Rick Warren - Integrating God’s Word Into My Life Part Two

This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry

of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we bring our series called

forty Days in the Word to a close with a

final look at practical Bible study tools that will reignite

your passion for God's Word and revolutionize your life as

you grow closer to Jesus. First, we are excited to

let you know that very generous friends of Daily Hope

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six hundred five thousand and four and have your financial

gift matched up to fifty thousand dollars. Here's Pastor Rick

Warren with the final part of a message called integrating

God's Word into My Life.

Now, let me give you God's prescription for relationships. Number one.

Instead of finding the right person, become the right person.

You focus on building character in your life. The kind

of person that you know is worthy of marriage. Okay,

become the right person. Then number two, instead of falling

in love, walk in love. You see, love is a choice.

It's one hundred percent under control. You say I fell

out of love. Well, you chose to fall out of love,

because you choose to fall in and you choose to

fall out. Love is a choice. It's not an emotion.

Love creates emotion, oh baby, oh baby, some really good ones.

But love is not an emotion. Love is a choice.

It's making your problem my problem. It's choosing your need

over my need. It's being other centered rather than me centered.

So third step is fix your hope on God and

honor him through your relationship. And then number four. If

failure occurs, repeatstebs one, two, and three and that's the difference.

Now you want to build your life on the word

of God. Say, you know, I don't always agree with it,

I don't always like it. It's not always convenient, it's

not always poetically correct. But if God said it, it's

got to be true. So God, I'm going to build

my life on the Bible. It is my final authority.

This is my final authority for life. Now, I've asked

Pastor Buddy to come and share the next couple of points.

Okay, the second way to integrate the Word of God

into your life is to feed on it. Feed yourself

on the Word of God. The Bible tells us that

the Word of God is spiritual food. In fact, it

uses several pictures. The Bible describes itself as the water,

the milk, the read, and the meat of the spiritual life.

So it has everything that you're going to need for sustenance.

But you have to be feeding yourself. You have to

be eating something because just like you need physical food

for physical strength, well you've got to have spiritual food

for spiritual strength. We need to be feeding ourselves so

that we have strength to accomplish the tasks ahead of us.

The Bible says that we are all building, and the

Bible also says that we're all in spiritual warfare, and

you're not going to have much success in building your

life or in winning the spiritual battles that you face

if you're starving yourself to death. So we need to

be feeding ourselves on the Word of God. Now, one

of the things that I have found is unlike regular food,

when I eat. When I feed on the Word, the

more I eat, the hungrier I get, the more I

taste to see how good the Lord is. The more

of the sweetness of the honey of the Word, the

milk of the Word, the hungrier that I get for

it Collautions three sixteen. The Bible says, let the Word

of Christ dwell in you richly. Let it dwell in you,

Let it move into you, let it inhabit you. Take

up residence in a rich, a profound, and a life

changing and a life giving way. That's what that verse

is saying. So how do we feed ourselves on the

Word of God to allow that to happen, so that

God's Word is dwelling in us and building us up. Well,

let me give you some things to write down. These

are actually some review points from what Pastor Rick talked

about just a few weeks ago. The first way that

you can take the Word of God in is I

can receive it with my ears. Write that down. I

can receive it with my ears. That means I have

to be hearing the word of God. Bible says faith

comes through hearing the word of God. The second way

to feed on the Word of God is I read

it with my eyes. So I hear it with my ears.

But now I read it with my eyes. Why do

you think God gave you this book not just so

you can put a on a shelf. Having a Bible

in your house is not going to bless your life.

You've got to have the Bible in your heart. You've

got to take it in by reading the Word of God.

So there's a third way that we can feed on

the Word of God, and that is that I research it.

I research it with my hands and with my mouth.

Now what does that mean. It's talking about studying the

Word of God. Remember the difference between reading devotionally and

studying the Bible is that when you study the Bible,

you've got a pencil in your hand. You've got to

be writing things down, writing down your thoughts, journaling what

God is saying to you. A fourth way to feed

yourself on the Word is I can reflect on it

with my mind. I reflect on it with my mind.

I don't just read it, maybe talk about it, and

then go on as though nothing had happened. But I

spend time meditating on the Word of God. That's what

forty days in the Word has been all about. Giving

us different ways to meditate, to reflect on the Word

of God, to think about it, to chew on it.

And then a fifth way I can feed myself is

I remember it with my heart. I remember it with

my heart. There's a difference between remembering with your mind

and with your heart. This is talking about memorizing scripture.

But now, why does God want us to do this? Well,

that brings us to the next point. Not only are

we to feed on it, I want you to write

this down. We integrate the Word into our lives when

we live by it. You've got to live by the

word of God. It is the word of God that

sets the standard by which you judge everything else of

value in your life. It's the standard by which you

make decisions for the things that you are facing in life.

You've got to build your life on something. You've got

to base those decisions on something. And it comes when

we allow the Word of God to become the standard

by which we live. The Bible says in Psalm one

blessed is the one, the man, the woman who doesn't

walk in the counsel of the ungodly, but who meditates

on the Word of God. What does that mean? It

means if you want your life to be blessed, you

don't build your life on the counsel of the world,

on the way the world thinks, but you meditate, you

build your life on the way that God thinks, the

counsel of the ungodly. That's the step that we hear

all the time on television, in movies, in the print media.

It's the talk that goes on around the world around us.

It's the values of the world, and the Bible says,

if you want your life to be blessed, you don't

build your life. You don't live your life by that

kind of counsel, but live your life, build your life,

feed your life on the word of God, because it's

the word of God that will give you hope when

you're in crisis. It's the word of God that will

give you comfort when you are in despair. It's the

word of God that will give you strength when you

are weak. It's a word of God that will give

you wisdom when you're confused. It's the word of God

that will give you guidance when you're looking for direction.

And it's the word of God that will give you

strength to resist, to fight against temptation. Look at this

next verse in your outline, Psalm one, nineteen eleven. The

Bible says, I've hidden your word in my heart so

that I might not sin against you. He says, this

is the reason I've hidden your word. That's what memorizing

the Bible is about. It's about hiding it, taking it

into my heart. He says, I've hidden your word in

my heart. Not so that I can just be a

goodie two shoes little Christian, but so that I will

not sin against you. Remember in Matthew chapter four, when

Jesus was tempted, there were three times the devil came

and tempted him, and all three times Jesus only used

one weapon to defend himself. He said, yeah, but it's written.

And the devil would tempt him again, and he would say, yeah,

but it's written. It is written. It was the only

weapon he used to defend himself. If you want to

be like Christ, you've got to defend yourself the way

he did. When you let the word of Christ dwell

in you richly, you absorb the nature of Christ, the

flavor and the aroma of Christ. But something else happens

to you. You take on a whole new identity, and

you begin to become the man or woman of God

that he has always wanted you to become. You begin

to become the man or woman of God that you

have always wanted to be. When you let the Word

of Christ dwell in you richly, not only do you

know what the Word of God says, you begin to

become more and more like the author. Now, Pastor Rick

is going to come and share with us the fourth

way to integrate the Word of God into our lives.

To become a woman of the Word or to become

a man of the Word, you got to first make

the Bible your foundation and you build on it. Then

you got to make the Bible your food and eat it.

And then the third metaphor is you make it your

lifestyle in which you're going to live by. You make

it your standard in which you live by. The fourth

thing you do is you make it the seed that

you grow through. Okay, this is the fourth metaphor. How

do I integrate God's Word? I grow through it? Now,

I told you a couple of weeks ago that the

Bible is often referred to as a seed, and it's

planted in your heart and when the truth is planted

in your heart, if it finds good soil, it grows

and it produces fruit. Remember last week, no root, no

fruit and fruit. God wants you to be fruitful in

your life. In order to have that, you've got to

have an open heart. You've got to have a receptive heart.

You've got to have good soil in your life. Now

the fourth verse that we looked at, that we memorized

earlier this month. So I'm one nineteen eighteen. Open my

eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

There's a lot of wonderful things in the Bible, but

you can't see unless God opened your eyes. Circle the

word open. That means being receptive. I've got to be

open to the word of God. So if I'm going

to become a woman of the Word or a man

of the Word, I've got to be open to it.

That means, as I said earlier, even when I don't

like it, Okay the least, Lord, I'm open to it.

I'm going to listen to it. Now. Jesus told the

whole story about this. It's in Luke chapter eight. It's

called the Parable of the Soils, and he says there

a farmer goes out in so seed and it falls

on four different kinds of soil, and it gets four

different kinds of results. And he says, this represents four

different attitudes you can have toward the Bible. Now, I

used to think that these four soils represent four different

kinds of people. They don't. It represents four attitudes, and

on the same day I could have all four attitudes. Okay,

the first is the hardened soil, and the hardened soil

represents a closed mind. The hardened soil in this story

represents a closed mind. Sometimes we don't ever even give

God a chance to talk to us. Our minds are

made up, our hearts are hardened. We're unwilling to listen.

I don't want to hear what God has say about

my boyfriend. I like my boyfriend, so I don't want

to hear what God has I don't want to hear

what God has to say about my debt. I don't

want to hear what God has say about sex. I

don't want to hear what God has to say about

this or that because I've already got my mind made up.

That is a closed mind. And a narrow footpath is

narrow and it's hardened. And that's the way a lot

of people's minds are. They're narrow minded and they're hard minded.

They're not open. They really aren't open to learning new things.

And so the first action is I must cultivate an

open mind.

You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Rick will be

back in just a moment with the rest of today's lesson.

You can sign up for Pastor Rick's free email devotional

at pastorick dot com. That's pastorick dot com.

Pastor Rick is always reminding us about the importance of

getting God's word into our hearts, because only God's word

can true transform your life. As you spend time focusing

on his word, you'll be better equipped to make wise decisions,

resist temptation, find comfort when you're sad, and you'll experience

the peace of God's presence. That's why Pastor Rick created

the Hearing the Voice of God Scripture Box, and it

is beautiful with a soft black leather look and feel

and an embossed Bible verse on top. It's filled with

fifty two Bible verses specially selected by Rick to inspire

you to listen to God's voice in everything. You do,

they'll help build your confidence in asking God for what

you need, and they'll help you find the biblical wisdom

necessary to understand God's vision for your life. The scripture

cards are thoughtfully designed with artwork and gold foil accents,

and they'll help you memorize these life changing verses so

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Hearing the Voice of God scripture box. Again. That's Fastrick

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And now here's Pastor Rick Warren with the second half

of today's lesson.

Sometimes we don't ever even give God a chance to

talk to us. Our minds are up, our hearts are hardened.

And so the first action is, I must cultivate an

open mind. Cultivate and open mind. If I'm going to

let God's truth really change my life, I just got

to be open to it. I gotta have a cultivate

and open mind. Then Jesus said, now, the second kind

of soil that the farmer throws seed on is what

he calls the shallow soil, and that represents the superficial mind.

And so what is the action step? How do I

get some roots in my life? How do I get

some spiritual maturity in my life? Well, here's the second

action step. I must make time for God's word. If

I just spind a quick little glance at it once

a day, I glance at it, I don't gaze at it,

I don't give it any time. Then I can't build

any roots. Roots take time to develop, and no roots,

no fruits. Busyness is a major barrier that keeps you

from being a man of the word or a woman

of the word. Now, a third soil is the soil

with weeds, and the soil with weeds represents a preoccupied mind.

In other words, the seed God gives a truth and

he plants it in my mind in my heart, and

I go, yeah, okay, and I let it sit there

and it starts growing. But then I let other things

choke it out of my life, worry and busyness and

money and job and all these other things, and the

weeds choke it out, and I get preoccupied and I

can't really do anything with it. All the circuits are

busy in my life. So that's why I can't hear God.

What's the action step. I must eliminate the distractions in

my life. Then, finally, Jesus says, there's a fourth kind

of soil that's a good soil with the seed of

truth gets planted in your brain in your heart, and

it really is allowed to grow and develop, and it

gets roots and then it gets fruit. And this is

a willing mind. And a willing mind, says God. I'm

willing to learn, teachable, I'm humble, I'm teachable. I don't

I don't think I know it all, so God teach me.

And the action step is to cooperate with what God says.

That leads us to the fifth action step. If I

want to be a woman of the Word, if I

want to be a man of the Word, I got

to build on it. I got to feed on it.

I got to live by it. I've got to grow

through it. Number five, I've got to act on it.

And the fifth Bible verse that we've memorized during these

six weeks together is James one twenty two. James one

twenty two. Do not merely listen to the Word and

so deceive yourselves. Do what it says fall I do

is I go to church and it's going in one

ear and out the other. I listened to it. I

am living in a life of self deception. I think

because I've written notes down, I've got it. No, I

don't have it. I only have it. You only believe

the parts of the Bible you actually do. Finally, there's

one last thing I need to do with the Word

of God if I'm going to become that person that

has an integrated life of integrity, and that is I

must trust in it. I build on it, I feed

on it, I live by it, I grow through it,

I act on it, and I then live it out

by trusting in it. Now, why can't I trust the Bible?

We did a whole session on that. God is never

going to guide you in the wrong direction. You can

always trust him. If he tells you go that way,

you better go that way because it's always going to

be the right way. It's going to be the best way.

It's going to cause a whole lot less problems if

you do that. So I'm one nineteen one oh five

is our memory verse for this week. This is the

one I want you to work on. Your word is

a lamp for my feet to my feet and a

light for my path. Said some of you go, I

have the slightest idea what I'm supposed to do about

this relationship I'm in right now. I haven't the slightest

idea whether I should accept this job, offer what I

should do with the next five years of my life.

I'm confused. No, you're in the dark. What do you

do when you're in the dark? You flip on a light.

This is why you need to memorize this verse, because

it's a promise from God. And the next time you're

in the dark, and you're confused, and you don't know

which way to turn, and you don't know what to

do and how to go, what to do or all

of that. You just go God, you have said this

on one nineteen. Your word is a lamp to my

feet and a light to my path. God, keep your promise.

I'm going to start reading your word. Show me what

you want me to do. Let's bow our heads. Father,

I want to thank you for the Word of God.

I thank you that it calms our fears, It enlightens

our mind, it strengthens our will, it grows our maturity.

I thank you Lord that it calms our worries and

it leads us in the dark. Oh, all of the

things that your word does. We want to commit to

being a part of an ongoing process of continuing in

your word. If you've never invited Jesus Christ in your life,

said Jesus Christ, I don't understand it all, but I

opened my life to you, and I want to start

that journey. I want to get to know you and

I want to know your purpose for my life. In

your name, I pray Amen. Hi everybody, This is Rick,

and I hope you enjoyed today's broadcast. You know, if

you just prayed that prayer for the very first time,

or you just recommitted your life to Jesus again today,

would you let me know about it. There's something real

about sharing your commitment. So write me Rick at Pastorick

dot com and say, Rick, I prayed that prayer of commitment,

I gave my life to Christ. And I'll send you

some material that'll help you on your journey with Jesus.

And I'll also pray for you. God bless you.

This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. If you've missed any

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