Rick Warren - These Small Daily Choices Keep You Close to God

Now, one of the common mistakes that we all make

is we fall into the trap of what I call when,

and then thinking when, and then thinking other words, when

such and such happens, then I'll be happy. And you

have done this all your life, and so have I.

We fall in this when and then thinking when I

get into college, when I get married, when I have

a baby, when I get a job, when my kids

are born, when my kids leave the house, when when,

and then thinking, then I'll be happy. Last week I

shared with you five laws of happiness, and one of

them is that happiness is a choice. You're as happy

as you choose to be. If you're unhappy, you can't

blame anybody for your unhappiness because happiness is a choice.

You don't go looking for happiness, You create it. It

is something you great. And happiness, by the way, is

not a goal. It is the byproduct of right thinking

and right acting. Now, there are four common barriers to happiness.

If I call these the kill joys of life, because

when any of these enter into your life, then they're

gonna rob your happiness unless you're prepared for them. The

first one, of course, is pain. Pain is a kill joy.

It's hard to be happy and in pain at the

same time. But there's another one, and you're you're familiar

with this with too. I call it picky people. Picky

people people of all kinds actually can can cause you

to lose your joy. They can be irritating, they can

be demanding, they can be on cooperative, they can be arrogant.

People are common kill joy in life. Number three pressure

Pressure can cause you to lose your happiness. And you

can have pressure from within yourself or you can have

it around you. It can be internal or it can

be external. And then number four and one you're all

familiar with. Of course, it's problems problems, and they're all

kinds of problems. So paying people, pressures, and problems all

are what I call the kill joys. Now in Philippians,

chapter one, verses twelve down to about verse thirty or so,

Paul talks about all four of these kill joys, and

we have an example of how to be happy no

matter what's going on in your life. Now, I want

to remind you that Paul, when he writes this book,

The Happiest Book, he's in prison. He's in prison in Rome.

In fact, the last four years of Paul's life had

gone like this before he wrote this happiest book in

the Bible. He spent two years in jail in Cesarea

on false charges, two years in jail for false charts.

Then he is sent on the way to Rome, and

he is shipwrecked in the Mediterranean notion on the way

to Rome, and he ends up on a desert island

in the Mediterranean, and he's stranded there for a while

with some people. And while he's there there are some snakes,

poisonous snakes, and an island actually gets bit by a

snake while he's there. Then he's imprisoned again for another

two years in Rome with a guard chained to him

twenty four hours a day, so he has no privacy

at all. He's in prison in Rome with a praetorian

guard because he was such an important prisoner, chained to

him twenty four hours day. He has no privacy. Now

Paul has every reason to be bitter, He has every

reason to be unhappy. He has every reason to be

dispressed and have a pity party. Instead, he writes this

book on happiness and on joy. Now let me read

you today's text. It's Philippians one twelve to thirty. It

starts like this, I want you to know, dear brothers

and sisters, Paul's writing that everything that has happened to

me has helped me to spread the good news. For

everyone here, including all the soldiers in the palace guard,

know that I am in chains because of Christ, and

I have gained confidence. Oh and because of my imprisonment,

many of the Christians here have gained confidence and become

more bold in telling others about Christ. Now some are

sharing Christ out of jealousy and rivalry. Was talking about

the people who are outside. But others preach Christ with

pure motives, and they love me, and they know that

the Lord brought me here to defend the good news.

But there are those who do not have pure motives

as they preach about Christ, and they preach with selfish ambition,

and they're not sincere, intending to make my time in

prison more painful to me. But whether or not their

motives are pure, the fact remains that the message about

Christ is being preached. So I rejoice, and I will

continue to rejoice no matter what. Or I know that

as you pray for me. He's writing the people in

the Philippi, the church in a city in Greece called Philippi.

It's called Philippians. If you's writing us, it'd be first Californians.

For I know. He says that you are pray for me,

and as the spirit of Jesus helps me, this will

all turn out for my deliverance. And I live in

eager expectation and hope. And then he says, I want

my life to always honor Christ, whether I live or

I die. For to me, living is for Christ, and

dying is even better. If I live, it just means

more fruitful service, years of service for Christ. But I'm

often torn between two desires. Sometimes I want to live,

and sometimes I long to go on and be with

Christ in heaven. That would be far better form mes me.

But it's better for you if I live, so that

you can grow and that you can experience the joy

of your faith. But whatever happens, you must live in

a manner worthy of the good news about Christ. Don't

be intimidated by your enemies. It will be a signed

to them of their downfall that God's with you and

that he will save you. For you have been given

not only the privilege of trusting in Christ, but also

the privilege of suffering for him, and we are in

this fight together. You've seen me suffer for Christ in

the past, and you know that I am still in

the middle of a great struggle. Now, that's a very

warm personal note that Paul's writing. It is a very

personal book. This letter he's writing to his friends in

the Church of Philippi that he started, and he talks

about how he's maintained his happiness in spite of everything

going in ways he hadn't planned. Now, the key verse

in this whole passage I just read is verse twenty seven,

and it says this, whatever happens, whatever happens, conduct yourself

in a manner worthy of the good news of Christ.

So in this passage we learn how to be happy

no matter what, even if you're in prison in Rome

and Paul models four habits. Let's get right into it.

Number One, I can be happy no matter what happens

in my life if number one, I look at every

problem from God's viewpoint. If I look at every problem

from God's viewpoint, you see, happy people have a larger perspective,

They have a bigger worldview. They see the big picture.

When I don't have the big picture I don't see

things from God's point of view. I get discouraged, I

get frustrated, I get unhappy. The reason we get unhappy

is because we don't see what God does. And the

truth is, no matter what's going on in your life,

the good, bad, and the ugly, God is working out

a plan. And he even takes all of our mistakes

and even puts those into the plan. He says, I

can use that too, my sins, yes, my faults, yes,

what other people do, yes, God says I can. I

can fit it all into the plan. And Paul knew this,

and so he starts out the first verses, verse twelve,

and he says this, now, I want you to know,

dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to

me has helped spread the good news. And let me

explain it. What's going on here. Ever since Paul had

become a Christian on the road to Damascus, he had

dreamed one great dream, and that was this I want

to preach in Rome. Rome is the center of the universe.

Rome is the capital of the Empire. Rome is the

most prestigious, powerful, strategic city in the world. There was

no nation more important than the Roman Empire, and there

was no city more important than Rome. So Paul's dream

is sharing Christ at the center of the universe. And

what he wants to do is this. He wants to

go to Rome. He wants to rent the coliseum, and

he wants to do a harvest crusade for six months.

That's what Paul's thinking. I'm going to Rome to preach.

God had another idea, Paul. You're gonna go as a prisoner,

and I'm gonna make you a royal prisoner of Caesar. Now,

does anybody know who was Caesar at this point? Nero?

You ever heard of that guy? Yeah? Nero about as

wicked and as bad as you can get. So Paul,

Paul is a prisoner of Nero, and as a royal

prisoner with a royal guard chained to him twenty four

hours a day, he gets to talk to all kinds

of key people he would never otherwise talk to because

he's an important prisoner. He's chained twenty four hours a

day to a palace guard for two years. They changed

that guard every four hours, so I added it up.

Over two years, he witnessed to four three hundred and

eighty guards. Now my question is who's the real prisoner here,

who has the captive audience. Paul is talking to the

entire court of Caesar's palace, and God says, this is

my plan. You want to go do the big city lights,

national crusade, but I'm going to put you in prison.

And there were two results of it we know for

sure chapter four. When we get you later on, we'll

tell us that within two years, some of Nero's own

family had become believers because Paul was a prisoner in Rome.

Some of the royal family had become Christians because Paul

was in prison. And second Paul, it's kind of like

Rick Warren. It's hard to get him to sit down,

sit still, not stop moving. He's forced to sit still,

and he, as a result, writes the New Testament. Hmmm,

I wonder which had a bigger impact. Go do harvest

crusade in the coliseum, or be forced to sit still

hour after hour and write Romans, first second, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,

and on and on. First second Timothy and first second

Thessalonians and all most of the New Testament. This is

why Paul says, I want you to know, dear brothers

and sisters, that everything that has happened to me being

in prison has helped spread the good news. So he says,

I've got I've got my plan, but God has a

bigger plan. And he says, I can be happy because

I can see what God is doing through my problem. Now,

any time you have a problem and it's starting to

get you down, you're starting to be unhappy. You need

to do what Paul does. Learn to see it from

God's point of view. What is God doing here, what's

the bigger picture, what's the bigger perspective? And then you'll

be able to face the problem in faith. And when

you face the problem in faith, two things will happen. First,

it's a witness to unbelievers. When Christians handle big problems

in faith, it is a witness to unbelievers. That's why

in verse thirteen he says, for everyone here talking about

the Palace Guard and in his the Royal prison, everyone here,

including all the soldiers in the Palace Guard, knows that

I'm in Chaine because of Christ. Well, I guess so

he'd witnessed over four thousand times. The guy's chained to him.

It's a witness to unbelievers. Number two, an encouragement to believers.

Verse fourteen. He says this, and because of my imprisonment,

many of the Christians here have gained confidence those in Rome,

and they've become more bold in telling others about Christ.

It's a witness to unbelievers. It's an encouragement to believers.

Have you ever thought that God might want to use

the problem you're going through right now for the very

same reason? If you will look at it from that way,

it's going to change your perspective in a major way.

All right. Number two second habit, I can be happy

no matter what happens in my life if I never

let others control my attitude. I don't let them decide

whether I'm going to be happy or not. Now, Paul,

in this next section, he talks about four kinds of people,

and while he's in prison, he says, now, there are

some people who are attacking my ministry. They slandered Paul,

they judged Paul, they criticized Paul. They were gossip mongers.

There were some people who supported this ministry that were friends.

There were some who competed with this ministry. They're trying

to kick him. While he's down, and there were some

who were, you know, undermining his ministry. They're even trying

to destroy him. They're trying to rub it in. He's

in prison. They're trying to make it more painful. And

in Philippians, Chapter one, verses fifteen to seventeen, Paul describes

four kinds of people, and he says, there are four

kinds of people in my life. They are critics, you know,

who are slandering me and who are creating all kinds

of controversy. They're comrades, that's my friends. There are competitors

who are preaching Christ out of rivalry, and he said,

they're conspirators who just want to make my problem worse.

They want to rub it in. They want to kick

me while I'm down, while I'm in prison. They're my enemies.

First verses, verse fifteen, Talking about critics, he says, it

is true that some preach Christ because they are jealous

and Quarrelsome that word in Greek is the word eris

e r s, and it means they love to argue.

Have you ever met anybody like that? They love to argue,

they love conflict, They enjoy creating controversy. They enjoy getting

into a cap fight. These people are contentious, they are divisive,

they are critical. Now notice to hear he says they're

jealous and they're quarrelsome notice that the critic's motive is

usually jealousy. When people criticize something, they usually are jealous

of it. But what he's saying here is he says,

you don't have to deal with these people. And would

you agree that few things could rob your happiness faster

than being criticized. When you're criticized at work, or you're

criticized by friends, or you're criticized by neighbors, your stomach

starts churning. Why. Because we all want to be loved,

We all want to be approved. We want everybody to

like us. Let me give you a little happiness hint,

one of those little hhs. I don't need others people's

approval to be happy. I don't need other people's approval.

I don't need other people's permission to be happy. You're

as happy as you choose to be. If they're unhappy,

that's their choice. But you don't have to depend on

other people's approval in order to be happy. And if

you haven't got it now, you're probably not gonna get it,

and you're going to be miserable if you try to

live for the approval of everybody else. Paulus modeling here.

Never let others control your attitude. And some of these

people they're just jealous, and they're quarrelsome, and they're cranky,

and they criticize everything I do in my ministry. And

then in the next verse, verse sixteen, he talks about

the good guys. These are his friends, these are his comrades.

He says, others preach Christ from genuine goodwill, and they

do so out of love. That's the real reason we

share the good News, out of love. And they know

that God has given me the work of defending the Gospel.

So he says, you know, those people bring me joy, obviously,

And then in verse seventeen, he says, others preach Christ

insincerely from a spirit of selfish ambition. And how do

you know when somebody's ego driven, they put other people

down all the time to build themselves up. That's when

you know somebody's ministering and selfish ambition. They feel compelled

to put other people down in order to build themselves up.

Competitors will rob your happiness, and you'll look at well,

look at what they're doing. You can have competition over

the color of your lawn, neighbor's yards greener, We better

get ours going. You can have competition over the car

you drive. You can have competition over your kids. My

kid was student of the month. You know that's competition

my kid, my kid, and I'm so proud. You can

compete over hairstyles, you can compete over shoes. Don't look

at people right now, but you know that's true. You

know that's true. And if you don't deal with this,

you're going to be unhappy a lot of your life

because critics will rob your happiness and competitors will rob

your happiness. And Paul says, you know what, even in

the ministry, they are competitors, and they're selfishly, ambitiously and

insincerely preaching the good news. And then in the second

part of verse seventeen, he talks about conspirators or enemies.

These are people who just want to mess him up.

He says, other people just want to stir up more

trouble for me, and they want to add to my

pain while I'm in prison. Now, you're going to have

all four of these in your life, critics, comrades, competitors,

and conspiracors I certainly have. Don't let them rob you now.

I want you to see Paul's attitude towards He says,

I'm in prison, I'm already down, and these guys are

kicking me while I'm down. Critics, conspirators, and and you know, competitors.

He says, you know they're trying to get at me.

Look at verse eighteen. Here's Paul's attitude. What others do,

He says, what they do, what these people do, it

doesn't really matter. It doesn't really matter. The important thing

is that in every way, whether for right or wrong reasons,

the message of Christ is being shared. So he says,

I am happy and I will continue to be happy.

I love that. I'm not going to let other people

control my attitude. There may be people criticizing me for

what I'm doing. There may be people competing for with

what I'm doing. There may be people who are con

firing to make sure I fail in what I'm doing.

But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. What I'm gonna

do is I'm going to focus on Christ, and I

am choosing to be happy and I will continue to

be happy. He says, I'm not gonna let anybody steal

my joy. Number three, here's the third habit. It's the

next three or four verses, Verses nineteen to twenty. I

can always be happy no matter what happens if I

always trust God to work things out. I can always

be happy no matter what happens if I always trust

God to work thing outh. I don't try to work

it out myself. But things are falling apart, I don't

try to put them back together. I just let God

put them back together. This is the faith factor. You've

heard me say this before that when you're going through

a problem, you've got two options. You can worship or

you can worry. That's it, worship or worry. Worship or worry.

Worship or worry, And if you worshiped more, you'd have

a whole lot less to worry about. You can pray

or you can panic, and those are the options you've got.

This is the faith factor. Paul says this in Philippians

one nineteen. I will continue to rejoice will. That's an

act of the will. It is your choice to rejoice.

I don't care how bad things are in your life.

Right now. It's your choice to rejoice. It's an act

of the will. He says, I will continue to rejoice

in spite of all the things that's going on that

are bad, for I know that as you pray for me,

and as the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, all

that's happened will all turn out for my deliverance. Now,

this is a very powerful verse here, and in that

one verse, Paul gives four sources of strength in tough times.

And this is how you stay positive. This is how

you stay happy no matter what happens in your life.

He says, First, my first door strength is I have

God's perspective on my problems. That's when he says, for

I know, it's what you know that keeps you going.

He says, I know God is working in this. I

have God's perspective on my problems for I know. And

then he says number two, I have people praying for me,

and he said that keeps me going. And then he says,

I have the Holy Spirit helping me, and that keeps

me going. And then he says, you know, I expect

that I'm going to be delivered. So he says, I

have faith that God will work it for good. And

so I've got perspective, I've got prayer, I got the

Holy Spirit, and I've got faith. And then he says,

therefore I choose to be happy. I will continue to rejoice.

That's your choice to rejoice. Finally, number four, I can

be happy no matter what happens in my life if

I look at every problem God's viewpoint, if I never

let other people control my attitude, if I always trust

God to work things out. And number four, if I

stay focused on my purpose, not my problems, God's purpose

for my life. If I stay focused on my purpose,

not my problem, I can be happy even when life

seems to be falling apart. I stay focused on my purpose,

Paul says, not my problem now. Picture of this, Paul

is old. He's an old man. Now he's in prison.

He's a long way from home. He's in Rome. He

is awaiting death by execution. These are not exactly normally

happy times. And they have taken away everything from Paul.

They've taken away his friends, They've taken away his freedom,

they have taken away his ministry to travel around. They

have even taken away his privacy. He's got a guard

chained to him twenty four hours a day. But there's

one thing they cannot take away from Paul, his purpose.

It cannot be taken away from him and his ability

to make choices. And Paul says, I'm going to stay

focused on my purpose. Even though they've taken away everything

from they could not take away his purpose and what

was his purpose? Serving God by serving others. Look at

this Philippians Chapter one, verses twenty two to twenty five.

He's talking about the conundrum of sometimes I want to

go to heaven, and sometimes I want to stay here

and serve the Lord to help other people. And he

says this verse twenty two, if I continue to live,

I can do more worthwhile work for Christ. So I'm

not sure what I should choose. I'm pulled in two directions.

I want very much to leave this life and be

with Christ, which is a far better thing. But for

your sake, for your sake, it's much more important that

I remain alive. Notice Paul saying, I stay alive not

for my sake, but for your sake. I am sure

of this. I'm sure this that for your sake it's

more important that I remain alive. So I know that

I will stay on with you all so that I

can add to your progress and your joy. In the Faith,

we talk about purpose and life. Life, you have purpose

in death, Paul says, I've got it doesn't matter whether

I live or whether I die. I've got a purpose.

I've got a purpose either way. On earth, my purpose

is to serve God by serving other people. How do

you serve God on earth? You can't serve God directly

because you can't even see him. The only way you

can serve God on earth is by serving other people

in Jesus' name. And he says, so when I'm alive,

my whole purpose is simply to serve Christ by serving people.

He said, when I die, my purpose is to be

with Christ. So either way, I win. Either way, he

I stay alive just for the sake of others. And

he said, actually, selfishly, it would be better for me

if I go ahead and die, because when I die,

I'm going to place where there are no problems, no pressures,

no picky people, and no pain. Otherwise there are no

kill joys in heaven. So he said selfishly, I'm ready

to die. I'm ready to go to heaven. But he says,

I stay alive for the sake of others. Now, I

don't want you to miss this secret, because most people

on this planet do. They miss the secret I'm about tight.

The reason why most people are miserable is because they

think that happiness comes from self gratification. If I just

get more possessions, if I get more pleasures, if I

get more position, if I get sex, salary status, if

I get more things, if I live for myself, if

I get better stuff for me, I'll be happier. That

doesn't work. Actually, self gratification is not the way to happiness.

The way to happiness is self sacrifice, not self gratification.

Paul says. The reason I'm happy is because as long

as I'm alive, I'm giving my life a way to

help others. Are you doing that or are you living

for yourself? If you're living for yourself, I can tell

you right now you're not very happy. You aren't because

happiness does not come from status and happiness this got

from from salary, and happiness does not come from sex.

Happiness comes from service and giving your life away. And

until you understand that you're not gonna be happy, must

of your life happiness does not come from self gratification.

It comes from self sacrifice. Paul sums up his purpose

in verse twenty one. For me to live is Christ.

That's pretty simple purpose. And to die is game. Now

let me ask you this. For me to live is Christ.

If somebody came up to you today and asked you

to fill in the blank, what word would you use.

For me to live is entertainment. For me to live

is sports, golf, baseball, football. For me to live is clothes.

For me to live is make money. For me to

live is my family. For me to live is friends.

You see, there can be a lot of good things,

but nothing deserves the place for me to live except

the one who created you and gave you your life, Jesus Christ.