn them, the results and the consequences of violating them will be evident. You will always be poor and depressed. You will always live as a beggar below your privilege.


Now that we have defined the problem, let's look in more detail at some mismanagement principles from Genesis. Any management-minded person will want to avoid these principles. Remember, the first syllable of management is "man," because it is his destiny and design.


Five Principles Of Mismanagement


I. Misuse of resources produces mismanagement.
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. -GENESIS 3:6


First of all, let us notice that in the Garden, Adam and Eve abused the fruit on Yah's one forbidden tree. They did with it what it was not made to do-they ate it. So, they mismanaged it. Whenever you misuse resources, you have become a mis manager.


If you dump junk food and harmful substances into your body, which was entrusted to you by Yah as His holy temple, that's mismanagement. And when you mismanage what Yah gave you, you will lose it. Eventually your health will begin to fade, and on the day you planned to celebrate your wedding anniversary, your spouse may be attending a funeral instead- yours. Why? Misuse leads to mismanagement.


2. Misappropriation of resources brings disqualification and guilt


Have you ever prayed for a need, perhaps for some money, and you received it? Maybe you received an unexpected check in the mail from something you did five years ago. Or perhaps you told the Lord you needed an extra $200 to pay for a specific thing, and the money came in. But when the money came, the specific thing you needed it for lost its importance. Suddenly all those other things you had been wanting seemed more important, and you misappropriated the money. This kind of misappropriation will disqualify you for management. Whenever you misappropriate material, whether it's money, property or people, you become disqualified to manage that resource. Yah will no longer trust you. He will put a hold on your spiritual account until you pass Management 101. The principle is: "Whatever you mismanage, you will lose."


The same is true with borrowing. Have you ever borrowed money for something specific, then spent the money on something else like shopping, groceries or taking a trip? If this happens, the next time you ask for something, Yah will remember what you did with the last thing He supplied you. In this case, your misappropriation will put you out there on your own with you and you alone to pay back the loan.


When Adam and Eve disobeyed Yah's command and misappropriated His property and resources, they were disqualified. They were kicked out of their own Daddy's company! And if Daddy puts you out, you're in real trouble.


Do you think it's possible that effective management can be more important than sonship to Yah? I don't know about you, but the simple idea of it all spins my head. Adam was made in Yah's image and in His likeness. He was Yah's "son," yet Yah put him out of the Garden of Eden. Why? Because he mismanaged Yah's property. It's frightening to think about, but being a child of Yah doesn't qualify you for Yah's blessings. Yes, you are brought into the family, but it is your ability to manage the things of Yah that qualifies you for His blessings. If every Hebrew was guaranteed success simply because of conversion, we would see the results. Everyone would be full and prosperous. But we don't see that, and I believe that management is the key.


Don't worry, Yah will forgive any of your mismanagement episodes, but He won't trust you again automatically. If you've sinned by mismanaging your time with the wrong people, or if you've damaged your body and mind with corrupt materials, come to Yah and ask for His forgiveness, and He will forgive you. But He will want to see you grow up in His wisdom before He trusts you with anything again. If you sinned with His money by spending it on new clothes instead of the rent, Yah will forgive you. But he won't give you more money until you learn to pay the rent.


People who are disciplined in this area attract Yah to them. Yah increases their resources everywhere they go. Why? He lets them have things because they don't misappropriate them. He trusts them. Yahusha stressed the importance of management as a prerequisite for trust in His statement: "The meek shall inherit the earth." The word meek denotes self-control and self- discipline. The result is rulership over earth's real estate.


3. The responsibility of management cannot be transferred.


This principle points to the fact that because you are breathing, it is you who are responsible for the management of your life. You cannot abdicate your responsibility and hold someone else accountable for your daily affairs.Whenever anyone tries to shift his life over to another's care, Yah literally takes what he had from him.


Let me show you what I mean. Adam tried to transfer his management responsibility to Eve. We do the same thing. We may watch a television program and buy into those advertisements that hype new sneakers, clothes, perfume or cars. People buy into them because they appeal to their lusts and covetousness. As a result, we buy something we don't need.When someone asks us why we bought that item, pointing out its expense, we respond, "I saw it advertised on TV, and it just seemed right."


When anyone engages in this kind of behavior, that person is transferring the managerial responsibility of his life and resources to some hype-driven marketing company. When called to accountability, the person attempts to avoid taking responsibility for his irresponsibility. "This woman," he says, "jumped out of my TV, grabbed me by my suit, dragged me down to the store, slapped me a couple of times to make sure I still wanted the item, MADE me buy it, then took me back home and said, `Now be satisfied."' But when he is not satisfied, and he is sorry he made the purchase, then it wasn't his fault-the lady in the tight jeans on TV made him buy it!


If you're not careful, the poor (or those who are called poor) can cause you to mismanage Yah's money irresponsibly. I met a young man who was begging for money at a stop sign one day. "Oh, you're a pastor," he said. "I know you are a good woman of Yah, so you will surely give me something." He was about twenty-nine years old, but he looked more like thirty- nine-or even forty-nine. I even knew the guy. We went to school together. "Come on, preacher," he continued, "you are a woman of Yah, I know you can't say no."


So I looked at him and asked, "How old are you?"
"You know me. We went to school together," he replied.


"You're right," I answered. "So if I were to give you any money, I would be making you poorer, and I would be abusing Yah's resources."


The man looked confounded and asked what in the world I was talking about. So I continued, "Hop in my car. When we get back to my office, I want you to clean my car. And if you do a really good job, I'll pay you for your work."


"What are you talking about?" he complained in astonishment. "I didn't ask you for a job! I want some money!"


"No," I answered. "In the name of Yahusha, NO." He was so shocked he couldn't even curse.


I looked into his glazed eyes and said, "You don't need money; you need work."


The man didn't want a job; he wanted to manipulate me into a handout, so he hurried off. If I had given that man some of the resources Yah had entrusted to me, he would have certainly run off and used it to finance his irresponsible lifestyle. I would have been held accountable for contributing to his condition.


We have to be careful that we aren't manipulated by other people through our emotions, because that could lead to the misappropriation of our money. We might be giving to a drug addict's illegal drug fund and to various other causes of people whom Yah calls wicked. What a waste; what a shame. That young man had a brain, talent, energy, gifts and strength-I knew it because I knew him-but he was a mismanager. If you support and finance a mismanager, you become complicit in his foolishness and can become part of his mismanagement sin.


Nothing in the world attracts me like people who are trying hard to make it. When people are really trying hard, it makes me want to dig down inside my pocket and bless them. The great King Solomon says in his proverb: "Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth" (Prov. 10:4).


I am compassionate toward the genuinely poor. I make myself available to help them get out of their situation. But when someone is lazy and trying to get something for nothing, it really turns me off.


Yah has called us to work, so I try to make it available to those who need it. Look at what Paul said in reference to ministry widows in 1 Timothy 5 (Paul took a tougher stance than I do, believe it or not): "Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.... As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list" (vv. 3, 11).


Paul tells Timothy to take care of the older widows who have no one to help them. But he tells the younger widows to stop being busybodies, get remarried, keep house and get to work. (See verses 13-15.)


"Help me, I lost my job," a young widow could have told Paul.


"Well, come and let me introduce you to Orpheus who may know someone who could give you another one,"Paul answers. "And if that doesn't work out, you can clean my house."


"I ain't no maid!" she shouts while stomping off.


"Then you don't want any blessing," the apostle says while shaking his head.


This may sound particularly rough. But you can't transfer responsibility for management to other people,even if your circumstance is as unfortunate as a poor young widow's. You, and you alone, are responsible for what you are supposed to manage. Yah will give you the opportunity, but you must receive. You were created to manage effectively your intellect, body, mind, creativity, time and relationships.


4. Whatever you mismanage, you will lose.


This mismanagement principle embodies the saddest words in Scripture: "So the LORD Yah banished him from the Garden of Eden" (Gen. 3:23).


When Adam mismanaged his job assignment in the Garden, he not only lost his job-he also lost his home. He was kicked out of the Garden. To whom did Yah give the Garden? He gave it to man. Who took the Garden from man? Yah did. Who put him out? Yah did. Let's get that straight again. The devil didn't put Adam out of the Garden-Yah did.


In fact, Yah is so serious about management that He may even assign angels to guard His property from you because of your mismanagement. That's what He did with Adam, so why wouldn't He do it with you?


After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
-GENESIS 3:24


Yah doesn't waste His property. He also apparently values it so highly that He will use angelic intervention to protect it from abuse. Angels holding flaming swords could very possibly be guarding the way back into squandered ministries and businesses at this very moment because of the foolishness shown by those who mismanaged them.


Yah intelligently uses His resources to their fullest and expects the same from man. What did Yahusha instruct His disciples to do after He fed the five thousand? "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted" (John 6:12).


Yahusha said, "Pick up every crumb. Nothing here is to go to waste." Why? Because Yah doesn't sponsor mismanagement.


Yahusha possessed a management mentality. He detested waste. If you want to attract much, manage the little.


5. Mismanagement may be "personal," but it is never the"private"


This fifth mismanagement principle tells us that when you mismanage, you are not the only one affected. Adam mismanaged just one man-himself. He did it personally, but it certainly wasn't a private issue because his sin has affected every man and woman on earth. Because of Adam, Moses tells us, "[Yah] does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation" (Exod. 34:7). And the apostle Paul writes, "Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin" (Rom. 5:12, NKJV). There is no such thing as a private sin. All men today are fallen because of one man's mis management .


There is a very revealing law in economics that says that you can tell mismanagement is taking place in a nation when the nation's people have to pay more taxes. Whenthere is corruption in high places, or when there's mismanagement anywhere in government, it is the people who have to pay for it. This demonstrates clearly that people pay publicly for personal and private mismanagement.


Let's bring this down to where you live. Say you bring home a stapler from your job. They won't miss it, you rationalize. They're a big company. They have two hundred staplers. But when there are ten thieves on staff (just like you), and they decide to steal "privately" (just like you), now ten staplers are gone. But no one of the ten knows the other nine are doing it.


OK, so you think you got away with the theft of the stapler. Now you take home some copier paper, just a hundred plain sheets. No problem, they have ten thousand sheets. But a hundred other employees are also doing it. All of a sudden the company sees that their profits are being used up by the unauthorized disappearance of materials. So next year the boss says, "Last year we lost money because we had to replace a hundred staplers, a hundred thousand sheets of paper and about fifteen thousand staples. So this year we are going to have to lay off three people. You, you and you. In addition, there will be no bonuses this year. And by the way, there will be no raises. We are also going to freeze all salary increases for the next three years until our company gets out of the red and back into the black."


Now your "private" acts have put three people in the unemployment line. The company has streamlined its investments and isn't buying materials from the community because it's smaller now. The businesses who sold them paper aren't making as much, so they, in turn, must lay people off. Your thefts have contributed to putting all those people out on the street.


Let's push this up to an even higher extreme. Because these people who were laid off due to curtailed business can't find jobs, they break into your house. Now there is a crime problem, thanks to your theft of the stapler and copy paper. The government has to hire more police, and they have to tax everybody more to pay the salaries. When the police apprehend these former clerks and cashiers (now turned thieves), there isn't any room in the prisons. So more tax money is needed to build another prison. Where do you think all the money is going to come from? From you! Who else? When the new prison is built, they need new guards, new administration, new food and new cooks for the prisoners. So there's more taxation to support this prison.


Do you get the picture? The cycle of mismanagement that began with the theft of one stapler never ends. In this same manner, the corrupt mismanagement of one-or twenty government official works itself down to enslave people's lives. The Third World is reeling from such "private" sins. Mismanagement may be personal, but it is never private, because it affects everyone.


You may mismanage your body personally by sleeping with someone in "secret." No problem. You had a good time, and no one knows. Right? Wrong! Because one day, all of a sudden you have a sore on your nose. The doctor says you have a little infection, so they do some blood tests and find out that you have the HIV virus. "Oh, you're married?" the doctor asks. "Bring your wife tomorrow." So you do, and because your wife is pregnant, now you have a wife and child with HIV. Your personal sin is not a private issue.


"But it was so private, Yah!" No, it wasn't. And because of your irresponsibility, generations to come will be contaminated by your private mismanagement.


Think about the resources Yah has given you. Are they still in your possession, but out of their proper place? Turn the lights on in your marriage, children, job, house and car, and start to think organizationally. Make this confession right now: "Heavenly Father, I am sobered by this reality, so please, help me to grow in my management calling. Ipromise to manage better from this day forward." Let's move forward now in the Bible's redemptive history to visit with and learn from the children of Israel. Their pilgrimage from oppression to freedom has many lessons for each of us. It was their struggle with the management issue that caused them to forfeit the Promised Land.


Principles Of Management


1. Yah created everything (stewardship is not ownership).


2. Yah organized before He gave His best (order and organization are the foundations of management).


3. Yah delegated management over the earth to man (man was created for the management of the earth).


4. Yah gave clear assignment and instructions (you must understand the assignment and instructions).


Principles Of Mismanagement


1. Misuse of resources produces mismanagement.


2. Misappropriation of resources brings disqualification and guilt.


3. The responsibility of management cannot be transferred.


4. Whatever you mismanage, you will lose.


5. Mismanagement may be "personal," but it is never "private."


Yah is more interested in your character than your comfort.


LEARNING TO MANAGE FREEDOM


1. Yah owns; we just manage.


2. Man was given rulership, not ownership, of the earth.


3. Yah will give you what you can manage, not what you ask for.

4. We must learn how to manage in order to receive from Yah.


5. Prosperity is not dependent on the resources Yah gives you, but on your delegated management of what you are given.


6. Yah gave you rulership, not ownership, so He can always take back what you mismanage.


7. The devil will hold on to whatever is yours until Yah trains you to manage it.


8. Management attracts resources.


9. Mankind was created to be managers, but now we're experts at mismanaging.


10. When people mismanage, Yah protects His resources from them.


11. Poverty is ultimately a product of mismanagement.


12. Yah will only give people what they won't waste.


13. Whenever you misuse resources, you have become a mis manager.


14. Misuse leads to mismanagement.


15. If you support and finance a mismanager, you become complicit in his foolishness and can become part of his mismanagement sin.


16. Yah doesn't waste His property.


17. Mismanagement may be personal, but it is never private, because it affects everyone.
Genesis chapter 1


In the beginning Yah created the heaven and the earth.


2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of Yah moved upon the face of the waters.


3 And Yah said, Let there be light: and there was light.


4 And Yah saw the light, that it was good: and Yah divided the light from the darkness.


5 And Yah called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.


6 And Yah said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.


7 And Yah made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.


8 And Yah called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.


9 And Yah said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.


10 And Yah called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and Yah saw that it was good.


11 And Yah said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.


12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and Yah saw that it was good.


13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.


14 And Yah said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:


15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.


16 And Yah made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.


17 And Yah set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,


18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and Yah saw that it was good.


19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.


20 And Yah said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.


21 And Yah created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and Yah saw that it was good.


22 And Yah blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.


23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.


24 And Yah said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.


25 And Yah made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and Yah saw that it was good.


26 And Yah said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.


27 So Yah created man in his own image, in the image of Yah created he him; male and female created he them.


28 And Yah blessed them, and Yah said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.


29 And Yah said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.


30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.


31 And Yah saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.