Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - Stop Living in the Not Enough | The Good Life | Part 3

Episode Date: October 20, 2024

The Bible says that God will meet all your needs (Philippians 4:19). But what do you do when you feel like you don’t have enough? How do you take this from a promise you read to a truth you believe? Pastor Jabin Chavez shares more in this message.ABOUT THIS MESSAGEYou want your life to count—to have real purpose and meaning. But getting there can often feel out of reach. The secret to The Good Life might already be in your hands. Let’s find out how in our new series.PRAYERIf you're facing something difficult, you don’t have to carry it alone. If it’s on your mind, it’s on God’s heart. We want to pray with you and support you through whatever you’re facing. Share your prayer request: https://www.life.church/getprayerABOUT LIFE.CHURCHWherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://www.live.life.churchFind locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/appNEXT STEPSHave you made the decision to follow Jesus? You might be wondering what’s next for you. We want to help! Check out these resources to ​​discover what saying yes to Jesus means: https://www.life.church/yesFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.churchTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.churchCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschelFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel#lifechurch #jabinchavez #thegoodlife Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Recently, I hung out with my seven-year-old daughter. I took her on a date, and I said, babe, anywhere you want to go in the city of Las Vegas, you name it, we're going to go eat there. Whatever you want, girl, you can have it. But I already knew what she was going to say. She said, Dad, I want to go to In-N-Out, and I want to eat inside. By the way, shout-out to every location that has In-N-N-N-Out. You're the most anointed locations, amen.

And so she goes, I want to go to in-and-out, and I want to eat inside. Because it's got to be inside. because if you know anything about it in and out, you got to eat inside because it's better than taking it home. And so I said, all right, let's go. So she orders a cheeseburger and a fry and a lemonade. And I know that I've got to preach at Life Church. And I'm on my, I'm on my Craig Rochelle diet. Amen.

Praise the Lord. Having eaten a carb in two months. Really, really working hard. And so I get the burger, animal style. It hits our animal salt and protein salt Protein salt means there's no bun, it's just the lettuce. It hits the table and my daughter goes, what is that cabbage?

You know, she's just completely grossed out. I said, this is called lettuce. You've never seen me eat it. But this is a new experience for both of us. So I'm eating my protein style, but something in me just says, you know what, I can have one french fry. I can have one fry.

Just give me one fry. So as she's eating her burger, I reach over and I grab one. fry and as I grabbed that fry she just stops chewing and looked I mean she's only seven years old looks at me with complete disgust and she goes if you wanted fries you should have got fries those are my fries I thought who raised you did and I had to have a little conversation with my daughter and I looked right back at her and I said actually those are my fries and the burger in your hand is my burger and the car we drove in is my car and we're

going to go home to my house. I'm just going to let you borrow it. I'm just going to let you use it. You know, I think sometimes when we talk about generosity and God is asking of us, I think we could kind of look at him like, God, you're up in heaven, you got fries. You got fry money. You got, you got streets of gold. These are my fries, Lord.

I've been working 60 hours a week, 80 hours a week, 40 hours. I mean, inflation is crazy. mortgage rates are crazy, milk is crazy. Lord, get your own fries, Jesus. But here's what I've learned that anytime God is ever asking anything of me, he's trying to teach me something about his abundance, about his character, about his love. Because see, God doesn't need our fries. And yes, I could have just bought another order of fry, but I was teaching.

her something and every time we get around generosity, God is teaching us something about his greatness and his abundance. God is going to show us how great he is and how much he has. Proverbs chapter 11 verse 24 says it like this, that the world of the generous. Everybody say that's me. Come on, say that's me. It's getting larger and larger. The world of the stingy, that's no one in life church. Let me just say that right now. It's none of us. It's getting smaller and smaller. When we talk about larger and larger, we're not talking about bigger houses and bigger cars and bigger tires and bigger boats and bigger TVs, even though if you have a nice house, you know, let me come hang out. If you got a boat, let me borrow it when I'm in your town.

That's not what it's about. When we're talking about larger, we're talking about greater faith. Talking about greater impact. We're talking about a bigger spirit. Bigger impact, a bigger heart, bigger prayers. See, I don't want to raise my daughter. otter in a small house. I'm not talking about square footage. I'm talking about I don't want to live stingy. I don't want to live in the not enough. I want to live a life that's big.

I want to live a big life. I want to live the good life. And the good life is a generous life. I refuse to live small when I serve a big God. And generosity is the key. And Frank said it like this. No one has ever become poor by giving. Generosity will change your life.

I come from a small town. I was born and raised in a trailer, in a trailer park in Belen, New Mexico. Shout out to the New Mexico location. And some of you heard I was born in a hospital. No, I was born in a trailer park. You know your parents are a hood when they're like, you know what? This single wide trailer is good enough. Let's just have the baby right here.

That's where I come from kind of small thinking, small town. Never enough. Got to take whatever I can. But when I met God, I met a giver. Because God so loved the world that he gave. You can't love without giving. And God taught me how to give. God taught me the generous life.

And I want to just show you three things quickly from the text. that will absolutely change you. Why generosity, number one? Because generosity sets me free. Generosity sets me free. And here's what it sets me free from, from the love of money and the fear of not having enough money. When I give, God sets me free from the love of money,

but also that fear that, man, maybe there's not going to be enough for me. Look what Paul says in 1st Timothy chapter 6. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant, not to put their hope in wealth, which is uncertain. I mean, it can come and go so quickly, but to put their hope in God who richly provides us, watch this, with everything for our enjoyment. So now Paul says, we can actually enjoy money without loving it.

But here's how you enjoy it. Verse 18, command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous. How do I enjoy money and not love money? I give it away. anyone who says money doesn't make you happy hasn't given enough away there's there's actually an enjoyment in finances when you begin to give you you learn what the scripture says that it is more blessed to give than to receive there is this thing about it where money's no longer in my heart ruling and

reigning but it's now in my hands it's a tool that can be used for good and for god so paul says you can't enjoy money, but only when you become generous. I remember when my wife was about to have our daughter. Remember a friend of mine told me he had two daughters and he said, there is a whole compartment in your heart you don't even know is there. Like the love that you're going to have for this kid, it's like nothing you've ever experienced. And it was really true. The moment I held her, there was a whole new thing that got unlocked in my spirit in my heart. There was a new capacity to love that I never had before. Let me tell you something.

That's what happens when you give. There's a whole part of you that can love God at a radically different level because Jesus said that your heart is a follower and it's going to follow your treasure. If I asked this room, if I asked every location who wants to love God more, everyone's going to lift their hand. But there's actually a way to love God more. And it's by giving. So I do not pray my way out of greed. I give my way out of greed.

I don't pray my way out of being fearful of not having enough. I give my way out of it. And I think about when God asked Abraham for Isaac. God never wanted Isaac. God wanted Abraham. Did y'all just hear me? Let me say that one more time. God never wanted child sacrifice.

He never wanted Isaac. Isaac was never going to die. It was never about Isaac. It was always about Abraham. And it's not about money. It's about us. But notice what God says, Genesis 22, verse 2. Take your son.

Your only son. Yes. Isaac. Whom you love so much. Okay, time out. Any Bible scholars in here? Yo, what about Ishmael? There was another son.

Hello? Imagine Ishmael listening to this conversation like, Lord, hey, I'm the, hey, hey, because if God would have told Abraham, give me your son, I just got to be honest with you. Abraham would have been like, yo, Ish, let's go on a walk. We're going to go up to the mountain and hike.

Isaac, stay home. But God knew. God knew what was in Abraham's heart that what God wanted was Abraham. God did not want Isaac or Ishmael. God wanted Abraham. And listen, when Abraham surrendered to that, God showed himself to be a provider. And Abraham walks off the mountain in Genesis and says this,

he is Jehovah Jira, my provider. You cannot give and not have a testimony of the provision of God. Does anybody know him as Jira? This is the God that you serve. When you give, God doesn't take. When you give, God provides. Why generosity number two? Because generosity connects me to kingdom purpose.

Now, I can't go all the way through Philippians again. But Paul says a few things that are powerful. Firstly, he says, you shared in my ministry. you are a part you get in your heavenly account accredited for my ministry every time someone gets saved at life church every time a child gets born again in the classrooms every time someone gives their life to christ online every time someone reads the bible app and gives their life to jesus paul says i don't get that that's not my reward Paul said, you shared in this. This is accredited to your account. This is because of what you've provided

for me. And then he says this, the gifts went all the way to Thessalonica. Now that doesn't mean a lot now. But Thessalonica was about a hundred miles away from Philippi. That's a big deal back then. Because back then, you didn't leave your town, you didn't leave your street. And yet, their money is going where they will ever go. Oh my God. It connects my money to kingdom purpose. You're in Oklahoma City, but your gifts have gone to New Mexico. You're in New York, but your gifts have made impact on the online family. You're in Colorado, but you're helping millions of people through you version. Do you see it? We're in a room right here in Oklahoma City. But the gospel's going out to the world. It goes beyond me. My money goes where I'll never go. Whether we're digging wells in

Africa, whether we're reaching people in the 1040 window, whether we're going into prisons all over America. Do you know how many people are going to thank you when you get to heaven one day? Thank you for partnering with Craig and Amy. You go, what I do? You gave. You partnered. You shared. Your money went where you did not go. and he says and it's going to be credited to your account the majority of those who reach a clear financial goal in life usually deal with some form of depression when they first hit that goal they they finally make six figures or seven figures or they

or they finally do this or that but then they they go into depression because it's like they did it and it's not enough and here's why because money alone does not satisfy Just hitting a goal doesn't satisfy. It's when you give your money a mission. It's when you attach it to something significant. Only when you connect it to eternity does it bring true fulfillment. Paul says this in 2nd, it's chapter 9.

I know I'm like scripture bombing you, but it's the U version's fault. Watch this. Two good things result from this ministry. of giving. Watch that. It's Paul calls giving a ministry. The needs of the believers in Jerusalem are met. Hey, we keep the lights on.

Things happen. We do ministry. But watch this. And they joyfully express their thanks to God. Paul says this, when you give, the needs are taking care of, and lives are changed. And I want you to notice what Paul calls your giving.

He calls it ministry. This is the same word for the Ephesians 4, 5 full ministry. Paul says, when you give, you go into full-time service like those who proclaim the gospel, like pastors, apostles, elders, and all ministry gives. I don't know if you know that. You're in the ministry.

You're in the ministry. Every time you give, you take money out of this world system, this mammon system of decrease. and you place it into God's kingdom of increase. And you now use it for eternal purposes. And you become a minister of the gospel of Jesus. Anybody grateful for this?

That you go, I'm just a barista. I'm just a real estate agent. I'm just a... No, no, no, you're not. You're as much in the ministry as I am. No, you may never get on this stage, but I promise you, you are doing the work of the king. kingdom of God.

Why generosity? Thirdly, because generosity changes how I see my life. Galatians chapter 6 says it like this. Don't be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sews, whatever he sows to please their flesh from the flesh will reap destruction. Paul said, if you want to live for yourself, you are your own harvest.

It is what it is. But if you'll sow to please the spirit, if you'll connect and Galatian 6 is absolutely a financial offering verse. He's receiving an offering from the church in Galatia. And he says, but if you'll connect your money to the spirit, if you'll, if you'll sow to please the spirit from the spirit, you'll reap eternal life. So let us not become weary and well-doing. For at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Let me just tell you something. This scripture does not scare me. It excites me. because it reveals a God who I am partnering with to see his will accomplished on the earth.

This is not a scripture about karma. This is not the universe out to get me. This is a scripture about a God who is out to bless me. That I can connect my finances to kingdom purpose. And it changes the way I see life. Here's why. because now I live as a sower. I think like a farmer.

It's not all about right here right now, but I'm sowing good seed for my future. See, no farmer weeps over sown seed. No farmer looks at their seed and goes, I just don't want to get rid of this. And no farmer eats their seed. Because any time you eat seed, it's just going to make you sick.

No, a farmer looks at that seed, but he sees the potential of the seed, and he throws it into the ground. And as believers, we sow finances into the kingdom of God. And Paul says, like a farmer, you will reap. Again, this is not give to get. This is not some weird theology around. If you give a dollar, God will give you $100.

That's not what we're talking about. Listen, I don't give to get. I give to give again. I give to give. I give because in this church we believe in irrational generosity. We believe it's more blessed to give than to receive. I don't give to try to bargain with God. I give because every time I do I'm sowing good seed into my future.

Not for a perfect life, but for a life where I know that I'm so. the right things into the kingdom of God. And Paul says that it will come back if you don't give up. Listen, the blessing is not in receiving. The blessing is in the giving. Last year, the Lord challenged my wife and I to give at a level that we've never given at. And I think maybe it's just important for you guys to hear things like this, because I do think, I want you to know that, like, as preachers, we're not just talking.

and at the very beginning of the year, the Lord gave me a word. I fast at the beginning of every year, and I pray and I ask God for direction. And there were some things I was really believe in God for, and I felt like the Lord challenged me and he gave me a way to do it. And for the five years before 2023,

we had given 30% of our finances to the kingdom of God every year. But in January of 2023, the Lord said, I want you to step into radical generosity. And I said, you got it, 31%. Amen. It's yours, Lord. It's radical. It's ridiculous. The Lord began to challenge me about some different things, and we moved some things. And we had a plane. We're going to buy a house. We're going to do this. I mean, we had like, we had 2023 on lock. We know what we were going to do. Well, by the end of the year, we figured it out all that we gave. And we entered into 2024. and in 2023, and I just say this because I want you to, I want you to hear this,

because I want you to hear what God can do in your life. We ended up giving 70% of our income away in 23. Now, now, when we saw that number, when we put it all together, you know what we said? We looked at each other and we high-fived and cried, and we said, we're so blessed. Like, we didn't do that and God gave us a hundredfold and we got a Bentley. No, like, where's, can you, were these two kids from Bola, New Mexico?

Oh, G, we just gave away 70%. The blessing was not in the receiving, it was in the giving. Now, here's what I could do, and I'm not going to, but I could just start telling you miracle after miracle after miracle of what the Lord has done in our church. That I do really believe, God, it's like he super naturally connected us to each other, to the vision of our church and to our city. I can't explain it.

And I don't have a financial testimony. I just have a sole testimony of like, we're different. We're different from that year. And I got a good report. It's now 2024. The Lord didn't tell me to do that this year. Praise God.

Hallelujah. But as we gave it, our heart cry was we're so blessed. Let me tell you this. I've been tithing since I was 15. I'm now 40. For 25 years. here's the story and the testimony of the generous and the tither.

We're so blessed. Not we're so rich. Not we can always afford guacamole at Chipotle. But we're so blessed. Like, I don't know how God does it, but somehow he takes 90% and does more than I could have ever done with 100%. We're just so, does anybody have this story of like,

man, God just makes a way. He's just, we're so blessed. Can I tell you the testimony of the person that refuses to give is always the same? And I'm talking about millionaires that I've looked at over lunch that have told me this. And I'm talking about thousandaires. And they've looked at me and said, I can't afford that. There's no, are you crazy? So whether you're making $30, $40,000 a year or $30 million a year,

you look at that. You look at that number. You look at the tide. You look at God pulling on your heart. And you go, that's just so much. Like, there's no way. But then when you take this step, you look at your life and you go, we're just so blessed.

This is the story of the generous. And we're not so blessed because we received. We're so blessed because now we have keeping. kingdom purpose connected to our finances. I'm a three-point preacher, but just seconds ago, I wrote down a fourth point. I feel weird doing a fourth. My OCD's acting up right now. I don't like doing four points.

I like doing three points. But I just, I wrote down one more thing. When I give, why generosity? It connects my heart to the next generation. Jesus said this in Matthew, chapter 10, verse 42. whoever gives one of these little ones a cup of cold water in my name in the name of a disciple and surely i say to you he shall by no means lose his reward see the next generation cannot reward you for your generosity god rewards you for your generosity to the next generation as we were leaving

2022 and we were entering into 2023 our church is just a couple of years old And our three top givers in our church all left. Two of them moved and one moved on to another church. And, you know, when you're a couple of years old and your three top givers leave, you know, it makes you pray. We had just bought land. We're breaking ground on a $23 million building. And I'm like, Lord, hey, help. And during that same time when the Lord gave me that instruction about giving, the Lord,

told me this. He said, Jaben, if you build your church to minister to the rich, they will be your source. But if you'll build your church for the next generation, I'll be your source. Can I tell you now, whatever it is, 18, 19, 20 months later, whatever that is now, God has been our Jehovah Jira. We actually went into 2023 and on a word from the Lord. My wife said, you know what, I'm going to go back into children's ministry. I want to pour in. And she's been our kids pastor now since January of 23. We literally changed the vision of our church to City Light Church, a house for the next generation. We built everything around young people. And I think about the thousands who are meeting at Switch. I think about the thousands

in kids ministry right here at Life Church. I just want you to know, when you give into the next generation, God will personally become your rewarder and your provider. When you offer cold water to the next generation, I promise you God will supply in your life. Father, we thank you for your generosity. We thank you for the way you love us, and we thank you. I pray for courage to take a step and to become generous. In Jesus' name. Amen. Come on, church.

You tell pastor, thank you for a powerful word. And what I want to do is I just want to pray for you, our church family right now. God, thank you so much for churchful of people that are irrationally generous. God, we say it, we believe it, that we will lead the way with irrational generosity because we truly believe it's more blessed to give than to receive. and God, for all those that are faithfully giving, I pray they'd find joy as they're blessing the next generation,

as they're funding Bibles for people around the world, God, as we see people coming to faith every single week, hundreds and hundreds of people. And God, I pray especially for those that may be hurting financially. God, I pray that as they grow to trust in you, maybe somebody tithing for the very first time by faith. God, I thank you that you will prove,

your self-faithful, that you are our provider and you will meet every single need according to your riches in Christ Jesus. God, give us the faith to grow in generosity, to be a blessing to your church, to be a blessing to people, and to be blessed as we give. Help us God, help us grow in our faith to bless others in Jesus' name. As you keep praying today at all of our different churches, this message really speaks to my heart because it reveals what we put first. And pastor talked about the tide.

What is the tide? It's a visible way of putting God first in our finances. Whenever God gives us something, we put them first. So what do we do? Well, we seek God the first of the day. We pray. We worship God. God, the first of the week.

We take what's first in our life, the increase, and we give it back to him. What is salvation among anything else that's putting God first? It's recognizing that we're not the Lord of our own life, but putting him first. There are those of you today that you recognize, he is not first. What's first in your life?

It might be you. It might be your goals, your dreams, your money, your house, you're this or you're that. You recognize he is not first. Jesus wants to be first. Who is Jesus? Jesus is the son of God, perfect in every way.

And he didn't come to condemn, but he came to give life. If we sat down and had a conversation, I asked you like, where do you stand with God? You might say, well, I believe in him. I try to be good enough, whatever. But you're not intimate with him. Why is that?

We've all sinned, we've all messed up, and our sin separates us from a holy God. But God, in his love, paid the price for our sins. He sent Jesus, his son, who died in our place and rose again so that anyone, and this includes you, it doesn't matter what you've done. It doesn't matter how dark your life is. Anyone who calls on the name of Jesus, your sins would be forgiven today. There are those of you. You're online. You're at a church right now, and there's something drawing you. What is that? That's the spirit of God drawing you. You're not here by activities,

drawing you toward a relationship with God. So what are we going to do? We're just going to, we're going to step away. We're going to repent of our sins, and we're going to surrender. say all of my life, take it all. I want to push you first. In the same way a tithe is putting God first financially, the same way worshiping on a Sunday is putting God first in the week. Today, with our whole life, we say, Jesus, I want you to be my Savior first, the Lord of my life today at all of our churches. Those who say, he's not that, but he's about to be it. He is the son of God. I give him my life. Jesus, forgive my sins, take my life. Today, I make you my Savior and my Lord. Lift your hands high right now. today. All of our churches, people today saying, yes, Jesus, I surrender. I need you.

As the savior of my life, would you pray today with those around you pray, Heavenly Father? I surrender to you. Jesus be my Savior. The Lord of my life. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. To change me, to make me like Jesus. I give you my whole life. Thank you for salvation. Be first in all that I do. In Jesus' name I pray. Could somebody celebrate? Could you thank God for new life in Christ?

Give God praise today. Come on, church.