Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the Bible
Speaker 1: teaching ministry of Rick Warren. We're pausing our current series
Speaker 1: to bring you a special message from Pastor Rick, one
Speaker 1: that will help you reflect on God's goodness and grow
Speaker 1: a heart of gratitude. And now Rick brings you the
Speaker 1: final part of a moving message called being Thankful even
Speaker 1: in bad times.
Speaker 2: John fourteen says this, Jesus said, I'm going there. He's
Speaker 2: talking about heaven. I'm going there to prepare a place
Speaker 2: for you. And if I go and prepare a place
Speaker 2: for you, I will come back and take you to
Speaker 2: be with me that you also may be where I am.
Speaker 2: What an incredible promise. Whenever I read that very circle
Speaker 2: the phrase prepare a place for you, whenever I read
Speaker 2: that I'm going to prepare a place for you. The
Speaker 2: Bible says God wanted a family, and the Bible calls
Speaker 2: the church the bride of Christ. He's preparing a place
Speaker 2: for his bride, those who put their faith in him.
Speaker 2: And I always think about how nearly thirty nine years ago,
Speaker 2: as a young man, and I fell madly in love
Speaker 2: with a woman named Kay Lewis, and I was head
Speaker 2: over heels in love with this woman, and we got engaged,
Speaker 2: and I lived in La County and she lived up
Speaker 2: in Fresno, and I knew I needed to prepare a
Speaker 2: place for my bride where we would live together. And
Speaker 2: I didn't have a whole lot of money, but I
Speaker 2: found the coolest little condo I could find, and of course,
Speaker 2: being in the nineteen seventies, that meant had had lime
Speaker 2: green shag carpet and burnt orange fixtures. If you remember that,
Speaker 2: you're really old. And I remember, over the next several
Speaker 2: months of our engagements, scouring because I didn't have any money,
Speaker 2: every flea market and every garage sale, trying to find
Speaker 2: cool things to put up in that house because I
Speaker 2: was preparing that place for my bride, and I wanted
Speaker 2: it so badly to be as cool and as beautiful
Speaker 2: as I could possibly afford. But it's nothing compared to
Speaker 2: the place that Jesus has been preparing for his bride.
Speaker 2: You want to know how long God has been preparing
Speaker 2: heaven for you, You want to know how long He's
Speaker 2: been redecorating Heaven for you. Look at the next verse.
Speaker 2: Matthew twenty five, Verse thirty four. Jesus says, then the
Speaker 2: King will say, come, you who are blessed by my Father,
Speaker 2: take your inheritance. The Kingdom prepared for you. Since the
Speaker 2: creation of the world, Holy guacamole, that's a long time
Speaker 2: to redecorate. He's been preparing heaven since the creation of
Speaker 2: the world. What is heaven going to be? Like? The
Speaker 2: Bible says, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither
Speaker 2: has entered into the heart of man, the wonderful things
Speaker 2: that God has prepared for those who love him. You
Speaker 2: can't imagine it. Most people have such a poor idea
Speaker 2: of heaven. Who would want to go there? Television always
Speaker 2: portrays heaven as completely colorless? Are you kidding me? Who
Speaker 2: do you think created color? It's not going to be white.
Speaker 2: You're not going to sit in a robe with angels
Speaker 2: wings playing a harp on a cloud. That would be hell.
Speaker 2: I can't think of anything if that's heaven. I don't
Speaker 2: want to go there, honestly, I don't. I don't know
Speaker 2: who got that idea. Satan got that idea, that's where
Speaker 2: it came from. I mean, think about this. There's a
Speaker 2: lot of cool and beautiful things on this planet, and
Speaker 2: God created it. I mean, you think about sunrises and
Speaker 2: sunsets and beautiful beach landscapes and borah and tall redwood
Speaker 2: forests and all the beauty of flowers and colors and green.
Speaker 2: The earth is broken and it's still a cool place.
Speaker 2: This place is marred by sin. It's why nothing works,
Speaker 2: including the environment, and it's still a cool place. Think
Speaker 2: about what a place with no sin and no suffering
Speaker 2: and no sorrow and no destruction and no global warming
Speaker 2: and nothing else, And what's going to be like? We
Speaker 2: can't even imagine it. God has been preparing it. In
Speaker 2: the CNN interview, Peers asked Kay and I about heaven
Speaker 2: and about hope after Matthew's death.
Speaker 3: Here's what we said, Is there any sin trick despite
Speaker 3: the appolling dispair that you've gone through, isn't any s
Speaker 3: of relief as a family that Matthew is now with
Speaker 3: God in heaven out of pain.
Speaker 2: Yeah. If I didn't have that hope, I would be
Speaker 2: in ultimate despair. But we have built our lives, our faith,
Speaker 2: our family, our ministry on the belief that because of
Speaker 2: Jesus Christ, and because of what He did on the
Speaker 2: cross for us, we can have our past forgiven. We
Speaker 2: have a purpose for living, and we have a home
Speaker 2: in heaven that takes care of my past, my present,
Speaker 2: and my future.
Speaker 3: How would you like him to be?
Speaker 2: Remember?
Speaker 4: Oh, my funny, quirky, ridiculously silly, deeply compassioned, had such
Speaker 4: a sense of justice. We put on his marker Compassionate Warrior,
Speaker 4: and that pretty much sums him up in deep compassion.
Speaker 2: You know, we probably received over thirty thousand letters of condolences.
Speaker 2: The letters that meant the most to me were the
Speaker 2: people that Matthew had led to faith in Christ that
Speaker 2: they're gonna be in heaven because of him, And that said,
Speaker 2: I know the Lord, I have a relationship with Jesus
Speaker 2: because of your son over the years. And I remember
Speaker 2: writing in my journal that in God's garden of Grace,
Speaker 2: even a broken tree bears fruit. And that was true
Speaker 2: in his life. And you know, i'd like you say,
Speaker 2: are you happy that it's making a difference? Of course,
Speaker 2: to him? I still want my son back. I still
Speaker 2: want my son to Dad. But as David said in
Speaker 2: Second Samuel, who David lost a son, he said, he
Speaker 2: will not come back to me, but I will go
Speaker 2: to him. And that is the hope of heaven. That
Speaker 2: we have and that has strengthen us even through the
Speaker 2: darkest day. You know, David says, when I go through
Speaker 2: the valley of the shadow of death, wherever there's a shadow,
Speaker 2: there's a light. And so the key to walking through
Speaker 2: the valued shadow of death is to turn your back
Speaker 2: on the shadow, which is scary, and look at the light.
Speaker 2: And that's how you get through it.
Speaker 3: Do you feel he's he's here now?
Speaker 2: Well, I know that he's in heaven looking down on us.
Speaker 2: And we have many loved ones there, my parents, Kay's
Speaker 2: mom and dad. And that presence of God is more
Speaker 2: important than the presence of Matthew in my life. Is
Speaker 2: that I've since the presence of God in my life
Speaker 2: very close. That I'm not going through this alone. That's
Speaker 2: a comfort.
Speaker 3: Ricking Caseby is such an honor and a privilege to
Speaker 3: do this interview. Thank you, thanks letting me do it.
Speaker 3: And my heart goes out to you. It's a heartbreaking story.
Speaker 3: There's hope, but.
Speaker 4: There is so important that people know no matter how
Speaker 4: desperate they're despair, there is hope. There's and not to
Speaker 4: give up.
Speaker 3: Thank you both very much. Indeed, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2: No matter what I go through, I know it's not
Speaker 2: going to last. And I know that this is not
Speaker 2: the end of the story. And I know that God
Speaker 2: has prepared a home for me in heaven forever. What
Speaker 2: is heaven going to be like? I'll say it again.
Speaker 2: The Bible says, I has not seen nor ear heard,
Speaker 2: neither hath entered into the heart of man, the wonderful
Speaker 2: things that God has prepared for those who love him.
Speaker 2: We know that in heaven we will be reunited with
Speaker 2: loved once. I have a father in heaven, I have
Speaker 2: a mother in heaven, I have a brother in heaven,
Speaker 2: I have a son in heaven. I will be reunited
Speaker 2: with those who love the Lord and who are there.
Speaker 2: I know that we will be released from all pain,
Speaker 2: that in heaven there will be no more broken minds
Speaker 2: from mental illness. There will be no more broken bodies
Speaker 2: that don't work right. There will be no more broken dreams.
Speaker 2: There will be no more broken relationships, no more broken communication,
Speaker 2: no more broken hearts, no more broken promises.
Speaker 3: Who will be released?
Speaker 2: The Bible says there will be no more death. There
Speaker 2: will be no more pain, no more tears, no sorrow,
Speaker 2: no more suffering. We know that we will be rewarded.
Speaker 2: The Bible says, according to what you did with what
Speaker 2: you were giving. We talked about this last week. Are
Speaker 2: you storing up treasure in heaven? Are you spending it
Speaker 2: all on yourself? Now? The Bible says, we will be
Speaker 2: reassigned that in heaven you're not gonna sit around and
Speaker 2: do nothing. There's gonna be things to do. There's gonna
Speaker 2: be work projects. Only there's no weeds and no problems
Speaker 2: that don't work, and no committees to deal with, no
Speaker 2: office politics. That you're gonna enjoy what you do. You're
Speaker 2: not gonna sit around just do nothing. The Bible says,
Speaker 2: this first Peter, Chapter one, God has reserved for his children. Now,
Speaker 2: by the way, let me stop right there. God put
Speaker 2: that reservation in a long time ago for you. God
Speaker 2: has reserved your place in heaven. God is reserved for
Speaker 2: his children, the priceless gift of eternal life. Is everybody
Speaker 2: going to be in heaven? Absolutely not. If God let
Speaker 2: hitler and axe murders and child molesters and rapists and
Speaker 2: genocidal dictators into heaven, it'd be no better than this.
Speaker 2: The Bible says, Only his children are going to be
Speaker 2: in heaven. Is everybody child of God. No, everybody is
Speaker 2: created by God. Everybody is loved by God. God has
Speaker 2: never made a person he doesn't want in heaven. God
Speaker 2: has never made a person he doesn't have a plan
Speaker 2: for their life. But you don't become a child of
Speaker 2: God till you choose to join his family. God's not
Speaker 2: going to force you to love him. Love only is love.
Speaker 2: If I have the choice, then a lot of people
Speaker 2: today say, forget you, God, I don't need a savior.
Speaker 2: I don't need God. I'm God. I'm gonna be my
Speaker 2: own God. I could get to Heaven on my own.
Speaker 2: You don't stand a snowball's chance of hell of getting
Speaker 2: into Heaven on your own, because it's perfect and you're not,
Speaker 2: and neither am I. And the height of ultimate arrogance
Speaker 2: is to say that I get to decide how I
Speaker 2: go to God's house. Really, you can't earn it, you
Speaker 2: can't deserve it, you can't work for it, you can't
Speaker 2: be good enough, you can't be religious enough. The only
Speaker 2: way you're getting into heaven, friend, is by grace, by
Speaker 2: God forgiving you. And you would you saying God, I
Speaker 2: need your forgiveness, I need your grace I need you
Speaker 2: to save me. That's what Jesus came at Christmas to
Speaker 2: do for unto you is born as savior. If you
Speaker 2: didn't need a savior, God wouldn't have sent one. There's
Speaker 2: no way you're getting into Heaven on your own. You
Speaker 2: have to go the way you only get in, and
Speaker 2: that is through the grace of God and the Mishaven.
Speaker 2: You have to do the almost impossible. You have to
Speaker 2: reject the love of God out of pride. I don't
Speaker 2: need forgiveness. I don't need a savior. God is reserved
Speaker 2: for his children, the priceless gift of eternal life. Now
Speaker 2: look at this. It's kept in Heaven for you, pure
Speaker 2: and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And
Speaker 2: God in his mighty power, will make sure circle that,
Speaker 2: make sure that you get there safely. It is the
Speaker 2: job of the captain of the cruise line to make
Speaker 2: sure you get there safely. It's not your job. It's
Speaker 2: not my job to make sure I get to Heaven.
Speaker 2: It's God's job. Once I've put my hand in his,
Speaker 2: He's not letting go. He will make sure you get
Speaker 2: there safely. You see, if I could work my way
Speaker 2: to heaven. Then the moment I stopped working, it would
Speaker 2: stop working. My salvation would stop working. But since I
Speaker 2: don't earn or work for my salvation, since it's simply
Speaker 2: a gift, God's not going to take it back. That
Speaker 2: is called eternal security. He will make sure that you
Speaker 2: get there safely to receive it. It's not based on
Speaker 2: my ability, because you are trusting Him. So be truly glad.
Speaker 2: I can be grateful even in pain, because I know
Speaker 2: I'm going to heaven no matter what happens, and no
Speaker 2: matter what I do or what happens. Ever since I
Speaker 2: am getting there by God's grace, because I put my
Speaker 2: trust in what Jesus did for me. You know, my
Speaker 2: greatest comfort has been this fact right here, because I
Speaker 2: know that Matthew was not in heaven one second when
Speaker 2: all of his questions were answered, and all of his
Speaker 2: mental illness and all the struggle and all the stigma,
Speaker 2: and all of the pain and all the rejection that
Speaker 2: he faced in school was all wiped out, and it
Speaker 2: all made sense. And I know that if my son
Speaker 2: could talk to me right now from heaven, he would
Speaker 2: say this, Dad, you were so wrong. You tried to
Speaker 2: explain heaven to me, but it is so much better
Speaker 2: than we ever imagined. Dad, you can't believe it. You
Speaker 2: have no idea how cool it is here. And I
Speaker 2: can't wait for you to get here too and spend
Speaker 2: eternity in the loving presence of God. That's why I
Speaker 2: can be thankful this Thanksgiving. Two Corinthians for says this.
Speaker 2: We often suffer, but we're never crushed. Even when we
Speaker 2: don't know what to do. We never give up in
Speaker 2: times of trouble. God is with us, and when we're
Speaker 2: knocked down, we get up again. We know that God
Speaker 2: raised the Lord Jesus back to life, and just as
Speaker 2: he raised Jesus, he will also raise us back to
Speaker 2: life and will bring us into His presence together. So
Speaker 2: we don't focus on the troubles we see right now. Instead,
Speaker 2: we look forward to what we don't see yet. For
Speaker 2: the troubles we see now are temporary, but the joys
Speaker 2: to come will last forever. If you have not settled
Speaker 2: this issue, need to do so right now, because you're
Speaker 2: not guaranteed tomorrow, much less next week or next year.
Speaker 2: If you were to die tonight and Jesus were to
Speaker 2: say to you, why should I let you into my heaven.
Speaker 2: What would you say? Do you know the right answer?
Speaker 2: It's not Oh, I was trying to be a good person.
Speaker 2: I had more good than bad. Sorry, wrong answer. You
Speaker 2: need to accept the grace and forgiveness of God in
Speaker 2: your life, and you need to turn your life over
Speaker 2: to the God who made you. Let's bow our heads.
Speaker 2: If you haven't settled that issue. I'm going to lead
Speaker 2: a prayer right now and I want you to pray it.
Speaker 2: It's the most important words you'll ever say in your life.
Speaker 2: It determines eternal destiny. It is the height of arrogance
Speaker 2: to think that you can come to God on your
Speaker 2: own terms. God has done everything for you. You don't
Speaker 2: have to do anything, You just receive it by faith.
Speaker 2: So would you pray this prayer? Dear God, First, I
Speaker 2: want to thank you for my ungratefulness. Everything I have
Speaker 2: is a gift from you, and I don't express that
Speaker 2: gratitude very often. I thank you that you have a
Speaker 2: good plan for my life. I thank you that you've
Speaker 2: promised to never leave me. I thank you that when
Speaker 2: people are working against me, you want to work in me.
Speaker 2: I thank you that there is a hope of heaven
Speaker 2: in eternity and you preparing a home that you want
Speaker 2: me to be a part of. Dear God, there's no
Speaker 2: way I can get into heaven on my own effort.
Speaker 2: I need a savior, and so I humbly ask you, Jesus,
Speaker 2: to forgive all my sins, to show me your grace
Speaker 2: and to accept me into your family. I want to
Speaker 2: be your child, and as best I know how, I
Speaker 2: want to learn to love you and trust you the
Speaker 2: rest of my life. And I want you to take
Speaker 2: me safely to heaven. And I pray this in your name. Amen.
Speaker 2: You know if you just prayed that prayer for the
Speaker 2: very first time, or you just recommitted your life to
Speaker 2: Jesus again today, would you let me know about it.
Speaker 2: There's something real about sharing your commitment. So write me
Speaker 2: Rick at pastor Rick dot com and say, Rick, I
Speaker 2: prayed that prayer of commitment. I gave my life to Christ.
Speaker 2: And I'll send you some material that will help you
Speaker 2: on your journey with Jesus. And I'll also pray for you.
Speaker 2: God bless you.
Speaker 1: What life giving message from Pastor Reg. Now let's join
Speaker 1: Reg with one last closing thought.
Speaker 2: Hi, this is Pastor Rick. You know there's so much
Speaker 2: we can be grateful for during Thanksgiving. No matter how
Speaker 2: things go wrong in your life, there's still something you
Speaker 2: can thank God for. But let's remember those who are
Speaker 2: less fortunate. Reach out to somebody with the love of
Speaker 2: God this Thanksgiving, maybe with a meal or a blanket,
Speaker 2: or invite them to church. Think about what you can
Speaker 2: do to let them know they're not forgotten during this
Speaker 2: season of giving. Thanks God bless you all and have
Speaker 2: a great Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: Be sure to join us next time as we look
Speaker 1: into God's word for our daily hope. This program is
Speaker 1: sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.