Session 2 - God's Power to Create Wealth

all right here we are Session two no one can take better care of you than dad so these first three sessions are going to be laying a foundation the final four sessions are going to be teaching you how to actually grow wealth so I feel like so much of the teaching of the church has been saying God wants you to prosper but not teaching you how to prosper so actually the final four sessions are going to tell you how to sound good we got to take care of this stuff or none of this stuff the Bible says about finances will work for you so we've got to take care of this stuff okay so session 1 we're just trying to get you a mind back trying to get you a line and get you I wanted to release massive hope that wow God really does have financial prosperity for me what does that look like like I said let's explore it together I'm not willing to put limits on it but I gave you my definition of prosperity here we go Session two so they've done studies and they found that there's actually something they refer to as joy centers of the brain and so this it's a part of your brain that actually gets activated and it's actually developed in childhood so here's how these centers it actually from like the smiling faces are the parents and the grandparents so there's something about like getting in a child's face and like the wrinkling of the eyes when you smile and the and the googoo gah-gah baby talk there's actually something that gets developed in children that they call join centers it tells me why so many Christians do not have joy it's because they've never seen the smiling face of their father upon them but here's a prayer to straighten that whole thing out so I'm sixty said well guys we're just going for it here alright so I'm 67 one and two may God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us have you ever seen a beaming grandparent looking at their grandchild that's the shining face so you're saying God let me see that shiny face you ready here's the reason that your way may be known on earth your saving power among all nations getting I don't know about you that to me it sounds like revival it's actually legal to pray a prayer asking for blessing I think one of the most selfish things that Christian can do is not to seek God's blessing okay again like I said what if prosperity isn't optional you're actually required to be blessed if the world only sees us having our needs met then they'll never have an abundance of a abundant father I'm sorry they'll never have a revelation of an abundant father no one's gonna know what dad's really like if we're just squeaking by it so David prays this prayer may God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us why so that people will know what you're like that your way may be known on earth your saving power among all nations people lack a knowledge of the goodness of God so our added you to attitude needs to be God put your hand of blessing on me so that people will see what a good guide you are not so that I can indulge all these selfish stars but you actually owe the world a life that's blessed so they'll see what dad's really like I don't know Jim that sounds to me like a bless me club well I don't see anywhere in the Bible we're part of a curse me club and what's the problem with a blessed me club because when Christians get blessed we've become a bigger blessing the Bible says blessed to be a blessing which means are you ready for this revelation you first must be blessed you were obligated to be blessed I'm not talking about building your own Empire again prosperity is not measured primarily in dollars dollars are a byproduct of a person who has this thing right in their heart its measured in favor of wisdom strategies open doors relationships part of your blessing is going to be learning how to enjoy the material world the material wealth that God brings you the religious spirit acts like you have to give everything away as soon as it comes a part of it you we're gonna we're gonna cover this in another session we look at bread and seed so I'll save it for that Bill Johnson has a great quote you can either use a blessing to shape the course of world history or build a golden calf God is looking for people who love not the world so he can give them the world only those who have a greater affection for his world can be entrusted with the goods of this one do I need to say any of that again again then what if the greatest revival that would ever hit planet Earth is gonna come because of God's goodness upon his people I've got a verse coming up that actually hints at that Jim the Lord is interested in evangelizing the nations and missions that's true you'll just have a louder voice if you're blessed I'm not sure if you notice but most of Columbus is not here this morning okay they're not coming to church the way they're going to be Reach is you going in shining we can talk about God in His goodness but they need to have an encounter with a person who's walking as goodness so they go ah that's what gods like okay so his kids actually want to hang out with them even though they're old enough to not have to oh there's a husband and wife that they look like they're growing more in love this person is going through a difficult time and they have a joy what do they know that I don't know why is it in a down economy this person's business continues to thrive oh the reason God blessed Israel was because he loved the Gentiles the relationship there were to be a light to the nation's and so here's what that means is they were to say hold on how come your crops never fail how come you always have pure drinking water how comes you how come your women never have miscarriages I'm the Lord your healer I will remove sickness and disease from its how come your people walk in divine health gang that was an Old Covenant promise when you love to at least give up to Old Covenant level blessing Hebrew says you have a new and better covenant with better promises Old Covenant promise says this Deuteronomy 28 to all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you I'm not sure if you've ever been like driving in a car and like a semi-truck you know passenger you can just kind of get caught in the wake of it you're being overtaken by a truck that's the picture of blessings guys blessing is not my idea it's a God's idea we're not trying to convince him he's trying to convince up us all these blessings come upon you and overtake you so that the world would say oh that's what he's like okay he's a good father it's an amazing prayer God let your face shine upon me because if you don't they're not gonna know what you're like but if they do they're gonna learn what you're like and then salvation will come upon the nation's here's my declaration over Columbus Jeremiah 33 9 and this city shall be to me a name of joy a praise and the glory before all the nations of the earth are you ready for this how's this gonna happen who here of all the good that I do for them they share fear they shall fear and because of all the good and the prosperity I provide for it can I get an amen in the house are you kidding me the nations would fear and tremble because of God's goodness upon our lives in the prosperity he provides for us religious spirit take that here's the key to the whole thing Matthew 6:24 it won't work if we don't get this I believe this is the number one thing holding back believers from walking God's prosperity you ready for this Matthew 6:24 no one can serve two masters he didn't say hey good luck trying or is gonna be difficult he says it ain't happening for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to one and despise the other you cannot serve God and Mammon some of your translations may say money if you look at there would be a little footnote there and it'll say that's actually the word Mammon so before I get to the word mam and I want to get to this either he will love the one and hate the other devoted to one and despise the other if you do not have the issue of money settled in your heart every time a preacher talks about money you're gonna be sitting there churning why because you love money and you hate the thought of someone trying to take your money which preachers aren't trying to take your money that's just a deception if so a preacher gets up there and talks about you know love and identity and grace yes yes yes money oh I don't know about this okay it's because you don't have the issue settled in your heart when the issues settle in your heart like this is amazing how can I find out more about what God has for me so I can be a bigger blessing okay so if you're sitting here with that we're gonna deal with that we're gonna get to the root of it you cannot serve God and Mammon so what is Mammon Mammon was the demon god of Syria whose name meant the power of riches so here Jesus is contrasting there's the true God and there's this pot there's a spiritual power behind money that tries to get you to look to money the same way that you're supposed to look to God somebody give you an example if you begin to feel more secure about yourself and your self-esteem is bolstered when you have more money in the checking account that's the spirit of a man because your security supposed to come from God not the size of your nest egg maybe if I feel better more secure more safe because I know that there's money in my checking account that's the spirit of Mammon because my security comes from my source not my resource bill Johnson asked this question how much money is too much it's whatever replaces trust for some people it's a hundred bucks for someone's a hundred million and whatever that level is you just leveled off at your level of trust right there you cannot trust God for more so what's it look like to serve Mammon okay Mammon uses deception there's not gonna be a demonic force it's like hey I'm the spirit of Mammon like bow down to me and I'll give you all this stuff no no that's not how it works okay it's again it's gonna use greed and fear and they both say the same thing there's not enough fear there's not enough greed there ain't enough I need more okay so um so let me I'm gonna read some popular Bible verses but I'm gonna see what the spirit of Mammon would have you say about them where does my help come from my help comes from money money is my shepherd I shall not be in want when I have enough of it when I have money it makes me lie down in still waters even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I've have money it comforts me money is an ever-present help in time of need money gives me peace that passes understanding my money shall supply all my needs my people perish for a lack of money a day in the mall is better than thousands elsewhere see behind me I've said that line so many times I still have to laugh at it behind Mammon is this lie listen God takes care of those super Saints like Billy Graham Bill Johnson and Bill Vander Bush how Bill's listening this he takes care of those super Saints but you know what it doesn't really work for you so what you need to do is you need to spend a lot of time and effort worrying about money you spend a lot of effort figuring out how am I gonna get more money that's the spirit of Mammon he says you cannot serve God and Mammon so when um so here's what giving looks like for the spirit of Mammon I'll give but only because the preachers convinced me that if I give it then I'm gonna get a hundredfold return on it because I can't afford to let this thing leave my hand here's what it looks like a conferences is that someone will go and buy products at the table but they won't even pray about whether or not they're supposed to be given an offering that's gonna go feed the poor because Mammon I'm getting something because I can't afford to let this stuff go so what does it look like to serve Mammon you cannot serve God and Mammon the very next verse tells us verse 25 Matthew 6:25 therefore I tell you do not be anxious about your life what you will eat or what you will drink nor about your body what you will put on is not life more than food in the body more than clothing anxiety and worry are to the spirit of Mammon what praise and worship are to the one true God when you get worried and stressed out about money you are bowing your knee to the spirit of Mammon and saying I give you my heart I give you my soul I know I can't sing but you get the point you're literally worshiping the Spirit of Mammon with your fear and anxiety you're letting your your heart get caught up into an inferior Kingdom fear is faith in the devil worry is a fourth form of atheism because you're imagining your future without God faith is imagining your future with God Bobby Connor says this worry is a sin to be repented of not an emotion to be medicated listen gang God's a super natural cannot flow into a life filled with fear and worry period until we get this thing broken off it's so normal all the price of gas Oh what's going on with North Korea huh I mean just like looks like there's a stock market crash coming and listen there's gonna be one eventually someone's gonna finally be right I will say this some I've lost more money waiting for the stock market crash and I think I would have lost any stock market crash it's called gambling not investing but we'll get to that later no one can predict the future you don't need more money you need a greater relationship with the source and until you're convinced of that you have the spirit of Mammon on your heart don't you love those Old Testament prophets I mean they had it rough I mean I most guys had it rough Isaiah walked around naked for three years you guys have heard me say this before I'm I don't take my swim I don't think my shirt off at the swimming pool I had nobody needs to see that III say like this you know you don't get a body like this overnight it takes years of neglect I remember we had an Easter play there now we're on staff at a church with thousands and an Easter playing the Jesus guy who's playing Jesus had some issues and and so they're kind of like short notice and they're like hey you know Jim we know it's mostly Scripture we know you probably got it memorized well you play Jesus I'm like listen if Jesus can get crucified with a baggy sweatshirt on fine but I ain't taking off my shirt walked around naked for three years Hosea married Gomer a prostitute and like dude her name is Gomer like like that should have been your first clue that things were about to go bad my apologies any gomers in the audience Ezekiel had to cook his food over his own dung which is hilarious when you're in junior high but when you're an adult I mean that's you can see why the church has been a nonprofit organization for so long right so we got Elijah Old Testament prophet man God has him do crazy stuff so guys says Elijah I want you to prophesy a famine he's like I'm an Old Testament prophet we live for prophesying famines this is great what do you I'm gonna do it and he said I want you to do it in the land you're living in you serious pendant like the Philistines or Samaritans alright so he prophesized the famine he says don't worry about it I'm gonna I'm gonna send you to the brook Cherith and then I'm gonna have all Amazon now bring you food every single today there's gonna be special delivery and everything is going great and then the brook dried up his resource to provision dried up what do most Christians do when the brook dries up they start freaking out this stuff doesn't work the preacher lied where's God dah dah dah I give you my heart you're worshiping the Spirit of Mammon and you're complaining to all your friends trying to get on the prayer list what happened his resource of provision changed his source of provision did not change do not confuse the source with the resource your resource is gonna change many times during your life there used to be your parents and your job you're gonna have her time you got all these different things your resources gonna change when you understand this you can literally walk into your job tomorrow have your boss hand you a pink slip and your blood pressure not grow up because you got this understanding no one can take better care of me than dad here's what God says um don't worry I've got a plan I want you to go to the city of Zarephath and find a widow ally just like Lord did you say window like like is this like a window of blessing no Elijah she's a widow is Widow like the last name of like a Boaz type person you know like someone with like great means Noel I just she's a widow see widows in those days were not a great resource of provision they're resource had dried up it was their husband there wasn't like a lot of female entrepreneurs on Shark Tank back in the ancient Near East they weren't a whole lot more empowered then than they are now in the Middle East by the way is interesting crisis continually tried to unveil his bride while Islam is trying to mask her anyway but I'm not here to talk about that but it's my seminar so thank you so logic goes to Zarephath and he finds this wood oh and it says what it says she's foraging through the rubble to find enough sticks to make a little fire that ain't a good sign so Elijah comes ernie says i'm hate bake me a cake as fast as you can right and she's like what hey this isn't really a good time right now we just got enough flour and oil for me and my son we're trying to get enough sticks together so we can bake it and then she makes this final decoration we're gonna bake it so that we can die mmm that's not a good sign and so I'm expecting at this point the story Elijah's gonna take up an offering using me like listen let's find some people a means in the city let's take up an offering for this Widow and so he does take up an offering for himself you guys remember this oh my just says go ahead and make the cake bring it to me that I might eat of it can you just see the head of the Columbus Dispatch headlines prophet of God takes a last meal from Widow I'm telling the prophets they had it rough okay what's going on here um God was not after her flour and oil the Prophet was not after her flour and oil her eyes were on her resource the spirit of Mammon had got ahold of her heart and said your life is dependent by what's in your hand he knew that if he could get her eyes off with a resource on to the source then God's supernatural provision could come and sustain her through the famine guys God ain't after your money he's not broke he's not in a recession when you do things apart from God you're in a recession because it's up to you nobody can take better care of you than dad and Mammon puts this deep fear in your heart God's not gonna take care of you and he tries to remind you of experiences of lack that maybe you grow up in or maybe that you've experienced he tries to get you to normalize that don't try to figure out your theology from your lack okay none of us have experienced God's bless 100 God's best 100 percent of the time okay so let's get his standard let's walk towards that when someone fall let's fall forward on this thing let's not create a theology out of our disappointments so I'm gonna give you a 15-second sermon everything I'm going to say is true knit you've heard it all a million times from preachers and yet it won't work for you when the spirit of Mammon comes and twisted okay you guys ready for this three-part sermon I might start with a question how we need her anymore finances Francis point number one poverty and lack are not God's will absolutely true just did a whole session on it on the beginning to teach the principles of sowing and reaping if you so generously your finances are like a seed you're planting on the ground you will reap a harvest generously absolutely biblical true it begins to talk about you can have a thirty sixty a even a one hundred fold return on your finances Bible teaches that okay what's the problem here the problem is when the spirit of a Mammon gets on it it reverses my relationship with God so that instead of God being the master and me being his servant I'm now the master and I'm using God to try and get me more money so giving me comes how can I get God to give me more money because that's what I need to fob feel secure that's the spirit of Mammon well Jim if you've got a need you sow a seed Jesus actually taught the opposite the next verse in Matthew 6:26 just because it rhymes doesn't mean it's biblical okay look at the birds of the air they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns how do most people do it sowing and reaping or hoarding and yet your heavenly Father feeds them are you not have more value than they provision doesn't come to you because you did something amazing provision comes you because God loves you more than birds you ever seen a bird have Anna's ayat II attack out there lately nope just Christians if ever a headline of millions of birds die of starvation this year no and you never will because somehow in the inside they've got innate that nobody can take better care of me than dad and he does Jesus is saying how much more confident listen if you're having a bad day about your finances go outside if the birds are still alive you're gonna be just fine if the Sun still rises lamentations 3:23 His mercies are new every morning why I blew it yesterday up the sun's coming up there's a fresh start I can step into a flesh flow fresh flow of grace that's available for me today when a Christian worries they haven't heard the news they have not heard the good news that you have stepped into another realm and in this realm you have a father who looks after your needs I remember I was teaching this series a design if you listen to the 18 part series you can get it the 18 part series I I think it was week two or three where I got we have a rental property in North Carolina and the tenant calls me and he says the foundation of the house is crumbling is going to take between 30 and 50 thousand dollars to fix it now there was nothing about that sentence that I enjoyed I'm not a structural engineer or anything I'm like this does not sound good this sounds bad if you guys were here five years ago I stood up and I said listen gang I don't have the 50 grand to fix this problem but I guarantee you by the end of this series which I thought was gonna be four weeks later allows gonna be a six-part series I guarantee you by the end of this series this whole problem be fixed because nobody can take better care of me than dad and God give me this this phrase God is the sneakiest person in the universe I can't wait to see what he does here's where financial freedom comes it comes when you turn your finances over to God hey Mary Ann I had taken that house and we said father this is yours and so I thought well what's God going to do with his house do you see I'm not talking like some some technique I'm just making something up in our hearts we had said father everything we have is yours so God what are you gonna do with your house so um had a friend go and I'm like hey could you just go and check out this property and yeah I really I really need a miracle and so he went he went there he came up with a solution that was five hundred dollars it was a permanent fix and the tenant paid for it mm by the way since then this renter has put a two-car garage in the property he put a several thousand dollar screened-in back porch on the property and repave the driveway three pavers one-third concrete one-third pavers yay God Jim will you find me those tenants I'm not in that business get this phrase in your heart god you're the sneakiest person the universe listen what if you just decided that you are going to make trusting God the most enjoyable thing ever God we're gonna go on an adventure I can't wait to see who you're going to be for me listen when difficulty comes in your life that is a stepping stone into your destiny you don't just go from listen Bishop Garlington says this you go from glory to glory but it's hell on the hallway they don't just go from one amazing encounter to the next thing remember in the Captain America movie well let's just remember it let's just say in the count of three what his shield is made out of one two three vibranium thank you hardly anyone ever knows that vibranium it's a it's a it's debated in the Marvel Universe whether it's the hardest substance or adamantium which is Wolverines claws and so um if you remember don't make me get out and you hear I can go deeper if you remember in the movie Captain America he gets the shield but he doesn't really know about vibranium what it's about and so he's arguing with us our agent Carter and she takes out a gun and she fires it into the show boom boom boom but brain iam has the ability to absorb any amount of energy it just completely dissipates it okay and so he didn't know but now that he had that experience he knew what the shield can do and so in the next scene he's going after the Nazis he's throwing the shield he's just going off because by experience he knew what it could do God is going to bring Giants into your life so that you can slay them not so they can defeat you he will never allow you to encounter an enemy that you are not fully equipped to win in so you're facing a difficulty good God's trying to get you to put on your big-boy pants and your big girl pants and grow you out to be a warrior I just felt good to say it wasn't in the notes Bible says we gotta become like little children so um there's a little one over there sleeping Hannah's arms you know what I don't see I don't see Roman over there wondering how he's gonna pay for college he's not freaking out over what he's gonna eat is there enough is there enough food in the house he's asleep he's asleep in Mom's arms okay he says you got to become like little kids god I don't know where how it's gonna happen I'm not talking about imagination I'm talking about we are in a different realm and to believe is to act as if it were so not to throw something a wishing well I hope this works it's like no no I've entered a different reality and I can bet my life on it Bible calls that faith sometimes we'll have a will have a let me just say this if my child would let's say there were five years old they came to me they said dad I gave away 10% of my sandwich at lunch can I have dinner I would be a horrible father and yet this is the picture that religion has painted of God if you don't tithe I mean he's gonna send the Devourer he's gonna send guido them from the Mafia to break your kneecaps he's God the Father and not the Godfather you don't need to pay the hush money so that the Devourer doesn't come and eat your crops new covenant so a lot of times in Zion we'll have a healing line I'll have a bunch of people come for for healing and I'm Erin I've been in situations where like we're one of the only people praying for him usually when we travel sometimes we don't have a big team with us and so as we're going down the line I've never had this happen where I'm praying and I'm like 12 more people I'm afraid of running out of healing anointing I think I've only got enough left over for three because I'm acutely aware when it comes to healing that I am not the source of this thing and yet I will admit there's times when we feel challenged to give away something I thought man how am I gonna pay for this because God still work on that thing on me he wants to get us that point we were recognized he is the source just as much as it comes to healing I got a friend he he's a preacher and he's made millions of dollars preaching at small churches because he's he understands sowing and reaping and giving and all these other things which there's more to it than that we're gonna we're gonna hit the other side of it we're gonna spend three sessions just on the other side of it but um I was talking with him he says Jim I've got millions of dollars in the bank everyone loves that part of story that's amazing here's the next statement and I can't wait for God to ask me to give it all away again I'll have more stories to tell he there's three times in his life where he's giving away everything including his car and didn't have a ride home including his daughters at college didn't how they're gonna make the next payment and yet the the supernatural provision I don't believe God calls everybody to do that I believe he's got a few people that have the gift of giving gift of giving people are gonna get challenged because when things begin to shrink they begin to get nervous because they think that it's up to them and their nest egg when it's not it's a grace of giving there's a flow that comes in people with the gift of giving money seems to hunt you down it just seems to file you just got favored wherever you go and you will level off when you begin to hoard when you begin to withhold and now let things go freely let me read this verse over here we're gonna we're gonna break off some lies here Hebrews chapter 13 verses five and six just close your eyes let me just read this over you let your character or moral disposition be free from the love of money why can you be free from the love of money here's the very next part for God Himself has said I will not in any way fail you nor give up on you nor leave you without support the Greek is so strong it says it three times I will not I will not I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down or relax my hold on you assuredly not here's one want to do I want to I want to do two things here first of all just close your eyes and I want you to ask the Holy Spirit some questions Holy Spirit's gonna give you a word picture or you're just gonna knowing something's gonna happen you guys ready for this Holy Spirit what's the lie I'm believing about my finances holy spirit' what's the line believing about who you want to be for me Holy Spirit what's the truth about my finances Holy Spirit what's the truth about who you want to be for me I'm gonna ask you to take 60 seconds without discussion and maybe just in the space below there just write down some things that God speaking to you so you don't lose it they're going to do one more thing so he can just no discussion till we get past this part you don't want you don't take out those little index cards that are in your table can everybody get those and we're gonna take an offering but we're not gonna take an offering of money we're gonna take an offering of your worries first Peter 5:7 says it says cast your cares on God because he cares for you here's what I want you to do is um I want you to write down what it is that you're worried about it could be it could be finances could be your kids whatever it is and you're recognizing you know what I worrying is a sin I'm we're gonna we're gonna break that spirit of Mammon off your heart and in a second with an Exercise here I want you to take 60 seconds and just what is it that you're worried about and we're going to give that to God we're gonna cast our cares on him okay so take a few moments you you alright here's what we're gonna do is we are going to offer our worries to God so I want you guys if you're still writing this good if you filled up the front and back of a card we're gonna have a special service for you so just some extra prayer are you guys ready to be done with this spirit of Mammon I believe this is the number one thing that's holding about Christians from prospering because God's supernatural cannot flow onto fear and anxiety this is gonna be powerful gang so I'm gonna how we're gonna count to three I'm gonna have you pray first and when you're ready I'm gonna count to three and you're gonna rip that thing and I want the sound of the tearing of these cars to be just like an incense offering to heaven or God it's like man finally and my people are free so just between you and the Lord just if you want to just hold it to your heart and as God I am I'm giving these things to you no one can take better care of me than dad I'm so excited to make trusting you the most wonderful adventure god I'm going on an adventure with you with my finances I can't wait to know you by experience and not just letters on a page in the areas of finances so lord I give you my heart I give you my soul I give you my finances this is just between you and God just give those worries to him breaking the spirit I'm a man off of my heart no one can take better care of me than dad all right you guys ready to break that thing off your life all right get your cards ready Lord we give you this we renounce Mammon we recognize that as a inferior kingdom we've been brought into a whole different realm although we are so excited to see it work in our lives so in the name of Jesus I give you these worries one two three wow that's awesome just go ahead and keep ripping you guys can just go do that stomp on them start a little fire whatever you got to do there I do ask that you throw them away on the break are there any questions about the material just covered before we break questions comments accusations of heresy anybody okay you know what they wanted me to give away a book is there anyone here who's who's a false prophet I'm just kidding I saw that hand you want it come get it hey I like hunger man you got a-you know who you are that's good you know here's it yeah sorry I I usually say something like that when I'm traveling to give it away and then no one raised their hand I'll say well is anyone here with a Jezebel spirit no so his lady raised her hand for the Jezebel spirit and then she she comes down and gets it so everyone's laughing it's at the end of service she's like whole life everyone's told me I'm in Jezebel it was we had to like break that offer Mike oh gosh it was supposed to be funny it was a joke it was a joke so anyway so it was a joke she did get set free all right I was like oh it's like people here horrible stories about people and then they hear about a dog oh no it's like hold on there's starving kids over here that day you know anyway so she got set free people all right seven minutes

Channel: Zion Christian Fellowship

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Length: 38min 9sec (2289 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 24 2017