Rick Warren - You Are Called to Become—Part Two

Hello everybody, and welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. This

is the Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren. Now today

we're continuing into the new year, and we're digging deeper

into one of life's biggest questions, does my life really matter?

In today's message, Rick's going to continue his powerful series

Live Your Calling? What on Earth Am I here for?

In it, you'll discover how living out God's purpose for

your life brings real meaning, direction, and joy no matter

where you're starting from. And now here's part two of

a message entitled you are called to become the fourth.

Thing on the steps of finishing the race of life?

Is this when it gets hard, remember the reward. When

life gets hard, you need to remember the reward. Now,

as I said, this goal for God to make you

the man he wants you to be, for God to

make you the woman he wants you to become. It's

a lifetime process. It's not a fifty yard dash. And

so You're gonna go through a lot of problems and

pressures and trials and difficulties and ups and downs, and

God's going to use it all to make you more

like Jesus. Now, since God's number one goal is to

make you like Christ. That's what he wants you. He

wants you to be loved, he wants you to belong,

and he wants you to become like Christ. Then it

means God is going to take you. Listen very closely.

If God's going to make you like Jesus, He's going

to take you through everything Jesus went through. Were there

times when Jesus was lonely? Yes? Were there times when

Jesus was criticized? Yes? Times when Jesus was betrayed? Yes?

Were there times when Jesus was worn out with fatigue

and he had had to keep going? Yes? Where there

times when he was missed on understood? Yes? And if

God did not spare his own son those things, why

do you think he would spare you? He won't. The

next time you start to ask why is this happening

to me, you need to realize God wants to use

it to build your attitude, to build your character. God

wants to use it to make you like Christ. And

instead of asking why, you need to say what What

do you want me to learn from this situation? The

Bible says Jesus learned obedience through suffering. The Bible says

Jesus was made complete through suffering. You're going to learn

them the same way. So you shouldn't be surprised when

problems come into your life, because this isn't the easy

stage that happens in eternity. In eternity, no more sorrow,

no more suffering, no more sadness, no more problems, no

more difficulties. But right now you're going to have all

kinds of problems because this is where you do the

character development, where you're growing and you're becoming, and when

life gets hard, you need to remember the rewards a

part of the process. Let me show you some verses

here on your outline. The next verse in Hebrews twelve

says this verse two and three, Jesus did not give

up when he's he's running his race because of the cross.

On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting

for him in heaven. He thought nothing of the disgrace

of dying on the cross because he knew the reward

on the other side. And now he's seated at the

right side of God's throne. So think of what he

went through and how he put up with so much,

so much hatred from sinners. So don't let yourselves become

discouraged and give up. Say you know, this is just

part of the plan. The problems are part of the plan.

Look at the next verse. Here's a great promise one

Peter Chapter five. After you suffer for a while, for

a short time, God, who gives all grace, will make

everything right. That's a great promise. He will make you strong,

he will support you, he will keep you from falling.

That's good news when you're in the middle of a problem.

He called you to share in the glory in his glory.

He called you to share in his glory in Christ,

a glory that will continue forever. So we have short

term problems on Earth for long term glory in heaven. Now,

God does not promise an easy life here on Earth.

He does promise reward in heaven for the things you

learn from it, if you become more and more like Christ.

Anybody who tells you life is easy is out of

touch with reality. Fact is life is hard. Everybody agree

with that life is hard. It's not easy. Why because

this isn't Heaven. This is Earth. Everything on this planet broken.

Is there pleasure on Earth? Of course? There is? Are

there happy times on earth. Of course, there are are

there moments of joy on earth. Yes, are there times

when things are going great, yes, But as a general rule,

life is hard. You're not on easy street. Everything in

life you have to struggle for, you have to work for.

It's not easy. This is intentional, and you're learning through

the school of character development, the character that you're going

to carry with you into heaven. The Bible says this,

look here on the screen, it's not on your outline. Romans,

Chapter eight. Since we are his children, God's children, we

will share in his treasures. In other words, we get

the inheritance. If you're in a family, you inherit the

family treasures. For everything God gives to his son Christ

is ours too. What a deal. God owns everything in

the universe. He says, we get to share as children.

But here's the butt. But if we are to share

his glory, we must also share his suffering. I don't

like that part. Let's just cut that part out of

the Bible. Okay, we just forget that part. No, it says,

if you're going to share in his glory, then you're

gonna share in his suffering. No. No, God's no glory.

No no pain, no gain, And they say this is

part of life. Don't be surprised. And when life gets hard,

you need to remember the reward. Now, this week we're

doing a memory verse every week. This week we're gonna

memorize part of Romans chapter eight, verse twenty eight. So

let's put it up here on the screen. Romans eight

twenty eight says, in all things God works for the

good of those who love Him, who have been called

according to his purpose. Now, remember we say the verse.

We save the address at the beginning at the end,

So let's read it aloud together, Romans eight twenty eight.

In all things, God works for the good of those

who love Him, who've been called according to his purpose,

Romans eight twenty eight. Now, by the way, where does

in the Bible does it say that all things work

together for the good of those who love God? Romans

eight twenty eight. And what does Romans eight twenty eight

say in all things God works for the good of

those who love him, who have been called according to

his purpose? And where is that? Romans eight twenty eight,

Number five. The fifth step in the marathon to maturity

is I must gather a team to run with me.

I gather a team to run with me. Now it's

your race, and nobody can run your race, but people

can support you in your race. And what is helpful

is that in your life, at different stages of the race,

you're gonna need different people to run along with you.

Nobody is going to run your entire life with you.

If you married, there were years that you didn't know

that person. But at different stages in life, you have

people running with you through life, helping you, encouraging your,

supporting you. That's called a small group. If you don't

have anybody running with you, you're not going to make

it to the end of the race. You're going to

give up, You're going to discourage and you're not going

to become the woman you were intended to be. You're

not going to become the man God created you to be.

You need some other people in your life who were

encouraging you, spurring you on, helping you run your race.

You know, I've been to Africa many many times. As

an old proverb in Africa that says, to run fast,

run by yourself, but to run far, run with other people. See,

I don't want you to just run fast and burn out.

Every One of us know people who started off great

in life and they're nowhere to be found today. They

had so much potential, they had so much ability. Need

that guy, he's going somewhere. She is really going far,

and you knew it. And where there are today? They're sideline,

They're doing nothing. They're wasting their life. Why they didn't

have anybody running with them? You need a small group,

You need a few. You don't need one hundred people

running with you. You don't even need ten people running with you.

You need three or four running with you who you're

running with them, and they're running with you, and you're

supporting each other. When you feel like giving up, they

keep you going. Hebrews chapter ten says this, let us

consider how we may spur one another on to love

and to good deeds. Spur that means encourage. How do

we encourage each other to do the right thing. Let

us not give up meeting together. Talking about a small group,

let us not give up meeting together. I hope, hope

you're going to keep your small group after we finish

this series, as some are in the habit of doing.

But let us encourage one another. As you see the

day as approaching why do some people not make it

to the finish line? Why do we get stuck? Why

do we stop growing? Why do we settle for second

best and less than God's plan in our life? Why

do we cop out and give up? One reason? Fear.

It's fear, and a lot of times we don't even

realize how fearful we are. But what we think is,

I am so afraid of failing. I'm so afraid that

I won't be able to measure up. I'm so afraid

that I can't keep this commitment, I won't even try.

And it is fear that causes you to miss God's

best for your life. But when you belong to a

small group, and that small group believes in you, and

that small group loves you, then when you are beloved

and you belong you can become and they give you

the courage to do things. Having a small group who

loves you unconditionally gives you the courage to start the race,

gives you the courage to stay in the race, gives

you the courage to finish the race, and gives you

the courage to get up and start over. When you

stumbled and really screwed it up, they say you can

do this, You can do it now. That is a

safe place. When you get in a small group where

people love you unconditionally. That doesn't happen overnight. You don't.

A small group doesn't become safe in three weeks or

five weeks or six weeks. It takes time. As you

begin to learn to know these people that you begin

to trust them. You know their weaknesses, they know yours.

You begin to be more open. You can say I

really had a tough time today, and you begin to

have more openness with them because you're safe. Then you

can grow. I am in a very safe small group.

But it didn't happen overnight. We figured out this week

that the group we started that I'm in right now,

we started during the campaign fifty Days of Love. I

know those people like the back of my hand. I

know their strengths, their weaknesses, and I know that if

I were to get sick tonight at three am in

the morning, any one of them would get out of

bed and take me to the hospital because I've done

it for them and they've done it for me, and

we've been there for each other in the last twelve years.

Do every major problem you can think of, and I

said this for her. I wouldn't be pastor of this

church if it weren't for my small group. They've helped

me through some very tough times. You need to gather

a team to run with you. Okay, Number six, This

is a big one. When you're running the race of life,

you need to realize God is cheering me at every stage.

I need to realize when I'm running the race of

life to become the man of the woman God wants

you to be, that God is cheering me at every

stage of life. Some of you have the mistaken idea

that God only smiles at you when you do things right,

or that God only smiles at you once you've reached

the finish line. Once you've arrived at maturity, then God

is going to like you. But until you become spiritually mature,

God doesn't have any time of day for you, you're dead wrong.

Nobody shames a baby for not knowing how to read.

You dumb, dumb baby. You don't expect a baby to

be able to read. Nobody shames a ten year old

for not knowing how to drive or balance a check book,

You dumb ten year old. No, no, you know what

is appropriate for that stage of growth. When my grandkids

draw me a picture and they bring it to me,

I say that's perfect. Now, I'm not saying it's a picasso.

I'm saying it's perfect for that stage of their development.

God smiles at you at every stage of your development.

He's not waiting for you to get to a certain

level of maturity before he says you're okay. You're already

okay in his eyes, because Christ died for you. Nobody

shames a baby for not being mature, and you need

to not be ashamed at whatever stage of spiritual growth

you are in right now. A lot of times were

secretly thinking, man, I should be further along than this,

given my age, I should be a lot more mature.

I shouldn't have these problems anymore. I mean, I'm this

number of years old. Why am I still having this

hang up? Why am I still having this problem? Why

am I still having this difficulty? And we start shaming

ourselves because we think God is ashamed of us. God

is not ashamed of you. There's no condemnation for those

who are in Christ Jesus. Now, why is this important

that you realize that God is cheering you at every

stage of your life, because the major reason you don't

become the man you're supposed to be is shame. It's shame.

And what happens is, instead of admitting that we don't

have it all together, we spend all of our time

and energy trying to pretend that we have it all together,

faking it, wearing a mask, pretending acting like I got

it all together, when inside you know I don't have

it all together by a long shot. Now I hate

to shock you, but everybody in the world knows you

don't have it together. In fact, you're the only one

who doesn't know it. God knows you don't have it

all together. As your pastor, I know you don't have

it all together. All your friends know you don't have

it together. They just want you to admit it. You

don't have it all together. When you start becoming vulnerable

and you start admitting, you know what, my life is

really screwed up. My life is really a mess. There's

a lot of errors here that just aren't right, then

you can stop spending all that energy on faking it

and pretending and convert that energy into becoming You can

either become what God wants you to be or you

can pretend you've already got it together, but you can't

have enough energy to do both. This is why I

love Celebrate Recovery so much. It's my favorite minister in

our church because the first step of the twelve steps

in Celebrate Recovery is I get out of denial. I

quit faking it. I quit pretending like I've got it

all together. I quit trying to pretend that I don't

have problems. Instead, I just admit my life is unmanageable

and I need a manager, and that manager needs to

be God. God is God, and I'm not. Once you

come to that, there's a great relief because you quit

trying to fake it anymore. You realize God loves me

even though my life's pretty screwed up right now, He's

still cheering me on, and now I can actually start

working on it. And by the way, Celebrate Recovery is

not just for people who have an addiction to say

alcohol or a drug or celebrate. Everybody needs recovery. Why

Because everybody's broken. You're emotionally broken, your emotions don't work perfectly,

you're relationally broken, your relationship sure don't work perfectly. Your

mind is broken. You don't think right all of the time.

Everything in your life, your body is broken, so we

all need recovery. And if you think I don't need recovery,

then you're the one who really needs recovery, because everybody

needs to grow and can't grow until you admit I

don't have it all together. Now, here's another passage. Philippians.

Chapter three in the Bible is another one of these

classic passages on the race of life. Paul, this is

the guy who wrote most of the New Testament part

of the Bible. Paul says this, Saint Paul, I don't

mean to say that I have already achieved these things

or that I've already reached perfection. Women, this is the

guy who wrote the Bible, and he's going, hey, I

don't have it together. I'm not saying I've already achieved

all this. I'm not saying I've already done all this.

I'm not saying I'm perfect. He's not. And thank God,

I'm not what I used to be, and I am

what I am. Thank God, I'm not what I'm going

to be. One day says I don't have it already achieved.

These things I haven't already gotten the perfection. But he says,

I keep working toward that day when I will finally

be all that Christ saved me for and wants me

to be. One day, I keep I'm going to be

what God wants to be, the man God wants to me.

One day I'll be that, he says. I'm still not there.

I'm still not all I should be. But I am

focusing on all my energies on this one thing. I

forget to pass. You know, all those dumb decisions that

really messed me up. It's gone. My past is passed.

I'm going to forget the past. Forgetting the past, looking

forward to what lizahead, I strain to reach the end

of the race and receive the prize for which God

through Christ Jesus is calling. There's that word, the third

calling to become, is calling us up to heaven. So

they just keep on going. I don't have it all together,

but I keep strain in a head. Now, God is

cheering you at every stage of the race. Those of

you are parents. Have you ever watched your child run

a race at school? Yes? At what point did you

start cheering them when they crossed the finish line? No?

You start cheering your kids the moment they started the race,

when the whistle was blown and the gun was shot

and they'd get out of the starting box. You're going,

let's go, let's go, let's go. You can do it,

you can do it. You're cheering them at every stage

of the race. God is doing that with you. Right now.

Let's go. I know you can do it. I know.

Keep going, keep going. You're doing good, You're doing great.

Keep running, keep running. And God is cheering you at everything.

He's not waiting for you to get to finish line.

And what happens if you have a child who stumbles

in the race and falls flat on their face and

embarrasses themselves. What do you do? You cheer more? Come on,

I know you can do it. Get up. I believe

in you. You cheer more when they stumble. This is

life changing for some of you right now. You've never

realized that God is cheering for you. The moment you stumble,

He's going, I know you can do it. You're better

than this. I believe in you. I created you, I

sent my son to die for you. I want you

in my family. Come on, you can do it. I

know you stumble. God is saying oh, you worthless piece

of baloney. I regret the day that I created you

once I No, that's not God, that's your dad. Don't

project an unpleasable parent on the God. You may have

grown up with a mother or father that no matter

what you did, it wasn't good enough and it was

Come on, you can do better than that. Are you

kidding me? And they shamed you your entire life? That's

not God. God is cheering you every moment, and when

you stumble, he cheers more. Come on, I know you

can do it. I know you can do it. I

believe I made you, I created you, I died for you.

I love you. I've got to put my spirit in

your life. And he cheers even louder. You need to

never forget that truth.

Well, thank you so much for joining us today on

Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Hey, would you like to go

deeper with Pastor Rick to discover God's purpose in your life?

Well now you can with the video based studykit called

What on Earth Am I here for? This life changing

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learn that it's only in God that we discover our origin,

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Every other path leads to a dead end. This resource

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