Speaker 1: Hey, friends, thanks so much for joining us today on
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible teaching ministry of Pastor
Speaker 1: Rick Warren. We're so glad to have you with us
Speaker 1: and today, Rick continues in his series called Transformed. Together,
Speaker 1: We'll dive into God's Word and discover powerful principles that
Speaker 1: can truly change our lives from the inside out spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally, financially,
Speaker 1: and vocationally. You'll experience how God's truth brings real transformation
Speaker 1: to every part of your life. I can't wait to
Speaker 1: get started. Here's the final part of a message called Transforming.
Speaker 1: How I see and use money?
Speaker 2: How do I use my money for God's purposes? How
Speaker 2: do I use my money for good and for God? Well,
Speaker 2: there are a lot of ways to do that, but
Speaker 2: one of the ways you can do good with your
Speaker 2: money is use money to save time. Say what, Yeah,
Speaker 2: use money to save time? Why? Because you can always
Speaker 2: get more money, but you can't get more time. Time
Speaker 2: is far more important than money. Your time is your life.
Speaker 2: If you watch a show on TV for an hour,
Speaker 2: you just gave up an hour of your life. Was
Speaker 2: it worth it? Because you're never getting that hour back.
Speaker 2: You can always get more money, but you can't get
Speaker 2: more time. So if you can use money to save time,
Speaker 2: that's a good investment, because time is more important than money.
Speaker 2: You can use money to save lives. You can use
Speaker 2: money to do good, you can use money to honor God.
Speaker 2: There are lots of things you can do good with money. Now,
Speaker 2: let's look at this dishonest manager. Why did Jesus make
Speaker 2: him the hero of the story. What did Jesus like
Speaker 2: about this guy? He certainly didn't like his dishonesty. Remember,
Speaker 2: the guy's gonna get canned, he's gonna get fired. And
Speaker 2: so he brings in these people. This guy says, let's
Speaker 2: write down your debt fifty percent. Okay, just write it
Speaker 2: down fifty percent, and it'll be fine. Just write it
Speaker 2: down and we'll we'll and we won't tell the boss
Speaker 2: about it. Then the second thing, he brings another guy,
Speaker 2: and he says, write down your debt twenty percent. Okay,
Speaker 2: we're gonna write down your debt twenty percent, and we'll
Speaker 2: take care of that. We're just between you and me,
Speaker 2: all right. Obviously he's dishonest, but he did three things right.
Speaker 2: And these are the three things that God wants you
Speaker 2: to do with your money. Okay. Number one, what did
Speaker 2: he do? He looked ahead? He looked ahead. In verse three,
Speaker 2: he says, what am I gonna do now? He's thinking
Speaker 2: about the future. And you know what, most people never
Speaker 2: look ahead when it comes to their finances. They're living
Speaker 2: for today because every advertisement in our society, this culture
Speaker 2: teaches you have it now, spend it now, make it now,
Speaker 2: use it now. Forget about the future. And that's why
Speaker 2: I know, you know, very few people are savings. Okay.
Speaker 2: The average savings in Europe is about twelve percent of
Speaker 2: savings people say about twelve percent of their income. The
Speaker 2: average saving in Japan is about twenty five percent of
Speaker 2: their income. The average savings of Americans last year was
Speaker 2: minus one percent. We spent one percent more than we made.
Speaker 2: We're saving nothing. That's not smart, that's not good. And
Speaker 2: so he looks ahead, What am I going to do now?
Speaker 2: Look at this verse on the screen. Proverbs fourteen, verse
Speaker 2: eight says this, the wise man looks ahead. The fool
Speaker 2: attempts to fool himself and won't face the facts. I
Speaker 2: wonder what facts you're willing to face in your life.
Speaker 2: Let's just talk about this one area. What financial facts
Speaker 2: are you unwilling to face? Some of you are living
Speaker 2: in a house you can't really forward, and you're stretched,
Speaker 2: and you're stressed, and you can't make friends meet. And
Speaker 2: what you really need to do is downsize. You need
Speaker 2: to get out of that house and buy something more manageable.
Speaker 2: But whether it's comfort or ego or whatever it is,
Speaker 2: you won't face the fact, and you're going deeper and
Speaker 2: deeper into Some of you have a car you can't afford,
Speaker 2: and you need to go sell that car, trade it in,
Speaker 2: get something more manageable. I drive a fourteen year old forward.
Speaker 2: It's been thirteen years since I made a car payment.
Speaker 2: Wouldn't you like to be that I haven't made a
Speaker 2: car payment thirteen years? Why? Because my car still runs fine.
Speaker 2: I don't drive my car for bling. I drive it
Speaker 2: to get me somewhere, so I'm not I don't want
Speaker 2: to have to pay for that new smell. I'll just
Speaker 2: go buy the little smell vans pray it. Okay. The
Speaker 2: point is is he looked ahead. What facts do you
Speaker 2: need to face up to you in your finances? Number two?
Speaker 2: He made a plan, and that's the next verse. He says,
Speaker 2: I know what I will do. Do you have a plan?
Speaker 2: How do you know if you've got a financial plan? Natural? Simple?
Speaker 2: Do you have a budget? Are you following? A budget
Speaker 2: is simply planned spending, that's all a budget is. A
Speaker 2: budget is simply planning you're spending. If you don't have
Speaker 2: a budget, you don't have a plan. A budget is
Speaker 2: telling your money where you wanted to go, rather than
Speaker 2: wondering where it went. But you got to have a plan.
Speaker 2: You got to have a plan. Look at this verse
Speaker 2: on the screen Matthew's sixteen a proverb of sixteen nine.
Speaker 2: We should make plans, the Bible says, counting on God
Speaker 2: to direct us. So the third thing that he did,
Speaker 2: he looked ahead, he made a plan. He acted quickly,
Speaker 2: and he gets commended for that. He didn't procrastinate, he
Speaker 2: didn't delay. He set his plan in motion. He didn't
Speaker 2: say someday, I'm going to get my finances in order,
Speaker 2: someday I'm going to start saving for retirement. He doesn't
Speaker 2: say someday I'll one of these days. One of these
Speaker 2: days is none of these days? Now? The Bible says
Speaker 2: this in Luke sixteen, verse four, I know what I'll
Speaker 2: do so that when I lose my job here, people
Speaker 2: will welcome me into their houses. Now see that verse
Speaker 2: on the screen. That is the very thing Jesus is commending,
Speaker 2: not a dishonesty, but that attitude which says this, I'm
Speaker 2: going to think ahead. I'm going to make a plan,
Speaker 2: and I'm going to invest in some relationships so that
Speaker 2: when I'm out on my rear end, they're going to
Speaker 2: be people who will take me into their homes. He says,
Speaker 2: that's smart, think ahead, make a plan. Now, most people
Speaker 2: have no plan for the future. They're just drifting through
Speaker 2: life day by day. He says, that's not very well.
Speaker 2: He says, you need to take the long view. Now,
Speaker 2: when Jesus talks about the long view, he's not talking
Speaker 2: about retirement. He's talking about the long view on the
Speaker 2: other side of death. Are you storing up treasure in heaven?
Speaker 2: Or are you spending it all here and wasting it
Speaker 2: all here? Are you storing up treasure in heaven? That's
Speaker 2: the long range plan? What are you going to do
Speaker 2: with that? Now? Number four? This fourth truth is really
Speaker 2: really counter culture, but Jesus says it so I have
Speaker 2: to teach it to you. And it's this, The best
Speaker 2: use of money is to use it to get people
Speaker 2: into heaven. The best use of my money is to
Speaker 2: use it getting people into heaven. Now, let me read
Speaker 2: this is the most problem verse people don't understand. Verse nine.
Speaker 2: Jesus says, I tell you use worldly wealth to gain
Speaker 2: friends for yourselves. They're talking about building relationships so that
Speaker 2: when it is gone, they will welcome you into your
Speaker 2: eternal dwelling. And he's talking about heaven. And he says,
Speaker 2: just like this dishonest guy made friends that he could
Speaker 2: count on later. He says, you need to use some
Speaker 2: of your money to make spiritual friends, eternal friends, friends
Speaker 2: you're going to have forever in heaven who will welcome
Speaker 2: you when you get to heaven. And does that shock you? Now?
Speaker 2: What is he not saying here? He's not saying you
Speaker 2: can buy your way into heaven because you can't. You
Speaker 2: can't buy your way into heaven. The price has already
Speaker 2: been paid by Jesus on the cross. He's not saying
Speaker 2: you can purchase your salvation because you can't. You can't
Speaker 2: purchase your eternal salvation. It's free, it's a gift, it's
Speaker 2: by grace. What he's saying is use your money to
Speaker 2: build relationships that are going to go on and on
Speaker 2: and on and on for eternity, spiritual friendships. Use your
Speaker 2: affluence for good influence. And he says that when I
Speaker 2: use my money to help other people meet Jesus, I
Speaker 2: make friends for eternity, and I gain rewards for eternity.
Speaker 2: I circle the phrase when they will welcome you, welcome
Speaker 2: you into eternal dwellings. He's talking about heaven there. Now,
Speaker 2: imagine one day you're going to die and you get
Speaker 2: to heaven and there's one hundred people there standing at
Speaker 2: the entrance to heaven clapping and cheering you, saying we've
Speaker 2: been waiting on you. We're so glad you're here. We're
Speaker 2: here because you spent some money to tell us the
Speaker 2: good news, and we're your friends for life. No, we're
Speaker 2: your friends for eternity because we're indebted to you. If
Speaker 2: it weren't for the way you used your money, we
Speaker 2: wouldn't have heard how to get to heaven? Are you
Speaker 2: using any of your money for that kind of thing?
Speaker 2: Is anybody going to be in heaven because of you?
Speaker 2: Because the way you use your money? No, Loo, when
Speaker 2: you go by a Christian book or a Bible, and
Speaker 2: you give it to somebody who doesn't have a Bible.
Speaker 2: You just invested stored up treasure in heaven. When you
Speaker 2: go help support a radio program that shares the good
Speaker 2: news around the world, you have just stored up treasure
Speaker 2: in heaven. When you help build a church like Saddleback
Speaker 2: or any other church, and that fifty years after you die,
Speaker 2: that church helps somebody get to know God in a
Speaker 2: personal way. You have just stored up treasure in heaven.
Speaker 2: That is the highest and best use because you're sending
Speaker 2: it on ahead. You can't take it with you, but
Speaker 2: you can send it on ahead. How by investing in
Speaker 2: people who are going there. That is your eternal IRA
Speaker 2: individual retirement account. And number five, this is the last truth,
Speaker 2: and this is an important one. One day I'll give
Speaker 2: an account to God. One day there's going to be
Speaker 2: an audit on my life. How I use not just
Speaker 2: my money, but everything that God gave me. What did
Speaker 2: you do with what you were giving your talent, your relationships,
Speaker 2: your opportunities, your mind, your creativity, your contacts, your networks.
Speaker 2: What did you do with what God gave you? That
Speaker 2: doesn't really matter whether you got a lot or a little.
Speaker 2: Our church is a church family with people at every
Speaker 2: level of economic status. In our church we have many
Speaker 2: people who are very very very poor, and in our
Speaker 2: church we have some people who are very very very rich,
Speaker 2: and the rest of us are all somewhere in between.
Speaker 2: It really doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how much or
Speaker 2: how little you've got. What matters is what are you
Speaker 2: doing with what you've been given? And can God trust
Speaker 2: you with more? You're going to stand before God one day.
Speaker 2: He's going to do a life audit. Verse two says this,
Speaker 2: you must now give an account of your stewardship and
Speaker 2: report what you've done with what I entrusted to you,
Speaker 2: because your time as a manager is ending one day.
Speaker 2: Your time as a manager on earth is going to end.
Speaker 2: You're not going to live on earth forever. No, no,
Speaker 2: you weren't meant to live on earth forever. But God
Speaker 2: has entrusted certain assets to you as the manager. And
Speaker 2: he says, okay, I want you to I'm going to
Speaker 2: watch you, and I'm going to test you, and I'm
Speaker 2: going to see what you're doing with what you've been given.
Speaker 2: What are you doing with the mind I gave you
Speaker 2: What are you doing with the health I gave you?
Speaker 2: What are you doing with the freedom I gave you?
Speaker 2: Are you spending all on yourself? Oh? Well, time out.
Speaker 2: Wait a minute. You think that's the whole purpose of
Speaker 2: life to live for you? You think I created you
Speaker 2: just to live for yourself. Wrong answer. One day your
Speaker 2: management career is going to end, and the Bible says this,
Speaker 2: each of us will have to give a personal account
Speaker 2: to God. Here's the last principle. If I'm faithful with
Speaker 2: a little, God can trust me with more. If I'm
Speaker 2: faithful with a little, then God will be able to
Speaker 2: trust me with more. And that's what Verse ten says.
Speaker 2: Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be
Speaker 2: trusted with much. And whoever is dishonest with little will
Speaker 2: be dishonest with much. And obviously, whoever is irresponsible with
Speaker 2: little but will be irresponsible with much. Are you using
Speaker 2: your money in such a way that God says, man,
Speaker 2: I want to give them more? Are you using your
Speaker 2: time in such a way? Are you using your influence?
Speaker 2: This principle applies to every area. Now follow me on this.
Speaker 2: God has given you just a little bit of talent.
Speaker 2: You just got a little bit of talent, but you're
Speaker 2: faithful to use it. You know, I'm not a superstar,
Speaker 2: so I won't do anything. I'm going to use what
Speaker 2: little talent I've got. You know what will happen. God
Speaker 2: will increase your talent. If you just got a little
Speaker 2: bit of influence. But you said, you know what, I'm
Speaker 2: going to lose what little influence of God for good
Speaker 2: and for God. God will increase your influence if you
Speaker 2: just got a little bit of money, he said, But
Speaker 2: I'm going to use this wisely the way God says
Speaker 2: to use it. Then God will increase your possessions, your
Speaker 2: material possessions. It's true of opportunities, it's true of network,
Speaker 2: It's true of everything in life. Look at this verse
Speaker 2: on the screen, Matthew twenty five. Jesus said, to those
Speaker 2: who use well what they are given, even more will
Speaker 2: be given and they will have what I want. As
Speaker 2: your pastor who loves you, I want you to have
Speaker 2: that abundance in every area of your life. But you
Speaker 2: got to use what you've been given. Faithfulness in little
Speaker 2: ways produce fruitfulness in big ways. You say, when I
Speaker 2: make it big, man, then I'll really become generous. When
Speaker 2: I make it big. Then I'm gonna start tightening. No,
Speaker 2: you won't. You start tightening when you're poor. That's how
Speaker 2: you get out of poverty. You start managing well what
Speaker 2: God has given you, and then God can trust you.
Speaker 2: I have seen this happen in every area of my
Speaker 2: life now for over forty years. And when I was
Speaker 2: a very young man, I began to take what little
Speaker 2: had been given, what little intelligence, what little talent, what
Speaker 2: little influence, what little money God had given me. And
Speaker 2: I was faithful with it, and I used it for good,
Speaker 2: not for my purpose, but for good and for God.
Speaker 2: And God gave me more, and God gave me more
Speaker 2: and more and more, and it kept increasing me, my influence,
Speaker 2: my blessings in all these different areas. Most of you
Speaker 2: know that when I wrote Purpose Driven Life twelve years ago,
Speaker 2: it became the best selling book in the world for
Speaker 2: four years. It's in Guinness Book of Records with two records. First,
Speaker 2: it's the best selling book in American history hardback, and
Speaker 2: second it's the most translated book in the world, second
Speaker 2: only to the Bible. And people often ask that, why
Speaker 2: do you think God shows you. I'm not even an author,
Speaker 2: I'm not a professional author. I'm a pastor. I've never
Speaker 2: taken a class on writing. So how do you write
Speaker 2: the best selling book in American history? Why do you
Speaker 2: think God chose me? I didn't know for a long time.
Speaker 2: I know now he knew he could trust me with
Speaker 2: the money. He knew I wouldn't use it on myself.
Speaker 2: He knew I would give it away because I had
Speaker 2: a thirty year track record. Most of you know I
Speaker 2: live on nine percent and give away ninety one percent.
Speaker 2: When that book hit, I could have gone out and
Speaker 2: bought a small nation, and I could have had all
Speaker 2: these butlers serving me drinks with little umbrellas in them.
Speaker 2: But when you write a book and the first line
Speaker 2: is it's not about you, you know the money is
Speaker 2: not for you. And so we didn't do that. And
Speaker 2: you know I don't take a salary from this church.
Speaker 2: Haven't done so don't. I've served this church now free
Speaker 2: for thirty three years. Faithfulness and little ways produces fruitfulness
Speaker 2: in big ways. I want God's blessing on your life,
Speaker 2: but you got to do it God's way. Let's bow
Speaker 2: our heads, so let's do a little personal evaluation in
Speaker 2: your own life. I want you to ask yourself some questions. First,
Speaker 2: does God really have first place in my life? Or
Speaker 2: is something else first place in my life? Can God
Speaker 2: trust me with what He's allowed me to have? If
Speaker 2: I'm managing my money well, Am I managing my opportunities well?
Speaker 2: Am I managing my life well? Am I managing my
Speaker 2: health well? Or everything else God has given me? Does
Speaker 2: the way that I'm using my money show God that
Speaker 2: I can be trusted with more? What or how much
Speaker 2: am I investing for eternity? Will anybody be in heaven
Speaker 2: because of the way I'm using my money? Why don't
Speaker 2: you pray this prayer? Say, Dear God, I don't want
Speaker 2: to waste money. Just say that in your mind. God,
Speaker 2: I don't want to waste your money. I don't want
Speaker 2: to love it, I don't want to live for it.
Speaker 2: I don't want to trust in it for my security,
Speaker 2: and I don't want to expect it to satisfy and
Speaker 2: meet needs that only you can meet. God. From this
Speaker 2: day forward, help me to remember every day that it
Speaker 2: all belongs to you, that I don't really own anything,
Speaker 2: that it's all just on loan from God, and You're
Speaker 2: going to loan it to somebody else after I die. God,
Speaker 2: I want what I do with my money to show
Speaker 2: that I love you the most, and I want what
Speaker 2: I do with my money to show that I trust
Speaker 2: you for security, not my bank account. And God, I
Speaker 2: want you to look at the way I'm using my
Speaker 2: life and my money and know that you can trust
Speaker 2: me with greater responsibility. Help me to remember that money
Speaker 2: is just a tool. While many people use it for bad,
Speaker 2: I want to use it for good and for God.
Speaker 2: Help me to do what this manager did right. Help
Speaker 2: me to look ahead, Help me to make a plan.
Speaker 2: Help me to act quickly and not procrastinate. Lord, you've
Speaker 2: said from your own words that the best use of
Speaker 2: money is to help get people into heaven, so that
Speaker 2: that's storing up treasure in heaven. Lord, I want to
Speaker 2: use some of my money to do that. I know
Speaker 2: that one day I'll give an account to you for
Speaker 2: how I used my life and what I did with
Speaker 2: what I was given. You said that where your treasure is,
Speaker 2: your heart is so God, I want to give you
Speaker 2: my heart today. Jesus Christ. I don't understand it all,
Speaker 2: but as much as I know how I ask you
Speaker 2: to come into my life. I want a relationship with
Speaker 2: you not a religion that I want to learn to
Speaker 2: know you and love you and serve you and feel
Speaker 2: your love. And I pray this in Jesus's name. Amen.
Speaker 2: You know, if you just prayed that prayer for the
Speaker 2: very first time, or you just recommitted your life to
Speaker 2: Jesus again today, would you let me know about it.
Speaker 2: There's something real about sharing your commitment. So write me
Speaker 2: Rick at Pastorick dot com and say, Rick, I prayed
Speaker 2: that prayer of commitment. I gave my life to Christ.
Speaker 2: And I'll send you some material that will help you
Speaker 2: on your journey with Jesus. And I'll also pray for you.
Speaker 2: God bless you.
Speaker 3: Wow. Some powerful words from Pastor Rick today. And now
Speaker 3: this is really one of my favorite parts of the broadcast.
Speaker 3: This is letters from our listeners. And now here's Rick.
Speaker 2: I want to take a minute and tell you how
Speaker 2: important your support is to Daily Hope. Your generosity. When
Speaker 2: you give to Daily Hope, you're helping us take the
Speaker 2: message of Jesus Christ literally all around the world. In
Speaker 2: the many places where there aren't missionaries or churches. These
Speaker 2: are called unreached tribes. Now, I'm sure you're familiar with
Speaker 2: the refugee crisis around the world. Literally millions of people
Speaker 2: have been displaced from their homes, particularly in the Middle
Speaker 2: East and in North Africa because of civil wars and violence.
Speaker 2: One of those places is South Sudan, where over two
Speaker 2: hundred thousand people are living in refugee camps. Now, when
Speaker 2: people are under tension and in transition, they are more
Speaker 2: open to the Gospel than in any other time. These
Speaker 2: people who are living in refugee camps right now need
Speaker 2: the hope of Jesus Christ and the Gospel. Now when
Speaker 2: you help Daily Hope Radio and Daily Hope Broadcast, We're
Speaker 2: not only broadcasting across America, but in places like South
Speaker 2: Sudan where the station airs our program three times a day,
Speaker 2: and we are told that many many people are coming
Speaker 2: to Christ in this war zone as they listen to
Speaker 2: these Daily Hope broadcasts. So thanks, thanks to you. Now,
Speaker 2: let me just read you one testimony that we've received.
Speaker 2: Here's a note from a woman who's living in a
Speaker 2: refugee camp there in South Sudan. She said, my name
Speaker 2: is Joyce and I'm from the Central Equatorial State in
Speaker 2: South Sudan. I lost all five of my children and
Speaker 2: my beloved husband. This is in the civil war that
Speaker 2: was going on there, as well as our family possessions.
Speaker 2: During the recent fighting in the capital of Juba, she said,
Speaker 2: I had planned to commit suicide. There's somebody who needs hope.
Speaker 2: When I listened to Rick Warren's broadcast, the one called
Speaker 2: when You Feel Like Giving Up, I got inspired and
Speaker 2: I dropped the idea of taking my life that very night.
Speaker 2: And I'll continue to pray God to bless this great
Speaker 2: preacher and thank you for giving me hope. Joyce. We're
Speaker 2: happy to do that, and I want to say it's
Speaker 2: because of the listener who are giving faithfully every month
Speaker 2: to Daily Hope. You realize that when you give to
Speaker 2: Daily Hope, you're helping reach people like Joyce. She was
Speaker 2: going to commit suicide in a refugee camp. Now, isn't
Speaker 2: God amazing how when you just give what you can give,
Speaker 2: God takes it and he multiplies it and we reach
Speaker 2: out to people that none of us could reach on
Speaker 2: our own. Here's what I want you to do. I
Speaker 2: want you to pray for Joyce, and today I want
Speaker 2: you to pray for all of the people who are
Speaker 2: in refugee camps and pray that we'll be able to
Speaker 2: continue to broadcast on these stations, taking the good news
Speaker 2: of Jesus Christ and hope to people who need it
Speaker 2: the most desperately. It's your sacrificial giving, it's your prayer
Speaker 2: support that makes this possible. So thank you for whatever
Speaker 2: you can do, and God bless you, my friends.
Speaker 3: Today, when you give a gift to Daily Hope to
Speaker 3: help take the hope of Jesus to a hurting world,
Speaker 3: really generous friends of the Daily Hope Ministry, They're going
Speaker 3: to match you your gift up to fifty thousand dollars.
Speaker 3: That's right, they'll match your gift, double it up to
Speaker 3: fifty thousand dollars. But please act now because you only
Speaker 3: have till midnight on June thirtieth to make your gift
Speaker 3: go twice as far. So go to Pastorick dot com
Speaker 3: or text the word hope to seven oh three oh nine. Again,
Speaker 3: that's Pastorick dot com. Or text the word hope to
Speaker 3: seven oh three oh nine. Be sure to join us
Speaker 3: next time as we look into God's word for our
Speaker 3: daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily
Speaker 3: Hope and your generous financial support.