BLESSED LIFE  |  Week 1

Luke 19:1 He entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich.

Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector.  Extortionist.  Mob leader. Corrupt.

3 And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature.  4 So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. (he kept pressing in and wouldn’t let anything get in his way)  5 And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

6 So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. 7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” 9 And Jesus said to him,“Today salvation has come to this house (why? Because JESUS came to His house. Start seeing Salvation as Jesus [person] instead of a process) since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Jesus looked up at Zacchaeus and said, “I want to hang out with you. Let’s go eat at your house.”  Jesus connects with him and when he connects with Jesus,  he was…changed, transformed, converted, saved.  When he connects with Jesus(Salvation), he becomes like Jesus. He becomes a giver.

Zacchaeus instantly went from being a man who acquired resources from others to be blessed to being a man who gave to be blessed.  He begin to LIVE out what Jesus said:

 Acts 20:35… remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Give: “Freely transfer the possession of”

Blessed: Makarios (MakaDeous): “fortunate circumstances or happy”

Receive: “Receive or Take”

The Blessed Life occurs when you encounter Jesus and become like Him.  (a hint: it’s a lot different than the world around you.)

When your heart freely transfers the possession of instead of being preoccupied with the acquisition or hoarding of…  We are most like God when we give.

Zacchaeus’ repentance is revealed in 2 ways: ACTION AND ATTITUDE  When you encounter SALVATION (Jesus) Your life bears fruit!

Luke 19: 9 And Jesus said to him,“Today salvation has come to this house since he also is a son of Abraham.

Zacchaeus was not referenced as a ‘son of Abraham’ because of his physical bloodline.  He was referenced as a son of Abraham because his repentence bore fruit.  Jesus said in Luke 3:8, “Don’t call yourself a son of Abraham just because you are in the Jewish bloodline. Instead, bear fruit of repentence.”

10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”  Obviously, Zacchaeus’ bloodline did not save him, because Jesus said he came to SAVE him (lost).

ACTION – half of my goods to the poor.  Half of everything I own!

ATTITUDE – If I have done anyone wrong, I will restore 4 fold.

The ACTION of Giving-

You have to have a subject and a verb to form a complete sentence.  You can have an exclamatory sentence with one word, but with a complete one it must contain a subject and a verb (examples)

If you boil the bible down to a subject and a verb.

Subject: God (beings and ends with God)

Action: Give (giving, give, gave)  Love is a part of this verb: give

“For God so love the world that he Gave…”

We are here today because God gave his Son.  WE are here today because Jesus gave his life on the cross.  WE are here today because we Gave our lives to god.  We are here today because we Gave our day to God.

Marriage is all about giving. If you don’t believe that….just get married and you find out.

Not just money, but energy, life

Matthew 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Treasure doesn’t follow heart.  Heart follows treasure.

If you would like for your heart to be in the kingdom, then put your treasure there.  I want my heart in missions, then put your treasure there.

If you put your money in a certain stock, then you start going online and looking at that stock.  You want to know how it is doing.

When you have a desire for the things of God and you want your heart to reside there, then you put your treasure there FIRST!

Our heart follows our treasure.

Jesus deals with our greed and our anxiety over basic necessities.  Greed and anxiety over basic necessities display a lack of trust in the Father and a lack of eternal perspective.   #BlessedLifeSM

Illustration- you are going to move to another part of the country and you will live there for the rest of your life and when the moving company comes to get your nice furniture, you say, “no, I might need that here. Don’t take it.” They reply, “but aren’t you leaving next week to go to your new home.” You respond, “yeah, but I might need this until I leave.”

Wouldn’t it be better to forego a bit of pleasure in the meantime and invest in eternity?

That is called maturity. When we forego/wait on something now and hopes of future reward.

We mature in the gospel when we invest in eternity.

Zacchaeus gets a heaven perspective and immediately starts giving!

The ATTITUDE of Giving

Luke 19:6 he received Jesus joyfully!

Matthew 10:8  Freely you have received, freely you give.

Look Lord! Look, I want to do this!! He is joyful. He gives freely and joyful because he received freely and joyful.

If you struggle in the area of giving (AND WE ALL DO AT ONE TIME OR THE OTHER), I want to help you.

• If you struggle in the area of giving, then you really have a struggle in receiving.
• If you have a struggle in giving joyfully, then you have a struggle in receiving joyfully.
• If you have a difficulty in giving freely, then you have a difficulty in receiving freely.

When we are raised in a legalistic church background, we believe we have stayed out of hell by not doing bad things and so we feel like we have to hold onto it really tight.

If you are raised with the American Dream, then you feel like you have worked hard to earn it all and you feel the need to control and hold on to it.

We aren’t against working hard. That is good stewardship.  Even if we work hard, it is still God’s growth.  It is the blessings of God that makes it work regardless of your hard work.

How do you give freely?  How do you give joyfully?

Because we have received so freely.  GRACE.  We have been so set free!  We haven’t really understood the grace of God.

If you have a difficulty of receiving freely the

We want everyone at PromiseLand San Marcos to live the HAPPY life. They Joy Filled life.  It starts with God making a move and filling us with His love, changing our life then we get the opportunity to RESPOND with our ACTION and ATTITUDE.