Giving Like God

I was like, oh, wow. Okay. Confirmation. This is God. So you know what we did? We didn't do what you would typically do. We didn't go, well, let's pray about it for three days, seven days, or a month. No. Because we both knew God was speaking. So what do we do? We picked up the phone right then and there, and we called that couple. [00:19:30] (19 seconds)

And we called them, and we said, hey. We're gonna give you this minivan. Tears are on the other side. They're weeping. Are you sure you can do that? Like, look. We know that God said to do this, so how can we get it to you? And because they lived out of state, it took us about seven days to get it to them, but then we gave it to them. And now we're back to one vehicle. Right? So I decide, well, God, look. I just think I think that we need to have two vehicles. So I just say, God, all I really need is just a little red pickup truck. [00:19:49] (30 seconds)

Alright. So I open up the envelope, and, guys, out of the envelope falls this title to a vehicle that they had driven over and was parked in my driveway. I didn't even know it was there. It was a little red Nissan pickup truck. Yeah. And that's when I realized you need to be very careful because God answered that specific prayer. [00:21:03] (23 seconds)

But what happened was just and you would think like, man. Wow. Wow, great story. Right? Like, you got two vehicles, you gave one away, then you got this one back. But that's not where it ended. Because a couple months later, that newer minivan, the engine went out on it. And now we're a family of six with a little red pickup truck that can seat me and a stick and a person and then whatever can fit in the back. So you're thinking to yourself like, god, like, I was generous, and then here I am, and all I have is this little red pickup truck? [00:21:52] (36 seconds)

And so you would think, like, wow. This is a crazy story. The story is definitely not over. Someone ended up helping us get the older mini that minivan that we had to get the engine back and running again, and then another person at this church helped us to trade that for a work van. I owned, like, a work van, like an HVAC company would drive. I owned one of those for a short period of time. Yeah. I felt so cool with that thing. And then we traded that to get an actual Suburban so that our whole family because we didn't have a car for our whole family to fit in. So so our whole family could fit in one vehicle. Now I've got five vehicles in my driveway. So what do we do? We give cars away. That's what you do. Generosity begets generosity that begets generosity. [00:24:39] (50 seconds)

I don't tell you that story to brag on Kim and I. I tell that story to brag on God. That's what happens. This is the way God works. But in the middle of being generous, there were some extreme moments of pain. So I'm not here to tell you. I'm not one of these pastors that tells you that God is a prosperity God. I don't believe that at all. I don't believe that I don't believe that God's intention is that every single person on planet earth becomes rich. I think that God's intention is for our heart to become more like his heart. And God's heart is a generous heart. [00:25:30] (31 seconds)

If God doesn't live in you, you're not generous. It's like a car. A car with an engine, four wheels, the box, the doors, the whole works, the windshield. It can go anywhere, but it can't go anywhere unless it has what? Fuel on the inside of it. I think humanity, we can show some levels of generosity, but without Jesus living in us, it's not a pure generosity. [00:29:21] (25 seconds)

This is why this is why I believe that biblical generosity isn't about wealth, and it's not about getting rich. Biblical generosity is about reflecting and mirroring to the world the generosity that the father, God, showed to us through his son, Jesus Christ. This is our mission. [00:30:45] (24 seconds)