Skip to content Making the Most of Your Mind — pt 2 (Renewal, Renew, Thoughts, Transformation, Word, Mind, Future, Purpose, Direction, Confidence)
Preparing for Your Future
28:37 Listen to Making the Most of Your Mind — pt 2 (Renewal, Renew, Thoughts, Transformation, Word, Mind, Future, Purpose, Direction, Confidence) Making the Most of Your Mind — pt 2 (Renewal, Renew, Thoughts, Transformation, Word, Mind, Future, Purpose, Direction, Confidence) Jan 17 · 29 min ...more
Making the Most of Your Mind — pt 2 (Renewal, Renew, Thoughts, Transformation, Word, Mind, Future, Purpose, Direction, Confidence)
January 17, 2025 · 29 min
Renew your mind daily with God’s Word because true transformation begins in your thoughts. To fulfill God’s purpose for you, invite him to expand your imagination and inspire a vision for your future.
Series Preparing for Your Future January 17, 2025 · 29 min · Preparing for Your Future
Renew your mind daily with God’s Word because true transformation begins in your thoughts. To fulfill God’s purpose for you, invite him to expand your imagination and inspire a vision for your future. ...more Show the full description Show less Renew your mind daily with God’s Word because true transformation begins in your thoughts. To fulfill God’s purpose for you, invite him to expand your imagination and inspire a vision for your future.
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Pastor Rick Warren shares the hope and encouragement you need to hear everyday. Listen in as he shares biblical truths to help you live the purpose driven life
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In this video 0:28 Building a Mindset for Success4:45 Renewing and Transforming the Mind8:54 Dreaming Big with God17:30 The Power of Gratitude
0:02 Hey, everyone. Welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. And whether you listen every day or you just found us, we are so glad you've joined us. Today, Rick wraps up his series called0:13 preparing for your future. Rick shares how God's destiny for your life is good and how you get to choose much of your destiny. And now here's Rick with the final part of a message called0:25 making the most of your mind.Building a Mindset for Success 0:28 Now, how do I store up knowledge? There are 2 ways, just write these down. 1 is by reading and 2 is through relationships, reading and0:39 relationships. Now if you don't like to read, fine. You don't like to read, you can listen. And today, we there's you can listen to audio books, and you can listen to podcasts, and you can listen to m p threes, and you0:51 can listen to CDs of sermons, and all kinds of things. So you don't have to read, but reading, which is individualized input and relationships, which is communal input, and you need them both if you're gonna be all1:03 you're gonna be in the next 10 years in the decade of destiny. Wise men store up knowledge. You know, when I was 16 years old, I read a book. And in1:15 that book, the 1 thing I got out of that book, it said this. Your life will be largely influenced and determined by the books you read and the people you meet.1:28 The books you read and the people you meet. So I decided I'm gonna be intentional about both of those. Who I meet, who I get to know, and there are a lot of people I just1:40 like to get to know, I just write to them. And it was before anybody knew who I was, and I would just take the effort to to reach out to people, to learn. And I started collecting books
1:52 when I was just 16 years old. There was a period of my life I was reading a book a day. I didn't I don't do anymore and I said, how do you do that? Little skinny books. Okay.
2:04 Big print, lots of pictures. Okay. And so but I started collecting books. You know, I would suggest that 1 of the great legacies if you're
2:16 a mother or a father, and you you 1 of the great legacies is to build a family library that you can pass on to the next generation. That is part of your legacy. That you
2:28 what is you doing? You're storing up wisdom. You're storing up knowledge. You get good solid Christian books, classics, and things like that. And I decided I was gonna do that, and then I'd leave it to the next
2:40 generation. I said this is a very young man. Now I bought almost well, most of those books I bought by, used books. You just go online and there's lots of used bookstores now. You don't ever have
2:52 to pay new for almost anything today. And I I bought and today I have almost 20000 volumes in my library. Okay. Now, twice in the
3:04 book of Proverbs, God says, store up my commands within you. In other words, put them inside. That means think about them, memorize them, and put them inside of you. Why?
3:16 Because it helps you get on the right path. Proverbs 19 verse 8. Those who get wisdom do themselves a favor and those
3:28 who love learning will succeed. Now, how many of you, I'd like to see your hands on this, would like to succeed, would like your life to be successful in the next
3:39 10 years? Can I see your hands? Yeah. I hope that's all of us because what's the alternative? Failure. I don't understand. Oh, I don't wanna succeed. Oh, what do you wanna do? Fail? Didn't God put you here on earth? No.
3:51 No. I want you to succeed as your pastor. Okay? And the bible says, those who love learning will succeed. And how do you learn? 2 ways,
4:03 reading and relationships. There are things you will learn in a small group you will never learn in a book. It's wise to learn from experience.
4:15 It's wiser to learn from the experiences of others, and it's a whole lot less painful. I don't have time to make all the mistakes myself. So I'd like you to go out and make a
4:27 few, and then tell me what doesn't work. And that's what we do in a small group. In a small group, we learn from each other. That's why you need to be in a small group.
4:38 You need to have a regular reading program to build your mind. You need to be in a small group for relationships to build your mind. Now, there are 2 other ways that we grow. Okay. So we we
Renewing and Transforming the Mind
4:50 wanna keep on learning. The fourth thing we need to do is to renew your mind daily. Renew your mind daily with God's
5:02 word. It is God's word that has the power to renew our minds. You see, your mind gets tired, your mind runs out of energy, and it needs to be renewed,
5:14 it needs to be transformed. And if you're gonna change anything in your life in the next 10 years, it's gonna start in your mind. Doesn't start in your behavior, it starts
5:26 in your thoughts. Romans 12 verse 2, do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world. In other words, all of the thing, you know, materialism, secularism, hedonism, things like
5:38 that. But be transformed by, read it with me, the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is,
5:50 his good and pleasing and perfect will. You say, I really want to know God's will for my life in the next next 10 years. What does God want me to do with my life in the next decade? Well, how do you know that? You have
6:01 to be transformed. And how do you be transformed? By the renewing of your mind. How do you do that? By daily engagement with the word of God. Now listen
6:13 to the word I just said. Engagement with the word of God. I didn't say daily reading of the word of God. I don't care if you read it or not. You may not be a reader. If you don't like to read, don't read.
6:24 Listen. There are lots of ways to listen. You you can get the Bible on m p 3. You can get the Bible on cassette or CD. You just need to have your mind in contact with the word every day. If you're not a
6:36 reader, don't sweat it. You can be a hearer, not a reader. But you need to get the word engaged in your life on a daily basis. The Bible in Ephesians calls it the washing of
6:48 the water of the word, which it washes the filth out of your mind. It washes the filth. It washes the the the pollution out of your mind. Now, why do we do this? Why
7:00 do we renew our minds with the word? Look at the next verse. Isaiah 20 six:three. You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose
7:12 thoughts are fixed on you. Let me ask you. What do you think about most in your life? Think about this for a minute.
7:24 What do you think about most? Whatever you think about most in your life is your God. Some people, they think about golf all the time. Golf is their
7:36 God. Some people think about their boat all their time. The boat is their God. Some people, all they think about is their work. Their work is their God. I
7:48 don't care what you say is number 1 in your life. Tell me how you spend your time, spend your money, and what you think about most, and I'll tell you what's most important in your life. Fix your
8:00 mind every day on God. And what I suggest you do is that you start your day with God, either listening to the word or reading the word
8:12 before anything else. His word is the first word in my life. Why? Study after study has shown that the first 5 to 10 minutes of your day determines your mood
8:24 for the rest of the day. So you don't want to start with bad news, you want to start with good news. You want to this is good news, not not bad news. I mean, you can get up in the morning and get up and
8:36 say, good morning Lord, or good Lord, it's morning. And then you've just set the attitude for the rest of the day. And so you start by renewing your
8:48 mind every day with God's word in building your mind. Okay. There's 1 more. This one's the fun 1. Number 5 in
Dreaming Big with God
8:59 managing your mind is let God stretch your imagination. Let God stretch your imagination. What
9:11 I'm talking about here is what we talked about a little bit last week. You've got to have a dream. You've got to have a vision. You've got to have a goal for the next 10 years. God cannot
9:23 fulfill your dream if you don't have a dream. God cannot help you reach your vision if you don't have any vision for the next 10 years. God cannot help you accomplish your goal if you
9:35 don't have any goal. You've got to have a dream. You've got to have a vision. You've got to let God expand your imagination. Acts chapter 2 verse
9:47 17. We looked at this passage a couple months ago. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
9:59 and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. Visions and dreams. Last week, we talked about that verse that says, where there is no vision, the people what? Perish.
10:12 Where there's no dream, people are not living, they're just existing. If you don't have a dream, you're not living. If you don't have a dream, you're just existing. You're not
10:24 really living. You gotta have a dream, and I don't want you to go into this next decade without a dream. You gotta let God expand your vision. Where there's no vision, the people perish. Remember I said that word perish
10:35 means out of control. My life's out of control if I don't have a guiding vision, a guiding dream. Nothing happens until somebody starts dreaming. Everything that's ever
10:47 been accomplished in the world started because somebody dreamed it up first. Every building started as a dream in an architect's mind. Every piece of art, every piece of music started as a
10:59 dream in an artist's mind. They believed it before they saw it. Some things have to be believed before they can be seen. Every athlete who won the Super Bowl ring or championship or a gold medal
11:11 dreamed it first. It all starts with dreaming. And your life and the quality of your life is going to be largely determined by the dreams you allow God to give you
11:23 for the next decade. Preview of tomorrow. And God says, let me help you. You you learn from yesterday, you live in the day, and
11:35 you dream about tomorrow. That's how you do it. You learn from yesterday, you live in the day and you dream about tomorrow. I think it was Napoleon who once said imagination rules the world.
11:47 Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge because knowledge is limited, but imagination goes on. It's it's unlimited. In fact, he also said imagination, not
11:59 knowledge, is the sign of intelligence. And so you need to let God stretch your imagination. So let me ask you, what do you believe in God for in the next 10 years? What's your
12:11 dream for the next 10 years? Let me give you a question. Ask yourself this question. What would I attempt in the next 10 years if I knew I couldn't fail? What would I attempt if I knew
12:23 I couldn't fail? If you took away all the fear. You see most people set their dreams too small and try to accomplish them too quickly. What I'm challenging you to do as a
12:34 pastor is telling you set a bigger dream and then take 10 years. When I started Saddleback, I set a dream to have 20000 members in 40 years. The problem
12:46 was we reached that in 20 years. My dream was too small. Typically, God will excel beyond your dream. Now 1 of the areas I really want you to grow
12:58 in is this area of imagination and dreaming. Because what we need are great Christian dreamers today. Where would the world be if we didn't have c s Lewis and all of the imagination he had in
13:10 the Narnia series? Or j r r Tolkien, the Christian writer who wrote the Lord of the Rings series, or Tolstoy, or Dostoevsky, or you know, so many of the great
13:22 novels, Christian novelists that were out there, Chesterton and others who he wrote a whole series of mystery novels. Why? Because of imagination. You see, your the bible says, God created you in his
13:34 image. God is a creator. You are most like God when you're creative. God is a creator, and you are most like God when you are creative. And when you go out and and there's lots
13:46 of ways to be creative. You may be creative in a craft. You may be creative in making a meal. You may be creative in raising children. You may be creative in closing deals. You may may be creating and making
13:57 sales. You may be creative in creating marketing campaigns. When you do what God wired you to do, God looks at them and goes, that's my boy. That's my girl. They're they're doing what
14:09 I made them to do. They're being creative. Dying. I don't want this to be the decade of dying. I don't want this to be the decade of
14:21 drifting. I want this to be the decade of dreaming. And you get God's dream for your life. And what we need today are great Christian thinkers who who who are
14:33 out there thinking about new answers, new solve the problems, new new ways to solve problems, looking at new angles, finding new solutions, asking new questions.
14:46 We need Christian entrepreneurs who are creating new products and new services. That brings glory to God. It brings glory to God. When we create new, we're most like God
14:58 when we are creating. Every scientific breakthrough that's ever happened in history happened because somebody dreamed it first. And we need the Bacon's and the
15:10 Calvin Calvins and the the Pascals and all these others, the great scientists who who dreamed up stuff that we enjoy today, that were revolutionary. You see really
15:22 when you think about it, innovation is not that big a deal. It's just asking the right questions. The difference between an innovator and and everybody else is innovators see what everybody else sees in life.
15:34 They simply ask what if and so what. That's it. That's how you become an innovator. You see what everybody else sees and you go, well, what if we did this and why not?
15:46 You ask those 2 questions, you're gonna come up with all kinds of innovations. Now why am I saying this? Because if you're going to be a leader, and our world desperately needs leaders in the next decade. If you're going
15:58 to be a leader, what you don't see is far more important than what you do see. And imagination is seeing with the eyes of the heart. It's seeing with
16:09 spiritual eyes. It's seeing, you know, it's an overstatement that what the mind can conceive the the hands can achieve. That's an overstatement. But it is true that according to your faith, it will be done unto
16:21 you. That all things are possible to him who believes. That without a vision, the people perish. And that you can't live out of your past. You gotta live out of your imagination.
16:35 So what I'm saying to you is as your pastor, I am begging you to dream great dreams, to let God stretch your imagination. Yeah. You need to challenge your
16:46 thoughts and test them because not everything is true. And yes, you need to protect your mind like a like a helmet. In fact, the bible calls it the helmet of salvation.
16:58 Why is it called the helmet of salvation? Because it protects your mind, and you need to guard your mind from from bad thoughts and bad ideas, but you need to never stop learning, and you
17:10 need to renew your mind every day by getting alone with God in the word, And you need to let God stretch your vision. Because if you do, the next 10 years will blow your mind.
17:23 They will be they will be the best 10 years of your entire life to date. Now why do we do this? We do it for the glory of God. Look
The Power of Gratitude
17:35 at this next verse, Ephesians 3, now glory be to God who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more
17:47 than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of. You see what he just said there? He says, you think of the biggest thing you can do, and
17:59 God says, you can dream. God says, I can top that. Now I don't know about you, but I'm a pretty big dreamer. I can dream up some pretty big things, like, let's be the first church to go to every nation in the
18:11 world. You know, stuff like that. I I I have a pretty big dream. God says, Rick, you think up the biggest thing you can ever think I could do in your life, and I can top it. Let me read that again. He is able to
18:22 do far more than we would ever dare to ask, because we'd be embarrassed, or even dream of, infinitely beyond our highest prayers and our desires and our thoughts and our hopes.
18:34 May he be given glory forever. This is why we do it, for his glory. And ever through endless ages, because of his master plan of salvation for the church through Jesus
18:46 Christ. This is what God wants to do, you bring glory to God by protecting your mind, by expanding your mind through learning, by renewing your mind
18:58 through the word of God, and by letting God expand it through imagination. Now every 1 of us here tends to be
19:10 either a thinker or a doer. Some of you are much more happy with the thinking area, and and you really do enjoy thinking, and you do enjoy learning and and all of that.
19:22 And some of you are really more doers, and you're more in the doing zone, and you like to get things done. Now as pastor, let me say this. Those of you
19:34 who are thinkers, you need to do more. You need to do more. Those of you who are doers, you need to think more. You need to
19:45 think more because it's not 1 or the other, it's both. We find both in the last verse there on your outline. The bible says, prepare your
19:57 minds for action. The preparing your mind, that's the thinking. For action, that's the doing. And in the next 10 years, you're gonna have to do both. Thinking
20:08 and doing. Job once said, I made a covenant with my eyes not to look upon a woman lustfully. That's in the book of Job. I like that idea of making a
20:20 covenant with your eyes. So I want to give you a little covenant as we close to help you remember these 5 things to help you maximize your mind in the next 10 years. Write down this little
20:32 acrostic t h I n k, t h I n k think. And what I did is I took these 5 truths that we just looked at from the word of God and put them in little cross stick, what
20:44 does it mean to really think? Here are the 5 things I want you to covenant with me to do. T, test every thought. Don't automatically
20:56 think it's true just because you thought it. It could be from the devil, it could be from the world, it could be from you, it still doesn't mean it's true. The Bible says, search me, oh God, and know my
21:08 heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Test every thought. Number 2. The h stands for helmet
21:21 your head. Put a helmet on your head. Helmet your head. You gotta guard your mind from and what does the helmet do? It protects your mind. You
21:33 remember these old movies where the guys were afraid of the UFOs so they like cover their mind head with tinfoil? You know what I'm talking about? You remember those guys? Okay. It's like they're trying to protect their
21:43 minds. Oh, well, you don't have to do that. But the Bible says put on the helmet of salvation. The only protection you have from Satan is the helmet of salvation. Otherwise,
21:55 he's gonna attack your mind. I stands for imagine great thoughts. Imagine great thoughts. The bible says everything is
22:06 possible to him who believes. And I'm gonna help you set some goals and do some planning in decade of destiny in our small groups. Stands for nourish a
22:18 godly mind. Nourish a godly mind. And how do you do that? Daily time with God. Psalm 1 19 15 says, I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways.
22:31 Nourish a godly mind. And K stands for keep on learning. Keep on learning. Be diligent in these matters. The Bible says in first
22:42 Timothy, give yourself wholly to them so that people may see your progress. Keep on learning. And how do we do these 5 things? Reading
22:54 and relationships. Getting in a group and getting God's word and God's truth into my mind by hearing and reading. Let's bow our heads. Heavenly
23:06 father, we look forward to the next 10 years with great anticipation because we know we're going to be better prepared for this 1 than we were for the last decade, And I pray that the rest of our lives will be the best
23:17 of our lives, and that no matter what stage we are in life, just starting out or moving to retirement, that in the next 10 years, we will master our minds the way you want us
23:29 to. Forgive us for all the times we believe stuff in our that we've thought that really wasn't true. Forgive us for the times we've allowed garbage into our minds.
23:42 Help us to never stop learning. Help each of us to spend time with you every day to renew our mind with the word of God. And in that quiet time alone with you,
23:54 Lord, stretch our imagination. Give us your dreams. Give us your vision. Give us your goal and your plan and your purpose for our lives. That we might not waste the next 10
24:06 years. So you've never invited Christ in your life. Say, Jesus Christ, come into my life right now. Save me. Change me. I I want to repent. I
24:18 want to turn to you, and I want to go your way and trust you. Father, I thank you for our church family. I thank you for
24:30 the journey we're getting ready to go through. I pray a blessing on each family member and each individual that we might become what you want us to
24:42 be. In Jesus name, amen. Hi, everybody. This is Rick, and I hope you enjoyed today's
24:53 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
25:05 sharing your commitment. So write me, Rick, at pastorrick 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
25:17 journey with Jesus, and I'll also pray for you. God bless you.
25:24 Hey. Thanks so much for listening to pastor Rick's Daily Hope. I hope you were as blessed as I was from today's show. And now here's Rick to tell you about today's offer.
25:34 1 of the things that God wants us to do, and he says it over and over in scripture, is to practice gratitude. Did you know that gratitude is good for us? The Bible tells us in first
25:46 Thessalonians 5 18, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. You wanna know what God's will is for you right now? It is that you
25:58 learn gratitude in all circumstances. There's always something you can be thankful for. In fact, I've discovered and I've read many reports that experts have told us that gratitude
26:10 is the healthiest human emotion. Did you know that gratitude makes you more resistant to stress? Did you know that gratitude makes you less susceptible to illness? Did you know that
26:22 gratitude increases your overall happiness and satisfaction? That gratitude gives your life more meaning and significance? I don't know if you've ever noticed that the more grateful a person is, the
26:33 happier they are. That's the power of gratitude. So I want you to live with the attitude of gratitude, the attitude of thankfulness. Now I've put together a brand new
26:45 bible study called the power of gratitude. And in it, you'll find scriptures and teaching and exercises that'll help you develop the habit. Cultivate the
26:57 habit of gratitude. You'll discover how to stay in god's will. How to defeat discouragement. How to conquer complaining. How to reduce stress. And how
27:09 to experience god's blessing through gratitude. Friends, I wanna help you develop a deep and a profound attitude of gratitude. The world
27:20 is craving people like this. And you will be able to experience all that god has for you. So today, when you partner with me by giving a gift, a
27:32 financial gift to Daily Hope, to help us take the certain hope of Jesus to people all around the world, I'm gonna have my team send you the Power of Gratitude bible study.
27:44 I just wanna say thanks to you. I wanna be grateful for you. You know, your support is essential for us taking the daily hope message of Jesus all around the world.
27:54 Just go to pastor rick dot com to get your copy of this great resource. That's pastor rick dot com, or you can just text the word hope to 7 0 3 0 9. Again, that's the
28:06 word hope to 7 0 3 0 9. And thank you so much for your support. Your gift to Daily Hope helps us share the hope of Christ with people everywhere. Be sure to join us next
28:18 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.
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