Living Covenant Conscious Financially Part 8 | From Want to, To the Means to | Pastor Trev Evans

God. Let's ride. Amen.

Listen, happy Mother's Day to everybody

and happy Mother's Day to my mother who

is watching. We had to share her this

Mother's Day as she went to go be with

my older brother, but mama, I know you

watching and Terry, you got her this

year, but hopefully the Lord will let us

have her next year. Amen. But listen, we

are so uh thankful to be here today and

I'm excited about the message today.

I am because because you know as a as a

preacher, as a minister, bishop's

training me and getting me ready and uh

I have experienced the uh conundrum

[Applause]

that a preacher can bring in on a

holiday like today.

And that is because you're trying to

figure out something to say that's going

to help the mothers. And if you've been

with us any amount of time, you know,

over the last few weeks, Bishop has been

teaching and leading us through a

financial series. And so I said, "Lord,

how in the world is this going to help

the mothers?" And he said, "No, Trev,

this will help the mothers." That's

right. Stay right on the track. B say

right on this track with this financial

series because what a mother wants is

for her child to be able to stand on

their own two feet financially.

[Applause]

What a mother wants is for her child to

be able to provide for themselves and

prepare for their own future. What a

mother wants is for that child to be

able to walk up to them every now and

then and slip $20 in their hands and not

ask for $20 for their phone bill.

So staying on this track financially is

helping mama.

Somebody say happy Mother's Day. Happy

Mother's Day.

So with that being said, we will

conclude our financial series today. And

uh we have been talking about Bishop's

been teaching on living covenant

conscious financially. And today we want

to talk uh from the thought you know we

tend to remember thoughts. I want you to

kind of pin this moving from want to to

the means to.

Moving from want to to the means to. We

have been in this financial series.

Bishop has been teaching us about

covenant. We are covenant conscious all

year long and we've been learning about

being covenant conscious financially.

And we know that a covenant is a binding

oath or agreement between two parties

that is cut by

sacrifice, usually blood, but always

something precious. And it has

privileges and promises. It have rights

and responsibilities. And the whole

point of the covenant, it is intended to

do a few things. It is intended uh to

produce confidence,

clarity, and carefulness.

And not only is this covenant uh

something that is supposed to impact our

lives, but it's also supposed to impact

our money. That this covenant is

supposed to produce in us financial

confidence,

financial clarity, and financial

carefulness.

carefulness not just in how I live but

also in what I'm looking for. Bishop

gave us four words from the onset. She

gave us attitude, alignment, awareness,

and action. The first thing she said,

Kanan, is that you and I must have an

attitude shift that no matter what we've

experienced here before, we need an

attitude adjustment and realize that God

wants us blessed.

Yeah. You know, we've been we've been

free. That's the reason he made us. It

says, "Whom the Son sets free is free

indeed. And we're not just to be free

indeed, but we're also to be free in

dough." That God wants us free in our

money. That Pharaoh tried to talk the

children of Israel into leaving their

money, but they said, "We can't leave

our money because we don't know how God

wants to use us or who he wants to use

us to bless."

I have to have an attitude adjustment.

God said in Deuteronomy 8:18, he said,

Deuteronomy 8:18

"I've given you power to get wealth." I

don't care if you had to scrape money to

catch the bus to get here. You got to

have an attitude adjustment and realize

that God wants you blessed.

I want us to make a confession real

quick. I need you to repeat after me.

Say, "Money is not my problem." Money is

not my problem. Increase is my portion.

Increase is my portion. You got to have

an attitude adjustment. If you are just

waiting to see it before you say it,

you'll never see it. You need an

attitude adjustment. Say, "Money is not

my problem." Money is not my problem.

Increase is my portion. I know you walk

past a whole stack of bills on your way

out the door to church, but declare,

"Money is not my problem. Money is not

my problem. Increase is my portion.

Increase my We have to have an attitude

adjustment.

Secondly, she said that we have to live

in alignment.

We cannot expect God to bless us when we

are out of alignment with his word

financially.

I cannot believe for heaven's best and

declare what the promises of God over my

life if I am stealing from God.

If I am robbing God, can I even say, "Oh

Lord, I don't want to get in trouble."

But but even the scripture in

Philippians, we declare it but we have

to declare it the right way. Paul says,

"My God shall supply all your need

according to his riches and glory." But

he was declaring that over people who

has sown into his life.

Those who were in alignment and sewing

into his life, he was declaring that

blessing over. You can't declare that

blessing if you're not in that in that

level of alignment.

I feel it now. The joy just went out the

room. Yeah, it did. I felt it.

But but Bishop teaches us we can't

change without truth.

We can't change without truth. So I want

to declare that over my life. I need to

get in alignment with the promise.

So I have to have an attitude

adjustment. I have to have an alignment

in my life. And I just want to park here

for just a moment because we also have

to have an awareness.

We have to be aware that the world has a

plan.

We have to be aware that the world has a

plan. And and not only must we be aware

of their plan, we must be aware of our

own plan.

Now, Bishop gave us first of all, she

gave us some scriptures the first week

that she wanted us to highlight in our

Bibles. You can find the the scriptures.

Uh you go to kccfamily.com, click on

resources, and you can find those

scriptures. Get those scriptures

highlighted in your Bible.

No. See, see, see this this this is why

I'm I'm so thankful for this opportunity

because Paul told Timothy in first, he

told Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 4, he

1 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

said, "You're a good minister if you put

the people in remembrance of what

they've already been taught." Amen.

And so I want you to make sure that you

go and get those scriptures and

highlight them in your Bible and read

over them. That's what she told us to do

the first week of the financial series.

Then she came back and she told us that

we were made for it and that we need to

be in a have an awareness of not only

the world's plan, but we have to have a

plan of our own. Now, y'all sent my

pastor into an emotional abyss last week

cuz she asked, "Who did your financial

plan?" And she said, "Only 15 hands went

up.

We trying to get her to hold on to

December 14th, but I declare y'all

almost pushed her to May."

But but but the reason is the reason why

she wants you to do that and to get the

spending plan in place is because the

spending plan is the key to turn this

thing around financially.

You underline the scriptures. You pray.

You sow seed. You give. You're supposed

to do those things. But if you and I

don't have a plan for our money, if we

don't tell the money where to go, we'll

spend all of our time wondering where it

went.

How many of you have ever got paid on

Friday and looked up on Monday and

didn't look like Friday ever came?

That's just because we didn't have a

plan for our money.

We we we have to have a plan. We have to

take some time to tell it where to go so

we don't spend all of our time wondering

where it went. Catch this. When you have

a spending plan, just let me get through

this. When you have a spending plan,

it'll do a couple of things. Number one,

it will remove many of the money fights

from your marriage.

No, it will remove many of the money

fights in your marriage because you want

to do one thing, she wants to do

another. Nobody has talked and so

consequently we have conflict.

And so instead of us talking, we choose

quiet over real peace. That's right.

You take your check and you go that way

and I'm going to take my check and I'mma

go this way.

But if we're going to ever have the real

synergy and energy that God has designed

for marriage, you want to do it

together. Can I tell you, you are much

better together than you ever could be

apart.

Can I tell you that you can do more than

just make babies when you get together?

[Applause]

You can put some devils on the run

financially if you would just get

together.

Yes, it calls for compromise. Kesha, I

see you back there.

You and my my my barber raised a sharp

rust.

You all are a picture of what you can

move when you get together.

Scotty and Hope, I see y'all over there.

You two are a picture of what you can do

when you get together. No, it's not

easy.

Cuz she got her way and I got mine.

But if you ever get together, if you can

just do the work of talking through and

working through and compromising and

giving up a little just to get a little,

you'll be That wasn't the way I was

talking about that, but y'all

It'll help that

too. Oh, y'all ain't going. Y'all

already know your coaching. It'll help

that

too. But if we can get together

financially, it'll help remove some of

the money fights, money problems in our

marriage. Number two, it will remove

much of the guilt, shame, and fear that

may now be a part of buying necessary

items. If we can get a financial plan,

then I won't feel guil the guilt or the

shame or the fear when I go to the

grocery store. You know, Bishop preached

about that on on on uh resurrection

weekend about going to the grocery store

and being at the register and you're not

sure if you got enough and you sitting

there pay you you praying while that

little thing is spinning and you're just

hoping that it's going to say approved.

When you have a spending plan, you don't

have to be nervous at that point because

when I have spent when I have told my

money where to go and I know I got $200

for these groceries and it comes and I

know I only have in my cart about 150.

I'm not nervous.

I'm just waiting.

When it's spinning, I'm not I'm not

nervous. Something must be wrong with

your Wi-Fi cuz I did my budget and I

know I got enough. Check your signal.

It will remove much of the guilt, shame,

and fear that comes when we we're buying

necessary items. Number three, when we

have a spending plan, when we walking it

out, when we're we when we have the

spending plan and we're operating by it,

it's not just a document that's sitting

on the table, but when I actually use it

and live by it, it will show if you have

overspending in an area.

It will show overspending in an area.

Solomon Solomon the Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2 verse5 says catch the foxes

the little foxes that spoil the vine.

Can I tell you that the that spending

plan will reveal where the money's

going.

Yeah. That spending plan will reveal.

Now you might not want to look at it but

we want to look at it through eyes of

faith to see where this money is going.

You have an idea now but once you start

doing a spending plan you it'll be

become crystal clear.

Can you give me my next slide? What my

slide where it says hold on give me the

slide that says my

outgo spending plan.

It's critical for me to do a spending

plan because it will reveal overspending

in my life. And that is important

because if my outgo is more than my

income, then my upkeep will be my

downfall.

If my

outgoing

out is more than my income of what's

coming in, then to keep that up will

ultimately be my downfall.

I I can't keep it up. And so doing a

spending plan will show me the areas of

where it is too high. Not for

condemnation but so that I can change.

It's not for me to feel bad but it is so

that I can make the adjustment and so

that I can become and do and be

everything that God has called for me to

be.

Ah so we want to make sure that we do

the spinning plan. The spending plan.

What is that? That's simply giving every

dollar a name. Some of it is named

mortgage. Some of it is named rent. Some

of his name groceries. Some of it is

named gas. For some is named retirement.

Yes sir. That's your word in the Some of

it is retirement.

Car insurance.

Some of it some of you are at the place

as Bishop always say everybody's not in

debt. That's right. No. There's some

people that I'm talking to right now.

you have more money than you can shake a

stick at. That's right. But this is for

you as well because you want to tell

your money where to go and be

intentional with it and manage it

properly. You've all you've already been

doing it.

You've already been doing you've been

making headway and and making

adjustments in your life. I want to

encourage you to continue do that

because at this point now you simply

want to leave a legacy. Maybe that's

what you want to do for the next

generation. The spending plan helps us

to do that.

Boy, that's good. That's good.

So, the spending plan is a tool to help

you get to where it is you want to

be. Now, I want to encourage you one

more thing before I move on to action is

that I don't want you to do this alone.

Married people already have instant

accountability.

Amen. Cuz every time when I swipe that

card, I got to come home, my God, and

give an account.

No. And and understand something. As a

man, I'm not any less of a man.

Oh Lord. Oh, I just love this. I'm not

any less of a

man. There are times in my life where I

can get so excited with the debit card

that I need to come and lay it on the

dresser.

My pride can't be be bigger than the

plan we have.

No, I'm going to lay the card on the

dress for a period of time till I get

myself together and start eating that

home and getting that down.

I can't let my pride be bigger than the

plan, than the goal, than the desire,

than the dreams that we have. No, I'm

gonna lay it down.

Boy, that's good.

So, I I I want don't don't do it alone.

So married people, you already have that

accountability. Singles,

I want you to find somebody that you can

trust and you can share with them what

it is you're trying to do. Now, maybe

you don't share your whole spending

plan. You got to you got to navigate

that and figure it out. But you need

somebody in your life that you can

bounce these things off of. And catch

this, they need to be the kind of person

who is willing to hurt your feelings.

Yeah. No, you tell them that you on a

spending plan and they come up and see

you with your nails done, they going to

ask you.

Not in a mean way. But they're going to

ask you, didn't you say you wanted to do

this, this, and don't get mad with them.

What they are doing is just being

accountability for you and helping you

to stay in alignment with what it is you

said you want to do. Boy, this is good.

So, so we have action. We had to make an

attitude adjustment. Excuse me. We had

an attitude. We have to be in alignment.

We have awareness. And then on this past

Wednesday night, our pastor talked about

action. If you did not watch last

Wednesday's Bible study, I need you to

go watch it because she talked to us

about taking action. And the first

action that we need to take is that we

need to look in. We need to look inward

and find out what it is because money is

all around us. That's right. That that

was the whole premise of of Wednesday

night is that money and resources are

all around us and we have to take

action. And the first action that we

take is not going to ask somebody for

something. The first action that we take

is that we have to look in.

What do I do? Well,

that can help make me more money.

What skills do I have? Yeah, some of you

have an amazing

voice and you could take that voice and

start making money with your voice.

And because you're used to your voice,

you don't think anybody will pay you for

it. But one of the biggest things I

believe we got out of the Wednesday

night is don't minimize what you have.

If Bishop could have cut our head open

and poured it in us, she would have.

Don't minimize what you have. Don't

minimize that skill you have. Don't

minimize that ability that you have.

You have something in you that can help

you make money.

What do I have in me? Not only should I

look in, but Bishop said, "We need to

look around."

What is it that is around me that can

help me make money?

Oh, I can't put our business in the

road. But somebody called me on Bible

study was Wednesday. Somebody called me

on

Thursday and said,

"Trey, I'm about to sell some stuff."

Catch this. They didn't have to They

didn't have to Oh, Lord. Thank you,

Jesus. They didn't have to take the word

and wait a whole week and fast and pray

about it. Bishop preached the word on

Wednesday. Thursday morning, they got up

and they got some stuff together to

sell. And by lunchtime, they sold three

items.

I know you can't I know you can't

rejoice, but let me tell you, it was a

single mom who's making adjustments in

her life. And she said, "Trey, I just

sold enough stuff to have money for my

phone bill this month."

Now, I know that's not a

lot, but can I tell you, it's like she

got a raise

because instead of taking that $120 from

her the income that she had, she found

the money in her house.

[Applause]

Oh, she had another idea. I can't give

this one

away. But she had something in the house

that she was using and she said, "I can

use this for a business. Something that

was already sitting there."

Now, I need y'all to understand

something that was already She didn't

have to go out and buy another piece of

machinery to start making money. She

opened her eyes and started looking

around at what was already here.

You and I got to take action.

Before we look out to ask anybody

anything,

look in,

look around,

and ask God, God, what do I have already

that can help me move forward to what it

is you're calling me to? What do I have

that can help me be the person that you

call? You've called me to be a help.

You've called me to be a blessing.

You've given me power to get wealth so

that I could establish your covenant.

What do I have in me? What do I have

around me to do that?

Huh? Now, I know you're asking, "Why did

you take all that time for that review?"

Amen. Cuz we need it.

But I

believe that God wants us and he's been

leading us and teaching us and talking

to us to prepare us because we want to

be the kind of people that move from

want to to having the means to. Yes.

See, what I love about this kind of

church and being under this kind of

leadership, you can't be here any length

of time and not develop a heart of

compassion for other people. If you are

a cornerian, a part of your DNA is to

want to help somebody along the way. A

part of your DNA is to want to be a

blessing to somebody on whatever level I

can.

Woo.

I want to do that. It's a part of who I

am.

And I thank God for the want to. Can I

just thank God for the want to for

because there were times in my life

where I didn't have the want to to do

right.

Oh, Re Randy, I wish I could just tell

it. This jacket is nice. But you need to

understand, I didn't always want to do

right.

I didn't I didn't always want to follow

God. I didn't always want to serve God.

I didn't want to always give God my all.

I didn't want Oh, Lord. I don't know if

I can be this real honest. Can I I

didn't want I There was a time in my

life I didn't want to put porn down.

That's right.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't Some things I

didn't want to do. That's right. Even

when I knew the knew the reason why I

should do it, I didn't have the want to

on the inside. But I just want to thank

God this morning for the want to. I want

to thank God for the want

to. Thank you. For the want to. For the

want to to come to church. Woo.

Shakanda. You hear what I'm telling you?

Woo. I thank God for the want to.

I thank God for the want to. Yeah.

I can't skip too fast past that. Dre, I

thank God for the want to.

Hallelujah. Yes, sir.

The want to.

But can I tell you something? for the

sake of what God wants to do in our

lives, for the sake of how God wants to

use us, is that we have to move past

just the want to and follow the

instructions we've been given in this

series so that we can now have the means

to

[Applause]

Luke chapter 10. It's a story of a

Luke 10 · chapter mention

Samaritan, the good Samaritan.

And Jesus tells this parable because he

has some people around him who are

trying to finagle their way out of doing

what it is they should do. That's a

whole other story for a whole another

day. But Jesus tells this parable about

a Jewish man who fell among thieves. And

the Bible said that he was stripped,

he was beaten, and he was left half

dead.

He was left on the road. And then there

comes this Levite that comes by. And the

Bible says that they see the man laying

there stripped, beaten, bloody, half

dead. And the Levite not only passes by

him, but gets on the other side of the

road to get by him.

I can't stay I can't stay there too

long. Then the priest comes

and the Bible says that the

priest does the same thing.

He sees him and he gets on the other

side of the

road and walks past him.

But then here comes a Samaritan.

The Bible says that first of all,

culturally speaking, the Samaritan and

the Jews didn't have any dealings with

each other. Right? So for Jesus to put

the Samaritan in such a good light was a

whole Bible study in and of itself.

So he has So you look at these two guys,

the Levite and the priest, they had they

didn't have the want to. Now this

Samaritan who was supposed to be a half

breed, didn't have no dealings with

Jewish people. The Bible says he walks

up on the beaten man,

and he looks at him

and the Bible says he has compassion on

him.

He has compassion on the man. Pause it

right there. I just want to thank God

for the want to.

The priests went by, the Levite went by,

but the Samaritan stopped and had

compassion on him. He had a want to.

Yes. But can I just tell

you for the beaten man who was bloody

and hurting, the want to is not enough.

The want to. Now, I know you I know

stretching your hands and praying it has

its place.

But Preston, at some point I got to get

I got to get irritated with only having

the want to.

It has to bother me to only have just to

want to. At some point, I want to make

the adjustments in my life. I want to

say no to myself for a period of time so

that I can position myself

to to not just have a want to, but have

the means to. The Bible says that this

Samaritan, catch this, went over, saw

him, had compassion on him. Read your

Bible. He said he poured out oil and

wine,

not to drink,

but he poured it in his wound.

It was used for medicinal purposes. He

was there to help. He did more than pray

for him. Now, prayer has its place.

But catch this. This Samaritan had more

than just a want to. He had the means

to. He took oil and wine and poured it

in the womb. The Bible said he bandaged

him up. You got to have money for that.

Amen. Not only did he minister to his

womb and pouring oil and wine in it and

and actually treated him medically, the

Bible says then he picked him up.

And I love how the Bible puts it,

Trevor. It said he puts him on his own

donkey.

This is not a borrowed donkey. He had

the resources that he needed to have his

own donkey.

He puts him on his own donkey.

In the Bible

day, having a donkey was not like having

a Ferrari,

but it was better than having a bus

pass.

He wasn't the wealthiest man, but he had

done enough to position himself to move

from want to to the means to.

[Music]

He poured oil and wine, bandaged them

up, then put him on his own donkey.

The Bible said, "Then he took him to an

inn,

to a hotel,

put him up there, and gave the

inkeeper to dinari."

Now the dinari, one dinari was worth a

whole day's

wages. He gave him two

dinari. So he had the money to medically

treat him, had the money to give him a

ride, and then had the money to give him

a place to stay.

If that wasn't enough,

not only did he have the

resources, thank you, bishop, but he

also had the good credit cuz he told the

inkeeper,

"If he run up anything else before I get

back, I'll pay you when I come back." If

you and I can get in a position to do

what it is God has called us to do and

walk out these principles, not only will

we have the money, but we'll have a good

name.

[Music]

I want to

move from just want to

to having the means to. What does that

mean? That means for a period of time,

oh, I hear this all. If you live like no

one else,

then later you'll get to live like no

one else.

If for a period of time I'll be willing

to put on the same black

jeans and for a period of time, I'll be

willing to to do less right now. so that

I can do more later.

If I'm just willing not to drive the

latest right now, so that I can position

myself that when God puts somebody in my

path or on my heart, I can do. There

ain't nothing wrong with prayer. We got

to pray. But I could do more than pray.

And can I just say this? Oh god. Yeah. I

got time. Good. Can I just say this?

When you have resources, you still have

to be prayerful

because you're not called to help

everybody.

I know. I know. I

know. Catch this. Write this down.

Givers have to have boundaries

because takers don't have any

[Applause]

givers got to have boundaries.

You got to have boundaries where you

decide how I'm going to do this.

Givers got to have boundaries cuz takers

don't have any.

So even in this

what I want God to do. Yeah, I'm doing

the action. I'm doing all the things

that I've been taught to do so that I

can be be

positioned to do more than just want to

do something. But I have the means to do

something. But I have to I have to I

have to still be conscious and aware and

prayerful.

And you got to be okay with that because

sometimes people won't understand.

Boy, I wish somebody would help me.

People won't understand

the boundaries that you have. The

boundaries that you have to have.

I'm going to give you one more thing and

I'll be done on this.

Sometimes people don't want what you

give them. They want what you have.

[Applause]

I'm getting ready to go. I'm done. I'm

getting ready to go to Greece.

Sometimes people don't

want what you give them. You trying to

figure out why you giving and giving a

boy. I feel like my mama now. You giving

and giving and doing and doing and they

still not satisfied.

It's because they don't want what you've

given them.

Kirk, they want what you have.

And you got to be okay with the

boundaries that you put in place.

God doggy.

[Music]

God wants to move us, y'all.

He wants to move. That's his heart's

desire is to move us from just wanting

to

do. He wants to move us to having the

means to do.

But you and I must take these things

that Bishop has been teaching us and

pouring into us and praying to God that

we would start doing them so that we can

move from just stretching our hands

this way to stretching them this way.

[Applause]

God wants us to be the kind of

people to fulfill what it is he's called

us to do. He said, "I've given you power

to get wealth,

not to floss,

not to show off,

but so that you can fulfill my covenant

in the earth." Let's pray.