I want to begin talking to you over the next few weeks about Giving to The Poor.  On December 12 we are going to have a special offering to benefit the poor.  It will be our first annual Special Benevolence Offering.  The goal and idea of this offering is simply to benefit those that are less fortunate.  We have Faith Projects.  These are things that we are believing for and as a result sowing or saving towards.  And rightfully so, we should always have Faith Projects.  But generally our Faith Projects are directly self benefiting.  Do you know what I mean by that?

For example, we are currently saving seed to sow into other churches while we believe for the harvest of our own debt free facilities.  This Special Benevolence Offering is indirectly self benefiting.  What?  We are going to sow into the poor specifically for their benefit.  However, because we are giving to the poor it is also indirectly self benefiting.  You just can't beat God giving, no matter how hard you try.  The more you give, the more He gives to you.

About a month and a half ago I ministered a message called Your Assigned Place and today I have been directed by the Lord to pick up from there with another message along this line.  It was my assignment in that previous message to show you from the word of God that You and I are assigned by God to a certain place and specific task, and the importance of knowing Your Assigned Place.

Now I am not talking about a place to live or work, etc.  I am talking about church.  God assigns His people to the congregations He wants them to be a part, and He does it for a specific purpose.

We started this mini series by saying that most times we hear exhortations from Matthew 6:33 about seeking first the kingdom of God.  But this verse goes on to say, "and His righteousness."

Last week we talked about kings, this week we are talking about slaves!  We are concluding today our series on You and the subject of Righteousness. We have learned what righteousness and unrighteousness are and the impact they have in our lives. The righteous are as bold as a lion. Satan’s end game in tempting you to sin is to get you into unrighteousness so he can steal kill and destroy.

But how is a person ever able to stand in the presence of God as if sin has never before existed?  We do it by faith.  Then we found out last week, that when we get rid of the unrighteousness, we are to reign as kings in this life!

Today I leave you with this challenge called Righteous Living. My assignment from the Lord is to show you through this message how to live a sin free life by choosing to obey God by Righteous Living.

There is increase in Righteousness and we have learned the righteous are as bold as a lion.  I want to challenge you today to start boldly declaring The Blessing of the Lord over your finances.

So we are now into our fourth week in this series about You and the Righteousness of God. The first thing we learned is what righteousness is. Then we learned that we need boldness in dealing with the wiles of the devil. On last week we learned the "how." Righteous by Faith. And now today we are directed by the Lord to talk about Reigning in Righteousness.

God intends for you and I to live victoriously in this life but if we don't learn how to deal with unrighteousness in our lives it will prevent us reigning.  Unrighteousness is sin consciousness.  Let me give you the example the Holy Spirit gave me to give to you this week.

Not many people when they read this verse see it as Jesus saying, "Put God first in your finances."  But it is absolutely what He is saying to us through this passage of scripture.  Here's a little proof.  He's talking about the necessities of life but also the wants as well.  Both of which require financial resources.  Specifically He says for after all these things - needs and wants that require money, the Gentiles seek.  So He's saying that those without a relationship with God are continually seeking after money for the things that they need and want in this life.  Is that right?

And He's saying that they put their needs and wants financially ahead of anything else.  They put their needs first in their finances.  We know it's true because many of us do the same thing.  We are all going to make sure the mortgage or rent gets paid first!  If nothing else gets paid...  We are going to make sure that car note gets paid first.  For some of us, if it came down to it between giving 10% to God or paying that insurance payment, God understands but we are going to make that insurance payment first.

If you have ever felt guilty or ashamed or condemned regarding your offerings to the Lord, then please pay special attention to what the Spirit of God is saying today.

My challenge to you is to believe that when He says to seek first the Kingdom of God, that He's saying put God first place in your finances.  And if you don't do what the Lord is saying then you are going to feel some kind of way as a result of your disobedience.

So we are in the third week in our series on the subject of You being learning to live IN the righteousness of God.  If you missed last week I highly highly recommend that you go back and listen to that message.  We pick up today from where we left off.  Righteousness is the ability to stand in the presence of God as if sin has never before existed.  Pas. Stan, how in the world are we going to be able to do that?  The enemy's end game in tempting us to sin is so that he can get us into unrighteousness.  It's the inability to stand in God's presence without the sense of guilt, shame, condemnation, inferiority and/or fear.

Proverbs 28:10 says that the righteous are as bold as a lion, right.  So ultimately satan wants to rob you of your confidence you need to resist him when he comes to steal, kill and destroy.

But how in the world are we going to be able to stand and having done all to stand?

There is INCREASE for you IN Righteousness.  God wants to add to your life the same kinds of things that those without a relationship with God are seeking after.  Seek God and not the things and He will add the things to your life.  There is increase IN Righteousness.  That's a play on words because we are in a series with our main messages called UN Righteousness.  But today I am here to tell you there is increase IN Righteousness.

We started a new series last week by direction of the Lord. This series is about You and the subject of Righteousness.  Sin is the problem in this world. But for the believer sin is not necessarily the problem. The big deal for Christians is this thing called unrighteousness.