Embracing Generosity: Trusting God Over Wealth

1) "He says, No, instead, teach them to put their hope in God who richly provides. And he richly provides us with everything. And I love this for our enjoyment. Like God gives us. He gives us stuff so that we will enjoy the stuff. And God provides for us financially and in all kinds of ways so that we will enjoy life. You know, he's not just a killjoy. People think, oh, you become a follower of Jesus. You know, you put faith in God and suddenly life just becomes boring and tolsome. And it's like, no, he blesses us for our enjoyment. And then Paul goes on. He says, Command those who are rich in this present world to do good. And here it is. Be rich. To be rich in good deeds and generous and willing to share." [30:41] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "And see, according to Jesus, the number one competitor for your heart is wealth. According to Jesus, it's your wealth. It's your money. It's your stuff. It's our material possessions. That is what competes for our heart against God. I don't think anybody in here, nobody over in Dahlonega, nobody who's watching online, listening to a podcast later, I don't think any of you woke up this morning and said, gosh, this is such a struggle. Am I going to serve God or the devil today? I don't think anybody wrestled with serving the devil today. I don't think anybody woke up and just said, I think today, I hope I'm not going to be a Satanist. Not today. You know? But. Many. Of. Us. Went to bed worried about money and woke up worried about money and spend the majority of our time thinking about money or money related issues. And he knew and he knows the number one competitor for our hearts is money." [39:35] (61 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "You see, generosity is the prescription and the preventative, like the vitamin, for greed, arrogance, and putting your hope in wealth. If you were to say, oh, I think that's me, and you go, putting hope in wealth, I don't know that I'd do that. Really? I know I've been there. Have you ever thought, if I just had more money then, I would sleep better at night? If I just had more money then, I would be happier. If I had more money then, I wouldn't be as stressed out. If I had more money then, you're putting your hope in wealth. And listen, some of that, there may be a level of truth, but the thing is, we start pursuing the dollar instead of the God who richly provides. And so if you put your hope in wealth, you say, what do I do? Or if you have this greed, and all of a sudden it's like holding up a mirror today, and you go, oh my goodness, I think that's a little bit of me. What do I do? What's the prescription for greed and for arrogance? Putting my hope in wealth. I can tell you, it's generosity." [57:16] (54 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "You see, generosity is reflective of and it leads to spiritual growth. Something on the inside of us. Something of our nature. That's what I mean by spiritual growth. It's freedom from materialism. Now, when I talk about generosity, there's a difference between giving and being generous. And Paul instructs us to be generous, not giving. Anybody can give. You can give, with a bad heart. But you can give without being generous. But you can't be generous without giving. You see, how do you define generosity? If I told you somebody gave a million dollars, you'd go, wow, that's generous, until I tell you they're worth 400 billion. And then you go, oh, they're cheapskates. But I know people, I know some of you, and there's been times over the years where somebody in our church family has given a hundred dollars, and I've cried, because I know what you're going through. I know the situation you're in. I know the needs you have with your kids, or aging parents, or whatever, and all that kind of stuff. And listen, if anybody in my relational circles deserved a pass card not to give, it would have been you, and you did it. And I'm like, wow, that's generous." [58:26] (77 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "And I know this may sound selfish, but here's the thing. I'm a control freak. And when I walk by, I expect somebody like that. When I give them money, when I come back by, they need to be clean shaven. They need to be showered. They need to be fully employed and paying their bills and taxes. Right? And if they can't, then I'm not giving to it. Which reveals how much this money has got to hold. My heart. I don't care what they do with it. I gave that so it won't get me. That was it. That was it. It was just that moment. It's what was coming from. And I wanted to come. I wanted my generosity to flow from a heart that was not fully healed yet. Right? So generosity, it's sacrificial. It'll cost you something. It exceeds what is expected and it is giving without expectation. Because if you say, well, I'm giving you this, but I expect, well, then that's not generosity. That's investing." [01:02:34] (58 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "You see, generosity is transformational, but it's also a trademark of one who's already been transformed by the generosity of Jesus. You see, generosity, that describes someone who has mastered their wealth. But it's also the prescription for someone who's being mastered by their wealth. If you've been around church, you might have heard the story of Zacchaeus, a tax collector who encounters Jesus. Tax collector. I mean, it's the worst. Why? Because it's a Jewish guy who has been either hired or usually by force to work for Roman Empire against their own people. And so they would get a Jewish citizen in a town. They would be the tax collector. Rome would say, you have to go to all of your neighbors and all of your brothers and all your family's members and everybody else. And you know their real economic situation. So you have to make sure they're paying their fair tax. Okay, Rome, how much are you paying me? Whatever additional you can get out of them is what you will get paid. If they don't want to pay it, let us know. We show up with the swords. So tax collectors were gouging their own people and getting wealthy. And this one, his name is Zacchaeus. And Zacchaeus was curious about Jesus, interested in Jesus. Jesus comes through the town. There's a crowd. He can't see them. He can't see them. He can't see them. He can't see them. He wants to hear them. So he crawls up in a tree, gets Jesus's attention. And Jesus comes by and says, Zacchaeus, come down. I'm going to your house today. I mean, there's a little song in Southern Children's Church. We won't sing it right now. Okay. But here's the thing. When he goes there, we don't know what they talked about and we don't know what they said and we don't know what happened. But what we do know is that Zacchaeus stood up at some point in the meal and said, today I will give half of everything I own to the poor." [01:03:51] (103 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "See, generosity isn't just about helping others. It's about you being transformed and reflecting Jesus because we are never more like Jesus than when we love, when we serve, when we give, and when we forgive. I think it is the four irreducible characteristics and qualities of Jesus. It's not because we know him. It's because we know him. It's because we know him. It's because we know all the scripture and we can memorize it and spit it out all the time. No, no, no, no. It's when you can apply all of that. And what does it look like when you apply everything the Bible teaches? It looks like this right here. And see, Jesus was generous with his resources, with his power, with his ability, with his time, with his grace, with his mercy, with his presence." [01:05:28] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "And he introduces this totally different kind of generosity that expects nothing from the other people in return. He died for people who never asked him, will never thank him, may never change. Why? Because they are worth it. And see, that's what generosity does. It raises the value of the people that you give to. Here's the thing. The world, like non -believers, they can argue with and ignore our beliefs. They can argue with and ignore our preaching. They can argue with and ignore the scriptures. But they cannot argue with or ignore generosity. It silences them every time. They may not believe the claims of Jesus, but he's willing to die on the cross for the people killing him. It leaves them speechless every time. You see, a lifestyle of generosity is not just for the people, but for the people that are killing him. For the people requires more than just a change of heart. It requires a change of heart and habits." [01:07:02] (73 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)