Rick Warren - Daring To Give My Best—Part Two

Hello, everybody, Welcome to Daily Hope with Pastor Rick Warren.

So we're continuing with this series called Daring Faith the

Key to Miracles. And in this series you're learning how

to have a bold, unshakable faith that gives you courage

to impact the world around you. And I know we

all want that. All right, Well, let's hear what Rick

has to share with us today with the final part

of a message called Daring to give God my.

Best Now, to be the best I can be for good. First,

I have to do it intentionally. I have to make

the choice to go after it. Second, I must discipline myself.

And of course this is what athletes do. No athlete

becomes a pro athlete without discipline, without training. You don't

become great by doing whatever you feel. You don't become

great by living by your moods. You just can't make

up your own rules. You can't. There are no shortcuts

to maturity. There are no shortcuts to greatness. Look at

a couple verses. Verse five says this, if anyone competes

as an athlete, he cannot receive the victor's crown unless

he competes according to the rules. And in one Corinthians nine,

twenty five twenty seven. To win the contest, you must

deny yourself many things that would keep you from doing

your best. An athlete goes into strict training just to

win a ribbon or a medal that won't last. But

we do it for an eternal reward that will last forever.

So I discipline my body like an athlete, training it

to do what it should. Now we all know stories

of what Olympian athletes give up in order to win

a gold medal. They pretty much put their life on hold.

They put all it, They put their social life on hold.

They have a rigid schedule of when I get up

in the morning, when I go to bed at night.

They have a rigid schedule of the training table, what

they eat, what they won't eat, what they do, what

they don't don't do. They give up. They make enormous

sacrifices to win a gold or silver or a bronze,

And God says, you know what, nobody's even going to

remember those rewards. And they gave their whole life. They

gave their whole life to something that's just going to vanish.

It's not going to last, but he says it is

a wise move to do that for something that's going

to last forever in eternity, and to make your life

count and say, Okay, there's some things I can do

without so I can spend more time with God, so

I can give more to God, so I could serve more,

so I could be more and what God wants me

to be. I would again ask you this question, what

am I willing to do without in order to be

the best? Am I willing to do without popularity? Am

I willing to do without wealth? Am I willing to

do with without comfort? I saw a poster yesterday and

it said this, the pain of regret is always greater

than the pain of discipline. That's a pretty profound statement.

The pain of regret is always greater than the pain

of discipline. How would your life be better if you

had been just a little bit more disciplined early on

in your life? What are some things you could be

enjoying today if you had been more disciplined in earlier life.

The pain of regret goes on and on and on.

I never learned that language, and I wanted to, but

I didn't. I never did this. I never did It

is takes discipline. What do you wish you'd been more

disciplined about I would say start now, So Rick, how

do I be more disciplined? I try for a while,

and then I give up. It's because you're depending on

your power, not God's power. Will power doesn't work. Let

me just be real honest about will power doesn't work.

It'll work for about ninety days. You can change anything

in your life life for about ninety days. That's why

almost one hundred percent of New Year's resolutions are over

by March. Because you could force yourself to do something anything,

for about ninety days, and then you're going to give up.

You don't need will power, you need God's power. And

how do you get God's power by focusing on his reward?

Notice the secret the personal discipline is in that verse

that's right there. He says we do it for an

eternal reward, and that leads us to the third key

we learn from athletes. Write this down. To be the

best I can be for God, I must stay focused

on the reward. I must stay focused on the reward.

What's the payoff of doing right? What's the payoff of

doing good? What's the payoff of serving Jesus Christ? Just

rewards forout eternity. That's no little ribbon or pin you're

going to get in this life. I have to remember

the result, the prize, the payoff, the reward. By the way,

did you know this is what caused Jesus to be

able to endure the cross? How was Jesus able to

put up with all the beating, the suffering, the punishment,

the torture, all of them evil and the mean things

they did to him before he went to the cross

and then nailed him to the cross? How did he

put up with all that suffering? The Bible says, he

looked beyond the pain to the reward that he was

going to receive, and the benefit and the prize and

the payoff. The Bible says this, look up here on

the screen Hebrews twelve. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who

both began and finished this race we're in. You're in

a race, where you realize it or not, it's the

race of life. Study how he did it because he

never lost sight of where he was headed, that joyful

finish with God in heaven. He could put up with

anything along the way, the cross, shame, whatever, And now

he's there in the place of honor right along alongside God.

You can handle enormous pain in your life, and you

can handle enormous discipline in your life if you realize

there's a better purpose for it and there's going to

be a payoff at the end. When you forget the payoff,

when you forget the reward, when you forget the prize,

then you're going to give up. And that's why Paul says,

run to win in your life and keep your eye

on the prize. Know what God's doing. Can you imagine

yourself in heaven receiving the prize of God, the well done,

the commendation and the promotion and the rewards that God's

going to give you. Let that motivate you. Paul says

it like this in one Corinthians nine twenty six. I

run straight to the goal with purpose in every step.

He's purpose driven, all right. I run straight to the

goal with purpose in every step. I fight to win.

I'm gonna just shadow boxing. I'm just playing around the

problem with a lot of people today. They're just shadowboxing.

They're air guitaring, they're Christian life, they're pretending they're just

playing around. They're just hitting the air. They're not serious,

and he says, run straight to the goal. You need

to stay focused on the finished line. You need to

stay focused on this fact. Everything you see is one

day going to be gone. So you shouldn't be invested

in a lot of time and money and energy in it.

You should be primarily investing your time in things that

are going to last forever. What's that love, the word

of God and people. Those are going to last forever.

Everything else isn't going to last. And so you ignore

the crowds. And if people cheer you, or people cheer you,

you just ignore them. You're running the race. You keep

your eye on the goal, and you don't waste energy.

How many things did I do this last week? Waste

the energy on things that really don't matter? How many

things that I worry about this week that really doesn't

matter in the long scheme of thing. I need to

be more focused, more purpose driven, like the competitive athlete.

Then finally we come to the third metaphor, and he says,

you know, you can learn from agriculture. You can learn

from farmers some truths about your spiritual life. And here's

what the Bible says about that. Tewod Corinthians nine six

to fourteen. Remember this, A farmer who plants only a

few seeds will get a small crop, but the one

who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must

each make up your mind as to how much you

should give. Don't give reluctantly or in response to pressure,

For God loves the person who gives cheerfully. Then if

I can give not out of pressure or reluctance, but cheerfully,

then God will generously provide all you need. This is

a promise, and you will always have everything that you

need and plenty left over to share with others. For

God is the one who gives seed to the farmer,

and then he gives the farmer bread to eat. And

in the same way, just like he does with the farmer,

he will give you many opportunities to do good, and

He will produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes,

you will be enriched so that you can give even

more generously, and you will be glorifying God through your

generous gifts. And your generosity will prove that you are

obedient to the good News of Christ. Now I could

spend a week on this text, but let me just

summarize it. Your life on earth is like planning a garden.

That's what he's saying here. He's saying that while you're

here on earth, you got sixty eighty maybe ninety at

the most, one hundred years. While you're here, you're planning

a garden. And the kind of seeds that you plant

while you're here on earth, you're going to harvest in heaven.

What you sow on earth, you will read in heaven.

What you plant on earth will be the fruit that

you get to enjoy for eternity in heaven. And he said,

if you plant generously, if you plant a lot of seeds,

you're gonna have a lot of fruit in heaven. You're

gonna have a lot to joy there. Then he says,

if you plant sparingly, you're a miser and you hold

it back and you don't give it away. He said,

you're not gonna have much up there. He says, if

you sow generously, you're gonna reap generously. Now, five times

in the Bible, Jesus gives the same command, and he

says this, I tell you, store up treasure for yourself

in heaven. Store up treasure for yourself in heaven. Store

up treasure for yourself in heaven. Store up treasure for

yourself in heaven. Store up treasure for yourself in heaven.

Anytime God says something five times, he says, I really

want you to get this. I highly recommend you store

up treasure in heaven. Are you doing that? So, how

in the world do I do that? By planting seeds

of generosity. Anytime you plant a seed of generosity, I'm

not just talking about money. I'm talking about what you

give of your life away. You're planning a seed of

generosity when you help somebody else, when you are unselfish,

when you serve, when you put yourself out for the

benefit of somebody else, when you do something totally unselfish,

when you are generous with your time, when you're generous

with your money and your income, when you are generous

with your reputation, when you're generous with your talent and

you use it for the benefit of others, not yourself,

you are planting seeds, and he says, I highly recommend

that you sow generously because you want a lot of

fruit in heaven. You want a lot there. Here's the

final lesson. Write this down to reap a great harvest.

I must plant generously in faith. I must plant generously

in faith. Can I have done this hundreds and hundreds

and hundreds of times? You know our story. You know that.

Can I give away ninety one percent of our income

and we live on nine and we raise that from

ten percent every year for forty years, and you cannot

outgive God. I just give you a clear example. I

played this game for forty years of God. I lose

every year. You cannot outgive God. Let me end with

two promises of Jesus. Luke Chapter six says, this give

and it will be given back to you. You'll be

given much. It will pour it into your hands, more

than you can hold. You will be given so much

it will spill out on your lap. The way you

give to others is the way God will give to you.

Underlying that verse, the way you give to others is

the way God will give to you. I highly recommend

you start being generous in planning seeds in this life

to harvest in the next. And then in Mark chapter ten,

verse twenty nine thirty one, Jesus gives a guarantee about

anything you give up for his sake. Mark ten, twenty

nine thirty one Jesus says this, I guarantee you this. Now,

if God guarantees something, you can count on that one. Okay,

I guarantee you this. Anyone who gives up anything for

my sake and for the good news, whether it's a

home or family member or property, will get more than

that back. Is a guarantee of Jesus multiplied one hundredfold.

And he says, in this world to come, in the

world to come, that will be given eternal life forever. Now,

God says, anything that I give up for his sake,

for his kingdom, anything I sacrifice for him, I will

be returned one hundredfold. Do you know what one hundredfold is.

That's ten thousand percent interest. Do you know any stockbroker

who will guarantee that? Do you know anybody who will

guarantee you ten thousand percent interest on your return? No,

you do not. Only God and sons can do that.

They've been doing business with people like you for two

thousand years. That is the promise of God. Now you

can either believe it or you don't. But if you

don't believe it, why do you believe Jesus will save

you and take you to heaven? That's the same Jesus,

Why do some people trust God with their eternal salvation

and don't trust God with their finances? That does not

make sense. It then makes sense. So when we look

at these three people the.

Soldier, the effective soldier saves lives, the effective athlete wins

the prize, and the effective farmer harvests a larger size.

One hundred fold. Now, as a close in this message,

I've asked you a couple times to consider, what is

it that I might give up or let go of

in order to have more time for the things that

matter in life? What is it that I could let

go of in order to give more, to serve more,

to share more, to be more, to be all God

wants to be in order to be the best you

can be. Now, the fact is, there are a lot

of things in your life you could probably do without,

and you wouldn't miss them, a lot of things, But

there is one thing you cannot do without. You got

to have this one. What you cannot do without is

a daily deep connection with Jesus Christ. If you're going

to grow and become the man God wants you to be,

if you're going to grow and become the woman God

wants you to be. You have to have a daily

deep connection with Jesus Christ. You can't live a day

without him. Because these things that we just talked about,

these things, three from the soldier, three from the farmer,

and one from them, three from the athlete, one from

the farmer. These seven things, you can't do them on

your own. You can't do them on will power. You'll

do them for a while and you'll give up. You

need God's power. You need to be plugged into Him.

And that's what it takes. That's power. Heads. Would you

pray this prayer? Dear God. I have to admit that

I have not always used my time for things that

really matter, and I have wasted energy and money on

things that aren't going to last. But I want that

to change. I want to run my race to win.

I want to win the prize. I want to reap

the harvest. I want to please my commanding officer, You

and Lord. If that means sacrificing my comfort, so be it.

If that means and involves eliminating distractions, so be it.

If that means even being willing to die for you,

so be it. I intend to win. I want the

rest of my life to be the best of my life.

And God, I know I can't change on my own.

I don't have enough willpower. I need your power to

discipline myself to go for the best, to stay focused

on the reward. I'm asking you to teach me to

plant generously so I can harroravist abundantly in the next life.

Help me to not be short thinking. Help me not

to think of only the hearing now, which is not

going to last, but to live my life the way

you intended me to in light of eternity, and to

do now what I will later enjoy for eternity. If

you've never invited Jesus Christ in your life, said Jesus Christ,

come into my life and save me right now. I

want to know you. I want to trust you, and

I want to learn to love you. I give you

myself completely, and I ask you to use me for

your purposes in your name. I pray Amen. Hi everybody,

this is Rick and I hope you and 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 pastor Rick 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 will help you

on your journey with Jesus. And I'll also pray for you.

God bless you.

What a life giving message from Pastor Rick. And now

here's Rick with a special message.

Jesus told his disciples that they should live their lives

according to five specific purposes. He said, you've got to

love God with all your heart. That's worship, and love

your neighbors yourself. That's ministry. That's called the Great Commandment.

And then Jesus said, go make disciples. That's evangelism. Baptize

them into the Family of God. That's fellowship, a sign

of fellowship. And then he said, teach them obey everything

I've taught you. That's discipleship. And we call that the

Great Commission. We believe it daily hope that a great

commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will

produce a great Christian, a great church, a great company,

a great community. You know, I started daily hope so

I could spread the good news about Jesus, not just

across America, but all around the world. And we want

people to know that God's word is filled with hope

and truth and the power that we need to follow

him every day is available to every single one. You

know as well as I do, that the Word of

God changes lives. It's a live it's active, and it

breathes new life and new love into all of our lives.

So wherever you listen to this, whether you listen on

the website, whether you listen on a radio station, or

whether you listen to a podcast, you're a part of

the Daily Hope family, and I need your help. We

could not do this without your support. Now, you know,

I don't take any funds from this broadcast. We don't

have any giant million dollar donor who's giving big gifts

to this. It comes from daily donations from listeners like you.

We're one hundred percent listener funded. Would you continue to

pray for this broadcast and would you continue to support us?

And let write to me, let me hear from you.

I absolutely love reading the stories that are sent to me.

So write me, pray for me, and support this ministry

and God will bless it. And God will bless you,

and we'll get to heaven and we'll thank God for

all the people going to be in heaven because you cared.

If you'd like to help support Pastor Rick in this

ministry with a financial gift, just go to Pastorick dot

com or text the word hope to eight hundred six

hundred five thousand and four. Again, that's Pastorick dot com.

Or text the word hope to eight hundred six hundred

five thousand and four, and thank.

You so much for your support.

We hope you'll join up us next time when we

look into God's word for our daily hope. This program

is sponsored by Pastoris's Daily Hope and your generous financial

support