What Test? | The Blessed Life Week 2

00:00:00

There's a test that's all through scripture

00:00:02

that God gives

00:00:04

And you get to pass the test every time you get paid.

00:00:07

When we do, great things happen in our life.

00:00:10

Hey, my name's Brian. Welcome this week to Crossroads.

00:00:14

- Welcome to Crossroads.

00:00:16

Before we do anything, let's talk about

00:00:18

this raw turkey on your lap here, buddy.

00:00:20

- Well, I actually brought this in because

00:00:22

I wanted you to know what salmonella smells like,

00:00:25

so just go ahead and give that, just the aroma.

00:00:28

- It was this moment I became a vegan. Look at that.

00:00:30

- Get you some of that. Get in there.

00:00:32

That's the turkey -- that's the bottom of the turkey.

00:00:34

I don't know what you did at work today,

00:00:35

but I got to hold a raw turkey.

00:00:37

And it's not just because we need to, you know,

00:00:40

show more GMO or non-GMO stuff on screen.

00:00:42

It's because we have a big thing coming up

00:00:44

called Thanksgiving Food Drive,

00:00:46

where we provide Thanksgiving meals,

00:00:48

including a turkey for people all over the country.

00:00:51

And we want to show you what that looks like

00:00:53

and how you can be involved right now.

00:00:57

-M Hey, Crossroads, it's time for

00:00:58

our annual Thanksgiving Food Drive.

00:01:01

For 25 years, this Crossroads team has filled boxes

00:01:04

and loved our neighbors.

00:01:05

Let's do it again.

00:01:07

Pick up a box, or 20.

00:01:08

Shop for the items on the list

00:01:10

and bring that bad boy back filled with hope and love.

00:01:17

[tone]

00:01:18

Oh, and one more thing, this year, let's do more.

00:01:24

Filling a box is just the beginning.

00:01:26

This year you can be the hands and feet of Jesus

00:01:28

working alongside local organizations

00:01:31

who fight food insecurity every day.

00:01:33

See where the boxes go, help distribute the food,

00:01:36

get proximate to the need.

00:01:38

Food fills the stomach, but serving fills the soul.

00:01:40

So, to recap, get a box, fill it, bring it back,

00:01:45

and sign up for a simple one time serve opportunity.

00:01:49

Thanksgiving is the perfect time for giving back.

00:01:52

This year, it's about way more than a meal.

00:02:05

- Hey, I actually want to encourage you guys

00:02:07

and challenge you a little bit.

00:02:08

Like, Thanksgiving Food Drive is one of those things

00:02:10

I want you to lean in for.

00:02:13

It's not a hypothetical thing.

00:02:14

It's not an imaginary someone somewhere

00:02:17

who will have a meal.

00:02:18

It's real people who have real food

00:02:20

and a real Thanksgiving because you stepped up.

00:02:23

My wife and I, we're going to be doing this.

00:02:25

I want you to jump in with both feet, too.

00:02:27

- Let's do it, man.

00:02:28

Every time I take the opportunity

00:02:30

that God puts in front of me to actually step out

00:02:32

and serve someone, not just talk about it,

00:02:34

but actually do it, I always end up in a better spot.

00:02:36

I always grow spiritually.

00:02:37

Not only do I help somebody, but God works in my life, too.

00:02:40

And that's what Thanksgiving Food Drive is all about.

00:02:42

You know what today is all about?

00:02:43

- What? - Test taking, baby.

00:02:45

We get to take a test today

00:02:47

and we actually take it every time we get paid.

00:02:49

And Brian's going to show us

00:02:50

how you and I can pass that test. Let's do it.

00:02:55

- We're doing a series called The Blessed Life.

00:02:57

We did this series several years ago,

00:03:00

and it's one of the most powerful series

00:03:02

that we've ever done.

00:03:03

And you're going to hear some stories from people

00:03:05

who went through it before.

00:03:07

So powerful that we're going to do it again.

00:03:11

Now, I've got to tell you, that kind of hurts my pride

00:03:15

because we haven't really repeated

00:03:17

very much at all at Crossroads the last 26 years.

00:03:20

And the first time we're going to repeat something

00:03:22

came from somebody else.

00:03:23

We've borrowed this content from Gateway Church

00:03:26

in Dallas, Texas.

00:03:27

I had pastor after pastor, person after person saying,

00:03:29

"Oh, my goodness, this material is,

00:03:32

sounds like a really religious cheesy word,

00:03:34

but it's true, is anointed."

00:03:37

There's something special about it.

00:03:40

Now, listen, this is not a campaign.

00:03:45

There's no commitment coming at the end

00:03:47

where you're going to sign anything.

00:03:50

There's no big ask of, you know, whatever, whatever.

00:03:54

This is not a campaign.

00:03:56

We are going to challenge you

00:03:58

because Jesus challenges us,

00:04:01

but we just want you to listen, consider,

00:04:05

and ultimately be blessed.

00:04:07

That's the Blessed Life.

00:04:32

I cannot lie,

00:04:35

or at least I can't lie without people knowing right now.

00:04:37

I can't lie, today it could be very difficult for you,

00:04:42

but it could also be life transformative for you.

00:04:46

Have you ever owned something or believe something

00:04:48

that other people didn't own or believe,

00:04:50

and you couldn't believe they didn't own and believe it?

00:04:52

You just wanted them to know, like,

00:04:53

"Oh, you got to know this thing."

00:04:55

And then when someone talks to you about that thing,

00:04:57

because you have that thing, you're like,

00:04:59

"Oh, yes, finally someone's talking about this.

00:05:01

This is perfect."

00:05:03

This is what it's like for many of us today.

00:05:05

I'm going to talk about the biblical concept of tithing.

00:05:09

And those who tithe, they're like,

00:05:10

"Oh, yes, I love hearing about this."

00:05:13

And those of us who don't are going to think, "Oh,"

00:05:15

in fact, you might have already turned off all ready.

00:05:17

Don't, don't, don't turn it off. Don't turn it off.

00:05:19

I'm telling you, hang in there, please.

00:05:21

Allow yourself to be a little pushed today

00:05:23

and your life may be the better for it.

00:05:25

I'm not going to lie, obviously.

00:05:28

It's amazing the kind of things

00:05:30

you can get on eBay these days, you know?

00:05:34

The principle of the tithe is talked about

00:05:38

all throughout the Bible.

00:05:39

Maybe the most clear place that's talked about

00:05:43

is in the book of Malachi, the Italian prophet.

00:05:48

It's not Malachi, it's Malachi, the Italian prophet.

00:05:51

And let's just read it verse by verse,

00:05:53

and then we'll talk about it.

00:05:54

Okay, here it goes, Malachi 3:8, God says:

00:05:59

Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me.

00:06:14

God says, "You're robbing Me."

00:06:15

People are going, "Oh, no. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

00:06:18

No, no, no, no, no, we haven't."

00:06:19

See all of us who have been stolen from,

00:06:21

we know what that feels like, we've been violated.

00:06:25

It takes -- it gets really, really personal to us.

00:06:27

First thing I had stolen from me of any significance

00:06:31

was the 1975 Pittsburgh Steeler baseball card team set.

00:06:37

Yes, they stole from me.

00:06:39

I'm sure it was Matt Czechowski.

00:06:41

He's not owned up to this after all these years.

00:06:43

Come on, Chez, you know it was you.

00:06:45

It still bothers me a little bit.

00:06:47

I reach out to him on Facebook every once in a while

00:06:49

and say, "Come on, man, just come clean."

00:06:51

Like crickets. Total crickets.

00:06:52

I remember when that happened, I felt it was just,

00:06:55

it was mine. You took what was mine.

00:06:58

If someone's ever broke into your house

00:06:59

and stolen something from you, it just feels weird.

00:07:02

It's like something -- someone has ever stolen your car.

00:07:04

When you get it back, you're thinking -- I don't know.

00:07:07

My daughter got her car back after it was her stolen.

00:07:09

It came back, she almost, like, didn't want it.

00:07:11

It was like it had cooties on it.

00:07:13

She was like, "I don't -- I don't know."

00:07:14

It's a violation.

00:07:16

And God says, when we steal from Him, it's a violation.

00:07:20

Well, how's -- how did we steal from you?

00:07:23

He says in the tithe. What is a tithe?

00:07:25

A tithe is the first 10% of everything

00:07:29

that God gives you and I, the first 10%.

00:07:33

It's pretty amazing that God owns the cattle on 1000 hills.

00:07:36

And we've never created anything.

00:07:38

God's the only one who creates.

00:07:39

We've never created oxygen.

00:07:40

We've never created water.

00:07:41

We never created the atmosphere.

00:07:43

We never created the business opportunities we have even.

00:07:46

At its core, it's all assets

00:07:48

that God has blessed us with and done for us.

00:07:50

So, we're just maybe reformatting a bit.

00:07:53

And He's choosing to make an investment

00:07:55

in us with these things.

00:07:58

When somebody invests in a business, what do they want?

00:08:01

They want a return, annualized return, like, forever,

00:08:05

at least as long as the contract is.

00:08:07

If you put $1,000 into something,

00:08:09

you want a 10% return on and on and on,

00:08:12

just leave 1,000 there.

00:08:13

But I just keep wanting 10% over and over and over

00:08:15

and over and over again.

00:08:17

It's kind of crazy that God makes a deposit in your life

00:08:20

every time you get a paycheck.

00:08:22

God makes a deposit in your life

00:08:23

every single time your stock portfolio goes up.

00:08:26

God makes a deposit in your life

00:08:28

every time you get an inheritance.

00:08:29

God makes a deposit in your life every time

00:08:31

you sell your house for more than you bought it for.

00:08:33

God makes all of these deposits and what He asks

00:08:37

is just a one time 10% gift to him.

00:08:41

This is what's called the tithe.

00:08:44

Let's keep going here. God says:

00:08:54

Saying the whole nation of Israel is robbing Him

00:08:55

because they're keeping back this 10% for themselves.

00:08:59

And He uses really heavy language here:

00:09:02

You are cursed with a curse.

00:09:05

It's like God intentionally makes a point of saying,

00:09:11

"There's one of my children

00:09:12

that's choosing not to tithe.

00:09:15

And I'm going to see to it

00:09:17

that some things don't go their way."

00:09:20

Or he doesn't see to it specifically,

00:09:23

but things just naturally don't go our way.

00:09:25

I meet person after person after person

00:09:27

who for whatever reason,

00:09:28

they just can't figure out their finances,

00:09:30

for whatever reason they can't get a break,

00:09:32

for whatever reason their whole life,

00:09:33

all the way they go through,

00:09:35

it's always hand-to-mouth and the ends don't meet.

00:09:37

They're always scrimping on and on and on.

00:09:39

And it's one thing to be that way when you're 22,

00:09:42

new married and you've got a kid.

00:09:43

But like, come on, you're 52

00:09:45

and you still haven't figured this stuff out?

00:09:47

What is it? Is it that we're really stupid?

00:09:50

Or could it be that there is such a thing

00:09:53

as a curse that's on our finances?

00:09:57

And the way that we break that curse is by tithing.

00:10:03

And God is lovingly saying this to His children.

00:10:06

You know who doesn't believe in tithing?

00:10:09

People who don't tithe.

00:10:11

That's because those of us who tithe,

00:10:14

we simply believe in it.

00:10:16

People who don't tithe, who are believers.

00:10:18

I'm not talking about atheists.

00:10:19

I wouldn't expect an atheist to understand this,

00:10:21

though I'd be happy to explain it to you.

00:10:23

But people who don't believe in tithing

00:10:25

and are believers, they have a vested interest

00:10:29

to not do this test.

00:10:30

In fact, they say things like, "Well, you know,

00:10:32

tithing was just a thing that was in the Old Testament times."

00:10:36

"Well, tithing isn't something that's relevant today."

00:10:39

I think, "You ought to read the Bible sometime.

00:10:42

It's in there again and again and again."

00:10:44

The law portion of the Bible really is clear

00:10:47

in Deuteronomy in Leviticus.

00:10:49

This is where all the thou shalt nots are

00:10:51

and all the dietary restrictions,

00:10:54

all the sexual restrictions are in those two books.

00:10:56

In the book of Leviticus, 27:30 and in --

00:11:00

excuse me, Deuteronomy 26:1-2,

00:11:02

we see the very clear, specific teaching on tithing,

00:11:06

that's in the law.

00:11:07

Before that, before that way, way back

00:11:11

in the very first book of the Bible,

00:11:13

Genesis 14:18 and following, we have Melchizedek,

00:11:18

who's participating in a tithe.

00:11:20

Before it's even been mandated by God,

00:11:23

we see God exalting and encouraging

00:11:26

and using people as models

00:11:27

who are operating with the tithe.

00:11:29

Same with the Book of Genesis 28:22, first book of the Bible.

00:11:35

We see 400 years before the law,

00:11:37

we see the tithe being promoted and talked about.

00:11:41

And we say, "Well, okay, that's -- that's the law.

00:11:43

That's the Old Testament stuff.

00:11:45

That's a book of Malachi. But what about Jesus?"

00:11:47

Yeah, what about Jesus?

00:11:48

Jesus affirms the tithe in Matthew 23:23, He says,

00:11:54

"These people, they're getting so hung up on things,

00:11:57

like, their tithing their cumin and their dill,

00:12:00

but they're neglecting weightier matters of the law."

00:12:03

Jesus says, "You should have done the former

00:12:05

without neglecting the later."

00:12:07

Jesus is saying, "Yes, justice,

00:12:11

that happens in our in our country and our culture,

00:12:13

justice for those who are oppressed.

00:12:15

That's very, very important.

00:12:17

But remedial, remedial stuff is

00:12:20

the first 10% goes to God."

00:12:22

And He says, "Just don't neglect that."

00:12:23

Let's keep going. Next verse, verse 10.

00:12:46

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse.

00:12:50

This was when the nation of Israel

00:12:52

would surrender their tithe, their first 10%,

00:12:55

and they would bring it to the temple

00:12:57

where things were distributed for the priest

00:13:00

and where worship was paid for

00:13:02

and where also they would have benevolence

00:13:04

to what happened outside of that money as well.

00:13:06

But they would surrender it to the storehouse.

00:13:09

The modern day equivalent of the storehouse

00:13:12

would be the synagogue if you're Jewish

00:13:15

or the local church if you're a Christian.

00:13:17

And you surrender it to the storehouse,

00:13:19

that's the tithe, which is the first 10%.

00:13:22

That isn't like after the government takes theirs,

00:13:25

after they take theirs.

00:13:26

It's 10% of your gross pay.

00:13:29

You surrender that because God that says that's His.

00:13:32

You surrender not just the God,

00:13:33

you surrender it to the local church that you submit to.

00:13:39

Your kids' private Christian education,

00:13:41

that's not a tithe.

00:13:43

Compassion International, that's not a tithe.

00:13:46

Supporting a friend of yours on a mission trip,

00:13:48

that's not a tithe.

00:13:49

All those things may be good

00:13:51

and all those things may be fine.

00:13:52

And you may be -- may want to do all those things.

00:13:55

That's fine, but that comes with

00:13:57

what's above and beyond the tithe.

00:14:00

The tithe is the first 10% and it gets surrendered to God.

00:14:04

I'll just spell it out for us.

00:14:05

I'll just just show it here for us.

00:14:08

Here we have, we've got -- I've got $10.

00:14:12

This would represent a paycheck that you might get.

00:14:16

You probably get more than $10.

00:14:18

Let's say your paycheck is $1,000.

00:14:21

So, imagine this is ten

00:14:22

$100 bills that you get paid.

00:14:25

Here it goes.

00:14:26

1, 2, 3, 4, 5,

00:14:32

6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

00:14:37

Which one of these is God's? Which one of these is God's?

00:14:41

This one, the very first one.

00:14:45

It's the first one because it's an act of faith.

00:14:49

If I go through all of my bills and all the things

00:14:53

that I want to pay for and all of my movies

00:14:55

and all of my subscription services,

00:14:57

and I do, I spend all that stuff, all of it goes down.

00:15:01

And then I've got a dollar left and I give that to God,

00:15:05

what am I giving Him?

00:15:07

I'm giving Him leftovers.

00:15:08

And actually, I'm giving according to

00:15:11

what I have left over in my abundance,

00:15:13

I'm not giving a quarter faith.

00:15:15

Faith is the first one, God, I'm trusting You.

00:15:18

God, look at this. Here it is, God. See this?

00:15:20

The first one I'm sending you a message, God,

00:15:24

that says I trust You and this is Yours,

00:15:27

and I want to honor it so that

00:15:30

the next 90% of what I have,

00:15:34

I'm trusting that You show up in my finances,

00:15:38

that You somehow make a way.

00:15:40

Because the Bible also does call you a waymaker.

00:15:44

When you do this, things break for you.

00:15:46

We have a whole group of people at Crossroads

00:15:48

known as the Blue Team, who are people who are tithers,

00:15:52

and we give them special encouragement.

00:15:54

We give them special insights.

00:15:56

Let's hear one of their stories.

00:16:00

- Take one.

00:16:02

- So, I was seeking God, I guess in part because

00:16:04

on one hand,

00:16:06

I think God planted a seed of curiosity in me.

00:16:08

I was in the military at the time, early twenties,

00:16:11

and there was these guys that I saw around me.

00:16:13

They were just enthusiastic about their faith,

00:16:15

and I couldn't understand it.

00:16:16

Because I was coming to a point where I needed

00:16:18

to either commit to this whole faith thing or not.

00:16:21

But I hadn't yet found something that gave me

00:16:24

a specific reason to have faith.

00:16:28

And so, I found this verse in Malachi 3:10.

00:16:31

It was all about tithing.

00:16:33

And so it said, "Test me."

00:16:35

And this is my kind of summary of it,

00:16:37

"And I will pour blessings out."

00:16:39

Now, money for me was a very, very sensitive topic.

00:16:42

I grew up pretty poor.

00:16:43

Years later, again, to create a bit of context,

00:16:45

one of my sons asked me,

00:16:47

"What did you want to be when you grew up?"

00:16:48

And I said, "Not poor."

00:16:50

And it shocked me that that was really my response.

00:16:52

I didn't have an aspiration

00:16:53

as much as a fear of something.

00:16:55

And I told Ann, who had just come to visit me

00:16:57

for a couple of days.

00:16:58

I said, "I'm going to do this thing tomorrow.

00:17:00

I'm going to tithe.

00:17:01

And what this means is if I do,

00:17:03

I'm not going to have enough money

00:17:05

for the rest of the month."

00:17:06

- My initial thought was, "You're crazy."

00:17:09

And I slept on it.

00:17:10

And the next morning it was like this transformation in me.

00:17:13

I don't know if God worked through me during the night,

00:17:17

but I woke up and I said,

00:17:18

"You know what? I'm going to do it to."

00:17:21

- So my view was, if I do this, if I follow this,

00:17:24

this what I see in Malachi

00:17:27

and everything turns out for the month,

00:17:29

then I'm going to have enough of a reason

00:17:32

to maybe have faith.

00:17:33

So, we did that the very next day, we tithed,

00:17:37

which was a frightening moment at the time to do that.

00:17:41

The very next day I was pulled out of my regular job

00:17:44

for a week, lived in a dormitory kind of environment.

00:17:46

And I was asked in this one week of the year

00:17:49

just to help clean the dorm.

00:17:51

In Germany, at the time, when you buy beer,

00:17:53

you buy it in what looks like kind of milk carton

00:17:55

kind of crates.

00:17:56

When you're done with those, you take them back to the store

00:17:58

and they'll give you a sizable deposit.

00:18:00

So, I asked the door manager,

00:18:01

"What am I supposed to do with these?"

00:18:03

He said, "I don't care, keep them or whatever."

00:18:05

So, I gathered them up

00:18:06

and through the course of the day

00:18:07

I gathered up enough was about 60% of the tithe

00:18:11

that I given 24 hours earlier.

00:18:15

Two days later, I get a check in the mail

00:18:17

that was also about 60% of the tithe.

00:18:21

Then it just hit me that in the course of three days,

00:18:25

we had more than the tithe that we had given.

00:18:29

And that's when I said, "I think this might be real."

00:18:35

And it was after that that I prayed for the first time,

00:18:37

after that that our faith journey really started,

00:18:41

and it never stopped.

00:18:44

- This moment sealed our faith in tithing,

00:18:48

our faith that God was real, the Bible was real.

00:18:52

It just -- it was an incredible moment.

00:18:55

- We never looked back after tithing the first time.

00:18:57

It was the foundation.

00:18:58

And it's never occurred to me to not tithe.

00:19:03

- Correct.

00:19:05

God is the greatest provider.

00:19:07

I mean, He is so faithful.

00:19:11

He's been so faithful in our lives.

00:19:13

And again, it hasn't always been easy, but he's there.

00:19:17

He was there yesterday. He's here today.

00:19:19

And he will be here tomorrow.

00:19:23

- Isn't that good?

00:19:24

There was -- that verse we read earlier says,

00:19:26

"See that I don't give you a blessing

00:19:28

until there is no need."

00:19:30

Doesn't mean give you a blessing until there is no greed.

00:19:34

Doesn't mean that if you tithe

00:19:35

you're going to be driving Mercedes and have yachts

00:19:39

and have second homes and having third homes.

00:19:41

It doesn't mean that.

00:19:42

But there is a basic sustenance that God kyries you through.

00:19:49

And there's a lot of people

00:19:50

who see crazy abundance financially

00:19:53

to have maybe some of the things that I just mentioned.

00:19:56

But it's a test.

00:19:57

It's a test that you take with God.

00:20:00

We're going -- we want to make this easy

00:20:01

for you at Crosswords, as easy as we possibly can,

00:20:03

because we've seen how God has blessed us

00:20:06

and thrown open the windows of blessing on us, \

00:20:10

the windows of bringing things to our church

00:20:12

and our personal lives,

00:20:13

that we're going to help you get started if you want to.

00:20:16

If you choose to tithe for three months

00:20:19

and you can sign up for the tithe test.

00:20:22

And at the end of those three months, if you say,

00:20:24

"I just can't do it. I didn't -- I didn't --

00:20:26

I didn't sense the presence of God.

00:20:28

I didn't sense God blessing me

00:20:29

in any way, shape or form."

00:20:30

We will refund you all your money.

00:20:32

We've been doing this for years and years and years.

00:20:35

1 to 2% of everybody who signs up

00:20:37

has asked for their money back after three months.

00:20:40

And we've done exactly that.

00:20:42

Most people don't because they see that

00:20:44

the windows of blessing of Heaven are open to them

00:20:47

in some way, shape or form.

00:20:48

And it might not be I got a raise at work.

00:20:51

It might be I just feel more connected with God.

00:20:54

I feel more in touch with my friends.

00:20:57

I just have an extra sense of joy.

00:21:00

This is a test.

00:21:01

And God says, "Test me, test me, test me.

00:21:05

I'm testing you to see if you have faith."

00:21:07

And God says, "Test me, I dare you."

00:21:09

It's the only place in the entire Bible

00:21:12

where God says, "Test me."

00:21:13

He doesn't say, "Go have sex with whoever you want,

00:21:15

and then test me and see if you don't get VD."

00:21:17

He doesn't ever say that.

00:21:19

He doesn't say, "Go eat whatever you want.

00:21:22

Jam calories down your face and deep fry

00:21:24

and test me, test me

00:21:26

and see if you don't get heart condition."

00:21:27

No, he doesn't say that.

00:21:28

He doesn't say, "Test me and go in the dog eat dog world

00:21:31

and just eat more people than they eat you

00:21:33

and be nasty in business and just see,

00:21:35

just see if it doesn't work." He doesn't say that.

00:21:37

But in this area He says, "Test me, test me in this."

00:21:41

Let's keep going. One more verse.

00:21:57

Here we get back to this curse idea.

00:22:00

God says our money is under a curse,

00:22:04

as a believer before we tithe,

00:22:06

all the stuff we're keeping and that when we tithe,

00:22:09

He rebukes the devourer.

00:22:11

The thing that devours our resources

00:22:15

before we have anything to show for it, He rebukes it.

00:22:19

I believe, I believe that if I did not tithe,

00:22:23

and I've been doing it for a long time,

00:22:24

I would have more cars break down.

00:22:27

I believe that.

00:22:29

I drive my cars into the ground.

00:22:30

They go a long, long time.

00:22:31

I believe part of it is because God rebukes the devourer.

00:22:35

My cars last a long time, not guaranteed, but they do.

00:22:38

I believe, I believe that I've had

00:22:41

such a great relationship with my kids right now,

00:22:44

amazing relationship with my kids,

00:22:46

and I've never had to pay for them with going to rehab.

00:22:52

I've never had them total a car of mine.

00:22:55

I've never had to go to counseling as a whole family

00:22:58

because our family is totally screwed up.

00:23:00

Though, to be clear, I've definitely worked hard

00:23:02

to screw up my kids.

00:23:03

You can talk to them.

00:23:04

They'll be -- they'll be in counseling eventually,

00:23:06

because I've got some issues.

00:23:08

But I believe that the harmony

00:23:09

that we have in our family, I believe it traces back

00:23:12

in large part to this decision our family has made

00:23:15

to always put God first in our resources and to tithe.

00:23:19

And I believe that's had a financial impact

00:23:21

on our family and a relational impact on my kids

00:23:25

and an intimacy impact on me and my wife.

00:23:28

Do you want God to rebuke the devourer in your life?

00:23:33

This verse says that the way that happens

00:23:36

is you send God a message that I am faithful

00:23:40

and I'm going to trust in You,

00:23:42

and the first 10% is going to go to You,

00:23:44

even before I'm sure exactly how

00:23:45

the other 90% is going to work out.

00:23:47

Rebuke the devourer.

00:23:48

Then it continues, it says this, last part. It says:

00:23:58

All nations will call you blessed.

00:24:03

The Blessed Life is when someone looks at our life

00:24:07

and they go, "You know, it just seems to work.

00:24:10

I don't know what it is. It works."

00:24:12

Someone looks at our life

00:24:13

and there just seems to be joy.

00:24:14

Someone looks at our life

00:24:16

and there seems to be good choices.

00:24:18

Blessed.

00:24:19

God says people will look us

00:24:22

and see that we are blessed.

00:24:23

And God says it pins to His involvement in our finances,

00:24:29

in our life because we choose to pass the tithe test

00:24:34

and return to Him what isn't even ours,

00:24:37

it's the first 10% of the money.

00:24:39

And here's a crazy thing. It's a double test.

00:24:41

God puts us in this double bind

00:24:43

where He's testing us to see if we will not rob from Him.

00:24:47

And He's saying, "Test me

00:24:50

and see if I don't open up the gates of heaven

00:24:52

and bless you in some way, shape or form."

00:24:55

Will you hit the lottery if you tithe? Probably not.

00:24:59

Are you guaranteed a 10% increase in pay

00:25:02

every year for the rest of your life? Probably not.

00:25:05

But there is a way that God gets involved in your life

00:25:08

that makes you say, "I am blessed."

00:25:10

And we want that for you.

00:25:12

So, you can go to crossroads.net/tithetest

00:25:16

and you can take the test if it makes it easier for you.

00:25:18

We just want you to have all of God wants for you

00:25:21

and we want the devourer to be beat back from your life.

00:25:26

This is how you do it. Let's be blessed.

00:25:30

- Well, good luck with that. No, no, it's a test.

00:25:34

It is a test and it is challenging.

00:25:35

But God always meets us when we step up to the challenge.

00:25:38

Isn't that right? - That's right. Yeah.

00:25:40

And I would just say, like, if you're, I don't know,

00:25:42

let's say, 25 and you're, like,

00:25:43

"Man, I got to get my finances together."

00:25:45

Hey, we see you.

00:25:46

Like, that's a real thing.

00:25:48

And whatever age you are, if you hear that,

00:25:51

you're like, "Oh, my gosh, that sounds rough."

00:25:53

Hey, that's real life. Like, that's part of it.

00:25:56

It's supposed to be a test.

00:25:58

It's supposed to have an element of challenge

00:26:01

and an element of risk.

00:26:03

Test God in this.

00:26:04

Go on the adventure of trusting God with your money.

00:26:08

Good stuff will happen. Seriously.

00:26:09

- That's real. And God's saying, "Test me."

00:26:11

Like, He's saying, "Test me."

00:26:12

And that's why we set up the tithe test.

00:26:14

It's a 90 day challenge.

00:26:16

Crossroads.net/tithetest. Put God to the test.

00:26:19

Watch incredible miracles show up in your life,

00:26:22

like in his life and like in my life.,

00:26:23

every time I take this test, it is a faith exercise.

00:26:28

And every time God shows up. - Yes.

00:26:30

Next week is going to be awesome.

00:26:31

You don't want to miss it.

00:26:32

Actually, Paco here is going to be teaching

00:26:34

on the principle of firsts.

00:26:36

You don't want to miss it. We'll see you next time.

00:26:38

- It'll be mediocre at best.

00:26:40

- It'll be great.

00:26:41

We'll see you next time on Crossroads Anywhere.

00:26:44

- Your money can be blessed or it can be cursed.

00:26:48

It all depends on what you put first in your life.

00:26:57

- Hey, make sure you hit the playlist button ahead

00:27:00

so that you can keep up to date on videos just for you.

00:27:04

And don't forget to hit the subscribe button below

00:27:06

to keep up to date on all the latest content

00:27:09

coming your way from Crossroads.

Recent Series