Spiritual Pathways to Debt-Free Living

00:00 - Speaker 1
I want you to open up your spirit and begin to contend. This is not gonna happen if you just go. That was nice, that was cute. God, you know if it's your will, no, you gotta say God, I know you love me, me, you love me. You have favored me. I messed up, I got into debt. Now I trust I believe Supernatural debt elimination in my life in Jesus' name, amen.

00:26 - Speaker 2
Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that he has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightNYCcom. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace and that he has a real hope and a future for you that he has a real hope and a future for you.

01:09 - Speaker 1
Welcome everybody, those of you joining us online, so glad that you can be with us. Pastor James had mentioned baptisms. They're May the 4th. I'm going to vote for you. You've got my vote, sir. Excuse me, I was talking about baptisms. But, chris, won't you just stand up right now? Chris, just stand up. I just Chris, for Senate 2024. Amen, amen, chris, he's got the power. Power. I mean, what a last name. Eh, his last name is Power. Also, ladies, if you liked what you saw, he is filled with the Holy Spirit and he's very single and trusting God to mingle in a most holy way. And so I mean I want to talk about baptisms and I see navy, blue jacket, red tie Somebody get this man a US flag pin right there and he is set. Hallelujah, all right, baptisms.

02:36
One of the most common objections to baptism that I hear is I'm not ready, which what the person is really trying to say is well, I'm not perfect yet. I still got work to do, to which I would respond and say join the club. If you're waiting to be experientially perfect in every area of your life to get baptized, you're going to be waiting a mighty long time and they don't do baptisms in heaven, which is the only place where you'll actually be experientially perfect in every area of your life. It's really a delay tactic from Satan himself, because you getting baptized terrifies him. There is power associated with baptism. Jesus didn't command you to get baptized for nothing, because it's a cute religious act. There's power associated with it. You say how do you know? Because I saw what happened at Jesus' baptism. Who was our example? He came up out of the waters and what happened? The Holy Spirit came upon him and his ministry began at his anointing during baptism. I remember my baptism, august the 14th, 1992, like it was yesterday. I remember the water coming up off my face as I came out of the water. I remember just knowing, knowing right then, everything was going to be different forever.

04:14
So don't delay, don't settle for that satanic delay tactic. It's such a delay tactic that at the Apostle Paul's conversion you know he was struck blind and God sent Ananias to him and God spoke through Ananias and this was the word. We have it recorded in scriptures. And why do you wait now? That's a good question. He said why do you wait now? Arise and be washing away your sins and calling on the name of the Lord. So if you're waiting, I would ask you what the Lord asked the Apostle Paul. Why do you wait? Well, I'm waiting because I haven't finished reading the whole Bible yet.

04:57
All the people who got baptized in the Bible read exactly zero of the Bible. And churches, those that are bound by religion and tradition, these are all yokes of the Bible. And churches, those that are bound by religion and tradition, these are all yokes of bondage and they'll make you sit through a six-week class because they want to make sure you really, really mean it. It's just unscriptural. You see the Ethiopian eunuch. He gets won to the Lord by Philip the Evangelist this is also in the book of Acts. And as they're riding their horses, philip says excuse me. The Ethiopian says hey, there's much water. What hinders me from being baptized? And Philip responds ye, have not yet taken the six-week class at my church. No, he says. He says if you believe with all your heart. No, he says. He says if you believe with all your heart, you may.

05:50
So you say what's the prerequisite for baptism? That you believe with all your heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and rose from the grave. Let's not let religious people make it more difficult than the scriptures. You know, woke people are kinder than Jesus. Religious people are holier than Jesus. Everyone wants to be something more than him, and then they would get it all twisted and contorted. So, may the 4th, we're doing baptisms that's like in less than a month. So make sure you're a part of that.

06:29
Also, something that can trip people up is they say well, wasn't I already baptized as a baby? You were something. I say this with love in my heart You're either going to do things the Bible way or you're going to trust a religious person who heard it from another religious person who heard it from another religious person. But I just challenge you show me one example in the Holy Scriptures, which is what we go by, not by what some guy said. Though his beard was long and pretty, though his pen and vellum were exceedingly feathery, it doesn't matter, it's a man. We go by the Bible, not by what man says. And so show me one example in the scriptures where an infant, a baby, was baptized. There is none why, because you have to make that decision. Somebody else, not even your parents, can make that decision for you. So perhaps you were christened or you were something, but why not get baptized the Bible way? Not with a little sprinkling of water, a little dab won't do you?

07:36
Baptism is symbolic of you getting buried with Jesus. When somebody is, you know, getting buried, they don't just take some dust and throw it over the casket. You go completely in the dirt, you go completely in the water. We've got to start showing videos starting next week, because when I said we go completely in the water, that's usually when I start getting emails and calls going how long do you keep me under? And that's why we show videos three weeks before baptism. I really legit. That's the number one question. Not how should I prepare spiritually? What is it? How long do you keep me under? You're gonna see in the videos. It's brief Quarter. Second Amen, can I pinch my nose? Come in with scuba gear, I don't care, get baptized, just go under the water and come up trusting in Jesus. Amen, amen. Well, I'm excited to preach this message.

08:31
This message was birthed out of me hearing, unfortunately, a common theme in our own church family and I know it's definitely a common theme out there in the world and this is in relation to being in debt, having debt and if you just do a quick Google search, you'll find out that we, as Americans, we're more in debt right now, today, than we've ever, ever been before. And when I say we as Americans, I don't mean the United States as a country and its national debt. I mean as individually with consumer debt. Sometimes you go into the store and you look at the prices and you ask yourself how are people doing it? And the answer is, well, many of them aren't, and so they're getting in debt and that debt is rising.

09:23
And I want you to know that God has not called you to slavery of any kind. He's not called you to sin slavery. Jesus came and shed his precious blood that you redeemed from the slavery of sin. Also, the Bible says that the lender is a servant. Excuse me, the borrower is a servant, a slave to the lender, and God does not want you to be a debt slave. You have to know that in your spirit he also bled and he suffered in your place to redeem you from the slavery of debt. Amen, from slavery to kingship. When the Bible says that he's king of kings, capital king, capital K in king, king of lower K kings what kings do you think he's talking about some sheik in Saudi Arabia. That's tertiary, maybe secondary. Primarily, he's talking about you. You're the king that he's king of capital K and and so you've been redeemed.

10:26
There was this minister, also CFO of a major church I heard this testimony just a few years ago Chief financial officer who kept having a reoccurring dream, night after night for days on end, and the dream was that he was a cat and that he was sitting in the Lord's lap and the Lord kept petting him and stroking him, but he was doing it from tail to head, over and over again. Have you ever stroked a cat tail to head? They don't like that. So he had this several nights in a row, where the Lord is stroking him, he's a cat in the Lord's lap and finally, like around the fifth night, and the Lord is stroking him from tail to head as a cat, he looks up at the Lord and says why are you stroking me tail to head? And the Lord says why don't you adjust yourself? And the Lord says why don't you adjust yourself? You accommodate to me, I don't accommodate to you is what the Lord is saying.

11:37
You have to shift, you have to change, and this holds true in every area, but especially in the area of finances, starting with how we think about money, because usually we come into the church and our thinking about money is really messed up. It's messed up in that how we think that God is about money. We usually have remnants of unbiblical teaching, but they're cultural teachings and so we maybe not admit this to ourselves, but secretly we think that God wants us to really live financially lean. I mean, yeah, he doesn't want me in a beggar's outfit, but not too much, because he doesn't want me getting carried away. A bunch of you think that right now I can smell it in the spirit, buried away. A bunch of you think that right now I can smell it in the spirit. I can, mmm, I smell it. I know what I used to smell like, mmm, that lack mentality, oh oh yeah, spirit of scarcity, mmm. I remember that Still work in progress, growing out of it.

12:42
My pastor who lived, and still does, for years in the zone, you know the zone, the God zone, the God of abundance, prosperity zone, where it's just popping all around him, the zone of multiplication. You gotta pay attention when somebody's living in the zone. Take a look at them, paul said. Concerning himself and the other apostles. He said follow our faith, follow our example. So I'm 23 years old and I'm always sitting as close to the front as I possibly can. I'm drooling, I'm hungry, I want to receive what's on this man and he was about to teach on finances and he started with this statement that made such an impact on me. Obviously, I remember it 25 years later, and he said when it comes to receiving a breakthrough in finances, nothing is as critical, nothing is as important as the renewing and transforming of our mind.

13:46
Keep that in mind as we continue on through this sermon. There has to come a change of mind. The Bible says, not some motivational speaker. The Bible says as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. So we have to turn to the Bible and allow the Bible to adjust us, allow the Bible to conform us, and not the other way around. The Bible strokes in one direction. Don't be the cat with its booty out. Switch it around.

14:17
Dad said booty in church. That was just for you, bro. Luke 16, verse 11. You don't do that at your Catholic school, do they no? Because when you got a lot of things to hide, you got to say the right things, but I got nothing to hide. Hallelujah, hallelujah, woo, he's on fire this morning. Here's Jesus. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous money, mammon is the money God Remember these are the words of Jesus who will commit to you, or to your trust, true riches? Here's what Jesus is doing right now.

15:15
He's forever establishing that there is a connection between how we handle money and spirituality. We usually come into the church and the world definitely thinks this that if you're spiritual, money shouldn't even be on your mind. Whenever I'm around unbelievers they know I'm a pastor I talk about money. Jesus talks about money. Jesus talked this is a fact. He talked about hell twice as much as he did about heaven, but he talked about money lands giving stewardship, gold, more than heaven and hell combined. Why? Because he understood that it is important. Because how you handle money is indicative of what's going on in here. He made a money heart connection.

16:06
You know who else does that? Have you ever applied for a job and they ask you for a credit check? They do that, right? I checked in the first service. I know they did that when I was applying. Yeah, right. Why do you think they do that? It's weird, right? Because you're like I'm coming to you to get paid, because I need money and you want to know my credit. I'm not buying something from you. Why? Because a credit check is a character check. It reveals what's going on in here. It also reveals what's going on up there. So this is why this is so important. If right now, you're swimming in debt, I know where you are. I've been there. If you're feeling convicted, if you're feeling uncomfortable, let me just let the cat out of the bag early and let you know God loves you, god knows and he provides solutions to this. Hallelujah. And we're going to see, in Jesus name, the back of debt get broken in your life. And we're going to see, in Jesus' name, the back of debt get broken in your life. No slavery, no yokes, but just please note that Jesus connected the money and the heart and you can't unconnect it.

17:18
I always really crack up at how much people outside of the church have so much to say about what we, as Christians, should value as important. Like, well, you're a Christian and you're a pastor, don't think about money. Yeah, I'm just going to not walk but glide from here to here, and when I go to pay for something, I'll just say I'm a pastor, I don't think about money. I'll go to Whole Foods, get all the best stuff, load up on steaks and then when I go to pay, I'll just walk in. No, I don't, I'm above money, I'm just I pray. I'll pray for you as you don't call 911. That doesn't work.

18:05
They don't know any verses concerning money. Well, they know a few. Everybody, whether in the church or out. The first verse they always misquote is money is the root of all evil. Right, how many of you have heard that Money is the root of when the Bible says the love of money. You making money, you're God. You making money, you're everything. Pursuing money more than God. That's the root of all evil.

18:35
Another one that some know, people in the church, you have to know right now. Here's what I'm doing battle with. I love you, but I'm fighting old you and trying to cause you to come up into new you, because you've read some of these scriptures and you have a funky mindset when you read them. Even that scripture, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, you go immediately by default. I did it, you read it and go okay, that means don't have too much money and don't be greedy. And that's not at all what he's talking about. We always look at money scriptures through a lens of poverty and scarcity. Let's keep reading this, by the way. And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own? God is calling you to be faithful with money that somebody else gave to you, and then God is calling you to be faithful with money that somebody else gave to you, and then God will cause you to increase. But here's another verse that really binds people up, jesus. He said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle right than a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And you read that and you go. Oh, some people who are dead broke are like good, I'm in the clear. Other people are doing all right. They're like oh you know, and to us it doesn't make sense. But to anybody that Jesus was ministering to culturally, they would immediately know what he was talking about.

20:05
The eye of the needle was a gate. It was actually a physical gate. Jerusalem had 12 gates, four walls, three. Hester came up to me between services and she said oh, I've Googled it and found a picture. Do you want me to throw it up there. Yes, please throw it up there. The picture Do you want me to throw it up there? Yes, please throw it up there. Look at it. That's the eye of the needle. You see that little door and then there's another gate. The eye of the needle was a gate. It was very, very narrow, and so now, look at me, you take the picture off there. It gets so easily distracted. Everybody's still studying. Google it on your own time.

20:44
I got a lot of points I want to get here, and, plus, the Lord wants to confirm this with his anointing. Right now you're not just getting information. The Holy Spirit is coming, he's massaging you, he's working in you. Open up your heart for that. A rich man or merchant or it would come with a camel, heavy laden with goods and merchandise and could not enter in through that small gate, the eye of the needle. But it would actually have to bend its knees, come down so that all of the stuff could be taken off of it, and then it could be led through the tiny, tight gate. And so what Jesus is saying is if you're a rich man, this won't be easy for you, but you'll have to bend the knee and you'll have to take all your stuff off and hold it loosely because it's not your money, it's all my money and anybody who's come up in the abundance and prosperity of God. That's the heart set that they have to have. It's not my money, it's all God's money. And then you can be how God wants you to be.

21:47
I'm going to say it wealthy, oh my goodness. Did he just say God wants to be? Yes, because you see it all throughout the scriptures. You see it right early in Genesis with Abraham. Do you know when God blessed them and changed his name from Abram to Abraham, the first manifestation of blessed which, by the way, people say bless you? They think it's something you tell someone when they sneeze. The word blessed means empowered to prosper, and God Scripture says God blessed him there and immediately what you saw was financial abundance and increase in Abraham's life. And then it went to his son Isaac and it went to his son Jacob, and then you see it in David's life, then you see it in Solomon's life. You see it all throughout. Amen, oh, we're seeing some minds shift here.

22:34
Another scripture people are so familiar with is the rich young ruler, because the rich young ruler came to Jesus and said what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said sell all that you have, give to the poor and come follow me. And then there's such communists. They believe that, jesus, I'm having fun here this morning, are you? No, because some Christians are secretly socialists, and let me tell you what I mean by that. They just they want to. They want to divide and divvy up everything. They read in the book of Acts how the church had all things in common and shared. That was not, no, it was never a mandate. And this is how the church shall be for 2000 years. That was in a specific time and a specific season. That how it went down, amen.

23:25
And to the rich young ruler, he came bragging to jesus. He said I have fulfilled all of the ten commandments? He hasn't. He said everything I do. And he started showing hint, you don't show off and brag to jesus because he operates in all nine gifts of the Holy Spirit. And he knew through a word of knowledge, this guy's money's got a grip on him.

23:50
A rich young ruler, trust fund baby, young Hebrew trustafarian comes up to Jesus and Jesus puts his finger on that thing that's most important to the young trustafarian, his money. And he said oh, one thing you lack. If ever you brag to Jesus about how awesome you are, his response is always going to be one thing you lack. And he'll know exactly what that one thing is Sell all that you have, give to the poor, come follow me. But people use that one example, me. But people use that one example, one commandment, to a Hebrew wealthy kid and say, well, that's for everybody, it's not for everybody.

24:35
The devil has lied to Christians so they don't build generational wealth and act it as though their job is just to stay barely fed just above the poverty line and as soon as they get a little, just give it all away to everybody around them. And so there's no momentum, there's no forward movement and there's no building from generation to generation. It's a lie that disempowers the church. Yes, god wants you blessed. Why? That's a good question to ask. Why Financially blessed, empowered to prosper? Why? So that you can build his kingdom up, so that you can relieve suffering all around the world.

25:14
I've preached this since day one, and just recently he may be here. I can't see right now he may not be and I don't usually use current members as an example, but I know he knows I love him and I know he'll forgive me. He's probably here right now. I don't usually use current members as an example, but I know he knows I love him and I know he'll forgive me. He's probably here right now. I don't want to make eye contact with him, but we were talking about money and we're specifically talking about Bitcoin, and many of you know that Bitcoin has transformed me and my wife's life financially and he's getting into Bitcoin and we're just talking about money very openly, and he said these words. He said I'm good. I said what do you mean? You're good? He said I'm good, like, I have enough and I go. How many churches have you built? Silence? How many orphanages have you started? How many mass crusades have you funded? I'm good.

26:13
It sounds holy, doesn't it? That's, the devil comes and it seems so holy. You know, don't want too much, just enough. I'm good. You have a responsibility as a Christian to receive the abundance and prosperity of God, not so that you can take selfies and post it on Instagram, but so that you can build his kingdom, amen. So, because he has such an open heart to the Lord, the moment I said that, he shifted. Oh, I never saw it like that. And now, if he's here, I don't want to make eye contact too much. He'll never forget it ever. Oh, I never start like that. And now, if he's here, I don't want to make eye contact too much. He'll never forget it ever. No, he's good. Hallelujah, do me a favor, shout amen if he's here. Just kidding, just kidding.

26:59
It's an attitude of the heart that says oh, you know my four and no more. Right, just, I'm good. But it's really one of the most selfish things you can say. I'm good, can you get gooder so that all the people around you can be blessed by your goodness? Amen, I'm good too. But guess what? I'm getting gooder Because there's a whole world out there that needs to be helped. Amen, hallelujah.

27:35
What's another scripture you got? The whole. Money is the root of all evil, which they misquote because it's the love of money. You've got the rich young ruler, you've got the eye of the camel. Here's another one you read in James. James says you rich, howl and weep for your riches, woo.

28:04
And people look at that and gulp real hard and go you know well, I don't want to get rich. Don't worry With that attitude, you definitely won't. And then you got to ask yourself when is too much? Too much? There has never been, ever, ever in the scriptures an indictment against righteous rich people, ever. You just read one more verse down in the book of James and you realize these were wealthy people who were defrauding others, robbing them. It says your wages. Cry out to the Lord of Sabaoth in the heavens. They were bad rich people. Someone said, oh well, all rich people are bad. No, there's bad poor people, bad rich people. I've met very holy poor people. I've met holy rich people.

29:01
Hallelujah, you know what's happening right Right now. I'm giving you the word so it adjusts your thinking. Some of you in the spirit, you just, it's already, it's too much. I've challenged like decades of stinking thinking in your mind and you're locked in and you, secretly, you're hurting, but secretly you take some pride from it. You take some pride that you're on barely get along street. Don't do that. God wants you free. He wants you to know how much he loves you and to not have that chain around your neck, a chain of debt.

29:55
Hallelujah, I'm going to give you some scriptures. Well, let's start in Hebrews 4.12 to explain why I'm giving you scriptures. I'm going to give you three steps to getting out of debt. All right, here's step one. It's to be renewed in your mind, to be the cat that changes position, to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. How? By getting the Word of God in you. Our mind is full of lies. The Word of God is truth, the Word of God when ingested, not when read quickly. Do you know? The Bible never says to read the Bible. It says to either study to show yourself approved or to eat it. John goes up into Revelation. He eats the scrolls. Jeremiah said your words were found to God. He says your words were found and I did eat them and your word was unto me, the joy and the rejoicing of my heart. How do you eat God's word?

30:58
You read it over and over again, to the point where you memorize it. And then, after you've memorized it, you mutter it, you speak it out, and what will happen is the word will be made flesh. That's how you eat it. You speak it out and what will happen is the word will be made flesh. That's how you eat it, and what will happen is just like when you eat natural food, natural proteins and nutrients and your body grows and those proteins and nutrients are working inside of you. The word of God, when you ingest, it will be working.

31:25
I got word of God that I ingested 20 years ago. I ingested it so deep. I've topped off here and there, absolutely, but I ingested certain scriptures. They're like fused in me. Someone can hit me over the head with a bat. I may forget my name. I won't forget those scriptures, for the word of God is living. This is not a dead thing. It's living and it's powerful. What is powerful? That's the Greek, from the Greek dunamis. That means dynamic in its working. The word of God is not like other words that you read. The word of God is not static, it is not ancient words printed on thousand year old scrolls. It's now. It's now, it's fresh, and when you ingest the word, it'll get to work. So what will it be doing? It'll be changing you and it'll be changing your surroundings. If you're serious about getting out of debt, you need to memorize, mutter, meditate on ten prosperity abundance scriptures A lot of people.

32:37
I found it breaks my heart. They're not serious. They just want to temporarily feel their pain relieved in a service like this and then go out there and be miserable. Please don't let that be you. Jesus knew this. That's why he would come up to people who were sick and say do you want to be made well? What a question. He asked that to the man who was lame in his legs for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda Do you want me to make you well? How do you ask that to someone who's lame for 38 years? Well, he knew what he was doing when he asked him that, because the man didn't cry out yes, he said well, I have no man. I have no man to take me to the pool. She's like I didn't ask you that. I want to know what's going on, what's cooking under the hood. Do you really want to be made well? Because it could be that he didn't really want to be made well. He said why wouldn't he want to be made well? Because it could be that he didn't really want to be made well. You said why wouldn't he be want to be made well? Because 38 years hanging out by the pool. He's already got his social circle. He's settled in, he's yeah, he's used to it. It's like you ever start a conversation with people weighing out in the same corner. I have see people coming to the same corner, broke, and you realize they don't want to be made. Well, they actually like that. We have the same old friends and same 40. Everything's the same. I'm comfortable here.

34:05
The word of God is living and powerful, and it goes on. How many of you want to know what the rest of it means? I didn't get into this in the first service. The word of God is living and powerful and it goes on. How many of you want to know what the rest of it means? I didn't get into this in the first service, but I uncovered what it means and then I was like you know, they never told me what it means when I first got saved. This is one of those verses that preachers always shout but they never explain. Have you ever noticed that? Because it gets kind of cryptic after this. I don't know if I can, it's like take a few minutes for one person who's hungry. We're going to put that on pause. Alright, I'll go through it real quick, because it does right.

34:45
Word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. What the heck does the rest of it mean? Piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow? It means that the word of God will speak to you and you will know when it is the word of God and when it is not the word of God, because your spirit is what responds to the word of God. Your soul, from the Greek psuche, where we get psyche from, is your mind, your will and your emotions. That needs to be renewed by the word of God. But so many people they listen to their head and ignore what's going on in their spirit. You miss God, you miss the voice of God, you miss the word of God when you listen to your head and not your spirit. And if you listen to your flesh, you're in big trouble because the flesh will always lie to you. The flesh is still under the power of Satan. So what does the word of God do? It's sharper than any two-edged sword and it'll teach you to separate your spirit and your soul from the flesh, the joints and marrow, and it'll reveal you to you. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hallelujah, hallelujah. 1 Timothy 6, 17 through 19. Steps two and three are going to be quick. Step one is kind of long and that's about us being transformed Because we want to experience supernatural debt elimination and we need a good, old-fashioned mind renewing Hallelujah.

36:24
Paul is writing Pastor Timothy and he says command those who are rich in this present age. What did he want Timothy? To go stand up in the marketplace and command all the unsaved rich people. No, he's telling Timothy what to teach the wealthy people in Timothy's church. Apparently, timothy, young Timmy, had a lot of high rollers in his church. Note that Paul did not write and say to the rich people in your church, timothy, command them to give all their money away, to become as broke as the lowest of the low in your church. No, he said just teach them that they have their priorities in order.

37:04
Commend those who are rich in this present age not to be proud, not to be haughty. By the way, that's what the tithe is for the tithe because when you start increasing financially, it does a number on your head and you start to think well, I'm kind of special, I'm really, really clever, and you start to think that it's about you and you don't realize you're just a joker that God favored, and then when you tithe, you're remembering God. In Deuteronomy it says that you will remember. Be careful not to forget the Lord, your God. You remember him with your giving, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, deuteronomy 8.18. So an antidote for being proud and haughty is the tithe. It's you saying, lord, I realize that this isn't about me and I didn't do this, but I recognize there is a god above who favored me, blessed me, enabled me and will continue to increase me. Nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living god who gives us all things, all things, all things, all things. Amen.

38:22
Some of you, you really think you're more spiritual than the Apostle Paul. You think when Paul says God's going to give you all things, you think he means all kinds of pixie dust. Right, all blessings. But what are blessings? Oh, you know, god just sprinkles haze and fog and pixie dust Glitter, heavenly glitter. All things, things is things. Amen. God's not against you having things, he's against things having you Amen. God's not against you having things, he's against things having you. Amen.

38:55
Money, a wonderful, wonderful servant, a terrible, terrible master. And so the message has always been to increase. And increase will come from heaven when you've proven yourself trustworthy by how? How do you prove yourself trustworthy? By what you do? With a little, and then he'll make you ruler over much. To that fella who said I'm good, which so wonderfully received correction. I then told him this, and this is what I'll tell you you have a responsibility to increase. There's people who are depending on you to increase, and God will help you, and one of the first ways he'll help you is by getting you out of debt if you're in debt, so you don't know how much debt I have.

39:49
I remember those days. By getting you out of debt if you're in debt, so you don't know how much debt I have. Oh, I remember those days. I remember having $63,000 of debt spread across 16 credit cards, living in a windowless basement that doubled as the church on 7th Street, between Avenue A and 1st F. My mom remembers, because everybody's problem is the worst problem.

40:20
Right, you might be hearing me and going. You don't know how bad I have it. You don't know how bad I've had it. You don't know how bad the guy next to you has it, but God is able to do it. Moreover, you need to be convinced that God wants to do it. Hallelujah, we're just renewing some minds here.

40:42
Proverbs 10.22 10.22 please, in case the scripture has been vague thus far. By the way, I'm giving you scriptures that you'll want to memorize in jest, and you've got to know that scripture will be once again working, working inside of you. It's that powerful. So, again, in case the scripture was vague thus far, I just I get, I get, I do get a little bit of holy. I got to say holy, holy, glee, just knowing how irritating these scriptures are to those who love their poverty. There are people who will bet their life they will be.

41:45
You talk about viciousness. There's few things that get people seething. You know, we had to throw a guy out here a few months ago. I mean, we could say I've said all these things, nobody ever. But Pastor James is receiving the tithes and offerings and he starts shouting rah and security has to take him out the side.

42:01
I mean, why do people respond like that when it comes to money and I'm not, we already received our tithes and offerings. Like this isn't me teaching, not trying to pump you up for the great big offering receive at the end of the month? This is why do I have to fight with people to see them blessed. I have to wrestle them and they're like no poverty, god doesn't want no too much. No, I'm just, I'm good and you're dying. You don't have two dimes to rub together, but you can no, no, think about what is going on up there. What are you afraid of? I'll tell you what Too many people.

42:42
They're actually so condemned and think so little of themselves and are so conscious of their own sin, rather than being conscious of the blood of Jesus, which has cleansed them of all their sin. They reject the blessing of God and they limit, they limit. It's like somebody wanting to bless you and bring out a 128 ounce ribeye and you're like I'll just make a slice Because I'm not worthy. Well, the blood of Jesus makes you worthy. I'll tell you what you know.

43:16
Emily and I moved recently and moved into a neighborhood and into a house out in Nassau County and I had a difficult time. I'm just going to open up here the first six weeks. Here's what I want to show you with this story. I don't even know. I'm just going to open up here the first six weeks. Here's what I want to show you with this story. I don't even know where I was with that. But it's story time in the house of the Lord, because I know what you must think.

43:40
I preach this, I believe this, I live this and I went through a struggle for about six weeks of what I think the world would call imposter syndrome, because now I'm in this totally new arena of life and I'm going this is like I don't know what it's like to go to a cafe and all the men are wearing golf shirts. I've never worn those weird golf shirts in my life. You know everybody's just, and they got the cute little shorts on and they're like you know, and I'm like I know get my breakfast sandwich from the corner bodega. But this, this is different and I hear a voice. You know you don't belong here and they're talking about things. I have no clue what they're talking about and the taxes are outlandish. The taxes are more.

44:32
My first salary at City Light was $1,000 a month. Don't feel bad for me. God got me back real good. Don't feel bad. Those were good times. They are now because they're in the rearview mirror. But then I received like five years in received a raise.

44:52
The taxes are more than my entire salary at City Light after the raise and I remember the I would feel weird anxiety, and at the crux of it was am I worthy of this? Me? Me, I preach this, so this is why my heart goes out to you and why I'm identifying what probably a mental struggle is here. The mental struggle is am I worthy for God, after the mess I made with debt, to come in and rescue me? I acted irresponsibly. I bought more than I should have. I tried to keep up with the Joneses. I'm making financial mistakes. You're not, and neither am I, but he doesn't give you in proportion to what you're worthy of. He gives you in proportion to what Jesus Christ is worthy of, and open your heart up to the voice of the Lord.

45:48
I was in bed overwhelmed with anxiety about the taxes, just because, because they're a scam. How do I own the house if, after I've paid off the mortgage, I stop paying taxes? Then the man comes and shows me who really owns the house by taking the house away. But that's another sermon for another time. But there's so much, and be open to this, because it changed everything. The Lord came and spoke to me. It was about a second and he went. You will not even think about this, don't even consider this. I can't even quote it word for word, because when I say he spoke to me, it wasn't in an audible voice, it was like on the inside, like a beautiful punch in my spirit that felt so good. He was just like doof and with that same word he took out the anxiety and yanked it out. I went oh, I'll never have to worry about it. Hallelujah, and just reiterate it to me. I'll say it again the blood of Jesus makes you worthy, because the blood of Jesus has elevated you to the status of a king, lowercase k. Hallelujah. The blessing of the Lord makes one rich. I'll say it again For those who love their poverty the blessing of the Lord, it makes one rich.

47:26
Here's a little mental experiment how many of you believe that if Jesus Christ came to your house, all of your needs would be immediately met? How many of you believe that? Let me see your hands. Yeah, because you see how it is in the scriptures right, all of your needs are met. Why? Because he's a fountain of provision You're depressed. A fountain of joy provision you have sin. A fountain of cleansing provision, sick. A fountain of healing provision, lacking something, a fountain of providential care.

48:03
You believe that that reveals what you really believe about Jesus. But underneath that, there's where, like onions, multi-layered Underneath that, a disproportionate chunk of believers. Still they believe. Well, god, I mean God may like me. I barely get a long street. You say no, I don't, I'm not going to tell you you do.

48:35
But I would go to the Lord, I would check in with him, because the Bible says the blessing of the Lord makes one rich, but secretly they believe that the blessing of the Lord makes one poor. It's how I know, because your words betray you. You may say, you think one thing, but the words that come out of your mouth, may the Lord arrest you and shake you till your hair follicles shift when you say, when you say anything associated with poverty and lack. But in your spirit you have to understand when God comes in, he brings prosperity. You wouldn't go. You wouldn't go visit your friend and you walk into your friend's apartment and it's all dilapidated. There is paint peeling from the walls, one cup of ramen on the counter. You wouldn't walk out of there and say, wow, I just saw a blessing that was blessed. I mean, I was wondering what blessed looks like. This is hashtag blessed. No, you would walk away going.

49:43
I know this seems so elementary, but for some of you you're going oh, now you're connecting the dots of what you really believe, and what you're going to get isn't going to shift until what you really believe shifts. You need to memorize this verse. Say it over and over again the more you get the word of God in your spirit, it will act like a magnet for the abundance of God. Some of you, you're going to get serious about this. Statistically speaking, some of you are going to walk away feeling encouraged and go that was nice, and then, an hour later, you're going to just go on with your life. Don't be that person. Please catch my good side. He got this. I got the surgery right here. It's just kid having fun, flash photography, it's all good. Hallelujah, hallelujah, it's all good, hallelujah, hallelujah. Psalm 35, 27.

50:53
Hey, those of you who were in first service, don't let the cat out of the bag. Does this verse look familiar to anyone who said yes, chris, you're the first? No, go run for office, he's good. Anybody else? Does this ring a bell? Just look at the offering envelope that's in your seat. I put it there. I put it there over 15 years ago and none of you raised your hands.

51:36
That was a special email to our graphic designer and our then administrator. Why did I do that? Because this is the one verse that meant the most to me. You got to collect 10 verses, not any 10, not any 10 prosperity verses. They got to speak to you when you read them, they got to juice you up and you got to feel energized. They got to bring to you those are the ones you want to memorize. I had my 10, but of the 10, this was the one that really got me going and I got the breakthrough. Believing this, speaking this, writing this out over and over again, letting the word be made flesh that's how I got out of debt. Amen. Let them shout for joy and be glad who favor my righteous cause, and let them say continually this is instruction to God's people. We need to be doing this. Let them say continually let the Lord be magnified.

52:37
Who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servant? Check the offering envelope. It's there, highlighted in blue. Again, another scripture that doesn't leave much wiggle room, because people who love poverty that's the only way you can describe them they love poverty. I would encourage them to go all the way with their love. They actually. What they're really saying is I like you in poverty. But if you really aren't believing any of this and you love poverty, go all the way, man. Be a person of conviction. Sell all that you have put on a potato sack, go barefoot. Go barefoot, sleep in the woods under a bridge. Really embrace God's ways.

53:27
Who has pleasure in the prosperity of his servants? Get it in your spirit and then, throughout the day, realize that God will take pleasure. It does him good. I keep saying it over and over again because you have to be convinced of that. But God will take pleasure. It does him good. I keep saying it over and over again because you have to be convinced of that. You can't be thinking you're trying to strong arm God into doing something that's not in his character to do, that he doesn't want to do. But if you whine enough, he's going to go. All right, I'll help you with some of that debt. You have to realize that God loves you. He loves you. You have to be convinced of it. The only way is getting that word in you. And that he takes pleasure. He likes it when you're in a place of prosperity. He doesn't like it when you're in a place of lack. He doesn't like it when you're in a place of debt. He doesn't like it when you're essentially in a place of servitude, because the borrower is a servant to the lender. Hallelujah, oh hallelujah.

54:34
What's Proverbs 22, 7 say? I don't think I read that yet. This is in point number two. We're now moved from one. I just wanted to give you some prosperity scriptures. We'll go through two and three rather quickly.

54:45
Oh yeah, number two is that you have to be convinced of the love of God for yourself. This is so important. Why? Because faith is going to bring you. If you're in a place of debt, that's what's going to bring you out, and the Bible says faith works by love. Your faith won't work until you realize you're loved by God. You got saved and got your sins forgiven by faith. You got saved. You got your sins forgiven by faith when you realized he loved you, and everything else you will receive from him is when you realize more, you receive more of his love. So I mean, what does that mean? Well, I know for man, I'm going to spend some time in worship. I'm going to get in a place of worship where I feel his love for me. I sense it. I'm going to get it where. I'm convinced of it. I'm going to read his word and be convinced of his love for me, not that he just likes me, that he loves me. I got convinced that he was in love with me, yes, and I'm convinced, because he loves me, that he doesn't want me to be a servant to the lender. You've got to be convinced.

56:14
You've got to read stories in the Bible. There's a great story in the Bible. It's called the Passover. The Passover is a great redemption story because the children of Israel came out of Egypt, but the night, the final night, when the destroyer was going to go and they were about to get liberated, god gave them. You know God's name is Jehovah.

56:38
In this case he would be Jehovah sneaky. You've heard of Jehovah Rapha, jehovah Jireh. Here he was Jehovah sneaky. It's okay, he's God. How do you know it's okay? Because he did it.

56:52
He told all the Hebrews go to all your neighbors and your owners and all that, and ask to borrow gold, silver and precious stones. Ask to borrow of them. This is in the scriptures. This isn't me ad-libbing or reading between the lines. It's right there in the scriptures. And they did that and God must have just nudged them a little bit. God won't override your will, but he can touch you. It's like a divine Jedi mind trick you will give them all your gold. No, we won't. Yes, you will. Yes, we will.

57:26
And the Egyptians gave to the Hebrews all their gold, silver and precious stones. They said we're just going to borrow it. And then they fled Egypt. And then immediately that's the appropriate response. Actually, if people really got that. I mean, when I, under the anointing, reading the scriptures, I laughed my head off. There's some such comical entire passages that are pure comedy gold in the Bible. This is one of them. They're now leaving Egypt with all the stuff and when the Egyptians come too, they're like let's go get our stuff back. So now the creditors are pursuing them and God causes the Red Sea to open up and their creditors get washed and obliterated in the Red Sea.

58:14
You say, what is the theological term for that? Supernatural debt elimination, amen. There's another example in 2 Kings of a woman. It actually uses a term in the New King James the creditor. She said to Elisha the creditor is coming and they're going to take away my son. See, today when the creditor comes, he just annoys you with 6 am phone calls Back then they would come and take you away or your child until they worked and paid off the debt. And so she says the creditor is coming to take away my son. And Elisha says go and gather a bunch of pots, not a few, and take that one jar of oil that you haven't poured into the pots. And just the jar of oil kept pouring and pouring and pouring and he said go and sell and pay off your debt. And then, because God always gives you more than you need, he said and then you and your son live off the rest.

59:09
What do you call that? Supernatural debt elimination? There's a real funny example. A little bit later, same Elisha, he uses the power of God to make an axe head float. What's up with that? Like, what a waste of the power of God. Have you ever thought that? Do you know what I'm talking about? Like make a limb grow out, heal some blind eyes. You're walking around until you're doing like cheap parlor tricks. The guy drops his axe and Elijah makes the axe head float. But you look in the scriptures and when he dropped the axe head he said oh alas, for it was borrowed. When you're poor, to be in debt, one axe head is a lot. It's not like you can go to Home Depot back then and pick up two and Elijah makes the axe head float.

59:59
What do you call that Supernatural debt elimination? I want you to open up your spirit and begin to contend. This is not going to happen if you just go. That was nice, that was cute. God you know if it's your will. No, you got to say God, I know you love me, me, you love me, you have favored me. I messed up, I got into debt. Now I trust. I believe Supernatural debt elimination in my life in Jesus' name, amen, hallelujah, which moves us on to point three. Because while you're trusting for supernatural debt elimination, you've got to get to work on natural debt elimination, because God will put his super over your natural. Don't ever get it confused. If you're ever quote unquote trusting God to do something without first getting started in natural, you're not trusting God. Did you catch that? Somebody will hear this message and be like did you hear what pastor said? I still got $800 left on this bad boy Bling, bling, let's go party. And then, supernaturally, god will. No, you got it right now.

01:01:15
If you're in debt which, statistically speaking, a good chunk of you are and some of you don't hate your debt because it hasn't hurt you yet I, the reason why I'm preaching this message, is because I've spoken to too many couples who are crying and their pain hurts me. They're in bondage, they're hurting. Some of you have a little and you don't hate your debt. You got to hate it. What you don't hate you tolerate. You got to hate it. You got to be disgusted with not, you don't be disgusted with you, but you got to hate that thing. And I don't want to get right now into. There's good debt, bad debt, and you know I know some millionaires that you can get fancy and sophisticated and play games Right now. No debt, amen.

01:02:10
We're in step three now. Step one was renewing of the mind through the word of God. Step two is you've got to be convinced of the love of God for yourself. Step three is you've be convinced of the love of God for yourself. Step three is you gotta get practical, and getting practical means now. It's gonna suck for a while Because you may not be able to have the venti, you may not be able to have the tall. Your friends might ask you out. You're gonna have to say no. You're going into monk mode. Now You're saying no and you're making sure your outflow. No, you're going into monk mode. Now You're saying no and you're making sure your outflow does not exceed your inflow. And that's no fun. But you got to prepare for that and I will say the Lord will come to you.

01:02:52
And it's interesting when I had nothing, I lusted after all these things and then, when the Lord brought me up, the greatest pleasures I take with my family are absolutely free Walks, car rides, doing stuff that cost me nothing. Just giggling in the house, rolling around on the carpet Cost me nothing and it's priceless. Am I just talking to myself? I know some of you. You know what I'm talking about Amen. Am I just talking to myself? I know some of you, you know what I'm talking about, amen. And then, when you've turned off your spending faucet, you want to do something. Let me get the right term. It's a Dave Ramsey classic, by the way. Dave Ramsey, great expert on this subject. You should become best friends with him via podcast and YouTube.

01:03:41
The debt snowball method. I used this nearly 20 years ago. Here's what the debt snowball method is. You have to write out on paper, first of all this is important who you owe money to. You know why this is important.

01:03:57
I've been doing this a long time now and every time I ask, how much do you owe? Nine out of ten times the answer is well, I don't know. And I know why you don't know. The same reason I didn't know Because I was ashamed and I was embarrassed and I was terrified to actually look at the numbers. Well, what's your APR? I don't know. I didn't know because I was afraid. And then I saw it was 29.5%. I had friends in Brooklyn who told me that the loan shark doesn't even charge that much 29.5% a year.

01:04:39
You know that emu bird sticks its head in a hole in the ground. You know why it does that. It's hilarious Because when it's sticking its hole in the ground and can't see its predators, it believes that its predators can't see it. That's how many of us are with debt. Stick the whole head in the hole. I can't see my debt, but your debt can still see you, and it's actually growing while you're igniting. So the snowball method means hey, I just wanted to read that one scripture, if you can find it, on knowing the state of your flocks, be diligent to know the state of your flocks and attend to your herds. So you get out all the papers and you know the state of your flocks and you find out who everybody you owe money to and the debt snowball method I used it. It really works.

01:05:35
The tendency you'd want to do is to pay off the person that's charging the highest APR, but you don't do that. You actually pay the minimum payment to everybody and then the one that you owe the least to you pay off as much as you can. So if you owe Visa three grand and owe MasterCard five grand and owe Amex 20 grand, you tackle Visa first. You say why it actually works believe it or not, because it's so motivating, because you haven't paid down a card or an entity in forever. And when you finally rip and snip off your Visa card, you will celebrate, you will have the best time. And then you're gonna look at who's next MasterCard you, old dog, I'm coming for you with Jesus right at my side. And then when you take care of MasterCard, you know Visa's like the lion, mastercard is the bear. And then you could look at Amex and be like and this uncircumcised Philistine will fall like one of them, and then go after that amen, could you get ready with communion, please, for my final point is we just get ready with communion?

01:06:42
My final sub point of the third point, which is the practical stuff when you know the state of your herds. This is so important, you got to get this. And you actually do the math, you're gonna get very depressed, as I got depressed, because when you look at all the numbers and you do the math on how long will it take me to get out of debt, given everything else stays the same, you're going to realize it's about 182 years. For me it was like 28 years and I went oh, I ruined my life by the age of 27. Because I'll be in my 50s if I don't ever get into debt again, just paying this down. Good, embrace that feeling. Terrifying, but that's the reality.

01:07:25
Okay, then you're going to put your faith for God to open different doors. You cannot remain static. You got to trust God, for Holy Ghost surprises Different avenues of revenue, some of you. You're bound. You're not moving because you just keep looking at your paycheck and you think that's all there is. No, you have the Lord, jehovah Jireh, your provider. He can do anything. Cause a stranger to come bang on your door and say God spoke to me to bless you All these different ways.

01:08:02
Put your faith out there and then not just put your faith out there, but you go and beat some bushes and you can't get comfortable If you're at a job where you see no upward growth. You got to then and just know you're not alone. Whatever effort you put in, god will come and meet you. You're not doing it for nothing. You're not doing it for nothing. You're not doing it for nothing. God will come and meet you and reward you. Hallelujah. Go ahead and pass out communion. We're going to drink and eat communion, because communion is a celebration of the total life redemption that Jesus offered us. That also is the first of the total life redemption that Jesus offered us. That also is the first of the month, first Sunday of the month. Hallelujah. But what a great time. What a great time to take communion.

01:08:54
How many of you say your faith is increased and you're encouraged about your debt situation? Amen, amen, amen. And even if you're not in debt, you may be encouraged Because the Lord is coming. He's been here this whole time and there's an anointing to confirm the word. And if you will say now, lord, I believe he'll put his supernatural oil on you to help you and the word will silence. Now, lord, I believe he'll put his supernatural oil on you to help you and the word will silence that voice of doubt. The word will silence it, thank you Jesus.

01:09:37
Thank you, jesus for dying on the cross to take away our sins. Thank you, jesus for being scourged and whipped to heal our bodies. Thank you, jesus for going through such mental turmoil in the garden of Gethsemane so we could have peace of mind. Thank you, jesus, you went through everyone forsaking you so we could be blessed with true friendships. And thank you, jesus, that the Bible says that you were made poor. You were stripped of everything on the cross so that we might be made rich. Did you know? That's what the scripture says? One final scripture for anyone having a problem with this In Corinthians, it says that Jesus was made poor so that we could be made rich.

01:10:23
Now guess what religious folks say right away? Well, that means spiritually rich. Really, was Jesus made spiritually poor? The spiritually poor, don't raise the dead. Also, you know where in Corinthians that verse is? It's smack dab in the middle of the longest offering message you ever heard. Two chapters Paul takes up for an offering message, second Corinthians 8 and Second Corinthians 9. If any of you ever thought, someone here gave a long offering message, two chapters. That's no joke. And smack dab in the middle of that, the holy apostle, apostle Paul, says Jesus was made poor as your substitute so that you could be made rich. Well, rich in what area? Rich in every area. But specifically, he was stripped of everything, he was naked on the cross so that you might be. In fact, fact. It doesn't say rich, I'm sorry, I misquoted it. It says very rich.

01:11:27 - Speaker 2
This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and City Light Church, visit us at citylightnyccom. That's citylightnyccom. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.