From Overwhelmed to Overflowing

Psalm 23:5. Psalm 23:5. But before we go into that, there’s two approaches to life. Okay? And I want to help you get from overwhelmed.

How many of you feel overwhelmed? Have you felt overwhelmed? Some of you are like, I’m not overwhelmed. Have you ever been overwhelmed? Okay.

Yeah. Well, I want to show you, based on what God is showing us in Scripture, how you go from overwhelmed to overflowing. Overwhelmed. Overflowing. And there’s two approaches in life we can have that bring us either to an overwhelmed state or overflowing state.

The first one is a shortage mindset. You can have this approach to life. You can be overwhelmed with the shortage mindset. I never have enough and never will. How many of you been there?

I just never have enough. I like how Jensen Franklin calls it. He calls it the bag mentality, that you just have enough in the bag for you and you’re thinking about you and it’s all about. All about you. And it can be your time, it can be your money, it could be your education.

I just never have enough. You know, you have those people that walk through life. I was like, I just don’t. I’m almost there, but I’m not there. And I’m just.

I’m just never having enough. And they’re overwhelmed and they just keep working. And the Bible talks about lacking and wanting and a need mentality. I’m reminded of 2 Kings 4:42 through 47, when Elijah tells his servant to bring the 20 loaves of bread that someone had brought to the prophets. There were a hundred prophets there and they were hungry and there was a famine.

And he brings in these 20 breads, 20 pieces of bread, 20 loaves of bread to the people. And he says, we’re going to feed the people with these 20 loaves of bread. Does that sound familiar? It’s kind of type of Jesus where you see Jesus in. In the New Testament.

But he’s got these 20 loaves of bread. And he tells the servant, you need to pass these out to the people, put this before the people so that they may eat. What was the response of the servant? How can this work? How can.

This is just not enough. How can I set this before a hundred men? That’s how a lot of people are. How can I, you know, how can we do this? I just don’t have enough.

I don’t have the time, I don’t have the resources. I don’t have. And you go through life overwhelmed. What does Elijah say? He says, set it before the men and you will see that more will come back.

What happens? They eat and they have plenty and it’s overflowing. So if you focus. The focus for this type of person is my limited resources. That’s all they’re thinking about.

I don’t have enough. I’ve been there. I’m gonna be honest with you. Even as a pastor, even as a church, we’ve had times. I don’t know how we’re gonna get there.

We don’t have enough resources. We’re in a brewery with 5,000 dol in the bank account. How are we going to get here? You know, and then how are we going to get there? That’s how we think when we’re a limited mindset, when we think that the focus is all about what I don’t have.

I’m always behind. I’m always in competition. And the result is an overwhelmed life. You have an overwhelmed life. I’m always behind.

I’m always looking at the other person trying to get there, but I’m never there myself. I’m always behind the eight ball. They work and work and work and they slave and it’s never enough. I’m going to fail unless I’m ahead. And I don’t want people to look at me this way.

And it becomes insecure for them. Insecurity sets in and jealousy sets in and greed sets in because, oh, I’ve got to have more. I’ve got to have more because I have limited resources. The other view is a surplus mindset. A surplus mindset.

God has more than I’ll ever need. God can give me more than I’ll ever need. It is abundant, as the Bible says. It is abounding. It is overflowing.

It is plentiful. You never have to worry. You never have to worry about anything. Let me ask you this for a second. The person next to you, do you look over them and are you worried about whether they’re going to steal all your air?

You got don’t. Don’t take all the air because no, you don’t do that. You know why? Because you believe there’s unlimited resources of air. I’m not worried about stealing somebody else’s air.

Right. It’s the same way with God. There’s unlimited resources available to us when we have the mentality that there is enough. The focus of a surplus mindset is God’s limitless resources. God has limitless resources.

And the results, an overflowing life. That I’ll have an overflowing life. The psalms we are dealing with today the psalm rather that we’re dealing with today is chapter five and Psalm 23. And y’ all know the first part of 23. And I’ve gone over this week after week, but I know y’ all have limited capabilities to remember from week to week, because I’ll ask you on Wednesday night in my small group, what did we learn?

And everybody looks at me like I don’t remember. So I will remind you once again that the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And it’s one of the most famous psalms. I’m just picking on you guys. By the way, some of you new here say, what in the world, man?

He’s calling people out here. But it’s all in fun, okay? The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. And then we take a few steps through the chapters.

And what did we talk about the last time I spoke? The anointing. He anoints my head with oil. Can you praise God that he gives you anointing to do everything that he has given you to do? The calling on your life is an anoint, special anointing.

The Holy Spirit gives you anointing in your life. By the way, if you have notes in your bi fold there that you can pull out if you’re following along, if you’re new with us, also, we have our event on the phone. Actually, our event is not available today. Sorry about that. We didn’t have our event available today on the Bible app.

So make sure you have that piece of paper in your hand or you grab it when you walk out. We’ll have those notes available for you. So we talked about an anointing. But just a few words into the next passage, it says this. You fill my cup to overflowing, or you give me more than I can hold.

As one version says, it gives me more than I can even hold. And even walk with and even have, or my cup overflows. That’s what most of us know. It overflows. It’s not just full, it overflows, Lee.

It overflows, brother. It just gets. It gets out. And you want to give it away. You got so much.

You’re able to be generous. You’re able to give it away. It’s so good. What is my cup? What is my cup?

My cup is my life. Your cup is your life. Look what John says when Jesus is teaching. He says, on the last day of the festival, that’s the feast of Tabernacles. That is a feast about provision, which is interesting.

There’s Jesus stood and Shouted to the crowd, if you are thirsty, come to me and drink. Everyone who really believes in me will have rivers of living water flowing out of their life. Isn’t that wonderful? Just think about that. Those who believe in me, what does that mean?

I’m not worried about running short of anything. I’m not worried about being without. Believe in me. He who believes in me. What does that really mean?

It doesn’t simply mean that you know about God or you know about Jesus, or you’ve read about Jesus, or you know he existed, or you know, he’s even, even here today. I mean that. That’s good to know that when we believe in Jesus, it means we trust in Him. But we don’t just trust in Him. We cling on to him with everything that’s in us, as if we.

It is the life source. It is what gets us breathing again. It gets us rolling again. We cannot go without Him. That’s what it means.

So when everyone who really believes will have rivers flowing out of them, an overflow, a cup of joy that runs over. Amen. That’s what God has available for us. So when we really believe in him, and really believe in him, we place our trust in Him. When we know we can’t go day in and day out without him, we can experience more than you probably are currently experiencing in an overflow life.

What is an overflowing life? Let me give you a simple definition. To be filled beyond capacity with an endless supply of God’s goodness. That’s what an overflowing life is. A cup that does not stop flowing over.

A cup that just keeps going. Blessings and favor and hope and salvation that just continues. And know this. Because God is good. Because God is good.

Everything he does in your life is good. If you don’t get this, if you don’t understand this, you’re going to have a lot of problems in life. If you don’t understand this, you’re going to go through life hurting. You’re going to go through life just living under suffering. Is there suffering?

Yes. Is there hardship? Yes. Are there things that happen in life? Yes.

But if you don’t understand that every piece of suffering that you go through, every trouble that you go through, every hardship you go through, is the goodness of God. That God is working all things out for his good and for his glory, you’re going to have a hard time walking this life as a Christian. You need to understand that because God is good, everything he does in life is good. It is good. Look what Isaiah says in Isaiah 48.

Write this down. Mark it. Look it up in your. In your Bible. I am the holy God who rescues you.

For your own good, I teach you. For your own good, I show you. I teach you. I have my word available to you for your good, for your own good, I teach you. And I lead you among the right path.

How I wish that you have obeyed my commands. Then your success and good fortune would be overflowed like a flooding river. So what’s God saying here? If only you would listen to me. If only you would trust me.

If only you would take what seems to be kind of strange to you. Maybe in our natural economy, God’s economy is different. In our natural way of living, God’s way of living is different. It just seems odd. It seems out of sorts.

But he says, if you would just listen to me, if you would just obey me, if you would just listen to me about how to take care of your body, how to live holy, how to live righteous, you would have a lot better overflowing life. If you would just listen to me about sex and what sex means and how it in the confines of marriage and how it’s supposed to be handled and all the beauty that comes into that. If you would just listen to me and let me show you. I can show you an overflowing life in your marriage. And if you would just listen to me about your money.

Oh, that’s really hard, Pastor. You’re talking about money. But they said if you would just listen to me, because you don’t listen to me. You don’t have any money. And I’m telling you, if you would just listen to me about finances and money, I would show you an overflowing life.

Some of you are hungry for power. Well, will you handle power wrong? God says if you would just listen to me about power and about reputation and about how ethics and all these things, you would understand that it’s not just about how powerful you are, it’s about how humble you are. And that’s what God sees in the heart. And that’s what you, when you really experience an overflowing life.

An overflowing life is what God’s trying to get. He wants you to be successful in life. He doesn’t want to harm you. He doesn’t want to hurt you. He’s not trying to take away your goodies.

He’s not trying to take away your candy. He’s trying to give you more candy. He’s trying to get you to enjoy life. And anytime I disobey or you Disobey. I’m doubting God’s goodness.

I’m doubting his goodness. Anytime you doubt, you are making a fatal mistake. You don’t even know what makes you happy. You don’t know. God knows.

That’s why you deal with stress and anxiety and emptiness and darkness and loneliness and all these things. Because you’ve tried to do it your own way. Don’t waste your tears, don’t waste your sadness on things you don’t have to. You don’t have to. Jesus says, I’ve come.

And y’ all know this one John 10:10. If you’ve been a believer for any amount of time, I’ve come that you may have life and life abundantly. I love the amplified version. I’ve come that you may have real life, not just this fake life that a lot of people are living under, the false life, the life that doesn’t bring any joy or bring any future hope, and enjoy it in abundance to the fullest until it overflows. There’s that word, overflow.

God wants to overflow your life. We don’t have real life unless we know him, unless we’re living in Him. So how can I experience, and this is probably what y’ all want to know. How do I experience this? Pastor, I’m going to give you four daily habits.

And some of these, you’ve heard me preach in other sermons, and some of it might be new, but you know, we need to hear it again and again and again and again. Right? Because we forget y’ all have heard me say this. Number one, you got to spend time with Jesus. You got to stay connected with Jesus every day.

Every time you wake up in the morning, what do I. I always say this. You’ve got to find some time with Jesus. You got to get connected to Jesus. You got to depend on Him.

You got to recognize his authority over your life. You got to recognize that he gave you the breath for this day, to walk through this day. Amen. He’s giving you his energy, his power. Spend time with him.

Pray. Listen to God. Spend time with God. Get into His Word. If you’re not spending time with God, if you don’t spend time with God, then you don’t have a relationship with God.

Relationship requires time. You put in the time. Jesus said it like this. If you stay connected to me and my Word remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted to you. What is that?

Huh? My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings glory to my Father. So stay connected to My love, you stay connected to my love when you obey me. I’ve told you this so that you’ll be filled with my joy, overflowing joy.

My Word remain in you. What does that mean? It means meditation. Some of you are like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Stay with the meditation stuff, right?

I mean, we’ve got. Obviously we have a lot of New Age and meditations means something different, but that simply means over and over and over again. You need God’s Word in your head and in your heart. You need to be reciting it all the time. Think of David, the psalmist.

You know, I meditate on youn Word day in and day out. I walk in youn Word. I live in youn Word. I remind myself of youf Word. Any circumstance that I go through.

There is a piece of scripture that applies directly to that which you are experiencing. My Word remains in you. You should meditate in it over and over and over and over again. Don’t let it depart from you because it becomes a part of you. Let me ask you this.

Are you good at worrying? You’re already good at meditation. Then you know that you’re already really good. Because what do you do when you worry? You think of something over and over and over again, and you can’t get that out, right?

And then it creates worry in your heart. The same thing is with Christian meditation. As we meditate on the Word of God, we think of it over, we recite it over, we remember it, we memorize it, We. We go back to it again and again, and it becomes a part of us. If My Word remains in you, and then it says, and if you request something, I will grant it to you.

Wow. Wow. Does that mean I can ask for a big house, you know, and God will give it to you? I would say. I would say maybe.

I don’t know. Is it aligned with His Word? Is it aligned with what he’s showing you in your meditation and in him as you flow freely? No, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to get more money when you ask for more money because your heart’s not in the right place. If you’re meditating on God’s Word, your heart’s going to be aligned with God’s heart and you’re going to know what he wants, and you’re going to see humility and sacrifice and generosity come out of that, rather than, I need more and more and more and more and more.

He will give you what you need because the more connected you are, the more you are going to have in your life. It’s as simple as that. The second thing is I got to stop drumming and start being grateful. I heard an oh out there, not a ohs. Studies say that when we’re grateful, we release dopamine, serotonin.

I mean, studies show this, that when we start out our day in gratefulness, that it actually makes our day better. Wow, that’s amazing. Sometimes you don’t feel like being grateful. You just got to make up stuff to be grateful about. You just got to look outside, just say, you know, sometimes you wake up in the morning, oh, I’m having a bad morning.

I feel bad. But, Lord, I’m grateful that I woke up this morning, you know, I’m grateful that there’s still. There’s still trees out in the yard, you know, and you haven’t blown the whole world up, right? Because with your judgment, you got to be grateful. Just make up stuff to be grateful for, and it will make a difference in your day.

Look at what Philippians 2:14 says. In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing. In everything you do, stay away from it. Wow, that’s a pretty good instructional there. Thank you.

Thank you, Paul. I appreciate that, Paul. We’ll take that, Paul. Some of you are like, nah, I like complaining because I’m aggravated with the world. Well, here you go.

Here you go. Does complaining make your situation better? Do you feel better when you complain? How is that helping you? How’s that going for you when you complain?

When you wake up complaining in the morning or in the middle of the day if something tragic happens? I’m preaching to myself here, Leon. How does it make you feel when you complain about traffic or you complain about a marathon right at church time? How does that help you? It doesn’t do anything because you can’t do anything about it anyway, right?

So all I can do is be grateful that I’m here. Grateful that. Look at the church. Look at everybody that showed up today. Hallelujah.

Praise God. They’re here. They’re here to receive Praise God. We’re together. We don’t waste our time on complaining.

We put our time into being grateful. Colossians 2:7 says, Let our lives overflow. There’s that word again. Overflow with thanksgiving for all God has done. God has done some great things, guys.

The fact that you’re here breathing and living, no matter what situation you’re in, you’re always a little better than somebody else, okay? Hallelujah. And we can be thankful and grateful for that. First Thessalonians 5, 18. I got a lot of scripture today, guys.

No matter what happens, always be thankful. No matter what circumstance in your life, always be thankful for. This is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. It’s the will. What’s the will of God?

For my life. Whoa. It says right here. Be thankful in all circumstances. What do you want me.

He’s not telling you to go on the missions field necessarily or stand on this stage and teach. Maybe he is. Maybe at some point he is. But watch the will of God for your life right now. Are some of you asking that?

Be thankful in all situations. Be content in every circumstance. Be that. That’s where you start. That’s walking.

And whatever you do in word and deed, do it as unto God’s glory, right? Everything, anything. That’s the will of God working in you and through you. That’s what God’s will is for your life. And number three, stop comparing and start being contented.

Stop comparing. Bible even says you’re foolish if you compare yourself to someone else. What does it do? You become envious, you become resentful, you become bitter. Well, I work harder than they do.

I’m smarter than they are. How come they’re there? Because you’re comparing yourself to somebody else. But God doesn’t care for you to be like that other person. He cares for you to be you.

He wants you to be you. He cares about you. Why shouldn’t we compare? For two reasons. You always find someone who does the job a little better than you do, so you get aggravated and bitter about that person.

Right? And the second thing, you always find someone that you do better than and you always find you do something better than someone else. And what does that do? That brings pride into your life. So we either have resentfulness or we have pride and we deal with pride.

And it’s harder than ever to not compare yourself to someone else, right? Harder than ever. I just feel sorry for our children to have to go through all these technological changes where you see everything. You see the world around you, you see everybody around you, see every life. We’re comparing everything.

We’re comparing what we eat, how we look. Look at my new shoes and look at my car and it’s all configured to make it look good. Let’s just be honest. I was having a conversation with one of my pastor friends the other day. We were talking about that very thing about comparing even churches, comparing other churches.

Just like you put that perfectly angled. Like, I could take our camera right here and I could say we have a thousand people in service. And I’ll just take a picture right here and just get all you group of people and it’s full, you know, or whatever, and they post it online. Great, great service. Today.

The place was pac man. It was really happening. And people will compare, People will compare. And it makes you resentful and it feeds FOMO fear of missing out. Some of you got on your phones last night and you saw your friends all having fun at the Oceanfront, eating good food and stuff like that, and you’re like, why am I not there?

I deserve that. Why was I invited? Why didn’t they invite me? Have you ever had that? Have you ever had somebody to back in text you in Facebook or something like that and messenger?

And it’s like, it’s like, dude, you went surfing without me. Well, you went there without me. You went shopping without me. You cooked steaks without me. You didn’t invite me.

So we have that happening. And it also feeds our narcissism, right? Look at me, look at me. Look at me. Look at me, look at me.

And we look like a bunch of kids out there. Grown adults acting like kids, acting like children. Putting their little face profile up there and putting a little cozy fuzzies around it, man. Guys, it’s so obviously fake. I just love these profile pictures that are put up there and they just take out all the wrinkles and all and they smooth it perfect.

They got a little glo. Look like heaven. Look like angels falling down around them. It’s so beautiful, you know, you’re like, oh, it’s so glowing. It’s not real.

None of it’s real. None of it’s real. And we compare ourselves. My wife just said, except for mine. Okay, all right.

Yeah, yours is glowing, baby. Yeah, yeah, hers is the real deal. Everything you see is the real deal. And comparing also develops self righteousness. And this is really important.

I’ve seen more self righteousness with the ability to compare to the ability to see the post. That person, that worship pastor with the lights right behind them, praising God, you know, or raising their hands, you know, in church. Like, this is me raising my hand. Look at me, look how great I am. It develops those things when you’re trying to show off your spirituality.

If you’re not doing it with the right heart, the heart to evangelize, the heart to tell others about Jesus, the heart to want others to have what you have. If you’re doing it just so that you look good, then it’s self righteousness. And we Know what God says about that? We know what Jesus said about that when he looked at the Pharisees and they were praying on the corner and he said, you vipers, you brood of vipers. You pretend to be righteous, but your hearts are yucky.

Your hearts are ugly. When we compare ourselves to others, that’s what happened. Look at 1st Corinthians 4:7. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?

And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? Why do you boast like you. Everything you have, you got from somebody else or from. Ultimately from God? You were put in the right place to get the right education, to get the job you have.

Oh, I did this myself. I worked really hard. Yeah, we’re not denying that you worked really hard. But, you know, there’s people around the world that are just as smart as you that aren’t able to have an education to get the job that you have. The skills that you have, you know, they’re given from God.

He put you in the right place, the right time to be able to make the money that you make and do the things that you do, to give you. I’m gonna. I’m gonna stop because I can go on and go on and go on. But why do we boast as though you did it? You want to be healthy.

Here’s what Proverbs 14:30 says. It’s healthy to be content, but envy will eat you up. Envy will heat you up. It will tear you up. Ecclesiastes 4.

1. It is better to be content with what you have than always be struggling for more. That is like chasing the wind. You want to chase the wind. Just go after what you can’t, you can’t fulfill on your own.

Paul says, I’ve learned to be content, and it’s not natural. It’s not natural to be content. I’m not built to be content. You’re not built to be content. It’s something that we.

That’s why he says you have to learn it. It’s something we learn. You can unlearn something, and you can learn something. You can actually learn something, right? So we need to unlearn the things that bring us to this place, and we need to retrain and learn.

Because, you know, negative discontentment brings worry, it brings jealousy, it brings selfishness, it brings unworthiness that I’m unworthy, unloving, shame. All those things are there that discontentment brings, and they are learned. You’ve learned them through a process of your life. So what is learned can be unlearned, and what is unlearned can be learned. And I tell you what the wealthiest people in the world will tell you.

That money doesn’t satisfy. They’re doing everything to try to give away money because they want to make the world a better place. Because they think that. And they’re still not satisfied because you know why? God only satisfies.

The Lord only satisfies. So be content and number four. Number four, stop being stingy and start being generous. Stop being stingy and start being generous. This is the hardest thing, okay?

This is the hardest thing to talk about. Stinginess is evidence of a shortage mentality. When you’re stingy, when you’re trying to hold on to your world, hold on to your money, hold on to your time, hold on to your resources. Stinginess depletes wealth. Did you know that?

When we hold back, when we’re not generous, we deplete wealth. We deplete wealth in society. I can’t afford is the word in a shortage mentality. I can’t afford to do that. I can’t afford my time to do that.

I can’t afford my money to do that. I need to hold on to that. That’s what a shortage mentality is. That’s what a bag mentality. And if you say I don’t have enough, you don’t understand how the universe works.

Because God created the universe in a way that he says if you give a generous God and you’re gonna get back. That’s what God says. He wants you to be like Him. For God so loved the world that he what he gave. We’ve got a tremendously generous God that wants us to be like him, that wants us to work like him and to act upon others like him and to love this world the way that he loves us world.

And this upsets people because they simply don’t understand. God will overflow them in every single area of their life. If you learn not to have a shortage mentality, but a generous mentality that God back to, if you would just listen to me, Second Corinthians says it like this. Remember this. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.

Whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should. You should give what you have decided in your heart to give. And not reluctantly and under compulsion. So don’t be manipulated into giving.

God doesn’t want a manipulated giver. God doesn’t want a compulsion give. Okay? He Wants you to think about why you’re doing what you’re doing, because that’s his heart. He wants to make sure you’re giving because you trust him, and you want to see his work go forward, and you want to see him work through you, and you want to see him work through your church.

Because what happens when people come in and they say in a church and they say, here’s the number one reason people leave a church, and that’s, I’m not being fed. I’m not being fed. Well, what are you offering to give a table to be fed to feed people, is what I ask. What have you given lately to allow a table, a spread, to be set out so that everyone can be fed? That’s why he says, bring the tithe into the storehouse so that there will be food in my house.

And if there’s not food in the house, people starve. He said, even test me at this and let me show you. I’ll open up the floodgates of heaven, pour out on you so many blessings until it overflows. It’s in Malachi 3, 10. He says that.

He says that. And if we’re not getting fed, that means that there’s a very, very important piece to the puzzle here that’s missing, and it may be you. And I’m not just talking about money, guys. I’m talking about service. I’m talking about resources.

I’m talking about maybe you can open up your home to some people who need a family, that need to have a dinner and need to hear, need somebody to give wisdom. Maybe you’ve got wisdom that you’re not sharing. Maybe you’ve got some kind of service that you’re not being able to get because you’re in a bad mentality. You’re in that limited mindset that God is, you know, I’ve got to look after my kingdom. I’ve got to look after my people.

You know, the reason that people aren’t fed in churches is because there’s only a few people. So let me just put it this way. I was just thinking about that this morning. If I invited all of y’ all to my house, and I said, let’s have a big potluck. And me and two other people showed up.

Me and Alex showed up with the food. Half of you are gonna starve, right? It just won’t work unless God does a miracle. You know, that’s not a point, but he says, bring it into my house, so there’s plenty of food for everybody. And I Don’t understand the limited mentality of people saying, you know, I just don’t have enough to serve.

I don’t have enough to give. God’s only required 10%. I mean, I don’t know why that’s a problem. You spend way more than 10% on Starbucks every week, right? Eating out every week.

Maybe put God first over your food, but when there is plenty no one is without. The question is, do you trust Jesus? Do you trust him to get in this matter? Yeah, you trust him. You trust him to get you to heaven, great.

But do you trust Jesus in these matters? Here’s what Jesus says. If you give, you will receive back. This is in Luke 6. Your gift will be returned to you in full measure, packed down and shaken to make room for more, and running over whatever measure you use in giving, large or small.

And in context, this isn’t just talking. In fact, this is talking about judgment. The amount of judgment you give somebody, you’ll get back. The slander and gossip that you give. Guess what you’re going to get back?

The shame you put on somebody or shame you put on yourself, you’re going to get, you know, it’s all there. They’re not just talking about finances. Finances are a part of it. Money and generosity are part of this. And a lot of people use this over money and generosity, but it’s in everything.

But it also applies to that as well. And he says, if you. Whatever you give out, you’re going to get back. And that’s how God created things to work. It’s a spiritual principle that God has put together.

And he says, you know what? I want to play a little game with you. And he says it right here in Scripture. He says, won’t you test me at this and see that I don’t give you back? Well, I don’t want to, God, because I’m busy building my own kingdom.

I’m busy doing my own thing. Whatever measure you’re given or you give, he will give back to you. Running over whatever measure you use. Giving, large or small, whatever that is, whatever that giving is, you fill in the blank. It will be used to measure whatever is given back to you.

Go home, study that, think about that, pray about that. And all that Jesus taught in Matthew 9:29 says, according to your faith, let it be done to you according to your faith. Trust, trust, clinging to God, clinging to God with everything that you are. I want so much of you, Lord. I want more of you, God, that I’m willing to do whatever it takes because I want you.

I don’t want this world. I don’t want the things of this world. God, if you bless me, I know it’s a blessing that comes from you. If you bless me with tangible blessings, praise God, praise Jesus. I can use him for your glory and for your kingdom.

That’s how we should be praying for. We should say, oh, God, give me, give me, give me, give me. We should be saying, God, give me so I can give. God, give me so I can give. God, put me in places so I can do more for you, Lord Jesus, it can put me in situations that I have to depend and trust in you, God, I want to trust in you.

Even If I have $100 in my bank account, Lord, am I willing to give that $10 and put it in an offering plate and trust you with it? Or whether I’m sitting on that bench, Lord, and I’m hungry and I haven’t eaten all day, I have my little meal and somebody’s hungry next to me, a homeless person. Am I willing to say, hey, you know what? I’m gonna give up this food today, Give it to this person. Or maybe, maybe God’s just told you to give somebody a financial blessing.

I don’t know what that looks like. Maybe they have a broken down car or something’s going, you’ve heard some story, and I really don’t have it. But I’m gonna live in an abundance mentality. And God, I feel like you’re telling me to do this, help this person this month. I’ve done that over and over again, guys.

I’ve shoveled money right out of my pocket to help people. And I’m a poor pastor, okay? And I’ve watched what God does. He gives me more back. He gives me more back.

He takes care of me. He’s taking care of my family. I could go back. I don’t have time today. And I know some of you are looking at your watches because lunchtime is really approaching.

I don’t even. We usually quit at 11:15 when we start at 10. But I don’t know where our ending time is today. So. Welcome to Salt Church if you’re new with us.

I don’t know, but I’m closing. I’m closing. I’m closing. I’m landing. Okay, okay.

But I want you to think about this, guys. How can we be a church in this city? You know, a small church like ours can make a big impact. We can do more than any church in this city. If all of us are on board with These principles that we could do so much.

Let’s pray, Father. Thank you, God. Thank you, God, for the resources that you’ve given me. I might not have much, Lord, but I have it. You’ve given it to me, Lord.

It all comes from you. I thank you for my education. I thank you for my business, Lord. I thank you for my house. I thank you for my car.

I thank you for everything that you’ve given me, every resource that you’ve given me, God. I thank you, Lord Jesus. I am so thankful and I am so content. And I’m not going to complain, Lord Jesus. I’m going to see what’s in front of me, Lord, and I’m going to practice faith and I’m going to practice trust.

And I’m going to watch what you do, Lord, because I know you love me so much and all you care about is seeing me be successful in this life. And I know it’s not the success that the world may be put in place. It might even be martyrdom. It might be rough times, Lord. It might be sending me to places that I don’t want to go, God.

But I can still experience an overflow, Lord Jesus, because I put my trust and my hope in you. We don’t have to live the way we’ve always lived. We put our trust and our hope in you. With all heads bowed and all eyes closed. Still, maybe there’s somebody here who hasn’t put their trust in Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

It says, he who believes in me will be saved. He who puts their trust, who puts their faith in me. He who calls on my name will be saved. And I’m not talking about religion. I’m not talking about doing the right or wrong things.

I’m talking about a personal relationship with Jesus, that he died on the cross for your sin. He gave his life for you. If that’s you today, God’s been pulling and tugging on your heart. Would you pray this with me? Father, I believe that you are the Son of God, that you died on the cross for my sin, that I’m a sinner without you.

But I need your grace and I need your love and I need you. I need all of that. Lord Jesus, I surrender my life to you today. I give you the glory and I give you the praise in Jesus name. Amen.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Can y’ all praise God? Can y’ all praise God today? If you did give your life to Jesus, we don’t make you come up front or stand in front, say hey, you know, but you can put that on your card and let us know that you gave your life to Jesus today or you rededicated your life.

Perhaps maybe you just got back connected to Jesus again today for the first time in a long time. We have a lot of those that happen all the time. We probably have more of those than actual for the first time. I think you’re cutting me off now. So with that being said, let’s stand.

Let’s stand. Okay. Hallelujah. Remember next week, next week, next Sunday, Sunday night’s really, really important night. Be here to hear all about it.

Father to him who is able to do abundantly above all that we can ask or think according to the power that is at work within us. Let us be salt and light to this world because salt always makes a difference and a little bit of salt goes a long way. And the church said amen.