Radio Seminar: 3 Questions Wrap Up
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INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Financial Freedom God’s Way, where you are continuing to learn, apply, and pass on, Bible-based financial principles and applications so that you and your family will not only just survive, but thrive during these very uncertain times.
Hi and welcome everyone, this is Bob Louder from Christian Financial Ministries, and it is an absolute honor to have you with us again—it really is. What is on the schedule for our 30-minute time together?
- Today, today is going to be all about setting a spiritual and a financial foundation that will serve you from this time on until you get to see Jesus Christ face-to-face. Today we are going to wrap up our introduction to the Your Finances in Perilous Times Radio Seminar as we take yet one more look at the Three Questions God is asking you so you can see—so you can see if you are honestly wanting to make a huge spiritual and financial difference in His kingdom. My friend, today, on the radio, could be the most important 30 minutes of your life—and that is no exaggeration…you will see how this is fact in just a couple minutes.
- Now, not to worry, Dave Ramsey, John Maxwell, Clark Howard, scam alerts from the BBB will all be back next week and all of the weeks to come.
- But this week is all about you and God—all about God’s three questions that will absolutely change your life.
So stay tuned, won’t you. It is going to be a great time together. As we start, let me pray for us. Father, thank You for meeting with us again today. Please give us ears to hear all that it is you have planned for us, to Your glory, in Jesus’ mighty name, amen.
BODY
Your Finances in Perilous Times Radio Seminar
Ok, as we get started, first, recall that during this Your Finances in Perilous Times Radio Seminar, you are going to learn how to best manage all the material areas of your life in ways that are pleasing to God. And you discovered that God’s way to get you ready to serve both spiritually and financially is to prayerfully and thoughtfully respond to His three questions—the same three questions He as has asked countless men and women down through the ages are the same three questions He is asking you right now.
What are those questions? First: Will you show me your hand? Second: What is in your hand? And third: Will you give me your hand and what’s in it?
Now, you have already seen how God asked these three questions to Moses and an Old Testament lady named Jehosheba. But, just in case you think I’m cherry-picking Bible characters here, by implication, God asked these same three questions to any number of other folks in the Bible to get them ready to mightily serve and make a difference.
- For example, how could you possibly win a battle with only 300 men who don’t have a single weapon? Well, you could if you were a scared little man named Gideon who one day said, “God, I don’t seem to have anything in my hand but if you fill it, I’ll give it to you.” So God put a dream in Gideon’s hand, Gideon gave it back, God blessed it, and the land was saved.
- There are more, so many, many more…What’s in your hand Dorkis? “A needle and thread Lord. What could you do with just a needle and thread?” “I could clothe the widows and the orphans if you’ll give it to Me.”
- Or, how about, Hey, David, what’s in your hand? “Lord, I’m just a boy with a sling shot. What difference can a boy with a sling shot make?” “I could kill a giant and encourage a nation, if you’ll give it to Me.”
- And my favorite one, my favorite one is this and we could camp out here for quite a while, what’s in your hand little boy? “Gosh mister, practically nothing. Why, just five barley loaves and a couple of fish, but what could you do with five barley loaves and two fish, they’re hardly enough for me to even have a snack?” “I could feed 5000 men plus all the women and children if you give them to Me.”
- Then, then of course, there was Moses. What’s in your hand Moses? Remember? “Just a shepherd’s staff Lord, something I’d rather not have and rather not have to even think about.” But he gave God his hand and what was in it and do you remember all that God did with that staff? Throw in on the ground, it becomes serpent, pick it up, it becomes staff. Touch the waters of the Nile and they turn to blood. Hit the ground and the plagues come forth. Hold it up over the Red Sea on the way out of town and God sends a strong east wind to divide that sea. Hold it over the people when they fight and they win. Hit a rock in the desert and water gushes out. Look what God did with something that Moses said was useless. “You can’t use it Lord. It’s nothing but a despised shepherd’s staff.”
“Will you show me your hand?” “What is in your hand?” “And will you give Me your hand and what’s in it?” God is asking you these same three questions right now. The bottom line as we start out on the Your Finances In Perilous Times Radio Seminar is that if you really want to serve Him in any area of your life, including the financial areas of your life, it’s time you get serious—no more time on Someday Isle—no more excuses! If you really want to get the most out of our time together, then you need to prayerfully respond to these three questions.
First, will you show God your hand?
- Here God is asking you to either get into relationship with Him or get back into relationship with Him. He’s asking you, “Will you show me your hand. Let Me see it if you really want to make a difference. Do you really want to make a difference?” God is saying to you, “If so, then let’s first make sure our relationship squared away. Will you choose to show me your hand?” But you say, “Lord, I don’t exactly want to show it to you right now. I mean, somebody might see…I’m not really excited about opening myself up to you…because Lord, I’ve done and said and thought some things spiritually and financially that I shouldn’t have, and Lord, there have been times, lots of times that I didn’t do and say and think what I should have. Lord, there has been some sin in my life.” And God says to you, “Listen my child. I know. I know all about it, and you are right, that sin is standing in the way of our relationship and My ability to teach you and use you starting this very second.” God says, “Let’s get rid of it.” God says, “Let’s put it behind you. I’m going to forget about it. You need to learn from it and move on.” You see, just like the father and the prodigal son and just like God’s conversation with Moses and so many, many others, you can know beyond a shadow of doubt, you can know that you know that you know, that you are forgiven and your relationship set in place.
- If you have never put your relationship with God into place, if you’ve never asked Jesus Christ into your heart at Lord and Savior, God is asking you, “Will you show me your hand—will you confess your sins so I can forgive you, cleanse you so we can start to walk and talk and work together and you can start to make a real difference in My Kingdom?”
- And, if you have already prayed to set your relationship with God into place, you have already asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, but you’ve walked away from your fellowship with God, I mean, your relationship isn’t broken but your fellowship needs restoring? Then you need to know that God is still asking you this same question, he asks, “Will you show Me your hand, so that I can forgive you, so that we can have our fellowship restored.”
- That is exactly what you have the chance to do right now, listening to God by way of your radio. We are going to pray in just a minute—yep, right here right now over the radio and you can pray whether you are driving your car or listening someplace else. When you do, show Him your hand. Show it to Him. No matter what’s on it. He is asking you, first, “Will you show me your hand?”
Then He is asking you, right now, “What’s in your hand? What do He and you have to work with?”
- You may say, “I don’t have much. I don’t have anything. If I had anything I wouldn’t even be here right now.” Or maybe you consider yourself a modern day shepherd—someone who is at the low end of the societal totem pole, someone with absolutely nothing to offer, nothing God can possibly use. But during our times together God is going to show you that He has put quite a bit in your hand. And you will also soon see that what He has given you is not just what you have, but also who you are. What’s in your hand? Are you an employee? A child? Perhaps you are a husband or a wife, a parent or grandparent, a teacher, a student, a tradesman, a nurse…you get the picture.
- Or maybe you believe you are nobody special with nothing special to offer. You might think, that you’re just a plain, every day, ordinary kind of an individual; that you’re not any different than anybody else; that you’re just an ordinary person. But you see, all these Bible heroes were just that–they were just ordinary people. What made each one of them extraordinary was not what they had or who they were at the start, oh no, what made a difference was God’s work through them and what they had been given, and it can be the same with you.
So, God asks you, “Will you show Me your hand?” “What’s in your hand?” And finally He asks you, “Will you give Me your hand and what’s in it?”
Now, let me ask you a question: Why do you suppose it is that God asks you to give back to Him whatever it is He has given you?—who you are and what you have? Why does He ask you to give it back? Why? Listen my friend, because everything you choose to put back into Jesus’ hands multiplies every bit as much, as a little boy’s lunch.
- If you say, I’m just a plain, ordinary person, I’m like everybody else–then give Him the plain and the ordinary.
- If it’s your time, your skills, your health, if it’s your family, your position, whatever is in your hand, learn to give it back to Him.
- Even if its’ a lunch, five loaves and a couple of small fish. God is asking you, “Will you give me your hand and what’s in it?”
And did you know that according to the Bible, did you know that if you choose to give God your hand and what’s in it, if you do, God makes you a couple of promises?
- First of all, according to the Bible, God promises you that He will use whatever it is you give Him, He’s not going to waste a thing. He promises to use what you give Him because He doesn’t have nearly enough people who are willing to give Him their hands and what’s in them. First God promises to use what you give Him.
- But then, then, according to the Bible, God makes you a second promise. He will make sure He returns to you enough to do anything He ever asks you to do
You see, as you start out on this journey to financial freedom God’s way, as you enter into you’re your Finances in Perilous Times Radio Seminar, the bottom line is that you can choose to vote yourself off Someday Isle. You can choose to make a difference spiritually and financially. Because, according to the Bible, one person can still make a difference. As the matter of fact, according to the Bible, you are called to make a difference. That’s why you are here on this earth at this time…for such a time as this. And that’s what our time together is going to be all about. You’re going to learn to recognize what God has placed in your hand and how to use whatever it is to God’s glory. You are going to learn what God has to say, and how to get what He has to say up and operating in your life. God is going to put into your hand some knowledge and understanding of spiritual tools and biblical financial principles and applications. And perhaps, just perhaps, if you are really blessed, perhaps He even wants to place into your hand the desire and the ability and the opportunity to help someone else. You can learn, apply and pass along…you can make a difference…and you can do it all God’s way.
But I want us to stop right here, for just a minute, and go back to where we started. Let me ask you my two questions again. First, do you want to be used in a mighty way in the Kingdom of God? Question number two, do you believe it’s possible to make a difference? Actually, here’s one more: Are you beginning to see the process God gives you in His three questions to het you ready to serve?
Question 1: Will you show me your hand. Let’s get the relationship between you and God squared away. Now, I know that praying and asking God to set or reset your relationship with Him usually comes at the end of a seminar, or the end of a workshop, or the end of a sermon—hardly ever over the radio.
However, as you have seen with Moses, it’s really the very first thing you need to do– the very first thing you need to do to begin to be mightily used by God. You see, Moses was one of the first folks to learn that the purpose of godly information is not mere knowledge, its obedience. In the past you might have been taught well Bible based financial information but you didn’t change. You see, it’s only when you have a right relationship with God that you can change; that you can move from information into a spiritual and financial lifestyle transformation.
The only way to have a personal relationship with God is to ask His Son, Jesus Christ, into your heart as your Lord and Savior. And if you already know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but you need to have your fellowship restored, well, you just need to ask Him. According to the Bible, you need to do one or the other to start to be in a position to grow to serve.
So, lets’ pray. Please, right where you are, no matter whom else is around, bow your head, close your eyes listen, focus and follow along with me. Now, if you are driving, don’t do any of that—just listen with your ears, your heart, and your eyes wide open. I will open us up in prayer, then I’ll lead you in a short prayer, and finally I’ll close us in prayer. Ready?
- Father, we stand before you and we stand before you Lord Jesus and we hear you ask us these same questions; “Will you show me your hand? What’s in your hand? Will you give me your hand and what’s in it?” And, Oh God, we are just ordinary people but we would like to give it to you…to give all of it to you. We would like to see what You can do with one person who will give You all that he has, all that she has.
- Now, first, if you have never come to the point where you prayed and asked Jesus to come into your heart, you can, right now. Listen to me please, You can and will make a difference to God and His Kingdom but you first need to have a personal relationship with God. The only way to have a personal relationship with God is to ask His Son, Jesus Christ into your heart as your personal Lord and Savior. How do you ask Jesus into your heart as Lord and savior? The Bible says it’s very straight forward.
- Be willing to admit that you have been living to please yourself which the Bible says is sin.
- You need to be willing to turn away from living for yourself, and start living for God.
- You need to believe that you can live for God because Jesus Christ makes it possible. You need to believe all those Bible stories you’ve heard over the years: you need to believe that Jesus, as the Son of God, died on the cross, rose from the grave and now sits at the right hand of God the Father in Heaven—all to forgive you and pay the penalty for your sins and to give you the free gift of an eternal relationship with Him that starts with living for Him right now.
- Right now, today, you can invite Jesus to come in and control your life and begin to live for God. If this is the desire of your heart, please pray after me, doesn’t have to be out loud, God hears your words and He reads your heart…so, one way or the other, pray after me.
- Lord Jesus, I truly want to get close to you. But I know that I have done and I know that I have said and I know that I have thought things that I shouldn’t have, and I’ve not done and not said and not thought so many things that I should have. I need your forgiveness. God please forgive me. Jesus, I believe that You died on the cross, I believe that You rose to life again, so I can be forgiven and receive the free gift of eternal relationship with you. Jesus, today I stop living to please myself and start living to please You. Please come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You. Thank You for coming into my life Lord Jesus. Amen.
- Now, second, if you prayed to ask Jesus to come into your life sometime in the past and today, right now, you know that you’ve fallen away from Him, that you’re out of fellowship with Him, for any reason, you can show Him your hand and get back into fellowship and you too can grow to really make a difference. If that’s where you are, and then please pray with me…Father God, I’ve sinned. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Please teach me today to Your glory in Jesus’ name. Amen
- Now, let me close for us…Oh God, will you please use us to your glory? Lord, help us to see that it’s Your heart to have us make a difference in Your Kingdom. Forever in Jesus’ name. Amen.
- OK, good start, right? Now, if you just prayed to either come to Jesus or come back to Jesus, there are two things you need to do.
- First, tell someone about the decision you just made. You can talk about God…Jesus talks about you!
- And second, if you’re not already there, you need to find and get active in a strong Bible teaching, Bible believing church. OK?
- And by the way, if you need someone to tell and talk to as you start out on your walk with the Lord, please give me a call at 678-386-2640. If will be my very great honor to help you make some important first steps in your walk of faith with God.
Wow, like we said four weeks ago, these sessions together talking about God’s three questions serve as the absolute foundation upon which your spiritual and financial walk with God will be built.
- And as a result of our time together so far, you’ve had the chance to decide whether or not you truly want to be used by God to make a difference to God and all those around you. You have chosen to make a difference.
- And you now know the process by which He and you must go through so that He can get you into a position to make a difference. You now know God’s three questions to you.
- Will you show me your hand, God wants to make sure your relationship with Him is squared away…you just prayed and settled that issue.
- That leaves the second and third questions, “what’s in your hand.” And “will you give me your hand and what’s in them?” These are the questions you’ll work through for the rest of our seminar times together.
- So, it’s time to move on. Next week you will discover some very specific goals, some great reasons why you need to tune in each week and what you will specifically learn that will prayerfully move you from financial information into Bible-based spiritual and financial, lifestyle transformation.
CONCLUSION
Now, as we wrap up, can you see how this time together with the Lord and you is not designed to be a time of casual radio listening. It can be a time of spiritual and financial renewal that will transform your life and even move through your life into the lives of others as well. You will find that this is going to be life-changing radio for you my friend. I guarantee you it will be different than any other radio you have ever heard in the past. So tune one, two, or even three times each weekend. That would be Saturdays at 1:00 PM and again on Sundays at 1 and 6:30 PM. And remember, we want you to be able to fully grasp all that the Lord gives you each week. That’s why you can go to our website at www.christianfinancialministries.org and either re-listen to, read, and even print out a transcript of this or any of our weekly Your Finances in Perilous Times Radio Seminar sessions. Remember, Saturdays at 1 and Sundays at 1 and 6:30—life-changing listening/ learning, doing, and sharing on Financial Freedom God’s Way Radio—don’t miss a single week.
And now, well now, let me closes us in a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for bringing us together today and for each of the days to come to Your glory in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a blessed rest of your day, won’t you, and we will see you next time as we continue down your personal road to Financial Freedom God’s Way.
