Living Under the Blessings: Tithing, Trust, and Generosity

I can tell you god will be faithful to you. He will not fail you. It may take a decade. It may take two decades. May take learning new habits of budgeting and faithfulness with your finance. It may take a lot of things. But if you honor God, you will see his hand of provision in your life. You will see his miracles. So today, your pastors and I are giving you an invitation to come under the blessings, to put yourself under the waterfall of God's design and intent to bless you beyond what you can imagine. [01:03:55] (38 seconds)  #TrustGodsProvision

There there's been a really popular thing lately to refer to generosity as the preferred route, which I'm all for generosity. The bible talks about generosity over and over again. The issue with generosity, it's completely subjective. I decide what is generous. I decide if I feel like being generous. I decide if you're worthy of me being generous to you. It retains my ownership of everything. And the thing that we're talking about today is a no strings attached acknowledgment that everything belongs to God. [00:47:02] (38 seconds)  #EverythingBelongsToGod

When my dad and I were looking at houses, he turned to me at some point. He said, son, do you think you could have saved up almost $13,000 to have this down payment if the boss would have given you a $100 raise a month? I said, no. There's no way. But he said, look how God has blessed you. Look how he's multiplied his blessings beyond what you could ask or even imagine in ways that you could not have creatively thought of by yourself. [01:02:31] (35 seconds)  #GodMultipliesBlessings

You see the blessings of God go beyond the money. It's about friendships. I've just been around the world the last week or so. These people are among my best friends in the world, and they live in mud huts, joyful, thankful for God's provision. You have the the blessing of a reputation of integrity. You have the blessings of marriages that are intact. Do you know that one in four marriages that end in divorce end over financial matters? Husbands and wife come to agreement on this. [01:04:33] (37 seconds)  #BlessingsBeyondMoney

And Jesus called the disciples and said, I tell you the truth. This poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. They gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on. There's your definition of generosity. [00:48:18] (21 seconds)  #SacrificialGiving

You don't wait till everything else is done and you've been to Starbucks and everything and then see what's left over. The whole principle of this relationship with God is an awareness that everything I have is a gift from God. So the first thing I'm gonna do and the best that I'm gonna offer is what belongs and is holy to the Lord. [00:40:59] (22 seconds)  #GiveFirstNotLeftovers

Listen to Luke 16, Jesus again speaking. If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities. If you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? Jesus is saying this part of your life unlocks other parts of your life that have to do with honesty and integrity. [00:45:26] (34 seconds)  #FaithfulInLittleThings

There are supernatural things waiting to happen in your life that God wants to do in this realm, but it starts with just a small step of obedience, a surrender, and setting it. The only way to not have money master you is for you to be the master over your money. For that fear to dispel, you gotta let it go and trust God that he's gonna be your provider. [00:56:32] (25 seconds)  #ObedienceUnlocksMiracles