The 4 BIGGEST LIES About Money That Christians Believe | Live Free with Josh Howerton

The key question a Christian has to ask is not how much may I possess, but who or what possesses me. Greed makes you believe a lie that if you only had just a little bit more, then you'll be happy. Not true. That's a lie. It'll make you miserable. Prosperity gospel, God wants you to own more. Poverty gospel, God wants you to own less. The biblical gospel is that God wants to own you. Well, hey, Live Free Nation. Before we jump into the episode, this podcast is recorded right here at Lake Point Church in Dallas, Texas. But the Live Free Nation is spread all over the country and all around the world. So if you've been watching and thinking, man, I wish I could be part of something like this, we want to invite you to take a simple next step, and that is join us for church online. Every weekend, we stream our services live on YouTube, Facebook, and our church online platform. And it's more than just watching a service. There are live hosts in the chat, prayer teams ready to stand with you, and people all around the world worshiping together in real time. And so with that, let's get started. Whether you're exploring the faith, coming back to church, or just looking for a place to start, church online is a great way to jump in and experience what God is doing here at Lake Point. We would love to see you in the chat this weekend. And now, enjoy the podcast. Well, hey, welcome back to another episode of the Live Free Podcast. My name is Carlos Arazo, and today I am here with the one and only, the epistle missile, Chad G. Paul C. Come on. Reload it. What's up, dude? Reload it? What does that even mean? It's good to be here with you, bro. Ever since you went to Israel, you're not the same. No, I'm not the same. It's just like you got a little software upgrade or something. That's right. In my mind, I get to be with Chad G. Paul C. Reload it. Come on. Well, hey, a couple of things. Number one, it's good to have you back, bro. Well, it's good to be back, man. How is Universal? You're funny, by the way. Man, I just want to clarify a couple of things now that we're here. Yeah. One, I was not at Universal. No, you were not. Engaging with unholy spirits. I was not doing that. At a men's gathering, worshiping Jesus and seeking the Holy Spirit is what I was doing. Yes, you were. And I think I kind of made it a little clearer. I was joking. Was I not clear enough in last week's episode? Dude, I went for a walk literally on Monday, and somebody's like, my neighbor's like, hey, I heard you went to Universal. I thought I was clear. I thought that was a joke. My bad, bro. Anyways, let's go. Another thing I want to say, so I don't know if it was last episode or the one before, but you said something about like you're giving me licks or something. I just want to clarify. Hold on. What? Getting licks in. I don't know what that means, and I want nothing to do with that. I don't want anything to do with licking, nothing. Whatever you said, whatever it is you meant. Oh, because we were, that was the Harry Potter episode. Don't want any of that. That was the Harry Potter episode. We're doing some midweek Q&A episodes, which, by the way, it's been cool to see the response. Very encouraging response. Died out. We're going to be doing some more of those in the future. But yeah, I talked about getting licks in because you were going to get some. I'm good, man. That's the idea. I think that's like in boxing or even like if you got a spanking. So basically I was saying you were going to- Paul, you know what, bro? Is this getting awkward for you? You don't have to. No, it's not. It's not awkward for me. I just, I'm just clarifying. I don't want anything to do with it. You just don't like the phrase. No, I just don't want anything to do with that. Whatever, whatever that means. It's okay. I don't know. I love it. This is making you feel so awkward. It's great. People, people in the comments were like, where is he from? I don't know. Who said that? I don't know. Anyways. Okay. I was born and raised in, in rural, rural Louisiana. And we can tell. I'm just kidding. Wow. Okay. Mr. Worldwide over here. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Hey, we got to talk about the Bible. We do. Well, hey, before we get there, man, where's Pastor Josh? Mr. Pastor Josh? Oh, dude, Pastor Josh is a, not a universal. No, he is not. No, he is not. He was actually, he'll be here. Yes. Because we have an interview coming up with Pastor Louis Giglio. Yes. And bro, it's a great conversation. It was incredible. Yes. Man, just to encourage people. Yeah. Pastor Josh was, just love it because it was just an incredible conversation. And it was so amazing that we decided, hey, you and I are going to handle the ground war. We're going to get into the Bible, as you said a second ago, and help people apply it to their lives. You're going to give us the time. We're going to get into the topics here in just a minute. But we thought, you know what? Because it was so amazing, let's just separate it and have it be its own episode that will be coming out this Wednesday. This Wednesday, Pastor Josh Howerton with Pastor Louis Giglio. Yep. Conversation on a bunch of different things that are, we got to figure out. And if you don't know who Louis Giglio is, he is just simply one of the, honestly, most amazing leaders of our generation. Yeah. I was just able to thank him just for the moves that he and his wife, Shelly, have been able to lead called Passion. Started his Passion Conferences. And then also then eventually became Passion City Church. And has impacted literally generations of college students. It's an incredible, incredible conversation. Encourage people to be back this Wednesday. But hey, we're here today, man. And we're diving in more into the Breach Sermon Series. That's right. What are some of the topics we're into? Yeah, so today we're going to talk about Matthew 6, 33. Paul, this is probably one of the most misunderstood Bible verses. Probably from the whole Bible. Like people will use this verse and, you know, here's what we're going to do. We're going to do like a little Bible study. This is how it's going to feel. We're going to be asking. One, we're going to be reading that verse, Matthew 6, 33. We're going to be asking, what is the kingdom of God? Does God want you and I to be rich? What about people that are not rich? And does that mean that they do not, if somebody is not rich or wealthy, does that mean that they don't have God's blessing? We're going to differentiate between what some people would call the prosperity theology. Yep. And the poverty theology. Because real quick on that, there's other people who would say that actually the poor are more blessed and are better. Whereas rich people are evil. Right, Paul? So like the Bible says something about poor being blessed and how difficult it is for somebody that is rich to enter the kingdom of God. So I want to ask you about that. Yeah. Because I got Chad G. Posse here and I can. And we're going to be landing the plane with practical ways to seek first the kingdom of God in our day-to-day life. So we're going to get really practical. Yes, we are. Hey, man, we are excited because as you mentioned as well, we are in our sermon series, a very special one called Into the Breach, as we move as a church to a season of faith and generosity in our church. And so we. We are doing this devotional for 21 days. So if somebody, this is like a thing in our church, if you want access to it, we have a physical book list. But if you are joining online, you can go to lakepoint.church/itbonline. And I believe this Wednesday, we have a special gathering in our church called Encounter, Advanced Commitment Night. And this is going to be a special evening of worship, prayer, and responding to the vision God has for us. So, bro, we're excited about that in person only. Yep. So. Not live streaming this, not going to live stream this one, I believe. Are we? I don't believe we are. Well, and real fast, because especially if people have missed the last couple of weeks, like, oh, like, what is Into the Breach? What does it mean? A breach is a break in a wall. And so we are coming from Isaiah, where there's a prophecy given about how you will be called the repairers of the breach. So we believe that there are broken down places in our lives, in our world, that we believe in this next couple of years, God is calling us as Lake Point Church to step into. So one of the things, I've loved Pastor Josh's sermons the last couple of weeks. A big thing. He's emphasized is, hey, what's broken down in your life and where has the enemy broken in that God wants to repair in the season? But another question we're asking as a church is, hey, what is God calling us to go into in our surrounding area here in DFW, but also around the world? And so as part of this, it's a two-year discipleship initiative where we're really asking everybody to be all in with us and to do whatever God is calling you as an individual to do. Again, personally, but also is what we're stepping into as a church. And here's a few things we're stepping into. We're going to plant some additional campuses around the DFW area. That's not to build our kingdom, it's a part of building the kingdom, the kingdom of God, and seeing more people come to know Jesus and be discipled. We're going to get to translate the Bible into a language that has never been, the New Testament's never been translated into. So there's a group of people in the world that have never heard the word of God in their native language. And by the grace of God, we're going to be a part of helping that happen. And we get to be a part of that process. And we get to be a part of it, we get to be a part of it. So that a whole people group speaking one particular language for the first time in history can read the Bible. Which is crazy. It's like even like, you know, the classic, like John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son." That's right, man. There's people in the world have never heard that in their native language, and God is calling us to be a part of that. Well, special needs ministry stuff, we're doing a lot of different stuff. And so what's going to be happening at Encounter is in addition to this being a night of worship and prayer and consecration, we're asking people who come in person with us to bring whatever they feel like God is calling them to commit to financially. And we're just saying, prayerfully, like consider this over the next week. And then when you come on that Wednesday, man, in addition to becoming ready to encounter God, come ready to make some kind of a commitment to whatever you feel like God is calling you into. Man, here's what I would say, man. I don't think people realize the length churches sometimes go to to make sure that we have financial integrity, because it matters. Here's what we do at Lake Point. Like people don't know this, but our finances are actually overseen with strong checks and balances under our CFO and our certified CPA, accounting professional team. We have lay elders who are not paid by the church who oversee finances. We have a budget that's presented to and voted on by the church members at our annual business meeting every single year. You and I are there. Our financials are given oversight by a board of lay finance team members comprised of non-paid members of the church that review financials throughout the year. And in addition to that, every year Lake Point voluntarily commissions an independent external audit from a third party and more. And so all this to say, we take it very seriously. It is a responsibility by the grace of God to steward what God has entrusted us in this season. Yes. And the reason you're sharing that is because, man, as we are asking people to really prayerfully consider what God is calling them into and to give generously and take a big step of faith. We want to reassure people that we're not taking their money and lining our own pockets, that we're actually doing this responsibly. And that, man, if God is going to call you to take that next big step, we want to help steward that step well. So to your point, we put in some financial things in place to make sure we have accountability, to make sure we're doing that. So you just wanted to give that to help people understand that, hey, as you're praying about whatever commitment God is calling you into, we're going to take that commitment seriously and handle it well. That's right, man. Yeah. Well, hey, we have an episode out here to tackle in a second uh but we want to help you with your discipleship path as well so if you are interested in getting a daily bible reading plan plus the weekly sermon plus an early release of the live free podcast which by the way i've actually i i checked it out early on sunday yeah on the lake point app oh dude yeah i was like a lot of people don't realize that there's an early drop that happens only on the core team yeah the the fans out there the loyal uh the loyal listeners of live free nation come on man the hungry listeners hey and so uh daily bible reading plan plus a weekly sermon an early release of the live free podcast plus the discipleship guide text the word app to 20411 or go to the app or google play store also to get some of this uh the merch that we have for live free we do a giveaway every single week so if you're on youtube or spotify go and comment hat we'd love to hook you up and you can also purchase those at live free.shop or text the word hat to 20411 it's good man yeah all right you ready to dive in let's dive in okay man all right i can't ask you what didn't make it into the sermon because you know you didn't hold on before we go there um oh can i say a little something so here's something we get uh so people will i love paul that we're getting in this season by the grace of god uh live free nation is growing yeah and one of my favorite things to see is when uh we get a lot of people saying hey i'm a brand new christian and i'm just starting to read my bible or i'm a brand new christian and i'm literally just learning the basics of our faith and so one it's really encouraging to hear like people don't even realize how encouraging that is because we talk about this in the lobby with with people that come visit all the time um and then people from our church um we we are so encouraged but here here's we try to do a little something to help people you know and so let me let me do a little something that might be helpful i wish somebody had taught me this uh when i was a younger christian so what i'm about to do right now is i want to show you how every commandment and everything the bible calls a sin it's actually a warning from god to not hurt yourself so in other words when god says don't what he is saying is don't hurt yourself don't hurt yourself you need to see this in scripture because it'll change the way you read the bible so let me give you several examples so let me start for example sex before marriage so it is a scientific fact right now that sex creates a neurochemical bond with another person not just physically but emotionally and what that means is basically sex is not just the union of two bodies it is the union of two souls and so when you read scripture and it says hey that's not you that's not what god wants for your life uh what god is saying um you don't want that kind of bond with somebody that you barely know yeah uh another way of saying this is um a condom can protect your body but it will not protect your heart and so god says hey i love you don't don't don't go there here's another one lying when you lie you eventually destroy the trust uh of the people around you especially the people that are closer to you and what happens is one lie will always lead to another lie and another lie and another lie and you end up living a life uh that is a fake version of yourself here's another one envy uh and by the way envy you see this literally everywhere on social media uh probably more than people realize envy is resenting god's goodness in someone else's life while ignoring god's goodness in your life and again when you uh refuse to let that go um you end up living a life of uh not of gratitude and joy but ultimately one of anger and bitterness uh here's another one pride pride will especially in the context of relationships will make a person care more about being right and not about being wrong and not about being right and not about being wrong than making the relationship right and so pride what what it does is you become incapable of learning and apologizing and growing um gossip that's a gossip is probably one of the worst things out there gossip uh just destroys relationships um and by the way if somebody is gossiping to you about other people chances are they're also gossiping about you to other people behind your back and so uh it is it destroys relationships here's another one of the most painful things about being right and not about being wrong and that's when you have to forgive somebody and you're probably already in pain and in hurt um but when you refuse to forgive unforgiveness makes you a prisoner of your past and a slave to bitterness resentment and pain and god says no don't that's not you um greed makes you believe a lie that if you only had just a little bit more um then you'll be happy not true that's a lie it'll make you miserable and finally uh you're not going to be happy if you're not going to be happy if you're not going to be happy uh lust we live in a culture that is saturated by lust um lust just destroys your ability to experience true intimacy in any relationship and this is why our culture struggles so much with marriage intimacy and relationships and so god says again god says hey don't hurt yourself and so here's the point deuteronomy 10 12 says observe the lord's commands and decrees that i am giving you today because they are for your own good so good and so again when god forbids something and he's trying to rob something from you it's because he loves you and he's trying to protect you and he's trying to give you life and so when he says don't he's not trying to keep you from enjoying life he's actually trying to teach you how to truly live it and so man i hope that's helpful uh that helped me when i first saw it and it'll change the way you read the bible oh it's so good because i think some people especially if you're a new bible reader and you're reading all these different commands you know god can kind of sound like a killjoy sure like you know you're like but i've heard it said before that he's not a killjoy he's actually trying to kill the things that would kill your joy and to keep you from the things that would kill your joy that's it and and so i love also later after he gives all these commands he says to the people i give you two ways the way of life or the way of death choose life that you may live and so instead of viewing all these commands as burdens see them as blessings instead of seeing them as things that all is the good things that are trying to god is trying to keep you from actually it's because he says to the people i give you two ways the way of life or the way of death choose life that you may live and so instead of viewing all these commands he says to the people i give you two ways the way of life or the way of death choose life that you may live and so instead of viewing all these commands he says to the people i give you two ways the way of life or the way of death choose life that you may live and so instead of viewing all these commands he says to the people i give you two ways the way of life or the way of death choose life that you may live and so instead of viewing all these commands he says to the people i give you two ways the way of life or the way of death choose life that you may live and so instead of viewing all these commands he says to the people i give you two ways the way of life or the way of death choose life that you may live and so instead Let's talk about the context of this chapter. Paul, what is the context of this chapter? Well, dude, I've always known it, but it's come alive in a really special way recently, as you said, when we went to Israel. Come on, man. Let me give some just like contextual context in terms of the reading, but then we're actually can look at some pictures to kind of get more of a physical setting we're at. So Jesus here, this is right in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount. This is where he's giving a very extended teaching on what it looks like to live life in the kingdom of God, which we're going to double click on here in a little bit and talk about what that means and why it really, really matters because it does. But yeah, so it's really an extended kind of segment on what that life looks like. And so it's called the Sermon on the Mount, and really it's probably better, a sermon on a hill. And we actually, you and I got to go to this, but it's called the Mount of Beatitudes. I think we actually got a picture. First picture you can find, honestly, just online. This is more of an aerial view. So you have here a church that's on the top of, it says a mount, but really it's just a really, really tall hill. But to give- We were literally there. We were there, because I'll show another picture here in just a second of we were on the edge of a fence. So this is overlooking the Sea of Galilee. And to kind of help people understand, so for a long time when I would read the story, I'm like, Oh, like Jesus walked a long way to get here, because it did talk about how people traveled far, and some people did. But actually, Jesus lived, after he left Nazareth, he lived in Capernaum, which this became his hometown and is basically his base of ministry for a long time. Capernaum is only a two or three mile walk from here. And so this morning, by the grace of God, he gave me the diligence to get up and go on a little short run, and basically I ran about a couple of miles. So that's the idea of like, hey, Jesus simply walked a couple of miles down the road and then walked up a hill. And then people gathered to him. And what would have happened is he would have been at the top and everyone else would have been below. I think actually in our next picture, I took a picture. If you're looking on picture, if you're looking on YouTube or maybe the video on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts, if you look to the far right side and it's looking down a hill, grass is a little dry, that's where people believe that the people would have been standing looking up as he's on the mountainside. I've got one more picture. It was fenced off so we couldn't get close, but this is really looking down at where Jesus would have been looking. So you can kind of imagine he goes up on the mountainside, on the hillside, people are coming to him and he begins to tell them of what life in the kingdom of God looks like. I actually think you took a video to give people a little bit more context of the Sermon on the Mount and why it matters in the Bible, right? That's right. So usually there's a lot of people in these places, but whenever we got the opportunity to go, there was like literally nobody there except the caretaker of the place. Yeah. Yeah. So I took a little video here. Let's play it, Trani. I'm standing on the Mount of Beatitudes right now, which is where Jesus delivers the sermon choose life that you may live and so instead of viewing all these commands he says to the people i give you two ways the way of death you are the light of the world do not worry about tomorrow our father in heaven do unto others as you our father in heaven do unto others as you our father in heaven do unto others as you would have them do unto you and so many would have them do unto you and so many would have them do unto you and so many more now tradition says this is the more now tradition says this is the more now tradition says this is the mountain right here that jesus was on mountain right here that jesus was on mountain right here that jesus was on because we know he was in galilee and because we know he was in galilee and because we know he was in galilee and this right here is the sea of galilee this right here is the sea of galilee this right here is the sea of galilee matthew 5 1 says seeing the crowds he matthew 5 1 says seeing the crowds he matthew 5 1 says seeing the crowds he went up on the mountain went up on the mountain went up on the mountain the pilgrim egeria writing in the late the pilgrim egeria writing in the late the pilgrim egeria writing in the late jesus three entire chapters and 107 jesus three entire chapters and 107 jesus three entire chapters and 107 verses to tell us what jesus preached on verses to tell us what jesus preached on verses to tell us what jesus preached on this sermon given right on this mountain this sermon given right on this mountain this sermon given right on this mountain and what most people don't know is that and what most people don't know is that and what most people don't know is that matthew who is primarily addressing a matthew who is primarily addressing a matthew who is primarily addressing a jewish audience is presenting jesus as a jewish audience is presenting jesus as a jewish audience is presenting jesus as a new and greater moses in exodus 1920 new and greater moses in exodus 1920 Moses ascends Mount Sinai to receive the law from God. Matthew 5.1, Jesus ascends a mountain to proclaim the fulfillment in a deeper meaning of the law. In Exodus 18.13, Moses, the Bible says, sat to judge the people and resolve disputes, which by the way, sitting was the posture of a judge or a teacher who was suddenly a spiritual or legal matter. Then in Matthew 5.1, Jesus sat on the mountain and he was assuming the role of a new Moses, giving a new Torah, which is the law of the kingdom. Moses had received the 10 commandments, which are external laws written on stone. Jesus here was giving the beatitudes, which are internal truths written, not in stone, but in your heart. Now check this out. Moses came down the mountain with the law of God written on stone. Jesus came down the mountain showing us what the law of God actually looks like when it is written on the human heart. Dude, good job, man. Amen. Good job. I just learned everything from you. Oh, stop it. Well, even to make some different connections to some things you said and some other things you said. In the book of Matthew, it's like you mentioned how on the mountain, Moses received the 10 commandments. Make that connection to there's some places in the summer of the mountain where Jesus has said, you have heard it said, do not commit adultery, which we find where? In the 10 commandments. But he says to you, hey, he then says, man, don't even lust after a person. You have heard it said, do not murder again, one of the 10 commandments, but he deepens it. And so he's not making obsolete, he's deepening it and making it to your point, into your. Another thing in Matthew you said in terms of he's the new Moses, how many books are in the Torah? Five. Five. How many major addresses does Jesus give in the book of Matthew? Five. They're trying, one of the things Matthew is trying to show is that this is the new Moses because Moses at one point said that if there would arise another prophet like him after him, and guess what Matthew is trying to say? Yes. This is that dude. Jesus is that dude. Again, the Bible is amazing. Does Matthew quote, I can't remember if Matthew quotes the actual verse in the Old Testament where Moses says that. I forget if it's the actual one, but it's like, he's basically just trying to say, hey, this is that dude. Again, we'd love to give you these connections to show you, oh, there's so much in there, but it's all in the Bible. Wow. But that being said, do you want to dive into like specifically Matthew 6:33? Okay. So Matthew 6, again, Sermon on the Mount, and then Jesus is basically saying, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So I want to talk about the kingdom of God, and I want to bring some clarity as to what exactly does that mean? Let me just give you, Paul, real quick, five things about the kingdom of God that most Christians don't know. So number one, the kingdom of God was actually prophesied in the Old Testament, hundreds of years ago. of years before Jesus. And by the way, we're about to explain what exactly that means. So let me, we'll go there in here in just a second. So the Old Testament in the book of Daniel, chapter two, Daniel predicts that one day God will establish a kingdom that Daniel says will never be destroyed. Daniel chapter seven actually describes someone like the son of man receiving an everlasting dominion over all peoples and nations. Now it was interesting because if you fast forward around 500 to 600 years, here comes Jesus and Paul, what was Jesus's favorite title to call himself or refer to himself? He liked to say, or he liked to refer to himself as the son of man. Again, it's a prophetic title from the book of Daniel saying, Hey, that guy that the Old Testament prophet prophesied about, that's me. So again, Old Testament expectation that at some point God would bring in a kingdom that will never end. Number one, number two, Jesus talks about the kingdom of God more than anybody else in the Bible. Yeah. And speaks about it more than almost anything else, considering everything else that he spoke about. So Jesus talks about faith, salvation, money, possessions, love, relationships, forgiveness, but the topic that stood out the most, the kingdom of God. That's good. Which means again, big deal because across the four gospels, the phrases kingdom of God, and you mentioned it, kingdom of heaven actually occur around a hundred times combined. And again, the interesting thing is it's not so much Jesus just here kind of preaching about what happens when you die and how we die. It's not so much Jesus just here kind of preaching about what get to heaven it's more uh he's he comes and he says hey um which by the way that is something that is it's part of what jesus teaches us but he also came and proclaimed the kingdom of god is already here he uses phrases like hey the kingdom of god is at hand it has come upon you it is in the midst of you we're just going to talk about what that means here in just a second um number three jesus's first sermon was about guess what the kingdom of god uh mark chapter 1 verse 14 now after john was arrested jesus came into galilee proclaiming the gospel that just means good news of god and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of god is at hand repent and believe in the gospel and by the way this is a big deal this is like if uh let's say a new president is uh inaugurated and he's giving his first speech whatever his first speech is about it's probably an important thing it's setting the tone when there's a new ceo in a company and he again he's given a first talk it it you have to pay attention to it you have to pay attention to it because again it basically defines who he is what he's doing and where we're going so number four the book of acts begins and ends with the kingdom of god so it's not just the gospels you go to the book of acts uh birth of the church and you it starts in acts chapter 1 verse 3 it says he as in jesus presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of god you go to the end of the book of acts acts 28 verse 30 he the apostle paul lived there two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him proclaiming the kingdom of god and teaching about the lord jesus christ with all boldness and without hindrance number five the bible this is interesting this is really interesting actually because it also it helps you read the gospels in this context it changes it the bible says satan also has a kingdom in the gospels jesus actually himself talks about satan having a kingdom and it is interesting amongst other things jesus explicitly presents casting out demons as a symbol of the kingdom of god in fact satan has a kingdom as evidence that the kingdom of god has arrived and so again it's as if like the kingdom of god is invading the kingdom of satan the kingdom of darkness and this is why jesus when he said i will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it if you think about it gates the whole purpose is the whole purpose of gates is to keep something out but jesus is saying hey my church will get in there the kingdom of god is here and it is invading a kingdom of darkness and real just real fast i know you gotta you got a fifth one so i don't want to distract you but i always love the point like a lot of times people imagine is like oh we're trying to like just repel the attacks they meet against such which by the way there is some things for that like ephesians 6 uh but that's the idea is like you march on gates they don't march on you and so we're actually called to be a part of what god is doing on planet earth and we're called to do damage to the kingdom of darkness on behalf of the kingdom you know where that is what's that into the breach come on exactly come on let's go dude come on so last one uh in before i'm gonna i'm gonna ask you here in just a second to actually explain what the kingdom of god is uh the bible so we saw you know again old testament prophesizes yeah jesus talks about it acts uh begins and ends with it um so it's an important thing and then the bible actually ends with the ultimate fulfillment of the kingdom of god so revelation chapter 11 announces that the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our lord and his and his messiah so we get a little bit of a glimpse of the kingdom of god being fully established forever which means again keep reading in that verse there is no more death no more mourning crying or pain and ultimately that's where our hope is as christians that ultimately the kingdom of god will be fully and established and again if it is important to jesus in the whole bible it should be important to us so paul yeah what is the kingdom of god you just did all those things like right like so what is it so what is it well you know it's so interesting because as you said um man this dominates jesus's teaching and it's prophesied in the old testament in the new testament man we see it finally fulfilled and i would say it's one of the most neglected ideas by christians today and i think a lot of your average ordinary christians just simply don't know what this is talking about and so to kind of break it down in an elementary level i want to really just break down the phrase and instead of kingdom of god i want to use another phrase that is used interchangeably that is the kingdom of heaven so let's just think about a kingdom well what is a kingdom well a kingdom is a is a place or a realm that has a king and what he says goes and he rules he's in charge and others are not and he has a will for his kingdom and he has this specific way he is wants his kingdom and his realm to to function now let's talk about heaven what is heaven heaven is the place where everything is exactly the way king god wants it to be so heaven is the place where everything is exactly the way he wants it to be now let's leave heaven for a second come to earth is everything on earth the way god wants it to be definitely not no now he is so king of the earth bible you've got in a sense he's got a there's a competing kingdom that satan has but guess what god is the creator and sustainer of the universe so he is the ultimate king is simply that this earth is in rebellion against the rightful king so things on earth are not the way they should be but things in heaven are the way they should be and so the idea as you said earlier so well when it says the kingdom of god is at hand and it's in your midst and even think earlier and we're in matthew 6 earlier in matthew 6 is the lord's prayer and what does he say your kingdom come your will be done where on earth as it is in heaven so as you see the kingdom of god is at hand and he said like a lot of christians have made the gospel simply this believe in jesus so you can go to heaven when you die which by the way is amazing we should look forward to that i think you and i are actually going to do a bonus episode soon on what happens when you die we're going to address what does happen when you die we'll get that maybe in a couple of weeks um by the way so it's amazing but that's actually not just it man jesus did for sure die so that you can go to heaven when you die but he didn't just die for that the actually the message of the kingdom is that before you go to heaven you're going to die for sure so that you can go to heaven when you die but he didn't go to heaven when you die you can begin living the life of heaven on earth now before you die and if i love there's a great book i brought it with me um if i can encourage people to read a you recommend books. This is my top five. I will say it is, it's dense. It's a little bit of a slow, you got, yeah, you got to chew on this a little bit, but it's worth it. This is called The Divine Conspiracy by a guy named Dallas Willard. Book revolutionized my life. And I love what he talks about in this is he says, man, the kingdom of God and learning to live in it is basically saying it's learning to live the heaven kind of life now. It's basically, and I don't- Say that one more time because I think we need to digest it a little bit more. Discipleship is learning to live the heaven kind of life now. So let's make this practical. I don't have to simply wait to go to heaven to begin experiencing it increasingly, never perfectly, but increasingly here. So like, man, if heaven is the place where everything is the way it should be, well, dude, do I want my marriage to be the way God wants it to be? Because earlier you said that, man, like the ways of God are life and he's actually trying to keep us from the thing that'll kill our joy. Do I want my marriage to be everything God wants it to be because then it could be the best marriage ever? Yes. So actually when I'm learning to do discipleship and I'm learning to do marriage Jesus's way, I'm basically getting to live the heaven kind of life now in my marriage. Man, do I want my job and the way I'm functioning my job to be amazing? And do I want joy? Yeah, you know how I do that is I'll learn basically how to live the heaven kind of life in my job and so on and so forth. So basically wrapping it up, in the kingdom, there's a king, that's Jesus. Heaven is everywhere, is a place where everything is the way he wants it to be. The kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven invading earth is basically just saying, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. And increasingly we want to see earth become more and more place where God, where it is the way God wants it to be. Anything you want to double click on that? I think that's great. You know, and I love, by the way, I agree with you. That's a, the divine conspiracy by Dallas Willis was one of my favorite books. It's a little head, you know, a little thicker, but you got to take, you got to take your time, but it's worth it because of what you just said. And it's so true. I think this has been one of the things like, you know, again, growing up in church, people think that Christianity is only about what happens when you die. And that's just, it's just not true. You know, people will say, well, man, I accepted Jesus Christ into my heart. That's important. Have you accepted Jesus Christ into your marriage? That's right. Have you accepted Jesus Christ into your finances, into your public life, into your job, into your career, into your ambitions? Why does that matter? Because Jesus is, he is Lord. He's not just a savior. He's also Lord. And so when you, when you realize that, that Jesus is Lord of every single aspect of your life. your whole life will change. And this is why Jesus teaches us to pray, let your kingdom come. Yes. And let your will be done on earth, in my family, in my marriage, with my children, whatever messed up part of my life needs redemption. That's right. That's exactly where heaven's kingdom wants to be at. Yep, here and now. And like, maybe put it this way, so many people approach life like the DMV. And here's what I mean, it's like the DMV, I don't know if you, when was the last time you were at the DMV? Oh, dude, it's been a minute, thank God. It's been a minute. And by the way, if you're a DMV worker or listens to Rush to Live Free, we love you, we know it's not you, because it's the same everywhere. It's not you, it's me, just kidding. It's the same everywhere. But usually it's not the most joyful experience, but it's like, all right, I go, I get my ticket, I'm waiting for the appointment, and then I just sit there and wait miserably in a room. And it's not, is it a place of joy? Generally, no. No. And so, so many Christians treat life like basically like the DMV. It's like, man, when I get saved, I get my ticket to heaven. And then now I just got to wait miserably here on earth. And I'm like, oh, there's so much more that God wants for you. For sure, he's got an amazing future ahead of you in heaven. But man, at the end of the day, we can begin experiencing that life now. And why wouldn't I want to see it now in my life and in the world around me? And to what you said earlier, that's what Into the Breach is about. It's saying, hey, what are the broken down places that look a little bit more like hell in my life and more like hell on earth? We want to see the heaven, we want to see the life of heaven come and invade that and repair it and restore it. That's what Into the Breach is about, man. That's right, man. That's right. Well, that's true. That's good. So that's the first part. That's the first part of the verse. Because we said, hey, seek first his kingdom. We've talked about his kingdom. And then it says. Wait, wait, actually. Go ahead. I'm sorry. No, no, you're good. Before we transition to that part, dude, I want to interrupt this show because we forgot to celebrate something really important. Hey, Live Free Nation, let's have fun with this and swing some elections. In all seriousness, midterm elections are obviously coming up in November. In the state of Texas, there's an estimated 16 million Christians and the midterm elections coming up in November will be decided by a predicted, actually about 300,000 votes. So what this means is if Christians do their job as salt and light in the world, good things really easily happen. So what we've done at Live Free Nation is we actually built a website to help mobilize Christians to do our job as salt and light in society. So you can simply text the word VOTE to the number 20411. Text the word VOTE to 20411. And we have built a website all at our own. All at our own expense to help Christians remember to vote leading up into the midterms because the number one reason that Christians don't vote, especially in midterm elections, is they just forgot. So with one text, VOTE to 20411, you will get one text, which is a link to the website where you can put in your address. We do not keep any of the information and it will tell you where the polling location is for voting in your area, when to come, and what in your area you need to bring. Again, we keep, absolutely none of the data and we will send you that text and then only one other reminder text right before midterms. So let's have some fun with this. Text VOTE to 20411 and we'll see what Live Free Nation can do. What? So Trinity, our Live Free producer, actually just got engaged recently. Yes, she did. So shout out to Trinity. We got people in there where everybody's clapping. And so, man, I feel like I participated. I think I basically, proved Trinity's fiance to be hired at Lake Point at some point. So really, she has you to thank. So, I mean, I feel like kind of, I mean, I kind of did it basically. You know, so Trinity, you're welcome. And that's a joke, by the way. I'm so glad you remembered that, dude. I would have completely forgotten. Also, it happened here in the studio. No way. No, that's a joke. That's a joke. You fooled me. Oh, man, we should have got Paul. But anyways, shout out. Hey, we're all celebrating here with Trinity. Come on, Trinity. So I would ask her to come and say hi, but she probably would not like that. Yeah, that's a good gift to ask. Do not hurt her. Okay, she says she agrees. That's good, man. Trinity's our Gen Z representative. That's right, man. Anytime I have a question about Gen Z, I just ask Trinity. Just ask her. She's the expert. And one day I said my fellow Gen Z people, and she looked at me and she said, fellow? Like, excuse me? And she's right. That's exactly right. Okay. But yeah, so jumping back. So, yeah, so the first part of the verse is, man, seek first the kingdom of God. We've established that. The second part is, and then all these things will be added as well. When they're like, okay, well, what are all these things? As I think you alluded to earlier, this verse is in the context of an extended teaching that Jesus does on wealth and on possessions. Earlier in Matthew 6, he says, hey, you cannot serve both God and money. Those are two competing masters. He talks about generosity. He talks about, hey, like life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. And basically it's like, hey, don't worry about what you eat or drink or what you wear. And basically it comes in that extended teaching. And so all these things are things like what you wear and your money and your clothes. And so he says, hey, seek first the kingdom. And all these things will be added to you as well, which this is the other part of the confusion that I think you were referring to comes, right? Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, before we dive into that, I just want to clarify, because you explained to us what is the kingdom of God, man, heaven coming to earth, the reality of a life with God in our lives today, like in my family, the parts of my life that are broken, the presence of God comes in and brings healing and restoration and redemption. And so to seek first the kingdom is to seek, the life of discipleship with Jesus. Jesus is saying, hey, above everything else, what you got to seek first is basically like, you pursue a relationship with Jesus. You learn how to be like Jesus, how to let him invade your family, change who you are from the inside out. The whole point of the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount is that we don't just believe in behavior modification, we believe in heart transformation. And so we seek those things first. As Christians, that's what we're all about. And then the second part that you're explaining is, and all of these things will be added to you. Like you said, Paul, the context of the whole chapter is about money, which is interesting because we hear that verse, but we don't think that that's what Jesus is talking about, but it's money, it's possessions, it's anxiety about provision. And it's also basically what we prioritize in life. So again, if you just read before that verse, this is what Jesus is saying. Hey, don't store up treasures on earth, store up treasures in heaven. You cannot serve both God and money. Do not obsess over money and material needs. And then he says, hey, seek first the kingdom of God and everything else will be added. So let me start by saying maybe, what does that part does not mean? So seek first the kingdom of God and everything else will be added. Here's what it does not mean. It doesn't mean that if you seek God first, God now owes you everything you want. You cannot say, hey, well, I'm now doing the whole church thing and I'm reading my Bible and I'm doing my part and I still don't have the lifestyle that I always wanted or the car that I always wanted or the house. That's literally not the point of what Jesus is saying. Actually, right before Jesus says, hey, actually do not focus on stacking things on earth. That's not what we're about. So that's not what it means. Number two, he's not talking about all your wants. Everything will be added does not mean that everything you want, God will give you. Actually, Jesus is specifically referring here to your needs. So food, drink, clothing, which means, God doesn't always give you what you want, but he is always faithful to give you what you need. need. It doesn't mean also that if you devote yourself to God and seek him first, then you don't have to work. By the way, this is for our younger generations listening. It doesn't mean that you do not have to work to go get it. This is for Trinity's generation right here. Shout out, Gen Z. That's a joke. I'm kidding. She's like, what's going on today? But I do think there is a generational thing happening here. It doesn't mean that you don't have to work hard to go get the things that you are supposed to have for yourself and for your family. Again, it says seek first. It doesn't say seek only. And just to connect to that, even if you're listening, I'd encourage you maybe even to go back and read this whole section on your own in Matthew. It's just a few verses earlier. It talks about how, man, God provides for the birds of the air. Basically, he's actually making an comparison. It's like, if he provides for the birds of the air, how much more is he going to provide for you? Because he's the bird's creator. But if you're a Christian, he's your father. That's right. And so he's going to take care of you too. But using that analogy is interesting because it says he provides for the birds. So does that mean, Carlos, that birds just literally sit there on the branches and he just drops food down into their mouth from the sky? And then complain that the food has not been dropped. That's right. No, no. They still got to do work. They still got to fly around, find the food. So the idea is that he provides for them, but the way they access what he's provided is still to do work. That's it, man. Yeah. Yeah. And also, man, I think ultimately this verse, the whole point is Jesus is contrasting two kinds of seeking. So if the verse before Matthew 6, 32, Jesus basically says, hey, that the Gentiles, people that don't have God as a father, they're actually seeking desperately and anxiously material necessities. The following verse, Matthew 6, 33, which is our verse that we're reading right now, Jesus says to his disciples, hey, that's not who you are. You need to seek first the kingdom of God and God will provide your material needs. So the question is not whether we have material needs. We do. We do. We do have needs. Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount, he literally says part of the prayer is give us this day our daily bread. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Keep going. Which is interesting because in the prayer, let your kingdom come and let your will be done. The kingdom comes first. Exactly. And after comes and give us our daily bread. It's an example of different priorities. So the question is not whether you have material needs. We all do. The question is, what are you seeking first? Yeah. In your heart, ultimately, what are you ultimately pursuing as a priority in your life? That's the question. That's good. And so one thing I do want to tackle, Paul, speaking of generational things, we have a. We live in a very interesting culture today. And here's what. There seems to be a general belief in our culture today that when it comes to money and basically if somebody is a good person or a bad person. So generally speaking, there is a belief today that we want to tackle that is against what the Bible says. And I want to make sure that it's clear. People today, some people seem to believe that if you have money and wealth, you're bad. And there's this idea of like, oh, you're wealthy or you're probably evil and you're greedy and all rich people are bad and billionaires shouldn't exist. And the people who think that, by the way, do you know what they want? More money. Yeah. True. Sorry. I just wanted to point that out, but keep going. I finished reading Walter Isaacson's biography of Elon Musk. And in the book, Elon basically shares how Elon's son, who was born a savior, but now identifies as Vivian. At some point, Vivian or not saying, hey, he believes that rich people are evil. And that's hard because obviously Elon has a lot of money. And so he has a very difficult relationship with his son. So here's the implication. If you think if having money and wealth makes you a bad person or makes you an evil person, then the implication, first of all, that's not true. Number two, the implication would be then if you don't have a lot of money, then you're probably a good person or you're probably a bad person, oppressed person, victim of the system. So that view right there, Paul, that's more of a reflection of what people call critical theory. And it's everywhere in our culture today. We don't do critical theory. We do Christian theology. And so here's what the Bible actually says when it comes to this conversation. The Bible actually gives us four different categories of people when it comes to wealth and faith. So here's a graph for you because I'm trying to be more like Chadji Palsy. Here's the first part. The first category of people that the Bible talks about when it comes to wealth and faith is wealthy and godly. This is a person that has a lot of wealth and they're faithful to God. So contrary to popular belief, just because you're wealthy, it does not mean you're evil. Someone can be wealthy and work really hard and perhaps they're gifted at creating wealth. And they live in a way that is honoring to God, that is generous, joyful, faithful. We have people like that in our church, friends of us. So in the Bible, you see this as well. Abraham, Job, Joseph of Arimathea, righteous, godly men and women in the Bible that were wealthy. Yeah. God bless them with wealth. Praise God. Wealthy and godly. Number two, second category is somebody can be wealthy and ungodly. So somebody can be wealthy and at the same time also live in sin, rebelling against God. You can be greedy, selfish, living for yourself. Example, the Bible talks about the rich fool in Luke 12. Again, there were also religious rich people that were corrupt. You can be wealthy and ungodly. Number three, someone can be poor and godly. Um, somebody, uh, let's show the next one. So somebody does not have to have lots of wealth to be, uh, live a life that is honoring to God. Dude, I'm, this is a little bit of my, um, where I come from. I'm, I was born and raised in El Salvador. Some of the godliest people I know don't have a lot of material wealth. Yeah. And, uh, but when I see their life, they are spiritually wealthy, uh, emotionally wealthy. They're happy. One of the happy, some of the happiest people I know, um, they're mighty in prayer, uh, empowered by the Holy Spirit, but they don't have material wealth. Yeah. They don't have a lot. You know, who's a great model for this? You know, like Jesus. Yeah, that's right. And I say this because we're in a minute, we're going to talk about a couple of like ditches that Christians can fall into. One I'll go ahead and name is what's called the prosperity theology. And it's the idea of, man, if you have faith, um, and you're righteous, like God will give you wealth. And if you don't have wealth, that means that you are either not righteous or don't have wealth. And if you don't have wealth, that means that you are either not have enough faith. And the issue with that is any theology that would exclude the son of God from being blessed is probably a theology, you know, you, you shouldn't believe because, uh, no one ever more righteous than Jesus. No one ever have more faith than Jesus. And yet he literally said the son of man has no place to lay his head. Yeah. That sounds like he does not have a material wealth. No, no. And so I just wanted to point that out for people. I just want to point that out. So again, you can be poor when it comes to material possessions and be godly and be used by God and be faithful to God and be honoring to God and also be generous. Yeah. Uh, the poor widow in Mark 12, Jesus says, look at her. That's generosity right there. Not necessarily because she gave a lot, but because of what she had, she gave the most. Uh, last one, last category, you can be poor and ungodly. Somebody, uh, you don't have to have wealth and just cause you don't have wealth doesn't mean you're holy. Yeah. Um, it is possible to not have a lot and still be lazy. Uh, it's, it's possible to be a poor steward. So some people complain, well, I, you know, it's not fair that you have more than me. Um, it is a possibility that they've been a better steward than me. Yeah. And this is why they have more than you. Uh, you can be, you can not have a lot of material wealth and also, uh, be the book of Proverbs talks about lazy people, the sluggard, never working hard. All you do is complain envious. They seek to destroy what other people have built out of jealousy and anger. And so, uh, you can be a poor steward and still be anger and resentment and bitterness. Again, we talked about envy at the beginning of the episode again, so poor and ungodly. So those are the four categories of people when it comes to wealth and faith of the Bible presents the point that you're making, go back to 633. Then maybe we can, I can lay out a few, go back around those ditches that I mentioned a minute ago. It's basically, we're saying is like saying, Hey, first seek the kingdom of God. Let that be the biggest priority in your life. Because in our society is very similar today. We're basically what Jesus is saying is, like material possessions and, and desire should not be the organizing principle of your life. It doesn't mean you don't need to work. It doesn't mean you don't have a job to provide for your family. It just means that the point of your life is not to go make more money, more money to get more stuff so you can be more happy. That's the point instead managed to seek first the kingdom. But your point is, is that, Hey, and as you're doing that, it doesn't mean that you're automatically going to be very wealthy or very poor. That point is, is man, whether you have a lot of money or a little money, you can both be a godly person or an ungodly person. The key difference between those groups is not how much money they have. But are you seeking the kingdom of God as the first priority in your life? Is that pretty much what you're saying? A hundred percent, a hundred percent. Now, maybe let's dive in and really distinguish between what someone would call the prosperity gospel or theology and the poverty gospel or theology. It's connected. And really what you've seen now is I'd say over the last 30 to 40 years, these both kind of go in vogue and out of vogue. And you had to have two competing camps. I would say prosperity theology and gospel came on pretty hard in the eighties and nineties and early thousands. And then you had a wave in the late nineties, early thousands of kind of the opposite, which is a poverty gospel or theology. And if you're wondering- What year did you say the poverty gospel? I'd say, are you tempting me to start naming names right now? I'm not going to do that. I didn't name prosperity gospel names. I'm not going to do the other. Late nineties, early thousands is when you kind of begin to see a little bit more of a wave of that happening. I was reading some books in college, bro, that I think, I don't think it's fair to call them prosperity gospel, but it kind of- But people, what always happens is sometimes people take an aspect of the truth, which is good, and then take it to an extreme. And I think that's maybe- be what happened. So basically if I could boil it down as this, and these are two ditches we want to avoid as Christians. The prosperity gospel would say, God wants you to own more. And if you're faithful and if you have enough faith, he will let you own more and he will bless you with more. So the prosperity gospel says, God wants you to own more. The poverty gospel says that God wants you to own less. That actually, if you're righteous, it's not that you have more, it's that you should have less. This is really helpful. Keep going. So again, the kind of prosperity gospel, God wants you to own more. The biblical gospel and biblical theology is that God wants to own you. So it's not God wants you to own more. And it's not that he initially wants you to own less. It's that he wants to own you. That actually, like scripture says that God sent his son, Jesus Christ to, purchase you. Actually, I love it because it says to redeem you from the kingdom of darkness and to bring you into the kingdom of God, into the kingdom of light, it says in Colossians. And so the idea of him owning you is not a bad thing. It's actually a good thing. He purchased you. He redeemed you. But because of that, man, he owns every part of you. So Christianity is not either a gospel of prosperity or poverty. It's not about getting rich or getting rid of everything. It's the good news that Jesus has bought every part of you, your body, your soul, your future. Everything. And now everything is entrusted to you, but it actually belongs to him. Does that make sense? And so the key question a Christian has to ask is not how much may I possess, but who or what possesses me? Again, it's not how much I can possess, but who or what possesses me. That's the key question. And so now with that being said, I do think we need to give a few more principles around, I would call it a biblical, theology of possessions and wealth. Because just being honest with you, we're here in America, in the West, wealthiest nation in the world, wealthiest nation in history. And there's some people that would hear what I just said, man, right on. And they would agree with me, but you wouldn't know it if you looked at their banking account. They're like, oh yeah, God owns me. But that hasn't yet shown up. And I say it because, man, in Matthew 6, Jesus says, not where your heart is, your treasure is. He says, where your treasure is, your heart is. So in other words, Jesus says, if I look at your bank account, I can tell where your heart is. And I will be able to tell if the kingdom of God is actually first in your heart or not. So I do think with that thing being said about, it's not about how much you own, it's about who or what owns you. I do think we need to give just some parameters around the possessions and kind of a biblical theology of it. I'm going to boil these down to four points. Number one, everything belongs to God. Everything belongs to God. Psalm 24, 1 says, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. So in other words, he says, everything on the earth is God's. And that's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the earth is God's, including you and all that you possess. So it's not that you don't owe God some of what you have. He lets you steward some of what he has. So let me say it again. It's not that, oh, I'm a Christian. I guess I owe 10% of what I have to God. It's like, no, I don't think it. It's already his. Everything is his. Everything is his. He lets you steward some of what is his on earth. So it's a huge difference. So number one, everything belongs to God. Number two, possessions are not inherently evil. Let's read out so many people that have material possessions, but also like the Bible gives us first is like 1 Timothy. It says, everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received for Thanksgiving. Deuteronomy 8, 18, you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth. Ecclesiastes 5, 19, everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions. Notice who gives it. God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil. This is the gift of God. So he literally says that he gives some people wealth and possessions, not just all people, everything. He gives, whether you have a lot or a little, he gives it to you to enjoy. So possessions are not inherently evil. Number two. Yeah. Also, you know, in Luke 16, Jesus connects good stewardship of your possessions with faithfulness, which literally it means that if God has entrusted you with something and you are not being a faithful steward with those possessions, you can't be a faithful follower of Jesus. Exactly. And we're going to get to that in point number four. No, no, you're good. That's a really big one. So number one, everything belongs to God because that number two possessions then are not inherently evil, but here's a very important part, very important point. Number three, neither are possessions. Are they entirely neutral? So they're not inherently evil, but they're also not entirely neutral because man, if you actually read Jesus's teachings on possessions and money, like around two thirds of them are warnings or teachings about the danger of wealth and possessions. And so I like to think of wealth and possessions as this, a tool is, and it is a thing. It's not actually evil, but it's almost like there are some substances on earth that are radioactive or that are dangerous. So if you're going to use them, you have to handle them properly and with caution. It can be a blessing, but it also can be dangerous. Exactly. And so I don't want to be, but man, they're not inherently evil, but they're also not entirely neutral. There's things that we got to know that when we have to handle them cautiously or they can lead us into a life that God doesn't want for us. I will say this. I mean, it is, it is true. I mean, when you read, uh, the book of, I believe that was, last week, uh, in Matthew 19, 23, after the rich young ruler, right after the rich young ruler leaves, Jesus explicitly says that it is harder for somebody that is wealthy to enter the kingdom of heaven. And that's not, you know, people think like, oh, you know, shout out to Elon Musk or Bill Gates, but we are rich. Like compared to in history, when you compare like the way you and I, and most Americans live our lifestyle on a day-to-day basis with AC and vehicles and everything fridges with food inside that go bad because we had too much food. Um, we are rich. And so Jesus is saying, when you start putting your faith in your bank account and how much money you've made and what you have and what you don't have, and, and it's harder for you to ultimately say, man, I just want to, I just want to follow you. And we, we become comfortable. Uh, Jesus saying, Hey, that's a warning. It's a warning. And so the thing, but the good news is that he says, man, it's possible to God. I was actually about to say right after, right after, uh, guess who gets saved? Who? Zacchaeus. Yeah. Who was also rich. So anyways, go ahead. And then after he got saved, it affected how he used his money. It's a both. And so again, I want to be clear. It's not that they're inherently evil, but they're also not entirely neutral. You've got to be aware to your point that because we live in the wealthiest nation of all time and you know, and even just upon the, even if you live in another place, definitely more wealthy generations, you just got to be aware of the effect that it can have on your soul. Now, final point is then is, Hey, if it's not in terror entirely, if it's not inherently evil, but it's also not entirely neutral, then what do we, how do we view our possessions and our wealth? They are gifts from God meant to be used for God. I'll say that again. Possessions and money are gifts from God meant to be used for God and his purposes. Luke 69. I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of wealth so that when it fails, they may receive you into eternal dwellings. Matthew 6, 19 through 21. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. I love the way Randy Alcorn puts it. He wrote a great book, by the way, on money. I forget the name of it if that's in my head, but I read it way back in the day. He says this, God entrusts me with his money, not to build my kingdom on earth, but to build his kingdom in heaven. So money is, everything belongs to God. Possessions and wealth are not inherently evil, but they're also not entirely neutral. And because of that, the best way to use your wealth and is to see that they're gifts from God meant to be used for God and his purposes. That's great. All right, man. That's good, man. So I think let's maybe transition because like, man, we gave some stuff when I did the kingdom of God. We gave some stuff around, hey, avoid prosperity theology and poverty theology and say, just ask yourself this question. It's not, does God want me to own more or less? It's, does he own me? And does that reflect in the way that I actually spend my money and use my possessions? But I think it may be good to end, man, this podcast on and again, be back here on Wednesday for that amazing interview with Louis Giglio. Come on, man. About how do you, how do you do that? Cause man, it sounds, it sounds so simple. Oh, seek first the kingdom of God. But then I think a lot of people are like, yeah, but like, what does that actually look like? Or even like going back to that idea of the kingdom of God and of heaven is like, man, we want to see like, like more and more. I want to live the life of heaven on earth. And I want to see that happen around me. But then it's like, okay, but how do I do this? So Carlos, maybe like, let's just give some people some practical tips of how they can actually seek first the kingdom and see it come more fully in their life. Let me, let me give you some, uh, and we can, we can popcorn it if you want. Uh, this is like the easiest one. And somebody might hear this and be like, oh, that's kind of like obvious. Well, like, yeah, but are you doing it? And I'm saying that for myself, even like, it sounds obvious, but like, it's just, man, uh, how do you seek him first? Uh, first thing in the morning, seek God. It's just as simple as that, you know? And you can say, I've had conversations where people are like, well, I'm just not a morning person. Honestly, man, like, I don't know what to tell you. Like the Bible explicitly shows us a pattern of seeking God in the morning. Uh, Mark very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus departed and went out to a desolate place. And there he prayed. Um, you know, let me just ask you, uh, does that look like your routine in the morning? Um, David prayed in the morning, Psalm one 43, eight, let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love for you and you, I trust, make me known, make me know the way I should go for to you. I lift up my soul. Um, for me, honestly, what I have found, if I don't pray or find time to be alone with God in the morning, dude, it's like harder. It's so much harder to do it later in the day. It's just so much, maybe some people can pull it off and great. It's just so much harder for me to do it. So one easy way, man, I just want the first thing in my mind before my screens, I want to go to scripture. The first thing I do, I want to spend time with God, uh, whatever that time looks like for you in this season. Um, and, and it's my, it's my, uh, intention to put him first in my time and in my schedule every single day by the grace of God. That's good. Keep going. Let me, let me think. I wasn't playing on this, but as you're talking, you just gave me this idea. It's like Carlos and I, I'll have to explain it for people that are just listening to this. If I throw the book this way, and if my hand is pointed this way to my left, to your right, where is this book going? To your left. When it starts to come out of my hand, it's going to go this way because it's pointed this way. And so when it starts to come out, wherever my hand is pointed, it's going to go left. If I point it this way to my right, where's it going? To your right. It's going to go out. The point of that is, is that man, how you start your day is the trajectory and the aim of that day. And so however you start is usually where, and where it's pointed is where it's going to go. It's not that you can't change course in the middle of the day, by the way, but it is just to say the best way to start your day in terms of prioritizing, putting God first, is to actually put Him first and prioritize Him at the beginning of the day. That will set the trajectory and the aim for your day. With that, I'll even give you a little tip that I occasionally do with my kids. It's just, man, a simple prayer. It's just basically like, a lot of part of what you're talking about is a quiet time and Bible study and an intense prayer, which by the way, is awesome. We've done episodes on that. But a good simple- Hey, bro, why are you hating on my prayer time? I'm not, I'm not. I'm saying, I just want to give people in addition to that, a thing that sometimes I'll pray in the car at the beginning of the day for my kids and for myself as I say, God, we've got a lot of things to do today. Because like we go, I don't go into the day as a blank state of, okay, God, like, okay, like, what do you want me to do at nine o'clock? And then like, man, part of like being a good steward of the time He gives you is managing well. And so I've got, I've got meetings and I've got things on the calendar, yada, yada. My kids go to school. It's part of what they do every day. But one of the things that I like to do is to say, hey, God, I've got a lot of things to do today, but what do you want me to do today? Now it could be something different than what's on my calendar, but it's also a knowledge that, hey, when I'm in that meeting, what do you want my posture to be? And even sometimes in addition to praying that in the morning, I'll look at my calendar before I go into a meeting or before I go into something, before I go into this podcast, my God, like I've got a thought of like, how do I want to contribute to this or I'm going to do here, but what do you want me to do? And what I'm doing in that moment is I'm realizing that, hey, I'm committing this time to God. And I'm saying, God, this is in your hands. It's not about me and my will. It's about you and your will. I want your kingdom to come on earth, whatever it is I'm doing, would you let me know how I can best be a part of that? It's a way of orienting my day and putting it in His hands and taking it out of my hands. What else you got? I've got, I've got really just one big thing I was going to hit. What else you got? I mean, to say the rhythms in your life that are part of your spiritual disciplines, man, you put them first, right? Like this would be probably one that's a little harder perhaps for people with kids and in this season of life when, you know, everybody's busy with everything. For example, your community, your life group, you can say, man, I would love to be a part of a life group. I'd love to do root it, but I'm just a little too busy with my season or whatever. There's never going to be a perfect time where you have every, all day, have nothing to do. And so you, eventually you make room for the things that are most important in your life. That's how you seek the kingdom first, which means that there's going to be some things that you're going to have to shove down second, third, and fourth, because you're trying to prioritize the most important things. Again, the, the, this is something that you'll hear Pastor Josh say often, the mark of a spirit filled Christian is not emotion, it's rearrange priorities. And so at some point, and I've, I've done this too, Paul, where, you know, ministry can be busy. And if you're in ministry, it's not always easy to, to be a part of a group and, and, and go through the, the, the rhythms yourself. And I've gotten convicted many seasons where I'm just kind of falling. I'm too quote unquote busy. And it's like, Hey, it's as if God says, Carlos, thank you for doing ministry for me. I really appreciate it. I love your heart. But like I'm above ministry. I'm above your work. And so, and so the question is does your schedule, does your agenda, do the activities in this season reflect the priorities of your heart? And if so, man, you gotta, you gotta prioritize church, spiritual disciplines, prayer, worship together, life group, community, amongst other things. It's good, man. Yeah. I'm going to give one, it's going to seem counterintuitive and you may even call me a heretic. So just kidding. Just go with me for a second. We'll find out if it wasn't for our discussion on Harry Potter, you're going to have the ammo now. But, um, you know, when I, when I, when I talk to people about men, how do you see the kingdom first and really a different way of putting it is like, how do you put God first? And I actually tell people it's like the way you put God first is you stop trying to put God first. It's going to sound, it sounds really weird, but just, just follow me for a second. I'm going to give you 60 seconds before I call you a heretic right now. Because I, I, I had this thing, like when I was, when I was in high school, went to a Christian high school and our coaches would do this and other people do this and they said, guys, you got to have this thing. And I was like, I'm going to do this. And they said, you got to have your priorities in order. It's got to be God first, family second, school third, yada, yada, yada, football, then be fourth before friends and so on and so forth. And by the way, that sounds amazing. In a sense, it is true. Cause it just said seek first. The idea of God, God should be number one, but then the order I got to begin to think, okay, that sounds great, but what does that even practically look like? So does that mean, Carlos, like if our listeners, you know, don't do that quiet time in the morning, are they, are they cool just to call in sick and be like, Hey boss, like didn't have my time to read the word. And get into prayer. I'm going to take off this morning and do that. Probably not a good thing for them to do. And not a practical thing for them to do. Does that mean that if my relationship with God is struggling, I'm cool to go and tell my family, Hey guys, I really just got to have a week to myself. And Hey wife, you just take care of everything while I'm gone. You know, now occasionally made that need to have me in general. No, it's like, I just found like, it sounds great, but how do you actually do that? And so there was this idea that came like that heard a while back and it really revolutionized the way I came at this, which was man, the way to actually put God first in your life is to make him the center of every piece of your life. So it's not, how do I make God first before my marriage? It's how do I put Jesus in the center of my marriage? It's not, how do I put God before my kids? It's actually, how do I actually make him the center of how I raise my kids? It's not, how do I put God before my job or before my possessions? It's actually, how do I make him the center of my job and the center of my possessions? So instead of it trying to put him first above those things, it's actually saying, Hey man, with my possessions, with my family, how would you have me manage these things that you've entrusted to me? It's like, Hey, you've called me to be a husband. You've called me to be a father. You've called me to be an employee. How would you have me do that? Going back to our conversation on the kingdom of heaven. Hey God, if I were living the heaven kind of life now, when it came to my marriage, what would that look like for me as a husband? And then go do that. And you should be asking. And you should be asking that. So like, if I were just to give a practical thing is for sure. And again, the point of this, just to make sure and give clarity, I want people to put God first. God first. And I want them to seek the kingdom of God first. But I think the practical way to do that is actually think through the different big elements of your life. And just, I would honestly to ask people like, man, maybe take an hour of the next week, look at the different big elements of your life and simply ask this question for each of them. Like, what would it look like if I increasingly made Jesus the center of that? What would that practically look like? Maybe identify one practical thing for each of those and then take a step. Don't list 20 things for each of them and think you can do all 20 of all of them. Just write a few for each and then just take a step in each. And I believe that more you make him the center of every part of your life, he will be first in your life. Yeah. In your marriage, relationship with your kids, community, finances, work, private and public life. All those things. Yeah. Think of all the big areas and just ask, man, what would it look like for me to live life as if Jesus was the center of that part of my life? Take a step in each and then you'll begin to see some progress, man. Well, let me wrap with that. You got anything else before we land the thing? No, that's the big stuff, man. I love what you said about, you know, when we talk about the kingdom of God, man, here's what you need to keep in mind. We have a king and his name is Jesus. He is not just a teacher. He is a king. And so now again, you got to consider this. Jesus is not just a good teacher or a good example or a good man. Jesus is king. Jesus had no servants, yet they called him master. He had no university degree, yet they called him teacher. He had no medicine, yet they called him healer. Jesus was a king that you and I have, Paul. He commanded no earthly army, yet legions of angels were at his disposal. He wrote no books, yet more books have been written about him than anybody else in history. He had no political office, yet he holds all authority in heaven and on earth. If you think about it, earthly kings are born in palaces. Jesus was born in a manger. Earthly kings wear crowns of gold. He wore a crown of thorns, and yet he is crowned with glory, the Bible says. Earthly kings send others to die for them. This king came to die for us. The author of life, this is crazy, the author of life was willing to taste death. And so our king, the king we serve, the king who is Lord of our lives, he was rejected by his own people. And yet one day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess from every tribe, tongue, and nation that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's what the Bible says. And so we serve a unique king, and he is good, and we can trust him, and he is worthy of all, not just part of your life, but of all. And so this is why, by the grace of God, we seek his kingdom first. Amen. Amen. Would you pray for us? I would love to. We just want to stop right now, Jesus, and say you are the king of the universe, that every square inch of it belongs to you. And God, even as Carlos was speaking, I just felt convicted about a thought I've had before that everything in the physical universe does exactly what you want it to do. to. That in the Old Testament, when you wanted the Red Sea to split, it did. That in the New Testament, when you walked on the water, you walked on it and it stood firm beneath you because it did what you wanted it to do. The Old Testament says that the wind blows where you want it to, that the grass grows because you want it to, that the mountains raise up to the exact height because you wanted them to. Everything in the physical universe does exactly what you want it to do, except for one thing, us. And it just blows me away that we are also the one thing in the universe, in the physical universe, that you had the audacity as the king to come down and die for. And we just want to thank you. I just want to thank you that you are that kind of king. And God, I pray now, though, that in light of that, and because of what you have done for us, Lord, that we would now not just sit around and wait to get to heaven when we die, but we would long to see it come more and more on earth while we live in every part of our lives, God. So may that be true in the way we handle our possessions and money. Would you help us to see our possessions the way you see them and the way they are and help us to steward them as gifts from you to be used for you. And God, I pray that in every part of our lives, you would be the center and that you would be first so that we would get to experience heaven now and that we would get to see more and more breaches filled in our world to experience it as well. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Live free, brother. Live free. Well, hey, thanks so much for listening. Lake Point Church is a movement for all people to know Christ, live free and change the world for God's glory. 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