Get Out Of The Trap | FreedUp Week 3

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So I know how this is about to sound,

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but I'm going to say it anyway,

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if you watch the rest of this episode

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and you try what you hear, your life will get better.

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That's not my promise. That's God's.

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And I'll prove that to you in just a minute.

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But you have to decide to watch

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the entire episode right now,

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otherwise you will miss it.

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Why? Because if you're a normal person,

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there's going to be a moment

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when a voice is going to shout in your ear.

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"This guy's trying to trick you.

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He's trying to take something from you.

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You need to turn this off, tune out, do anything else.

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You'd be tempted to judge me and my motives.

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And so you have to decide right now

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that you want to stick around

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and hear the entire story.

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At the end of it,

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you can still decide whatever you think.

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But I believe the path to a life

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free from financial stress

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is 20 minutes away if you want it.

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Now to get there, we have to start at the beginning.

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See, the whole freed up series is about

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getting on God's plan with finances.

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And as we've established, God's plan brings freedom

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while have the world's plan brings bondage.

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So what is the world's plan?

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The world's plan is what I like to call

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the myth of bigger barns.

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It's the idea that if I just had more stuff,

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I'd have less stress and therefore more freedom.

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The problem is it's not true.

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Jesus addressed this in Luke 12.

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He told a parable about a guy who was trying to get

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to financial freedom to be freed up.

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And so he did it by accumulating

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and holding on to more and more and more.

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There's a moment in his life where he had some extra

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and he decided to do the world's plan.

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This is how Jesus told the story in Luke 12.

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The man said. "I know what I'm going to do.

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I want freedom.

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And so I have some and I have a bit more.

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I know, I'm going to build a bigger barn.

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There we go. A little bit more investments.

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Now I feel, honestly, not quite free.

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I must be -- I need a bigger barn, more stuff.

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I still don't feel free.

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Bigger. Let's make it bigger.

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No, not enough. More.

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If I just hold onto it and have more,

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then I feel free."

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The problem is this doesn't work.

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Doesn't work.

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God's plan does.

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And so what is God's plan?

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God's plan of how to get freed up

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has three big ideas

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that we've been unpacking in this series.

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And it all starts with this one.

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We are free when we are faithful stewards.

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What's a faithful steward?

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Well, a steward is somebody

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who simply recognizes that what they have isn't theirs.

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They're not an owner, they're a steward.

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Therefore, they manage everything

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according to the owners plan

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and give him the return he's after.

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Now, you could be any type of steward.

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You could be a good steward, a bad steward,

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unwise steward, you could be

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a Mary Steward, aka, Mary Queen of Scots.

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But God says be a faithful steward.

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He says this in 1 Corinthians 4:2:

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So how would you prove to be a faithful steward?

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Well, a faithful steward is both

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a diligent earner and a prudent spender.

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This one's about money coming in

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and this one's about money going out.

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Chuck talked all about a diligent earner

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in our last episode.

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So today we're starting into a prudent spender.

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So what's that?

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Well, a prudent spender is a generous giver first,

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a wise saver, second in a cautious debtor third.

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We're going to drill in on this one right here.

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Before we get to the word first,

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I know the word generous sets off all the alarm bells.

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I get it.

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This is not a message you want to hear.

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It's probably right up there with

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how to have a worse sex life

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with five keys to meditative quilting.

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Like, no thanks, Kyle.

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I'm not interested in any of these messages.

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This sounds like how to have less.

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I get it.

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Here's the thing, it's actually

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the only way to have more.

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The only way to have more freedom.

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See, I can't possibly help you be freed up

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if I don't talk to you about generosity.

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It's the very foundation.

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Now, one that's not my idea. It's Gods.

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I'm going to take you on a very candid

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and very thorough look through the Bible today.

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To sugarcoat it or to gloss over pieces

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would be to serve you poorly.

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And I will not do that.

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Two, you need to know that

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this is deeply personal to me,

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maybe more so than any other topic,

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because what I have seen,

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what I have experienced of God through generosity

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is at the very foundation of my faith

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and my wife, Sarah's faith.

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See, I followed what I believe

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Scripture says about generosity,

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and God has blessed me with freedom.

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I'm not fearful about life the way that I used to be.

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Why? Generosity.

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I have peace in turmoil and I know that God is with me.

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Why? Generosity.

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I have joy when I think about the future.

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I'm free from that kind of fear.

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Why? Generosity.

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I know it's maybe the most misunderstood,

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sometimes even honestly abused topic in the entire Bible.

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In fact, you may have had someone

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try to manipulate you on this topic before,

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trying to guilt trip you,

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or maybe even try to get you to purchase

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giving as a promise that you get rich.

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I'm not going to do any of that,

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but I am going to start with this basic assumption

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that you want more of God

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and the freedom that is only found in and through Him.

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If that's true, there's a simple

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but critical question you and I have

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to ask ourselves about our heart:

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who will I thank first?

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Now, I intentionally put that in the first person,

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who will I thank first, because this is a question

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that I have to ask myself every single day.

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In fact, it's a question we actually

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get asked every time we get paid.

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Do you have any reoccurring dreams in your life?

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I do, and there's never good ones.

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I wish they were.

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I wish I had a recurring dream that I could dunk,

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you know, Yes, I had the dunk dream again last night.

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It was awesome. What an amazing night.

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Never happened to me.

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The one that I have the most

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is a dream that I'm back in college.

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It's the end of the semester

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and I just discovered that I'm still in a class

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I thought I had dropped

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and the final is in ten minutes across campus.

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And it just produces this like immediate

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stress and anxiety and panic in me.

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It's awful to have a test you didn't know about

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and you weren't prepared for.

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You know, there's a test you're taking right now,

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and I want you to know about it

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because I want you to ace it.

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It's a test that God gives each of us

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and our answer goes directly to Him.

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The only question on the test: Who will I thank first?

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By the way, this is a show your work kind of test.

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I hated those in school.

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In college they made me take

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calculus based physics for my major.

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And I got to the final,

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and I was not good at it, by the way.

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I got to the final and I sat down

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and I saw there was multiple choice

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and I was like, "Yes, multiple choice.

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Worst case, I can just guess in the answers."

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And then I read the instructions

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and I saw the dreaded phrase:

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you are required to show your work.

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I said, "Crap. This is awful."

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Now this is the same and the work

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you'll have to show is what you did with your money first.

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Generosity is a test of a grateful heart.

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Now, what does gratitude have to do with money?

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Well, Jesus said that your heart actually

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has a little string on it

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that goes straight to your wallet.

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The two are attached.

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And if you want to know who has your heart,

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all you have to do is look at who has your money.

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Jesus said this in Matthew 6:21:

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No one knows, generally speaking,

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where your money is except you and God,

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and probably also Turbo Tax.

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Now, this is the moment, by the way,

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where we show God I'm on your plan, not the world's.

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Because everything else we've talked about

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up to this point in this series

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an atheist could get behind.

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It's really just sound financial advice.

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This is the moment that we show God

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we are on Your plan

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and we want You active in our lives, or not.

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See, generosity is about the belief

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that lives in your heart.

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A generous heart is a grateful heart.

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And gratefulness comes from recognizing

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what's been given to you.

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One of the most fascinating stories in the Bible

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takes place exactly 7 days before Jesus was crucified.

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A woman shows up and took

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a jar of perfume worth a year's wages.

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She broke it and she dumped it all over His feet.

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Here's what the story actually says in John 12:

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She breaks it open and she takes her actual hair

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and she wipes this expensive perfume,

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a year wages, all over his feet.

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Why would she do that?

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Why make such an extravagant gift?

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It's because exactly two months before this

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her brother Lazarus had been raised from the dead.

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The story says that he had been in the tomb,

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laid out for four days.

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He was stinky, he was smelly, it was over.

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And Jesus was walking into town to come visit the family.

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Mary, in this moment, she ran out to Jesus

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full of grief over her brother.

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And the story says she actually fell at His feet weeping.

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And she covered his feet in her tears of grief.

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Then two months later,

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she takes the same exact posture

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and she gladly pours out an extravagant offering

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on this man whose feet she had covered with tears,

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she covers with an offering.

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Why? Out of gratitude.

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Grateful people are generous people.

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Let me ask you a question.

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I know that seeing this coffin

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could be a traumatic experience

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because for some of us, we've had family members die,

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some of us recently.

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My aim here is not to traumatize you,

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it's to try to help you.

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I want you to see something.

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How grateful would you be if

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one of the members of your family

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was raised from the dead?

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Do you think that might change how you give to God?

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Well, let me just remind you

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that all of you who believe in Jesus,

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you've been raised from the dead.

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Scripture says that you were dead,

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you were Lazarus, you were laid out, you were smelly.

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There was no hope of getting out of here on your own.

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Nothing, nothing you could do.

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And yet He made you alive.

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This is what Ephesians 2:1 says:

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And you He made alive,

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who were dead in trespasses and sins.

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My theory with Mary here,

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that she had in her grief gone out

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and bought this perfume two months earlier

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when her brother was dead.

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She thought she was going to pour it out

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on her dead brother to anoint his body.

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But before she could even crack it open,

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Jesus showed up and brought him back to life.

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And that changed her life

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and it changed her attitude

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towards everything that she had.

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See instead, two months later, she took that same perfume

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and she poured it out on the feet of Jesus,

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the one who raised her brother from the dead.

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Friends, don't miss this. Don't miss this.

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She was going to pour out a year's wages

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on something that was destined to decay.

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And instead she gave it to the only one on earth

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that would last forever.

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And when that happened, Jesus knew

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with absolute certainty that He had her heart.

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So what about you?

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Does God know with absolute certainty

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that He has your heart?

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This isn't a subjective thing.

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This is an objective question.

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There's a test, I'm telling you,

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He looks at what you do with your money.

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He says, "Do you thank me first?"

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First. Now, why the emphasis on first?

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Why not, I'm generous out of gratitude when I have extra?

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You know, when there's money left at the end of the month.

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Or I'm generous once I've saved 10%

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or once I've done my retirement.

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Everyone's always talking about

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how important it is to retire.

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Isn't that the most important thing?

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Why does first matter?

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Well it matters because God says that you have

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to be in order with His plans for life.

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What do I mean by that?

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I mean that you are literally aligning

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with the order that God has established for the universe.

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If you look at creation, you study science,

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what you see is a God who loves order.

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And when you get in order with God,

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it opens the door for Him to come in and bless you.

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Out of order equals no blessing.

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My wife, Sarah, her biggest pet peeve out of anything,

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I'm pretty positive, is when she goes to Chipotle

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and she orders her burrito

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and she orders her Diet Coke and a hand her a cup.

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And then she turns the soda fountain and she goes,

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and there's the dreaded little sign

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right over top of the Diet Coke spout

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that says, out of order.

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It's awful. She hates it every time it happens.

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Let's just say I hear about it.

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Also, why don't they do that on the door?

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You know, it'd be so much better if you just walked in

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and they were like out of Diet Coke.

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Cool, now I don't have to pay.

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It's always after you pay. No, tell me before. Before.

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See when you're in order,

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it means that you are able to receive blessing.

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You're lined up,

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you're able to get what God wants to send your way.

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But when you're out of order, even though

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God wants to send goodness and blessing your way,

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you can't receive it because you're out of order.

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And here's the thing, how could we ever expect

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a god of order to bless our finances

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when they're in disorder?

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So how do you get in order with God?

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Well, you get in order with His reality.

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And His reality is simple:

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He's first and the first is His.

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God is very clear throughout all of scripture

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that the first belongs to Him.

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Let's go all the way back to

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the very beginning of the Bible,

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to the Old Testament in Exodus 13.

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Hear God speaking to Moses, it says this:

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Now, in the original language, mine is emphatic.

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It implies absolute ownership.

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See, the first of what you have, isn't yours.

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God says it's His.

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Now we call it giving, but more accurately it's returning.

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This principle, by the way, is called tithing.

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It's returning the first 10% of all of your income to God.

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And so people will say,

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"Kyle, you just pointed to the Old Testament.

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It's part of the Old Testament law.

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It no longer applies, just like we can eat bacon now."

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Praise God for that, by the way.

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"Similarly, we don't have to tithe. It's in the past."

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The problem with that, it's not remotely true.

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The principle of tithing is one of God's ordinances.

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What's an ordinance?

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A principle of ordinary behavior.

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Not murdering is another one.

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Is it in the law? Yeah, absolutely.

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It's in the middle of it, in the Ten Commandments.

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But the idea of not murdering predates the law

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and post dates it too.

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It's a principle of ordinary behavior

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for people who follow God.

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It's not OK to kill people.

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Tithing is an ordinance as well.

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It predates the law and it's in the law

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and it comes after the law.

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In fact, Jesus talked about it in Matthew 23. He said:

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Jesus says, "Hey guys, you missed some things.

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Justice and mercy and faith, and you tithe.

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That's good. You should have done all of it. All of it."

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Jesus affirms the tithe.

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Now let's go way before the law.

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Way back, back, back, back, back

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to the beginning of the Bible.

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Genesis 4, this is the story of Adam and Eve

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and their sons, Cain and Abel.

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Let me just say, you might consider the story

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of Adam and Eve a symbol or a metaphor or an allegory.

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That's totally OK, doesn't bother me one bit

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because the principle here is the same

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no matter how you view the literalism of the story.

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On the story Cain was a farmer and Abel was a shepherd.

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Cain came to God and he offered God fruit

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and God rejected it.

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Abel came to God and offered him livestock

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and God accepted it. Why?

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Well, let's read the story because

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the answer is right in there. Genesis 4:3-5 says:

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So what happened here?

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Simply, Abel gave the first.

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Cain gave something at some time,

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in the process of time an offering.

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Here's the point: It's not that God

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didn't want to accept Cain's offering

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and didn't want to bless him.

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It's that he couldn't.

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People say, "Whoa, hold on, He's God.

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He can do anything.

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Are you saying he couldn't do it?"

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Yeah, I am.

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See He actually can't do everything.

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Let me give you an example before you say I'm a heretic.

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God is love.

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Therefore, He cannot be unloving.

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It is impossible for Him.

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Something else God cannot do, God cannot be second.

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Theologically, this is called the preeminence of God.

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It means that He's higher than all.

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He's first of all. He's above all.

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He comes before everything.

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He's first and He can never not be first.

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We preachers will say stuff like, you know,

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"You should put God first in your life."

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And the principle there is good,

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but let me be abundantly clear,

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whether or not you put Him first,

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He is first in the universe.

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You do not rearrange the order of the cosmos.

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He can never be second.

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So Abel brings a first offering,

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God says, "I can accept that, that puts Me first."

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Cain brings an offering in the course of time

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and God says, "I can't be second.

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I can't accept that."

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It's not about animals versus fruit.

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It's about first versus not first.

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Exodus 23:1 says:

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First fruits always go to the house of God

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in our context right now,

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that's the church that you're a part of.

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By the way, God never says give the tithe.

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He says bring it, bring the first.

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Why? It's because you can't give what's not yours.

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Remember, God says this is Mine.

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And when you have something in your possession

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that belongs to someone else,

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you can either return it or you can keep it,

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which, if they've asked for it back, is called stealing.

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And I know, I know that sounds severe. I know.

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But I'm not doing you any favors

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if I don't tell you the clear truth,

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because this is still how God views it.

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How do I know?

00:20:48

Because God specifically said, "I do not change."

00:20:51

And he said it right before He made

00:20:53

the most compelling plea to have the tithe,

00:20:56

the first of all of your increase in the entire Bible.

00:20:59

It happens in Malachi 3. God says:

00:21:10

I do not change.

00:21:12

It's like God knew that someday 21st century Americans

00:21:15

would be telling each other that God changed on this.

00:21:17

So several millennia ago, He made sure

00:21:20

to drill at home from the beginning of this passage.

00:21:22

"I do not change.

00:21:25

This still applies.

00:21:27

It always will."

00:21:29

Then he goes on to say:

00:21:58

God says, "When you don't give to Me your first,

00:22:02

you are robbing Me."

00:22:04

But then look, He doesn't stop there.

00:22:06

Look at the incredible thing He says next. He says:

00:22:37

Amazingly, God says, "When you do what I've asked,

00:22:40

when you just return to Me what is mine,

00:22:43

I will bless you."

00:22:44

See, here's the thing, tithing is a test.

00:22:48

Giving your first is a test,

00:22:49

but it's actually a two way test.

00:22:52

God says, "Give Me the tithe, the first 10%

00:22:54

and see if I don't bless your life."

00:22:56

What does that mean?

00:22:58

What it says, see, you can go through life

00:23:01

with 100% of your money on your own,

00:23:04

not blessed by God, or you can keep 90% of it

00:23:08

blessed by God with the promise attached.

00:23:10

There is no third choice, by the way.

00:23:12

And God says, "I'll know I'm first in your life

00:23:15

when you return to me the first of your increase.

00:23:17

And Ill bless you."

00:23:18

I took the test 16 years ago,

00:23:22

for the first time I started tithing,

00:23:24

giving 10% of my income away to my church.

00:23:26

I was living with my parents when I started.

00:23:28

And me making that decision to tithe meant that

00:23:32

I couldn't move out, which was not exactly what I wanted.

00:23:36

But I did it anyway, took God at His Word.

00:23:39

When Sarah and I got married, we started tithing together.

00:23:41

That was 15 years ago,

00:23:43

despite, by the way, having debt to pay off.

00:23:46

We've never stopped since.

00:23:48

We didn't stop when she got laid off

00:23:51

during the Great Recession, even though

00:23:53

she was the main breadwinner in our home.

00:23:55

We didn't stop when we had double mortgages

00:23:57

for almost a year.

00:23:58

We didn't stop when God also called us

00:24:00

to give above and beyond our tithe

00:24:02

to help friends and other organizations.

00:24:04

We didn't even stop when God called us

00:24:06

to give away the majority of a year's salary

00:24:08

to the last Crossroads capital campaign.

00:24:10

That was on top of giving God the first.

00:24:14

I don't know what's going to happen in my life,

00:24:16

you know, like everybody. I've no idea.

00:24:18

But I do know this,

00:24:20

I will never stop giving God the first.

00:24:22

It's not because I work at Crossroads,

00:24:24

not because I'm a pastor.

00:24:25

It's because I want God to know

00:24:28

with absolute certainty that He is first in my life.

00:24:32

There is nothing, literally nothing

00:24:34

more important in my life than that. Why?

00:24:37

It's because I'm so grateful for how God has saved me.

00:24:41

And I want him to know that He has my heart,

00:24:43

that He is and always will be first

00:24:45

in every season of my life.

00:24:46

The good ones, the bad ones,

00:24:47

the times of plenty, the times of want, all of that.

00:24:50

And friends, when you do this, you will experience

00:24:52

what the Bible calls a blessed life.

00:24:54

Not a problem free life.

00:24:56

Some people want to manipulate you.

00:24:58

They want you to believe that there's a promise

00:25:00

of a problem free life out there. No, there's not.

00:25:02

Jesus said in this world you will have trouble,

00:25:05

but you can either go through that trouble

00:25:08

with the blessings of God or without them.

00:25:11

Me, I'd rather go through it with His blessings.

00:25:14

And by the way, I want to be clear,

00:25:16

this isn't a give to get message.

00:25:19

Some preachers will try to spin it that way.

00:25:21

You know, the problem is that's not giving.

00:25:23

That's called purchasing.

00:25:25

I pay you something and then I expect a return.

00:25:28

That's selfishness.

00:25:29

It's when you give and think God owes you something.

00:25:32

But generosity is when you give out of gratitude

00:25:35

to get nothing back.

00:25:36

And amazingly, God always rewards that.

00:25:41

Hebrews 11:6 says:

00:25:43

But without faith it is impossible to please Him,

00:25:46

for he who comes to God must believe that He is,

00:25:49

and that He is a rewarder

00:25:51

of those who diligently seek Him.

00:25:52

Now rewarder comes from a Greek word

00:25:56

that is only in the Bible this one time.

00:25:58

It's five syllables long,

00:26:00

and nearly every one of those syllables

00:26:02

means to pay what is due.

00:26:03

But there's one syllable in there

00:26:05

that changes the meaning, and it actually means

00:26:08

to reward with extravagance, to pay more than what is due.

00:26:14

That's God. He always rewards.

00:26:17

I'll say this way, He can't not reward.

00:26:21

Being a rewarder is something God is.

00:26:25

He can't live because He is truth.

00:26:28

He can't not reward because he is a rewarder.

00:26:31

He will never ignore generosity.

00:26:34

I'm telling you, I've seen that. I've experienced it.

00:26:36

I know it sounds like the prosperity gospel,

00:26:39

but it's true.

00:26:40

Here's the thing, God may reward you with money.

00:26:43

That may happen for you,

00:26:45

but the real reward is what I call true riches.

00:26:50

True riches are not financial.

00:26:51

It's the kind of stuff that

00:26:53

no matter how much money you have, you could never buy.

00:26:56

The things that only God can make happen in your life.

00:26:59

True riches are the riches that last.

00:27:02

Those you love being saved, made whole and growing in God.

00:27:06

True riches are a stronger faith

00:27:08

that you have that no one can take away.

00:27:10

Genesis 12 actually says the reward is God Himself.

00:27:14

Now, I have to be honest, I have in my life

00:27:16

seen God reward me materially and in ways

00:27:19

that I would absolutely tie back to generosity.

00:27:22

But the true reward was something

00:27:24

that I could have never made happen.

00:27:27

You know, and when we gave to

00:27:28

the last Crossroads campaign,

00:27:30

I talked about that just a minute ago.

00:27:33

God rewarded me.

00:27:34

And the reward He gave me was during that time

00:27:37

both of my sons on their own

00:27:40

came to me and asked to be baptized.

00:27:43

Said, "Daddy, we want to be with Jesus foreve."

00:27:47

By the way, I didn't try to convince them.

00:27:50

I didn't sell them on.

00:27:51

I actually did the exact opposite.

00:27:52

When they came to me and said this, I raised the bar.

00:27:55

I said, "Hey, son, I want you to know

00:27:58

what you're saying is that this means

00:28:00

you'll follow God no matter what,

00:28:02

and you will put Him first in your life.

00:28:04

That means giving Him the first of what you have.

00:28:08

Are you willing to do that?"

00:28:10

And they said, "Yeah, we will, daddy, we will.

00:28:13

We want to follow Jesus our whole lives no matter what."

00:28:16

And on November 19th, 2017, both of my sons,

00:28:20

Ben and Eli, gave their lives to Jesus.

00:28:23

That's a reward. It's a reward.

00:28:27

But listen, you don't get the reward

00:28:31

without the gratitude part.

00:28:32

And the first fruits must be offered.

00:28:35

This is why a prudent spender is a generous giver first.

00:28:39

You must put Him first.

00:28:41

And when you do, He will abundantly blessed the rest.

00:28:44

Proverbs 3:9-10 says:

00:28:46

Honor the Lord with your possessions,

00:28:48

and with the first fruits of all your increase;\

00:28:51

so your barns will be filled with plenty,

00:28:53

and your vats will overflow with new wine.

00:28:56

Listen, people get caught up on the money part.

00:28:58

I get it, but this isn't about money.

00:29:00

This is about who's first in your life.

00:29:02

And I want you to ask yourself,

00:29:03

really ask yourself right now:

00:29:06

Is God really first in your life?

00:29:10

And remember, Jesus said,

00:29:13

"Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

00:29:17

You want me to tell you who's first in your life?

00:29:20

All right, let me log in

00:29:21

and take a quick look at your bank account.

00:29:23

It'll take two seconds, I can tell you.

00:29:25

Listen, if He's not first, I want you to know

00:29:27

you're missing out on freedom.

00:29:30

Why? Because when God's first,

00:29:32

it means He's your first protection,

00:29:34

He's your first provision,

00:29:36

He's your first line of defense.

00:29:38

And when that's true, when He's first, guess what?

00:29:41

There's no need for a second line of defense.

00:29:44

There's not.

00:29:45

Do you know how incredibly freeing that is?

00:29:48

I was on this video shoot a few weeks ago,

00:29:50

and the woman who was the location rep

00:29:53

for where we were filming came up to me

00:29:56

and started preaching this exact message to me.

00:29:59

I never met her before in my life.

00:30:01

I did not ask her to start talking about this.

00:30:03

She just out of out of the joy in her heart

00:30:06

and the freedom she's experienced

00:30:07

started telling me her story around generosity.

00:30:11

And it was so amazing I actually said,

00:30:12

"Hey, will you just pause for a second

00:30:14

and let's turn the cameras off of me and put them on you.

00:30:17

I would love for you to share your story with me

00:30:19

and just a couple of friends."

00:30:21

Amazingly, she said yes.

00:30:24

Let's listen to Miranda's story right now.

00:30:31

– So I want you to meet Miranda. Say hi, Miranda.

00:30:34

– G'day, everyone.

00:30:35

– So Miranda's story changes dramatically

00:30:39

when she met Jesus 18 months ago.

00:30:42

Take us back, what did you believe about Jesus

00:30:45

before this transformation?

00:30:48

– I thought Jesus was a nice story that people tell.

00:30:52

And the people who believed in Him seemed to be like

00:30:55

they were following their own set of rules.

00:30:57

They seemed peaceful and happy,

00:30:58

but they were part of a cult. Right?

00:31:00

And I need to be free, so I don't need, like,

00:31:03

God's rules and all this stuff in my life.

00:31:06

And then I came to church.

00:31:08

I came to Crossroads

00:31:09

and I realized the exact opposite is true.

00:31:12

– You would have said prior to meeting Jesus

00:31:15

18 months ago that if you came to God,

00:31:20

what you would get is less freedom.

00:31:22

– Oppression.

00:31:23

– More restriction. – Yeah, absolutely.

00:31:25

– Is that what you found?

00:31:27

He just wants to take all your burdens.

00:31:30

So submitting your life to Him is not like,

00:31:32

"Oh, now I must bow down. I have to do all this stuff."

00:31:35

It's a life of of gratitude and praise

00:31:38

and love for your fellow human beings, no matter what.

00:31:42

When you mess up, He gives you a hug.

00:31:44

And sometimes He says, "You really needs to be better."

00:31:47

And sometimes He's like, "That was a rough day."

00:31:49

– There's a freshness in you.

00:31:51

It's unfathomable to me that kind of --

00:31:54

that kind of love for us.

00:31:56

– So you told me that you decided to start tithing.

00:32:01

– So, I didn't decide to start tithing.

00:32:03

God decided for me.

00:32:04

I'd been going to church for about a year.

00:32:06

I was giving every week at church.

00:32:08

And then I actually stopped

00:32:10

when we were just watching it on TV.

00:32:11

But then I lost my unemployment.

00:32:14

I work for a theater. We were shut down in March.

00:32:16

We were supposed to open in September,

00:32:18

but I've been on unemployment

00:32:20

and for some reason my benefits stopped.

00:32:22

And I was praying to God about it.

00:32:24

And He said, "Well, I think it's time to start tithing."

00:32:26

And I was like, "Are you serious?"

00:32:29

– Seems like a bad idea. – Right now?

00:32:31

Like I used to be employed and you didn't ask me then.

00:32:34

But then I very clearly heard, "Do you trust me?"

00:32:39

And I said, yes.

00:32:42

And I think the first thing I typed was $6,

00:32:45

because that's how much I had that week.

00:32:47

Ever since I've started tithing, it's been amazing.

00:32:51

I want to say the next day

00:32:52

after I'd been praying for my finances,

00:32:54

every single claim,

00:32:55

the weeks that had gone by with unemployment,

00:32:58

it was all paid all of a sudden.

00:33:00

And then amazingly, somebody sent me

00:33:02

their stimulus check in the mail

00:33:05

and it just came from an anonymous donor.

00:33:07

I don't know who sent it.

00:33:08

And they said, "This is for the good hard work

00:33:10

you've done and will continue to do."

00:33:13

The most important thing about tithing I found,

00:33:15

is you really realized that the money isn't your own.

00:33:19

So like, it doesn't matter.

00:33:21

With that comes the most incredible freedom.

00:33:24

I thought tithing was going to be

00:33:26

like an impressive thing again, like,

00:33:28

"Oh, I've got to give You 10% of everything."

00:33:30

How wonderful to know it's not mine

00:33:32

and He will provide for me. I have no doubt,

00:33:35

– Because he has.

00:33:36

– And there's the misconception that, like,

00:33:39

the church just wants your money because

00:33:40

it's this like religious system

00:33:43

that wants to keep you under control.

00:33:44

– Did you ever feel that way?

00:33:45

– One of the first services I went to,

00:33:48

it was about tithing and I was like,

00:33:50

"See, this is exactly why I don't go to church,

00:33:52

because you're just going to take my money.

00:33:53

What are you going to use it for?

00:33:55

To pay your salaries?

00:33:56

Yeah, I bet like that goes to God."

00:33:57

It's not even about giving the money,

00:33:59

it's about teaching you that it's not important

00:34:02

and I gotcha.

00:34:03

– The sense of freedom that you have now with money,

00:34:08

even as nothing's certain.

00:34:11

You said your theater hasn't reopened yet.

00:34:13

– We're hopefully opening in September, that's --

00:34:17

– So you feel so much stress right now,

00:34:18

but you don't feel that way.

00:34:20

– I don't.

00:34:21

– You feel secure and you feel free.

00:34:24

Can you put a price on that feeling?

00:34:26

– I think it comes down to there's going to come

00:34:28

a point where God literally says, "Do you trust Me?"

00:34:33

And if your answer is yes, then you're free.

00:34:38

– Awesome.

00:34:42

I just love her story, I mean,

00:34:43

you can just hear the joy

00:34:44

and the freedom in her voice, can't you?

00:34:47

Here's the thing, tat's that's my story, too.

00:34:50

I don't have money stress. I'm free from it.

00:34:53

And it's not because I'm sitting on a pile of money.

00:34:55

You guys know that.

00:34:56

Crossroads pays me a fair wage.

00:34:58

My family is grateful, but it's not what I could make.

00:35:01

There was a time I was once offered

00:35:02

three times the salary I was making at Crossroads.

00:35:06

And I said no.

00:35:08

See, I could have more money.

00:35:09

But here's the thing,

00:35:10

more money doesn't equal more freedom.

00:35:14

That's the lie of the world.

00:35:16

Build bigger barns, keep adding on,

00:35:18

bigger and bigger barns.

00:35:20

Financial freedom will come when you hold on to

00:35:22

and hoard what you have.

00:35:24

No. Freedom comes from a grateful heart

00:35:28

that thanks God first.

00:35:30

Being rich towards God starts with a tithe.

00:35:33

It's not about legalism.

00:35:34

It's about where your heart is.

00:35:35

First doesn't mean, by the way, nanosecond first,

00:35:37

the second leaves your account.

00:35:39

It means first in priority.

00:35:41

Most important, most unchangeable.

00:35:44

Now remember earlier we talked about Exodus 13,

00:35:47

the spot where God said to Moses, "The first is Mine."

00:35:52

God went on to say, "If you do this,

00:35:54

if you bring God your first, there'll be a day

00:35:58

when your son is going to figure this out

00:36:01

and he's going to come to you

00:36:02

and he's going to ask you

00:36:03

why in the world you're doing it."

00:36:06

This is how God says you should respond, Exodus 13:14:

00:36:41

God said, "One day your son is going to come to you

00:36:45

and he's going to ask, 'Why are you doing this, Dad?

00:36:48

Why are you killing all these animals?'

00:36:50

And when he does, you're going to take your son.

00:36:53

You're going to say, 'Son, something I need

00:36:55

to tell you about Daddy that you do not know.

00:36:58

Our family wasn't always in the ranching business.

00:37:00

In fact, we didn't own any animals or any land.

00:37:03

We were enslaved people.

00:37:05

Our family wasn't always free.

00:37:06

And son, I wasn't always free.

00:37:09

I was in bondage and no matter what I did,

00:37:12

I could never get out on my own.

00:37:14

But God with a mighty hand delivered us.

00:37:18

Therefore, we gladly give to God

00:37:22

the first of all of our increase

00:37:24

because we wouldn't have anything without Him.'"

00:37:27

Friends, I know there'll be a day

00:37:29

when my son's Ben and Eli come to me

00:37:32

when they realize how much money our family gives

00:37:35

and they're going to ask, "Dad, are you crazy?

00:37:38

What are you doing?"

00:37:40

And in that moment, I'll say, "Son, I need to tell you

00:37:43

something about daddy that you don't know.

00:37:46

See, I wasn't always free.

00:37:48

I was in bondage to a whole host of sin.

00:37:51

Son, the truth, the truth is, I was dead,

00:37:55

like stuck in a casket, dead.

00:37:59

But God with a mighty hand delivered me,

00:38:04

He raised me out of that death to capital I Life,

00:38:09

therefore we gladly give the God

00:38:11

the first of all of our increase because,

00:38:14

son, we wouldn't have anything without Him."

00:38:17

Friends, there's a test:

00:38:20

who will be first in your life?

00:38:23

When you make it God, everything else falls into order

00:38:28

and you will experience freedom like never before.

00:38:32

But it won't happen without a plan that you start working.

00:38:36

There's not an ask in this series.

00:38:38

This really is not a money ask.

00:38:41

But God may be inviting you to a new place of generosity.

00:38:44

And if you're feeling that, if you're sensing that,

00:38:47

friends, my encouragement is simple, just listen.

00:38:49

Just listen.

00:38:50

God doesn't want something from you.

00:38:53

Everything you have is His.

00:38:55

He doesn't want something from you.

00:38:56

He wants something for you.

00:38:59

He wants you to get in order with him

00:39:02

because that's where freedom is found. It is.

00:39:06

And listen, I know this can be scary to take the test.

00:39:10

It's terrifying. What if it doesn't work?

00:39:11

Well, what -- what?

00:39:13

And so we at Crossroads, we designed a way

00:39:15

to help serve you and follow through

00:39:18

on the invitation that God's giving you.

00:39:19

We called the 90 Day Tithe Test.

00:39:21

It's really simple.

00:39:23

If you want to, you can sign up for it.

00:39:25

And if you try tithing for 90 days

00:39:27

and at the end of that 90 days,

00:39:29

you don't experience more freedom in your life,

00:39:31

we will give all of your money back, all of it.

00:39:35

It's a way we're trying to serve you

00:39:37

and help you get what God has for you.

00:39:41

Now, I know before you do anything else,

00:39:45

the next thing for you is to sit with God. It is.

00:39:47

And we have an experience

00:39:48

that's going to start in just a second

00:39:50

that's designed to help you do that.

00:39:52

To take whatever you're feeling,

00:39:54

whatever you're thinking, whatever turmoil is in you,

00:39:57

whatever is going on in you

00:39:58

[ and just simply put it before God, ].

00:40:02

It's going to look like singing to Him a little bit

00:40:04

and listening to some folks do something called worship.

00:40:07

It's just telling God who He is,

00:40:09

a chance to say You're first.

00:40:12

We're going to be led in that

00:40:13

by my friends, Robbie and Amy.

00:40:17

Before we sing, I want you to take out

00:40:20

whatever it is you use to take notes.

00:40:23

James 117 says Every good and perfect gift is from above,

00:40:28

coming down from the Father of Heavenly Light

00:40:30

who does not change like shifting shadows.

00:40:33

Take a moment and write down places

00:40:35

where you feel God's blessing.

00:40:37

If it's helpful, think about the different areas

00:40:40

of your life, like your family,

00:40:42

your work, or your schedule.

00:40:43

How has God blessed you? Write it down now.

00:41:11

This song calls into question what we believe.

00:41:15

Aare the good things in our life from God or not?

00:41:19

If they are from Him then they're a blessing

00:41:22

and God's call to us is that count them

00:41:24

and to say thank you.

00:42:41

You're my strength, my hope for tomorrow.

00:42:45

Go back to what you wrote before,

00:42:47

we're going to add to it.

00:42:49

When has God been your strength and your hope?

00:42:53

Writing it down as a way to remember and thank Him for it.

00:42:57

Do that right now.

00:44:25

Read through your list again.

00:44:27

I want you to ask God if there's somethin

00:44:29

g in your list that he wants you

00:44:30

to approach differently with a heart of generosity

00:44:34

out of gratitude towards Him for giving it to you.

00:44:40

When you found that thing, go ahead and circle it.

00:44:43

Tell God it's His.

00:46:09

Interested by what you heard today?

00:46:11

Well a great next step for you is

00:46:12

to download the freed up app.

00:46:14

It's a personalized experience designed

00:46:16

to guide you to a new place of financial freedom.

00:46:19

Now, normally, it cost $100,

00:46:21

but from now until the end of May,

00:46:23

the Freed Up App is available to the Crossroads community,

00:46:27

that's you, for free.

00:46:29

Just head to Crossroads.net/freedup

00:46:31

to download it. We'll see you next week.

	Your Life Will Get Better	0:00
	What Does It Mean To Be Generous?	8:51
	Where Is Your Heart?	12:57
	God Is First!	19:33
	Miranda's Story	30:26
	It's Time To Remove The Stress	34:42
	Count Every Blessing	40:17

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