Scripture Reference: Luke 12:19-20 (TPT); Luke 12:21 (NKJV); 1 Corinthians 10:14 (NKJV); Hebrews 3:10, 12-13 (NKJV); Hebrews 3:12 (TPT); Deuteronomy 8:7, 12-18 (NKJV); Jeremiah 13:7-9, 11 (NKJV); Matthew 6:33 (NKJV); Matthew 6:33 (AMP); Matthew 6:19 (NKJV); Genesis 12:2 (NKJV); Genesis 12:2 (AMPC); John 3:16 (NKJV); Ezekiel 34:26 (NKJV); Isaiah 60:1 (NKJV)
Pastor John Bendixen:
Praise Jesus. It’s a grand day. It’s a good day. It’s a God day. It’s a glorious time. Amen. Amen.
Well, I guess you’re all fed up now. Hey? You’re fed, but please don’t be fed up. We need you to be alert and alive to all the good things that God is still going to say to us right now. Right now.
You know, when the Americans come to visit, then you have to be careful when you say, “We’re going to go just now,” because that’s a South African thing. When you say, “We’re going to go just now,” that means now-now, later. If you say it to an American, “We’re going to go just now,” they get up and say, “Let’s go.” So, you know, there’s a bit of a language thing here. So, we’ve got to always make sure that when we’re talking about just now or now-now that you say, “We’re going later”. Now we are going to have some ministry from Nikki Deaton and she’s not coming later. She’s coming now. In her language she’s coming just now. In our language she’s coming right now. So it’s a joy to have Eric and Nikki with us.
I mean, it’s just a wonderful thing, the way that the Lord actually allowed Pastor Sharon and I to be the very first people that they ever met at a Jerry Savelle Ministries President’s Cabinet meeting, and Joyce McCroskey introduced Eric first to us. And then Nikki when she arrived, she was waiting for Nikki. And we were the very first people in Jerry Savelle Ministries that they ever met. And the fact that they stayed is all up to us. If we hadn’t been there, I’m not sure that they would have stayed. But because they met us first, they stayed. And so, over the last couple of years, we’ve gotten to know them better and it’s wonderful that they are with and connected and serving Brother Jerry. It makes us family. And Drew has obviously been here for a while. And my son Garth and Marcelle have adopted him already. And so he’s already a Deaton-Bendixen. That’s just the way that it works. And if they didn’t adopt him, then the kids have certainly adopted him as a long lost uncle somewhere, you know, that they can play with and jump on and have him throw them all over the place and all kinds of stuff, so. But it’s a joy for me to introduce Nikki to you. She comes from many, many years of being in the ministry with her dad in the church. And then of course, marrying Eric and then they went on to do some business, but then went back to the ministry. So they’ve been in and around ministry for a long time. So that’s all I have to really say. Open your hearts to receive from them. Nikki, please come and join us and share the Word with us. Give her a warm welcome. [Congregation responds with a warm applause.]
Nikki Deaton:
First I want to say thank you to your wonderful pastors for letting us come and be with you. They are precious to our hearts and they’re right if we had not met them, who knows where we would be, who knows? Who knows. But the love of your pastors is – I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t know – so real and sincere, and not just for us, but for God. And that’s why they have it for us. And so, I just want to say thank you for receiving us too into your lives, those last few years. And it’s just been marvellous to get to know pastors who are so grounded in the Word, and a church that’s so well taught that, you know, for another speaker to come in, I’m sure it’s a little nerve-cited for them, which is nervous excited, if you didn’t know. So, but we’ll jump into the Word this morning.
When Pastor John asked us to speak at this conference, Eric thought it was really funny, because he’s kind of the business guy. You know, when people ask him to speak, oftentimes, it’s about money, because God’s just blessed him with incredible ability in that area, and has always blessed us. But me – totally different story. You know, I’m not one of those people that typically is a, you know, needs a money message, or I didn’t grow up with money. I’ve never had money. I mean, even with an education, nobody offered me money. You know, and all the jobs I’ve had, most of them have been for non-profits. So, I’ve never had, I’ve never wanted to, nor has money been a desire of my heart. You know, so Eric, he’s just like, “What are you going to speak on?” And I’m just like, “Well, you’ll find out, you’ll find out.”
Pastor John Bendixen:
Give it to him, Nikki. Give it to him, Nikki.
Nikki Deaton:
Thank you, thank you. Of course, he has the mic after me, I have to be a little bit careful. But it really is amazing. Like, our story is pretty amazing because even though coming… and Pastor John is right, when you don’t have money, but you have God, you have everything. And that’s kind of the story of my life. So, I’ve never worried about that kind of thing because I met the God who was more than enough, when I was really little. And so, when God added Eric to my life, it was just such a blessing. Because with Eric came money. And so all of a sudden, I was being introduced to all these new things, new places. God was taking me to places I had never dreamed of, you know, and nothing I had ever experienced. And so it was just such a blessing of God for me. But he will also tell you that, you know, when God gives you desire for money, you want to prosper, you know, but you have to temper that. The Bible tells you, it tells us in Proverbs that if you’re greedy for gain, it will steal your life. So you have to be really careful about it. Even if it’s a God given desire to give to the church, you have to be really careful about that, because it can steal your life if you’re just greedy for gain. So when God put the two of us together, what he really did was he put money with love. He did. Not that Eric did not have love, not that he didn’t have love. And his extreme good looks, I don’t want to leave that out. I don’t want to leave that out. But I mean, the things that were at the core of us was he was given this God given talent and ability to prosper, you know, but without tempering that with love, and neither one will get … You know what I mean? You need both, I guess is what I’m saying.
So our story is how love and money works together. So that’s kind of what I want to talk about today. I like Money with a Mission, money with a mission. But when I was going over this in my heart, just thinking, Lord, what, how do You, what do you want me to say? What do You want me to tell these people and what is on Your heart? And so the bottom line is when you have a mission, your money has to come with it. So your money has to be with your mission. You know, money isn’t ever just your mission but you gotta let your money accompany your mission. Because you have to be all in. Don’t we love being all in? Don’t you want to be all in? I want to be all in. So all, every part of me is in. What you are doing, money is just part of your life. Let’s face it, right? It’s just a tool like Pastor John said. It’s just your resource. It represents part of your strength, right? So the Bible says you’re to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. To me, that’s kind of what money represents. That’s what gifts and talents represent. That’s what my time represents. That’s my strength. That’s what I can give God. And so I have to love him with all of that. So what I’m doing with any one of those things, what I’m doing with my time, what I’m doing with my gifts, what I’m doing with my money, reveals to you what I think my mission is. I’d let that settle for just a second. What you’re doing with your money is revealing what you really believe your mission is.
As I was growing up, it was just always easier for me to determine what love was by what it was not. You know? And so sometimes I teach from that perspective, not what it is, but what it is not. So let’s talk about what money is not. Money is not your saving grace. Money is not your rescue. Money’s not your answer. It’s not your help. It’s not your protection. Although at times, probably each one of us in this room have thought if we just had money we would be rescued. If we just had money, it would be enough. If we just had … Right? It was like that ‘not enough’ mentality that Pastor John was talking about. Right? But all those things I just said, that’s what God is. And so He may give you money to help you out in an area or to provide protection or to answer a need but God is your saving grace. God is your answer. He’s your rescue. He’s your help in times of trouble. And so we can’t ever let money become what God should be because by definition, that is idolatry. Right?
And so God is very specific that, “You can have no other gods before Me.” So there’s nothing else that can save you, “But Me,” God says. “I’m the One who saves you. I’m the One you turn to.” Have no graven image, no idol that you bow down to. Nothing else that you serve. I think it’s interesting, in the Old Testament the word for idolatry is the Hebrew word, teraphim, I think I’m pronouncing it right. But interestingly enough, it comes from the word rapha, which is healer. The word idolatry comes from the word healer. And to me that means that if we think anything else will fix, cure, mend, heal, other than God, that’s an idol. That’s idolatry, anything that will fix, apart from God. We set that up as an idol in our lives. You know, the Bible tells us in the New Testament, that we have to be really careful about this love for money. You know, Colossians says that covetousness is idolatry. So that love for money, that wanting more, becomes idolatry, because it’s what you’re pursuing after it’s what you seek after. Jesus in the New Testament, He only says the words, ‘beware’, a couple of times, and one of those times is, beware of covetousness, He tells them. He says, “Because your life does not consist in the things you possess.” If Jesus is telling us to beware of something that means ‘take heed, pay attention’. He wouldn’t be telling us that if it’s something that were obvious. Do you know what I mean? So He goes on, and He goes on when He’s talking about that, He tells a parable about a rich man. I’m sure you remember the parable, and the rich man, he has great harvests. Every year, these wonderful harvests, and he’s running out of room where to store all these harvests. So what he does is he tears down his barns, he says, “I’m going to build one massive barn to store all my stuff because then…” I think, let me read it to you in the Passion Translation. He says, he pretty much says, 19 Then I can just sit back, surrounded with comfort and ease. I’ll enjoy life with no worries at all.’ (Luke 12:19 TPT). God says, 20 … What a fool you are to trust in your riches and not in me! (Luke 12:20 TPT). Then He says, 21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God (Luke 12:21 NKJV).
You know, in all phases of life there’s this temptation to think that money is your answer. It starts when you’re young. You know, if I had money, I could get what I want, what I need. I need to get all these things and so I need to work hard, maybe overtime, work overtime, so I can make more money, so I can meet my own needs. You know? You can tell the two systems because again, whatever you’re spending your time and money on is an indicator of what your mission is, and indicating really who your God is because what is it that’s going to answer? So, you know, I know I might step on a few toes, and I’m so sorry, I apologise in advance. But if we are more apt to work overtime than we are to come to a weekend conference, then where are we saying our answers are? What if all the answers are here in church? What if all the answers are in your man of God? What if we only give him one hour a week to tell us those answers? If we thought he had all of our answers, would we really just come for one hour a week? Wouldn’t we come and sit on the end of our seats like, “Tell me more. What do you mean, we can only afford one conference a month? What do I need to give to hear more?” Because we’re exiting a system. There’s another system. It’s interesting to me that the Bible always says, go up to Jerusalem, go up to the House of God, and it always says go down to Babylon, go down to Egypt, go down to Assyria. Does anyone else find that interesting? See, our thinking has to go to new levels. If you want to stay where the rest of the world is, think like them, stay where they are but the rest of us, we’re going up to another level. We’re going for the maximum. So we’ve got to head to the house of God. That’s where up is. Right? That’s where the answers are. Okay.
I think one of the biggest tragedies of the faith message has been that people think, “I’m going to get faith, I’m going to prosper and I’m going to have this life of ease, comfort.” Where is that in that message? Whatever happened to adventures in faith? It’s supposed to be adventures in faith, you’re supposed to have to believe. Those are the adventures. That’s what Dr. Savelle founded his ministry on ‘Adventures in Faith’, it was faith that was going to be an adventure. I used to have a mug that said, ‘Life begins at the end of my comfort zone,’ because nobody likes to move out of their comfort zone, including me but that’s where life is. That’s where more than what I currently have, more than my current capacity starts, is at the end of my comfort zone. It’s at the end of what I already know. Does that make sense? So I’ve got to get out of my comfort zone so I can move to the maximum or more than what I have. If I stay in my comfort zone I’m only going to experience what I already know, what I already have. So we have to get used to being uncomfortable. Not being lives of leisure, especially if we’re following Jesus. Pastor Sharon, where is that? Where was His life of leisure? You know, the Bible says, Jesus said if I follow Him and I serve Him, I will be where He is. Well, currently I think that’s the highest place attainable, at the right hand of the Father. Covetousness is so sneaky. It’s so sneaky. That’s why Jesus said to beware of it, it’s so deceitful, and it’s so easy to fall into. Remember I said it doesn’t matter what your age, when you start to get older, you can start to think the world’s wisdom is, you need a nest egg. And I’m not saying it’s not wisdom, I’m saying do what God says, but what I’m saying is if my dependence becomes on my nest egg, like if my future welfare is dependent on what I’ve put in the bank, see, I start to depend on that instead of on God and it’s so deceitful. It’s so tricky because you just think you’re being wise and it is wise to save money, but it’s not wise to depend on that money. It’s not my god. It’s not my answer. It’s not my saving grace. God is God and He alone is my God.
First Corinthians 10:14 tells us as a sum up of all the Israelites. You know, the Israelites, I love the story of the Israelites because they’re me, they’re you. Right? They are human kind. They are mankind. So anything they face is what we face, their tendencies are our tendencies and it was all written down by God for our admonition. Right? So I love their story because if I can learn from them, like Pastor John just said, I’d much rather learn by being taught than by my own personal experience. Right? So that’s all in there for us to learn from. Right? In First Corinthians chapter 10, and verse 14, as a sum up of all of the Israelites’ horrible behaviour it says, 14 … flee from idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14 NKJV). Flee from idolatry. That could possibly have been the root of all of their problems, is idolatry. If you read more about the Israelites, and I’m a big fan of Romans and Hebrews, but Hebrews three tells us that the Holy Spirit said about the Israelites, 10They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways. (Hebrews 3:10 NKJV). And so that’s a warning to us. You know, it’s a warning about following after the world’s ways and not God’s ways. So this happens with money, provision. Where’s it coming from? 10They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways (Hebrews 3:10 NKJV). It says, 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but [b]exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:12-13 NKJV).
You know, unbelief, will affect your capability and your capacity. That’s exactly what he was telling us in the first session, if you can only see how far you can go because of the money you have, or the gifts you’ve been given, you’re ruling out your God. Who has boundless, limitless potential for you, no ends to what He can attain for you. No ends. The Passion translation says it this way, and I’ll say it this way, 12 So search your hearts every day, my brothers and sisters, make sure that none of you has evil or unbelief hiding within you, for it will lead you astray and make you – listen to this – unresponsive to the living God (Hebrews 3:12 TPT). Doesn’t that make you cringe that you could be unresponsive to the living God? I don’t want that to be me. So I have to examine my life for unbelief. Where’s the unbelief? When I come up against a limit in my life, that’s unbelief. If I think that’s only as far as I can go, or that’s all I can give, that’s unbelief. So I have to examine where am I coming short in my life? Where am I not depending on God? Where do I not see God in this situation? And that unbelief will always lead you astray just like it did the Israelites, they got to the Promised Land and God said, “Go in,” and they said, “We can’t.” God was not happy about that because their unbelief led them astray. It wouldn’t take them into this great thing that God had already set aside for them. This thing He had in front of them for them. Unbelief kept them from it, and then they became unresponsive to Him when He said, “You know you can.” “No, we can’t.” And so what they ended up doing was rebelling against the plan of God for their life. And as a church, you have a plan. God has a plan. So you have to hear from Him your part in that plan. And you have to ask yourself, am I withholding anything? Because He’s about the whole team going in. Not just a few. He wants everyone to go in.
At the beginning of this year, it was actually the end of last year, it was in December, we were home in Michigan for Christmas. And I was, Drew and Eric was riding in the front of the car and I was in the backseat and I just kind of was talking to God within myself. And I said, “Lord, what do You think about 2023? What do You think about 2023?” And it was like that quick, I mean, it kind of wasn’t, you know, you ask God a question, you don’t really think maybe He’s not listening? I don’t know. He may not answer. I don’t know. I wasn’t expecting a very quick answer, I guess. And He responded right away, and He said, “Almond blossom.” I thought, almond blossom? And so I thought on that, and we went through our family things that night and I got back to the house and I opened my Bible and I, almond blossom? And right there in Jeremiah one God says, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And he said, “I see an almond blossom.” And He says, “You’re right, Jeremiah, I’m ready to perform My work.”
We are in a time of life where God is saying, “I’m so ready to perform My Word for you. I’m so ready. I’m so ready to do all that’s in your heart.” So we have got to get rid of all unbelief. We’ve got to get on His page of what He wants to do, not withholding anything. All in! What does it look like to have a church that the entire church is all in? Have we seen that yet in our lifetime? I don’t know if we have? A whole church? We’ve seen men, individual men, and they’ve been great. And if that was enough, we would already be in heaven. God’s waiting on a people because that’s what He needs to accomplish what He wants to show the world. To show the nations is a people who will say that God can say, “They’re My people.” And they say, “You’re my God.” That’s the story, the whole story of the Old Testament. God over and over and over again tells them, “I am the Lord your God. I am the Lord your God. I am the Lord your God. Let me do this for you so that the nations may know that I am God.” He wants to do it for us. Their system isn’t going to do it for us, money isn’t going to do it for us. God is going to do it for us. Because here’s the bottom line; His Name is on the line. That’s why your money has to come with your mission. Because God’s name is on the line. Do we trust Him or don’t we? Is He big enough or isn’t He? His plan from the beginning has been to prosper us and to bless us. I mean, look at the Garden of Eden that was the original intent. Right? His intention from the start, to give us everything we had need of, to provide it all. To walk with us in the cool of the night after we’ve spent a day of just wonderfulness. Right?
He tells us in Deuteronomy, I should probably turn there, in Deuteronomy, chapter eight. Pastor Sharon, how do you maintain all your notes? Do you keep them all on an iPad? Okay. You do? Okay, good. [Pastor Sharon encourages Nikki to take her time as she gets her notes ordered]. Yes, yes, let me turn my pages.
But God’s intent is to be our God and to provide everything for us. And He tells us that He’ll give us the power to prosper. He will. Right? His whole plan, it says, let’s look at Deuteronomy chapter eight. Let’s see. Let me see where I should start. Let’s start in verse 12, 12 … when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied. Doesn’t that sound like.. and He says He’s bringing us into a good land. Right? In verse seven, 7 I’m bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, fountains, springs, valleys, hills, wheat, olives, fig, pomegranates… eat bread without scarcity… lack nothing; and when you have eaten and are full. That’s His plan for you. That you eat and are full, that you experience all of this. But when that occurs don’t allow, 14 your heart to be lifted up, to that where you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna. What is too difficult for our God? There’s nothing you can experience that He can’t have an answer for. There’s nowhere He can take us that He will not provide for us. Water out of a rock? But see, this all has to do with us? Is He this God to us? 17 … then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth. 18 And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it’s He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant (Deuteronomy 8:7,12-18 NKJV). See, His covenant is on the line with you. He takes His Word pretty seriously. And so His name is on the line. Who He is, is on the line, and not just to you, but to those watching you. To the unsaved, who say, “That church is crazy. Those people are crazy.” But see, when you’re doing better than them, and you’re crazy proves to be, “Oh my goodness,” that’s proof to them of who your God is, that He’s the Mighty One, the Most High. And see, that’s where we have to go to where we prove who He is to people, but it first has to start, we have to prove it to ourselves who He is and who He wants to be in our lives.
I love the Amplified version. When you read John in the Amplified version, every time you come up against the word believe it says rely on, adhere to, cling to. I think then when you turn to some of Paul’s epistles in the Amplified version, it says the leaning of your entire human personality on God, everything you are, you’re leaning on Him. Complete reliance, complete dependence that’s what faith is. Nothing short of that. Complete dependence on Him. After God said that to me about this year that He was ready to perform His Word, I wrote it on a card and I put it in my closet where I would see it every day that I do not want to be found one moment of this year faithless. Because if that’s all it takes, that’s all I want. The Passion translation has a very simple verse in Romans 11. I think it’s 22 that says, keep trusting in His kindness. You can trust His love for you. He will come through for you. Keep trusting in His kindness toward you, that’s His grace, His graciousness toward you. Keep trusting His kindness, and you will keep moving forward, you will keep moving up. You will keep yourself from the system of this world. You will keep yourself from falling into those snares. If you will just keep trusting in His kindness.
You know the Bible has an entire book about who God wants to be to us. The relationship He wants to have for us. Well, it’s the whole Bible really. But the book of Hosea, He says to His people, “I want you to know who I am. I want you to know I’m not just your Possessor, I’m not just your Owner, I’m not just your Master, I want to be,” He says, “your Husband.” Now if that’s not an intentional relationship, I don’t know what is. And so He had to redefine for them what that was about. And so when He says, “I’m a covenant keeping God and I want to prove My covenant to you, I want to establish My covenant,” that’s a marriage relationship. So those of us married in this room should have a little bit of an inkling of what that is like. Because when you get married, all of a sudden everything’s joint. Right? When we got here, I think it was Tuesday night, Wednesday morning, I think it was the first time, I don’t know if it was at prayer on Thursday, or if it was something we were doing Wednesday. All I remember though, is clearly hearing the Spirit speak to me and say, “All for one and one for all.” All for one, and one for all. See as a woman, if I get married, and I still try to accomplish all my purposes apart from Eric, that’s not going to go real well. And I’ll never get as far as I could if we were together. That’s why I don’t hold on to my name. That’s why marriages should have a joint banking account. Right? Because it’s all for one, and one for all. And God is so faithful that all of the purposes of my life will be fulfilled in our union. I mean, so when God says, “I want to be your Husband,” that’s what He’s saying, “You give Me everything, I’ll give you everything.” A good husband takes care of a wife. I mean, in our marriage relationship, I haven’t had to worry about money at all. None. You know, yes, that’s Christ in the church. God is the Provider, and He will provide for me, for us, for the church, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a part. I had to give myself to Eric. I had to forsake me. We had to become one. And guess what? That was for my benefit. Sometimes we don’t always see it that way but I can guarantee you that’s how it is. It will always be, everything God does for us is for our benefit, for our benefit.
So with God’s name on the line, don’t I want to do my part for Him to get the glory? Don’t I want the nations to know Him? We have the privilege of having a part in that. We’re the ones who get to prove who He is, what He is like, who He is, but we have to let Him be that to us. So my money comes with my mission. If my mission is to glorify Him, see He is going to be glorified in the earth. That’s the plan. Jesus prayed it, “Glorify Your name, glorify Your name in the earth.” And then He prayed in John 17, Jesus prayed, “That they would be one as We are one.” Don’t you think Jesus probably gets what He prays? Think about that. He prayed that we would be one. So you guys, it’s going to happen. So whoever of y’all is dragging your feet, pick your feet up and start running because Jesus prayed it, it’s going to happen. It’s only a matter of time. And I would rather be quicker than later. Right? Let’s be one and accomplish the plans that God has for the church in the earth today. Let’s fulfil the prayer Jesus prayed. Let’s get on the same page and allow God to glorify His name in the earth. And so we withhold nothing. My love for God says, I’m all in. You can have it all because everything I want, all for one and one for all, is when I give Him my all everything for me will be fulfilled in that. There’s no fear in that, that I won’t feel fulfilled, that I won’t get. No, God is taking everyone in. Everyone in. His concern is for the entire house.
One of my favourites, I don’t know what time I started. I’ll end with this, one of my favourite stories in the Bible and I don’t even remember when I first heard this story, but it just gets me. It’s in Jeremiah 13 and in Jeremiah 13 God tells Jeremiah to take the sash from his waist, take it off and take it to the river and to bury it under the rock. And so Jeremiah does that. And then some time goes by and He tells Jeremiah to go to the river and go get the sash from under the rock. And so he goes and he gets the sash from under the rock. I want to read it to you because I just don’t want it in my words, I want it in His words. 7 Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the sash from the place where I had hidden it; and there was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9“Thus says the Lord: ‘In this manner I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. And He goes on and God says, 11 For as the sash clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the Lord. See, a sash isn’t meant to be under a rock. It’s meant to be on a man’s waist. And the church isn’t supposed to just be operating by itself, it’s supposed to be clinging to God. And He said, that’s what I had planned that the whole house of Judah to cling to Me,’ says the Lord, ‘that they may become My people, for renown, for praise, and for glory; Now, the sad part about this story says, but they would not hear (Jeremiah 13:7-9, 11 NKJV).
Let that not be us. Let us learn. Right? And as we cling to God, and not to money, or anything else, but our money is with us as we cling to God, it’s all in to the plan. Everything, our gifts, our time, our money. Then He says, “It will be for our renown, for our praise and for our glory.” But ultimately why? So they will know our God. See, God isn’t just satisfied with the few. He wants the whole earth to be saved. It says He doesn’t want any to perish, none. But we’re the proof. You and I, we’re the proof to the rest of them that our God is God, that His ways work. When nothing else works, His ways work. Right? So Lord, let us be that church, that You’re glorified in our midst, that we give You glory, that our lives give You glory, that this church, Father, accomplishes Your plan for Your glory. Father, let our money come with the mission. Do with us what only You can do, Father. Take us beyond ourselves in unity, in victory, in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen.
Pastor John Bendixen:
Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. So, get with the program. Hey, come on, I mean, if God’s wanting us to be unified then let’s get with the program. Yeah. You know, all those little things that we rub each other the wrong way, it’s meant so that we can grow closer together and not move further apart. Ja, nê. Won’t you all stand with me, please. Eric, you want to minister from here as well, or you want to move? Praise the Lord. Before I introduce Eric to you, I would like you to just turn to a couple of people and say, “Get with the program.”
I want to say thank you to Nikki for sharing the Word with us. You know, it’s a wonderful thing when, as a pastor, you’re ministering something, and then someone comes and confirms something and it just allows us all to be elevated together. Thank you, Nikki. And the reason I’ve got you standing to welcome Eric is because he’s so tall that I can ask you to stand and you’ll still see him, you know. So you all know Eric, he’s ministered here before. So why don’t you give him a hand and come and minister to us, Eric.
Eric Deaton:
Thank you, you may be seated. It’s good to be with you. Before I begin, I’ve been instructed to send greetings from Brother Jerry. He said, “Send the people my love, my greetings.” Miss Carolyn. And so greetings from Brother Jerry and Brother Joe, Miss Joyce. We stopped in the office before leaving, the morning that we were flying out to come out here and we stopped in the office for a couple of things – do some business but also to say goodbye to them, and thank them for allowing us to do this and to come see all of you but also to come see little bitty baby Drew. And as we were walking down the sidewalk, we hugged and said goodbye. As we were walking down the sidewalk, we hugged to say goodbye and he said, “Hey,” we turned around, he said, “Make sure you come back.” So I’m under a strict assignment that I must return. However much we fall in love with each other over the next week and a half, I must return. Now I did the gentlemanly thing this afternoon and allowed my wife to go first but I’m thinking that that was a mistake on my part. So anybody else want to come preach right now? Thank you, honey. That was great.
I’m going to tell a little bit about our story today because this is the life that we’ve lived and so I don’t share some of these things to be bragging, it’s all glory to God. But it’s a lifestyle that we’ve lived from the beginning of our marriage. And I want to begin with my favourite scripture and we can all quote it Matthew 6:33. Pastor mentioned it, 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33 NKJV). When I pause like that, I’m looking for a response. When all these things will be added. The Amplified says 33 …seek His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right… (Matthew 6:33 AMP) There’s a way that God has, that is different from the way the world operates and pastor mentioned that. For example, God tells us that we’re to love. When the world says it’s an eye for an eye. Right? That’s a different way of thinking. God says we’re to forgive when people do us wrong. When the world says we’re to get back out and get revenge. God says that we’re to give when the world says to go get. Right? In fact, they say get all you can, can all you get and sit on the can. That’s the world’s ways. So it’s quite different from the ways of God. And this is what Romans is talking about when it says we must renew our minds because we’re born into this world and its way of thinking. And it is indoctrinating people through advertising, through media, through every voice that the world can use to teach the world’s ways that are in opposition to God’s ways. And so by faith, we operate in the ways of God. God’s ways of doing and being right.
And even as a kid, I was saved when I was five, I was called to preach when I was eight or nine. I had an experience with God, an evangelist came to town, “Who wants the baptism of the Holy Spirit?” I went up, got the baptism of Holy Spirit, fell out under the power of God, saw visions of my life, and then kind of just buried it for years and years. And the Lord brought this up again years later. I went on to College, that is where Nikki and I met, in College, and we got married. We moved to the state of Alabama, which is in the Southern part of the United States. Nikki was from the Northern part, Ohio, Michigan area, I was from the Southern part, Louisiana, right next to Texas. And we met in College and got married, she had another year. After that we moved to Alabama. Two years there in Alabama, and to make a long story short, I had gone there, I’d gotten a job and I didn’t really like it, and I could go on about that. But the Lord brought me into this other job that was about sports. Well, I was a guy that, you know, grew up playing sports, and so now I’ve got a job that is in the sports arena. And so I excelled at it. I was Rookie of the Year. This was a new company that was just coming across to the United States. When I came on with them, there were 50 sales reps, when they went bankrupt, there were 300. So it grew. I was Rookie of the Year. They promoted me, and they gave me three states to manage. And then eventually, about five years in, I was managing the whole South East, about 40 sales reps and millions of dollars in sales, budgets or what have you.
But two years into this – I had started this from scratch in the state of Alabama – and I was out pitching a new idea. This was a new concept, and in the arena that I was in, I had built quite a nice business in the state of Alabama two years in. And I’m 24 years old, and I’m making $150,000 and my wife comes to me and says, “I feel like the Lord has been dealing with me to move to Michigan (where her dad was a pastor), and to help with the ministry.” And in my mind I thought, well, I said this out loud, “Honey, you know, we’re making too much money to move, and nobody does that.” So inwardly, I kind of just patted her on the head, “Oh, that’s a nice thought. That’s a nice thought.” And I thought she would forget about it because she said to me, “I’m going to give you one year.” That’s what she said to me.
Well, in that year, in the one year, little bitty baby Drew was born. And so he was born and so I was real busy in the month of August, and that is a busy, real busy time. And so she goes to Michigan with Drew, to spend some time with her family and things. And well, I’m busy, because during that month, it’s go time, you know. So when she comes back, she confronts me on the year thing. I thought we were past all this. And so she confronts me about it. She says, “Well, have you talked to the Lord? I asked you to pray about this. Have you talked to the Lord about this, about moving to Michigan to get involved with the ministry?” She grew up, her dad was a pastor, basically her whole life, most of her life. He is a Word of Faith pastor. I grew up denominationally. So some of the things that she knew, I didn’t know.
When we moved to Alabama, there was a Sunday school teacher named Wayne and Donna Lombard, and they took us under their wing and mentored us. There were all these other young adults, but we had favour with them. And they would take us out to eat, and he would teach me about business, a very successful businessman, very successful. In fact, they just got approved to franchise this new company that they started, a moving company. They got forty out of the fifty states licensed, and they’re currently selling franchises. This was like his third or fourth or fifth business where he bought and sold things. So they mentored us and I found out that God wanted me to prosper. And that’s when I was introduced to Brother Copeland and Brother Jerry. It’s through them. And so I was hearing these messages, we would go to these special Thursday night meetings and I found out that God wants me to be blessed. That was quite different than the message I was hearing at the denominational church, you know. Keep them poor and keep them humble. Saved one day not saved the next. You know, I was constantly repenting. I got saved 197 times because if the rapture came and mom thought if the rapture came and Jesus came, you know, second coming, and she was in the movie theatre, she would miss it. She didn’t play basketball because if she wore shorts, she was going to hell.
So, that’s kind of how I grew up. And so, in 1988, there was a book that came out; 88 Reasons why Jesus is returning in 1988. She made me read that book. They even pinpointed a two week period in September, where Jesus was going to return. I was on my knees for two weeks. And I realised, you know what, they missed it, so. I got educated a little more on, God wants me to be blessed. And so when she confronts me on this, I said, “No.” I mean, I’m in my third year. I built this. I’ve built, I’ve built this business. Look what I’ve done. And it was by human standards, by worldly standards. You know, you got a 25 year old kid now, that’s doing pretty well and a crazy wife that wants to leave it all. Can I get an amen? [Congregation laughs and says, Amen.] I’m not looking at anyone in particular.
So she said, “Well, it’s come to this. Now I’ve given you a year.” She says, “I just want you to know that I know this is God and I’m moving. And you can come if you want to.” I said, “Well, I’ll pray about it.” And so I did, I prayed about it. And the Lord said, “If you do this, I’ll make you number one in the company. And you’ll not go backwards. And you’ll do in your first year what you did in your third year down here.” And so I made the move. Now, my attitude wasn’t great to start with because I grew up in the southern part of the United States, the weather is quite different than the northern part. There’s snow up there. People buy electric shovels to move the snow. [Eric demonstrates shovelling snow] And so I wasn’t used to that. So my attitude wasn’t quite great. But nonetheless, there I was, made the move. It took me about six months to get my attitude right.
Then a preacher came to town and he said, “You.” I was sitting back there, he said, “You, yeah you, come up here.” He calls me up and I’m standing right here at the front, and he has to stand on the ledge to be eye to eye with me. He said, “You were about eight or nine years old, you had an experience with God.” So I knew what he’s talking about. That’s when the Lord called me to preach and gave me visions of my life. And I hadn’t told a soul about that. I didn’t tell Nikki about that. I didn’t even want her to know that. And so, he reads my mail and he says, “I see, I see heel tracks just dragging you all the way up here. Just dragging you but God was laughing all the way.”
After that I began to go to the Lord and all this stuff started coming up in me and where I surrendered my life to Him and was really living Matthew 6:33, ³³ Seeking first the kingdom of God … (Matthew 6:33 NKJV). First. So money aside, what am I seeking? And so we got involved. And the pastor, the man of God, had a heavenly vision from God. As most pastors they have vision, they get a vision, a heavenly vision from God, and then they begin to share it with the people. And as I began to hear what the heavenly vision from God was, and then they would post different things, what God wants to accomplish here in this ministry. And so, our attitude was; we’re going to help the man of God achieve the heavenly vision from God and do whatever it takes to do that. I never had to pray about being asked to do something at the church. I never had to pray about it. “Oh, we need somebody to run the PowerPoint thing.” “Oh, let me pray.” [Eric imitates praying about the matter] “Oh, let me pray about it.” All of a sudden people become so spiritual when asked to do something, they need to pray about it. Well, if I can help achieve the vision of God, whether it be my time, my gifting, my money, whatever part I can play or every part I could play, that’s what I was going to do and so that’s what we did.
Nikki’s dad was going overseas to Ukraine and Russia and we would sow finances into the missions trips he would go on. Television ministry was in the vision and so I had favour. I called a station, a Christian station that was local that covered about three million homes. Am I boring you or is this ok? [Congregation says it is excellent.] So, I call this TV station and they covered about three million people and I said, “We’d like to be on television and what’s the rate and all this?” I had great favour with the guy and over the years, this guy would call me and say, “Hey, we just got a spot come open and would you guys like it?” I’d say, “Ya, we’d love it, how much?” “Ah, we just give it to you.” This happened several, several times where they gave us spots. By the time that Nikki and I, by faith, moved to be with Brother Jerry in Texas, our pastor was on television three times a day, seven days a week. Now, he didn’t do that. He got the vision from God but someone in the body caught the vision from God, that God had given the man of God and said, “What can I do to carry out this process?” And that is how God has set up, that is how the church is supposed to operate because there’s different gifts and different abilities, different talents that are in this room that make up the body. We can’t all be the head. We can’t all be the foot, the arm, the leg – there’s different functions. So, when you talk about all for one and one for all – cut off a limb and see how that goes. Your body feels that.
And so, that was our deal, that was our mission. We were going to do everything we can. He said, “Guys, I want you to, we don’t have a youth group. We want you to go and start a youth group.” He flew us out to Tulsa, to a ministry there, a youth conference and we had to learn how to start a youth group. These youth pastors would come up to me and say, “How many do you have in your youth group?” “Zero. How many do you have?” I mean, I didn’t know that that was the deal. I didn’t like that a lot. It actually turned me off to preachers, I didn’t like preachers now. And so, I wanted to say, “How much money did you make last year?” Because that’s the same question to me. How much do you weigh? How much does your wife weigh? Let’s get personal.
I didn’t understand what that had to do with anything because God can take a small amount of people and do a great amount in the world or in the earth. We were a church of 75 people that was sending our pastor all over Ukraine and Russia. There were at least 50 pastors over there that he was like an apostle to. We were on television three times a day, 7 days a week, we had other outreaches in the community. We lived in a town that had 2 000 people and we did a 4th of July celebration that brought 10 000 people on the property from all over. We were all in on the heavenly vision of the House with our time, our talents, and our money.
He said, “Well, part of the vision is we want housing for missionaries so when they come off the field they don’t have to go fundraise to get money, so they go back on the field.” So, part of our mission was we wanted to buy houses, so that they come over, they rest, they sit under the Word, and then we send them back with money. So, we bought a house on the property that was adjacent to the property. And then there were two other houses that came up and so we helped buy the two other houses. Why? Because it was in the heavenly vision that God gave the man of God for the House of God. One of those houses we bought outright and deeded it over to the church.
We help pay off the church mortgage. If the church could be out of debt that would change a lot. So, let’s do this. Let’s pay off the church mortgage then. What’s it going to take? $125,000 at the time was what it was down to. We can do this. We’re getting from the church, “Guys, we can do this.” What’s your part? So, we go to the Lord, “Lord, what’s our part?” So, the Lord told us to give x-amount. That’s all the money that we had in the bank saved up. The amount that He told us to give was every bit of our savings. “Are you sure, God?” Like Brother Jerry said, “Lord, that’s not the way things work down here.” You know, people save money. And then You’re saying, “Just empty it.” Twice. Twice that happened.
My mom used to always say this, well she said two things that stuck with me all these years. Number one; be Christian. Especially to my sister. “Eric, be Christian, be Christian to her.” We started talking back, talking ugly, talking about people – be Christian. “It’s not Christian to talk about people.” But then the other thing that she said that stuck with me, all my life; only what’s done for Christ will last. There’s eternal value.
It’s amazing to me – here’s my note (a $ bill) – it’s amazing to me what people will do for this. I could call up two or three or four of you and make you do really silly things and you would do it because of this (money). There’s television shows where people do crazy, crazy things for this (money). And I always think it’s funny on our money, on the American money, it says on the back, In God we trust. So even money is trying to tell people to trust in God. In God we trust.
And so, Romans chapter 12 talks about motivational gifts, different from the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And motivational gifts are gifts that are innately in you. Normally people are dominant in one of these gifts. And for me, it was giving. So, I was a giver. I was a giver. If that’s not your tendency, then you can do it by faith and you learn about giving and receiving. But I was a giver. But you know that you can give with wrong motives. And God’s very interested in the motives of our heart. And He said, man looks on the outward appearance, in Samuel, but the Lord looks on the [Congregation member answers; heart]. Very interested in the motives of our heart. And so, I want to point this out to you in Matthew chapter six, verse 19. It says, 19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your, what, heart will be also (Matthew 6:19 NKJV).
So, it’s kind of the same thing what Nikki talked about – the motives of our heart. To me, what this verse is talking about is what do we value? What do we value? Let me ask this question because nobody in here is going to say, “I value money,” because it’s Money with a Mission conference. I mean, you’d be silly to speak up and say that right? So let me ask a better question. What does God value? What does God value? This is where you respond verbally now. Somebody said, people. God values people. Does God value this (money)? Does God need this (money)? There’s streets of gold. There’s a gate with a huge pearl. There’s jewels everywhere. He doesn’t need money. So, He doesn’t value money. So, He doesn’t think in terms of money.
When He, when Jesus came on the earth, and He began to say, 33… seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, all these things will be added on to you (Matthew 6:33 NKJV), He was taking man back to the Garden of how God intentionally set it up, just like Pastor John was saying. And then He went to Noah, and then He went to Abraham. And when He went to Abraham, God said this, 2 … I will bless you …and you shall be a blessing (Genesis 12:2 NKJV). The Amplified says, 2 …dispensing good to others (Genesis 12:2 AMPC). You will be a blessing, dispensing good to others. So when Jesus came on the scene, and how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit, and with … and He went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. So this blessing was to do good.
And so when my heart motives got right, it was in 2009, the company I was working for, and had made all this money with, they filed for bankruptcy, and 300 independent sales reps on the street now. And they were all just frantically running around and what are we going to do? What are we going to do? And Nikki and I went to Prayer Mountain to Billye Brim’s ministry – they have cabins there to pray – to find out what God would want us to do. It’s not long after this that the Lord spoke to me with that verse and said, “You are to be a blessing dispensing good to others,” and He gave me this picture. And do we have that picture? I want to show that.
This picture is of this giant gumball machine. Now there’s some of them that have the little ramps, so you could see through it and they have a little ramp. So when that ball comes out, it goes down a little ramp. But He said, “You’re the dispenser to be a blessing dispensing good.” So you were to be a blessing dispenser. And He said, “I will supply what’s in the dispenser, so you’ll never run out.” It’s the most disappointing thing for a child to come up to a gumball machine that has no gumballs. But what joy it brings to a child.
I remember we would go to this Chinese restaurant and every time they had these little, little gumball machines and little things set up in the lobby and every time on the way out Drew had to stop and put a quarter in the dispenser, twist it and get a gumball out. And it brought such joy to him like, it’s a little more than a quarter today to bring joy to him. How times have changed? But look at this little child, it brings such joy to him. But it brings more joy to us when we’re able to do that for someone, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And so my heart motive began to change that this isn’t about, you know, checking off another thing off the list. This is about doing good. This is about valuing what God values. God values people.
Now it’s given to the missions trips, and we wanted our pastor to go first class, so we’re given extra to that. And he was going 8,10 times a year. I couldn’t go because if I go with him, then, you know, I was leading praise worship for 16 years. And so somebody’s got to stay home and preach. So there was a season there, where we didn’t go but we gave so that he could go – there’s one that is sent and there’s one that is the sender. You can be the sender through finances. And so he would come back from these missions trips and say, we would say, “How was it?” “Oh, it was great.” And that’s all we get out of him. Like, “What are you talking about? Like, tell us more, like what happened?” And there would be people that because drugs were such a big thing over there, they were barren, they couldn’t have children. And so he would pray for them. And they had an anointing for people that wanted to have children. And so they would lay hands on people and then they would go back a year later, and there would be children. And so they were calling him the grandpa because it was years people couldn’t have children, they were barren and now all these miracles and things. So me as someone that was sending through my finances took part in all of that. There will be adults in heaven that I will meet that I was part of putting them on the earth. If he doesn’t go, there’s no miracle for them.
So now my motive shifts when I go and I see it for myself. So, we go to Siberia, we’re in a church. So, Nikki and I both went on this trip, it was one of our first trips. You know, we didn’t even miss, I’m not bragging, I’m just saying this is how committed we were. It was probably 10 years before we missed a Sunday service. We were committed. And when we went on this trip, we heard all these things but it’s something to be able to see it. I say everybody should go on a missions trip. At least once so you can see it. He’s preaching and there’s a word of knowledge about a big toe, a big toe. And some guy comes up after the service and says, “That was me. I can barely walk my toe. But look, look at me now, look. I can lift up on my toe.” A big toe, God cares about a big toe. We are in a setting of 500 people; he calls out a big toe, it’s being healed right now. There’s a deaf ear that was called out. Someone’s ear popped. They came up after, “I was the one that had the deaf ear.” So, I’m just sitting there and listening to all this, to the interpreter. And then this lady comes up and she comes up, she’s on a cane and she’s dragging her foot like this. Dragging her foot and she comes up for prayer. So Nikki and I and her dad – you remember this? [Eric speaking to Nikki]. We lay hands on the top of her head and just begin to lose the anointing of God, the healing anointing of God comes on her. And so he says, “Let’s walk.” So, I’m on one side and he’s on the other and so she’s you know, picking up, doing like this. [Eric demonstrates how the lady walked] Doing like this, and she’s got us both like this. [Eric demonstrates how the lady held onto him and the pastor] And on the third step, she picked up her leg, all of a sudden her leg straightened like this and she set it down like this. And Nikki sees it and she goes, “Oh my God, oh my God!” And so there she’s walking, and she’s walking normal like this. And she turns around and walks this way. She pushes me off of her and she pushes pastor off, she starts walking by herself back and forth. She’s walking normally. So much so that she walks right out of the building rejoicing. And I was like, “Hey, wait, wait, wait, we got to take a picture so our congregation will believe what’s happening on the missions trips.” She walked up four flights of steps to the meeting the next day. Totally, completely healed. All those years where I was sowing and giving to the vision.
So, I’ve never thought, I don’t give to a need. A need is an opportunity for me to give to God. I give because let me ask you this question, why does God give? 16 For God so loved the world that He gave … (John 3:16 NKJV ). That He gave. So if I’m like God and I love like God, then I value people because people will live forever in heaven or in hell, their souls. He’s not willing that these should perish. So, whether I’m the one that goes, or whether I’m the one that sends with my finances, I have a part, I have an eternal part and I take something that is not eternal, that you cannot take with you (money) and this can have an eternal impact. That is money with a mission – to take this (money) and do something eternal with it. That deserved a lot more, amens than that. Because that’s now, you have an eternal impact in your pocket right now, something that can make an eternal impact. That’s amazing to me because God never forgets a seed sown. So all the times, Church, all the times where you’ve given, you weren’t the one that went on the missions trip. Simon was just telling us about the time where he was in the hospital in one of the countries they went to, this man had a huge growth on his neck that they prayed for. Maybe you didn’t make that trip but Simon was there, in your behalf, in God’s behalf, making an eternal impact. Only what’s done for Christ will last. That’s a good lesson by Mama.
So when you see people’s lives get changed, and you’re giving your finances … Somebody says, “Well, I don’t know what they do with that money.” That’s not your business. That’s not, you know, we can’t manipulate or control with our money. Who are we giving it to? Were you giving it to a man or were you giving it to God?
I remember one time, a travelling minister, he was going up to the Philippines, and I felt led by the Lord to sow into his trip. “Lord, how much do you want me to give?” He told me, so I gave that amount. We will say, “Well, we give out of obedience.” Jesus said “If you love me, you will obey.” Everything comes back to love. Everything in the Kingdom of God is love. It’s the culture of the Kingdom. Faith works by love, it’s the culture of the Kingdom. Love is … So I gave x-amount. Well, he ended up not going on that trip, and I said “Lord, what about this?” And he came back to me and said, “Eric, thank you for sowing into that trip. I’m not going to go on that trip. Do you want your money back?” Most, probably wouldn’t do that, but he did. I said, “No, I didn’t give it to you, I gave it to God because God told me to.” Once it’s out of my hands, it’s in the Lord’s hands. And He is the Rewarder. So if I’m only giving to man, then I will have a man’s reward. But if I’m giving to God, I have an eternal reward. And this is important because when you talk about business, and you put this heart into the business, now every potential client is an opportunity for me to love. And if I truly love people, and I’ve got a solution for them now. I have a solution for you that I believe is best for you. That takes on a whole different deal. Now you can minister to people out there. That’s a whole different motive of the heart.
So when Jesus is dealing with this, about seeking first the Kingdom – and I’ll wrap up here – He’s going through all these things, saying just like back when God blessed man – blessing, authority and dominion and seed. He had given man provision. He was providing for man through seed. And so when Jesus brought this back in Matthew chapter six, He was saying, 33… seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, all these things will be added on to you (Matthew 6:33 NKJV), He’s talking about the birds, the grass. How much more valuable are you than they? They don’t live forever. I know some people think that their dogs are going to heaven. And that is cute. Maybe you’ll see Fluffy, maybe you won’t. I’m not going to go there anymore.
So when Jesus says, dealing with this, He’s bringing it all back, saying “I’m your Provider. You dispense for someone else, you are to provide or dispense or be a blessing to someone else. I am your Provider. I’m your Provider. You dispense to others, I’m your Provider, your El Shaddai. You dispense to others, you be a blessing dispenser. I’ll provide for you”. Because the world teaches that I’ve got to go to work to provide for my family. But God’s view of a job is a means by which He can bless you so that you can bless others. And He uses different ways to do that. So I am not my own provider. So with that in mind, now I go to work, thinking that God is my Source. This is a way that He is blessing me as my Source. He gave you favour. He gave you favour for promotion. He gave you an idea, a business, whatever it is, it’s a tool, a way for Him to bless you so that you can bless others.
What is the Ephesians one? Let him who steals no longer steal but let him work so that he may have something to give. So work takes on a different heart motive. There is an old commercial, the guy’s getting up to go to the donut shop. “It’s time to make the donuts. It’s time to make the…” [Eric imitating a man’s posture not very enthusiastic about going to work] I go now with a different idea that God has blessed me with this, so that I can bless others. Now, my posture there should be completely different because I’m a representative of God and He gave me this, so I want to be a good steward of what He gave me. Jesus said the money is the least. And yet so many people struggle with it. He says, “He who is faithful in the least…” Speaking of money. So He will not move you on, maybe say… He can’t move you to your own business until you’re faithful with what He’s already given you. And He’s the Judge of that. You’re looking at me with holy stares. I feel like now’s a good time that I must close. Drew start the car out back.
So, when Jesus said, “You can’t serve God and money,” we don’t relate to Him saying, you will love one and hate the other because nobody in here is going to say, “I hate God.” But then He says, “Or you’ll be loyal to the one and despise the other.” Do you know the word despise simply means to have a low opinion of. And let me read you the Greek definition of the word serve. And this is my last point. He said you cannot serve God and money. The word serve means this; having all personal ownership rights assigned to the owner. It also means; to willingly give over the prerogative to be self governing.
So when I come to God, I exchange, I exchange. You guys should have been like the biggest ‘amen-ers’ today. Like where’s the fire? I exchange my life for His. For me to die is [Congregation member answers; Christ], for me to live is [Congregation member answers; gain]. So Christ is now the One that governs me. Every part. The Amplified says you can’t serve God and money or whatever that’s trusted in. Whatever it is, that we’ve made an idol. Because here’s what I’ve come to know about God. Because my capacity naturally is limited. But when I let God govern me, I tapped into a grace. I tapped into anointing that took me beyond my ability. You can tap into an anointing and a grace that takes you beyond your ability. They did it in second Corinthians 8. He says, in their poverty, they gave liberally with joy. Yes, and even beyond their ability. We don’t need a 1500 member church, although that would be nice. But God can take this church with this people and accomplish His will in the earth. It’s His Heavenly vision. The vision is from God and so if it’s from God, that He is faithful to perform His Word. And folks, now’s the time. Now’s the season.
I want to read a scripture over you today. Would you stand as I read the scripture over you, pray over you? It’s found in Ezekiel 34, and it says this, 26 I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing. ‘Them’ talks about you, you’re them. Turn to your neighbour and say; you’re them. 26 I will make them and the places all around them a blessing and I will cause showers to come down in their season (Ezekiel 34:26 NKJV). If there’s ever been a time in the earth, where it’s this season for the people of God, now is the time. Exodus chapter eight says, the Lord says, after you know, three or four plagues had come out, He says, “My people will no longer experience these things. I will make a difference between My people and the people of the world.” That’s the season that we live in. We’re living in Isaiah chapter 60, 1 Arise, shine; For your light has come! (Isaiah 60:1 NKJV). In other words, it’s your time for the glory of the Lord will rise upon you. Darkness will cover the earth, gross darkness to people. Aren’t we seeing that? It says but the Lord will rise over you, your light will shine. There will be a difference. So He says, 26…I will cause showers to come down in their season (Ezekiel 34:26 NKJV). There shall be showers of blessing. The Amplified says, 26 …blessing [of good insured by God’s favor] (Ezekiel 34:26 AMPC). Blessing of good insured by favour. Dr Savelle teaches blessing empowers us to prosper but favour gives us opportunities. There’s going to be opportunities for you to operate in the blessing. He says showers blessing. If you look that up one of the words means downpours. So what God is saying is, “You’re going to be so good and drenched with My blessing and My favour now in this season.” To do what? To accomplish His will in the earth. Pastor Sharon and I were just talking, we’re living in an accelerated time. Things are being sped up. That means things that took 10 years may only take one year or one month. But to bring all this back, to put yourself in position for this, we must have a heart that is toward Him. Seek first the Kingdom of God. Above all else.
The life of faith is truly an adventure. It’s an adventure. It’s adventurous. They were just talking last night, our life begins every day because it’s an adventure. Who wants a monotonous life? Well, at least I know what I’m getting. Yeah, that’s your problem. You settled. Maybe nobody in here. Or maybe… Father, Lord, I pray this prayer over this wonderful, wonderful group of people, Your Church. Your Church divinely positioned in this nation. And Father, I thank You for showers of blessing. Showers of blessing. There will be no lack. Lord, that you will accomplish this heavenly vision through these people that You called into this Church. And we thank You, Father, we thank You that it is our time now in the earth. And we give You praise for it. And if you receive that say; Amen. Say, I receive it. I receive showers of blessing and favour all my life. Empowering me to prosper and opportunities to do so. In Jesus’ name. And make this pledge before the Lord; Lord, I pledge to You I will do my part for this body at Heritage of Faith Ministries International, in Witbank, South Africa. I will do my part, in Jesus’ name. And we all said; Amen. Hallelujah. Thank you guys. We love you.
Pastor John Bendixen:
Hallelujah. Which one is this one? [Pastor John referring to the microphone] Praise the Lord. Well, five o’clock we’re going to have the next session. And then tomorrow morning. How many of you just know that God has challenged us as a ministry today to step up and step into, and to go for the maximum and go for the highest level attainable. So praise the Lord.
I have something going on in my heart right now and I am have been asking the Lord can I just do it later. And He’s kind of saying, “Get it out now.” When God brought a message to us and said I will take the children, God did a whole shift in this ministry where the children had to exchange what the system said is their future, to an exchange for something that God said is their future. The obedience to do that is to challenge the way that the system dictates future.
There are two things that happened at that same time; the one is that the children had to commit to God and the second thing is that the parents had to commit to release them to God. Now, some of the people that are here in MiXchange, their parents are not in the ministry, they’re not in our church. What I’m about to say applies to their parents, even though they’re not in this church. For all the parents that have released their children to God, you would have already been experiencing and you will already know the favour of God that rests upon your life because you put your children in the hands of God rather than trying to tell them and force them into what the world says they’ve got to do. So, parents, the favour is on you, the blessing is upon you because you’ve released your children into the hands of God. That is the first thing. The second thing is you’ve given your children the very best opportunity to excel and succeed in life because you’ve given them into the hands of God, not into the hands of men and people.
What has that got to do with the Money with a Mission Conference? Because, if you are willing to entrust God with your children, then you are capable of trusting God with your money. And if you will hear what God is saying this weekend, you can take a bigger step than you think and you can give more to God than you think and He will back you all the way. He will back you all the way. Because you trust Him, He is compelled to bless you. He is compelled by His Word to honour you. He is compelled to cause the windows of Heaven to pour out. Like Eric was saying, properly soaked, or was it Nikki? I can’t remember now. Properly soaked. Properly soaked with the blessing of God. Hallelujah. And it’s not a surprise to me that God will meet the needs of all of the people that are giving their lives to Him because they’re not giving their lives to the church – they may be functioning in the church, but they’re giving their lives to Him. When you give your life to Him, He will cause you to be blessed beyond what you eat, you drink or you wear, He will cause you to be blessed abundantly. Hallelujah.
I cannot express it in words how strong the Holy Spirit is speaking to me right now to declare that over you that there is more that you can do, there is bigger that you can go for, there is so much more that He’s got for you – higher, bigger, the maximum, the highest level attainable – because if you trust Him with your life, with your children, with everything, your money is just a little thing that you can give Him. Hallelujah.
We really have an opportunity in this church because, I’ve been saying it for a long time, we have been standing and standing for the things that God wants us to stand for as a church. Pastor Sharon and I have fought beasts to get here. Some of you have fought those beasts with us. Now, we are in the exact time frame of God that whatever He is saying, “Go for the highest and the best now, John,” we’ve got to go for it now. If we can’t go for it now, then there will never be another time that we can go for it because His great grace is here, His anointing is here, His favour is here, His power is upon us, God is with us. God is with us! He is with us. He is upon us. He is moving upon us. There is a perfect time for us to go into the maximum, right now, in Jesus’ name. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Praise Jesus.
Thank you, Nikki. Thank you, Eric. You have been a blessing to our ministry, to our church, to our body today. We receive it. In Jesus’ name. Hallelujah. I’m so on fire, I don’t even want to go home. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Jesus. I’ll see you guys at 5 o’clock. Bye.
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