Aligning Our Hearts: Treasures in Heaven

1. "I remember praying and praying. And I remember there was just a huge challenge that I was feeling a huge pressure. I was feeling a struggle, you know, it was almost like anxiety and doubt just tries to grab you. You know what I'm talking about? It's like, it's like you're minding your own business and you're walking into the peace and joy of the Lord. But then all of a sudden that what if question comes up and how is this going to happen? It comes up and all of a sudden you're like, eh, what am I going to do? And I remember just standing there, God, you got to help me. You've got to talk to me. You've got to lead me. And I, and I just remember it really, it was, it really came down to, am I going to give in anxiety and fear or I'm going to trust God?" [03:58] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "We're in this world but here's the challenge for every Christian is we're not a part of this world anymore we don't belong to this world anymore we're still here and while we're here we got work to do yes there are people who need to know that god is loving and god is gracious and god is merciful and god is kind there are people that need to hear the good news that no matter how bad their life is been no matter what they've gotten themselves involved in no matter how how dirty they become because of their sin there is a god who will cleanse them who will redeem them who will adopt them who will save them that's why we're still here because it's not god's desire that any should perish but we forget that this life we're living in now is preparation for the one to come" [08:12] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "See, if we treasure the wrong things, they lead to serving the wrong God. And when we serve the wrong God, we're driven by fear, anxiety, and lack. So what does Jesus do? Make heaven your treasure. In his righteousness, your greatest pursuit. Don't chase after that wealth that's going to pass away. Don't chase after that stuff that's demanding more. Isn't that how that goes? I mean, the more money you have, what do you got? You got to get more. Why? The proverb is funny because the proverb says that money actually grows wings and flies away. Doesn't that say you ever, you know, we might say it burns a hole in our pocket, right? But back in the day, the writer of Proverbs said, hey, he said, that money in your pocket grows wings and flies away." [13:47] (45 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "Jesus addresses the fear and the anxiety we have about basic things we value in life, food, clothing, stuff. And there's a simple principle that's working behind this. What you pursue has an impact. On what you experience in this life. I'm going to say that again. What you pursue has a dramatic impact on how you experience this life. And when you pursue worldly wealth and earthly treasure, you'll begin to serve it. Because like I said before, I will always sprout wings and fly away. They're always going to, them brands are always going to make a new shirt, make a new style. Though really, if we're being honest, they're just borrowing styles from like the 90s and bringing it back. They're recycling stuff and you're paying for it again." [28:13] (53 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "The kingdom of God is not just for eternity in the future. The kingdom of God is available right now. Seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness will transform our experience in everyday life. We'll find peace and rest for our souls. We'll experience provision for God because God knows what you need. He will give you what you need. He will give you what you need. He wants to give it to you. So here's the thing. And this is probably the most important point. And this is, if you really look, kind of like the middle of Jesus' sermon. And most of the times when they did a thing called chiasm, they would work their way up to a middle point and down from that point. So literally, if you're, man, I'm getting too nerdy. But if you're like a literature person or, y'all remember like the ABAB kind of poems and stuff like that? Well, one of the things was called a chiasm. And what they would do is they would build upon each other and they would go to a central point. And it wasn't point number one that was the most important point. It was point number two. It was the center thing. They would work their way up to it and then draw their way back. And it would follow the same pattern of statements. That's how you know it was a pattern. But now I done lost you in the sauce. But let me bring it back. What is the point? The point is Jesus is getting to the central idea. Seek first God. Seek first his righteousness and everything you need in this life." [29:42] (82 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "The conclusion on this section on practical righteousness is really simple. It follows the same general pattern all the way through. Examine your heart, look to God and receive the reward of righteousness. This applies to how we practice our righteousness towards others, right? That generous giving, how we practically bless other people matters to God. How we practice righteousness towards God in prayer and worship and adoration. Matters how we practice righteousness towards ourselves with discipline and making sure that as we fast and as we, as we humble ourselves before God, we keep the right view so that we can experience the right things. All of these practices bring blessing to our lives and we continue these things. And we summarize these things basically in how we sow and how we serve, who we serve and what we seek. When we sow heavenly treasures and serve God only, we seek his kingdom and his righteousness. And what happens to our hearts is they get aligned heavenward they keep us in the righteousness of God because we have a tendency to drift, don't we? Practices, practicing these things produces a life with less anxiety in the face of trouble and confidence that God loves us and provides for every need." [30:56] (85 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "You know, it's kind of like this. The best example I could give you is, you know, if you take a really wealthy person and they invest their money, what do they tend to do? They tend to live off the interest, right? Wouldn't you like to have so much money sitting in the bank that you can just withdraw on the interest and never touch the original amount and still see your income multiply and multiply and multiply? I mean, some of these really rich folks, like they've, people have calculated how much they make per second. It's insane. That's how much money they got. You know, this is, this is really the Christian life. We invest in eternal things and we enjoy the interest today. We live off of it right now. We're living off of it right now. And over the course of our lives, we're living off of it right now. And over the course of our lives of faith, we'll store up for ourselves treasures in heaven as we live today with eternity in mind. So I encourage you, sow in the right things, invest in the right things, if that's a better term for you. Because what you value, your life orients around." [32:24] (64 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "And just remember, you can only serve one master. And if you don't make sure that it's God each and every day, then I promise you it's not. And your life will reveal it. And we'll see that because chapter seven starts a whole session about judgment. So y'all ready for judgment in church, but that's what Jesus is going to talk about. And then seek the right things because that keeps you going in the right direction. And when we're in the right place, guess what? The blessings just, they know where to find us. They know how to chase us down. Amen. They're pursuing us each and every day of our life. Why? Because your heavenly father loves you. He knows what you need. You don't have to stress. You don't have to worry. You don't have to be afraid. Just follow God. Just trust in God. He's got you. He knows you. He loves you. Amen." [33:50] (54 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)