Open Handed: All about the Heart p1

Recap

Everybody say, “I was made for THIS!”

Turn to your neighbor and say “even you can do THIS!”

The Will of the Father says you were made for THIS!

The Heart of the Father is generous and gives out of the abundance of His Heart

His Heart for you and me is unlimited love - Romans 8:38-39

Romans 8:38–39 CSB

38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God IS Love and out of His love for you and me He gives.

He gives through His Son, Jesus - Whom He gave as the atonement for our sins, the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world

That you and I may be redeemed, and reunited with our Heavenly Father

Reunited - not just merely coming alongside of, but that He would take up residence within us, and that we, in Him, we would live, and move, and have our being.

Reunited with God is Christ in us, and us in Him.

What a beautiful story of redemption, by our Great Redeemer!

It is in Christ, that we no longer have a scarcity mindset, but an abundance mindset.

It is in Christ, that we no longer consider ourselves more valuable than others - but that all our value, and all that we value is in Christ Jesus.

It is through and in Him that we have life, and life MORE ABUNDANTLY

To where we have this LIVING HOPE within us - and when you’re overly confident about something you know it’s got to get out!!!

I love pizza. Okay, maybe that’s a little strong for the point here. But some of y’all know I have a favorite pizza place. And when I can afford it, I take you there.

Unless you don’t like pizza, and then I question our friendship.

I’m just kidding.

I love you - because God loves you. And the Bible says if the Love of God is in me, I have to love you.

While that is true, I’m just making a play on pizza love.

I really do love you all.

But God has set up a system of blessing - to give and to receive a blessed life.

Tithing, giving, irrational generosity, and stewardship.

Inflation and famine do not phase the tither and giver.

It’s all God’s stuff - God has given me the responsibility over His stuff.

All money has a spirit on it - either the Spirit of God, or the spirit of mammon.

Both of which are looking for the hearts of servants; we have a choice in either God blessing what we have, or allowing the spirit of mammon control and destroy what we have.

God blesses and multiplies, mammon controls and consumes; what we choose to do reflects the alignment of our hearts.

Why?

Because Jesus says in Matt 6:21

Matthew 6:21 CSB

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

It’s a matter of the heart

Part I

Jesus encourages us in Matt 6:19-20

Matthew 6:19–20 CSB

19 “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal.

This is the heart of the Father - ready made and written for you!

The Father is telling us He wants us to value what He values.

And we as His children - seated in heavenly places, at the Father’s table, in the Father’s house.

He created anything and everything. He owns the copyright to your very DNA.

He spoke all that exists into existence, and because of His genius and power, all things continue to be created.

If we really think God is ate up by how much gold is left in the earth for us to use, we’re sadly mistaken.

Where he’s at, gold is called asphalt.

But TRUE RICHES, are what He’s really all about. TRUE riches.

If God values these kinds of riches, don’t you think we should?

If the one supreme being in all the universe would say “This one thing is more valuable than anything else”. Don’t you think we should go after that?

You are God’s TRUE riches. You and I are God’s true riches. God’s true riches are people.

It’s a heart issue. It’s a matter of God’s heart that we would be more interested in mankind, than mammon.

God’s Gain is my interest

Maybe you’re still not convinced about how much God is interested in this heart issue.

How many of you believe that when God gives a command it should be followed?

Let’s look at Joshua chapter 7

Joshua 7:1 CSB

1 The Israelites, however, were unfaithful regarding the things set apart for destruction. Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart, and the Lord’s anger burned against the Israelites.

This story follows Israel’s conquest of the city of Jericho.

If you read in the previous two chapters, we see the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people, have finally left the wilderness after 40 years of God working Egypt out of the hearts and minds of Israel.

When I say working Egypt out of Israel, I mean that God was preparing the nation of Israel to walk and talk a new way of life.

They were no longer identified by their bondage and captivity.

They were no longer identified as a subjugated people.

They were no longer identifying the customs and courtesies, the religions, the idolatry, the iniquity that was in Egypt.

The Hebrews were delivered from captivity and set free and given a new identity as a nation, God’s chosen and set apart.

So it took one day to get Israel out of Egypt, but it took 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel.

So God leads Israel to Jericho. Jericho is an impregnable city. It’s high walls were impenetrable. Jericho was undefeated and full of wealth and riches.

God lead Israel to conquer and defeat Jericho, and take the spoils.

But here’s the thing - Jericho was the first fruits of all God was leading them in conquest.

There would be more cities conquered after Jericho. God had given Israel the land of Canaan - flowing with milk and honey and giant fruit harvests.

God had given it to them.

But Jericho was first. And it was the first fruits. And so God said it was His.

Joshua 6:18–19 CSB

18 But keep yourselves from the things set apart, or you will be set apart for destruction. If you take any of those things, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and make trouble for it. 19 For all the silver and gold, and the articles of bronze and iron, are dedicated to the Lord and must go into the Lord’s treasury.”

God said the spoils of this battle were His. They are the first fruits. They are reflective of His glory, as He the Commander of the Lord’s Armies is the one who provided the victory.

God wills and desires to provide you victory, but He will not share His glory. You don’t get to claim a victory won by the LORD. If God delivers us from any kind of bondage, we say the LORD delivered us from bondage.

You want to be debt free? You get in your mind now that God is the one who gets you debt free. God provides it, you steward it!

It’s a heart check. It is a matter of the heart.

Joshua follows the orders of the Commander of the Lord’s Armies, and the spoils of the battle are this:

Any thing that was in the city that could burn did. God said it was accursed, it was established for evil. God said let it burn.

The gold, silver, bronze, and iron, however - that was brought into the LORD’s treasury. God had an intended purpose for those things.

And so they did - they brought the gold, silver, bronze and iron to the LORD’s treasury and burned everything else.

Except one person. His name was Achan.

Achan was a family man. He had a wife and kids. Achan saw the spoils and riches of the victory - and scripture said he coveted those things.

Joshua 7:21 CSB

21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Babylon, five pounds of silver, and a bar of gold weighing a pound and a quarter, I coveted them and took them. You can see for yourself. They are concealed in the ground inside my tent, with the silver under the cloak.”

Achan hid the things that belonged to the Lord. Does this sound familiar? Like Jesus’s parable about the servant given one talent who buried it?

Achan stole what belonged to the Lord - the first fruits.

Anytime we withhold from the Lord, it leads to trouble.

Anytime we withhold from the Lord, it robs God.

Anytime we withhold from the Lord, it robs God of His praise.

That’s why the majority of Jesus’s teachings involve money - because it’s a matter of the heart.

It’s a heart issue. It’s not about the money.

God wants your heart, and wants to be first in your heart.

You cannot serve both God and mammon.

And both God and mammon are seeking who will serve them.