Are You Having A Heart Attack Ducks In A Row (Part 2)

0:00 Well, today I want to welcome you to week two of a series that we're doing called Ducks in a Row. And if you're a visitor, we get excited around here because we don't have to do this. We get to do this. A lot of us were lost and broken and jacked up and messed up in darkness so deep that we didn't even know our left from our right. And the grace of God came in and he saw us and he was like, yeah, with all of that, I'll still use you. And he picked us up and he turned us around and and and we were not where we want to be, but we're not where we used to be. And and there there comes an excitement in our hearts when we get the opportunity to do what we never thought was possible. And so for all of us as a church, as we're in this month of generosity, I'm hoping this thing becomes contagious. I'm hoping this thing in you is not something we do for a month.

0:54 It's something that you're doing every day of your life. You're waking up every day and say, God, how can you use me today? And so as we move in this, I want you to get out your notes and I want you to be able to pull out your phones because we're going to take notes today as we start week two of this series that we are calling Ducks in a Row. And this whole series is about generosity and stewardship. And again, those aren't sexy words, but they're significant words. Those are words that god it gets his attention And more than the words get his attention the actions Of of generosity and stewardship get his attention and we're talking about finances We're talking about how we live our lives We're talking about giving and I don't want nobody to check out because this is the point where a lot of people get tight And they're like, oh my god, I knew I shouldn't have came here this sunday I need everybody to relax because we're going to approach this thing with information and inspiration from the word of God.

1:56 And then I'm gonna let you do whatever you need to do with the word that God places on your heart. OK, but the word tells us in Proverbs chapter 11, verse 24, one of my favorite scriptures. It says the world of the generous gets larger and larger, but the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller. A lot of people are trying to figure out why things that were once booming are now decreasing It's because the generosity factor went down You used to give so much you used to share your contacts when you didn't have many Like when you didn't really know nobody if you could help somebody you would now you done got up a little bit on top And somebody asks you for anything and you feel like sharing with them may be a threat to what you're doing And God says, no, no, no, no, no, you're doing it backwards because the world of the generous gets larger and larger. But the world of those who have to keep everything to themselves and keep all of it for them and make sure that just me and my four and no more have anything, it gets smaller and smaller.

3:03 And what you end up, you go from guarding a kingdom to something very, very small. And God says, that's not how I called any of my people to live. I want them to live a blessed life. Everybody say blessed life. Say it with your chest. Say blessed life. And I really do believe that that's what God calls all of us to do. So last week I just asked a simple question. Are your ducks in a row? That was the only question I asked because there's a priority, a uniformity. There is a an order to having ducks walk in a row. And we did this thing called the ducks in a row assessments last week or I called it the dire assessment. And this is what we came to the conclusion of. I want you to see this. If you have your ducks in a row, according to the parable in Matthew 25, you'll have faith for the future. You will acknowledge God with everything that you have and you'll use what you have right now.

4:00 Everybody say right now. Well, Pastor Mike, it's not a lot. Use it. Well, it's not as much as them. Use it. Well, i've had some bad really bad breaks and all I have is really not even worth telling anybody about God said one of the most extravagant gifts given in all of history was a woman who came with her very last And they called it two mites And and and jesus stopped all of his disciples when all the big ballers were coming in and dropping stacks and making it rain He wasn't impressed with none of that. All he said is hold on everybody stop. Do y'all see that woman right there? what she just did was more extravagant than everybody else he said she just gave out of what she didn't have so we're not talking about amounts we're talking about heart posture and and and see this is the problem many of us with my hand up first we've been in this category where we would dig holes like literally going debt for stuff we didn't need keeping up with Joneses and nobody knows who they are. Like y'all got what I'm saying? And if you're, if you're digging a hole, you have fear of failure. You assume that you know what God's going to do.

5:14 And then you use excuses for what you have right now. It's not enough. Well, I'm in college. I only have a minimum wage job. I've went through bankruptcy. God said, I don't care where you are. He said, I'm the God that will see you through every situation. But he's just looking for somebody to allow him to use what they have now. And so I'm not telling you where you are on this list. But my prayer is that at the end of this series, everybody that's over here will move to this side of the list and will start to live a blessed life. Everybody say a blessed life. One of the craziest things about the story we talked about last week. And if you have time, I want you to go back and watch that message. Like if you're watching this on rebroadcast, I want you to stop it and go back and watch last week's. And if you're in here, I want you to go back and study.

6:08 But in Matthew 25, verse 14 through 30, this whole story was about three different people who who the grace of God gave one of them five, one of them, two and one of them, one. And he didn't matter. It didn't matter about the amounts. He just wanted them to do something with what they had been given. So in this series, this whole thing about us being the blessed people that God wants us to be. I really started to look at this scripture because verse 29 really struck me. And I want to go there real quick as we end last week's service today. And I'm going to start a new message today, too. But I want you to see this real quick. Matthew 25, verse 29. It says, those who use well. Everybody say use well. Those who use well what they are given Even more will be given And I said man god what if we could have nobody have an excuse?

7:06 Like like we're doing this random acts of kindness thing where we're going out and we're blessing people and we're investing in people And I want y'all to know that investing in people the bible calls that true riches Like when you invest in others, that's true. It's just more than a stock and a bond and real estate When you invest in people, it's true riches. Everybody say true riches So I had this wild idea Like this crazy one that what if we gave everybody the opportunity that came to church today? The opportunity to live out this parable in real life Like what if we gave everybody in the audience money? and then told them to go out and invest it. Like, really, I want to give everybody in the audience $5 right now. Ushers, will you start passing it out to everybody in the audience right now? I want everybody, no, everybody that comes to church today at Transformation Church, in every service, you're getting $5 from Transformation Church.

8:08 Okay? Now, oh, yeah, excitement, okay? Now, this is funny. There's mixed emotions right here. Because some people in this moment, it's exposing where you are. Because for some of you, $5. Five dollars. What's five dollars? It's five dollars you didn't have that. That's the first thing about it. And the second thing I want you to know is this is five dollars that has an assignment. This is five dollars that I want you to be led by the spirit of God this week, not to eat it.

8:45 Oh, but you know, that's what we do. The thing that God told us to sow many times we eat it. And many people don't have when God tells them to because they eat their seed. I don't want you to eat this. I want you to be led by the spirit of God to walk up to somebody, to do it anonymously, to leave it as a tip for your waitress, to go up to that person you know who's struggling, that person in front of you that says, I want 10 and they drive in a Ford F-150. They only want $10 in gas. You a lie. That's all the money you have. I want you to put an extra five on it. What I'm asking everybody is that at Transformation Church, we're going to represent. Nobody's going to have an excuse not to participate and get this engine of generosity going. Can I get one big amen in the place? Amen.

9:37 Hey, this is the type of church you're a part of. We don't want to just hear the word. We want to do the word. Amen. Amen. And so every service, take your $5 and do right. Because I'm not going to come check on you. But do y'all remember what the scripture said? Those who use well, what they are given, even more will be given. And I ain't giving you more. let's be honest because many times the vehicle that god blesses us through one time that's the only way we expect him to bless us but what you got to realize is when you're obedient in this lane god's working something over here and when you're obedient in this lane god's touching something over there and so when you're obedient it says they will be given even more and they will have an abundance or they will live a blessed life.

10:36 But for those who do nothing, because somebody is going to let this go and they're going to let it fall under the seat of their car and somebody else is going to be like, ah, I don't want to spend my own money and they're just going to spend this and ain't nobody going to come get you. Except this Bible. but from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. We could go home right here. That like that, that'll preach. And so we as a church are going to live a blessed life. Everybody say blessed life and transformation nation. We haven't forgotten about you. Check Instagram on Tuesday. We haven't figured out a technology to be able to send everybody who watching $5 yet because we don't know, but we got something coming for you. So I want you to stay online because this is not about just this church. You're an extension of what God is doing all over the world. And we want you to be a part of this too. Okay. All right. Now this is the part where most people, when you do a finance series and generosity and stewardship, People check out, but I want you to check in because this thing about living a blessed life is more than having a blessed wallet What we really think I'm saying is we want blessed wallets and blessed bank accounts. No We want a blessed life There things money can't buy Yeah, y'all know what I'm talking about There are things that it doesn't matter how many zeros you have in your bank account If your heart is banked rough, it doesn't matter how much you have in your bank account That's how people with 50 million dollars can kill themselves Do y'all hear what I'm saying?

12:24 So we want to live the life that God has encouraged us to live And that's why I get frustrated with a lot of the teaching in church around finances because what they're really teaching is give and you'll get. Give and you'll get. And at Transformation Church, we teach give to give. Not expecting anything back because when you give to give, you get the heart of God. Let's think about it. For God so loved the world that he gave on a maybe.

12:56 There was no guarantee you were going to accept him. There was no guarantee that you were going to give your life to him. Many people, but he gave his only son with no guarantee. He said, when you start lending to people and you bless people and you give to people with no guarantee of it coming back, when you honor me with your tithe, when you give in the house of God, he said, and you're not looking for people to do what you say. When you get, you get my heart. This is why I need you to know if you get this concept, this is the thing that can change your life. It'll change your marriage. It'll change your family. It'll change your health. It'll change all of your relationships. And so I want us as a church to live a say it one more time with me. Bless life. OK, go to Matthew chapter seven, verse one. I feel this thing already. And I want to read this scripture to you. It says, judge not that you be not judged for with the judgment you judge, you will be judged.

13:55 And with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Let me ask you a simple question. Was the word money mentioned anywhere in that scripture? Okay, I just I just want us to be very clear. So I want you to say this statement with me. Say judge not and you will not be judged.

14:15 And with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Turn to Luke 6 37 and I want us to say that one more time. Everybody say judge not and you will not be judged. Come on say it like you drink coffee this morning and with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. Look at the first sentence and the last sentence of Luke 37 and 38. It says, judge not and you will not be judged. No, you don't got to say it. You don't got to say it. Just calm down. Judge not and you will not be judged. Condemn not and you shall not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you. good measure press down shaken together and running over will it be put into your bosom for with the same measure you use it will be measured back to you now this may shock you but the word money was never mentioned in that scripture either and and it's funny that every time we hear Luke 36 or Luke 38, it's that offering time. It's like give. And it'll be given back to you. Good measure. Press down.

15:39 shaking together shaking and running over well men put it in your lap like okay heard it all my life matter of fact i've done it okay but the word money is never used in these scriptures which lets me know that god's trying to teach us a principle. See, see this whole scripture is talking about judging. It's talking about condemning people. It's talking about forgiveness. And God's saying that if you, if you give it a certain way, it's going to come back to you a certain way. I heard a pastor tell a story one time and he was interviewed and, um, the, the reporter asked him, he said, um, how much do you talk about giving? And he said, every week. And the reporter said, what? You talk about giving every week? He said, yes. He said, I think what you meant to ask me is how much do I talk about giving money? See, because every time you even hear the word giving, you think money.

16:49 And what happens is the enemy has now perverted a term that is really the backbone of the entire Bible so that when he tells you to give all you think about is how much you don't have and how you were taken advantage of and God said I wasn't even talking about money but your heart was shut down to the concept of giving and this reporter said oh you talk about giving every Sunday and he was like you got to realize that you can't talk about grace without giving because for God so loved the world that he gave you can't talk about having a healthy marriage without giving because a marriage will not work without two people who are willing to sacrifice and give and so giving is the theme of the bible and what the enemy wants you to do is anytime the word give or generosity comes up he wants you to shut your heart and your mind down because then you get locked out of a key of the kingdom of God.

17:51 And today I want to bring this thing back alive in you and make it so prevalent so that you can walk in everything God has called you to walk in and you can live a blessed life. Can I get one big amen? So write down my first point right now. Giving is all about the heart. Honestly, giving is all about the heart. Let me prove it to you. Matthew 6 verse 21. It says for where your treasure is. Not where you promised it'll be, not where you would like it to be, where your treasure, everybody say it, is. There your heart will be also. Your treasure is a tracking device to your heart.

18:37 Wherever you put your money, your heart will be there. And I know a lot of people they're like no no no no no I love God I really everything about show me your bank account because the bible doesn't say where you where you hope where you one day would would project that it says where your treasure is your your heart follows your treasure and i didn't say it don't be mad at me this is jesus if you search your bible this is in red okay i just want everybody This wasn't an apostle or a minor prophet or major prophet. This was Jesus who said this. Wherever you put your treasure, your heart follows it. And I can prove it to you. If you take your money right now and you put it in a stock, you will check that stock every day. You didn't care nothing about the stock before.

19:32 You didn't care if the business failed or if it went. But the reason you care now, because your treasure is there. Some of y'all check your bank accounts more than you check on your kids. You hear what I'm saying? Like at lunch, you be checking your bank account. It doesn't change. You only get paid twice a month. But just in case. Come on, let's be honest. Before you make every purchase, you're like, hold on, let me get on my app.

19:59 But the only reason you do that is because that's where your treasure is. Some people right now, if you buy the shoes that you like and you know the shoes that you like, if somebody steps on them. You ready to fight Why? It's because your treasure is there Men, if you do and restore an old car And you put your treasure in that car Nobody can drive the car It's a car Nobody drives it And it gets more baths than you do Do you hear what I'm saying? Like Why? It's because your treasure is there You want your heart in the kingdom of God You got to put your treasure In the kingdom of God I'm not even talking about this church Like there are people watching from all over the world And if you belong to another church I'm not soliciting you to come here I'm just talking about wherever God has called you to Don't say That God has your heart And he don't have your treasure Because it doesn't I know it's tight I know, I know but it's right and and i'm telling you this because i love you and i want you to live a blessed life i was in delusion from this truth forever i thought i could serve and play drums and help creatively and all this other stuff and god was like he know he know my heart and he said that's exactly why i keep you at the place you're at because the only person I can trust to this next level of elevation is somebody that I know they have their heart and that's why I tell people all the time that God's not concerned about your habits first he said if God gets your heart he can help change your habits the church has done it backwards for years it's like change your habits stop smoking stop drinking stop sexing Stop this and stop that and stop.

22:01 Like they do all of these stops. Okay. But it only lasts for a moment because the heart wasn't transformed. So when God gets your heart, he can change your habit. Can somebody thank God that he's a God that won't ask you to do something that he won't help you with? Thank you, Lord. Okay. But let me take it a step further. Okay. If God gets your heart, he can change your habit. But if God can get your wallet, he has your heart. So a lot of people don't know if God has their heart I had somebody come up to me last year when we preached a series like how do you know that God has your heart?

22:49 How do you know? And I said, do you return tithe every time you get paid? Well, Pastor Mike, there's some situations going on in my life right now. Their whole voice changed. And I said, you're not a bad person if you don't return tithe. Maybe you weren't taught. Maybe you came on hard times. Maybe this is just a redirection to the way God has called us to do. Some people don't give money, but some people lie. So we're not judging or putting anybody on a higher standard. But I said, when you when you know better, you do better. And I said, I said, the way, you know, the way that I know God has my heart is on the first and the 15th before I do anything.

23:33 And it hurts every time. Like, don't let nobody tell you that it ever gets easy. I stopped looking at it. I don't even see it. Just take it. But the crazy thing about Uncle Sam, don't ask you. He don't ever ask you, do you want to give this? He take it. Like, I know they ain't going to honor me, so. But the crazy thing about God is it can't be love if it's not a choice. Oh, I'm teaching good up here right now. And so God will never take your finances. Never. You have to willingly give. And so all I'm asking you today is how's your heart?

24:28 Like if generosity and stewardship and giving is all about the heart, how's yours? because I got to ask myself that question every day. Mike, how's your heart? Because I don't want to loan to my family member who just called me.

24:49 I actually don't feel like paying for this, that. Matter of fact, what I wish I could do, and we go through all these things. I'm not saying what it is for you, but I'm saying what it is for me, And all I can do is be transparent right here. But every day I have to get up and ask myself, Michael, where is your heart? And I cannot use the world, social media or anything as my gauge to where my heart should be. I have to go back to the word of God. And that's why every time Matthew 6 to anyone comes up and it jacks me up and it says for where your treasure is. Where's your heart? So then I stop asking myself, how's my heart? I just start looking. Where's my treasure? And when you just start looking to where in the last 30 days you put your treasure you'll find your heart You'll find it some of us our heart is right here Oh, you think I'm playing?

25:51 We eat. Okay, let me get off of that because these people over here saw somebody throw a middle finger up over there. They mad. So if it's if it's all about the heart That means we need god to do heart surgery on us All of us And and so if if we're gonna do that then I want I want us to To to open our minds right now and let's turn this whole room and wherever you're watching into a doctor's office And today I want to be um a specialist for you I want to help you. I've studied for one week on how to do this and we need to perform heart surgery because today I think many people in the body of Christ when it comes to generosity are having a heart attack.

26:50 we're in a place where our heart has gotten to a place where where it's no longer able to flow like like the things that God wants us to do they're no longer flowing because maybe something got in and clogged up an artery of our generosity and and I just I just need everybody to know that this is the season where God wants to release us as a church. And I just need to know, maybe, maybe you're one of those that were like me, that had things clogging my generosity. And today, I just need you to ask your neighbor real quick, are you having a heart attack? Just ask him, are you having? Yeah, are you having a heart attack? Yeah So today my name is dr. Michael and I am your cardiologist And um, I just want to do a test on you today To see if you're having a heart attack now, let me explain to you as my patient One of the common practices that I do is I explain to people what the heart looks like as well as how a heart attack happens So if you could please go to my big board This right here is a heart attack and heart attack is one out of four people will have a heart attack this year.

28:14 And what ends up happening is there's veins or passageways that things are supposed to flow through. Like it's supposed to flow through. And what happens is when there's facts and plaque or wrong thinking and wrong thoughts that start to build up, what happens is it comes and it clogs the area that you are supposed to let things flow through. And what ends up happening, it allows an area of the heart to die. And when the area of the heart dies, then all of the heart functions stop. And people have a heart attack. And I don't take this thing lightly because I have people close to me that have had heart attacks. The bishop of this church had a heart attack. Some of my friends watch family members go on to be with the Lord because of that. this is a serious thing and maybe it's a serious thing in the body of christ when we're supposed to have a heart of generosity but we get things and ideas that the world puts in our head that begin to funnel and corrode what god wants us to do and when it looks up and god says hey could you give to them there's a blockage and what you realize is there's not a lot of arteries if you have blockage in your heart and you stop that thing this is the crazy thing about the heart the heart is not the biggest muscle in the body but it's the most important because when the heart stops pumping the hands stop working the eyes stop work when the heart stop could it be that when our generosity stops pumping that our grace for people that our ability to have self-control if it could it be that our generosity is the linchpin to everything else in the kingdom of God and many people are sitting here right now having a heart attack just ask your neighbor one more time are you having a heart attack come on just ask him are

30:20 you having a heart attack see there has to be a flow of blood and oxygen the same way in the kingdom of God, there has to be a flow of giving and stewardship. And if you cut those things off, it shuts down the very thing that everything is supposed to pass through. Do you know you have miles and miles and miles of blood that is on the inside of you and all of it passes through the heart? Oh God. It's where there's a scripture that says that guard your heart above because out of your flows every issue every issue every issue in your life and too many people are having a heart attack so today let me just help you again I'm your doctor Dr. Michael and I just want To let you know if you you're having problems in this area. There's some things that god want us to diagnose And he wants us to treat today. So could you go with me to deuteronomy chapter 15?

31:37 Deuteronomy chapter 15 And I just want to treat your heart today. Okay, it says if there is among you a poor man or your brethren with any within your gates in your land anywhere around you that the lord god is giving you who gave you the land the lord god yeah you shall not harden your heart remember it's all about the heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother this is another message but your heart and your hand are connected when you have a hard heart your hands close when you have a soft heart, your hands open. Let's just stop right there. It says verse eight, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. This is crazy because the children of Israel are walking through this season where God is basically saying, hey, don't get fooled and know that you're in a brand new season where you came out of slavery and you're not where you're gonna be but I don't want you to get stingy in your process because everybody says when I get it when I'm balling When I have more than enough and god says you're stopping you're more than enough because of how you're handling just enough So he's telling the children of israel like like don't if your brother comes to you And and he said yo, I have bad crops this year, bro Could you help me be able to get out of this situation?

33:17 Don't say to yourself. Hold on Hold on one two three four five six seven Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no This is the year we almost at the year of release because back in this day And it's funny because the word here at transformation church is this is the year of Okay, so back in this day every seven years god had instituted an economic system that after every seven years all debt Would be um taken off of everybody's account just real quick. How many would like god to reinstate? It's that economic system. Amen. Okay, but so he's saying, if your brother comes to you and asks you when there's only a little bit of time left before it's the year of release, can I borrow? Don't say to yourself, nah, bro, because I know you, Rufus. And you ain't going to pay me back before the year of release. And if it comes here, I'm going to have to give you, nah, I ain't doing it.

34:12 God said, don't do that. He said, because that's selfish. And he said, I don't want you to be worried. About giving it because i'm the one that will give you seed to sow This was more of a test for you than it was even an answered prayer for them Because I want you to get the spirit of generosity So the first thing I got to diagnose number one thing we have to do is deal with the selfish heart We got to deal with the selfish heart look at verse 9. It says beware Lest there be a wicked thought in your heart I want you to see where everything's taking place. It's taking a place in your heart saying that the seventh year the year of release is at hand And and your eye be evil against your poor brother. He he broke and he ain't gonna pay me back at all And you give him nothing and he cry out to the lord against you and it becomes sin Among you notice that selfishness is wickedness in god's eyes and become sin It's the bible So what i'm saying to you is don't be selfish Let me ask you this question. Why did god invent giving?

35:21 Why did he create it? Because he had to create it And i've asked people this question before and a lot of people like he invented Um giving so that his work could could be funded and like his work could be done And my response to that is really Is the light bill in heaven too much now? Did the streets of gold run? Did they run out of gold for the street? God did not invent giving for his sake.

35:52 God invented giving for ours. Everybody say for my sake. Because through this principle, it is the number one thing that works selfishness and greed out of your heart. And I need you to understand this. It's only when you're about to give that selfishness really rears it head. You know, you you're like, oh, no, no, no, I'll give I'll give. And then somebody asks you for something that you don't want to give. And it'll hold on. No, no, no, not that. Why? Because it's only challenged when you have to give something. And this is what I'm asking everybody in this room. It's to be ones that don't hold back from God, but be ones that say, God, whatever I have is yours. And I will give to you everything that I have everybody needs to know the first thing that we got to deal with is a selfish heart now Um ladies I need to tell you there's one area of selfishness that men I don't think are gonna grow out of they don't want to share their food Let me be very clear. That's why when we went to the drive-thru we asked you Do you want anything?

37:02 I should be I should hear the men giving a roar more. Do you want anything? And what are the women saying? No, I'll just have some of yours. No, you won't. No, you won't. I want my fries and the fries at the bottom of the bag is mine too. Can I get one big amen? I'll buy you three, but you ain't getting none of these. Maybe the men need to deal with a selfish heart. Lord help us. Okay. Second diagnosis. Here we go. we got to deal with a grieving heart if we're not going to have a heart attack if these things are going to to to block the flow of generosity we can't have a selfish heart blocking us but then we can't have a grieving heart look at it in verse 10 it says you shall surely give everybody say give you shall surely give to him and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him because Because when you do this thing, and that's giving with the right heart, the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand.

38:15 This is the thing you got to realize. I've passed so many homeless people that I had a thought like I ain't going to give them no money because they're making more money than I'm making just sitting out here and not doing nothing. God said, don't do that. He said, because you're messing up your blessing. Obedience is not about what they do with it It's about what you did with what I gave you And and and god said you're blocking up your next level because you're worried about oh They're just gonna buy some alcohol with it. Are they just gonna do something with this god said I ask you to be a conduit to work the muscle of generosity And that's why we can't grieve After we give it's one of the craziest things that many times when I've given a large C or when I've done something that was outside of my comfort zone, automatically something breaks. On the way home, run out of gas. Or somebody needs something or the children need something and the enemy automatically comes to see. Shouldn't have done that. Where's your God now? What's happening? This is the trick and you need to learn this.

39:24 This is so you don't have a heart attack. That selfishness tries to attack us before we give. But grief tries to attack us after we give. You were so confident in what you were going to do until after you let it go. It's like, oh. And automatically, like, oh, man, I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't. And God's saying no. He said, when you did that, you just qualified for another level of my favor. He said when you walk into a place after you give with the right heart, not for everybody to see, not so you can get applause, but so I can see. He said what you do is you make everything you do have a Midas touch. You ever heard of a Midas touch that anything they touch turn to gold? He said what you do is you make everything that it says all your works, everything your hand touches will be blessed. And what I'm encouraging you right now is if your heart if that pathway is being blocked up because you've been selfish Maybe it's learned behavior. Maybe it's what you were taught Or if your heart's been blocked up because you've been grieving Today the healer's here So that you can get a new everybody say flow No longer you're gonna be a damn Where everything stops with you You're going to become a river. God says, if I can get it to you, I can get it through you.

40:52 You know, I mean, right now it's crazy. I shouldn't even say this, but I just had this thought and I got to be real. Like after church, I'm going to eat after church. And I just thought about it. Like, I don't have no money right now to be able to feed my family. And Brother Scott, what's that? Brother Scott just gave me $100 Thank you, Brother Scott Now, why was Scott so excited To get up and give me this $100 Because I gave it to him before church So Scott's not grieving this hundred dollars because the only way he would start grieving is if somehow he thought it was his. the problem with most of us is you think you go to work and you're working for your money you think you made that investment and it was your money but all i have is god psalm 24 says it like this the earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof when you understand that everything i've got i'm just managing anyway Thank you.

42:04 It doesn't matter if I got to give it away because the source has an endless supply. And so brother Scott here you can come get this back real quick and so because He he was faithful to be obedient It's very simple for me to trust him with more Hey Scott Matter of fact, I know I just gave it to you But uh, what's your name bro? Lucas come here, bro So Scott give it to Lucas now now thanks god bless you lucas god bless you sit down hey scott because you were faithful with the little i can always trust you with this is the concept you have to get god is not trying to keep anything from you He's trying to get more to you, but you got to be faithful of what he's already given to you.

43:13 Somebody give God some praise in this place. Glory to God. I'm not looking for Lucas. He don't know whether to put it in his pocket or not. He like, you going to use me? God will. So you walked in here more blessed than you're about to. You're leaving more blessed than you walked in. And so when God asks you for something, it should be very simple. You didn't deserve the job you got. You don't even qualify to be here Your life should have been gone Oh crap, you did in college You should be a wreck But the grace of God So the first thing we got to do is we got to deal with the selfish heart and then we got to deal with the grieving heart. And then number three, we got to develop a generous heart.

44:10 Okay. Look at verse 14. It says you shall supply him. This is Rufus who probably ain't going to play us back. God, you want me to do what? Supply him liberally. Be generous to him. From what? From the church? No, from your flock. from your threshing floor, from your wine press, from your bank account, from your clothes.

44:37 That's what it says. From what the Lord your God has blessed you with, you shall give to him. Y'all know we're born selfish, right? Like our sin nature, we're born selfish. But the great thing is we're born again generous But we have to renew our minds And the crazy thing about it is you don't never have to teach a child Mind Like you don't have to teach a child mind matter of fact, I have a real life example I don't know if this speaks of my parenting failures or Anything but this week as I was preparing for this message I a lot of times just do home videos of my kids and stuff and just look what my little baby one and a half year old Ava Can't say but seven words Look what she said Hey Share Ava, are you saying that?

45:40 No, you share. It's good to share. Do you understand me, Ava? Yeah. Are you going to share? Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Are you going to share? Ava, say share. I have failed. But isn't that what God's trying to get us to do as his children? And isn't that our reaction? I said, Ava, are you going to share? She said, uh-uh. Can't even say but seven words. And then when I asked her again, she laughed.

46:28 The truth is, many of us look like that, but we're 50. I mean, you're not doing that in a bathtub with a rubber ducky, but like. But when God asks you, you say mine. And God says share and you say uh-uh. And he says, are you really not going to share? And you say, ah. And at some point if Ava keeps walking in that behavior I'm gonna say when will you grow up?

47:06 Like that would be like after a certain amount of time there's grace for it right now But at some point after i've given her everything that she had the bath water she was in I supplied that the rubber ducky she was saying was mine. She ain't got no money Like do you After she's it's not generous with what i've already given her at some point I'm going to say when are you going to grow up and be more like your father who'll give with no guarantee today I just think God's checking all of our hearts is that maybe you need to give and grow up and not trying to fight well where in the time is it the old testament or is it the new testament When people start talking like this, I already know they have a selfish heart It's done. No, it's okay. You're keeping yourself from the next level of blessing But when are we gonna grow up and be more like our father who loved us so much That he what? Gave The last thing i'm gonna tell you last thing last thing last thing Okay, number four thing we have to do is we have to develop a grateful heart yeah we got to be grateful look what deuteronomy 15 15 says it says you shall remember the that you were a slave he told these people he's like y'all you can't be selfish because you just a few years ago you were a slave in the land of egypt and the lord your god redeemed you therefore i command you this day be generous god is saying i command you to be generous well what authority do you have to command us to be generous is that everything you have came from me and sometimes you just need to remind yourself where you were and where god's brought you from and that'll that'll stir up some Generosity in your heart.

49:10 Think about yourself at your lowest moment. And how if somebody would have came and gave to you in that moment. What that would have meant for you. Today I had a reminder. This is one of my lowest moments right here. This is my release form. You know what it is, don't you? This is my release form of my record being expunged after I had gotten caught when I was a younger adult for car insurance fraud. Got in a car accident, didn't have insurance, went home, called Geico, you know the number. lied and said I had insurance on the day of the accident, not at the time of the accident. I told you I was manipulating, conniving.

50:04 Five years afterwards, a young adult pastor. Hundreds of kids following me. Mr. Todd, you gotta turn yourself in. the devil is a liar. I rebuke. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You can't rebuke the consequences.

50:31 I don't have to carry the guilt and the shame of it, but the consequence was still real. And so I was facing real jail time. This was a, a, this wasn't a misdemeanor. My dad took me. First, I went and got my hair cut because I knew if I was going to take a picture, my edge was going to be right. First, I went and got my hair cut. And then my dad, with a lawyer, took me down right up the street, less than two miles away from here. And I had to turn myself in. And then I got out of that situation and I had to do community service for like 90 days or something. And I'm a pastor. My desk is back here. And I was like, I can't come to work today because I got to go pick up trash. and as I was sitting in my house this week with my three kids as a free man God said do you remember where I brought you from do you remember that all this that you obsessing about and and do I want the large version of the extra large version of the extra extra large you could be choosing whether you wanted to play checkers of chests today.

51:51 see it's very simple to give when you realize what he's already given for you and you may not have a story like this but I'm telling you we were all lost all broken all dead but Jesus Christ gave it all for us so today I don't know if you're in the middle of a heart attack right now And the generosity is not able to flow because you're being selfish and you're grieving But today I believe god wants to develop in you a generous heart and a grateful heart And when we understand that then we're able to flow God will give us resource beyond our imagination because he knows if he gets it to us he can get it through us When it stops flowing it dies And so today I want to pray that even over this next three weeks as we continue to go some of y'all this was just the beginning of surgery we're gonna have to work out this thing but i believe it that everybody under the sound of my voice will live a blessed life and that the things that have tried to stop your generosity are gonna be uncapped and you're going to let it flow everybody say it's gonna flow if you know there's an area of your life that you need it to flow better in the area of generosity and stewardship at every service.

53:16 If you're watching this, I want you to stand to your feet all over this place. This is not about anybody else. This is for you and God. I want to pray over you right now because I feel the power of God in this place right now. Come on, lift your hands all over this place. Father, I thank you for every person who's saying, God, it's me. Father, there's been an area of my heart, whether it be grieving, Father God, or whether it be being selfish, God, that has been stopping up my heart of generosity. And today we're asking you to be the healer. Let it flow again in the name of Jesus. Father, even as we take these random acts of kindness cards and as we take this five dollars that you have given us, I thank you that this would just be the start of something being able to flow. I come against generational curses of poverty, generational curses of greed, generational habits, Father, of selfishness. And I thank you today that we choose to live a blessed life, that we will no longer sit dormant, But we will press forward in everything you have for us.

54:16 We trust you. That when people see us, they'll see you. Who love so much. The first reaction is not what will you do for me. But the first reaction was that we gave. Give us your heart. In Jesus name. Hey listen, if you're in this room, I feel the presence of God in this room. if you're in this room and you've never given your heart to the one who gave his his son first today you get the chance to make the greatest decision of your life he didn't just give you money and give you life he gave you salvation redemption forgiveness grace and today the only thing you have to do is receive it i know you probably did some things this week that you're not proud of and you wouldn't get up here and say but god was there and he said and i still loved you through it and I still care about you well I need to change my habits I need to get some stuff right God says no no no no if I get your heart I'll help you change your habits so today if that's you I don't care if you've been in church all your life or this is your first day today is the day of salvation and today we want to pray for you would you everybody just close your eyes and bow your head not as a religious moment just I want you to focus and if God is far away from you and you want him to be close to you i want you to pray this prayer and mean it with everything you got and at transformation church we're a family so nobody prays alone so we're all going to pray this prayer for the benefit of those today who are coming to christ everybody say god thank you for giving your son today i need a savior and i choose you I believe you lived and you died and you rose again just for me.

56:09 So change me. Renew me. Transform me.