Speaker 1: Pastor Rick Warren often says, you were made by God
Speaker 1: and for God, and until you understand that, life will
Speaker 1: never make sense. Welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope Today.
Speaker 1: In our series called God's Vision for the Rest of
Speaker 1: your Life, Rick continues in his effort to help you
Speaker 1: discover the unique purpose and vision that the Lord has
Speaker 1: for your life. Now, in just a few moments, we're
Speaker 1: going to tell you how to get a copy of
Speaker 1: the brand new Daily Hope twenty twenty one prayer Journal
Speaker 1: based on the theme God's Great Adventure for You, a
Speaker 1: great resource to help make your time in prayer the
Speaker 1: best it can be. Go to Pastorick dot com to
Speaker 1: find out more, or text the word daily to eight
Speaker 1: hundred six hundred five thousand and four. That's Pastorick dot
Speaker 1: com or the word daily to eight hundred six hundred
Speaker 1: five thousand and four. Right now, here's Pastor Rick Warren
Speaker 1: with part two of a message called learning to Live Wisely.
Speaker 2: The next verse Proverbs three sixteen to eighteen mentions seven
Speaker 2: major benefits of getting wisdom in your life.
Speaker 3: Notice this right circle them all.
Speaker 2: Wisdom offers you long life, that's the first one, as
Speaker 2: well as wealth, that's the sactly. Wealth is a mark
Speaker 2: of wisdom. You wise up. You use your money wise
Speaker 2: as well as wealth and honor. Circle honor. Wisdom can
Speaker 2: make your life pleasant. In other words, it's not as hard.
Speaker 2: If I make foolish decisions, life is hard. If I
Speaker 2: make wise decision, life is pleasant.
Speaker 3: It's easier.
Speaker 2: Says, wisdom can lead you safely through life. In other words,
Speaker 2: wisdom is a protection keeps you from making mistakes.
Speaker 3: You circle that.
Speaker 2: Those who become wise are happy. You want happiness. Get
Speaker 2: wise up. The wiser you get, the happier you'll be.
Speaker 2: Wisdom will give them life. In other words, true life. Now, friends,
Speaker 2: those seven benefits are so ridiculously over the top. If
Speaker 2: I didn't believe that was in the Bible, it sounds
Speaker 2: like an infomercial. I mean, if I held up a
Speaker 2: product and said, this product will give you a long life.
Speaker 2: It will make you wealthy, it will bring you honor.
Speaker 2: It will make your life pleasant and easier than before.
Speaker 2: It will lead you safely through the problems of your life.
Speaker 2: It will make you happy, and it will cause you
Speaker 2: to experience life it was.
Speaker 3: Meant to be lived. You've begun.
Speaker 2: I don't believe it it's unrealistic. But I didn't say this.
Speaker 2: God said it. God said it, and God is telling
Speaker 2: you the value of learning wisdom. This is why we're
Speaker 2: going to do the next six weeks. If you become
Speaker 2: more wise, these things will be true in your life.
Speaker 2: One more verse Proverbs four to twelve will stand in
Speaker 2: your way. If you walk wisely circle, nothing will stand
Speaker 2: In other words, you got your dream, you got your goal.
Speaker 2: Wisdom will show you how to get around all the barriers.
Speaker 2: Nothing will stand in your way, and you will not stumble.
Speaker 2: You're not going to make so many mistakes when you
Speaker 2: run if you are wise. Do you see how important
Speaker 2: wisdom is to your life? Do you understand why wisdom
Speaker 2: should be the number one goal of your life? Do
Speaker 2: you realize how it's worth the next six weeks of
Speaker 2: your life to hear it, read it, study it, memorize,
Speaker 2: meditate on it to learn how to live wisely. Now,
Speaker 2: Like everything else, wisdom is a choice. Happiness is a choice.
Speaker 2: Being close to God is a choice. Success is a
Speaker 2: series of making wise choices.
Speaker 3: Wisdom is a choice. You got to learn to be wise.
Speaker 2: And what I want to do is talk to you
Speaker 2: about what the Bible says are the five ways to
Speaker 2: build wisdom into your life. Bible is very specific that
Speaker 2: if you do certain things, then you make certain choices,
Speaker 2: you will become a wiser and wiser woman, you will
Speaker 2: become a wiser and wiser man. Well, if wisdom has
Speaker 2: so many benefits to my life, why don't we live
Speaker 2: more wisely?
Speaker 3: The answer is it's harder. It's harder.
Speaker 2: It's quite easy to make foolish decisions. It's quite difficult
Speaker 2: to make wise decisions. We are not by nature wise people.
Speaker 2: By nature, we do the dumb thing, we do the
Speaker 2: foolish thing, we do the easy thing. You don't come
Speaker 2: out of the womb automatically being wise. Wisdom has to
Speaker 2: be learned. And until you do the five things that
Speaker 2: cause you to learn wisdom, you're not going to learn wisdom.
Speaker 2: You can go to school for the rest of your
Speaker 2: life and not learn wisdom. You could read all kinds
Speaker 2: of books and not learn wisdom, because wisdom is seeing
Speaker 2: life from God's viewpoint. So you've got to make a
Speaker 2: choice to learn. The Bible says in Proverbs four, verse five,
Speaker 2: learn to be wise. Circle the word learn. You got
Speaker 2: to learn to be wise and develop good judgment. That's
Speaker 2: a choice. It's your choice. You don't have to learn,
Speaker 2: you don't have to develop, it's your choice. Recently, I
Speaker 2: got a letter said Pastor Rick, I regret that I
Speaker 2: didn't open my life to Jesus until very late in
Speaker 2: my adult life. I regret that so much, that I
Speaker 2: wasted so many years going in the wrong direction. I
Speaker 2: feel like I will never catch up. Well, you're wrong.
Speaker 2: You are never too old.
Speaker 3: To learn to be wise.
Speaker 2: If you're alive, if your heart's beating, if blood is
Speaker 2: pumping through your veins, then you can learn to be wise.
Speaker 2: You're also never too young to learn to be wise.
Speaker 2: Wisdom has absolutely nothing to do with your age. You
Speaker 2: can be old and a fool, you can be young
Speaker 2: and wise. Would you agree with me, It's possible to
Speaker 2: grow older without growing up. Everybody agree with that. Don't
Speaker 2: look at them. You can grow older without growing up.
Speaker 2: A lot of people grow old wisdom. You can be
Speaker 2: old and still be a spiritual baby. You're still walking
Speaker 2: around in spiritual diapers at ninety five years of age.
Speaker 2: Or you can be a young person and you can
Speaker 2: be full of a lot of wisdom because you're doing
Speaker 2: the things that make you wise. How do I learn
Speaker 2: to be wise?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 2: The Bible says in the Book of Proverbs, you do
Speaker 2: five things, and just for fun, I decided to put
Speaker 2: these five things in acrosstic l EA r N. These
Speaker 2: are the five things you must learn to do in
Speaker 2: order to learn wisdom.
Speaker 3: Let's look at them. Number one, the first.
Speaker 2: Thing if I want to be wise is I must
Speaker 2: the l and learn stands for I must listen to
Speaker 2: God's word.
Speaker 3: Every day.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Rick will be
Speaker 1: back in just a moment with the rest of today's lesson.
Speaker 1: If you've missed any part of today's teaching, you can
Speaker 1: listen online anytime at pastorick dot com. That's pastorick dot com.
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: You can give right now by going to Pastorick dot
Speaker 4: com or by calling eight hundred six hundred five zero
Speaker 4: zero four. We'll say thanks by sending you the brand
Speaker 4: new Daily Hope Prayer Journal. That's Pastorick dot com or
Speaker 4: call eight hundred six hundred five zero zero four.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope once again. Here's
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick Warren.
Speaker 2: The first thing if I want to be wise is
Speaker 2: I must the l and learn stands for I must
Speaker 2: listen to God's word every day. I must listen to
Speaker 2: God's word every day. Now I just listen to the radio,
Speaker 2: I just listen to television. None just listen and read
Speaker 2: what's on the internet. I got to listen to God's
Speaker 2: word every day because that's where the wisdom comes from.
Speaker 2: Proverbs chapter one, verse seven says, this start with God.
Speaker 2: The first step, start with God. The first step in
Speaker 2: learning is bowing down to God. The Bible says, the
Speaker 2: fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Why
Speaker 2: because it comes from God. Let me show you the
Speaker 2: next verse Proverbs two, verse six. It is the Lord
Speaker 2: who gives wisdom. From him comes knowledge and direction. You
Speaker 2: don't get it from television. You don't get it from
Speaker 2: the internet. You don't get it from magazines. Wisdom comes
Speaker 2: from God. Question, how many of you believe everything you
Speaker 2: read in the newspaper? Of course, none of us do.
Speaker 2: How many of you believe everything you hear on the
Speaker 2: radio or watch on television? No, how many of you
Speaker 2: believe everything you read on the internet. You know, how
Speaker 2: many of you believe everything God says is true in
Speaker 2: his word?
Speaker 3: Question?
Speaker 2: Why do we spend more time reading and listening to
Speaker 2: what we don't believe and what we do? Tell me
Speaker 2: the logic of Alan. Okay, there are a lot of
Speaker 2: things in life you can read about. They don't build
Speaker 2: your wisdom, They just keep you pretty much about the same.
Speaker 2: You gotta start with the Word.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 2: The Bible says this Proverbs fifteen, verse fourteen, A wise
Speaker 2: person is hungry, hungry for truth, while the fool feeds
Speaker 2: on trash. You gotta print that verse out and tape
Speaker 2: it to your television. You're gonna either feed on truth
Speaker 2: or you're gonna feed on trash. And whatever you fill
Speaker 2: your mind with is what's gonna come out, garbage in,
Speaker 2: garbage out. If you want to be wise, you gotta
Speaker 2: feed on truth every day, not feed on trash every day. Now,
Speaker 2: you remember a year ago when we did forty days
Speaker 2: in the Word, and I talked about there three kinds
Speaker 2: of things you can fill your mind with. You can
Speaker 2: fill your mind with poison. You can fill your mind
Speaker 2: with junk food, or you can fill your mind with
Speaker 2: health food.
Speaker 3: Three kinds of reading. Material or.
Speaker 2: Poison is stuff that poisons your system. It's bad for you,
Speaker 2: it takes you down. Pornography is poison. You know, we
Speaker 2: worry about air pollution, You should worry more about your mind.
Speaker 3: Pollution.
Speaker 2: What you allow in your mind is far more important
Speaker 2: than what you breathe. Because if this is a computer
Speaker 2: that runs your life. We worry about making sure my
Speaker 2: water is pure. I gotta have pure water. You should
Speaker 2: worry more about the pure content that goes in your mind.
Speaker 2: Some people are so open minded their brains fall out.
Speaker 2: You know, they let anything. It's like a railroad going
Speaker 2: through my mind and they say, you know, you know,
Speaker 2: they say, well, I can, I can watch that stuff.
Speaker 2: It just doesn't bother me anymore. That's the problem. You
Speaker 2: have become so desensitized to evil. It doesn't bother you anymore.
Speaker 2: You can watch your rape on a movie.
Speaker 3: It doesn't bother you.
Speaker 2: If that doesn't bother you, you got a problem. You
Speaker 2: have become desensitized to evil. If you can watch your
Speaker 2: rape and it doesn't bother you, And when you can
Speaker 2: watch stuff that is vulgar, profane, blasphemous, evil, vile, abusive,
Speaker 2: and it doesn't bother you and you can read it,
Speaker 2: you have a problem. You have become a fool. Wise
Speaker 2: people protect their mind. They put on the helmet of salvation.
Speaker 2: They don't just let anything into their mind that's poison.
Speaker 2: You keep it out now. The next category of stuff
Speaker 2: you can put in your mind is junk food. Junk
Speaker 2: food is neither good nor bad. It's just junk. And
Speaker 2: there's nothing wrong with junk food except that it has
Speaker 2: no nutritional value to it. And most of the stuff
Speaker 2: you see on TV, it's not evil, it's not bad.
Speaker 2: It's just junk food. It's what I call stuffing. And
Speaker 2: the problem stuffing is when you stuff yourself with stuffing,
Speaker 2: you have no hunger for truth. When you feed on trash,
Speaker 2: you're not hungry for truth. If you go watch the
Speaker 2: television for four hours, you don't want to go read
Speaker 2: the Bible because you're full. Your mind is full, and
Speaker 2: you filled up on empty calories. Stuff that doesn't help
Speaker 2: your body, it doesn't help your mind. A lot of
Speaker 2: things aren't necessarily wrong to watch or read. They're just
Speaker 2: not necessary, and so you have to do. The wise
Speaker 2: person says, I'm not gonna stuff my mind with stuffing.
Speaker 2: It's either good nor bad, but it's just do I
Speaker 2: really need to know this?
Speaker 3: Not really.
Speaker 2: You've stuffed your mind with stuffing, you have no hunger
Speaker 2: for truth. The wise person feeds on truth. That's brain food,
Speaker 2: that's soul food that's nutritional food. It makes you wiser,
Speaker 2: wiser in your relationships, wiser in your time, wiser in
Speaker 2: your money, wiser in your business, why your parenting, wiser
Speaker 2: in your marriage, and all these other areas because you're
Speaker 2: feeding on truth. So number one, if I want to learn,
Speaker 2: I've got to every day spend time connecting.
Speaker 3: To the truth.
Speaker 2: I've got to listen to God every day. We're gonna
Speaker 2: do that and develop that habit. Number two the e
Speaker 2: and learn how you learn to be wise. The E
Speaker 2: is enlist a friend or enlist friends who challenge me.
Speaker 2: If you're going to be wise, you got to get
Speaker 2: some wise people in your life. It's like that old phrase,
Speaker 2: if you run on to fly so or with the eagles,
Speaker 2: you can't run with the turkeys. You got to put
Speaker 2: some smart, wise, godly people in your life. And if
Speaker 2: you don't have any of those people in your life,
Speaker 2: you need to enlist them.
Speaker 3: You need to get a few.
Speaker 2: You don't need a lot of friends in life, you guys,
Speaker 2: you don't really need to be popular. You just need
Speaker 2: a few good friends. Friends that build you up, not
Speaker 2: tear you down, friends that are eyes not fools. If
Speaker 2: you hang around with fools. That's what you become.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: We always grow in community, We always grow in connection.
Speaker 2: That's why we talk about small groups all the time.
Speaker 2: You cannot grow to spiritual maturity by yourself. Sorry, you
Speaker 2: just can't do it. You could go become a hermit
Speaker 2: or a monk and move to the top of a
Speaker 2: mountain and spend your life in silence and reading books,
Speaker 2: and you would not grow in wisdom. You can grow
Speaker 2: in knowledge, but you won't grow in wisdom. Why because
Speaker 2: wisdom is all about relationships. The Bible says, wisdom is
Speaker 2: all about love. The Bible says God is love. Wisdom
Speaker 2: shows up primarily in relationships. That's why a lot of
Speaker 2: people have great educational degrees and their marriages are falling apart.
Speaker 2: They're educated, but they're not wise. You look at the
Speaker 2: relationships of a person to see if they're wise or not.
Speaker 2: Let me just pause there for a minute. You look
Speaker 2: at a person's relationships to see if they're wise or
Speaker 2: or not. It's all about love. So if you don't
Speaker 2: have any relationships, then you don't have any love. And
Speaker 2: if you don't have any love in your life, you
Speaker 2: are not wise. Wisdom is about love and relationships. The
Speaker 2: quality of the rest of your life will largely be
Speaker 2: determined by the people you choose to keep close to you.
Speaker 3: The quality of.
Speaker 2: Your life for the rest of your life will be
Speaker 2: largely determined by the friends that you choose, the kind
Speaker 2: of friends you choose, and how close you keep them
Speaker 2: to you. If you build wise friendships in your life,
Speaker 2: you're gonna get wiser. So I need to enlist friends
Speaker 2: who challenge me. You need a group in your life.
Speaker 2: Look at what the Bible says here on the screen
Speaker 2: one crindin fifteen. Bad company corrupts good character. We know that,
Speaker 2: then just happen with teenagers. Happens with all this peer pressure.
Speaker 2: Bad company croups good care character. You need friends who
Speaker 2: build you up, not tear you down. You know, if
Speaker 2: I come over here at the edge of the stage
Speaker 2: and I'm trying to pull you up, and you're trying
Speaker 2: to pull me down, which is it easier to do
Speaker 2: h It's obvious it's always easier for somebody to pull
Speaker 2: you down for them to pull you up. You need
Speaker 2: to not have friends in your life who pull you down.
Speaker 2: People who pull you down are not your friends. They're
Speaker 2: not They're not your friends. If they're pulling you down,
Speaker 2: they're not your friends. Friends pull you up. And so
Speaker 2: you need to get wise people you need to get
Speaker 2: You need a small group. That's what you need. The
Speaker 2: Bible says this Proverbs thirteen twenty. Spend time with the whys,
Speaker 2: and you will become wise. But spend time with friends
Speaker 2: of fools. Be friends of fools will suffer. Do you
Speaker 2: have anybody in your life who is giving input for
Speaker 2: good for God in your life on a regular basis.
Speaker 2: That's called a small group, and you need to Like, Hey,
Speaker 2: you meet with them once a week. You don't need
Speaker 2: to meet with them every day, but once a week
Speaker 2: you get a small group of friends and they're building
Speaker 2: you up there encouraging you to do the right thing,
Speaker 2: not the wrong thing. If you don't have that, you're
Speaker 2: going to give up. So what I want you to do? Then,
Speaker 2: during the next six weeks, everybody in our church, I
Speaker 2: want you to get in a group. Now, how big
Speaker 2: is a group? I'm not talking ten people, I'm not
Speaker 2: talking to eight people. Actually, in a small group, small
Speaker 2: was better. All you need is three. If you only
Speaker 2: have two, that's a duo. That's not a group. That's
Speaker 2: a date that's what that is. Okay, maybe you won't
Speaker 2: go on a date.
Speaker 3: That's fine too.
Speaker 2: Go ahead, go on a date, but that's not your
Speaker 2: small group. Okay, and be sure make sure you're having
Speaker 2: personal devotions on your date. Okay, I'm just kidding. Just
Speaker 2: how do I need a group? Jesus said it like this,
Speaker 2: where two or three are gathered in my name, there
Speaker 2: am I in the midst of them. Now there's a
Speaker 2: third key if you want to learn wisdom. First, every
Speaker 2: day I listen to God for a very short time.
Speaker 2: I just read the Bible or listen to the Bible.
Speaker 3: Connect.
Speaker 2: That's the l Then I enlist some friends and get
Speaker 2: some wise people around me in my life for input
Speaker 2: that encourage me keep me going. The A stands for
Speaker 2: ask questions and accept correction.
Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We're so happy that
Speaker 1: you've chosen to study along with us today. If you'd
Speaker 1: like to receive rix free daily devotional, just go to
Speaker 1: Pastororick dot com and sign up right now. Rick will
Speaker 1: be back in a moment to close out our time today.
Speaker 1: But first, if you want to make your time in
Speaker 1: prayer the best it can be, then you're going to
Speaker 1: want to get a copy of the brand new twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one Daily Hope Prayer Journal. This year's theme, God
Speaker 1: Great Adventure for you will help you tap into God's
Speaker 1: power and presence when you learn how to pray with
Speaker 1: passion and purpose. Here's Pastor Rick to tell you more.
Speaker 2: Do you ever feel like your prayers get stuck in
Speaker 2: a rut? Would you like to know what God told
Speaker 2: me to do when my prayer life got stuck in
Speaker 2: a rut. It was a time when I just felt
Speaker 2: like I was praying the same thing over and over
Speaker 2: and over. In fact, I was beginning to wonder if
Speaker 2: God was even answering my prayers or even listening. Maybe
Speaker 2: you felt that way sometimes, or maybe you feel that
Speaker 2: way right now. So what did God tell me to do? Well,
Speaker 2: here's what he told me. It was such a powerful
Speaker 2: way to re energize my prayer life, and it was
Speaker 2: so simple that I want to pass it on to you.
Speaker 2: God told me to do this, he said, Rick. Start
Speaker 2: writing down what you're saying to me, and then I
Speaker 2: want you to write down what I say to you.
Speaker 2: Write down what you say to me, and then write
Speaker 2: down what I say to you. You see, It's really
Speaker 2: not that complicated. God just said I should start by
Speaker 2: by writing down what I'm feeling, and then I should
Speaker 2: write down what He tells me after I've read his word.
Speaker 2: It's really just a form of journaling, and spiritual journaling
Speaker 2: is a spiritual habit that will help your prayers stay
Speaker 2: fresh and effective. If you've never tried it, I'm begging
Speaker 2: you try this for a week or two and see
Speaker 2: if it doesn't reinvigorate your prayer life. Journaling has many
Speaker 2: many benefits to your spiritual life. It'll help you stay
Speaker 2: consistent in your prayers. It'll give you a permanent reminder
Speaker 2: of how God answers your prayers. Because you we've written
Speaker 2: him down. It shows how God is working in your life.
Speaker 2: You can go back and review it. It'll even help
Speaker 2: you worship God more and more as you speak to him.
Speaker 2: God speaks to people who care enough to write it down.
Speaker 2: So write down what God tells you. But you've got
Speaker 2: to have a place to do that now. I want
Speaker 2: to encourage you, and I want to help you take
Speaker 2: this simple step of learning this new spiritual happy in
Speaker 2: your prayers, of writing down your prayers and writing down
Speaker 2: your prayer request So what I did is I had
Speaker 2: my Daily Hope team create a brand new spiritual prayer journal.
Speaker 2: It's got a real simple to follow format that will
Speaker 2: help you put into practice God's wisdom that is found
Speaker 2: in Philippians four to six that says this, don't worry
Speaker 2: about anything. Instead, pray about everything, Tell God what you need,
Speaker 2: and thank him for all he has done. Those four
Speaker 2: things are part of the format of our prayer journal
Speaker 2: for this year.
Speaker 3: It's really cool. You're going to love this tool.
Speaker 1: Covered in soft vegan leather with full color pages, this
Speaker 1: prayer journal has sections to pray for specific people and situations,
Speaker 1: as well as space to express your gratitude and personal
Speaker 1: prayer requests to God. Each page is beautifully designed and
Speaker 1: filled with inspiring Bible versus photo work and artwork. The
Speaker 1: God's Great Adventure for You Prayer Journal is a spiritual
Speaker 1: growth tool designed to help you enjoy a vibrant prayer life,
Speaker 1: connect with the Lord, and establish a consistent daily prayer time.
Speaker 1: When you give a gift to help Daily Hope take
Speaker 1: the certain Hope of Jesus to people around the world,
Speaker 1: will send you the all new twenty twenty one Daily
Speaker 1: Hope Prayer journal to say thanks. Quantities are limited, so
Speaker 1: don't wait to get your copy of this great resource.
Speaker 1: Just call eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four
Speaker 1: or go to pastorick dot com to get yours. That's
Speaker 1: eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four or pastorick
Speaker 1: dot com. Be sure to join us again next time
Speaker 1: as we look into God's word for our daily hope.
Speaker 1: This program is sponsored by Pastor Ricks Daily Hope and
Speaker 1: your generous financial support