Debtwatch 7: Tetelestai!

Yes, I know... a bit of a random subtitle.

I wanted to put something similar to the last post's title... but I didn't want to confuse two completely separate issues.

Fortunately in my bible notes the other day, I came across the word the Greeks use to describe that same phrase Jesus spoke... Tetelestai.

In ancient times this phrase was used to declare that an account had been paid in full. It was customary after a debt had been paid, for the debtor to present their bill to the creditor who would then write across it "Tetelestai."

Paid in full.

Apparently the tense used in the Gospel would render it something like "it has been and will for ever remain finished."

So in a small way, my worldly debts have now joined my eternal debts in being forever paid off by Christ.

Its been an interesting and surprisingly brief journey. I have worked hard and by God's grace alone have been faithful in seeing this through. To think that it all started with the destruction of a Vauxhall Astra back in July... when up until that point I had been dragging my feet and staring at the ground in a spirit of defeatism, astounds me.

I don't just consider the financial aspect of this debt removed... everything that caused me to be in that position in the first place is gone... forever. Anything I do now does not carry with it the millstone of consequence.

It is a new dawn, a new day... maybe even a new age.

The past is nothing more than prologue and no longer casts shadows on my path. I walk free. Once more I have freedom of choice. What I do with that choice is now an open book. Having made stupid mistakes in the past, I don't intend to walk again down the path of self destruction again. In a sense this should also be our attitude to God's saving grace. Having known the damage our sin caused us... and having known the price Christ paid for it... we should not casually stroll down the path of our mistakes ever again. We may stray onto the path from time to time... but if our faith means anything at all... we shouldn't deliberately mistreat Christ's total repayment of our crippling and destructive eternal debt.

Balance left on debt: £0.00
Cash in short term savings reserves: £100.00
Cash left in current account that I hope to spare for debt repayment: N/A
Estimated balance for next Debtwatch report: N/A
Original Finish Date for completion of Payments - October 2007
Estimated Completion of Payments - "TETELESTAI!"

I just want to conclude these meditations on my finances by reaffirming my absolute conviction that, just as God helped me to clear my physical debt; he also has the ability to wipe out the debt of your sin... forever... permanently.

In fact he has already done it, by paying for it all in full on the cross. All you need to do is accept and believe it.... and a new day, a new life shall begin.

Are you ready to do that?

Debtwatch 6 - The Last Lap approaches

I had a bit of a panic attack on Friday... it was payday but the BACS (Bankers Automated Clearance Services) payroll system was working very slowly... nationwide. 300,000 people had their pay withheld due to the lag; I was one such person... so was everybody else in my office for that matter.

Nevertheless when I checked my bank account today, I had indeed been paid... and all my transfers were in place. The exciting thing is that in less than one month, I will be debt-free. Five years ago, when I was still stuck in the relationship that had taken me along this path... I don't think I could have imagined that it would take me under a year to shake off all my liabilities.

I've worked hard... and God has been kind. My dad was talking to me about it tonight and I get the impression he's really proud of how I've done this... of the sacrifices I have made along the way. I can see the finish line of this journey it is not far away at all. I'm probably going to treat myself in a month or so, as a pat on the back for finishing one hard journey... before beginning the next one. No longer the road back, this time it is the road forward... a much more daunting prospect.

So this by the grace of God, is how the books are balanced at present:

Balance left on debt: £287.03
Cash in short term savings reserves: £0
Cash left in current account that I hope to spare for debt repayment £0
Estimated balance for next Debtwatch report: £0.00
Original Finish Date for completion of Payments - October 2007
Estimated Completion of Payments - MAYDAY!

Now don't all those 0's look really nice?

Debtwatch 5

I've got a little spare time on my hands at the moment, as I have got a couple of days off work (which I had totally forgotten about until someone reminded me late on Tuesday). I've just returned from a visit to the bank with the latest exciting news on my continuing voyage of financial redemption.

Apart from the money I usually set aside for saving against debt, I managed to hold back an extra £200 in reserve. It was therefore a great relief to punch a few buttons onto the account management machine and see my repayment figure finally come down below the £1,000 threshold for the first time. It currently reads £998.03 but that's not the end of this month's calculations... because the normal direct debit has yet to take effect.

If I managed to hold back some money on top of my current account this month, I believe I could do it again next month... but I don't know if I need bother. In any case, it won't affect my repayment date as I fully intend to transfer £100 direct from savings rather than wait another month... and this will already take me into the intended completion timescale of Mayday.

So this by the grace of God, is how I currently stand:

Balance left on debt: £688.03
Cash in short term savings reserves: £0
Cash left in current account that I hope to spare for debt repayment £0
Estimated balance for next Debtwatch report: £278.00
Original Finish Date for completion of Payments - October 2007
Estimated Completion of Payments - MAYDAY!

Debtwatch 4

I can't believe that I have just passed a quarter of the way towards the original timescale for paying off my debts... and yet I am over halfway towards paying them off.

I only managed to hold onto £100 from my last payday, which was disappointing. I'm hoping I can keep my belt tight and breathe in this month and keep at least £200 back. I have £200 in savings and I will have made my usual target of £300 next month. As I said last month though, my intention is to put down £500-£600 down as it will seriously bring me a lot closer to home.

All the same it is encouraging to know that by the beginning of March I will be down to a three figure sum (heck if I really wanted to go crazy I could fast for a month and put all my wages in to cross the finish line... that is how close I am).

It is very exciting to think that come May I could be building for my future.

God has been very good to me indeed.

Balance left on debt: £1480.79
Cash in short term savings reserves: £200
Cash left in current account that I hope to spare for debt repayment £200.00
Estimated balance for next Debtwatch report: £700
Original Finish Date for completion of Payments - October 2007
New Estimated Completion of Payments - MAYDAY!

Debtwatch 3

It's occurred to me that with all the shenanigans over my change of blog... I've neglected to give an update on my current financial position.

Well despite the expenses that came with the Christmas, I managed to hold my own... just. I went slightly over my Christmas budget, but not in a bad way. I've once again put across £100 in my savings, in readiness for another big hit into my repayments.

I'm actually finding the nearer I get to being out of the woods, the harder it is to hold my course. Using some of my birthday/Christmas money, I bought myself a new suit in the January sales To be honest I did need one, my other two are looking their age and I have my dad's civic service coming up, as well as a wedding (no, not mine). I surprised myself by resisting the urge to buy an Ipod or Creative Zen and I actually managed to get interest CREDITED to my account instead of debited... OK so it was only 1p but it's a start.

It seriously looks like I'm not going to spend out, which is encouraging. I'm thinking of waiting till March and putting another £500/600 on the table. If I do this, I could seriously reduce my repayment schedule. It would have me debt free by the beginning of May.

I have also noticed that since I dealt my last unscheduled blow, the interest accumulation has halved.

I can see the faint outline of a financially debt free coastline on the horizon.

Hallelujah.

Thanks and praises to God above who made all these things by changing my situation, my fortunes and most importantly... my heart.

Balance left on debt: £1768.44
Cash in short term savings reserves: £100
Cash remaining in current account that I can probably spare for debt repayment £150.00

Debtwatch 2

Walked into the bank.

The outstanding loan figure this morning stood at £2862.50 (after interest). I walked into the bank and pulled out a sawn off shot... ahem I walked into the bank and transferred £300 from savings and £200 from a work bonus I received and transferred it to the flexiloan. At close of play tonight, £310 will transfer as normal onto the loan and despite interest going on, the simple fact remains that I have by the grace of God practically clobbered two months off my final repayment time.... HUZZAH!!!!!

According to my calculations, this will bring me towards a completion date of 1st August.

This month is a real acid test though. I have drained my resources down as far as I dare. Christmas is coming and I have friends and family to take care of...

...oh yes and one rogue tooth that requires a filling on Tuesday.... fun fun fun! Still at least I'll get half a day off work. Oh and may I say a special thank you to my father who decided to watch a spy thriller where some thugs did a DIY dentistry session on some poor bloke using nothing more sophisticated than a Black & Decker power drill!!!!!!!

I have three weeks left before I break up for the New Year, a new year full of hope and promise already.

I estimate that if I have the will to, over the next six months I can push to bring that clearance date forward by two more months. However, realistically I need to make sure I have enough money to pay my way at Scripture Union camp next year. I think I might save up for one more definite advance payment and then see how I fare over the remaining course.

Anyway, just signing off my second report as to how God is continuing to bless me in my attempts to get back on financial level terms.

Again I want to encourage and remind you that whatever millstone is hanging round your neck... emotional, financial, sinful, physical, mental... it is not too heavy for God to take off of you if you let him.

On a much lighter note, here is a pic of the present I've got Benji.... I can't stop pressing the eye laser button. The battery will be flat by Christmas at this rate.

Loan balance as at 1st December 2006: £2052.50

Debtwatch 1

As promised here is my first update on the continuing saga of my financial redemption. I'd like to restate my deeply held belief that it is by God's grace and empowerment that I am making progress... not my own financial acumen (which is woefully poor).

I'm going to hold a few bits of information back, as strictly speaking they relate to next month. As it stands though the first amount of interest has been added, and the first repayment has been made. I see this month as an acid test, because I still have an outstanding insurance payment to make on my car, a visit to the dentist and a haircut to take into account... so it is likely to be the month with the most expenditure.

Things to take into account during November are likely to include my birthday (hooray!), a work bonus and of course the looming shadow of Santa Claus's sack as we approach Christmas.

So without further ado:

Balance Prior to first repayment: £3,137.91
Current balance on loan: £2,827.91
Current finances in reserve: £200.00

Pest Control for the Soul

Things are starting to stir at church at the moment and it is quite exciting. We may be just a ragtag band of regulars, but there is a sense that God's promises - made so long ago... are back on the horizon.

In my earlier blog of two weeks ago, I mentioned that there was a sense of solidarity at the funeral for Lilly (incidentally, people are still coming to the church and laying flowers on her grave), and I have to wonder if this was merely a foretaste of things far off.

I used to pray for big things in timid ways, but I've been convicted of that recently. I should be a lot bolder and last week i decided to put this into practice. I trudged the 2.5 mile trek to church and prayed that God would feed us with his Spirit. I doubted not.

The service was immensely powerful... as we sang "Come, Now is the Time to Worship", a storm passed directly over the church and when the song finished there was an almighty clap of thunder... but that isn't the only thing I heard, I heard the word "COME!"

When you get an invitation from the Almighty, you don't mess about. Since that time, there has been an increase in prayer among people at church... and I personally have felt God's p[resence much more strongly. This is the time. I get the feeling that the dinner bells are ringing and the doors are opening. This is when the people of God have to come back and start eating the banquet... because they need to be ready for what is coming afterwards. Dare we hold back and remain in the playground any longer... letting the gracious meal provided for us go cold? Dare we?

Today's bible reading came from Joel 2:21-27:

"Be not afraid, O land; be glad and rejoice. Surely the LORD has done great things. Be not afraid, O wild animals, for the open pastures are becoming green. The trees are bearing their fruit; the fig tree and the vine yield their riches. Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm— my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other; never again will my people be shamed."

I've spoken before about how I believed God would do that for me personally, as well as the church generally. The autumnul rains have now both literally and metaphorically begun and God is raining down mercies upon me. Pest control is now firmly in place. My locusts are being severely culled and my personal harvest is being restored.

A scripture was laid on my heart all through Wednesday:

"A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all"

Now I want to point out here that I only consider myself righteous through the grace of God... there is nothing in myself that is deserving of having that title bestowed upon me. I want to put the emphasis on God here... because I've had that passage on my heart before... and I believe God was this time telling me that he is making good on that promise... and so I credit him and him alone with the glory.

I have decided that I am going to keep a financial record on this blog, once a month to illustrate to you... just one way, how this is going. I've always maintained an open door policy towards blogging. If something is going horribly wrong... I tell you... if however God is performing wonders... I tell you that too!

So here we go:

Current debt: £3,100+ interest
Current Status: 12 months to final payment @£310 a month.

The first payment comes out on November 2nd. You will receive an update then!

Pushing Back

I've taken another big step to stabilising my finances.

I'd been putting it off for about a week or so... I was afraid of handing that much money over, but I knew it had to be done. I'm now in the situation of having 2 old debts cleared, with just £200 to go on one more... and then my friends, then we can look at finishing off my old car loan.

I've had a couple of minor setbacks - the insurance payout on my car was significantly less than I hoped and insured the car for (they also still demand I pay my monthly installments despite no longer having the car - immoral), and my breakdown cover took a fair bit of money when I severed my transactions with them. Minor setbacks, but they are just the one step back to my two steps forward. I am finally pushing back the boundaries that penned me in for so long.

It just goes to show that dodgy ex girlfriends are very expensive things (note to self - don't go so high maintenance next time, you need looking after too!) and it's been an expensive lesson. I paid the emotional price some time ago... if I hadn't learned those lessons, I don't believe the economic burdens would be lifting now.

I've spoken to the bank and they say that I can switch to a flexi-loan that would enable me to pay off in less than a year.

Awesome!

The emphasis is shifting from the mistakes of the past, to the hopes of the future... which bare founded in God.

I just want to encourage people who think they are in some kind of pit or quagmire at the moment... be that one caused my financial conditions, sin, heartache, depression, sickness... it doesn't always end in tears. I have carried my burdens for over a decade... there were times when it seemed very dark indeed. I couldn't see a way out of a relationship that was draining the life out of me... but God himself paved the way for me to leave.

I felt forlorn because I couldn't see a way to ever get on level terms financially because of my past mistakes. God changed my attitude and circumstances... and here I am coming to the edge of the storm front... the darkness before the dawn. Yes it's been rough, but finally the light at the end of the tunnel is clearly in sight. I feel like I've been at sea for many years and at last the familiar shorelines of home are in view.

It can be done... not just for me... you can be free too You can be restored. God may take his time but he is always faithful.

"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
the great locust and the young locust,
the other locusts and the locust swarm —
my great army that I sent among you.

You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
and you will praise the name of the LORD your God,
who has worked wonders for you;
never again will my people be shamed." Joel 2:25-26

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13

If the Son sets you free, you shall be free indeed!

Tide & Time

I'm a blessed man.

After three weeks without a car I find myself in the midst of many changes, mostly for the better.

I got back from Scripture Union Camp nearly a fortnight ago and found that I had received an unexpected bonus from work. I also found out that the insurance payout on my car (if I can't bump it up by arguing that the salvage value is higher), is not as much as I may have hoped for.

I believe completely and utterly that the Lord is at work in this entire situation.... right from the car crash onwards. While I was waiting at the scene, not once did I go into shock, however I did feel greatly at peace and I sensed the presence of God around me. I don't feel a great sense of loss. OK so I'm a bit miffed that I don't have as much freedom to get about, but really it's just plastic and metal and when God feels the time is right for me to get a new one He will provide opportunity.

I feel that God doesn't want me to get a car but to instead focus on paying off some old debts that need settling. As soon as I got back from Camp I had the bank calling me to try and persuade me to pay back a sizable chunk of my debts in a shorter space of time at a reduced rate. This was excellent news! Yet at the same time I saw an instant opportunity to reduce that figure further by paying for one of the debts straight off. Bang. Gone. No more.... finito!

When I do finally get the insurance payout on my car, I am going to probably get a bike to get around town... and invest the rest in killing off the other non fixed term debt. Bang... that'll be two gone and we're not even into Autumn at this stage!

Finally we'll have the fixed term loan (ironically on the car that just got trashed), but that's only got 19 payments left and I'm sure I can start to pool resources into getting that paid off sooner... even if I incur a penalty.

The financial burdens and chains I have borne for so long are finally loosening. The last remnants of my past relationship mistakes are fading fast.

None of this would have happened had I heeded God in 1998. Trashed my first car then and nearly split up with my girlfriend of the time. I let myself get talked back into going out with her and instead of paying off a computer financial agreement I bought myself a new hunk of junk so that i could continue to see her. I don't need to go on about why the relationship was bad... I've blogged enough in the past about that. However suffice it to say that twice more I had severe problems with my cars... my second car just died of old age. Again out of devotion to my girlfriend I took a loan for a more reliable car. Despite this, the cam belt eventually went on that car and I crazily extended that loan to make sure I was on the road... all for a girl who did not deserve the attention she was getting and who certainly was unworthy of the level of importance/devotion I was showing her. I would never dream of doing that now... I would never have considered it prior to going out with that girl. I had a bad dream... I was bewitched like the black knight in C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair. God snapped me out of that and has blessed me in so many ways since.

I now feel that he is preparing me for the future. he is enabling me to settle my scores.... I believe because the promises are coming. I have to be ready for them. Goodness knows I don't deserve them... but God is gracious and if he is willing to give abundantly out of his love.... how can I do any less then be in the place and circumstance he needs me to be in to receive them?

Blessings to you all

N