Contents

Invest to Increase

Footnotes

References

Invest to Increase

"Use it or lose it."

That isn't exactly the way the Lord Jesus Christ said it in teaching His investment principles in the "Parable of the Pounds," but it is the essence of the "Law of Increase and Decline," which He taught in the parable.

Jesus taught about a man who, before leaving on a trip, gave his servants each a pound. When he returned, the first servant had invested and made a ten-fold increase, the second had made a five-fold increase, but the third had hidden the one pound he had received. The first and second servants were commended by their master, but he scolded the third servant for being too timid even to place his pound in a bank where he may have earned some interest on it.

The principle is: By use you possess and gain; by disuse you decline and lose.

A man with an eighteen-inch bicep who is able to lift a one-hundred-pound barbell single-handed, would be foolish to put his arm in a sling and not use it for fear of hurting it through exercise. To keep his strength, he must exercise his muscles. By so doing, he will not only keep what he has, but increase it.

To gain energy, you must give energy.

Only a fool thinks the way to retain or gain energy is by resting continually to conserve what he has. An enervation will take place through rest, while the man constantly putting himself to the test by exercising will become more and more energetic.

The principle of the parable is that hoarding causes loss, while investing will not only allow you to keep what you have, but gain more through the use of it.

The proper use of money, is to prosper by its use. It's the same with time and talent.

The business world says it this way, "It takes money to make money."

In desiring to invest, save, or own a business, many people want to start "big," "at the top," not realizing that giant oak trees come from small acorns. "Despise not the day of small beginnings" is a biblical principle.

You cannot invest thousands before investing just one, or make millions of dollars until you have made the first dollar. It's the first one that counts, all others will follow. Investing and forgiving both have the same principle — start where you are with what you have.

Every man wants to invest something that will cause him to gain from it. There are three things a man can invest: time, talent and treasure. When you think of investments, do not limit your thinking to the investments of your money in stocks, real estate, or a new business. Every day of your life you invest twenty-four God-given hours in something, or some things. Every time you use your talent, either as an accountant, a trained soldier, a pilot, or any other occupation, you are investing that talent.

Here are some guidelines for investing:

1. You Invest in People.

A company is only as good as the personnel who manage or control it.

My son, Paul, called me one day asking advice concerning an investment he was contemplating making. He informed me that some very important people were investors in the company. He named some of the musical artists, pastors, influential businessmen, and others who were investing in the enterprise.

"Who owns the company, who is the president, and who is going to run it?" I asked him.

"I don't know. Why?" he asked.

"You don't invest in investors, you invest in the corporate officers," I explained. "A company, business, government, or ministry is only as good as the character of the men controlling it."

Paul did not know who the officers of the corporation were, or who they had chosen as the Chief Executive Officer, so my advice to him was to keep his money.

The newspaper this very day carried the story of a company founded by a minister who is alleged to have lost $12,000,000 of the investors' money. Many of these people had based their decision to invest in the company on the names of the other investors. One man was desolate because he had lost $250,000, his entire life's savings.

Tragic, but so common.

Con-artists obtain their reputation vicariously through association with men of good character. They use people to influence people. Devoid of integrity themselves, they cover their chicanery with the aura of honesty derived from acquaintance with men of real worth.

Just because a man calls himself a "brother," does not mean that he has the character or ability you want to invest in. "You are not to keep company with anyone who claims to be a brother Christian but...is a swindler.... Don't even eat lunch with such a person," is the scriptural injunction. Avoid such a person; he has a rapacious character.

A swindler in church is still a swindler. Saintly sinners are still sinners.

When you invest, remember you are investing in the character of the company, which is derived from the character of the men managing it.

2. Before Investing, Investigate.

Integrity is the essence of character — faithfulness is the cornerstone.

"Only a simpleton believes what he is told! A prudent man checks to see where he is going,"is what the proverb says.

Your peace of mind and heart is the best evidence that what you are doing is right.

Peace is the umpire for doing the will of God.

Integrity is needed by both parties in an investment.

Wallace sold everything he had to buy an interest in an automobile firm with a man he had come to know through association in church activities. Six years later, Wallace left town after having lost everything. He came to see me after he had moved away to escape from the place of his tragedy and trauma.

We sat on the jetty overlooking the harbor near where I live, and he told me what had happened. When he finished, I asked him when it was that he knew he was in trouble and would lose it all.

"I realized it when we made the deal," he said. "At the very moment we shook hands in the living room of my home, I knew it was wrong."

"Why under God's heaven did you go through with it?" I asked.

"Because I didn't want to face the fact that it was wrong. I was too embarrassed to admit that I had made a mistake," he confessed to me.

"You mean, Wally, that you went ahead and lost everything just because of your pride?"

He nodded. He hadn't been honest with himself. He hadn't finished his investigation by looking into his own spirit to see if there was peace there.

An internal witness is always better than an external circumstance.

Fortuitous circumstance can be blown away with any passing wind, but the peace the Lord gives is an anchor to the soul.

Investigate, then let the peace of God be your umpire for doing His will in your life.

3. Risk, Don't Gamble.

Everything in life has risk. You must take risks in whatever venture you undertake and every time you make a decision. But risk is different from gambling. Gambling is risking on chance.

"Wealth from gambling quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows," says Proverbs.

One world-famous gambler wrote in his autobiography why he believes he is successful while most other gamblers die penniless: "When I'm hot, I'm hot," he wrote. "When I'm not, I quit!"

There is a season to everything under the sun. There is seedtime and harvest, and the season can't be changed. Seedtime never follows harvest, any more than spring follows summer.

There are seasons in life also. Seasons to sow, seasons to reap. Only a fool will try to harvest in springtime. Knowing the seasons in life—when the time has come to sow by investing, or to wait — is vital to being able to reap the increase.

God's Word tells us to "be instant in season, out of season...." meaning that constancy is one of the virtues of manhood.

Our constancy in our relationship with the Lord will cause us to recognize our seasons of sowing, waiting, or reaping, and keep us from regarding a gamble as a risk.

A wise man respects the seasons of his life and refuses to invest when "out of season" on a gamble.

4. It Must Be in Writing.

Misunderstanding is the tool of strife. Friends can become enemies through misunderstanding. That is why in our ministry offices we have a saying, "If it isn't in writing, it doesn't exist."

People miss God's best through impatience, and lose God's best through misunderstanding.

Trust is the basis of friendship, but a poor memory undermines trust.

The way the Bible teaches it is that "reliable communication permits progress."

That is why you don't ever invest in anything that is not spelled out on paper and signed—a reliable communication.

William and Lawrence are friends of mine who have been best friends with each other for over thirty-five years. For all their years of friendship, they have been business partners. Both of them are men of integrity and true Christian character. The remarkable thing about them is that in all those years, they have never had a misunderstanding.

In all their dealings, both personally and financially, they have had their agreements put in writing. Unless it was in writing, they never ventured into any investment, purchase, or sale.

Even when they borrowed money personally from their own company, they each agreed to it, then signed the terms of their agreement. Whenever there was a question about any transaction or agreement, it was a simple matter to refer to the contract made, and the difference in opinion was reconciled and the matter was settled. Their written agreements never detracted from their trust in each other as friends, but allowed them to transcend poor memories and misunderstandings to have a harmonious relationship through the years.

God's Kingdom rests on covenants, Satan's    kingdom    thrives    on misunderstandings. Leaving room for misunderstanding is leaving room for the devil.

Understanding—like    agreement—produces power; misunderstanding—like disagreement—results in powerlessness.

God put His Word and His agreement with us in writing. Learn to put yours in writing as well. Never leave room for misunderstanding. Write it down.

5. Don't Live With Death.

If you lose an investment, bury it.

Men who have failed and refuse to try again live with death.

Some years ago, my wife and I knew a lovely lady who lost her husband when he suffered a heart attack and died. She loved him so much, had been married to him so long, and grieved over him so deeply, that she left everything of his exactly the way it was the day he died, right down to the toiletries in the bathroom.

She was living with death.

As a result of living with death, she lost friends, her job, and her health. One morning while reading her Bible, she was struck by these words spoken by the Lord: "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise... " She knew this was a word for her.

She gave away everything that had belonged to her husband, sold their house, and moved to another town. There she obtained a new job and made a whole new life for herself. Her health improved. She was alive. She made an investment in life and began to live again.

Learn to live. Bury your past failures, not the talents you still have.

Admit your loss. Learn from it. Then go on to better things. Don't carry past mistakes like a dead carcass.

The Apostle Paul wrote, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

In Paul's day, the customary punishment for a person convicted of murder was to be chained to the body of the individual he had killed. Everywhere the guilty person went, he would drag with him the dead carcass of his victim. Eventually he would die from the weight of his burden.

Here, Paul was referring to his past life before he came to know Christ. He was crying for deliverance from the weight of his sins.

When he received release from the Lord for his guilt, he wrote, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord...."Our answer for our past sins is the same.

Jesus came to give us life, and to give it more abundantly. You don't need to live with death.

6. Invest in Producers.

In His "Parable of the Pounds," Jesus teaches another very important truth:

The man who does the least talks the most.

Doers don't waste time or cover their deeds with conversation.

Invest your time with men who inspire.

Invest your money with men who produce.

Invest your talent with men who create.

"Iron sharpens iron...." is the biblical principle for surrounding yourself with those whose sharpness of mind and character will sharpen your own.

Don't be fooled by men who talk. Invest in men who produce.

7. Shadows are More Fierce Than Reality.

When I was a young boy living in Los Angeles, my mother would sometimes ask me to go to the store in the evening after dark. I always walked in the middle of the street to avoid the shadows the trees made. The shadows looked fiercely dangerous. I avoided them at all cost.

As adults, the shadows are what we think others are thinking, and what we think others will do. We avoid confrontation for fear of what will happen. The shadows are always more fierce than reality.

You need the light from God's Word shed on your path to free you from the shadows. Don't avoid reality by being afraid of shadows.

Fear was the result of guilt in the life of Adam in the garden of Eden. That relationship still exists. "Perfect love casteth out fear..." because perfect love has no guilt.

Men who borrow and don't repay suffer from guilt. Men who promise God and do not keep their commitment suffer guilt. Men avoid those toward whom they feel guilty whether man or God.

Society is full of men who at one time were classified as "Christians," who still profess faith, but who have long since dropped all pretense of church attendance. The guilt from promises to God not kept ruptured their relationship both with God and the Church.

Guilt casts the biggest shadow.

Guilt is a killer.

When a person borrows money from you, your loan to him is an investment in him. If the debt remains unpaid, every time you see that man you will remember what is owed.

He will be guilty of a failure to repay, but you will be the one who constantly thinks of it — and in so doing, you will be bearing his guilt. It will cast a shadow on your relationship.

The only way to be free from another person's guilt is to forgive him. The release through forgiveness frees you from his guilt. Why carry someone else's guilt in your life?

Forgive and live free. Get rid of the shadows. They are more fierce than reality. Seek God's view of what is happening because it is truth and reality.

8. Funds Come From Friends.

"Never abandon a friend — either yours or your father's. Then you won't need to go to a distant relative for help in your time of need" the Bible says.

When in St. Louis, at a luncheon of businessmen, I was teaching this principle and told those in attendance that they should be concerned about making friends, not clients. An electrical contractor came to me afterward to express his appreciation for what was said.

"You know," he began, "I couldn't understand how my business has held up during this recession when others are having business problems. You just explained it to me. Today I have a number of contractors who just call me and tell me to come do their job, and they never ask me for a bid. Over the years we have become friends, and that is where my funds are coming from."

Repeat business comes from those who feel friendly.

An investment to make a friend will pay greater dividends than any company.

Jesus concluded the parable of the unjust steward with this principle.

"And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon [that is, deceitful riches, money, possessions], so that when it fails, they [those you have favored] may receive and welcome you into the everlasting habitations (dwellings)."

This steward knew that if he could make enough friends before he was forced to leave his job, he would be able to make money again in a different position.

The host of a nationally syndicated television talk show was startled when I corrected him about how his financial dilemma was solved. He said the funds bailed him out, but I told him it was his friends who bailed him out. He had made friends of his viewers so that, when difficulties arose, he was successful in his "friend-raising," not his "fund-raising."

Lack of friends causes lack of funds, and lack of funds can part the best of friends.

Making friends of clients and customers, by servicing them, will ensure that you have funds.

Servicing clients builds businesses.

Servicing congregations builds churches.

Servicing family members builds relationships.

9. Invest Your Life for Your Greatest Good.

Any investment you make is always an investment of yourself.

Investing time is investing yourself.

Investing talent is investing yourself.

Investing your money is investing yourself.

In return for giving your life at your work, you receive money. What you do with your money reveals what you do with your life. Your money represents your life.

Where you invest your money shows where your life is invested.

Men without an investment in eternity don't tithe to the Lord or His Church. How much of a man's life is invested in the Kingdom of God is revealed by his investment in the offering plate. He who loves little, gives little. He who loves much, gives much.

The more time you give God, the more time you have for yourself. The more you give of yourself, the more you have to give.

Your life is in your giving.

That's true in marriage.

The more you give — the more you get.

You know how much Christ loves by how much He gave of Himself. He gave us His all. By His giving all, you know He is completely, trustworthy. You can invest your whole life in Him and know the investment will reap dividends from now throughout eternity.

Invest in a such a way that you will receive the increase in your relationship with your wife, children, church, job, and community. Don't invest in what will make someone else rich, or provide a good reputation for someone you don't know. Invest in what you know is good and right in your own life, in your own sphere of understanding.

The more you give, the more you get.

Investing your own life will always be your greatest investment.

Investing in the Kingdom of God is the wisest investment you will ever make.

10. Don't Quit!

Never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never quit!

Prayer

Having read this, you need to make a decision—consciously, deliberately and honestly. The decision will affect your life, if you make it in prayer.

God answers prayer.

Pray this prayer with me in faith— believing that God will answer:

"Father, I come to You now in Jesus' name, knowing that you hear and answer prayer, and that you hear me and will answer me. You have invested Your life in me. The life of Jesus is Your life that is now being vested in me by the power of the Holy Spirit, to develop me into Christlikeness. Thank You for what You are doing in me.

"I now invest my life totally in You. May everything in my life be invested in ways that please You. I ask You for a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus to make worthy investments of my time, talent and treasury.

"By faith I receive Your blessing and the maximum return on every investment. Thank You, Lord. Amen."

Footnotes

1 Corinthians 5:11 TLB

Proverbs 14:15 TLB

Proverbs 13:11 us

2 Timothy 4:2

Proverbs 13:17 TLB

Joshua 1:27

Romans 7:24

Romans 7:25

Proverbs 27:17 niv

John 4:18

Proverbs 27:10 tlb

Luke 16:9 amp

References

The Amplified Bible, New Testament (amp). Copyright © 1954, 1958, by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.

The Holy Bible: New International Version (Niv). Copyright © 1978 by the New York International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The Living Bible (tlb). Copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois.

For information regarding Dr. Cole's video and film ministry and audio teaching tapes, or to receive his publication, courage, write:

EDWIN LOUIS COLE MINISTRIES P. O. Box 610588 Dallas, Texas 75261

INVEST

TO

INCREASE

Learn the ten basics for effectively investing your time, talent and treasure and fulfilling God’s plan for your life.

EDWIN LOUIS COLE

Edwin Louis Cole — internationally acclaimed lecturer, television personality, public speaker, and best-selling author — conducts rallies and seminars encouraging men to reach their maximum potential in all areas of life. He is the author of the best-selling books COURAGE — A BOOK FOR CHAMPIONS and MAXIMIZED MANHOOD.

Table of Contents

Invest to Increase

Footnotes

References