Michael Todd - Where The Money Resides - Part 1
Welcome to this week's message and I am so excited 'cause we are continuing in our series called "Paper Chasers". Yes, we are talking about finances, we are talking about generosity. And we are talking about stewardship, because this is a big deal to God. And the truth of the matter is some of y'all ain't ready. But today, I'm ready to plough the soil of your heart. Because in the scriptures, it talks about four different types of soil that seed is put on. And my question is, what type of soil are you and can you receive God's principles? You gotta understand the paper without purpose is pointless. And that's why we have to know God's standards. Man has suggestions, but we're gonna know God's standards 'cause we're gonna be purpose chasers. I'm Michael, and this is the start of your transformation.
And it's week two of a series we're calling help me, "Paper Chasers" now, this is the crazy thing about week two when we do a series like this, only the real ones come back. Like week one, that's when everybody is like oh yeah, I wanna be a purpose chaser, but I'll check back with Pastor Mike and Transformation Church at Easter. Because the principles that God is about to teach us through this series are only for those who are going to the deep. And, if you know anything about Transformation Church, our word for 2021 is what? Anchor. We've decided we're gonna be anchored and we decided that you do not need an anchor if you're gonna live in the shallow. So if we're actually going to the deep, we gotta talk about stuff that's deep. And some of the deepest stuff in our lives is finances, money, generosity, stewardship. This is the thing that I counsel more people about. About how they deal with like, have you ever been in a position where God told you to do something but a decision you made in a different season kept you trapped to that season?
Have you... And I'm just tryna help you, like what if God says go, and you say, but I just bought. What if God says give that away, but your identity is attached to giving that away? What happens and I'm just telling you right now that when I got the truth that God is going to present to you through this series, it transformed my life. I went from existing to living a everybody say, "Blessed life". And that's what we want for you in this series. So last week, if you haven't watched it you need to go back and watch it. Over 200.000 of you have watched it and that gets me so excited because the potential in seven days to change the culture of your life when you do things a kingdom way, somebody said "The kingdom way". When you do it the kingdom way it changes everything. And last week we made a decision, we not gonna be paper chasers. We gone be purpose chasers.
If you're gonna be a purpose chaser, I need you to put purpose chaser in the comment right now, if you're gonna be a purpose chaser, I need you to make some noise in the room. Listen, the reason why this is so important is because of this simple truth. And I need you to write it down. And I'm gonna say probably every Sunday, the paper without purpose is pointless. There are tons of people I know that have tons of paper, and they're void of purpose. And so when they look at their account, and they look at their fulfillment, something is in the negative. What does it look like for you to have positive accounts and negative fulfillment? The paper without purpose is why pointless. And that's why culture tells you, that's what we're supposed to go after, the paper.
But the Bible tells us we're supposed to go after purpose to seek first the kingdom and right standing, and everything else will be added. And that's why we have to divorce and I'm just asking you, I'm begging you, just at least for the next four weeks, would you divorce what your uncle told you about money? What school taught you about money? 'Cause they don't teach you much about it. Could you divorce what rap stars and people who are on social media success story? Could you divorce all of these self help programs and books that you have applied to, and could you divorce it for a second? And could we make the Word of God the standard for how we look at generosity and stewardship just for four weeks. And maybe if you would open your heart for the next four weeks to look at it, it could change the generational cycles of poverty and change the generational cycles of selfishness. 'Cause we either have one of the two. And God wants you to live a, everybody say with me "Blessed life".
Okay, I gotta get to the word because some people don't understand that God has standards, man has suggestions. God has and man has what? Suggestions. There's a standard God wants us to live to when it comes to this thing about handling resources. But we have many times settled for the suggestions of men who didn't create these things. God has principles, man has opinions. God has a supreme strategy, and man has strongholds. What's a stronghold Pastor Mike? I just heard my big mama say that when we was in the cogic church, she said I'm breaking every stronghold. Like that's a churchy word, but it has a very practical meaning. A stronghold is a mindset or a pattern. 'Cause this is gonna help you understand why some things are hard for you to do and why some things are easy for you to do. 'Cause there are areas in your life that there is a, everybody say "Stronghold". I broke it down to this, a stronghold is anything that attempts to redefine anything that God has already defined or manufactured.
So when God says there's a way that you do marriage, but then you watch reality TV, and for the past decade, you've been forming the ideal woman in your mind based off of things that aren't real. Now, when God brings the woman of God into your life that you're supposed to be with, you don't know if you can settle down, and you're talking to your bros, like bro, I don't know if she's everything that I'm supposed to be. You're supposed to help cultivate her into the things that God has called her to be. Because you're supposed to be an addition to the, let me stop, to the relationship, you're not gone roll up on the finished product. God never gets finished products in relationships. He gives raw materials, I'm preaching right now. And somebody needs to understand that what you're fighting is not the person, you're fighting a stronghold.
The reason it's been so hard for you to give and to tithe is because you're fighting a stronghold, a mindset, a something that your parents gave you, something that your cousin gave you, something that TV gave you, something that shark tank gave you that you are trying to now work against, but it took you decades to build up a stronghold and it's gonna take us at least four weeks to tear it down. The reason I'm doing this series, and the reason why God wouldn't let me preach it is 'cause I was still working through my stronghold. Nobody talk like this no more, Charles they want everybody to think, but you know a stronghold applies to every area of your life. And some of us have had mindsets and thought patterns and ideas, I'm feeling old and churchy today. I'm here to tear down the stronghold of financial poverty, I'm here to tear down the stronghold of financial greed. I'm here to tear down the stronghold of selfishness.
Do you know how much spiritual opposition there has been this morning, trying to get this word to you? 'Cause the thing the enemy will love more than anything is to allow the truth to be presented to you and you leave it on the plate. The thing about taking kids to expensive restaurants is that the filet mignon that you put on the plate may be there after the dinner is over, 'cause their palate is not used to that level of eating. And what we found with our kids is sometimes we have to pack chicken nuggets at the $130 a plate restaurant until their palate becomes mature. This "Paper chaser" series is going to mature your spiritual palate. So that the things that God has in your purpose, how are you gone be claiming purpose chaser but you can't handle the paper. It is not that the purpose is supposed to come without paper, it takes paper to do purpose.
There is nothing great you've ever seen that was done for free. God has no problem with paper, he just has to make sure he's the priority. And that's why in this blessed life series called "Paper Chasers", I'm ministering from everything that I've experienced. I'm telling you who I was. That's why I'm so passionate. That's why five minutes into this, I was chasing the paper. I was chasing the connections. I was going after the next, the big and God said that, you got that from somebody else.
Can I be honest, real honest? Do you know one of the most culturally shaping things for strongholds in my life was MTV Cribs? Now I know people don't break it down that simple. I used to watch MTV Cribs all the time. And watch how these people did money. And episode after episode, there was a stronghold being formed in my mind that, if I was successful, this is what it had to look like. And I had to have babes in the jacuzzi. And I had to have a house where I forgot how many bathrooms and how many, and y'all gonna be faking act like I'm the only one that's allowed something from pop culture to form my mentality of what success looks like. You may have had a big homie on the block. Or you may have had a CEO family friend at the country club. I don't care where it is. But if you did not get the principles from the Word of God, let me help you, it's wrong. They're gonna be mad at me. But I'm coming to tear down the stronghold.
Write this down: Paper chasers live for passions, but purpose chasers live from principles. If you're a paper chaser, you're just following your passions. I'm gonna do this. And then I'm gonna do this. And then I'm gonna go here, and then I'm gonna have that and then I wanna go there. And then I want to do this. But if you're a purpose chaser, you live from principles. Can we be honest? What were your passions 10 years ago? For most of us, they're not the same passions we have today. 'Cause passions are fleeting. I have a passion this year that I won't have two years from now. I wanna go with the passion, which many times translates, I wanna go with the trend? Oh, oh I'ma get in trouble right now. I wanna go with what they're doing. And God says if you're gonna be a purpose chasers, you have to value principles over passions.
Guess what I was passionate about when I was 10? Yo-yos and pogs. Y'all remember pogs? Some of y'alls like I don't even know what that is. But they're like little coin type of things and you had him in this thing, some of y'all getting on Google right now used to play a game, and like, and then I'd love yo-yos and then when they start having to light up yo-yos and walk the dog, and rock the cradle, some of y'all too young for that. Y'all know nothing about that. But your boy used to be rocking the cradle.
Now watch, I can't remember the last time that I even thought about that. But in a season of my life, that was my passion. It's where all my money went to. Oh, my God. It's where my allowance went to. It's what I associated with people with and for. It was my passion. But I can't think about too many principles that I had when I was 10. And the problem is the things that outlast passion, is principles. And even some of the things that are negative in your life, the reason they keep showing up relationship after relationship is 'cause there's a principle that you have formed, I'll never be alone. That's your principle, your principle, I can't be alone for two months. Because you formed that principle at 15, the passion has been Ricky, the passion has been Ronaldo, the passion has been Raquan, and the passion has been Richard. But your principle has outlasted every one of your passions, yikes.
I'm trying to get you to value passion less. I'm not saying you don't have passion, I'm saying it's not as powerful as the principles you live by. And so many people, I wanna be a purpose chaser that means you have to be a principle keeper. Purpose chaser, principle keeper. And in God's word, he lays out the whole thing for all of humanity. 100 years ago, none of us was here, but his principles were. 200 years ago, none of us were here, but his principles. That's why the scriptures say that the grass withers and the flowers fade, but his word or his principles last for. If we get these principles of the blessed life of living with stewardship and generosity, this is something I can pass on to my kids.
How many times do your parents pass on passions? A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children. What people try to do is pass on their passions, and the only thing that sticks is your principles. I gotta get off of this. Just know, write it down in a point, principles are more powerful than passions. Like the principle of covenant in marriage is more powerful than the passion of a one night stand. Do y'all see what I'm saying? Like, yes, it's real. Yes, I feel it. Yes, I'm passionate about it. But we gotta value everybody shout at me "Principles". Can I have an honest conversation with you right now? I have a bunch of principles I need to share with you today. And I'm scared. I'm scared that you don't have the ability to receive the principles and actually value them.
I told pastor Charles before I came out here, I said, this is it. This is what I'm supposed to share. But I'm not sure that it's going to go into good ground and be received. And then I was going through my head and the Bible and I was like, is there anywhere that it talks about 'cause I know, the principles I got to share with you, they good. These are good, ain't nothing wrong with the principle, ain't nothing wrong with the seed that I'm about to give you. I just don't know if it will actually have the impact on your life. And then I went to the Bible in, Mark chapter four. And in Mark chapter four, there's these parables, talking about seed, and soil. And the soil of your life has to be ready to receive the seed of God's word. I'ma say it again, the soil of your life, everybody say "My life has a soil".
And my question to you is: are you ready to receive the principles or the seed of God's word? So I thought, today, what we would do is, I thought we would survey the soil. Survey the soil of your heart, 'cause I'm about to share these principles, but four different responses are gonna come from the same seed. I'm gonna put out the seed, but your soil is gonna determine what grows. And what most people aren't aware of is that you are sitting next to somebody who will have a different harvest, because they have different soil. And if you didn't know that, that's why you ever been in church and be like why it happened for them? And then why it happened for them? And why it didn't happen for them? And why, it's because the same seed fell on different soil. Oh, this is about to be good.
Okay, so I need to tell you according to Mark chapter four, that there are four types of soil of the heart. It says, verse 14, let's start there. This is Jesus talking. He says, the farmer plants a seed by taking God's word to others. So what I'm doing right now, is I'm taking the principles of God's word, and I'm trying to give them to you right now. And he's painting this picture, verse 15, the seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message. So everybody right now is hearing this message. But this person, only, they hear it, and Satan comes at once. Another translation says, immediately, and takes away the seed that was sown.
Pastor Mike, is trying to sow a seed in your life, that tells you how to handle finances. And just as quick as it goes in today, before this service is over, there'll be an Instagram ad that comes up on your phone and steals the seed that God was trying to give you. And next week, you'll come and there'll be another seed. But there's nothing here and just as fast as it is deposited, and this has been the pattern of many of you spiritual life. January 2019, I'm gonna be released, no. January 2020, it's time to get stronger. Ah, ah, you're gonna be weak. Oh, my goodness, January 2021, this one is for me. I'm gonna be anchored. As soon as you get it, he comes to steal it.
What I'm telling you is that if you're in this place, if this is the soil, you have a vacant soil. The soil of your life is vacant. And what you need to understand is God wants to fill you up. Because there's nothing there now. It's okay, if you're in this place in your life right now, I want you to understand that God loves you. He sees you and his grace sent me in a hot pink vest, to let you know, there is another way to be able to get fruit out of your life, than living empty. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Yeah, some of y'all sitting in real still right now. 'Cause the truth of the matter is, no matter what I say it's empty. Not because of the seed, because of the soil.