Michael Todd - Are You A Paper Chaser - Part 3
Hey, you made it back to the show that I believe is going to transform your life. I'm so grateful for you, I'm so grateful for your family, we've been praying for you. And today I believe the principles I'm going to share, have the opportunity to shift your perspective. God wants to be the priority of your life over everything else. Over paper, over your job, but that means you have to be in purpose. And I want you to know that prosperity doesn't mean you're in purpose. There are some things that you're doing great at that may be out of God's will for your life. And so I want to help you find purpose for your life. So today join me, don't be a paper chaser, be a purpose chaser and let's see what God will do through your life. I'm Michael, and this is the start of your transformation.
Many of us need the raven revelation. Can I give you the raven revelation? Y'all know my mind work a little differently and I think about stuff a little differently. Look at Luke 12 verse 24. It says, "Look at the raven," everybody say, raven. Now don't nobody posts no pictures of ravens. Nobody talks about how beautiful ravens are. Nobody has a pet raven. And I believe this is on purpose. In the Bible, ravens were considered an unclean bird, the least of, but God, for some reason uses the least of as an example to show his provision to people. "Look at the ravens," he says. He could have said to peacock. That's a beautiful bird, ain't it? Some of you all are like a peacock. What is the peacock? You know the one with the big, yeah. He could have said a parrot, beautiful. He could have said a Robin, gorgeous. Look at the raven. They don't plant, harvest or store food in barns. For God provides for them. God feeds the ravens. And then he specifically speaks to you like I'm speaking to you right now, and you are far more valuable to him than any birds. The raven revelation.
Job 38:41. God's talking to Job 'cause he forgot about how good God was and then God gets a little like, "Hold on boy, "Put some respect on my name. "Who provides for the ravens"? He literally asked Job this. When their young cry out to God and wonder about in hunger, hold on the raven revelation, God provided for the dirty bird. Shout out to ray Lewis and the ravens. He provided for the raven but then Job 38:41 says, he provides for their children too. I'm trying to give you the raven revelation. He provided for the raven, but he said and who provides for the ravens' children? And then first kings 17 says, verse two. "Then the Lord said to Elijah, 'go to the east and hide by Kerith brook'". Get in purpose. "Near where it enters the Jordan river, drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you. For I have commanded them to be so blessed, that they can provide for you".
So Elijah don't chase provision, don't try to get food, don't go after the paper, go to the purpose I've placed you in. Go to the brook, get to the job, go to the website, get in the school. Get to the place I've purposed for you to be. So Elijah went to the purpose placed east of the Jordan, then the ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and each evening. And he drank from the brook. The first Uber eats in history was a raven. And this is the raven revelation that I believe you need to get today. That God will provide even if you feel like the least qualified. Even if you feel like a dirty bird, even if you feel that you're not worthy of it, God said I provided for the raven and I provided for the raven's children, and I would bless the raven so much that he would be able to provide for my servant. I'm trying to tell somebody right now, God, doesn't just want to give you paper, he wants to give you, everybody shout at me, provision.
Provision follows purpose. If you're still struggling to identify the difference between a paper chaser and a purpose chaser I'ma give you two examples in the Bible and then I'ma save the rest for you next week. I'm telling you, if you miss one week of this message, you may be delaying your destiny. There are truths that God has given me right here that are going to spark something in you, even though it's taken a minute to go in, because your heart may have been hard or somebody might have played you in the past or you're used to listening to somebody in church that manipulated for money, baby they ain't none of that right here. All I'm trying to do is get you this message, that's going to allow you to live a blessed life and you would get off the treadmill of life and become a purpose chaser, instead of a paper chaser.
Matthew chapter four verse 18. The title of this is the first disciples. Now Jesus is looking for the people that he gon' rock with for the next three years of his ministry. One day Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He saw two brothers, Simon also called Peter and Andrew throwing their nets into the water. Dang, that looks like they were preparing for something. For they fished for a living. That means they were an entrepreneur, like many of you out there. They were entrepreneur and they were trying to do something. Jesus called out to them. "Hey, I know you're doing all of that stuff, trying to be successful. Come and follow me and I'll show you how to fish for people". This was the invitation to purpose. They had a job that was making them paper, that's why they did it every day and Jesus walks by and invites them to purpose. Look at their response. And my question is, will it be your response? And they left their nets at once and followed him. On the most successful day of whatever you've done, if Jesus says, "Never do it again and follow me," would you follow purpose or would you stay faithful to the paper?
This is hard. Like this is introspective. This is you having to deal with you. This is the metamorphosis and the transformation I had to go through. If they give me this, but God said no, would I follow the paper and hope God would bless it, or would I follow purpose? Write this point down. It's going to take crazy faith, for you to be a purpose chaser. It ain't gonna look right. I bet all his other fishing buddies that he was like, "What are you doing? We just found our spot, where we actually catch". And they said, "No, no, no, no. I'ma seek first the kingdom, and everything else that I'm looking for is going to be added". And literally this is Jesus pattern. Everybody say pattern. See, Jesus has a pattern to things. For purpose chasers, if you just get in his word and spend time with him, you'll find his pattern.
Right after he asked Simon and Peter and Andrew to come with him, verse 21, a little further up the shore, he was doing this as a pattern. He saw two brothers, James and John, sitting in the boat with their father, Zebedee. Now he had a family member there that was in the business too. I want you to see how difficult this would be. And they were repairing their nets. That means they were preparing again. They were doing what they could do and he called to them too, "Hey, come follow me". I bet their daddy said, "Boy, if you don't sit down, this is a family business and ever since your great grandpapi was a fisherman and I'm a fisherman and your sons is gonna be". That means sometimes to become a purpose chaser, you're going to have to break family norms. You may be looked at awkwardly at Christmas and Easter and thanksgiving, to obey God but I promise you when it works out and when God begins to bless you, and when things start moving and you actually live The Blessed Life everybody's story changes.
I knew it the whole time, there was gon' be a success. We seen it, we know you didn't believe in me, but I believe in God. And because I believe in God, I'ma follow God and I'm not gon' chase the paper, I'ma chase purpose. The disciples were purpose chasers, but the sad contrast is God gave the same opportunity to a young man in the Bible titled the rich young ruler. Same exact story in Mark chapter 10 verse 17. It says, "As Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem a man came running up to him, knelt down and asked good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life"? He knew that there was a bigger purpose but Jesus was about to test him. He said, "Why do you call me good"? Jesus asked, "Only God is truly good. But to answer your question," you know Jesus is such a gangster.
He just be throwing stuff in that don't have nothing to do with what you talkin' about. He was like only God is good, but on anyway just to answer your question, he said, "You know the commandments, right? You must not murder, you must not commit adultery, you must not steal, you must not testify falsely, you must not cheat anyone, you must honor your father and mother". "Teacher," the man replied, "I've obeyed all these commands. I've been religious my whole life". I've read the YouVersion Bible app. I'm a faithful member at Transformation Church. Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. "There is still one thing that you haven't done," he told him. All right, this gon' be easy for you. Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, then come and what did he tell the disciples? "Follow me".
This was his invitation to purpose. Like God's inviting you to purpose right now. It's the same thing he asked the disciples, but look at the response difference. At this, the man's face fell and he went away sad for he had many possessions. For years, I used to think that this story was about if God is going to use you in a great way, you needed to be poor. God had no problem with this man's possessions. He had a problem of the priority that those possessions had in that man's life. Can I say it to you? There are things that God has no problem, and I'm not talking no prosperity gospel. I'm not saying that you're gon' get a car or a house, I'm not saying all of that. I'm just saying to you, God has no problem with giving you the paper. He has no problem with you owning possessions. His only problem is when the possessions own you.
This young man, he didn't even try because he knew he had a lot and a lot had him. Write it down in a point. God is not concerned with possessions, he's concerned with priority. I keep saying the same thing. Some of us, your houses, you don't own the house. The house owns you. Some of you, your shoe collection, you don't own that. The shoe collection owns you. If God told you right now to give every one of your shoes away, you would leave the faith. That's simple. Is that all it would take? Is God asking you to downgrade your home right now, so you could save more and be a good steward and you would say, "God would never take that from me 'cause it was a blessing". Ask Abraham, what God ask back for what he gave you as a promise? He waited 25 years for Isaac and then he said, "Give him back".
Oh-oh-oh. But Abraham was a purpose chaser. He wasn't going after the thing God gave him. He wanted God, and because he could have God, God said send the ram. And he made a way, for him not to sacrifice what he has been promised 'cause he was willing to give it up for purpose. What are you willing to give up to stay in the purpose God has for you? I will no longer be a paper chaser. I'm gon' be a purpose chaser. Some of you don't own investments, your investments own you. You don't own no vacation home, your vacation home owns you. You don't own no Louis Vuitton purse that Louis Vuitton purse owns you. You will give up a friendship over you thinking somebody took your bag. I'm in your business.
There are people right now that have makeup collections that are more important than the people God surrounded you with. You don't own mac or Fenti, they own you. You don't own social media accounts, the monetization owns you. You have given up your character to make some coins. You literally are exposing everything that has been laid up for the man of God or the woman of God you're supposed to be with for a few thousand dollars. Your great grandchildren will see this and have to reconcile how the person who in a different season is now telling me to live a different way, they gave up the cookie for some coins. Can I be that real? It might mean, I don't know. I'm not saying you are, but it might mean, you're a paper chaser.
My last point, would you be willing to part with the possessions to follow purpose? Would you? This is what God had to ask me. That's what God had to literally challenge me with. Michael, I want you to be a pastor. Is this your purpose for me, God? Pastors is broke. Father, is this your purpose for me? Pastors don't seem to really enjoy their lives. Is this your purpose for me, God? He said, yeah, it's your purpose for me. "How you want me to do it"? Represent. I want you to represent it. I want you to be in a place where you are so committed to purpose in my kingdom, that everything that happens after it. There's no way I knew that "Relationship goals" was going to be a number one New York time bestseller. I would have never written a book, had I not preached a message, had I not been a pastor, had I not said yes to God in a best western in 2014 at 2:00 am. All of those steps were purpose, that now has the paper chasing me. I will never lie to you.
My entire financial situation has changed after God allowed me to release that book. And I will forever, you all know I am so authentic. I am debt free now. You all won't even rejoice with me like it was you. Two years ago that wasn't my testimony. This past year I paid off my house. You all don't hear me. I'm telling you, I'm teaching this from proof. I'm not teaching it, I paid off my house. I was able to bless somebody very close to me for the down payment on their own home. God has allowed me to bless the people around me. Not because I chased paper. It's because I settled into purpose. And today all I wanted to do to start this series out, is invite you to a blessed life. Where you get off the treadmill of chasing paper, chasing Mammon, chasing identity and significance and you come to the place where you say, "God I'ma double-down on purpose".
God has no problem with paper, if it's in the right priority. Under him. You can't serve no man, no woman, no pastor, no leader, no celebrity, no star, no president, no gov't official no one can serve God and Mammon. But do you know what I love about God is he's full of grace. That even when you're a paper chaser, his love still looks at you in the best light. Did you all see it in verse 21? It says, "Jesus looking at the man," what did Jesus feel? Jesus felt genuine love for that man. Huh? I came to tell you right now, if this message has exposed we asked one question, are you a paper chaser? And if this message exposed that you are a paper chaser that somewhere in your heart, you have made money and riches more important than God in your life, your actions reflect it, your lifestyle reflects it, maybe you don't say it out loud but that's what you feel internally.
If that's you, I want to let you know one thing so strongly, I hope you hear this more than anything else, God loves you. This young man was a paper chaser and would walk away from purpose, but when God looked at him, the only thing he could see was the love for him. And this is your invitation into transformation. I'm believing that over this next four weeks, that every place on the inside of us that still has a little chase, you might not be sprinting. Come on, let's be honest. Some of you all used to be sprinting for the paper, now you just fast walking. You know what I'm saying? You all know how people be walking.
But every little bit of strive, I'm praying that God would give us the pace of grace to say, if this is where you want me, if this is where you want me to steward, if the average salary of a teacher is only this in my area but I know I'm purposed to be there, if a medical technician only makes, father, if you're asking me to come out of this position and serve these people who can't pay me at this moment, I'm deciding that I'm going to seek first your kingdom, your purpose, your plan. I got plans, but it's your purpose that will prevail. So I'm going to stop fighting you and today God I'm committing, I will no longer be a paper chaser. I know this one is going to be uprooting for some of you 'cause this is why you picked the career that you have. And this is why you went and got all those degrees. And this is why you told your parents that you was gon' buy them this and do all of that and God's saying, would you just submit that back to me for a second? And make a decision that you would commit, I'll no longer be a paper chaser.
Today, I hope this message helped you. I pray that every person that is listening to this that you heard something that changed your heart and I believe will end up changing what you do with what God places in your hands. I want you to know that it is our job as Christ followers to chase purpose and not paper and God desires to provide for you in every way, but we have to seek first the Kingdom of God. Remember, provision follows purpose and God is a God of provision. It's gon' take you crazy faith to do it, but I'm telling you everything that God asks you to do is a part of your purpose. But I'm telling you that's the life of a purpose chaser. Until next time, I need you to set your DVRs, tell everybody and go out and live a transformed life.