Transcription
It's wonderful to be part of a congregation that that just really makes a difference in the lives of so many. And the reason that Christ Fellowship makes the difference in the lives of so many is because you, you give. You give of your time, your, your dollars. You just, you serve, you share your salt and light. And it's a wonderful time of the year for us to, to really make a difference. And I'm just so delighted that that we could do that. And it's good to be with you today. Good morning. My gosh, it's good to be with you.
Okay, I'm very excited about what I'm going to teach. But that's nothing new. I'm always excited about what I'm going to teach. But what I'm going to teach today has an incredible potential to upgrade your life. How many of you would like to improve your life? Let's, let's start right there. Okay. Okay. Now, if you didn't raise your hand, welcome. We're glad you're here. But what are you doing here? I mean, because this is a group of people. The people here aren't perfect people, but they're people who really want to, want to get better. Isn't that right? Grow and learn and develop. And, and what I want to share with you, really have. So I'm very excited about it. I'm very excited about it because if, if we can change our perspective, how we think, it just changes about everything in our life. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. And we're gonna talk about perspective. We're talking about perspective about possessions today, which is a, which is a tremendous principle also that that I'm going to share. But, but outside of sharing my faith, which I try to do every day and just love to do, outside of sharing my faith, if you and I sat down and around the table, just the two of us, one-on-one, okay? Just a one-on-one conversation, and you would look at me and say, "John, what is the thing that that you would say to me that would best improve my life?" I would talk to you about how you think, how I think, our perspective. In fact, I put in, in our lesson today, some perspective principles that I just think are huge. And let me just give them to you real quick, okay? You're ready? Let's go.
First of all, how we view things determines how we do things. That's just an incredible principle. Yeah. Now, each one of these, I could preach 30 minutes on, but they won't let me do that. But, but how I view things determines exactly. So if, if I view things, if I view things in perspective of wanting to serve with excellence, guess what I'll do? I'll serve with excellence. If I view things in a very kind of average way, then that, I'll put average into that and into that endeavor. So how I view things is how I do things. Let me give you another perspective principle that's just huge too. And that is, what you see is who you will be. And we see things not as they are, we see things as we are. That's why two people can be in the same situation, same experience, same place, and see things completely different than anyone else. So what is before you isn't what you see. Who you are is what you see.
This third one is just amazing. Whenever I do conferences on how to create positive change in organizations or in people's lives, this is kind of a cornerstone of that thinking. And so let me give that to you. And that is that when we change the way we look at things, the things that we look at change. I mean, always, I'm always the recipe who says, you know what, "Gosh, John, I just want to, I just want to change my spouse." Good luck. My name is John, I'm your friend. Let me tell you a better way to get on with that. And that has changed the way that you see that your spouse. Then all of a sudden, everything, everything begins to turn. These perspective principles I'm giving you don't just change your life. And I know that as I'm getting ready to teach this session, I know that you don't need it because you already have an awesome perspective. But aren't you glad I'm teaching this lesson for the person on your left today? Aren't you glad? Between you and me, I know that's why you brought them here today. So just look at them and say, "This is good for you." Go ahead and tell them that. This is good.
What, what some? Now, some of you are enjoying that way too much. I mean, some of you said, "Oh, this is my chance. I've been waiting for this for a long time." Let me tell you all about this. Okay. Okay. Let me give you one more perspective just principle. The institute. And that is, what I believe about life determines how I perceive life, which determines what I receive from life. Powerful. And the reason that I've given you these perspective principles is because I do a lot of reflection. And this week, being Thanksgiving, I spent some time in reflecting. And reflecting is good for all of us. Reflection turns experience into insight. And so what happens is that whatever we're experiencing, we need to, you know, Coke says, you have to have that pause that refreshes. I would encourage you to have the pause that refreshes you mentally, emotionally, spiritually. When you look at an experience to say, "Okay, what did I, what did I learn from that?" And I thought, as I reflected on Thanksgiving this week, I came up with an observation about myself. And it was just simple. That when I lack gratitude, it's because I focus too much on my. Almost every time that I find that I'm not grateful, I could be. It's always because I'm thinking too much about John Maxwell and what does that mean to me and where am I and what am I having and what have I gotten? And you know that this hope, the moment that I, the moment that my perspective goes inward, is the moment that that I begin to lose that joy and that gratitude. And oh, if, in fact, you.
Okay, I'm going to do. I didn't even do this yesterday. Okay. So you're getting something. They did this. This is so good. I went home last night. This is a perspective teaching. Okay. And it's laminated. Okay. Whenever I laminated, it's good. Okay. Yeah. So then it's not just papers. Laminated. If I'd have been Moses going up on Mount Sinai, I'd have laminated those Ten Commandments. Yeah. I would have. I sure wouldn't put him on rock. Those babies break. I'd have been taking those laminated. Then I'd be sticking them in every Jewish pocket I could. I'll tell you right now. Okay. Here we go. Them. So this is, this is a great one on perspective. This. Now, this is fun. So I say that in jest. I say that because I want to talk about just for a moment, dogs and cats. Okay? So done. So just kind of have them a little bit of humor. And don't take it serious if you are a cat lover.
Excerpts from a dog's diary. This is all about perspective, folks. 8:00 AM. Dog food. My favorite thing. 9:30 AM. A car ride. My favorite day. 9:40 AM. A walk in the park. My favorite thing. 10:30 AM. Got rubbed and petted. Oh, my favorite day. Noon. Lunch. My favorite day. 1:00 PM. Played in the yard. My. 3:00 PM. Wagging my tail. My favorite vibe. Hip milk-bones. My favorite sub. Him. Got the play ball. My favorite AP. My watch teenie with the people. My favorite thing. Lemon PM. Sleeping in bed. All my favorite.
Excerpts from a cat's diary. Day 983 of my captivity. [Applause] My captors continued to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. There you are. Perspective is everything, huh? And not fine.
Okay, here we go. So the scripture said, heinous. The scripture setting is simple. Some of the religious legalists came to Jesus and they were trying to corner him, to be honest with you. And they asked him the question, "Who is my neighbor?" And Jesus gave him the story of the Good Samaritan, which is all about perspectives that I want to teach today. So let's get to the screen and let's go to the scripture.
In reply, Jesus said, "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was, and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expenses that you may have.' Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." And Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."
In this story, there are three different perspectives about possessions. And I want to give them to you now. First of all, is the perspective from the robbers' standpoint because a man was robbed in the story. And the perspective concerning possessions for people that are robbers is that what is yours is mine, and I'm going to take it. That's exactly what they did. They saw the man, they saw you had possessions. What's yours is mine. Hit him, knocked him around, took his busy. What's yours is mine. I'm going to take it. Now, I'm not going to spend much time on that because there's a high, well, the odds are quite high that there are very few real robbers here today. So, you know, you're probably feeling really good about this perspective because most of us really don't think, "What's yours is mine and I'm going to take it." But I will say this, we're all born kind of like robbers because there's a very similar thought of perspective from toddlers' perspective. A little toddlers into their, their perspectives of possessions is something like this: If I like it, it's mine. If I can take it away from you, it's mine. If I had it a while ago, it's mine. If I say it's mine, it's mine. If it looks like mine, it's mine. If you're having fun with it, it's mine. If I lay down your toy, it's mine.
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If it's broken, your toddlers and robbers, pretty close, huh? And you know why that is? Is because we're all born into sin. We're all born with a great amount of selfishness within us. And so there's a lot of people that just basically, I mean, they never really go stick somebody up in that whole process. But really, basically, they're looking around and they're basically the same. I'm truthfully, my perspective of opposition is what yours is mine and I'm gonna take. Okay, we're gonna, we're gonna leave that one. Let's get to more where we live. Okay? That, that first one wasn't for you. It's for that person on your left, okay?
The second process of perspective about possession is, what is mine is mine, and I'm going to keep it. Now, this is very relevant and sometimes to almost every person in this room because every one of us have that, that sense that the possessions that we have are really ours. And, and so, "What is mine is mine, and, and I'm going to keep it." And that, that, that perspective is birthed out of two things. It's birthed out of selfishness, and it's a birthed out of a lack of awareness about really how possessions work. I had a friend that, this is good. I had a friend who was talking to me recently. And, and he, he took a son to McDonald's. And his son loves McDonald's fries. So they went up and so Dad got his son a big pack of good McDonald's fries. And we all know how good those are. So they sat down and his boy across the table from me got the big pack of fries and got the catch. You've been taking a fries dip. And a boy just enjoyed his. And Dad's looking over and, "Dad's those things look really good. I think I'll have one." And so he reached over to get one of the fries. And when he got right to her the fry, his son grabbed his hand and he pushed away. He said, "No, no, no, Dad. You can't have those. Those are, those are my fries." So the dad said, "I looked at my son and I thought three things." Number one is, he doesn't understand where those fries come from. He doesn't understand I'm the source of those fries. I'm the one that went up and ordered the fries. I'm the one who reached it and I paid for. He, he doesn't understand where those, those fries come from. He said, the second thing I thought, and I could tell as he was telling me this story, his anger was rising. He said, "The same thing I thought was, he doesn't understand I can take those fries from him. Hide. Look and see if that's gonna be your attitude about fries here. I want to take those fries." Or he doesn't understand if I wanted to, I could bury him in fries. It's not just thought about going, you know, "Give me a hundred fries." Just, you know, "Bring me, bring the wheel, just bury him, just bury." I can bury him in fries. I can take his fries from him. He said, "The third thing he doesn't understand is I don't need his fries. I could get my own fries. I'm the source of the fries. I, I don't need his rights." He said, "What bothered me as a father was this. I didn't need his fries. I could go get my own. But I wanted to share them with my son." It was the attitude of selfishness and a lack of awareness. And I mean, he's telling me this story as a father, and I'm writing it down. I'm saying, "This will go in a book. This, this, this will go in a sermon." I mean, who else can take a french fry story and make it out of a sermon like I can? Huh? Here we go. But I thought to myself, that it's, it's so true that sometimes we look at our possessions and we honestly think that they're ours. And because they're ours, I'm going to keep it. And, and there are two, just what I call incompatible words in the English language. One is selfishness, which we are all rooted in. All of us. I am, you are, hello. Here once, why I run into somebody, they say, "Well, I'm not selfish." And I say, "Whatever the thing are you unaware of in life? What, what is there? Another piece of counseling we could deal with with you on the same time course? We're all selfish. It's our nature. It's, it's who we naturally are."
"What's mine is mine, and I'm going to keep it." If, if you don't think yourself, it's just let me ask a question. The next time you're in a group picture, when you see that picture, who is the first person? Who is the first person you look for? Come on. There, huh? You look at yourself. You, you know how you judge and critique your picture. How good you look. There's nothing group about it. There's nothing. You looked at, "If I look good, oh, my, oh, great picture, great picture." You said it. "Oh, send it to me." Nothing. And if you don't look good, okay, "Do it again. Do it. Come on, one more time." You judge. There, everything is judged around you. You know, with one trifling exception, the world is composed of others. That was a good thought. You just have to think about it for a while. Write it down. And two days from now, it'll dawn on you. You see selfishness and significant selfishness. It's selfish. This is what I've done for myself. Significance is what I do for others. They're just incompatible. And let me just say this because it's so true. Selfish people cheat themselves. What they're the very thing that they're trying not to do, and that is to keep everything for themselves, is what they don't understand is they cheat themselves. Proverbs 11:2014: "A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed." So if I ask all of you, how many of you just like to be refreshed? Whatever hand goes up. Well, how do you do that? Be generous to others. You see, it's amazing that every day we wake up, and most people, they think, "What am I going to reap today? What am I going to receive today? What's in it for me? What am I going to get today?" Everybody, they just kind of, you know, hope something happens. Good work today. Oh, my gosh. And, and it's all about, it's all about, "What am I going to reap? What am I going to receive today?" And there's a, there's a whole law of nature that we're missing. In the laws of nature is, I don't want to be overcomplicated here. You got to sow something to reap something. I mean, if a farmer didn't sow any seed in the spring and out went out in the fall, this is bad. "I hope to reap." You'd say, "You're about the dumbest farmer." You got to sow something. This is it. An amazing. We're all committed to, "What am I going to get? What am I going to keep? What's going to be mine?" And we're not committed to the. You see the problem? This world is not the haves and have-nots, even though there's a culture that would like to kind of make that that the issue. Something a person have not strokes. It's the gift nots. It's the give nos that's the problem. No matter how much or how little you have has nothing to do with having a generous spirit about possessions.
So the, you know, the first attitude, "What's yours is mine, I'm going to take it." With, and come on, that's terrible. We know better than that. But this second would, now this can creep into our life. "What's mine is mine, I'm going to keep it." So let's go to the third. The third attitude. And that is, "What's, what's mine is yours, and I'm going to give it." And that's the picture of the Good Samaritan that Jesus gives for us in this story. He basically says the Good Samaritan saw the robber, saw his pathetic condition, had pity on him. Would over basically said, "What's mine is yours, and, and I'm going to give it." And I'm going to, I'm going to take time. I'm going to give you my time. They'll give my effort. I'm going to give you my energy. And it is interesting. The priest, the Levite, and the Good Samaritan in this story, they had some many similarities in the story. That they all saw the problem. Is it interesting? Jesus wants to make sure that every one of us do. They saw the robber. It wasn't like they missed him. They've, you know, they were walking by and looking over to the left. Was over. No, no. He said, they all saw the man. He wants to make sure everybody understands. They all saw them. They all saw the robber. So they all saw the problem. And they all had an opportunity to help. They all could have done what the Good Samaritan is. I mean, he was right there. They could have reached over there. Gonna help. Do. And they all had a reason not to help. And see, the reason not to help, the reason not to give, the reason not to serve, that's what gets us. If, or if we have a kind of a selfish mindset. You see, you know, the worst excuse is a good excuse. The bad excuses don't mess us up much. But man, when it's the good excuses, we buy into that. So we, we have a tendency just to, you know, and, and, and by the way, the priest of the vine, I'm sure they had good excuses. Here's the difference. The priest and the Levite, they had an inside perspective. It was all about them. It was all about, "What is this going to do to me?" That this is huge. This is huge. That the, the Good Samaritan, he had an outside perspective. He not only saw the robber, but but he saw the potential of helping somebody. And when you have an inside perspective like the priest, they leave it, in other words, it's all about you. There's a reason they didn't stop. And I'm gonna tell you why they didn't stop. It's very simple. They looked at the robber, they saw it was in bad condition, and they selflessly said, "If I stopped, it will inconvenience me." Oh, my gosh. This is going to be a real inconvenience if I stopped. I had an appointment. I'm gonna miss the appointment. And besides, okay, he's a mess. Look, he's bloody and he's all. I mean, there's nothing convenient about stopping and helping the guy. That's wrong. And so that question, the questions that the, that the priests leave I had that insight selfishness. Well, this one can be easily. But the Samaritan, when he looked at him, I believe that he went through a process. And I believe that he basically said three things to himself. First of all, I think he said to himself, "If I don't stop, what will happen to him?" Well, I'll tell you what will happen to him. He's already half dead. He'll die. And I just want to say to you, without being overly dramatic, if you don't have a generous heart towards people and giving and serving and loving and living, if you, if you have a tendency to be tight and close, let me just say something to you. There's a whole bunch of people that you could help that you don't help. And because of that, they're not going to get the help that they need. That's just, that's just a fact. So if I don't stop, what's going to happen to him? But let me just say something else. He asked another question. And another question. I love this question. He said, "If I don't stop, now listen, this is huge. What will happen to me?" In other words, what happens if I ignore this person? What happens if I pass by like the other two on the other side and just keep on going? Because you see, the Good Samaritan realized that what would happen to him is that he would begin to have an indifferent heart. That he'd have an indifferent heart towards people. That his soul would begin to slowly be calloused. And there would be a day that he wouldn't care. And there would be a day that he wouldn't share. There would be a day that those things wouldn't in any way affect him in any kind of an emotional way. And then he's asking, "But if I do stop, if I do stop, and I love this, if I do stop, what will happen to me?" And what will happen to me is that I will make a difference. You see, let me just say this, you got to stop and meet the need to make a difference. And the question is very simple. Do you want to make a difference in the lives of people? If you want to make a difference in the lives of people, you begin to understand that "What is mine is yours, and I'm going to give it."
Albert Einstein said it so well. It's an incredible quote that, "A person who starts to live, starts to live when he can live outside a person." First starts to live when he can live outside of himself. In other words, you and I live outside of myself. I don't really live.
So let's review. "What's yours is mine, I'm going to take it." "What's mine is mine, I want to keep it." "What's mine is yours, I'm going to give it." But there's another level that's even higher than these three. And I just, you've got to get this. This is a biblical principle teaching about possessions that's huge. And it's number four. This is, this is like for the elite. Are you with me? This means you. The person on your left, they may be three, but you can live on four. And number four is this: "What is mine is not mine, and I'm going to manage it." Oh, my. What a perspective about possessions. What, what, what, "What is mine is not mine, and I'm going to manage it." You see, this is, this is important points. I have to stand up and talk whenever I stand up, it means visually, don't miss this. Now, before I give you the point, I just wanted to also say that for Thanksgiving, my wife's family came. And so there's a bunch of people around the house. And they're expected as soon as the service is over. Well, after I sign books. And by the way, I am your friend. My name is John. And you could do your Christmas shopping today. Go get a Bible for somebody. I'll put their name on it. Say, "Merry Christmas." And you won't have to put up with the hassle. That's what friends do for friends. But my wife's family came, and there's 11 of them. And I got to take them out to lunch. And I don't have any money. And I need somebody to bring me a hundred dollars. I just need a, I just need a hundred dollars. Oh, okay. Hey, thank you. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Thank you. That's pretty nice. I know what you're thinking. Who was that? What did he do? And why did he do it so quick? He was so quick with a hundred bucks. And some of your already even getting on a guilt trip. Why didn't I bring up a hundred bucks for you? That's the question I'm asking right now. It's like, I see that one. Are there any others? Are there any others? Now, there's a reason that he brought me the hundred dollars. His name is Dave. He's a friend of mine. And before the service, I reached in my own pocket and I gave you this hundred dollars. And all I asked him to do was when I asked for a hundred bucks, would you just give me my hundred dollars back? You see, he was quick to give me the hundred dollars because he knew it wasn't his. And when I watch people get stingy with God, and when I watch people battle and fight and kind of wrestle over the possessions they got, and how much can he, how much the little, can't understand. You don't realize something, my friend. It's not yours. Those possessions aren't yours. Never have been yours. Never going to be yours. You see, it's not hard of letting go of something that is not yours. But if I think it's mine, I'll try to hold it. This is a huge biblical principle about how you and I view our possessions.
My wife and I decided several years ago, we went to a financial planner. And we basically said, "Our goal in life is to give all of our money away." And so we're on a, "Give your money away" plan. Every year I raise, keep raising up my level of giving and keep giving it away. And I've kind of planned it all out. And when I'm done, I'm done. I don't, I mean, that there you say, "Why are you giving it all away?" It's very, very simple, folks, because you don't take it with you. I've never seen a U-Haul with stuff in it following a hearse to the graveyard. Now, I'm a father. I've taken care of my children. Are you with me? I've done the right thing. But, but what I'm saying, there's some giving all the way. My whole thing is, do your giving while you're living, so you're knowing where it's going. Now, that doesn't make me wonderful. It just makes me understand I've got the right perspective about possessions. They're not mine. They're not mine. Never had been mine. It's all His. Psalm 24:1: "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world and all who live in it." Oh, my gosh. James 1:17: "Every good and perfect gift comes from above."
Now, let me say, say, if you were, and we do this now because of gift-giving time, if you took down two overnight delivery for two to give to somebody, send to somebody that had had a need, and you had a gift for them. Well, if you gave it to the overnight delivery guy, and then you found out instead of delivering it to the person in need, he took it home and had it for himself. You stop. Say, "Wait a minute. What, what are you doing?" Well, he said, "I would have thought you wouldn't have given it to me if it wasn't for me." No, no. It's marked clearly for someone else. You, you have no right. That's not you. That's not your package. That's a package that I, that I'm sending to. So you're just the delivery person for the back. Every possession you have, you're just the delivery person. God gives you these gifts to give to others. Everything he gives you, he wants you to be a river, not a reservoir. God will only give to you what he knows will flow through you. And so many years ago, I sat down and I don't longer ask the question, "Will I give?" Of course, I give. I'm going to give it all away. That's just the way it works. It's not mine anyway. I'm just a steward of it. I'm just a manager of it. But I began to ask myself five questions. And I'm going to give them when I'm asked to give. I want to just put it through a five-question grid. And I've just got to give it to you real quick. So you just write real quick, okay? And help the person on your left that can't keep up.
Number one is the leadership question. Does the leader have competence and character? In other words, it's very simple. If I'm going to give to something, if I'm going to be that river and let it flow through me, I just want to, I want to have confidence that the, the leadership has confidence there. They're there to maximize that gift. And that they have character. They won't misuse it. And I will just say this, one of my principles in giving is, "Do for one what you wish you could do for many." And because there are so many needs, and what's so beautiful about the, the birthday gift for Jesus that we do at Christ Fellowship, is it's when you got that beautiful piece of all the people that are helped. Is when we bring our Christmas gift to here, it then it just is given to so many people, and so many lives, and help so many people. And I just want to just go on record to let you know, I think you already know this. I'm telling you, and Pastor Tom, and Pastor Todd, and the leadership of this congregation, you've got leadership that's not only highly confident. You've got great men and women of God, good character, industry, good character, good character. But I want to make sure it gets into good leaders' hands. I'm not going to put it in some way it's not a good leader's hand. Don't misuse it.
Okay. Number two question is the involvement question. Can I give more than my dollars? I mean, is there something else I can do? Kind of roll up my sleeves, kind of help somebody? And one of the beautiful things I think about Christ Fellowship is how giving you are with your time and your talents and, and the things that you, that you're constantly doing. I, I think that you do that really, really exceptionally well.
Question number three is the difference question. Is this organization making a difference for others and me? In other words, is my life changed because of this organization? Because guess what, if this organization can help my life to get better, it probably can help other people's life to get better too. So I really want to, I want to put my dollars where the return is going to be the best. One of the things, I'm in the business community a lot. And one of the things that really bothers me about a lot of Christian business people is, is they'll spend a lot of time, as they should, really working on investments and, "Where am I going to get the ROI that I need for the, for the money?" And, and they just really work hard on that. And that's all good. But what really bothers me is they'll really work hard on investments and money to, to, to, to maximize and expand for themselves. And then, in the Christian community, they'll just kind of give money carelessly. And I thought, "When did your personal keen then become more important than God's kingdom?" The first thing you ought to do is ask yourself these questions and say, "I want to maximize my return. I'm giving us into something that has its, where, where that that's gonna last forever. And it's not gonna be stolen. And it's not gonna get corrupted. It's, it's not gonna rust away." The difference question, it's huge.
Question number four is the potential question. And that's just a question I ask on constant. Is how could I increase my giving? Because every year I increase my giving. And, and by the way, I hesitate using these example, that example because I'm not trying to look good. And it's no big deal. By the way, is there anything great about increasing your giving if it's not yours anyway? Eat with me. It, but every year, and there are three levels. There's the level of what I do. That's what I call the faithfulness level. That's the bottom line. That's the tithe. 10% goes to the Lord, goes to the Lord's work. And then what I could do. That's the second level. That's all sacrifice. In other words, what am I going to give up? You got to give up to go up. What am I going to give up that will allow me to help somebody else? Do that. If I don't give it up, it didn't ought to happen. So that's a sacrifice level. That's the second level of giving. And then about four years, five years ago now, I entered a level that's just changed my life completely. And that is not what I do. I already do that. And what I could do, sacrifice, I got that. But what I would do if I trusted God to be my total source. And that's the faith level. And, and I was sitting right over there about five years ago. And I was, I wasn't speaking, I was just listening, taking notes. And I was felt very, very convicted that there, that if I want to increase my giving, I needed to trust God. And so I, I just made a simple prayer. And the prayer is simple. "God, everything that you, that I receive, every blessing I received unexpectedly this year financially, every blessing that's just, I wasn't expecting it. I mean, it wasn't like in my budget. Everything I receive unexpectedly, I'm just going to take it and pass it on into your kingdom immediately. I won't touch it. It, it's all yours. I'll just, I'll just say, God gave it to me to turn right around and and put it back out there." And so I told, made that commitment five years ago. And, and within, within about six weeks, I got an unexpected, incredible blessing financially. And my first thought was, "Oh, my gosh, this is good. Wasn't expected. What am I going to do with it?" I told God I would give it to him. So boom, I gave it to him. I wish I had an hour to talk to you about the miracles I've received in my life because I live that principle today. And how it has raised the areas and the levels of giving that I can do. Just because all it's very simple. God, you're going to give it to me unexpectedly. I wasn't looking for it. Hey, it was kind of caught me. I'm going to pass it on. I'm going to pass it on to you.
Okay. And the last question is, is the God question. And, and the God question is simply, what is God blessing? And has he prompted me to give? What is God just really blessing? And, and do I sense that maybe that little, you know, that little God nudge in my life to, to put it there? You are an awesome audience. And you have hung with me. And you've let me talk about perspective, possessions. And I have one little prayer for, I'm going to pray with you in just a second and close. But I have one little prayer that is, you'll take these fourth perspectives and spend some time in the next couple of weeks with it. Just, just give it a little time. Talk it over. Talk it over with your loved ones, your family. Think about it in the light of the birthday gift of Jesus this year at Christ Fellowship. But, but I'm just gonna challenge you. If I had another five minutes, I would teach you a lesson that's awesome on obedience. Let me say this, obedience to God is never understood on the front end. It can only be understood on the back end after you've obeyed. You learn the lesson. You don't learn the lesson pre-obedience. You learn the lesson post-obedience. And in their perspective for possessions, what I gave you today, you'll never think it through. And it'll never make sense. You just have to do it. But the moment did you make your commitment to live that kind of life, you'll begin to understand that there is a life for you that's bigger and better and more grand than you could have ever imagined. You will in a few months say, "John, I never had any idea that I could be living this incredible blessed life because I've, I followed these perspectives." For pastors and all the other services, come to the front. So I'll close everybody in prayer and then we're done.
Father, thank you. Thank you for the word. Thank you for the principles, the perspectives. And thank you for this beautiful group of people who love you dearly. And they're learning, they're growing, they're improving. And, and I gave them some things today, Lord, that for some of them, they're kind of, "Wow, sucking air a little bit." So, look, I got to think that through. That I've never been there. I've never thought that. God, it's beautiful because you don't ask us to be experienced. You just ask us to obey. And then the lessons are learned. So cover them during these next few weeks of these beautiful days of Thanksgiving, Christmas, your birthday. May, may we draw close to you. I pray in the name of Jesus. And everybody said, amen.