Rick Warren - Expecting The Best—Part One

This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry

of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we begin a series called

fifty Days of Faith. In these lessons, Rick looks into

God's word to discover the true meaning of faith and

explore ways we can strengthen it. But first, if you'd

like to discover the custom made dream God has just

for you, stay tuned because in just a few moments

we're going to tell you about the video base created

to dream Bible study. You can take a sneak peek

right now by going to Pastororick dot com while you

listen to today's message, Or you can just text 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

part one of a message called Expecting the Best.

How do you get God's approval by being more good

than bad? No? By keeping the Ten Commandments? No, by

promising to be perfect. No, by being religious and going

to church.

No.

The Bible says there's only one way to get God's approval.

There's only one way to get God's smile on your life.

In the Book of Hebrews, chapter eleven, it says, without faith,

it is impossible to please God.

Listen to that.

Without faith, it is impossible to please God. The only

way you can get God's approval is by faith in

Jesus Christ, his son. You may be a great person,

but without faith, it's impossible to please God. You may

do all kinds of great things in your life, but

without faith, it is impossible to please God. Would you

say that faith is a pretty important issue, Yes, it is.

It is vital that you learn how to live by faith,

that you strengthen your faith. So for the next fifty days,

we're entering into an eight week or fifty day series

called fifty Days of Faith. And in this series, we're

going to stretch your faith. We're going to challenge your faith.

We're going to deepen your faith. We're going to strengthen

your faith, and you're going to see all kinds of

amazing things happen in your life as your faith grows. Now,

how do you get more faith? So I'd like to

have more faith. How do I get it? Well, the

Bible tells us faith comes by hearing the word of God.

Faith comes from this book. This is faith food. And

the more you get into this book, God's word, the Bible,

the more your faith will develop. Matthew nine nine. According

to your faith, it will be done to you. Now

Jesus is talking. And this is one of my favorite

verses in the Bible, because God says, it's your choice.

You get to choose, according to your faith, that will

be done to you. You get to choose how much

God blesses your life. You get to choose how many

answers you have the prayer. You get to choose how

much God gets to use you in his plan for

the world.

How is it?

According to your faith, it will be done to you.

God says, you got a lot of faith, We'll get

a lot done in your life. You got a little faith,

We'll get a little done in your life. You got

no faith, you get nothing done in your life. According

to your faith, it will be done. Faith is the

key that unlocks the door to heaven. So it's very

important that you grow, you develop, you strengthen your faith. Now,

the next verse, Hebrews eleven one says faith assures us

of things we expect. Would you circle the phrase things

we expect? Because if I had to summarize faith, faith

is expecting the best.

That's what it is.

Faith is expecting the best. Now let me explain that

because some of you who are saying, oh, well, that

just means like just being optimistic.

No it is not.

Let me tell you what faith is not. It's not

positive thinking. Now, positive thinking is good. I like to

be around positive thinking people. In fact, what's the alternative

negative thinking. I'd much rather be around positive thinking people

than negative thinks to people.

And positive thinking.

Is real good, but it is very limited, and it

certainly isn't faith. I mean, I could put you out

in the middle of a snowstorm in nothing but your

pajamas and you could have positive thinking all you want,

and you'd still be freezing to death. All the positive

in the thinking of the world wasn't going to make

you warmer, and so positive thinking it's a good thing,

but there are some things that just can't affect. When

I talk about expecting the best, I'm not talking about

wishful thinking, like, well, I hope I don't have any

problems in life. Good luck, you've already blown that one.

You're gonna have problems. You're gonna have difficulties. Expecting the

best is not saying, well, I hope that everything goes

just the way I planned it, because almost nothing is

going to go just the.

Way you planned it in life.

So what am I talking about when I say faith

is expecting the best. Well, there's a little definition on

your outline. You might fill this in. Expecting the best

is the confident assurance that God is in control of

the future. That God is in control of the future,

and that he plans what is best for my.

Life because he loves me. Let me read it again.

Expecting the best is the confident assurance that God is

in control of the future and my future, and that

he plans what is best for my life. Why because

he loves me. That definition is based on the next verse,

Psalm thirty two, verse eight. God says, I will guide

you along the best pathway for your life. I'll advise you,

and I'll watch over you. I want you to circle

the phrase your life because this is customized. It's talking

about your life. The pathway for your life is tailor made.

It's personalized. The best pathway for your life is not

the best pathway for the person sitting next to you.

The best pathway for my life is not the best

pathway for you. We all have different pathways that God

is designed. They're customized, tailor made plans for our lives.

And God says, if you'll trust me, if you'll get

to know me, then you can expect the best because

I will guide you in the path that's best for you.

It's not the best for everybody else, but it's the

best for you based on who you are, who God

made you to be, and who God wants you to become. Now,

why should I expect the best in life when so

many things go wrong? Why should I expect the best

when so many hearts have happened to me already? Well,

we learned the answer to that question, and a very

famous story in the Bible. It's the story of David

and Goliath. You remember this one that the armies of

Israel were fighting the armies of Felictia and the Philistines

had a giant of a man. This guy literally was

the tallest man ever recorded in history.

His name was Goliath. He was nearly nine feet tall.

Everybody was intimidated by him, and he'd come out and

stand at the front of the army and says Okay,

I'll take any of you on, one on one or

one on ten. And everybody was cowering, everybody was intimidated.

He was terrorizing the Israeli army, except one little shepherd

boy named David goes, I'll fight him. I'll take him on.

Everybody else is saying he's too big to fight. He's

got his little stones, and he says he's too big

to miss.

He's a big target.

Besides, God's on our side, and one plus God equals

a majority, and we can take him on. And from

that story of David fighting Goliath, we learn three things

about how David expected the best and what it does to.

Us when you expect the best. Number one, it honors God.

It honors God. There is something about expecting the best

that says something about what you think about who God

really is. When you expect God to help you, it

is it's the highest compliment that you can pay to God.

Listen to what David's attitude was in First Samuel chapter seventeen.

This day the Lord will hand you over to me,

and I'll strike you down, and the whole world will

know that there is a God.

Dad.

If you overhear one of your kids saying, Hey, my

daddy can do anything. You've ever heard that? How does

that make you feel?

Well?

We have a God who really can do anything, and

when we expect him to do those things in our lives,

it is an incredible honor to him. William Carry, a

missionary who changed the world during his day because of

his faith, had to phrase that really governed his life.

He used to say, expect great things from God. Attempt

great things for God. That's what your faith can do

for you. It honors God. Number two. When I have faith,

when I expect God to do the best, it increases

my ability in life. It increases my strength and ability.

As with David. David had the strength to hurl a

stone from his sling hit the Philistine in the head.

The stone sank in. Goliath stumbled and fell face downward

to the ground. God gave him that ability because of

his faith. We've seen many places the difference that attitude

can make. Muhammad Ali, who many regard as one of

the greatest athletes to ever live, says that the two

fights that he lost, he thought something different before those

fights than any other fight. He thought, if I lose

this fight, and the difference that attitude can make. Faith

has the power to change your attitude about life like

nothing else. It strengthens our ability in life. You might

remember in the story of David and Goliath. To show

you the kind of faith he had strength he had,

he took five smooth stones off the ground, that little

tiny sling, and he went out and he defeated the

giant name Goliath. Now you might be thinking, what kind

of faith was it to take five stones? I mean,

didn't he think you know that maybe God would give

him the strength to make it. No, you need to understand.

The Bible is very clear about this. Goliath had four brothers,

and so as David went on into this battle, he figured,

if I defeat one giant, God will give me the

strength to defeat four others if I have to. He

knew that God would give him the ability because of

his faith. When you act in faith, you receive additional

strength to face the difficulties of life. That's what faith does.

Not only does it honor God and increase your ability,

but number three, when you have faith, it encourages others.

The Bible tells us that when Goliath was defeated, the

Israelites gave a great shout of triumph, and they rushed

after the Philistines, and they chased them as far as Gath.

This entire nation was victorious, An entire nation was energized,

was encouraged by the faith of this one young man.

That's the power that faith has. Everyone gets excited. Optimism

is contagious, and faith has incredible power to make us optimistic.

George Gallup recently did a survey. The title of this

survey results is the Polster finds Faith brings optimism? Did

you know that when you have faith that makes you

more optimistic about life? He discovered that the people who

have the greatest faith are also the people who are

the happiest in life and the people who are the

most helpful to others. You like to be around optimistic people,

and faith has the power to make us optimistic. When

you have faith, it encourages the people that you want

encourage in your life. It gives you the strength to

face the difficulties you want to face in life. And

all that honors God in ways that you can't imagine.

Now some of you are saying, Rick, how can I

expect the best? You don't know what I've been through. No,

I don't of you are saying, how can I expect

the best? You don't know the problems I'm facing right now?

No, I don't.

Some of you are facing some giants in your life,

some giant problems. You've got a financial goliath, you've got

a medical goliath, a relational goliath. You're facing some big

issues in your life, and you say, how can I

expect the best when everything seems to be going wrong?

Right now, you're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Rick

will be back in just a moment with the rest

of today's lesson. You can sign up for Pastor Rick's

free email devotional at pastorick dot com. That's pastorick dot com.

Did you know that God has a dream for your life?

Before you took your very first breath, he had already

placed the gift of imagination into your brain and hardwired

creativity into every cell of your body. But discovering and

fulfilling your God given dream will require a journey of

faith on your part. That's why Pastor Rick just released

the Created to Dream Bible study, based on the core

teaching found in his best selling book Created to Dream.

The six week video based study will reveal the process

God uses to fulfill the custom made dream he has

just for you, and the faith building faces he'll lead

you through as he does. This video study includes an

enhanced workbook with lesson outlines he verses in homework for

deeper reflection. Between each session. You can do the study

on your own or with friends in a small group setting.

So whether you're feeling stuck, forgotten, afraid, or uninspired, the

Created to Dream Bible Study will give you the tools

you need to awaken and pursue the custom made dream

God created you to fulfill. And today when you give

a gift to help daily hope take the word of

God to a hurting world, will send you the Created

to Dream Bible Study. Kid to say thanks, go to

Pastorerrick dot com right now to get your copy, where

you can call eight hundred six hundred five zero zero four.

That's Pastorick dot com. Or call eight hundred at six

hundred at five zero zero four. Thank you so much

for your support, and don't forget to let us know

which radio station you heard us on.

Hi, it's Pastor Rick with.

Some big news.

My daily devotional is now available in French. If you

know somebody who would enjoy reading the devotionals in French.

Would you please email me and I'll send you a

link to sign up. My email is Rick at pastorick

dot com. That's Rick at pastorick dot com.

Now let's get back to today's lesson. Here on Pastor

Rick's Daily Hope, some of you.

Are facing some giants in your life, some giant problems.

You've got a financial goliath, you've got a medical goliath,

or relational goliath. You're facing some big issues in your life.

And you say, how can I expect the best when

everything seems to be going wrong right now? Well, I

don't know. I don't know everything's going on in your life,

but I do know this. You can do the same

four things David did to give him the confidence to

face his giants.

And if you will do those four things, you will.

Find yourself having a positive, expect the best attitude even

in the worst of situations. Now we know what gave

David his confidence because he wrote a book called Psalms,

and in there he shares all of his inner feelings.

And this morning we're going to look at the four things.

David did, and if you will do these four things,

you'll be able to face your giants with confidence. Would

you like to be a more optimistic person? Would you

like to be a more expecting the best kind of person?

What do you do? Number one?

First, tune in to God every morning. First thing. Tune

into God every morning. Start your day with God. That'll

make you more positive. That'll make you more optimistic, That'll

make you more a person of faith. This is David's

first secret of optimism. Look at this verse Psalm five,

verse three. He says, in the morning, Oh Lord, you

hear my voice. In the morning, I lay my request

before you and read it with me. Wait in expectation.

Where does he get his spirit of expectation? He spends

time with God in the morning. He starts his day

with God before he talks to anybody else. He talks

to God. Now, some of you were born naturally pessimistic.

I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands.

But you know who you are, and you know for

you the cup is always half empty, not half full.

And you identify with that great theologian e Re the

Donkey and Winnie the Pooh, a pretty pessimistic specimen. He

or the old donkey stood by the side of the stream,

and he looked at himself in the water.

Pathetic, he said, that's what it is. Pathetic.

He turned and slowly walked down the stream for twenty yards,

splashed across it, and walked slowly back on the other side.

Then he looked at himself in the water again, as

I thought, He said, no better from this side. But

nobody minds, nobody cares. Pathetic, That's what it is. There

was a crackling noise in the bracken behind him. Out

came Winny the Pooh Good morning, or said Winny the

Pooh good morning. Pooh bear said ere gloomily. If it

is a good morning, he said, which I doubt. He said,

do you ever feel like e or in the morning.

Let's just have a little survey here. How many of you,

true confession? How many of you wake up grouchy in

the morning? How many of you let her sleep?

Huh?

You know, there are really only two kinds of people

in life, folks. There are people who get them and

say good morning, Lord, and there are other people who

get them to say, good Lord, it's mourning. Now, you're

either a good morning Lord person or a good Lord,

it's mourning person, And good morning, Lord.

People always marry good Lord.

It's mourning people. It's in God's great humor that we

marry each other. Now, for those who feel a little sluggish,

a little negative, a little critical in the morning, you're

not expecting the best when you first get up.

You're not jumping up with great faith.

You're not feeling optimistic and positive and God's gonna do

a great thing in my life today. You're just a

little cranky, a little negative, maybe even a little cynical

about the world. I have some suggestions for you. Write

these things down somewhere there on your outline. Okay, here's

some suggestions. Number one, go to bed earlier. I mean,

that's a no brainer. Okay, you're not getting enough sleep.

If you're having to wake up with an alarm clock,

you know what that's saying. Your body is not getting

enough sleep. You're having to forcefully wake yourself up because

you're not getting the sleep that you need. And it's

hard to be optimistic during a sleep deficit. Now, it's

no wonder you're negative because you're waking up to an

alarm clock which alarms you in the morning. You know,

it's like you're not waking up till it's a great,

wonderful day.

No, I'm alarmed.

Well, no, wonder you feel bad. You're waking up in

the state of shock every day. Okay, So I mean

that's just kind of a no brainer.

This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We are so happy

that you've chosen to study along with us today. Did

you know that you can start every day with hope

and encouragement from Pastor Rick, Well you can when you

sign up to receive his life changing daily Bible teaching

delivered directly to your inbox. Just go to Pastorick dot

com and sign up for his free Daily Hope devotional.

Don't miss out. Sign up now at Pastorick dot com.

Rick will be right back to close out our time today.

But first, did you know that God has a dream

for your life? Before you took your very first breath,

he had already placed the gift of imagination into your

brain and hardwired creativity into every cell of your body.

But discovering and fulfilling your God given dream will require

a journey of faith on your part. That's why Pastor

Rick just release the Created to Dream Bible study based

on the core teaching found in his best selling book

Created to Dream. This six week video based study will

reveal the process God uses to fulfill the custom made

dream he has just for you, and the faith building

phases he'll lead you through as he does. This video

study includes an enhanced workbook with lesson outlines, key verses,

and the homework for deeper reflection between each session. You

can do the study on your own or with friends

in a small group setting. So whether you're feeling stuck, forgotten, afraid,

or uninspired, the Created to Dream Bible Study will give

you the tools you need to awaken and pursue the

custom made dream God created you to fulfill. And today

when you give a gift to help daily hope take

the word of God to a hurting world, we'll send

you the Created to Dream Bible Study Kit. To say thanks,

go to Pastorrick dot com right now to get your copy,

or you could just call eight hundred six hundred five

thousand and four. That's Pastorrick dot com or eight hundred

six hundred five thousand and four and thank you so

much for your support, and don't forget to let us

know which radio station you heard us on. Here's Rick

with a letter from one of our listeners.

Hi everybody today, I want to introduce you to Alison.

She recently wrote me to tell how God had saved

her from a life of prostitution and used Daily Hope

to help a girl as a young Christian. Here's what

she wrote. I grew up in an atheist family and

I was taught that people who believe in God are crazy, stupid,

and brainwashed. I ended up being in a hardcore drug

addict for fifteen years, and to pay for my habit,

I sold my body on the street and I was homeless.

But I found a Bible in a hotel room where

I was working, and the Lord radically saved me through

his word. Then an amazing church family embraced me fully

and helped me to grow in the Lord. One day,

Pastor Rick, I came across your ted talk on the

Internet and I was blown away. So I looked up

your website and I downloaded the Daily Hope app and

I started listening to your sermons every single morning, and

then bought the book A Purpose Driven Life on audible

dot com. I've enjoyed it immensely. I am so blessed

to give a monthly donation so you can share your

message all over the world. Your Daily Hope message has

have meant so much to me in the past year,

and I'm just an infinite Christ. I appreciate all the encouragement.

That I get from listening to you. Thank you, Pastor Rick.

You know, Alison, I just I can't thank you enough

for writing to me and sharing your story. We live

to get these letters and it's so exciting to hear

stories from people like you who have been radically touched

and transformed by the message of hope through Daily Hope.

And of course I appreciate you giving a monthly donation.

Thank you for your prayers for this ministry that we

can pass this good news of hope on to others.

I just want you to know that I'm going to

be praying that God continues to use you in the

lives of other people and to use Daily Hope to

help you grow more like Jesus. God bless you, Allison.

If you'd like to let Rick know how this broadcast

has blessed you, please feel free to send him an

email at Rick at Pastorrick dot com. That's Rick at

Pastorrick dot com. Be sure to join us next time

as we look into God's word for our daily hope.

This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and

your generous financial support.