This New Life with Jesus comes to affect every area of your life.

Genesis 12:1-3 ESV
Now the LORD said[a] to Abram, “Go from your country[b] and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’

Blessed: Makarios, happy ,blissful, favored, a self-contained happiness.

Because we are Blessed, God wants to extend His blessing to us in every area of our lives.

Deuteronomy 28:11-14 ESV
11 And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them.

The greatest role of the church is to lead and show the culture how to do life well!

God includes finances as one of the components of His definition of blessing.

When we leave our place of safety and self-sustainability, God will show us a new place and a new way to be sustained.

1. *Your Thoughts about God effect how you view everything else in life. *

Psalm145:13-16 ESV
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.[The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.][a]14 The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.16 You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.

God is a Faithful Father.

Fear is the result of missing the revelation that He is as good and faithful.

2. Whoever You See as Your source will determine who you serve.

What drives our lives?

1) Spirit of God.

Psalm 50:10-11ESV
For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.11 I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.

Psalm 24: 1-2 ESV
The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,[a]the world and those who dwell therein,2 for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

2) Spirit of This World (mammon, riches)

*Matthew 6:24 ESV
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. **

At its heart there’s an attitude that says: Man doesn’t need God—we’re self-sufficient.

It’s possible to serve mammon instead of serving God, but Jesus states it is impossible to serve both at the same time. He says you will love one and hate the other.

“Mammon promises us those things that only God can give—security, significance, identity, independence, power, and freedom. Mammon tells us it can insulate us from life’s problems and that money is the answer to every situation.” - Pastor Jimmy Evans

*1 Cor 2:16 ESV
“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.*

Discussion Questions:

1- This New Life with Jesus comes to affect every area of your life. Discuss what this means, and how this life with Jesus wants to affect all of us. What areas ar more difficult for you to give to Him? Which seem easier?

2- What does it mean to be “Blessed?” How is blessing different than happiness?

3- God called Abram to leave His place of safety and self- Sustainability to show him a new place. What does this represent in your life? What do you think the “New Place” is for you?

4- Discuss one area where your thoughts about who God is has affected how you view life?

5- Read Matthew 6:24. What does it mean to serve the master of money? How can you go from serving money, to recognizing and serving God as your source.

6- Discuss one negative mindset that you have had with money and one way that God may be asking you to change the way you think in regard to finances.