Rick Warren - Daring To Believe - Part Three

Hello, everybody, Welcome to Daily Hope with Pastor Rick Warren.

So we're continuing with this series called Daring Faith the

Key to Miracles. And in this series, you're learning how

to have a bold, unshakable faith that gives you courage

to impact.

The world around you.

And I know we all want that. And now here's

Rick with the final part of a message called Daring

to Believe.

Now the fifth way of what it means to believe

in Jesus. The last key is I trust what he says.

I trust what Jesus says, and if Jesus says to

do it, then I do it. And if Jesus says

don't do it, I don't do it. What I don't

do is pick and choose from the Bible.

I don't go. Oh, I like that verse, so I'm

going to follow that verse.

I don't like that one. I'm not going to follow

that one. I like that command. I'll follow that one.

I don't like that command. I won't follow it. I

like that promise, but I don't like that one. No,

that's the tious thought. That's not what a true believer does.

A true believer says God said it. That's settled it.

Whether I believe it or not. God said it. That

settled it. And so you do what he tells you.

Now in the Bible, we have the commands of Jesus,

and we have the promises of Jesus. The commands are,

if you do these things, life's.

Going to go a whole lot easier for you.

Work will go easier, marriage will go easier, parenting will

go easier if you just do it the way God says,

because God knows what'll make you happy more than you do.

And then their promises.

He said, when you're going through the dark days, the

tough days, the days of doubt, the days of depression,

the days where you can't see ford, hold on to

these promises. The Bible says this, Psalm thirty three, verse four.

The word of the Lord always holds true. Is that

true of the government. No, if you don't know the answer,

it's no. Okay.

Is that true of the media. The word of the

media always holds true.

No, that's not true. That's not even true of me.

Everybody gets things wrong. Only the word of the Lord

always holds true, and everything he does is worthy.

Of our trust.

Okay, question, little quiz, how many of you believe and

trust everything you read in the newspaper?

No? Hands? Yeah, okay. How many of you believe.

And trust everything you see on television or here on

talk radio?

Yeah nobody. How many of you believe everything you read

in magazines? No?

How many you would say if God said it, I

believe it's always true. Then why do we spend more

time believing and listening to something we don't believe than

in something we do?

Huh? Why is that?

I can't spend five minutes a day reading something I

know is one hundred percent true, but I will spend

thirty minutes watching Access Hollywood?

Really? How much did that enrich your life? Did that

make you a more beautiful person?

I don't think so.

So this is always true?

Hebrews in the Bible, Chapter six says this God cannot

break his word.

By the way, people.

Ask me all the time, is there anything God can't do?

Yes?

There are some things God can't do. God cannot lie.

The Bible tells us that it is impossible for God

to lie. Why he cannot deny his character and he

only speaks the truth. He cannot lie. And the Bible

says God cannot break his promises. So if God has

made a promise, it's here and you can count on it,

and you can bet your life on it. God cannot

break his word. That's why we trust him. So we

who have trusted our very lives to God have every

reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and

never let go. There are over seven thousand promises in

this book the Bible like blank checks waiting for you

to cash, and they're like the insurance policy. How do

you know when you don't know the promises of God.

You worry.

Worry is a sign that you forgot what's in the

insurance plan. When I know what's covered in my policy,

I don't worry about it.

It's covered. We can afford that that's covered.

When you know what God has offered to cover in

your life.

You don't worry.

You don't stress out because you trust what he says. Now,

I want to talk to before I close to a

special group here, and I want to talk to those

of you who had faith in the past, but maybe

you feel you've lost it, okay, And we all know

people like this. We all have friends, neighbors, loved ones,

family members, relatives who had faith in Jesus Christ in

the past, or had faith in God in the past,

but they walked away and they said, I don't have

any faith anymore. I don't believe anymore. What causes people

to lose their faith, Well, in a word, when circumstances

don't turn out the way I want them to. A

lot of people say, then forget you God, because we

want God, who's a genie who does everything our way,

who answers everything our way. We want God to serve

us instead of us serving God. Pain can cause people

to lose their faith. I as a pastor, I'm certain

have talked to more people in pain than any of

you ever have.

I know people who've lost their faith because of abuse.

I know people who've lost.

Their faith because of betrayal and adultery and infidelity and divorce.

I know people who've lost their faith because they started

a business and it went bankrupt and it broke their heart.

I know people who've lost their faith because they prayed

that a loved one wouldn't die and the person died. Friends,

everybody dies at some point. Everybody dies. We weren't made

to last forever on this planet. I'm glad we don't

live forever on a broken planet full of sin, suffering, sadness,

and sickness. You were made to last forever, just not

on a broken planet. You were made to last forever

in a perfect place. I'm glad we don't live here forever.

I'm glad we die and we get to go to

a place where we will live in perfection forever and

ever and ever. I know people who've lost their faith

because they prayed for something to happen or not to happen,

prayed and prayed and prayed year after year after year,

and then it just never was answered, and I said,

we'll forget you.

God, and they walk away. And yet at the same time, we.

All know people, other people who've gone through unspeakable suffering,

far worse than any of us in this room have

ever ever experienced, unspeakable suffering and pain. And yet they

their faith grew stronger, they got closer to God, their

lives became more beautiful, not more broken and more bitter.

What makes a difference?

Why is it You can take two people, put them

in the exact same circumstances, the same pain, the same

unexplained tragedy, and one person will run away from God

and the other person will run to God.

What causes that?

I mean, if you're in a tragedy, I highly recommend

you not run from God because there are no answers

out there in the world. You're not going to get

any comfort out there. When you are in pain, Always

run to God, even when you don't understand it. Run

to God because he's the one who can comfort you. Now,

we always want God to explain everything. God doesn't owe

me an explanation or you an explanation for everything that happens.

And on top of that, explanations don't comfort. The comfort

of God is what comforts. If my wife died tonight

and I knew the reason why she died, it wouldn't

make it any less painful. Explanations never comfort.

But when we go.

Through a tragedy, we go why why You're not going

to know. There's some things we're just not gonna know

on this side of eternity. When we get to heaven,

God will explain it. We'll look back and go, oh,

now I see why God specializes in bringing good out

of bad. Not everything that happens in the world is good.

There's a lot of bad in the world, and not

everything that happens in the world is God's will? People say, well,

it must have been God's will that that person got murdered. No,

it wasn't God's will. God has a will, Satan has

a will, and you have a will. And don't blame

God for your bad decisions or somebody else's bad decisions.

If I went out this afternoon, got drunk, God in

a car accident and killed three people, that would not

be God's will. That would be my will. Don't blame

God for the God could easily get rid of all

the evil in the world, How get rid of you

and me and everybody else that He's given the freedom.

God does not force you to do good. You're made

in his image, so you have the freedom to choose,

and we typically choose the wrong thing and people get hurt.

But God specializes in bringing good out of bad. Anybody

he can bring good out of good, but he turns

crucifixions into resurrections.

And one day I'll understand all of that. But I

suffer for what's right, and I trust what he says.

But I know that God wants me to turn to

him in my pain. Why is it then that so

many don't When some people go.

Through a suffering.

They shrivel up, and they get hard, and they get cold,

and they get angry and they get bitter, and the

rest of their life they're bitter and angry, and they

make everybody else around him bitter and angry.

That's the wrong way to respond.

On the other hand, there's some people when they face

unexplained tragedies, they survive, They thrive, and they even grow,

and their faith deepens and their muscles get stronger, and

they become more beautiful, more whole, and more balanced and

more loving. What makes the difference? Some of you thinking, Rick,

you just don't understand why I've left the faith. You

don't know what it's like to have your heart shattered

and broken.

In a million pieces.

You don't know what it's like to have a major

loss in your life. You don't know what it's like

have your dream splattered on the ground. You don't know

what it's like to have a prayer that you prayed

for over and over and over and it wasn't answered.

And I would say to you, yes, I do, Yes,

I do. Most of you know. My youngest son.

Lost his twenty seven year battle life battle.

With mental illness and he died. It was the worst

day of my life.

The day that I had prayed would never happen happened.

The thing that I feared might since he had struggled

with minimalists as a little child, actually came to pass.

And it rocked my world and my family's world. And

the grief is deep and intense, and I'm still not

over it. And I had a good cry this morning

on the second anniversary of his death. When Matthew died

on Easter Week two years ago, last Easter, there was

a separation and we were able to honor and think

about our son on the day of his death and

then celebrate Easter a few weeks later. When I realized

that this year Easter was going to be on the

same date at the death of my son, I was disappointed,

to say the least. And I was going, this is

not what I need, God, this is not what I want.

What I'd like to do is I'd like to celebrate

the Resurrection of Jesus quietly, low key, at home with

my wife, with my Lord and with my kids, and

just get through the day. What I didn't need was

the biggest Christian day of the year, preach fourteen times

and stand on the patio for one hundred selfies.

I didn't need that. I didn't need that, not.

With the grief that I am carying. And yet the

more that I thought about it, the more I realized,

this is perfect because the resurrection is my reason for hope.

If there was no resurrection, I would be in absolute despair.

It would mean there is no.

Possibility of my seeing my son again. There's no possibility

of afterlife, there's no possibility of heaven.

There would be nothing. I would be in absolute.

Despair if Jesus Christ hadn't risen from the dead. It

is the truth that keeps me going. It is the

foundation of my confidence. It is the thing that gives

me comfort. It is a thing that stabilizes my ship

in the deepest storm. If it weren't for the resurrection,

there would be no hope. Over the last two years,

I've been interviewed many, many times by national and international media,

and they always say, Rick, you prayed for twenty seven

years that your son's mental illness would be healed, and

that prayer was not answered, and you prayed that he

wouldn't die, and he did. Why have you not left

your faith. Why have you not walked away? And that's

actually a pretty easy question for me to answer. It's

because of what I know. I have walked with God

for almost fifty years. I'm a friend of God. I

know him better than I know you. And there are

some things I know about God that hold me in

the darkest days of doubt, despair, and depression. For one

thing I know, I know that God is a good God.

And the reason I know that God is a good

God is because everything in my life is a gift

of God's goodness. The air I'm breathing right now is

a gift of God's goodness. The fact that my heart

is pumping blood is a gift of God's goodness. The

fact that you can see and hear and speak right

now is a gift of God's goodness. Everything in your

life is a gift of God's goodness. If it weren't

for God being a good God, you wouldn't be sitting there,

You wouldn't be alive. Everything you have is a gift

of God's goodness. Now, if if God was not a

good God, all that would be in the universe would

be evil. Now we know there is evil in the world,

we know there's a lot of bad, there's a lot

of pain, there's a lot of heartache, but we also

know that in this.

World there's a lot of good. There's a lot of beauty.

There's a lot of beautiful things and sun and shne

and colors and relationships and love.

And that's because God is a good God.

And then I know that God loves me more than

I will ever ever be able to comprehend, at least

not until I get to Heaven I get bigger brain capacity.

No man will ever love you like Jesus Christ. No

woman will ever love you as much as Jesus Christ does.

You can't even understand how much that love is. And

because I know God is a good God, and I

know God is a loving God, I know that God's

plan and purpose for my life is both good and loving.

His plan is to help me, not to hurt me.

And there are many things in life that I don't

understand right now, and when I get to have it, it's

all going to get clear. And I go, oh, well,

of course, now I see why that was not good,

but you brought good out of it. And that was

not good, but you brought good out of it. And

that was terrible, and that was evil, but you brought.

Good out of it.

And I could see how God, God's plan for my

life is bigger than my problems, and God's purpose for

my life is greater than the problem that you are

going through right now. I know that God understands my pain.

I know that God understands my broken heart because He's

had one. The Bible tells us that God grieves when

he sees all the sin on earth. And when Jesus

Christ died on the cross with his arms outstretched, nails

through his hands, bleeding from his side, the spear, the nails,

the crown of thorns in his head, where they had

beat him to a pulp, where they'd tortured him, where

they'd ripped his beard out just to be mean, where

they'd spit on him, harassed him, stripped him naked.

All the pain that Jesus went through.

I know that my Savior understands my pain, my emotional

and my physical pain. And I know that God knows

what it's like to lose a sun. People say, where

was God when your son died?

Rick? He was the same place he was.

When his son died on the cross, weeping in heaven.

Worry because sin required that penalty, Sin required that suffering,

and Jesus paid for your suffering so you wouldn't have to.

And I know that this is not the end of

the story, that this is not all there is.

And then when I go through tough times, I may

suffer for being a Christian, But so what.

The rewards will be forever in eternity.

And most of all, I know that Satan lost because

Satan can't get at my son anymore. He can't torture

him with thoughts of compulsion, or thoughts of depression, or

thoughts of suicide, or thoughts of anything. He can't torture anymore.

My son is safe in the arms of Jesus Christ,

and he can't get at him anymore. He can't hurt

him anymore. He lost big time. He thought he had won,

but he lost big time. I don't know what kind

of day you're going through. You may be going through

days of darkness and depression and doubt and despair. I

dare you to believe you may be going through days

of worrying and worrying. I dare you to believe you

may be goingays through days of confusion and go. I

don't have the slightest idea what I should be doing

with my life, or where I should be going, or

what's up and what's down. I dare you to believe.

You may be going through days of grief and your

heart is ripped wide open. I dare you to believe,

run to God, not away from Him, and you will

find the comfort that you can't get anywhere else.

On the screen.

The Bible says this John chapter one, verse twelve. To

all who received him, that's Jesus Christ. To those who

believed in his name, Jesus gave the right to become

children of God. How do I become a child of God?

How do I get in God's family? How do I

know for certain that I'm going to Heaven when I die?

How do I make sure I'm on the in crowd

not the outcrowd? I want to be a child of God.

It says two things, two verbs, received and believed to

all who received him, to those who believed in his name,

Jesus gave the right to come God's children. I believe

he is God, and I receive him as my Lord.

I believe he is God, and I receive him as

my Lord. Most, if not all, of us have done

the second part. You have believed in Jesus Christ. You

believe he historically existed. You accept the fact that he

died on the cross he rose again. Congratulations, you're halfway there.

You now need to receive him as the lord of

your life, and you need to do the trust with

him today. If you're ready to have you your life changed,

this one's going to do it. It's going to seal

your eternal destiny. It's going to change your life from

here on out because you're not going to live for

yourself anymore. Would you pray this simple prayer in your heart.

You do not say it aloud. God knows your thoughts.

He knows what you're thinking. And that doesn't even matter

the words. But as I pray these words, you can

just say me, to me, to Jesus, Just say, Dear Jesus,

you have promised that if I believe in you, everything

I've ever done wrong will be forgiven. And Jesus, you

have promised that if I believe in you, I will

learn the purpose of my life. And you have promised

that if I believe in you, I will get strength

and power for daily living, and that you will accept

me into your eternal home in heaven one day. I

want to have a real faith in you, not a

fake faith, not a phony faith. I want to be

a true believer, not a partial believer. I want to

believe and I want to receive you. So today I confess.

Just pray this in your I confess I believe that

you are God, and I receive you into my life

as my Lord. Today I'm turning over every part of

my life to your management. You are God and I'm not,

and you have the right to call the shots in

my life. Jesus, I want to relax in your love.

Thank you that I don't have to earn it, or

deserve it or work for it. I want to use

the rest of my life serving you rather than serving

myself and Lord when it is required, I'm ready to

suffer for doing what's right, whatever that means. Finally, I

want to trust what you've said, both your instructions and

your promises. I humbly commit my life to you, and

I humbly ask you to accept me into your family

and save me.

In Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.

Did you just pray with Pastor Rick to accept Jesus.

Well.

If you did, congratulations, and if you email Rick at

Pastorick dot com and let us know that you prayed

that prayer, We're going to send you some free materials

to help you on your spiritual journey. Today, I have

a question for you. Would you like to step out

of a life of ordinary existence and into a life

of extraordinary faith? Then please order the Daring Faith DVD

and study Kit by Pastor Rick Warren. Here's Rick to

tell you more.

How'd you like to have a bold, unshakable faith that

gives you the courage to make the changes you've always

wanted to see in your life, your work, your family,

and in the world. That's not a dream. That's exactly

what God wants to do in your life. He wants

you to learn to live by daring faith. The Bible says,

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

to help you develop that kind of faith, I put

together a Daring Faith Study Kit and it includes a

DVD and it includes a workbook. Now, there's six sessions

in the Daring Faith Study Kit, and it'll teach you

these six things, how to build a life of faith,

how to expect the best from God. How to stretch

your imagination in order to see what God wants to

do in your life, to expand your vision. How to

have the courage to take the initiative with your faith,

how to face your fears with bold faith, and how

to believe and what to do while you're waiting on God.

You cannot afford to miss this series. It was one

of the most important series I've ever done at Saddleback Church.

And the Bible tells us in Ephesian three twelve, because

of our faith in Him, we dare to have boldness

and courage and confidence in coming to God with freedom

and without fear. I want you to have that boldness,

that courage, and that confidence when you come to God

in prayer. I want you to come to Him without

fear and come to Him in freedom. God will use

this Daring Faith study Kit just like He used it

in the lives of tens of thousands of other people.

He'll use it in your life if you'll trust Him

in all things. So get this kit today.

You know today when you give a gift to help

daily hope take the hope of Jesus to a hurting world,

we will send you a copy of the Daring Faith

Study Kit and it has six video sessions and a workbook.

And that's our way of saying thanks for your gift.

So go to Pastorick dot com. Or you could text

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Pastorick dot com. Or text the word hope to eight hundred,

six hundred five thousand and four and thank you so much.

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We hope you'll join us next time when we look

into God's Word for our daily hope. This program is

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