Mike Bickle emphasizes the importance of partnering with Jesus in faith for supernatural financial increase, sharing personal testimonies of God's provision that demonstrate His faithfulness. He encourages believers to engage in a relational dialogue with God, trusting in His promises and actively participating in the process of giving and receiving. Bickle highlights that God delights in cheerful givers and desires to bless those who are generous, framing financial prosperity as a means to further the Kingdom of God. He stresses the need for intentional faith and the development of a history with God in the realm of finances, assuring that God will respond to our faith-filled actions. Ultimately, Bickle calls for a commitment to a lifestyle of generosity that reflects God's nature as the ultimate giver.

On the subject of partnering with Jesus or having faith believing for supernatural increase in our finances And the term that I used last week and i've used it for uh years is having power encounters in the realm of finance And what I mean by that a power encounter when it comes to physical healing We pray And the sick person gets healed And we say, you know, how did that happen the invisible hand of god touches that sick person and we go. Wow God really hears Our words and it responds to us. That's that's amazing to see this Well, the same thing happens in finances and there are times when god answers us in terms of financial increase in blessing That he answers us in such a way that the amount of the answer and the timing of the answer makes it Very clear. It's a supernatural intervention And without and when that happens We have this wow factor in our heart like lord. You really heard my voice I mean you really responded, you know me you like me Now last week I gave five, uh stories from my early days with the lord On how I was trusting the lord And uh sewed an x amount of money into a ministry endeavor or trusted him for this And he answered the exact amount at the exact day. I gave five examples from my early days And that's happened i've seen that over the years and i'm so excited about this subject i'm only going to take two weeks on it last week and today because we want to Talk about how to apply faith in many other areas of our life But I could spend weeks on this subject in terms of my interest level in it It's a part of my relationship with the lord. That's very dear to me, but it's dynamic. It creates a wow God, you really did do this. You really know me You really care about what I say and what I do Now the idea is that we want to develop a history in god of god proving himself true to us in the realm of finance Because he says in malachi 3 test me because you can test me in this one issue See if I won't be proven as true and faithful to what I said Well the longer we do this and the more exchanges that we have where god proves himself It's uh in doing that we develop this history in god in the realm of finances It only takes a few testimonies that you have for that history to be strong It doesn't take a hundred times only a few even a few of these will cause us to say lord I know that you know me in the realm of finances and I know I can trust you and I know that we're Interacting in a real way in a profound way So that when we face a financial challenge in our life or a crisis We're not just waffling about in unbelief and fear overwhelmed, but we say god you've been faithful over the years So when we come to a time of challenge, we have this history to draw on And I believe that even in the as the nations are being shaken as it says in haggai 2 That god is going to shake the nations and as that accelerates There's a transfer of wealth that god is bringing into the kingdom And that transfer of wealth is that the gospel would go forth in power That when we see money we actually see souls And god's going to transfer wealth To cause the the the harvest to go forth the church to be strong the prayer movement to accelerate But he's wanting people to interact with him in real intentional faith Not to be passive not to be casual but to be active and intentional About knowing him in this way that he would prove himself as true And faithful to his word Now I told uh about five store five specific stories last week And the reason I told my stories is is because I was inspired by hearing the stories of others And when you hear how god moves in others lives, you say why not me? God, if you'll do that for him or her you'll do it for me because you don't change I mean all of us are weak and broken people in our flesh And so the idea of these stories is so that you would say hey If you'll do that for him, you'll surely do that for me because god never changes Now the bible tells us to be uh, it says god loves a cheerful giver And the reason god loves a cheerful giver because he is the ultimate cheerful giver He is the generous cheerful giver. It is an expression of his nature to give generously That's what he's like. He loves giving It's not something he does reluctantly or with hesitation he does it with joy in his heart Now, this is a new idea for some people that god is the ultimate cheerful giver. He actually delights Not only in releasing finances in a supernatural way to bless his people, but he delights in the partnership That is he raises up people that become vessels or conduits Of his supply to others. He loves the partnership Not only just giving and blessing but doing it through us and with us as he blesses and brings his resource to other people paragraph b Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of god romans 10 Now faith comes by hearing the word the promises of god When we hear the promise of god And we interact with the lord according to that promise our faith grows And that's what i'm going to be talking about this morning is Three distinct promises and there's hundreds of them in the bible But it's not enough to hear the promise and say wow, that's a good promise but we're to Engage the lord in confident dialogue with them believing that promise is real Believing that god is trustworthy that the word of god is reliable that moves god's heart And it changes our heart when we interact with him in faith And so god requires faith And he says faith comes by hearing the word and particularly The promises of god in the word and then acting on those promises. That's how faith Grows from a little mustard seed to a mighty tree Paragraph d mark 11 Which we've looked at a number of times in the last several weeks This is mark 11, this is the uh most detailed teaching of jesus on the subject of faith Now jesus is the ultimate faith teacher And there's nobody that gives greater clarity or emphasizes the necessity of faith more than jesus And so we need to take mark 11 23 and 24 at face value Jesus is not exaggerating. He means what he says and believing what he says Is something he actually requires his people to do Now, he doesn't require it out of some spiritual gymnastics Just to see if we'll do it to kind of test us to see, you know, we would jump to the hoops That's not what's going on But when we speak the word back to god with confidence That god is truthful his word is reliable It moves god's heart and it changes our heart the reason god requires faith. He wants the he wants the conversation He can release his resource without the conversation, but he goes no. I want you engaging with me I want you saying what I say God says it. I believe it Therefore we say it and then god releases it You know, you've heard the saying god says and I believe that settles it that's not exactly it god says it we believe it Therefore we speak it back to him. Then he releases it That's what it's saying here in essence in mark 11 23 Let's read it now notice the same condition To believe is mentioned in both verses And jesus said he that the part the one that believes Now this believing he says it twice verse 23 then again in verse 24 It's a it's not a one-time momentary surge of confidence But this believing is in that verb tense of that continuous action that continual action is what that verb tense is, uh, uh, uh calling us to that we believe and keep on believing We engage in the confident dialogue and we speak the word back to god And our relate it's a relational dynamic that is increasing in our heart as we're speaking to the lord What jesus said in verse 23, this is only a portion of the passage whoever believes That those things he says And the idea is the things that he says while he's praying in the will of god. That's the important qualifier that's understood whoever believes That those things that he says while praying in the will of god He believes they will be done Jesus goes on to say here's the promise he will have Whatever he says in context of praying in the will of god, he'll have it It will show up in the natural to him meaning he'll see it with his eyes It will happen in terms of a way where others can see it as well. It will be visible He goes on in verse 24 and he says let me say it again Let me elaborate and give a few more details Verse 24 he says therefore he goes. Let me add some more Whatever you ask when you pray in the will of god if you believe And this is that ongoing dialogue not a one-time momentary confidence You believe and keep on believing is the idea that you have received this in the spirit that god says I have I've approved of it and i've released it to you in the spirit if you will believe me That if i've said it in my word i've released it to you in the spirit He says then You will have it in the natural in time in god's timing Now abraham in romans chapter 4 verse 20. It says that uh, he didn't waver in his faith. God promised him a child It was 25 years Now praise the lord most of the promises related to your life in this age. Don't take 25 years some of them do But abraham stayed in the dialogue with the lord through the years he didn't back away didn't let go And so this condition in verse 23 whoever believes repeated in verse 24 When you pray believe Again, it's this continuous action. It's this ongoing believing and continuing to believe The reason I am emphasizing this is that many people that love jesus. They read the bible They underline it they tell their friend. Hey that verse moved me then they It doesn't stay in their conversation with the lord and the lord is saying no. I want you to keep with it It's not a kind of a one-time glance at a promise. I want it to be a part of our conversation So what i've been uh My desire in teaching this is that in as a spiritual family We would not only give faithfully to the king to the lord in the work of the kingdom, but we would give in faith some groups emphasize give faithfully And they highlight the fact it's an expression of worship to god. It's a it's a expression of compassion for people in need There's a sense of responsibility we have to our spiritual family. There's there's the giving faithfully. That's not my point today That wasn't my point last week either, but it's not only to give faithfully, but it's to give in faith to give in confidence to give with a growing expectation That the lord will actually respond and that he requires that expectation Because he's a relational god And that's what he wants. He wants the relational dialogue Let's go to roman numeral 2 third john chapter third john verse 2 Now this is the beloved apostle john the beloved disciple. He's called He says I pray That you would prosper in all things I pray that you would be in health Just as your soul prospers Now this verse has been used uh By the body of christ in a right way and it's been misused in the body of christ and so Some folks when the real devout people they love jesus. They they really care about Doing it right and being wholehearted and genuine They've heard this verse abused and they go, you know, I don't really want to go into that I want to stay into the genuine Wholehearted giving myself to jesus. I don't really want that prosper in all things be in health thing Because they've heard it abused and it has been abused but as we know the answer To an abuse of a doctrine isn't to ignore the doctrine. It's to use it, right? And so I don't want to ignore this the I mean we're talking about the beloved disciple john himself He's praying in the will of god. So this is the will of god and so we need a biblical paradigm of prosperity with generosity in it a biblical paradigm of prosperity Now the biblical paradigm of prosperity is that we enjoy the blessing of god But it's on to partnering with the lord in the increase of the kingdom It's partnering with the lord so that the fame of his son's name goes forth even more One guy says i'm really leery of that prosperity teaching. I go. You don't need to when god prospers you you don't have to keep it You can use it for the kingdom. There's nothing in the bible that says make sure you keep it all And some folks their view of prosperity is get more money to get more stuff But the biblical view of prosperity is get more money receive more money in order to partner in the greater increase of the kingdom When I see money I see souls When I see money, I see full-time intercessors. I see the prayer movement prospering I see orphans being taken care of I see the poor being fed and helped So when we see money don't think more stuff and bigger things for your own life. Don't stop there Don't camp out in that place say lords. I see souls Now i've i've told the uh, uh, or i've mentioned over the years that The lord, uh, um confirmed to me in a very clear way some years ago that he was going to give me a billion dollars And I I really believe it and that's something i've interacted with him over the years And when he gives me that billion dollars I don't have any intention of ever using it on myself. Not that the lord would be dishonored in that You can use some of it for yourself, but I see souls. I see houses of prayer I see full-time intercessors around the earth in place orphans touch people being uh, Minister to when the lord releases that billion i'm gonna ask him to double it He might not but he might I don't know. I'll i'll find out there. I'll say hey lord. We've come here Let's keep going to the next level This is real The lord wants to express us to see his nature as the cheerful giver As the extravagant the generous god And he wants us to understand the the aspect of partnering with him that he's looking for vessels of supply conduits men and women families Boy young and old that he would give this resource to others, but through you And as the eyes of the lord are searching across the earth i'm saying lord. I want to be a vessel of supply I want to be a conduit when uh, uh We got married diane and I 37 years ago 1977 when we were first married. I was telling her some of my stories How the lord had intervened at the exact amount of money on the exact day I had several of those stories and we were both 21 years old and she was Excited to hear these stories and and uh, we determined that we were going to as a young couple We were going to begin our marriage at giving 20 of all of our income to the lord And we determined by the grace of god We said that we will give 20 away and we will reduce our lifestyle before we reduce the percentage of what we give to the kingdom And that was bold and we were excited And you know, but we were tested in it And by the grace of god, the lord's helped us to stay with this because we had a vision for prosperity. We had a vision For supernatural wealth being released through us. I didn't know how much I didn't even have a number in mind But I had a vision for it because I read it in biographies and then later I found it in the bible I I admit I read it in biographies first and I said god if you'll do it through them. Why won't you do it to me? So we committed because we had joy in this to live a simple lifestyle And that is something we've had joy in and for the last 37 years We said lord we're believing for prosperity, but for the sake of generosity we want to Receive a lot to give a lot and again, everybody's not called to a simple lifestyle But that's something we're called to a number of our leaders have embraced that that's not a that's not something that we're putting on Anybody else but 37 years later. I look back and I say lord. I am a satisfied customer You have met us beyond what we could have imagined and enabled us to be a source of supply to others Beyond even what we expected 37 years ago. I'll give a few stories about that in just a few moments well paragraph b Second corinthians 8 and 9 get those two chapters in your mind second Corinthians 8 9. I don't have this on the notes these two chapters give the most detail of paul's doctrine his paradigm of prosperity with generosity In order to partner with the lord in a more dynamic way in the increase of the kingdom I'm gonna say that again Second corinthians 8 and 9 There's no two chapters in the bible like this. No passage of the bible like this where paul's doctrine his his perspective of The cheerful god the god who who loves giving cheerfully he loves to give paul lays out the the uh, the uh, generous god the extravagant god Who loves to give but paul talked about receiving abundant prosperity? But for the sake of generosity in partnering with the lord in the gospel And but how necessary faith was in the process? Second corinthians 8 and 9 that's must read reading if you want to grow in faith And you want a biblical view of prosperity with generosity Well, let's look at just a little bit the one little portion of second corinthians 8 and 9 We'll look at chapter 9 verse 6 to 10 Starts off paul says he that sows bountifully will reap bountifully Now when paul talks about sowing bountifully, he means financially He says and here's the promise You will reap bountifully But this is a promise that we are really to engage with not just to kind of Set it aside and say well lord if you want me to reap bountifully you just take care of it He's saying no, I want this in the dialogue between us. I want you to believe what I said I want you to actively believe in an ongoing way believe and keep on believing is the idea Well paul in this passage He compares financial giving to sowing a seed Several times in the passage he compares giving money to the kingdom to sowing a seed Now one of the reasons he gives it because when you sow a seed The seed is out of your control and out of your sight for a season Meaning when you sow the seed in the ground you see nothing It takes a while before the plant comes forth But for a season you see nothing So the seed is out of your hand and it's out of your sight and there you are With nothing to show for sowing the seed But give it a little bit of time Eventually a plant comes forth Give it enough time a mighty tree emerges out of that seed and paul said the giving to the Giving your money to the kingdom is very similar to that It's out of your hands. You've sown it and it's out of your sight. You can't do nothing with it And there's no instant return sometimes Sometimes there is an instant return but mostly it's in that analogy of a seed that we understand god's ways Paul goes on in verse 7 he goes god loves a cheerful giver And again, because he is the ultimate cheerful giver. He doesn't give reluctantly He doesn't give with hesitation. He doesn't say well You know if I give that guy a billion dollars, that's gonna it's gonna be a little rough in the next, you know Season of my kingdom i'm gonna have to my economic resource will be diminished. He's not like that It won't diminish his his economic power to give somebody a billion dollars or to Whatever the amount is And he loves it he he delights in what it does to you He delights in partnering through you. He delights in the whole thing. He is a father He's not just a mighty god, but he is the eternal father. He is the everlasting father Verse 8 now, let's look at examples of the generosity of god the cheerful giver I mean all through chapter 8 and 9 You see paul emphasizing the generous god by using the word abounding abundance bountiful these big extravagant words Describing how god answers his people Right here in verse 8 in verse 10. We we see some of these words Paul said god is able To make all grace abound to you That you always having all sufficiency in all things may have abundance for every good work That there's a lot in this one verse verse 8 here He's saying the reason god's a cheerful giver because of his ability. He has the heart He has the heart of a cheerful giver, but he has the ability of a cheerful giver, too He has the ability to give to his heart's content. There's nothing hindering god from giving He said he can make all grace abound towards you verse 8. Let's look at it again. Now when he talks about grace Abounding to you in this verse he's talking about the the grace a financial increase that's by the favor of god Did you know that when god blesses you financially? It's really his it's his intervention Do you realize that's an expression of the grace of god? That's one aspect of grace so when paul says That uh, god is able he has the ability to make grace abound towards you. He's talking about money in this verse He uses grace to point out other dimensions of the work of god in other verses He goes you can have you'll always have all sufficiency in other words Sufficiency to do the will of god whatever the assignment of god is in your life There will be sufficiency Then he goes up. He takes it up a notch. He goes. Well, it's more than sufficiency It's more than having the supply to do god's will in every season of your life He goes you'll have abundance There's a realm of abundance. He's a generous He's cheerful in it. You'll have abundance to do every work that is he assigns you or that you're believing him for and he's approved of In the will of god and paul is even challenging, uh, the corinthians. He goes step out Embrace more good works and god will meet you He goes he'll he'll abound in grace again related to finance Verse 10 He says matter of fact God will multiply the seed when you sow it He'll multiply the seed when you sow it now the seed in this context is the finances the giving of finances in the kingdom He goes if the seed stays in your hand, it won't multiply The farmer has to let go of the seed put it in the ground. It's not in his hand. It's not in his sight It's out of sight out of hand before the seed multiplies now what some believers do is they Uh see all of the money god provides them with as money to use on their own life Because some of the money god gives you is to use on your own life your own domestic uh and family matters but Some believers they use all their money on their own life enhancing it enriching it And they don't see any of their money as seed so they don't sow it they eat their seed You know what happens if a farmer eats all of the seed that he has he has no harvest in the next season And a lot of believers are that I know they have no stories Of god breaking in in a supernatural way because they eat their seed. That's the way that they live their life They love jesus, but they eat all the seed They see all of it as money that pertains to their individual family life and concerns and individual, uh, you know welfare Beloved some of that money is seed And if you if you sow it it will multiply I love believing god multiply the seed It's not about lord. I'm greedy. It's lord. I love the dynamic of friendship with you. I love the partnership I love the expression of your heart as the cheerful giver Multiply the seed and the father's delighted. He says. Oh, this is very easy for me. I want you to believe me to multiply it Some believers they give the money and that's the last they think about it And the lord says i'd rather you keep it in the conversation with me well paragraph c We want to believe god Again, it's intentional faith It's intentional it's not casual these promises we don't just hear them and put them on the side We believe him We want to exercise our faith We refuse the spirit of poverty I've had uh folks over the years because uh, I have joy. My wife diane has joy And in living a simple lifestyle though. The lord has given us Much more money in 37 years than we've lived in our lifestyle. I've had friends say well You're you kind of look like you're in the spirit of poverty I said no. No, not not all I am. I am excited about generosity. It's not poverty I'm believing for a billion dollars. There's no poverty there. It's not a mentality of lack It's not like i'm over on the lord Give me a little cabin on the edge of glory and I don't want to bother you It's not that religious false humility of lord. I just want to stay out of your way The lord says I want you right in the middle of what i'm doing. I don't want you staying out of the way I want you involved with me So there's we gotta make sure there's no mentality of lack You know us for no more and joy lord just a little bit and a little bits enough And the lord says what about the nations? Well, just little bits enough. What about the nations? Well, lord, I don't really have any economic training. I'm not really Positioned in life around, you know a wet a network where there's wealth generation Beloved I have good news for you the will of god in your life related to finance Is bigger than your financial training and your association In a network with with those that could generate wealth You may have no training at all And you may not be associated with any A group of people that have wealth because the the rich could get richer even by networking with themselves So some folks go well, I don't have the training You know i'm stuck here out of the way, you know I'm out in some little town. No one's ever heard of me. God says i've heard of you I'm the one that owns all the money. I don't know anybody rich Well, my son is a jewish rich jewish king. He owns all the wealth of all the nations. You know him Well, I do know one person who's rich. Well, that's the only one you really have to know No, I I mean this is that I look at my personal life over the years like a lord I don't I don't i'm not in the way of this, you know, we're years ago Now i've interacted with some folks of means over the years but in those early years I didn't have any not a not a person that had any wealth at all and the lord says it's not about that You know me i'm the one talking to you. It's my word you're talking about So we refuse the spirit of poverty But neither do we want to abuse? The doctrine of prosperity it's prosperity with generosity to partner in the gospel, that's what we're talking about Well, let's look at top of page two top of page two We looked at this passage last week in luke chapter 6 Jesus said give and it will be given. Here's the promise it will be given. Do you actually? Use that phrase in your conversation with the lord with confidence. He wants you to And jesus used a a well-known, uh analogy example from uh the marketplace of a merchant that would uh Uh sell his commodities. Let's just take for instance grain You know, the customer would bring a certain container To the table so to speak and say hey fill up this container And uh, here's my money fill this container up i'm bringing this to you and the merchant would fill it up And jesus was comparing his father was the idea to being the generous merchant And he said whatever container you bring whatever whatever Faith container and i'll break that down in a moment you bring to the lord The lord will meet you in he will fill that container up he says He will fill it up good measure pressed down shaking together running over For with the same measure that you use it will be measured back to you. That's very interesting That uh, I I have on the notes that I break that down a little bit It's like the lord jesus says I know my father you bring your faith container and the faith container is What you are believing what you have faith in terms of your giving And what you have faith in terms of your receiving he says you bring that expectation That commitment to the relationship, that's the container so to speak It's that commitment that faith you have And when we first got married our container we said lord, we have faith we believe you We're going to give 20 of our income all of days of our life And we're going to increase that number as the years go by and by the grace of god. We've been able to do that And because the lord said this is the verse he touched us with He stirred my heart in my early days with the measure you use that's the measure that will be measured back to you The lord says you determine What do you have commitment to what do you have faith for? Lord, we're going to bring A commitment of 20. We're going to bring a commitment to partner with you And that's what we're we're believing you to return it And this so we can be a vessel of supply the lord says, okay Okay, let's do that that's how we'll operate and some people they bring a Smaller percent others bring a larger percent and the lord says you determine what that percentage is that you're going to believe for You determine what you're going to have confidence that i'll return it back to you and that's what we'll work together on But the lord says jesus is talking about the father. He goes, but I want you to know this Whatever cup you bring you bring a little cup The lord will fill that cup He'll press the contents down. It's like like the container has grain in it and the the merchant is pressing it down Smashing it down to put a few more ounces in And then the lord says well he goes Whatever container you bring to the lord. He won't only just smash it down to give you more it will overflow It will flow out of the container And he goes and it will be more than you ever brought to him Now there's many believers they say okay the lord the container i'm bringing is one percent i'll give one percent of my Financial, uh resource and buying power and the lord says, okay i'll fill up your one percent container I'll meet you there that our relationship. You'll know me at that level in the financial arena Another guy goes. Well, I want to do what the scripture says 10 Another guy says I want to do 20. Another guy says I want to do 50 You know, there's a few guys out there that give 90 of their income away that's the container they believe god for I mean, it's a powerful reality Let's look at uh, this phrase with the same measure you use the end of verse 38 It will be measured back to you. Well, i'll just take the next few moments and tell a few stories So, uh in our personal life, so we're both 21 years old me and diane It's 1977 And uh, she's a brand new christian and i'm pastoring I'm a boy of god pastoring, you know a little rural church out in the saint louis area That's what the pastors called me boy of god. Anyway, there you have it I was 20 years old, uh pastored a little rural church and uh So, uh diane just meets the lord had a radical conversion And so she comes to me we're engaged and I uh She comes with this great announcement That she has saved since age 15. She's 21 now. She worked as a waitress like for five years and saved 5 000 this is you know, 37 years ago when 5 000 is more than it is now And you know making two and three dollars an hour type and say five thousand dollars. I mean she saved everything So she saved it to bring it into her marriage And so this is a day of great delight for her She's telling the man. She's going to marry a surprise I have five thousand dollars In her bank account. I had five dollars in my bank account I mean, I wouldn't get saving. I just didn't do it. I didn't think about it It's a biblical principle to say by the way, so i'm not against saving I looked at her and I had these stories I had a handful of these stories where I gave money the lord gave it back The exact amount the exact exact day and a few that were not that precise, but still the lord intervened So she I said the most horrible thing and she was here last night Uh telling her side of the story and our store the facts are the same But she gives a little bit more insight into my communication style when I was 21 years old That because we're running out of time, I won't share what she shared But anyway, she had a couple they were having a great time at my expense, I mean they were having a great time last night And uh, so I came to her and she goes I have five thousand dollars And I said the most horrible thing men. Don't say this. I said instead of wow, which would have been appropriate I said it just came right out. I just said Why? She goes why? She goes. Yeah, I said why why do you have five thousand dollars in the bank? She goes why not? She goes that's good. Isn't it? I said With the harvest and the missions movement And god willing to interact with this. Why would we put her to the bank? She went oh I mean she tells a little bit more and uh, she did uh plus some let's put it that way She said her heart sank And I said, let me tell you some things that happened And I told her the story I told last week the five stories I mentioned last week. I'm 18 years old I order the bibles the bibles come in. I have no money at all I order the bibles and the bibles coming in. We're going to give away to new believers. I'm 18 years old I make 30 a week involved in youth ministry but the bibles were 310 times my weekly income and the way the The you know, the biographies work. You can't tell anybody so the bibles come in I get the phone call come pick up your bibles Mr. Bickle 301 dollars and 24 cents. I don't have it. I don't even have any money. I am panicked And I said, okay i'll be there in an hour And a man came up to me and handed me a check without knowing that I had a debt for these bibles I didn't tell anybody the amount I owed a 301 24 cents. He handed me a check 301.25 One penny more the exact day the exact hour the exact amount I told that story a little more detail last week and I drove down there and I was it wasn't lord I'm out of you know, the trouble of having a debtor cafe. I said, you know me I know you you like me. I like you. I said lord the implications of where this could go if you really hear me that clear Then I told her the story of You know a few months later again. I make 30 a week in my youth ministry job I Pay the 500 for the two junior high girls to go on the ski trip Their new believers have no money the day of the ski trip. I have no money and I can't tell anybody I need the 500 and these girls are Packed up and they're in the van ready to go. I don't have the money And that day without anybody knowing somebody sent the money and a check another person handed me money. I get exactly $500 the hour we're leaving. I told the story last Last week. So anyway, I tell this to diane She's I tell her a few more. She goes. Wow I said she goes. Wow. I want to I want stories. I go. I want us to have more stories I go. Here's what I think we should do I want to take the five thousand dollars you've saved it three dollars at a shot being a waitress for five years I want to give it all the way to missions all of it away She went really all of it. I go. Yeah And let's just see what the lord will do with it She goes, uh, okay Okay, she goes but you can't tell my father. That's the only thing you can't do. He'll be so mad He doesn't know you very well He won't like this at all because it's for her father was really about saving and again, I believe saving is biblical So my idea is I said, okay, here's how we're going to do this diane We're going to put your five thousand dollars on the table From the bank i'm going to take my five dollars from the table. We're going to mix it all up Kind of forget forget whose is whose And we're going to invest it in missions. I'm going to have the worship team wait just about three minutes. I want to uh, Tell a little bit more of this story and so, uh We gave it away And I said you're going to see a remarkable return. I promised her showed her the verses had the stories Because in those first couple years every time I did it I had an instant return the lord was setting me up for a lifelong journey so a year goes by Now i'm a a pastoring and my salary is a thousand dollars a month Thousand dollars a month that we're double tithing, you know paying all of our expenses and double tithing on a thousand dollars a month So we didn't have any any disposable income at all and uh We gave the five thousand dollars away and a year goes by and god didn't give us anything no indication of blessing We're just getting in greater financial pressure by double tithing with such a small income and we get no return from the five thousand So she brings it up a couple times. Uh, well, how long does this take for this? Well It's pretty quick in the early days. I mean my It always happened real quick. She goes. Well, does it always happen real quick? I go. I thought it did at least so far it has So a year goes by nothing then the second year goes by and it's worse because we had 10 different, uh people Uh brothers in the body of christ. We were helping 10 of them stole money from us I mean in our 37 years, I don't remember anybody stealing money from us ever but 10 times in one year that year And we added it up and they stole 5 000 was the total So we gave 5 000 and two years later the only fruit is we lost 5 000 by thieves Like I had we had some guy live in our house and we went to church one sunday morning. He stole the couches I had another guy move in and he rate he had an 800 phone bill because of his of his job And this company reimbursed him but he left with the 800 and I had to pay the 800 So I got to the place for a whole year it's happening like every month i'd come to her and say uh another bad news She goes another friend stole money from us. I go. Yeah, it's number six now number seven And so she was getting pretty depressed and I was shaking. I said, I I don't know. There's two full years I don't know how those works says in the bible and I don't know. No, I read all my biographies again There was no example of avoiding And I said, I don't know. She was not very happy I was a little I was panicked. I was going this is not working god. I thought I was on to something big Then one day a man knocked on the door knock on the door of the church. I mean of our house And I opened the door and he goes, uh, I'd like to buy your house. I go really? Okay Why he goes I just want to buy I said well, what do you what are you going to offer it? We've owned the house for about a year a little bit more than a year. He offered me Fifty five thousand dollars more than we bought the house for A year plus earlier. Remember I got a little thousand dollar a month salary. So, you know I said He told me the money and I eked out. Okay He says i'll i'll give it to you right away and see what I didn't know is that earlier that week they changed the zoning Of the area and it was commercial and he was beating He was the first to my door because his competitor was going to come and make an offer in my house, too And I just said yeah $55,000 And so the lord whispered in my heart 5,000 is to pay back the people that stole from you because I was serving that I was trying to help them kingdom work He says we're even on that Five fifty thousand is for the five thousand you gave in missions So I gave you the fifty thousand for the five admissions and the five thousand for the five stolen So i've given you more than you ever gave me. Oh when that came, I mean I walked in the other room woman It's time that you hear what the man of god has to say here I says it says in the word i'm not wavering Well diane's got her she's got a version of this She goes it wasn't very pretty he goes he was deficient in humility, let's put it that way I know you know that she exaggerated that you could just picture it. Well, I remember you know here at uh, Again, i'm gonna go another minute or two here at ihop, you know, we we uh Start ihop 15 years ago. We have the little four. I mean the little trailer. We're there for four years We don't even have enough money the first four years of ihop to hardly pay for the light bill and so uh, nick syrett came to me and he saw the red bridge, uh, you know, the the uh, Strip mall that we have the prayer room in he said hey, we ought to buy that I go with what? I mean, we can't pay the light bill hardly And uh, he says well, we ought to pray for it And then right after that soon after that I get a check in the mail from a stranger. I never met 750 000 lord told me to give it to you. We go to the bank They go. Yeah, we'll give you a loan for the strip mall since you got the 750 000 I go boy. That was a that came out of nowhere and the lord's answer. Well, not exactly. I I I my eyes are on you Then the apartment complex next to us the hernet apartment the guy Said wow, you know, they must have money. They just bought this strip mall and that prayer group You know when I went to the banker with the 750 000 They were looking at our bank statement really bad for four years, you know besides that big check They go. What do you guys do? They go you sing music in a trailer. Do you do anything else? And I said well, we actually a lot more than that He goes it sounds kind of weird and you want us to give you a couple million dollar loan. I don't think so But that's 750 000. They said okay. Okay, you're in Then the apartment guy calls and says hey for three million plus I'll sell you the apartments and I go. Well, we really don't have the money because well you got money for that You know that strip mall. So we call the banker So hey, it's us again. We need another three million dollars and the vice president. She goes, you know, I don't really think so You guys besides that one big check you guys aren't really doing that great And I said, you know in the and then uh, we asked her the question Uh, what would it take she goes? Well, if you have 700 000 again We'll give you the loan. We'll consider it. I said, okay, you know, that's that that that works You get 700 000 again. We'll consider it the very next morning I get an email and the lady says the lord told me to make 700 000 available to you the next morning I Sent her an email back. I said why she said oh, i'm, sorry if I missed god, I apologize. I go. No, no, no Don't apologize Don't go there I mean the same day the exact amount And the way we bought the truman property, you know The jewish couple who bought it from harry s truman They contact us and say it's 10 worth we're trying to sell for 10 million and we'll sell to you for 1 million 1 10th the price So the one of our leaders knocks on the door and i'm talking to someone says hey We've been offered a 10 million dollar property for 1 million. Do we want it? I go. We don't have the 1 million the man a friend from out of town He goes i'll give you the 1 million. I have it in my bank right now He goes I always invest my money but in it for a strange reason. I actually have it in the bank. I'll send to you tomorrow well, then the we bought the I hop you uh, A strip mall the one over where I hop you is right now You know because the bible school was in this building for a while and And so a friend visits he goes. Hey, what are you gonna do with your bible school? I said, well, we found some strip mall down the road for 3.3 million. He groaned. He goes. Oh man, I go Well, actually 3.3 million because grandview's got a kind of a run. I mean the market's low there. It's really worth it He goes no, that's not the reason i'm groaning I'm groaning because my wife driving here to visit you said the lord told her we're to give you the 3.3 She goes and she kicked him under the table and he gave us the money that week I mean I have 10 more stories like this Where the lord in our individual life In our corporate life many many more stories my point being being isn't like oh, isn't this amazing, you know? I'm a man of faith. That's not what i'm saying. I'm saying the lord says prove me whatever measure you bring to the relationship That's the measure if you use it i'll measure it back to you You determine the percentage Of your income you're going to give to me and believe me for And I will meet you and it will overflow in the cup. It will be pressed down Shaken together to get more in the container you shake it to get more in it will overflow I will always out give you if you'll stay with it What my wife said last night she said that two years of waiting That it's the staying with it. She goes now 37 years later the amount of times god met us I mean we are satisfied customers and I and I have more confidence than ever on the billion dollars. Well, i'm well over time So let's end with that. Let's stand amen I'm gonna invite our ushers to come forward I'm wanting you to respond. I'm not looking for a one-day response. I'm looking for something 10 20 30 years I don't mean something you do when you're with us whatever city god sends you to Whatever nation you live and i'm talking about you developing a history in god for your individual life And also for your ministry that your involvement with others having a history where god proves himself faithful and true That's what i'm talking about So i'm asking you to talk to the lord right now not to give to a need we're not buying a building This isn't a compassion appeal. We're going to support them the orphans overseas. We do those things, but that's not what i'm talking about I'm talking about developing your history in god Determining the measure That you're going to use in the relationship In that what you're going to believe him for when you bring your heart to him And your your resource what you're believing him to and to give and to receive from him i'm talking about Setting a trajectory in your life that you will be tested But I tell you when you look back over the years God will be found as faithful and true and you'll have testimonies now many of you have them already But we want more and more of them. I got some years ahead of me I want to go far beyond what I have the last 37 years I'm saying lord. I want to go into far bigger numbers. Now. The lord says good. Let's do it I got all the money you believe me. We'll go together on it Well lord, we come before you And lord, we say yes to you Lord, we ask you God I ask you in the name of jesus God to stir our hearts to give us even faith that this is real that your word is real And I ask you to bless us now Thank you in the name of jesus. So i'm gonna have the ushers come on up here i'm gonna have you uh Just respond as you want again, this isn't a One time we're building a building we have in the need that's not what i'm talking about right now Talking about you and the lord Developing in history