A Prophetic Word on the Stewardship of Time and Money 

by Curt Landry 

Transformation and breakthroughs always come with trials. There is always a battle before the breakthrough. Yet, God works to polish us and bring us into our destinies and purposes through the battle. But if we are going to be at peace and be propelled into our purposes, we must understand God’s view of stewardship of time and money. 

God wants to use the battle to correct and guide us onto the path He has for us. Though this correction isn’t pleasant at the time, it is for our profit. It yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those willing to be trained (Hebrews 12:11). 

Remember, when God corrects you, He deals with you as a child through His fatherly heart (see Hebrews 12:7-11). 

The Wise Stewardship of Time and Money is a Process

Let me explain it like this… A neighbor of mine lost a very large elm tree in his front yard. Instead of cutting down what remained, he carved it into something beautiful. 

However, as I’ve watched the process, it’s very slow. My neighbor, the carver, took time to prune back sections before beginning the artistic part of the project.

He then began the painstakingly slow business of carving out the figures. Throughout the process, he made very small cuts, stepped away, and evaluated the tree trunk from a distance. This is a 360-degree statue that had to be viewed and enjoyed from all sides. He alone was the only one who could see what the final product would look like.

This is similar to what God has been doing with each one of us. He is slowly shaping our thinking so that we create habits and patterns that carve us into who He sees us as in Yeshua. Part of this carving process involves developing habits and patterns using His wisdom to steward time and money. 

The Key to Being Good Stewards of Time and Money

If we are going to be at peace in life, then we must understand these key principles: 

  • God owns it all.
  • We are not the owners.
  • We are stewards.

And regarding the stewardship of time and money, God calls us to live wisely. Wisdom is a divine gift, an appropriate application of knowledge, and a virtue God generously pours out to those who ask (James 1:5).  

We can only live wisely and be good stewards of our time and money when we “put on” the mind of Yeshua, as He is the revealer of knowledge because of His relationship with the Father.   

  • “…ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…”—Colossians 1:9-10 

God promises us in His Word that if we practice good stewardship of what He owns, there will be an increase in our lives. If He can trust us with little, He will give us more. 

  • “‘He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.’”—Luke 16:10

God wants to release a new mindset in us about the importance of our stewardship of time and money. Why? So we can fulfill our purposes. 

  • “‘Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.’”—Malachi 4:4-6 (emphasis added)

We are ambassadors of Yeshua. Ambassadors need funding to do what they’ve been called to do. God knows this, so He asks that we align with Him and His ways, remembering His order of things. 

Let us remember…

  • He is our provider and protector. Therefore, we follow His ways (Philippians 4:19). 
  • He is the one who gives us the power to produce wealth, so establishing His covenant (Deuteronomy 8:18). 

When God Brings a Prophetic Word… 

  • When God brings a prophetic word, it is for His people, not for the rest of the world. 
  • When God brings a prophetic word,  He speaks a word of correction to His family. 

The prophet Malachi was the last prophet to speak before the arrival of Yeshua. Four hundred years of silence follow these words: “Remember the Law of Moses…” 

Why? 

Because God knew that only 360 years would go by after the resurrection of Messiah before the Church would begin to devalue and remove the laws of Moses, replacing them with a false message of hyper-grace. 

A statute is not a negative thing. It’s a legal thing. A statute is a written law. The Word of God, in its entirety, is a written law. It can be broken, and when it is, we suffer the consequences of not following the instructions given through it. Our universe runs by this book—a fact that will never change. This is also how a good and just father deals with his children. 

There is a relationship between following the Law of Moses and being a servant of God. When we make choices that align with what God has written in His Word—the statutes—it brings glory to God and unlocks blessings for us…

  • Protection
  • Provision
  • Prosperity

We must know how to steward the provision and prosperity the Lord gives us. And God’s protection allows us the time to learn how.

There must be a remnant in the Body of Christ who speaks and acts through a circumcised heart—cleansed by the statues of God’s Word as they speak into the atmosphere. Otherwise, the world cannot make it to the second coming of Christ.

This is why God is spending so much time cleaning each of us up. He is cleaning us up, tuning our ears, and unveiling our eyes so we can better hear and see what He is doing. 

  • All of this so that we might prophesy and speak a new word, removing the idolatry of the past. 
  • All this so that we know the keys to proper stewardship of time and money. 

Then we will be able to fulfill our calls as God intended. 

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It is Time to Redeem the Time 

  • “‘He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, “to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,” and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’”—Luke 1:17 

We are in the season that Malachi spoke of. He is cleaning up the hearts of the fathers so that wisdom can be spoken into a world where wisdom is being destroyed. 

I’m telling you now, wisdom is being released into all 7 Mountains, and those words will turn every mountain to obedience.

It is time to make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. It is time to redeem the time!

  • “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”—Ephesians 5:15-16

It is going to be you…

  • Speaking the wisdom to turn a heart
  • Using godly wisdom that will cause them to return 

Listen to God’s Correction

Understanding how God speaks is critical to the stewardship of time and money. As an early Believer, I spent a lot of time in the Old Testament. I have been criticized for this, but I did this because I wanted to understand how God spoke through His prophets. I wanted to know the whole Word of God. I wanted to know His history and the history of humanity. 

I discovered something essential… God doesn’t change. He cannot lie. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Therefore, the way He spoke in the past is still applicable today. 

God’s prophets spoke then, and prophets are speaking now. And when they speak, we must heed their words of warning and correction to be edified, encouraged, and directed in our calls.  

Amos’ words are an example of this. In the passage, things weren’t going well with God’s family. God calls a meeting and has Amos speak words of correction.

  • “Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying: ‘You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.’ Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing? Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all? If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid? If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it? Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?—Amos 3:1-8 (emphasis added)

In other words…

The Hebrew children had forgotten who they were, not remembering they were being held to a higher standard because He had trusted them with the truth and knowledge of His covenant commitment. His pledge and promises are bound to His name with all blessings! 

Sometimes we forget. We forget the power of God. We forget who we are in Yeshua. The Church at large feels estranged from God because they honestly don’t know who He is. We go to church and occasionally open our Bibles, but we don’t let the Word of God infiltrate our minds to the point that we change our habits and patterns to align with His. We don’t welcome His correction. 

But His correction allows us to be good stewards, opening doors of opportunity to share His love with others. His wisdom allows us to redeem the time, which is imperative because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:15-16). 

So then, without understanding His laws, commands, statutes—His Word—we will not know His wise ways of stewarding our time and money. 

Here is a huge key to finding Him and walking in His ways: “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” 

  • We must choose the discipline of our heavenly Father over our soulish desires. We must walk with Him in unity. We must agree with His Word—all of it!

He is a loving Father. He desires to be with us, but He cannot dwell with us if we do not allow Him to remove the habits and patterns in our lives that perpetuate sin. 

Whenever we choose to go against God’s ways, it defies His principles. Therefore, we are literally choosing to curse ourselves. If we are cursed, we cannot walk in blessings and be good stewards of what God has given us.  

While Amos’ words sound harsh, the Lord’s correction is very gentle. It is necessary tough love. It’s a fatherly heart toward His children. 

The Bible says… 

  • If you’ve received Yeshua, He gave you a right to become a child of God (John 1:12). 
  • You’ve been grafted into the family of God (Romans 11:17). 
  • If you are in Yeshua, then you are Abraham’s offspring, and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29). 

Connect to the Father’s Heart

This is why restoring the Jewish roots of the Christian faith is so important because the Councils of Elvira and Nicea stole the Church’s connection with the Father heart of God

The Body of Christ needs a revelation that we have been grafted into the family of God. Therefore, we need to behave like His children. 

 Are you hearing this?

  • “‘But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.’”—Luke 12:48

Can I translate this for you? 

  • The greater the call, the greater the responsibility, and the more correction you’ll need and receive. 

We must make peace with the correction. Father God is love. He knows best. Let us agree that we are not the authors or finishers of our faith. Yeshua is. 

A New Testament Understanding of the Stewardship of Time and Money

Read this passage out loud and listen for the Father’s heart and correction…

  • “‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, “Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.” His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” He also who had received two talents came and said, “Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.” His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” Then he who had received the one talent came and said, “Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.” But his lord answered and said to him, “You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”’”—Mathew 25:14-29 (emphasis added)

The one who buried his talent answered his Lord with a lie because he didn’t understand the statutes and judgments of his master.

He had no stewardship of time and money. We are in the same season right now. 

Surrendering to God to Receive and Be Good Stewards of Time and Money

In more than 30 years of ministry, I’ve learned that there is an order to surrender to the Lord. We must understand these 4 principles. 

1. God is a Master at timing. We cannot disagree with or complain about God’s timing. God is waiting on us; we aren’t waiting on Him. If we are actually prepared to receive the blessing, the blessing will come. If we are not prepared, then the blessing is delayed. 

2. God is a great leader. He knows better than anyone when to move and how to prepare the people for His move. He is Jehovah, CEO of the Universe. He is the best of the best administrator, and no one can touch His abilities. The way we are behaving is stopping us from becoming who He designed us to be. He knows best. He will allow people to come into your life to challenge you, breaking you of the habits and patterns that would eventually steal your promise. 

3. Malachi predicts a day when God will bring justice to everyone and burn away the evil. Therefore, God is in the process of raising up a remnant where the family has a testimony of power from Heaven to Earth. This is why the family is so under attack. This day is upon us now. 

4. Malachi predicts a heart transformation of the fathers on the earth to the Father heart of God. Why do you need to understand the Father’s heart? If God is correcting you, it means that He loves you. If He does not correct you, then you’re really just an orphan—fatherless without purpose or destiny.

Always Operate with Balanced Scales

A white sand hourglass on one side of a wooden balance scale and a bag of money on the other.
  • “Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.”—Proverbs 11:1

If people interact with you, it should be a blessing. 

  • “‘And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.’”—Deuteronomy 8:18

In this season, God is restoring covenant blessings to fathers so their children will each follow their father’s God. Failed fathers have failed children that go and make their own way. 

It is never too late to leave a purpose and destiny for your children. No matter how old we are, the choice to start today will make a major impact on the future generations to come. 

It is my privilege to be chosen by God…

God will lead and provide for His chosen people. What is the price of being a chosen people? We must rely on His provision and not our own.

“‘And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.’”

—Malachi 4:6