Speaker 2: Hey, everybody.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Well, we're talking about
Speaker 1: your money. That's right. We're continuing a powerful series called
Speaker 1: Financial Fitness. Rick is opening God's Word and showing us
Speaker 1: how to manage what we've been given with wisdom, faith,
Speaker 1: and purpose. And I know if you apply these biblical principles,
Speaker 1: you'll start to experience true financial freedom and lasting peace.
Speaker 1: What do you say we join Rick for the final
Speaker 1: part of a message called The Law of Contentment?
Speaker 2: You know, one of my favorite things to do is
Speaker 2: I put this ratty old chair, deck chair, on our slope.
Speaker 2: We'd had this jet chair, I don't know, 10, 15 years,
Speaker 2: maybe 20 years. I think I bought it at Target,
Speaker 2: so it's not an expensive thing, and it sat in
Speaker 2: the sun, and it's kind of, a couple of the
Speaker 2: slats are broken on it, and I put it over
Speaker 2: on the slope, and what I like to do is
Speaker 2: climb over my fence and sit in that ratty chair
Speaker 2: and watch the sun come up. This gives me great pleasure.
Speaker 2: when I do this, to watch the sun come up
Speaker 2: and just sit there in that ratty chair. Now, would
Speaker 2: I have any more joy if it were a diamond-encrusted
Speaker 2: Barca lounger instead of a ratty Target chair? No, no.
Speaker 2: It would not increase my joy one bit. In fact,
Speaker 2: there's an advantage to not having a diamond-encrusted Barca lounger.
Speaker 2: It's better to have a ratty chair on a slope. Why?
Speaker 2: Nobody steals it. I mean, if it were something fancy,
Speaker 2: you know, people pick it up. But, you know, workers
Speaker 2: and gardeners walk by and who wants that thing? You know,
Speaker 2: so they just leave it there. What I'm saying is
Speaker 2: you need to ask yourself, what do I enjoy that
Speaker 2: I never think about it and I should take advantage
Speaker 2: of it and I should be grateful for what I've got?
Speaker 2: Now one of the benefits of having sent about 15,000
Speaker 2: of you overseas on peace trips is you got to
Speaker 2: see how the rest of the world lives. And that
Speaker 2: makes you a whole lot more grateful. Because when you've
Speaker 2: been to the places where I've been, into the favelas
Speaker 2: of Brazil and the slums of Africa and the barrios
Speaker 2: and the ghettos in the major cities of the world,
Speaker 2: you see real poverty. And it makes me grateful for
Speaker 2: stuff That we take for granted. You know what I'm
Speaker 2: grateful for? What I enjoy? I enjoy hot water. Hot water.
Speaker 2: I mean, for me, a shower is a spiritual experience.
Speaker 2: I'm in there singing and Kay's going, shut up. No,
Speaker 2: she's not. She doesn't. She's never once said that. She
Speaker 2: sings harmony with me. And I just, I love hot water.
Speaker 2: But I got a friend in Rwanda who told me
Speaker 2: that during the war, he went nine months without a shower.
Speaker 2: You know what I appreciate, what I'm grateful for? Ice.
Speaker 2: Because if you've traveled anywhere in the world, you know
Speaker 2: most of the world doesn't have ice. And they serve
Speaker 2: you drinks at room temperature. I like my drinks cold.
Speaker 2: I don't want to drink a room temperature Coke. or
Speaker 2: room temperature water. I like ice. I'm grateful for ice.
Speaker 2: You know what I enjoy? Internet access. You know, when
Speaker 2: I travel, I don't need a fancy hotel. I mean,
Speaker 2: you can put me up in the no-tell motel for
Speaker 2: all I care. Doesn't really matter what I, but you
Speaker 2: better have internet access. Because that's my connection. You think
Speaker 2: about these things and you start being grateful and you
Speaker 2: start enjoying the stuff you take for granted. You know
Speaker 2: what I'm grateful for? Toilet paper. Toilet paper. You don't
Speaker 2: know what you've got till it's gone. And I have
Speaker 2: been a few places in the world where it was gone.
Speaker 2: And it made me really grateful to have it when
Speaker 2: I got back home. You need to ask yourself, what
Speaker 2: am I not enjoying right now? You see, most of
Speaker 2: us get into this, what I call, when and then thinking.
Speaker 2: When and then, when this happens, then I'll be happy.
Speaker 2: When I get a boyfriend, then I'll be happy. When
Speaker 2: I get married, then I'll be happy. When I have kids,
Speaker 2: then I'll be happy. When my kids go off to school,
Speaker 2: then I'll be happy. When I get married again, then
Speaker 2: I'll be happy. And on and on and on. It's
Speaker 2: the when and then thinking. Listen, you are as happy
Speaker 2: as you choose to be. Happiness is a choice. And
Speaker 2: if you're not happy now, you're not gonna be happy later.
Speaker 2: You are as happy as you choose to be. I
Speaker 2: could take you to some of the worst places in
Speaker 2: the world and show you two people living right next
Speaker 2: door to each other and one is miserable and one's happy. Why?
Speaker 2: Happiness has nothing to do with your circumstances. It has
Speaker 2: everything to do with your attitude. You are as happy
Speaker 2: as you choose to be. And if you're not happy
Speaker 2: living on what you're living on right now, I can
Speaker 2: guarantee you, you're not gonna be happy with any more.
Speaker 2: Because you're always gonna want a little bit more. Happiness
Speaker 2: is a choice. Happiness is something you choose to do.
Speaker 2: And it doesn't cost anything to be happy. Friday was
Speaker 2: Grandparents' Day. So Kay and I went to Grandparents' Day.
Speaker 2: And you know, you go and you sit down at
Speaker 2: these little tables with these little chairs where you got
Speaker 2: one cheek on the chair, you know. And you color
Speaker 2: and you play and we had a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: And then we came to my favorite part of school,
Speaker 2: which was recess. And so Kaylee and Cassidy and I
Speaker 2: went out onto the field at recess, and we started playing,
Speaker 2: you know, red light, green light, where, you know, there's
Speaker 2: a fence which is safe, and you turn around and
Speaker 2: you say, you know, green light, green light, green light,
Speaker 2: and you're walking, and as you further get away, they're
Speaker 2: coming to see how close you can get. Then you say,
Speaker 2: red light, and you turn around, and they've got to
Speaker 2: get back to the fence before you can tag them.
Speaker 2: So I'm playing this with my kids. my granddaughters, and
Speaker 2: after about three times, I got 50, 100 kids out
Speaker 2: there playing red light, green light with Pastor Rick. And
Speaker 2: so I'm walking across the field going green light, green light,
Speaker 2: green light, red light, and 100 kids are screaming running back,
Speaker 2: and I'm chasing them back. And we're having a good time,
Speaker 2: we're doing this, and then I turn them into a
Speaker 2: conga line. And we got 100 kids in the conga line, dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun, dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun.
Speaker 2: Red light, and they all go running back, And everybody's
Speaker 2: having fun. I'm having fun. My granddaughters are having fun.
Speaker 2: The kids are having fun. All of the parents are
Speaker 2: having fun videotaping Pastor Rick look like an idiot. The
Speaker 2: teachers are having fun because the kids are having a
Speaker 2: great time. You know how much that cost me? Zero.
Speaker 2: And I didn't need a video game. I didn't need
Speaker 2: to take them to Disneyland. I was just having fun
Speaker 2: with them. Kaylee turns around to all the classmates and says,
Speaker 2: wherever Papa goes, he starts a party. Just being grateful
Speaker 2: in the situation you're in, enjoying the day you've got.
Speaker 2: I mean, really, would doubling your income double your joy?
Speaker 2: Absolutely not. I probably know a dozen billionaires. Maybe more,
Speaker 2: maybe 20. I could bring any one of them in here,
Speaker 2: and they'd tell you this, money is a tool, Money
Speaker 2: can make your life easier, but money will ultimately not
Speaker 2: satisfy your life. Because no matter how much you've got,
Speaker 2: when you can finally afford to buy everything you want,
Speaker 2: that still won't make you happy. Because happiness is not found.
Speaker 2: It's not life, liberty, and the purchase of happiness. Happiness
Speaker 2: cannot be bought. It's internal. Happiness is a choice. We
Speaker 2: always think, I don't have enough, I don't have enough,
Speaker 2: I don't have enough. There's two ways to have enough.
Speaker 2: One's hard and one's easy. Here's how you have enough.
Speaker 2: Work more or want less. That's your choice. You could
Speaker 2: work more or you can want less. That's how you're
Speaker 2: gonna have enough. Well, I don't have enough. Well, here,
Speaker 2: you got two choices. Work more or want less. The
Speaker 2: law of contentment. I can't teach you these other principles
Speaker 2: that we're gonna look at in the weeks ahead until
Speaker 2: you get this one down. Now, 1 Timothy 6 says this,
Speaker 2: verse 17. Command those who are rich in this present world.
Speaker 2: Now let me just stop right there. That's you. You're rich.
Speaker 2: You say, not me, I'm not rich. Oh yeah, you are.
Speaker 2: If you live in America, you're rich. Let me put
Speaker 2: this in perspective. If you have any coins in your pocket, any,
Speaker 2: a few pennies, nickels, any coins in your pocket or
Speaker 2: your purse, if you have any coins in a little
Speaker 2: tray in your car, if you have any coins in
Speaker 2: a saucer at home, you're already wealthier than about 78%
Speaker 2: of the world. If you have a refrigerator, you're like
Speaker 2: in the top 5%. You're wealthy. So get over it.
Speaker 2: You're wealthy. You're rich. Now he says this. command those
Speaker 2: who are rich in this present world to not be arrogant,
Speaker 2: nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain,
Speaker 2: but to put their hope in God, who richly provides
Speaker 2: us with everything for our, notice, enjoyment. Now, I didn't
Speaker 2: have time to put this other verse on your outline,
Speaker 2: so look up here on the screen. The next verse,
Speaker 2: verse 8 18, says this. Tell them to use their
Speaker 2: money to do good. He's talking about to rich people.
Speaker 2: They should be rich in good works and should give
Speaker 2: generously to those in need, always being ready to share
Speaker 2: with others whatever God has given them. Questions? Is it
Speaker 2: possible to be wealthy and not materialistic? Yes. Yes, it is.
Speaker 2: It is possible to be wealthy and not materialistic. As
Speaker 2: long as you meet these four preconditions in 1 Timothy 6, 17,
Speaker 2: and 18. He says as long as you don't become
Speaker 2: proud of your wealth, you don't flaunt it, you don't
Speaker 2: think you're better than anybody else. We always laugh about
Speaker 2: how I wear this watch Thought I paid 17 bucks
Speaker 2: for it at Walmart. You know what? It ticks just
Speaker 2: as fast as your Rolex. I buy watches to tell time,
Speaker 2: not to go. Okay? Don't show off. Don't become proud
Speaker 2: of your wealth. Don't think you're better than somebody. Don't
Speaker 2: put your hope in money because you can lose it. Says,
Speaker 2: use your money to do good, and then he says,
Speaker 2: share it with others. Giving is the antidote to materialism.
Speaker 2: People say, oh, I'm not materialistic. Well, how generous are you?
Speaker 2: You know one of the signs of materialism, it's not
Speaker 2: the only sign, but one of the signs that I'm materialistic,
Speaker 2: I get irritated if somebody starts talking about tithing. That's
Speaker 2: a sign I'm materialistic. Because the reason I don't tithe
Speaker 2: is there's just things I'm not willing to do without.
Speaker 2: There's a word for that, materialism. I'm not willing to
Speaker 2: do without these things. In fact, God doesn't need my money.
Speaker 2: The reason he asked me to tithe is to teach
Speaker 2: me to break the grip of materialism in my life.
Speaker 2: God doesn't need my money. He does it for me
Speaker 2: to break the grip of materialism. Now number three, third
Speaker 2: way to learn the secret of contentment. Remember, life is
Speaker 2: not about things. Life is not about things. I gotta
Speaker 2: maintain the right perspective about possessions or I'll be possessed
Speaker 2: by my possessions. I gotta realize none of it's gonna last. Otherwise,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna be dissatisfied and discontent. Jesus says this in
Speaker 2: Luke 12, verse 15. Watch out and guard yourselves from
Speaker 2: every kind of greed. Because your true life is not
Speaker 2: made up of the things you own, no matter how
Speaker 2: rich you may be. I've said this so many times,
Speaker 2: never judge your self worth by your net worth. Never
Speaker 2: think your value is related to your valuables. Realize that
Speaker 2: the greatest things in life aren't things. He said, life
Speaker 2: is not about the acquisition of things. I didn't bring
Speaker 2: anything into the world. I'm not taking anything out of
Speaker 2: the world. And the stupidest use of my life is
Speaker 2: to spend it building a pile. That's dumb. To acquire,
Speaker 2: life is not about acquisition. Life is not about achievement.
Speaker 2: Life is about relationship. It's learning how to love. Learning
Speaker 2: how to love God. Learning how to love other people.
Speaker 2: Everybody knows the prayer of Jabez, God enlarge my borders.
Speaker 2: But the prayer of Agur is just as important, A-G-U-R,
Speaker 2: that's his name. Prayer of Agur, Proverbs 30 says this.
Speaker 2: Oh God, I ask you for two things, two things
Speaker 2: from you before I die. First, help me to never
Speaker 2: tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches.
Speaker 2: Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if
Speaker 2: I grow rich, I might deny you and say, you know,
Speaker 2: who needs the Lord? Who's the Lord? And if I'm
Speaker 2: too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name.
Speaker 2: Now this is what I call healthy, balanced perspective on wealth.
Speaker 2: Most people are willing to pray the first half of
Speaker 2: this prayer. God, don't make me too poor. And we'll
Speaker 2: all pray that one. God, don't make me too poor.
Speaker 2: Are you willing to pray the other half? God, don't
Speaker 2: make me too rich. Because either extreme, can cause you
Speaker 2: to forget God. Wealth can make you prideful, so who
Speaker 2: needs God? And poverty can make you bitter. I need
Speaker 2: to remember that my life is not about things. Finally,
Speaker 2: number four, I focus on what will last forever. I
Speaker 2: give my attention to permanent values. I build my life
Speaker 2: on eternal priorities. I focus on what will last forever.
Speaker 2: And nothing you see is gonna last forever. It's gonna
Speaker 2: rust out, wear out, decay. Every possession is temporary. So
Speaker 2: don't build your life on possessing possessions. This building will
Speaker 2: one day decay, rust, and fall over. The trees out
Speaker 2: here will one day die and shrivel. Everything is going
Speaker 2: to vanish. In fact, the Bible says one day there'll
Speaker 2: be a new heaven and a new earth. It's all
Speaker 2: going away. There are only two things that are gonna
Speaker 2: last forever. The word of God and people. The word
Speaker 2: of God is gonna last forever. The Bible says heaven
Speaker 2: and earth will pass away, but my word will never
Speaker 2: pass away. The Bible says the grass withers, the flower fades,
Speaker 2: but the word of God abides forever. This is why
Speaker 2: you need to read this book, because if it's true,
Speaker 2: it was a true 1,000 years ago, and it'll be
Speaker 2: true a million years from today. Truth does not change. Now,
Speaker 2: if I asked how many of you believe everything you
Speaker 2: read in the newspaper, nobody raise your hand, or watch
Speaker 2: on TV or the internet or in a magazine, But
Speaker 2: if I asked how many believe what's in the Bible,
Speaker 2: it's true, you'd raise your hand. Why do we spend
Speaker 2: more time reading what we don't believe than what we do? Oh,
Speaker 2: and there's one other thing that's gonna last forever, people.
Speaker 2: One of two places, heaven or hell. You say, Rick,
Speaker 2: you believe in heaven? No, of course I do, why?
Speaker 2: Because Jesus said it's real, and Jesus is not a liar.
Speaker 2: And he knows more about it than you or me.
Speaker 2: And if there is no heaven or hell, then Jesus
Speaker 2: coming and dying on the cross so you could go
Speaker 2: there is a total waste. There is a real heaven,
Speaker 2: there is a real hell. And we are to invest
Speaker 2: our lives in people and building relationships and building love
Speaker 2: with them. Look at this verse, 2 Corinthians 4. We
Speaker 2: fix our attention, circle that, that means focus. Focus on
Speaker 2: what's gonna last forever. We fix our attention, not on
Speaker 2: the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen.
Speaker 2: Because what can be seen only lasts for a little while, time.
Speaker 2: But what can't be seen will last forever. So you
Speaker 2: gotta decide, am I gonna build my life on acquisition
Speaker 2: of things or relationships with people? Am I gonna focus
Speaker 2: on people or am I gonna focus on possessions? Am
Speaker 2: I gonna focus on riches or am I gonna focus
Speaker 2: on relationships? So you got a choice to make and
Speaker 2: that is where are you gonna get your lifestyle? Because
Speaker 2: the world is telling you the exact opposite of everything
Speaker 2: I've taught you today. Everything in the world, in fact
Speaker 2: an entire advertising industry is built on the idea of
Speaker 2: you gotta get more to be more happy, more successful,
Speaker 2: more important, more valuable, more secure. So you gotta decide,
Speaker 2: am I gonna listen to Madison Avenue or am I
Speaker 2: gonna listen to the master? Am I gonna listen to
Speaker 2: culture or am I gonna listen to Christ? Am I
Speaker 2: gonna listen to the world or am I gonna listen
Speaker 2: to the word? One will make you dissatisfied the rest
Speaker 2: of your life, one will make you happy. Before we
Speaker 2: can move to these other laws of financial freedom, you
Speaker 2: gotta settle this issue of the law of contentment in
Speaker 2: your life. And you have to ask yourself, what is
Speaker 2: the primary purpose of my life? To just get more?
Speaker 2: You gotta be kidding me. I'm leaving it all here anyway.
Speaker 2: What do I think about, talk about, give my most to?
Speaker 2: What am I living my life for? Just to get more?
Speaker 2: There was a very famous philosopher woman millionaire in Orange
Speaker 2: County died many years ago and at the funeral somebody said,
Speaker 2: she took her life, she committed suicide. Somebody at the
Speaker 2: funeral said, I don't understand it, she had so much
Speaker 2: to live for. And I thought, no, wrong. She had
Speaker 2: so much to live on, she had nothing to live for.
Speaker 2: You may have a lot to live on, do you
Speaker 2: have anything to live for? Do you have a relationship
Speaker 2: with God? You see, I invite you to get off
Speaker 2: the treadmill today and adopt God's value system. You see,
Speaker 2: the myth of the world is you can have it all.
Speaker 2: The truth is, you can't have it all, and more important,
Speaker 2: you don't need it all to be happy. You don't.
Speaker 2: You're as happy as you choose to be. And the
Speaker 2: secret of contentment, if you don't get anything else, get this,
Speaker 2: the secret of contentment is finding my security and my
Speaker 2: self and my satisfaction Not in what I have, but
Speaker 2: in whose I am, who I belong to. You find
Speaker 2: it in Christ. Closing verse on the screen, Psalm 17.
Speaker 2: But as for me, in other words, as opposed to
Speaker 2: all those who are buying into the Madison Avenue shtick,
Speaker 2: but as for me, my contentment is not in wealth,
Speaker 2: but in seeing you and knowing all is wealth. Between us,
Speaker 2: you and me, God, that's where my satisfaction, that's where
Speaker 2: my contentment comes from, being in tune with my creator.
Speaker 2: And when I awake in heaven one day, I will
Speaker 2: be fully satisfied, for I will see you face to face.
Speaker 2: Let's bow our heads. Are you suffering from the effects
Speaker 2: of always wanting more? What are those effects again? Well,
Speaker 2: you're tired all the time. You're in debt. You have
Speaker 2: added expenses. You worry about your finances. You have conflict
Speaker 2: over money. You are dissatisfied and you are envious of
Speaker 2: what others have. These are the signs that you have
Speaker 2: not learned the law of contentment. Would you pray this
Speaker 2: prayer in your heart? Dear God, I have been fooled
Speaker 2: into thinking that having more would make me more happy.
Speaker 2: And God, I've been so busy trying to get more
Speaker 2: that I've had no time to be grateful and enjoy
Speaker 2: what I already have. And you have given me so much.
Speaker 2: Forgive me for comparing myself to others. Forgive me for
Speaker 2: coveting and comparing. Help me to find my security in you,
Speaker 2: not in possessions. and not in what other people think
Speaker 2: about me. I don't wanna be materialistic. I wanna be
Speaker 2: generous with others. And to help me remember that life
Speaker 2: is not about things, I wanted to develop the habit
Speaker 2: of tithing to you. Most of all, Lord, I wanna
Speaker 2: find my security and myself and my satisfaction in you, Jesus.
Speaker 2: My finances are out of control and I need a
Speaker 2: life manager. Jesus Christ, become the manager of my life.
Speaker 2: Guide me in this area and in every other area.
Speaker 2: I want to learn to love and trust you in
Speaker 2: your name. Amen.
Speaker 1: Did you just pray with Pastor Rick to accept Jesus? Well,
Speaker 1: if you did, congratulations. And if you email rick at pastorrick.com
Speaker 1: and let us know that you prayed that prayer, we're
Speaker 1: going to send you some free materials to help you
Speaker 1: on your spiritual journey. All right, if you're looking for
Speaker 1: daily encouragement from God's Word, I'd like to invite you
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Speaker 1: sure to join us next time as we look into
Speaker 1: God's Word for our Daily Hope. This program is sponsored
Speaker 1: by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.