A point guard drills five consecutive three-pointers. He's in the zone. The first quarter of the Sugar Bowl last Monday night—the Mountaineers of West Virginia were in the zone. You closed the deal on several sales last month. Your commission check says that you were in the zone. We use that phrase a lot, don't we? What does it mean to be in the zone?

A zone is an area that is distinguished from the surrounding areas. You have the zone here. Everywhere but that area is out of the zone. Did you know that Gods want all of us to live in the zone? I define God's zone as the sweet spot of His success. He desires all of us to operate in the zone. He wants me to live in the zone. He wants you to live in the zone. Are you zoned in? Or are you zoned out?

What does it meant to live in the zone? It means to live in the sweet spot of God's success. What is the sweet spot of God's success? Before answering that question, let me introduce you to the study we will tackle over the next several weeks. It is called "In the Zone." The significance of these messages is huge. God has some very important lessons He wants us to learn in these studies. You need to be here each week.

Let me tell you up front that the enemy, Satan, does not want you to be exposed to these teachings because they are life-changing. So he's going to try every tactic possible to get you to stay away from church. He'll keep you up late on Saturday. He will convince you to take an out-of-town trip. These teachings will help you in every area of your existence. So I'm asking you even now to pray, "God, open my heart to whatever you want me to learn and apply to my life through these messages."

Now back to the subject. Our God desperately desires us to live in the zone. Today, I want to talk about our need, as followers of Christ, to be God-hearted. We need mirror the majesty of who God is. If we know God personally, we should reflect who He is. We should reflect His character qualities.

One key truth I want to emphasize this morning is that the essence of God is generosity. To be God-hearted means that we reflect His character. God is generous. Therefore, we need to reflect generosity. To live in the zone, we must demonstrate generosity. Most of you are familiar with these words from the Bible: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…" (John 3:16). Keep these words in mind as I read from Romans. "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:31-32).

God is generous. He gave His Son. He graciously gives us all things. Because God is generous, we should be God-hearted. We should understand that everything we have comes from God—our gifts, our aptitude, our abilities and even the material stuff we have. And because God has given these things to us, we should reflect that. That's living in the zone.

Abraham was a man who lived in the zone. He came from a family of idol worshippers. He was zoned out. But he got zoned in to the blessings of God. Turn with me to Genesis 12 and let's read a part of his story (vv. 2-3). God said to Abraham, "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:2-3).

Through Abraham the nation of Israel was born. Through the nation of Israel, the Savior Jesus Christ was born. And because of His birth, we can be born into the family of God.

Abraham was a man who was truly blessed. Listen to what one of his workers said about him: "The LORD has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys" (Genesis 24:35). God blessed him occupationally, relationally and financially. He knew what it meant to live in the zone. He knew that everything came from God. He was blessed by God. And in turn, Abraham became a blessing.

Blessing. We throw that term around a lot, don't we? You sneeze and someone says, "God bless you." "How are you doing?" You say, "I am blessed." Or, "Have a blessed day." Or in an hour concert a comedian will take the Lord's name in vain 400 times and drop the F-bomb 35 times. Then at the end of the show he will say, "God bless you."

What does it mean to be blessed? Jot this definition down. To be blessed means to be on the receiving end of the tangible and intangible favor of God. We understand the intangible part—peace, love, joy, etc. We understand that blessing is about stuff we cannot taste, touch, and smell.

But I believe God also wants to bless us in tangible ways, even materially and financially. He blesses His people with stuff. Some of you might have a hard time accepting this fact. But that is how God operates. Blessing (even with tangible things) is a part of His character. He wants to bless your life. But for Him to bless your life, that is, to live in the zone, you must be bless-able. If you're not living in the zone, then God can't bless you. How can you be a blessing? Great question!

Basically, I am talking about the difference between ownership and stewardship, the difference between ownership and management. Abraham understood that his stuff was not his stuff; it was God's stuff. The New Testament says, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29). Did you follow that promise? God is telling us that the same zone, the same stuff, available to Abraham is available to us. If I belong to Christ, and I do, then I can break into the blessings of God.

There are so many evidences of God's blessings on Abraham. We find him presenting a generous gift to the priest Melchizedek. He was wealthy. He helped his nephew Lot become wealthy. He obeyed God even to the point of offering his only son Isaac as a sacrifice to God. But God intervened at the last second and provided him a lamb, a substitute sacrifice. Abraham was God-hearted. He was generous with his abilities, his aptitudes, his money and all his stuff. He knew the difference between management and ownership.

There is a family in our church who owned a condominium at the beach. Every summer he allowed our family to enjoy his place for a rent-free vacation week on the coast. God had blessed him and he was sharing the blessing with us. We checked in for the first time, thrilled at being on the receiving end of this gift. On the refrigerator was posted a list of things we were responsible for. Do you think we did those things? Of course we did. I obeyed because I had the responsibility of managing the place for a week.

God has given each of us a phenomenal house. We've all been blessed by the Blessor. He says, "Enjoy my house. I want to bless you. Be a blessing. But make sure you do the stuff on the list I have posted. You don't own it. No, no, no. You manage it. Enjoy it.

Let me dissect this "in the zone" concept a little further. God is the Blessor. As Blessor, He has wired us to live where? In the zone. Everything comes from Him. He is the Blessor. We are the blessed. And because we're blessed, we live in the sweet spot of His success. And when we live in the sweet spot of His success, we become a blessing. How do we go from blessed to blessing?

Two things. First, we receive. Second, we reflect. We receive and we reflect. We receive from the Blessor the favor of God, tangibly and intangibly. We receive Christ. We move from outside the zone to inside the zone. We're blessed. We're not owners; we're managers. And then as we reflect the majesty and generosity of God, we are God-hearted.

There is a land outside the zone that we can call The Land of Ing. Many people live there. Living in The Land of Ing are those people who are into own-ing, earn-ing, hous-ing, cloth-ing, etc. They think they're an owner. They think their stuff is their stuff. Their talents are their talents. Their junk is their junk. They belongings are their belongings. Scores of people live in The Land of Ing.

Don't miss this now. When we move from The Land of Ing into the zone, God puts His bless on our ing. He puts His super on our natural. He doesn't want us hanging out in The Land of Ing. No, He wants to put His bless on our ing. Yet we have this false belief that whoever dies with the most ings wins.

Do you want adventure? Do you want excitement? Do you want vitality? Then understand the fact that you're not an owner; you're a manager, a steward. Receive and reflect. It all comes from the Blessor. If you're blessed, then be a blessing. That is the sweet spot of God's success. How do you become a blessing? You obey the list posted on the refrigerator. You enjoy the house God has given you. You enjoy all the stuff He's given. But you obey.

It was January 32 years ago that a group of men and women and boys and girls united their efforts to start a new church called Chapin Baptist. I believe there were 118 on the original membership list. They met at Chapin High School. And then because of the favor and grace of God, this property was purchased. Through the years, the facilities have expanded. As I look across this beautiful worship center, and as I walk through the new facility for students and children, I know that we got the resources to build these facilities from people who gave. They gave because they understood that God is the Blessor. They understood that God had blessed them and that they were supposed to be a blessing. They received God's blessings, and then they reflected the heart and nature of God by giving. They knew the difference between owning and managing something.

Like Abraham, God will bless your life as you become God-hearted with the abilities and gifts and aptitudes and stuff He has given you.

In Matthew 25, Jesus told about a guy who owned a business. He hired a few people. He gave one guy five talents, the other guy two talents, and the other guy one talent. He said, "Invest the money and I'll be back later." When the business owner returned, the guy with five talents had doubled his investment and now had ten talents. The one with two talents doubled his also. The guy with the one talent dug a hole and hid his talent.

The owner was upset. He said, "Man, what were you thinking. Get out of my life. You're fired!" He took the one talent and gave it to the one who had ten. Then Jesus wrapped up the story by saying, "If you're faithful over a little, I will make you, I will make you faithful over a lot."

It is the difference between ownership and management. It's doing the stuff on the list posted on the refrigerator in God's house. After God created Adam and Eve, do you know the first words He spoke to them? "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Genesis 1:28). What are these words about? Management. God said, "Adam and Eve, you're not owners; you're managers."

Where are you? Are you zoned in or zoned out? Based on a quick statistical research, my educated guess is that in our church family, 80% are zoned out. 20% of you are zoned in. Next Sunday I will explain those numbers.

So how can you experience the blessings of God? The simple, yet profound answer to that question is found in the very nature and character of God. If we truly want to be in the zone and live life to our fullest potential, this message teaches that we must be people after God's own heart—a heart marked first and foremost by generosity. Then and only then can we understand the powerful biblical principle that "God is for us."