Skip to content Why Should Christians Be Generous Gary Keesee Mar 30 · 23 min ...more
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Fixing The Money Thing with Gary Keesee will educate and equip you to walk out your God-given purpose and provide insights and solutions on the topics of faith and finances.
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0:00 Today on fixing the money thing, a thought provoking way to look at being generous.0:06 Generosity opens the heart of people, and it shows them God's heart. Generosity supersedes words.0:18 Gary lays out0:19 a new way of thinking about the kingdom and the power of generosity today on Fixing the Money Thing. From the Your Financial Revolution series,0:31 the power of generosity.0:36 Being generous is acting like God does.0:43 This is Gary Kazeem.0:55 As you know, I always say buckle your seat belts. It's great to have you here. Great to have you with us right now online. I'm Gary Kasey, and we're gonna jump into our session here this afternoon. And I trust1:07 it'll help you a lot. But, anyway, I got a phrase I wanna get, let you know. First off, taking territory is what we're all about, and just add a hashtag there, a little dot, with God.1:19 Taking territory with God. That's how it gets done. And I wanna give you this phrase you may not have thought about, God needs money. I know you people think, you know, I need God's1:31 money, right? Need God to help me with my money, He wants to, but I want you to understand God needs money. Did you know that? God needs money. He's in a major rescue effort right now. He sent Jesus into the earth1:43 for you, and it takes a lot of money to accomplish that. You know, you're seeing us over TV. We spend millions a year for TV. We're in a building that costs us millions. You probably1:55 drive to work in a car that costs out, I mean, everything costs money. And so, we're gonna talk about that today. Is that okay? Yes. Alright, good. I don't know how many years ago it's been, but we were going2:07 out to dinner and a waitress was very pregnant. You could tell she was due very soon. And I just felt led to give her a very, a large tip. A large tip. And she didn't look2:19 at it, she went back in the kitchen, you know, wherever they got this, you know, tea and coffee and things. She came back out with tears literally shaking and began to thank us for this tip and began to open up to us her2:30 life. Now we did not say anything to her. She opened up her life, the problems she was having, and the need she had in her life, and, you know, the the problems she's having financially. And we got to share Christ2:42 with her, and we got to pray with her. We did not even mention a scripture. We just gave her a tip. And I wanna talk to you about being generous. I wanna talk to you about2:54 generosity and how it opens the heart of people and the goodness of God. You know, my dad never said once that I can ever remember that he loved me growing3:05 up. It was not until I was 27 years old, when I was graduating from college, that my mother insisted that my dad tell me that3:17 he loved me. He couldn't do it. My mother is saying, you you mean you can't even tell your own son that you loved him? My dad, he wouldn't say it.3:29 Finally, in desperation, my mom in tears, my dad finally said that he loved me. Now, didn't count that 1. It was good to hear it, but I didn't count it, you know. I just, you3:41 know, I didn't count it. But after we were married, we had some bills we couldn't pay. We had an IRS bill I couldn't pay, and I was nervous about it. You know, we're newly3:52 married. I didn't understand business really and taxes. And I owed 4000 dollars to the IRS. At that time, that was a ton of money. Just, I didn't have it. At that time, we were going home to visit4:04 Ohio, visit my parents, and my dad asked how I was doing, and I mentioned the IRS bill. And my dad very casually said, that's not a problem. He pulled out his4:16 checkbook and wrote a check out for 4000 dollars and handed it to me, and he says, as long as I have it, you know, I'm willing to help. That took me4:27 so off guard. I remember that day that in tears I realized my dad loved me. You know, my dad never expressed his love with4:39 words, but he would occasionally you could see glimpses of his heart. And when he wrote that check out, that generosity, I saw my dad's heart.4:50 Generosity lets you see the person's heart. It opens people up. I saw my dad's heart. Romans chapter 2 verse 4 says this, or do you show contempt for the riches5:02 of God's kindness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended, pay attention to that, is intended to lead you to repentance?5:15 Now think about what God's saying. His goodness is to lead you. It's intentional. His goodness is intentional to reveal God's heart. Like my dad on that5:27 day, he couldn't tell me he loved me, but he was generous and I saw my dad's heart. In fact, that day, I felt a love for my father, you5:38 know. His generosity touched my heart and made me have a greater love for him. And so being generous, write this down, being generous is5:50 acting like God does. Being generous is acting like God does. Now, I'm teaching out of my brand new book today. It's the fifth in the series of the Financial Revolution Series,6:02 which I believe has gone around the world. So it's it's available right now. If you like a copy, I want to just let you know, I'm releasing it as we speak right now, my6:14 fifth book. But anyway, second Corinthians chapter 5 says, we are therefore Christ's ambassadors as though God were making his appeal6:25 through us. Now, an ambassador, you probably know what an ambassador is. Definition of an ambassador is a diplomatic official of the highest rank appointed, accredited as representative by 1 government to another6:37 sovereign government. An authorized messenger or representative. Now we are representing the kingdom of God. We are ambassadors in this earth realm,6:49 and as so, we should act as God does. We need to be generous. We need to represent his heart towards people. When people think of you, they7:01 should think of a generous person. They should think of people being of of you being generous. Unfortunately, lot of people can't be generous. 577:13 percent of people don't have 1000 dollars in the bank. 57 percent. 44 percent cannot pay 400 dollars a month, 400 dollar just cash. 23 percent7:25 of Americans are not even paying their monthly expenses or falling further and further in debt every month. America is in trouble financially. You know, there are traps and schemes to take your money,7:36 1200000000.0 active credit cards in the US. 7 to 8000000000 credit card offers mailed out every year. Someone wants you in debt. Someone doesn't want you7:48 free. Someone doesn't want you to be generous and free to serve God. It's not just the banks and retailers that are setting schemes up to capture your money, Satan also knows8:00 that if you had money, you'd be effective. And he also knows you might reach your destiny and have an impact in his kingdom. You know, we have a story in Luke chapter 5, which I've taught out so many times of Peter,8:11 James, and John fishing all night, catching nothing. Luke chapter 5 verse 5, they'd caught nothing all night. Jesus borrows Peter's boat, goes out and fishes.8:24 Jesus using the boat preaches from the shore and then tells Peter to let down the nets. Verse 5, Peter says, Master, we've worked hard all night, haven't caught8:36 anything, but because you say so, I will let down the nets. When they'd done so, they caught such a large number of fish, their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help8:47 them, and they came and filled both boats so full they began to sink. Now when Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, Go away from me, Lord. I'm a sinful man. For he and8:59 all of his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the son of Zebedee, their partners. Then Jesus said this to Peter, who's Simon, don't be afraid.9:12 From now on, you'll fish for people. So they pulled their boats up, left everything, and followed Jesus. Now, I would suggest this to you today. Obviously,9:24 Jesus caught their attention with this catch of fish, but I would suggest to you today, this whole story is not really about the fish. This story is about the people. You9:36 see, once provision was taken care of, once Peter saw that the kingdom operated at a level that was so beyond his understanding and provided such a catch of fish,9:48 Jesus said, don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. I see more fish than I've ever seen before. I don't have to be afraid. You follow me? He's a fisherman. It's his9:59 livelihood. Jesus is going to give him a commandment, but not without evidence. He says -he didn't say, Come and follow me instantly. Let's go change gears. Let's go catch10:11 fish. He said, here's the fish more than you've ever seen caught. You're gonna catch people. The10:23 story's really not about fish. It's really about God's heart for people. It's really about God's intentional pursuit of people,10:35 of his love for people, his love to join and capture what was lost at the garden, to bring people back into his kingdom, to bring people back in line with their10:47 created purpose and not running after money and not running after false illusions of what purpose really is. No, Peter. Let me show you what life really is. We're going after10:59 people. God, as I've said many times, God's in the people business. He is in the people business. He quoted second Corinthians 9, so let's dig into our word. Let's dig into this,11:10 because we all have to pass the test. You have to pass the test. And my I I really feel the Holy Spirit's, if I can convey I want to convey God's heart in this conference for11:22 people, and we have the opportunity to be involved in that process. Chapter 9 verse 10, we quote this. Everyone in this room can probably quote it. You can probably11:34 quote it. We've all heard it. But I want you to think about what it's saying. Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed, and will11:45 enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. I think that's God's intent, don't you? God wants to enlarge not just your11:57 wealth, he wants to enlarge the impact you'll have in his people business. That's the real thing behind it. You'll be made rich in every way so that you can12:09 be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord's people, but it's also overflowing in12:21 many expressions of thanks to God. Because of this service by which you have proven yourselves, God spoke to you again. You've proven yourself. You're going to the next12:33 level. Others will praise God for disobedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else, and in their prayers for12:45 you, their hearts will go out to you because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift. So, again, generosity opens the12:57 heart of people and it shows them God's heart. Generosity supersedes words.13:08 You probably remember when someone was very generous to you or a compliment was given to you, because you remember those days, those events. Now here's the major key:13:21 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you because of the surpassing -what? -the surpassing grace God has given you.13:33 Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift. What's the gift? Well, we'll find out. Surpassing means a large amount or high degree exceeding, excelling, or13:44 extraordinary, or structures of surpassing magnificence. So what is going to be yours in a huge amount? What does it say?13:56 Grace. Right? Because of the surpassing grace God has given you, their generosity, being able to be14:08 generous on every occasion. Those that receive generosity are going to thank God for you and this surpassing grace14:20 that God has given you. So, again, surpassing grace means extraordinary, magnificent, exceeding. So what14:32 is grace? The traditional definition of grace is unmerited favor. I think that falls way short. Grace is the empowering presence of God enabling14:44 you to be who he created you to be and to do what he has called you to do. It is the power of God. So what is he saying? He is saying this14:55 surpassing power of God that has enabled you to prosper is a gift. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. Gift of what? Of the surpassing grace,15:07 the power of God to prosper. Now if God is going surpassingly above your your ability, I'd say that's a pretty good team. Are you following me? See,15:19 you're working together. His heart is to reach the people. You have an option to be involved or not. And he says, if you get involved, there is my grace,15:32 my power goes to work to help you bring in the money that is needed in my people business. You got it? This is why Paul's letters15:44 always start with grace and peace to you. God's power to you. His peace to you. Almost all of his epistles start that way. Now I'm gonna show you what I believe is the greatest15:56 wealth building secret in life. You will be made rich in every way. This is what God says.16:08 You will be made rich. Not that you'll strive to become rich. You will be made rich in every way. And it goes beyond money. That's16:20 life. So that you can be generous on every occasion. You've gotta have some cash sitting around to be generous 2 or 3 times a day. And so through your generosity, this is a result of16:32 thanksgiving to God. I'm going to go through a couple parables with you that I want to emphasize how often and how much Jesus talked about16:43 your prosperity and why. And there are actually many parables, if you look at the Bible, that are given to us to understand this mission that God is16:55 on. Matthew 25, the parable of the talents, is 1 we've talked about many times. Starting in verse 14 of Matthew 25, again, the kingdom of God is like a man going on a journey who called17:07 his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To 1 he gave 5 bags of gold, to another 2 bags, to another 1 bag, each according to his ability. So he goes on his journey. The man who received17:18 5 bags of gold multiplied it to 5 more or 10. Right? The 1 that had the 2 bags now has 4. The guy that had the 1 bag, what'd he do with it?17:31 He buried it. Verse 24, then the man who had received the 1 bag, now remember the master comes back and now brings accountability to this, you know, how these guys do with his wealth.17:43 He says, Okay, what'd you do? And this guy says, I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was17:55 afraid, and I went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here's what's belonged to you. His master replied, you wicked and lazy servant!' It means you're not worth too18:07 much. You're not helping the cause too much. Right? So you knew that I harvest where I've not sown and gather where I've not scattered seed? Well, then you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that18:18 when I returned, I would have received it with interest. Why did the guy bury it? His view of God was totally warped as God is a hard18:29 taskmaster. Religion has taught us that God's a hard taskmaster. That all he wants, we just serve, serve, serve. Right? That God, you know, just God, you know, just gotta serve God. We're to. It's a it's18:41 a duty. It's just we gotta serve God. And that was his attitude, so because the master is not gonna plant the seed, is not gonna harvest the seed, yet take the seed, take18:53 the take the harvest, this servant felt like why even bother getting involved? Nothing in it for me. Right? I'm not getting this guy, it's all about him. It's all about him. You know,19:05 it's like, you know, I'm why should I get involved? So he buried it. Now the master called his bluff, because he said, here's what belongs to you. Like, I'm trying to protect it. The master called his bluff because19:17 he was trying to give the image that he cared about the master's affairs. The point is he could care less about the master's affairs.19:29 And let's go on here. Verse 20 eight's the point I want to make. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to someone19:40 else. That's what it says. Take it from him and give it to the 1 that has 10 bags of gold. Not politically correct, but it's very correct if you're in19:52 business. Give it to the 1 that knows what to do with it. For whoever has will be given more, and they'll have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even20:04 what they have, will be taken from them, and what? Done with it? Given to someone else. And throw that worthless servant20:16 outside. So, friend, his view of the master was wrong, because if you study this parable, the master said to those first 2, the 1 that actually went to work with his20:28 money on his behalf, he said, Come and enjoy your master's happiness. They got to share in the harvest. They got to share in the goodness of what they did.20:40 But friend, this is the opportunity God's given us. What is important to God wasn't the fish, it was the people.20:52 God is in the people business. Who's going to get the ideas? Who's gonna get the multimillion dollar contract? Who's gonna get the the real estate sales? Who's going to get who is God gonna send those divine appointments21:03 to? The 1 that has his interest at heart. In my book I talk about 1 word that you should remember. In fact, I say, if21:15 you don't get anything out of my book, I want you to write this word down. And we've talked about it many times here at Faith Life Church, but again, I want to put it in context what we're saying today is the word sent.21:26 Right? In Luke chapter 4, I'd love to teach this because it's -I tell you, as I teach these 2 sessions, they do grip. They do grip. They21:38 do speak. And, my my prayer is that they'll speak to you. He says, Jesus coming out of the baptism at the river Jordan goes into his hometown21:50 Nazareth, goes into the synagogue there, grabs the scroll of Isaiah and reads there. They're all amazed, but then he says to them in verse 24, truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted22:02 in his hometown. Why? Because too familiar. It's familiarity. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time when the sky was shut for 3 and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the22:13 land, yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to to to a widow in Zarephath. Zarephath was a Canaanite town.22:25 It was not even part of Israel. What is Jesus doing? He is basically condemning their heart for God. They because in the22:37 story, he was basically saying there's no 1 in Israel that would have done what this widow does. You know, we always look for and hope for, a lot of people look for that22:49 multimillion dollar idea. Oh, if I could have just bought this stock at this price back in history, if I would have known, would I you know, if I could have known then, you know, if I could just have that friend, you23:01 have it. It's right here. God has more ideas than you can ever use up.
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