Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.
remember now your destiny will always
benefit others glory my god and impact
this kingdom if it not doing that is not
a destiny as a job or something else you
may be crying the day but don’t think
that’s when you wake up now with God has
jumped into this situation because your
Shepherd knows how in the midst of a bad
situation to take care of his own and
somebody here can testify look good God
showed up and made a way out of no way
even when you were in an adversarial
situation somebody ought to be ready to
talk to God somebody ought to be ready
to find out what God
and throw it back up in his face cuz a
lot of the stuff you asking for has
already been pre-approved accepted in
the spiritual realm that is the attempt
to block it but if you will persevere
and specifically throw it back in God’s
face he’ll send the help needed to break
it through so that you see it revealed
in the physical realm God can wipe tears
away he can turn pain into pleasure he
can turn sadness into joy comes in like
a flood the scripture says he will raise
up a standard against it when God sees
that you’re falling and you’re not going
to make it he swoops down out of nowhere
and catches you by His grace and lift
you out of that
it’s called divine intervention what
he’s trying to say is if Lord is your
Shepherd he got you and you are covered
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Jesus in Chapter 12 of Luke has been
teaching he comes to this place where
he’s teaching about the Holy Spirit and
how important he is and critically is
for time and eternity his teaching is
interrupted by one of the listeners one
of the persons who was there listening
to the sermon he he bloats out in the
middle of the message someone verse 13
says in the crowd said to him a listener
to his teaching teacher because he’s
been teaching tell my brother to divide
the family inheritance with me there was
a family conflict about their daddy’s
will that he had died and there was a
battle between these two brothers as to
who would get the money this listener
not wanting to go to a Gentile court
Jesus being a Jewish rabbi wanted Jesus
to resolve their financial family
conflict based on Jewish law not secular
Roman civil courts and so he asked the
rabbi the teacher to enter into this
family dispute and the family dispute
was about the will the inheritance that
would naturally involve money it would
naturally involve household items maybe
who would get the house so was either
money or the things that money could buy
when he asked Jesus this question of
intervening Jesus has a curious response
he says in verse 13 men who appointed me
a judge or an arbiter
for you now you need to know that the
word you at the end of verse 14 is
plural you can be singular you can be
plural it’s plural so Jesus is saying
who made me arbiter over y’all if he was
speaking Texas so the brother is there
the brother that the brother is talking
about is there because he talking to
both of them y’all want me to fix this
money problem this inheritance problem
these possession issues between the two
of you why does Jesus respond to the
man’s requests that way
Jesus was speaking about spiritual stuff
the man interrupts it with financial
stuff possession stuff and so it says
though the man was saying okay all that
heaven stuff at night but I got to live
right down here and my brother got my
money and my money it’s funny and so I
need you to fix my earthly situation
like I got that heaven stuff but this
ain’t Sunday this is Monday fix my
real-world
dilemma me and my brother fighting over
this money so Jesus responds by telling
him if you invite me into your family
dispute about your will your daddy’s
will then you have to understand that
when the teacher me gets into your
family discussion
I’m not going to limit my answer to
merely your earthly deliver my my answer
has got to deal with the route and not
mainly the question of the fruit you
asked me about arbitrating the conflict
between you and your brother but there’s
actually some
deeper going on so I’m not only one to
deal with what you ask I want to deal
with the motive that made you ask me
about it
see that’s why a lot of folk don’t want
Jesus because they just want to hang out
with the fruit and I get to the root so
Jesus now takes the conversation deeper
than the question because he knew the
heart that was behind the question and
in taking it deeper it leads him to
verse 15 then he said to them be well
watch out and be on guard for every form
of greed for not even when one has an
abundance does his life consists of his
possessions
oh Jesus you didn’t take it a man simple
question and turned it into something
else
no I’ve turned it in to what motivated
him they asked me about it see because
that’s a problem with Jesus he gonna
deal with your motives and not just with
your information it’s like when you’re
talking to somebody and you say to them
well what do you really asking me he
says watch out for every form greed
takes for every form of greed greed in
biblical terms has to deal with whether
you have placed the physical ahead of
the spiritual so he can take personal
forms where your pursuit of your career
your pursuit of your financial security
your pursuit of your reputation your
pursuit of your economic gain can push
God out and that’s a form of greed
when your promotion in this world order
pushes God to the sidelines and the
spiritual to the back of the room you’ve
now become greedy even if you haven’t
arrived there yet beware he says look at
how many couples because greed has many
faults and as the family form look at
how many couples divorce over money or
fight over it they battle they go to war
because this selfishness gets in in the
form of possessions and money debt
accumulates because contentment is lost
and it becomes a form of greed that
intervenes and interferes with the
harmony in the home he says beware and
has some simple ways to know if you’re
greedy if you’re spending more time
complaining than giving thanks you’re on
the road to greedy if you’re not there
yet you always talked about what you
don’t have and don’t ever see what God
has done because that speaks of another
proof and that other proof is
discontentment Paul says I’ve learned
that whatever state I’m in to be content
to be at ease where I am until God
grants me more it’s not wrong to want it
to better to what to have more but to be
discontent is it indicator to accumulate
debt so that you have to rob God is a
form of greed he says watch out for
every form of greed why he says at the
end of verse 15 because even when one
has an abundance more than enough his
life not even
one has more than enough does his life
consists of his possessions now what’s
this got to do with an eternal
perspective well Jesus begins and says
well let me tell you a story he gives a
parable beginning in verse 16 he says I
want to tell you a story he told them a
parable verse 16 the land of a rich man
was very productive so let’s just stop
there we’ve got an entrepreneur he is
very very successful he’s what
every person dreams to be productive in
his life and he was very productive so
this is the guy who worked hard who took
care of his business and it was working
out for him verse 17 tells us a little
bit more about it and he began reasoning
to himself saying what should I do
since I have no place to store my crops
this is what I will do I will tear down
my barns and build bigger ones and there
I will store all my grain and my goods
if you read this story you will see him
referring to himself
14 times I mean my youth he keeps
talking about himself he says I’m gonna
do this and I’m gonna do that let me
plan this and I’m a plan that and where
you’re going with all this messed up he
said and we’re not when I get all this
stuff where I want it to be he says then
I will say to my soul I will say to my
soul soul
you have many goods laid up for many
years to come take your ease eat drink
and be merry it’s time to retire now I
know I’m talking to folks
many who have retirement at night you
can’t wait to eat drink and be merry to
not have to go to that job you got the
401k you’ve got you’ve got the savings
accounts you’ve got the the various
retirement tools and you are you are
planning for that day when nobody is
owning your nine-to-five so you are
seeking to be as productive as you can
now in light of that time that you can
retire that was this man’s dream and he
spent all of his waking working time to
make that dream of retirement occur is
that a problem is Jesus downing planning
for the future no we tell you what he’s
doing Jesus says but bro God said to him
you fool you fool you didn’t hear me you
fool
what’s the problem this very night your
soul is required of you and now who will
own what you have prepared his a problem
with our productive entrepreneur he had
a major miscalculation he was assuming
something he was assuming he was going
to get to retire he he was assuming he
was gonna make it to Social Security he
was assuming eat drink and be merry it
was all about his party in time he was
doing what many people do today put off
God till I have time put off God till I
don’t have to work put off ministry to
others will tell until I can get around
to it
right now I got a bill for my future but
he ran into two words two words that can
reverse for good or for evil any
scenario at any time but God see you
can’t leave those two words out of your
equation because those two words can
totally reverse your situation for good
or for bad
but God when you leave God and the
eternal perspective out of your plans
it’s not wrong to have your plans it’s
not wrong to be productive with your
plans he does not condemn the fact that
this guy was working hard and wanted to
enjoy the fruits of his labor God’s
concern is he wanted to do all of that
without divine consideration he wanted
to do that independently of God first
Timothy chapter 6 verses 6 to 16 talked
about those who are rich those who
wanted to be rich
and he says the love of money is the
root of all evil not money but the love
of it why because you put it before God
he says if God gives it to you he gives
it to you to enjoy but he expects you
not to lose him in the process of
gaining it and not to forget others in
the process of using it that’s why he
says in that chapter be rich in good
works let me put it this way the more
you bless the more generous you should
be and the more helpful you should
become for the benefit of others because
there is an eternity around the corner
but God told him God intervene Isaiah
22 verses 12 to 14 and in verse 56 verse
12 he says you see eat drink and be
merry and you forget God you you you
plan your future out and you are you are
a fool he says the scripture makes it
clear it is appointed unto man once to
die and after that the judgment
death is not a period it is a
conjunction you transition you leave
this earth by appointment this guy made
it
but what he forgot along the way was
that everything he was using to make it
dependent on God we’ve got some business
folk here or business folk wannabes
entrepreneur wannabes okay so God has a
special passage for you it’s in James
chapter 4 verses 13 and 16 he says you
business men you say we’re going to this
city and that city to cut a deal and
make a profit that’s what you say that’s
what you say he says but what you ought
to say is if it’s the Lord’s will we’re
gonna go to this city in that city and
make a profit because you leave God out
of even the planning of cutting the deal
you’re on your own and that’s why people
can accumulate more stuff and be more
miserable at the same time so watch this
if your financial life is going up and
your spiritual life is going down you’re
greedy if you’re more concerned if we’re
more concerned and we must be concerned
with the responsibilities of time but if
that concern is boxing out God and the
priorities of God in your time your
talent and your treasures
then you you’ve missed it
you’ve missed it and this God missed it
and God calls him a fool so the question
here today is are there any fools in the
house so what God wants you to do with
your life while he wants you to plan for
the future the Bible tells us that it
says I want you to live for today but he
says I want you to live for today like
it could be your last cuz it could be
okay so God wish you what you want what
do you want us to get out of this from
an eternal perspective he tells you in
his closing verse verse 21 so is the man
who stores up treasure for himself and
is not rich toward God that is he says
here’s my point he’s talking to the man
who wants to Jesus to arbitrate between
he and his brother he says you want to
be rich for you and there is no divine
consideration in anything you are
planning you are planning this
independently of God because I want to
get to the root the more aware you are
of your mortality the more you live with
different priorities God is saying to
you and me it’s keep eternity in your
face so that you can live a life in
history
don’t say next year I’m gonna serve you
God make sure I’m gonna give you some
time then it’s all about you all about
now all about me myself I it’s all about
that god I can’t worry about any of that
other stuff I’ll do that later when
later may never come he’s Jesus is
saying mister don’t be a fool don’t be a
fool yes plan yes maximize what God
gives you but not at the expense of God
whatever level God gives it you know he
uses the word here so as the man who
stores up treasure what how many folks
here have storages
got stuff that can’t fit in your house
no more that stuff you want to hold on
to and we want to hold on to we don’t
even know we don’t use it well they know
we’re gonna ever use it but just in case
I might want to use it yes from now hang
on ain’t gonna help nobody else with it
cuz I might need it even though I don’t
need it I couldn’t eat it and therefore
I’ll pay money to store it and forget
that it’s even there
story storing with no purpose in mind
other than to store it I remember the
Lexus commercial some years ago when
Lexus came out it was the new fancy car
on the block and they had the commercial
what a dummy behind the wheel
a dummy there’s a dummy behind the wheel
good-looking dummy just a good-looking
well-dressed dummy
behind the wheel behind the wheel
driving the Lexus car and the car
crashes and wanted to show off the Lexus
know how safe it was you got a dummy in
a car in a crash
we got dummies in life looking good
crashes because they are fools I like
you
sit down and you watch TV and they got
commercials about medicines designed and
make you better
to heal your sickness to heal your hurts
and your pains and they advertise these
medicines cuz they are there to give you
a better life to help you feel better
but then comes of a warning some
commercials spend more time on the
warning than the description of the
benefit of the medicine there is one
commercial that says this medication
will help you sleep
beware it may give you suicide thoughts
do what another medicine this will heal
you who but it could kill you this world
offers you medicine the medicine of
prosperity the medicine of notoriety the
medicine of security the medicine of
prosperity it offers you the medicine
but what this world does not do is give
you the warning our job is to give you
the warning that if you take the
medicine of greed without the warning of
danger
this medicine called affluenza can kill
you so don’t leave God out if you want
to have life and not just want to exist
because a person’s life does not consist
of the things that he or she
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far too many people have settled for
fake riches they’ve settled for things
that money can buy and they’ve lost out
on things that money can’t buy as you’ve
heard today if you’re not rich toward
God it really doesn’t really matter how
much money you have within your CD or
your 401 or and your bank account stocks
bonds that has that its place there’s a
place for that but what good is having a
bunch of riches in time and to stand
before God totally impoverished because
you did not have a life that had eternal
value attached to it so what we’ve tried
to do today is to refocus all of our
attention on the eternal perspective of
wealth because when you have that
perspective you can enjoy better
the temporal provision of wealth so
don’t be like our friend who in this
passage didn’t get to enjoy what he
thought he would enjoy because the clock
ran out none of us knows when that
clocks gonna run out when it does make
sure you forward it more ahead a lot
more than you’ve left behind
[Music]
in 2017 you walked with Joseph on his
detours to his destiny
you learn how to develop and mature your
kingdom family you experience the unique
person of Jesus Christ altar the
powerful teaching of Tony Evans you can
relive that power or experience it for
the first time with the best of Tony
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you
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