- Pull out your message notes. Time Magazine has said that today we live in an age of FOMO, F-O-M-O, it stands for fear of missing out. And about 70% of the
millennial generation, 'cause they're on social media a lot, say they struggle with FOMO, the fear of missing out. And in a desire to keep up with everybody, people have overbooked their calendars, overspent their money,
overdrawn their credit, overloaded their emotions,
overworked their bodies, overcrowded their days, and overvalued the
approval of other people. And as the result, you
may feel overstressed, overanxious, and overwhelmed. Now why do people do this? Why do we do overkill? It's the fear of missing out. They don't wanna feel
inferior or inadequate or unloved or left out. Today, I want us to look at the subject of moving from being
overwhelmed to overflowing. From overwhelmed to overflowing. And Tom and I want to share with you an important message that
really could change your life if you'll apply the points of it. I wanna begin by explaining two different fundamentally
different approaches to life. You can approach life
with a shortage mindset, or you can approach life
with a surplus mindset. Big, big difference. A shortage mindset, if you
might, write this down, means I never have
enough, and I never will. I'll never have enough, and I never will. That's gonna leave you
feeling overwhelmed. I don't have enough time,
I don't have enough money, I don't have enough energy, I don't have enough contacts,
opportunities, knowledge, education, or whatever. It's the feeling that you're always a little bit short and a day late. That causes you to feel
overwhelmed by life. In the Bible, words like
lacking, wanting, needing, are used for this lifestyle,
this shortage mindset. Good examples in the Bible, there was a famine in Israel, and Elijah and his servant, Gehazi, had a discussion about this. Notice up here on the screen, the Bible says, "A man
brought Elisha the prophet "some loaves of bread." Now remember, this was a
famine going on in the land. "Elisha said 'Give it to
the people so they can eat.' "And Elisha's servant said, "'There's not enough here
for a hundred people.'" Not enough, that's a shortage
mindset, shortage mentality. "'Just give it to them," Elisha said. "'The Lord has promised
there'll be more than enough.'" That's a surplus mindset. "So the servant gave the
bread to the people," and sure enough, it says, "they ate until they were full, "and they still had some left over, "just as God had promised." Shortage lifestyle, I'm
never gonna have enough. Surplus lifestyle, I've
got more than enough. Now the focus, if you
wanna write this down, the focus of a shortage mindset is I focus on my limited resources, my limited resources. I look at all the things that I'm lacking. I don't have enough money,
I don't have enough time, I don't have enough energy. And the result of a shortage mindset is an overwhelmed life. I just feel so overwhelmed by everything that's going on in my life. I just am always behind. I'm always in competition. When you have a shortage lifestyle, you think that life is like a pie, and if somebody takes a bigger piece, that means a smaller piece for you; that there's a limited
number of resources, and if they get more, then
you're gonna get resentful, or you're gonna get worried,
or you're gonna get anxious, because there's only so much
of the pie to go around. That's a shortage mentality. And it leads to envy,
it leads to jealously, it leads to resentment, it leads to worry, it leads to insecurity. If you have any of those
things in your life, you're living on a shortage mentality, that there's not enough to go around, and if you get more,
then I should resent it. Now instead, God wants you to have this other kind of lifestyle, which is the surplus mentality. And the surplus mentality
is this, write this down. God has more than I'll ever need, and he'll never run out. God doesn't give us one pie, he's a pie factory, and there'll always be more pies because God'll keep creating them. And in the Bible we have
words like abundance, and plentiful, and
abounding, and bountiful. God has more than enough
to meet all your needs and everybody else's
needs at the same time. Let me give you an example. Have you ever worried that the
person breathing next to you was stealing your air? (audience laughs) No, of course not. Why, because God created
more than enough air for everybody to have plenty of air. All you need, and everybody else can have all they need, too. Now, the result, or the
focus of a surplus mindset is instead of focusing
on my limited resources, I focus on God's limitless resources. That changes everything. God's unlimited, limitless resources. And he's got plenty, and the result is an overflowing life. Now, with that understanding, we can go to where we're
gonna go today in Psalm 23. We've been studying The Lord
is my shepherd Psalm now for many, many weeks. And we come to the next phrase, where David says, "You
fill my cup to overflowing. "You fill my cup to overwhelming." The ICB translation says, "You give me more than I can hold." The New International Version says, "My cup overflows!" And if you memorized this years
ago in the old King James, you memorized it, "My cup runneth over." What's he talking about there? He's talking about the overflowing life rather than the overwhelmed life. Now I want you to compare,
we've been in this Psalm for a long time, it's only six verses. In verse one, he says,
"The Lord's my shepherd, "I have everything I need. "He has, he gives me everything I need. "I shall not want." Now in verse five he
says, "My cup runs over." He's taken it to the next step. Verse one, "God gives
me everything I need." Verse five, "God gives
me more than I need. "My cup runs over, I can't keep it all, "my cup runs over. "he gives me more than I need." Now, what's your cup,
what's the metaphor here? Write this down: my cup is my life. When David says, "My cup runs over," he's saying, "My life is overflowing. "I'm not overwhelmed anymore "because I don't have enough
time, energy, or whatever, "but instead I'm overflowing. "There's like a river coming out of me. "My cup overflows." Jesus talked about this
in John, chapter seven, Jesus, 2,000 years after David, said this, "On the last day of the festival," that's the most important day, this is at the temple in Jerusalem, "Jesus stood up and he
shouted to the crowds." Now there's probably 50,000 people on the last day of the festival, outside the temple, 50,000. Imagine the drama of this. Jesus Christ stands up and
he shouts to the people. And what he shouts is this: "If you are thirsty, come to me." And everybody's looking around. "If you're thirsty, come to me, "everyone who really believes in me "will have rivers of living water "flowing out of their lives." What's he talking about there? He's talking about the same
thing David's talking about, my cup runs over, my
life is not overwhelmed, my life is overflowing. I'm not worried about
running short of anything, because God is the source of my life. He can turn on one faucet
and turn off another. I can lose one job, he
can turn on another. When the faucet runs out of water I don't think, "Oh, there's
no more water in the world." I just get a new faucet. Here is an overflowing life. And he says, "Anybody who believes in me, "really believes in me, "will have rivers of living water "flowing out of their lives." Living an overflowing life. Now he says there, "Who believes in me." Circle that phrase, "really believes." That word in Greek is the word pashto, and it actually means more than
just having head knowledge, like I believe Jesus is the son of God. It means to trust in,
it means to cling to, it means to rely on,
it means to depend on. He says, "If you really, really, really "depend on me, your life's
not gonna be overwhelmed, "your life's going to be overflowing." You say, "Well, okay, fine,
what is an overflowing life?" Let me give you the
definition, write this down. An overflowing life means to
be filled beyond capacity. To be filled beyond capacity with an endless supply of God's goodness. That's what I want in your life as your pastor, somebody who loves you, as your spiritual coach. I want you to be filled beyond capacity, to overflowing, with an endless supply of God's goodness in your life. That is what an overflowing
life's all about. This illustration, this
example, this metaphor that the cup is your
life, my cup overflows, the Bible uses this all through scripture. And it talks about having a cup of joy, having a cup of blessing, God's blessing. Having a cup of hope,
having a cup of peace, having a cup of salvation. He said, "I want your life to overflow "with joy and hope and
blessing and salvation." Why, because God is a good God. Now, remember, we've been in
this series for now 10 weeks, and we've been looking at
how good God really is. And I want you to write
this sentence down. If you really get it,
it'll change your life. Because God is good, because God is good, everything he does in
my life is for my good! Anytime you doubt that,
you're gonna get in trouble. Anytime you doubt God's
goodness in your life, you're gonna get in trouble. You're gonna worry, you're gonna
have all kinds of problems. Because God is good, everything
he does in my life is good. Even the tough stuff he does in my life, is for my good. You know, there's lots
of verses in the Bible that talk about this. In Isaiah chapter 48, it says this: "I am the holy God, who rescues you. "For your own good, I teach you, "and I lead you along the right path." The reason we have the Bible with all these principles in it, he says, "for your own good. "For your own good, I teach you. "I don't do this to make
life tough or rough for you. "I do it for your own good. "I do it so you can live a
good life, live a better life." He says, 'for your own good, I teach you, "and I lead you along the right path." Then he says, "How I
wish, man, how I wish, "that you'd obeyed my commands, "the ones I told you,
thought that I led you in. "How I wish you'd obey my commands. "Then," listen, "your
success and your good fortune "would have overflowed
like the flooding river." Did you know that God wants you to succeed to an overflowing way? That God wants your life to overflow with good fortune and success? Everybody wants to be a success. Well, he says there, "If you would have just observed
the commands I gave you, "your success and good fortune "would have overflowed
like a flooding river." Did you notice the key to success in life? It's not going to self-help seminar. It's not watching some TV show. He says, "If you'd just
do what I told you, "if you just read the owner's manual, "I did this for your good. "If you'd just treat your body "the way I tell you to treat it, "it'd be for your own good. "If you'd just treat
sex the way I tell you, "it'd be for your own good. "If you would just treat
money the way I tell you, "it's for your own good. "And every time you don't listen to me, "you're just messing it up. "You abuse and misuse and pervert "the good gifts I've given you: "sex, money, energy, reputation, "everything else you got." He goes, "I want you to succeed in life." God is a good God. "I have good plans for your life." He said, "If you would just "do what I tell you to do, "you'd succeed in life." You say, "Well, I'd
rather go on my own plan." How's that working out for ya? Have you had the
overflowing success in life that you thought you were gonna have? No, has your life been
overflowing with good fortune. No, why, 'cause he says, "If you would just do
it the way I told you." Now listen to this. Anytime I disobey God, God says, "Do it this
way," and I do it that way, at that moment, I'm doubting
the goodness of God. That's the fundamental problem. Anytime God says, "Do it this way," and I go, "Well, I think I know better. "I think I know what will make me happy "more than God does. "In fact, I'll just be my own God." At that point, I am doubting
the goodness of God. And any time you doubt
the goodness of God, you are making a fatal mistake, friend. Because God knows what'll make
you happy more than you do. You don't even know what
will make you happy. You think you do, and that's why we get off. When I think I know I'm
gonna make myself happy by doing something different
than God says to do, it causes all kinds of
problems in my life: stress, overstress and
overstrain and overburdening, and overanxiety, and overwhelming, 'cause I'm doing it my way. He says, "Look I do
this for your own good. "I'm a parent who loves you, "I'm your loving heavenly father. "And any time you disobey me, "you're just saying, 'I don't
trust your goodness, God. "'I really don't. "'I think no, what's good for me "'is more important that what
you think is good for me.'" You know, 2,000 years later,
Jesus said the same thing. John 10 verse 10, I love
this in the Amplified. Notice the verse, Jesus said, "I've come that you may have real life." That means that we're not
really living till we know him, we're just existing. And he says, "And enjoy it in abundance, "to the fullest, until it overflows." Jesus says, "That's
what I want you to have. "I want you to have a full life. "I want you to have an abundant life. "I want you to have an overflowing life." Now, how do I experience
an overflowing life? For daily habits, write
these down very quickly. If you'll do these, they
will change your life. Here's the first habit for
living an overflowing life and stop living an overwhelmed life. Number one, stay connected
to Jesus every day. You're gotta stay connected
to Jesus every day. In John chapter 15, verse five, Jesus compares this to like a
grapevine, and he says this, "I am the vine, and you are the branches. "If you stay connected to me, "you'll produce a lot of fruit. "But you can't do anything without me." I grew up in Northern
California in the wine country. Everybody had vineyards in their backyard. And every season I would harvest grapes. And I learned something real quick. If a cluster of grapes happens to be on a branch
that's been cut off, it dies. You can tag on, you can tie
on grapes to dead branches, but if they've been cut off from the root, cut off from the vine, they're gonna die. And the same thing is true with you. If you try to go through
life on your own power, you're gonna be overwhelmed. But if you're connected to the vine, if you're plugged into Jesus, you're gonna have power. I've told you this before. A toaster cannot fulfill its purpose unless it's plugged into the power. And a vacuum cleaner
cannot fulfill its purpose unless it's plugged into the power. And you as a human being,
as a woman, as a man, cannot fulfill your purpose unless you're plugged into the power. And if you're cut off, like
a grape branch from the vine, you're gonna shrivel up and die. You're gonna be overwhelmed. He says, "You gotta stay connected." He says, "You can do nothing without me." He said, "I'm the energy, I'm the power." How do you stay connected? How do I stay connected
to Jesus on a daily basis? You spend some time with him. We talked about this in a previous message on having a banquet in the Bible. That every day when you
get up in the morning, you sit down, you read the
Bible for a little bit, let God talk to you, you talk to God. That's called prayer. You listen, you be quiet,
you spend some time. If you wanna have a
relationship with anybody, you gotta spend time with them. You can't have a relationship
with your husband or your wife or your best friend or God if you don't spend time with them. If you're not spending any time with God, you don't have a relationship with God. You have to have a relationship, you have to have proximity, and you have to have frequency. And the way you stay connected, is to have that daily time alone with God. And then throughout the
day, you just review it, and you go back over it. Jesus continued about
this in John 15 verse 7. He says this: "If you stay connected to me "and my words remain in you, "you may ask, you may request, "ask any request you
like," that's in prayer, "and it will be granted." Circle that, "it will be granted." That's a promise. "My true disciples produce much fruit. "This brings glory to my father. "So stay connected, stay
connected to my love." He says, "You stay connected
to my love when you obey me. "I've told you this so
that you will be filled "with my joy. "Yes, your cup of joy will overflow." There's that word, the overflowing life rather than overwhelmed life, comes from being connected to God. That means you've gotta
spend time with him. Now, circle the phrase,
"My words remain in you." He says, "If you stay connected to me, "spend some time with me every day. "And my word stays connected to you." How do you do that? There's a word for that in the Bible, it's called the word meditation. Now, when I say the word meditation, I'm not talking about
what most of are thinking. You're thinking about
sitting in a lotus position with your hands out like this, and you're going "Mmm," and contemplating the lint
in your navel, or whatever. No, no, no, no, that's eastern meditation. That's New Age meditation. Meditation simply means seriously thinking about God's word, what God has said. You get a verse, you read it, and you think about it
over and over and over. Question, how many of
you know how to worry, can I see your hands? Alright, if you know how to worry, you are already a pro at meditation. When you take a negative subject, and you go over and over
and over it in your mind, that's called worry. When you take a verse from the Bible, and you go over and over
and over it in your mind, that's called meditation. So, if you are good at worrying, you're gonna be great at meditation. You're already, some of you
are professional meditators and don't even know it. Instead of taking a worry
or a fear or an anxiety and thinking about it
over and over and over, how am I'm gonna do this, which leads to overwhelming, you take a verse from the Bible, and you think be the it
over and over and over, and that leads to overflowing. Big, big difference. One takes you down, one builds you up. He says, "If you let
my word remain in you," notice the promise, he says, "I will, you may ask any request you like, "and it will be granted." Whoa, that's like a
blank check for prayer. You say, "Well, wait a minute, Rick. "I'm not seeing this in my life. "I pray a lot and I don't
see a lot of answers." 'Cause you're not connected. When was the last time you
spent an extended period of time just alone with God, saying, "Hey God, is there
anything you wanna tell me?" When was the last time
you were alone with God for more than two minutes? You're not connected. He says you've been cut off from the vine. No way you're gonna have
any fruit in your life. You're not gonna be overflowing, you're gonna be overwhelming. 'Cause you're not connected to me. The more connected you are, the more fruit you're gonna bear, the more success in your life, the more good fortune God says you're gonna have in you life. "You gotta stay connected to me." It's a simple principle, but it's one that we overlook
over and over and over. Let me give you a second key. Each of these steps get
a little bit harder. Here's the second key to overflowing. First is stay connected on a
daily basis to God, to Jesus. Number two, stop griping
and start being grateful. Stop griping, stop grumbling, and start being grateful. Did you know that science has proven that each of these attitudes, actually that the Bible talks about are good and bad for your health. That complaining is a very,
very unhealthy emotion for you. Griping is unhealthy for you. But gratitude, study after
study after study have shown, gratitude is the healthiest emotion. You wanna be healthy, learn gratitude. When you are grateful, it changes the chemistry of your brain. Studies have shown that
when you are thankful, when you're grateful, it produces serotonin in your brain, it produces dopamine in your brain, and it produces oxytocin in your brain. Not don't confuse, that's not OxyContin. (audience laughs) Oxytocin is the feel good hormone. When a husband and wife make love, it releases oxytocin
in both of their lives. When a mother nurses her baby, it releases oxytocin in
both the mom and the infant. Studies have shown that if you pet a dog or a pet for 30 minutes, you pet the dog for 30 minutes, it releases oxytocin
in the dog and in you. You want this drug. You want this hormone, you want
this chemical in your life. And one of the key things that's produced for smarts, for peace, and for happiness, those chemicals, dopamine,
serotonin and oxytocin, happen ever time you're grateful. So you ought to get up in the morning before you get out of bed, you make a list of 10
things you're grateful for. "God, I'm grateful for air, "God, I'm grateful for this bed, "God, I'm grateful that I'm
not in a war right now." And you just start, and that will change the chemistry in your brain. Study after study has proven this. In fact one study showed that if you try to make
a list of 10 things you're grateful for, and you can't even think anything up, just think up, trying to think
of things to be grateful for, changes the brain chemistry in your mind. Even if you can't even think of anything, but just the attitude of trying
to be grateful in your mind. Philippians 2:14 says this in the Bible, "In everything you do, "stay away from complaining and arguing." 'Cause that's the exact
opposite of gratitude. Let me ask you, what
do you complain about? No, don't tell me. (audience laughs) On second thought, don't tell me. Let me ask you this, when
you complain about something, how does that help you? Does that work out pretty good? You complain about the weather,
does it change the weather? You complain about the way you look, does that change the way you look? You complain about your
spouse or your children or your job or anything else. Complaining is a total waste of time. It's stewing without
doing, it's worthless. You should stop complaining
and start being grateful. Stop grumbling, stop griping,
and start being grateful. 'Cause you're not gonna feel
better from complaining. Colossians 2:7 says this, "Let your lives overflow"
there's that word, "with thanksgiving for all God has done." I suggest that you start
your day with gratitude. For God, what God has done
for you, and for others. And just go through that. In fact, did you know,
I read a study recently, that if in the morning,
you get up and you send, the first thing you do is you
send an email of gratitude to somebody you love or
somebody who's helped you, it actually lowers your stress
for the rest of the day, because of the chemicals that
are released in your mind. It'll actually lower your stress if you'll start your day
with good news, not bad news, and if you actually start with gratitude. Send that email a day,
it'll help you be healthier. 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "No matter what happens,
always be thankful, "for this is God's will for you "who belong to Christ Jesus." And I have people come to
me all the time and say, "You know, Pastor Rick, "I just wanna know God's will. "I just wanna know, what does
God want me to do in marriage, "what does he want me to do in my career, "what does he want me to do in school, "what does he want me to do? "I just wanna know God's will." Well, here it is. "This is God's will for you, "that in everything you give thanks." Why would God teach you step two when you haven't done step one? You wanna know God's will on who to marry, God's saying, "Why don't
you start with step one. "Are you being grateful in everything? "That's my will. "That is my will." God says do step one and
then we'll move to step two and then we'll move to step three and then we'll move to step four. "What is my will for you in
every specific situation? "But if you're not doing what
I've already told you to do, "why should I tell you step two?" If I want to be living an overflowing life rather than than an overwhelmed life, I first stay connected to Jesus, I make that a habit
every day, I spend time. You can't get to know somebody
you don't spend time with. And then number two, I stop griping and I start being grateful. Alright, here's the third
thing the Bible says to do. If you wanna live an overflowing life. Stop comparing and start being content. Stop comparing yourself to other people, and start being content. Each of these gets a little bit harder. The Bible says any time I compare myself to anybody else, that I'm foolish. It's a waste of energy. Any time you compare, you see, God made you to be you. He doesn't want you to be anybody else. When you compare, you get
envious, you get resentful, and you often start trying
to copy somebody else. God says, "Wait a minute. "I made you to be you. "If you don't be you, who's gonna be you?" God has never made a clone. Human beings make clones. God only makes originals. Even identical twins are
different in thousands of ways. When you get to heaven, God isn't gonna say, "Why weren't you more like your sister, "or your mom, or your
dad, or your brother," or, "Why weren't you more
like some famous person?" He goes, "Now, wait a minute,
I made you to be you." If you're not gonna be you, God should just go ahead
and kill you right now because we don't need two of anybody else. God wants you to be you. But comparing gets you in trouble. Look at this verse on the screen. Here's what the Bible says. 2 Corinthians 10:12, "We do not make the mistake "of comparing ourselves with others. "Because when we compare
ourselves we are foolish." I'm acting like a fool any time I compare with anybody else. Now, there's two problems with comparing yourself to other people. And we do it all, Americans, we've made this an indoor sport. We compare how we look,
we compare our careers, we compare our grade point average, we compare academic ability, we compare our kids,
we compare our spouses. Shoot, we compare how green the lawn is. There's is greener than our lawn. And that just always causes you to be overwhelmed and not overflowing. God says, "Don't do it, it's foolish." And there are two reasons, one, you'll always find somebody in life who's doing a better job than you. And you're gonna get
full of discouragement. Ah, they've got money,
they've got more talent, they're better looking, and you get full of discouragement. Number two, you can always find somebody you're doing a better job than, and you get full of pride. Pride and discouragement will
also set you on the bench. They take you out of the game. In fact, you don't even get in the game when you're full of pride or ego or when you're full of discouragement or resentment because of somebody else. Now, the Bible says stop comparing and start being more contented, and you'll live an overflowing life. And yet today, it's easier
than in any other time in human history, to compare
yourself to other people. Why, two words, social media. It's right in your face every day. If you go on social media, you see, "Oh, look what they did, "oh, look what they're wearing." Shoot, we compare what we do, we compare what we wear. We even compare what
we eat on social media. "I just got a caramel macchiato
frappuccino cappuccini." (audience laughs) "Well, I don't have one of those. "I better run out and take
a picture, too, of mine. "So I'm gonna go get the caramel macchiato "frappuccino cappuccino Al Pacini, "because that's the real exclusive one, "and you gotta know the owner "to get that at Starbucks. "Most people don't even know about "the Al Pacino cappuccino frappuccino. "But it's a good one, and
it makes me feel better, "because I posted on
Instagram, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha." (audience laughs) And we do this all the time. It is so easy because of social media to get stuck in staging your so-called pretend perfect life. And everybody knows you
don't have a perfect life. We know it, you know it, and you know everybody else doesn't. But on social media, everybody's trying to put their best foot forward. And we're living for the
approval of other people. Like, "Oh, man, I haven't posted in a day. "I better something out there "so people will think." It's the fear of missing out, FOMO, the fear of missing out. "I'd better get something out there, "show how cool I am." And there's two downsides. I'm not saying social media,
you should just leave it. Some of you should go
on a social media fast to break the addiction. You know, fasting's good for your body, gives your body a rest. Well, social media fasting
is a good thing too, because the truth is, that kind of always putting yourself in front of other people, it's your own little reality show, and it does two things: it feeds your narcissism. It's all about me, it's all about me, look at me, look at me, look at me. You know, when a little kid, a three-year-old comes up to me and say, "And say, Papa, Papa, look at
me, look at me, look at me," that's cute as a three-year-old. It sucks as a 30-year-old. (audience laughs) "Look at me, look at me, look at me, "Look at me, look at me, look at me." And that's what you're doing on Instagram. And that's what you're doing
on Twitter, and Facebook. And it's "look at me, look at me." Come on, be a grownup. It's okay as a baby, but
not for everybody else. It creates narcissism in you, and it creates envy in everybody else. And by the way, you know when the worst, the worst is self-righteousness. Showing off in a spiritual way. Like, "Notice how I'm
raising my hands in prayer, "and my new sweater, too." (audience laughs) Or, "See me highlighting
my notes in my quiet time "along with God that I just
shared with one million people." (audience laughs) If you're having a quiet time to impress other people
on Instagram, stop it. That's the worst form of hypocrisy. "And I'm showing how spiritual I am." It's the humble brag, like, "Please pray for me, I've
gotta go pray for Bono." Like putting in a little name
dropping there or something. All of the, you know, if
you're a worship leader, and all the, you know you post the picture where all the lights make
you look like a rockstar. Don't, that's the overwhelming life, that's not the overflowing life. As I said, some of you
need a social media fast. Look at this verse on the screen, 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse seven, "Who says you're better than others? "Well, 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 wanna be healthy,
you wanna 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 says, "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." Now, 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, guess what, they're all learned. Now, anything you can
learn, you can unlearn. And it's 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 gonna help
you learn contentment. Get your eyes off other people. You know, 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, that there is no amount that
will bring you happiness, 'cause 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. 'Cause 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 wanna move from
the overwhelmed lifestyle, I can't tell you how important
this key is in your life. If you wanna move from being
overwhelmed all the time, to being overflowing all the time, you must move from being
stingy to being generous. And 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 gonna 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. Because God wired a universal
law into the universe, and it's this: the more you give away, the more you're gonna 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 getting. 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 gonna bless me, in every single area of life you're gonna overflow. When I'm afraid to give away, it means I'm living a shortage mentality. I'm not living a surplus mentality. 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. 2 Corinthians chapter nine, "Remember this: a stingy planter "will only reap a small crop." You know, 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 go, "Well, I got 200
seeds in this packet, "I'm only gonna plant one seed, "'cause I better hold on to
these, I might lose them." The only way I'm gonna benefit from these, I'll lose them if they keep
in seed, they'll just die. But if I plant 'em in the ground, I'm gonna get far more
back than I planted. You plant one kernel of corn, 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 wanna give God." He says, "Don't ever give emotionally." He says, "Think about, be rational. "Give serious consideration
what you wanna 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, 'cause you don't get any credit for it. If you felt pressured from me, don't give, 'cause 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 got, 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 'em. 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," circle that. 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%. God says 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, "but we're not gonna be in debt to God. "Because we trust him. "He is 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, it 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%. We weren't bragging on this. We never told anybody
about it for 30 years. We weren't trying to show off, we just, I wanted to grow in generosity. Every time I give, it breaks the grip of materialism in my life. The anecdote to get, get, get, get, get, is give, give, give, give, get. 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, the cupboard is bare, we'd
still raise our giving, quarter of a percent, 'cause we wanted to be more generous the next year than we were the previous. Some years we've had a landfall, I'd get a job, I'd get a raise, or have a royalty or something, and we'd raise our giving
sometimes three or 4%. Most of you know that today, Kay and I give away 91% of our income, and we live on nine. 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 38 years
where God, or 42 years, where God says, "Rick, you give to me, "and I'll give to you,
and we'll see who wins." (audience laughs) And I've lost that game for 42 years. You cannot out give God. Most of you know I wrote that book, Purpose Driven Life,
became the bestselling book in the world for four years. Sold about 60 million copies in English, and then went in 138 languages. It's the most translated
book in the world. It's in Guinness World Records. You say, "Well, man, I'd
give all my money away, "millions away if I made millions." No you wouldn't, 'cause
you're not doing it now. I was doing it when I
was making $200 a week. And God knew that he could
trust me with that money. He knew I wouldn't use it on myself, I'd just give it away. 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, and Kay said, "I'll go in with the doctor," and I said, "I'm just gonna
go get something to eat." so this is downtown Pasadena, and I walked to a little burger shack and I got a burger and some
fries, 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 out 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 was a simple thing. "You guys wanna share my lunch," "yeah," so I took my lunch and I divided it into four,
the burger into four pieces, and handed 'em there, handed each one an equal number of fries. I did not share my drink. (audience laughs) I didn't know what kind
of disease they might be, not on suck on my straw here. But I shared all that. We had a good time, we
just told a bunch of jokes, had a good time talking, having fun. And about 30 minutes later,
I got up ready to leave, and I started walking
away, one little guy 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 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 gonna 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. And all those people
went back home to Israel, and you know what they did? They forgot it, and they
didn't put God first and 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 spent 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, "And the income
that you bring home, "it just gets blown away. "Consider, have you considered
why this is happening? "'Cause you're too busy
building your own fine house, "that you haven't built my temple, "the house of worship. "That's why I'm
withholding your blessing." Whoa, we'll just let that one set there. (audience laughs) 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." He's 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, "see if I don't bless your time. "Put me first in your relationships, "see if I don't bless that. "Put me first in your money, "see if I don't bless that." Whatever you want God to bless, you put him first in. Do 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." Yes, it's like 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 large, in the Psalm
23, "My cup runs over." It's the overflowing life. How do you get that life? He just says 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 wanna 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 gonna be like the
vine and the branch. "I wanna bear fruit, I
gotta stay connected. "I gotta spend time with Jesus every day "through prayer and mediation. "There's not gonna 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?" And you say, "I will connect, "I will do that habit "of daily connecting with God." We have a class on it, Class 201. Will you say, "I'm gonna stop complaining "and start being more grateful every day"? Say, "God, I wanna 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
wanna 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 the neighborhood, "at school, or on the internet. "Help me to be me, not somebody else. "And God, I'm gonna 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 and your goodness." If you've never opened
your life to Christ, say, "Jesus Christ, I
wanna learn to trust you. "I'm tired of living an overwhelmed life. "I wanna 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." - Thanks for checking out
this message on YouTube. We would love to get you connected with our online community. There's three easy ways
to get you invovled. First, learn about belonging
to our church family by taking Class 101 online. Second, you can join an online small group or a local home group in your area. And third, check out our Facebook group to engage with our online
community throughout the week. To take these next steps, visit saddleback.com/online, or shoot me an email at
online@saddleback.com. I hope to hear from you soon.
