Heart Check __ Secure the Bag (Part 2) (Michael Todd) - Transformation Church

0:58 We want to steward the bag. And I know there's a lot of people, because that's a cultural term, that really want to, really are having a hard time with this whole thing. Like, okay, so Pastor Mike, what am I supposed to do? You know what I'm saying? Because I'm out here hustling. I'm out here grinding. I'm trying to secure the bag. But you just told me, don't secure the bag. Just steward the bag. Am I supposed to be broke and serve the Lord? Am I supposed to? And I said, hold on, let me help everybody understand this just a little better. See, this is my bag. And all God is asking everybody to do is to surrender your bag to the one who gave you the bag in the first place. Now, I want to help you because I didn't buy this bag. I didn't print on this bag. You didn't wake yourself up this morning. You didn't give yourself all the abilities. You may have worked on them and stewarded over them, but they were given to you.

1:55 And so the thing that I believe God wants us to do is open up our bag in this series and say, Father, whatever is in my bag, you can have it. And I know some of y'all are frustrated right there because nobody see inside your bag. Everything in your life is secure. That's why even when we mentioned today we're starting B groups and belong groups and it's a room full of people I don't know and we're sharing our life together you're like uh-uh no

2:26 I'm not telling anybody, giving anybody, showing anybody what's in my bag Because when you're insecure about something, you secure There are many people that are 20 years old, 25 years old, 35 years old, 45 years old And you have had such a tight grip on your life

2:47 Everywhere you go, everybody you meet You barely can give anybody a hug because you holding everything Hey, how you doing? God bless you. Hi What up, bro? What up? What up? What up? What up? The only reason is because you're trying to protect something that you think that God won't And I decided that in this series where we're talking about stewardship and finances that maybe the best thing I could do is encourage you at the second week of this series to open up your bag. See, in my bag, the things that I like to secure, I'm not going to talk about you, I'm going to talk about me. The things that I like to secure is my family.

3:35 So cool on all of y'all. But the thing that I can't fully trust God with. It's my family. I got to provide for my family. And I got to be the one to make sure that all my kids do what they supposed to do and grow up and be model citizens. And then when I get old, not put me in a nursing home.

3:59 And many of us, we want to secure the family. And then we want to come, and we don't want to give God our time. Uh-oh. So you're talking about tithing, Pastor Mike. You're talking about giving. Like, we don't even need to get to the money part of it, because the Bible says that we're supposed to tithe or give a tenth portion of everything that God gives us. Well, I started to really get wrecked this week as God told me that he gives me 24 hours in every day. And when I start complaining about not having enough time to pray and read the word, he says two hours and 40 minutes don't even belong to you. They're mine. Uh-oh.

4:44 How much would it cost you to return two hours and 40 minutes back in the presence of God every day in prayer? We can watch a horrible Netflix docu-series. I'm in your house today.

5:05 And it doesn't do anything but depress us and take away from us. But we want to secure our, everybody say time. For me, this represents my talent. And I've played drums since I was two years old. And many of us, when it comes to our talent, we don't have the same talent. but we try to secure and not give away what God's given us. And I remember there's things that God said, hey, you're supposed to go play for them. And I said, they only pay in $25.

5:38 He said, I didn't ask you how much they were paying. I told you where you needed to sow your talent. And many of us have such a guardrail around what we are securing that when God's telling us to sow, we're asking how much do we get paid for it? Uh-huh. Well, don't nobody need, I mean, I know there's somewhere in the scripture that a workman is worthy of his hire. Yeah, that's in there.

6:05 But when the God who manages everything tells you to sow something somewhere, you got to trust them. But we don't trust God like that. So we guard and secure our time and our talent. And y'all know, I know everybody in here doing this. We securing these, these Benjis.

6:26 hello because the only time you answer the phone is when they're talking about money the only thing that gets your time your talent he said facts and the the fact is that's true but the truth is that God's not even concerned about this he's concerned about the thing that allows you to give this which is your

6:54 Y'all not ready. I can't show you what else is in the bag today because y'all came to be a little fake. So let me just go ahead and get back to my notes. Uh-huh. See, because we're not supposed to secure it. We're supposed to steward it. We're not the manager. We're not the owner. Everything that we have, and there's people right now frustrated and ready to leave because you'll be like, how you gonna tell me I work 45 hours this week. That's my money.

7:23 but but did you supply the breath that you needed I'm just asking questions the card that your credit sure denied you for and that God somehow let me it was a miracle five months ago now you're entitled now

7:44 Y'all know that's how it happens. It's that God does something and it's a miracle in a moment. And now that we got it and this is how it is, and God said, hold on. I gave you that so you could steward over it. Everybody say, steward the bag. But there's some people in here that still think they want to secure it because they're the owner. Look what it says. When we don't steward what we have already been given, we think we can control what only God can give. Let me explain it to you. So now we have people trying to control their joy. And the crazy thing about 2020 is that people think they can buy joy. But if you look at the Word of God, joy is a fruit of the...

8:33 It's not a fruit of success. Oh, I'm dropping bombs up here already! Joy is not a fruit of success. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. And that's why so many of y'all got two first-class tickets to everywhere you want to go, and you still have no joy. Intoxicase, cause Italy, Rome, still no joy. See, because when you don't steward over the things that God's already put in your hand, you get entitled and you think that you can steward over things that you could never do. Because joy only comes from the Spirit. Something else.

9:25 A lot of us go to stuff like this for peace. I'm about to preach. Been a hard day at work kids, acting up. I just need a little something to take the edge off.

9:48 and what we do is we go to things and for you you're like I don't even do that it might be pills for you it might be weed for you it might be anything but anything other than God that you think you can get peace from is a counterfeit It won't come in the car. It won't come in the relationship. It's a counterfeit.

10:14 But some of y'all got a cabinet right now at your house. that you're securing whatever brings you peace because you don't trust God for peace but I think his name is the Prince of

10:38 Some of us don't have patience. And so what you try to do is be so efficient. This is a stopwatch. And you give people three weeks to change. You didn't change her out of my life.

11:00 I'm gonna give, I'm gonna give them, I'll give them two months to recognize my leadership ability or I'm out of this church. And I think patience is another fruit of the... I'm just in somebody's house right now.

11:25 Valentine's Day. How many people had a good Valentine's Day? Come on. All right, we're a hot church, humble, open, and transparent. How many people had an all right Valentine's Day? Okay, he's like me. I don't even know. All right, let's be for real. Valentine's Day was whack, okay? She said, me, Pastor, me. You know, the crazy thing is when you don't steward over the season you're given, a season of singleness, a season of marriage, a season of discovery, you search for love in all the wrong places, and this is a little black book.

12:02 and I know some of y'all on Valentine's Day was Is Jerome doing anything today? All I'm saying is when you don't trust God to secure you, you go to all the wrong things. And that's why for me, like everything from possessions, some really expensive shoes. But if God tells me that I have to give them away, whose are they?

12:39 No, I need y'all to really be for real. because like all of this stuff, the money, my talents, the time, me trying to find joy, peace, secure my family, all this other stuff. Who owns the whole table? And the problem is some of you are still wondering.

13:01 Some people in this room are being like, well, okay, I see how the time can be God's. but I found a scripture that really convicted me and I want to share it with you it's proverbs chapter I mean psalms chapter 4 verse 5 it says offer sacrifices in the right spirit it. Like all of this, God doesn't even want it if I'm mad about giving it.

13:39 Go ahead, God. Take my relationships. Go ahead. You want my shoes? You want my passion? Here's my time. He said, no, no, baby, you can keep that. Uh-uh. He'll give it back to you. Here you go. You want your little job and your little house and you want all them bad relationships that's going to keep you in cycles for the next 30 years? Go ahead. Because a good parent knows that at some point you got to let your kids have what they want so they can find out it's not what they needed.

14:11 And some of y'all, y'all don't hear me. Some of y'all are living in the fruit of having the wrong attitude when God's asking you to give something. Say, you want the job? Have it. You want that relationship that I've been trying to remove for you for years? Keep it. Uh-huh. Somebody texting somebody like, I'm so sorry, we cannot see each other anymore.

14:36 Not gonna make it tonight. But look what it says. It says, offer sacrifices in the what? Right spirit. And then it gives you the key to all of it. And trust the Lord. Like trust Him with everything you're trying to secure. Like everything you're working for, everything you're trying to make happen for yourself, it says trust Him. Everybody say, trust God. That's the key to this whole thing. He said, trust the Lord.

15:09 The wrongs we must right. The fights we must win. The future we must secure together for our nation. This is what's in front of us. This determines what's next for all of us. We are Marines. We were made for this. And it says, watch this, culture starts talking. Many people will say, who will show us a better time than this?

15:36 but let your face smile on us Lord because you have given me greater joy so everything in culture that you're looking at where people are saying no is this the life this is living my best life this is how we do it when we get 40 this is how we do it when we get 60 this is how we do it when we're empty nesters this is how we do it when we're in college all these people God's saying if you let me secure it I will give you greater joy

16:04 You see, they don't believe it. Like, greater than, not than them. See, the thing is, we're talking about living a blessed life. Everybody say, blessed life. And the thing about a blessing is the Bible tells it, the blessings of the Lord make it rich and addeth no sorrow. See, you're seeing the front side of the blessing with the picture and with the things that are happening. But God says, there's sorrow that comes along with blessing that I wasn't in.

16:35 And that's why it's not good to look at people's Instagram and Facebooks and what they show you Because I know people celebrities people of influence that die commit suicide with 50 million dollars in the bank Why would you do that? It's because what seemed to be a blessing came with sorrow And God's saying if you do it my way if you let me secure you and you don't secure the bag He says, I will give you greater joy than those who on Instagram that have an abundant harvest of grain and new wine. Everybody's stunting? He said, I'll give you greater joy than that. And this is my favorite part right here. I love the scripture. It says, in peace. Hold on, you mean that I can live a blessed life, be a blessing to other people, be able to walk into rooms and not have animosity and be have my hater radar on like who's a hater who's a hater who's a hater like I can I can walk in and have everybody shout at me peace and then I will lie down in sleep with peace isn't that the thing that all of us would give any amount of money to have like I don't even really care about the bills because I know God is Jehovah Jireh my provider so tonight I'm not going to be getting up and down for something that I can't even fix anyway because I know who I trust and know who just secures the bag but secures my life I can sleep in peace and do you know one of the biggest epidemics that are in the world right now is people that are not getting enough sleep it's because the things of this world are robbing them of peace and then they go to things of this world to try to find peace but you only can find peace in the one who is peace it says in peace I will lie down and sleep oh I love that for you alone oh lord you by yourself no amount of money no connection group no networking

18:47 You alone, oh Lord, will keep me safe. Or you could say secure. What I'm trying to challenge everybody in this room is that maybe it's time for you to open up everything you've been securing and offer it to God. We could literally end the service right here. I could do an altar call and be gone, but the Lord has given me a couple more things to say today. of you, that's all you needed. Are you going to keep securing what God gave you or are you going to open up your heart? See, because the only reason that I would secure all of this, these are heart issues. You don't trust God in your heart. You trust him enough to come to church. You trust him enough to log on and post the pics or like transformation, nation. But you don't trust

19:49 it's a little deep for some people right now I see the faces some of y'all look like y'all just drank pickle juice so I'm gonna just switch I'm gonna switch gears for everybody that doesn't know this is a multi-generational church and this right here is called a check no no y'all gotta we gotta be real about it there's some people here all right let's be honest how many people in this room have never written a check before in your life come on let's be honest Hundreds of hands are going up because they invented these things called debit cards and credit cards and we don't use checks Okay, let's be honest right here. How many people don't use checks all the time anymore? Like now like come on that's that's over 70% of the room. Okay, so I thought it would be um Advantageous of us to actually learn something that that many of us may need to use one day for record-keeping purposes This is a check and if you're ever to write a check, I'm just gonna teach you how to fill one out The first thing is this is the date

20:47 And today's date is 2 23, right? Okay, 20, okay And then the next thing that you'll understand is it says pay to the order of And when you say pay to the order of, that's who the check is going to Now by faith, because you know we believe in crazy faith here at Transformation Church I plan to give Transformation Church in Tithe an offering a hundred thousand dollars in one boom so I'm gonna write this to the order of Transformation Church

21:24 There we go. They'll still cast it if one of the words is spelled wrong, don't they? I promise you. We do it for you all the time. No, let me say it. So I, a hundred thou, wow. One, one, two. I don't know, I did that wrong, didn't I?

21:45 Well, we gonna make it a million then. See, y'all got, y'all in that baby faith. We gonna make it a million. I've never done this before.

22:06 So then you have to write it. Now this always tripped me out. Is that you told them how much here, but you had to confirm it with a word. See, some of y'all don't understand that the kingdom of God is voice activated. And you think that you can just do it in your head and you can just do it. But sometimes we got to spell it out in a word. We got to write it and make it plain. And so 1-M-I-L-L-I-O-N. And then they tell you to do something.

22:49 100 because ain't no sense in this. It don't make no sense. You'll get it. Double entendre. I love having fun in the house of God. And then these last two lines are interesting. Because the memo is what this check is for. It's to keep a record of what you are giving towards. And for me, in my faith check, I'm keeping this check, y'all. And one day I'm telling you, I'm going to write this check and I'm going to play this video again. Y'all, I know I like to do this.

23:26 to happen but I'm writing this because I'm believing from this day on that I'm gonna live a blessed life But do you know that this entire check means nothing?

23:48 like right now everybody that has a checkbook could write this same exact check and give it to people give it you get a check you get a check you get a check but it means nothing until it's signed the one thing that I figured out about writing checks is that the signature shows where your heart is because I'm not signing nothing

24:19 that I don't already have in me. I Can't write a check for something that there's been no deposit for And what God told me today is to do this whole analogy to say that I need everybody to stop signing your name on the check and I need you to sign your heart

24:46 He said, because a lot of people are writing checks, but their heart is not in it. He said, people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Today, the title of the message is heart check. Okay? Heart check. Everybody say heart check. Heart check. And today, this is all it's going to be is a heart check.

25:13 chapter 7 verse 1 because God doesn't want you to just have a blessed wallet. He wants you to live a blessed life. Just say it one more time with me. Say blessed life. That means he wants your marriage, your family healthy. He wants your relationships blessed. He wants everything you do to be blessed. And I want to look at how we can live a blessed life. Matthew chapter 7 verse 1. It says, Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. I have a simple question for everybody. Is the word money used in that scripture? I'm going to say it again. Was the word money used in that scripture? Okay. So the context of this whole scripture is judging. So I want you to say this with me.

26:05 Say judge not and you will not be judged. Judge not. And with the measure you use, it'll be measured back to you. I need you to say it one more time like you drank coffee this morning. Everybody say, judge not and you will not be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

26:28 Look at Luke chapter 6 verse 37. It says, judge not and you will not be judged. No, no, y'all don't have to just let, this is me now. It's me. Condemn not and you shall not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will it be put into your bosom. the last last verse for with the same measure that you use it'll be measured back to you this may shock you but the word money was nowhere in those verses but every time we hear Luke 6 38 it's at offering time give hey y'all about it sit can't toy out and it will be given back to you good measure press down

27:26 Shaken together and run. Yeah, run. Yeah, run. All my life I've heard that. And we've used this as a money scripture, but it's not a money scripture. This whole thing is talking about what you give. Judgment, condemnation, forgiveness. At the level you give that, that's the level you're getting it back.

27:51 a pastor friend of mine was asked by a reporter it said how often do you preach on giving and he said every week and she said you preach on giving every single week he said yeah he said I think what you meant to ask me is how much do I preach on giving money and that's once a year at transformation church when we do our series like this but you cannot talk about God's grace without talking about giving for God so loved the world A marriage will not work if there is not two people that are willing to sacrifice and give. And see, this is the enemy's plan for your life is to pervert giving with money.

28:36 Because if any time somebody talks about giving, you always think, that church just want my money. They just want my money. You get locked out of a key of the kingdom. that when you give that is the thing that unlocks everything else in your life and and i know it's hard for some people but you got to realize my first point write this down giving is all about the heart it's all about the heart you can never give if your heart's not in And there's some people right now that you're tight. I see them.

29:15 But everybody, just do this for me. Everybody take a deep breath in. Let it out. Relax. I'm not taking no second offering. I'm not standing up, people. We're not checking nobody's bank account. The reason I'm teaching this series is because it transformed my life. And I would be a horrible pastor if I was back here holding these secrets that God has shown me, the keys to the kingdom. given to you. The church is fine. The church is in the best financial position it's ever been in because of people like you who've already caught this. No, y'all don't hear me. Who've already caught the revelation of generosity and stewardship. But there's a few people in here and a few people watching that are still trying to secure what God wants them to give.

29:58 And it's my passion that you would not live your life in a way and in a place that would keep you and his best for your life is that you will live a blessed life somebody say it one more time blessed life look at it I love this scripture Matthew 6 21 it says for where your treasure is not where you promise it'll be not not where you're saying that it will be once you get enough money where your treasure is right now there your heart will be also this is one of those crazy things that people be like, I love God. You don't love God? What's wrong with you?

30:42 But then anytime it comes to giving their time, their treasure, their talent, they have an excuse. And I know some of y'all, everybody, do y'all know this, that everybody excuse makes sense to them. things that happened on the 1st. So because it happened on the 1st, what I was doing was back dating it to the 15th. And on the 15th, I messed up. So you understand what I'm saying? It was my birthday weekend. So then I did this and I did. And everybody's excuse makes sense to them. What I want to say very clearly is if you don't tithe, if you don't give, if you've been securing what you're supposed to be stewarding, you're not a bad person. I want you to say that because a lot of times in churches, it makes it seem like you're bad and you're going to hell. know you're just not living your best life and and and and I want you to know you're not a bad person maybe you weren't taught these things maybe maybe you weren't um given these keys at a young age maybe you had to fend for yourself and your parents did bad things and messed up your credit and did all this other stuff and now you're here left with the the the pieces and God says I'm the only one that can take pieces and with the right truth I can bring them together and I can create What am I telling you that it's not too late for you no matter how old you are no matter where you are in life And for every young person in this room, please get this before you get money No, y'all ain't even hearing me Whatever money you got right now. You ain't got no money

32:20 And if you can get these principles down in your heart before you're looking at zeros on your account you will be in a position to be used by God in a way that your parents and your grandparents and your great-grandparents were never because giving is all about the what heart okay when you read Matthew 6 21 in the message version it even gives it to you so much clearer look what it says it's obvious isn't it the place where your treasure is is the place will you place you want to be and you'll end up being there. And that's why right now whenever we put our treasure in something, our heart automatically goes there. There are people right now who if you put your money into a stock or a bond, you will be online checking that mug all the time and you never checked it before. Some of y'all right now check your bank account more than you check on your kids.

33:17 You know you only get paid on the 1st and the 15th, but before you swipe, you're like, let me check, Let me see. It's almost like there's a string attached to your wallet in your heart. And any time you get ready to do something, it's like, oh, that hurts. Because where our treasure is, our heart would be. That's why there's some men in this room right now, if they put their treasure into remodeling a car, nobody can drive a car.

33:44 He said it was me. I'm sorry, Pastor Todd. That car gets more baths than you do. You, watch this, you steward over it. It's because your treasure is there. Some people right here, if you get the shoes you wanted and somebody stepped on them, y'all so trifling. But you know the shoes. And if they stepped on, oh, come on, bro.

34:14 Why? Because your treasure was there. Some of us are house. That's where our treasure is. And that's why we protect it more than we protect our marriage. because you used to invest in your marriage. You used to put your treasure into date nights and vacations and being intentional with gifts when it wasn't a holiday or Valentine's Day or their birthday. You used to put your treasure there, but somewhere around three years in, you said, we stuck together. So you stopped putting your treasure there, and now your heart's not there no more. I didn't know this was going to be a marriage series, but wherever your treasure is, Your heart will be awesome. You want your heart in the kingdom of God? You got to put your treasure there. I know it's tight, but it's right.

35:10 This is the word of God and it's coming to challenge us because giving is all about what? The heart. Okay. So I want you to see that all of these scriptures are talking about giving judgment. giving forgiveness and if this whole thing this principle can be used for sowing and reaping I think as the body of believers we should be more into giving good things because nobody talks about this but some of us give judgment and God says that the measure you give judgment it's coming back to you good measure press down oh y'all don't talk about this and shaking together and running over will judgment be given back to you. That's why if you are going to give anything, you should be giving good things.

36:02 But some of us at our job tomorrow are going to give a lot of judgment. And then you wonder why things come back to you in the same way. It's time for us to live the blessed life. If we don't want it to come back multiplied, we're not giving it out. I'm going to say it again. If we don't want it to come back to our lives multiplied, lie, we're not going to give it out. I'm going to give people compliments because I want that coming back to me. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. I'm going to lend to people who are in need because I want that to come back. And that is a key of living the blessed life. So I'm going to help you because I thought it was going to be a finance series, but I feel like I have to do this. I talked to the marriage. I got to talk to the parents for one second. This principle still applies with your kids. So the way you talk to them.

37:01 The way you're short with them, the way you get embarrassed by the ones that carry your last name. Oh, I don't know why he's doing that in this story, girl. He don't do that all the time. You better shut up before I slap you in your mouth. Put it back. I told you before we got out the car, we wasn't getting nothing. Put it, put it back. Oh, I saw that this week. That's not.

37:25 and so you wonder why when they get to the age where they start understanding stuff they talk back they disobey they hide stuff oh snap you sowed it in them and what you're getting back is what the scripture says good measure press down shaking together and running over will your kids give back to you the respect that you gave to them

37:54 There are going to be a few people that leave the church over this one, but you still got to live with yourself and your kids. All I'm saying is if we're going to live the blessed life, we have to give the things that we want to be multiplied back into our life. So we got to develop a heart of generosity. So go to Deuteronomy chapter 15 verse 7. And we're going to find four things in this scripture that all of us need to do if we're truly going to live the blessed life. It says if there is any among you who is a poor man of your brethren Within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you who gave him the land the Lord You shall not harden your Hearts because it's all about the heart nor shut up your hands to your poor brother Ooh, they just gave us a secret right there. Your heart and your hand are connected When your heart is hard your hand is closed When your heart is soft your hand is open.

38:53 That's why when you go through season and God's like give to that person you like nope and you'll walk right past somebody. God bless you. And then this is what we do. We pray for them. And God said, you are the answer to the prayer. You could have saved that prayer because I sent you there to answer the prayer. But because he's a homeless man, he begging on the street. He there every Sunday. God said, when you give, it's not about what they do with it. When you give, it's about your obedience to me. And some of y'all are passing people that God said, you're supposed to open your hand. But you can't open your hand when your heart is hard.

39:35 I ain't even gonna talk about family members. They did me wrong in 1978. It was September 22nd. And I lent them $68. And God's saying, after all that I've blessed you with, and after all that I've done for you, your heart is hard, so your hand is closed.

39:59 He said, but don't be like that. Don't shut it to your poor brother. He said, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his needs. Ooh, whatever he needs. Sufficient for his needs, whatever he needs. Four things we're going to have to deal with. Write this down. You're going to have to deal with a selfish heart. All of us. Pastor Mike every year has to deal with the selfish heart because it never it never stays open like it never stays like oh I'm just generous like something will happen that will make you feel entitled and that you need to hold this or keep this or secure this and so this is a never-ending work that's why living a Christian life is not about reaching a milestone it's about actually

40:58 as he continues to perfect you every single day. And you have to deal with the selfish heart. Look at Deuteronomy 15 verse 9. It says, beware, lest there be wicked thought in your heart. It can't be a wicked thought in your heart saying that the seventh year, the year of release is at hand, and your eye be evil against your brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the Lord against you, sin among you. Notice selfishness is wickedness in God's eyes and becomes sin.

41:36 Selfishness is wickedness in God's eyes and it becomes sin. See, a lot of us don't understand the concept, but back in this day, they had this thing called the year of Jubilee, and there was something instituted by God that every seven years, no matter who you were, all of your debts were canceled after seven years. Let's just stop real quick. Would anybody like God to re-institute

41:58 Yeah, that would be a blessing So back in this day, he's saying if your brother comes to you and let's say his name is Jerome and Jerome comes to you And Jerome says hey bro, my crops were bad. I got all of these kids Everything is not going. Could you lend me a little money so we can get through the season? He said don't think in your heart. Hold on. It's only six months until the year of release and Jerome He don't got a good track record. So if he don't pay me back within six months, then I got to forgive the debts He said don't think like that He said because that's selfishness that turns into wickedness and it becomes sin in your heart He said if you have it to be able to bless him with he said I want you to give it to him And this is the thing about most of us most of us try to calculate other people's finances We try to calculate when we gonna get back what God's done in us We even with our time if I'm gonna go help you with your wedding you better remember this when I get married

42:55 I ain't up here just putting all these flowers up here for no reason you look gorgeous but really in your heart the only reason you're doing it is you're giving to get and that's why at transformation church we we have a part of our culture code we give just to give not to give because that's where manipulation comes in and that's why i hate most of this preaching that's happening about finances because it's giving you'll get give 300 grit 3 000 that's just a smart business decision. That don't take no faith to do that. And that's why a lot of people are saying, oh yeah, I'll give. If I give this, then God will get it. And I bet God is in heaven like, great. All my children are catching the revelation of getting.

43:42 but they're missing the heart of giving. And that's why I need everybody to think about this for one second. Think about everything that God has given you. Think about why God even created giving. I want you to think about this. Think about it. Why did God create giving? I asked this to a couple of people, and somebody said, he created giving so that we could support God's work. And I said, really? You really think that God created giving because he did it so that his work could be supported? Did the light bill in heaven get too big for God? Did the gold that they used for concrete run out? It makes me know that giving was not created for God's sake. Giving was created for our sake.

44:36 Giving more than anything else in the bible works selfishness and greed out of your heart And there's some people right now who's like I got to get out of here I got to get out of here because this is messing with me. This is bothering me. That means you're in heart surgery right now And anytime you're in heart surgery, nobody wants to feel the pain of that cut, but they sedate you So they can finish the work. I'm challenging every person in this room for the next three weeks You need to stay in this heart surgery because if you get up too soon if you get out of the thing that God's trying to change in you and reveal in you too soon you may not have the healing that God wants for you to live in and that's why you have to develop a generous heart now let me tell you there's one area of um really selfishness that I don't think men are ever going to grow out of we don't want to share our food let me just help somebody right I just got to tell on myself right now, when we go through the drive-thru and we ask you, do you want something?

45:40 Please do not say no, I'll just have some of yours. Get your own. I'll buy you three orders of fries, but please let me eat my fries. Thank you, my brother. Let me eat my fries and the fries at the bottom of the bag are mine too, sayeth the Lord. I should be getting some amens from some brothers in the room. We need to deal with the selfish heart. Number two, we need to deal with the grieving heart. Deuteronomy chapter 15 verse 10 it says you shall give to him and your heart should not be grieved when you give to Rufus because for this thing that's giving with the right heart the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to what you put your hands see this is the thing that you got to understand when you give with the right heart you get a Midas touch God says you gave over here but I'm working stuff out over here when when I when you give over here he said I'm over here. The thing you got to understand is the attack of the enemy. Selfishness attacks us before we give, but grief attacks us after we give. So what the enemy will try to do is be like, oh, you can't do that. And then you get up the courage to give in the crazy faith offering, or give your time at that school, or give your treasure or your talent in the thing.

46:56 And right after you give, then the enemy comes to be like, you shouldn't have done that. And you start grieving. How many people have ever given time, finance, or something, and then something breaks and guess what the enemy does see told you shouldn't have done it should have kept it should have not given your time for them and God says don't do that he said I need you if you're gonna live a blessed life never to grieve anything you give in the name of the Lord you were never giving you were sowing it into another time in your future you missed it you're never giving it

47:35 You're investing it for something else that God sees up the road. You know what, I'm having this thought right now that, and I should let the thought go away right now, but I'm going out to eat after service today and I just realized that I don't have any money like to actually go out and be able to pay for something. What's up Charles?

47:59 What's up bro? $100? out. Yo, Charles just gave me $100, man. I love you, Charles. Now stay here for one second in that white jacket. Now, why did Charles so readily give me $100? It's because I gave it to him before the service.

48:22 he's not grieving because I gave it to him. The only reason you start grieving is because you thought it was yours. And when God is asking us for the time, the talent, our treasure, a lot of us grieve because you forgot he gave it to you before. Charles ain't grieving. And the thing I do as the one who gave it to him is because anytime I need it, I can have it. Here you go, Charlie. Keep that, bro. God bless you. Now watch. This is how God wants us to work. Hold on, Charles. Charles. Charles. Ron, come here. Hey, Charles. Could you go ahead and give that $100 to Ron?

49:09 Now, Ron. God bless you. Yeah, yeah. For real. now watch because Charles was faithful to obey he was blessed to be a somebody who didn't even know they were going to be a part of this just got blessed because Charles was not a reservoir he was a river it didn't stop with him some of y'all are a damn when God blesses you you hold everything in some rivers that if I give it to you you can get it to somebody else so I have no problem giving Charles another hundred because Charles will always obey me to give it away but the test really is is Ron there's somebody sitting next to you what's your name who Ron give Nicole your $400. Charles, give Ron the $100. You're missing it.

50:17 All y'all come up here. Just real quick. You're missing it. Listen, listen, I want everybody to hear me. I'm not even worried about my lunch no more. it started with me trying to get a need met

50:41 and it ended up with me being a blessing to more people that didn't even know they were a blessing to so now because Charles is the factor in this that I can continue to give stuff to Charles here's $200 okay now watch now watch now I want you to give $200 to Ron

51:04 you to give all $300 to her. And so, Nicole, you have how much? She has $400. Charles doesn't have anything, but he's not grieving because he knows where his supply comes from. Somebody in this section is about to get it. When God is asking you to give, it's never because he's going to leave you out. He just wants to know can he get it, if he gets it to you, can he get it through you. So Charles here's another hundred. Can you get that to Ron? Can you get that to Nicole? See what you don't know is my whole intent this whole time was to bless Nicole.

51:54 She said she literally has $25 to her name right now. But when I came out here, God said, you need to bless Nicole, but I need to see if I can trust Charles and Ron to be a blessing. And this is what our God is looking for, people who He can use to live a blessed life. Somebody give God a shout of praise in this place. Love you, sis. Thank you, guys.

52:32 Y'all, somebody's about to get this. So Charles and Ron aren't grieving anymore because they just experienced what the Bible says when it says it's more blessed to give than it is to receive. I didn't know she had $25 to her name, but God did. So when I walked out here and I saw her, he said, but the blessing is coming through others that have a heart of generosity. Point number three, we're going to have to develop a generous heart. So the thing that we have to understand is that everything that we're doing, we got to deal with the selfish heart. We got to deal with the grieving heart. But then we have to develop a generous heart. Look what it says, verse 14. You will supply him liberally. That means abundant. From your flock, from your job, from your bank account, from your giftings, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the Lord your God has blessed you with, you shall give to him.

53:31 See, God wants us to be generous, but we're born selfish. You don't have to teach a kid to be selfish. All of us come out, and one of the first words that all kids say is, mine. You don't got to teach them that. Mine. Your little kid's playing with something, and another kid wants to come play with it. They say, mine. And then you're like, okay. And then the little kid goes over here, and they start playing with something. They be like, I was playing with that. Mine. And then you be like, oh, Lord, that's my child. And what are you trying to teach your kid? Share. Share. Come on. Share. And I believe that's what God's trying to teach us. See, one of the crazy things about it is a child can get this sometimes better than adults can. And a couple years ago, me and my wife were teaching our daughter Isabella how to share. And Bree was there.

54:27 And so we was like, hey, baby, we're going to give away some of these dolls. You have too many dolls. You have too many toys. Let's give to some kids who are a little less fortunate. Let's bless them. And she was like, no. And I was like, Bella, come on. Let's share. And she was like, no. She got real strong with it. And then her God mom explained it to her. And she was like, okay, we can give away a couple. started giving away a couple of her toys and she started getting into it she was like oh no I don't want this one either here and her mama was like hold up we just bought this I'm glad you're generous baby but you're not giving away and she was like no mom it's okay I don't even play with it anyway she said you don't play with it and what ended up happening was God convicted me in that moment He said your daughter is developing a generous heart, but you and Natalie are still having a selfish heart

55:24 And he said what if you would be more like Bella and have childlike faith She didn't care how much those dolls cost because she knew she didn't pay for them in the first place They showed up to her as gifts They were brought to her So when it came to giving them away, she didn't have the attachment to them because she knew her father and her mother was standing right there with her. And my question is, if Bella kept walking in that level of selfishness, at some point when she got older, we're going to say, why don't you share? When are you going to grow up and be more like your father? And I think that's what God's saying to all of us. After all I've shared with you, through everything that I've given to you, When are you going to grow up as a church And share Be like your father Who loved so much that he Gave And he didn't give out of a plethora He gave his only

56:27 last thing we got to do is develop a grateful heart develop a grateful heart so we're not just going to develop a generous heart we're going to be grateful that God is using us it says you shall remember verse 15 that you were a slave in the land of Egypt some of us forget where we used to be and that the Lord your God redeemed you therefore so I command you this day that you need to be generous how can God make us generous he said because I'm the one who rescued you out of what you were in see I got a reminder this week I have it in the back I got a yellow piece of paper

57:06 thank you Lord Just a few years back before all the lights and before everybody came and before Instagram was popping, I had a felony case. And I was facing a lot of jail time for car insurance fraud. I got in an accident, didn't have insurance, went to the house. I was manipulating. I went to the house, called Geico, 15% or less in 15 minutes. And it worked. So the people called me. Do you have car insurance? I had insurance on the day of the accident. No, did you have it at the time? had it on the day of the accident. So you had insurance at the time of the accident? Yes, sir. I had it on the day of the accident. And I was manipulating. Five years later, life totally changed. Youth pastor at Greenwood Christian Center.

58:07 Is there a Michael Todd here? Yeah, what's up, man? You got yourself by? No. You got to turn yourself in. What do you mean? We have recordings, documents that you've committed car insurance fraud. You're facing time. I said, let me go talk to Bishop Gary McIntosh real quick. I said, Bishop.

58:41 Am I telling the truth, Bishop? I said, Bishop, I'm supposed to preach on Wednesday night. I might be starting a jail ministry. And he stood with me through that situation, him and Pastor Debbie. And I said, okay, let's do this. So if I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it right. So I went to the barber shop and I got a haircut.

59:10 Because if they gonna take my money shot, you know what I'm saying? when it got a haircut this week we'll post it i'll post my mug shot because i'm not ashamed of it oh y'all forgot y'all gotta i'm not ashamed of what god i remember

59:33 and when i looked at that yellow piece of paper this week it was the completion of my community service hours. And God reminded me, he said, Mike, you're about to go talk to hundreds of thousands of people this week. You're going to be generous with your finances. You're going to be generous with your time. You're going to be generous. He said, but it's not hard for you no more, is it? I said, no, sir. He said, why? He said, because I remember. I remember where you brought me from. I remember how you saved me. I remember how you put me in in just enough heat to make me see that I never wanted to live that life. I remember where you had people to stand with me. Bishop had me, my mom, my dad. We went on stage together and they stood with me at my most embarrassing moment in front of our whole church and our church was about as big as this section right here but it didn't matter it felt like the whole world was judging me and they stood with me and they and they said this was this was a mistake you made this was from your past but any man who be in Christ he's a new creation the old has passed away somebody needs to get excited about this and behold I've made all things new I don't know if there's anybody watching or in this room, but can we thank God for the grace of God who saved us?

1:01:03 So now it's easy for me to give because I remember what I, where I was, I was a slave. And it don't matter if you have a whole bunch of money. Without Jesus, you're a slave anyway. You're a slave trying to secure all of these things that only God can give. And that's why I'm telling every person in this room, it's time for us to live a blessed life.

1:01:25 Money doesn't matter if your heart is bankrupt. I'll say it one more time. Money doesn't matter if your heart is bankrupt. Somebody say, it's all about the heart. Can I prove it to you real quick? Is Kevin Jackson here? Come here, bro.

1:01:48 Just come here real quick. Just, yeah, just jump right here. We don't have time for you. Go to the back. It's all good. He said, I'm short. You're fine. Kevin, what's up, bro? Transformation Church, this is Kevin Jackson. Don't miss this. Because giving is what? All about the heart. Kevin Jackson runs a nonprofit called Freedom. What is it? House of Freedom. And you work with the homeless, right? And he works with the homeless in Tulsa, sheltering them, giving them food, giving them needs, helping them get into a place where they can be, oh yeah, this is huge, a model citizen. and these aren't bad people these are people where situations and circumstances happen and this man of God he has a heart like God a generous heart we got this story that at the end of the year we were given our crazy faith offering and uh this man of God he said God would not get off of me we have been saving up fifteen thousand dollars to redo a house for the homeless

1:02:58 challenge my heart. And he said, I don't want you to give a portion of it. I want you to sow the entire $15,000. So he didn't do it publicly. We've never met before. Not never. But somehow the story got back to me. And because he gave, not grieving, just obeying, he was happy to do it because he knew that he didn't have to secure what God was asking him to do. So today on behalf of Transformation Church, you didn't just give that away. You sowed it. today Transformation Church wants to be the first because there's more coming but we want to be the first to sow a seed of $30,000.

1:03:49 Run into your check. Oh is that how you go act? Run into your check. We're going to help the homeless transformation church This is your check Oh can we give God some praise in this place

1:04:11 This is yours, no take it brother

1:04:34 See, at this moment, at this moment, this ain't about us. this is not about the 10 you gave, the 30 you gave, the 100 you gave, the 500 you gave. We're getting to see what it means.

1:04:54 And the crazy thing about this is this is not for him. He's crying because now he gets to meet the need of the homeless in our city. Transformation Church, we will live a blessed life. We will develop generous hearts. We won't grieve when God says it to us. We will be blessed to be a blessing. Hands lifted all over this place. Watching online, I declare that something is stirring on the inside of our church. That, Father God, you would do a work on the inside of us that would allow us to truly live a generous and a blessed life. God, I thank you that we won't have to grieve and we won't be selfish. a generous heart and we will have a grateful heart because we know where you've brought us from I'm declaring that as we catch this revelation you will open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that this church and everybody watching online doesn't have room enough to receive bless their businesses bless their investments bless their homes bless their jobs thank you for promotion go from glory to glory God we do this all for your namesake God This is not about us, but it's about you. We will be your hands and feet on this earth And we will be blessed to be a blessing if you believe it all over this room and watch it online Will you give God the biggest shout of?

1:06:20 Will you give them the biggest shout of praise you got? Cause you're never gonna let me That's what Kevin believes now Say Woo! Somebody needs to believe that hands lifted and just say In your house, in your family In your business Believe it, somebody say You're never...

1:06:54 Just one more time with faith in your heart, say, we will be generous. We will do what you say, God. I am about to jump off this stage, y'all. I'm so excited right now. But we can't leave this place without giving people the chance to really understand what it means to trust God. And not giving Him your possessions, giving Him your life. If everybody would right now, I know everybody's trying to leave, but please give me two minutes to not be a distraction to somebody that's making this decision. This is why our church exists. If you're in this room and you want to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, today I want to give you that opportunity. It's the thing that took me from being a liar, a manipulator, as I've already shared, addicted to pornography, not a good person.

1:07:51 Didn't make me perfect, but now I'm progressing. And there's some people in this room that are saying, yeah, I'm securing everything because I haven't given him my life. Today, if that's you, this is your moment. The Bible says today is the day of salvation. and there's some people that have been running and you're so tired you're so tired of going to your bag trying to find peace and joy and love and God's saying I got it all right here it's not what I do it's who I am and today I want to give you that opportunity watching online everybody in this room if that's you on the count of three I want you to raise your hand and this is something we celebrate at TC this is not a like oh no there go the bad people everybody was a bad person Everybody is a bad person if not for the grace of God. And so don't let nobody fake you out. You can belong here before you behave.

1:08:45 Some people after this message, you got to go outside and smoke a cigarette. You're just going to be like, and some of y'all are going to smoke some cigar weed. Listen, let's be real. You can belong here before you behave because remember, it's all about the heart. And if God gets your heart, he'll help you change your habits.

1:09:09 so one if that's you you're about to make the greatest decision of your life two i'm so proud of you but more than that god is three if you want to give your life to god today i see hands going up all over the building i see you sis i see you i see you i see you we're so excited for you i see hey transformation church is a family nobody prays alone let's all pray this prayer together Everybody say, God, thank you for sending Jesus just for me. Today, I stopped securing my life and I trust you. I believe you lived, you died, and you rose again just for me. Take my life. Change me. Renew me. Transform me. I'm yours in Jesus' name. Amen.

1:10:02 Amen. and we celebrate with the dozens of people. Oh, come on, and the hundreds online. We love you. Sign up for our B group, and let's see God change our lives. Thank you so much for watching Transformation Church's YouTube. And I just want you to take another step. If this is feeding you, join Transformation Nation. That's everybody that doesn't live here in Tulsa, watching live with us on Sunday mornings. Gather your family, let's make this thing an every week situation. And please, share. It has impacted your life. There is somebody that is waiting for you to share this with them. And transformation is only a click away. And there's one more thing I would ask you to do. Pray about giving. If you want to help us take this message all around the world and represent God to lost and found people for one reason, transformation in Christ, you can do that right now by clicking the Give button.

1:10:53 I cannot wait to see you the next time we're here. Live a transformed life.