Are You A Paper Chaser? // Are You Chasing Money or Your Purpose? // Paper Chasers // Michael Todd

[Applause] well good morning transformation church come on it's a good day to be in the house of the lord hallelujah hey listen i am excited about what god is going to do today hey listen wherever you're watching this from no matter what has happened this week no matter what is going on i believe that god is in the business of touching your situation and um i want to let you know we prayed for you this week and right now i just feel led to pray for people right now in the comments right now uh there's many different ways we start service but in the comments i need you to put your prayer requests right now i i just feel that that the bible says that my house should be called a house of prayer and i just feel at the top of this service i got goosebumps all over me that somebody was about to give up and somebody is facing something that you don't even have the words to articulate but right now there's tens of thousands of people all around the world and and and there's a word called intercession so right now i want you to put in the comments what you need prayer for but don't pray for it somebody else is gonna pick up your prayer request and and we're gonna begin to intercede right now i want everybody to pick somebody out that needs to be prayed for everybody that's here team i need you to begin to pray we're about to move heaven the bible says the fervent effectual prayers of righteous people not perfect people but people who are in right standing with god they work they avail and right now i just feel that prayer needs to go forth come on lift your hands all over the world father in the name of jesus i need you to pray i believe that you are the healer and you are the god that answers your children's prayer and today before we go into anything we're asking you and inviting you into every single situation you are omniscient that means you're all knowing you know every detail you know every fear you know every pain you know every doubt and god i'm asking you to be a miracle-working god i declare by tomorrow some of the reports are gonna begin to turn around by next week some of the reports are gonna begin i need y'all to pray that by this time father god in an hour pain is leaving people's bodies peace is coming i feel the presence of god father in the name of jesus [Music] we're asking for every person that is dealing with depression and anxiety the spirit of suicide we curse you at the root father god i thank you in the name of jesus that those who got negative doctor reports and doubt is trying to sit on people's chest we command you to get out in the name of jesus i pray over every persons whose marriage father god has seemed like a turmoil to be in i declared the peace of god to come into that marriage families that have been at each other's throats i thank you that the joy of the lord would come in and be there straight for all of my people who feel lonely and single and isolated even around people they feel that i'm thinking you father that you will be a comforter that you stick closer than a brother god i'm just thanking you for your love come on just wrap your arms around yourself right now this is god hugging you father i thank you for your love i thank you for your love that's coming to each one of us to make us whole and to make us new father god even as prayer requests are still coming in right now father i thank you that you would put a burden on us as the church you said that your house would be called a house of prayer even though we're not in one building father that makes us more dangerous that we're all over the world right now and your house our house is a house of prayer god when the miracles and the testimonies start coming in we won't take credit like we did something but father god as we pray to you in faith today we will give you all the glory all the honor and all the praise in jesus name everybody say we agree we expect amen come on let's give god a shout of praise all over the world [Applause] hallelujah if you near somebody high five them give them a hug if they've cleaned their hands and socially distanced and all of those other things i just i just love that there's no distance in prayer and um i thought that would be the way that we needed to start off today because i don't know if you knew this but we in a brand new series [Applause] [Music] today is week one of a series we're calling paper chasers and um i'm super excited about this series because um this series changed my life and um y'all already know your pastor i can't do nothing halfway and i can't do nothing fake we have a humble open and transparent church and um one of the crazy things about this series is this series is about a topic that most people don't talk about because they don't really want to talk about the real things that are happening in their life but as a church we decided that that we would be anchored this year and we were going into the deep somebody say we out here so if if you haven't gone back and watched what god said about 2021 that this is the year that we would be anchored uh i need you to go back and get that but i thought as we launch into the deep the first thing we need to talk about is stewardship and generosity uh oh already that quick i thought we was going to inch our way no no no no no if we're going to be successful in what god has called us to do we cannot negate how god has set up a way for us to deal with finances money our increase and i want to be very clear about this that this topic and this subject affects everybody's household and peace everybody is affected by finances some negatively some positively but god speaks about money in his word as the number two topic in the entire bible i i want you like you can research it it is the finances generosity money he speaks about it only one other thing he speaks out about more than this and i believe through the truths in this series i feel the presence of god already i'm i'm going to fight through some of the generational cycles that have been in your life of poverty and in this series we're going to fight through some of the generational cycles of selfishness i feel an entitled spirit of somebody about to click off right now this could change your life but but i'm telling you right now that the reason i'm so passionate about this in the first three minutes of this message is because this is the message that changed my life this message is based off of a teaching from the word of god that god gave to somebody that i consider a spiritual mentor pastor robert morris um he he wrote a book called the blessed life and um i am um a very expressive amazing man of god who can make you believe all kinds of stuff but when i started pastoring i had no real revelation about generosity and stewardship i know nobody will tell you that because they're the pastor but i was a pastor with a poverty mentality and some of you are parents with a poverty mentality and some of you are politicians with the poverty mentality i'm just telling you just because you have a position doesn't mean you have the right perspective and some of your positions are outweighing your perspective and that's god's grace giving you a position to grow into but will you have the humility to learn how to grow into the position god called you to i don't know who i'm talking to right now but some of you need to understand that your perspective has to change to match the position that god gave you and for me as a pastor i got the title february 1st 2015 but there were areas of my life where the perspective did not match the priority that god had given me in people's lives and i read this book called the blessed life and pastor robert began to talk to me through this book i had never met the man at the time he began to talk to me and challenged me on how i thought about finances and and i found out that i was selfish on the inside and i found out that there was some greed on the inside of me and i found out that i didn't honor god with my money and i found out i honestly didn't honor them with anything i didn't honor them with my time and i didn't honor it started exposing all these things in my heart and then it's just like god february first i became the pastor i taught about vision like i did um this year and we do every year and then god said the next series that you're going to preach at this church is called the blessed life and i was like oh great i get to go fake it for the people lord okay great i don't know how to live a blessed life when when we did the blessed light the first time i had negative bank accounts can i can i be humble open and transfer okay i had negative bank accounts i had debt so much debt i had just two weeks earlier gotten out of a a lean situation on my home and god says go and do and give the people the blessed life and i thought god wanted me to in pride go and be somebody i wasn't yet but it actually was an opportunity to be humble before the people god asked me to lead and so i said all right lord well i'm gonna get up here and i'm gonna teach you he said no you're not but god i thought you said that we're supposed to do the blessed life you are so i got to get up there and teach i've only been a pastor for four weeks i got to get up there and tell the people and tell them that we got to live a blessed life he said you would be lying and they would be hurt so god how am i supposed to do the blessed life if i'm not supposed to do the blessed life he said pastor robert's going to teach it by video and you're going to sit on the front row and learn it with them no they're not going to believe in me he said it doesn't matter if they believe in you i'm trying to see if you'll obey me [Applause] and my mother and father sit here as my witness and there's a few people in this room the first time we did the blessed life and now you got to understand pastor robert morris is white he white white dry comedy very i mean 28 minutes and he ain't none of this ain't none of this with pastor robert and i was like well people may leave and people he said it doesn't matter he said the ones who need to get this revelation are going to get it and if nobody gets it you need it and i sat on the front row with my church and i said ladies and gentlemen today um glad you're here pastor robert is going to preach to us and i went and sat down and that changed everything in our ministry it unlocks something in my heart it transformed the level of belief i had in god to trust him with everything that he blessed my hands with it allowed me to walk into business meetings not having enough and knowing who my provider was it allowed me to look at generational cycles of poverty and debt and say that is the last time that that will be associated with the todd household that is the last time that we will deal with these type of things why because god gave me a revelation that was transformation and that's what i'm believing for you in this series that somewhere in the next five weeks god would give you a revelation i don't know how he's going to do it but i believe that god's going to give you a revelation that will be for your everybody say transformation and ever since that day that i decided to humble myself and learn from somebody who authentically had it i can stand here five years later and let you know that it was a hard obedient step to every year like literally every year god will only let me preach one message so 2015 i didn't preach none of the blessed life 2016 i was pumped i was like all right here we go bless life again bless life again here we go i got it god he said no you don't he said you can teach one message in the rest of them or video the next year same thing we titled it something different and i was like wait till i get my money right and we was gonna do it he said you only get to preach two messages in this series he said because i'm working something in you remember what we always say this journey is about progression not perfection and could it be that god's trying to work something so deep in you so foundational that you can be anchored on so then when he does the blessing it doesn't throw you off i can stand here six years removed from taking that step with my church and actually tell you with no lie i am living a blessed life you missed it no no no no you missed it i can preach every message of this series now because god has worked this message into me and i got proof you need proof that it works to tithe you're looking at it you need proof that it takes to be generous you're looking at it you need proof to know that god is a provider and in the middle of the darkness that you're in he will send anybody to provide your needs you're looking at them [Applause] so today and for the next five weeks i have a burden this is like a baby on the inside of me i keep looking at pasta now she pregnant and fine and pregnant and you look good girl i love all your lovely lady lumps but when i look at her and i see how pregnant she is that's how i feel spiritually for you i feel like this series is something that's been in me growing up and i gotta get it out to you and that is why this series paper chaser is not an option for anybody that's going to the deep this is preparation everybody say preparation do you know that god blesses what you prepare for not what you hope for he doesn't bless what you what you wish for he blesses what you prepare for preparation is one of the biggest faith steps that you can ever make before it happens i know the knowledge before it happens i open the bank account before it happens i sat down and asked somebody who knows about that everybody shout at me preparation this series for many of you is going to be confirmation but for others of you it's going to be preparation i believe by the spirit of god the next 24 months i feel this i'm going to prophesy this there is a a wealth transfer somebody needs to receive this there is a wealth transfer that is happening in the universe and over the next 24 months i see god looking at who he can trust with resources to be able to fund the kingdom work that he is called to get done on the earth somebody needs to lift your hands right now and the sign of your ability and availability will be everybody say preparation i speak over the people that are watching this right now that there would be a divine passion for preparation that people will begin to make budgets and see lists and study new ideas and be able to understand currencies and be able to understand tech i feel this thing so strong that god is going to be able to look at our preparation and see how much we can handle god i thank you that stewardship will become our new lot in life that we wouldn't look at a little and say it's a little but we will look at a little and say it's preparation that you see what we have and you see how we stew it and you would be able to trust us with more father i thank you that transformation nation will be prepared in jesus name somebody say i agree i feel this thing so strong in me y'all [Applause] why is this important look at proverbs 11 24. i'm gonna read it out of the message version it says the world of degeneres gets larger and larger but the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller i'm thinking about it in every one of our lives counter-cultural culture tells you to keep it so you can have it the bible tells you kingdom culture says when you give it you get more and i just want you to know that the key to doubling it to taking it to another level is not becoming a reservoir it's being a river see the problem with many of us when it comes to this thing of money that many of us are a reservoir it can come to us but it stops with us but god says could i find a group of people that would be a river that if it comes to you it passes through you and it can get to the channel it needs to go to it is more blessed for you to give than it is to what and some of y'all it was hard for you to say that because your world has been getting smaller and smaller smaller because of stinginess and it's the trick of the enemy well i ain't got enough to do anything right now so i'm not going to do it but the bible says somebody needs to write this down proverbs 11 24 the world of the generous gets what larger and larger but the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller that's why this year we have to be everybody say anchored and we got to be anchored in the area of our finances and generosity because this is the area that many people drift like this is the area that i have seen people be spiritually on fire and one financial thing takes them out one one debt collection comes and throws their whole faith walk off and in american society it doesn't help us because there's some very sad statistics that i've seen that the average american household is seven thousand dollars in credit card debt 190 thousand dollars in mortgage debt 27 000 in auto loan debt 56 000 in student loans or higher education debt don't have more than one thousand dollars in savings or and are one paycheck away from being broke now when i look at those real statistics and then i compare it to deuteronomy 28 12 where it says you will lend to many nations but you will never need to borrow from them one is culture and one is kingdom culture one is i'm in debt up to my eyeballs and one is i'm able to lend and not have to borrow like the reason this is important is is we have to be anchored in our generosity we have to be anchored in our stewardship and i know they make sexy words but they're significant and they're going to be significant to you and the generations to come after you and every year when i ask god how do i represent this how do i show this in a new in a new way and somebody is saying well i've already heard this no baby you haven't heard it with this oil [Music] you haven't heard it with this oil before see you think the information you don't need information you need an impartation you need something to jump out of this screen and get up onto your mind and your life and your thoughts this is fresh oil what we will do at transformation church if you stay with us any length of time we will always give forever truths with brand new revelation we're not trying to trick you into something let me show you something you've never heard there is nothing new under the sun is what my bible says but we want fresh revelation on forever truths and so as i began to think about how i was going to represent this message of a blessed life and i did say a blessed life not a blessed wallet just to make sure you understand this is not about money this is about your life i begin to look at our culture and how everybody is hustling and grinding and positioning themselves and plotting and scheming and manipulating and other people are tired and they're missing out on what really matters and they're forfeiting their family and the holy spirit dropped this term in my mind he said michael they're paper chasers these people are running after something i give to people who are in purpose they're using all their effort or energy trying to catch and randy moth something that i will set in their hands if they would get in my will for their life and then i began to look through scripture and i could not find one significant man or woman of god that god used to their fullest capacity where their priority was the paper where the mountaintop was money where the king was cash where they were committed to the coin he always used people who were committed to the kingdom i'm going to show you my favorite verse in scripture matthew 6 33 what is going to help you but seek first the kingdom of god and his right standing are his righteousness and then i love this part everything else is going to get added like like the money everything else what do you need you need connections you need networking everything else will be added if you would seek everybody shot at me first god doesn't have a problem with paper he just wants priority this is the essence of everything that god is trying to teach us through this series you are paper chasing which makes something else the priority god does not care about paper he has paper the streets of heaven are paved with gold to give us imagery that money don't mean a thing what he's trying to see is where are your priorities and for many of us the paper are above parenting your kids haven't seen you in two weeks they're raised by netflix and youtube disney plus is parenting them the only reason i'm saying this is because somewhere along the way you bought into the lie that the paper was more important than parenting and because you can take them to disney world now somehow that's going to make up for the affirmation that they need from you being there when they fall some of you have bought into the lies ah i gotta come straight for it today because there are people right now that are sitting here thinking you're doing the noble thing when god says you've chosen the wrong priority you chose the paper so that you could have a 401k plan to do and ain't nothing wrong with all of that but it's out of priority your marriage is more important than the money and now you're going to lose all of it 10 years from now because you're gonna have to divorce her and you didn't sign a prenup and so she gonna get 50 anyway because you would not be in the place where you put god as the priority so you chose so you chose the avenue where you have to travel every week and now pornography is the priority they want to be fake today and talk about how we have chosen how we look and how people perceive us over the kingdom of god and the purpose he has for us write this point down money should never be the focus it should always be the fruit money should never be the focus it should be the byproduct it should be it should be the thing that comes after the focus that's why that scripture says seek first the kingdom and then i'll make you fruitful seek my purpose for you i'll make you fruitful you want to do what i am a living testimony of when i sacrifice my plan of what i thought i was gonna be and thought i was gonna do and thought what i had to sacrifice god said you did it you sought first my kingdom so you want to be a producer i'll do that too you want to perform on this i'll do that too you want to be an author i'll do that too you want to make a movie that's in the works the y'all don't hear me everybody seek first it's not about paper it's about priority and we got to focus back on our our purpose on what god has called us to do because if if we make money to focus then we get bad fruit that's why people can have 50 million dollars in the bank and kill themselves because if the money was the focus i get bad or rotten fruit and my question to you is money the focus or is it the fruit i can look at your bank account and tell it i can look at your closet and tell it how in the world do you have a mercedes mercedes-benz and no let me stop you don't own a home yet you have a hundred thousand dollar car something's out of you got every new shoe that came out and you still live with your mama something's out of pride you'll stand in line for a video game come on you already know some of you like uh oh jerome that's you oh my god oh my god one that was you last week like you'll stand in line for a video game that will be outdated in a year but you won't honor god with the increase of your hands something is out of pride that's why we can't focus on the money we that has to be the fruit and that's why transformation church is blessed because we decided in the dark when none of y'all was here that we would not focus on finance that finance would be the fruit of what we focused on and do you know what we focus on it's so easy it's in the vision we are representing god to the lost and found for one reason what transformation we gonna focus on transforming people's lives we don't focus on giving people encouragement we're going to focus on giving people jesus we're going to focus on telling people that they can make it we're going to focus on helping homeless people when it's cold outside and be the hands and feet of jesus and if we would focus on that then resources and finances would be the everybody shot at me fruit i'm just asking you to line up with the vision of this house that is the vision of god that we would seek first our focus would be on him first his purpose first and everything else would be planted so i just have a question for you today and it's the title of my message and i can't answer this question for you but you have to answer it for yourself are you a paper chaser are you chasing paper are you using all your effort and energy to go after something that god will give you if you get in the right positioning i can't answer that for you but the thing is if you're in that place i can identify with you because i used to be a paper chaser i used to think that it was my job to provide for me so the gifting and the talent that god gave me was it these are your tools and now go make a name for yourself and even being an african-american male in our culture there are certain things that we are taught that are passed down historically that aren't biblically so what ends up happening is we say stuff like you're a black male you got to work two and three times harder and i got this thing on the inside of me that became very performance based and and and i had to be the best and and walk the best and do the best and outperform and have no sleep and all of those different things and what it ended up doing is robbing me of what i was doing in the moment and god said would you i'm not saying anything's wrong if that's that's how you felt and that's where you've been but i'm saying is it's not biblical and and god challenged me he said would you give me back your wrong ideas and would you let me romans 12 to you could i transform you by renewing your what my that's all i'm trying to do through this series that's why you can't miss one week of paper chasers because all and oh oh i need to tell them give me the dis let me give you the disclaimer for everybody's like i knew i shouldn't have watched this thing all they gonna be doing they're talking about money and i know it's coming they're gonna ask for some money let me help you baby during this series there will be no second offerings we're not in a building campaign we're not asking anybody for any money as a matter of fact because of the generosity of the people who've already bought into the blessed life that are part of transformation nation during this series over the next four weeks we're gonna give away five hundred thousand dollars oh i thought it said in the word that we would lend or maybe we don't need it back so we'll give it to you our culture says we give just to give and not to get and what i'm telling you is i'm not trying to get something from you i'm trying to get something to you we're going to help different organizations and we're going to help different people and we're going to help different ministries there every week we're going to give away money why because i want you to know this is not about us getting something this is about you getting something that can change your family that can change your children that can change the trajectory of your life and something god revealed to me is that you either fall in one of two categories and i don't know where you fall today but i need you to decide so we can move from there you are either a paper chaser or a purpose chaser period poo i thought what they say period poo you're either a purpose chaser or a paper chaser and i don't know when when god showed me that there was this commercial i saw a long time ago it's how i used to be it was um i think it was a geico commercial or something like that and there was this old man that he had uh put he had a dollar on like a fishing line and then he was like um putting it up in front of yeah there it is and the woman is trying to you know she acting like she didn't need it but she like kept chasing after that was me and that's honestly a bunch of y'all right now like i'm chasing i'ma get it i'm gonna get it i'm gonna get it and and and god began to tell me he said michael that is a representation of what many of us look like day after day week after week year after year that we're chasing paper instead of chasing purpose how many of you are doing things that you hate doing because of the paycheck uh-oh i'm getting into deep waters right now how many of us have given up the thing that god told us to do because we didn't see the financial lucrativeness of the in that moment and god said it was six months up the road but i needed you to commit when it looked like nothing so that you could see the benefit you were looking at the seed i was looking at the harvest and right now you can't uh you can't experience what i had for you because you were a paper chaser instead of a purpose chaser transformation church right now did not look like this when god asked me to commit to it y'all wasn't here people was talking about me there was nothing that looked like this led wall we didn't have led lights on our cell phones i'm trying to be practical with you but something in me said i'm not going to chase the paper practically i had skills in my hand that i could have gone and chased paper because people think oh you're a pastor so you had to settle for less than you know i'm saying no no no baby when i was 22 years old i got offered a hundred thousand dollar contract to be able to go produce for a major record company for one year and they were gonna pay me take care of all my room my lodging my boy wherever i was gonna move to new york and and go for a hundred thousand dollars and i had the presence of mine to pray because i got a praying mama and a praying father and i was like yeah i'm gonna do it i didn't even i was engaged to be married to natalie i didn't even talk to her about it because i knew i had to go to god first because i could convince somebody it was god when it wasn't uh oh i just because it's a good opportunity doesn't mean it's purpose just because it looks good and has enough zeros doesn't mean it's god it looks good but it ain't god there are some of us that have chased the paper because it looked good but i had the presence of mind to pray and this is exactly what the holy spirit told me in my quiet time he said if you do this you will be successful but i'll take my hand off of what you're doing the scariest place to be is in a place where god isn't oh that's nasty the scariest place to be is to be in any place that god isn't and that's why we have to decide we're going to be paper chasers and we're going to go after god that's why in luke 16 verse 10 i want you to look at it this is talking about stewardship and why we need to and how we need to it says he who is faithful and what is least is faithful also in much and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust in in in much this means that how you deal with what you got now is a preview of how you're going to deal with whatever you think you're going to have and it says therefore if you have not been faithful in unrighteous mammon underline that word mammon write it down because i'm going to teach you something this is a vocabulary word of the day if you have been if you have not been faithful in unrighteous mammon who will commit to you the true riches and if you have not been faithful in what is another man's who will give you what is your own watch this no servant no person no woman no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other or he will be a paper chaser or a purpose chaser you cannot serve god and mammon now somebody are like okay cool uh yeah god and mammon let me understand because a lot of people translate that you can't serve god and money but it's so much deeper than just money you you can't be a purpose chaser and a paper chaser that word mammon actually is an aramaic word that jesus uses and in only one other time in the scripture like this to directly contrast himself to something else most stuff is not even worth contrasting to god he said i'm so much bigger than everything else that is not even worth the comparison but when it comes to this word mammon he directly wants us to know you cannot serve me and mammon so that means we need to know what mammon is it's an aramaic word that means riches and in er in in syria that was a syrian god that people worship so he was telling them you cannot worship the god of riches and the god of the universe you cannot do it and actually it came from babylon and babylon comes from the tower of babel y'all remember that in genesis 11 where there was a group of people that thought they could in their own power make it to heaven without god and babel if you need to remember how what it is just say it a little differently babble on you ever met somebody who just babbles on and and the word means confusion or sown in confusion babylon was a group of people who felt like they could get to god on their own can i tell you what the spirit of mammon is the spirit of mammon is a belief that we don't need god if we have riches that's what i'm fighting in this series god don't have no problem with paper he has a problem with paper replacing him and some of y'all as soon as you get the check you stop praying and some of y'all as soon as god gave you the house it was no longer holy and as soon as god gave you the relationship your relationship with him cut off you have the spirit of mammon [Applause] it believes that i can do it without god it's an arrogant spirit it's a prideful spirit it's a spirit that's sitting right next to some of y'all as you're watching this right now and it looks to riches and money other than god can i tell you something i found out firsthand and i want you to write this down because i'm telling you from experience mammon promises everything only god can deliver that spirit that comes on us to think that we can make it if we have money we can take care of everything we can do everything we need to we can candle our family we can deal with crisis god says that is not me and that spirit promises what only god can give it promises identity if i got money i'm somebody oh don't act like y'all already know every time we get paid how you feel after you've checked the account and you got a fresh wig or a fresh haircut you like ain't nobody touch me you fancy huh you fancy huh i said hair done nailed it everything you feel so good and i'm not saying there's anything wrong with that but on that day did you pray because two days later when you were scraping and eating ramen noodles you needed god but that spirit of mammon comes to say if i got money if i got things it'll give me identity it tells us that it'll give us security it promises what only god can give it tells us it'll give us significance you ever walked into a place and somebody let you know they was rich without saying nothing [Applause] you you need me like they like [Applause] they let you know why because for some reason they think the zeroes in the bank gave them significance that's the spirit of mammon the spirit of mammon prop promises happiness and only god can give joy see the lie of mammon i'm teaching i feel like teaching today can i teach you the lie of mammon this is why you have to be a purpose chaser not a paper chaser because the lie of mammon tells you if you have more money then people will listen to you some people have been dealing with insignificance and nobody hears me but if i had more money they'd listen to me if you had more money you'd be loved that's the most horrible lie of the enemy just like you are you're loved right now god cannot love you more than he loves you right now you may be far away from him but he's close right up on you right now and all you got to do is turn to him but the culture would allow you to think that if i had mammon money riches that somehow i'll be loved it promises everything it can't deliver on only god can it promise you that you would be accepted can i prove to you that everybody at one place because there's some really self-righteous people that are watching this right now it's like y'all really need help y'all need deliverance god is the supplier let me help you everybody has been influenced by the spirit of mammoth at some point in your life including your pastor let me tell you how cause all of us at some point has said this either i need god to come through or i need somebody to give me some money either i need god to come through or i need somebody to give me some money even if they give you the money you still need god to come through even if you get everything that you need financially you still know who who gave you that breath uh oh oh somebody just breathe in oh money couldn't buy that one who gave you the ability of your limbs money camp but there were people that would pay millions to be able to get another raised hand but my god is the one that supplies all of my needs [Applause] but what i'm trying to tell you is we got to get rid of this spirit we've got to get rid of the spirit of mammon and being a paper chaser and we have to double down and get anchored on being purpose chasers because money is not the answer to your problem god is always the answer to your problem and i know you're saying well pastor mike that's not probably practical i got 145 000 in student loans somebody said that's me all i'm saying to you is when you get that monkey off your back if you've lived long enough you'll realize once that thing is done you will still need god every single day of your life and what people have bought into the lie is that if somehow i have enough i don't need god can i help somebody that's really sitting in a successful place right now and you feel like this word is below you let me help you just because you have experienced prosperity does not mean you're in purpose you can be very successful at the wrong thing oh i know tons of people who are rolling in the dough out of god's will and many of you are sitting here listening to me and you think because you got the degrees you got more degrees than a thermometer you just got your dream job but god told you six years ago that you weren't supposed to be doing that anymore but you kept chasing the paper and because of what your family would think about you and what your culture says and all the things you knew you were supposed to be in a different field but that field didn't pay enough to be able to support the life or the lie you've told yourself all of this time and so now that god is calling you to do something different you don't have the wherewithal to stand up against your own words who said i'll never be able to do this and you made vows and inner vows and promises that didn't line up with your purpose and now you're trapped in a prison that you made with your own words and god's saying my grace is here for you would you divorce the things that you said and find out what i said will you stop chasing the paper and now commit to chasing purpose i think about um our executive pastor over ministries here at the church her name is amberly bell you saw her uh yeah we love amber lee here um i think about her story because um amber lee um is was the most successful real estate broker in all of oklahoma got awards got all kinds of bonuses and all kinds of things and she was successful out of purpose she left security advancement more than enough to when god called her into ministry it wasn't because she hit rock bottom she was at the mountaintop most of us obey god when we hit rock bottom well i guess the best thing is to go back to church why every r b singer want to come back to god after a 50-year career of of being on top and then when you trash now you want to sing in the choir where are the people who have the skills the talent and the giftedness to do it right now but you're saying god i'm not going to chase the paper i'm not going to take my clothes off to be able to give them what they want to sell this i'm going to follow everybody shout at me purpose i know this is unpopular opinion but seeking first the kingdom means you may have to walk away from certain things that look good and amber lee walked away from the paper to pursue purpose proverbs 19 21 you can make plans but it's the lord's purpose that will prevail my question is to you how many of you paper chasers are fighting god right now it must be tiring that must be exhausting to continue to go against knowing that god when you know the integrity of the people that you are working with and you have aligned yourself with doesn't line up what god has called you to but because the check is good you take you keep taking being marginalized you keep taking being talked to down you keep letting your voice be shut down you keep taking sexual harassment you keep going through all these things cause the paper's right and god says stop fighting me many of the plans of a man but it's god everybody shout at me purpose that prevails this is the statement that i want you to hang on to this entire week because i got some more for you next week and some more for you the week after that and some more for you the week after that and all the way to easter i got some more for you okay i want to help you but the paper with no purpose is pointless if you have the paper but you do not have god's purpose it ends up being pointless you can't take it with you i could think about so many celebrities that we have idolized and they have so much paper but they lost sight of purpose and now can the money bring their child back how many lamborghinis can you have to replace the loneliness that you have how many xanax peels and lean do you have to drink how much sorak and vodka do you have to put into your system to have peace enough to go to sleep the paper is pointless if it does not have purpose how many how many inebriated interviews do you have to do how many times do you have to sneak away and go to that website to feel good about yourself for a cert for a moment so you can so you can keep functioning how many things are you doing right now that is just trying to maintain and sustain you outside of purpose god's saying you don't have to live like that could you please just step into purpose because watch this paper follows purpose i don't want to be a paper chaser i want to be a purpose chaser and then the paper chases me you missed it as soon as you get in your spot and do the things that god calls you to do it don't even have to come from your job you might be in somebody's inheritance right now that god has you missed it somebody's been watching you right now somebody said it's me lord somebody's been watching you right now and they've watched how you've done what you've done in a job that didn't pay you what you deserved and they put you in their wheel cause you were in his will [Applause] i wrote this point down like this since december i've been brewing on this series i wrote down paper follows purpose but this morning god changed it up he crossed out paper he said it's not just paper that follows purpose michael i'm bigger than that he said provision follows purpose don't just need money we need provision uh see you want to talk about living the blessed life the blessed life is not just about paper it's about provision it's about my child needs a miracle no amount of money can do that for mj i need god to i'm about to get this is getting personal for me right now i need god as a provider [Applause] i don't need paper i need provision [Applause] and when you're in purpose provision follows purpose stop being a paper chaser be a purpose chaser i feel that things i feel i think so deep in me somebody shout at me provision that's the god we serve [Applause] he is a god of provision somebody needs to hear this because you're facing some things right now that you're trying to figure out and finagle and thinking about going back to some old ways to make a way for yourself but you serve a god of provision god will speak to somebody that you owe and tell them to cancel the debt god we serve a god of shot at me again provision [Applause] see this happened to me a little bit ago and i just connected the dots this morning that many of us need the raven revelation can i give you the raven revelation y'all know my mind work a little differently and i think about stuff a little differently look at luke 12 verse 24 it says look at the raven everybody say raven now don't nobody post no pictures of ravens nobody talks about how beautiful ravens are nobody has a pet raven and i believe this is on purpose in the bible um ravens were considered an unclean bird the least of but god for some reason uses the least of as an example to show his provision to people look at the ravens he says he could have said peacock that's a beautiful bird ain't it yeah some of y'all like a peacock what is the peacock you know the one with the big he could have said a parrot beautiful he could have said a robin gorgeous look at the raven they don't plant harvest or store food in barns for god provides for them god feeds the ravens and then he specifically speaks to you like i'm speaking to you right now and you are far more valuable to him than any birds the raven revelation job 38 41 god's talking to job because he forgot about how good god was and then god gets a little like hold on boy put some respect on my name who provides for the ravens he literally asks job this when their young cry out to god and wonder about in hunger hold on the raven revelation god provided for the dirty bird shout out to ray lewis and the ravens okay he provided for the raven but then job 38 41 says he provides for their children too i'm trying to give you the raven revelation he provided for the raven but he said and who provides for the raven's children and then first king 17 says verse 2 then the lord said to elijah go to the east and hide by kerith brook get in purpose near where it enters the jordan river drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you for i have commanded them to be so blessed that they can provide for you so elijah don't chase provision don't try to get food don't go after the paper go to the purpose i've placed you in go to the brook get to the job go to the website get in the school get to the place of purpose for you to be so elijah went to the purpose placed east of the jordan then the ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and each evening and he drank from the brook the first uber eats in history was a raven and this is the raven revelation that i believe you need to get today that god will provide even if you feel like the least qualified even if you feel like a dirty bird even if you feel like that you're not worthy of it god said i provided for the raven and i provided for the raven's children and i would bless the raven so much that he would be able to provide for my servant i'm trying to tell somebody right now god doesn't just want to give you paper he wants to give you everybody shot at me provision provision follows purpose if you're still struggling to identify the difference between a paper chaser and a purpose chaser i'm gonna give you two examples in the bible and then i'm gonna save the rest for you next week i'm telling you if you miss one week of this message you may be delaying your destiny there are truths that god has given me right here that are going to spark something in you even though it's taken a minute to go in because your heart may have been hard or somebody might have played you in the past or you used to listening to somebody in church that manipulated for money baby they ain't none of that right here all i'm trying to do is get you this message that's going to allow you to live a blessed life and you would get off the treadmill of life and become a purpose chaser instead of a paper chaser matthew chapter 4 verse 18. the title of this is the first disciples now jesus is looking for the people that he gonna rock with for the next three years of his ministry one day jesus was walking along the shore of the sea of galilee he saw two brothers simon also called peter and andrew throwing their nets into the water dang that looks like they were preparing for something for they fished for a living that means they were an entrepreneur like many of you out there they were entrepreneur and they were trying to do something jesus called out to them hey i know you're doing all of that stuff trying to be successful come and follow me and i'll show you how to fish for people this was the invitation to purpose they had a job that was making them paper that's why they did it every day and jesus walks by and invites them to purpose look at their response and my question is will it be your response and they left their nets at once and followed him on the most successful day of whatever you've done if jesus says never do it again and follow me would you follow purpose or would you stay faithful to the paper this is hard like this is introspective this is you having to deal with you this is the metamorphosis and the transformation i had to go through if they give me this but god said no would i follow the paper and hope god would bless it or would i follow purpose write this point down it's going to take crazy faith for you to be a purpose chaser it ain't going to look right i bet all his other fishing buddies that he was like like bro what are you doing we just found our spot where we actually catch and they said no no no no i'ma seek first the kingdom and everything else that i'm looking for is gonna be added and literally this is jesus pattern everybody say pattern see jesus has a pattern to things for purpose chasers if you just get in his word and spend time with him you'll find his pattern right after he asked um simon and peter and andrew to come with him verse 21 a little further up the shore he was doing this as a pattern he saw two brothers james and john sitting in the boat with their father zebedee now he had a family member there that was in the business too i want you to see how difficult this would be and they were repairing their nets that means they were preparing preparing again they were doing what they could do and he called to them too hey come follow me i bet they daddy said boy if you don't sit down [Laughter] this is a family business and ever since you your great-grandpappy was a fisherman and i'm a fisherman and your sons is gonna be that means sometimes to become a purpose chaser you're gonna have to break family norms you may be looked at awkwardly at christmas and easter and thanksgiving to obey god but i promise you when it works out and when god begins to bless you and when things start moving and you actually live the blessed life everybody's story changes i knew it the whole time there was going to be a success we've seen and we know you didn't believe in me but i believe in god and because i believe in god i'm a follow god and i'm not going to chase the paper i'm a chaste purpose [Applause] the disciples were purpose chasers but the sad contrast is god gave the same opportunity to a young man in the bible titled the rich young ruler same exact story in mark chapter 10 verse 17. it says as jesus was starting out on his way to jerusalem a man came running up to him knelt down and asked good teacher what must i do to inherit eternal life he knew that that there was a bigger purpose but jesus was about to test him he said why do you call me good jesus asks only god is truly good but to answer your question you know jesus is such a gangster he just be throwing stuff in that don't have nothing to do with what you're talking about he was like only god is good but anyway um just to answer your question he said you know the commandments right you must not murder you must not commit adultery you must not steal you must not testify falsely you must not cheat anyone you must honor your father and mother teacher the man replied i've obeyed all these commands i've been religious my whole life [Music] i've read the youversion bible app i'm a faithful member at transformation church looking at the man jesus felt genuine love for him there is still one thing that you haven't done he told him all right this is this is going to be easy for you go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven then come and what did he tell the disciples follow me this was his invitation to purpose like god's inviting you to purpose right now it's the same thing he asked the disciples but look at the response difference at this the man's face fell and he went away sad for he had many possessions for years i used to think that this story was about if god is going to use you in a great way you needed to be poor god had no problem with this man's possessions he had a problem of the priority that those possessions had in that man's life can i say it to you there are things that god has no problem and i'm not talking no prosperity gospel i'm not saying that you're going to get a car or a house or i'm not saying all of that i'm just saying to you god has no problem with giving you the paper he has no problem with you owning possessions his only problem is when the possessions on you this young man he didn't even try because he knew he had a lot and a lot had him write it down in a point god is not concerned with possessions he's concerned with priority i keep saying the same thing some of us your houses you don't own the house the house owns you some of you your shoe collection you don't own that the shoe collection owns you if god told you right now to give every one of your shoes away you would leave the faith that's simple is that all it would take is god asking you to downgrade your home right now so you could save more and be a good steward and you would say god would never take that from me because it was a blessing ask abraham will god ask back for what he gave you as a promise he he waited 25 years for isaac and then he said give him back uh oh oh but abraham was a purpose chaser he wasn't going after the thing god gave him he wanted god and because he could have god god said send the rambam and he made a way for him not to sacrifice what he has been promised because he was willing to give it up for purpose what are you willing to give up to stay in the purpose god has for you i will no longer be a paper chaser i'm going to be a purpose chaser some of you don't own investments your investment's on you you don't have no vacation home your vacation home owns you you don't own no louis vuitton purse that louis vuitton purse owns you you'll give up a friendship over you thinking somebody took your bag i'm in your business there are people right now that have makeup collections that are more important than the people god surrounded you with you don't own mac or fenty they own you you don't own social media accounts the monetization owns you you have given up your character to make some coins you literally are exposing everything that has been laid up for the man of god or the woman of god you're supposed to be with for a few thousand dollars your great-grandchildren will see this [Music] and have to reconcile how the person who in a different season is now telling me to live a different way they gave up the cookie for some coins can i be that real it might mean i don't know it i'm not saying you are but it might it might mean you're a paper chaser my last point would you be willing to part with the possessions to follow purpose would you this is what god had to ask me that's what god had to that's what god had to literally challenge me with michael i want you to be a pastor is this your purpose for me god pastors is broke father is this your purpose for me like pastors don't seem to really enjoy their lives is this your purpose for me god he said yeah it's your purpose for me how you want me to do it represent i want you to represent it i want you i want you to be in a place where you are so committed to purpose in my kingdom that everything that happens after it there's no way i knew that relationship goals was going to be a number one new york times bestseller i would have never written a book had i not preached a message had i not been a pastor had i not said yes to god in a best western in 2014 at 2 a.m all of those steps were purpose that now has the paper chasing me i will never lie to you my entire financial situation has changed after god allowed me to release that book and i will i will i will forever y'all know i'm i'm i am so authentic like i am debt free now i have i have no y'all don't y'all won't even rejoice with me like it was you two years ago that wasn't my testimony this past year i paid off my house i was eight y'all don't hear me i'm telling you i'm teaching this from proof i'm not teaching it i paid off my house i was able to bless somebody very close to me to be able to for the down payment on their own home god has allowed me to bless the people around me not because i chased paper it's because i settled into purpose and today all i wanted to do to start this series out is invite you to a blessed life where you get off the treadmill of chasing paper chasing mammon chasing identity and significance and you come to the place where you say god i'm a double down on purpose god has no problem with paper if it's in the right priority under him you can't serve no man no woman no pastor no leader no celebrity no star no president no government official no one can serve god and mammon but do you know what i love about god is he's full of grace that even when you're a paper chaser his love still looks at you in the best light did y'all see it in verse 21 it says jesus looking at the man what did jesus feel jesus felt genuine love for that man huh i came to tell you right now if this message has exposed we ask one question are you a paper chaser and if this message exposed that you are a paper chaser that's somewhere in your heart you have made money and riches more important than god in your life your your actions reflected your lifestyle reflects it maybe you don't say it out loud but that's what you feel internally if that's you i want to let you know one thing so strongly i hope you hear this more than anything else god loves you this young man was a paper chaser and would walk away from purpose but when god looked at him the only thing he could see was love for him and this is your invitation into transformation i'm believing that over this next four weeks that every place on the inside of us that still has a little chase you might not be sprinting yeah come on let's be honest some of y'all used to be sprinting for the people now you're just fast walking you don't say y'all know how people be you know walking but every little bit of strife i'm praying that god would give us the pace of grace to say if this is where you want me if this is where you want me to steward if the average salary of a teacher is only this in my area but i know i'm purpose to be there if a medical technician only makes this father if you're asking me to come out of this position and serve these people who can't pay me at this moment i'm deciding that i'm going to seek first your kingdom your purpose your plan i got plans but it's your purpose that will prevail so i'm gonna stop fighting you and today god i'm committing i will no longer be a paper chaser i know this one is going to be a uprooting for some of you because this is why you put the career that you have and this is why you went and got all those degrees and this is why you told your parents that you was going to buy them this and do all of that and god's saying would you just submit that back to me for a second and make a decision that you would commit i'll no longer be a paper chaser i'm gonna be everybody say a purpose chaser hands lifted all over the world i feel the presence of god somebody's heart is changing right now somebody somebody your parents heart is not changing but you're a child in the room and you're making a decision right now you're saying i'm not gonna have this same thing who are the joneses then why are we keeping up with them i am going to do what god has called me come on hands lifted father in the name of jesus i pray that the same audacity the disciples had to say whatever you want us to do god we'll follow you i pray that over every person that is listening to me right now father god the lies that the spirit of mammon has tried to convince us of father god that somehow if we have money we don't need you i bind that spirit in the name of jesus and i release the spirit of trust and dependence on our provider the one who sees and meets every one of our needs i declare and believe that today father god is just the first step in people's minds hearts and lives being unlocked to live a blessed life i declare father oh in the name of jesus that people would become so enamored with purpose that it wouldn't matter how much paper and father i thank you by your grace you would allow the paper the resources the connections the networking father everything that's added father i thank you that it would be added because they sought first the kingdom let matthew 6 33 rise up on the inside of your church father let us know you as elijah know you father god as one that believed you to provide father let us get the raven revelation that father if you provide for things that are least in us god how much more will you do for us god i thank you for the person who's facing eviction right now yeah let's be real i thank you for the person father whose car is getting repossessed right now i pray father that people know that at the most embarrassing darkest deepest moment of their financial crisis you look upon them with love and you don't see them for the debt they made because you were the god that paid the debt for us and so father right now i thank you oh that somebody will receive your love because of what you did on the cross by stretching out for us father god every mistake we would make financially every credit card we would max every wrong decision that we would do father you're not looking at us waiting for us to fix that on our own but you are the god that cares about the details of our life father god and you're the one that wants to get down in that thing with us if we would allow you to and god i'm thinking that our heart is open to invite you into everything father god so that we can truly live a blessed life and walk in stewardship and generosity i speak it by faith that every person that gives this word a space excuse me priority in their life in the next season of their life they will reap a harvest that was sown in preparation [Music] thank you for being our provider we trust you we believe you we need you we honor you and we thank you for being good in jesus name everybody say we agree we expect amen i need all my purpose chasers to give god a shot of praise in the building and all over the world hallelujah hey listen if you're watching this right now and your heart started moving all that is is god just knocking at the door and he wants to come in and help you when i talk about god being a provider he's already provided everything you need for eternal life this young rich ruler was saying how do i inherit eternal life christ hadn't died yet if you're asking that same question how do i inherit eternal life god says i already provided it all you have to do is believe and receive say that believe and receive today i want to offer you jesus i want to give you the opportunity to accept jesus christ as your personal lord and savior and be the provision that i needed that pastor amber lee needed that pastor bree needed i want you that i want you to receive the ultimate provision it's the thing that took me from being a liar a manipulator addicted to pornography somebody who had so many dark places in their heart somebody who was greedy just five six years ago like i told y'all this was a progression for me but god's saying i'll get in there with you i don't care if it's dirty i'll help you clean it up if you want to invite the holy spirit god and jesus into your life we're about to say a prayer and on the count of three i feel this i need y'all to pray i feel that many people god's going to use a series about generosity and stewardship to bring people to salvation i feel this thing right now there are people you need to share this with because this is going to be the thing that draws them into the kingdom if it's you i want to say today is the day of salvation not tomorrow not next week that's not promised to us but everybody say today and i believe that god has aligned your life to be at this moment right here at this time i don't care how you get got here i don't care what you were doing who you were sleeping with who you were smoking with i don't care what happened yesterday right now this is your moment i don't care how much pride has been in your life how much you've been chasing paper god looks on you with love and says could you receive it and today on the count of three if that's you and you say pastor i want to be added into that prayer i want you i want to pray the prayer of salvation i want to make sure my eternity is secure i want you to slip your hand in the air i don't care who's with you i don't care who's around you they're not going to stand before you with god it'll be you and him and and i believe that somebody's about to make a decision for their eternity one this is the greatest decision you could ever make two i am so proud of you but more than that your name is gonna be written in the lamb's book of life three i dare you to just shoot your hand up all over the world yeah shoot it up come on there are people here rejoicing with you glory to god hey if that's you we're about to pray a prayer in transformation church you already know the drill nobody prays alone here we're a family we're an army we we are we are all a part of this thing so we're gonna all say this prayer out loud for the benefit of those who are coming to christ would you just lift your hands right now [Music] say lord thank you for sending jesus as my provision today i admit that i need you as my lord and savior i believe you lived and you died just for me so today i give you my life i'm chasing purpose with you change me renew me transform me i'm yours in jesus name amen can we give god oh come on all over the world let's give god a shout of praise you know heaven is turning up right now [Music] more than any amount of money god rejoices over one soul and so we rejoice with you hey listen if you just made that decision we want to walk with you i feel the presence of god y'all i'm so proud of you we want to walk with you would you text the number on the screen and i want you to just text it because we're not going to harass you we're going to help you we're going to send you resources you're going to get some messages from me and pastor natalie we're going to we're going to just we're going to help you because it takes a journey it took you years to get to where you at it's going to take you um time to get into a new space but we're going to be here my my promise to you as a church is we'll always be here to help you and remind you that it's about progression not perfection we're going to challenge you to go to the deep and we're going to stay anchored on the word of god i love you i believe in you and i'm so excited for you y'all [Music] this just week one by the end of this will be an army of purpose chasers that know how to steward over what god has placed in your hands right now and it's going to qualify us for so much more in a blessed life father i pray for everybody that watch today i thank you father no matter if they're watching live or watching on rebroadcast that your same holy spirit would invade their space on the track on the treadmill father god in their kitchen in the living room father in their car i thank you father that you are changing their hearts father god and you are making them purpose chasers i declare this will be the best week of our life any bad news is just an opportunity for you to be provider i thank you father that you're moving us into a place of deeper and we will stay anchored in you as we trust you in jesus name we pray everybody say amen go out and live a transformed [Music] life you

Channel: Transformation Church

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Keywords: Transformation Church, Represent, Michael Todd, Mike Todd, Transformation Church live, Transformation Church Worship, Charles Metcalf, Sunday Service, Holy Spirit, Faith, God, Jesus Christ, transformchurchtv, representtv, money, dollar bills, cash, cash rules everything around me, paper chasers, budget, investing, finance, stewardship, purpose, chasing money, debt, debt statistics, provision, crazy faith, possessions

Id: kfy3MchEfoQ

Length: 84min 31sec (5071 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 28 2021