Talk
BRO. AUDEE VILLARAZA:
We’re going to take a page from the book of Genesis 2:4-9:
Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet and a Light unto my path.
I want to give you right now our big message and I pray that you can preach this to somebody standing next to you. Our message for somebody who’s been wondering: “Is it enough that
I have the money that I have in my pocket? Are my savings enough? Are my investments enough?”
I came to announce to somebody here today: You have more than enough.
Father, this is Your Word. And we know that this will come alive and active today as we unpack this beautiful message that You have for us. I pray Lord for somebody here who has a need and that need can only be met by You.
I pray that You show up loud and clear and give him that message through me and through this Worship session that we have. Thank You so much.
We declare in advance Your Victory over our life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
One more time, Everybody, sing to the Lord:
Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet and a Light unto my path.
Have you ever asked that question in your life – maybe at one point in your life… You’ve been struggling with your finances, you’ve been struggling with your relationships—have you ever asked this question: Is this enough?
Have you? Or maybe it’s just me?
Have you ever wondered: “Is this enough?”
You know, I’ve come across that question at different moments of my day.
For instance, I’m driving through Skyway 3 and then all of a sudden, I get so worried because my RFID balance (Radio Frequency Identification used for electronic toll payment) might not be enough.
So, I have to ask myself: “Is it enough?” You ever wonder about things like that?
Or, maybe, some parents here who are almost ready to retire but then your child is ready to go into medical school and then you begin to wonder, “Are my savings enough? Are my investments enough?”
You ever come into that place, or am I just talking to myself? Raise your hand if you feel like that sometimes.
Or: “In this relationship that I am about to enter, is this enough?”
I can certainly attest that this is where the enemy often gets us—when he wants you to think that it’s not enough that God is for you, and that He is with you.
And this is the part where we just read in the book of Genesis. Because you see, it’s so interesting—walk with me for a moment— how Jesus who is the Son of God, came in the living flesh…
You know, somehow, we would assume that God would come—you know, wearing luxurious items, branded clothes, would live in a palace with a thousand servants…
Abundance – According to Jesus
I mean, after all, He is the Son of God.
You know, He would have a chauffeur, He would have butlers here and there…
And yet, Jesus came. He came as a lowly servant—somebody who served people.
You know, He owned everything in the universe, and yet He came in a simple form.
So, you begin to wonder, where does abundance come from?
How did Jesus define abundance?
The Bible says that foxes have holes, the birds have nests, and yet the Son of Man, He had no place to lay His head on.
So, you kind of wonder… How did Jesus define abundance? He lived simply.
He lived in borrowed clothes. He preached on a borrowed boat.
When He died, did you know Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb? He didn’t even own the tomb.
So, what was the message of Jesus? Jesus is trying to tell you and me today that abundance does not always have to mean material wealth.
Maybe abundance comes from trusting that the Lord will always provide for all your needs. Amen.
That’s what He showed us.
Because in the very beginning, if you can see here from the passage that I read to you in Genesis, when God created the world, there was abundance, there was rich life everywhere.
There were trees, and fruits, and plants.
But when the enemy came in, the enemy started asking the question:
“Are you sure that it is enough?”
I’ll teach you four ways right now—I pray that you receive this. I’m telling you you’re going to need it this week.
I’m going to teach you four ways—four lies– that the Devil wants you to believe. Every single time you question God, this is how the Devil wants you to question God.
Here’s the first lie.
The first strategy of the enemy is he will convince you to fixate on what you do not have—to focus on what you do not have. Let’s go to Genesis 3:1
The serpent is the shrewdest of all the animals the Lord God has made… Take a moment to pause there…
Did God Really Say…?
Wait a minute…
God made the serpent?
Yes. He did. God made the Devil.
So, the next time that you feel like your sin is overpowering you, guess what… God is more powerful than your sin.
Because God created the Devil.
And it says here, one day, he asked the woman: “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
You know, that question Did God
really say…? has often gotten me in trouble.
I share with you one story…
When I was in college, I had a crush on one girl. Believe it or not, when I was in college– raise your hand if you’re torpe (awkwardly shy, sheepish), come on. J
I was very insecure when I was young. I’m still insecure right now, by the way…
I liked this girl in college. I could not find the right words to tell her that I like her. And so, we would go out with different people, in a group. And I just sort of assumed that she wasn’t interested in me. Because she wasn’t showing any sign…
Later on, I lost interest and I moved on… Then, many years later, we happened to meet each other. I was single, she was in a relationship. We got to talk to reminisce about the old days. And I got to tell her– you know, just in passing: “Did you know that once upon a time when I met you, I liked you? I had a crush on you.”
She smiled, and she said, “Well, did you know that I also liked you?” I said, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
And you know what she said? The most powerful words ever: “You didn’t ask.
You just assumed.”
Raise your hands, those of you assuming… It hurts to assume, right? But that’s what the Scripture is saying: Did God really say…?
Because you might not be asking God—you’re just assuming that God said it.
Where We Are
So, this is where we are… Because if you backtrack, this is what God said…
The Lord God warned Adam. This is in Genesis 2:16.
You see what the Devil is trying to do?
He is trying to twist the words that God said.
The Devil said: You cannot eat from any of the fruit trees.
God said: You can eat from every tree. Did you know that just as I read a while ago, God placed the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil—where?—in the middle.
You know what that means?
That before Adam and Eve could get to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they had to pass through all the other fruit trees. That means they had to say no to every fruit tree that they passed …
I remember our two-year-old daughter Ellie. She loves chocolate.
And whenever we open our fridge, she sees everything in the fridge, but the only thing she’s going to pay attention to is the chocolate.
I can offer every yummy treat in the ref :
“You want guyabano (soursop)?”
“No, Dad, I don’t like guyabano. I don’t like watermelon. I don’t like yogurt.
I don’t like buko (coconut). I want only the chocolate.”
You know people like that? They’re surrounded by a plethora of blessings yet they’re eyeing only that one, single blessing: “That’s the only thing that I want and I’m only going to be happy if I can grab that blessing.”
This is the area where we live in…
I mean, think about the guy who owns a bike and complains he does not have a sedan. The guy who owns a sedan complains that he doesn’t have an SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle). The guy who owns an SUV complains that he doesn’t have a sports car… When will it be enough?
Want P10 Million?
You meet people who are so successful in life and yet they’re also the most judgmental. You ever know people like that? Are they sitting next to you? I hope not.
Let me tell this to you:
The moment you keep on fixing your eyes on what you don’t have instead of focusing on what you already have, you will be poor, you
will feel poor no matter how richly blessed you already are.
May I prove it to you?
I have here a check. Who needs money? Here’s the first one… “What’s your name?”
“Lea.”
Okay, Lea. I have a check with me for P10 million. This is a real check.
I signed it Brother Audee. Because that’s my real name. My first name is Brother.
So, P10 million—paid to cash. Okay. You may encash that tomorrow in the make-believe bank and I’ll give you make-believe money.
So, if I give you now P10 million, will you receive it? “Yes.”
Absolutely. Everybody, will you receive P10 million? “Yes!”
But there’s a catch. Of course, there’s a catch. I’m not God– I do not give things freely. The catch is this: If I tell you that when you receive that check for P10 million, tomorrow, you won’t wake up, will you still receive it? “Yes.”
Yes? Really? You will not wake up to enjoy a single peso tomorrow. Will you receive it? “Yes.”
I need another volunteer…
The answer I am looking for, would have been probably, a No. Thank you, Sister. Thank you for being honest. And I love that.
Because I was thinking, if somebody would give me P10 million, I’d say Yes! right away. But then in my heart, that means if I receive the check for P10 million, I won’t get to live another day, right?
What Is Enough
What is my point?
Waking up tomorrow is more valuable than P10 million.
So, what do you do every day? This is my advice: You wake up with a smile on your face and you declare that your day is more than enough.
It’s more than enough to make you happy. It’s more than enough to give you joy. Clap your hands if that’s a good place to be in.
The enemy wants you to fixate on what you do not have. Meanwhile, God is telling you: “I’ve already blessed you so much.”
Here’s the second lie of the enemy: The enemy wants you to exaggerate God’s commands.
So, he went from one fruit to any of the fruits. But check out how Eve answered the snake…
I challenge you: If you can, read the entire book of Genesis and look for that passage where it says that God says you must not eat it, or even touch it, if you do, you will die.
You won’t find it. It’s not there. Why? Because God never said it. What was Eve trying to do? I don’t know… She was trying to put one more lie on top of another lie.
And isn’t it this is what we do? Isn’t this what we do– when in our attempt to be righteous, sometimes we project our righteousness onto other people?
And just because they are not obeying God not as much as you do– they’re not praying as many hours as you do—you try to project it on them and you make them feel guilty and afraid.
God’s Call
That’s what we do sometimes. We exaggerate God’s commands. And I have to be very careful as a leader. Because there’s a sense in which when we create policies, especially for The Feast, we would be more focused on policies than people.
Here at The Feast, we always say, “Serve at The Feast. Serve with us.”
But there’s a point when sometimes, people would come and say, “I want to serve the Lord.
But then there are so many steps to get to serve the Lord.”
So, we try to shortcut those–we try to lessen the steps. Because we always want to put priority on people over policies, loving people over the laws that we create.
How do you solve this? How do you stop comparing yourself to other people and exaggerating God’s commands to them?
I’m thinking of a person right now. Her name is Nanay Tuding. For those of you who don’t know her, Nanay Tuding joined The Feast in 2007. Nanay Tuding is turning 90 years old on November 15. I just want to honor you… Nanay Tuding has been serving the Lord all her life. Not just at The Feast. There was a time when she had to raise some donors and sponsors to build a tabernacle in Tondo (Manila) and she had to work simply because they wanted to replace the tabernacle.
Nanay Tuding, you see her in a wheelchair but did you know that even up to today, Nanay Tuding serves us. She welcomes the people here at The Feast with a smile. She can even stand up. What a miracle! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Advance Happy Birthday, Nanay Tuding!
What is my point? It’s very simple: Serve and love the Lord the best way that He has called you to. Maybe the Lord is calling you to be the best mother. Maybe the Lord is calling you to be the best brother, or the best sibling, or the best employer. Serve the Lord wherever He’s called you to.
Stop comparing yourself to what other people are doing. Because maybe the Lord is calling them for a different thing. Focus on what the Lord is calling you to do. Be the best.
The Devil wants you to assume that God is holding back something from you.
After all these conversations, check out how the serpent answered the woman.
The snake said, “You won’t die if you eat that because God knows that your eyes will be opened.
Wait a minute… The serpent says, “You will be like God…”
Didn’t God say we’re already like Him? The Bible already says that
God created us in His image and likeness.
What is the Devil trying to prove today? He’s simply trying to say that God might be holding back a blessing from you. See, the truth is, whenever we focus on what we don’t have, we’re focusing only on the burden—we’re not looking at the blessing.
Meanwhile, God is consistently shouting to you:
“Hey, you’re already blessed!”
And sometimes, you would realize—this comes as a shock to me every time… Whenever I’m praying for a miracle, God would often show me the miracle not in a new form – but a miracle I’m already holding in my hands. Have you ever had that experience?
We complain but we’re actually holding the blessing already.
The Devil wants you to assume that God is holding back a blessing– when in reality, you already possess that blessing. Amen.
I pray that somebody here, open your eyes to see that you’re already blessed.
Here’s the last strategy of the enemy. The enemy wants you to think that God is playing favorites—and guess what: you’re not it.
I want you to fast forward right now to a time when Adam and Eve had two sons—Cain and Abel. Genesis 4: 2-5 says:
What is the story trying to tell us? That God preferred Abel more than Cain?
Maybe God was a carnivore– He liked lamb chops more than salad?
Because Cain offered crops. Abel offered lamb. So, was God preferring one over the other?
You know, let me teach you this:
Many times, Bible authors love to put little ambiguous gaps in the story. Why? So that it would mirror our own human existence.
How many of you have ever prayed for something and God did not grant your prayer– instead granted the prayer of somebody else? Perhaps, you’ve been praying fervently for a child. You have no kids and you’ve been married for seven years.
Meanwhile, God granted a child to somebody who has two kids already.
She’s got three now and you’ve got still zero.
So, you’re like, “Why is God blessing that other person and not me?”
Or maybe some of you are praying for a business, and you’re asking the Lord to help you succeed in that business because God knows you’ve been putting in hard work – but it’s not succeeding and you’ve been opening businesses left and right.
Meanwhile, God is blessing that other business…
Why is God continuing to give you the bankrupt business– and the other people the booming business? Does this feel familiar to you?
That’s what Cain must have felt like: “Lord, why is it that You’re blessing my brother Abel – and I’m giving You an offering?”
Scarcity Mindset
Here’s where the scarcity mindset comes from.
Scarcity mindset is when you think there’s only one blessing. That’s it.
And because there’s only one blessing, Cain was like: “I’m going to kill my brother for my blessing. I’m going to grab that blessing. I’m going to steal that blessing. “
That’s scarcity mindset.
You know what the abundance mindset is?
The abundance mindset is when you believe that in God’s storehouse, there’s no shortage of mindset. Amen.
Never assume that there’s only one blessing because the truth is there is enough blessing to go around. And sometimes you don’t get what you pray for simply because—I want you to think about this—you need to ask three questions.
Because when Cain encountered God, you know what God said to Cain?
In Genesis 4:6, God said:
Cain was only focused on God blessing Abel. So, he was probably asking, “Lord, why are you so unfair? Why are you blessing my brother more than me? Is he better than me? Do you love him more than me?”
See, that’s the scarcity mindset. But what if you shift that? Instead of looking at it from that perspective, you start asking, “Lord, is there something that I need to do? Maybe you need to teach me how to make a better offering just like my brother. Lord, what is in me right now that I need to change so that I can be open to the blessing?”
Is there something you need to do so that you can open your hands and be ready for the blessing?
‘I’m Next!’
How many of you believe that God has a different timing than your timing?
He does. But sometimes, we are impatient. We want the Lord to bless us right here, right now… “It feels like the Lord is blessing other people more than me.”
But if you truly believe that the Lord has His own timing, it will not matter if God is blessing other people.
Why? Because I can declare, “Lord, I’m next.”
Put your hand over your chest and say, “Lord, I’m next.” Touch your neighbor and say, “Lord, this person is next.”
Here’s the third question you need to ask yourself if your prayers aren’t being answered:
If only Cain could have recognized that there was more than enough blessing to go around …
But you see. a lot of us, whenever God removes something from your life, it feels like God is punishing you. It feels like God doesn’t love you.
And so you begin to ask: “Lord, why are you so unfair?”
But did you know this? Let me speak this to somebody right now…
You feel like the Lord subtracted something from your life. I want you to know that He’s not a subtraction-God. He’s an addition-God. He likes to add things to your life. Because God is not in the business of removing things.
You know what God is in the business of? God is in the replacement business.
Some of the greatest blessings you will receive, my good friend, is when God removes something from your life. Why? So that He can replace it with something better. Because God knows what you need.
Better!
Maybe you’re broken right now, or you’re hurting, or you’re in pain because you
lost something…
I want you to believe and declare with your own heart, right now…
Put your hand over your chest and say, “God is going to give me something better.”
Because He’s not in the removing business.
He’s in the replacement. He’ll give you what you need. And when God gives you what you need,
I guarantee you it will be so much better than what you planned, what you envisioned, what you dreamed of—because God is good. Amen.
Our series is titled Plenty: How To Live in God’s Radical Generosity.
It’s hard. I mean, in real life we go through shortages. Have you ever gone through a shortage, some lack in your life from time to time?
Maybe you’re like me who goes through shortages every day, who always wonders, “Is this going to be enough…?”
I want to close by reading to you what St. Paul wrote to the people of Philippi when he was thanking them for their generosity in building the churches that Paul was planting. And some of you, you might be familiar with this verse. It’s from Philippians 4:19:
Can you say that with me? Put your hand over your chest and say, “And my God shall supply all my needs—say that out loud: all my needs– according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.”
I want you to pay attention to those words. They mean so well, right? When you say it over your life, it means that God is going to provide for you.
But I want to point out those words: He will provide my needs… But it will be all your needs—according to where? According to the riches of His glory…
Wait a minute… God is going to supply my needs but it will not be according to the level of my need. It will not be according to the level of my giving. But it will be based on the level of His generosity.
From Empty to Plenty
Now, what kind of generosity is this? He says:
according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.
How rich is God? Is God rich? Yes! He is! He owns everything. But He said that He will bless you according to the riches of His glory.
Where? In Christ Jesus.
The way I see it, you will be richly blessed if you’ve got Jesus. Amen.
Abundance is found in Jesus.
And when you think about abundance, my goodness, there is no lack in God’s supply.
There is no lack in God’s supply, and I declare this: For those of you who are experiencing an emptiness, a shortage, a lack, I declare that you have a life with Jesus. In your season of empty, God will be your source of plenty. Amen!
This is Your Word, Lord.
Open your hands, Everybody, all over this place:
Thank You for this, Lord, Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for Your Wisdom. Thank You for this message. Thank You, Lord God, for Your Son Jesus— that through Him we are abundant. We don’t have to have the best of everything. We just have to Thank You for what we already have. And we Thank You that we have Your Son. That we can walk with Him every day and experience life, experience love, experience purpose. You are more than enough, Lord Jesus. Come. Come and fill our heart today. Come and fill our life with Your Life. We declare You as King. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Declaration
Everybody lift your hands. Let this be your declaration and your symbol of surrender that you are accepting Jesus to be your Lord and your Savior.
From this day on, you will choose Him. You will choose to worship Him.
You will choose to love Him
And you will choose to walk with Him every day.
Everybody say this with me:
Jesus, here I am with my hand lifted in complete surrender. I ask You to have life with me. To forgive me. And to love me. Thank You that this day, this is the day that I am reborn. And from this moment on, I will worship You, I will trust You and I will love You until the end of my days. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
