This morning, we continue our series on “The Parables of Jesus.” We will seek to glean “Pearls from the Parables.”
Before we get to the parable, let’s look at a scripture we have been looking at all year. This is something I believe the Lord wants us to meditate on.
(Psalm 126:4 TPT)
Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again.
This is a season of refreshing and restoring for us.
(Matthew 25:14-30 TPT)
14 “Again, heaven’s kingdom is like a wealthy man who went on a long journey and summoned all his trusted servants and assigned his financial management over to them. 15 Before he left on his journey, he entrusted a bag of five thousand gold coins to one of his servants, to another a bag of two thousand gold coins, and to the third a bag of one thousand gold coins, each according to his ability to manage.
16 “The one entrusted with five thousand gold coins immediately went out and traded with the money, and he doubled his investment. 17 In the same way, the one who was entrusted with two thousand gold coins traded with the sum and likewise doubled his investment. 18 But the one who had been entrusted with one thousand gold coins dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.
19 “After much time had passed, the master returned to settle accounts with his servants. 20 The one who was entrusted with five thousand gold coins came and brought ten thousand, saying, ‘See, I have doubled your money.’
21 “Commending his servant, the master replied, ‘You have done well, and proven yourself to be my loyal and trustworthy servant. Because you have been a faithful steward to manage a small sum, now I will put you in charge of much, much more. You will experience the delight of your master, who will say to you, “Enter into the joy of your Lord!” ‘
22 “Then the one who had been entrusted with two thousand gold coins came in and said, ‘See, my master, I have doubled what you have entrusted to me.’
23 “Commending his servant, the master replied, ‘You have done well, and proven yourself to be my loyal and trustworthy servant. Because you were faithful to manage a small sum, now I will put you in charge of much, much more. You will experience the delight of your master, who will say to you, “Enter into the joy of your Lord!” ‘
24 “Then the one who had been entrusted with one thousand gold coins came to his master and said, ‘Look, sir. I know that you are a hard man to please and you’re a shrewd and ruthless businessman who grows rich on the backs of others. 25 I was afraid of you, so I went and hid your money and buried it in the ground. But here it is–take it, it’s yours.’
26 “But his master said to him, ‘You’re an untrustworthy and lazy servant! If you knew I was a shrewd and ruthless business man who always makes a profit, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? 27 Then I would have received it all back with interest when I returned. 28 But because you were unfaithful, I will take the one thousand gold coins and give them to the one who has ten thousand. 29 For the one who has will be given more, until he overflows with abundance. And the one with hardly anything, even what little he has will be taken from him.’
30 “Then the master said to his other servants, ‘Now, throw that good-for-nothing servant far away from me into the outer darkness, where there will be great misery and anguish!’ “
Yesterday, I talked about learning how to think like a steward for God. Today, I will discuss the fact that true stewardship requires ridding yourself of limiting beliefs.
So, what does this mean for you today? A few things.
1. Thinking like a steward for God means you are learning how to think like God in this world.
We can learn a great deal from the prayer David prayed after he and the people of Israel raised the offering for the building of the temple. Let’s take another look at this prayer.
(1 Chron 29:10-17)
10 Then David praised the Lord in front of all the people who were gathered together. David said, “Lord, the God of Israel, our Father, may you be praised forever and ever!
11 Greatness, power, glory, victory, and honor belong to you, because everything in heaven and on earth belongs to you! The kingdom belongs to you, Lord! You are the head, the Ruler over everything.
12 Riches and honor come from you. You rule everything. You have the power and strength in your hand! And in your hand is the power to make anyone great and powerful!
13 Now, our God, we thank you, and we praise your glorious name!
14 All these things didn’t come from me and my people. All these things come from you. We are only giving back to you things that came from you.
15 We are only strangers traveling through this world like our ancestors. Our time on earth is like a passing shadow, and we cannot stop it.
16 Lord our God, we gathered all these things to build your Temple. We build it to honor your name. But all these things have come from you. Everything belongs to you.
17 My God, I know that you test people, and that you are happy when people do what is right. I gladly give you all these things with a pure, honest heart. I see your people gathered here, and I see that they are happy about giving these things to you.
I told you yesterday that this prayer is a masterclass in stewardship. We can learn a great deal from David concerning this.
— Everything we have and everything there is (everywhere) came from God.
— Since everything we have came from God, it all belongs to Him (not just 10%).
— David said, “All these things didn’t come from me and my people. All these things come from you.” If you sincerely believe that everything belongs to God and that everything you have is actually His, then you are free to do with it (the resources), whatever He tells you to do. This is the true essence of what it means to make God your Lord!
— David says, “Lord our God, we gathered all these things to build your Temple. We build it to honor your name. But all these things have come from you. Everything belongs to you.” This is stewardship, in a nutshell. We have the privilege of managing God’s resources, and we are supposed to do whatever God leads us to do with them. Even our life belongs to Him!
— When you get a revelation of stewardship (how you belong to God and everything you have belongs to Him too), and you realize you are on this planet to do God’s bidding, you live with a level of excitement and joy that far exceeds anything this world has to offer. This is why David, after having raised billions of dollars for the building of God’ Temple, started the prayer with these words: “Greatness, power, glory, victory, and honor belong to you.” This set the tone for the prayer and this mindset should set the tone for your life!
— When you know everything you have came from God, when you believe it ALL belongs to God, and you believe God made plans for you (which includes the resources you are blessed to manage), then you can’t help but be excited and optimistic about life. Why? Because you know God did not send you to this planet to fail! You were born (and Born-Again) to succeed!
— To truly think like a steward for God, you must rid yourself of limiting beliefs because God is not limited in any way!
2. Understanding how much money David and the Israelites raised for the building of the Temple should help rid you of limiting beliefs.
We can learn a great deal from the prayer David prayed after he and the people of Israel raised the
Yesterday, we saw how David gave “110 tons of pure gold… and 263 tons of pure silver.” He gave other things, too. But for the sake of time, I only highlighted those two things. The people then gave “190 tons of gold; 375 tons of silver.” Once again, they gave other things too. This was all for the building of God’s Temple, and the materials were God’s idea.
Let’s break this down so you can understand what this means in today’s terms.
David gave 110 tons of gold.
— 1 ton = 2,000 pounds
— The price of ONE OUNCE of gold today is $1,941.60. Let’s just use $1,940.00.
— That comes out to $31,040 per pound.
— David gave 220,000 pounds.
— 220,000 pounds at $20,000 per pound is $6.82B IN GOLD!
— and this is JUST WHAT DAVID GAVE!!!!
The people gave 190 tons of gold.
— If you do the same math, that comes out to $11.76B IN GOLD!
— Once again, this is just what they gave in gold, not counting other materials.
This means that (just in gold), the nation of Israel raised over $18 BILLION DOLLARS to build their Temple (i.e., their sanctuary, their church).
Before we go any further, I will say this:
— Getting a revelation of stewardship will drastically change the way you think.
— God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and His ways are higher than our ways.
— To walk with God in the fullness of your calling, you must learn to think like Him.
— When you realize God owns everything (including you), and you open yourself up to do whatever He wants done on this planet, even when it far exceeds anything you ever imagined in the past.
I will move on to my next point as I continue to build my case this morning.
3. Understanding how many people it took to build God’s Temple should help rid you of limiting beliefs.
When it came time to build the Temple, look at all the people it required.
(??1 Kings? ?5?:?13-?16? ?NLT)
“Then King Solomon conscripted a labor force of 30,000 men from all Israel. He sent them to Lebanon in shifts, 10,000 every month, so that each man would be one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of this labor force.”
He sent them to Lebanon in shifts, 10,000 every month, so that each man would be one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of this labor force. Solomon also had 70,000 common laborers, 80,000 quarry workers in the hill country, and 3,600 foremen to supervise the work.”
— Building the temple took over 100k workers.
— They had 3,600 supervisors.
— It took 7.5 years and billions of dollars to build!
— The plans for the temple came from God.
— He told David how He wanted it built.
— He told David what materials to use (and they were not cheap).
— And when it came time to actually build it, the plans God gave David required a workforce of over 100k people, and this was basically to build a church. This was to build God’s house.
Taking a moment to internalize what you are reading today (from scripture) will help deliver you from limiting beliefs.
What you are learning right now should deliver you from a POVERTY MENTALITY!
God is LIMITLESS and INFINTE in every way. But we limit God when we fail to think like He thinks and believe what He believes.
4. Understanding how elaborate the GRAND OPENING of the Temple was should help rid you of limiting beliefs.
Look at what they BURNED UP (as an OFFERING) during the Dedication of the Temple!
(2 Chronicles 7:4,5 NIV)
4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord.
5 And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God.
— A cow today can cost anywhere between cow can cost between $900 to $5,000. Let’s use $2,500 to be safe.
— They burned up 22,000 cows.
— That is a present value of 22,000 x $2,500 = $55M
— A sheep or goat today ranges from $75-$200. Let’s use $100 to be safe.
— They burned up 120,000 sheep and goats.
— That is a present value of 120,000 x $100 = $12M
So they burned up $67M during the dedication of the temple as an ACT OF WORSHIP!
This was God’s idea, and He was pleased with it!
We need to think about God’s finances differently.
We need to look at everything differently.
5. To truly think like God, most people (even Christians) will have to significantly change the way they think.
Consider what I taught you yesterday and today. Think about it for a minute. Can you imagine if this was today? Can you imagine if a church raised this much money to build a Temple today?
Can you imagine the headlines in the newspapers and on social media?
— “Church Hires Over 100,000 Workers,”
— “Church Creates Massive Labor Force and Employs Them for Seven and a Half Years to Build Their New Sanctuary,”
— “Church Builds Massive Temple with Tremendous Waste,”
— “Church Chooses to Use Gold All Over Their New Sanctuary and Lines the Walls with Silver,”
— “Church Burns Up Food That Could Feed a City.”
All of these things would be trending on social media today, and the church would be criticized. Why? Because people today don’t think like God when it comes to stewardship. To open your heart to the unlimited—and I mean truly unlimited—resources of God, you must remember that He is the owner of everything. God owns it all and can do as He pleases.
I have more to say about this, but I have given you enough to meditate on today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me! I boldly declare:
Everything I have and everything that exists comes from You. You are the source of all things.
I am a steward of Your resources, and I am learning to think like You in this world.
I affirm that not just 10% but 100% of what I have belongs to You. I will do with these resources whatever You lead me to do.
I understand that my life is not my own; it belongs to You. I am on this planet to fulfill Your plans and purposes.
I am filled with excitement and joy because I know You have not sent me here to fail. I was born, and Born-Again, to succeed!
I reject all limiting beliefs. I embrace Your infinite resources and possibilities, knowing that You are not limited in any way.
Father, I am inspired by the grand scale of Your plans, as seen in the building of the Temple. I refuse to limit You with my small thinking.
I am delivered from a poverty mentality. I embrace Your abundance and the fullness of Your calling on my life.
Father, I am committed to thinking like You, even if it contradicts societal norms and invites criticism. I am Your steward in this world.
Living with this mindset, I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
