Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the broadcast ministry of
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick Warren. Today we continue in the series Essentials
Speaker 1: for Living. In these lessons, Pastor Rick shares the power
Speaker 1: you need to live on, the principles you need to
Speaker 1: live by, and the purpose you need to live for,
Speaker 1: so that you're truly living and not just existing. Now,
Speaker 1: in just a few minutes, we're going to tell you
Speaker 1: how to get a copy of the Daily Hope gold
Speaker 1: scripture box called Versus of Hope, a great way to
Speaker 1: keep God's word right at your fingertips all year round.
Speaker 2: You can go to Pastorick dot com, or.
Speaker 1: You can text the word Hope to eight hundred, six
Speaker 1: hundred five thousand and four to find out more.
Speaker 2: Right now, here's Pastor.
Speaker 1: Rick Warren with the final part of a message called
Speaker 1: how to Invest your Life Now.
Speaker 3: The third one, and this is the greatest fear of
Speaker 3: all is self pity. And self pity is well, I
Speaker 3: failed in the past, so I'm afraid that I will
Speaker 3: fail again, So I'm never going to try. Some of
Speaker 3: you have allowed your past to keep you from being
Speaker 3: used by God. You think I could never be used
Speaker 3: by God, Rick, You don't know my checkered past. I've
Speaker 3: had some major failures. I've had some moral failures. I've
Speaker 3: had some relational failures. I've had some financial failures. I
Speaker 3: have just really blown it in life. So I'm sure
Speaker 3: that I'm on God's B team or C team, and
Speaker 3: God could never use me. Well, you're dead wrong. You're
Speaker 3: just having a pity party because God has never said that.
Speaker 3: God has never said, well, you can't be used because
Speaker 3: of your past.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: There were two disciples who had spectacular failures two of
Speaker 3: the twelve who followed Jesus. One was named Peter and
Speaker 3: one was named Judas. They both committed the exact same sin.
Speaker 3: They both denied Jesus in the crunch when it was
Speaker 3: in the clutch time, right before the cross. Both of
Speaker 3: them did the exact same thing. They betrayed Jesus, they
Speaker 3: denied him. But they responded to their failure in very
Speaker 3: different ways. Judas went out, had a pity party and
Speaker 3: hung himself.
Speaker 4: He committed suicide. That was the end of his life.
Speaker 3: Peter, on the other hand, went out wept bitterly over it,
Speaker 3: grieved about it, repented, asked God to forgive him, and
Speaker 3: picked himself up dusted himself off and went back to
Speaker 3: serving God. And Peter, the man who denied Jesus three
Speaker 3: times was the same guy out of all the disciples
Speaker 3: that Jesus decided to choose that forty days later he
Speaker 3: would speak to the whole city of Jerusalem on a
Speaker 3: day called Pentecost. Three thousand people became believers and the
Speaker 3: church was born. Of all the people God could have
Speaker 3: used to start the church, he uses the guy with
Speaker 3: the biggest failure.
Speaker 4: I like that.
Speaker 3: That means there's room for me in the family of God.
Speaker 3: That means there's room for you in the family of God.
Speaker 3: That God loves to use failures. Moses was a murderer,
Speaker 3: and God used him. David was an adulterer, and God
Speaker 3: used him. Jacob was a massive business failure, and God
Speaker 3: used him. Abraham was such a coward that he once
Speaker 3: told his wife twice, honey, tell him you're my sister,
Speaker 3: so they won't kill me to take you.
Speaker 4: Now, most of us husbands couldn't.
Speaker 3: Get away with that one, okay, I mean, that just
Speaker 3: isn't gonna happen today.
Speaker 4: And yet God took.
Speaker 3: Every one of these, picked them up, cleaned them off,
Speaker 3: and used them in great great ways. God uses imperfect people.
Speaker 3: If God only used perfect people, what would get done
Speaker 3: in this world?
Speaker 4: Nothing?
Speaker 3: Because there are no perfect people. So God uses people
Speaker 3: with hang ups, and God uses people with checkered past,
Speaker 3: and God uses people who have insecurities, and God uses
Speaker 3: people who don't have it all together, and God uses
Speaker 3: people who don't even know what they're motives are half
Speaker 3: the time, and have mixed motives. I have up here
Speaker 3: a brand new fifty dollars bill. How many of you
Speaker 3: would like this fifty dollars bill?
Speaker 4: God?
Speaker 3: Bless you? Thank you, God bless you. Yes, God bless you.
Speaker 3: I see that hand. Yes, all right, now.
Speaker 4: Okay, let's scrunch it all up here.
Speaker 3: How many of you would still like it? Oh? Oh,
Speaker 3: you still like it? All right? How many of you
Speaker 3: would still like it?
Speaker 4: Oh? Still like it? Here's the point.
Speaker 3: No matter how dirty, no matter how used, no matter
Speaker 3: how trashed it gets crumpled, it had not decreased in
Speaker 3: its original value.
Speaker 4: Gotcha.
Speaker 3: Sometimes in life we get dropped, and sometimes we get stomped.
Speaker 4: On and ground into the ground.
Speaker 3: And sometimes we get dirty from our own stupid choices,
Speaker 3: and sometimes we get our lives so messed up. We
Speaker 3: don't know if we'll ever be able to unravel it.
Speaker 3: But you have not lost your original value. In God's eyes.
Speaker 3: You are priceless. When are you going to stop making
Speaker 3: excuses for why God can't use you.
Speaker 4: Your original value to God is still there. It has
Speaker 4: not changed.
Speaker 3: And it doesn't matter whether you're all crumpled up or
Speaker 3: whether you're creased real nice. It doesn't matter whether you've
Speaker 3: gotten dirty or whether you're really clean. God can clean
Speaker 3: you up and he can straighten you out, and your
Speaker 3: value is still the same. So stop having a pity
Speaker 3: party about your past and start letting God use you
Speaker 3: in the present and developing your talent, because one day
Speaker 3: you will give an account for how well you invested
Speaker 3: your life. It doesn't matter where you've been. What matters
Speaker 3: is what direction your feet are headed.
Speaker 1: Today you're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Rick will
Speaker 1: be back in just a moment with the rest of
Speaker 1: today's lesson. You can sign up for Pastor Rick's free
Speaker 1: email devotional at pastorick dot com. That's pastorick dot com.
Speaker 5: In the Bible, Jesus told us that in this world
Speaker 5: we will have trouble, but we should take heart because
Speaker 5: he has overcome the world. It's easy to forget Jesus's
Speaker 5: words of hope when you're experiencing difficulties in your life.
Speaker 5: You may even find yourself feeling overwhelmed and distraught. That's
Speaker 5: why you need to grab hold of God's word. It's
Speaker 5: an anchor for your soul that will fill you with
Speaker 5: hope and to help you. Pastor Rick has created the
Speaker 5: Verses of Hope Scripture Box, featuring a very special collection
Speaker 5: of verses to restore your sense of hope daily. This
Speaker 5: beautiful scripture box is gold with a look and feel
Speaker 5: of leather, and there's an embossed Bible verse on top.
Speaker 5: It's filled with artfully illustrated and inspiring scripture cards along
Speaker 5: with well designed blank cards for your personal notes. This
Speaker 5: unique tool will help you anchor yourself in God's word
Speaker 5: and fill you with hope. We'll send it to you
Speaker 5: when you give a gift to help daily hope. Take
Speaker 5: the certain Hope of Jesus to people everywhere.
Speaker 2: Just go to.
Speaker 5: Pastorick dot com right now to get your copy, or
Speaker 5: you can call eight hundred six hundred five zero zero
Speaker 5: four that's Pastorick dot com. Or call eight hundred six
Speaker 5: hundred five zero zero four. Quantities are limited, so be
Speaker 5: sure to act quickly and to let us know which
Speaker 5: station you heard us on. Thank you so much for
Speaker 5: your support.
Speaker 3: Hi, it's Pastor Rick with some big news. My daily
Speaker 3: devotional is now available in French. If you know somebody
Speaker 3: who would enjoy reading the devotionals in French, would you
Speaker 3: please email me and I'll send you a link to
Speaker 3: sign up. My email is Rick at pastorick dot com.
Speaker 3: That's Rick at pastorick dot com.
Speaker 2: Now let's get back to today's lesson. Here on Pastor
Speaker 2: Rick's Daily Hope.
Speaker 3: Did you notice in verse twenty four of this Matthew
Speaker 3: twenty five, this guy gives a little complaint. He prepares
Speaker 3: a little speech, the guy who hit his talent, and
Speaker 3: it says, then the master who had received one talent came.
Speaker 4: And he said, Master, I knew that you.
Speaker 3: Were a hard man, harvesting where you haven't sown and
Speaker 3: gathering where you haven't scathered seed. So I was afraid
Speaker 3: and went out and hit your talent in the ground.
Speaker 3: Notice what he's doing. He's blaming his boss, he's justifying himself.
Speaker 3: He's saying, it's your fault, sir, that I failed. You're
Speaker 3: a hard man, and I knew it, so I hit
Speaker 3: it in the ground. It's your fault. The reason I
Speaker 3: failed is because you were so unreasonable. Question, who are
Speaker 3: you blaming for your lack of serving God? Who are
Speaker 3: you blaming for your unhappiness? Who are you blaming for
Speaker 3: not being in the center of God's will? Well, you know,
Speaker 3: if I had just married somebody else, I could have
Speaker 3: really been a great Christian. If I could have just
Speaker 3: gotten married, I could have really gone far in this world.
Speaker 3: And if I had had different parents, then I really
Speaker 3: would have amounted to something in my life. And if
Speaker 3: I hadn't gone through that divorce, or if I had
Speaker 3: had a different brother and sister, or if I had
Speaker 3: had different children than the ones that I've got, well
Speaker 3: then maybe I, witdily would have made something of my life.
Speaker 3: Quit blaming other people. You are as close to God
Speaker 3: as you choose to be, no more and no less.
Speaker 3: You are as spiritual as you want to be. You
Speaker 3: can't blame anybody else. If you're close to God, it's
Speaker 3: because you've chosen to be close to God. If you're far,
Speaker 3: it's because you have moved. God didn't He hasn't ever
Speaker 3: moved so to stop blaming other people. You see, it
Speaker 3: is fear that always causes me to make excuses for
Speaker 3: why I haven't done more with my life, And it
Speaker 3: is fear that causes me to blame other people for
Speaker 3: the problems in my life and why I can't do
Speaker 3: more than I'm doing with my life. Now, let me
Speaker 3: tell you something I've learned this one from experience. Satan
Speaker 3: will most likely attach a fear to your greatest talent
Speaker 3: because he doesn't want you to use it for God's glory.
Speaker 3: So if you're good at, say, singing, he'll think, well,
Speaker 3: you know you can't do that. Or if you're good
Speaker 3: at planning, well you couldn't do that, and on and on.
Speaker 3: Many of you who've been around here in a long time,
Speaker 3: and one of my biggest fears had been the fear
Speaker 3: of public speaking. You say, you gotta be kidding. No,
Speaker 3: I'm not kidding you. I'm honest. What would have happened
Speaker 3: if I had given in to my fears. There would
Speaker 3: be no saddle backed church, Many of you would be
Speaker 3: headed for hell, and a lot of people wouldn't have
Speaker 3: been blessed.
Speaker 4: Okay, now you must move against your.
Speaker 3: Fear you must do the thing you fear the most,
Speaker 3: because Satan wants to keep you from using your talent
Speaker 3: for making the contribution that God puts you on this
Speaker 3: earth to fulfill. And if you don't do it, you
Speaker 3: will report to God one day. Why you let fear
Speaker 3: keep you in a box. You must move against your fear,
Speaker 3: and you must make contribution helping others with the talents
Speaker 3: God gave you. Principal number six application if I don't
Speaker 3: lose it. If I don't use it, I lose it.
Speaker 3: The sixth principle of life investment application is if I
Speaker 3: don't use it, I'll lose it. Verse twenty eight. The
Speaker 3: Master says, take the talent from him who didn't use it,
Speaker 3: and give it to the one who has ten talents.
Speaker 4: Have you ever noticed this in life?
Speaker 3: The people who are really talented seem to get more talented,
Speaker 3: and people who don't really have a whole lot going
Speaker 3: for them seem to oftentimes get less. What's going on here?
Speaker 3: That doesn't sound too fair? Why isn't that sometimes the
Speaker 3: person who's got one talent, all of a sudden he
Speaker 3: didn't have any talent anymore because they didn't use the
Speaker 3: one that God gave them. Now, this, Folks, is a
Speaker 3: universal principle. God has the right to take away anything
Speaker 3: in your life that you don't invest for him. God
Speaker 3: has the right to take away anything in your life
Speaker 3: that you don't use correctly and for his glory.
Speaker 4: Why should he let you have it? Now? This principle
Speaker 4: of use it or lose it is a universal principle.
Speaker 3: It's true with muscles. If I don't use my muscles,
Speaker 3: I lose my muscles. That's why doctors want to get
Speaker 3: you out of bed after surgery real quick. They don't
Speaker 3: want you to lay in flat. If you don't use it,
Speaker 3: you lose it. If you don't exercise, your muscles get smaller.
Speaker 3: With your money, if you don't invest it, you know
Speaker 3: you're gonna lose it. It's true with your mind if
Speaker 3: you don't learn to think, if you don't use your mind,
Speaker 3: you lose your mind. You get dollar and dollar and dollars,
Speaker 3: you get older. Because your mind's a muscle, you must
Speaker 3: keep it exercise them growing. If you have a talent
Speaker 3: and you refuse to practice, you will lose that talent. Now,
Speaker 3: the opposite is also true. If you do use it,
Speaker 3: you get even more of it. And so if you
Speaker 3: use your muscles, guess what they get.
Speaker 5: Bit.
Speaker 3: If you take a little bit of money and you
Speaker 3: invest it, it gets bigger. That's true in any area
Speaker 3: of life. When you do use it, it multiplies. Hebrews thirteen
Speaker 3: twenty one. God says, I will equip you with all
Speaker 3: you need for doing my will. That's a promise. So
Speaker 3: here's a question. What do you need more of? What
Speaker 3: do you need more of in your life? Is there
Speaker 3: anybody here who needs more say energy in your life?
Speaker 3: Is there anybody here who needs more time in your life?
Speaker 3: How about money? How about talent? Yeah, here's the secret.
Speaker 3: Whatever you need more of. Listen, take the little that
Speaker 3: you've got and start using it in serving other people unselfishly,
Speaker 3: and God will multiply it.
Speaker 4: It is a promise.
Speaker 3: You say, I can't. I don't have time to serve
Speaker 3: other people. I don't have time to minister, I don't
Speaker 3: have time to do something on selwish. I don't have
Speaker 3: enough time to get all things I need to do done.
Speaker 3: That's why, because God never meant for you to be
Speaker 3: a selfish little claw that spends all your time on yourself.
Speaker 3: Why would God give you more time if you're just
Speaker 3: going to spend it on you. It's kind of like tithing.
Speaker 3: The principle of tithing that the first principle, first ten
Speaker 3: percent of what I make goes back to God. Why
Speaker 3: because when I give part back to God, God takes
Speaker 3: the other ninety percent and makes it stretch further and
Speaker 3: pay more than I would have if i'd kept all
Speaker 3: hundred percent myself. Now, that's true with your time, and
Speaker 3: that's true with your talent, and that's true with anything
Speaker 3: in life. If you don't use it, you lose it.
Speaker 3: And the way you get more is you invest what
Speaker 3: little you've got. So if you don't have enough time
Speaker 3: in your life, you really need to start serving because
Speaker 3: you're out of balance. Or it's all take in, take in,
Speaker 3: take in for me, Where in your life are you
Speaker 3: doing something totally unselfish that is unrewarded that you don't
Speaker 3: get any credit or money for it's just volunteer service.
Speaker 3: Is there any are in your life that you're just
Speaker 3: volunteering service and getting nothing back for it. If not,
Speaker 3: you're out of balance. Now here's the sixth principle of
Speaker 3: the seventh principle. It's compensation. If I use my talents,
Speaker 3: I will be rewarded. If I use my talents, I
Speaker 3: will be rewarded. Now Verse twenty three says this, His
Speaker 3: master replied when he comes back home, well done, good
Speaker 3: and faithful servant. You've been faithful with a few things.
Speaker 3: I'll put you in charge of many things. Come and
Speaker 3: share your master's happiness. Now look at this verse because
Speaker 3: it gives the three rewards that God gives when we
Speaker 3: use our talents in ministry to serve others, to make
Speaker 3: a contribution in the world. First, we get the affirmation
Speaker 3: of God. He says, well done, good and faithful servant.
Speaker 3: Now God says, good job, well done. That's my boy
Speaker 3: at a girl. What's he saying here? You know, the
Speaker 3: affirmation of God in your life is far more important
Speaker 3: than any other affirmation you could possibly get from anybody else.
Speaker 3: Number two, Not only is God's affirmation, God's promotion. You've
Speaker 3: been faithful with a few things. All put you in
Speaker 3: charge of many things. You get promoted. Did you know
Speaker 3: that in heaven your responsibility that you'll be given for
Speaker 3: eternity is going to be based on your faithfulness here
Speaker 3: on this earth. And if you mess up and don't
Speaker 3: do anything with your life on earth. Why would God
Speaker 3: give you some major responsibility in eternity. If you're faithful
Speaker 3: and the few talents you have here on this earth,
Speaker 3: God is going to give you greater capacity and greater
Speaker 3: ability to serve Him for eternity in heaven. On the
Speaker 3: other hand, if you just waste or spend or blow
Speaker 3: the few talents you've got right here, and you use
Speaker 3: them all in yourself, don't expect God to give you
Speaker 3: the promotion in heaven for what you're going to do
Speaker 3: the rest of eternity. And then notice there's not only
Speaker 3: affirmation and promotion, there's celebration. Come and share your master's happiness,
Speaker 3: he says, I'm smiling on you. It's party time. Let's celebrate,
Speaker 3: and God knows how to throw a party. Do you
Speaker 3: really want to be happy? Do you really want to
Speaker 3: raise your self esteem? Do you want to feel like
Speaker 3: you're making a significance difference.
Speaker 4: With your life? Then you need to find a place
Speaker 4: and start making an.
Speaker 3: Unselfish contribution with your life on a volunteer basis. Use
Speaker 3: your talents to serve God by serving others.
Speaker 4: If you do that, what happens? Matthew six thirty three.
Speaker 3: Seek first, the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
Speaker 3: all these other things will be added to you. All
Speaker 3: the other things you're worried about, He'll take care of now.
Speaker 3: It doesn't say seek second, third, fourth, or fifth. It
Speaker 3: doesn't say finish your to do list and then see
Speaker 3: if you've got any time for ministry. It doesn't say
Speaker 3: fill your schedule up and fulfill it, and then see
Speaker 3: if you've got any time for unselfish service. It says, no,
Speaker 3: put it first, think of somebody else first. And God says,
Speaker 3: when you do that, I'll take care of you. Let's
Speaker 3: bow our heads. Would you pray this prayer?
Speaker 4: Father? I realized that you placed me.
Speaker 3: On this earth to make a contribution, not just to
Speaker 3: be a consumer. And I don't want to live a selfish,
Speaker 3: shallow life thinking only of myself. I really do want
Speaker 3: to make a difference with my life. But Lord, I've
Speaker 3: gotten so busy, and I've packed my life so full
Speaker 3: that I haven't made time for anybody else, or for you,
Speaker 3: or for what's most important. Forgive me for getting out
Speaker 3: of balance. I want to invest my life and talents
Speaker 3: in the things that matter most. Help me to know
Speaker 3: what to cut back in my life, so I'll have
Speaker 3: time to serve you by serving others.
Speaker 4: In faith. Today.
Speaker 3: I'm going to commit to serving in some ministry today,
Speaker 3: believing that you will help me find the time to
Speaker 3: make it possible.
Speaker 4: If you've never committed.
Speaker 3: Your life to Christ, why don't you add these two sentences,
Speaker 3: say Jesus, I want to get to know you and
Speaker 3: your plan for my life, and I want to.
Speaker 4: Follow you from here on out.
Speaker 3: I ask you to come into my life and change
Speaker 3: me and save me. Help me to use my life and.
Speaker 4: Talents to worship you in your name. Amen.
Speaker 3: Hi everybody, this is Rick and I hope you enjoyed
Speaker 3: today's broadcast. You know, if you just prayed that prayer
Speaker 3: for the very first time, or you just recommitted your
Speaker 3: life to Jesus again today, would you let me know
Speaker 3: about it. There's something real about sharing your commitment. So
Speaker 3: write me Rick at pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick,
Speaker 3: I prayed that prayer of commitment. I gave my life
Speaker 3: to Christ. And I'll send you some material that'll help
Speaker 3: you on your journey with Jesus.
Speaker 4: And I'll also pray for you.
Speaker 3: God bless you.
Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope We're so happy you've
Speaker 1: chosen to study along with us today. You can get
Speaker 1: hope and encouragement from Pastor Rick delivered to your inbox
Speaker 1: every day. Just go to Pastorick dot com and sign
Speaker 1: up for his free daily devotional. Rick will be back
Speaker 1: to close out our time today. But first, in order
Speaker 1: to live for God in the most meaningful way possible,
Speaker 1: we need to have His word deep down in our hearts.
Speaker 1: That's why Pastor Rick created a spiritual growth tool called
Speaker 1: the Verses of Hope Scripture Box. Here's Rick to tell
Speaker 1: you more.
Speaker 3: One of the most powerful ways you can transform your
Speaker 3: spiritual life is to memorize scripture. You say I can't
Speaker 3: do that, Oh, yes you can. The Bible says in
Speaker 3: Proverbs seven, verse two, guard my words as your most
Speaker 3: precious possession. Write them down and keep them deep within
Speaker 3: your heart. To keep them deep in your heart, you
Speaker 3: have to remember them. That's why I've had my team
Speaker 3: create a beautiful gold scripture box so you can practice
Speaker 3: memorizing the verses that we give you and some that
Speaker 3: you can develop on your own. Now, we've started a
Speaker 3: collection of forty verses about hope. These are going to
Speaker 3: encourage you when you feel down and discourage. It's a
Speaker 3: collection that will help you keep God's word in you
Speaker 3: so you have it when you need it. Now, I
Speaker 3: had a graphic artist create Bible verse cards with multiple
Speaker 3: graphic designs and really cool colors, so you're going to
Speaker 3: enjoy studying these verses. It's not just words on a
Speaker 3: blind card, but the colors will actually help you remember
Speaker 3: these Bible verses and to help you develop the habit
Speaker 3: of memorizing scripture, We've included sixty four full color decorated
Speaker 3: cards with lines that you can practice writing out your
Speaker 3: favorite verses. So, in addition to the forty verses of Hope,
Speaker 3: you can write down verses that are meaningful to you
Speaker 3: that come to you in your quiet time. And I
Speaker 3: want to encourage you to use these cards to write
Speaker 3: down the scriptures that you want to put in your
Speaker 3: mind and to hide in your heart, and then when
Speaker 3: you need them, the Holy Spirit can bring them back
Speaker 3: to mind. Now, the Holy Spirit can't bring up something
Speaker 3: you haven't put in your heart or in your mind,
Speaker 3: so store them in this beautiful gold box. It's a
Speaker 3: real pretty box that will make a great conversation piece. Now,
Speaker 3: my hope is that This tool will help you learn
Speaker 3: to love God's word, listen to God's word, and live
Speaker 3: God's word as you share it with others. Now, while
Speaker 3: you're working on these verses and some of the verses
Speaker 3: you want to do, my team's actually working on new
Speaker 3: sets of Bible verses that will be released throughout the
Speaker 3: year that you can add to your collection. So I
Speaker 3: hope you'll get this tool. We're doing it for you.
Speaker 2: We'll send you the Gold Versus of Hope scripture box
Speaker 2: when you give a gift today to help Daily Hope
Speaker 2: take the Hope of Jesus to people around the world.
Speaker 2: Just go to Pastorick dot com right now to get
Speaker 2: your copy, or you can call eight hundred six hundred
Speaker 2: five thousand and four. That's Pastorick dot com or just
Speaker 2: call eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. Quantities
Speaker 2: are limited, so be sure to act quickly and be
Speaker 2: sure to let us know which radio station you hurt
Speaker 2: us on. Thank you so much for your support.
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 Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support