Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Rick Warren: Hello everybody. This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope with Rick Warren. I'm really glad you're here. Today we're continuing our series from Psalm 23 called Living in the Goodness of God. It's all about how God's goodness meets you right where you are and brings hope even in difficult seasons. Okay, now here's the final part of a message called From Overwhelmed to Overflowing.

1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 7. "Who says you're better than others? What do you have that was not given to you by God?" Everything you've got is a gift of God's goodness. The air you're breathing right now, the heart that is beating right now is a gift of God's goodness. And if it wasn't given to you, why do you brag as if you didn't receive it as a gift? It's all a gift, folks.

Let me ask a real serious question. You want to be healthy? You want to live longer? Look at the next verse, Proverbs 14:30. The Bible says, "It's healthy to be content, but envy will eat you up." And the more you go out there and you look at what other people are doing, the more envious you get, the more jealous you get, and the more resentful you get. He said it will eat you up. Ecclesiastes 4:6, "It's better to be content with what you have than to always be struggling for more. That's like chasing the wind."

In the New Testament, Paul says, "I've learned to be content." It has to be learned. You see, by nature, I'm not a naturally contented person. Neither are you. By nature, you are not a naturally contented woman. You're not a naturally contented man. By nature, you are naturally discontented. And that creates a lot of overwhelmingness in your life. But if you listen and do what God says, you learn to be content. That's a good thing.

You see, all those negative things that stress you out—worry, jealousy, resentment, anger, fear, insecurity, feeling unloved, feeling unworthy, feeling ashamed, feeling guilty—all those different things, they are all learned. And anything you can learn, you can unlearn. And the stuff you need to learn, like learn to be content, is what life's all about. Learn to be unselfish. Learn to be grateful. Learn to connect to God every day of your life. He said that's going to help you learn contentment. Get your eyes off other people.

The richest people in the world—I know a lot of people who are very rich. I probably know a dozen or so billionaires. And they would tell you themselves there is no amount that will bring you happiness because you always want just a little bit more. Just a little bit more. And the wealthiest person in the world is not the one with the most money. The wealthiest person in the world is the one who's most contented with what they've got. Because you can have a ton of money and still be miserable.

God says I want you to stop griping and start being grateful. And I want you to stop comparing and start being contented. And then there's one more, and this one's the hardest of all: stop being stingy and start being generous. If you want to move from the overwhelmed lifestyle—I can't tell you how important this key is in your life—if you want to move from being overwhelmed all the time to being overflowing all the time, you must move from being stingy to being generous.

I'm not just talking about money. I'm talking about your time, generous with your energy, generous with your compliments. Stinginess is evidence of a shortage mentality. Stinginess is evidence of a shortage mindset. I only have enough and if I give it away, I'm not going to have enough for me. That's a shortage mentality. It means you don't trust the goodness of God. When you say, "I can't afford to tithe, I can't afford to be generous with the guy on the street, I can't afford to give money away to other people, I need it all for me," you don't understand how the universe operates.

God wired a universal law into the universe, and it's this: the more you give away, the more you're going to get. And God wired the universe in that way—that the more you give, the more you get—he did that because he wants you to become like him. God is a giver. The most generous being of all is God. Everything we have is a gift of God's generosity. And God wants you to learn to be like him. Like father, like son; like father, like daughter. God so loved the world that he gave.

Now, you can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. This really upsets some people when you hit the stingy nerve in them. It just irritates them because they don't understand the universe is the more generous I am, the more God is going to bless me in every single area of life. You're going to overflow. When I'm afraid to give away, it means I'm living a shortage mentality. I'm not living a surplus mindset. It's like, well, if I give away my piece of the pie, then you get more. No, that's not what it's about at all.

Look at what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. "Remember this: a stingy planter will only reap a small crop." I grow vegetables. I'm a farmer. Last year, I grew 56 kinds of vegetables and 18 kinds of fruit. Now, how about if I got a package of tomato seeds—I've got 200 seeds in this package—"I'm only going to plant one seed because I'd better hold on to these, I might lose them." The only way I'm going to benefit from these—I'll lose them if I keep them in the seed packet, they'll just die. But if I plant them in the ground, I'm going to get far more back than I planted. You plant one kernel of corn—do you get back one kernel? No, you get back stalks of corn with thousands of kernels on them. You always get back more than you put out.

He says, "Remember this: a stingy planter will only reap a small crop, but anyone who sows generously will also reap generously." So, each of you should give serious consideration to what you want to give God. He says don't ever give emotionally. He says think about it, be rational. Give serious consideration to what you want to give God, not reluctantly or under pressure, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Now, you've heard me say this many times: never give under pressure. If anybody ever pressures you to give, don't give. Because you don't get any credit for it. If you felt pressured from me, don't give. Because you don't get any credit for it. God loves a cheerful giver. You only get it when you—God doesn't need my money. God doesn't need your money. He's the source of all the supply. He wants what it represents: your heart. Do you trust him? Do you have a shortage mentality or do you have a surplus mentality? Do I think if I give away anything I've got—my energy, my time—if I give away compliments, maybe I won't get complimented?

He says, "You can be sure—here's the promise—that God is able to bless you with all grace so that in all things at all times, you will always have all you need and you'll also overflow—that's the overflowing life—so that you can give to every good work." Good night, that's like seven "alls." Let's circle them. This is a pretty cut-and-dried promise from God. Notice he says, "God is able to bless you with all his grace," circle that, "all his grace. So that in all things," circle that, "at all times," circle that, "you will always," circle that, "have all you need," circle that. "You'll also overflow," circle that, "so that you can give to every good work."

That's a pretty amazing promise. He said if you'll learn to be generous with your time, if you'll learn to be generous with your money—that's the acid test of do you trust God. Do you have a shortage mentality or surplus mentality? Most of you know Kay and my testimony on this. 42 years ago, when Kay and I got married, we started tithing. Tithe means 10%. And God says the first 10% goes back to God. So we, when we were just really young, 42 years ago, we started giving 10%. I was only making like $200 a week. I was in school. And so if we made $200, 20 bucks went to God. If we made $1,000, 100 bucks went to God. We said we may be in debt to other people, we're not going to be in debt to God because we trust him. He's going to be—he's our source, not us. We're not the faucet. He's the source.

And at the end of our first year of marriage, we raised our giving to 11%. Nobody told us to do this. Doesn't even say in the Bible to do it. We just wanted to do it to be more generous. Second year of marriage, we raised our giving to 12%. Third year, we raised it to 13%. Now, we weren't bragging on this. We never told anybody about it for 30 years. We weren't trying to show off. I just wanted to grow in generosity. Every time I give, it breaks the grip of materialism in my life. The antidote to get, get, get, get, get is give, give, give, give, give. Every time I give, my heart grows bigger. Every time I give, I become more loving. Every time I give, I become more like Jesus.

And so every year, we'd just raise our giving. Now, some years I'm out of work or I'm in graduate school and the cupboard is bare. We'd still raise our giving a quarter of a percent because we wanted to be more generous the next year than we were the previous. Some years we've had a windfall—I'd get a job or get a raise or have a royalty or something and we'd raise our giving sometimes three or four percent. And I can't tell you what a joy that is. I don't take a salary from this church. You know that. I've served this church for free for 38 years. But I've trusted God and I've played this game with God for 42 years where God says, "Rick, you give to me and I'll give to you and we'll see who wins." And I've lost that game for 42 years. You cannot out-give God.

I remember one time Kay and I took Matthew—you know, our son who had the mental health issues—took him up to Pasadena for counseling to a doctor. Kay said, "I'll go in with the doctor," and I said, "Well, I'm just going to go get something to eat." So it's downtown Pasadena and I walk into a little burger shack and I got a burger and some fries and something to drink. And I went over and I sat down on the steps of an old church—a church downtown right off Colorado Boulevard. And I'm just sitting there on the steps, starting to eat my lunch. And all of a sudden, I turn around and I realize there are three homeless people sitting on these same steps.

So I look around and go, "Hey, would you guys like to share my lunch?" What am I doing? I'm just trying to be generous. It's a simple thing. "You guys want to share my lunch?" "Yeah." So I took my lunch and I divided the burger into four pieces and handed them there and handed each one an equal number of fries. I did not share my drink. But I shared all of that and we had a good time. We just told a bunch of jokes, had a good time talking, having fun. About 30 minutes later, I got up to leave and started walking away when one of the guys goes, "I know who you are." And I go, "How do you know who I am?" He goes, "You're Pastor Rick."

I said, "How do you know who I am?" He said, "Because five years ago on the other side of town in Santa Monica, about 45-50 minutes from here," he said, "I was sitting outside a taco joint at midnight and you were up at UCLA visiting somebody in the hospital and you'd gone out to get some meals and you stopped. And as you got out of the car, you saw me sitting there by myself, kind of huddled, and you go, 'Hey, can I buy you a lunch? Can I buy you dinner?' And you brought me in, a total stranger, and bought me food and drink." He says, "I've never forgotten that."

Now, what's the likelihood of me meeting the same homeless guy five years later, 50 minutes away, on the other side of LA? As I walked away, I said, "God, what are you doing here?" He goes, "I just want you to know I notice. I notice the little stuff. And the more generous you are, the more I'm going to be generous with you."

Have you ever wondered why you don't have enough? Do you remember the story of Daniel? We studied Daniel for about 12 weeks. When God took the nation of Israel and they were taken captive in Babylon for 70 years, and then later God said you can go back home, but he said this: "Here's the key. I want you to put me first in your time, in your life, in your money, in your day." And he goes, "When you go back home, just to prove it, the first thing I want you to do is I want you to rebuild the temple which was destroyed," which is a symbol that worship comes first. God comes first in my life.

All those people went back home to Israel, and you know what they did? They forgot it. And they didn't put God first. They didn't build the temple. And there's a whole book in the Bible about this—mixed priorities. God says if you put me first, I'll bless you. It's called the Book of Haggai. Look up here on the screen. Here's what Haggai said: "You know, you spend a lot of money but you don't have much to show for it. You got food but you don't have enough to fill you up. You have drink but not enough to satisfy your thirst. You have clothes but not enough to stay warm. You earn money but it disappears as fast as if you had holes in your pocket." He said the income that you bring home just gets blown away. "Consider, have you considered why this is happening? Because you're too busy building your own fine house that you haven't built my temple, the house of worship, and that's why I'm withholding your blessing." Whoa.

We'll just let that one sit there. Okay, could this be the reason that I'm overwhelmed instead of overflowing? That I don't have enough? Have you ever read God's challenge verse of the Bible? I call it the Pepsi Challenge verse. Look at this verse, Malachi 3:10. He says, "Bring your full tithe to my storehouse so there will be food in my house"—talking about where you worship. "Test me in this," he says, "I dare you. I dare you. Test me in this," says the Lord, "and see if I won't open up for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it—read the word with me—overflows." That's the overflowing life. He says, "I dare you. Put me first in your time and see if I don't bless your time. Put me first in your relationship and see if I don't bless that. Put me first in your money and see if I don't bless that." Whatever you want God to bless, you put him first in.

You trust Jesus? You say, "Well, I trust him to get me to heaven." Do you trust him for anything else? How much? We'll close with this verse here on the screen. Jesus says this—words of Jesus—"If you give, you will receive back. Your gift will be returned to you in full measure, packed down, shaken together"—it's like when you're shaking a thing to get all the air out of it—"shaken to make room for more and running over." That phrase right there "running over," it's the same phrase as David in the Psalm 23, "my cup runs over." It's the overflowing life. How do you get that life? He just said it. "Whatever measure you use in giving, large or small, it'll be used to measure whatever is given back to you." And finally, Jesus says this on the screen, Matthew 9:29, "According to your faith, it will be done to you." Let's bow our heads.

Are you tired of being overwhelmed? Have you had a shortage mindset? "That I won't have enough time, I won't have enough money, I won't have enough energy, I won't have enough contacts." Let me ask you: what are you lacking? What do you need more of? More time? More money? More energy? More knowledge? More opportunity? I want to challenge you to commit to the four daily habits of an overflowing life.

Would you say right now, "Dear God, I will connect with you every day. I'm going to be like the vine and the branch. I want to bear fruit. I've got to stay connected. I've got to spend time with Jesus every day through prayer and meditation. There's not going to be a day of my life that I don't spend some time with you. How can I have a relationship to God if I never spend any time with him?" You say, "I will connect, I will do that habit of daily connecting with God."

Will you say, "I'm going to stop complaining and start being more grateful every day"? Say, "God, I want to start every day with a list of 10, 12, 15 things. I just get up and start by being grateful, not grumpy. Grateful, not griping. Grateful, not complaining." And then say, "God, I want to develop this habit of stop comparing myself and start being contented. Stop comparing, start being contented every day. Stop living my life for the approval of others, whether in the neighborhood, at school, or on the internet. Help me to be me, not somebody else."

"And God, I'm going to stop being stingy and start being generous every day. Generous with my words of praise. Generous with my time. Generous with my talent. Generous with my treasure. Generous in every area of my life." Maybe you need to say, "I need to start tithing, Lord, just to trust you in your goodness." If you've never opened your life to Christ, say, "Jesus Christ, I want to learn to trust you. I'm tired of living an overwhelmed life. I want to live an overflowing life. Help me to do it your way because you are a good God and you want what's best for me." And I pray this in your name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Hey, if you've just prayed along with Rick to accept Jesus in your life, Rick would love to hear from you. Just email rick@pastorrick.com. Right now, here's Pastor Rick with a letter from one of our listeners.

Rick Warren: Hi everybody. Today I want to share a very powerful letter from a listener named Michael. Michael experienced terrible trauma as a child, but he says Daily Hope is helping him overcome his past, and now he's looking to the future with his kids. Let me read you just a little bit of Michael's story.

"Dear Pastor Rick, you and Daily Hope have brought God into my life and it has saved me. I am a 29-year-old father of five children and I try my hardest to teach my children to know God and to love Jesus and how to pray. And I do my best to be a good example and be worthy of all the good gifts that God has given to me. But you know, because of my childhood and the insecurities and abandonment issues that were created in my life from years of mental abuse, physical abuse, verbal abuse, and yes, even sexual abuse, I've always had a hard time trusting God. I woke up every day feeling unworthy and I suffered from feelings of anxiety and depression and I felt like God couldn't possibly love me because no one else had ever loved me. And I carried that pain inside of me for so long, craving for a close, better, intimate relationship with God. Now listening to Daily Hope has helped me achieve that and more. I'm not only better, but I'm now better for everybody else around me, spreading all that I've learned and the good news of Jesus Christ. I know God better than ever and I now have more faith than I ever knew possible because I feel his love. Thank you so much. Daily Hope does such a great work in the name of Jesus and I will forever be in your debt for bringing the fire of faith into my heart and helping me know God. I love you and I hope you continue to bring change in the world through the message of Jesus Christ."

Michael, I absolutely love how you're teaching your five kids to know Jesus. That is a real man, a real dad, a real father. It's so important to pass it on to the next generation. And I'm encouraged that Daily Hope is helping you with the trauma of all your past and helping you work through those issues and keeping you growing in the love of Jesus Christ. Stories like the one you wrote to me are what keep me going. It's why we do this: changed lives.

Now, I want to pray for you. Dear Lord, pour out your love on Michael. Help him to sense your love so that he never doubts it. Pour out your blessing and your peace on his family. I pray that they will continue to grow in their faith and that they will experience the peace that passes understanding as they follow you. God, I want to thank you for his faithfulness. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

If God is blessing you through Daily Hope, would you share your story with me? Write me, rick@pastorrick.com.

Guest (Male): Be sure to join us next time as we look into God's word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.