Stewardship

Hello everyone. Welcome, I'm glad you are here, and I'm certainly excited. I'm sure you are as well, and I know you come with great expectation in terms of what you are going to receive today. I can assure you that the Lord has been sharing a lot about this topic, and I know I've received a lot of questions for a variety of reasons, which is great. Some of you are looking for a job. Some of you want to know what to do with your business in terms of finances.

Some of you have questions about whether you should tithe or not. So there are about fifty questions, and I'll get to all of them – is that okay? So as long as you are willing to sit for two hours. I'll let you stretch your legs somewhere in between. I am going to cover a lot of information, and we are trying to record the session so that we can hopefully share it afterwards. I want to encourage you to follow along as I go through everything, because I am going to build on some of the information I start out with.

But if you feel I'm going at too quick a pace for you, don't worry – we will share the recording afterwards, and you will be able to study through it. So can we just close our eyes? Thank You, Father. We want to thank You for this opportunity. We want to allow You to touch us, to speak to us, to minister to us. Thank You for every person that is present, every person that will listen to this message. Thank You, Father, that they hear only Your voice, and are touched by truth and reality, and enabled by Your Spirit to live the life You created them for, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

I'm actually going to cover a few basic concepts first before I get to the nitty-gritty. Whatever I cover at the beginning, in terms of the foundation and the basics, you need to know this. So it is important that you grasp it. There are about five concepts I am first going to cover, which will form the playing field – it will frame the playing field and the rules, so that you know what to do within that.

It doesn't help if I teach you to take a rugby ball and kick for the poles – I teach you to place it nicely on a heap of sand and kick for the poles – but you don't know when to do it. So in the middle of the game you suddenly stop and start packing a little sand heap as you want to put the ball there, and they just run over you and flatten you, because you don't know when and where to do it. So we need to first create the framework so that you can understand.

Firstly, we need to look at stewardship with a certain mindset, and that mindset firstly is that it is all about God. It's important that you follow with me. You might think, "I just want to know about tithing. I just want to know about getting a job, about my business." This is it – this is the answer. This is the framework, the foundation. You need to lay hold of this. You need to understand that it is firstly about God.

Christianity per se, although we make it something like that, is not firstly about you. If you are being taught a doctrine about me, myself and I, and what you can achieve through Christianity for yourself, you are on the wrong road, because it is not firstly about you. We have to accept that it is firstly about God. So everything else we are going to talk about, you need to see within that framework: it's about God, but it is also about what He wants to do through you.

There is a reason you are on this earth. You have a purpose. God wants to fill this earth with His presence. God doesn't want one person to go to hell. So there is something God wants to do through you. That means it is still about God, and firstly about Him, if you allow Him to function through you. But it affects your perspective; it affects your mindset.

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”

Romans 8:5-7 (NKJV)

So we have to ask ourselves, if you want to understand something about stewardship or finances or whatever it is: what is the reasoning behind you asking that question? What is the expected outcome? Is it firstly about God? Is it spiritual? Is the driving force behind what you want to know or do, spiritual?

Or is it all about me, myself and I – my priorities, my desires, what I want? Unfortunately, the world and many Christians have made this thing of God – that God is there to help us, that He is there to focus on helping us get what we want – instead of realising, yes, God helps us through the Word, through the Spirit, I know all of that.

But the perspective of treating and handling God as if it's all about me – I treat Him like a little pocket God, you know, I bring Him out when I need Him and say, "Quickly sort this out, sort that out," and then I put Him back so that He doesn't start making too many demands – doesn't work that way. So be sure that God is first priority and it is all about Him. Whatever you want to achieve through the knowledge you are going to gain today, be sure it is not about you.

It is about Him, and it's about being spiritually focused. Is everybody with me so far? Okay, I'm not going too quickly. Still foundational.

We say to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life. But life is a choice – in the instances we are talking about this afternoon, but in everything concerning your life, and you need to grasp that. Don't sit and think, "I've heard it before." You need to absorb it as if you have never heard it before, because I can tell you, in most of the counselling that I do, people are in the situations they are in because of the choices they make. Life is a choice.

“I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (NKJV)

God puts life in front of us, and He says, "Choose life." God cannot force anybody to do anything, not even to become born again. To become born again, to receive the life of God inside of you, is a choice. God puts that opportunity in front of us and says, "Choose life." So when we talk about stewardship and everything that relates to it – there are different components, and we'll get to every component – you have to understand it is a choice to put God first.

It is a choice to choose life. We assume everybody will choose life; I can tell you it's not the case. Maybe at the stage when they make the decision, they don't categorise it as such, but I want to encourage you: as you start making decisions in your life, start evaluating. Are you deciding in the flesh or in the spirit? Are you choosing life or are you choosing death? You would be surprised if you start evaluating your choices that way.

Remember, this is relevant in every dimension of your life. I can tell you the condition of your marriage today is a result of whether you have made the decision to choose life. The condition of your finances is the result of whether you have made the decision to choose life. Your relationships, your business, your finances – it is a result of your ability to choose life. It is as simple as that, and I'll show it to you from the Word of God.

So we need to understand perspective. Firstly, it's all about God. Yes, you are on this earth for a reason, but let's do a reality check: you are not here for yourself. You are here for Him and because of Him. You are here because God wants to fill this earth with His presence. So whatever your desires are, you need to first channel them through that gate.

Then a whole lot of other things start becoming much easier, but you need to make that choice to decide it is firstly about God. You choose life, and you realise that your life has been dedicated and set apart unto Him. That starts creating a perspective to understand a whole lot of other things.

“Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.”

2 Timothy 1:9 (NKJV)

That's a whole discussion on its own, but let's just focus for now on this: He called us according to His own purpose. The great thing for me is that it's not a burden that God puts on us. It is actually a whole bunch of freedom for me to know that God is in charge. If you go through life thinking it's all about your own ability, your own ambitions, dependent only on your own ability and what you can achieve, it's a burdensome life.

But if you realise you have access to God – not only His ability, but He has the desire for you to succeed, because He placed you on this earth so that you can achieve His goal – why would He place you on this earth to achieve His goal and not help you to succeed at it? But we get it all messed up when we start placing our priorities, goals and expectations above that which God wants to achieve through us.

That is why we experience a lot of frustration and questions, and feel we don't get the answers we need. So firstly, it's all about God.

Secondly, I want to tell you to have an eternal perspective. In recent weeks I have increasingly become aware that we live in this world, on earth, for maybe 80, 90 years, whatever it is, but we live this life as if this is everything, as if there is nothing else. Everything revolves around this life, and we have these ambitions – some people have ambitions about just achieving certain things in life. They want the big house, the big car, the holidays, the recognition, whatever it is, because they think it's all about this physical world. They love everything they have, but it also means they measure everything based on what happens in the physical world.

If you start changing your perspective a bit to realise it is about eternity... I want to ask a what-if question, because I'm going to start challenging you out of your comfort zone a bit. What if your time on this earth has got one purpose only, and that is to prepare you for the next dispensation?

What if that's all it's about – preparing you for the next dispensation? Remember, there are ages to come. By default we already know there is an age or a dispensation coming, the thousand years, during which we are still going to be on earth. We make everything about these, let's say, 80 years, for argument's sake, but the fact is that just after that is going to be 1,000 years to start with – a dispensation of 1,000 years where we are going to rule in this earth with Jesus. And then I'm not even talking about eternity, because after that there are more dispensations, and then we start talking about eternity.

There are things you can do in these 80 years, or whatever it is, on this earth, that you can only do during this time, but that influence what the rest of eternity looks like. So you have 80 years to determine what eternity looks like. Again, if we have an eternal perspective, are those things we make so important and a priority now really going to be that important? Is it really that important what car you drive? Is it really important that you live a lifestyle to keep up with the Joneses?

Is it really that important that you try to impress people with finances and whatever it is, when it's all about eternity and we have a window of opportunity? I don't want to talk about that now, because then you start talking about end times, and then it's nine hours later. But just to start off with, the Bible is clear that the outcome of this dispensation we live in on earth is going to influence what your responsibility is in the thousand years to come.

The Bible says, "Gather treasure in heaven, not on earth." It says, "Be careful what you build with," because if you build with straw, you will enter heaven as if you have walked through fire – you will have nothing, but at least you would have received and have salvation, eternal life, but that's all you'll have. It says, "But if you build with gold," those are things that will go through the fire with you. Now, that's not going to be my emphasis, but I at least need to make this point: you have an opportunity on this earth to impact eternity, and your perspective – not only in terms of your own life, but the lives around you, and the possibility you have to affect eternal life in other people's lives.

It is critical that we have that mindset. So number one is firstly about God. Number two, have an eternal perspective. Don't attach that much value to the things on this earth.

Number three, God is interested in your heart. Don't think you are going to impress God through a whole lot of things that you do, if your heart is not directed towards God. Your heart is not focused on His priorities. God is not so much interested in what you do if He doesn't have your heart. So if you have crossed the bridge on the first two aspects – realising it is firstly about God and that we should have an eternal perspective – now you need to start understanding that it's not just about what you do; it is the whole motivation behind it, where you find yourself in terms of your relationship with God, how important He is to you, how much of a driving force He is in what you are doing, and the reasoning and condition of your heart.

Now you start understanding that this plays a significant role. It's not just the physical things. Two people can do exactly the same thing, but that doesn't mean both have equal eternal value, because God looks at your heart. It even says that the Word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of your heart. The Word of God cannot achieve the same result in everybody's life, even though both have the same knowledge.

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.”

2 Chronicles 16:9 (NKJV)

God is looking for those whose hearts are loyal to Him. So again, we are creating perspective, still through the basics and the foundation we are covering now. Whatever your questions are that you came with, we cannot get to an end result that is a recipe. You cannot just say, "Step one to ten, you must sow this much, you must do that much, you must sacrifice this, you must do that." It cannot just be a recipe, because things like the condition of your heart will influence the outcome, physically and for eternity.

You cannot bypass that.

“Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!”

Psalm 119:2 (NKJV)

You know, of course, that when the Bible talks about your heart, it is actually talking about your spirit. I'm sure most of you have watched the Purpose Series and know all the principles and the basics there, but you know that you are a spirit, you have a soul, and you stay in a body.

So you are a spirit. That is your being, because God is a Spirit, and He created you in His image and in His likeness. So because you have that life form, that is firstly what God looks at. To what extent are you being driven – we touched on it just earlier – to what extent are you being driven by the spirit, which means God's priorities and agenda, and to what extent are you being driven by the flesh, your own desires and your own priorities? God is looking at the heart.

I just love this scripture in John 7:38 that says:

“From your innermost being will flow rivers of life-giving water.”

John 7:38 (AMPC)

There are different translations. That word in Greek is koilia, and the different translations translate it in a variety of ways. That word koilia actually means cavity, the womb, the belly. It's like they can't fully describe it in physical terms. And I love the translation that says, 'From your innermost being.' It's like that place where God is dwelling, that place where God is present, that place where His life form is present.

It says from that place will flow rivers of life-giving water. Can you see why we can't manipulate these things? Can you see that you can't just have a recipe? Because if you don't connect what you do with life, His life, you can't expect it to have life. God showed me this picture long ago about the word, the receipt.

He showed me this principle of the womb, and He said, the seed is the Word of God. There's a scripture that says the word that they received didn't benefit them because they didn't mix it with faith. The Lord showed me this picture about mixing the seed with the egg cell. The egg cell and the seed need to come together. The word that you receive, you need to mix it with faith. You need to give life to it in your innermost being, in your womb, in your belly, in that place that has the ability to give life.

So you receive the word, but it cannot just merely be a set of instructions, because you receive the word, you believe it, you respond to it, you act upon it, and then do you give it life. That's why it says from there will flow rivers of life-giving water, rivers of living water. So every Word of God that comes to you, although it says in the Word, 'Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God,' every Word of God that you receive has embedded in it the ability to produce what it speaks about.

The Word has the ability. No problem with the Word. The question is, do you embrace that truth? Is the condition of your heart of such a nature that it will produce the God kind of life because it is connected to His life and His purpose? Or do you corrupt it like Satan did? Satan was anointed, but he corrupted that anointing, and you can see what the end result of that is. The mere fact that the Word of God tells us what stewardship entails doesn't mean you will see the result in your life, because you need to embrace it.

You need to make it your own. You need to act upon it in faith, and the condition of your heart matters. God is firstly looking at your heart. You can fool all the people around you and do all this charity work. You cannot fool God. I'm not saying there's something wrong with charity work – don't place words in my mouth. I'm just saying, don't try and impress people or God by physically doing things when your heart is not in it. God firstly wants your heart, and then everything will flow from that.

So you're with me so far? Number one is firstly about God. You're going to have to start working with me here. Let's try that again. Number one is? Firstly about God. It's firstly about God. Number two is eternal perspective. Eternal perspective. Don't worry about the eighty years – it's about the next five billion years, okay? Number three, God is interested in your heart. Not dead works. Firstly, your heart. God is interested in your heart.

Okay, now we get to number four. We're still busy with the foundation – don't worry, we'll build up from there. Number four, which shouldn't come as a surprise, it's all about love. Well, you saw that one coming, hey. It was just obvious it had to come.

“But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.”

1 Corinthians 12:31 (NKJV)

And then it explains to us in verse one:

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NKJV)

It's all about love. True love flowing from your heart, love for God, and love for people. Now, you can meditate on this later if it's the first time that you hear it, but I want to say to you, from what I see in the Word of God, it is impossible to love God without loving people. The way you love God is through people. That's how God hedged it. Unless you love people, you cannot love God.

That's not the focus of this discussion, so I'm not going to focus on that too much, but you can go and read it up for yourself. It is important to understand that all of these things are good things. There is nothing wrong with prophesying, with speaking in tongues, with speaking in the language of angels. There is nothing wrong with using your faith to remove mountains, with feeding the poor, and with living a life where you sacrifice your body for Christianity or for Christ.

All of that is good things. But it says, if you do not have love, it profits you nothing. Zilch. Zero. So I'm back to the same point why it cannot just be a generic recipe for everybody. Because if your motivation is not love, it amounts to nothing. Even though in the physical world it might look like something, in the spiritual there is zero substance attached to it.

It will amount to nothing. So again, we can fool the people around us by doing all of those things. God says, 'I'm looking at your heart, and the motivation for what you do and want to do and want to achieve should be love.'

Embedded in that is something really significant, and that is – I've always said there's a point in somebody's life – it's great to become born again, because then you receive eternal life. It is great to be filled with the Spirit. That's great. But the real significant change, once you've got eternal life, the real significant change that happens in somebody's life is the day they truly decide that Jesus is Lord. That it's not about me. He is Lord, which means I put His agenda first. Then, because the two things flow hand-in-hand, the most significant change in your life will be the day – now you need to listen carefully.

Check if your neighbour is awake. Check quickly. Is your neighbour awake? All of them. You have to listen carefully. The most significant change in your life is the day you stop focusing on yourself. Everybody nods. Hmm, hmm, hmm. But have we come to that decision? Have we come to that conclusion, and are we able to live it? Because that is where your life is going to change.

Now, remember, we're building foundation here. We want to know about stewardship and finances and business and whatever else, but we're laying the foundation, and we need to understand the thing that is going to yield results in your life is the moment it's not about you anymore. It's how it is. It's the life that Jesus showed us.

“Love never fails.”

1 Corinthians 13:8 (NKJV)

Who of you want something in your life that never fails? Can I see? Who of you? I'm sure you've been disappointed by people around you. You've been disappointed in this great car that you bought. You've been disappointed in that great woodworking machine that you thought was going to change everything. This contract that you signed that you thought was going to change your life. You've been disappointed. Many things fail. Many people around you that you put your hope on, that you thought, 'This person is really the person that's going to change my life,' and they disappointed you.

But there is something that doesn't fail, and that is love. God has all the answers. We're sometimes just a bit stubborn to learn. We're a bit stubborn to accept that God has the answers, because we'd rather want to tell Him how it works, because we want.

“Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.”

1 Corinthians 13:8 (NKJV)

Can you see again, this is talking about eternal value. It is great in this eighty years that you prophesy, but you know what? After the time on earth, you are not going to prophesy. It is great that you speak in tongues. It's significant. But after this life, you're probably not going to use it anymore. All of this disappears. But the thing that doesn't disappear is love.

So when we want to talk about creating things that have eternal value, it is not this pie in the sky, something intangible that we can't grasp, that we don't know what it is. It is simple. Every moment of sincere, convicted love that you express in this earth builds something that will last forever, that cannot be destroyed. It is simple. It is practical. It's not theoretical. It's not out there where we can't grasp it, can't touch it. It is simple. Love cannot fail. Love does not cease.

It does not stop. It will continue. So again, if you want to apply whatever this is in your finances, in your circumstances, your business, whatever stewardship, you have to understand your motivation needs to be love. Love is the perspective that actually makes that thing you do have eternal value and that will remain, and believe me, that is what you want to do.

Now, it doesn't say in the Word of God that all our problems on this earth are just going to disappear. It's not going to just disappear. The Bible, as a matter of fact, says we will have challenges. The question is, what do we look like on the other side of those challenges? There's something I'll release a teaching about shortly, about things the Lord has been speaking to me about building character. There is a much more significant spiritual component to some of the things that we go through in terms of building character that has eternal value.

But yet we just want to measure it by, did God sort out my life? Did He just respond when I snapped my finger, and He came and sorted out my finances, sorted out my business? It's just this magic stick. Yet God says, 'I want to make somebody of you and through you that looks like Jesus Christ.' Just compare that for a moment. What do you think is more important to God?

I'm not saying it's not part of the package. I'm just saying, think about it for a moment. What is more important to God – your finances, or creating somebody on this earth that looks like Jesus Christ? I'm not saying it's mutually exclusive. I'm just saying it's about perspective. The problem is, if we just want God to produce results in every dimension of our lives, and now it doesn't happen, then what?

Then we start going down this slippery slope of, 'Well, I didn't have enough faith. Maybe it's a generational curse. Maybe this, maybe that.' Now it comes back to works. I didn't do everything right, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't. Yet God just wants to build Christ in you, to say, will you look like Me and function like Me on this earth? It says, speaking about that unrighteous judge, Jesus says, 'But when the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth?'

My interpretation of 'will He find faith on the earth' is, will He find character? Will He find us living His character in this earth? So again, I'm not saying suffer every day so that God can do something with you. I'm not saying that, okay? The Word is filled with enough material. Jesus said in John 10:10, 'I came to give you life, life to the full, life in abundance, life to the overflowing,' et cetera.

So I'm not saying that. I'm just saying, perspective. Again, say to your neighbour, 'Perspective.' Perspective.

Okay, so number four is – let's get everything in context and understand that it should be about love. Love is the thing that will make it last for eternity. Right, so that's the four basic foundations. It is firstly about God. Let's have eternal perspective. God firstly wants your heart, and the context of everything that we do should be love.

So without that framework, it doesn't help if I teach you anything else about finances. Is everybody with me so far? So we've chalked the lines, and you know now what the playing field looks like. So now we can start from there. So now we can start talking about stewardship. So now some of you will say, 'Ha, eventually, that's why I'm here.' Okay, no, you were here for the first part. This is additional. Okay, that was the important stuff. This is just colouring in between the lines now.

So stewardship – firstly, we need to understand, I often refer to finances as the last frontier. Now remember, finances is just a portion of what we are speaking about today. For me, stewardship is much bigger than that. But finances is this topic that – it so happens that in, I think, two and a half years now that we started fellowship, this is only the second time that I'm talking about finances. That's in terms of the things the Lord has said to me regarding priority, where we are at.

So don't think I talk about this every week, okay? This is only the second time in two and a half years. But finances seem to be that thing where you can help somebody become born again, you can fill them with the Spirit, you can change their marriage, whatever – but the moment you want to start talking about finances, then people's hair raise on the back of their neck. But why? There's good reason for it, because it's been so misused and corrupted for physical, fleshly, personal and church agendas that people got so hurt and injured that the moment you want to talk money, people just want to run.

So they've got enough reason for it, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't know the truth about it. But I just want to emphasise again, I want to focus on talking about stewardship today, because for me the picture is much bigger than that, and I'm still not going to go into the detail of finances, because I'm now on the second layer. I've laid the foundation. Now I'm going to put some pillars in place before we actually start forming the house, in terms of some of the questions that you have.

So when we talk about stewardship, this is easy to say but, again, difficult to do. Everything that you have is not yours. So what am I saying? You're a whole bunch of thieves? No, it's not what I'm saying. Who you are and what you have is anyway not yours. It is something that God entrusted to you, and that means your children are not yours.

They are His children. He entrusted you with them, to raise them as God-fearing children so that they can achieve the purpose for which He created them. He created them. He's the only one who can give life. So He created them. Everything that you have – your marriage, your children, your relationships, your business, whatever it is, your physical abilities, your intellectual knowledge, whatever it is – it is something that God has entrusted to you.

Yes, God wants us to enjoy life, but He firstly wants us to establish Him on this earth and achieve the things that have eternal value. So when we want to talk about stewardship, we have to have that perspective, to realise that nothing that you have is yours. And the reason I want to say that is that the biggest thing God wants to talk to you about today is not your finances.

I think you've gathered that already. There are a few other ideas, concepts, principles and priorities that God wants to establish in your heart that are more important. It so happens that there will be a result as an outflow in your finances as well, but there are higher priorities for God than just talking about that and what you want to achieve there. Now, I'm not sure if you're ready to hear this in terms of talking about stewardship.

Who of you are ready to hear this? You don't even know what I'm going to say. Great, I like your faith. That's good. Do you know that God is entrusting His kingdom on this earth to you? In terms of priorities, everything else seems bleak by comparison. When we talk about stewardship, firstly, God's whole purpose for creating the earth was to fill the earth with His presence.

God's whole purpose with sending Jesus Christ was so that Jesus could die and pay for your sins, so that you could be unblemished, so that you can accept Him as your Lord and Saviour, that you can be resurrected with Him, that you can be reconciled with the Father again — 2 Corinthians 5:17-18. We have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation, becoming one with God again, so that God can use you in this earth to achieve what He wanted to achieve right from the beginning, and that was to fill the earth with His presence.

Do you think there's anything else that comes close to that in terms of what He has entrusted to you? His kingdom. Imagine — the Creator of heaven and earth, His number one ambition and purpose in this earth, He has entrusted it to you. And we want to talk about stewardship, about a little bit of money. His kingdom has been entrusted to you.

So when you want to talk about stewardship, you must know that God doesn't just entrust it haphazardly. I don't know how much time you have spent in the Old Testament, but I'm sure even if it's very little, you would have seen in the Old Testament a demonstration of God's character. The Word of God explains that the Old Testament is a shadow of things to come, which means it shows us certain principles so that we can understand in the new dispensation, in the New Testament, what the perspective actually is.

But in the Old Testament, God took it very seriously who was in charge of the people. Whether it was Moses or Joshua, or one of the kings, whether it was David or Solomon, or Abraham, Isaac, Jacob — God spent time with those people. He didn't just leave them. He held them accountable to say, "What are you doing with what I've entrusted to you?" He spoke to them, He guided them, He helped them, He taught them. And when they were not obedient, there were implications, serious implications.

Just think about Moses. The poor man travelled in the desert — who of you have been in the desert? Man, there's nothing there. This guy travelled for forty years, and then another forty years — eighty years in the desert. And because of disobedience, he didn't enter the Promised Land.

Do you think God is just okay with everything? He is not. He takes it seriously. When He entrusts that which is His hope — and through the Old Testament, the Jews were that hope, the Jews were the custodians of God's presence, the custodians of the Word of God — God took it seriously. He would wipe out a nation that threatened to protect the holiness, the purity, and the ability of that vessel to continue to carry forth His presence and the knowledge and the Word of God.

And that's in the Old Testament. Now we are in the New Testament, and God entrusts this responsibility going forward, now that salvation has come for the non-Jews, and God has entrusted it to us. So when we want to talk about stewardship again, we need to get perspective on what God's priorities are.

And you might look at your bank account and say, "You know what, God hasn't entrusted me with much. There's five thousand rand in my bank account. What did God entrust to me? What must I do with five thousand rand? I must be one of those guys who just received one talent, and I'm going to rather go hide it, because what am I meant to do with five thousand rand?" Don't look at the physical. The thing that has been paid for at the highest price is through the death of Jesus Christ.

God sent His only Son, and it was not the Son standing next to Him — the Bible explains that the Word was God, the Word was with God, the Word was in God, and that Word became flesh. God had to rip out His heart to send Jesus Christ to pay the price for us. It was not a small price. So if we want to talk about value, the most valuable thing in existence has been entrusted to you. There is nothing physically on this earth — even if you are Harry Oppenheimer or Bill Gates — that can come close to the value that has already been entrusted to you.

I'm just saying — remember, I'm not saying it's wrong — I'm just asking: why ask God for wealth when the most valuable thing has been entrusted to you already? I'm not saying there's something wrong with wealth. I'm just saying, get perspective. The most valuable thing has already been entrusted to you. And God is very specific.

So I'll read a scripture to you that might hopefully mean something different to you now.

“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Luke 16:10-13 (NKJV)

He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much. So I spoke earlier about God's desire to build His character in us.

You so often find that people will say — let's use a practical term, I'll speak about it later, so don't assume at this stage that it's something I promote, I'm just using it as an example — people will say, "I cannot tithe because I don't earn enough. I only earn three thousand five hundred and seventy-five rand, and what is anybody going to do with three hundred and seventy-five rand if I tithe? It means nothing to nobody, so I'm not going to tithe."

I'm using it as an example. The principle is: people evaluate things in the physical and say, "But what I have doesn't have value, so I will wait until I have something that has value, and then I will apply spiritual principles." I see it in business. People will say, when I ask, "What is the reason for your business?" "No, it's for the kingdom, it's a godly purpose." I say, "Great, so are ours, so let's chat — what do you do through your business that benefits the kingdom?" "No, we're not big enough yet." Okay, all right. Huh, maybe there's a reason for that.

But you cannot wait until you think, "Here is this big thing, now, now, now we're going to do it — now we're going to do the tithing, or the seed, or the kingdom purpose." It doesn't work that way. I've already said God was very particular when He entrusted His people to somebody in the Old Testament, so God is still particular when He wants to entrust things to us. He is looking at all these things we've already spoken about, and He's also looking at whether you're faithful in the small things He's already given you. That's why He says, "Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust true riches?"

So He's saying, "You have had money, but you were not faithful with the money, so now when we want to talk about the real stuff, the things that are important to Me, why would I entrust them to you?" So before we talk about, as far as I'm concerned, the small stuff — tithing and whatever — for me, we need to talk about: are you faithful with what God has already entrusted to you, or are you just saying, "No, it's not big enough yet, it's not significant enough yet"?

I'm not just talking finances. Are you waiting for one day? "One day" is a lie from Satan. "One day I will do this, one day I will change my lifestyle" — it's a lie from Satan. One day will never happen, because you only have today. If you don't make a decision today, you will not make it one day. You need to make a decision now.

It is a lifestyle. It is a dying-to-yourself-and-allowing-Christ-to-live decision that has got nothing to do with what is physically around you, because the true riches are what God wants to entrust to you. But the way we deal with the small stuff is maybe not allowing Him to entrust it to us. That's why He says, "Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon" — which means money, the money system of this world — "who will commit to your trust true riches?"

"And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's" — again talking about the physical worldly systems and money as it is — "who will give to you what is your own?" Remember, you are a joint heir with Christ in the kingdom of God. There is something God has given you already. You're already in the kingdom. He says, "But that which I want to do, can I entrust it to you?" And the significance of that, the value attached to it, the self-fulfilment that is in God allowing you to work in His kingdom and achieve His purpose, is substantially more significant than anything physically in this world can achieve.

Every day, not one day, every day we demonstrate our priorities, our responsibility and our character. Every day, in everything. So when we want to talk about stewardship, I want to tell you: stewardship is today. It is the decision you make today with everything God entrusts to you, which includes the way you interact with other people.

We do not have the luxury to say, "I do not like a certain person." We do not have that luxury. You can only look at people in two ways: one, they are born again; two, they need to become born again. That's all you can see. You do not have the luxury to say, "This guy is a murderer, this guy is this, this guy is that, this guy did that to me." You don't have that luxury. God is entrusting Himself, eternal life, His purpose on this earth — He's entrusting it to you.

But you need to start with the basic things, in terms of how you just look at somebody and how you respond to them in love. It's basics. Don't wait for it to happen in a big way, a big thing, in finances or in business. God says, "How did you just speak to that person? Is that My character that you demonstrated there, or not? If you can't even be faithful in the physical, basic, small stuff that I entrust to you, how do you want Me to entrust true riches to you that will place your life in a totally different place in terms of fulfilment?"

You know why people go on drugs and struggle with so many addictions in life? Because there's an emptiness in them that they want to fill, but they don't realise it is the presence, the relationship, the desire for God to be in them and live through them, that they need — and they chase all these other things instead. The highest fulfilment you will experience in life is through your intimate personal relationship with God. There is nothing else that will give you that. So don't chase after other things when you have true riches.

So just to recap: we're talking about stewardship, and you have to understand it's firstly about God. We have to have the perspective that it is about the things that have eternal value. It has to affect our mindset. God is firstly looking at your heart, because that's the source of life.

You need to connect with Him to have the ability to give life, and it's all about love. Love gives us that perspective; that's the context within everything. And when we talk about stewardship, we need to understand that God has already entrusted to us the most valuable thing on this earth, and it matters what we do with it. Every day we demonstrate our priorities, our intentions, and who is truly God in our lives.

Your actions every day show who is God. It's easy to say God is God, but does your lifestyle and your actions actually reflect it? Or is it just God in theory, while your priorities, your actions, the time you spend, what you spend your time and your money on, don't reflect it? Does it truly reflect that He's God, or is He a by-product that we cry out to when we feel we can't fix things ourselves any more? This influences what God can entrust to you, and that will determine the significance of your spiritual journey.

So stewardship is not just something you apply in a dimension or a portion of your life. Stewardship is a way of life that demonstrates your priorities. Actually, it's not just a way of life, it's a form of life, because eternal life is what gives you access to His kingdom and to eternity, that which is in your spirit. It is actually even more than eternal life — it is life itself that has been entrusted to you. So it is significant.

Let's talk about seed. What's really significant for me when we talk about seed, and what actually makes it very easy and simple, is this: everything in the Word of God is based on the principle of seed. Did you get that? Everything in the Word of God is based on the principle of seed.

And what is the principle of seed? It is this: death in order to give life. Die in order to live. That's the principle of seed. We make something of the principle of seed that sounds very romantic. The reality is the principle of seed is death so that there can be life.

Let me show you John 12, from verse 24. This was Jesus speaking.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

John 12:24-25 (NKJV)

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. Jesus was obviously speaking about Himself, but that is the principle that got transferred into our lives. Unless Jesus died, He would not make it possible for us to receive that life form and be like Him. So if you plant a wheat seed, there's not something else that's going to come up.

That which comes up is going to produce wheat. When Jesus died and was the first to be resurrected, receiving the life form of God and eternity, that life form was made possible and accessible to us because of His death. That principle carries forward through everything in terms of the ability to reproduce.

The ability to give life is based on the principle of seed. So what does God expect from us? Don't think that when we talk about seed, God expects a little something on the side – a little thing that you can intellectually argue about, come to grips with, compartmentalise and package, and say, "Okay, this is what it is, which means I need to do X, Y, Z."

God is not interested in your theories. The same way that God wants your heart, God wants your life. He wants everything. Everything. It's not this principle of, "I give this to God, this little thing, then I can tick the box that I've done what I should have done."

No, God wants everything, starting with your heart. It might mean that you don't have to give certain things, but God wants your heart first, and your willingness to give it. Like Abraham had to offer Isaac – he was fully convinced, ready and convicted. He picked up the knife. He was ready to do it. It was not a show; he was ready. Then God said, "Okay, stop, you don't have to do it." But there first has to be perspective, willingness and understanding.

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”

John 12:24 (NKJV)

If you want much grain, some grain has to die. It's very simple. There's not going to be much grain without grain that dies. That's why, even if we talk physically, or about finances, or whatever, it still applies. But then He says – let's not talk about the small stuff.

Like Paul wrote, "Do I have to cover these basic things again?" – elementary principles. He says, "Do I really have to go through this again?" And then he mentions some heavy stuff there, like being born again, dead works, and all that. He says, "Okay, this is elementary, let's move on to the real stuff." And here He says, okay, this is the basic principle: seed must fall and die so it can reproduce. But let's stop talking about the small stuff, let's talk about the real stuff. He says, "If you love your life, you will lose it."

It comes back to it's all about God. What does He want? How does He function? We can argue about it intellectually and justify as much as we want, but God is God. The problem is we don't often treat Him like that – we want to be God, we want to tell Him how it works. The peace of God surpasses understanding: there, where you are functioning at your ultimate intellectual ability, it's like God hasn't even started.

So let's not try to figure Him out intellectually. Let's not try to tell Him how things work.

“He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

John 12:25 (NKJV)

Do you want eternal life? Sow your earthly life. Whatever your priorities are, whatever you spend time on, sow that, and say, "God, what is it that You want me to do?"

A willingness and a focus – obedience cannot come unless you hear God's voice. Above all else that you seek to understand, you need to seek wisdom. You need to have the desire to spend time with God. When we talk about sowing your life, how about you decide that Friday nights you are not going to socialise or watch movies anymore?

Friday nights, you are going to spend four hours in the presence of God. How about that? But we want to live our lives, do everything we want to do, and then say, "Okay, so what? Yes, you know what, God, here's five minutes for You. Look at me, here's five minutes for You. Look, I read the Bible, I did what I needed to do." And we think God must be impressed. He says, "If you want to keep your life, you will lose it."

He expects us to make Him priority.

Now, when I talk about spending time with God – why is it important? Because if you don't spend time with Him, you're not going to hear His voice. If you don't hear His voice, you cannot be obedient. It might be that when He talks about your life, God says to you, "It is fine, whatever you are doing in your life, continue with that. I don't expect that from you, I don't expect you to change that. But here's one thing that I expect you to do." And it's specific.

I said to you in the beginning, we can't come with a recipe and say, "This is what must happen." When my life changed ten years ago, there were a few things God said to me I could not do anymore. Giving up alcohol was one of them. The rest is not necessarily relevant now. But that doesn't mean it's the same for everybody. If I hadn't spent the time and built the relationship with God so I could hear Him, I could not have been obedient in the thing that God wanted me to sow.

So don't think, "Oh, what life am I going to live? God wants everything – now I'm going to live this terrible life." No, you will have more joy, more fulfilment. I live a life now, in terms of fulfilment in His presence, that I didn't know was possible. I would not exchange it for this whole world and all the wealth in it. I would not. So don't think you are going to give away much and it's going to be a burdensome life.

No, it's exactly the opposite. For the first time you will really live. You will experience the joy, the presence, the fulfilment that you were seeking in other things. But it takes at least the sacrifice of spending time with Him, so that you yourself can hear His voice.

So you get that part – seed is a spiritual law, and everything in the world is actually based on that. Your life, the eternal life that you were able to receive, was based on the fact that Jesus was willing to give His whole life. His whole life. He didn't come and say, "Father, You know what, rather take both my arms, chop off my arms, I'm willing to give that." It would not have been enough. He had to give His whole life to reproduce Himself. Unless that grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it could not reproduce.

Make the decision, when you want to know about stewardship: make the decision and acknowledge that you sow your whole life. And then listen to what God tells you to do, because it is specific to you. I cannot stand here and give you a recipe and say, "Start changing all of that." You need to hear. But I know that at least for you to hear, you need to make Him priority and spend time with Him.

Not the religious habit thing – I mean with intent. Spend time with Him in your inner room. Close that door. Spend time with Him, pray, listen to worship music, speak to the Lord, express your desires, allow Him to speak to you and guide you, and then you will be able to start knowing what it is that He expects from you.

We all together form the body of Christ, which means we are not all thumbs. Which means what God expects from me is not necessarily the same as what He expects from you.

So we can't just throw a blanket over it and say, "Because the thumb does this, now everybody must do that, because we're all thumbs." We're not all thumbs. Yes, we've covered the foundation, we've covered the pillars – there are things that are common in terms of the journey we are on, and the fact that God must be priority number one. We've established that. But the changes in your physical day-to-day activities, the priorities in your life, are going to be different, because there may be things standing between you and God.

Playing online games till 2am every morning while you spend five minutes in the Word a week is not going to cut it. I don't even have to hear God's voice to tell you it's not on. It isn't. Anything that you spend more time on than spending time with the Lord – I can tell you already, get rid of it. It's very simple. You don't have to make a big thing out of it. It's whether you want to move forward or not.

I read to you earlier, everything is about a choice. Choose life, choose death. God says, "I put in front of you life. Choose it." If you don't choose it, He can do nothing about it. But it's not rocket science. He puts it in front of you – even today, as I am speaking, the Holy Spirit is already speaking to many of you about things you need to get rid of in your life. Not because it's a burdensome thing or a religious thing – it's not that. It's preventing you from having an intimate relationship with your Father, so that He can speak to you and achieve through you what He wants to achieve.

So just listen to what He's saying. You don't need me to convince you of anything.

The way to reproduce in life is through seed. The Bible says every seed produces after its own kind. So we decide every day what it is that we will see in our lives a week, a month, a year, or ten years from now.

You decide that. It's not this thing where we don't know what's lying ahead and, "Who knows what God wants to do in my life." It's not like that. Every seed produces after its own kind. You decide daily, through your thoughts, your intentions, the words you speak, the way you interact with people. Through that, you decide what the harvest will be that you reap in your future life – tomorrow, in a week, in a month, in a year.

It's not a secret. It's not rocket science. You need to understand that the principle of life just works that way. It is seed. Every single thing that you do is seed. Everything – what you spend your time on, what you say, what you think, what you do to other people – all of it is seed.

There's an amazing thing that changed my life when I understood it many years ago: there is the person of God, and there are the principles of God. If you understand the difference – the principles of God are spiritual laws, and God has put spiritual laws in place.

If I can simplify it and put it this way: those spiritual laws work regardless. God doesn't have to come and intervene. It works. That's why it says it is more blessed to give than to receive. The way that physical laws work – gravity always works. God doesn't have to come down every time I drop something and personally put it on the floor, because otherwise gravity might not work. No, gravity just works.

If gravity works, how much more do spiritual laws work? It just works. God doesn't have to be involved in person. So for a moment, in many things in your life, take out this back door we have – trying to evaluate Him as a person and say, "But God wouldn't do that." Just park Him as a person for a moment, and understand that everything in this world is based on spiritual principles. So the results you experience in your life are based on principles.

It's the principle of sowing and reaping a harvest. Whatever you sow, it will yield a harvest. It has got nothing to do with God not loving you or not taking care of you or whatever else.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”

Galatians 6:7 (NKJV)

Only verse in the Bible that says God shall not be mocked.

Why? Because we live a certain life, we sow certain seeds, then we come to God and say, "But please come and sort this out in my life." God says, "You're trying to make a fool out of me, because you are sowing thorns and then you expect me to produce sunflowers." It doesn't work that way. That's why He worded it so strongly: God is not mocked.

Don't make a mockery of God. Don't try to make a fool out of God by expecting different results in your life than what you are sowing. Don't expect the person of God to come and intervene when the principles of God should be the things in your life producing the results you expect.

When you want to produce something in your life – let's talk practically now: finances, growth in your business, whatever it is you want to see – if you want to see that harvest, there is a source that will produce it. The seed will produce that harvest. Even the time that you set aside to spend with the Lord, to hear His voice, is a seed – but it is sown in fertile ground. You spend that time so that you can hear, so that God will say to you – just out of the blue – "I prayed last night and God said certain things to me and showed me certain things," and then the next day somebody phones you and says, "Do you want a tender for this project?" Do you think that's a coincidence?

God says, "What you sow is what you shall reap." So there is a responsibility that we have. If we want to produce something, we need to apply the principle of seed. And hear me well on this – I am not just talking about finances. It concerns everything in your life. If you want to have good relationships with people on this earth, you need to sow into relationships. You need to be authentic. You need to stop speaking behind people's backs. If you do that, that is seed you are sowing that will produce good, sustainable relationships in your life.

If you haven't been able to figure out why you have not been able to maintain a proper relationship in your life, it is the harvest of bad seed that you are sowing. It's got nothing to do with God punishing you. God says, "You want a different result?" I think it was Einstein who said, "It is insanity to keep doing the same thing and expect different results." God says, "You want a different harvest? Sow different seeds." It's as simple as that.

“For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

2 Peter 1:8 (NKJV)

It's impossible. If you have the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and His priorities inside of you, it is impossible to be unfruitful. You will produce a harvest. But you have to decide what the seed looks like.

I want to talk briefly about – I'll touch on this in connection with what I've spoken about, seed, because seed is spiritual in principle. Seed is spiritual. You have to accept that. There is not a seed on earth today that was man-made. It could have been manipulated, but there is not a seed that has been produced by man.

No matter how clever the scientists are, they are not able to make a seed from nothing. It's not possible. So all the seeds available today on this earth came from seed that God placed in this earth originally. It is still the harvest of those seeds. They could have manipulated it, modified it genetically, but they cannot make a seed, because there is something in the core of that seed – the life, the heart, the ability to give life – that man cannot make.

But we can utilise the ability that God gives us.

So when we talk about giving, I want to start explaining some aspects relating to that. We touched on it now, but let me read that verse again – starting with 2 Corinthians 9, which you probably know very well. As soon as you start talking about giving, this is the verse that people start reading.

“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”

2 Corinthians 9:6 (NKJV)

It's the same principle we spoke about now regarding seed. Now I'm taking it practically into people asking about giving: What should I give? How much should I give? Who should I give it to? It is still a spiritual principle. Seed is a spiritual principle. So it says here, "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." And you just heard the verse, Galatians 6:7, that says, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, he shall also reap."

Let's go to the next verse as well, verse 8.

“For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

Galatians 6:8 (NKJV)

So again, remember, going back – you need to decide what your purpose is, what your focus is.

Is it about me, myself and I? So now I want to sow something because I want something for me, okay? It's totally all about me. Versus, is it about God? Is it about what I want to achieve in the kingdom, in the community, in line with His purpose? That's why it's interesting to notice that it says, "he that sows to the Spirit," whereas the part before that says, "he that sows to his flesh."

“He who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

Galatians 6:8 (NKJV)

So that means it's me, myself and I – he that sows to his flesh shall reap corruption. But he that sows to the Spirit shall reap eternal life. You need to distinguish the two. That is the two verses that follow the one before, which says, "God is not mocked, whatever a man sows he shall also reap." Going back to 2 Corinthians 9:6, it says:

“He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”

2 Corinthians 9:6 (NKJV)

Now, remember, I touched on it earlier: have churches corrupted these scriptures in terms of applying them for personal gain? Most definitely they have. Yes, they have. But does that change the underlying principle and ability in that principle? No, it doesn't.

If I have a four-by-four and I drive to Tiger Valley and I park on the pavement and I get a ticket when I come out, is the problem the four-by-four? Is the four-by-four wrong? No. How did it get there? I made a decision to break the law and park on the pavement, and I got a ticket. That same four-by-four can be used very usefully if you go to the Atlantis Dunes – you should try that if you haven't – and you have a great time in the dunes with the four-by-four. You don't bother anybody, you don't break any laws, you've got your certificate, your permit to be there. Great. The same four-by-four – I can use it for good stuff, or I can use it to break the law. Nothing wrong with it, exactly the same four-by-four.

So let us not lose the value in a spiritual principle just because some people have corrupted it. Don't use that as the back door to say, "Yeah, but look at that pastor in Africa, look at the car he's driving, he's flying a plane, he's doing this and that, he's stealing all the money that we are tithing." So that justifies that you don't sow a seed – is that what you're saying?

“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”

2 Corinthians 9:7 (NKJV)

Now we come back to the principles, remember? The foundation is now affecting what we are talking about. "Let each one give as he purposes in his heart." You can't properly discuss this verse without going right back to the foundation we laid, that it is all about God, it is about eternal value. God is firstly interested in your heart, and the context of everything we do is love. That is the playing field. That is the foundation. Everything else can only be built on top of that.

So when we get to sowing, you have to take all of that into consideration. And now God says, if you are going to sow, make sure that you sow as you purpose in your heart. You cannot do it just because somebody tells you to.

Now I'm going to start getting into some of the practicalities, some of the questions you have. Let's quickly touch on this thing called tithing. I'm not against tithing, but I think there is something greater than tithing. I know all the explanations – tithing comes from before the law, so it's not part of the law, so it's in essence not an Old Testament principle. There's nothing in the New Testament that talks about tithing; it's only once coincidentally referred to, and that was Jesus referring to it, so that means it was still before Jesus ascended, so it's still before the New Testament.

So I know all of that. The essence doesn't change in the fact that whatever you are going to do, measure it against everything we've already discussed. In terms of God, firstly, it's about Him. It's His priorities. It's His purpose. He has put you on this earth to fulfil His purpose. He has entrusted a whole lot of things to you that He expects you to benefit the kingdom with.

So for me, if I can be truly honest, I don't like it when somebody asks me whether they should tithe or not. Because I can tell you – maybe I'm exaggerating – but 90% of the time, the reason for that question is not a good reason. In actual fact, the reason people ask that question is only to back out of it, to say, "Phew, tithing is an Old Testament principle, we don't have to do it anymore."

So let's park tithing. Let's say tithing is not relevant. Then what does God expect from you? What is it that He expects from you? We shouldn't even be talking about 10%. Let me get back to the point I'm touching on here: it says, "Every man should sow as he purposes in his heart." So firstly, if you want to sow – and we know in many religious environments people are hyped up, very much forced and pulled into sowing, and told of all the benefits they will derive from it.

But I have a question mark, because how much of that sowing is really connected to your heart and your conviction? Or is it based on somebody telling you that you should sow, or you getting hyped up about all the things happening and the promises or blessings that are made, or somebody saying to you, "But if you don't tithe, then God will take it from you"? Are all of those playing a role in terms of what your actions are? Or can you get to the point where you can truly say, "I am sowing as God purposes in my heart"?

Now, before you use that as a back door, I am not saying you just say, "Ah, you know what, I don't have it in my heart, so, phew, great, I don't have to sow because I don't have it in my heart." No, no, no. I'm saying to you that this verse at least means you are spending enough time with the Lord so that He tells you what you must do – not an easy cop-out by the back door to say, "Well, I don't want God to speak too loud, because maybe I have it in my heart to sow and I don't want to sow."

No. Spend time with Him and hear what He says, and then respond to that. To sow in the flesh will not reap a spiritual harvest. You cannot sow because people around you are sowing. You sow as you purpose in your heart, but that does not take your responsibility away to go and listen to what God is saying to you. Then it says "not grudgingly," which ties in with that.

Here's an important one: "or of necessity." In many religious circles this is used to say, "Okay, but you don't have X, Y, Z in your life, so to get that, go and sow this." So your sole reason for going to sow this – they often refer to it as a precious seed – you take that thing that really means a lot to you because you are desperate and you need a job or a business or whatever, and you take that thing and go and sow it.

But all that it's about is you waiting, because you have an expectation that all of a sudden you are going to land this great job or this great tender or whatever. That was your sole purpose for sowing. By default that is inconsistent with what the Word of God explains to us, because it's all about me, myself and I. That goes back to sowing in the flesh. How is that different from sowing in the flesh? You cannot say it is.

It says, "not of necessity." Now you need to listen carefully, because this runs very close to other principles I'm going to touch on. Don't mix the two. Here we are talking about the fact that you cannot go and sow because you have a need, with your sole expectation being that now, because you have sown, you have placed a responsibility and a commitment on God – He must now produce. You're going to snap your fingers and say, "Haven't you seen? I sowed a precious seed. So when are you producing?" It doesn't work that way. It says, "Do not sow" like that.

I'll get back to the principle that runs close to this. It says, "For God loves a cheerful giver." So if you thought you're going to cop out by the back door and say, "It's not in my heart," you've got something to work towards. The only reason you don't have it in your heart is because you're not spending enough time with the Lord. So go spend time with Him so that you get a conviction for yourself, and the Lord will tell you what to sow, when to sow it, where to sow it, to whom to sow it. He will tell you. And then you will do it, and it will be the greatest thing you do, because you will be cheerful about it. You will have a desire to make a difference, for instance, in somebody's life. Totally different mindset and perspective, which will yield different results.

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NKJV)

So what is the purpose of this whole discussion about sowing? None of this was the focus here – let's just call a spade a spade. It's not saying, "So that you can be rich." That's not what it's saying. It is saying the principle of seed will produce a harvest, and that harvest in your life you will be able to continue to use in the kingdom, in the faith community, the body of Christ, the community in which you function.

You have a responsibility towards that, to be able to sow into it, to be able to make a difference. And God says, "always having all sufficiency in all things," but it ends off with the purpose: "may have an abundance for every good work." Not abundance so that you can live a higher lifestyle – abundance for every good work. We need to understand something here, and that is, again, God is entrusting things to us. The first principle is that He is entrusting it to us.

“As it is written: 'He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.'”

2 Corinthians 9:9 (NKJV)

So He is a good God, He gives to everybody. He makes it rain on everybody – whether you are born again or not, it's not just the born-again people the rain falls on, it falls on everybody. God gives to everybody liberally.

“Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness.”

2 Corinthians 9:10 (NKJV)

So God gives you the seed. If you feel you've got 5,000 rand in your bank account, it's not much, so you're not going to do anything because you feel it's not significant – God gave you that 5,000 rand. So listen to what He says. Maybe it's one rand you must sow, then so be it. But you must listen to God. You can't just decide. You must listen to Him, because He says He is supplying seed to the sower and bread for food.

Now, to explain that verse, I'm actually going to go back to the verse it refers to, in Isaiah 55:10:

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.”

Isaiah 55:10 (NKJV)

Seed to the sower and bread to the eater. Some people are sowers and some people are consumers. Some people are producers and some people are consumers, and you can decide which one you are. God will give you seed. Very simplistically: if you just eat the seed, you never sow it, you will always just have food. But if you have seed and you sow it, you will always have a harvest.

So God is giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater. If you are a sower, God will give you seed, because He trusts you and He knows you will be able to reproduce it. If you are a consumer, God will always – like in the Our Father – say, "Give us our daily bread." Every day, you will not, believe me, if you are sitting here, you will not die of hunger. Doesn't matter what happens in your life, somebody will take care of you. God will send somebody to at least give you bread. You will always have something to eat, especially if you are part of a faith community. God will always give you bread.

But that doesn't mean that's His first priority. He wants to make you a producer. You need to reproduce His life, His ability, His solution. Remember, God has sent us to be the solution to this earth, whatever the problem is – whether it is people dying from hunger or whatever it is, God has sent us to be the solution. Christians just need to realise it and stand up to be the solution in this earth. So there are two categories of people: producers and consumers.

Going back to what we read in verse nine and verse ten of 2 Corinthians 9 – same principle. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, supplies and multiplies the seed you have sown and increases the fruits of your righteousness. So two concepts: He entrusts something to you – He gives you seed. You either make bread of it and eat everything, or you make bread and sow some of the seed and allow it to reproduce in other people's lives, spiritually, physically, et cetera. So the first one is: He entrusts it to you. The second is: He multiplies it.

There is no seed, at least any way that I know of, because it wouldn't make sense, where you sow one seed and the harvest is one seed – because how would it increase? You can't just sow one seed and it produces one seed; you'd never be able to use it, because you'd have to sow it again just to produce one seed. So a seed implies you sow one, and it produces multiples of itself. So the concept here, apart from entrusting it, is that it multiplies. But it multiplies what? The Holy Spirit needs something to multiply. It says, "supply and multiply." Not only does He supply the seed, He multiplies the seed you have sown and increases the fruits.

So you decide. Now remember, practically, based on all the questions and some of the things you want to know – yes, we are talking about finances, but understand, we are actually talking about stewardship. That's why we titled this Stewardship and not Finances, because finances is only a fraction of what we are talking about.

Because we are talking about stewardship, we understand that this principle is a spiritual principle that applies to everything in your life. If you want your marriage to work, it takes time – time with the Lord, time with each other. You are not going to make your marriage work if you don't see each other. You are not going to make your marriage work if you don't spend time with the Lord.

So if you want to talk about multiplying, in simple terms, you need to give the Holy Spirit something that He can multiply. He can only multiply seed – whether it is your time, your priorities, your family, relationships, finances, business, whatever it is, all of those. Let's never just talk about stewardship and giving and seed as if it is only about money.

It has been corrupted in a very large sense because of structures in religious environments that become a hungry machine that needs to be fed. And that means we have to talk about finances all the time; we need to force people to sow, because if they don't do it, then this whole machine can't keep going. But that doesn't always mean it's for the right reasons.

So understand this – I want to move on from this. So when we talk about seed, it says, "Give as it purposes in your heart, not grudgingly, not of necessity," but "God loves a cheerful giver." So don't use the back door – go and find out from God. And then it says He will give you, "God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work."

Now you understand that abundance for every good work, and verse 11 says:

“...while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.”

2 Corinthians 9:11 (NKJV)

You cannot get away from this, that God is saying He's going to give you seed, and He wants you to sow it so that you can multiply it, that you can influence the lives of people around you, so that they can thank God.

They will thank Him because of what you did in their lives. Again, going back to one of the most basic principles: the day your life will truly change is the day you realise it's not about you. If your mindset is that you are sowing seed because of the promise in it for you, I can tell you, it's not sustainable. But you have a responsibility to take care of the people around you.

You have a responsibility, especially within a faith community. The Word says, do good to everyone, but especially to those of the household of faith, those of the community of faith. So you have a responsibility. Whatever faith community you tie into, you have a responsibility to make sure you take care of the people there physically, spiritually, emotionally, whatever it is — but it includes financially, so that they can be physically taken care of and that they can thank God and say, 'God, I know there is a God, because last night I prayed, my cupboards were empty, I had nothing to eat, and Lord, here today, this person phones me and says, "I've got groceries that I need to deliver to you."' We cannot run away from that responsibility.

Let me read that to you. Galatians 6, from verse 5. Actually, the proper rendering in Greek starts with 'but,' but in the English translation they leave out the 'but' for whatever reason. So just go back to verse 5 so you can read into it.

“For every man shall bear his own burden.”

Galatians 6:5 (KJV)

Now, you know the Bible says that if you do not work, you should not eat. Remember, most of the New Testament is actually written for faith communities. It explains to us how we should live as a faith community. That's why it says, look, you need to all take care of each other. But if there is one guy who is not willing to work, you help him up to a certain point, and then there comes a time when you say to him, 'You're not going to eat tonight until you actually start working.' And if it means he's going to be hungry for five days until he learns to start working, then so be it. Those are the principles in the Word. You don't just tolerate it. The Bible says, if you don't work, you don't eat.

So here it's saying, each man must accept his own responsibility to be sure that he can eat — you must work, you must eat. Then it says:

“Carry your own burden, but let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.”

Galatians 6:6 (KJV)

'Communicate unto him' actually means share what you have — share in all good things. So this is a principle that says: if there is a faith community that has a spiritual leader who is full-time in that role, there is nothing wrong with ensuring that leader can also eat, because he is accepting spiritual responsibility while you accept physical responsibility. So it says you accept responsibility for yourself, but also for him who teaches the Word — you accept spiritual responsibility for him.

Now, if we talk about fellowship as a faith community, the principle I apply is that of Paul, who was a tentmaker. I have my own business; I take care of my own finances. That is the conviction I have in my heart, not to be a burden to a community. I generate my own finances, and, like Paul said, not only for myself but that I can take care of many. There is a variety of people I help financially on a monthly basis, but I have a conviction that I must work, that I must generate my own finances.

But if there is a community with a different structure in terms of how it operates, let us not think it is wrong for someone who is full-time in a spiritual function to expect support. Even in the Old Testament, the Levites were not entitled to own property. They were not even entitled to inherit, because the people were meant to take care of the Levites. So there's nothing wrong with that principle. I just wanted to clarify that.

But what I actually want to get to is verse 9.

“And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”

Galatians 6:9-10 (KJV)

By default, even if it is a Muslim who works with you, God says, do good to him. You are the one, as a Christian representing the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords — even when you hear that person doesn't have food in his house, you should help him. Whatever the financial need or physical challenge, don't just say, 'No, no, no, I'm just here for the Christians.' God says, do good to all, because He will be glorified through that. But there is a — actually it's not a 'but,' it's an 'especially.' So it's not a contradiction, it's an emphasis: especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Again, we cannot run away from our responsibility to take care of the faith community in which we are.

One more verse on that, verse 12. It keeps emphasising the same thing — the saints being the Christians in your community.

“For the administration of this service not only supplies the need of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you.”

2 Corinthians 9:12-14 (NKJV)

Isn't that amazing? You are giving food to people, and the Bible says you are confessing to the gospel of Christ. The principle is that everything we have belongs to Him and gets used as He deems fit. So your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Jesus Christ is expressed, and you've only given them food.

Liberal sharing — the Bible continues to talk about liberal sharing. Remember, we've laid the foundation, we've put the pillars there, so it has to be in your heart; you have to have the conviction; you have to hear from God. Having established all of that, this is still the measure: liberal giving, cheerful giving, taking care of people, allowing people to glorify God because of your giving. All of these are principles that should come naturally to us. We shouldn't have to argue at length about whether we should be tithing or not — these are all principles outside the parameters of even talking about tithing.

Here's that verse I just touched on, in case you're making notes and wanted to jot it down.

“For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.”

2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NKJV)

If I can quickly talk practically, because 95% of you are in fellowship as a faith community, let me share about that. What are our principles in terms of fellowship specifically? We have a bank account, and we encourage people to sow into it as they have in their hearts. That bank account is used for one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to help the community. It's used for nothing else. It goes back into the community to ensure that people are taken care of. If there is some sort of crisis — somebody can't pay their rent, or they don't have food, whatever — 100% of it goes back into the community. We have a committee, the finance committee, that manages the needs. Most of you know we work on a basis of home fellowships, and needs are expressed through the home fellowship. Sometimes the home fellowship just takes care of that need itself, or it comes to the central finance committee, which looks at all the needs and makes sure we take financial care of those who are in need.

But this doesn't take away the accountability and responsibility of those people to change their lives. So typically, if someone within the community has a financial need — I'm not saying this is cast in stone — we will say, 'We'll help you for three months. We'll pay your rent, we'll give you food, whatever, but let's start on a spiritual journey, because there's obviously a reason why you are in this situation. Something is wrong, and it starts with the spiritual.' We help them physically, but we help them.

We've started a project now — I'll talk about it later — a project on job creation, where we help people find jobs, help them with a CV, all of that. But in addition to that, while helping them, we have an expectation that after three months, based on our help and spiritual guidance, they should be in a position to start sorting out their lives.

If you have, as we have had in the past, these habitual criminals who hop from church to church saying, 'Sorry, man, life is tough, help me,' and then a year later they're still there, but in actual fact they're just too lazy to work — we have had a few people like that. So, based on the principles in the Word, we will help you, but we're going to help you to help yourself, because the goal is not just to sort you out. God has an expectation that you should be able to give in liberality, that you should be able to give in abundance to sort out other people's lives.

Every one of us — the moment you move your focus from yourself to who are all the people you are meant to be helping — and some of you are sitting here looking for jobs, some of you are struggling financially — move your focus from yourself to the people you should be helping. Even if you have fifty rand, I want to encourage you: take ten rand and go and help somebody. But have an expectation. Here's why I said the two run very close: you don't give out of necessity, but you start conditioning your heart to understand what God created you for. There's a big difference. You don't give because you are desperate; you start tapping into spiritual principles.

And even if you don't have that desire, spend time with the Lord and pray until you have the desire in your heart to say, 'I have the desire to start changing people's lives, and I want to sow into somebody's life.' If you mean it, if you have an expectation, an intent, and you start living in that, it will have a result in your life. But the result should be a by-product of that. It's not that I'm trading, bargaining with God — 'God, I gave ten rand, so now I want a job.' You understand the difference between the two. Get it into your heart, and then start functioning based on that.

I just want to touch on some things practically, from my experience as an auditor, having had my own business and many clients, as well as from a counselling perspective. A few quick practical tips as we start ending off. Firstly, live within your means. Do not be misled by the world and the lifestyle of others. This is a big trap. I see people who come for help but still live a lifestyle that I haven't lived most of my life, yet they want help.

There's a misconception that if you are struggling, you start cutting — it's as simple as that. You cut out the things you don't need, you cut the luxuries, you go back to basics, because you need to start with spiritual principles. You can't live a certain lifestyle and expect people to help you because you are not applying spiritual principles.

I saw in one of the big shopping centres the other day, as I was walking there, a shop that was vacated, with papers on the window, and the big sign at the bottom said, 'It's all about you.' And I thought to myself, is this where it starts going wrong? Because people's perception is that this lifestyle, all these things available in the shopping centres, the expensive jewellery and clothes — it's all about me. That's the message Satan is spreading. It's all about me. Now even the shopping centre is putting that up in big letters: it's all about you. So people start thinking, 'But I work hard, I'm entitled.'

If you ever have the idea in your mind, 'I'm entitled,' say, 'Get behind me, Satan.' You are not entitled, okay? You are the child of a living God. You live within Him. You have everything that you need. You just function from that place.

Settle your credit card every month. Don't buy things on credit; you're only starting to look for trouble. Don't buy things and pay them off over six months, twelve months, fifteen months, or whatever. If you can't settle your credit card every month — meaning it's only an administrative function why you have a credit card — if you are building up debt, go snip that thing into pieces and throw it away. You don't need it. The Bible talks about being enslaved by worldly systems, and it actually says that becomes your god. So cut up that thing and throw it away if you don't have that discipline.

If you're not coming out with your finances on a monthly basis, prepare a budget and see where you can cut — things like entertainment, et cetera. I'll go through this quickly because you can listen to it afterwards. There are things that people think are part of an entitled, standard lifestyle. I can tell you from experience — I had an audit practice for twenty years, with three thousand clients — many clients live a lifestyle that is fake. It's built on debt, and they are struggling to make it work from month to month.

But people look and say, 'The Joneses are driving' — let me not name any cars, maybe they're parked outside here — 'this car, going on that holiday, doing that,' and they think, 'Wow, where do they make such money?' I'm not saying everybody who lives that lifestyle can't afford it, but I can tell you a very big portion of them can't even afford that lifestyle. Don't be fooled by it. Sometimes it's just a question of time before the whole house of cards tumbles in.

Some principles on sowing that I've already mentioned: don't sow because somebody else is sowing. You don't have to make it public when you are sowing. I know there's this general principle about making it public, 'what do you have to hide' kind of thing, but the majority of my sowing I don't make public, and I don't have it in my heart to do so. Why? Because it's between me and God, and I sow because I have it in my heart. Why do I have to tell other people that I am sowing, and who, and what?

Don't sow from your credit card or from debt — it doesn't make sense to me. Remember, the Bible explains that principle: if you have debt, it explains who your boss is. Now you pull your credit card to the maximum and sow, typically based on the principle of, 'But I expect God to come and do something for me.' Don't do it. Sort out your debt.

Speaking of which, don't sow while you are owing people money. I've personally been on the receiving side of that, where people owed me money but were sowing big time in the ministry, and I'm saying, 'This was a loan to you — what's happening with my loan?' 'No, no, I'm sowing.' Don't do it. You don't sow while you're owing people money. Get rid of your debt. God's not interested in you sowing somebody else's money. Settle your debt before you start sowing. And don't sow because you want something — we spoke about that.

Quick principles in the workplace — I spoke about this previously, so again I'll go through it quickly. Your current job is something that God has entrusted to you. There's a stewardship responsibility, and I want to explicitly tell you and ask you: be faithful in the job you have at the moment.

Let's talk practically. Thirty percent of the people who want to work in this country don't have work. And I can tell you, they are good people, qualified people — SAP consultants, property developers, people in financial services. I can keep going with people with good qualifications who cannot find work, physically speaking. So I'm telling you, if you have a job, hold onto it. Don't come and tell me, 'I resigned my job because God told me to,' and then sit without a job for a year while we need to take care of you. There's something wrong with that picture.

Be sure that you take responsibility for the job you have. Be faithful in it. I'm not saying God cannot prepare something bigger for you. Of the many people over the last ten years who have said to me, 'God told me I must resign my work,' I can't even think of one where I had a conviction that God really told them to resign. Check with your spiritual leader before you just say, 'Sorry, I don't have a job, God told me to quit my job.' In general, it's really the exception that happens.

So take care of your job, and that means all the things I've explained at length before. Don't ask God for a promotion and a better job while you are not taking care of the one He's entrusted to you. If you are not faithful in the little, why will He give you the big job? Arrive on time, or arrive early. Don't pitch every morning fifteen minutes late. Don't sit and watch Facebook clips and YouTube and whatever else while expecting a promotion. God is not mocked; what you sow is what you shall reap.

Be productive, be effective, make a difference. It doesn't matter how small your job is — when you do that job, when people walk past it, even if you are cleaning the floors, they must say, 'I see Susan cleaned today, it's just spotless.' Be proud of everything you do, of every job you have. Don't quantify your job in terms of importance, because it is spiritual — there is something God is entrusting to you. Be faithful with the resources. Don't think, 'Oh, nobody will see if I take a few pencils home for my kids to use for school.' If you ask and they give it to you, great, but don't take things just because you think, 'The boss is rich, he won't even miss it.' It's a spiritual principle: be faithful in the little, be faithful in everything concerning your job. It doesn't help to ask God for a better job or a promotion — God is not mocked. Take care of the basic principles, be faithful, and the spiritual principles will work for themselves.

When you are looking for a new job, create it in the spirit first. That's a topic on its own, but you need to understand that you need to be ready. Sometimes there were things I knew God had prepared for me, and it took time, and after that time period was over, I realised I didn't have the spiritual capacity for what God wanted to entrust to me. So sometimes you need to create it in the spirit, and in that process of creating it you are creating capacity for yourself, because God will not entrust something to you until you have the capacity. Go into your inner room, go and create that capacity, go and create that job, and then you can say, 'Okay, now I'm going to accept that job,' and walk into it. But don't just say, 'I've sent my CV to two hundred places and haven't heard anything.' Have you created it in the spirit?

Have you created the capacity in your heart spiritually for what God wants to entrust to you? Then quickly, to end off, with business: if you have a business, I can tell you it's not a question of if – God has given you a business so that you can prosper the kingdom. It's as simple as that. But again, it is based on what you have in your heart. God loves a cheerful giver. Make sure you structure your business – there are very good books and very good principles relating to that – so that you can structure it, for instance, with non-profit organisations forming a shareholding part of your business.

Put a part into the non-profit and make sure that through that you benefit the kingdom, et cetera. But pray about it. You can speak to me practically about that at any stage if you want; we can share some thoughts and ideas regarding that. The principle, again, is: be faithful with what you have. In the context of everything I've told you up to now, I want to say to you, don't wait and say, "If I reach a million rand turnover in my business, then I'm going to do something in the kingdom." It doesn't work that way.

It's like bargaining with God. You don't bargain with God that way. You are faithful in what He's entrusted to you, and you acknowledge Him in everything. Make sure that not only in terms of finances – if you say you have a Christian business, a kingdom-based business – then make sure you use that business to spread the Word, to help people with their personal challenges, et cetera. There's more than just finances; it's taking care of people as well. I think I'm going to stop there.

Okay, can we close our eyes?

Thank you, Father, that You love us so much. Thank You for Your presence. Thank You for Your love. Thank You for Your Word. Holy Spirit, may You give life to every word that we have received tonight. Thank You that You speak into the deepest thoughts and intents of our hearts, that we are able to distinguish what is from You and to receive it, to embrace it, and to give life to it by acting upon it. Thank You, Holy Spirit, that there will be a multiplied harvest yielded in every heart, in every environment, because of You touching us tonight, in the name of Jesus.

Amen.