4 Rivers

Gen 2:10-15 NKJV

Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

God placed man in Eden: pleasure, delight.  Ideal Environment

4 Rivers were part of the environment to insure productivity & increase

 God puts us in the middle of potential for productivity – we must learn to recognize & seize

Euphrates River:  fruitful.  Represents Work

Lord God put man in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.  

Work is to sustain us and meet our needs…

• 2 Thes 3"10 "If anyone does not work, he shall not eat."

The River of Work does not produce wealth – your paycheck is not enough 

You cannot earn your way to wealth or financial freedom with a 9-5 

                    The more we make, the more we spend

We need to do more – we need more rivers

Gihon River:  the breaking forth. 

Get God involved:  Operate under an open heaven

Principle of having full & free access, after keeping the devoted thing holy - Gen 2:15-17

     The devoted thing: the Tithe – 10% of “all” – Gen 14:20; tithe on “increase” - Deut 14:22

Mal 3:10a. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, 

When we honor the devoted thing, God causes there to be a “breaking forth” 

10b. Try Me now in this," Says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not (throw) open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that’s not enough.  11 "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the Lord of hosts

When we don’t touch the devoted thing – the tithe

• Reverses the original curse (Gen 3:17) – creating conditions of productivity
• Gain God’s active presence & involvement

Tithing is Rain, Miracle Grow & Pesticide

Pishon River:  increase.  Investing & making a Profit

We know how to ake money – know how to spend, – but we Must turn some into Seed

How does seed function?

Never say you don’t have enough to start, because a seed is a small thing 

1^st Blessing:  “Be fruitful and multiply”

          The Father does not intend for us to only consume and exhaust

God wants us living under a principle of increase in our lives 

Matt 25:26-27

His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.  NIV

• Will God call you wicked based on how you handle the seed?

Our money should be working while we sleep – principle of sowing & reaping

We Don’t Know How to make that happen – we’ve never been taught

How bad do you want it?  Are you willing to learn?

Jesus tells us a principle in Matt 25:27:  Compound Interest

(Example of compound interest from “Money, Master the Game” by Tony Robbins)

William

Started at age 20

$4000 per year @ 10% return

20 years, until age 40

Earned almost $2.5 million

600% more

James

Started at age 40

$4000 per year @ 10% return

25 years, until age 65 – 5 yrs longer

Less than $400,000

$2 million less

Hiddekel River (Tigris):  Riddle of lightness; sound

Light & sound are Creative elements – this river has to do with our creativity

Jesus said, “We are light” – we can produce & project images

We are carriers of a sound

Sound is creative:  “And God spoke and said…”

“You shall have whatever you say” – Mk 11:23

Solve the riddle of light – Who am I?

          Follow the river – follow your curiosity & creativity

Gen 4:19-22

Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 20 And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. 22 And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron.

Most people are afraid of this river of curiosity

Because creative ideas can be scary

We never learn to deal with our fears

Creativity asks you to do things that others haven’t done

          Fear says, “Don’t do that.  Nobody’s ever done that.  It won’t work.”

When we give in to our fear and not our curiosity, we kill our creativity

          We dam up the Tigris River

The Tigris runs parallel to the Euphrates (could become work or business)

Or, it could just be like tithing, not adding moneym but creating conditions for Eden

There are 3 Voices: The Lord’s, my voice & your voice – the most important one

What are you saying to yourself about what you received today?

          What are you going to do with what you’ve received?

Challenge:  Add one river…

Opening Heaven for the Entrance of Jesus

Gen 2:15-17

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

Gen 3:17.

Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

A Kingdom Principle established in the beginning

God wants us to have full & free access

Except the devoted thing – something set aside for Him

Holy, or accursed – if it’s handled

Every place Israel put their feet in the Promised Land would be theirs – except Jericho 

Josh 6:17-19

Now [Jericho] shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. 18 And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 19 But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the Lord; they shall come into the treasury of the Lord."

Defeated by the enemy (Ai), because took what was devoted to God

Josh 7:10-12

So the Lord said to Joshua: "Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? 11 Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. 12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies (ran), because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.

When the holy thing becomes the accursed thing you lose the presence of God

Just before God sends Jesus, the last message in the OT lays out what needs to happen to recover His Presence

Mal 3:1.  "Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the Lord of hosts.  

Mal 3:7.  Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them.  Return to Me, and I will return to you," Says the Lord of hosts.  But you said, “In what way shall we return?”

He doesn’t answer with prayer, fasting, revival, anointing, gifts…

Question, vs. 8.  "Will a man rob God?  Yet you have robbed Me!

But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings.

Robbery (vs. theft & larceny)

Harm the Body of Christ

• The Church can’t do what it’s supposed to do
• Cause the church to use methods and means not intended by God
  • God has to wash cars & sell chicken to fund His ideas

9 You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, this whole nation.

Cursed:  to bind; to hem in with obstacles; to render powerless

get in difficulty that can’t get out of, stop productivity and promotion

10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the Lord of hosts; 12 And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land," Says the Lord of hosts.

1. Open the windows of heaven – Causing productivity

          God is undoing the first curse – making the ground productive

2. Pour out Blessings: 

We want the blessing of Abraham – and they are available to us

Gal 3:14.  That the blessing of Abraham might come through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Abraham accessed his blessings by faith

Gen 14:29.  Abraham gave Melchizedek a tithe of ALL

There was no laws that told Abraham to tithe

          Tithing is about relationship & trust

Tithing didn’t just bless Abraham – it affected his future

Heb 7:9-10.  Levi paid tithes through Abraham

God's blessing and favor was transferred to his children and grandchildren: 

3. That’s not enough

When I tithe…

I Gain God’s Active Presence and Involvement

        I cause what I do to be rained on – to be productive

Stop touching what belongs to God

Stop living under the curse – Restrictions

When I don’t tithe…

I don’t have strength to stand against things

          I get in things and can’t get out

“I can’t tithe because I don’t have it”

“You didn’t tithe, so you don’t have it”

You had it.  It was not yours, but you used it anyway

Now you’ve cursed all of your other money

          Money God wanted you to use “freely”

Faith to Tithe…  Trust & relationship

God's Promise - Mal 3:10

Managing Your Money to Move God

Acts 10:1-5

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, 2 a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. 3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, "Cornelius!"  4 And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, "What is it, lord?"

So he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.  5 Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter.

“It means a monument to preserve the remembrance of a person or thing”

Prayer and Giving was a memorial

Moved the heart of God – God says, “I can’t forget about them”

          Salvation for family

How we use our money can move God

When you talk about money, people think you’re trying to take it from them

Many times they feel shame

I’m here to add value to you and your life

Isa 48:17.  "I am the Lord your God, Who teaches you to profit (succeed – NET), Who leads you by the way you should go.

But, information without application is poverty

The Bible says a lot about money 

Jesus says a lot about money

Jesus says it’s a measure of the heart

Matt 6:21.  For where your treasure (wealth, riches) is, there your heart will be also.

          For where your money is, that’s where your heart will be

Money can actually become a god, and come between us and God our Savior

• Luke 16:13.  You cannot serve God and mammon       

Don’t serve money – make money serve you

Money is a tool… which we must learn to master – it’s not bad or evil

Eccl 10:19.  Money answers everything.

Make Friends of Mammon

Luke 16:9.  And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon.

How?

1.  Spend time with it

I didn’t say “Spend it,” I said “Spend time with it”

How much time do you spend with your money?

          Do you have plans to get rid of it before you even get it?

Blacks aren’t very good friends of money – we don’t spend enough time with it

As soon as we make it, we spend it

We don't invest it, or use it to produce

• A dollar circulates in Asian communities for a month,
• A dollar circulates n Jewish communities approximately 20 days
• A dollar circulates in white communities 17 days
• A dollar circulates in black community 6 hours

Matt 25:29.  For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

If you want friends, you must be friendly.  Prov 18:24

2.  Check on it & account for it (care what happens to it)

You must pay attention to your financial status

Too many avoid addressing the reality of their financial situation     

Open your mail; look at bank statements & credit card statements

                    It’s costing you interest, messing up your credit & blocking more money

Budget & Save

Know how much you have so that you will know what you can and cannot do

Prov 21:5. The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty,

But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.

3.  Divide & Multiply it

Eccl 11:2. Divide your investments among many places,

for you do not know what risks might lie ahead.  NLT

From the beginning, we were created to multiply and increase

Divide:  “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket”

• Savings
• Tithing
• Investing
  

Jesus speaks repeatedly about “unprofitable servants

Matt 25:24-30

"Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  25 And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.'

26 "But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.  28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.

29 'For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.  30 And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

4. Change Your Name 

Prov 22:1.  A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

Credit:  Your reputation for character and integrity, entitling you to be trusted

God cares deeply about your name & your debt

          Established Year of Jubilee – released from debt

God is in the Debt Cancellation Business

• Ex 12:35-36
• Matt 6:12 – Forgive us our debts…
• The Cross Cancelled our Debt!  

God doesn’t want anything to interfere with our ability to be servants of The Most High:

Prov 22:7.  The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. 

Debt & poor stewardship prevents us from the full definition of “good”

Prov 13:22.  A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children

If not a miracle, God wants to give you a plan for Debt Release

What’s in your house? – 2 Kings 4

5. Trust God & Don’t Be Afraid When He Asks You for Some

Prov 11:25.  The generous soul will be made rich,

And he who waters will also be watered himself.

1 Kings 17:10-16

The Lord told Elijah go to Zarephath. “I have commanded a widow to provide for you."

A widow was there gathering sticks.

10 He called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup that I may drink." 11 As she was going to get it, he said, "Please bring me some bread."

12 So she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."

13 And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.'"

15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

God told her she was going to have to give

     But He waited until she had only a little bit left to put the demand on her

The Word of the Lord ~vs~ the reality of the situation

The responsibility of a single mother – she wasn’t being selfish

She said “Yes” to what didn’t cost her – the cup of water

You pray for more

          Instead of receiving more, you’re challenged to give the little you have left

Now God was “His God” vs. 12

Do not fear

If you’re doing what God told you to do, He’s obligated to remember you

When she gave, God continually gave to her

“Give when you have little. You’ll teach your brain that there is more than enough.  You leave scarcity behind & move toward a world of abundance.”

Prov 3:9.  Honor the LORD with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.

          Cause and effect

Positioned for Destiny

1 Sam 30:26-31

Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, "Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord" —  ²⁷ to those who were in Bethel, Ramoth of the South, Jattir, ²⁸ Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa, ²⁹ Rachal, the cities of the Jerahmeelites, the cities of the Kenites, ³⁰ Hormah, Chorashan, Athach, ³¹ Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to rove.  (13 cities)

2 Sam 2:3-5

And David brought up the men who were with him, every man with his household. So they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. ⁴ Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. And they told David, saying, "The men of Jabesh Gilead were the ones who buried Saul."

Spoils… “Captivity captive”

Gift made room for him

Ending just like Predicted in the Beginning...

David was anointed to fulfill a destiny

          We must always learn to deal with God’s Process of “In-Between”

Wilderness – Joseph, Moses, Israel, Jesus

Deut 8:15-16

Who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end.

God does not allow anything to happen to His own,

1.  unless He will get glory, or

2.  unless you will be better from it.

Circumstances cause “drift” from destiny

1 Sam 27:1 David kept thinking to himself, "Someday Saul is going to get me. The best thing for me to do is escape to the Philistines. Then Saul will stop hunting for me, and I will finally be safe."  NLT

We begin to believe the circumstances more than the promise

David shifted to survival mode

Christians celebrate survival – our claim to fame

• ·       I’m still here…

You should have been there!

1 Sam 28 – 2 Sam 2 = less than a month

1 Sam 30 – Lost Everything @ Ziklag = enveloped in grief

vs. 6   At a very Desperate Place

Low Places are more critical than high moments

Discover what we are made of…

At our Low Place – the Devil Positions us for Destruction

1. “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”

He Remembered – Works & Word

2. Then, David asked the right questions:

          “Shall I pursue”

It’s a Setup:  God Is Positioning Us for Our Destiny!

Sometimes God lets the enemy take something you value

So you will fight the enemy, and get something better – more

Come out of your Hell like Jesus!   “Leading Captivity Captive”

What if David had returned to Ziklag and everything was fine?

At his lowest point - Saul being killed, houses burned, etc.

We cry over things we are not going to need anymore

This is your Critical Moment

Will you encourage yourself?

Will you ask the right questions?

Will you allow it to destroy you?

or move you to your destiny

Will you sit in Ziklag?

or will you pursue your destiny

What Makes Jesus Cry?

Luke 19:41-44

Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, ⁴² saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.  ⁴³ For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side,  ⁴⁴ and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."

What Makes Jesus Cry?

They missed their “time of visitation” – the moment that makes for “Peace”

Shalom: peace, prosperity, success, health, completeness, contentment, harmony

• Nothing missing, nothing broken

Not only lost Shalom, Lost the Future

Jer 29:11.  For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  NIV

We must cooperate with the Time 

 

2 Types of Time:

Chrónos: The measure of the succession of minutes and event.

Kairós:  Appropriate or opportune time; proper season

Times at which certain foreordained events take place. 

A period influenced by something. A period of opportunity

God designates certain times to accomplish certain things

•  Gal 6:9.  Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

God gives us understanding & discernment of the times:  

Sons of Issachar knew what should be done in certain times

He scolds us when we don’t understand & discern the times:

Matt 16:2-3

He answered and said to them, "When it is evening you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red'; ³ and in the morning, 'It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.' Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.

Some things happen in due season 

• ·       Gal 4:4.  When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son,
• ·       Rom 5:6.  In due time Christ died for the ungodly.

Time is pregnant – full, due – with something

Some things happen in new season

When God “sets” the time for something to happen

          Everything is orchestrated for that moment

We must cooperate with that moment

          We must seize the moment – we cannot delay

Esther 4:14.  For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish.

Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

• What if Esther had let fear take over?
• What if she had talked herself out of it?

We must Seize the Day

John 9:4.  I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.

This is not a time for waiting

          This is a time to make that move

God has set the opportune moment – set up the divine intersection

God has orchestrated everything to be in order for a specific time and place

          And we don’t show up

It breaks Jesus’ heart when we miss our moment

          He Weeps – not just tears.  He wails, openly grieves

Can’t talk ourselves out of what’s in our spirit, what’s in our hand, in our heart

Eccl 3:17.  For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work."

  This is your day!

This is your time!

Redeem the time, because the days are evil.  Eph 5:16

Heb 3:12-15.  Today, when you hear His voice, harden not your heart