WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.419 Real joy is not dependent on circumstances. It 00:00:03.419 --> 00:00:05.599 can be a steady source of strength, no matter 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:08.240 what you're facing. Discover how joy is more 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.900 than a feeling, it's a way of life. Order your 00:00:10.900 --> 00:00:13.539 copy of The Strength of Joy by Dean and Jeffrey 00:00:13.539 --> 00:00:16.620 Forrest, now available on Amazon and Kindle. 00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:20.039 Today we're starting a brand new series that 00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:24.609 we've entitled Never Unnoticed. I know that's 00:00:24.609 --> 00:00:26.390 a double negative and probably isn't a great 00:00:26.390 --> 00:00:28.690 title if you're a copywriter or something like 00:00:28.690 --> 00:00:32.090 that, not to lead with a double negative. But 00:00:32.090 --> 00:00:37.909 everyone say never unnoticed. We could make it 00:00:37.909 --> 00:00:42.390 positive and say always noticed. But that might 00:00:42.390 --> 00:00:45.649 change what I'm talking about because sometimes 00:00:45.649 --> 00:00:50.049 we may think that we're unnoticed, but we're 00:00:50.049 --> 00:00:56.600 not. Even when we don't realize that we're being 00:00:56.600 --> 00:01:02.679 noticed, we're being noticed. Now, how many of 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:05.219 you remember the old TV show? This might be older 00:01:05.219 --> 00:01:08.939 than some of you. Candid Camera. Who watched 00:01:08.939 --> 00:01:15.540 a few episodes of Candid Camera? They would set 00:01:15.540 --> 00:01:19.799 up cameras and then put people in situations, 00:01:19.939 --> 00:01:25.769 awkward situations, And then they were getting 00:01:25.769 --> 00:01:28.030 ready. This was a TV show that came on every 00:01:28.030 --> 00:01:31.469 week. It put people in awkward situations. They 00:01:31.469 --> 00:01:34.629 would record them. And when they got to the point 00:01:34.629 --> 00:01:37.629 where they were just totally freaked out, the 00:01:37.629 --> 00:01:40.709 person there with them would say, Smile, you're 00:01:40.709 --> 00:01:45.049 on Candid Camera. I just want you to know today, 00:01:45.230 --> 00:01:50.370 you're on Candid Camera. Robert can pull up his 00:01:50.370 --> 00:01:54.819 phone right now. And check out that camera so 00:01:54.819 --> 00:01:57.459 he can look at your face. And then he can look 00:01:57.459 --> 00:01:59.159 at the back of your head because there's another 00:01:59.159 --> 00:02:05.280 one right up there. Every time when we have the 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:09.680 opportunity to go out and eat after church, this 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:12.219 restaurant, Robert and Alyssa's restaurant, opens 00:02:12.219 --> 00:02:16.699 up at noon. And every time when we have the opportunity 00:02:16.699 --> 00:02:20.900 to go eat together, his phone is on the table. 00:02:22.219 --> 00:02:26.000 Because he's watching. He's watching what's happening 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:29.699 and he's looking to see if the employees need 00:02:29.699 --> 00:02:33.159 him. And there are some days where he says, I've 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:36.900 got to go. I've got to go because they need me. 00:02:37.360 --> 00:02:40.800 Right? That's your testimony with your hand up 00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:44.599 back there. Sometimes you have to leave. You 00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:48.139 can't just continue just doing whatever you want 00:02:48.139 --> 00:02:51.620 to do. You've got to drop and run. drop everything 00:02:51.620 --> 00:02:56.400 and run to the restaurant. So, that's an example. 00:02:56.500 --> 00:02:58.259 We're going to have some more examples in the 00:02:58.259 --> 00:03:00.180 series, but I thought that was the fitting one 00:03:00.180 --> 00:03:03.599 for today. Since we're in honeys, look to the 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:06.800 person beside you and say, smile. You're on candid 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:11.819 camera. You're on candid camera. In Genesis chapter 00:03:11.819 --> 00:03:17.120 16, we see the story, or at least part of the 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:24.500 story, of Abram. Sarai and Hagar. Now we've talked 00:03:24.500 --> 00:03:28.360 about the entire story at other times. When we 00:03:28.360 --> 00:03:30.539 went through the life of Abraham, this was one 00:03:30.539 --> 00:03:34.659 of the big things that we talked about. But if 00:03:34.659 --> 00:03:37.639 you know much about Genesis and you know much 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:40.639 about Abram, whose name was changed to Abraham, 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:45.419 you know that he and his wife Sarah were barren. 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:49.979 They couldn't have a child. And having a child 00:03:49.979 --> 00:03:55.159 was part of God's promise. He had told Abram 00:03:55.159 --> 00:03:57.159 that he was going to be the father of nations, 00:03:57.240 --> 00:04:02.240 father of many nations. So after a long time, 00:04:02.379 --> 00:04:07.180 Abraham and Sarah tried to figure out a way that 00:04:07.180 --> 00:04:11.759 they could help God. How many of you know it's 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:14.699 not always good to try to help God? God's given 00:04:14.699 --> 00:04:17.670 you a promise. Okay, God, your promise hasn't 00:04:17.670 --> 00:04:19.610 been fulfilled yet, so I'm going to try to help 00:04:19.610 --> 00:04:22.149 you out a little bit. Because obviously, God, 00:04:22.250 --> 00:04:28.089 you need a little help. So Sarah decided that 00:04:28.089 --> 00:04:30.430 she was going to help out God, and when they 00:04:30.430 --> 00:04:38.009 went to Egypt, they were gifted a servant named 00:04:38.009 --> 00:04:47.600 Hagar. And Hagar was Sarah's handmaiden. So Sarai 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:50.699 said, well, God obviously needs some help, Abram, 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:56.060 so I want you to take my servant and I want her 00:04:56.060 --> 00:05:04.019 to be a surrogate mother, basically. So, as I 00:05:04.019 --> 00:05:07.620 said, it's always not a very good thing to try 00:05:07.620 --> 00:05:11.459 to help out God. This was not part of God's plan 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:18.829 for them. Well, when Hagar got pregnant, all 00:05:18.829 --> 00:05:23.649 of a sudden, she got an attitude. Because Sarah 00:05:23.649 --> 00:05:29.389 couldn't get pregnant, so Hagar was like, I'm 00:05:29.389 --> 00:05:32.850 going to have the baby. And the Bible says that 00:05:32.850 --> 00:05:40.209 she began to treat Sarah with contempt. You know, 00:05:40.250 --> 00:05:45.550 she was like... I'm blessed you're not. I'm having 00:05:45.550 --> 00:05:47.750 this baby. You're not. You can't have a baby. 00:05:47.810 --> 00:05:52.430 So she developed this attitude. How many of you 00:05:52.430 --> 00:05:55.009 would think that Sarah would enjoy being treated 00:05:55.009 --> 00:06:01.470 with contempt? No. Somebody say no. So Sarah 00:06:01.470 --> 00:06:04.329 started making her life very difficult. I mean, 00:06:04.370 --> 00:06:08.029 it's like, really? You're going to have attitude 00:06:08.029 --> 00:06:10.910 towards me? So I'm going to make sure that you 00:06:10.910 --> 00:06:14.019 don't have a good day today. And it got so bad 00:06:14.019 --> 00:06:19.279 that Hagar ran away. She ran out into the wilderness. 00:06:20.100 --> 00:06:24.740 And when she ran out there, God appeared to her 00:06:24.740 --> 00:06:29.339 to talk to her. It says the angel of the Lord 00:06:29.339 --> 00:06:34.480 talked with her. This wasn't just an ordinary 00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:38.800 angel. This was one of those theophanies or Christophanies. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:43.439 where God Himself appeared to Hagar and told 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:46.980 her to go back. He told her that she needed to 00:06:46.980 --> 00:06:49.980 go back. Now, after the child was born, later 00:06:49.980 --> 00:06:52.980 on when Isaac was born, they had to move away, 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:55.339 but during this time, she needed to be there. 00:06:55.500 --> 00:07:00.079 So God told her to go back. When she met God 00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:05.160 in the wilderness, we found out a name for God 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:08.360 that we did not discuss during... the series 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:10.779 where we talked about, hello, my name is God, 00:07:10.899 --> 00:07:14.720 we didn't cover every single name of God. We 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:18.639 covered, I think, like 13 or 14, maybe 16 names 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:20.899 of God during that study. I should have counted 00:07:20.899 --> 00:07:23.379 them up because some weeks we studied, like one 00:07:23.379 --> 00:07:25.740 week there were three different names for God 00:07:25.740 --> 00:07:27.920 in the Bible. Other times there were two different 00:07:27.920 --> 00:07:32.519 names for God in the Bible. But we learned that 00:07:32.519 --> 00:07:37.629 God is El Roy. I don't know if I'm saying that 00:07:37.629 --> 00:07:39.689 right. I didn't put down the Hebrew translation, 00:07:39.829 --> 00:07:43.769 but that's the way you spell it. El comes from 00:07:43.769 --> 00:07:47.829 Elohim. Everybody say Elohim. It's an abbreviation 00:07:47.829 --> 00:07:51.269 for Elohim. And we did talk about Elohim. Elohim 00:07:51.269 --> 00:07:55.490 means the supreme, mighty God. In the beginning, 00:07:55.550 --> 00:08:00.430 Elohim created the heavens and earth. The supreme, 00:08:00.589 --> 00:08:07.339 mighty God. And then this compound name, is this, 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:09.680 and this is what we find out in that story. It's 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:12.740 the first mention of this. It's that the supreme 00:08:12.740 --> 00:08:18.540 mighty God sees me. He's the God who sees me. 00:08:19.579 --> 00:08:21.720 Look at the person beside you and say, God sees 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:27.139 me. See, that's who He is. These names let us 00:08:27.139 --> 00:08:32.840 know who He is and what He does. Does anybody 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:38.100 remember? Names signify identity. relationship, 00:08:38.100 --> 00:08:41.740 and activity. And we all have a lot of names. 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:45.360 Not just our given name, like my given name of 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:48.919 No Name Forrest that had to be changed when I 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:55.200 was in junior high. But God's names lets us know 00:08:55.200 --> 00:09:00.840 who He is, the kind of relationship that He wants 00:09:00.840 --> 00:09:04.480 to be in with us. and what He wants to do or 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:09.500 what He is doing in our lives. So look to the 00:09:09.500 --> 00:09:13.259 person beside you and say, God sees me. God sees 00:09:13.259 --> 00:09:17.539 me. There's never a time when God does not see 00:09:17.539 --> 00:09:22.279 you. You never go unnoticed. Never unnoticed 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:26.340 by God. Now we live our lives and we say, does 00:09:26.340 --> 00:09:29.139 God really care? Has anybody got to the point? 00:09:29.529 --> 00:09:31.250 When you're dealing with something and you go, 00:09:31.309 --> 00:09:33.330 does God really care about what's going on in 00:09:33.330 --> 00:09:37.230 my life right now? Anyone beside me? I mean, 00:09:37.230 --> 00:09:41.789 I've been there a time or two. Thankfully, not 00:09:41.789 --> 00:09:45.929 this week. But I've been there a time or two. 00:09:45.990 --> 00:09:49.549 Does God really care? Does God really know what's 00:09:49.549 --> 00:09:54.690 going on in my life? Sure He does. Because He 00:09:54.690 --> 00:10:00.429 is the supreme mighty God who sees you. He always 00:10:00.429 --> 00:10:03.809 sees you. Now that can bring comfort. Everybody 00:10:03.809 --> 00:10:07.129 say comfort. I just smacked that microphone so 00:10:07.129 --> 00:10:10.649 there's going to be a big old pop on that. That 00:10:10.649 --> 00:10:17.230 can bring comfort or that can bring terror. Depending 00:10:17.230 --> 00:10:21.169 on how we're living our lives, right? Because 00:10:21.169 --> 00:10:23.610 there's been some times in my life where I've 00:10:23.610 --> 00:10:26.429 made decisions. It's like, I hope God's not watching 00:10:26.429 --> 00:10:30.059 now. Am I the only one or is anyone with me? 00:10:30.879 --> 00:10:35.200 Hope God's not watching now. But then there are 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:39.279 times when I'm going through stuff and I'm like, 00:10:39.320 --> 00:10:43.539 I hope He's watching now. Hope He's watching 00:10:43.539 --> 00:10:47.019 now. There are times when I have responded to 00:10:47.019 --> 00:10:50.519 His Word in faith and I say, I hope He's watching 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:56.639 now. Hope He's watching now. Well, be confident 00:10:56.639 --> 00:11:00.870 that He is. He's always watching. Everybody say 00:11:00.870 --> 00:11:07.149 always. Always watching. And you are never unnoticed. 00:11:08.250 --> 00:11:11.370 Never unnoticed. The supreme and mighty God sees 00:11:11.370 --> 00:11:16.090 me personally. He sees every tear. He sees every 00:11:16.090 --> 00:11:19.730 act of obedience. He sees every sacrifice. He 00:11:19.730 --> 00:11:24.129 sees every act of faithfulness. And nothing goes 00:11:24.129 --> 00:11:29.830 unnoticed by Him. Nothing. 2 Chronicles 16, 9 00:11:29.830 --> 00:11:36.029 says this about God, the God who sees me. Listen, 00:11:36.129 --> 00:11:38.809 it says, For the eyes of the Lord run to and 00:11:38.809 --> 00:11:42.889 fro throughout the whole earth. Everybody say, 00:11:42.970 --> 00:11:46.769 God is watching. God is noticing. His eyes are 00:11:46.769 --> 00:11:50.470 going to and fro throughout the whole earth, 00:11:50.690 --> 00:11:53.970 and He's looking for something. Let me read the 00:11:53.970 --> 00:11:55.389 verse, and then we'll break it down backwards. 00:11:56.649 --> 00:11:58.950 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout 00:11:58.950 --> 00:12:02.830 the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf 00:12:02.830 --> 00:12:10.730 of those whose heart is loyal to Him. So in this 00:12:10.730 --> 00:12:13.830 text, we see that God is watching, God is looking, 00:12:13.929 --> 00:12:19.009 God Himself is searching. And what is He searching 00:12:19.009 --> 00:12:24.549 for? What is He looking at? Can anyone help me 00:12:24.549 --> 00:12:28.779 here? You just want me to tell you. What is He 00:12:28.779 --> 00:12:35.100 looking at? Your heart. That's what's most important 00:12:35.100 --> 00:12:38.539 to God. What's most important is your heart. 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:43.700 See, He's not looking at you to see how much 00:12:43.700 --> 00:12:46.419 hair you have on your head or how much it's styled 00:12:46.419 --> 00:12:49.000 or what kind of clothes you're wearing, what 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:51.480 colors you're wearing. He sees all that, but 00:12:51.480 --> 00:12:55.320 that's not what He's most interested in. He's 00:12:55.320 --> 00:13:00.120 most interested in your heart. Most interested 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:02.539 in your heart. And He's looking for a specific 00:13:02.539 --> 00:13:07.799 type of heart. So what type of heart is He looking 00:13:07.799 --> 00:13:12.600 for? He's looking for a loyal heart. We could 00:13:12.600 --> 00:13:17.399 also translate that as fully committed. A fully 00:13:17.399 --> 00:13:19.980 committed heart. A heart that is committed to 00:13:19.980 --> 00:13:25.850 Him. A heart that is loyal to Him. And then what's 00:13:25.850 --> 00:13:32.309 he going to do when he finds it? What's he going 00:13:32.309 --> 00:13:37.049 to do when he finds it? Is everybody still with 00:13:37.049 --> 00:13:43.730 me? What's he going to do when he finds it? He's 00:13:43.730 --> 00:13:47.990 going to show himself strong on behalf of that 00:13:47.990 --> 00:13:53.759 person who has a heart that's loyal to him. Is 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:56.080 there anybody in the room that would say, God, 00:13:56.259 --> 00:13:59.899 I want you to show yourself strong in my life. 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:08.220 I want my life to be evidence of your goodness, 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:12.639 of your faithfulness, of your kindness, of your 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:20.539 favor. Anybody? I hope that would be all of us. 00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:24.059 He's not looking for talent. He's not looking 00:14:24.059 --> 00:14:27.360 for influence that you already have. He's searching 00:14:27.360 --> 00:14:32.820 for hearts that are fully committed to Him. And 00:14:32.820 --> 00:14:38.399 God doesn't simply observe your heart. He responds. 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:47.559 He responds. He shows Himself strong. Throughout 00:14:47.559 --> 00:14:50.889 this series, I think it's going to be about five 00:14:50.889 --> 00:14:55.750 weeks. It might be just today. It might go for 00:14:55.750 --> 00:14:59.350 five weeks. It might go longer. Just however 00:14:59.350 --> 00:15:04.629 God leads. But throughout this series, we're 00:15:04.629 --> 00:15:07.990 going to study several biblical accounts where 00:15:07.990 --> 00:15:14.570 God sees and notices the hearts of people. And 00:15:14.570 --> 00:15:19.549 then He reveals what He sees to all of us. How 00:15:19.549 --> 00:15:21.409 many of you are glad that God doesn't always 00:15:21.409 --> 00:15:24.830 reveal what He sees in your heart to everybody 00:15:24.830 --> 00:15:29.889 else? But there's good and bad. When God looks 00:15:29.889 --> 00:15:32.610 at hearts in this series, He's going to show 00:15:32.610 --> 00:15:35.549 us some bad and He's going to show us some good. 00:15:36.730 --> 00:15:42.789 I'm glad He doesn't put my heart on display for 00:15:42.789 --> 00:15:50.889 all time. All the time. He's going to reveal 00:15:50.889 --> 00:15:54.850 what He sees to us. Listen, their generosity 00:15:54.850 --> 00:15:59.769 was noticed. Not because God needed what they 00:15:59.769 --> 00:16:03.009 had. It's not because God needs what they possess. 00:16:03.090 --> 00:16:06.210 Because the Bible says, the earth is the Lord's 00:16:06.210 --> 00:16:09.690 and the fullness thereof. Guess what? It's already 00:16:09.690 --> 00:16:17.240 all His. It was noticed though. And it was noticed 00:16:17.240 --> 00:16:20.220 because their giving revealed something much 00:16:20.220 --> 00:16:24.559 deeper. It revealed their heart. Revealed their 00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:29.980 heart. Jesus said in Matthew 6, 21, He said this, 00:16:29.980 --> 00:16:34.679 For where your treasure is, or what you love 00:16:34.679 --> 00:16:39.700 the most, where your treasure is, that's where 00:16:39.700 --> 00:16:42.659 your heart's going to be. Where your treasure 00:16:42.659 --> 00:16:48.629 is, there your heart. will be also. So it's easy 00:16:48.629 --> 00:16:53.169 to see what we treasure because it's going to 00:16:53.169 --> 00:16:58.409 be what we live for and what we talk about. It's 00:16:58.409 --> 00:17:03.049 going to be evidenced. And what we live for and 00:17:03.049 --> 00:17:05.450 what we talk about. I said that again in case 00:17:05.450 --> 00:17:07.109 you want to write it down because it's not on 00:17:07.109 --> 00:17:09.430 the screen. I hadn't even thought about it until 00:17:09.430 --> 00:17:13.910 right then when it hit my brain. Our hearts reflect 00:17:13.910 --> 00:17:18.789 what we treasure and what we love. Then there's 00:17:18.789 --> 00:17:20.450 another verse that says, out of the abundance 00:17:20.450 --> 00:17:22.509 of the heart, the mouth speaks. That's where 00:17:22.509 --> 00:17:25.750 I got that other part of that phrase from that 00:17:25.750 --> 00:17:29.690 just rose up on the inside of me. Whatever we 00:17:29.690 --> 00:17:31.750 love the most is what we talk about the most. 00:17:32.869 --> 00:17:37.009 It's easy to see the treasure of our hearts. 00:17:37.029 --> 00:17:39.390 All we got to do is listen to our mouths because 00:17:39.390 --> 00:17:44.630 it just naturally flows out. Let's go to Mark 00:17:44.630 --> 00:17:49.130 chapter 12, verse 41. These are going to be very 00:17:49.130 --> 00:17:51.430 familiar stories. I'm not going to pull out something 00:17:51.430 --> 00:17:56.589 that you're not aware of. I think I've mentioned 00:17:56.589 --> 00:18:01.950 this story once in five and a half years of elation 00:18:01.950 --> 00:18:07.049 church. Jesus sat down near the collection box 00:18:07.049 --> 00:18:11.849 in the temple and watched as the crowds dropped 00:18:11.849 --> 00:18:16.170 their money. Dropped in their money. Many rich 00:18:16.170 --> 00:18:23.470 people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow 00:18:23.470 --> 00:18:30.069 came and dropped in two small coins. Now another 00:18:30.069 --> 00:18:33.730 translation they call these mites. Everybody 00:18:33.730 --> 00:18:37.910 say mites. And I looked, there's another word 00:18:37.910 --> 00:18:40.349 for it that I had on the slide, but then I said, 00:18:40.369 --> 00:18:45.519 what does that matter? I'm not here to try to 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:48.180 let you know how much I researched or anything 00:18:48.180 --> 00:18:55.539 like that. But two small coins, two mites. At 00:18:55.539 --> 00:18:59.200 this time, the coins that she put in were the 00:18:59.200 --> 00:19:03.099 smallest coins in circulation. So for us, that 00:19:03.099 --> 00:19:07.680 would be like a penny, which I think we're working 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:11.930 on taking pennies out of circulation. They decided 00:19:11.930 --> 00:19:13.990 they're not going to press them anymore. They're 00:19:13.990 --> 00:19:16.490 not going to give them out anymore. I guess we're 00:19:16.490 --> 00:19:18.569 going to round up or round down, whatever it's 00:19:18.569 --> 00:19:21.930 closest to. But it was the smallest coins in 00:19:21.930 --> 00:19:26.829 circulation. And it was equal to about 3 minutes 00:19:26.829 --> 00:19:30.930 and 15 seconds worth of work for the average 00:19:30.930 --> 00:19:34.369 person. 3 minutes and 15 seconds. So think about 00:19:34.369 --> 00:19:37.509 what you make every 3 minutes and 15 seconds. 00:19:41.429 --> 00:19:43.750 Some days that's less, some days that's more. 00:19:43.890 --> 00:19:46.329 Salo's over there shaking his head. He don't 00:19:46.329 --> 00:19:48.210 have any clients today, so he's not going to 00:19:48.210 --> 00:19:50.890 make anything in three and a half minutes. But 00:19:50.890 --> 00:19:57.910 on some days, right? So it's equal to 128th of 00:19:57.910 --> 00:20:04.450 a day's wage. Now, it's more than a penny. More 00:20:04.450 --> 00:20:08.180 than a penny. If a person makes minimum wage, 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:11.980 I think it's $15 an hour here in Florida, it 00:20:11.980 --> 00:20:14.400 comes out to 94 cents every three and a half 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:20.359 minutes. So she put in two small coins, two of 00:20:20.359 --> 00:20:24.339 the smallest coins in circulation. So she didn't 00:20:24.339 --> 00:20:26.579 just give two pennies. She gave more than that. 00:20:27.180 --> 00:20:30.319 She gave what would total in today's money $1 00:20:30.319 --> 00:20:41.130 .88. $1 .88. Now, Jesus noticed that. He noticed 00:20:41.130 --> 00:20:50.089 that. Why is this in the Bible? Why is this story 00:20:50.089 --> 00:20:54.089 there? I mean, couldn't we just skip over the 00:20:54.089 --> 00:21:00.630 lady that gave $1 .88 in the offer? Well, Jesus 00:21:00.630 --> 00:21:04.579 didn't think so. As a matter of fact, He was 00:21:04.579 --> 00:21:06.720 there with His disciples and He says, Hey guys, 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:09.940 come over here. I want to talk to you about something. 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:15.000 Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, Hey 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.180 guys, listen. I tell you the truth. This poor 00:21:19.180 --> 00:21:24.839 widow has given more than all the others who 00:21:24.839 --> 00:21:31.869 are making contributions. I mean, Didn't we just 00:21:31.869 --> 00:21:34.549 read that rich people were putting in large gifts? 00:21:35.789 --> 00:21:41.049 And then all of a sudden, Jesus says she gave 00:21:41.049 --> 00:21:43.509 more than everybody. I mean, she gave $1 .88. 00:21:43.950 --> 00:21:46.410 Some people might have been putting in $0 .20. 00:21:46.509 --> 00:21:47.990 Some people might have been putting in $100. 00:21:48.150 --> 00:21:49.650 Some people might have been putting in thousands. 00:21:51.410 --> 00:21:55.150 But the lady who gave $1 .88 gave more than everybody 00:21:55.150 --> 00:22:03.490 that day. And in the way we notice things, And 00:22:03.490 --> 00:22:09.710 the way we see it, right? She didn't give a whole 00:22:09.710 --> 00:22:15.690 lot. And then Jesus says why she gave more than 00:22:15.690 --> 00:22:20.210 everyone else in the room. Verse 44. For they 00:22:20.210 --> 00:22:27.829 gave a tiny part of their surplus. But she, poor 00:22:27.829 --> 00:22:33.299 as she is, has given everything. She had to live 00:22:33.299 --> 00:22:40.559 on. She gave everything. Not just a tiny, tiny 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:48.019 part of the excess. She gave everything. Look 00:22:48.019 --> 00:22:49.599 to the person beside you and tell them she gave 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:53.460 everything. Why is this story in the Bible? Why 00:22:53.460 --> 00:22:56.680 is this such a big deal to Jesus? Why did He 00:22:56.680 --> 00:22:59.140 call over the disciples and say, Hey guys, this 00:22:59.140 --> 00:23:02.339 is important. I want you to notice this. And 00:23:02.339 --> 00:23:04.740 then when you're writing about what happened 00:23:04.740 --> 00:23:07.380 and when you're talking about the three years 00:23:07.380 --> 00:23:09.819 that I was with you, I want you to remember this 00:23:09.819 --> 00:23:12.140 and I want to make sure it gets written down. 00:23:12.279 --> 00:23:15.839 It's actually written in two of the Gospels. 00:23:17.259 --> 00:23:20.859 Make sure people know about this. Why is it so 00:23:20.859 --> 00:23:25.960 important? This is what we need to learn. This 00:23:25.960 --> 00:23:31.039 is why it's important. God sees... What everybody 00:23:31.039 --> 00:23:36.599 else may overlook. You know, everybody in the 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:38.579 room, if they were watching the offering and 00:23:38.579 --> 00:23:43.259 they see this lady put in $1 .88, they would 00:23:43.259 --> 00:23:46.819 say, that's not much. That's not going to help 00:23:46.819 --> 00:23:57.119 much. That's the way we see things. But God sees 00:23:57.119 --> 00:24:00.039 what people overlook. God sees what people dismiss. 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:08.900 Jesus noticed one poor widow. Now the people 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:11.200 around probably thought her offering was insignificant 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:17.519 in the grand scheme of things. Here's the thing. 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:24.519 Heaven stopped to recognize her. Heaven stopped. 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:30.519 To recognize her. And we're still talking about 00:24:30.519 --> 00:24:34.420 it today. We're not talking about the gifts of 00:24:34.420 --> 00:24:36.180 everyone else. We're talking about her gift. 00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:42.279 Her gift is in the Bible. Now what we need to 00:24:42.279 --> 00:24:44.660 understand is this. The individual stories of 00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:48.940 the Bible didn't happen in a vacuum. And I don't 00:24:48.940 --> 00:24:51.259 mean that they didn't happen in a vacuum cleaner. 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:55.059 That's not what I'm talking about. When I say 00:24:55.059 --> 00:24:58.259 they didn't happen in a vacuum, I'm saying they 00:24:58.259 --> 00:25:01.960 didn't happen completely separated from every 00:25:01.960 --> 00:25:06.819 other story in the Bible. They're connected. 00:25:07.339 --> 00:25:15.680 Everybody say it's connected. This lady wasn't 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:21.359 just giving this without any understanding. She 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:25.589 wouldn't have done that. Because she had instruction. 00:25:27.930 --> 00:25:32.950 Everybody say that. She had an instruction. She 00:25:32.950 --> 00:25:35.450 not only had an instruction, she had a promise. 00:25:37.750 --> 00:25:40.309 You know the way we say all the time, God keeps 00:25:40.309 --> 00:25:44.130 his promises? How many of you believe that God 00:25:44.130 --> 00:25:47.210 keeps his promises? How many of you believe that 00:25:47.210 --> 00:25:49.309 this woman believed that God kept his promises? 00:25:51.880 --> 00:25:53.920 See, it didn't happen in a vacuum. It didn't 00:25:53.920 --> 00:25:57.619 happen without understanding. She just didn't 00:25:57.619 --> 00:25:59.660 say, well, I've never been to the temple, but 00:25:59.660 --> 00:26:01.880 today I've got two coins. I'm going to go in 00:26:01.880 --> 00:26:04.180 there and I'm just going to throw it in there. 00:26:04.559 --> 00:26:09.160 Won't throw it in the offering. No, she had an 00:26:09.160 --> 00:26:14.160 instruction. She had a promise. So we go back 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:17.059 to the Old Testament to see where she might have 00:26:17.059 --> 00:26:21.359 found a promise. I've read this one before. Malachi 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:25.119 3 .10 says this, Bring all the tithes into the 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:29.039 storehouse so there will be enough food in my 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:34.259 temple. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse 00:26:34.259 --> 00:26:38.079 so there will be enough food in my temple. And 00:26:38.079 --> 00:26:43.519 then there's a promise. If you do, if you do 00:26:43.519 --> 00:26:48.799 what? Everybody go to sleep all of a sudden? 00:26:50.029 --> 00:26:55.170 If you do what? If you bring a tithe to God. 00:26:56.150 --> 00:26:58.569 If you do, says the Lord of heaven's armies, 00:26:58.769 --> 00:27:03.109 I will open the windows of heaven for you. I 00:27:03.109 --> 00:27:07.529 will pour out a blessing so great you won't have 00:27:07.529 --> 00:27:11.509 enough room to take it in. And then God says, 00:27:11.730 --> 00:27:18.109 try it. Put me to the test. Now, if this woman 00:27:18.109 --> 00:27:22.210 was going to the temple, she was aware of Malachi. 00:27:22.769 --> 00:27:25.890 If she went to the synagogue, she was aware of 00:27:25.890 --> 00:27:29.750 these verses. And normally we stop right here, 00:27:29.809 --> 00:27:32.970 but I'm going to keep reading because God says, 00:27:33.029 --> 00:27:35.150 try it and put me to the test. And then he says 00:27:35.150 --> 00:27:39.549 this. This is part of, this is the continued 00:27:39.549 --> 00:27:44.230 part of his promise. And God keeps his promises. 00:27:45.069 --> 00:27:49.430 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard 00:27:49.430 --> 00:27:54.049 them from insects and disease. Your grapes will 00:27:54.049 --> 00:27:57.130 not fall from the vine before they are ripe, 00:27:57.210 --> 00:28:06.390 says the Lord of heaven's armies. Then all nations 00:28:06.390 --> 00:28:11.470 will call you blessed, for your land will be 00:28:11.470 --> 00:28:18.500 such a delight. It says Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord 00:28:18.500 --> 00:28:24.960 of heaven's armies. Now, it says bring all the 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:27.740 tithe. Everybody say tithe. And in five and a 00:28:27.740 --> 00:28:29.640 half years of elation church, I've never even 00:28:29.640 --> 00:28:33.740 told anybody what that word meant. So if you 00:28:33.740 --> 00:28:35.779 haven't been here long and you say, oh no, he's 00:28:35.779 --> 00:28:38.440 just always begging about money. No, I've never 00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:43.099 even told what this word meant. It means tenth. 00:28:43.720 --> 00:28:50.920 Everybody say 10. We can say 10%. Bring the 10 00:28:50.920 --> 00:28:56.599 % into the storehouse. So, wait a minute. If 00:28:56.599 --> 00:28:59.819 this lady was familiar with that verse, shouldn't 00:28:59.819 --> 00:29:07.220 she have just brought 18 or 19 cents? That'd 00:29:07.220 --> 00:29:11.759 be 10 % of $1 .88. If you round it down or round 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:17.779 it up. 18 or 19 cents is the instruction that 00:29:17.779 --> 00:29:24.980 she had from God. Why didn't she do that? I believe 00:29:24.980 --> 00:29:28.140 she not only knew about Malachi 3 .10, I believe 00:29:28.140 --> 00:29:36.960 she knew about 1 Kings 17 too. 1 Kings 17. She 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:41.160 knew about another widow. Everybody say widow. 00:29:41.740 --> 00:29:43.680 And smile when you say it. Don't be sad when 00:29:43.680 --> 00:29:47.180 you say it. Smile when you say it. She knew about 00:29:47.180 --> 00:29:52.339 another widow in Scripture. And when the prophet 00:29:52.339 --> 00:29:55.140 went to her house, well, when he went to her 00:29:55.140 --> 00:29:59.220 village, she was gathering up sticks to make 00:29:59.220 --> 00:30:03.519 a fire. She had a son, but her husband had died. 00:30:04.059 --> 00:30:07.420 She was gathering up sticks to build a fire to 00:30:07.420 --> 00:30:12.279 make a, we would call it a biscuit. Most likely. 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:16.559 Because she had a little bit of oil and a little 00:30:16.559 --> 00:30:21.440 bit of flour. And she was gathering up wood to 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:25.019 make a fire so that she and her son could have 00:30:25.019 --> 00:30:27.980 their last meal. I mean, they were going to die 00:30:27.980 --> 00:30:34.799 after they ate it. There was a famine. They'd 00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:37.579 ran out of food. Everybody's not going to give 00:30:37.579 --> 00:30:40.089 their food to her. Because they don't know how 00:30:40.089 --> 00:30:46.230 long the famine is going to last. So, the prophet 00:30:46.230 --> 00:30:53.309 of God had the audacity to tell that widow what 00:30:53.309 --> 00:30:59.490 God told him to tell her. He said, ma 'am, if 00:30:59.490 --> 00:31:03.009 you will make a biscuit for me first, everybody 00:31:03.009 --> 00:31:06.329 say first. If you'll make a biscuit for me first. 00:31:09.879 --> 00:31:13.079 you'll never run out of flour and oil. Now with 00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:15.200 her eyes, she's looking at the flour and looking 00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:17.759 at the oil and she's saying, what do you mean 00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:21.819 I'll never run out? I see how much flour I have 00:31:21.819 --> 00:31:24.599 and how much oil I have. I only have enough for 00:31:24.599 --> 00:31:28.559 two biscuits and you're asking me to give you 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:32.799 the first one. So then my son and I are just, 00:31:32.900 --> 00:31:35.240 we're going to be down to one biscuit and splitting 00:31:35.240 --> 00:31:40.500 one biscuit each. It's going to be gone. She 00:31:40.500 --> 00:31:42.819 had a choice to make. Everybody say a choice. 00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:47.980 Was she going to obey God and obey the prophet 00:31:47.980 --> 00:31:52.940 or was she going to live and walk by what she 00:31:52.940 --> 00:31:55.400 saw with her own eyes and what she felt with 00:31:55.400 --> 00:32:02.759 her own feelings? What was she going to do? She 00:32:02.759 --> 00:32:10.069 trusted God. And in our world today, Come on. 00:32:11.710 --> 00:32:18.190 If that happened today, what would people be 00:32:18.190 --> 00:32:22.789 saying about Elijah? You mean you went to a village 00:32:22.789 --> 00:32:25.789 during the middle of a famine and you went to 00:32:25.789 --> 00:32:27.690 a widow. You didn't go to the rich people in 00:32:27.690 --> 00:32:30.470 town. You went to the widow and said, make me 00:32:30.470 --> 00:32:35.930 a biscuit first. How dare you do something like 00:32:35.930 --> 00:32:42.720 that? How dare you? Right? That's the attitude 00:32:42.720 --> 00:32:46.539 of all of us. Unless we're using our holy thinking. 00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:51.299 That's the way we think. That's the way we've 00:32:51.299 --> 00:32:58.640 been trained to think. She gave Elijah that first 00:32:58.640 --> 00:33:03.200 piece. Just think, we're in the middle of a drought. 00:33:05.079 --> 00:33:08.240 For months. Some people think, well, you know, 00:33:08.259 --> 00:33:10.420 it might have happened for a few days. No, this 00:33:10.420 --> 00:33:15.119 is months and months. Because even when the drought 00:33:15.119 --> 00:33:19.559 ended, they still had to plant. And it still 00:33:19.559 --> 00:33:21.539 had to grow before they could get a harvest. 00:33:23.700 --> 00:33:29.420 Months and months, God provided. From her little 00:33:29.420 --> 00:33:37.789 bit, when she gave her little bit to God, God 00:33:37.789 --> 00:33:44.589 took care of her. Reminds me of an old song that 00:33:44.589 --> 00:33:48.890 Irv might want to sing. Little is much when God 00:33:48.890 --> 00:33:56.309 is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There's 00:33:56.309 --> 00:34:01.910 a crown, crown or prize, and you can win it if 00:34:01.910 --> 00:34:06.019 you go in Jesus' name. I can't believe I remember 00:34:06.019 --> 00:34:10.179 the words better than you. But anyway. I've gotten 00:34:10.179 --> 00:34:19.260 a little older. But this widow knew that story. 00:34:20.280 --> 00:34:24.239 Her story didn't happen in a vacuum. She's down 00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:28.179 to her last. She's down to her $1 .88. And she 00:34:28.179 --> 00:34:31.900 looks at those two coins in her hand and she 00:34:31.900 --> 00:34:37.739 considers. How that is going to help her. Look 00:34:37.739 --> 00:34:39.260 at the person beside you and say, not very much. 00:34:39.539 --> 00:34:44.139 It's not going to help her very much. She realizes 00:34:44.139 --> 00:34:47.539 that and then she looks to God and says, God, 00:34:47.539 --> 00:34:51.159 you sure did help that other widow. God, you 00:34:51.159 --> 00:34:57.219 sure did make me a promise. Hello? Surely it 00:34:57.219 --> 00:35:01.670 didn't happen in a vacuum. And Jesus was there 00:35:01.670 --> 00:35:07.409 to watch her drop all she had in the collection 00:35:07.409 --> 00:35:13.530 box. Everything. Everything. I want to ask you 00:35:13.530 --> 00:35:15.269 a question. Do you think she went hungry that 00:35:15.269 --> 00:35:20.050 day? Come on. Do you think she went hungry? Do 00:35:20.050 --> 00:35:22.610 you think she was destitute the rest of her life? 00:35:23.969 --> 00:35:26.650 If she was, then God didn't keep His promise. 00:35:27.570 --> 00:35:30.949 And we can be sure. That God keeps His promises. 00:35:31.289 --> 00:35:34.809 Her generosity revealed her heart and it revealed 00:35:34.809 --> 00:35:41.030 her trust. It's just $1 .88. But it was a big 00:35:41.030 --> 00:35:45.510 deal to Jesus. Because it revealed her heart 00:35:45.510 --> 00:35:48.969 and it revealed her trust. Jesus notices generosity. 00:35:51.010 --> 00:35:59.750 And heaven measures differently than we do. I'll 00:35:59.750 --> 00:36:01.889 say that again. Heaven measures differently than 00:36:01.889 --> 00:36:09.889 we do. Jesus said $1 .88 was the largest gift. 00:36:12.250 --> 00:36:17.730 The largest gift. And we say, no it wasn't. It 00:36:17.730 --> 00:36:22.250 wasn't the largest. But Jesus measured differently 00:36:22.250 --> 00:36:29.059 than we measure. And faith never goes. Unnoticed. 00:36:29.880 --> 00:36:35.239 Never goes unnoticed. God's watching. Jeremiah 00:36:35.239 --> 00:36:41.019 1 .12 says this. This is God talking to the prophet. 00:36:42.219 --> 00:36:49.360 He says this. I am watching over my word to perform 00:36:49.360 --> 00:36:57.539 it. This is God talking about himself. I'm watching 00:36:57.539 --> 00:37:01.880 over my word to perform it. So if I made a promise 00:37:01.880 --> 00:37:04.699 and I tell you that I'm going to do something, 00:37:04.840 --> 00:37:08.420 if you do something, you can count on it because 00:37:08.420 --> 00:37:17.119 I am watching over my word to perform it. Hebrews 00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:21.960 11, 6 says this, It is impossible to please God 00:37:21.960 --> 00:37:26.610 without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him 00:37:26.610 --> 00:37:31.230 must believe that God exists. Right? We're not 00:37:31.230 --> 00:37:32.869 going to come to Him if we don't believe that 00:37:32.869 --> 00:37:36.170 He exists. We've got to believe that He exists. 00:37:37.349 --> 00:37:39.550 And we don't have a problem with that, do we? 00:37:39.630 --> 00:37:41.610 We don't have a problem with that. If you're 00:37:41.610 --> 00:37:43.130 going to come to God, you've got to have faith 00:37:43.130 --> 00:37:47.869 that He exists. But when we start talking about 00:37:47.869 --> 00:37:50.469 the rest of that verse, people get uncomfortable 00:37:50.469 --> 00:37:56.250 sometimes. Anyone who wants to come to Him must 00:37:56.250 --> 00:37:59.369 believe that God exists and that He rewards those 00:37:59.369 --> 00:38:05.409 who sincerely seek Him. God is a rewarder of 00:38:05.409 --> 00:38:12.230 those who sincerely seek Him. Sincerely seek, 00:38:12.469 --> 00:38:20.630 this is the compound Greek word, exeteo. I put 00:38:20.630 --> 00:38:22.250 that one up. I didn't put up the Hebrew word, 00:38:22.289 --> 00:38:25.409 but I put that one up. And here's what it means. 00:38:25.449 --> 00:38:31.050 It means to search out. To search out. So we've 00:38:31.050 --> 00:38:34.030 gone from God noticing and looking and seeing 00:38:34.030 --> 00:38:42.070 to us searching Him out. And I really, this hit 00:38:42.070 --> 00:38:45.110 me in the Helps Word Studies as I was studying 00:38:45.110 --> 00:38:48.190 this sentence. I had to copy and paste it just 00:38:48.190 --> 00:38:52.050 as it was and put it on the screen. This seeking, 00:38:52.230 --> 00:38:56.809 this searching out, is only as valuable or viable 00:38:56.809 --> 00:39:05.929 as the motive which drives it. So we've got to 00:39:05.929 --> 00:39:07.530 believe that He exists and we've got to believe 00:39:07.530 --> 00:39:11.489 that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him 00:39:11.489 --> 00:39:19.670 with right motives behind our seeking. Everybody 00:39:19.670 --> 00:39:22.760 say, right motives. Because God looks at the 00:39:22.760 --> 00:39:26.539 heart, right? He knows the motives. When we look 00:39:26.539 --> 00:39:29.460 at each other, we can only guess what the motive 00:39:29.460 --> 00:39:33.320 is. Sometimes we guess the motivation wrong when 00:39:33.320 --> 00:39:36.679 we look at each other. But how many of you know 00:39:36.679 --> 00:39:41.139 God never gets it wrong? He knows the motivation. 00:39:41.780 --> 00:39:44.179 The thoughts and the intentions of the heart, 00:39:44.239 --> 00:39:47.659 the Bible says. I don't want anybody to leave 00:39:47.659 --> 00:39:51.599 here today. and say that I'm talking about you've 00:39:51.599 --> 00:39:57.179 got to give to get. We're giving to get. If you 00:39:57.179 --> 00:39:58.960 want more money, you've got to give more money 00:39:58.960 --> 00:40:02.760 to get more money. You can read these Bible verses 00:40:02.760 --> 00:40:05.360 and you could come away and say, oh no, we're 00:40:05.360 --> 00:40:11.019 going to give to get. But how many times have 00:40:11.019 --> 00:40:13.179 you heard me say that we're going to give by 00:40:13.179 --> 00:40:21.230 faith? When we give, we give by faith. But we 00:40:21.230 --> 00:40:25.750 don't give to get. Because that's the wrong motivation. 00:40:28.750 --> 00:40:35.750 When we give, we can... I'm not getting the word. 00:40:36.469 --> 00:40:38.409 I was going to say consciously, but that's not 00:40:38.409 --> 00:40:44.389 the one I was looking for. We can confidently 00:40:44.389 --> 00:40:47.550 expect. That's what I was looking for. Because 00:40:47.550 --> 00:40:50.960 that's what faith is. It's confidently expecting 00:40:50.960 --> 00:40:54.840 something. But we're not giving because of our 00:40:54.840 --> 00:41:00.500 confident expectation. We're giving because we 00:41:00.500 --> 00:41:02.820 realize that God is our source, like we read 00:41:02.820 --> 00:41:05.820 in Corinthians. God's our source. Every good 00:41:05.820 --> 00:41:07.860 thing that's ever come into our life has come 00:41:07.860 --> 00:41:11.780 from Him. That's what the Bible says. And so 00:41:11.780 --> 00:41:13.820 when we bring an offering to God, we're not saying, 00:41:13.960 --> 00:41:16.420 God, I'm going to give you this, but I'm expecting 00:41:16.420 --> 00:41:19.570 this immediately. I mean, you know. In the next 00:41:19.570 --> 00:41:23.190 day or two, I've got to have my expectation. 00:41:28.570 --> 00:41:31.690 That would be the wrong motive. I'd be saying, 00:41:31.750 --> 00:41:33.510 God, I'm going to give this money to you, but 00:41:33.510 --> 00:41:35.150 you better give me a lot more than I'm giving 00:41:35.150 --> 00:41:39.690 you in return. How many of you know that would 00:41:39.690 --> 00:41:43.750 be the wrong motive? Has anybody ever felt like 00:41:43.750 --> 00:41:48.719 it was put that way? God, I'm on it. I'm going 00:41:48.719 --> 00:41:51.659 to give, but you better give back to me. You're 00:41:51.659 --> 00:41:58.820 going to owe me, God. My right motivation is, 00:41:58.940 --> 00:42:04.159 God, you are my source. I recognize you as my 00:42:04.159 --> 00:42:06.380 source. Every good thing that's ever come into 00:42:06.380 --> 00:42:10.079 my life has come from you. And God, I see your 00:42:10.079 --> 00:42:13.739 blessing in my life. I see your provision in 00:42:13.739 --> 00:42:17.230 my life. I see your favor in my life. God, you 00:42:17.230 --> 00:42:21.469 are so good. And I'm going to bring back part 00:42:21.469 --> 00:42:25.469 of what you blessed me with. Because I'm concerned 00:42:25.469 --> 00:42:29.670 about your work in the earth. What you're concerned 00:42:29.670 --> 00:42:32.210 about, I'm concerned about. And I want to partner 00:42:32.210 --> 00:42:36.789 with you in your work in the earth. I honor you. 00:42:36.849 --> 00:42:40.449 I thank you. And God, in the middle of all that, 00:42:40.530 --> 00:42:48.969 I trust you. I trust you. I believe when this 00:42:48.969 --> 00:42:54.050 widow put her money, her $1 .88 in the collection 00:42:54.050 --> 00:42:57.469 that day, I believe that was her heart. And I 00:42:57.469 --> 00:42:59.650 believe that's why Jesus picked her out. I believe 00:42:59.650 --> 00:43:02.130 that's why it's in the book. I believe that's 00:43:02.130 --> 00:43:05.610 what we need to know from this story today. Jesus 00:43:05.610 --> 00:43:09.269 realized her heart because He's looking at hearts. 00:43:10.630 --> 00:43:14.190 And her heart was a heart of thankfulness. Her 00:43:14.190 --> 00:43:17.710 heart was a heart of honor. Her heart was a heart 00:43:17.710 --> 00:43:21.510 of trust. And when she gave everything she had, 00:43:21.630 --> 00:43:25.030 she said, God, you've always been my source. 00:43:25.690 --> 00:43:30.510 So I continue to look to you as being my source. 00:43:32.909 --> 00:43:38.070 It's good. 1 Samuel 16, 7 says this, The Lord 00:43:38.070 --> 00:43:40.989 doesn't see things the way that we see them. 00:43:43.750 --> 00:43:48.929 People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord 00:43:48.929 --> 00:43:54.210 looks at the heart. Thoughts, intentions, motivations, 00:43:54.510 --> 00:44:04.750 He sees. He sees. God always sees. He is El Roy 00:44:04.750 --> 00:44:08.070 or El Roy. I don't know how you're supposed to 00:44:08.070 --> 00:44:10.269 say it. I should have looked it up. I'll look 00:44:10.269 --> 00:44:12.130 it up for next week. I'll be saying it correctly. 00:44:13.130 --> 00:44:16.670 Not that it matters to anybody in the room. He 00:44:16.670 --> 00:44:23.550 is the God who sees you. And when you act in 00:44:23.550 --> 00:44:32.489 faith, see, it doesn't cause God to have to stand 00:44:32.489 --> 00:44:36.909 up from the throne in heaven and start His money 00:44:36.909 --> 00:44:40.550 printing machine in heaven so that He can drop 00:44:40.550 --> 00:44:47.800 it down on us. Somebody smile. God is not counterfeiting 00:44:47.800 --> 00:44:52.619 U .S. dollars in heaven. It's all here. It's 00:44:52.619 --> 00:44:59.480 all here. There's none in heaven. Right? But 00:44:59.480 --> 00:45:07.179 this is what does happen. Your act of faith activates 00:45:07.179 --> 00:45:13.630 His promise that He's already made. Your act 00:45:13.630 --> 00:45:23.369 of faith activates His promises. So if you read 00:45:23.369 --> 00:45:25.769 those promises and you believe that God always 00:45:25.769 --> 00:45:29.570 keeps those promises, I want to tell you something. 00:45:29.769 --> 00:45:36.489 Because there's some people who, I mean, I don't 00:45:36.489 --> 00:45:38.289 know, Irv, if I can share the testimony that 00:45:38.289 --> 00:45:47.980 you gave, but I'm going to do it anyway. I don't 00:45:47.980 --> 00:45:49.519 even know if you were talking to me, but you 00:45:49.519 --> 00:45:51.219 were just talking and I overheard you talking. 00:45:52.420 --> 00:46:00.139 And several Sundays ago... Are you telling the 00:46:00.139 --> 00:46:07.719 story? Okay. Several Sundays ago, you asked Caitlin 00:46:07.719 --> 00:46:13.420 to help you set up this text to give thing. And 00:46:13.420 --> 00:46:15.659 then you were talking about it later, and you 00:46:15.659 --> 00:46:20.760 were saying, well, my Social Security check don't 00:46:20.760 --> 00:46:22.760 even come in. It's not even there, and I don't 00:46:22.760 --> 00:46:24.119 even know if that money's going to be there. 00:46:26.480 --> 00:46:28.280 Did he share that story? Did y 'all hear that 00:46:28.280 --> 00:46:30.519 story? You're shaking your head. So he shared 00:46:30.519 --> 00:46:33.980 it at the Citrus Ridge Bible study. That's where 00:46:33.980 --> 00:46:36.159 he shared it. Well, that's where he shared it, 00:46:36.179 --> 00:46:40.280 but it was that Sunday. He's like, I don't even... 00:46:41.320 --> 00:46:43.539 I didn't even know if it was going to clear or 00:46:43.539 --> 00:46:49.900 bounce or whatever. I don't even know. But? He 00:46:49.900 --> 00:46:59.000 gave. He gave. He was there. Didn't bounce. You 00:46:59.000 --> 00:47:07.219 hadn't missed a meal since? God's continuing 00:47:07.219 --> 00:47:17.219 to provide? Amen. But sometimes, in my life, 00:47:17.260 --> 00:47:18.940 I know, I don't know if it's in your life too, 00:47:19.019 --> 00:47:23.920 but in my life, sometimes I've given. And I've 00:47:23.920 --> 00:47:33.880 trusted God. And it's like, there better be a 00:47:33.880 --> 00:47:42.070 God and He better keep His promises. Has anybody 00:47:42.070 --> 00:47:44.889 ever given like that before? Given a generous 00:47:44.889 --> 00:47:48.349 gift. Not just a little bit of your surplus, 00:47:48.469 --> 00:47:51.829 but a generous gift. And you say, there better 00:47:51.829 --> 00:47:54.690 be a God and He better keep His promises. Because 00:47:54.690 --> 00:47:59.170 I was obedient in doing what He asked me to do. 00:48:01.630 --> 00:48:05.070 But then you may go a week. You may go a month. 00:48:06.750 --> 00:48:12.840 You may go six months. And you may find yourself 00:48:12.840 --> 00:48:16.400 at the point where you say, I don't know if God 00:48:16.400 --> 00:48:21.539 saw me or not. I don't know if God saw me or 00:48:21.539 --> 00:48:26.519 not. I've been there a few times. I don't know 00:48:26.519 --> 00:48:32.079 if God saw me or not. I don't know. But I want 00:48:32.079 --> 00:48:40.829 to tell you, He sees. He sees. You have never 00:48:40.829 --> 00:48:47.210 gone unnoticed by God. Never gone unnoticed. 00:48:49.289 --> 00:48:57.389 Never gone unnoticed. And everybody needs to 00:48:57.389 --> 00:49:00.769 remember, we received the offering long before 00:49:00.769 --> 00:49:11.030 we talked about this. Listen, the Bible talks 00:49:11.030 --> 00:49:17.510 about this. I've gone five and a half years without 00:49:17.510 --> 00:49:22.289 ever focusing on this. So if you're new to us, 00:49:22.429 --> 00:49:25.070 this is not... It's five and a half years. You 00:49:25.070 --> 00:49:31.769 just got here at the lucky time. But we need 00:49:31.769 --> 00:49:36.510 to know. If it's important to Jesus, don't we 00:49:36.510 --> 00:49:41.659 need to know about it? If heaven stops to take 00:49:41.659 --> 00:49:46.300 notice, shouldn't we know about it? And the motivation 00:49:46.300 --> 00:49:52.239 is not to make you give. Because I tell you, 00:49:52.280 --> 00:49:55.139 I didn't say it this week, I don't think. I should 00:49:55.139 --> 00:49:58.699 have said it. I always say it. If you feel pressure 00:49:58.699 --> 00:50:04.039 to give, don't give. Don't do it. Because God 00:50:04.039 --> 00:50:07.599 loves a cheerful giver. If you ever feel worked 00:50:07.599 --> 00:50:10.530 up, like I... I don't want anybody to leave today 00:50:10.530 --> 00:50:15.510 thinking that I'm trying to work you up. To squeeze 00:50:15.510 --> 00:50:22.329 you. No. If you leave thinking that, you don't 00:50:22.329 --> 00:50:26.570 know me. Even if you've been here a long time, 00:50:26.670 --> 00:50:29.349 if you leave thinking that, you don't know me. 00:50:29.730 --> 00:50:32.750 Like you thought you knew me. You don't know 00:50:32.750 --> 00:50:39.190 me. I just want you to know. What God says about 00:50:39.190 --> 00:50:44.510 it. And when we know what God says about it, 00:50:44.530 --> 00:50:48.510 then we're not ignorant. We have revelation. 00:50:51.210 --> 00:50:56.489 We have understanding. And the main thing is 00:50:56.489 --> 00:51:00.469 this. I don't want you to think that you're never 00:51:00.469 --> 00:51:03.090 unnoticed because God's going to think bad about 00:51:03.090 --> 00:51:08.260 you if you don't do what this widow did. That's 00:51:08.260 --> 00:51:11.699 not what we're talking about. We're talking about 00:51:11.699 --> 00:51:17.719 when you give, it never goes unnoticed. Never 00:51:17.719 --> 00:51:20.760 goes unnoticed. Let's pray together. God, thank 00:51:20.760 --> 00:51:22.480 you for today. Thank you for your truth. Thank 00:51:22.480 --> 00:51:25.820 you for your word. I pray that it will be planted 00:51:25.820 --> 00:51:31.880 in our hearts. If we've gone through discouragement 00:51:31.880 --> 00:51:34.119 where we haven't seen your promise fulfilled, 00:51:34.320 --> 00:51:38.469 help us to not give up. Help us to stand in faith 00:51:38.469 --> 00:51:42.349 that you are a good God and you always keep your 00:51:42.349 --> 00:51:45.090 word. You always watch over your word to perform 00:51:45.090 --> 00:51:52.550 it. Help us to stand in faith, believing. And 00:51:52.550 --> 00:52:00.829 God, we thank you for all of your goodness. All 00:52:00.829 --> 00:52:05.769 of your goodness in our lives. And we honor you 00:52:05.769 --> 00:52:12.230 and we recognize you as our source. In Jesus' 00:52:12.369 --> 00:52:16.670 name I pray, amen. This online worship experience 00:52:16.670 --> 00:52:19.210 was brought to you by the friends and partners 00:52:19.210 --> 00:52:20.250 of Eulation Church.