Rick Warren - God's Way of Meeting My Needs—Part Two

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

of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we continue in our series

called fifty Days of Faith. In these lessons, Rick looks

into God's Word to discover the true meaning of faith

and explore ways we can strengthen it. First, Pastor Rick

just released a video Bible study based on the core

teaching found in his best selling book, Created to Dream.

This dynamic study will help you reveal and fulfill the

custom made dream God has just for you. You can

take a sneak peek right now by going to Pastorick

dot com while you listen to today's message, And if

you want, you can just text the word hope to

eight hundred, six hundred five thousand and four. That's the

word hope to eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four.

Right now, here's Pastor Rick Warren with the final part

of a message called God's Way of Meeting My Needs.

Now listen to this. If you don't get anything else,

When you are giving cheerfully, you are more like Jesus

Christ than any other time. You are more like God.

You are more Godly when you are cheerfully giving than

any other time, because cheerful giving represents the essence of God.

And you cannot be a Christian, a follower of Christ

without learning to give cheerfully, because that is the nature

of God. God loves to give, and he loves to

see you give cheerfully. And he goes, that's my boy.

He looks down and he says, that's my girl. She's

given cheerfully. She's becoming like me. He's becoming like me.

So I'm to give cheerfully. And then number five, I

am to give weekly. Now that's w e e k

y n, not w e ak l y weekly. Let's

read this verse together one Grinthian sixteen to two. On

every Lord's Day. By the way, what is the Lord's

day Sunday's first day of week. Why do we worship

on Sunday because Jesus arose was resurrected on Sunday, and

so we celebrate Jesus resurrection on every Lord's Day. Read

it with me. Put aside some from what you have

earned during the week and use it for the offering.

Giving is an act of worship, and you're to give

it on the day of worship in your place of worship.

It's an act of worship, so you give it at

the place of worship when you worship me. Worship is

not just come singing some songs and hear a message.

There are other parts to worship. Prayer, commitment, and giving

are all acts of worship. And God says, I want

you to give me the first part of your money

on the first day of the week as a reminder

that I'm number one in your life. Now, how can

I learn to give cheerfully? Because by my nature I'm

not naturally a cheerful giver. So how do I learn it? Well,

in the back of your outline, there are three things

you need to remember. If if you remember these three truths,

you'll become a very cheerful giver. Number one, remember it

all comes from God. It all comes from God. You'll

never give anything away that God didn't give to you.

You would have nothing if it weren't for God. The

Bible says in the next verse Tewod Corinthia's ninety ten.

God gives seed to the farmer and food to those

who eat and need eat. And God will also give

you seed and multiply it. When a farmer goes out

to so seed, where'd he get the seed. He didn't

invent it. God even gave him the seed. He's going

to get a crop. But even the seed came from God.

So it's all God's in the first place. Second, I

remember God's guarantee, and God's guarantee is that whatever I

give to God, God is going to give back to me.

I overlook the verse on the first part. Turn it

back over for just a minute and look at Luke

six thirty eight. Now this is right from the words

that you, Jesus give to others, and God will give

to you. The measure you use for others is the

one that God will use for you. So God says,

you can choose how much I bless your life, and

you can choose by your giving. Whatever I give you

give to me. I'll give to you what will just

measure it back and forth. God is a guarantee. In

Tewod Corinthians nine to eleven, he says you will be

enriched so that you can give even more generously. Do

you know how God grows your heart, makes you, gives

you a bigger heart. You give to him, he gives

more back to you than you got. Then you give

him more than he gives more back to you. Then

you give him more and it just keeps growing your heart.

Instead of having a little, tiny, shriveled heart, he grows

bigger and bigger. So you remember God's guarantee that he

will bless you back in return. And number three, I

remember my eternal reward. I remember my eternal reward God.

Did you know that God rewards you every time you give?

And you're storing up treasure in heaven. The Bible says,

an eternal reward, Luke sixteen to nine. Use your worldly

resources to benefit others. In this way, your generosity stores

up a reward for you in heaven. Now get this,

This is so phenomenal. Anything that I hold onto in

this life, I'm losing the moment I die. Anything I

hold on too, I refuse to let go up. I'm

losing at the end of this life. But anything that

I place in God's hands I will enjoy forever an eternity,

he says, it's being stored up in heaven. Anything I

put in his hand I will be restored and rewarded

in eternity. Now it's not you die. You get to

heaven and you call back and say, wire it all up. Now,

now you gotta do your given while you're living, so

you'll be knowing where it's going.

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.

Did you know that God has a dream for your life?

Before you took your very first breath, he had already

placed the gift of imagination into your brain and hardwired

creativity into every cell of your body. But discovering and

fulfilling your God given dream will require a journey of

faith on your part. That's why Pastor Rick just released

the Created to Dream Bible Study, based on the core

teaching found in his best selling book Created to Dream.

The six week video based study will reveal the process

God uses to fulfill the custom made dream he has

it just for you, and the faith building phases he'll

lead you through as he does. This video study includes

an enhanced workbook with lesson outlines, he versus, and homework

for deeper reflection between each session. You can do the

study on your own or with friends in a small

group setting. So whether you're feeling stock, forgotten, afraid, or uninspired,

the Created to Dream Bible Study will give you the

tools you need to awaken and pursue the custom made

dream God created you to fulfill. And today, when you

give a gift to help Daily Hope take the word

of God to a hurting world, we'll send you the

Created to Dream Bible Study Kit to say thanks. Just

call eight hundred at six hundred five zero zero four

or go to Pastorick dot com to get your very

own copy of the Created to Dream Study Kit. And

if you choose to become a partner in Hope with

automated monthly giving, will also send you a very special

welcome gift to show our appreciation. That's Pastorick dot com,

or you can call eight hundred at six hundred five

zero zero four. Thank you so much for your support,

and don't forget to let us know which radio station

you heard us on. Today is the last day to

get this great resource, so don't wait.

Now let's get back to today's lesson here on Pastor

Rick's Daily Hope.

Now it's not you die. You get to have it

and you call back and say wire it all up. Now, no,

you got to do your given while you're living, so

you'll be knowing where it's going. And you've heard me

say many times you cannot take it with you, but

you can send it on ahead. And every time you give,

you know what you're doing. You're storing up treasure in heaven.

And that's treasure is insured by the FDIC Father's Deposit

Insurance Corporation. You're having a father. So the principle is

when you have a need, plan a seed, and the

procedure is give with the right attitude. Now, if you

do those two things, then comes the promise. And the

promise is that I can expect God to meet all

my needs. I can expect God to meet all my needs.

And God promises this over and over in the Bible.

In fact, did you know that there are more promises

about giving in the Bible than any other thing, bar none.

God has more promises in the Bible about this. That's

why we have to deal with it in this Fifty

Days of Faith, more promises about giving than anything else.

Because God wants to teach you to expect him to

meet all your needs. Now look at this verse two

Corinthians nine to eight. God is able to make all

grace abound to you, so that in all things, at

all times, having all that you need, you will abound

in every good work. Now, is there any word that

you saw repeated? There circle all the alls? All grace,

God says, I'll give you all grace, not some grace,

all grace, so that in all things, not in some

things in life, but in all things, at all times,

not some of the time, but all of the time,

you'll have all that you need, not some of what

you need, but all that you need, and abound in

every good work. Question, what does that verse not cover

in your life? It covers everything everything. Does that include

mortgage maaments? Yes? Does that include school bills, yes, doctor bills? Yes?

God says all. Now here's the real issue. Is God

a liar? That's the issue? You see, Folks. When you

talk about giving, it's not even really about giving. It's

about faith. It's about faith. Giving shows whether I have

faith or not? Will God do what he says you'll do?

Will God keep his promises? Can I depend on God?

Giving is not even about giving, It's about faith. You know, Honestly,

I feel sorry for people who don't tithe because it

means they don't trust God. I have to I can

depend on God to keep his word that if I

put in first my finances, that He'll take care of

all my needs. Now I figure this one out. I

don't know how some people can trust God for their

eternal salvation but can't trust God with their finances. How

does that one figure? That doesn't make sense. If I

can trust God to save me, forgive me and get

me into a heaven, can I can depend on him

to keep his word if I do what he tells

me to do. Of course, giving is a test of faith. Now,

It's not a test of feelings, has nothing to do

with how you feel. It's it's just a test of faith. Now,

why is this so important to God? Why is my

giving so important to God? Why is your giving so

important to God? Look at the next verse. It is

proof of your faith. People will praise God because you

will obay the gospel you say you believe, and because

you freely share with them and others. When I give,

it proves my faith. It is a testimony to other

people that I really do believe what I say. I

believe that God will take care of me, and God

uses it to bless other people. That's why it's so important.

It's an issue of faith. This week, I got this

letter this week, and it says, Dear Pastor Rick, last February,

you gave a message that got me thinking about tithing.

Up to that point, my wife and I only gay

sporadically what was left over from time to time. But

you quoted a Bible promise about tithing where God says

test me. So my wife and I decided to take

the challenge. We committed to tithing the full ten percent

of our income for this year. Little did we know

what God had in store for us. I was in

the process of shutting down one company and starting a

new one, and I wasn't sure I would even have

any income this year to tithe on. But then in

May I purchased some property and I sold it in

October for a substantial profit. And the check and close

represents our tithe from that sale. But here's the test

of faith part. The week before I wrote this check,

I had to close on another property, fund another project,

and pay company overhead. I began to wonder if I

could afford to write our tithe check. It would be

tight without that money. But a commitment is a commitment,

and God comes first. And so we wrote the check

and we never felt better then last Monday, I got

a call that gave me a new contract to develop

a new property. And the income is almost twice amount

of the tithe we just gave.

You.

See, Rick, I used to think that I couldn't afford

to tithe, but now I know that I can't afford

to not tithe. You learned that lesson yet. The verse

he's talking about is a very famous verse in the Bible.

It's the next one on your outline Malachi three eight

to ten. Look at this verse. Bring your whole tithe

into the storehouse. Test me in this, says the Lord,

and see if I will not throw open the floodgates

of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you

will not have enough room for it. Now I want

you to circle the phrase test me. God issues a challenge. Here,

here's the Pepsi challenge verse of the Bible. He says,

I dare you. By the way, did you know this

is the only verse in the Bible where you can

prove that God exists. God says, I'll prove it to you.

Test me and I'll prove it to you. He says,

let's play a little giving game. You give to me

and I will give back to you, and we'll see

who can outgive the other person. And he says, I

dare you. Now, this is amazing to me that the

God had created the entire universe puts himself on trial.

God did not have to make this promise. God could

have just said I want you to tithe because I

say so, and I'm God and you're not, and you

owe me everything anyway. But he doesn't do that. Because

God is a loving, faithful, giving god. He wants you

to learn to be like him. He wants you to

learn to not be stingy. He wants you to learn

to be jenus generous. Did you know that the most

sensitive nerve in your body goes from your heart to

your wallet? It does it? Does you know? We just

get nervous even talking about this. I could talk about

all kinds of other stuff and you wouldn't get nervous.

But it's like, I gotta hold onto this now. He

could have just said give it. But instead he makes

a promise, and he puts his character on the line,

and he says, test me is God real? Is God loving?

Will God keep his promise? You'll never know until you

start tithing. Now, tithe means ten percent. It doesn't mean

an eighth or fifteenth or thirty. It means ten percent,

God says the first. If I make one hundred bucks,

the first ten buck goes back to God. If I

make five hundred bucks, the first fifty bucks goes back

to God. Why did God say ten percent? Beats me.

I haven't the slightest idea why he said that. I

don't know. I do know that it all belongs to God.

He could have said, give me fifty percent and you

take fifty. He could have said you give me ninety

and live on ten. But he just said ten, So

I figure he knows what he's doing. Now, I know

what some of your thinking thing. You know, I'd like

to do this, Rick, but I'm just scared. You know,

it just scares me. And when I hear that, it

just means you just don't really understand how much God

loves you, and how much He has promised take care

of you, and how much he wants to grow your faith.

So today we're going to remind ourselves of how much

God loves us. Look at these verses on the bottom

of your outline. Second Corinthians eight nine. Remember the generosity

of Jesus Christ. Look at the next verse. We are

saved because Jesus, amazingly and out of sheer generosity, moved

to save us. Look at the next verse, John one

point sixteen. We all live off his generous bounty, gift

after gift after gift. The reason we give is because

Jesus first gave to us. He gave his life for

us two thousand years ago. Jesus Christ stretched out his

arms on the cross, and he made the ultimate sacrifice

when he gave his life for you. Even if God

never did anything else for you in life, you owe

him your entire life for what he's already done for.

You gave his life so that you could spend eternity

in heaven. Now today we've talked about giving back to God,

and I make no apology for that. If you're going

to grow in faith, you've got to learn to give

back to God. But what God really really wants is

you your love, your life. The last verse on the

outline says, this offer your lives as a living sacrifice

to him. When you think of what he's done for you?

Is this too much to ask? The answer is no.

Let's bow our heads. If I can trust Jesus Christ

with my forgiveness and my freedom and my future, I

can certainly trust him with my finances. Do you need

to ask God to forgive you for not trusting him

in your finances? If so, do so now and ask

Him to give you the faith to do the right thing. Jesus,

we will never be able to repay what you've given

to us. In fact, everything we have is a gift

from you. We can only give back what you've given

to us. Help us to learn the miracle of generosity,

stretch our faith, increase our commitment, deepen our love for you,

break the grip of materialism in our lives. Father, there

are many people here today with severe financial difficulties, and

we pray for them as a church family. Right now,

we ask you to help them do a miracle in

their lives as they trust you, and prepare us to

do a miracle through us and in our hearts this

next week. In Jesus' name, Amen.

This is Pastor Rick's daily Hope. We are so happy

that you've chosen to study along with us today. Did

you know that you can start every day with hope

and encouragement from Pastor Rick. Well, you can when you

sign up to receive his life changing daily Bible teaching

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Just go to.

Pastorick dot com and sign up for his free daily

Hope devotional. Don't miss out. Sign up now at Pastorick

dot com. Rick will be right back to close out

our time today. But first, did you know that God

has a dream for your life? Before you took your

very first breath, he had already placed the gift of

imagination into your brain and hardwired creativity into every cell

of your body. But discovering and fulfilling your God given

dream will require a journey of faith on your part.

That's why Pastor Rick just released the Created to Dream

Bible Study, based on the core teaching found in his

best selling book Created to Dream. This six week video

based study will reveal the process God uses to fulfill

the custom made dream he has just for you, and

the faith building phases he'll lead you through as he does.

This video study includes an enhanced workbook with lesson outlines,

key verses, and the homework for deeper reflection between each

session You can do the study on your own or

with friends in a small group setting. So whether you're

feeling stuck, forgotten, afraid, or uninspired, the Created to Dream

Bible Study will give you the tools you need to

awaken and pursue the custom made dream God created you

to fulfill. And today, when you give a gift to

help daily Hope take the word of God to a

hurting world, we'll send you the Created to Dream Bible

Study Kit to say thanks. Just call eight hundred six

hundred five thousand and four or go to Pastorick dot

com to get your very own copy of the Created

to Dream Study Kit. Today is the last day to

get this great resource, so don't wait. And if you

choose to become a partner in Hope with automated monthly giving,

we'll also send you a very special welcome gift to

show our appreciation. That's Pastorick dot com or just call

eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four and thank

you so much for your support. And don't forget to

let us know which radio station you heard us on.

Here's Rick with a letter from one of our listeners.

You know, we get letters and emails from people all

around the world and from all ages. And here's one

that I got from a listener in Indonesia. His name

is Steven Any, twelve years old. He wrote, Dear Pastor Rick,

thank you for the powerful way that you've impacted my life.

I'm just a twelve year old schoolboy in Jakarta, Indonesia,

but I listen to the broadcast every morning on the

way to school. My life has changed completely this year.

I'm at a new school and my family's just about

recovered from some financial problems, but I'm still having to

learn a whole new way of life. Some days I

really feel bad and I ask God to help me,

but then the Daily Hope broadcast comes on the radio,

and you always say something helps me feel better, and

I know that at that moment God is trying to

speak directly to me through you. So thank you ever

so much. Well, thank you ever so much, Steven. I

love hearing from people like you literally all around the

world who've been impacted through Daily Hope. You know, by

the way, I want to thank all of those of

you who support us regularly with your financial gut every month.

We can't do this without you, but because of you,

we're able to minister to people like this twelve year

old boy, Stephen and Jakarta, Indonesia. You're never gonna know

this side of heaven the number of lives that you

have impacted because of your gifts to Daily Hope. Thank you,

thank you, thank you. When we get to heaven, we're

all going to rejoice and see the results there.

If you'd like to let Rick know how this broadcast

has blessed you, please feel free to send him an

email at Rick at Pastorrick dot com. That's Rick at

pastorrick dot com. 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.