28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

On the issue of priorities, we need to understand that God cares about our lives. In the Christian world, people go to extremes. Some people believe everything will drop out of thin air if they put enough faith into the moment. Other people will fall to the influence of the world and spend beyond their means in order to impress the world. Suddenly, people are in trouble financially because they chased after the wants and needs of the world. Then their is the crowd of people who believe it is pious to live a life of poverty. They don’t want anything. All of these mindsets are very, very human. But you see, we are trying to move out of the human mindset and move to the God mindset.

Here is the truth. God doesn’t care about your stuff. He is concerned about your heart. When Jesus spoke these words, He was addressing a group of people who were more concerned with the outward appearance that they forgot the heart. They strove for the praise and acceptance of the world by getting all the right stuff. Jesus was saying that He did not care about all your stuff. If you want that stuff, He can get it for you–He will provide all you need–but it is not important to Him. The only thing He is concerned with is your heart.

The end of the passage says, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” God doesn’t mind you wanting things. He wants to be the one to GIVE IT to you. He wants you to give Him everything first, and then He will give it back. But what if God doesn’t give you the thing you want? What if He doesn’t give you the big house or the fancy car or the designer clothes? Will you give up? Or will you serve? When God gives you the thing you want, it is way different than what you thought you wanted. When we scheme to get things, it gets complicated. We try to make things happen. God says, “Na ah. You, sit down. I’ll do it.”

This is a passage about losing control. God wants you to relinquish control of your life. That is a frightening thing! God wants you to trust Him and to let go of control. God knows better than we do what is best for us. We give our lives to Him, and He will add stuff back to us. This is one of the things that separate the fans of God from the friends of God. Jesus said, “You are no longer my servants, you are my friends.” God wants friends. The fans keep their stuff together on the outside. Jesus said, “Let’s forget about the outside and get things right on the inside.” Friends of God allow Him in. If you have to keep doing things on the outside to prove your righteousness to the world, you missed it.

Let’s prioritize. On the first Sunday of the year, let’s put God first. At the beginning of the year, people come back to God. They’ve lived a rough life or have gone through a tough time, and they cry out to God for help. He sends people to help and bring these people into the House. Sometimes it takes a crisis to come to Christ. So, these people come into the House and like it, but it is hard for them to get into the grove of putting God first. It is not a habit for them…yet. Now, your salvation does not depend on your church attendance, but your spiritual growth absolutely depends on your church attendance. It is the first day of the week. You put God first in your week by coming to church. Sunday represents new life and a refreshing of your world that trickles down through the week. The fact that we give it to God is an incredible habit to incorporate into your life.

You can put God first in your finances by giving ten percent of your income in tithe. You can put God first in your relationships by having God’s love in the midst of every relationship you have. Both of these are habits you develop. Love casts out fear; fear manifests in bitterness or (to an extreme) hatred. With love in your heart, these things cannot creep in or rob you. Putting God first by loving people and telling them “I love you!” will make your life thrive. Life is dependent on the people we love and are connected to and who we allow to speak into our lives. When your heart connects to someone, there is a transaction. A connection is made, a powerful one, that will change your life. Connect to people who are going the same way as you, who are Kingdom people, and who share your vision. No one can be super-Christian on their own. Heart connections give strength and support. The Bible says to guard your heart, for out of it flow the issues of the world. Heart connections influence everything for good or ill. All relationships are a heart connection.

Putting God first might mean you prioritizing your heart connections, which ultimately comes back to connecting to God’s House. The world is not the primary source for relationship–though we love the world and strive to reach it. Fellowship and connection are key in our church. It is too easy to get connected in this place. Who you connect with matters. Make God a priority in the people you share a heart connection with.

John 4:35 (NLT) 35 You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.

What a powerful principle; what an amazing truth. Jesus alludes to the possibility that the way you see things in a natural sense don’t have to be that way. Don’t say that their is a specific time to go out and work. Now is the time. The thing that you can see with your natural eyes does not have to be that way. We can look at the circumstances and live differently; circumstances don’t have to dictate our world. Do not say recession equals poverty. Do not say the market’s bad. Do not say that there is four months and then the harvest. Lift up your eyes. There is another place to look–other than your bank account, paycheck, or job–for provision. Look up and see something different. Look up to God and see the possibilities. Shield your heart with faith and lift up your eyes and see that it is ripe for harvest. In the natural, there is no provision; in God’s world, there is more than enough. By putting God first and making Jesus the preeminent power in your life, your world will change this year. You will begin to see what God sees. Put God first and see the possibilities.

Joshua 1:1-9:1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea [a] on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

The more people I can get disconnected from the world as their source and connected to God, not only will our lives change, but our church will change. There will be a shift as multitudes of people get a hold of Biblical truths and kingdom principles. In this story, there was a critical shift in leadership. God brought forth his law to the people through Moses. We know that when God wants to bring a message to the earth, he finds someone who believes him, gives them the vision and then brings his purpose forth in the earth. God’s plan is to redeem the earth. Jesus’ sacrifice gave us a way back to God. God has been waiting for you. When you come back, Heaven rejoices. When one gives their life, myriad angels rejoice. When a human heart decides to turn, drop their pride and stop living for themselves, millions of angels worship in heaven – every time a soul comes back to God. And God, just like the prodigal son, receives you back into the family.

But God has a bigger plan than just that. God is so passionate about people, that he turns around and says “Can I use you? Can you help me get others back? Can I give you power and help you discover your gifts and talents? Will you use them for me?” We begin the journey of giving God our full life and discovering our purpose in Him. But sometimes we never get there – sometimes we never completely submit our lives to God. Living in the world is living for yourself. Sometimes, we never truly unplug from that. But God is asking you to fully submit and find yourself in him, enter his kingdom, find your purpose and expand the kingdom. It’s not just about you going to heaven. It’s about everyone going to heaven. God retrains our thinking, from us-centered to others-centered. We start on a journey of transition, transitioning our thinking.

This passage in Joshua demonstrates a transition – old to new. Sometimes there are things in our lives that we just will not let go. There are some things that we find security in. We find it difficult to let go of the things in our life that are dead. While you are connected to death, it will affect you and swallow you. The Bible says to repent from dead works and submit to God. God wants us to leave all old things behind. Repent of being plugged into the world – it is dead to you – it is not your source. Repent of dead works – things that you do to make money. That is not your source! You are in it, but not of it. I am in the world, but the world is not my source. I have repented from things that are dead and God is my source. Don’t look to that thing that is back there – it will never release or unleash you. Only God can unleash you. Only God can provide for you.

Paul says, the one thing I do is to let go of the past and I reach forward to the future and press on to the goal of the upward call of Christ Jesus. In the world, all that rules your life is circumstances. What you see is what you believe. But that is the realm of the natural. When you were saved, you were transformed into the kingdom and over here, it isn’t what we see, it’s what we believe. It all about faith because God is our source. You left the realm of the natural as your source and planted yourself is the kingdom – the promised land.

God says to Joshua, I want you to lead my people into a place that I have for them. Leadership is all about submission and humility. When you learn submission and humility, you understand discipline and commitment. But the greatest leaders are the greatest followers. The last in the kingdom become the first. If you can’t submit, you will never lead. On paper, Joshua was a much more impressive, strong person than Moses. But he knew that his connection to greatness was through submitting to Moses and following him on the journey. If you are plugged into the kingdom of self, you can’t submit to someone you don’t think is deserving. But when you are in the kingdom, and God is your source, and you submit your pride and are humble, you rejoice to follow those that God puts in your life because you know it is your avenue for growing in God. God breathes on your submission and humility and turns it into something great.

The first person you are going to have to lead is yourself. You can’t lead others until you lead yourself. It doesn’t matter if you have the name of “leader” if you don’t have the influence and authority to affect others’ behavior. When you discover the pathway to leading yourself, you will discover untold power. God will empower you with the skills and the vision you need to do what he is asking you to do. Once you trust him and follow him, he invests in your life and grows you. When God invests in your life, you start to grow, but you are never proud. God is your source, and it is never about pride. You begin to get confident and believe that God has a plan and a calling on your life and wants to accomplish something through you.

Ten of Joshua’s companions went into the promised land – to look at what God promised – and came back saying it was impossible. Joshua and Caleb had the vision and trusted the promises of God. Ten couldn’t, two could. Ten didn’t make it, but those that believed led millions into God’s promise because they could see it. When you decide that God is calling you and that you are going to step out, there is always going to be challenge between where you are and the promised land. In this story, it was the Jordan River – a full, raging river. It was an obstacle between where I am today and where God wants to take me. You will run into obstacles every time you decide you are going to trust God as your source, trust more, make change and move further along the journey. You will never cross or make it through unless you are willing to take the steps into the water and walk in faith.

You have to walk into the middle of your fight. You have to forgive here for deliverance there. You have to have a kingdom mindset – never about us, always about other. We have to trust God in everything despite what you see. God will challenge you in certain areas because he is trying to move you. He is trying to get you past obstacles to get to the place he wants to take you to. You have to have faith that God will hold back the water. When you get to the other side, you will see clearly and thank God. And then God will touch another thing in your life, and you will have to trust him again. That is how you grow. Maybe it’s time for you to trust God with your money. We have to trust God in everything. We have to ignore what we see in the current economy and trust God as our source.

Those who are already living in God’s economy aren’t worried about money, because they know it isn’t theirs. They know God provides and they don’t have to worry. They are focused on growing God’s kingdom and fulfilling his purpose because they don’t worry about natural things. You can’t possess what God has for you if you don’t do it on his terms. You can’t go to that place without trusting him. You can’t demand God’s blessing but refuse to trust him with your finances. You’re still going to have setbacks, but it won’t matter. You won’t care because all you are focused on is what God is doing in your life. In the natural, you can have tons of money and no happiness. The world is all about self and stuff. In the kingdom, it doesn’t matter if you have a lot or a little because you are happy and blessed and joyous in God. You will never be happy there. You can only be happy in God. You can only have that peace living in the kingdom and in God’s economy.

And you can’t be jealous of the people that are already there – the people that are already in the promised land or passed the obstacle you are facing. Jealousy is a curse. Don’t be jealous of others, or afraid of the obstacle or stuck on the banks of the river. Trust God fully! And every time you will find that God is always there. God is always faithful to fulfill his promises when we trust him.

There is another economy besides the natural economy we all see – the God economy. Often, even as Christians who have connected to Christ, we don’t completely unplug from the world. We put faith in God for our eternity and saving our souls, but we have trouble unplugging ourselves from the idea that the natural economy is our provider and our source. In the God economy, there is always an abundance. God never runs out. In the God economy, there is a very simple system for getting blessing and favor called sowing and reaping. But getting into the God economy requires a huge leap of faith. In fact, for many people it is the largest leap of faith they will ever take. It’s bigger than the salvation leap. It’s much easier to give God your life in salvation is much easier than making the leap to trusting God with your possessions, your future, your money and your provision, especially when you see bad news in your face everyday. Most Christians never make the leap from the world economy to the God economy.

There is no better time to talk about this than now when the world economy is in turmoil. Let’s delve into some history to describe God’s relationship with His people. Haggai is a prophet. God sends prophets to speak to His people when they are doing things that they shouldn’t. It is the prophet’s job to re-center the people and get them back on track. You only have to be one degree of the path to end up in a totally different place than where you were trying to go. Pretty soon, you are a long way from where the will of God is. In the Bible, the prophets would come and recenter the nation and deliver God’s message. They brought correction. No one likes to be corrected, which is why God is always talking about being humble. When we are humble, we can hear from God and receive correction and direction, and bring God back to the center of our world.

In this story, the Babylonians had plundered the Temple and enslaved the Israelites. God had delivered the Israelites back to their land, through a series of miracles, and in Haggai 1 they are starting to rebuild what they had lost. “The people are saying the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house, so the Lord sent this message through Haggai. Why are you living in rich houses, but refuse to build my house? The Lord said, consider how things are going for you. You sow much, but do not have enough. Why? Because my house lies in ruins. This is why the heavens have withheld the dew and the earth has withheld its crops. I have called a drought on you to ruin everything that you have worked so hard to get.”

Matthew 6:31 – Jesus says, “So don’t worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. He will give you all that you need from day to day if you will live for Him an make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.”

Instead of putting their eyes on God and making Him first, they are putting themselves first and worrying about their own lives and possessions. When we live for God and try so hard to put God first in things, we still face opportunities to put other things before God in our lives. When you put God first in your life, you will experience a feeling unlike any you have ever known. When you decide to yield and submit your pride and submit your life to God, you find His favor. When you decide to do things your own way, you are on your own, without the favor of God.

People who have God’s favor go through the same struggles as everyone else, but things always work out well for them. The favor of God comes through diligent submission, sacrifice, obedience and consistency. When you see people with those attributes operating in their lives, nothing in the natural effects them. Compare those to others who are constantly struggling. They sow their seed but their harvest yields nothing. They aren’t living in favor. What is the difference? It comes back to your heart – have you made the decision to make God number one?

How submitted can I get to God? Can I really trust God with something more than my salvation? There is nothing more important than our eternity. We find it easy to trust God with our eternity, but we find it hard to trust with something tangible, like money. Jesus says we don’t need to worry about these tangible things. God doesn’t care about our things – they mean nothing to Him, but He cares about us and will always provide for us. God only cares about growing the Kingdom. He cares about saving people and about His people obeying Him and growing His kingdom. God has no issue with us having things, but He has issue when the things have us and become more importance than God. Independence isn’t Kingdom thinking. There is nothing in God or in the Kingdom that is independent. There is only interdependence and interconnectedness. I can only ever live in the Kingdom by being connected and dependent on God. That is the only way to fully submit to God and serve Him with every aspect of our lives.

We want to teach people to get out of the world economy and into the God economy. It is a process, and it is a journey. But we lead people to the truth, God gives them a revelation and they walk it out. That’s how it works. Biblical truth – there is the world economy and there is the God economy. Malachi 1 talks about this full submission. God wants ALL of you. You can’t give some and compartmentalize and hold back other areas. The more you hold back, the further you are from God’s favor and blessing. The favor and blessing are bestowed on those who give all and submit all to God. You can’t trust God with some things and not trust Him with your money and to provide for you. We have to trust God – increase our spirituality and decrease our humanity. The more we decrease our humanity, the less we fight with God. God wants us to get away from having any reliance or trust in the world. The world is not our source. He wants us to fully trust in and depend on Him. He is our source.

There is one tried and true way to get into God’s economy – only one. It’s the entry point of giving. You can’t buy, you can only give. To get into the economy of God, you give in three key areas. The first area is time. You rearrange your life and give God your time. Put God first with your time through prayer, reading the Bible, coming to church, serving. The most important time you will spend in your day is the time you spend with God. And the time you give to Him, He will give it back to you abundantly. When you serve God with your time, God will multiply the time you do have. You won’t know what to do with all of the free time you have. To be better at whatever it is you are doing, you have to give God your time.

The second area you give in is your talent. When you give God your talent, you are saying “God use what you gave me to glorify you.” This often involves some sacrifice. Often you use your talents in your career and pursuits, but haven’t ever given them to God for His use. The third area is your treasure – trusting God with your treasure. Giving to God, no matter what you see in the natural, and fully trusting Him as your source and your provider.

Time, talent and treasure – this is the shift from living in a measure of God to living in the fullness of God. Unplug from token living to living in full submission. Does it make sense in the natural with the current economy to give? Not in your mind, but that is the Kingdom mindset and that is how you find blessing and favor in the Kingdom of God. Once you get there, you will never go back. You will never want to leave living in the fullness of God. You won’t care about what you have or about things. Once you get that revelation and live in the economy of God, none of those things matter. Once you have a revelation of God as your source, you won’t care about where things come from! You will be blessed and generous and not bound by the stresses of the natural economy. All it takes is submission. All God wants is your heart. When you are living in God’s favor, it won’t matter what is going on in the world around you because you will be grounded and planted in God’s kingdom. You will be in God’s blessing, building a great life and building His kingdom, unconcerned and unaffected by the natural.