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

[Music]

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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