Faith Leads Our Wallet

Understanding Stewardship: It All Belongs to God

Opening Illustration: The Audacity of Ownership

Imagine This for a Moment:

1. Raise your hand if you are a parent
2. Raise your hand if you buy your children clothes
3. Raise your hand if your kids have their own room in your house
4. Raise your hand if your children ever had the audacity to shut their door and feel you have no right to enter
5. Have you ever experienced this?

Similar Situations:

• Leased car (you don't own it, but you act like you do)
• Rental house (it's not yours, but you live like it is)

The Point: We often act like owners when we're actually just managers.

Foundational Scriptures

Genesis 8:22 (AMP) "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease."

Luke 6:38 (NLT) "Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back."

Series Introduction: Getting into the Flow of God

Before we start this series on getting into the flow of God, we must make sure you have a proper understanding of this concept:

We are stewards over what God has allowed us to manage.

11 Keys to Understanding Biblical Stewardship

1. The Earth Belongs to God

Psalm 24:1 (AMP) "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness of it, the world, and those who dwell in it."

Haggai 2:8 (AMP) "'The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the Lord of hosts."

Truth: God owns it all—the earth, the resources, and everything in it.

2. We Are Stewards of God's Stuff

1 Timothy 6:7 (AMP) "For we have brought nothing into the world, so [it is clear that] we cannot take anything out of it, either."

Reality: You came into this world with nothing, and you'll leave with nothing. Everything in between is on loan.

3. We Are Just Giving God What He Has Allowed Us to Handle

1 Chronicles 29:14 (NLT) "But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!"

Perspective Shift: You can never truly "give" God anything—you're only returning what He already gave you.

4. God Is Our Source; Our Job or Business Is Our Resource

John 3:27 (AMP) "John replied, 'A man can receive nothing [he can claim nothing at all] unless it has been granted to him from heaven [for there is no other source than the sovereign will of God].'"

Critical Distinction:

• Source: Where it originates (God)
• Resource: The channel through which it flows (job, business, etc.)

Don't confuse your resource with your source.

5. God Gave You the Power

Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (MSG) "If you start thinking to yourselves, 'I did all this. And all by myself. I'm rich. It's all mine!'—well, think again. Remember that God, your God, gave you the strength to produce all this wealth so as to confirm the covenant that he promised to your ancestors—as it is today."

Warning: Don't fall into the trap of self-made success. God gave you the ability to produce wealth.

6. God Doesn't Need You for Survival, But We Need Him

Psalm 50:12 (NLT) "If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it."

Humbling Truth: God doesn't depend on your giving for His existence. You depend on Him for yours.

7. We Can Never Repay God

Job 41:11 (NLT) "Who has given me anything that I need to pay back? Everything under heaven is mine."

Personal Story: I made the mistake one time of telling my mother she owed me some money, and she laughed and said, "Jomo, you can never repay me." And she was right. Until you have kids, you don't really understand the sacrifice that's made for your child.

Application: If we can't repay our earthly parents, how can we ever repay our Heavenly Father?

8. Jesus Showed Us God Was Our Source in the Lord's Prayer

Matthew 6:11 (AMP) "Give us this day our daily bread."

Jesus's Example: Even in teaching us to pray, Jesus pointed us to God as our daily provider.

9. We Don't Give Because God Needs Our Money; We Give to Honor

Proverbs 3:9-10 (AMP) "Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your crops (income); then your barns will be abundantly filled and your vats will overflow with new wine."

Key Understanding: We bring gifts to honor God, not because He needs them.

The Promise: When you honor God with your giving, He promises abundance in return.

10. We Must Guard Ourselves from Greed—The Only Solution to Greed Is to Give

Luke 12:15-20 (AMP) – Parable of the Wealthy Fool

Verse 15: "Then He said to them, 'Watch out and guard yourselves against every form of greed; for not even when one has an overflowing abundance does his life consist of nor is it derived from his possessions.'"

The Story (Verses 16-20): There was a rich man whose land was very fertile and productive. He began thinking to himself, "What shall I do, since I have no place large enough to store my crops?"

Then he said, "This is what I will do: I will tear down my storehouses and build larger ones, and I will store all my grain and my goods there. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many good things stored up, enough for many years; rest and relax, eat, drink and be merry (celebrate continually).'"

But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own all the things you have prepared?"

The Warning: The man had abundance but no generosity. Greed killed him.

The Cure: Generosity breaks the power of greed.

11. Remember This: The Principle of Sowing and Reaping

2 Corinthians 9:6-15 (AMP)

Verse 6: "Now [remember] this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows generously [that blessings may come to others] will also reap generously [and be blessed]."

Key Truth: When you sow, it creates a flow.

Verse 7: "Let each one give [thoughtfully and with purpose] just as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver [and delights in the one whose heart is in his gift]."

Important: God delights in cheerful giving.

Verse 8: "And God is able to make all grace [every favor and earthly blessing] come in abundance to you, so that you may always [under all circumstances, regardless of the need] have complete sufficiency in everything [being completely self-sufficient in Him], and have an abundance for every good work and act of charity."

Verse 9: "As it is written and forever remains written, 'He [the benevolent and generous person] scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever!'"

Verse 10: "Now He who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide and multiply your seed for sowing [that is, your resources] and increase the harvest of your righteousness [which shows itself in active goodness, kindness, and love]."

Verse 11: "You will be enriched in every way so that you may be generous, and this [generosity, administered] through us is producing thanksgiving to God [from those who benefit]."

Verses 12-13: "For the ministry of this service (offering) is not only supplying the needs of the saints (God's people), but is also overflowing through many expressions of thanksgiving to God. Because of this act of ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to the gospel of Christ which you confess, as well as for your generous participation [in this gift] for them and for all [the other believers in need]."

Verse 14: "And they also long for you while they pray on your behalf, because of the surpassing measure of God's grace [His undeserved favor, mercy, and blessing which is revealed] in you."

Verse 15: "Now thanks be to God for His indescribable gift [which is precious beyond words]."

The Flow Principle: God Waits for a Manager

Genesis 2:5 (AMP)

"No shrub or plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground."

Key Word: Cultivate

Synonyms: Breed, fertilize, harvest, manage, plant, prepare, propagate, raise, tend.

Critical Truth: God didn't start the flow until He had a manager ready to go.

Personal Testimony: God Trusts Good Managers

Our Church's Journey:

1. $400,000 Test: God trusted our management with $400,000 in the bank, and we emptied the account to buy the land.
2. $700,000 Test: God trusted us with $700,000 to manage and finish the building you sit in today.
3. Million Dollar Test: God trusted us with a million to get the project done.

Why This Is Unusual: The reason why this is so unusual for many people is because it doesn't happen to everyone.

The Secret: God tests your management before He increases your stewardship.

The Declaration: God has sent the people, and we are the people who are going to get it done.

Summary: The Stewardship Mindset

What We Must Remember:

1. Everything belongs to God (Psalm 24:1)
2. We are managers, not owners (1 Timothy 6:7)
3. We're returning what He gave us (1 Chronicles 29:14)
4. Our job is the resource, God is the source (John 3:27)
5. God gave us the power to create wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18)
6. God doesn't need us; we need Him (Psalm 50:12)
7. We can never repay Him (Job 41:11)
8. Jesus taught us to depend on God daily (Matthew 6:11)
9. We give to honor, not because He needs it (Proverbs 3:9-10)
10. Giving cures greed (Luke 12:15-20)
11. Sowing creates a flow (2 Corinthians 9:6-15)

Application Questions

1. Are you acting like an owner or a manager of God's resources?
2. Have you confused your resource (job/business) with your source (God)?
3. What does your giving say about who you believe owns your wealth?
4. Are you giving cheerfully, or grudgingly?
5. Have you fallen into the wealthy fool's trap—hoarding instead of giving?
6. Has God been able to trust you with little? Are you ready for more?
7. Are you cultivating (managing) what God has given you well?
8. What flow has God been waiting to release because you haven't been ready to manage it?

The Challenge

God is looking for managers He can trust with the flow.

When you prove faithful in managing what He's given you—including your finances—He will increase your capacity and entrust you with more.

The question is: Are you ready to be a trustworthy steward?

Remember: Seedtime and harvest shall not cease. The flow is coming. The question is whether you'll be ready to manage it when it arrives.