Pastor Rick Warren often says, you were made by God and for God,
and until you understand that, life will never make sense. Welcome to Pastor
Rick's Daily Hope Today. In our series called God's Vision for the Rest of
your Life, Rick continues in his effort to help you discover the unique purpose
and vision that the Lord has for your life. Now, in just a
few moments, we're going to tell you how to get a copy of the
brand new Daily Hope twenty twenty one Prayer Journal based on the theme God's Great
Adventure for You, a great resource to help make your time in prayer the
best it can be. Go to Pastorick dot com to find out more,
or text the word daily to eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four.
That's Pastorick dot com, or the word daily to eight hundred six hundred five
thousand and four. Right now. Now, here's Pastor Rick Warren with part
one of a message called Enabling the Vision Purpose Driven giving. Notice this verse
on the first page the Bible says tell people to use their money to do
good. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those
in need, always being ready to share whatever God has given them. By
doing this, they'll be storing up real treasure for themselves in heaven. It
is the only safe investment for eternity, and they will be living a fruitful
Christian life down here as well. Now, I want you to notice three
things. This is a very important verse. First, I want you to
circle the phrase use their money. When you circle that, the Bible teaches
that money is to be used, not loved. The Bible doesn't say money
is bad. The Bible says the love of money is bad. You are
to use money and love people. Use money, love people. Now,
if you start loving money, you're going to do the opposite. You're going
to use people to get more money. So write this down in your outline
somewhere. Money is a tool. That's what it is. It's a tool.
It is a tool that God gives you to help fulfill your purposes in
this life. And you were to use it as a tool, and it
has great potential for good if you use it the way God intended. The
Bible says, use your money. Second, I want you to notice that
the Bible says that you can store up financially in eternity. It's like a
bank in heaven. The Bible says you can store up financially in heaven.
And notice I want you to circle the phrase for themselves. It says they
will be storing up real treasure for themselves. Circle that for themselves in heaven.
You can actually bank in heaven. Jesus called it storing up treasure for
yourselves in heaven. Now you've heard people say, all along, well you
can't take it with you. Well, that's true, but you can send
it on ahead. You can send it on ahead once you die. Whatever
you leave behind, you're leaving behind, but you can send it on ahead.
And the Bible says you can store up treasure in heaven. And today
we're going to talk about how you do that. How you do that?
Now? The Bible says also that you invest in eternity by using your money
for God's purposes for your life. And that investment is proven, it's secure,
it's risk free, it's guaranteed interest, it yields dividends forever. Now,
if you were to go to a financial advisor, any financial advisor in
the world would tell you, don't put all your eggs in what one basket,
right exactly, And you know what God would tell you the exact same
thing. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. You need a diversified
financial folio. And that's the same thing as true spiritually. You need a
diversified investment to portfolio. Now, since God has five purposes for your life,
guess how many investment funds he has five. That's right, one for
each purpose of your life. And today we're gonna look at five ways to
use your money to further God's purpose in your life as long as you live,
and at the same time storing up treasure in heaven. As Jesus called
it. God's five financial investment funds. So let's look at them. If
you turn the page, the first one is this, God wants me to
invest in his treasury fund. God wants me to invest in his treasury fund.
Now I call it the treasury fund based on these two scriptures. Here
Matthew six, Jesus says this, don't store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and us destroy and where thieves can break in and steal,
but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. There's that same phrase again.
He says, you store up treasures in heaven. The next verse job says
this, give up your lust for money, then the Almighty himself will be
your treasure. Now, how do I invest in this first fund? This
is the one that most of you know about. Most of you don't know
about the other four. This is called the Treasury fund. And I invest
in the Treasury fund by using some of my money to express worship. To
express worship, you might write that down. Now, why do I do
that? Because it makes God happy? You know, when I was a
little kid, I used to buy or make all these little cheesy gifts for
my parents, and when I look back at them, they were really lame.
But every time I would give my parents a present, they were overjoyed
by it. Now it wasn't like I could give them something they didn't already
have. It wasn't like they needed anything for me, because they didn't.
But they were just enjoyed, enjoyed the fact that I thought of them.
One time, when I was eight years old, I went into a thrift
store and I bought my mother a dress for twenty five cents, and I
thought it was a really cool dress. Now, it was about a size
four and my mom was a size twelve. So and I remember the clerk
knew my mom. She said rick Actually she said Ricky because I was called
Ricky as a kid. Ricky, your mom couldn't get her big toe in
that dress. I was so offended. I went home crying. And when
I gave my dress to my mom, that was the cheesiest gift. But
she was so thrilled. You know that when my mom died, I found
that dress in one of her chests. She'd kept it all those years.
Now, there's nothing you can give God that he needs, and God certainly
doesn't need your money. But when you come and you give an offering to
God, you're saying, God, I love you, God, I'm thinking
of you, God, I want you first in my life. And that's
the first purpose of life, to know and love God your plan for his
pleasure. And when you give back to God, it makes God smile.
He doesn't need it. He does it because you're saying, I love you
and I'm generous and I want to be with you. Notice these verses.
The Bible says, honor the Lord by giving him the leftovers of all your
income. Oh I misread that, Didn't I honor the Lord by giving him
the first part of all your income. That's called tithing. We'll look at
the next verse for where your treasure is there your heart will be. Also.
Do you want to get a heart for Microsoft. You want to get
interested in Microsoft. I'll tell you how to do it. Buy some stock.
The moment you buy some Microsoft stock, all of a sudden, you're
gonna get really interested in that company, and you're gonna read articles about it
that you never read before. If you don't own stock and Microsoft, you
couldn't care less about that company. But where your treasure is, your heart
will be. You want to get interested in Sony Corporation, Buy some stock
in Sony. The moment you buy stock in it, you're gonna get real
interested in it. Why Because the principle of life is wherever you put your
money, that's where your interest goes. Now here's the question, where is
your heart, Well, it's wherever you're putting your money your heart. Your
treasure may be in your boat. Your treasure may be in your motorcycle.
Your treasure may be in your home. It may be in your car,
It may be in redecorating. Your treasure may be in your hobby. I'll
tell you, without even knowing you, I can tell you where your heart
is, It's wherever your treasure is. Because regardless of what I say is
important to me, the way I spend my time and the way I spend
my money shows what's really important to me. And if you want to know
what's important to Rick Warren, all you got to do is look at two
things. Look at my schedule and look at my checkbook stubs, and that'll
tell you real quick what's important to me. And the same thing is true
for you. And you may say something's important, but the way you spend
your time, the way you spend your money shows what's really important to you.
So where do you want your heart to be, Well, wherever you
want it to be, Say, well, I want my heart to be
with God. Then you need to put your treasure in God, because where
your treasure is, your heart will be. Also. You know, every
time I feel distant from God, I feel I don't feel close to God.
I feel like God's a million miles away. One of the things I
do is I give an offering. Why because wherever I put my money draws
me to that. If I gave my money to you, it draws me
closer to you. If I give my money to God. It draws me
closer to God. If I give my money to something over here, it's
going to draw me closer to that. It's just a principle of life.
Now, the Bible says that not every kind of giving is an act of
worship. So what is it? Write these two things down. First,
worship giving is undesignated. It's undesignated. That means you don't control it,
you don't direct it, you don't tell God what to do with it.
The heart of worship is surrender, and you just say, Lord, I'm
just given this to you, whatever you want to do with it. The
Bible says in the Book of Leviticus, you may not take back what you
have unconditionally dedicated to the Lord. So worship giving is not strategic giving.
It's just undesignated. Here, it's all yours God. And then the second
thing, it's given when and where I worship. Worship giving is given when
and where I worship. Now, the Bible says this in First Corinthians.
On every Sunday, put aside something from what you've earned during the week and
use it for the offering. The amount depends on how much the Lord has
helped you to earn and notice several things. Worship giving is weekly, it
says on every Sunday. Now, why that, because that's when and where
I worship, says every son, it's weekly. I give the first part
of my money on the first day of the week to say God, you're
first in my life. And then he says, put aside something that means
it ought to be planned. You ought to think it through. You don't
just give spontaneously. You think it through. And then it ought to be
proportional. He says, the amount depends on how much you've earned. You
didn't earn anything this week. You don't give anything. You earn a little,
you give a little, You earn a lot, you give a lot,
and it's undesignated. Now let me just say this. We're gonna talk
about five different funds today. This is probably the only one you've ever heard
of. God wants you to give to this fund before you give or invest
in any of the other funds. Why because he wants your heart more than
anything else. He doesn't want your money, he wants what it represents.
And the most sensitive nerve in the body is the one that goes from the
heart to the wallet. Why does God say do this? We'll look of
the next verse. The purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put
God first in your life. Thank you so much for listening to Pastor Rick's
Daily Hope. We've got some incredible news to share with you. A very
generous friend has given a one hundred thousand dollars matching grant to this ministry all
this month, every dollar you give to help Daily Hope share the certain hope
of Jesus around the world will be matched up to one hundred thousand dollars,
So twenty five dollars becomes fifty dollars, fifty becomes one hundred and five hundred
becomes a thousand. Whatever you give will be doubled by the matching grant up
to one hundred thousand dollars, but only till midnight December thirty first, So
please contact us today. Go to Pastorick dot com or just call eight hundred
six hundred five thousand and four. If you want to make your time in
prayer the best it can be, then you're going to want to get a
copy of the brand new twenty twenty one Daily Hope Prayer Journal. This year's
theme God's Great Adventure for You will help you tap into God's power and presence
when you learn how to pray with passion and purpose. Covered in soft vegan
leather with full color pages, this prayer journal has sections to pray for specific
people and situations, as well as space to express your gratitude and personal prayer
requests to God. Each page is beautifully designed and filled with inspiring Bible verses,
photos, and artwork. The God's Great Adventure for You Prayer Journal is
a spiritual growth tool designed to help you enjoy a vibrant prayer life, connect
with God, and establish consistent daily prayer time. When you give a gift
to help daily hope take the certain hope of Jesus to people around the world,
we'll send you the all new twenty twenty one Daily Hope Prayer Journal to
say thanks. Quantities are limited, so don't wait. Call eight hundred and
six hundred five zero zero four to get your Prairie Journal and have your gift
matched up to one hundred thousand dollars, or you can visit pastorick dot com
that's eight hundred and six hundred five zero zero four or pastorick dot com you're
listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Once again, here's Pastor Rick Warren.
Now, the second purpose of God for your life is that you learn to
love other people. He wants you first to learn to love him. You
invest in the treasury fund where your treasure as your heart is. So he
says, invest in the treasury fund, learn to love me. Now the
second purpose of life has learned to love other people in God's family. And
so number two, God wants you to invest in the mutual fund. The
mutual fund. It's God's mutual fund. And the Bible says in Romans twelve,
Verse ten, love one another with mutual affection. Now, how do
I invest in the mutual fund? How do I use some of my money
to invest mutual fund. Here's how you do it. By using some of
my money to encourage fellowship. To encourage fellowship, I use some of my
money to express worship. And I use some of my money to encourage fellowship.
And that means to show love to other believers. It means to use
my money to build relationships to demonstrate love. Look at these verses. The
Bible says, share what you have with God's people who are in need show
hospitality. The next verse says, think of ways to encourage one another with
outbursts of love and good deeds. He says, think aways, be creative,
put some thought into it. Now listen. Anytime I give my money
to God, it draws me closer to God. Anytime I give my money
to you, it draws me closer to you. When I give money to
people in my small group, or I help and I invested in my small
group, I grow up closer to them. So anytime you go out and
you buy a little nice card, you know, a hall or Dayspring card
or something, and you write a note of encouragement it and you give it
to somebody, you've just invested in the mutual Fund. Anytime you prepare a
meal, you buy a meal and you take it over to somebody's house who
is sick, you just invested in the mutual Fund. Anytime you open up
your home and you have a small group over and you provide some refreshments and
that costs you, you just invested in the mutual Fund. Anytime you provide
a babysitter for somebody who needs to go to church, or needs to go
to a conference or a retreat, or something like that. You invested in
the mutual fund when somebody you know and other believers is discouraged and they need
somebody to talk to you, and you take them out to lunch and you
pay for lunch. You just invested in the mutual fund. Does this make
sense? You? See? You can give to God, and God says,
that's storing up treasure in heaven. But you can also give to other
people and God says, when you do that as an act of love,
it's like banking it in heaven. God says, it counts. It counts.
He says, anytime you use your funds to show love to somebody else
in the family of God, whether it's anything, it could be maybe you
help somebody else financially in your small group whatever, you're actually investing in the
mutual fund. Now, why should I do this? Why should I give
to encourage fellowship? Well, look at these verses on the next page.
The Bible says this service of giving not only helps the needs of God's people,
it also brings many more thanks to God, and it's proof of your
faith. Now, of those three things there, it says, it meets
a need, it brings thanks to God, and it proves that you believe
what you say believe. Many people will praise God because you obey the good
News of Christ, the gospel you say you believe, and because you freely
share with them. Now you've heard me say it before that you can give
without loving, but you cannot love without giving. When I first fell in
love with my wife, I could not keep money in my pocket. It
was like burning a hole in my pocket. Every time I turned around,
I was buying or something. I see something on TV kitchen magician, I
gotta buy that. Man. You know, it didn't matter what it was.
I just wanted to buy her stuff. Why, because I was in
love with her. You cannot love without giving, and so when I give,
it draws me closer to you. It draws me and it causes me
to love you more. Also, it's a witness to other people. Notice
this next verse. When you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even
when they're strangers, you make the faith visible. I wish I could tell
you all the stories, but let me just read you. One guy in
our church sent me this, He said, Pastor Rick, last Sunday morning.
A few guys from my men's small group had breakfast at the Pancake House
in Anaheim before heading over to Angel Stadium for the service. When our waitress
overheard that we were from Saddleback Church, she insisted on paying for our breakfast
herself. Now. When we asked her why, she said, well,
there's a couple from Saddleback that each year, all the time, and every
time they do, before they pay for their own bill, they request to
pay the bill for two other random tables in the restaurant as an act of
love. She said, I don't know what got into you Saddleback people,
but it's an inspiration to the rest of us. It's what we're drinking,
that's it's what we're doing. That's why we want to be famous for.
We say, that's the church where they love each other, where they're generous
with each other, where they take care of each other. These people over
there at Saddleback Church, they're the most generous people in the whole world.
Why, Because that's what God is like. It's a witness to other people.
Not only that, it builds unity among believers. The next verse says
how good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity. Now,
there is enormous power in unity. You know, it's like that phrase,
snowflakes are frail, but if enough of them stick together, they can
stop traffic. And if you can't do anything by yourself, and I can't
do anything by yourselves, together we can do something serious. This is Pastor
Rick's Daily Hope. We're so thankful that you've chosen to spend some time with
us today. If you've missed any part of this broadcast, including portions we
didn't have time for, just go to Pastorrick dot com and listen online.
Anytime. Rick will be right back to close out our time today. But
first, if you want to make your time in prayer the best it can
be, then you're going to want to get a copy of the brand new
twenty twenty one Daily Hope Prayer Journal. This year's theme, God's Great Adventure
for You, will help you tap into God's power and presence when you learn
how to pray with passion and purpose. Right now, here's Pastor Rick to
tell you more. Do you ever feel like your prayers get stuck in a
rut? Would you like to know what God told me to do when my
prayer life got stuck in a rut? It was a time when I just
felt like I was praying the same thing over and over and over. In
fact, I was beginning to wonder if God was even answering my prayers or
even listening. Maybe you felt that way sometimes, or maybe you feel that
way right now. So what did God tell me to do? Well,
here's what he told me. It was such a powerful way to re energize
my prayer life, and it was so simple that I want to pass it
on to you. God told me to do this, He said, Rick,
start writing down what you're saying to me, and then I want you
to write down what I say to you. Write down what you say to
me, and then write down what I say to you. You see,
it's really not that complicated. God just said I should start by writing down
what I'm feeling, and then I should write down what he tells me after
I've read his word. It's really just a form of journaling, and spiritual
journaling is a spiritual habit that will help your prayers stay fresh and effective.
If you've never tried it, I'm begging you try this for a week or
two and see if it doesn't reinvigorate your prayer life. Journaling has many many
benefits to your spiritual life. It'll help you stay consistent in your prayers.
It'll give you a permanent reminder of how God answers your prayers because you re've
written them down. It shows how God is working in your life. You
can go back and review it. It'll even help you worship God more and
more as you speak to him. God speaks to people who care enough to
write it down. So write down what God tells you. But you've got
to have a place to do that. Now. I want to encourage you,
and I want to help you take this simple step of learning this new
spiritual habit in your prayers, of writing down your prayers and writing down your
prayer request. So what I did is I had my Daily Hope team create
a brand new spiritual prayer journal. It's got a real simple to follow format
that will help you put into practice God's wisdom that is found in Philippians four
to six that says this, don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about
everything, tell God what you need, and thank Him for all he has
done. Those four things are part of the format of our prayer journal for
this year. It's really cool. You're gonna love this tool covered in soft
vegan leather with full color pages. This prayer journal has sections to pray for
specific people and situations, as well as space to express your gratitude and personal
prayer requests to God. Each page is beautifully designed and filled with inspiring Bible
versus photo work and artwork. The God's Great Adventure for You Prayer Journal is
a spiritual growth tool designed to help you enjoy of vibrant prayer life, connect
with the Lord, and establish a consistent daily prayer time. When you give
a gift to help daily hope take the certain hope of Jesus to people around
the world, will send you the all new twenty twenty one Daily Hope Prayer
Journal to say thanks. Quantities are limited, so don't wait. Call eight
hundred six hundred five thousand and four to get your prayer journal and have your
gift matched up to one hundred thousand dollars, or you can visit Pastorick dot
com that's eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four or pastorick dot com.
Be sure to join us again next time as we look into God's word for
our daily hope. This program is sponsored by pastor Ricks Daily hope and your
generous financial support