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: As we bring our series called God's Vision for the
Speaker 1: Rest of your Life to a close, Rick will wrap
Speaker 1: up his look at the unique purpose and vision that
Speaker 1: the Lord has for your life. Now in just a
Speaker 1: few moments, we're going to tell you how to get
Speaker 1: a copy of the brand new Daily Hope twenty twenty
Speaker 1: one prayer Journal based on the theme God's Great Adventure
Speaker 1: for You, a great resource to help make your time
Speaker 1: in prayer the best it can be. Go to Pastorick
Speaker 1: dot com to find out more, or text the word
Speaker 1: daily to eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four.
Speaker 1: That's Pastorick dot com. Or the word daily to eight
Speaker 1: hundred six hundred five thousand and four. Right now, here's
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick Warren with the final part of a message
Speaker 1: called how to get ready to be used by God.
Speaker 2: Now, let me give you the greatest time management tip
Speaker 2: you'll ever get. This is the greatest time management tip.
Speaker 2: It's a two letter word no no. Do you know
Speaker 2: I say no hundreds of times a week. It's a
Speaker 2: positive word to me because every sign I say no,
Speaker 2: I'm saying no that gives me more time. When I
Speaker 2: say to no to that opportunity, to that invitation, to
Speaker 2: that idea, to that meeting, whatever, it gives me more
Speaker 2: time for the things that God has called me to do.
Speaker 2: And if you don't learn how to say no, you
Speaker 2: will be overwhelmed with opportunities, options, requests, things in your
Speaker 2: life that could take up all your time, and you
Speaker 2: have no time for what God wants to do in
Speaker 2: your life. And saying no learns helps you stay focused.
Speaker 2: In fact, Jesus said this in Matthew sixteen. I love
Speaker 2: this God's word paraphrase. He says, those who want to
Speaker 2: come with me must say no to the things they want,
Speaker 2: pick up their crosses and follow me. So distractions will
Speaker 2: keep you from being used by God. You have to
Speaker 2: simplify your life. Here's another one. This one's a little
Speaker 2: bit more painful.
Speaker 3: Debt, debt, debt.
Speaker 2: I know so many people who were so in debt
Speaker 2: they couldn't follow God's will if they wanted to because
Speaker 2: they're so over committed. They bought things they didn't need
Speaker 2: with money they didn't have. To impress people they didn't
Speaker 2: even like, and as a result, they spend all their
Speaker 2: time hustling to pay the payments on all these things.
Speaker 2: Life is not about the acquisition of things. And I
Speaker 2: would say to you, you ought to set up a
Speaker 2: plan to get out of debt, or at least reduce
Speaker 2: it as much as possible, because when you're all in debt,
Speaker 2: you can't. You have to spend all your time working
Speaker 2: to pay off the debt. Now you didn't get in
Speaker 2: debt overnight, you're gonna not get out of it overnight.
Speaker 2: You might set up a ten year plan, say you know,
Speaker 2: let's knock this thing off. I'm not talking about your
Speaker 2: mortgage in Orange County mortgages or an appreciating item in
Speaker 2: a very big way, but I'm talking about all that
Speaker 2: consumer debt that just takes up your time paying it off.
Speaker 3: Life is not about things.
Speaker 2: And if God were to say I want you to
Speaker 2: do this, he said, well, I can't do that.
Speaker 3: God I got to pay off all his debt first.
Speaker 2: And I would say, the better you can get that
Speaker 2: paid down, the more God can use you. Now, we've
Speaker 2: got some action steps that can help you. We have
Speaker 2: books and all kinds of things that can help you
Speaker 2: get a grip on your finances. So you're saying, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna get my help in balance. I'm gonna get my
Speaker 2: finances in balance. I'm gonna get my heart in balance.
Speaker 2: These are things that God says you need to do
Speaker 2: so I can make you more and more usable. Now
Speaker 2: there's this verse Matthew six twenty four. Jesus said this,
Speaker 2: no one can serve two masters. You cannot serve both
Speaker 2: God and money. You can't be always focusing on debt
Speaker 2: and focusing on serving God. Here's another verse on Proverbs
Speaker 2: twenty one. Up here on the screen says this. The
Speaker 2: wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man
Speaker 2: spends whatever he gets. Are you saving anything? Are you
Speaker 2: putting any money away and saving?
Speaker 3: If you're not, you are overspending.
Speaker 2: You need to learn to live on less so you
Speaker 2: can put some money away.
Speaker 3: If it's all going right out the door, you are
Speaker 3: well over extended.
Speaker 2: God says the wise person is putting some money away
Speaker 2: and saving it. Last week we talked about how everybody
Speaker 2: ought to startup peace savings account. So these parts start
Speaker 2: putting a little bit money away every week so you
Speaker 2: could do your mission for God. I would encourage you
Speaker 2: to simplify your life so you're more available for God
Speaker 2: to use.
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: You can sign up for Pastor Rick's free email devotional
Speaker 1: 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 a consistent Daily Prayer time.
Speaker 4: When you give a gift to help Daily Hope take
Speaker 4: the certain hope of Jesus to people around the world,
Speaker 4: we'll send you the all new twenty twenty one Daily
Speaker 4: Hope Prayer Journal to say thanks. Quantities are limited, so
Speaker 4: don't wait. Call eight hundred and six hundred five zero
Speaker 4: zero four to get your prayer journal and have your
Speaker 4: gift matched up to one hundred thousand dollars. Or you
Speaker 4: can visit Pastorick dot com. That's eight hundred at six
Speaker 4: hundred five zero zero four or pastorick dot com.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope once again. Here's
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick Warren.
Speaker 2: God says, the wise person is putting some money away
Speaker 2: and saving it. Last week we talked about how everybody
Speaker 2: had a startup peace savings account. These partly start putting
Speaker 2: a little bit of money away every week so you
Speaker 2: could do your mission for God. I would encourage you
Speaker 2: to simplify your life so you're more available for God
Speaker 2: to use.
Speaker 3: Pastor Gerald's going to talk about the next week.
Speaker 5: This past week I read what was called the World's
Speaker 5: Shortest fairy tale, and it went like this, Once upon
Speaker 5: a time, a handsome young prince asked a beautiful young
Speaker 5: princess to marry him. She said no, he lived happily
Speaker 5: ever after. Now why do we like fairy tales? We
Speaker 5: like fairy tales because of the ending. They lived happily
Speaker 5: ever after. Well, if you want to live happily ever after,
Speaker 5: if you want the rest of your life here on
Speaker 5: earth to be the best life on earth that you
Speaker 5: can have, step four is critical. Let's look at it together.
Speaker 5: Step four is to fortify my faith. I need to
Speaker 5: fortify my faith. Look at this verse up on the screen.
Speaker 5: Build yourselves up in your most holy faith. I want
Speaker 5: you to notice the first two words in that verse,
Speaker 5: build and yourselves build means it takes work. Fortifying your
Speaker 5: faith is not going to come easily. You have to
Speaker 5: work at it, and then yourselves means nobody else is
Speaker 5: going to do it for you. If you're going to
Speaker 5: fortify your faith, it's up to you. You have to
Speaker 5: be the one to decide to do it and commit
Speaker 5: to do it. Now, look at the first verse on
Speaker 5: your outline. First Peter, Chapter four, Verse two, Strengthen yourselves
Speaker 5: so that you will live here on earth doing what
Speaker 5: God wants, not evil things. People want. It is easy.
Speaker 5: It is so easy to get caught up in doing
Speaker 5: what everybody else wants you to do in life, and
Speaker 5: in the process you miss out on what God wants
Speaker 5: you to do in life. Now, I'll make this guarantee,
Speaker 5: God's plan for your life is the best plan you'll
Speaker 5: ever find. In fact, what God wants for your life
Speaker 5: is better than you even want for your life. So
Speaker 5: it's clearly better than what anybody else could want for you.
Speaker 5: And so if you want to live on earth doing
Speaker 5: what God wants, you need to fortify your faith now
Speaker 5: for God to use you, for you to get in
Speaker 5: on his plan, you've got to grow up. You just
Speaker 5: got to get stronger. Look at the next verse on
Speaker 5: your outline one Timothy, chapter four, spend your time and
Speaker 5: energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit. Now, there
Speaker 5: is a word in that verse that, if I'm completely
Speaker 5: on it, I hate. It's the word exercise. And when
Speaker 5: Pastor Rick was doing point two, I was sitting back
Speaker 5: there doing confession and commitment that I'm going to start
Speaker 5: doing exercise. Let me ask how many of you kind
Speaker 5: of wake up in the morning thinking, whooh, I get
Speaker 5: to exercise today? You are sick sick people. Actually, exercise
Speaker 5: is great, and we need both physical exercise and spiritual exercise.
Speaker 5: And I do know this about exercise. I want the
Speaker 5: most benefit I can get out of every minute I exercise,
Speaker 5: whether it's physical or spiritual. And one of the ways
Speaker 5: you can learn to do that is take class two
Speaker 5: to oh one, where you'll get a lot of detail
Speaker 5: about how to do that. Let me give you just
Speaker 5: four habits that will fortify your faith. The first one
Speaker 5: is study the Bible. Study the Bible. Now there's another
Speaker 5: word that most of us love. You've come to church
Speaker 5: and you've been told to exercise and study who it's
Speaker 5: kind of like being back in school and you get
Speaker 5: livering broccoli on the same plate. Study and exercise. But
Speaker 5: we really do need to study, and we need to
Speaker 5: study personally because we can't depend on somebody else's study
Speaker 5: to fortify our faith. We have to do it on
Speaker 5: our own. Look at this next verse two Timothy, Chapter three,
Speaker 5: Verses sixteen and seventeen. All scripture is inspired by God
Speaker 5: and is useful to teach us what is true and
Speaker 5: to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.
Speaker 5: It straightens us out and teaches us to do what's right.
Speaker 5: It is God's way of preparing us in every way,
Speaker 5: fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.
Speaker 5: God's Word is the get ready manual for life. If
Speaker 5: you want to get ready, you've got to study God's Word.
Speaker 3: Two.
Speaker 5: The second suggestion is read Christian books. Read some Christian books.
Speaker 5: If you don't know where to start, I would suggest
Speaker 5: the New York Times best selling author Rick Warren's book
Speaker 5: called Purpose Driven Life. That's called Purpose Driven Keeping My
Speaker 5: Job Seriously a great Christian book. And there are lots
Speaker 5: of Christian books so that you can read them during
Speaker 5: the week and you can fortify your faith. Look at
Speaker 5: Proverbs chapter nineteen, verse eight. Do yourself a favor and
Speaker 5: learn all you can. Well, you learn a lot more
Speaker 5: when you read number three. The suggestion write out your testimony.
Speaker 5: Write out your testimony first. Peter chapter three, verse fifteen says,
Speaker 5: always be ready to answer everyone who asks you to
Speaker 5: explain about the hope that you have. And if you're
Speaker 5: going to give them an answer, you need to be
Speaker 5: able to give them your testimony. Just like nobody else
Speaker 5: can study for you, nobody else can tell your story.
Speaker 5: Only you can tell it. That's because you're the expert
Speaker 5: at it.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 5: There are four parts to any testimony, just four simple parts.
Speaker 5: You talk about, Here's what my life was like before
Speaker 5: I came to Christ. Here's how I realized I needed
Speaker 5: Christ into my life. Here's how I committed my life
Speaker 5: to Christ. And then the last and the most important part,
Speaker 5: where you spend the most time, is what's my life like?
Speaker 3: Now?
Speaker 5: What's my life like after having made a commitment to Christ.
Speaker 5: One more suggestion, be faithful, support your small group. I
Speaker 5: need to support my small group first. Thessalonian chapter five,
Speaker 5: verse eleven says, encourage one another and build each other up.
Speaker 5: I don't know of much that will fortify your faith
Speaker 5: like regular contact with your small group. My wife, Tammy
Speaker 5: and I cherish our small group. Every week. We look
Speaker 5: forward to our small group getting together, and then the
Speaker 5: things that we do together outside of our small group.
Speaker 5: I want to encourage you to start engaging your small
Speaker 5: group to do a local peace project. You don't have
Speaker 5: to necessarily start out overseas. Just do something locally. At
Speaker 5: least begin talking about it together.
Speaker 2: God uses ordinary people, normal people, in spite of our faults,
Speaker 2: our habits, our hurts, our hang ups, the crises that
Speaker 2: come into our lives.
Speaker 3: If God only use perfect.
Speaker 2: People, nothing would get done because there are no perfect people.
Speaker 2: God wants to use you, but you have to get usable.
Speaker 2: You have to be willing to say God, is there
Speaker 2: anything between me and you?
Speaker 3: Purify my heart? God?
Speaker 2: Do I need to get better shape so I have
Speaker 2: more energy to serve you? Do I need to simplify
Speaker 2: my life so I have more time to serve you.
Speaker 2: Do I need to fortify my faith? Do I have
Speaker 2: more strength spiritually to serve you? And then, finally, here's
Speaker 2: the fifth step. Five is to apply what I already know.
Speaker 2: I purify, sanctify, simplify, fortify, and apply what I already
Speaker 2: know to do. The Bible says this Titus three. Our
Speaker 2: people must learn to apply themselves to doing good deeds
Speaker 2: and helping others who have urgent needs so they won't
Speaker 2: be living idle, unproductive lives. God says, I want you
Speaker 2: to live a life of significance, a purpose driven life,
Speaker 2: a life of meaning. And how do you do that
Speaker 2: by applying yourself to do good deeds and helping others
Speaker 2: who have urgent needs? He take small steps. Look at
Speaker 2: the next verse Isaiah One. Learn to do good, work
Speaker 2: for justice, help the down and out, stand up for
Speaker 2: the homeless, go to bat for the defenseless. God's vision
Speaker 2: for your life is both global and local.
Speaker 3: You need buy focal vision.
Speaker 2: And when we talk about God's vision for your life
Speaker 2: and the Peace Plan, it's not just something way over
Speaker 2: there in another country.
Speaker 3: It's something right here.
Speaker 2: It's not about location, it's about dedication.
Speaker 3: Look at this verse up here on the screen. The
Speaker 3: Bible says, this.
Speaker 2: Christ carried our sins in his body where on the
Speaker 2: cross so we would stop living for sin and start
Speaker 2: living for what's right.
Speaker 3: The Bible says, Jesus Christ died.
Speaker 2: On the cross so that everything we've ever done wrong
Speaker 2: could be forgiven and forgotten wiped out, so we could
Speaker 2: start a brand new life and we could start living
Speaker 2: for the right things, all because of the Cross. Now listen,
Speaker 2: fulfilling your mission in life. God's vision, God's purposes for
Speaker 2: you is not about crossing the sea. It's about seeing
Speaker 2: the cross and realizing what He did for you. Here's
Speaker 2: God's promise. Look at the next verse.
Speaker 3: Stay true to.
Speaker 2: What is right, and God will bless you and use
Speaker 2: you to help others that is a promise. God is
Speaker 2: looking for people to use, and God wants to use
Speaker 2: you in ways you have never ever imagined. He wants
Speaker 2: to use you. That's why he made you. That's why
Speaker 2: you're alive, that's why your heart's beating.
Speaker 3: But you have.
Speaker 2: To be usable and you have to say, Okay, God,
Speaker 2: here I am through these steps. Now I wonder which
Speaker 2: of these five steps do you need to work on
Speaker 2: and you might put a check by it. Do you
Speaker 2: need to purify your heart? Need to get alone with
Speaker 2: God this week? And say, God, what's between me and you?
Speaker 2: What's the barrier between? Why do you feel so distant?
Speaker 2: And you ask God to reveal to you any sins
Speaker 2: in your life and you confess them to God. You
Speaker 2: don't have to come to me, You don't have to
Speaker 2: go to a priest. You just go directly to God.
Speaker 2: Confess to God, it says, and you know, purify us.
Speaker 2: Maybe you need to sanctify your body. Maybe you're so tired,
Speaker 2: you don't have any energy, and you need to say
Speaker 2: I need to work on getting my life in shape.
Speaker 2: I need to simplify my life, and there's some things
Speaker 2: I need to let go of and cut back on.
Speaker 2: So that I have time for the things that are
Speaker 2: going to matter in light of eternity, and I work
Speaker 2: on these distractions and debts that are holding me down.
Speaker 2: And then I need to fortify my faith. Like Pastor
Speaker 2: Gerald talked about, you're reading and studying the Bible and
Speaker 2: Christian books and getting involved in your stall group, all
Speaker 2: of these things that you can do writing down your test.
Speaker 2: The money key is to apply what you already know.
Speaker 2: Will you let God use you? Will you let's bow
Speaker 2: our heads? And before you can be used by God,
Speaker 2: you've got to get to know God. To his son
Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. If you've never opened your life to him,
Speaker 2: say this in your heart.
Speaker 3: Say Lord, I don't understand it all.
Speaker 2: But as much as I know how, I open my
Speaker 2: life to you, Jesus Christ. I want to know you,
Speaker 2: and I want to know your purposes for my life.
Speaker 2: I want to be used by you. So today I
Speaker 2: step across the line. I put my faith in you
Speaker 2: in Jesus name.
Speaker 3: Amen.
Speaker 2: Hi everybody, this is Rick and I hope you enjoyed
Speaker 2: today's broadcast. You know, if you just prayed that prayer
Speaker 2: for the very first time, or you just recommit your
Speaker 2: life to Jesus again today, would you let me know
Speaker 2: about it. There's something real about sharing your commitment. So
Speaker 2: write me Rick at pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick,
Speaker 2: I prayed that prayer of commitment. I gave my life
Speaker 2: to Christ. And I'll send you some material that will
Speaker 2: help you on your journey with Jesus, and I'll also
Speaker 2: pray for you. God bless you.
Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We're so thankful that
Speaker 1: you've chosen to spend some time with us today. If
Speaker 1: you've missed any part of this broadcast, including portions we
Speaker 1: didn't have time for, just go to Pastorrick dot com
Speaker 1: and listen online. Anytime. Rick will be right back to
Speaker 1: close out our time today. But first, if you want
Speaker 1: to make your time in prayer the best it can be,
Speaker 1: then you're going to want to get a copy of
Speaker 1: the brand new twenty twenty one Daily Hope Prayer Journal.
Speaker 1: This year's theme, God's Great Adventure for you will help
Speaker 1: you tap into God's power and presence. You learn how
Speaker 1: to pray with passion and purpose. Right now, here's Pastor
Speaker 1: 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: writing down what I'm feeling, and then I should write
Speaker 2: 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: them 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.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: I want to encourage you, and I want to help
Speaker 2: you take this simple step of learning this new spiritual
Speaker 2: habit in your prayers, of writing down your prayers and
Speaker 2: writing down your prayer request. So what I did is
Speaker 2: I had my Daily Hope team create a brand new
Speaker 2: spiritual prayer journal. It's got a real simple to follow
Speaker 2: format that will help you put into practice God's wisdom
Speaker 2: that is found in Philippians four to six that says this,
Speaker 2: don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God
Speaker 2: what you need, and thank Him for all he has done.
Speaker 2: Those four things are part of the format of our
Speaker 2: prayer journal for this year. It's really cool. You're gonna
Speaker 2: 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. Call eight hundred six hundred five thousand and
Speaker 1: four to get your prayer journal and have your gift
Speaker 1: matched up to one hundred thousand dollars, or you can
Speaker 1: visit pastorick dot com that's eight hundred six hundred five
Speaker 1: thousand and four or pastorig dot com. Be sure to
Speaker 1: join us again next time as we look into God's
Speaker 1: Word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by
Speaker 1: Pastor Ricks Daily Hope and your generous financial support.