Living Covenant Conscious Financially Part 5 | Made For It Part 2 | Pastor Trev Evans

Good afternoon family. I hope you all

are doing well. Listen, God has been

good to us. He's been gracious to us.

And when we think of all that he has

done for us and not just what it is,

what he's done, but who he is more

importantly, then I believe praise rises

up out of us. Listen, my name is Pastor

Trev and it is my absolute joy to be

able to be with you today in the place

of our pastor, our senior pastor and

founder, Bishop Rosie S. O'Neal. Uh I am

just thankful for her. You know, listen,

uh you know, we are fresh off the heels.

Been about a week or two uh since we

have come out of our 40 days of fasting

and praying and uh Bishop Ed was

teaching uh every day, sometimes twice a

day. And uh when you go through

something like that, you need a minute

to kind of pull away and to refresh. And

we're just thankful that she is doing

that today. Uh however, she has left the

lesson uh for us to get into today. So I

want to uh definitely uh get into that.

And before I go any further,

announcement on the front end. Uh if you

are seeing this before May 1st, we want

you to join us May the 1st at 12:00 noon

for the National Day of Prayer. We will

be hosting and leading a time of prayer

in our community on the uh steps of the

Pit County Courthouse that's located at

100 West Third Street here in

Greenville, North Carolina. So, if you

can pull up on us, take your lunch break

uh and come and be a part of a time of

prayer as we gather together as a

community uh to seek the face of God.

Amen. So, I'm excited about today's

lesson. As you know, we are in a series

uh on uh financial being financially

covenant conscious. Uh on this past

Sunday, Bishop uh preached her face off

and taught her face off when she uh

talked about that we are made for it.

And she gave us three primary words on

this past Sunday. She gave us attitude,

alignment, and

awareness. Attitude that you and I must

make an adjustment. And I mean a quick

shift in our attitude as it pertains to

uh what God wants to do in our lives

financially. We were made for more. He

came that we might have an abundant

life. Uh to put on an old sermon from

years ago, there's a shouldness to our

blessing. And you and I, regardless of

where we are, what we've been through,

what we've seen, what has happened to

us, what people may have done to us, we

must quickly embrace the fact that the

abundant life is for us. And so Bishop

called us to make a make a shift in our

attitude on Sunday. Then she moved to

alignment and she said that you and I

must be in alignment with God. There's

no way we can ask for, believe for,

declare the blessings of God if we're

walking out of alignment with his word.

And so we want to be in alignment

financially with God in returning the

tithe and giving some kind of offering

and being a blessing to your pastor. And

those of you who are not members of

Corona, you want to be a blessing to

your pastor and that is scriptural. That

is found in Galatians chapter 6. That is

Galatians 6 · chapter mention

scriptural. And we want to be in

alignment with God. So she talked about

attitude. She talked about alignment.

And then she talked about awareness and

that you and I must be aware that the

enemy has a plan for our money. And

because the enemy has a plan for our

money, we must have a plan. You got it?

Listen. You can wander into debt, but

you cannot wander out. You will have to

have a plan. You got it. And so, we must

be aware of the tactics. And you got to

go back to Sunday and here are some of

the practical things that bishop gave us

uh in being aware. So, we must be aware

of the tactics of this world, but we

also must be aware of our own plan that

is supposed to dictate and guide how we

handle our finances. So, there's uh

there's attitude, there's alignment,

there's awareness. And today we're

talking about action. You got it. But

before I get deep into action, Bishop

wanted to make sure that uh this concept

that we are made for it is nailed down.

That we were made to be able to delay

gratification. You and I have the

ability to do that. You know, we've been

created in the image of God according to

Genesis 1 27. We've been made in the

image of God. You know, and I want you

to make a note of this. I didn't give

this uh to John, but uh I want you to

make a note of Exodus

Exodus 3:14

3:14. When Moses has received

instructions from God to go and tell

Pharaoh, let my people go. Moses comes

to God and say, "Okay, God, I got it

with Pharaoh. But now, when I go to the

children of Israel and they're going to

ask me who it is that is sending me,

what do I say?"

When they asked me for ID, what do I

say? What do I give them? And God

replied to Moses in Exodus 3:14, he

Exodus 3:14

said,"I am that I am." He said, "Go and

tell them that I am." In other words, I

am whatever it is I need to

be. And you and I must understand that

you, we have been created in the image

of God. And whatever the situation calls

for, we have the ability to be what's

needed. Or I hear a old sermon in my

head. Bishop preached changing shape to

meet the need that you and I have the

ability to be whatever the situation

calls for. We have the ability to

fulfill uh every assignment to overcome

any obstacle and to meet any challenge.

We have that why not in and of ourselves

but we've been created in the image of

God. And if that is true about that, so

it is true when it comes to our

finances. We have the ability, catch

this, to delay

gratification. We have the ability to

say, "No, Bishop," she touched on it on

Sunday. Colossians chapter chapter 2,

verse 6, I believe I called for that

one. Colossians chapter 2, verse 6, it

Colossians 2:6

says, "For out Colossians chapter 2."

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

Yeah, there it is. It says, "As you

therefore have received Christ Jesus the

Lord, so walk in

him." As you have received Christ, then

that is how we are to walk in him. That

is how to we are to walk out our lives.

And so how do we receive Christ? We

heard the gospel. We believed the

gospel. Then we started living by faith

and making adjustments in the things

that we could see because of something

we couldn't

see. You got we we made we heard the

gospel. We believed the gospel. Then we

started walking by faith according to

what we heard. And then we started

making by the power of God making

changes in our

lives in the things that we could see

based off of what we could not

see. In other words, you and I have the

ability to make the necessary

adjustments in our lives. We can change

what we see as it relates to our

finances. We have that same ability. We

have the ability to delay gratification.

This is why I believe even God gives us

uh the practice to sharpen this

ability. That's what I believe fasting

and prayer does. Fasting is the

intentional staying away or abstaining

from food for a period of time for a

spiritual reason. And when we do that,

we sharpen, we strengthen that muscle to

be able to say no.

If you can walk past a pound cake or you

can walk past that snicker bar and say

no to that, then surely you can say no

to a sale. You got it? Surely you can

say no to the impulse, the the I got to

have it

impulse. You feel me? Now, we ain't

calling for a fast. I believe you should

you should uh periodically have one on

your own. But I believe this is what God

gives us to help strengthen that ability

that we have to delay

gratification. You got it? Go to 2

2 Corinthians 4:17

Corinthians chapter 4 verse

17 and 18. 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse

2 Corinthians 4:17

17 18. You and I have the ability to say

no. I want you to put the word no in the

chat. Come on. Let's start now. You got

it. Let's start now. Put the word no in

the chat. I believe that's a word that

we have to reintroduce into our lives if

we're going to get a handle on our

finances. Just Just start now. Just

start now. Just Yeah. Just put it in the

chat. Say no. No. That's all you got to

do. Say no. You know, you know, it's two

words. There you go. There you go. It's

two words. Say no. But I believe we're

not saying no for

forever, but we will say no for a period

of time. You got it? Catch this. I'm

coming back to the scripture. Just give

me one second. If if catch this,

somebody put this in the chat or you

write it down for yourself. If we can

for a period of time live like no one

else, then later we'll get to live like

no one else.

I'll say it

again. If we can right now learn to live

like no one

else, then later down the road we'll get

to live like no one else. If you and I

can find a way to live like no one else.

What does that mean now? You don't

probably most of your friends have cable

or YouTube or some sort of streaming

service to watch TV. But if you can find

a way now to live like no one else doing

without

it. If you can find a way now to live

like no one else and and and sacrifice

the vacation for right now. If you can

if you can now right now learn to live

like no one else. Meaning you don't have

the latest and the greatest and the

hottest and the newest now. Then later

in life you'll get to live like no one

else. You won't be picking up a third or

second or third job. In fact, you'll be

well off enough to be able to retire.

You'll be going on vacation. Not when

there's a sale, but when you want

to. Yeah. You'll be going on vacation

when you want to. See, because right

now, oh

Lord, I'm coming to second Corinthians.

I declare 2 Corinthians chapter 4. I'm

2 Corinthians 4 · chapter mention

coming to it. But right

now, the lack of finances in our lives

and our inability to control

it, it dictate, it dictates to us when

we can go on vacation and how long we

can stay.

But if we can learn now to to to to

delay gratification in the moment, then

we'll come to the point where money is

not telling us where to go and how long

we can stay. We'll be able to dictate

that whether you want to go to Dubai and

stay for seven days or for two weeks.

That'll be not because you got to get

back to your second job. It'll be

because you had the finances to do it.

You got it? So if we can learn now to

live like no one else, then I believe

later we'll get to live like no one

else. 2 Corinthians chapter 4:1 17. 2

2 Corinthians 4:17

Corinthians chapter 4 verse 17. It says,

"For our light afflictions, which is but

for a moment is working for us a far

more exceeding and eternal weight of

glory." Verse 18, while we do not look

at the things which are seen, but at the

things which are not seen. For the

things which are seen are temporary, but

the things which are not seen are

eternal. What is that saying? That we

are built for this. We are we are made

for this. We are made to look at

hardship and redefine hardship. We're

able to look at difficulty and redefine

difficulty. We're able to delay

gratific. We're built for this. This is

how God wired

us. You got it? You and I have the

ability, catch this, to

decide. Uhhuh. To embrace. Here come

three words from the fast. Watch this,

Elonza. It ain't nothing new. We have

the ability to decide to embrace

disruption,

discomfort. Y'all know what the third

one is? Discon disconnection. We have

that

ability. We have that ability to decide

that that I'm going to embrace

disruption. Disruption of what? Of my

routine.

I'm used to going to Starbucks and

paying $7 for my my medicine ball. So,

because I want to delay gratification

because I have a goal, because I have a

plan, I'm not going to pay $7 to $8

right now for for a cup of tea. I'm

going to go get me a box of tea for $5.

Go get me some Splendor for eight.

Splender is $9 a box. What in the world?

Get you some Splender for $9. What's

that? That's about 14 right there. And

then get you a little honey. If you

don't get organic honey, maybe that's $8

$10. Okay. So, what we looking at now?

$24 for as many uh tea bags you have.

It'll probably be 10 or 12 tea bags. So,

for $24, you have you have 10 or 12 cups

of tea rather than one cup for

$8. But I can endure this light

affliction because it is working for me

a far more exceeding weight of glory. I

have a greater future if I can endure

this now. I can endure the disruption. I

can endure the I can endure the

discomfort of telling myself no. Cuz

that's not comfortable. You don't mind

telling other people no. But boy, it's

something else to tell yourself no.

That's not comfortable. You got it. But

we can decide to embrace the disruption,

the discomfort, and the

disconnection. The disconnection from

from some of my favorite things to

do. You got it? So that means coming up

uh in the in the fall, you know, I was

looking at uh Bishop has has us in this

series and I was looking at uh our own

bills. My wife and I have been looking

at our own budget, our spending plan and

uh Lonzo, sure enough, I forgot that I

had uh what you call it when you uh the

football what is that the package for

watching the football games. Now you

can't but watch but mostly one game at a

time honestly and pay attention to it. I

had this package where I had like six or

seven games. And even with the package,

I I didn't watch but one game at a time.

And catch this, I told myself when I

first got it, I was going to cut it off

when football season was

over. It's April. Basketball season has

come and gone. March Madness has come

and gone. The NFL draft has come and

gone, and I'm still paying for

it. But I need to disconnect from some

of my favorite things to do. So now when

it comes to in the fall, you know,

whatever is on CBS, whatever's on Sunday

Night Football, that's what I'm going to

have to watch. You got it? Why? I can

embrace this light affliction cuz I have

a far more exceeding weight of glory. I

have a greater goal in mind. You got it?

Oh, so so we we are made for this. Write

down Hebrewsap 11 24-27. I can't go to

it. I'm not going to go to it, John. But

Hebrews 11

24-27. And it talks about Moses making a

choice, making a decision to not stay in

the house of Pharaoh and to to uh to

embrace and to receive and to eat of all

the delicacies and all of the amazing

things that were in Pharaoh's house. He

he he uh decided not to embrace that,

but he he embraced his assignment from

God to go and be with the children of

Israel who were in some challenging

situations. But he did it. He

forwent what it is he could see because

he was following him who was

invisible. That's what verse 27 says.

So, so you and I have the ability to

choose and make a decision to embrace

the hardness or the challenges right

now. We can delay gratification for a

greater good. Why? Because we were made

for this. We were built for this. You

got it? This is how God has wired us.

And so, you know, Bishop wanted me to

make sure that that was nailed down. And

she said, "Tra, now you can't you can't

uh you can't get up from there until you

look at action." Because with attitude,

with alignment, with awareness, we need

action, corresponding action. Go to

Proverbs chapter 6 verse 6-8.

Proverbs 6:6–8

Proverbs chapter 6 verse 6 through8. You

Proverbs 6:6–8

and I need corresponding action. And

look at this. Look at where we're going

to look at the model that God gives us

on how we should act. You would think,

you can leave it up, but you would think

that God would use maybe the lion, the

king of the jungle, or maybe a bear that

has uh crazy strength. But no, look at

what the Bible gives us as an example on

how we should act. Proverbs chapter 6

Proverbs 6:6

verse 6, it says, "Go to the ant." Now,

you and I spent our whole lives trying

to destroy ants. There's a there's a

multi-million dollar industry that is

made to try to get rid of ants for

years. And they still

here. They still here. Look at this. It

says, "Go to the ant, you slugard.

consider her ways and be

wise. Which having no captain, overseer,

or ruler, provides her supplies in the

summer, and gathers her food in the

harvest. Let me read it again.

Go to the

aunt, you slugard. Consider her ways,

how that ant handers their business, and

be

wise. Which having no captain, nobody

standing over top of them, no overseer,

no ruler, provides her supplies in the

summer, getting busy in the heat when

it's hot outside. The aunt is not

chilling. Bring me back up. I'm good.

The aunt is not chilling. And I know we

on the verge of summer. I know we are.

Okay. And I know you probably got plans

in the summer. Okay. I'm not trying to

kill your plans. This is to make

sure that when we go on vacation, that

vacation doesn't follow us

home. What does that mean? When I go on

vacation, I want to plan a kind of

vacation where I can pay for it and it

doesn't follow me home and I'm having to

make payments five months after I went

on that vacation. You got it? It says,

"Look at the ant. Check out the ant and

how the ant is diligent that in the heat

is gathering supplies and in the harvest

is bringing in what is what what is what

it needs." You and I must have the type

of action as it pertains to our money.

We need the same diligence of the ant as

it pertains to our money. Now, on

Sunday, Bishop gave us a spending plan.

And big ups to everybody. Big shout out

to everybody cuz I don't think there was

one spending plan left in the seat here

at church. So absolutely amazing job.

You got it. But if you did not get a

spending plan, you can go to our website

at kccfamily.com, click on resources,

and an electronic version of uh that

spending plan is there. Now the spending

plan, some people may call it a budget.

It is a revealing document that shows us

uh where we are financially. You got it?

And so if we are going to have the

abundant life that God wants us to have,

we must, somebody say in the chat, we

must we have to have a spending plan in

place. We have, like Bishop said, we

have to take some time to tell our money

where to go or we'll spend all of our

time wondering where it went. If you

ever got paid on Friday and looked up on

Monday and didn't know where the money

went, you know exactly what I'm talking

about.

You got it? So, we have to have a

spending plan. So, what I want to

encourage is everybody's in different

places. You got it? Some of you already

have a spending plan. You have a budget.

You're faithful to it. You're working it

every month. It's like clockwork. You

got it? So, you should be looking maybe

to help somebody. And if you're going to

help somebody, don't be arrogant and

cocky acting like you, you know, you

always had it together. Be humble. All

right? Or maybe you can help somebody.

Maybe you had a spending plan and you

had a budget in place and you, you know,

you kind of put it down, got away from

it and started doing your own thing.

Pick it back up. Dust it off. You got

it. Look at it again. Maybe you never

had a spending plan. You're like, "Yo,

you know what? I'm just, you know, I

keep it all in my head and I'm handling

my business, doing it, you know, the

best way I can." I want to encourage you

to give this a shot. Okay? I want you to

give it a shot because the the spending

plan, the budget, it is a tool to tell

our money where to go and it is a

revealing document. Can I just share

with you? You think you know how much

you spend on food, but if you don't have

a budget, you have no

clue. You have absolutely I'm going to

take me a sip of water on that cuz I

know that's right. I know that's

right. You have no clue on what you

spending on food. That's one of those,

you know, that's one of those things

where it kind of just gets away from us.

You go to Burger King and get a number

three. My son loves a number three. You

can go to Burger King and get a number

three. An Impossible Whopper, that is

$12.94 for a meal.

$12.94 for one meal. You if you go and

do that at

least twice a

week, that's at least eight times a

month.

That's That's crazy. By the end of the

year. Now, am I saying don't ever go to

Burger King? No, I'm not saying that.

What I'm saying is let's be

intentional. Let's put a plan together

in place and be intentional so that when

we do go, we're not spending money that

we don't have. You got it? Okay. So, we

we need the spending plan. We need the

spending plan. It is the revealing

document that tells that helps us to

tell our money where to go. Okay. So,

listen. I want to take a moment to go

through what is it? Oh, am I good on

time? I'm good on time. I want to take a

moment and kind of uh maybe introduce to

some remind others of of

this what we call the baby steps. Now,

this comes from a guy named Dave Ramsey

who wrote a phenomenal book called The

Total Money Makeover. Now, from the

onset, let me go on and tell you I don't

believe a lot of stuff that Dave says in

other areas. You got it? Okay. Yeah. You

know, my my man has some interesting

views, but I cannot

deny that God blessed him, graced him to

be able to help people financially. You

got it? So, it's a book called The Total

Money Makeover. In this book called The

Total Money Makeover, he gives what is

called the seven baby steps. And in

these baby steps, this is like a system,

a financial, it's a system to kind of

walk down to be able to get to the place

that we all desire to get to, and that

is to the place of surplus. You got it?

And so with these baby steps, we will

find ourselves. I don't care. I don't

care if you are behind on every bill. I

don't care if you can pay all your bills

with half of a check. you can find

yourself in one of these seven baby

steps. And so I want to give us these

baby steps because we use the the

spending plan to tell our money where to

go as we walk down or walk through these

baby steps. You got it? So baby step

number one. Baby step number one. I'm

going to give them to you and then we'll

get back. We'll we'll we'll work through

with the time we have. Baby step number

one is to get a starter emergency fund

of $1,000.

Okay, a starting emergency fund of

$1,000. Baby step number two is to pay

all off all off pay off all debt except

the

home. Now, don't judge it yet. Just

listen to it. Okay, I ain't pay no. Just

listen to it. You got it. Pay off all

debt except the home. All right. Number

three. Go back to that $1,000 emergency

fund. And now let's make it a 3 to

sixmonth fully funded emergency fund. So

when I know my expenses, that's another

reason to have that budget because your

budget or your spending plan shows you

what it costs to run your house each

month. This is what Bishop calls you

need to know your number. You need to

know the number what it costs to run

your house. Everything from top to

bottom, from rent to toothpaste, what it

costs to run your house each month. And

whatever that is, whether it's 2500,

3,000, 4,0005, whatever that is, you

need to know your number. And then

whatever that number is, you will

multiply that number by either three,

four, five, or six. And you will have

that amount of money in your emergency

fund to fulfill baby step three. That's

what a 3 to six month fully funded

emergency fund means. You got it? So,

baby step one, start an emergency fund

of $1,000. Baby step two, pay off all

debt except the house. Baby step three,

save a three to six month fully funded

emergency fund. Baby step four is then

after you done that, invest 15% of your

income into

retirement. 15% of your income into

retirement. Now, some people, you know,

they debate this. Let me start investing

now so I can uh, you know, I can uh

maximize the time. You know, you got to

do how you see fit. Just let me give you

the seven. Okay. Number four, invest 15%

into retirement. Number five, save for

kids college if this applies to you.

Now, some of you may say, "Now, I don't

know about saving for kids college

before uh I don't know if I should uh

invest for myself before saving for my

kids college because it seems like that

I'm going to my kids going to go to

college before I need the retirement.

Can I just say now you got to do how you

see fit, but can I just

say there are multiple ways and multiple

programs for your kid to go to college.

They're not multiple ways and multiple

programs for your

retirement. I'm just saying now you

grown, you going to do how you see fit,

but just bear that in mind. You got it?

So number five is save for kids college.

Number six is pay off the home early.

go back and pay your home off early. And

then number seven, now you've been

given. We've been given all along the

way in our budget. Tithe is at the top.

You got it? But in baby step seven, it

is to build wealth and give

generously. Now, we've been giving all

along the way. You got it? We tithe, we

give our offering, we sew into the life

of our pastor. But on baby step seven,

this type of giving, I'm I'm talking

about like uh philanthropic. Isn't that

a word? Is that the right word? Yeah.

Philanthropic giving. I'm talking about

giving on another level. I'm talking

about leaving uh uh wealth to the next

generation giving. I'm talking about

that kind of giving where you go in in

in a grocery store and you turn it out

where you don't pay for somebody else

groceries. I'm talking about not just

paying for their butter and they serve.

I'm talking about paying for a whole

basket of grocer. That kind of giving,

that kind of fund, leaving and

establishing a

scholarship. You understand? That's what

we're talking about in Baby Step 7. that

level of giving. So again, you may be on

one of the you can find yourself on one

of these seven. We take our spending

plan, our budget, and we tell our money

where to go as we walk down these baby

steps. So I want to just touch on baby

step one. Let me just touch on baby step

one because it is critical. It is

important. If you do not have $1,000 set

to the side for just emergencies, I'm

talking to you. you need to get

$1,000 in your emergency fund like

yesterday. Now, for some of you, it is a

matter of going to your checking account

and pulling out a th000 and putting it

into another account that is separate

from your checking account. Some of you

can go and do that at the swipe of a pen

or at the the the push of your card. If

that is the case, I need you to do that

today because you need $1,000. Now,

$1,000 don't take care of everything,

but it'll take care of a lot of

stuff. When that when that when that I

you know, I had a starter to go out on

my car. I ain't I ain't seen $1,000

starter or a fuel pump. Now, it depend

on a set of tires, but usually if you

know, if you're not trying to be a big

baller, you can get a set of tires, $45

$500. So, $1,000 is not an end all, but

it is a great start to take care of the

majority of the emergencies that come up

in our lives. The reason why it's

important to do this is because if you

get started out on a plan and don't have

that $1,000 emergency fund set to the

side, it's going to derail you from your

plan and then it's going to discourage

you from continuing.

How many of you have ever I'll tell

myself I've had times where I had a car

challenge where that water pump or that

starter goes out and when that happens

and I don't have my my $1,000 my my

emergency fund. I don't only have a car

problem but I also have a money problem

cuz now it's not a matter of just

getting my car fixed. Now I'm trying to

figure out how I'm going to get the car

fixed. That's a whole another level of

stress. Imagine having $1,000 to the

side in a separate account. Not in your

sock

drawer, not in your other

drawer, not under the mattress. Cuz it's

amazing how you'll find when when you

know when it's time to order pizza. It's

amazing how you'll go in there and pinch

a little something off that thousand to

order the pizza. So, I need you to put

it away. But imagine having it away and

something happens and instead of

panicking and worrying, you go and get

that $34 $400 and go pay and get it

done. When I tell you that's another

level of peace and

relief. You ever do it, if you ever

experience it, it'll be a great

blessing. You understand? So this is why

we say get this thousand dollar saved

like

yesterday. You understand? This is why

we use a spending plan to begin to cut

begin to cut some things so that we can

get this thousand. What can you sell to

get this thousand dollars? What can you

cut out to get this thousand dollars?

What can you cut back? Can I just tell

you, oh Lord, can I in four minutes I'm

going to be done. Can I just tell you no

amount is too small to cut back? Don't

look at your spending plan and say, "Oh,

well, it's only

$25." No, it's $25 more that can help

you get to your goal faster.

So no amount is too small to help you to

get to your goal. And this is about

showing the diligence, showing God how

serious you are about

pursuing this this life that he wants us

to have. You got it? So I'm going after

this $1,000 to get this $1,000 separate

in the account because I need it there

because it will help protect the plan

that I have. It'll keep me from getting

derailed from my plan. You got it? and I

we need to focus with great intensity on

getting this thousand dollars in place

separate from my checking account. And

can I just tell you about the God we

serve that when when we lock in like

this and get diligent and serious about

the the blessing that he wants us to

have and the the the appropriate

handling of the current resources we

have. God will send the wind at our

back. I like to call it God winking at

us cuz you'll get a little blessing.

You'll get a little something that's

encouragement along the way as you begin

to get in alignment and get things

together and pull that spending plan out

and you look over it and you start

making adjustments and you start uh

delaying

gratification. You're tithing. You're

giving some sort of offering. You're

sewing some sort of seed into your

pastor's life. When you get in alignment

and start going after what God has said

and start putting to practice what we're

being taught, catch this, and you go and

get the other sheet that Bishop gave us

and she told us to underline the

scriptures and our when you start doing

what you've been taught, God starts we

winking at us. He starts blessing us

incrementally as we're uh properly

handling what it is he called us to

handle.

Listen y'all, I don't believe it's for

no reason that God has put this on our

pastor's heart for us to begin to get

ready financially for what God wants to

do. Listen to me and I'm done on this.

Let me close my stuff up. Feel like

bishop. A few years ago, our pastor told

us that we needed to start saving money

and getting ready. This how God this may

have been six, seven years ago. Need to

start saving money and and getting

things together and getting things in

order. She said, "Because we we're going

to need it." And the day that that she

was speaking of where we were needing

it, it has come and

gone. And here we are again. This is not

uh this is not just her talking. This is

the leading of God for us to get ready

and position ourselves and posture

ourselves for financial strength. I'm

telling you, don't ignore what you're

hearing. God is trying to get us in

alignment so that we can be a

manifestation and a billboard of what it

is that he wants to do in the earth. You

know, I I don't let my children leave

the house any kind of way and it gets on

their nerves sometimes because they just

be like, "Dad, really

godly." But as a parent, I can't let

them leave the house any kind of way.

Why? Because they represent

me wherever they go. wherever they are,

they represent me and their

mother. And by the same token, I believe

God doesn't want us out here

misrepresenting him as if he can't take

care of his children. As if his word

doesn't said, "I've never seen the

righteous forsaken," nor his seed

begging bread. And when you and I ignore

the words of God and don't heed what it

is he tells us to do, then we we

misrepresent him and make it look like

he can't take care of us.

Let's get an alignment. Let's get an

attitude adjustment. Let's get an

alignment. Let's be aware of the world's

plan and have a plan of our own. And

let's make an add an adjustment in our

actions. And let's go after this

increase and being

diligent with what God has already given

us so that we can we can be who he's

called us to be. Amen. Amen. Listen, let

me let me whisper a word of prayer.

Father, we thank you for this

opportunity you've given us around your

word. And Lord, uh you know, admittedly,

God, this can be a scary uh subject uh

because uh you know, wherever we find

ourselves in the baby steps, Lord, it

can be challenging. And so, Lord, I pray

for those where it's challenging to go

back and look to pull out a spending

plan, to develop a spending plan. I

thank you Lord that we don't look at it

as if it's all on us but as Bishop told

us on Sunday God we look at it through

eyes of faith trusting and believing

that you are with us.