Rick Warren - The lIght of Jesus For Your Darkest Days II

Hi, I'm Rick Warren and Merry Christmas.

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

of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we bring our special Christmas

series called The Light of Jesus at Christmas to a close.

In these lessons, Pastor Rick shows us how the Light

of Jesus brought into the world at Christmas, illuminates, purifies, heals,

and grows each of us in this season and beyond. Now,

before we get started, we want to let you know

that a very generous friend has given one hundred thousand

dollars matching grant to Daily Hope. That means that all

this month, every dollar you give to help Daily Hope

share the Hope of Jesus around the world will be

matched up to one hundred thousand dollars. You can find

out more by going to Pastorick dot com or by

texting the word Daily to eight hundred six hundred five

thousand and four. That's Pastorick dot com or the word

Daily to eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four.

Right now, here's Pastor Rick Warren with the final part

of a message called the Light of Jesus for your

Darkest Days.

Let me show you an amazing promise of guidance that

God gives to you if you let the words of

Jesus in this book guide your journey. It's Isaiah forty two,

verse sixteen. In the message that says this, God says, listen,

I'll take the hand of those who don't know the way,

who can't see where they're going, that's in darkness. I'll

be a personal guide to them, directing them through the

unknown country. I'll be right there to show them what

roads to take. This is God talking. I'll make sure

they don't fall into the ditch. These are the things

I'll be doing for them, sticking with them, not leaving

them for a minute. Not amazing promise from me God,

God says, I will be your personal guide. If you'll

let me light up your life, you won't be stumbling

around in the dark. So let me ask you a

very personal question. Where right now do you feel you're

in the dark. I want you to think about that.

What is confusing to you in your life? What needs

to be clarified? Where do you need God's light to

shine and give you direction. Well, it's completely available to you,

and it's free, but you have to ask for it. Now,

you may be a little worried about what's happening, what's

going to happen next in your life. Well, let me

give you a Bible verse that you might want to

make your daily prayer. Psalm twenty three, Verse four, David prayed,

even though I go through the deepest darkness, I will

not be afraid. I will not be afraid, Lord, for

you are with me. So the first benefit of filling

your life with God's light, everything gets a lot clearer.

You don't have as much confusion. You'll have a bigger

perspective on life. You'll see things the way God sees them.

And that's called wisdom. Why because light illuminates. Now, let

me give you a second effect of light. Light not

only illuminates. Light can disinfect Did you know that? Yeah?

Did you know? Light is a great disinfectant. It can

kill germs, It can purify water. Light can cleanse and

sanitize a lot of stuff. You know. During our peace

teams visiting all around the world in rural villages, when

we teach good health practices and developing nations, one of

the things we teach is the importance of hanging out

your bedsheets to dry in the sun to sanitize them.

Light has a disinfecting impact. This week, I read an

article about how New York City officials have built a

water disinfection facility using ultraviolet light to destroy germs and

disinfect it's drinking water, which is brought in from about

one hundred miles away. And instead of using chlorine, which

most of us use, which has some downsides to it,

they're now using the sun's power to disinfect and sanitize

their water using light rays. They disinfect two point four

billion gallons of water every day.

Now.

In a similar way, getting the light of God in

your life can disinfect and sanitize and purify and cleanse

harmful bad stuff out of your life, the harmful words,

the harmful thoughts, the harmful actions that make you spiritually

and emotionally and sometimes physically. Here's what the Bible says,

First John, chapter one, verse six to nine. If we

claim to have a relationship with God but we continue

living in darkness, then we lie and we aren't following

the truth. But if we live in the light as

God is in the light, then we can have real

fellowship with each other and the blood of Jesus God's

son purifies us. That's cleanses, sanitizes, disinfects. God's sons blood

purifies us from all sin. And if we claim to

be without sin, we're just fooling ourselves and refusing to

accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him,

God is faithful and just and he will forgive and

cleanse us from every wrong. So I want you to

write this down number two. In dark days, I need

the light of Jesus when I want to clean start.

Thank you so much much for listening to Pastor Rick's

Daily Hope. We've got some incredible news to share with you.

A very generous friend has given a one hundred thousand

dollars matching grant to this ministry all this month, every

dollar you give to help Daily Hope share the certain

Hope of Jesus around the world will be matched up

to one hundred thousand dollars, So twenty five dollars becomes

fifty dollars, fifty becomes one hundred and five hundred becomes

a thousand. Whatever you give will be doubled by the

matching grant up to one hundred thousand dollars, but only

till midnight December thirty first, so please contact us today

go to Pastorick dot com or just call eight hundred

six hundred five thousand and four.

If you want to make your time in prayer the

best it can be, then you're going to want to

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prayer requests to God. Each page is beautifully designed and

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Once again, here's Pastor Rick.

So many people today are going through dark days because

they're carrying a load, a secret, load of guilt and

shame and regret. They may look successful on the outside,

but they're tortured by their secrets. Is there a way

to wipe the slate clean? Is there a way to

get a fresh start? Yes, it's called being born again.

That doesn't mean you turn over a new leaf and

try harder. It means you get a brand new life,

not a new leaf, a new life. Everything is forgiven

and forgotten, everything is cleansed by the light of Christ.

And then the darkness is lifted in your light on

Samuel twenty two to twenty nine says says you Lord

are my light, and you dispel my darkness, the darkness

of guilt, the darkness of regret, the darkness of shame,

the darkness of I wish I could have done it differently.

He says, you dispel my darkness when you are my

Lightphesians five eight and nine describes what it means to

be completely cleansed and forgiven of your sin and born again.

Here's what it says, and the one to think past

your life. In your past, your life was full of darkness.

But now you're full of light in the Lord. And

now you can live like children of light. And God's

light brings every kind of goodness and right living and truth.

So here's my question for you this Christmas. What secret, regret,

or guilt or shame in your life needs to be

cleansed and disinfected by exposure to the light of Christ.

I want you to think about that. Okay, think about that.

What needs to be cleansed with the light of Christ

in my life. Let's move on to the next benefit

of having God's light in your life. He said, Light

illuminates and I could see what I couldn't see before.

Light disinfects. It cleans up the mess and the germs

and the sin in my life. Third effect of light

is this light can heal things. Did you know that

light can heal things. Scientists are discovering more and more

about the healing properties and the healing powers of light.

In medicine, light is now being used in all kinds

of therapeutic ways. We use them, from lasers which we

use in surgeries and wounds and all kinds of thing,

to different levels of infrared to LFE therapy for depression.

One of the most common uses of light found in

dermatology because of its ability to fight bacteria. Blue light

is routinely now used in doctor's offices to treat acne,

and red light is being used to treat wrinkles, and

light stimulates the mitochondria in your skin. Of course, for

over one hundred years, doctors have placed patients in beds

out on sunny balconies as part of their recovery. We

are now just learning how different wavelengths of light have

different healing and pain relieving properties. Now, when you think

about it, I mean literally, when you think about it,

if everything God created is good when it's used in

the way God intended, then that makes sense. I mean

in the physical realm. Water is good for you in

the right dose, air is certainly good for you in

the right dose, and light is good for you in

the right dose. All of these are essential to your

physical health. But what about your emotional health and your

spiritual health. What about your emotional wounds and mental illnesses

and spiritual sicknesses that afflict all of us in a

broken world. Well, the parallels apply here too. I want

you to write this third thing down. In dark days,

I need the light of Jesus when I'm wounded and

in pain. When I'm wounded and in pain emotional pain,

spiritual pain, physical pain, relational pain. With when I feel

discouraged or disappointed, or depressed or in despair, the antidote

is turned to the light of Jesus in those dark days.

Let me show you some verses from the Bible. SOB.

Sixty nine twenty nine says, I am wounded and in pain,

So rescue me, Oh God, by your saving power, so

im one oh three. He forgives all my sin, and

he heals me. Sometimes people feel they have to like

prove to God that they deserve to be healed. I've

got to go fast and pray for days to be healed.

But God says no, no, just show compassion to other

people the way I do. Look at this verse, Isaiah

fifty nine, verse six eight. Instead of fasting, he says,

here's what I want you to do. I want you

to break the chains of injustice. I want you to

stop all the unfairness the oppressed. I want you to

share your food with the hungred, shelter the homeless. And

when anybody needs clothes, clothe them, and don't refuse to

help even your own relatives. And if you do these things,

here's what he says, my light will shine on you

like the morning sun, and your own healing will quickly appear.

So many people today and their dark days, feel trapped,

trapped by thoughts, trapped by compulsions, trapped by fears, trapped

by anxieties, trapped by secret addictions. Where do we find

the freedom from that kind of darkness? Colossians one twelve

and thirteen says this, your Father has made you able

to share all that He's prepared for his people in

the kingdom of Light, that's the Kingdom of God, the

kingdom of Light. For he has freed us from the

power of darkness. The light of Jesus can free us

from our darkest emotions and thoughts. So here's my question

here for this third point, what needs healing in your life?

What needs healing in your what needs to be exposed

to the light of Christ. Because light illuminates shows me

when I'm confused. Lightness infects, It takes care of all

the junk in my past, and light heal. Let me

give you just one more property of light. The fourth

effective light is this, light grows things. Light grows things.

Light is life for anything living. Okay, it's the key

to light. Every plant grows by photosynthesis, which is dependent

upon light. No light, no growth, no light, no power.

You can't live without life. Now, I'll tell you personally,

as a vegetable gardener, I can tell you that the

more hours of light you have, the bigger your crops

will grow. I can also tell you that many crops

won't even grow in wintertime with shorter days. You know,

I have a thing that I've kept used for twenty

five thirty years. You know what this is. Looks like

just a light bulb, but as a special kind of

light bulb. It's a grow light. It has it emits

a certain kind of light that causes plants and trees

to grow. And you use it in areas where there

isn't enough light for plants to survive. I actually use

these grow lights on young redwood trees that I planted

on the shady side of my house until they got

tall enough to get sunlight on their own, And today

those trees are about forty feet tall.

You know.

In many ways, church services, like the one we're in

right now, there are a growth light for your spirit.

They help you grow in dark days when the sun

is hidden, when you can't see the light. Now again,

the same physical effect of light is true in the

spiritual realm, So write this down number four. In dark days,

I need the light of Jesus to change me for

the better. I need the light of Jesus to change

me for the better. You know, I've often said there

are two ways that we change, when we see the

light and when we feel the heat. One of those

ways is far less painful. If we would just change

when we see the light, then we wouldn't have to

change when we feel the heat. Phesians one seventeen and

eighteen says, I'm asking God to give you spiritual wisdom

and understanding so that you will grow. That's the grow light,

so that you will grow in your knowledge of God.

And I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light,

the light of God. That's going to help you grow

when your life's flooded with light, so that you can

understand the wonderful future God has promised to those he

called in the Bible. Light and life go hand in

hand Psalm thirty six, Verse nine. You Lord are the

giver of life, and your light lets us enjoy life.

Did you know that verse? Your light lets us enjoy life?

God says, life is meant to be enjoyed. I'm merely endured.

But the key is living in God's light. The more

you live in God's light, the more you'll enjoy life.

That's why Jesus said this John eight twelve. I'm the

light of the world, and if you follow me, you

won't be stumbling through the darkness because you'll have the

light that leads to life. We all know Jesus that

in John ten ten I came to give life, life

and all his fullness. The Second Corinthians, chapter four says,

the same God who once said let there be light

in creation, let there be light in the darkness, has

now made his light to shine in our hearts. It

is the brightness of God's glory that we see shining

in the face of Jesus Christ. See all of these verses.

Why does God talk so much about light in the Bible.

Because God is light and the light is the light

of love and the light of God's life one John

two to eighth. The darkness in our lives disappears and

the new light of Christ shines in. So here's the

Christmas question this year. Here's my question for you at Christmas.

Are you ready to exchange your darkness and the dark

days you're going through for God's light. This is what

Christmas is all about. Jesus came to light up your life.

By the way, when Jesus came at Christmas, he didn't

start with his birth. He's always existed because he's God.

John chapter one tells us this first five verses. Before

anything else existed, there was Christ with God. He didn't

come alive simply at Christmas. He's been in existence for eternity.

He has always been alive, and he is himself God.

He created everything. Eternal life is in him, and this

life gives light to all mankind. His life is the

light that shines through the darkness, and the darkness can

never extinguish it. When you try to live your life

without God, you live it in the dark. That's why

things don't make sense to you because you don't have

the illumination. It's why you're burdened down with negative emotions.

It's why you're not healed of the brokenness in your life,

and it's why you stop growing. You know this, Christmas,

It's time to let the light of Christ into your life.

Not just for your dark days, for all your days.

It's time to exchange your darkness for His life light.

I would like to pray with you. Would you bow

your heads and pray a simple prayer like this, say,

Dear God, I've had many dark days in my life,

but I need your light in my life. I need

your light to heal me. I need your light to

guide me. I need your light to help me grow.

And so as much as I know how, Jesus Christ,

I open my life to the light of your love. Christmas,

I want to accept you as God's Christmas gift to me.

I pray this and ask this humbly in your name. Amen, Hi,

this is Pastor Rick. If you just pray to accept

Jesus Christ into your heart. Congratulations you're now my brother

or sister and the Lord and you need to tell somebody,

and why don't you tell me? Write to me Rick

at Pastorick dot com. Just email me Rick at Pastorrick

dot com and tell me your story. I would love

to read it. And by the way, I'll send you

some free material to help you start in your new

journey with the Lord God bless you.

Thank you so much for listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope.

We've got some incredible news to share with you. A

very generous friend has given a one hundred thousand dollars

matching grant to this ministry. That means that all this month,

every do you give to help Daily Hope share the

certain hope of Jesus around the world, will be matched

up to one hundred thousand dollars. Here's Pastor Rick to

tell you more.

Merry Christmas, everybody. Do you even know why we give

Christmas gifts to each other? It's because God gave the

first Christmas gift, the gift of his son. God has

been using you and your generous support to literally transform

the lives of so many people who've never heard about

the hope that we have in Jesus Christ. We couldn't

do any of this without you, without your support. You know,

I do this for free. I serve Daily Hope for free.

We're one hundred percent listener funded. And I want to

thank you for being obedient to God. When he tells

you to give to Daily Hope. You might not thank

You've got a lot to give. It's the regular giving,

month after month after month that God multiplies and thanks

to all of you, we are reaching more and more

people with the good news every day. So let me

just say it this time of the year, I want

to appreciate your partnership in this ministry. Any success that

we have is because God is working through us together.

Your prayers make a difference, Your giving make a difference,

and you telling other people about the program makes a difference.

Here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. Would you

continue to pray for me. I really need your prayers.

Pray that God will give me just the right words

to say this next year as we go into a

year of Daily Hope sharing the good news of Jesus

Christ with people all around the world. Then let me

know how you're doing. Let me know how we can

pray for you. We have a prayer team here. It

blesses me to hear from you, and so just write

me Rick at pastorick dot com. It's real simple, Rick

at pastorick dot com. Thanks for listening, thanks for giving,

thanks for sharing, and thanks for caring. God bless you

all this month.

Every dollar you give to help Daily Hope share the

certain Hope of Jesus around the world will be matched

up to one hundred thousand dollars, So twenty five dollars

becomes fifty dollars, fifty becomes one hundred and five hundred

becomes a thousand. Whatever you give will be doubled by

the matching grant up to one hundred thousand dollars, but

only till midnight December thirty first. Anything not matched will

be lost, So please contact us today. You can give

right now by going to pastororig dot com or by

calling eight hundred six hundred five thousand four. We'll say

thanks by sending you the brand new Daily Hope Prayer

Journal that's pastororig dot com or by calling eight hundred

six hundred five thousand four. Be sure to join us

again next time as we look into God's word for

our daily Hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Ricks

Daily Hope and your generous financial support.