25 Feb In God We Trust | Part 1 “Moving from Stressed to Blessed”
Jesus said we cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:24). We are going to fight about money, especially married couples. We will argue about money with our spouse. It is the 2nd highest reason for divorce.
Proverbs 3:1-12 ESV (Read the text within each point).
FINANCES ARE NOT ABOUT THE AMOUNT YOU MAKE BUT ABOUT THE APPROACH YOU TAKE.
America does not know what to do with money. We are the richest country on the planet and our government does not even know how to handle it. See chart below.
6 QUESTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO MONEY FOR GOD’S PEOPLE:
1: DO I BELIEVE MY FATHER IN HEAVEN WANTS TO BLESS MY LIFE?
Some of us think that God does not want us to have fun. He is our Father. He is our perfect heavenly Father and loves us, He wants to bless us. If we do not believe this, then we will think He is out to get us and that He won’t be happy until we are broke. We may not think he will bless us and then once he blesses us, we forget. Everything we have, has been given to us by our heavenly Father.
Q. Have you ever been in a situation where you thought God was ‘out to get you’, that he wanted you to be broke and why?
2: AM I FAITHFUL?
If we are not faithful, we cannot be trusted. Faithlessness hurts. God’s faithfulness is sky-high. We are always tempted to not be faithful. If we say we are going to do it, then we ought to do it.
This is God’s school of faithfulness. When he gives us something small and we are not faithful with that, then we won’t be faithful with big things.
Q. What small thing has God trusted you with where you were faithful and then he blessed you with bigger things?
3: AM I TEACHABLE?
We like to lean on our own understanding. We think we know stuff. We should listen to God’s voice in everything we do.
4: AM I AWARE THAT I AM A FOOL?
Be not wise in your own eyes – God teaches us about wisdom by asking us not to be wise. We can get so blessed and powerful that we think we know better than everyone else.
IF YOU DON’T THINK YOU’RE A FOOL, YOU’RE A FOOL.
Q. Have you ever claimed to know more than you do because God was blessing you (at work, school, neighborhood) and how? – since we are talking about money – some examples for conversation: maybe you had more money than someone else, better car etc and thought you knew more than others because you had these things. Or maybe you were promoted at work and because God blessed you in that area that you were superior and knew better than anyone else.
Tithing and generosity may rub us the wrong way, but don’t be a fool. Learn to listen and trust God.
5: IS GOD FIRST?
We can say that God is first, but our checking account ledgers tell the truth. First fruits are not left overs. We should give our first ten percent to God and He will bless the rest. God has all the resources we need when we give him the opportunity, regardless of the people who try to curse us.
Q. What is a tithing testimony you can share? How has God ‘rebuked the devourer’ in your life when you have been faithful in giving your first fruits? (You may already touched on this from the question in point #2 – If so, then re-iterate what He has done in our lives when we are faithful with our tithe).
6: DO I REALLY BELIEVE MY FATHER IN HEAVEN WANTS TO BLESS ME?
90 Day Challenge: Malachi 3:10-11 NLT
- If you don’t currently tithe (bringing ten percent of your income to our local church) – start tithing for the next 90 days. Yes, tithe on the gross, doing so puts God before the government.
- If you currently tithe, go beyond the tithe! You can raise the amount above 10%. You can give to our “Kingdom Builder” campaign on March 17/18th to help us launch more churches in New England. Beyond Waters Church, you can give to worthwhile Gospel-centric causes (Missions, Benevolence, etc.) You can do this through Waters Church by marking your contribution “Missions/Benevolence” in the memo field.
- You can also do this by logging on to http://compassion.com or https://www.americanbible.org/. These are two reputable Christian giving organizations our Church partners with. We are challenging everyone in our congregation in this.
JOIN US IN THE CHALLENGE. TEST GOD AT HIS INVITATION. WATCH!
In the end, only God can bless you beyond what others can do for you: AND God can save you from financial disasters no one else can protect you from. The Bible clearly makes money a spiritual issue. If we don’t have this area right in our lives, everything else will be filled with stress and fear.
Pray for each other, the lost, campuses, nation and leaders.
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