Also by Rick Warren

1 also by rick WarrenThe Purpose-Driven ChurchPURPOSERICK WARRENWHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?THE DRIVENThe Purpose-Driven LifeAdobe Acrobat eBook Reader formatCopyright 2002 by rick WarrenThis title is also available as a Zondervan audio product. Visit www. for more for information should be addressed to:Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530 ISBN 0-310-25482-5a part of this copyright page. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy,recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the priorpermission of the by Michael Halbert, Copyright 2002 Michael HalbertInterior design by Jim Dobbs, Mary Deschenes, Julie HeadPrinted in the United States of AmericaThe Scripture versions cited in this book are identified in appendix 3, which hereby becomesThis book is dedicated to you. Before you were born, God planned this momentinyour life.

2 It is no accident that you are reading thisbook. God longsfor you to discover the life he createdyou to live here on earth, and forever in s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ, .. he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he isworking out in everything and everyone. Ephesians 1:11 (Msg)I am grateful to the hundreds of writers and teachers,both classical and contemporary, who have shaped mylife and helped me learn these truths. I thank God andyou for the privilege of sharing them with Journey with Purpose9My Covenant13 WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?Day 1It All Starts with God17 Day 2 You Are Not an Accident22 Day 3 What Drives Your Life?27 Day 4 Made to Last Forever36 Day 5 Seeing Life from God s View41 Day 6 Life Is a Temporary Assignment47 Day 7 The Reason for Everything53 PURPOSE #1: You Were Planned for God s PleasureDay 8 Planned for God s Pleasure63 Day 9 What Makes God Smile?

3 69 Day 10 The Heart of Worship77 Day 11 Becoming Best Friends with God85 Day 12 Developing Your Friendship with God92 Day 13 Worship That Pleases God100 Day 14 When God Seems Distant107 PURPOSE #2: You Were Formed for God s FamilyDay 15 Formed for God s Family117 Day 16 What Matters Most 123 Day 17A Place to Belong130 CONTENTSDay 18 Experiencing Life Together138 Day 19 Cultivating Community145 Day 20 Restoring Broken Fellowship152 Day 21 Protecting Your Church160 PURPOSE #3: You Were Created to Become Like ChristDay 22 Created to Become Like Christ171 Day 23 How We Grow179 Day 24 Transformed by Truth185 Day 25 Transformed by Trouble193 Day 26 Growing through Temptation201 Day 27 Defeating Temptation209 Day 28It Takes Time 217 PURPOSE #4: You Were Shaped for Serving GodDay 29 Accepting Your Assignment227 Day 30 Shaped for Serving God234 Day 31 Understanding Your Shape241 Day 32 Using What God Gave You249 Day 33 How Real Servants Act257 Day 34 Thinking Like a Servant265 Day 35 God s Power in Your Weakness272 PURPOSE #5: You Were Made for a MissionDay 36 Made for a Mission281 Day 37 Sharing Your Life Message289 Day 38 Becoming a World-Class Christian297 Day 39 Balancing Your Life305 Day 40 Living with Purpose312320323325 Notes327 About the Author 338 About the Publisher 339 Appendix 1: Discussion QuestionsAppendix 2: ResourcesAppendix 3: Why Use So Many Translations?

4 A JOURNEY WITH PURPOSEG etting the Most from This BookThis is more than a book; it is a guide to a 40-day spiritualjourney that will enable you to discover the answer to life s mostimportant question: What on earth am I here for? By the end ofthis journey you will know God s purpose for your life and willunderstand the big picture how all the pieces of your life fittogether. Having this perspective will reduce your stress, simplifyyour decisions, increase your satisfaction, and, most important,prepare you for Next 40 DaysToday the average life span is 25,550 days. That s how longyou will live if you are typical. Don t you think it would be a wiseuse of time to set aside 40 of those days to figure out what Godwants you to do with the rest of them?The Bible is clear that God considers 40 days a spirituallysignificant time period. Whenever God wanted to preparesomeone for his purposes, he took 40 days:A Journey with Purpose9 Noah s life was transformed by 40 days of rain. Moses was transformed by 40 days on Mount Sinai.

5 The spies were transformed by 40 days in the Promised Land. David was transformed by Goliath s 40-day challenge. Elijah was transformed when God gave him 40 days ofstrength from a single meal. The entire city of Nineveh was transformed when God gavethe people 40 days to change. Jesus was empowered by 40 days in the wilderness. The disciples were transformed by 40 days with Jesus afterhis next 40 days will book is divided into 40 brief chapters. I strongly urge youto read only one chapter a day,so you will have time to think aboutthe implications for your life. The Bible says, Let God transformyou into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you willknow what God wants you to do. One reason most books don t transform us is that we are soeager to read the next chapter, we don t pause and take the timeto seriously consider what we have just read. We rush to the nexttruth without reflecting on what we have t just readthis book. Interact with it. Write your own thoughts in the margins.

6 Make it it! The books that have helped me most are the onesthat I reacted to, not just Features to Help YouAt the end of each chapter is a section called Thinking aboutMy Purpose. There you will find: A Point to is a nugget of truth that summarizesa principle of purpose-driven living that you can reflect onthroughout your day. Paul told Timothy, Reflect on what Iam saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this. 2 The Purpose-Driven Life101 A Verse to is a Bible verse that teaches atruth from that chapter. If you really want to improve yourlife, memorizing Scripture may be the most important habityou can begin. You can either copy these verses onto smallcards to carry with you, or purchase a Purpose-Driven LifeScripture Keeper Plus. A Question to Consider. These questions will help youthink about the implications of what you have read and howit applies to you personally. Let me encourage you to writeyour answers in the margin of this book or in a notebook, orobtain a copy of The Purpose-Driven Life Journal,acompanion book designed for this purpose.

7 Writing downyour thoughts is the best way to clarify appendix 1 you will find: Discussion Questions. I strongly urge you to get one ormore friends to join you in reading this book during thenext 40 days. A journey is always better when it is a partner or a small reading group you can discuss whatyou read and bounce ideas off each other. This will help yougrow stronger and deeper spiritually. Real spiritual growth isneveran isolated, individualistic pursuit. Maturity isproduced through relationships and best way to explain God s purpose for your life is to allowthe Scripture to speak for itself, so in this book the Bible isquoted extensively, using over a thousand different verses fromfifteen English translations and paraphrases. I have varied theversions used for several important reasons, which I explain inappendix 3. I Have Been Praying for YouAs I wrote this book, I often prayed that you would experiencethe incredible sense of hope, energy, and joy that comes fromA Journey with Purpose11discovering what God put you on this planet to do.

8 There snothing quite like it. I am excited because I know all the greatthings that are going to happen to you. They happened to me,and I have never been the same since I discovered the purpose ofmy I know the benefits, I want to challenge you to stickwith this spiritual journey for the next 40 days, not missing asingle daily reading. Your life is worth taking the time to thinkabout it. Make it a daily appointment on your schedule. If youwill commit to this, let s sign a covenant together. There issomething significant about signing your name to a you get a partner to read through this with you, have him orher sign it, too. Let s get started together!The Purpose-Driven Life12My CovenantWith God s help, I commit the next 40 days of mylife to discovering God s purpose for my namePartner s name Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up .. Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone.

9 A rope made of three cords is hard to break. Ecclesiastes 4:9 (TEV) rick WarrenWHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing 11:28 (Msg)Blessed are those who trust in the Lord.. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, withroots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by longmonths of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious re miah 17:7 8 (NLT)1It All Starts with GodFor everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, ..everything got started in him and finds its purpose in 1:16 (Msg)Unless you assume a God, the question of life s purpose is Russell, atheistIt s not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personalfulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It s fargreater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreamsand ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on thisplanet, you must begin with God.

10 You were born byhis purposeand for his search for the purpose of life has puzzled people forthousands of years. That s because we typically begin at thewrong starting point ourselves. We ask self-centered questionslike What do I want to be? What should Ido with mylife? Whatare mygoals, my ambitions, my dreams for myfuture? Butfocusing on ourselves will never reveal our life s purpose. TheWhat on Earth Am I Here For?17 Bible says, It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone slife is in his power. 1 Contrary to what many popular books, movies, and seminarstell you, you won t discover your life s meaning by lookingwithin yourself. You ve probablytried that already. You didn t createyourself, so there is no way youcan tell yourself what you werecreated for! If I handed you aninvention you had never seenbefore, you wouldn t know itspurpose, and the invention itself wouldn t be able to tell youeither. Only the creator or the owner s manual could reveal itspurpose. I once got lost in the mountains.