Why Is This Getting To Me? | Promoted | Pastor Derick Amsler

Go ahead and grab your seat. Grab your Bibles. Go with me to the Gospel according to Luke. The Gospel of Luke. We are in a series called Promoted.

Everybody say promoted. And we're not looking for formulas to be blessed. We're looking at the formation of our becoming. There's a you that you've not met just yet, and we want to introduce you to God and to the person that God created in you. Tell the person that's you his truth.

Come on. His truth looks good on you. Let him know. Come on. His truth looks good on you.

And so what we're asking is, what are the three major pressure points in the Old Testament and in the New Testament and on Tuesday at work or Monday in the classroom? What are the three major pressure points that tend to collapse people under the weight of a good thing? What are the pressure points that keep us in this cycle of stagnant, of stagnation in our spiritual journey? If God wants to form us, then we've got to pass certain tests in our life. And we're looking at these three pressure points.

First week, we talked about the inability to handle stress biblically. Tell the person. Next, how's the good one? How's the good one? You needed that one.

You needed that one. You've been. You've been stressing everybody out. And then last week, we looked at how to break sexual strongholds off of our life. And let me just say, what God is doing in so many lives and families and teenagers since last week is just amazing.

And so we are just a community of believers who just talk about what the Bible talks about and want to talk about this third pressure point that causes a lot of unneeded anxiety in our life today. But by means of introduction, have you ever noticed how difficult it is for some people to receive a compliment? Come on. You have anybody like that in your life? I bet you do.

Matter of fact, let's just put it to the test. Tell the person on your right, hey, you look good today. Come on. Let them know. Go ahead.

You look good today. Yeah, they're. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All the introverts just look down at their shoe. They just look down at their shoe.

I saw you. Oh, to make sure my shoe's tied. How many of you, you would say you're difficult for somebody to give a compliment to? You just make it awkward. You just make it weird.

Yeah. What about this? What about this? A while back, my wife and I were at some friend's house, and the lady had told us that she was making a meal from scratch. So, you know, going into it, she put lot of time and effort into this.

And so following the dinner, I said, hey, Delit, dinner was incredible. Thank you so much. It was delicious. She says, oh, oh, oh, sorry it didn't turn out the way that I was hoping. Well, like, I don't know what to do now.

Do I double down an affirmation or do I agree with her? Yeah, yeah, I was hoping for something else, too, but, you know, like, I don't even know what to do with that. What about the person who says. He says, you look nice today. This whole thing.

My hair would not even cooperate this morning. I could not sleep last night. It's like, nobody asked for all that. Just say thank you and move on. But my favorite is when the compliment involves something that you're wearing, something that you bought.

You know, I'm talking about, hey, I like that shirt. Oh, oh, I got it on sale. I got it on sale. It was clearance. It was clear.

It was clearance, and it had a green sticker, which means it was an extra 25% off, and it was a Labor Day sale. Plus, I've been saving up some Kohl's cash. You know. You know, I can explain why you like my shirt. And nobody asked for a CFO receipt.

Just say thank you and move on. And I know these types of people because I am that type of person. I feel like I got to justify everything. And I don't know why. Just last week, I walked off the stage and somebody said, I like your bracelet, instead of just saying thank you because that was nice.

I said, oh, thank you. It was a gift.

He could care less how I came into possession of this thing. He just said, nice bracelet. You know, truth is, unless this was given to me by a tribal chief somewhere in the heart of Africa, a part of a ceremony of acceptance into their tribe, language and tongue. Nobody cares about the story. So why we got to tell people it was a gift?

I don't know. It just makes me feel better. We get home, and Jessica was over there during the interaction, and she says, hey, the next time somebody says something nice to you, just say thank you and shut up. And I was like, babe, I love you, but that's the dumbest advice I've ever heard. I can't have people thinking I paid full price for stuff.

Isn't it weird? It's interesting. It's interesting because then I thought about the rest of the day, probably more than I should have. But why do I feel the need to justify, defend, or self Deprecate after somebody gives me a compliment. What level of deep rooted insecurity causes that level of justification?

I don't know. But I started asking myself, why is this getting to me? Like, why is this bothering me? Like somebody saying something nice and it's getting to me. And what it dawned on me was, he said, I like your bracelet.

But instead of reaching for gratitude or appreciation, I reached for a number. It was on sale, it was a gift, it was free to me. He wasn't talking about money, but something in me sure was. And that's how you know when something has your heart. When you start answering questions that weren't even in the conversation.

When you start answering questions that aren't even in the conversation. A deep undealt with wound or an insecurity has grabbed the mic to become your defender, in which a defender was never needed. When you start overly justifying certain practices or habits or mindsets or thoughts, something has moved into the center stage of your life. Maybe that's one reason why Jesus talked about money so much. Not because every conversation is about money, but because money has a way of getting into the subconscious of every conversation.

Money does something strange to our soul. It really does. Watch this. Money uses numbers to touch something in us that is not numerical. Numbers touches a wound in us that isn't even numerical.

Let me show you how it works. You're not living in your dream house and it kind of bothers you, but not to the level that it bothered you once you saw where somebody else was living and then something shifted in your heart because you're. You're guessing their number.

You work on the same team as an individual, but you find out that they make more than you. Something shifts in your heart concerning them, yourself, the entire organization. You see what somebody else wears and what they drive and where they vacation and something shifts in your heart. That's because money uses numbers to touch something in us that is not numerical. Money has a way of touching your.

Not just your heart, but everything that you've attached to your heart. For example, if I've attached money to my sense of self, I'm relying on the number of monies in my possession or in my account to tell me who I am. If I've attached my sense of security and well being and safety and success and status and freedom. If I'm looking to a number amount as proof that I'm okay, I'm doing okay, I'm respected, I'm loved, then I'm asking number to fix something that numbers can never do. Because at its core, money is not even numerical, it's spiritual.

Because you and I were created for a world beyond numbers. The Bible says that when God created you, he created you in his image and in his likeness. The Bible says that at the moment of conception, God bestowed his value, his or his, his character, his nature, your sense of belonging and well being, your worth. Into you. He wove you together while you were in your mother's womb.

The Bible says, formed and fashioned to be like God, God's character, God's nature is woven by design on the inside of you. So whenever we try to figure out our sense of self, well being, security, safety, likability, all these things on a number, we're asking numbers to be foundational to. To an area of our life that could only be given to us by God. Money can tell you what you have, but money was never qualified to tell you who you are. And so when it comes to numbers and what it does on the inside of us and the whole subject of money, let's talk about why Is this Getting to Me?

It's my title for today. Why is this Getting to Me? Where have I attached me or my heart or my sense of well being to numbers? There's a guy in Luke 19 who may help us figure this out. If you've been around the church scene for a while, you'll know the kid song that's been attached to this gentleman's name.

His name is Zacchaeus. So right away you're familiar with the song. Zacchaeus was a wee little man and a wee little man was he. Can we just be honest? Zacchaeus is so ticked off right now in heaven, man.

We're gonna get up there, he's gonna be so mad about that. You guys wrote a song about me and you couldn't even put short King in it. You had to make it Wee little Man. That's what you're calling me? Zacchaeus was a wee little man.

And the reason for the song is because it gives the context to the text that Zacchaeus was a man short in stature. He couldn' Jesus, so he climbed up a tree. But here's a problem with the song is that this is one of the most inflammatory encounters Jesus ever had with an individual around the subject of money. But because we've reduced the context down to a short guy climbing a tree, we miss the potency of the passage. But if we really invade what is happening between the lines and get Zacchaeus out of the tree and see the conversation that Jesus is having with another individual.

There's. There's layers of truth that will set us free from the grip that money has a hold on many of our lives. So with that in mind, put your hand over your heart. Say, lord Jesus, speak to me now. I'm ready to receive your word.

Luke, chapter 19, verse 1. Jesus entered Jericho. This is an important city because Jericho was a major city on a major trade route. And that's important in Rome because whenever Rome saw wealth, they saw taxes. And so they would just constantly increase the taxation upon the people.

Jesus entered that city and he was passing through, so he's on his way to go somewhere to do something. But I love this about Jesus. Though he is busy, he still has time for the one. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector.

And the Bible wants us to know he was wealthy. This is what you would call an intentional emotional aggression in a reader. So there's details here that is meant to elicit an emotional aggression. He's a tax collector. It was common knowledge that tax collectors were notorious for collecting more than what Rome required.

If Rome required 60% taxes, the tax collector could raise it to 80% and just pocket the difference. They were viewed as thieves. They were also viewed as traitors. And so when the Bible says that, not only is this occupation, that heightens our emotion, but then it says he was wealthy. To which the.

Which the individuals in this story would have been even more agitated by that because his wealth came off of their back. So they're upset with this individual. Zacchaeus has wealth. He has power. He has access, he has position, he has authority, he has options.

But he doesn't have the one thing that money has never been good at. Buying, belonging in a sense of self. He has the position, he has the accolades. He has the stuff. He has the house.

He doesn't have himself.

He wanted to see who Jesus was. Verse 3. But because he was short, he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see him, since Jesus was. Was coming that way.

So he is wealthy, he's powerful. This man is wildly known around the area, but he does something that men with reputation don't normally do. He hikes up his robe. He runs down the street and climbs up a tree. So you can just put on your biblical imagination and picture that, because there's no way to look cool while you're holding your robe and climbing a tree at the same time.

So the whole situation is a little Bit clunky. He's up there in the tree and to see Jesus. Jesus comes walking down the street. Zacchaeus thinks he's there to see Jesus. Jesus picked that street to see Zacchaeus.

He stops at the tree, looks up, he says, zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. Don't you love it when people just invite themselves over? That's what Jesus is doing. Jesus don't care.

I must stay at your house. And all the people saw this and began to mutter, he has gone to be the guest of a sinner. I love the fact that these people are complaining about Jesus connecting with Zacchaeus. And Zacchaeus doesn't even realize the fullness of what's about to take place. Let me remind you, God may be doing something in your life that is unaware to you.

But. But don't stop inviting Jesus into the house of your home just because other people start muttering, let him mutter like that. Just let him go. Let him go for it. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short, he could not see over the crowd.

He climbs up a tree, Zacchaeus, you must come down immediately. And Jesus doesn't wait for Zacchaeus to get everything right. Before he walked into Zacchaeus's living room room, he just goes and has a dinner with Zach. I love that. What a beautiful picture.

That God doesn't wait for us to get our total act together before he delights in identifying himself with us. The Bible says that while we were yet sinners, rebellious against the divine himself, God was still compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in mercy. He left the penthouse of heaven and he put on the nature of human flesh. Flesh being born as a baby in Nazareth, he came to rescue us from our greatest problem. And that is not debt.

It's sin that God doesn't wait for us to be perfectly righteous individuals before he gives us his love. While we were yet sinners, the Bible says Christ died for us. Jesus didn't wait for Zacchaeus to make everything right. He went to go meet Zacchaeus to make him right. And I want to tell somebody that is that has put your identity and lowered your sense of self worth from who God says you are.

And you've associated and attached your identity to numbers. God sees the story beyond behind, beneath your money or your situation. For many of us, there's a debt that nobody knows the size of and it's stressing your life out. God can meet you in the middle of that. The business decision that went bad.

And now you feel like a failure. And you feel like you can't trust God anymore or trust yourself anymore, trust people anymore. God wants to come over and have dinner with you. The money that you borrowed and you still haven't paid back the season, you're still quietly trying to pay off or pray yourself out of. It's left you with a spirit of shame cloaked with embarrassment and insecurity and scarcity.

Or maybe the opposite. Now you. You've just become a greedy individual because you don't trust anybody anymore. Jesus wants to walk into the house of your heart and make himself at home. He wants to meet you right there in the middle of all of that money and numbers.

They're always attached to a story, and many stories are attached to numbers and money. But Jesus wants to meet the man or the woman beneath numbers and figures. You're not what you have. You're not what you've done. You were created in the image and the likeness of God.

Jesus walked into the man's house to have dinner. Now, if there was one detail that I wish the scripture would include, would have been, what do they talk about? We don't know. It's like one of those movies where you left the room for a second, you come back, and. And it's over.

We don't know what Jesus said over dinner, but something between the tree and the table shifted, something in Zacchaeus. Because all we know is the man who climbed down from the sycamore tree was not the same man who stood up from the dinner table. This. This sinner, this chief tax collector, this trader. He stands up in verse eight and he says, look, Lord, here and now, I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I've cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times.

Everybody shout, four. That's important because that's not an emotional outburst. There's intention, there's intentionality in that. He says, I will pay back four times the amount. My question is, well, who asked him to do all that?

He's going to pay everybody back up to four times. Who told him to do that? Jesus didn't take up an offering. Jesus wasn't like, hey, if anybody could pass the guac, please. And speaking of a guac, could we take up a.

Take up an offering. Jesus didn't take up an offering. We don't know that. Jesus talked about money. And here's what makes it so interesting.

If you turn back one page in your Bibles, you turn back one page to Luke 18, there's another encounter Jesus has with a wealthy man. Wealthy. And the Bible says that Jesus, or that the man asked Jesus, hey, what does it take for me to be a follower of you, to be a disciple? Jesus? I want to, I want to hitch myself up to your wagon.

Jesus, where are you going? I want to be a disciple. I want to go with you. And Jesus says to him, sell everything you have and give it to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven. Then you can come and follow me.

And then Luke gives us this little detail. When he, the wealthy man heard this, he became very sad. In the original language, it's not sad like downhearted, it's almost depression or defeatism. He felt defeated because he was very wealthy. Two rich men, back to back in the story, one gets asked directly and could not obey.

The other one was not asked at all. And he gives away everything generously. The difference wasn't how money they had, the difference was the place money had in their heart. Same Jesus, same subject matter, completely different response. Because money is never about money.

And the numbers are never about what is numerical. It's about what we're wanting those numbers to do for us and say about us. Almost nobody would say, you know, I just love money. Nobody says that, even though we do. Nobody would say that because it sounds greedy, right?

It sounds greedy. But this is why Jesus says the love of money is the root of all evil. Because not money is evil. The love of money. Speaking to this, we fall in love with what we think money can do for us.

If my sense of safety and security and control and my status and my self concept and my well being and my faith and my trust about my future is in myself, my paycheck and my retirement. If it's all in what is in my account, what belongs to me, what's got my name on it, it's proof that my idol, my God, my, my benefactor, my trust, my provider is not in God, but in the riches God provides. That's why Jesus later on in the New Testament says, you can't serve both God and money. Sooner or later you have to realize, I trust in God who richly provides, not in my riches that he provided. Because money doesn't only become a master when you're greedy.

We look at greedy people and we say, man, money's got a hold of them. But money doesn't become your master when you're greedy. Sometimes money becomes a master because you're scared.

Because our numbers are attached to a story.

Write this down. If you're taking notes Every wound can find a financial strategy it wants to live with. So, for example, if you grew up having less than everybody else at school, if you grew up a bit poor and really live behind paycheck to paycheck, you can develop a financial strategy of scarcity that says, hold on to everything tighter, save up, don't give. There may not be enough tomorrow. If you always felt like you were left out or overlooked or underappreciated insecurity, or would say, buy something that proves you belong at a particular level.

Get them to notice you, Prove your value, prove your sense of respect, powerlessness. Everything's out of my control. Somebody did me wrong. They betrayed me. The financial security from that wound says, make enough money that nobody can take anything from you.

Make enough money that nobody can ever tell you what to do with it. Because sometimes we don't actually overspend. We're trying to purchase a story that we can live with.

Now we go back to the two men. The rich young ruler walks away sad. Don't miss that. He walks away sad. He got to keep everything he had, but he said he didn't have to give anything away.

But he's depressed. He's living the American dream is what we would call it. And yet he feels like a failure. Because there are some things in our life that money cannot buy. But when money has you watch this.

The rich young ruler walks away sad. So the very thing that was supposed to make him feel secure is the very thing he could not surrender. And whatever you cannot surrender to God becomes your prison.

That's why in week two or week one of the series, we talked about being trapped by good things and how good things could actually hold us hostage. But Zacchaeus, on the other hand, he gives generously without even being asked to the poor and up to four times back to anyone. He cheated the law. The Jewish law said if. If you would deceive your neighbor out of something, you needed to pay them back and be a little generous up to one fifth of the value that you took.

There was another Jewish law that says if you significantly stole from an individual that cost them part of their livelihood, you would pay four times the amount. Notice what Zacchaeus goes for. He doesn't reach for the bare minimum. After meeting Jesus, he says, what is the most I can do? That's because when Grace walks into your life and you've been touched by heaven, you stop trying to negotiate bare minimums with God.

God, what do I have to do? What do I have to do to be a Good Christian, what do I have to do to be blessed? What do I have to do to keep my reputation? What do I have to do to have your favor? No.

When grace touches your life from a kiss of heaven, you stop asking what you have to do. You look at what God has given you and say, what do I get to do? Where can I leave a greater impact? How can I be a bigger blessing? Oh, when God blesses me, he always has more than me in mind.

So this message is not about, you shouldn't have stuff, give it all away.

This message is about, enjoy what God has given you. Just remember, he has more than you in mind. And if what is in your hand, even if it's a good thing, holds your heart to the point where you can't surrender it, if God asks for it, then a good thing just became the thing that robs you of your ultimate joy and peace and purpose.

Which is why the New Testament says, each of you should give what you have decided based on what God has given you. In this season, each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly. Oh, man. Gotta do this. No, not under compulsion, because somebody forced you or somebody manipulated you or made you feel bad, or somebody took a picture of an animal in a cage and sang the song in the arms of an angel.

No. No. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly. For God loves a cheerful giver. I love that God loves.

It's important to know that if we say we love God, that we understand what God loves. And God doesn't just love people who just give. God loves a cheerful giver because they recognize the spirit of Zacchaeus that says, I've been touched by heaven. Let me. You tell.

Touch God's heart back. God, touch my life. Let me act on God's behalf and touch the lives of other people. God loves a cheerful giver. I like to say it, say it this way around here.

It's our thing. It's our thing. It's your thing. Do what you want to do. Like, it's our.

To live generous lives is our thing. Because it's a Bible thing, and it's the thing that. That. That moves the heart of God. Have you ever introduced a friend to another friend that hadn't met yet?

And you're like, oh, man, you're gonna love this guy. He's so funny. Funny is his thang. Now you're gonna love this lady. She's a boss man.

She can go scale a business Business is her thing. What's the thing of the New Testament Church? Live open handed lives that reveal an open heart. God bless me, but have more than me in mind. So let me ask the opening question one more time.

The same words, but with a different intent. Because the Bible says that when we're about obedience and obeying what God says about money that God gives back to us. The Bible uses this phrase pressed down, shaken together and running over. Have you ever tried to push like cereal down in the box and kind of crumble? You press it down, you shake it together so there's more room and God just keeps doing that.

Pressed down, shaken together, running over. So watch this then. The Bible talks about seed time and harvest. The Bible talks about a hundredfold blessing. The Bible talks about there is a supernatural peace that comes through obedience in God.

So let me ask the same question then one more time with a different intent. Why is this getting to me? Why does the subject of numbers bother me? But when you. When you work God's word the way he tells us to work it, Same question, different tone.

He keeps blessing me. Why is this getting to me? Why is this getting to me? Why did this opportunity get to me? Why did this outcome get to me?

Why did this recognition get to me? Why did this peace that surpasses all my uncle understanding get to me? Why does this joy that is unspeakable and full of the glory of God get to me? Why? Why can't I walk into this week with more confidence than I had last week?

Because I recognize holistically, if God took care of me there, he'll take care of me now. He'll take care of me up then. Because God always honors those who walk in obedience with Him. Pressed down, shaken together and running over. Why is this getting to me?

Why is this getting to me? Now watch this. The Bible is not anti you having stuff. The Bible says this. God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

So enjoy the house, enjoy the vacation, bless your kids, save for the future. The Bible's a big fan of all, all of those things. But God always has more than us in mind. Because every time you choose to tithe and to give in your offerings and to give towards missions and to live generously in the community, you're reminding your heart again that God is my source. Everything else is just a resource.

And my resources don't tell me who I am. My Creator does. And I just want to share a couple of stories because I could give you a dozen more biblical passages, but I thought maybe you would want to hear from some of your own friends and church family members. You know, this past month we were participating in a community outreach. Our church was hosting it, the back to school blessing, remember that?

And we stuffed 500 backpacks with school supplies and we gave it to kids in need. And, and, and, and then we gave away free haircuts. Well, that was just the surface. The, the level of your all's generosity went so deep that we're able to bless many families. But one particular family that came out, they came out, they got their, their school supplies, got their hair cut.

But we could tell by what the family was wearing that they needed more, more than just school supplies. They needed some clothes that didn't have like holes in it. And getting to know the family, they were, they were incredibly below the poverty line for our area. And so, and so my wife and I bought, bought her 10 year old son a pair of shoes for back to school shoes. And it was just a pair of Nike shoes.

And the woman started crying and she said, my son has never had a brand new pair of shoes. He's always used shoes from Goodwill or flea markets or garage sales. And she was just touched by it. On the first day of school, the kid shows up to his classroom and the teacher says his name goes, buddy, I like these shoes. Are these your back to school shoes?

He said, nope, these are my church shoes. These are my church shoes. Because his church gave him something. Here's my point. His first encounter with the love of Jesus was not a church, but it was the heart of the church that would buy him a pair of Nikes.

So in the theology of Nike, if you're thinking about being generous, just do it. Just do it.

Here's another individual. He says, there's a man in our church, he grew up extremely poor on the other side of West Florida, Virginia. And he said that even after his circumstances changed, he started his own business, became pretty wealthy. He said, my circumstance changed, but my fear never did. I always felt like I had to save everything because I knew what it was like not to have enough.

And so I trusted God with so much of my life, but I would never trust him in this particular area because it felt like it was out of my control. So I struggled to surrender. Tithing and offerings and giving. Last year I finally started tithing. And I can honestly say that I have more peace than I've ever had in my entire life.

When I learned to trust God here too, God began to do something that no counselor could. Now watch it. Here's my point. Notice what he didn't say. I started giving.

Now I have more peace.

He started trusting God and he started discovering peace. Notice what he doesn't say. I started giving and I started getting. It's not what he says. He's saying that God began to loosen the grip on his heart.

And by loosening the grip, he was able to open his hand and give him what money cannot buy.

On the other side of your generosity, every week our church is helping somebody eat because. Because they had no food, somebody was able to stay in their house. Because somebody gave. Somebody met Jesus. Because somebody gave, somebody made it through a season that they thought they could not survive because somebody gave.

Around the world, we're impacting places in Latin America and in Central America and Africa. Because somebody gave. What God put in your hand doesn't stop with you. All of it doesn't need to leave your hand. This isn't a message.

Give it all away unless God told you to do that. This is a message. See it as a blessing, not as a report card for him. You are so what do we do with a message like this? You know, the Bible would encourage us.

Just start where you are. Just start where you are. Start asking God to help you see things that are meant to be a tool, as a resource, not as a form of identity. Just start where you are. Maybe some of you, you wish you could live more generously, but you can't because of a current reality.

And there's no shame in that. Here's what I want to do. I want to encourage you to start operating your finances from a biblical perspective that have been tried and true. Even secular financial advisors use scriptural truth because it works. It works.

Jesus talked about money more than he did praise and prayer combined. Why is that? Because he knows it's a constant structure struggle with us. And God is trying to promote you, not take from you. He wants to promote you with a sense of security that can only come from heaven.

Not a bank account, not the stock market, not the economy. There's peace on the other side of trusting God. So last week I said, if you're struggling with a sexual stronghold, why don't you call the church office and let us give you some resources? Not to shame you. It's confidential.

Not to shame you. But why do you want to keep losing a battle that you were born to win? If God's giving you the tool to break free from that garbage, let's break free from it. I want to offer the same thing to you. Hey, if you're struggling with budgeting or living paycheck to paycheck, or what does the Bible actually say about it?

How can I find financial freedom in my life? I want to get to the place where when something touches my heart, I don't say, I wish I could. I can say when, where and how. God wants that for his people. I believe it.

So, hey, if nobody's ever taught you what the Bible says, why don't you call the church office? We'll set you up with one of our financial advisors in the church. We have a few of them that go here. Men and women of integrity and character. Their business approves it and just see what God wants to do.

On the other side of taking this stress factor out of your life, I want you to be able to enjoy the good gift that God gives without guilt, while enjoying the blessings, without allowing the blessings to define you. There's freedom on the other side of numbers.

I'll close with this. Jesus, summarize up the conversation he had at the table. Luke 19. He says, Today, salvation has come to this house. Not because the man gave.

The man gave because salvation came to his house. Because this man too is a son of Abraham. He invites him back into the family where everybody else pushed him away. He says, no, no, this is my son. Today, salvation has come.

The greatest blessing God could ever give you is the not material wealth. It's a recognition of who you are born to be his son and his daughter. And so with your head bowed, in your eyes closed, if you would say, you know what? That's the greatest miracle I need in my life. I need God to touch my life.

I need him to forgive me of my sins. I'm ready in this moment to give him my life. I don't want to just be a person who just surrenders my finances. No, I want to give him me and for others of you. You've given God your life, but you can't surrender this part of you.

And God would say, if you can trust me with your eternity, your sins and your salvation, you can trust me with numbers. So, Lord, I pray that this message would gently land in the place it needs to in every heart, Lord. For those that are turning from their sins even now, like the thief in the cross, we just pray a simple prayer. Remember me. I give you all of me, Lord.

Like Zacchaeus, Lord, you can have all of me, including this part of me as well. Lord, thank you for your grace, your mercy. Thank you for your blessings, Lord, thank you for your favor. The ones that are tangible and the ones that are spiritual. We delight in the abundant heart of generosity that you carry towards your people.

We want to mirror it back to you. In Jesus mighty name, everyone said, amen. Amen. God bless you.