The Heart of the Matter

greetings in the wonderful name of jesus it is good to be in his house and uh it is so good to be here with you tonight i hope that what i have to share tonight is going to help someone out there something that has been on my heart for quite some times and after a pastor had asked of this i felt really urged in the spirit to to minister on some of these topics we're going to be talking about but we are continuing in the same vein talking about becoming a generous giver that is our our series that we are doing and today tonight i've got a subtitle and we'll talk a little bit more about that before we do though i want us to go uh to the lord in prayer and ask him to touch us tonight ask him to touch everything that we do here and and that through this that maybe somebody is challenged to to do something of faith tonight so i want us to uh let's just pray together in the name of jesus god we thank you we give you praise for all your many blessings we thank you lord for what you're doing in this hour we thank you lord for what you are allowing us to do and we ask you lord that you would bless everything that goes on here asking lord that you would bless those that are in this place tonight god that you would share everything that you have from your word through us i am your servant god and i thank you for that opportunity and we give you praise and glory and thank you in jesus name and everyone say amen i want to just start out by talking a little bit and we we've been talking about being generous and we talked about treasures last week and this week i want to talk about the heart of the matter because i really feel like that at the center of god that generosity is that nature of god if you will notice with us and many times we talk about this but in his ministry as he ministered through jesus christ and and as he ministered here on earth the entire time that jesus walked the earth he was such a generous man he gave of his time he gave of his efforts everything that he did he was setting an example for you and i he was setting this example to show us how we should live our lives and so i i want to look at that as being the nature of god and how that it was a heart of god it was part of who he was and when when we talk about the heart of the matter i want us to go back and visit the scripture that we started with last week and that is found in matthew the sixth chapter and we're going to use that last verse that we used last week because that is the key verse in everything that we're talking about during this season so i want us to look at that scripture again in verse 21. it says for where your treasures is there will your heart be also the last part of that scripture there will your heart be also it is a heart matter when we talk about generosity we talk about giving uh it it all comes down to how a man feels and thinks and walks in in his life it is a heart matter so i want us to just kind of uh engage in this for just a few moments i just for the sake of talking about a little bit about and i know we are not talking about a physical heart but i felt like just reading on some things this last few weeks and and i i came across some articles that came from the university of virginia and there is a group of engineers there that uh that have put together software and and in this software they've put together they're able to take now and and take pictures of the heart and literally make a 3d of the heart and to the point that they're able to see if there is a disease or if there is an uh something going on in the heart and and this is this is so that doctors have this tool at hand to catch heart disease and heart problems ahead of time and you know and again i'm not we're not going to talk about biology or we're not going to talk about a physical heart and how the heart is conditioned but i want you to understand something tonight is is i i really feel strongly and and why i read this i i thought how much that is so like our hearts in the spiritual sense is that we need to be taking camera shots and things in life going on we need to be looking at our hearts to make sure that our heart is right make sure that we are doing the right things for that particular season of life and making sure that we have the right spirit in what we're doing and so in this whole globe of what we're talking about for the next few weeks of being generous is that that is part of who god is and who god intends for us to be is is that that through a heart of generosity that we can we can do whatever he has called us to do and and so i want us to think along those lines as we study tonight because it is very important to understand this and we find this in proverbs the 11th chapter and verse 25 and this is in the niv but it says a generous person will prosper whoever refreshes another will be refreshed think about that a generous person will prosper you see and i think i made mention of this last week but but any time that god begins to do a work in your life and when we say generosity we're not just talking about money and finances which that that is a great big big thing that we need to make sure that we're doing our part but but when you when you talk about what generosity means and it is the heart of god we we want to be a conduit we don't want something to become stagnant in our life if you don't want a stagnant life make sure that you have plugged in and something's flowing through you whether it be in finances or whether it be in your times and efforts and the things that you you have set out to do for the kingdom of god make sure that you are doing what god has called you to do and i i just feel like that that sometimes and this is one of those subjects that we don't talk a lot about but when we do talk about it we kind of skirt the edges of it and say you know and god wants you to be a cheerful giver he wants you to well tonight i i want to tell you that god needs your efforts he needs your money he needs the things and we're not here to say pour it all in but if you want to be blessed you've got to learn to have that heart of generosity in the scriptures we also find in luke the 19th chapter there is a particular story and and i i found this uh kind of fitting in what we we're talking about here but there's a particular story about a man and this man is named zacchaeus the scripture tells us that jesus entered into the past and he he passed through jerusalem or i'm sorry jericho he he passed through jericho and when he passed through jericho that there was a man there by the name of zacchaeus most of you could probably remember as a child when you were a child singing about zacchaeus the wee little man and the wee little man was he climbed up in a sycamore tree most of you remember that little that little story and that little song but the scripture tells us that zacchaeus was a chief of publicans he was he was a sinner the scripture says um he he was rich he had plenty of money but the scripture also tells us that he heard that jesus was coming through and because of his statute because he was a short man because he was a small man he could not get to jesus and be able to see him because he wanted to see jesus verse verse three he wanted to see jesus and so he went a little further off and he the scripture tells us that he climbs up in a sycamore tree and in that sycamore tree he was able to take glimpse of who jesus was because jesus was passing that way and in verse 5 we find that that when jesus came that way the scripture says that jesus stops and he looks up into the tree and he tells zacchaeus he says he said hasten get down from there he says because i am coming to your house today i am coming to to visit with you and the scripture says that also that zacchaeus he he got down real quick and he with joy he allowed the lord to come to his house now i want you to picture this this man has asked the lord or the lord has said i i'm going to come visit you this man hasn't had time to clean house he hasn't had time to really wash the dishes think about it and and he really has not had time to think it over but you know jesus has invited himself so i'm going to let him come and he's and with joy he he welcomes the lord into his house and there was a lot of bickering and there was a lot of murmuring the scripture says the verse verse seven there was things going on the people said hey he's a this is a sinner and jesus has chosen to go and and be with him and and there was a lot of things said about that but the scripture also tells us that because of his time with god because of his time that he spent with the lord that zacchaeus stood up and he tells the lord he says half of my goods i'm selling and i'm giving to the poor he says and if i've done anybody wrong or falsely done anything against anybody taken from them stolen from them whatever it may have been i'm going to repay them for full he's going to pay them more than what he has taken from them he he's saying there has something has changed in my heart something has done a about face in me and the scripture tells us that jesus tells him that this day salvation has come to your house zacchaeus and i i want to take that story and i want us to realize that this this is a way of of god turning things around in your life and and maybe you're not that what we would call generous giver maybe you're not that person that that is has freely just given whatever has come across his mind but i want to challenge you i want this let this be a challenge to you that god he wants you to be a cheerful giver he wants you to say whatever it is god i want to give it and you know there's a lot of us that would say you know god i just don't i don't want to i don't want to do that because you allow us to tell me give me more than what you've got in your park what i've got in my pocket and the truth is you know a cheerful giver and a a giver a generosity giver a person that gives out of the abundance of their heart god will give back to that individual more than what he has actually given and and so i want you to just take note of these things as as we look at zacchaeus's life you know we don't we don't have a lot of detail in his past but we do know that zacchaeus was a very wealthy man and i don't know about you but that that people that are that have a lot of money which i can't say that i do i don't have a lot of money but but those people they they tend to say hey you know this is mine i've earned it and i'm keeping it well this guy had a change of heart god changed some things in his life and and and maybe this is a lesson just for that segment of of this story but whatever you're faced with and whatever you're going through if you will allow god to do some work on your heart you may find that that god has just opened up some windows in your life some windows of opportunity that you're saying wow how did that happen some years ago i was in one while i was pastoring i i had an individual that came to us and really was not a part of the churches per se they weren't they were there some but didn't consider them members of the church but they would come and and this individual came and brought substantial amount of money as a matter of fact in that particular time in my life i'm thinking wow this is just this is just unbelievable that great amount of money that they were and telling us that you know in in another month this is going to happen again in other words they were paying their tithes on some things that was happening and and and so i saw that as as a great opportunity uh in in each and every one of our lives to do some great things and you know i've always been one of those that believe that whatever god blesses you with you better be doing something with it sort of like the talent you can't go and hide it you can't store it up because there's going to be like we said last week there's moss there's rust there's things that's going to happen but during this time god taught me some valuable lessons and i missed out on a lot of money let's just say that but as as we began to do the things that we thought we needed to do for the kingdom of god all of a sudden i receive a letter or a note in one of the passings of money and this le this note would basically lay out what they wanted that money spent on some good ideas some great ideas some things that that that would would benefit some people but as i as i opened that note and we began to read some of the stipulations of the money my heart was was heavy because basically you were saying that you would you would give you were giving to the church and you were giving it to a good cause but then after i began to look at it god hit me with this you know this is not the way that things should be this is not this is not really a cheerful giver this was saying this is how this is going to benefit me and i don't say that to to frown on anything that you may be doing for the kingdom of god but what i want you to understand is that that through this through through this god begins to deal with me about some things that that in my own personal life that i wanted to make sure that i guarded myself from because there are things that can happen during a time when god begins to bless that you see these things as great and mighty things that you can do and when i say do for the kingdom of god i mean push this button and push that button and use it and forgive me for saying this but for leverage and the truth is this this is not what this is about this is about the serving the lord with gladness you know come to the storehouse give of your tithes give of your your efforts give of the the talents that you've got and then i walk away from it and i say thank you lord for the opportunity that you've given me to partake of this and to give to this thank you for that opportunity this is not about how i can what it's doing for me this is about an opportunity to do what god has given me and allowing me to give back just this week i had a an individual and we were kind of sharing things back and forth and i heard the individual say you know everything that i've got belongs to the lord even my finances everything and so anytime that god whispers to me in my spirit any time that god gives me direction to do something even though it may look like it would be a hardship on me i still go ahead and do it because that is what god is speaking he's the one that gave it to me and i'm giving it back to him and you know what he's going to continue to give to me and it becomes it's just a flowing process and so i i want this to be a challenge to you that make sure that the heart of the matter is is that i'm doing this unto the lord this is something that i do out of the abundance of my heart it has nothing to do with what i benefit from it although there are benefits that come from it but i'm not looking at it as i do this and god does this it's whatever god i do this and whatever whatever it happens it's unto you you have blessed me and i give it back to you and i freely give it to you and and i just i feel like that god is leading us in our day and time we need to understand that that it is time to just be as as gracious and generous as possible because god is getting ready to return for a church i want to be ready for that i want to make heaven and i don't want some dollar bill standing in my way he may have laid it on my heart give it give that dollar and i don't want it standing in my way of what god's doing in my life it belongs to him anyway and if i don't give it he can take it from me if i don't give of what he's blessed me with you know my job could be gone tomorrow so what i'm saying is i want us to realize i want us to really understand that that this generous giving it it is a part of the heart it is something that comes from the heart that is something that must be done from the heart it has to be it has to be freely given the scripture tells us he tells us he says hey listen i want you to understand that everything that is going on i'm in control of it i know without a doubt that if i am a generous person that god will bless i know without a doubt that a generous person it will prosper a generous person that that refreshes somebody is going to be refreshed i know that if i if i do everything i know to do that god's going to bless me with it so i i want to let this be an encouragement today i just want to i want god to storm us with with thanksgiving i don't know about you but i just feel this in my spirit right now i want you to lift your hands right now and i want you to ask the lord god that you would open up my heart open up my heart to give like i'm supposed to give i open up my heart that i could i can be a cheerful giver not not someone begrudgingly not someone that is just giving because it's been asked of me but it's not about what i get out of this but god i want to be a cheerful giver i want to be be one that my heart is in the right place it i am doing this unto you in the name of jesus in the name of jesus i want you to be encouraged today i want you to be encouraged that that this is not some some step that we're just doing because uh it's it's time to give unto the lord or we're trying to get people to give no this is about your soul salvation this is about you doing if you if you will take that step of faith let it be about the faith that you walk by faith not by sight but let it be a step of faith and walk that way let it be a part of you know faith is that thing that i rule my life with that is that that i measure my life with no matter what it may be that god is trying to do to somebody today i want you to understand this that as long as i trust him as long as i trust him you know i'm not trusting him to to benefit the financial side i'm trusting him with my finances i'm trusting god with the things that he has given me i'm trusting him with the benefits that come with serving him i'm gonna trust you god i'm gonna trust you with whatever you've given me if you give me two dollars i'm gonna trust you with that and i'm gonna do my best there was a particular story in the bible we often times read it we often times talk about it but there was a there was a man that was going away for a while and he took to his servants and he gave five talents to one and it was based upon based upon how how well he does he gave one two talents and he gave one one talent the scripture tells us that the one that he gave one talent with he was so scared he was just so shook up about that one talent because that belonged to the lord he goes and he buries it because he wanted to make sure it's safe and when his when his master returns his master says what did you do with yours five talent i turned it into ten i've i've i've i've made this for you no i didn't make five to get back to you and five for myself this is for you king two talents i i i got four i i all four of these this belongs to you and the one said he went and buried his and the scripture says that the master called him a fool scripture says that that he had done wrong for doing that now to you and i we would think of this man as as bearing it he he's going he's he's protecting what what he's been given no the truth is he did wrong by doing that he should have turned around and looked at it and said you know what this belongs to the lord and i'm going to do whatever god had had placed in my heart whatever he would do with it i'm going to do that see having the mind of christ having the heart of god having that inside of you the scripture tells us let this mind be in you which was also in christ jesus how would jesus how would he act with it how would he how would he approach this i mean he went from place to place when he was walking on earth for the 30 plus years that he was he was with mankind he walked among among men and he he was helping people he was healing the sick he was doing there was not a hardly any time that you found where jesus was asleep and one time he was in a boat and he slept with slept with basically saying you know i'm just going to see what these guys are going to do and they was on a storm they was on a ship and the storm blew up and and he was like you know these guys has got the faith to do it and so we find him asleep but you didn't find a whole lot of places where he doesn't sit down and he's waiting on somebody to serve him no he's busy serving others he's busy finding out what people are what their needs are what is what is that spirit inside of you telling you god i want to serve you with gladness and out of out of that generosity giving and that giving of myself and giving of my time whatever it is i've got to do this with gladness you see somebody that is in need turn to them say what can i do no i may not have the million dollars but i'm gonna do whatever i can do i'm gonna i'm gonna help you and it's not coming out saying that i get a reward for that no because i have a love for my brothers and sisters i have a love for the people of god i have a love inside of me that says even when that person i know they may not be living right but you know what god's put a love inside of me and i'm going to help that person that is that is a generous that is a that is learning to be that generous person i want us to pray again and i want us to ask the lord that god would would help us and i want us to have the spirit that would have been in christ jesus would you pray with me in the name of jesus god i thank you lord for what you have shared with us tonight and i thank you lord for what you're doing but god most importantly when we leave this place tonight that you have given me the right avenues you've given me the right thought process you've given me the right heart to have i ask you lord that you would direct my past that you would you would lay that individual upon my heart god whatever it may be i i i want to be more like you lord i want to i want to have the spirit that you had i want to have that spirit inside of me and god i know that you're doing a work in us every day right now i feel your anointing in this place and i ask you lord that you will continue to work in our lives give us god what we need for this hour give us god more and more and more let us be more like you god that mind that is in christ jesus allow it to set up on us allow us do your work in the lovely name of jesus in jesus name and everyone say again amen god bless you tonight i appreciate all of you for being here and i thank you for giving me of this time and and allowing me to serve and and to pastor thank you pastor for allowing me to serve under you and we we've got a great pastor don't we and i'm going to pitch this in right there we give him prayer give him a hand clap thank you pastor and thank you for leading us the right direction and we're going to do all we can for the kingdom of god in jesus name god bless you you're dismissed