Sermon

Living Covenant Conscious Financially Part 3 | Free to Serve Him | Bishop Rosie S. O’neal

Koinonia Christian Center

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  1. ful, wonderful, wonderful. He's worthy

  2. to be praised. How many of y'all know he

  3. is? He is worthy to be praised. Well,

  4. good um afternoon everybody. This is the

  5. day the Lord has made and we're going to

  6. rejoice and be glad in it. And you know,

  7. I'm tow up cuz I have a new Bible here.

  8. So, I'm ready to go today. We thank God.

  9. Oh my God. What key was that in? B flat.

  10. B flat. Okay. So, I had all of my

  11. numbers wrong cuz I'm watching the foot

  12. pedals, but that's okay. Now, I got to

  13. go back and try. And uh I hope you are

  14. still reeling and rocking as I am from

  15. the uh Easter weekend holiday. Yeah,

  16. Mother Pew. Ain't he worthy? Yes, y'all.

  17. He is so worthy. We had a

  18. phenomenal and uh from sunrise service

  19. to our other two more contemporary

  20. services. God is so good and just so

  21. blessed and I'm tickled. Now considering

  22. that we're going back

  23. into this concept of being covenant

  24. conscious financially. Now you say,

  25. "Bishop, you can just come right out of

  26. the churchiest stuff and go into stuff."

  27. I I can because God wants us to be able

  28. to serve him freely. And if you recall

  29. the last time we were in this financial

  30. series, we started dealing with the fact

  31. that the enemy is always trying to get

  32. us distracted or deceived so that we can

  33. be put in bondage financially. And when

  34. Pharaoh when God told Moses, "Go tell

  35. Pharaoh, let my people go." Uh, he was

  36. like, "Well, y'all go on, but just don't

  37. go far." Because he doesn't want your

  38. lifestyle to change. The devil don't

  39. mind us being in church. It's not his

  40. desire because that's where we can have

  41. an encounter on so on and so forth, and

  42. we gather with the saints. But if we're

  43. going to do that, okay, go to church,

  44. shout, but still be in bondage. But I

  45. would dare somebody to put not so not

  46. so. Not doing it. I want Jesus. I want

  47. his imprint on every part of my life.

  48. Okay. Every part of my life. Oh, I love

  49. it. They enjoyed the services. So when

  50. when Pharaoh says, "Okay, well go on and

  51. go, but uh leave your children." What?

  52. No, I'm not. I'm not going to heaven and

  53. then my family go to hell. I'm not doing

  54. it. So, no, no. And again, I say not.

  55. So, there it is. Then he says, "Well, I

  56. tell you what, you all go, but leave

  57. your herd here." And this is what we

  58. really wanted to impress. Moses told

  59. him, "We can't do that. We cannot leave

  60. our money and our finances outside of

  61. the covenant. We got to go into the

  62. wilderness and take our money because we

  63. don't know how God may want us to serve

  64. him."

  65. Oh, that's huge, y'all. So, Sunday we

  66. had our one sacrificial offering and we

  67. were believing to raise at least

  68. 650,000 and we blew it out the water. I

  69. will see you Sunday. I'll tell you

  70. exactly how much we have by then. But to

  71. God be the glory. Why? That's what he

  72. wanted us to worship him with. So, we

  73. can't afford to be broke, busted, and

  74. disgusted. All right. Now, I want to

  75. carry you back. Go to Deuteronomy

  76. 8 as I turn in my new Bible. My God,

  77. it's beautiful. Did you know? Look at

  78. the just the way it

  79. just

  80. Deuteronomy 8 and uh let's look at this

  81. in 18. Not so. Oh, I love seeing that up

  82. there. Thank you, Jesus. Not so we're

  83. not doing it. Now, Deuteronomy 8:18, I

    Deuteronomy 8:18

  84. want you to see it. Uh, and I want you

  85. to get in your spirit because you need

  86. to know that this is what God has to

  87. say. The Bible says, "But thou shalt

  88. remember the Lord thy God, because it's

  89. he that gives you the power to get

  90. wealth." Don't miss it. "That he may

  91. establish his

  92. covenant, show his covenant, illustrate

  93. it, manifest his covenant, which he

  94. swear unto your fathers as it is this

  95. day." God says, "I'm the one that wants

  96. you to have

  97. abundance." He said, "I want you to have

  98. it." He said, "Because I'm going to use

  99. your abundance not just to bless you,

  100. but certainly to bless us because he

  101. wants to show us his heart." Okay?

  102. Anybody that loves doesn't want to see

  103. somebody struggling. That's I mean,

  104. that's a fact, y'all. And if we feel

  105. that way, you know, God does, right? But

  106. God says that you and

  107. I, he wants to utilize what we have to

  108. bless us, but then to bless others. So

  109. one of the things we started with in

  110. this series is our need to understand

  111. salvation. When I make Jesus the savior

  112. and lord of my life, then he is

  113. expecting me to adopt his posture and

  114. his mindset. All right? So I don't care

  115. if you were successful. This was the

  116. example I used. Just because Michael

  117. Jordan played basketball doesn't mean he

  118. could bring those same moves to the

  119. baseball field and expect to win. I'm in

  120. a new kingdom. You're in a new kingdom.

  121. You got a new king, right? No longer is

  122. it my flesh. See, when it was my flesh,

  123. if my flesh want to do something, that's

  124. what I did. Cuz I let the flesh run it.

  125. If you were getting on my nerves, my

  126. flesh wanted to cuss you out, you got

  127. cussed out because I was following uh my

  128. flesh. Now I have a new king. He's the

  129. King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

  130. He's the fairest of 10,00ands. Come on.

  131. Jesus is his name. So now I have to

  132. adopt and obey what he says. So let's

  133. get started. Luke 12. I want to go

  134. through it with you because I know y'all

  135. have kind of forgotten it in the study,

  136. you know, of covenant. So, I'm not

  137. upset. Come on. Let's go to Luke 12,

    Luke 12:15

  138. verse

  139. 15. A new Bible. You just everything

  140. just I just tore up over it, y'all. All

  141. right. Luke, that means I'mma have a

  142. Bible to give away on Sunday. You might

  143. want to come on and be in the place.

  144. Bishop got one. Actually, one or two.

  145. All right. Luke 12, verse 15. This is

    Luke 12:15

  146. important. They had come. In fact, let

  147. me start at verse 13 for you. Yeah, I

  148. got to adopt his posture and

  149. mindset. Yeah. And one of the companies

  150. said unto him, "Master," this is Luke

    Luke 12:13

  151. 12:13, "Speak to my brother so he can

  152. divide the inheritance with me." Sad

  153. that you had to tell folk to divide.

  154. That's a that's a whole other subject.

  155. And this is why you need to have your

  156. will or trust done so that it's not any

  157. fussing or strange looking when somebody

  158. passes away.

  159. Okay, that's a word. Moving on. Verse

  160. 14, he said, "Man, how is it you trying

  161. to make me a judge and a divider over

  162. you?" And he says in verse 15, he said,

  163. "Take heed and beware of

  164. covetousness, for a man's life consists

  165. not in the abundance of the things which

  166. he possesses." So the first attitude

  167. that God wants me to have is that I

  168. don't allow my life to be gauged or the

  169. success of it in the stuff that I

  170. have. Now that's important. You say,

  171. "Oh, Bishop, you sitting up there saying

  172. that you got stuff." Baby, I've been

  173. saying this since I was borrowing $20

  174. till the end of the month. Don't come

  175. for me. You don't know me like that.

  176. Let's be real. No, no, no. when the only

  177. car we had was the one Taurus d bought

  178. which was a Nissan Sentra and it was a

  179. straight drive and I couldn't even drive

  180. it. But you have to adopt right now. You

  181. need to adopt the reality that our life

  182. isn't about stuff. Now if you like

  183. stuff, I'm not mad at you. Do you not

  184. that your life's got to be bigger than

  185. that? If my life is just about the

  186. clothes I wear, the jewelry I have, the

  187. car I drive, then I'm very I'm a shell

  188. of a person. You can let me tell you

  189. something. If all you get from me,

  190. that's why you can always tell when

  191. people understand this truth. They say,

  192. "When uh bishop, I need to come sit down

  193. with you, let you buy me lunch." Now, I

  194. don't mind buying you lunch. You know

  195. what I'm saying? Now, don't worry me.

  196. Don't be texting me now. But you

  197. understand what I'm saying. If you think

  198. that's the best thing that you could get

  199. from me is me buying your lunch or

  200. giving you

  201. $100, I I'd give you $100. Go on

  202. somewhere and sit down because the

  203. things that I could share with you could

  204. make you far more than that. The thing

  205. the the dimensions that could carry you

  206. to another place in your understanding

  207. of life. You see, our lives are bigger

  208. than that. You're bigger than that.

  209. Thank God for stuff. Stuff is fun. Our

  210. lives are much bigger than that. What's

  211. another perspective? Give me Acts 20.

  212. Come on. I want us to go through this

  213. today. Acts chapter

    Acts 20 chapter mention

  214. 20. These are I got to adopt this. Watch

  215. this. Even if right now you still don't

  216. feel it in your heart, start saying it

  217. out your mouth cuz you need to adopt

  218. that. This is what your Lord says. Got

  219. it? Acts 20, y'all there? Verse 35. Do

  220. y'all still have that handout? I hope

  221. you do. All right, watch this. Acts

    Acts 20:35

  222. 20:35. I've showed you all things.

  223. Apostles writing, how that so laboring

  224. you ought to support the weak and

  225. remember the words of the Lord Jesus.

  226. How he said it is more blessed to give

  227. than to receive. So Jesus tells us right

  228. off the bat that we need to have the

  229. heart and the mindset, hey, of course

  230. when we receive, our joy is full. But

  231. the real blessed state is being the

  232. person that gives. So I want to begin to

  233. motivate myself in the well the way I

  234. work, the way I choose to spend. Notice

  235. that so that I can give when it's in my

  236. heart to give. Now I can't listen. The

  237. bishop rolled up in here on

  238. Sunday. Oh, I rolled up in here. Now I

  239. didn't give the most of our church

  240. because I wasn't in the financial

  241. position to give the most. But now I'm

  242. proud of my seed now. I was proud of my

  243. seed when it was a

  244. thousand. I was proud when it was two.

  245. But no, I this I rolled up on a 37 on

  246. Sunday. Actually ended up with 38,000. I

  247. ain't playing in these streets.

  248. Hallelujah. Amen. I was proud. I was,

  249. listen, not proud like I'm better than

  250. you. But I was proud that I was able to

  251. scrape. Now, I scraped all kind of

  252. stuff. I had checks. I know when they

  253. were opening my little envelope, they

  254. were laughing cuz I had some cash. I had

  255. checks from all the accounts I had.

  256. Listen, I believe in God. I wanted to

  257. see the gospel go forth. But it is more

  258. joyous. I've had people give me money

  259. and I appreciate it. And if you want to

  260. give me some, don't be bound. I'm good

  261. ground. But here's the thing. My joy was

  262. in giving. Jesus said is more blessed to

  263. give and than to receive. Now go with me

  264. to ma Mark 6, Matthew 6, because these

  265. are the all I'm doing is going over our

  266. handout. But this is what you're going

  267. to need for this Sunday. See, this

  268. Sunday we want to start I want we want

  269. to move you up on the notch to get more

  270. resources and to do better with them. So

  271. I need you to already have this in your

  272. spirit. All right. Matthew, what did I

  273. tell you? Chapter 6. Put my glasses on.

  274. Thank you, Jesus. Matthew 6, watch this.

  275. In verse

  276. 21, very simple scripture, but you need

  277. to grab it in grab it into your spirit.

  278. Where your treasure is, that's where

  279. your heart is going to be. If you put

  280. some Listen, that's why I tell husbands,

  281. you're not feeling any effect affection

  282. and emotion, start spending your money

  283. on that wife and see what happens. The

  284. Bible says you can find your heart where

  285. you find where you spend your money. The

  286. things that matter the most. So like for

  287. me, if you had a no shade on Louis

  288. Vuitton, do you right and Gucci bags? I

  289. ain't mad at nobody. Enjoy it. you can

  290. put those up there. I don't really value

  291. that like that. So, like my church knows

  292. like, you know, you wouldn't want to get

  293. something like that for me for an

  294. anniversary present. I don't I don't I

  295. don't want

  296. that. Right. Um but if there's an RV

  297. park somewhere and you want to go on and

  298. buy me a few nights, I'm tow up. Now, to

  299. me, $3,000 is not worth it for a bag. No

  300. shade on anybody. You got to choose

  301. yourself. That's not where my heart is.

  302. But now you let somebody that I have

  303. affection for and I see where that same

  304. 3,000 could move them and put them in a

  305. different position. Oh, I'm having a

  306. ball. Then I come out my pocket. Ain't

  307. no

  308. problem. Because where you put your

  309. money shows you where your heart is,

  310. right? And so you can use that to trace

  311. down like some people they're their

  312. allowance is all about what they eat cuz

  313. they want to eat good.

  314. George Tory told me he not going on a

  315. vacation and he don't like the food. He

  316. said, "I don't understand that." I said,

  317. "But Switzerland is so beautiful." He

  318. said, "Well, watch it on YouTube and eat

  319. food from home." Right? Because we're

  320. different. Got it? All right. Come on.

  321. So, Matthew says in 6:21, "I can learn

  322. what I'm I'm I have an affection for by

  323. where my money is." Now, go to Luke

    Luke 11 chapter mention

  324. chapter

  325. 11. Come on. We're going through the

  326. scripture today. Is that all right? Luke

    Luke 11 chapter mention

  327. chapter 11. Oh, wait a minute. What's

  328. today? Is today Wednesday? I I see uh

  329. Pastor Joyce Gillum up on this thing.

  330. Her birthday is either today or

  331. tomorrow. My God. I got to check. The

  332. saints of God will sneak up and have

  333. birthdays on

  334. you. And if it's not, let's see. It

  335. might be tomorrow, but I'm going to

  336. check. Joyce, when is your birthday?

  337. It's today. My God. Yes, it is. Happy

  338. birthday, Pastor Joyce Gillum. We love

  339. you. All right. All right. Luke 11. And

  340. I'm going to actually look at in the New

  341. Living. Luke chap

  342. 11 verse 42. In the New

  343. Living, you're going to learn something

  344. important here. Watch this. Boom. And

  345. New Living. It says, "What sorrow awaits

  346. you Pharisees." He said, "You are

  347. careful to tithe even the tiniest income

  348. from your herb gardens, but you ignore

  349. stuff like justice and the love of God.

  350. You should tithe, yes, but do not

  351. neglect the more important things." Come

  352. on. So, what are we learning? Jesus is

  353. telling us very clearly, we ought to

  354. tithe. But tithing does not mean you

  355. don't have to obey the rest of the

  356. Bible. You can't just say, "Well, I got

  357. my $3,000 this week, so I gave my tithe

  358. $300. I gave 10 an offering, 10 to

  359. pastor, so leave me alone." Uh-uh. Uh-

  360. uh. That money belongs to God. You're

  361. supposed to return it, but you still got

  362. to care about

  363. justice. These people in these streets

  364. have gone stark raving mad.

  365. They had a they Z he was telling me

  366. today they had a a teacher put up one

  367. you know the posters all the put up for

  368. the kindergarten kids. They got all the

  369. little different color hands and they

  370. you know got a rainbow on it talking

  371. about we are all important because you

  372. got to teach children to love everybody

  373. no matter the race and color. And watch

  374. this. And this the little children are

  375. showing up in school and they're gay and

  376. they already and and any teacher can

  377. tell you. All you need to do is find a

  378. daycare teacher and they can tell you.

  379. You can look at children when they are

  380. two and three. You can tell before they

  381. learn it that they have a proclivity

  382. toward it. You got to teach children to

  383. love everybody. Do you know they trying

  384. to make that teacher take that poster

  385. down? These people in these streets are

  386. trying to whitewash our country and make

  387. us all one race and get rid of everybody

  388. else. I'm telling you. And your tithe

  389. belongs in the house of God. But you

  390. can't act like you don't see

  391. injustice. All right, let's keep going.

  392. Come on. Luke 16:13. Let's turn. What is

    Luke 16:13

  393. Jesus teaching us? Now, I gave you this

  394. handout. You need to spend some time

  395. with this because getting your attitude

  396. right about money is key because

  397. remember if you don't change your

  398. mindset and God gives you something,

  399. it's going to end up spent improperly.

  400. It's no different from people who win

  401. the

  402. lottery. You can give somebody $20

  403. million that stays broke. They they out

  404. here. They don't have a savings account,

  405. but they're buying lottery tickets. They

  406. don't have any investment, no

  407. retirement, but they're buying lottery

  408. tickets. You if they win, they going to

  409. be broke in a year cuz they don't think

  410. about money

  411. properly. Okay, y'all not having church

  412. with me? Let go and read the stuff then.

  413. Luke Luke

  414. 16:E3. Luke 16. Amen. Verse Oh, they got

  415. the resource up there. Yeah. Download

  416. it. I love God. We got a great team.

  417. Thank you, John. He said the handout is

  418. linked in the corner if you scan it. So,

  419. you can have another copy of it. You

  420. still owe me 12 cent for that that copy.

  421. Luke

    Luke 16:13

  422. 16:13. Nobody can serve two masters.

  423. You're either going to hate the one and

  424. love the other or you hold to one and

  425. despise the other. Jesus said you cannot

  426. serve God and money. something is going

  427. to have the greater voice in your

  428. life. Which one can you give up

  429. faster? That's why I try to tell y'all

  430. think I be talking about tithe and

  431. offering all the time because I want

  432. something. It is not

  433. that. But the bottom line is if you can

  434. hold on to your tithe, that means you're

  435. willing to let go of God to that degree.

  436. I mean, let's just talk about it. It

  437. ain't this ain't rocket science.

  438. He says, "You bring this to me." I can't

  439. do that cuz I got to eat and I got to be

  440. able to get cable and I plan to get this

  441. little blouse. I don't spend a lot on

  442. it, but I just was going to get wasn't

  443. but $12, but it was $12 you took from

  444. God to get

  445. it. He said, "You're it's showing you

  446. you can't serve both." This is why I try

  447. to encourage people, listen, start give

  448. God what's his, then figure out what car

  449. you can afford. Get in alignment and

  450. then say, "Oh, no. We we ain't going to

  451. be a cable house. Not if Direct TV going

  452. to be $159. We won't be able to be that.

  453. We going to have to be a Hulu and a what

  454. them little sticks on the back. I can't

  455. see all my channels. Well, we going to

  456. see what we can see and let Jesus be

  457. glorified. And then when he opens the

  458. door for more, then we can celebrate it.

  459. See, I can shout over everything. I Oh,

  460. is that bishop? Is that a new piece of

  461. jewelry? If it is, well, I don't have

  462. any new jewelry, but I've finally been

  463. able to wear a ring that I bought 13

  464. years ago, right? People can stare at it

  465. and go, "Oh, it's too what you want. I

  466. tithe and I give. God did it for me."

  467. Ain't that what you sung Sunday? God did

  468. it. Only God can do it. That's what he

  469. said. Only God can do it. I can rejoice

  470. over anything I have because God has

  471. his. Oh Lord, I'm enjoying. I don't know

  472. if y'all are. It's a little quiet. I

  473. can't spill no love. All right, go with

  474. this. Go Mark chapter 12. Go to Mark 12.

    Mark 12 chapter mention

  475. Oh, this is a good Oh, I love this one.

  476. Mark 12. This thing hit me like a ton of

  477. bricks. I can tell you when I learned

  478. it. Mark 12 beginning at verse 41.

  479. We are adopting the mindset that Jesus

  480. has because remember if you change the

  481. behavior before you change the belief

  482. you are postponing the behavior to

  483. another time. That's all you're doing.

  484. You you you just stopping for a little

  485. bit. But it ain't going to stay that way

  486. because you didn't change your mindset.

  487. So when you get in another situation

  488. with a little more pressure, you're

  489. going to pull the behavior back up. So

  490. it's a fact. All right. Watch this. Mark

  491. 12 beginning at 41. Oh, I love this

  492. story. Jesus sat over against the

  493. treasury and was watching how folk gave

  494. money into the offering and those that

  495. were rich cast in a lot. You know, they

  496. pulled up, dropped in good

  497. 25,000. Then verse 42 said, "There came

  498. a certain poor woman widow and she threw

  499. in two mics. So she put her dollar in

  500. there which make a farthing. And he

  501. called unto him his disciples and said

  502. unto them, verily I say unto you, this

  503. poor widow has cast in more than all of

  504. those that cast into the treasury. For

  505. all of they cast in of their abundance,

  506. but she did cast in all she had, even of

  507. her living. Y'all, we learn so much from

  508. this text. This I'mma close out. I'm not

  509. going to finish out. We'll finish the

  510. other three, four

  511. later. First of all, for people to

  512. think, well, God don't care about, see,

  513. that's why I don't like church now

  514. because, oh, they talk about money, but

  515. God don't care about that. You lying or

  516. wrong. That's not true. The Bible said

  517. Jesus sat over against the treasury and

  518. was watching to see what folk were

  519. putting in. That's hilarious.

  520. Is that not funny to y'all? That is

  521. hilarious. You going to sit and watch

  522. what they're giving. He does care.

  523. Somebody put it in the chat. He does

  524. care because again, why does he care?

  525. Because it's an in it's an indication of

  526. our heart. It's indicative of our

  527. affection. He does care. So Jesus is

  528. sitting there watching. So the first

  529. thing I get, if you go preach this text,

  530. uh Demarcus, you got you got to talk

  531. about Jesus is watching the way we give.

  532. It doesn't matter. Then the second thing

  533. you got to make note of and I thought

  534. this was huge is that he equated he

  535. pointed out that she gave everything she

  536. had and he still let her get let her

  537. give it. Now that is what hit me. I was

  538. standing in Cornerstone Missionary

  539. Baptist Church and somebody wanted to

  540. give me I think she was trying to give

  541. $300 and I knew she had like six or

  542. seven

  543. kids and I you know I said it'd be one

  544. thing if I really had a need I didn't

  545. need nothing and this woman said and I

  546. said no but I said I no sweetheart I

  547. love you I you know trying to be deep

  548. and spiritual and I tell you I love my

  549. members because my folk will embarrass

  550. me they have No, they have no qualms

  551. about it. So, I was trying to be so

  552. stressed. No, babe. Listen. Oh, you're

  553. so sweet. I'm trying to hug her. I said,

  554. "I'm good. I receive it." And when I

  555. tell you, she pulled up like her whole

  556. attitude was

  557. like, "You taught in the scripture about

  558. three weeks ago that we're supposed to

  559. sew in the good soil. I'm believing God

  560. to do something in my family." I mean,

  561. when I tell you when she got through, I

  562. felt this big right

  563. here. And I received it and I remembered

  564. this scripture when I was dealing with

  565. God because I was embarrassed cuz she

  566. really in embarrassment because she she

  567. did she tuned up or she got a little

  568. loud and so it made me look, you know, I

  569. was just in a zone. Pray for me. But

  570. what I noted was Jesus said this woman

  571. gave all that she had. She was poor.

  572. That was her last dollar.

  573. But he let her give

  574. it. See, sometimes we say we believe

  575. this stuff, but we don't. Right? And so

  576. in my mind, when I thought I was being

  577. spiritual, thank God it's been about 15,

  578. 20 years ago. But when I thought I was

  579. being spiritual, she was pointing out I

  580. wasn't being

  581. biblical and you got to make a decision.

  582. She was like, uh-uh, you just taught

  583. this three weeks ago. See, I don't know.

  584. See, I don't see a whole bunch of ain't

  585. nobody texting in now. Jesus let this

  586. woman give her last because that was the

  587. best place she could be. Come here,

  588. woman out of kings. She said, "All I

  589. have is this one little cake. Me and my

  590. son are going to eat it and die." And

  591. the prophet basically said, "You're

  592. right. If you eat it, that's all you

  593. going to have. You're going to eat it

  594. and then die. But if you obey what God

  595. has said with it, then you get ready to

  596. tap in to an abundant supply."

  597. Jesus let her give it because he knew

  598. that was the best place for it. And we

  599. got all these people come online that

  600. she get on my nerve. They're sweet

  601. though. I guess they're sweet and they

  602. we need to stop all this and they need

  603. doing all this stuff. Nobody's fussing

  604. when our folks are out here again. Get

  605. your nails done. I need to get mine

  606. repainted right now. Well, you know, do

  607. what you going to do. Get your hair, but

  608. you can get your hair done. It's going

  609. to be naughty again in a little while.

  610. You can get your fingers done. They you

  611. know them them nails grow off. We

  612. listen, there's nothing wrong with that

  613. if you have it. But if you got that

  614. going on and don't have any

  615. money, and nobody's online fussing about

  616. folk getting that stuff done, but if you

  617. give to the church, they say the church

  618. is taking all your money. That's because

  619. they don't really believe in what the

  620. Bible says. Now, do what you going to

  621. do. I love you. You're sweet. But I'm

  622. telling you, Jesus let her give her

  623. last. Just like Jesus let that little

  624. boy, there was 5,000 men out there, all

  625. kind of women and children and all them

  626. people lying talking about they didn't

  627. have no food. You know, somebody had

  628. food beside that little boy with them

  629. two small fish and them five loaves of

  630. bread. Ain't no way in the world on in

  631. earth, heaven or hell that that one

  632. little boy out of all them people were

  633. the only folk with food.

  634. Everybody else was hiding theirs because

  635. they felt like I ain't f to get mine cuz

  636. they s they going to start with the

  637. preacher. They ain't going to give me

  638. nothing. The little boy had his lunch

  639. and he said, "Well, I have food." And

  640. watch this. And Jesus took it. Philip

  641. got it and they took it. And you know,

  642. everybody was like, "You stupid. You

  643. ain't going to have no food." But I want

  644. to remind Oh, Lord have mercy. You see,

  645. see, I get red tune up. But I want to

  646. remind I heard it in my head. I

  647. shouldn't do it. But I want to remind

  648. you that after they multiplied it, they

  649. had 12 baskets full. And I know the

  650. commentary said each of the disciples,

  651. you know, disciples ain't getting no

  652. basket full because they got to carry

  653. the stuff they already got. That that's

  654. not who they where that stuff went. That

  655. stuff went home with that little boy

  656. because it wouldn't have fit Jesus's

  657. pattern. The pattern is give and it'll

  658. be given unto you, not to the folks that

  659. hand it to you. Read your Bible. Give

  660. and it'll be given. That boy went home

  661. with more than two fish and five loaves.

  662. He said, "Mama, we got some food. Call

  663. the rest of the family. I got grocery

  664. this

  665. week." Hey, you see? So, and and and

  666. make note of this. Make note of this.

  667. Make note of this. So, first of all,

  668. Jesus let the rich folk cast in a lot.

  669. So, they should. He let the lady cast

  670. in. They didn't have. He was watching.

  671. He was concerned. And he allowed her to

  672. do it. And he said she has done more

  673. than they. So he he he structures his

  674. respect not by what we give but but but

  675. by what we have

  676. left. There go all the points you need

  677. to preach. Now I don't believe that

  678. every time we give we ought to give till

  679. we don't have nothing. I do not believe

  680. that because how you going to pay your

  681. mortgage now? I'm going to tithe no

  682. matter

  683. what. Don't hit me a note,

  684. doc. No, I'm going to do that no matter

  685. what. But no, I don't believe every time

  686. you go to a conference and they say,

  687. "Let me tell you something. You need to

  688. sacrifice. You need to." Now, I love a

  689. good conference, but I'm going to wait

  690. until Jesus tell me what he want me to

  691. give. Cuz every service is That's why at

  692. our church, we don't even bring the word

  693. up. I tell them, "God might ask you for

  694. more than one, but we going to receive

  695. one sacrificial, and that means this

  696. thing ought to

  697. hurt. You shear sheep every now and

  698. then. You can't shear a sheep every

  699. day." And unfortunately, and I know I

  700. have pastors that watch me, and so I

  701. love y'all. And so, you know, I'm not

  702. trying to throw no shade. I'm shining

  703. light. I'm just saying, stop making your

  704. folk give sacrificially all the time.

  705. They ain't going to never have

  706. nothing. There's a time for it. When God

  707. spoke to us that year to bring that

  708. million dollars before him, what we

  709. sacrificed, the kids took all that

  710. change. But the next year, he told us,

  711. "Hold it up." And we lifted it up before

  712. our sacrificial offering. And he had

  713. already told me about this about two

  714. months earlier. He said, "Have him bring

  715. that sacrifice. Don't s I want a

  716. sacrifice." And then said, tell him,

  717. "Give half.

  718. You were y'all here already? You were

  719. here. He said, "Tell them give

  720. half." So he said, "And then take the

  721. other half and put it in account." See,

  722. I'm just saying you can't shear sheep

  723. all the time. There's a time for it. And

  724. we got to get the right attitude. So

  725. watch this. I don't let the pressure

  726. that other people trying to put I don't

  727. I don't receive that pressure. Holy

  728. Spirit, what are you telling me to give?

  729. And whatever that is, then that's what

  730. I'm going to do. All right, y'all. I'mma

  731. get one more because it's Bible stud.

  732. It's one. I'm gonna give you one more.

  733. One more and then I'mma be done. Okay,

  734. one more on this. One more. Watch

  735. this. Ephesians 4 and then that's what

  736. we're going to do. Are y'all getting

  737. this? Ephesians 4 and then we'll do the

  738. last we'll do the last three next week.

  739. Ephesians

  740. 4. Oo boy, this is

  741. beautiful. I can really see this. This

  742. is wonderful. Ephesians 4, watch

  743. this. I'm going to read it in King James

  744. and the New Living. In King James, this

  745. is what it says. Ephesians

    Ephesians 4:28

  746. 4:28. Let him that stole steal no more.

  747. So, I'm a Christian. I'm adopting

  748. Jesus's beliefs and posture. So, it

  749. doesn't matter if I used to get all my

  750. uh stamps from work. I can't do that

  751. now. I'm

  752. saved. I can't I can't act like I got

  753. more kids than I got on my tax return.

  754. If I got $40,000 and it was untaxed, I

  755. got to quote tell them I had $40,000

  756. that was untaxed and pay my taxes cuz

  757. let him that stole steal no

  758. more. Okay. All righty. Well, but rather

  759. let him labor. You need to

  760. work working with his hands the things

  761. with the thing which is good. And this

  762. is why that he may have to give to him

  763. that needeth. So I am now being

  764. challenged to change the way I look. Now

  765. you can sit at home and get a check but

  766. you know you could be

  767. working. You need to get a

  768. job. EBB

  769. ashana. You need to get a job. Amen,

  770. pastor. I You know what? I But I can I

  771. can make more at home. You need to get a

  772. job. You need to work. It's good for

  773. you. It's you become something by

  774. working. You You are weakened. Now, if

  775. you cannot work, that's why this verse

  776. is in here. Look at Jesus. It says, "For

  777. us that are able to work, then we ought

  778. to work." And he said, "And I want you

  779. to do because you ought to take care of

  780. yourself." We already know if any man

  781. provide not for his own house, he's

  782. worse than an infidel. So to be talking

  783. about, oh G, ain't nobody like G. Thank

  784. you, Lord. Thank you. And then you don't

  785. want to work and your folk ain't even

  786. don't can't even, you know,

  787. buy. I knew of a person that was in

  788. gospel ministry and under the guise of

  789. walking by faith, they were, I'm going

  790. to be full-time. God told me to be

  791. full-time, but then your daughters don't

  792. have money for tampons, and you okay

  793. with that?

  794. No, I'mma doubt that I heard a voice

  795. when the Bible is written. I can read

  796. that. I can't misinterpret that. No, you

  797. need a job. So, the Bible says that I'm

  798. to work, right? Not just and work for to

  799. make sure I'm taken care of and mine,

  800. but in case God needs me to bless

  801. somebody that

  802. can't. Now, folks, that's a new mindset

  803. cuz you like h you tend to yourself.

  804. know the B for

  805. Christians. I can't steal. I got to work

  806. so I can tend to myself

  807. and be mindful in case Jesus want me to

  808. help somebody that cannot work. Do you

  809. know that there are people widows, there

  810. are widowers, there are older men that

  811. physically don't have it anymore. We

  812. they should not be eating dog food.

  813. They they should not have to struggle on

  814. those levels and then we around here.

  815. No, that that should not be. So, let's

  816. let's make the commitment to God to be

  817. covenant conscious financially. And that

  818. begins remember a covenant is a binding

  819. oath or agreement between at least two

  820. parties. Right. Right. That's cut by

  821. sacrifice, usually blood, but always

  822. something precious with responsibilities

  823. and rights, promises and privileges. So

  824. let's look at this. Let's begin to

  825. change our mindset. Adopt. And not even

  826. this ain't no slow

  827. process.

  828. Adopt what Jesus said. So then as we

  829. start progressing and showing you ways

  830. to get more resources, showing you how

  831. to pay these bills off and how to make

  832. sure you're in overflow, showing you

  833. what are investments that are

  834. beneficial, you got the right mindset.

  835. Because I if anything is pitiful is to

  836. see a fool. And understand what I mean

  837. by that, a fool with more to waste. We

  838. don't want to be that. We want to walk

  839. financially covenant conscious and have

  840. abundance so we can live good lives

  841. because we owe God a good life. Live

  842. good lives and make a difference with

  843. our stuff. Amen. All right. Well, we're

  844. going to pray today and uh I know y'all

  845. been texting me talking about you miss

  846. oh, you miss devotion and I miss it,

  847. too. I don't miss the early morning, but

  848. maybe if we be a good class during this

  849. financial series, we may pick up and

  850. have us a little something over the

  851. summer. But we'll see. Let's pray today.

  852. Father, in the name of Jesus, thank you

  853. for an opportunity to just read your

  854. word and discuss briefly some postures

  855. that we ought to have adopted because

  856. now we belong to you, Jesus. Help us to

  857. adopt these things and to begin to

  858. really restructure the way we approach

  859. life. So God, as you bless us with more

  860. and more because it's you that give us

  861. the power to get wealth. So as you bless

  862. us with that, we can see your covenant

  863. established in our lives and help to

  864. establish it in the lives of others. I

  865. pray that you would bless those that are

  866. on the overcoming health challenges

  867. list. I pray that you would bless those

  868. who are trying to overcome financial

  869. hardship. Father, let them know that you

  870. know how to bring increase into our

  871. lives and you are still Jehovah Gyra.

  872. You are still the God that provides. So,

  873. Father, we believe you and trust you.

  874. Help us to get down the belief system

  875. and the behavior so that you can bring

  876. the blessing in Jesus