Speaker 1: Hi, everybody.
Speaker 2: This is Pastor Rick Warren, Kay and I and our
Speaker 2: family and all of our staff here at Daily Hope
Speaker 2: want to wish you and your family a very happy
Speaker 2: New Year.
Speaker 3: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible teaching ministry
Speaker 3: of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we continue in a series
Speaker 3: called Transformed. In these lessons, Rick uncovers key principles found
Speaker 3: in God's Word that will completely transform our lives from
Speaker 3: the inside out in every area including spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, relational, financial,
Speaker 3: and vocational. Now, before we get started, we want to
Speaker 3: let you know that a very generous friend has given
Speaker 3: one hundred thousand dollars matching grant to Daily Hope. That
Speaker 3: means that all this month, every dollar you give to
Speaker 3: help Daily Hope share the hope of Jesus around the
Speaker 3: world will be matched up to one hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 3: You can find out more by going to Pastorick dot
Speaker 3: com or by texting the word Daily to eight hundred,
Speaker 3: six hundred five thousand and four. Here's Pastor Rick Warren
Speaker 3: with part two of a message called how to Get
Speaker 3: Closer to God.
Speaker 2: Now, I don't know where you are today. You may
Speaker 2: be way way way way way way, way, way way
Speaker 2: far away. Maybe I've been at church in years and
Speaker 2: years and years, or maybe you a little bit closer,
Speaker 2: or maybe you're a little bit closer, but maybe even
Speaker 2: you've just been distant for a week and you've had
Speaker 2: one of those weeks and you just thought, you know,
Speaker 2: I really don't feel God's presence in my life, and
Speaker 2: yet we all long to be closer to God. How
Speaker 2: do I get back to him? You do these four things? Okay,
Speaker 2: write him down. This is the pathway back to spiritual transformation.
Speaker 1: Number one.
Speaker 2: I get fed up. That's the first. I get fed
Speaker 2: up with my life. I get fed up with my circumstance.
Speaker 2: I get fed up with the way I've been living.
Speaker 2: I just get sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Speaker 2: I am not going to live this way anymore. I
Speaker 2: am too stressed out, I'm too lonely, I'm too depressed.
Speaker 2: I am overworked and busy, and I don't even like myself.
Speaker 2: Why would anybody like me? I don't even like me.
Speaker 2: I don't like the life I'm living right now.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: Let me just say this, Nothing is going to happen
Speaker 2: in your life in the next seven weeks until first
Speaker 2: you get dissatisfied with the way you are. If you think, man,
Speaker 2: it's fine, I'm just fine, I don't need any change
Speaker 2: in my life, then you know what, you can sit
Speaker 2: out the next seven weeks because nothing's going to happen
Speaker 2: in your life until you decide I don't like this.
Speaker 2: I'm tired of being stressed out all the time. I'm
Speaker 2: tired of being frustrated all the time. I'm tired of
Speaker 2: being overworked all the time. I'm tired of feeling distant
Speaker 2: from God. You got to get desperate, you got to
Speaker 2: get hungry. You've got to get anxious for change. Nothing
Speaker 2: happens until you get fed up. In that passage in scripture,
Speaker 2: it says this, he wasted it all, he had nothing left.
Speaker 2: He got desperate and hungry, and he finally came to
Speaker 2: his senses, and that's where transformation starts. Are you there yet?
Speaker 2: If not, it's okay, God I'll just leave. Let you
Speaker 2: stay there, and he'll allow a little rain in your life.
Speaker 2: And if that doesn't work, he'll allow a little bit
Speaker 2: more in your life. And if that doesn't work, he'll
Speaker 2: send a storm. Why because God loves you. Just that's
Speaker 2: the way you are. But He loves you too much
Speaker 2: to let you stay that way. He will not let
Speaker 2: you waste your life. And when God, you know, wants
Speaker 2: to come and get our attention, he comes, and he
Speaker 2: he knocks on the door, and if we ignore it,
Speaker 2: he just knocks on the door again. And then if
Speaker 2: he we ignored, he knocks on the door again, and
Speaker 2: if we ignored, he blows the door down. Some of
Speaker 2: you have had the door blown down in your life
Speaker 2: and you lost your job, or you lost your marriage,
Speaker 2: or you lost a friend, you lost something.
Speaker 1: Why.
Speaker 2: Because God does everything he does in your life out
Speaker 2: of love. He does not want you to miss him,
Speaker 2: and he does not want you to waste your life.
Speaker 2: You know the old phrase, you can lead a horse
Speaker 2: to water, but you can't make him drink, But you
Speaker 2: can salt his oats make him thirsty. God often makes
Speaker 2: you thirsty by putting salt in your oats. And when
Speaker 2: you start saying, I'm just so unsatisfied with my life,
Speaker 2: I just don't like the way I'm living.
Speaker 1: I don't like this.
Speaker 2: Hello, that's God knocking on your door. The first step
Speaker 2: in transformation is for you to get disgusted to get discontent,
Speaker 2: to get fed up with the way you're living. Jeremiah
Speaker 2: twenty nine, Verse thirteen says this, God says, you will
Speaker 2: find me when you get serious about finding me, and
Speaker 2: you want it more than anything else. See, God's not
Speaker 2: got to reveal himself if I just kind of want
Speaker 2: to do it on the casual, it's kind of a
Speaker 2: part time hobby. I gotta get fed up with the
Speaker 2: way I'm living. Say, there's got to be more to
Speaker 2: life than this. There's got to be a better way
Speaker 2: to than this. There's got to be a saner way
Speaker 2: to live than this. You get fed up. Second step,
Speaker 2: you own up first. I get fed up. Second, I
Speaker 2: own up. I own up to my own sin. I
Speaker 2: own up to my own sin. That's the second thing
Speaker 2: that this young man did. First he got fed up.
Speaker 2: But then in verse seventeen and eighteen, it says when
Speaker 2: he came to his senses circle that he goes, this
Speaker 2: is nuts, this is nonsense, this is crazy. I can't
Speaker 2: maintain this lifestyle I've been living right now. It's just
Speaker 2: not sustainable. It's not fulfilling, and it's not sustainable. When
Speaker 2: he came to his senses and that is you know,
Speaker 2: he wakes up. You see, to live without God is insane.
Speaker 2: To live without God does not make sense. To live
Speaker 2: without God is not rational. To live without the creator
Speaker 2: who made you is not logical. It doesn't make sense.
Speaker 2: When he came to his senses, he said, I have
Speaker 2: sinned against God and you, and nothing's going to happen
Speaker 2: till you come to stage two, and stage two as
Speaker 2: you go, all right, I just need to own up here.
Speaker 2: I need to face up to the fact that I
Speaker 2: have been not living God's way. I've been living my way.
Speaker 2: I've been doing it my way. I've been doing it
Speaker 2: the way I think is best. I've been doing it
Speaker 2: the way that protects all my fears. I've been doing
Speaker 2: it the way that tries to control everything around me.
Speaker 2: Even though I know I can't control it, I'm still
Speaker 2: trying to control it all. And I'm getting tired of
Speaker 2: holding onto all of the controls. I'm about ready to
Speaker 2: resign as general manager of the universe because I've noticed
Speaker 2: it isn't cooperating with me.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much for listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.
Speaker 3: We've got some incredible news to share with you. A
Speaker 3: very generous friend has given a one hundred thousand dollars
Speaker 3: matching grant to this ministry all this month, every dollar
Speaker 3: you give to help Daily Hope share the certain hope
Speaker 3: of Jesus around the world will be matched up to
Speaker 3: one hundred thousand dollars, So twenty five dollars becomes fifty dollars,
Speaker 3: fifty becomes one hundred and five hundred becomes a thousand.
Speaker 3: Whatever you give will be doubled by the matching grant
Speaker 3: up to one hundred thousand dollars, but only till midnight
Speaker 3: December thirty first, so please contact us today go to
Speaker 3: Pastorick dot com or just call eight hundred six hundred
Speaker 3: five thousand and four.
Speaker 4: If you want to make your time in prayer the
Speaker 4: best it can be, then you're going to want to
Speaker 4: get a copy of the brand new twenty twenty one
Speaker 4: Daily Hope Prayer Journal. This year's theme, God's Great Adventure
Speaker 4: for You, will help you tap into God's power and
Speaker 4: presence when you learn how to pray with passion and purpose.
Speaker 4: Covered in soft vegan leather with full color pages, this
Speaker 4: prayer journal has sections to pray for specific people and situations,
Speaker 4: as well as space to express your gratitude and personal
Speaker 4: prayer requests to God. Each page is beautifully designed and
Speaker 4: filled with inspiring Bible verses, photos, and artwork. The God's
Speaker 4: Great Adventure for You Prayer Journal is a spiritual growth
Speaker 4: tool designed to help you enjoy a vibrant prayer life,
Speaker 4: connect with God, and establish consistent daily prayer time. When
Speaker 4: you give a gift to help daily hope take the
Speaker 4: certain hope of Jesus to people around the world, we'll
Speaker 4: send you the all new twenty twenty one Daily Hope
Speaker 4: Prayer Journal to say thanks. Quantities are limited, so don't wait.
Speaker 4: Call eight hundred at six hundred five zero zero four
Speaker 4: to get your Prayer Journal and have your gift matched
Speaker 4: up to one hundred thousand dollars, or you can visit
Speaker 4: Pastororick dot com. That's eight hundred at six hundred five
Speaker 4: zero zero four or pastorick dot com. Today is the
Speaker 4: last day to have your gift matched up to one
Speaker 4: hundred thus thousand dollars and to receive your very special
Speaker 4: Prayer Journal Thank you gift, so please contact us right away.
Speaker 3: Once again, here's Rick.
Speaker 2: To live without God is not rational. To live without
Speaker 2: the creator who made you is not logical, it doesn't
Speaker 2: make sense. When he came to his senses, he said,
Speaker 2: I have sinned against God and you, and nothing's going
Speaker 2: to happen till you come to stage two.
Speaker 1: And stage two is you go? All right? I just
Speaker 1: need to own up here.
Speaker 2: I need to face up to the fact that I
Speaker 2: have been not living God's way. I've been living my way.
Speaker 2: I've been doing it my way. I've been doing it
Speaker 2: the way I think is best. I've been doing it
Speaker 2: the way that protects all my fears. I've been doing
Speaker 2: it the way that tries to control everything around me.
Speaker 2: Even though I know I can't control it, I'm still
Speaker 2: trying to control it all. And I'm getting tired of
Speaker 2: holding onto all of the controls. I'm about ready to
Speaker 2: resign as general manager of the universe because I've noticed
Speaker 2: it isn't cooperating with me, and so I own up.
Speaker 1: And what do I own up to? I own up
Speaker 1: to my sin.
Speaker 2: When he came to his senses, he said, I have sinned.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: In Isaiah fifty nine, verse two, there on your outline,
Speaker 2: the Bible says this, it's your sins. Your sins have
Speaker 2: separated you from your God and have hidden his face
Speaker 2: from you. Have you ever prayed and you felt like
Speaker 2: God was a million miles away? Have you ever prayed
Speaker 2: and felt like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling.
Speaker 2: Have you ever prayed and felt like there's just like
Speaker 2: this veil between me and God. I can't see God,
Speaker 2: I can't hear God, I can't feel God, and I
Speaker 2: feel like I'm just talking to myself. Where does that
Speaker 2: come from? Your sins have separated you from your God
Speaker 2: and have hidden his face from you. That's where it
Speaker 2: comes from. It comes from your sin. I sent out
Speaker 2: on a Facebook and Twitter. I said, if you feel
Speaker 2: far from God, guess who moved. God hasn't moved. God
Speaker 2: didn't move. God didn't go on vacation. God didn't move
Speaker 2: away to a foreign country. God has always been there
Speaker 2: and he has never not been there, and he loves
Speaker 2: you unconditionally. But if you feel far from God, you're
Speaker 2: the one who moved, and you moved away by giving
Speaker 2: your love to something else. When you give anything else
Speaker 2: your love, there's a word for that in the Bible.
Speaker 2: It's called an idol. Now, we think idols are like
Speaker 2: these little stone things that people bow down to. In words, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 2: An idol can look like your car. An idol can
Speaker 2: look like your job, and I could be a dress.
Speaker 2: An idle could be the way you look. Anything that
Speaker 2: you love more than God becomes an idol. The First
Speaker 2: and second commandments say, thou shalt have no other gods
Speaker 2: afore me. Thou shalt not make any false idols. Money
Speaker 2: can be an idol. Success can be an idol. Golf
Speaker 2: can be an idol. These are not bad things, they're
Speaker 2: just not deserving the first place in your life. So
Speaker 2: I own up to my sin. Your sins have separated
Speaker 2: you from your God.
Speaker 1: The fact is.
Speaker 2: This, You're as close to God as you choose to be.
Speaker 2: You can't really blame anybody else. You can't blame your husband.
Speaker 2: You can't blame your wife. You can't blame your mom,
Speaker 2: your dad, the brother. You can't blame the government. You
Speaker 2: can't blame other people. I said last week, you spell blame,
Speaker 2: be lame, and that's being lame when you blame other
Speaker 2: people for.
Speaker 1: Your spiritual condition.
Speaker 2: Well, if my husband were a more dedicated believer, really,
Speaker 2: well if my girlfriend was more on fire for Christ. Really,
Speaker 2: you are as close to God as you choose to be.
Speaker 2: And the fact is you haven't been desperate. You haven't
Speaker 2: been fed up enough to say I am desperate.
Speaker 1: To know God.
Speaker 2: If I were to hold you underwater, you would struggle.
Speaker 2: But when you really started running out of breath, you
Speaker 2: would really struggle because you would be desperate for air.
Speaker 2: When you're that desperate, you don't just get fed up.
Speaker 2: You own up and you say I've got to know God.
Speaker 2: You're as close to God as you choose to be. Now,
Speaker 2: when I own up and I say, God, I've owned it.
Speaker 2: I've been going my way. I've been I've been doing
Speaker 2: your way. I've been going my way. I've been doing
Speaker 2: what I want to do. When I do that, what
Speaker 2: is God's response to my facing up to my sin?
Speaker 2: He goes, Yeah, Yeah, let me tell you what else
Speaker 2: you're doing wrong. No, he doesn't rub it in. When
Speaker 2: I come and I say, God, I've really you know,
Speaker 2: you know what I've done, I'm really sorry, what does
Speaker 2: he do?
Speaker 1: Well?
Speaker 2: Look at the next verse. Here's the prayer you should pray,
Speaker 2: Psalm fifty one. By the way, David prayed this prayer
Speaker 2: after he'd committed adultery and killed a wife's husband. So
Speaker 2: this is a pretty serious sin here, So I'm fifty
Speaker 2: one to one to four. David says, this be merciful
Speaker 2: to me, Oh God, because of your constant love, because
Speaker 2: of your great mercy, wipe away my sin, Wash away
Speaker 2: all my evil and make me clean. I recognize my faults,
Speaker 2: and I'm conscious that I have sinned against you. What's
Speaker 2: your circle of phrase? Recognize my faults. That means to
Speaker 2: own up. I face up to my sins. I own
Speaker 2: up to my sins.
Speaker 1: He says.
Speaker 2: I recognize my fault. And what is God's response when
Speaker 2: I own up? When I face up? Look at the
Speaker 2: next verse. The Lord says, no matter how deep the
Speaker 2: stain of your sins, I can remove it. I can
Speaker 2: make you clean as freshly driven snow.
Speaker 1: Not a beautiful verse.
Speaker 2: He says, no matter what you've done, no matter who
Speaker 2: you've done it with, I can remove it. This is
Speaker 2: the uh, this is the oxy clean verse of the Bible. Okay,
Speaker 2: he said, Man, I can take it out. You know
Speaker 2: that stain anything. Man, I'm never gonna forget that one
Speaker 2: bad and that was so bad and it's gonna haunt
Speaker 2: me the rest of my life. God says, I can
Speaker 2: remove that stain. This is the stain Remover verse in
Speaker 2: the Bible. Now, this next week, you're going to seven
Speaker 2: habits for spiritual growth, but I want to give you
Speaker 2: two more today. Okay, I'm going to give you two more.
Speaker 2: You're going to study seven habits for spiritual health and
Speaker 2: spiritual growth, but let me give you two more. And
Speaker 2: the first one goes to this point, and it's this
Speaker 2: is you want to develop the habit of a regular
Speaker 2: spiritual checkup. Now, doctors will tell you that every so
Speaker 2: often you need to go and get a checkup, and
Speaker 2: you need to have your heart checked every so often,
Speaker 2: and you had need to have your.
Speaker 1: Colon checked every so often. That's a fun one.
Speaker 2: Anybody want to give a testimony on that right now? Okay,
Speaker 2: anybody have personal story from this week? Yeah, okay, But
Speaker 2: you have to get regular checkups quiet because if something's
Speaker 2: growing wrong in your body, you want to know sooneror
Speaker 2: not later. Right And the same is true with your
Speaker 2: your life. If sin starts growing and you it can
Speaker 2: become a cancer, it's better to nip it in the bud,
Speaker 2: like Barney Fife would say, before it gets really big.
Speaker 2: You gotta do this spiritual checkup on a regular basis
Speaker 2: and where do you do it? You do it in
Speaker 2: your thought life. It's a checkup from the neck up,
Speaker 2: and you got to think about your thoughts.
Speaker 3: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. In just a moment,
Speaker 3: Rick is going to tell you about a recent one
Speaker 3: hundred thousand dollars matching grant from a very generous listener.
Speaker 3: But first he's going to share with us how God
Speaker 3: has been using your financial gifts to help us share
Speaker 3: Christ with people around the world.
Speaker 2: Here's Rick, Hi, friends, what did it surprise you to
Speaker 2: know that there are entire groups of people who have
Speaker 2: never heard about Jesus still in our world today. I'm
Speaker 2: talking about the small tribes of less than a one
Speaker 2: hundred thousand people in many, many distant places who have
Speaker 2: never heard the name of Jesus Christ. That means there's
Speaker 2: not a single Christian among them. There is no church,
Speaker 2: they have no Bible, there is no believer. Can you
Speaker 2: imagine that? Would you help me reach these unreached, unengaged people?
Speaker 2: You know, one of the reasons I started Daily Hope
Speaker 2: was to find partners who would help us take the
Speaker 2: hope of the good News of the Gospel to the
Speaker 2: whole world. To the final frontier, these unreached, unengaged tribes.
Speaker 2: Jesus wants us to witness to all nations and to
Speaker 2: all people. He never made a person he didn't love,
Speaker 2: he never made a person he didn't want saved.
Speaker 1: And Jesus died so that all may be saved.
Speaker 2: But people can't follow Jesus if they've never heard about him,
Speaker 2: and they've never heard of God's grace, how can they
Speaker 2: receive it? So I'm asking you to help me in
Speaker 2: this Finishing the Task project. Thank you for your support.
Speaker 2: You know, Daily Hope is now reaching over thirty four
Speaker 2: million people each month through Daily Hope audio teachings and
Speaker 2: our email devotionals. But we're only able to do this
Speaker 2: because of your partnership with Daily Hope. We're working together
Speaker 2: to help us fulfill the great commission. Imagine when you
Speaker 2: get to heaven, somebody comes up to you and says,
Speaker 2: I just want to thank you. I'm here because you
Speaker 2: cared enough for someone like me. You prayed and you gave,
Speaker 2: and you shared, and you sacrificed, and I'm in heaven
Speaker 2: because of you.
Speaker 1: Will that be worth it?
Speaker 2: Even as we rejoice in the success, we need to
Speaker 2: remember that there's still billions of people.
Speaker 1: Who need to know Jesus, and we got to keep going.
Speaker 2: So I'm asking you prayerfully to consider giving the biggest
Speaker 2: gift you've ever given, or that you can give before
Speaker 2: the end of this year. As I said, there's still
Speaker 2: about three thousand unreached people groups that have either few
Speaker 2: or no believers in them. We've been able to reach
Speaker 2: about six hundred of those tribes, making sure there's a
Speaker 2: Christian living among them who speaks their language and can
Speaker 2: help them understand the Bible.
Speaker 1: But that's just the first step.
Speaker 2: The truth is an unreached people group isn't considered reached
Speaker 2: until it has a healthy church, a body of Christ
Speaker 2: that's able to plant new churches within that group. So
Speaker 2: to help that happen, we're working on translating spiritual growth
Speaker 2: tools into about two hundred new languages for people who
Speaker 2: have virtually no Christian resources available. Think of all the
Speaker 2: Christian books you could buy at Christmas this year, Think
Speaker 2: of all the books you could pass on at birthdays.
Speaker 1: These are so.
Speaker 2: Available in English, but we need to translate them in
Speaker 2: all the other languages. These translations are strategic that we've
Speaker 2: selected once to share the gospel and to help disciple
Speaker 2: new believers where it is most needed right now. Now,
Speaker 2: these resources are also going to help young pastors grow
Speaker 2: and train others to build the church in their nations
Speaker 2: and in their groups. Now, we made a lot of
Speaker 2: good progress, but we got a lot of work ahead
Speaker 2: of us in this task. And it is a monumental vision.
Speaker 2: I can't do this by myself. I need your help.
Speaker 2: It's a timely vision, it's a global vision. But every
Speaker 2: vision Listen requires provision. Honestly, we wouldn't be able to
Speaker 2: do any of this vision without you, and that's why
Speaker 2: I cannot fully express how much I appreciate your financial
Speaker 2: support of Daily Hope.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't take a salary in this.
Speaker 2: This is all a ministry of love, and all of
Speaker 2: these funds are going to help reach more people. Now,
Speaker 2: let me give you some exciting news. A generous friend
Speaker 2: of Daily Hope has offered a one hundred thousand dollars
Speaker 2: matching grant so that any gift you give by December
Speaker 2: thirty first this year will be doubled up to one
Speaker 2: hundred thousand dollars. That means every dollar you give the
Speaker 2: Daily Hope between now and the end of the year
Speaker 2: will be doubled. Would you please prayerfully consider how you
Speaker 2: can give today, how you can reach more people for
Speaker 2: Jesus in the coming year, And please, while you're at it,
Speaker 2: pray that I will faithfully teach God's word in a
Speaker 2: way that will penetrate hearts. Pray for our Daily Hope
Speaker 2: team as they coordinate our outreach, and most of all,
Speaker 2: pray for the people we're trying to reach, that their
Speaker 2: hearts will be prepared to hear the message of the
Speaker 2: good News of Christ, and that they will come to
Speaker 2: know the grace of God and grow and mature in
Speaker 2: their Christian faith. You have a part of the most
Speaker 2: important task in history.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 1: My prayer for you.
Speaker 2: Is that God's going to bless you throughout this coming year,
Speaker 2: and that He will bless you so much that you
Speaker 2: can be a blessing to others. You know we're blessed
Speaker 2: to be a blessing, and my prayers that He will
Speaker 2: draw you closer and closer to Him. God bless you.
Speaker 3: Remember, as Rick just shared, whatever you give today will
Speaker 3: be doubled by the matching grant up to one hundred
Speaker 3: thousand dollars, but only till midnight tonight. Anything not matched
Speaker 3: will be lost, so please contact us today call eight
Speaker 3: hundred six hundred five thousand four or go to Pastorick
Speaker 3: dot com. That's eight hundred six hundred five thousand four
Speaker 3: or pastorick dot com. Today is the last day to
Speaker 3: have your gift matched up to one hundred thousand dollars,
Speaker 3: so don't wait. Be sure to join us again next
Speaker 3: time as we look into God's word for our daily hope.
Speaker 3: This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and
Speaker 3: your generous financial support.