Rick Warren - How To Keep On Believing—Part Two

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of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we bring our series called

fifty Days of Faith to a close. Rick will bring

it all together for us with a final look at

the true meaning of faith and explore ways we can

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the word hope to eight hundred, six hundred five thousand

and four. That's the word hope to eight hundred six

hundred five thousand and four. Right now, here's Pastor Rick

Warren with the final part of a message called how

to Keep on Believing.

When you get the promises of God in your life,

you will be able to hope in faith rather than

giving up. Now when you come to a dead end,

rely on the promises. Notice this next verse. While God

was testing him, and that's what waiting is.

It's a test.

Abraham still trusted in God and his promises, so he

offered his son Isaac. Now this is a test. Isaac

grows up and God says, I want you to give

him back to me. I want you to sacrifice them

to me. But Abraham didn't panic. I would have, but

Abraham didn't panic. God said, give me your son back,

sacrifice them to me. But he didn't panic. For three reasons,

the Bible tells us. One, he believed that God would

raise him from the dead Hebrews eleven nineteen. Second, when

he's telling his servant, we're going up the hill to

make the sacrifice, he says, will be back, Not I'll

be back, but we'll be back. He fully intended the

son to come back with him. And Third, when his

little boy, Isaac is walking up the hill with him

and he says, Daddy, where's the lamb we're going to sacrifice.

Abraham says, the Lord will provide. He had every intention

and no doubt that God was going to spare his

son or resurrect him from the dead. Why he had

the promises of God. Now here's the big test in

your life. What are you going to do when God

says to you, I want you to sacrifice your greatest dream.

That is the ultimate test of faith.

When God says, the thing you value most in life,

what you want most in life, what you crave most

in life, will you offer it on the altar? To me,

this is a test. Will you do what Abraham did?

Will you hope against hope? Will you hope in faith?

And will you rely on the promises of God? Look

at the next verse Romans four eighteen. Though it seemed

Abraham's hope could not be fulfilled, he did become the

fun nations exactly as God has promised. Notice the word seemed.

Things are never as bleak as they seem if you

look at them from God's point of view. The Disciples

followed Jesus around for three years, and they thought he

was going to bring in the kingdom and set up

a kingo and they'd all be rulers. And one day

they look up and Jesus is hanging on the cross,

and he's dead. You talk about a dead end. They

are devastated. He's the Messiah, He's the Son of God.

How in the world could be hanging on a cross.

They didn't know that Easter was just a couple days away.

God specializes in turning dead situations around and resurrecting situations

that look hopeless when we rely on the promises of God.

Notice circle the word exactly. He says, he became the

father of many nations exactly as God had promised. A

promise is only as good as the integrity of the promiser,

and God cannot lie. The fourth thing you do when

you're waiting on God recognize the facts in faith. Face them,

but face them in faith. Recognize the facts of your

life in faith. Romans four nineteen and twenty says, without

weakening in his faith, he it's Abraham faced the facts

that his body was as good as dead, and Sarah's

womb was also dead. He's been pretty blunt here, yet

he didn't waver with unbelief. God's word translation says, through faith,

he regarded the facts. Abraham recognizes that he and his

wife are beyond child bearing years. He's ninety nine, his

wife is eighty nine, and it is a medical impossibility

that they're going to have children now. He doesn't deny

the facts. He faces them with faith. This is very

very important.

Get this.

Faith does not ignore reality. Faith does not pretend you

don't have a problem. Faith does not act like it's

no difficulty. Faith is not denial. Please hear that, because

a lot of people think it is. Let me give

you definition of faith. Faith is facing the facts in

your life.

Without being discouraged by them. That's faith.

It's not denying you have problems. It's not denying you

have difficulties. It's not denying you're facing a dead end

or a hopeless situation from a human standpoint. It is

facing the fact of problems in your life without being

discouraged by them. That is true faith. Some of you

are facing cancer. Some of you have loved ones who

are facing cancer right now. You cannot deny the diagnosis,

but you can defy the.

Vert big difference.

You cannot deny the diagnosis. I don't have cancer, Yes

you do. They don't have cancer, Yes they do. You

cannot deny the diagnosis. That's fantasy, it's denial. But you

can defy the verdict and you can fight it and

say we're going to work at this and we're going

to do all we can to beat it.

And defy the verdict.

You see, this is very important because there's a brand

of Christianity out there that says, deny all your problems

and just smile smile, Smile. That's not Jesus, that's Pollyanna.

You know it says you know, I'm not sick. Positive confession,

I'm not sick. I got one hundred and four temperature,

but I'm not sick. Or you know, I'm not in debt.

I'm on the verge of bankruptcy, but I'm not in debt.

Faith is not asking.

You to deny reality. It never does.

Faith asks you to face the reality in your life

without being discouraged by it. It's not living in denial.

Faith is not clinging to the past. Faith is not

stubborn foolishness. Please understand this. If you're still waiting for

eight Tracks to make a comeback, let it go.

It's over. It isn't coming back.

If you're still waiting for that special guy or girl

to invite you out on a date, that person from

high school and it's your fiftieth reunion.

Let it go.

That puppy's not coming home, just let it go. If

you're hoping that dimpled Chads will elect you president, let

it go.

Let it go. Grieve deeply, but let it go.

Some of you need to do some legitimate, deep grieving

in your life. That things have not turned out as

you planned, that what you dream for your life isn't

going to happen.

But you don't have a pity party.

You believe that God knows best, and you say, yes,

it didn't turn out the way I planned, but I

believe God has a better plan.

That is faith.

Yes, things did not work out the way I thought,

but I believe God is not through with my life,

and He's working in my life, and God has good

things in store for me.

Still. That is faith.

It is facing the facts in faith. It's not fantasy.

It's just not being discouraged. One of the things I've

told pastors for many, many years, it's an old cavalry

military rule. It says, when the horse is dead, dismount. Okay,

don't keep beating the dead horse. And when a dream dies,

you just dismount and saddle another one. Because God's not

through with you. God is not through with you. Some

of you wanted to get married, but you never did.

Some of you wanted to have children, but you never have.

What do you do with a blocked love? Pull yourself

into a cell, build a shell around yourself, be self concerned,

a prickly pair. I'm never gonna let anybody get close

to me again. I'm not gonna let anybody hurt me.

I'm going to hold in my emotions, of course, not

what do you do when a love is blocked? You're redirected.

You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We'll be back

in just a moment with the rest of today's lesson.

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closing thought. With a practical step boys and girls can

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Now let's get back to today's lesson here on Pastor Rick's

Daily Hope.

If you're still waiting for that special guy or girl

to invite you out on a date, that person from

high school and it's your fiftieth reunion.

Let it go. That puppy's not coming home, just let

it go.

If you're hoping that dimpled Chads will elect you president.

Let it go. Let it go.

Okay, grieve deeply, but let it go. Some of you

need to do some legitimate deep grieving in your life

that things have not turned out as you planned, that

what you dream for your life isn't gonna happen.

But you don't have a pity party.

You believe that God knows best, and you say, yes,

it didn't turn out the way I planned, but I

believe God has a better plan.

That is faith.

Yes, things did not work out the way I thought,

but I believe God is not through with my life,

and he's working in my life, and God has good

things in store for me.

Still.

That is faith. It is facing the facts in faith.

It's not fantasy. It's just not being discouraged. One of

the things I've told pastors for many, many years, it's

an old cavalry military rule. It says, when the horse

is dead, dismount. Okay, don't keep beating a dead horse.

And when a dream dies, you just dismount and saddle

another one. Because God's not through with you. God is

not through with you. Some of you wanted to get married,

but you never did. Some of you wanted to have children,

but you never have. What do you do with a

blocked love? Pull yourself into a cell, build a shell

around yourself, be self concerned, a prickly pair. I'm never

going to let anybody get close to me again. I'm

not gonna let anybody hurt me. I'm going to hold

in my emotions, of course, not. What do you do

when a love is blocked? You redirect it, You rechannel it.

You know that story I've told you several times about

Corey tin Boom. When she was a young woman, was

engaged to be married, and all of a sudden, the

boy broke up with her and married a friend, and

she was devastated and she never did Mary went through

life as a single woman, but she redirected her love.

She didn't pull herself into a little shell, and she

became one of the most loving Christian leaders of the

twentieth century, influencing millions and millions of people. She redirected

her love in a new direction. How do you keep

on believing when you feel like giving up?

You do these five things. First, you need to understand the.

Six phases of faith that God will take you through

over and over and over. Then you remember what God

can do.

He can do anything.

Then you rely on God's promises and remember what He's

promised to do. Then you recognize the facts of your

life in faith. You don't deny them. You recognize them,

but you don't get discouraged. And finally, you rejoice in anticipation.

In anticipation, you expect, you joyfully expect God to act

in your life and to do good things, even if

it's not the way you planned. He will do good

things you expect him to act. Romans fourth, twenty twenty

one says this Abraham never doubted. He believed God for

his faith and trust grew ever stronger, and he praised

God for this blessing even.

Before it happened.

Wow, he was completely sure that God was well able

to do anything he promised. Notice, even before it happened.

That is real faith. We talked about it last week.

When you thank God for something after it happens, that's gratitude.

When you thank God for something before it happens, that

is faith. And the highest form of faith is thanking

God in advance.

God. I don't even know how you're gonna work this out.

I'm at a dead end, but I thank you in

advance that you know what you're doing.

I thank you in advance that you're gonna work it

all out.

One day, Jesus went up to a tomb and some

people had asked him to raise Lazarus from the dead.

And he walks up and he prays, Father, I thank

you that you've already heard me. What was he doing

thanking God in advance? When God delivers, there are three

kinds of deliverance. On your outline The first is circumstantial deliverance,

and in that a type of deliverance. God changes the situation.

He miraculously turns the situation around. And God will do

that many many times in your life, but he's not

gonna always do it. He will do many miracles in

your life, but he's not always going to change the situation.

Sometimes he does personal deliverance, and he changes you and

you get a bigger perspective, you get a deeper faith,

you get a larger character, you get a better attitude.

And God changes you and leaves the situation personal deliverance.

But there is some pain in life that is only

going to be relieved through ultimate deliverance, and that is Heaven.

One day, We're going to a place, those of us

who know the Lord, where there is no sorrow, no tears,

no suffering, no sadness. And that is ultimately the deliverance

that God wants to offer to you. Now, listen, God

has not promised to take away all your pain. God

has not promised that all your loved ones are going

to live for as long as you want them to live.

God has promised that you will not have any difficulties,

that you will never have any dead ends, never have

any delays. He has not promised to take away all

your pain. He has promised to give you the strength

to handle it, and he has promised that one day, ultimately,

he will deliver you to heaven, where there is no sorrow,

no suffering, no sadness, and no pain. The Bible says this,

we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

What is the glory of God? The hope of God's

glory is heaven. But there's only one way to get there,

through Jesus Christ. You don't work for it or earn it.

It's through Jesus Christ. Now, the Bible word for deliverance

is the word salvation. That's what salvation means. Jesus Christ

is your savior. He is your deliverer, and he will

deliver you. And that is a far cry from just

positive thinking. You see, all the world can offer is

wishful thinking. The world hopes for the best, But Jesus

Christ offers the best hope.

That's power. Heads, are you at a dead end this morning?

Jesus Christ can turn your hopeless end into an endless hope.

So whatever problem seems hopeless to you, I urge you

to give it and your life to Jesus Christ right now,

to Jesus Christ, I give you my problems and I

give you my life right now.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

Hi everybody, this is Rick and I hope you enjoyed

today's broadcast. You know, if you just prayed that prayer

for the very first time, or you just recommitted your

life to Jesus again today, would you let me know

about it. There's something real about sharing your commitment. So

write me Rick at pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick,

I prayed that prayer of commitment. I gave my life

to Christ. I'll send you some material that'll help you

on your journey with Jesus, and I'll also pray for you.

God bless you.

This is Pastor Rick's daily hope. Rick will be right

back to close out our time today. But first, over

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There are nearly eight billion people on this planet, and

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everything I've commanded you. And surely I'm with you always

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we'll work together to fulfill the Great Commission, God will

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