Where the Money Resides // Paper Chasers (Week 2) – Pastor Michael Todd – Transformation Church

Pastor Mike Todd’s Introduction

• God is still good
• Today, somebody needs joy – your situation is not going to give you the joy – it will not be the turnaround, it will be the one who looks over it all – His name is Jesus
• You’re supposed to be a conduit of joy to somebody else
• Assignment: bring somebody else joy today – even if it’s $6 at Starbucks, or your parking spot – let’s be Christ’s hands and feet and help somebody’s joy
• It’s week 2 of Paper Chasers – for series like this, one the real ones come back because the principles God is about to teach us through this series is for those who are going to the deep. We’ve decided we’re going to be anchored and you only need an anchor in the deep, not the shallow
• Finances, money, generosity, and stewardship – these are some of the deepest topics in our lives
• What if God said, “go”, but you said, “but I just bought”, or if God says, “give that away”, but your identity is attached to giving that away?
• Over 200,000 of you have watched last week – when we do things the kingdom way, it changes things exponentially
• Last week, we made the decision that we will be purpose chasers, not paper chasers

This is important because:

1. The Paper Without Purpose Is Pointless 

What does it look like to have positive accounts and negative fulfillment? The paper without purpose is pointless.

Culture tells us to go after the paper, but the Bible tells us to go after purpose. The Bible tells us to seek first the kingdom and right standing.

Would you divorce what your uncle, school, rap stars, and people on social media, self-help programs and books, etc. taught you about money?

Can we use the word of God as the standard for how we look at generosity and stewardship for 4 weeks to change the generational cycles of poverty or the generational cycles of selfishness.

We either have one or the two and God wants you to live a blessed life.

2. God Has Standards and Man Has Suggestions

There’s a standard God wants us to live to when it comes to finances.

God has principles; man has opinions

God has a supreme strategies; man has strongholds  

A stronghold is a mindset or a pattern.

Stronghold: Anything that attempts to re-define anything that God has already defined or manufactured.

If God said there is a way you do marriage, but if you watch reality TV and you form an image of an ideal woman, then you can’t recognize the woman of God that God has sent you. What you’re fighting is not the person, you’re fighting a stronghold. You can’t give or tithe because you’re fighting a stronghold – a mindset – something your parents gave you, your cousin gave you, TV gave you, Shark Tank gave you. It took you decades to build up a stronghold. It’ll take at least 4 weeks for us to tear it down.

Some of us have had mindsets, thought patterns, and ideas – we need to tear down the stronghold of financial greed, financial poverty, and selfishness.

The enemy would love for you to leave the food on the plate. Kids leave the filet mignon on the plate because their pallet is not used to that level of eating.

This series will mature your spiritual pallet.

It takes paper to do purpose, but God MUST be the priority.

For Mike, MTV Cribs was one of the most stronghold forming things in his life. Episode after episode, a stronghold was formed to show what successful people should live like. If the principles don’t come from the word of God, it’s wrong.

3. Paper Chasers Live for Passion; Purpose Chasers Live for Principles

What were your passions 10 years ago? For most of us, they’re not the same because they’re fleeting.

Many times, going with the passion goes with the trend – what they’re doing.

You have to value principles over passions to be a purpose chasers.

When we were 10, some of us had a passion for yo-yos. In a season of life, that’s where all the money went. That’s what we associated people with. We can’t think of a lot of principles that we had when we were 10.

When you form principles like, “I’ll never be alone; or I can’t be alone for longer than two months”, you get passions like “Ricky”, and “Renaldo”, who are fleeting, and your principle has outlasted all of them.

To be a purpose chaser, you need to be a principle keeper.

In God’s word, he lays out the whole thing for all of us. None of us were here hundreds of years ago, but His principles were. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but His principles last forever.   

You can pass on principles of stewardship and generosity. A good man leaves an inheritance for his children. Too often do people try to pass on their passions to their children instead of principles.

4. Principles Are More Powerful Than Passions

The covenant of marriage is more powerful than the passions of a one-night stand.

Mike has a bunch of principles to share, but he’s scared about whether or not it will go into good ground and be received.

The seed is good, Mike just doesn’t know if it will actually have the impact on your life that it needs to have. Then Mike went to Mark 4, with parables about seed and soil. The soil of your life has to be ready to receive the seed of God’s word/principles.

Mike thought that today, we would survey the soil of your heart.

Mike will put out the seed, but your soil will determine what grows.

You’re sitting next to somebody who will have a different harvest because they have different soil.

According to Mark 4, there are 4 different types of soil of the heart.

Mark 4:14-20 New Living Translation (NLT)

14 The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. 15 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. 16 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. 18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. 20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

“The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away” – This has been the pattern of many of our spiritual lives. As soon as you get the seed, it’s taken away IMMEDIATELY from an ad, or some other distraction.

This is a Vacant Soil

God wants to fill you up because there’s nothing there right now. It’s okay. If you’re in this place in your life right now, God loves you, sees you, and His grace sent Mike to let you know that there is another way to be able to get fruit out of your life than living empty.

Some of you might be still right now because no matter what Mike says, it’s empty. When you don’t get the message, is it the seed or is it the soil? As long as they were preaching the word, it doesn’t matter if it was monotone or dry as long as there’s a good seed, it can be fruit. Is it the seed or is it the soil?

Are you good soil? Some of us have vacant soil.

16 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.

Family members, Instagram, people who don’t think it’s real – for some of you, it only takes one person, or one post to get you to be out. You have lost everything from that because you’re still in the shallow.

As soon as somebody talks about you, or doesn’t believe something, thinks your pastor is a false prophet and made a YouTube video about it, you weren’t anchored enough, or far enough in the deep to be able to handle a conviction that came with criticism.

You’ll know you’re maturing when your conviction offends somebody and you can handle the criticism and still love them, still pray for them, and still give to them.

Until God can plant seeds on good soil, the enemy keeps coming to rob you.

Survey your soil.

One of them had vacant soil, but this one was vulnerable.

We have to watch the circle we’re around – your lack of deep roots will allow people to take away a word you got from God.

Watch that weak circle you have. Everybody doesn’t have deep enough faith to believe in you. Your vulnerable soil will try to pick up what God was trying to put in.

To believe with Mike for the building, he went to his heavy hitters. When you get people around you who has seen God’s faithfulness, you can see fruit.

We don’t focus on money; money should be the fruit.

What kind of soil are you today?

Some have vacant soil, others have vulnerable, but let’s look at verse 18.

18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.

It’s not even bad stuff, it’s just a lot of stuff. What happens when what you’re doing isn’t even bad, it’s just too much? What if you’re not producing fruit because, “you’re doing too much?” Some of the seeds God is trying to plant are being choked out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things – so no fruit is produced.

Where can God even get the word in? Between the seasons of the Masked Singer? After Coming to America 2?

This is not just vacant or vulnerable. It’s dangerous to try to plant within you. You’re doing so much that your leaders end up getting hurt because you’re doing too much.

You go from business to business, church to church, and people are done with you because you hurt them. It wasn’t them, it was your soil.

This is Violating soil.

“I’m not late” – “we have surveillance.” – One of the greatest problems with our generation is not being self-aware. God will bring people into your life to help you, but will they leave bleeding because you’re not self-aware enough to accept the seed?

20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” – As we plant the seeds within deep soil:

Now you see the fruit of the seeds that have been planted a long time ago.

If you’re good soil, then it goes in and produces fruit 30, 60, 100 fold.

By this time next year, if you apply these principles, you will never see God’s hands on your life like it will be.

God is going to allow you to experience a new level of living a blessed life – a blessed marriage – a blessed family – blessed to be a blessing – a blessed business.

Good soil is Valuable soil

5. The Seed is Always Subject to the Soil 

When something doesn’t work in your life, check the soil. How are they advancing in the company? It might not be the seed, maybe it’s the soil. You’ve been in 17 relationships, it isn’t the seed, it’s you.

This scripture is honestly the parable of the soil.

Has your seed been sabotaged by the soil?

The soil is your heart. Your heart is either vacant, vulnerable, violated, or valuable.

Proverbs 4:23 New Living Translation (NLT)

23 Guard your heart above all else,

    for it determines the course of your life.

If you’re a mean person, it started in the heart. The same goes for selfishness and perversion.

Whoever you are, you can find its origination in your heart.

Read “The Blessed Life” (below) and grab the study guide as well:

Matthew 7:1-2 New King James Version (NKJV)

Do Not Judge

7 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

Luke 6:37-38 New King James Version (NKJV)

Do Not Judge

37 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”

When people hear the word give, we think the word “money”. Money isn’t mentioned in either of these scriptures.

Giving is the theme of the Bible. You can’t have a successful marriage without two people willing to give. This isn’t just about money, giving applies to every area of your life.  

6. Giving is All About the Heart 

This will happen in your heart way before it shows up in your hand. See if God is the priority of your heart.

Mike asked a group of people what they wanted to do, they all said that ultimately they want to be a philanthropist. Mike asked how they were giving now? They weren’t working the muscle because it hadn’t dropped to their heart yet. You can lie to Mike, but you can’t lie to God. God wants your money, not the church, because it’s proof that He has your heart.

Matthew 6:21 New King James Version (NKJV)

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

For where your treasure is – not where it’s going to be, not when you get a settlement, etc., but where it currently is.

If you’re going to be generous and live the blessed life, you have to deal with the heart because generosity and giving is all about the heart and your heart is following your treasure.

For many of us, God is not after anything but your heart.

When you give God your heart, He will help you to change your habits. Behavior modifications don’t last when they are based on passions and not principles.

Your passions fade. You’ve been saved 4 times because it was your passion after you got caught, your passion after you got her pregnant, your passion after 9/11, but it wasn’t a principle. Hence, it faded.  

If God gets your heart, He’ll help you change your habits. If He would ever get your wallet, it’ll prove He has your heart.

Your heart follows your treasure. Wherever you put your treasure, that’s where your heart is.

Message Title: Where the Money Resides

Everything that flows from your hand comes from your heart. Ask your neighbor where the money resides, because that’s what God is trying to figure out right now.   

Proverbs 4:23 New Living Translation (NLT)

23 Guard your heart above all else,

    for it determines the course of your life.

Some of you put your treasure in a stock. You never checked the stock before, but now you’re checking it all the time because that’s where the money resides – that’s where your treasure is. You restored an old car, now nobody can drive it because you put your treasure there – it gets more baths than you. Some of you have your heart in fashion – if someone spills something on it or steps on your shoes, you’re ready to fight because that’s where your treasure resides.

You take care of things where your money resides. You want your heart in the kingdom? Put your treasure there.

God can find where the money resides. Giving is all about the heart.

The principle we have to apply is one that does not consult with everything culture has told us. We need to develop a generous heart and say, “I want a generous heart” – even if you don’t have one yet. You may stifle your kid’s kids if you don’t get these principles.

Deuteronomy 15:7-9 New King James Version (NKJV)

Generosity to the Poor

7 “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, 8 but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. 9 Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the Lord against you, and it become sin among you.

Four things every purpose chaser needs to develop to have a generous heart:

1.    We have to deal with a selfish heart.

Selfishness turns into wickedness and becomes sin in your heart.

Why do you think God created giving?

Mike truly believes that the only reason God created giving was to give us an opportunity to be like Him.

You want to be like God and make a difference in people’s lives, give to people who don’t deserve it, give to the homeless, give to people regardless of what they plan to do with it. God judges your heart based on the seed He gives you, not based on what they do with it.

God wants us to get the revelation of giving. We have to deal with a selfish heart – even sharing your fries.

Deuteronomy 15:10 New King James Version (NKJV)

10 You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand.

2.    We have to deal with a grieving heart.

If you give with the right heart, everything you do will work – and all that you put your hands.

This principle works whether you believe in God or not.

Check Oprah, check Elon Musk, check Bill Gates – there’s a principle of reciprocity and they know they cannot just amass it all. The only problem is that for many of them it’ll be pointless when it’s time to go to heaven because they didn’t do it with purpose.

The enemy tries to convince you of giving not working. This is why, the minute you give something, it seems like you have nothing. All of a sudden, your washing machine breaks or your tire bursts.

It’s easy not to grieve when you remember where it came from. The problem with many of us is that God blessed you with the ability to move your limbs, to be able to move to that city, allowed you to learn that skill, to get that mentor, and to be able to stand in that position with some level of competency. It was the Lord who made a way – not your wits, smarts, or knowledge. You only grieve what you thought was yours.

The motive of giving should not be to receive it back. When you give, and sew with the right heart, and not grieving, and you give as unto the Lord and wherever God decides to bless you, you can give Him praise.

The Earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof.

God has so much more for you if He could just get access to your heart.

3.    We have to develop a generous heart.

Deuteronomy 15:14 New King James Version (NKJV)

14 you shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the Lord your God has blessed you with, you shall give to him.

Often, we try to do the bare minimum when God tells us to do something. Your flock, your threshing floor, and from your winepress today could be your bank account, your 401k, your closet, your shoe collection. You wear the same size as the person you’ve been clowning. It’s not a hand issue, it’s a heart issue.

God wants us to be generous, not selfish. You’re born selfish, but you’re born again generous.

Now, by the renewing of our minds, we have to break down the strongholds.

Your eternity is secure, but the history will be jacked up if you don’t get the strongholds down.

We have to get the strongholds down.

The church doesn’t need your money. The church is generous. We’re trying to get something to you, not from you.

You’re going to have to develop a generous heart. We’re like children – the same way we have to teach our children to share.

Teaching to share is a principle.

Why doesn’t this come innate in them? We’re all born with a sin nature. You don’t have to teach kids to be selfish, you have to teach them to be generous.

Unlike the IRS, with God, it can’t be love without a choice. He gives us the choice to give to Him. He doesn’t take from our check before we get it like Uncle Sam.

We have to grow up. Many of us are acting like children and saying, “ugh ugh” and laughing when God tells us to share.

If you don’t mature and start acting like your Father, you will not form the principle of sharing, God is challenging us to grow up. He has blessed us, given us more than we deserve, kept us, blessed the works of our hands, done so much in just the last 5 years – when are you going to grow up and be like your Dad? You Father who loved the world so much that He gave His only son – on a maybe – there was no guarantee that we would even believe Him and receive what He had for us.

4.    We have to develop a grateful heart.

Deuteronomy 15:15 New King James Version (NKJV)

15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today.

Everything we have came from God. If you have a hard time giving, don’t forget what God delivered you from.

For Mike, he looked at a yellow paper (a release form) that reminded him of how he had to do community service for insurance fraud. He was a youth pastor when he did this. He remembered what God did.

For Mike, it has become easier to give because he’s grateful. God said, “with the case, I’ll use you.” God used it for his purpose. Mike’s gratefulness changes how he approaches what’s in his hand because He know who holds his heart.

Generosity/giving, it’s all about the heart.

Allow God to do the heart surgery on you.

It doesn’t matter what you have, or what others think you have, God wants to know if He has your heart.

It doesn’t matter how much money you have if your heart is bankrupt.

Where does the money reside? In the heart. Where does God want to reside? In your heart.

God wants to come where the money resides.

It takes you surrendering. Surrender everything in your heart.

Surrender everything that has been in there – family members, culture – let it go and give everything in your heart to God.

Give your heart to God.

Prayer: I declare Father god, that every bit of greed and grief hat has been residue in our lives, and have been the foundation everything has been built on, we tear down the stronghold… We thank you that the same spirit in Christ Jesus be in us and that we would have the mind of Christ…that the lies of selfishness, greed, debt, and doubt would erode off of your people. That people would begin to obey your principles in faith. Today, somebody is going to obey the principle of tithing, sewing, and reaping… this is not for the world, but we can be grateful that we’ve experienced your goodness. Today, we’ve decided that we’re withholding nothing.

Altar Call: Today, Mike stands before you raw, authentic, giving you everything God has given him. He’s where he is today only because of the grace of God. Some of you are at the end of your rope. Some of you tried the paper, the pills, and it was pointless. You tried everything out here and it was pointless. God is asking you to allow Him into your heart to transform you. Today, we believe that there are hundreds more who want to give their heart to God. That pulling, that joy you feel, that’s the love of God saying, “yes, there’s a better way to live.” If He gets your heart, He’ll change your habits. If that’s you, 1. You’re making the greatest decision you’ve ever made. 2. You are the one that God has been coming after and we’re proud of you. 3. Just lift that hand up right there. God sees you.

God, thank you for giving me Jesus. Today, I’m grateful because I need a savior. I believe you lived, you died, and you rose again, just for me. At my worst, you saw me at my best, and today I give you my life. Invade my heart, change my habits, transform my mind, I’m yours in Jesus name, Amen.  

• Text ‘Saved’ to 828282 for TC to help walk with you. This is not about perfection. Don’t let the enemy steal this seed. Protect that soil. Out of that, grows everything out of your life.

Go back and watched Damaged Goods, Relationship Goals, Planted Not Buried, and Anchored. This will be the best year of your life if it’s your best year spiritually.

Your purpose will be dependent upon the principles of God.

Remember, you have an assignment to go out and share the joy of God. Blessings are looking for us as we steward the joy in our hands.

You can still get “Relationship Goals” the book and study guide today for additional support:

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SUMMARY NOTES

1. The Paper Without Purpose Is Pointless
2. God Has Standards and Man Has Suggestions
3. Paper Chasers Live for Passion; Purpose Chasers Live for Principles
4. Principles Are More Powerful Than Passions
5. The Seed is Always Subject to the Soil
6. Giving is All About the Heart
7. Four things every purpose chaser needs to develop to have a generous heart:

• • We have to deal with a selfish heart.
  • We have to deal with a grieving heart.
  • We have to develop a generous heart.
  • We have to develop a grateful heart.

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