2 Corinthians 9, 6 to 7 makes it clear God loves a cheerful giver. I mean, you think about that. Like this is giving us a peek into like God's preferences. Like, oh man, this is a highlight for the Lord. I love a cheerful giver. And and you can give cheerfully, and this word carries with it the idea of hilarity. Right? Like someone just oh, like laughing with joy and excitement. It is antithetical to how we function by nature. Because again, everything revolves around us. And a lot of it honestly has to do with security. I think that those that are big givers are those who have big trust in God. Because ultimately at the end of the day, there's that understanding of either I'm gonna be without because I'm giving, or I'm gonna be with less because I'm giving, or uh, I'm okay with whatever God decides to do with me because I'm his. And not just that, this money is his. And here's here's the danger with generosity. That's why I said it's important for us to recognize it's not only money. Because sometimes it's easier to give money than time. Good point. It's easier to give money than our attention or our dang talents. Because we want to, we want to, you know, be more comfortable. And so we have a lot of money. Oh, here, here's a hundred bucks. We just got 10,000 given to us. Oh, yeah, here's but man, you so wanted to go to this event, but this this brother is hurting and in need, and he needs someone to minister to him. You know, I'll put it off, I'll put it off. That's good, I'll do it later. But that's where generosity finds its its true fulfillment. It's like, no, I'm gonna give up my comfort, I'm gonna give up my ease because someone needs my time right now, they need my attention. Don't ask me how France or why this name would pop into my mind. But as I was going about my business, my normal, typical, humble, lowly, meek business, all of a sudden the name Mount Kilimanjaro. Why did that pop on to you? How did that come in there? I have no idea, but That's in South Africa.
SPEAKER_08Is it? Yeah, I think so.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but but I was thinking about it, like words that we hear, names that we're familiar with even, and we don't like pause to think what they're made up of.
SPEAKER_08I'd like to know what a Minjaro is, because you gotta go and kill one.
SPEAKER_02Well, I'll I'm gonna I'm gonna go hike uh Mount Kill a Manjaro. A man named Minjaro.
SPEAKER_03Seriously, and that led me down a journey, friends. Where are you going today? Death Valley. Like, you know what? We get used to those names when we think about it. Yeah, and so I started looking up different names, actual names of city cities.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Redeeming the time, right? Not wasting your dash. No. Hell, Michigan. Yeah. Boring Oregon. Boring?
SPEAKER_08Is a place called Boring Oregon?
SPEAKER_03I mean, seriously.
SPEAKER_08How can we haven't heard of that?
SPEAKER_03It's boring. Accident, Maryland. That's where we're raised. Seriously. Is it an idiot land? Yeah, they're pretty close. Truth or consequences in Numax. I'm telling you guys.
SPEAKER_08They got short of names.
SPEAKER_03See what I teach you? Why Arizona? W H Y. That's a great question.
SPEAKER_08So someone someone says, where do you live? Why?
SPEAKER_03Don't you who's on first? Just answer the question.
SPEAKER_09Surprisers, huh?
SPEAKER_03Yeah. This was interesting, Ray. You may be familiar with this one because you were close to the region. Come from Texas. Nowhere else Tasmania. It's really cool there. Nowhere else Tasmania. Christchurch name Zealand. That's a lovely name. Now, but isn't that weird? Like when that's a weird sounding name for a city, but you grew up there, so you wouldn't think anything of it.
SPEAKER_08Thank you for saying I grew up. It's actually named after the city of Christchurch in England.
SPEAKER_03Right. But what a name for a city. Christ's
church.
SPEAKER_08Not Christ's Church. Well, they got tired of trying to pronounce it with the S in there. Christ's Christchurch. And that's where it ended.
SPEAKER_03And believe it or not.
SPEAKER_09That's an unusual name. Believe it or not. Is that let me guess the state.
SPEAKER_03Yes, Mark.
SPEAKER_09Alabama. Mark.
SPEAKER_03Arizona, Arkansas, California, color. Hot coffee, Mississippi. Look at it.
SPEAKER_08Missions trip. Seriously, there's a place called Coffee, Mississippi. Interesting.
SPEAKER_03I know you would move there, right?
SPEAKER_08I'd like to call a little town shut up.
SPEAKER_03Where are you from? Shut up.
SPEAKER_01What about uh King's Cross? That's England. Sorry, uh Sydney Australia.
SPEAKER_08Oh, Sydney Australia. I never thought of that.
SPEAKER_01King's Cross. Enlighten us. The King's Cross. That's Jesus' cross. That's what it's named after.
SPEAKER_09King's Crossing is like a hub for trains. Trains, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01For the tube. The lube.
SPEAKER_08So much is so much of uh culture is based in the Bible. It's true. It's like the city of page 23.
SPEAKER_03Ray. That's interesting you said that. It reminded me of didn't Richard Dawkins talk about how he actually liked Christianity or being a Christian.
SPEAKER_08Oh, yes, it's because he sees Islam with a s sword coming to England. He suddenly realized he likes Christmas and Easter and you know, love your enemies and stuff like that. So uh I don't think any man has done as much to speak against Christianity as Richard Dawkins and he's reaping what he's sowing. Do you do you think Ray that seriously a guy hurts?
SPEAKER_03Do you think a guy like that ever seriously trembles? Like do you ever think he pauses?
SPEAKER_08I've thought of that and just thinking he he's he's getting on, he's in his 80s, I think, and he's thinking, I wonder if I'm wrong. What a scary thing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. He's suppressing the truth and unrighteousness. Yeah. You know, he knows God is real, but but but pushes that down. Do you have a cell phone number? I'll give him a call. I call him out. Why don't you make him a leather jacket, right? Yeah, I did. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01They uh just announced, or I saw a sign that said they're trying to change Bell Flyer, Bellflower, the city name, to Refiner's Fire. What would you do?
SPEAKER_03Where are you from, right? I would leave.
SPEAKER_08I would leave. I gotta come. I got a comfort in Texas.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but man, names are so interesting. You know, it's so weird when you think about how we name today versus how they named in Bible times. They would name based on a characteristic or it had a meaning. You know, now you ask most people what's your name mean? Oh, I don't know. Why do you name your kid that? I like the sound, the sound of it. You know, Jacob, he'll catch her.
SPEAKER_08Do you know? I um yeah, that's right. I I wanted to call Sam, my dog, Eric, and Sue wouldn't let me do it.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_08We were coming back in the car. We had this little puppy. I said, I want to call him Eric. She said, You can't do you can't call a dog Eric. So we called him Sam. Explain to me. Explain it. Why is why does Sam work? Yeah, but Eric doesn't Eric said Eric. Timothy!
SPEAKER_03Timothy, it just doesn't work.
SPEAKER_09Or you said don't call a dog Stay. Yes, it's a great name for a dog. Come here, Stay.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I uh when we got our Corgi, I tried to convince her family to name it um what was the name? Oh Speed Bump.
SPEAKER_00Really? Speed Bump. I I lost that fight.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but but it it is interesting, you know, that there's times when I will think on my name. Because he's thinking as E. No, but there's times, seriously, it strikes me, I'm like, I I feel a little weirded out. Like, easy, you know, but you guys are just used to it. You don't think about like I think about all time. I think my name sounds weird.
SPEAKER_08My name sounds weird to me sometimes. Ray, Ray. In fact, any name, any word you start thinking about too much, it's beginning it loses its familiarity. Hey, Ray, Ray. It's like being on a an LSD trip or something. You lose sense of reality. It's horrible. So I thank God we've got power, love, and a sound mind in Christ.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah. Yeah. Seriously. All right, for it's time for a cool classy comment. This is from Michael Sheehe. Greetings. Is that a gym? It's a gender problem. In my mind, I'm like, let me read the name. We are let us not. We are reaching the loss. Yes. This is a gender problem. I'm sorry, Michael. Forgive me. Sorry, Mike. Michael Sheehe. Greetings, Living Waters Podcast team. Blessings and join the Lord be yours in abundance is a subject. Easy Ray, Oscar, and Mark. You guys have become a regular part of me and my wife's time of refreshing. We try to catch you guys each week, and the Lord has used your ministry in very healing ways. After 29 years of marriage, we were at the end of our marriage rope, and I had begun verbalizing possibilities for life apart from me and my wife. I will spare you the gory details, but we sat down to eat a meal together on the same day that I was moving us in the direction of divorce, and we turned on the podcast to watch while we ate.
SPEAKER_08Easy is going to cry any second.
SPEAKER_03And of course, you all had an episode on marriage. I clicked past it quickly, but my wife saw it and said that we should watch it. I knew it. The Almighty used the podcast to turn our marriage around. It
was your guest.
SPEAKER_08Your easy cry quick. No, no interrupting.
SPEAKER_03It was your guest's honesty about how psycho he is, and Oscar chiming in with how psycho that he is that spoke to me. We all need a fresh reminder of the real reason that we are married. Thank you for delivering this message, Michael.
SPEAKER_01Man. That's uh when we had mission Bible channel. We had Tony on. Tony, yeah, Tony Wood. That's gotta be it. Man, can you send that to me? That's awesome.
SPEAKER_09You are an ugly crier.
SPEAKER_01I am an ugly crier, trust me, I know. Michael, I just want to take everything back the Ray said about your name.
SPEAKER_03Michael, thank you so much, brother. And uh blessings to you and your wife. And again, like we talked about on the last episode, that encouragement that puts wind in our sails and makes us keep going, you know. And uh yeah, we can't tell you how much this ministers to our heart and uh praise God. We could try. All right, and a shout out to New Zealand, where the podcast on Apple Podcasts for Christian Podcasts just ranked number five and number eight in the Republic of Congo. So, shout out, guys. Thank you for listening. Congo. Congo.
SPEAKER_08I thought of Tarzan when I think of Congo.
SPEAKER_03Congo. What do you say? Wait, say that again, Ray?
SPEAKER_08Who greased the vine?
SPEAKER_03I've never heard that before. Yeah. Ray, do do Tarzan again. How's he?
SPEAKER_08I could do it, but we're in the studio.
SPEAKER_03I used to watch the black and white Tarzan. And they filmed it, and we've been there to in um in India in Kerala State. Remember all the coconut trees?
SPEAKER_08You know what I felt sorry for? The native of the end always got grabbed by the crocodile or something. The one that was at the back goes into this quicksand. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Remember that? But that sound is so iconic. That sounded like Jane. That's hitting his chest.
SPEAKER_08That was hitting his chest, just really hurt him.
SPEAKER_03This is hurting me. I'm gonna look that up. It's one of the man, it's so weird when you think about it. You know, we just would Well, the guy that wrote it probably said to his wife, Hey, I've I've worked it out.
SPEAKER_02I mean, um And now a radically revolutionary resource.
SPEAKER_03This podcast is brought to you by how to make sure God hears your prayers. How, Ray? How does God hear our prayers? You wrote them.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, you say them. You say them. Yeah, keep your heart free of sin. Yeah. It's as simple as that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, God is kind to So you don't need to get that booklet.
That's it. It's a book. Sorry.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. But praise God, He hears us uh even as sinners because of the blood of Christ. You know? We have access to the blood that we're coming with his righteousness.
SPEAKER_02All right, so don't forget to get that book and the Living Waters mug from which you can chug coffee.
SPEAKER_03What mark? What are you doing? Where?
SPEAKER_02They have it a study Bible, living waters TV. All that living waters.
SPEAKER_03See, we did a Tarzan. So thank you for joining us. Yeah. Sorry for joining us. And don't forget the podcast YouTube channel. Subscribe, friends, hit that bell so that you could see us and not just hear our lovely voices. All right, to it now, friends.
Today we're talking about how to be generous in all things. That's a funny word. What is generous? Generosity. Yeah. Yeah. So, Oscar, when you think of generosity, and again, we're not just talking about money because that's often the first thing that comes to mind when people think generosity, but generosity applies to so much. It does. It's our time, it's our energy, it's our our resources, it's it's our prayers. I mean, there's so much that we can do by way of generosity.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, absolutely. I think, and I love that the way it was worded. I had a feeling that that's kind of one where we wanted to go because we think of generosity, we we usually think about our money, which confession, and hopefully we get into this later, we are generally not as generous as we like to think ourselves to be, even with that. But to your point, to make a broadened state here, which is we can be generous in all things. And I would summarize it by three things our time, our talent, and our treasure. How do you know we're always finishing each other's sardines? Uh how how we spend our time, you know, do we spend our time more in community rather than in consumption? Do I spend more time scrolling YouTube, watching YouTube, scrolling, you know, social media, et cetera, et cetera? Or do I spend time in community at my church in fellowship with friends? Um, how do I utilize my talents? Uh, you know, I I was thinking about this in the workplace. Like I've been reading books on leadership development because I am terrible at it. Uh, and one thing that's come across recently is the reality that you can give your gifts away. I love that. That you can train up the next generation that they might surpass you, that they might be better than you, that they might take whatever you've the Lord has given to you and learn that you can move on to the next step. You can utilize your talents. In addition to that, I've noticed that churches lately have come so used to just paying people to do things. But what what would happen if like your graphic designer was like, no, I want to give my talent away to my church? That's it, that's an act of service. I may not have a lot of money right now, but you know what I do have? I have a college education and an eye for graphic design, and I'd like to offer my services. I like to give away my talents. And then, of course, uh our treasure as well, whether it's money, whether it's space in our home, having people over, um, whether it's letting people borrow your car. I have a good friend who I just found out he has like a camping trailer. And his response, I'm like, you do? He's like, Yeah, man, whenever your family wants it, it's yours. That's where the key's at. And I just thought, man, like how kind, how generous. Not, you know, yeah, I mean, just so quickly willing to give away his treasure. Uh give him my phone number. I will. Yeah, yeah. I got you. Uh, so our time and our talent and our treasure, these are ways in which the Lord calls us to be generous. I would just add one other thing, which is be generous with grace.
SPEAKER_07Good.
SPEAKER_01To be generous with grace. Someone wrongs you, think graciously upon them. Somebody sends you an email or says something to you that comes off as rude, think graciously before responding quickly. Um, to be gracious to others is to treat them the way you hope and desire and have in the Lord.
SPEAKER_08Amen. You know, God is the standard of all generosity. James 1.17 says, every good gift and every perfect gift comes from the Father of lights. Are you laughing? I took a picture of Mark's notes and enlarged them. But God is the, he is the He's the that's the one we take our cue from. He lets the rain fall on the just and the unjust. A wicked man can grow a garden because God gives him rain, he gives him the seed. Like Hitler loved Hitler loved dogs, you know, and it's all this kindness of God, this generosity, falls upon humanity. And I I've asked so many people, you know, what's God ever done for you? And they say, nothing. And the very brain and tongue they're using to answer comes from God. Everything comes from the Lord because He's so generous and kind.
SPEAKER_03You know, Mark, Ray, Ray brought up a good point. I I'd love you to touch on that. This this podcast? Well I think I missed it. Just this once. But you know, we I think a mistake we make as believers is we don't often trace virtues back to the character of God. Right. You know, one of the things that that we'll often do is when we talk about sin and we talk about the commandments, you know, you you shall not commit adultery because God is not unfaithful. You know, uh, you shall not steal because God is not a thief, right? And so on and so forth. But tie generosity in with the nature of God as our foundation for being generous. That's a great question.
SPEAKER_09No, great, yeah, it's a very good question. Um, I heard a preacher once say, before you became a Christian, it was you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal. Then once you become a Christian, uh the verbiage is the same, but the tone is now different. You don't have to commit adultery anymore. Yeah. You don't have this is the generosity of God. You don't have to steal anymore. I shall provide all of your needs according to my riches in Christ
Jesus. You don't have to commit adultery anymore, you don't have to scroll anymore, you don't have to be a slave anymore. I have set you free. The generosity of God, right? He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. Everything. If you don't have it, it's because you don't need it.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_09And you don't want it if God is not going to get it. And if give it, and if you're gonna go some other place to get it, you don't want that. Right? So in the presence of the Lord, right, is fullness of joy. At his right hand are pleasures forevermore. What we need is who we need, and that is a person, and his name is Jesus, right? So the generosity of God, it overflows. God desires to give good gifts, right? Who was it that um what's the scripture? If you ask for a bread, he's not gonna give you a stone, he's not gonna give you a serpent, right? Um right. So God desires to give good gifts, and we see that as parents on Christmas morning or on a birthday, giving a gift and seeing our child's face light up, that it's more blessed to give than to receive. Yeah. Uh AW Tesler said the greatest saints are the greatest receivers, but uh God said that the greatest saints, right, are are those who um who give. And God, God gives and he gives lavishly. Um delight yourself in the Lord, he gives you the desires of your heart, and as you're delighting yourself in the Lord, he's merely just giving you the desires of his heart. And when your heart is beating with his heart on one accord, uh then it is enough and it is well with your soul, no matter what happens. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03You know, generosity as it relates to the character of God is demonstrated by him in the greatest measure uh imaginable. I mean, you think about what you could give that would demonstrate that you're generous. If you gave that, what wouldn't you give, right? And Paul speaks to that. I mean, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He gave his only begotten son. So Paul says that right in Romans. If he gave freely gave up his son for us, how will he not with him also freely give us all things? And so it's that realization that it ties into to who God is. He he did the ultimate in generosity. And if that's all he ever did, would he ever need to do anything else? He didn't need to do that, and yet he did it.
SPEAKER_09And when you become a Christian, you've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. He the I I've said it before, I'll say it again. The wisdom of God is not hiding from you, it's it's hidden for you so that you can dig down deep and you can find it, right? It's that reservoir, that that that resource that just never, ever, ever runs dry. So it is more blessed to give than to receive. Uh, somebody once said, tight fists lead to empty hands, right? So we we we cannot hold on to something because it's not yours to begin with, right? Every gift is a regift from God. So we can't boast that we have attained or that we've even received that gift. What did you do? What did you get? I received. Now just hold on a second. You're boasting about something you received, right? Grace. Let's be strong in grace. Um in the Old Testament says, be strong and prove yourself a man. In the New Testament, Paul says, Be strong to Timothy, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. That unmerited favor to the infinitely ill deserving. Sure, it's that, but it's so much more. And as we receive that grace, be gracious to one another. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Help them come alongside of them. I love what you just said. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Not that part. Oh. Uh tight fists, empty hands. It reminded me of this illustration that I heard once, which is uh apparently it's a true story. Somewhere in some country where they would hunt and eat monkeys, they figured out that these monkeys love these sweet beans. And so what they would do is they would cut a narrow little hole into a tree. I'm sure you guys have heard this before. Cut a narrow little hole into a tree, wide enough so that the monkey can stick his hand into the narrow gap. But as soon as he grabbed a hold of the beans and made a fist, his hand was too thick to get out.
SPEAKER_03Are they coffee beans?
SPEAKER_01And they were probably coffee beans.
SPEAKER_03That's Ray. Yeah, I am.
SPEAKER_01And so there's Ray stuck on the tree, and the monkey would freak out and he would pull and pull and pull, and the and the hunters would take their own time because they would know that these monkeys would never let go of the beans. And so they would mean their way back, meander their way back to this tree, find the monkey stuck there, butcher it, and eat it. And if you think about it, like we tight fist, empty hands. Man, where does where does being generous come from? It it comes from being so satisfied in the Lord. If that monkey just let go of the beans and turned around, he would be reminded of all that he had in this great wide forest, but instead he's enslaved to something so foolish. And so where where our joy, where our satisfaction comes from is being satisfied in God. That is what makes you a generous person.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Oscar, you you can't overstate that because that ultimately is why we end up going to cisterns that can hold no water. You know, we we abandon the very fountain of life. And I've talked about it before, you know, as believers, those of us who are born again, we uh develop this spiritual appetite with spiritual cravings for spiritual sustenance that ultimately finds its climax in Christ Himself. And so when we deprive ourselves of that normal diet, our hunger intensifies. And then what we do is we revert to substitution in the physical, right? And and so it's like that movie Alive or that book that was written. Those people ended up eating their friends because they were desperate. And I've mentioned it before, it's right, desperation because it begins with really uh deprivation. You deprive yourself of your normal sustenance, that leads to desperation, that leads to deviation. Now you go away from what's your normal sustenance, and it ends up in deterioration, you know. And so we need to recognize that we must feast on Christ, be satisfied with him, and then what? Like the proverb talks about, then the honeycomb will even be loathsome to you. But if you're famished, every bitter thing will become sweet. And so when you're satisfied in him, you you have a loose hand. You're not holding on and trying to accumulate. You want to give like he's given and you've received, right?
SPEAKER_08Yeah, um the world's giving is different than the Christians' giving. I was reading a science article today, and it says, if you're kind to other people, it releases endorphins. Sounds like something out of Snow White. And anyway, an act of kindness, it says an act of kindness lights up the brain's reward centers. But we don't give to to get that feeling of um
being rewarded. Um it's kind of still rooted in self. That's the world. It's just rooted in self. You give you kind because it makes you feel good. But I think the greatest act of kindness that any of us as Christians can exhibit is sharing the gospel.
SPEAKER_03Amen.
SPEAKER_08Sharing with someone you're heading for hell. You need to repent and trust in Jesus. That's not going to get the praise of men. That's not going to get a reward from the person. Because if you open a door for some lady, she's going to turn and say, Thank you so much. You're a real gentleman. If you get some groceries for someone, they're going to say, Oh, this you're so kind. But there's no reward, there's no endorphins other than what comes from God, knowing you're pleasing him.
SPEAKER_03You know, Ray, man, that that's so profound. You know, because when we talk about giving, we often talk about giving sacrificially, right? And, you know, there is pain sometimes in that. But we don't often think about it in connection with the gospel. I think that's one of the places where it could be the most sacrifice because you're right, we're risking rejection. We're risking maybe the dissolution of a relationship. We're risking maybe persecution in some parts of the world. And so you're giving sacrificially. You're about to give the gospel, knowing that you're probably gonna get bad stuff coming back your way on this earth.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, no endorphins.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So so yeah, that that's that's such an important thing to recognize. As you give the gospel, you're being generous.
SPEAKER_08So generosity and love are um one and the same.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, absolutely. They're interrelated and I think intrinsically uh inseparable. The tree of generosity is rooted in love. Wow, right. This coffee's doing something to you, man. No, it was strange. I have never seen you this energetic on the podcast. That's great. Yeah. So looking for coffee, right? More.
SPEAKER_08What happened? Did someone take away the I threw the cup away? You threw the cup away. It had a smell to it.
SPEAKER_03Oh no. So, you know, I think um this was alluded to to some degree, but Proverbs 11, 24 to 25. There's one who scatters yet increases more. Yeah. And there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself. Right. And uh, I think that that's important to understand God's heart and desire in that regard.
SPEAKER_09You know, that it kind of reminds me of that Rockefeller quote when he was asked, How much money is enough? Richest man in the world. And he said, just a little more. And then, you know, let's look at the antithesis with that with George Mueller, that God judges what we give by what we keep. Right. So you're able to see, well, just a little more. Can I give? Did I give enough? Can you give a little more? Compare that, right? Wow. And then it was uh John Foreman, the the the switchfoot singer, you know, who said, Um, show show me your pocketbook and I will show you your religion. Right? Because how how we handle God's finances, what we do with that, is really a reflection of where we stand between God and if we are true givers. Like right now I'm craving in and out. If only somebody would go get me intermittent fasting, Mark.
SPEAKER_08Stop. I could be back here in 20 minutes.
SPEAKER_09He probably could. But that but that that demonstrates so Ray has this like inkling when he hears that somebody has a desire to like, can I fulfill that desire? Do I have that ability? If it's within my ability, I'm going to go and do that. And that's the way we need to be with all things. Not just with our finances, but with their time. Not just with our time, but with our talent.
SPEAKER_00By the way, George Foreman's the boxer.
SPEAKER_09George Miller.
SPEAKER_00John Foreman is the switch foot. John Foreman. John Forman. Okay.
SPEAKER_08So who called his kids George? All those kids called George? Was that four? All of his George and my Georgina.
SPEAKER_00He's got like nine kids.
SPEAKER_09And then George Washington was uh YouTuber.
SPEAKER_01Um I love what you're getting at. It reminds me, someone pointed out uh, you know, the less money you have, the more likely are you are to steal because you're impoverished. But then they point out the more money you have, the more likely you'll compromise. You'll compromise on your taxes, you'll compromise on your generosity. You might compromise in the workplace with your moral and ethics to. Get more and more and more. And uh why why is that? What is it about money? I think it's this is that money amplifies all of the things that keep us from God. Money amplifies the sin that's already in our hearts. Because money ultimately it makes you an addict, right? It deceives you about how much you have. Like here's a fascinating fact, and you guys alluded to it, which is that the more money someone has, the less percentage they give away. Isn't that interesting? That's terrible. That when you start by making $30,000, $40,000 a year fresh out of college or whatever, you're giving a greater percentage to your church than when you're making $150,000. Why is that? Because at $150, you feel like there's this, you feel like you don't have enough, like an addict, I need more. Isn't that fascinating? The second you get more is the second you feel like you don't have enough and you need more. And that's because the more you have, the less you feel you have, like an addict. Um, someone pointed out like, you imagine someone with $10 million, but they're in a club and a group of friends, and their friend has a hundred million dollars. That person with $10 million is not going to feel like they have enough money. And everyone else around him would think, you're a fool, you have plenty, but it's because he's around people that has more money than him. And I mean, we live like we live in Orange County. This need. That's true. You you live in the uh dark land of uh LA County. Um but we have this insessent consumeristic experience all around us, and we can get lulled into displacency, into the addictive need for more money. Uh and just one other example,
like you think of you think of somebody that might have because here's the thing, is again, money amplifies the sin that's already in your heart. So, like I was thinking, like pragmatically speaking, you think of like a person who maybe out of their siblings, they were the least athletic and the least popular, and then they grow up and they become the most successful. Their money to them may be like their way of proving themselves, control over family, you know, reputation, et cetera, et cetera. And I love what Keller points out. He this hit me in the gut when I heard this sermon a long time ago. He says the Old Testament tells us to give 10%. That's like the baseline. 10% is the baseline in the Old Testament. But then you move into the new sec uh New Testament and it adds a contingency upon that. It adds the word sacrifice. And he points out Jesus did not tithe his blood, he sacrificed all of it. And in that same way, when we are a generous person, we won't tithe. Tithe, we will sacrifice.
SPEAKER_03That's good. That's really good. Yeah, and look, 2 Corinthians 9, 6 to 7 makes it clear God loves a cheerful giver. I mean, you think about that, like this is giving us a peek into like God's preferences, like, oh man, this is a highlight for the Lord. I love a cheerful giver. And and you can give cheerfully, and this word carries away that idea of hilarity. Hilarious, right? Like someone just oh, like laughing with joy and excitement.
SPEAKER_08And again, it's you can do that with somebody else's money.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, right? Because it is antithetical to how we function by nature. Right. Because again, everything revolves around us, and a lot of it honestly has to do with security. I think that those that are big givers are those who have big trust in God. Because ultimately, at the end of the day, there's that understanding of either I'm gonna be without because I'm giving, or I'm gonna be with less because I'm giving, or uh, I'm okay with whatever God decides to do with me because I'm his. And not just that, this money is his. And here's here's the danger with generosity. That's why I said it's important for us to recognize it's not only money. Because sometimes it's easier to give money than time. Good point. It's easier to give money than our attention or our uh dang talents because we want to, we want to, you know, be more comfortable. And so we have a lot of money. Oh, here, here's a hundred bucks. We just got 10,000 given to us. Oh, yeah, here's But man, you so wanted to go to this event, but this this brother is hurting and in need, and he needs someone to to minister to him. Uh you know, I'll put it off, I'll put it off. That's good, I'll do it later. But that's where generosity finds its its true fulfillment. It's like, no, I'm gonna give up my comfort, I'm gonna give up my ease because someone needs my time right now, they need my attention.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, that's good. You know, remember Thomas Pertelli had said, some people are so poor, all they have is money. Right. Right. And when you have when you when you have that sort of mindset, you go, well, I can't give of myself and my time. And I I was on a hike with an individual uh recently, and I said, I was asking how the relationship was going with his uh father. And he said, It's non-existent. I I don't I don't have uh much of a relationship, you know, with him. And I said, Yeah, I I don't want to give too many more details about that, but but just the idea of It wasn't but so so the individual can be um we we have to remember, let me let me just say this. We we have to remember that what our kids need more than anything is our time and uh rather than our our finances, right? To to lead them to say, hey, I'm here. So does your child know that you're that you're there? And I'll share with Ella last night and my my daughter. I said, baby, I I I want to just make sure that no matter what you will ever go through, you know that mom and dad are here, right? If you were to get pregnant right now, right, you're not married. If you were to get pregnant right, you know, and I want you to believe that the first person that you think of is mom or dad, right? I'm I'm running to mom and dad because they are the ones that are going through life with me. And I know that mom and dad will know what I need to do, that you have that, and she goes, Oh, absolutely. I understand that. That that's exactly what I have. And I go, Well, you know, I might not be able to give uh hundreds of thousands of dollars to my kids when I die, but uh giving them something so much more valuable and what it what it means to to lead and to guide uh and to provide in that way more than just finances.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you know, and look, it's not a cliche. Obviously, we see this theme played over and again in sitcoms or in movies or whatever, but you know, oh, they're so rich and but they they buy me gifts, but they don't give me their time. But no, that that's real.
Like that is real, and we need to pause and think. And and it can be deceptive because it's in things that may be legitimate. I'm on my phone, man, I'm dealing with ministry right now. This is important, right? Okay, there are exceptions, of course, but when that's the rule, look, we're communicating to our kids. We're communicating, we don't mean to do it, it's not intentional. But what we're saying is this on a regular basis is more important than you. Right. The phone. The phone. Yeah, and that can imply to thousands of things.
SPEAKER_09You know, that mafia gentleman who became a Christian when he made his first million and he was inside of the hotel and he spread that million dollars over his bed inside the hotel room, and he said, I will gladly give up and give away all of this money just from a hug from my father. I remember that. I'm just like, Whoa, whoa. Yeah, you know, that's the mindset. That's how important family is, parents are in leading the kids. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Ray, how about generosity as it touches on our witness? How important is that?
SPEAKER_08Incredibly important regarding what Oscar was saying about 10 or 15, 20, 30 minutes ago. Um there was a story of a rich man who had a money belt with gold in it, and he fell in the ocean and he would not take it off. It took him to his death. And that's what sin is like. It's a money belt that we value, but it's going to take us to our death. So our witness is so important. I was looking at Proverbs 31, verse 26. That's incredible. Yeah. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and her tongue is the law of kindness. And I've often thought of those words. Law of kindness. It's unbending, it's not negotiable. If you're a Christian, you've got to have kindness. The way you treat your dog will reveal something about your character. And if there's not a law of kindness within the heart of someone who professes to have Christ, you've got to doubt their salvation. Kindness should be the essence of what we are as Christians. It's the core of Christianity. And uh Ephesians 4, verse 32. Be kind, tender-hearted, forgiving. And so that's something we're commanded, but it should command it to be, but it should come naturally to us if we're born of the Spirit. Because we've first thing I noticed is a brand new Christian. I remember giving my testimony. We went down to the city of Dunedin in Christchurch, went with a group of in in the bus that I had, and uh I had to give my testimony up to I don't know who it was to, but I just said, I'm Jewish and I just want to give away money. I remember saying that, and it was just something was in my heart. I just want to give, I want to give, I want to, I want God to be glorified, I wanted to be kind. Um, and because God had changed my heart. I mean, it wasn't I wasn't a scrooge before I was a Christian, but I just felt this overwhelming desire to be kind to people.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you know, that that is often uh a phrase that pops into my mind regularly. And it happened a few years ago. I don't know what it was, but it was just this kind of deep sense in me that I needed to live this way. And it just always pops in my mind be generous, be generous. I go to give a tip, prove it, be gen, be generous, except Tort Oscar, be generous, you know. Um and you think about those things, right? Like you're gonna go to give a tip, okay?
SPEAKER_08Well I'm thinking of that lady degenerous when you keep saying Ellen B generous. Ellen B.
SPEAKER_03Generous. But you know, you're gonna go to give a tip, right? And you're thinking, okay, I'll I'm always gonna give three bucks, but why not give five as an example? Being generous. No, like I go and get my car wash at this place. It's it's one of those cheaper car washes that's 10 bucks, you know. And the guy's literally, it's like 30 seconds.
SPEAKER_08Would you talk like that? The rest of this the country is probably doing 10 bucks to clean it.
SPEAKER_01Sorry, so many ways, your cars, your monsterati is being washed, and go ahead and Lamborghini Oscar, get it right.
SPEAKER_03So, but you know, it's one of those you go through, you drive through, and then literally 30 seconds, they just draw your car real quick, right? And and I'm just like always, I just give them a couple bucks, but I just give them five bucks. I know some people may think I'm crazy, but I'm giving them a tract with that. That's what I'm talking about in terms of our witness, you know? And I'm like, am I gonna think about that two extra bucks, you know, down the line? Again, it's one thing to be crazy and and irresponsible, but let's like just if we think that way with that bent of like, man, this is going to be a massive blessing to these people. It's a couple bucks to me, but that translates into more. And and I'm gonna see these people regularly. That's a form of witness, like I was talking about earlier.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, you you don't own it, you steward it. Yeah. Right. You think you cannot outgive God. What what what did what did God give up? He gave up heaven, right? There was a moment where he where he gave up the fellowship when the father turned his back at at that one single moment where the sin of humanity came. What are you giving up? What are you really, really giving up that that is yours? Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, Philippians too, right? He didn't consider equality with God a thing to be grasped or held on to, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of man.
Like, oh, I get the chills, man. Like, how do you not grasp the divine nature of that truth and reality and then get struck with it, right? The John 3.16 syndrome. We're so familiar with it. It's just like Yeah, yeah, yeah. He he took on the form, God Almighty took on the form of a bond servant. Oh man. It's mind-blowing. We need there's just times we need that slap, man. We need you guys remember. I got you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, come here.
SPEAKER_03If you guys remember like the ice bucket challenge, you know, like people and it's just like we need to get shocked into like like waking up, which is uh the God of the universe, yeah, he came down, became a man, died from earlier. Pass us all. Like I mean, wake up!
SPEAKER_08Ice bucket Bible reading by Emil Swain.
SPEAKER_03Seriously, I get mad sometimes at myself.
SPEAKER_08Like wake up! Yes, I hear what you're saying. We've got everlasting life. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Oh man. Okay, so on that note now, let's transition. Generosity and forgiveness. And Ray, you quoted Ephesians 4, 30 to 32 earlier. And and you know, the the latter part of it says that that you know, forgiving one another just as God in Christ forgave you. You know, but having that heart that is like excited and ready to forgive. Oscar, what holds us back from living that way? Is it blindness, hypocrisy, forgetfulness of how much we've been forgiven?
SPEAKER_01That's part of it. Yeah, I think there can be so many things, but the the idea of resentment is um such a dangerous thing. Because to your point, I think what you're alluding to here is like ultimately resentment and the unwillingness to forgive, what that points to is I a lack of understanding of the gospel. That's what it points to, is a lack of understanding of the gospel. You have been forgiven of so much. And so to hold something back from another person, and you think about it like often um, you know, I've talked about the the process of forgiveness does not necessarily mean reconciliation. In order for there to be reconciliation, there needs to be forgiveness, repentance, and a rebuilding of trust. But you can forgive even if there's not repentance on the other side. You can even forgive if there's no recognition of the sin that's been committed against you because ultimately, think about this. How often is there lingering sin in the darkest crevices of your heart? And the Lord is gracious to you. If the Lord brought up every single way in which you fall short right now, you would drop dead. He is gracious enough to slowly reveal our sin nature to us throughout our entire Christian life. That's what sanctification is called. And so, in that sense, often we think like, here's the principle that we operate on. Well, yeah, I will forgive them as long as, as long as they recognize the way they sinned against me, as long as I have a conversation with them, as long as like they understand, as long as I get my pound of flesh. That's ultimately what we're saying. I will forgive them as long as they get my pound of flesh. That's the same way the banks work. That's from Shakespeare, isn't it? Potentially. Yeah, it is, pound of flesh. You're absolutely right. That's how bankruptcy works. All right, you only pay off 10%. Forgiveness is not bankruptcy reconciliation. Forgiveness is forgiveness. Forgiveness is saying to yourself, you, the person who sinned against me, owe me nothing. You don't even owe me the recognition that you sinned against me. And here's what's incredible, here's what's so radical about the Bible is that in God's word it shows us that forgiveness isn't just saying you owe me nothing. It's a step further. It's then saying you will good in the life of the person who has sinned against you, that you desire that you're they're good, that you would pray for your enemies, that you would will prosperity and goodness to come upon the lives of the people who haven't said, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_08And in doing that, you're doing yourself a favor. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Well, Corey Temboom put it well, to forgive us to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you. So good. And she said this after that guard who had absolutely decimated her and her sister's life was standing in front of her in a church saying, Sister, will you forgive me? And she said she stood there, wooden, mechanically frozen, and she just kind of put her hand in his and said, I forgive you, brother. And she said she felt this like sensation pop up in her heart, run down her arm, and explode in their hand.
SPEAKER_08It was like tin booms.
SPEAKER_03And uh, and it's so true, you know. I what you're saying, Oscar brought this verse to mind, Ecclesiastes 7. It says, and verse 21 and 22 says, also do not take to heart everything people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Right. For many times also your own heart has known that even you have cursed others.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, if someone leaves their phone on and you can hear them talking to the background, I turn it off real quick in case that comes, that happens.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. But you know, but the point in that is like I think there's such a hypocrisy in not forgiving because we act as if though we've never wronged anyone. And we've probably done the very thing that we're all riled up about them doing. Like, you know, this this happens often where people will be like, I I can't believe that you were talking to that person about what happened instead of coming to me directly. Okay, fair point, but have we not all done that? Like, is it there's just but there's such a self-righteousness in that moment versus going, hey man, I've done that too. Yeah, I'm gonna ask them to, you know, be courteous and come to me as well, but I'm not gonna have that haughty attitude. And but there's such a wickedness in not being generous and forgiveness. But we should we should be running the streets with excitement to forgive other people because of the debt we've been forgiven. I'm Jesus gave that that whole parable, right? Matthew 18 about the the debt that that servant was forgiven wouldn't forgive that guy that barely owed him anything in comparison.
SPEAKER_09I don't think I don't think we realize how much we owe.
SPEAKER_03We don't.
SPEAKER_09I don't think we realize really what God did to become a man. No, right? Generosity is not about giving stuff, it's about giving yourself. Yeah. Amen. And that as you give yourself, what what is included in that? It is included everything, right? It's money is needed in this moment. My time, my talent, everything, what is needed, it's giving yourself, not stuff. I don't want your stuff, I want you. Yeah, that's what I want.
SPEAKER_08Your hands are moving like Gavin Newsom's like a fly.
SPEAKER_03Well, I was I was gonna say real quick, and even you know, even in forgiveness and wanting someone to repent, right? The point should not be, I want to feel vindicated or I want this for me. No, I want them to repent and seek forgiveness for them. Right. Because they're in danger if they're living in unforgiveness.
SPEAKER_09If you realize that your brother has something against you, you leave your gift at the altar and you go after them. Not if you realize, hey, I have something against him, I need to. That makes sense. No, I realize that he has something against me. Right. I want to free him up.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, exactly. And again, all of that goes back to Philippians 2. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Like, uh honestly, guys, that has to be the grid through which we view all of life. Every interaction we have, every action that we execute. Am I considering this person more important than me as I do that?
SPEAKER_08Ever been in a communion service where they they're talking about communion and you roll your little piece of bread up onto a little ball, and then they say, Why don't you swap bread with a person next to you? Why would I do that? I don't know who would roll up the bread.
SPEAKER_03Is that in New Zealand? They do that, Switch.
SPEAKER_08I've been in a church with another other times where the the preacher says, Well, we're having communion, search your heart, and if there's anyone that you've had something against, I want you to go to them right now, and you think my eyes is gonna be a big line of people waiting to see me.
SPEAKER_03There is eye. Oh man. Yeah. Yeah. So so you you know, we we just need to look at that and consider like, man, where where are we in our hearts and the in these things? Acts 20, 35, I've shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And you think about Paul when when he talked in in Galatians about, you know, how they were going to be sent out, him and Barnabas, he said they desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do. Eager, you know, to have that heart of generosity to give ourselves away. And I mean, Oscar, you talk about this often, how Christianity revolutionized that ancient Roman world because of the generosity of God's people.
SPEAKER_01Radical generosity, yeah. You look at the first 300 years or so of the early church, and you have to think here's where this is applicable to us today, which is that we often think, well, culture is moving against Christian ethic. It's harder now than ever before to be a Christian, and that may make you feel down that, like, man, there's no revival coming. This is the end. But you look back to those first 300 years of Christianity through Asia Minor, through Rome, and they were positioned against a culture that was way more antithetical to Christian ethics than we are. That uh Nero, it's regularly known that he had a wife and he had a male prostitute partner that would show up to him at live events. And this was not a scandal. This was very regular because a Roman man had the right over other citizens sexually. Very normal circumstance. Um, you know, the the early church was what we would call now pro-life, and Rome was practicing infanticide. Um, just on and on you go. The church was weird and it stood apart and it was persecuted both physically and socially because
of that. People were being excommunicated from their financial guilds and places of business, families were being taken and killed. And you and you have to wonder like, in the midst of all of that, the church exploded in growth. Why? What were they doing? And one of the things they were practicing was radical, radical generosity towards the people who hated them. I mean, you'd imagine that you would be mocked, persecuted, and spit on on a Sunday because of your worship. And then Monday that same person maybe is weeping because their child is dead, and that same church would go over there and say, Can we cover the burial costs for you? Because the only other option is to throw that body into a trash heap. We want to cover the burial costs for you. The radical generosity of the church was not separated from the gospel, it was a part of the gospel. And that's key because there are so many churches out there that that there's like, there's certain groups of churches that are like, we we want to be radically generous, we want to care about social issues, but they lose sight of the cross. They forget to preach the gospel. On the other hand, there are also churches out there that don't that they refuse to not preach the gospel. They are going to preach the gospel, but they act as though that's the only thing that the Lord calls them to, and they forget about radical generosity. The gospel, the kingdom of God is radical generosity with the cross. Amen.
SPEAKER_08Well, I absolutely love that. One of the highlights of my life, without a doubt, is the gift I sent to Jacqueline Glenn. Remember that story where she was just railing on me and she said, Ray Comfort hates me, and I wrote her a little note and I got suited too, and closed a check for $100, sent it to her, and just about made her cry. She was so close to tears. And it's because we are very generous towards other Christians. When we should remember the unsaved, how powerful it is. Let us do good to all men, especially those of the household of faith. So we're generous to the household of faith, but let us do good to all men. For so is the will of God that by your well-doing you'll put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. So a gift to an unsaved person is worth a thousand sermons.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_08Because it's it's love and action.
SPEAKER_03That video really blew me away to see her response. Well, she was giddy that you wrote to her. She's like, this is a rain comfort. You know, I mean, she had railed you so much publicly, but she's like, look at this. And yeah, you had sent her, I think, a check or some gift cards to her, whatever. But it was just, it was such a testimony again.
SPEAKER_08It was such a contrast for me because we do good to other Christians and it's ho hum. Because all Christians are kind, yet they will give cars away to other Christians, but you do it to an unsaved person. They live in darkness, this cold world where you know everyone gets eaten alive if you're in the way. And so when they see kindness, it can speak a thousand words to them. Yeah. Better than a thousand words sermon.
SPEAKER_03Mark, how about the the facet of freedom that that the believer has by being a generous person? Like, doesn't it liberate your life to not be clinging to this sermon?
SPEAKER_08I just got to give a testimony to Mark. He's got such an amazing mind. He can, you know, multitask and look at in and out pictures while you're chatting about forgiveness. Now I've got a picture on my phone of Mark looking at in and out while you're talking. So anyway, you can multitask. Carry on, Mark. There's the picture of you. You're having no idea what we're doing.
SPEAKER_03So Mark. Oh boy. Violence on the Living Wonders podcast.
SPEAKER_09Martin Luther said. Possessions belong in your hands, not in your heart. I have no commentary with that.
SPEAKER_03All right. First Timothy 6, 17 to 19. Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life.
SPEAKER_01Man, you just help me realize I've been in sin
because just this morning my wife called me a hottie.
SPEAKER_03A what?
SPEAKER_01A hottie.
SPEAKER_03Let another man praise you. Yeah. Um, but but man, guys, this this whole reality of being willing to share, ready to give, and and especially not putting your hope in riches, you know, but in the Lord.
SPEAKER_08It's so easy to do because you're gonna look on riches as being the supplier of your needs. Right. That's where you take comfort with the riches that's gonna take care of my future when God is the one we should look to to be supplier of our needs.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. You know, what one of I think the biggest proponents of generosity is Randy Alcorn. Uh I know, Mark, you've quoted him often and he's a friend of Armin's. He did, but right, case in point, yeah. He sent us all these free books to give away because he knew we were really going out uh on the front lines on the pro-life issue. Why pro life? Great book. Yeah. And uh he said the act of giving is a vivid reminder that it's all about God, not about us. It's saying I'm not the point. He is the point. He does not exist for me, I exist for him. And I think at the end of the day, that that's what it comes down to. Like David said, you know, of your own we have given you. Because all things come from you and belong to you. You know, it's all his. And so when we when we recognize that we're his stewards and it's about him and his glory and loving others, man, it it just changes, it changes our mindset. And it all comes back to mindset. Do we have the mindset of a servant? What was that quote, Mark, you've often shared? Um, you'll you'll find out what a how much of a servant you are. Oh, when someone treats you like one.
SPEAKER_08Oh, that is powerful, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03Oh, I mean, the I I I can hardly utter it because it's so convicting. You call yourself a servant. Let's see how you respond when you're treated like one, really. Hey, go get me that. Oh, do this one. What? How dare you? Wait, I thought you were a servant. Easy, go get me in and out after this. What? That's the kind of servant I am. Get one for yourself, too. Yeah. But but yeah, just uh having that heart, that mindset, that understanding. Tozer said, uh, as base a thing as money often is, it yet can be transmuted into everlasting treasure. It can be converted into food for the hungry and clothing for the poor. It can keep a missionary actively winning lost men to the light of the gospel and thus transmute itself into heavenly value. Wow, who said that? That's Tozer. Oh, he was wonderful. Yeah, but I love that. He's talking about, hey, convert. You know, we go, we travel, hey, I gotta go get my money converted, you know, or exchange or whatever. No, exchange and convert earthly treasure into heavenly treasure by using it for God's glory. And to me, honestly, that is ultimately the true manifestation of faith because you're not seeing immediate result, but you're saying, I believe the Lord. And I'm not trying to store up treasure so I could be rich up in heaven, but obviously it has impact for God's glory to store up eternal treasure.
SPEAKER_08It has a high exchange rate.
SPEAKER_03Ooh. The coffee did it. There's only one reason you said that. It has a high exchange rate. Yeah. Pride.
SPEAKER_01You know, I was just reminded of the story of Mephibosheth in the Old Testament. Um, because it's like, where does this radical radical generosity come from? I mean, the call in the Old Testament, you saw that people would plant their fields and grow their gardens, and they would only take what their family needed, and they would leave the rest for gleaning, which meant any poor, any foreigner, anybody can walk by your land and take what they need and walk away. That was the disposition, which is so antithetical to capitalism, which is like mine, mine, mine, more and more and more. This was like take what you need and give the rest away. And so, where does that radical generosity come from? It reminds me of Mephibosheth, which is the story that David finally conquers his enemy. Um, and the tradition for a king back then would be to put to death every single member of the family of the king that they just conquered. Because if not, the potential is that they would rise to power and be the true heir to the throne and they would end up fighting for you, right? And so uh the former king had this like nephew that was uh deformed, his body wasn't functioning very well, he was sent off, he was mocked and made fun of by his own family, like his own family doesn't even want him, right? Now David is king and he says, Bring me all of the family members of the former king. And they find Mephibosheth and they drag him in, and Mephibosheth is like begging to just let him go. And David says, No, you will dine with me. And what he's doing is he's saying, In my kingdom, you are not a conquered servant, you are not a conquered slave, you are now a part of my family. And Mephibosheth's response, it always gets me. He says, Who am I that you would treat me like this when I'm actually treated like a dead dog? He says, Who am I but a dead dog? And that Mephibosheth just understood
I am now a part of this new family. I am safe. The gospel tells you that you are not a slave and a rebel from God, and now you are gonna be a slave to God. The gospel tells you that you go from being a rebel to God to being his child, to dining with him. He you you inherit his kingdom and he inherits you. And I think when we have that disposition in our own hearts, it frees us to be generous because we know it's we have everything we need. We are in his kingdom, his children. We die, we should be dead dogs. Yeah, and we are his children. Wow.
SPEAKER_03Wow, amen.
SPEAKER_08And who would call a baby Mephiboshef? That's easy as thought. I know.
SPEAKER_03So how do you spell that? Oh man. Well, I think it I think this quote by Luther is a great place to end. He said, I have tried to keep things in my hands and lost them all, but what I have given into God's hands, I still possess. So may we do that, friends, with our time, with our resources, with our energy, with all that we have, because God is worthy. And at the end of the day, worthy is the Lamb to receive the reward of his suffering. And that is all of us, every part of us completely surrendered to him.
SPEAKER_08We're not gonna stop now. Let's do another one. Let's keep going.
SPEAKER_03Coffee man, Ray! Well, there you have it, friends. Don't forget how to make sure God hears your prayers. I guess drink coffee because Ray prays again now. Don't forget, don't forget to email us at podcast at LivingWaters.com with all your thoughts and all your questions and all that other good stuff. And uh remember to like and subscribe and keep telling others about the podcast.
SPEAKER_02Thank you for joining us, friends. We'll see you here next time on the Living Waters podcast, where we have no idea what we're doing.