A Time magazine cover article named Rick Warren the most influential spiritual leader in America and one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Tens of millions of copies of Pastor Rick’s books have been published in 200 languages. His best-known books, The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church, were named three times in national surveys of pastors (by Gallup, Barna, and Lifeway) as the two most helpful books in print.

Rick and his wife, Kay, founded Saddleback Church, the Purpose Driven Network, the PEACE Plan, and Hope for Mental Health. He is the cofounder of Celebrate Recovery with John Baker.

Pastor Rick has spoken in 165 nations. He has spoken at the United Nations, US Congress, numerous parliaments, the World Economic Forum, TED, Aspen Institute, and lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and other universities.

Rick is executive director of Finishing the Task, a global movement of denominations, organizations, churches, and individuals working together on the Great Commission goals of ensuring that everyone everywhere has access to a Bible, a believer, and a local body of Christ.

The Purpose Driven Life Journal

By Rick Warren

ZONDERVAN

Copyright © 2013 Rick Warren
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-33723-2

Chapter One

A Journey with Purpose

Before you were born, God planned this moment in your life. It is no accident that you have chosen to read The Purpose Driven Life. God longs for you to discover the life he created you to live—here on earth, and forever in eternity.

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As I wrote Purpose Driven Life, I prayed you would experience the incredible joy that comes from knowing God's purposes for your life. I admire you for your interest in this book. It shows you want to know your purpose, and God loves that. You'll learn the big picture—how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. This perspective on life will reduce your stress, increase your satisfaction, help you make better decisions, and most importantly, prepare you for eternity.

I invite you to join me in a life-defining 40-day spiritual journey that answers life's most important question: What on earth am I here for? The best way to reinforce your progress in fulfilling God's purposes for your life is to keep a spiritual journal. This is not a diary of events, but a record of the life lessons you don't want to forget. We remember what we record. Writing helps clarify what God is doing in your life.

If you're serious about fulfilling your life's purpose you can't be in a hurry. God isn't. So slow down and take the time to reflect, discuss what you read each day, and then journal. Allow the Scripture to speak to you.

Your life is a journey and a journey deserves a journal. You owe it to future generations to preserve the testimony of how God helped you to fulfill his purposes on earth. It is a witness that will continue long after you are in heaven.

Write down for the coming generation what the Lord has done, so that people not yet born will praise him.

PSALM 102:18 (GNT)

WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?

DAY 1

It All Starts with God

For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, ... everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.

COLOSSIANS 1:16 (MSG)

POINT TO PONDER: It's not about me.

QUESTION TO CONSIDER: How can I remind myself today that life is really about living for God, not myself?

The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions.

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There is an alternative to speculation about the meaning and purpose of life. It's revelation. We can turn to what God has revealed about life in his Word. The easiest way to discover the purpose of an invention is to ask the creator of it. The same is true for discovering your life's purpose: ask God.

God's wisdom ... goes deep into the interior of his purposes.... It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us.

1 CORINTHIANS 2:7 (MSG)

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Father, as I begin this journey, help me to realize that building my life around myself instead of you will only lead to emptiness and meaninglessness. I was made by you and for you, and I want to discover my purpose in you.

DAY 2

You Are Not an Accident

"I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born," says the Lord.

ISAIAH 44:2 (CEV)

POINT TO PONDER: I am not an accident.

QUESTION TO CONSIDER: Knowing that God created me for a purpose, what areas of my personality, background, and appearance do I need to accept?

Long before you were conceived by your parents you were conceived in the mind of God. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you!

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O Lord, You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!

PSALM 139:16 (LB)

God made you to love you and you are his special creation.

God was thinking of you even before he made the world! In fact, that's why he created it! God designed this planet's environment just so we could live in it. We are the focus of his love, and the most valuable of all his creation.

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Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love.

EPHESIANS 1:4 (MSG)

If there was no God, then we'd all be "accidents," the result of astronomical random chance in the universe. But there is a God, he made you for a reason, and your life has profound meaning! We discover that meaning and purpose only when we make God the reference point of our lives.

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God doesn't play dice.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

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God, your plan is amazing. Thank you that I was custom-made for a reason. Help me to trust your wisdom in choosing my parents, race, background, gifts, and appearance.

DAY 3

What Drives Your Life?

You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.

ISAIAH 26:3 (TEV)

POINT TO PONDER: Living on purpose is the path to peace.

QUESTION TO CONSIDER: What would my family and friends say is the driving force of my life? What do I want it to be?

Everyone's life is driven by something. Most dictionaries define the verb drive as "to guide, to control, or to direct." Whether you are driving a car, a nail, or a golf ball, you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at that moment. What is the driving force in your life?

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Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters."

MATTHEW 6:24 (NLT)

Many people are driven by guilt, resentment...