FOUNDATION STATEMENT: As believers we must stop looking to world’s way to get out needs met and start looking to God and His way. That is what it means to make God your source. – Matthew 6:24
I. If we are going to work God’s system, then we have to make God our sole source and supply
A. God is our provider
1. Matthew 6:24-34
a. 24-Mammon – An expression used by the Jewish community of NT times to express the idea of worldliness.
1) The idea here is whoever you serve is your master and he is responsible for being your source
a) If a person is a servant in a household, then the master provides everything that they need
b) If you serve the system of the world, then the system of the world is your source, if you serve God and his system, then God and his system of your source
2) 25-Because you can’t serve two masters, serve God, make Him your source, and He will provide what you need
b. Jesus is showing them God the provider and then revealing to them that they need to trust Him
1) 26,30-God provided the birds food and clothes for the grass of the field
2) 30-Trust God as your source – If you’re worrying then you’re not trusting
c. The world’s system (that Babylonian system) can be defined as man trying to get his needs met apart from God
1) 31-Therefore – Because God is a trustworthy provider
2) 32-Gentiles seek things, because they got to be their own source and get their needs met without God
a) That world’s system is a system designed to keep you in lack
3) 33-We are to seek God and his way and make him our source and when we do what we need will be added to us
2. Psalm 23:1 – The principles is this: When you make God your sole source you will never lack
a. The reason David had no lack is because he made God is source
1) You don’t get to never lacking without making God your source
b. As long as something other than God is your source you will lack
1) Mark 5:25 – When the woman was working the world’s system, she was trying to get healed without God, and the result was lack
a) She lacked for 12 years because for twelve years she looked to the system of the world and not God
b) When she made God her source she was made whole = NO LACK
3. In the Kingdom of God system, God becomes your source and your supply. He takes care of every need that you got.
a. You make God your source by running to Him and His system when you’re in need; you can say God’s you’re source, but whose system are you running to?
B. No matter what the need is, whether it be healing, finances, or deliverance, we have to look to God and only God to meet the need if we don’t want to lack (Matthew 6:33)
1. When a believer is in need, what art they to seek? They are to seek God and His way
a. That didn’t say anything about seeking a doctor, a loan, government support, it says seek God and His Kingdom
1) There’s nothing wrong with going to a doctor, but looking to the doctor to provide healing is wrong
2) There’s nothing wrong with taking medicine, but looking to the medicine to provide healing is wrong
3) There’s nothing wrong with having a job, but looking to that job to be your financial provider is wrong
4) There’s nothing wrong with having a husband, but when a woman marries a man for security, that’s wrong
2. When we look to other things to meet our needs we are replacing God
a. When we do that, we are on that world’s system of man trying to get his needs met without God
C. When God is your source you become self-sufficient
1. 2 Corinthians 9:8 (AMP – And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation].
a. God is able – God’s the source here
2. Psalm 23 – David composed this fame psalm during of the most dangerous and discouraging times in his life. He was a forlorn fugitive, fleeing from King Saul and his army. In desperation David hid himself in a barren, desolate, forest called Hareth, named so because it was parched and dry like baked earthenware. But God did not forsake David. He soaked this dry forest with moisture, which had the flavor of the World to Come, making even the grass and the leaves of the forest succulent and edible. This showed David that God supports and nourishes at all times even when the chances of survival seem to be non-existence.
a. David’s prosperity wasn’t based on the land he lived in, it was based on the God he served
b. David was not relying on the climate or land, deserted place or not, God is his source and he was self-sufficient
3. Jeremiah 17:7 – That tree wasn’t relying on the rain or the temperature, the river was its source and supply.
a. See – Look, consider, gaze, respect, think
1) What’s that have to do with me? The tree has another source
b. Careful – To be anxious, careful, afraid, sorrow, or take thought
1) What’s that have to do with me? The tree has another source
c. This tree did not stop bearing fruit because it was not relying on the rain or the temperature to bear fruit; it’s source was the river
1) We’re not relying on the doctors so whether they got a cure will not affect us; we’re not relying on our paychecks so whether or not we get laid off will not effect us; we’re not relying on the economy so whether or not it goes up and down will not affect us if we’re hooked to The Source; If God’s our source we will not lack
4. We need live a life that is completely reliant on God and His resources
D. We have to practice running to God and to His system first before he we do anything else (Matthew 6:33)
1. When you run to something other than God first, that is revealing who your source is and who you trust
E. God wants to be your source for everything that you need and He doesn’t want you running to the system of the world
1. God’s a jealous God and it’s supposed to be you and Him (Exodus 20:4-5)
a. He doesn’t want you trying to get your needs met without Him
2. When make something other than God our source, He gets no pleasure or glory in that because that is us trying to get our needs met without Him (Daniel 3:14)
a. They relied on God and only God as the source of their protection; They weren’t looking to anybody else but God
b. He gets glory when you do it His way because when it’s done His way a result is produced that man can’t produce
II. God’s looking for people who will put total dependence on Him and only Him
A. God is looking for someone who will trust Him enough to work His system, stick with His system and depend on His system. God has a great desire to provide for his children, but he needs them to look to him (2 Ch 16: 9, Is 30:18 AMP).
1. And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!
2. Abraham and Sarah didn’t trust God and His way enough so they went out and got a son without God (Gen16:1-4)
B. As believers we must stop looking to other things as our source (James 4:1-4)
1. They were in need, but didn’t make God their source
a. They had unfilled desires and they could not obtain what they were seeking
b. They were fighting and warring, but they had not because they asked not
1) Many people are fighting and warring in the world’s system and don’t even go to God and they have not
2. He wrote this to believers telling them that they cheated on God because they ran out to the world to get their needs met
a. You can’t run with the rabbits and hunt with the hounds
3. Hosea married a prostitute to show Israel that they were running out on God and doing it the world’s way (Hosea 1:3)
a. Psalm 18:21 – I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God
b. Psalm 119:101,104, 128 – Refraining from and hating the way of the world
4. One of the plots of the enemy is to get to look to somebody other than God as your source (Genesis 16, Matt 4)
a. Satan knows if you look to God and his way you’re going to get the best
1) Psalm 37:34 – Keep the way of the Lord and He will exalt you to inherit the land
2) Psalm 128:1 – Blessed is the guy who walks in the way of the Lord
5. Why are believers running out on God and His way and doing things the world’s way? They don’t trust him
C. To make God your source and work God’s system it’s going to require commitment on your part (Jeremiah 17:8)
1. If we are not committed then we are not fit or ready for the system of God (Luke 9:62)
a. You got to be committed to rely on God and his way be your source (Matthew 6:24)
2. Commit your way unto the Lord (Psalm 37:5)
a. You have to stick with God and stay in faith if you want to work this system (James 1:6-8, Hebrews 10:23)
b. You are going to have to draw a line in the sand and make the decision to never look to anybody, but God
1) You have to be committed that you aren’t going anywhere else for this thing
2) If you can’t get it by faith and by the Word, then you’re not going to have it
c. Psalm 37:23 – Delight in the way of the Lord
1) You have to delight in the lifestyle of the Kingdom and the way of faith
2) You got to learn to love the battle; you got to love the fight of faith, you got to love standing on the Word, not giving in, not yielding to compromises,
D. To commit to something you’re going to have to trust it
1. I’m committed to God and his way, because not only do I trust God, but I trust His system, I trust His way, I trust that it is the best way, I trust that it never fails,
a. Not only do we need to trust in God, but we need to trust in His way
2. We have to lose confidence in the world’s system and gain confidence in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:24 AMP)
a. We will lose confidence in the system of the world as the truth of God’s word is revealed
b. We have to transfer our trust from the system of the world to the system of God
c. As long as we trust more in the system of the world than we do in the system of God we will live in that system
E. You can’t enter into God’s way of doing things and not trust God
1. You can’t put your faith in two places. You’re either going to trust God and His system or the world’s system (Mt 6:24)
a. You cannot serve God and mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions, or whatever is trusted in).
b. We know where your trust and commitment is by looking at the system you operate in
2. Jesus was showing this guy who he’s trusting in (Mark 10:17-25)
a. He couldn’t enter into the Kingdom of God system because he wouldn’t trust God; His trust was in another place
1) If you can’t trust and be committed to God, then you can’t enter into God’s way of doing things
2) Whatever area of your life that you’re wanting to enter into God’s way of doing things it’s going to require trust and commitment
3. It’s harder for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God
a. The eye of a needle
b. To enter into the Kingdom of God you’re going to have to forsake all other sources and put your trust in God
1) You forsake all other “sources” and trust God as your source, He’ll load you up 100 fold
III. Turn from the world and your old way of doing things, to God and his way of doing things (Mark 1:14)
A. If our eye is single, then our body will be full of the revelation that it takes to live in the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:22-23)
1. He didn’t have full revelation of the kingdom of God because his focus was divided between the world system and God’s kingdom – If he would have had a single eye, he would have found out that he was going to get a 100 fold
a. It’s our selling out to the Kingdom of God that will open us up to the revelation that we need to operate in it
b. When you are depending on God and only God to be your provider and your protector, God will provide you with the revelation knowledge that you need to plug into His provision and protection
2. The reason that people don’t have any revelation is because they are not trusting in God with a single eye
B. The key is you can’t look both ways, you cannot serve two masters
1. You’re either going to do it God’s way or the world’s way because you can’t serve two masters