Never Unnoticed: God Measures Differently

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Today we're starting a brand new series that

we've entitled Never Unnoticed. I know that's

a double negative and probably isn't a great

title if you're a copywriter or something like

that, not to lead with a double negative. But

everyone say never unnoticed. We could make it

positive and say always noticed. But that might

change what I'm talking about because sometimes

we may think that we're unnoticed, but we're

not. Even when we don't realize that we're being

noticed, we're being noticed. Now, how many of

you remember the old TV show? This might be older

than some of you. Candid Camera. Who watched

a few episodes of Candid Camera? They would set

up cameras and then put people in situations,

awkward situations, And then they were getting

ready. This was a TV show that came on every

week. It put people in awkward situations. They

would record them. And when they got to the point

where they were just totally freaked out, the

person there with them would say, Smile, you're

on Candid Camera. I just want you to know today,

you're on Candid Camera. Robert can pull up his

phone right now. And check out that camera so

he can look at your face. And then he can look

at the back of your head because there's another

one right up there. Every time when we have the

opportunity to go out and eat after church, this

restaurant, Robert and Alyssa's restaurant, opens

up at noon. And every time when we have the opportunity

to go eat together, his phone is on the table.

Because he's watching. He's watching what's happening

and he's looking to see if the employees need

him. And there are some days where he says, I've

got to go. I've got to go because they need me.

Right? That's your testimony with your hand up

back there. Sometimes you have to leave. You

can't just continue just doing whatever you want

to do. You've got to drop and run. drop everything

and run to the restaurant. So, that's an example.

We're going to have some more examples in the

series, but I thought that was the fitting one

for today. Since we're in honeys, look to the

person beside you and say, smile. You're on candid

camera. You're on candid camera. In Genesis chapter

Genesis 16 · chapter mention

16, we see the story, or at least part of the

story, of Abram. Sarai and Hagar. Now we've talked

about the entire story at other times. When we

went through the life of Abraham, this was one

of the big things that we talked about. But if

you know much about Genesis and you know much

about Abram, whose name was changed to Abraham,

you know that he and his wife Sarah were barren.

They couldn't have a child. And having a child

was part of God's promise. He had told Abram

that he was going to be the father of nations,

father of many nations. So after a long time,

Abraham and Sarah tried to figure out a way that

they could help God. How many of you know it's

not always good to try to help God? God's given

you a promise. Okay, God, your promise hasn't

been fulfilled yet, so I'm going to try to help

you out a little bit. Because obviously, God,

you need a little help. So Sarah decided that

she was going to help out God, and when they

went to Egypt, they were gifted a servant named

Hagar. And Hagar was Sarah's handmaiden. So Sarai

said, well, God obviously needs some help, Abram,

so I want you to take my servant and I want her

to be a surrogate mother, basically. So, as I

said, it's always not a very good thing to try

to help out God. This was not part of God's plan

for them. Well, when Hagar got pregnant, all

of a sudden, she got an attitude. Because Sarah

couldn't get pregnant, so Hagar was like, I'm

going to have the baby. And the Bible says that

she began to treat Sarah with contempt. You know,

she was like... I'm blessed you're not. I'm having

this baby. You're not. You can't have a baby.

So she developed this attitude. How many of you

would think that Sarah would enjoy being treated

with contempt? No. Somebody say no. So Sarah

started making her life very difficult. I mean,

it's like, really? You're going to have attitude

towards me? So I'm going to make sure that you

don't have a good day today. And it got so bad

that Hagar ran away. She ran out into the wilderness.

And when she ran out there, God appeared to her

to talk to her. It says the angel of the Lord

talked with her. This wasn't just an ordinary

angel. This was one of those theophanies or Christophanies.

where God Himself appeared to Hagar and told

her to go back. He told her that she needed to

go back. Now, after the child was born, later

on when Isaac was born, they had to move away,

but during this time, she needed to be there.

So God told her to go back. When she met God

in the wilderness, we found out a name for God

that we did not discuss during... the series

where we talked about, hello, my name is God,

we didn't cover every single name of God. We

covered, I think, like 13 or 14, maybe 16 names

of God during that study. I should have counted

them up because some weeks we studied, like one

week there were three different names for God

in the Bible. Other times there were two different

names for God in the Bible. But we learned that

God is El Roy. I don't know if I'm saying that

right. I didn't put down the Hebrew translation,

but that's the way you spell it. El comes from

Elohim. Everybody say Elohim. It's an abbreviation

for Elohim. And we did talk about Elohim. Elohim

means the supreme, mighty God. In the beginning,

Elohim created the heavens and earth. The supreme,

mighty God. And then this compound name, is this,

and this is what we find out in that story. It's

the first mention of this. It's that the supreme

mighty God sees me. He's the God who sees me.

Look at the person beside you and say, God sees

me. See, that's who He is. These names let us

know who He is and what He does. Does anybody

remember? Names signify identity. relationship,

and activity. And we all have a lot of names.

Not just our given name, like my given name of

No Name Forrest that had to be changed when I

was in junior high. But God's names lets us know

who He is, the kind of relationship that He wants

to be in with us. and what He wants to do or

what He is doing in our lives. So look to the

person beside you and say, God sees me. God sees

me. There's never a time when God does not see

you. You never go unnoticed. Never unnoticed

by God. Now we live our lives and we say, does

God really care? Has anybody got to the point?

When you're dealing with something and you go,

does God really care about what's going on in

my life right now? Anyone beside me? I mean,

I've been there a time or two. Thankfully, not

this week. But I've been there a time or two.

Does God really care? Does God really know what's

going on in my life? Sure He does. Because He

is the supreme mighty God who sees you. He always

sees you. Now that can bring comfort. Everybody

say comfort. I just smacked that microphone so

there's going to be a big old pop on that. That

can bring comfort or that can bring terror. Depending

on how we're living our lives, right? Because

there's been some times in my life where I've

made decisions. It's like, I hope God's not watching

now. Am I the only one or is anyone with me?

Hope God's not watching now. But then there are

times when I'm going through stuff and I'm like,

I hope He's watching now. Hope He's watching

now. There are times when I have responded to

His Word in faith and I say, I hope He's watching

now. Hope He's watching now. Well, be confident

that He is. He's always watching. Everybody say

always. Always watching. And you are never unnoticed.

Never unnoticed. The supreme and mighty God sees

me personally. He sees every tear. He sees every

act of obedience. He sees every sacrifice. He

sees every act of faithfulness. And nothing goes

unnoticed by Him. Nothing. 2 Chronicles 16, 9

says this about God, the God who sees me. Listen,

it says, For the eyes of the Lord run to and

fro throughout the whole earth. Everybody say,

God is watching. God is noticing. His eyes are

going to and fro throughout the whole earth,

and He's looking for something. Let me read the

verse, and then we'll break it down backwards.

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout

the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf

of those whose heart is loyal to Him. So in this

text, we see that God is watching, God is looking,

God Himself is searching. And what is He searching

for? What is He looking at? Can anyone help me

here? You just want me to tell you. What is He

looking at? Your heart. That's what's most important

to God. What's most important is your heart.

See, He's not looking at you to see how much

hair you have on your head or how much it's styled

or what kind of clothes you're wearing, what

colors you're wearing. He sees all that, but

that's not what He's most interested in. He's

most interested in your heart. Most interested

in your heart. And He's looking for a specific

type of heart. So what type of heart is He looking

for? He's looking for a loyal heart. We could

also translate that as fully committed. A fully

committed heart. A heart that is committed to

Him. A heart that is loyal to Him. And then what's

he going to do when he finds it? What's he going

to do when he finds it? Is everybody still with

me? What's he going to do when he finds it? He's

going to show himself strong on behalf of that

person who has a heart that's loyal to him. Is

there anybody in the room that would say, God,

I want you to show yourself strong in my life.

I want my life to be evidence of your goodness,

of your faithfulness, of your kindness, of your

favor. Anybody? I hope that would be all of us.

He's not looking for talent. He's not looking

for influence that you already have. He's searching

for hearts that are fully committed to Him. And

God doesn't simply observe your heart. He responds.

He responds. He shows Himself strong. Throughout

this series, I think it's going to be about five

weeks. It might be just today. It might go for

five weeks. It might go longer. Just however

God leads. But throughout this series, we're

going to study several biblical accounts where

God sees and notices the hearts of people. And

then He reveals what He sees to all of us. How

many of you are glad that God doesn't always

reveal what He sees in your heart to everybody

else? But there's good and bad. When God looks

at hearts in this series, He's going to show

us some bad and He's going to show us some good.

I'm glad He doesn't put my heart on display for

all time. All the time. He's going to reveal

what He sees to us. Listen, their generosity

was noticed. Not because God needed what they

had. It's not because God needs what they possess.

Because the Bible says, the earth is the Lord's

and the fullness thereof. Guess what? It's already

all His. It was noticed though. And it was noticed

because their giving revealed something much

deeper. It revealed their heart. Revealed their

heart. Jesus said in Matthew 6, 21, He said this,

For where your treasure is, or what you love

the most, where your treasure is, that's where

your heart's going to be. Where your treasure

is, there your heart. will be also. So it's easy

to see what we treasure because it's going to

be what we live for and what we talk about. It's

going to be evidenced. And what we live for and

what we talk about. I said that again in case

you want to write it down because it's not on

the screen. I hadn't even thought about it until

right then when it hit my brain. Our hearts reflect

what we treasure and what we love. Then there's

another verse that says, out of the abundance

of the heart, the mouth speaks. That's where

I got that other part of that phrase from that

just rose up on the inside of me. Whatever we

love the most is what we talk about the most.

It's easy to see the treasure of our hearts.

All we got to do is listen to our mouths because

it just naturally flows out. Let's go to Mark

Mark 12:41

chapter 12, verse 41. These are going to be very

familiar stories. I'm not going to pull out something

that you're not aware of. I think I've mentioned

this story once in five and a half years of elation

church. Jesus sat down near the collection box

in the temple and watched as the crowds dropped

their money. Dropped in their money. Many rich

people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow

came and dropped in two small coins. Now another

translation they call these mites. Everybody

say mites. And I looked, there's another word

for it that I had on the slide, but then I said,

what does that matter? I'm not here to try to

let you know how much I researched or anything

like that. But two small coins, two mites. At

this time, the coins that she put in were the

smallest coins in circulation. So for us, that

would be like a penny, which I think we're working

on taking pennies out of circulation. They decided

they're not going to press them anymore. They're

not going to give them out anymore. I guess we're

going to round up or round down, whatever it's

closest to. But it was the smallest coins in

circulation. And it was equal to about 3 minutes

and 15 seconds worth of work for the average

person. 3 minutes and 15 seconds. So think about

what you make every 3 minutes and 15 seconds.

Some days that's less, some days that's more.

Salo's over there shaking his head. He don't

have any clients today, so he's not going to

make anything in three and a half minutes. But

on some days, right? So it's equal to 128th of

a day's wage. Now, it's more than a penny. More

than a penny. If a person makes minimum wage,

I think it's $15 an hour here in Florida, it

comes out to 94 cents every three and a half

minutes. So she put in two small coins, two of

the smallest coins in circulation. So she didn't

just give two pennies. She gave more than that.

She gave what would total in today's money $1

.88. $1 .88. Now, Jesus noticed that. He noticed

that. Why is this in the Bible? Why is this story

there? I mean, couldn't we just skip over the

lady that gave $1 .88 in the offer? Well, Jesus

didn't think so. As a matter of fact, He was

there with His disciples and He says, Hey guys,

come over here. I want to talk to you about something.

Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, Hey

guys, listen. I tell you the truth. This poor

widow has given more than all the others who

are making contributions. I mean, Didn't we just

read that rich people were putting in large gifts?

And then all of a sudden, Jesus says she gave

more than everybody. I mean, she gave $1 .88.

Some people might have been putting in $0 .20.

Some people might have been putting in $100.

Some people might have been putting in thousands.

But the lady who gave $1 .88 gave more than everybody

that day. And in the way we notice things, And

the way we see it, right? She didn't give a whole

lot. And then Jesus says why she gave more than

everyone else in the room. Verse 44. For they

gave a tiny part of their surplus. But she, poor

as she is, has given everything. She had to live

on. She gave everything. Not just a tiny, tiny

part of the excess. She gave everything. Look

to the person beside you and tell them she gave

everything. Why is this story in the Bible? Why

is this such a big deal to Jesus? Why did He

call over the disciples and say, Hey guys, this

is important. I want you to notice this. And

then when you're writing about what happened

and when you're talking about the three years

that I was with you, I want you to remember this

and I want to make sure it gets written down.

It's actually written in two of the Gospels.

Make sure people know about this. Why is it so

important? This is what we need to learn. This

is why it's important. God sees... What everybody

else may overlook. You know, everybody in the

room, if they were watching the offering and

they see this lady put in $1 .88, they would

say, that's not much. That's not going to help

much. That's the way we see things. But God sees

what people overlook. God sees what people dismiss.

Jesus noticed one poor widow. Now the people

around probably thought her offering was insignificant

in the grand scheme of things. Here's the thing.

Heaven stopped to recognize her. Heaven stopped.

To recognize her. And we're still talking about

it today. We're not talking about the gifts of

everyone else. We're talking about her gift.

Her gift is in the Bible. Now what we need to

understand is this. The individual stories of

the Bible didn't happen in a vacuum. And I don't

mean that they didn't happen in a vacuum cleaner.

That's not what I'm talking about. When I say

they didn't happen in a vacuum, I'm saying they

didn't happen completely separated from every

other story in the Bible. They're connected.

Everybody say it's connected. This lady wasn't

just giving this without any understanding. She

wouldn't have done that. Because she had instruction.

Everybody say that. She had an instruction. She

not only had an instruction, she had a promise.

You know the way we say all the time, God keeps

his promises? How many of you believe that God

keeps his promises? How many of you believe that

this woman believed that God kept his promises?

See, it didn't happen in a vacuum. It didn't

happen without understanding. She just didn't

say, well, I've never been to the temple, but

today I've got two coins. I'm going to go in

there and I'm just going to throw it in there.

Won't throw it in the offering. No, she had an

instruction. She had a promise. So we go back

to the Old Testament to see where she might have

found a promise. I've read this one before. Malachi

3 .10 says this, Bring all the tithes into the

storehouse so there will be enough food in my

temple. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse

so there will be enough food in my temple. And

then there's a promise. If you do, if you do

what? Everybody go to sleep all of a sudden?

If you do what? If you bring a tithe to God.

If you do, says the Lord of heaven's armies,

I will open the windows of heaven for you. I

will pour out a blessing so great you won't have

enough room to take it in. And then God says,

try it. Put me to the test. Now, if this woman

was going to the temple, she was aware of Malachi.

If she went to the synagogue, she was aware of

these verses. And normally we stop right here,

but I'm going to keep reading because God says,

try it and put me to the test. And then he says

this. This is part of, this is the continued

part of his promise. And God keeps his promises.

Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard

them from insects and disease. Your grapes will

not fall from the vine before they are ripe,

says the Lord of heaven's armies. Then all nations

will call you blessed, for your land will be

such a delight. It says Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord

of heaven's armies. Now, it says bring all the

tithe. Everybody say tithe. And in five and a

half years of elation church, I've never even

told anybody what that word meant. So if you

haven't been here long and you say, oh no, he's

just always begging about money. No, I've never

even told what this word meant. It means tenth.

Everybody say 10. We can say 10%. Bring the 10

% into the storehouse. So, wait a minute. If

this lady was familiar with that verse, shouldn't

she have just brought 18 or 19 cents? That'd

be 10 % of $1 .88. If you round it down or round

it up. 18 or 19 cents is the instruction that

she had from God. Why didn't she do that? I believe

she not only knew about Malachi 3 .10, I believe

she knew about 1 Kings 17 too. 1 Kings 17. She

knew about another widow. Everybody say widow.

And smile when you say it. Don't be sad when

you say it. Smile when you say it. She knew about

another widow in Scripture. And when the prophet

went to her house, well, when he went to her

village, she was gathering up sticks to make

a fire. She had a son, but her husband had died.

She was gathering up sticks to build a fire to

make a, we would call it a biscuit. Most likely.

Because she had a little bit of oil and a little

bit of flour. And she was gathering up wood to

make a fire so that she and her son could have

their last meal. I mean, they were going to die

after they ate it. There was a famine. They'd

ran out of food. Everybody's not going to give

their food to her. Because they don't know how

long the famine is going to last. So, the prophet

of God had the audacity to tell that widow what

God told him to tell her. He said, ma 'am, if

you will make a biscuit for me first, everybody

say first. If you'll make a biscuit for me first.

you'll never run out of flour and oil. Now with

her eyes, she's looking at the flour and looking

at the oil and she's saying, what do you mean

I'll never run out? I see how much flour I have

and how much oil I have. I only have enough for

two biscuits and you're asking me to give you

the first one. So then my son and I are just,

we're going to be down to one biscuit and splitting

one biscuit each. It's going to be gone. She

had a choice to make. Everybody say a choice.

Was she going to obey God and obey the prophet

or was she going to live and walk by what she

saw with her own eyes and what she felt with

her own feelings? What was she going to do? She

trusted God. And in our world today, Come on.

If that happened today, what would people be

saying about Elijah? You mean you went to a village

during the middle of a famine and you went to

a widow. You didn't go to the rich people in

town. You went to the widow and said, make me

a biscuit first. How dare you do something like

that? How dare you? Right? That's the attitude

of all of us. Unless we're using our holy thinking.

That's the way we think. That's the way we've

been trained to think. She gave Elijah that first

piece. Just think, we're in the middle of a drought.

For months. Some people think, well, you know,

it might have happened for a few days. No, this

is months and months. Because even when the drought

ended, they still had to plant. And it still

had to grow before they could get a harvest.

Months and months, God provided. From her little

bit, when she gave her little bit to God, God

took care of her. Reminds me of an old song that

Irv might want to sing. Little is much when God

is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There's

a crown, crown or prize, and you can win it if

you go in Jesus' name. I can't believe I remember

the words better than you. But anyway. I've gotten

a little older. But this widow knew that story.

Her story didn't happen in a vacuum. She's down

to her last. She's down to her $1 .88. And she

looks at those two coins in her hand and she

considers. How that is going to help her. Look

at the person beside you and say, not very much.

It's not going to help her very much. She realizes

that and then she looks to God and says, God,

you sure did help that other widow. God, you

sure did make me a promise. Hello? Surely it

didn't happen in a vacuum. And Jesus was there

to watch her drop all she had in the collection

box. Everything. Everything. I want to ask you

a question. Do you think she went hungry that

day? Come on. Do you think she went hungry? Do

you think she was destitute the rest of her life?

If she was, then God didn't keep His promise.

And we can be sure. That God keeps His promises.

Her generosity revealed her heart and it revealed

her trust. It's just $1 .88. But it was a big

deal to Jesus. Because it revealed her heart

and it revealed her trust. Jesus notices generosity.

And heaven measures differently than we do. I'll

say that again. Heaven measures differently than

we do. Jesus said $1 .88 was the largest gift.

The largest gift. And we say, no it wasn't. It

wasn't the largest. But Jesus measured differently

than we measure. And faith never goes. Unnoticed.

Never goes unnoticed. God's watching. Jeremiah

1 .12 says this. This is God talking to the prophet.

He says this. I am watching over my word to perform

it. This is God talking about himself. I'm watching

over my word to perform it. So if I made a promise

and I tell you that I'm going to do something,

if you do something, you can count on it because

I am watching over my word to perform it. Hebrews

11, 6 says this, It is impossible to please God

without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him

must believe that God exists. Right? We're not

going to come to Him if we don't believe that

He exists. We've got to believe that He exists.

And we don't have a problem with that, do we?

We don't have a problem with that. If you're

going to come to God, you've got to have faith

that He exists. But when we start talking about

the rest of that verse, people get uncomfortable

sometimes. Anyone who wants to come to Him must

believe that God exists and that He rewards those

who sincerely seek Him. God is a rewarder of

those who sincerely seek Him. Sincerely seek,

this is the compound Greek word, exeteo. I put

that one up. I didn't put up the Hebrew word,

but I put that one up. And here's what it means.

It means to search out. To search out. So we've

gone from God noticing and looking and seeing

to us searching Him out. And I really, this hit

me in the Helps Word Studies as I was studying

this sentence. I had to copy and paste it just

as it was and put it on the screen. This seeking,

this searching out, is only as valuable or viable

as the motive which drives it. So we've got to

believe that He exists and we've got to believe

that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him

with right motives behind our seeking. Everybody

say, right motives. Because God looks at the

heart, right? He knows the motives. When we look

at each other, we can only guess what the motive

is. Sometimes we guess the motivation wrong when

we look at each other. But how many of you know

God never gets it wrong? He knows the motivation.

The thoughts and the intentions of the heart,

the Bible says. I don't want anybody to leave

here today. and say that I'm talking about you've

got to give to get. We're giving to get. If you

want more money, you've got to give more money

to get more money. You can read these Bible verses

and you could come away and say, oh no, we're

going to give to get. But how many times have

you heard me say that we're going to give by

faith? When we give, we give by faith. But we

don't give to get. Because that's the wrong motivation.

When we give, we can... I'm not getting the word.

I was going to say consciously, but that's not

the one I was looking for. We can confidently

expect. That's what I was looking for. Because

that's what faith is. It's confidently expecting

something. But we're not giving because of our

confident expectation. We're giving because we

realize that God is our source, like we read

in Corinthians. God's our source. Every good

thing that's ever come into our life has come

from Him. That's what the Bible says. And so

when we bring an offering to God, we're not saying,

God, I'm going to give you this, but I'm expecting

this immediately. I mean, you know. In the next

day or two, I've got to have my expectation.

That would be the wrong motive. I'd be saying,

God, I'm going to give this money to you, but

you better give me a lot more than I'm giving

you in return. How many of you know that would

be the wrong motive? Has anybody ever felt like

it was put that way? God, I'm on it. I'm going

to give, but you better give back to me. You're

going to owe me, God. My right motivation is,

God, you are my source. I recognize you as my

source. Every good thing that's ever come into

my life has come from you. And God, I see your

blessing in my life. I see your provision in

my life. I see your favor in my life. God, you

are so good. And I'm going to bring back part

of what you blessed me with. Because I'm concerned

about your work in the earth. What you're concerned

about, I'm concerned about. And I want to partner

with you in your work in the earth. I honor you.

I thank you. And God, in the middle of all that,

I trust you. I trust you. I believe when this

widow put her money, her $1 .88 in the collection

that day, I believe that was her heart. And I

believe that's why Jesus picked her out. I believe

that's why it's in the book. I believe that's

what we need to know from this story today. Jesus

realized her heart because He's looking at hearts.

And her heart was a heart of thankfulness. Her

heart was a heart of honor. Her heart was a heart

of trust. And when she gave everything she had,

she said, God, you've always been my source.

So I continue to look to you as being my source.

It's good. 1 Samuel 16, 7 says this, The Lord

doesn't see things the way that we see them.

People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord

looks at the heart. Thoughts, intentions, motivations,

He sees. He sees. God always sees. He is El Roy

or El Roy. I don't know how you're supposed to

say it. I should have looked it up. I'll look

it up for next week. I'll be saying it correctly.

Not that it matters to anybody in the room. He

is the God who sees you. And when you act in

faith, see, it doesn't cause God to have to stand

up from the throne in heaven and start His money

printing machine in heaven so that He can drop

it down on us. Somebody smile. God is not counterfeiting

U .S. dollars in heaven. It's all here. It's

all here. There's none in heaven. Right? But

this is what does happen. Your act of faith activates

His promise that He's already made. Your act

of faith activates His promises. So if you read

those promises and you believe that God always

keeps those promises, I want to tell you something.

Because there's some people who, I mean, I don't

know, Irv, if I can share the testimony that

you gave, but I'm going to do it anyway. I don't

even know if you were talking to me, but you

were just talking and I overheard you talking.

And several Sundays ago... Are you telling the

story? Okay. Several Sundays ago, you asked Caitlin

to help you set up this text to give thing. And

then you were talking about it later, and you

were saying, well, my Social Security check don't

even come in. It's not even there, and I don't

even know if that money's going to be there.

Did he share that story? Did y 'all hear that

story? You're shaking your head. So he shared

it at the Citrus Ridge Bible study. That's where

he shared it. Well, that's where he shared it,

but it was that Sunday. He's like, I don't even...

I didn't even know if it was going to clear or

bounce or whatever. I don't even know. But? He

gave. He gave. He was there. Didn't bounce. You

hadn't missed a meal since? God's continuing

to provide? Amen. But sometimes, in my life,

I know, I don't know if it's in your life too,

but in my life, sometimes I've given. And I've

trusted God. And it's like, there better be a

God and He better keep His promises. Has anybody

ever given like that before? Given a generous

gift. Not just a little bit of your surplus,

but a generous gift. And you say, there better

be a God and He better keep His promises. Because

I was obedient in doing what He asked me to do.

But then you may go a week. You may go a month.

You may go six months. And you may find yourself

at the point where you say, I don't know if God

saw me or not. I don't know if God saw me or

not. I've been there a few times. I don't know

if God saw me or not. I don't know. But I want

to tell you, He sees. He sees. You have never

gone unnoticed by God. Never gone unnoticed.

Never gone unnoticed. And everybody needs to

remember, we received the offering long before

we talked about this. Listen, the Bible talks

about this. I've gone five and a half years without

ever focusing on this. So if you're new to us,

this is not... It's five and a half years. You

just got here at the lucky time. But we need

to know. If it's important to Jesus, don't we

need to know about it? If heaven stops to take

notice, shouldn't we know about it? And the motivation

is not to make you give. Because I tell you,

I didn't say it this week, I don't think. I should

have said it. I always say it. If you feel pressure

to give, don't give. Don't do it. Because God

loves a cheerful giver. If you ever feel worked

up, like I... I don't want anybody to leave today

thinking that I'm trying to work you up. To squeeze

you. No. If you leave thinking that, you don't

know me. Even if you've been here a long time,

if you leave thinking that, you don't know me.

Like you thought you knew me. You don't know

me. I just want you to know. What God says about

it. And when we know what God says about it,

then we're not ignorant. We have revelation.

We have understanding. And the main thing is

this. I don't want you to think that you're never

unnoticed because God's going to think bad about

you if you don't do what this widow did. That's

not what we're talking about. We're talking about

when you give, it never goes unnoticed. Never

goes unnoticed. Let's pray together. God, thank

you for today. Thank you for your truth. Thank

you for your word. I pray that it will be planted

in our hearts. If we've gone through discouragement

where we haven't seen your promise fulfilled,

help us to not give up. Help us to stand in faith

that you are a good God and you always keep your

word. You always watch over your word to perform

it. Help us to stand in faith, believing. And

God, we thank you for all of your goodness. All

of your goodness in our lives. And we honor you

and we recognize you as our source. In Jesus'

name I pray, amen. This online worship experience

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