Speaker 1: Hello everybody, and welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. This
Speaker 1: is the Bible teaching ministry of Rick Warren. Now today
Speaker 1: we're continuing into the new year, and we're digging deeper
Speaker 1: into one of life's biggest questions, does my life really matter?
Speaker 1: In today's message, Rick's going to continue his powerful series
Speaker 1: Live Your Calling? What on Earth Am I here for?
Speaker 1: In it, you'll discover how living out God's purpose for
Speaker 1: your life brings real meaning, direction, and joy no matter
Speaker 1: where you're starting from. And now here's part two of
Speaker 1: a message entitled you are called to become the fourth.
Speaker 2: Thing on the steps of finishing the race of life?
Speaker 2: Is this when it gets hard, remember the reward. When
Speaker 2: life gets hard, you need to remember the reward. Now,
Speaker 2: as I said, this goal for God to make you
Speaker 2: the man he wants you to be, for God to
Speaker 2: make you the woman he wants you to become. It's
Speaker 2: a lifetime process. It's not a fifty yard dash. And
Speaker 2: so You're gonna go through a lot of problems and
Speaker 2: pressures and trials and difficulties and ups and downs, and
Speaker 2: God's going to use it all to make you more
Speaker 2: like Jesus. Now, since God's number one goal is to
Speaker 2: make you like Christ. That's what he wants you. He
Speaker 2: wants you to be loved, he wants you to belong,
Speaker 2: and he wants you to become like Christ. Then it
Speaker 2: means God is going to take you. Listen very closely.
Speaker 2: If God's going to make you like Jesus, He's going
Speaker 2: to take you through everything Jesus went through. Were there
Speaker 2: times when Jesus was lonely? Yes? Were there times when
Speaker 2: Jesus was criticized? Yes? Times when Jesus was betrayed? Yes?
Speaker 2: Were there times when Jesus was worn out with fatigue
Speaker 2: and he had had to keep going? Yes? Where there
Speaker 2: times when he was missed on understood? Yes? And if
Speaker 2: God did not spare his own son those things, why
Speaker 2: do you think he would spare you? He won't. The
Speaker 2: next time you start to ask why is this happening
Speaker 2: to me, you need to realize God wants to use
Speaker 2: it to build your attitude, to build your character. God
Speaker 2: wants to use it to make you like Christ. And
Speaker 2: instead of asking why, you need to say what What
Speaker 2: do you want me to learn from this situation? The
Speaker 2: Bible says Jesus learned obedience through suffering. The Bible says
Speaker 2: Jesus was made complete through suffering. You're going to learn
Speaker 2: them the same way. So you shouldn't be surprised when
Speaker 2: problems come into your life, because this isn't the easy
Speaker 2: stage that happens in eternity. In eternity, no more sorrow,
Speaker 2: no more suffering, no more sadness, no more problems, no
Speaker 2: more difficulties. But right now you're going to have all
Speaker 2: kinds of problems because this is where you do the
Speaker 2: character development, where you're growing and you're becoming, and when
Speaker 2: life gets hard, you need to remember the rewards a
Speaker 2: part of the process. Let me show you some verses
Speaker 2: here on your outline. The next verse in Hebrews twelve
Speaker 2: says this verse two and three, Jesus did not give
Speaker 2: up when he's he's running his race because of the cross.
Speaker 2: On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting
Speaker 2: for him in heaven. He thought nothing of the disgrace
Speaker 2: of dying on the cross because he knew the reward
Speaker 2: on the other side. And now he's seated at the
Speaker 2: right side of God's throne. So think of what he
Speaker 2: went through and how he put up with so much,
Speaker 2: so much hatred from sinners. So don't let yourselves become
Speaker 2: discouraged and give up. Say you know, this is just
Speaker 2: part of the plan. The problems are part of the plan.
Speaker 2: Look at the next verse. Here's a great promise one
Speaker 2: Peter Chapter five. After you suffer for a while, for
Speaker 2: a short time, God, who gives all grace, will make
Speaker 2: everything right. That's a great promise. He will make you strong,
Speaker 2: he will support you, he will keep you from falling.
Speaker 2: That's good news when you're in the middle of a problem.
Speaker 2: He called you to share in the glory in his glory.
Speaker 2: He called you to share in his glory in Christ,
Speaker 2: a glory that will continue forever. So we have short
Speaker 2: term problems on Earth for long term glory in heaven. Now,
Speaker 2: God does not promise an easy life here on Earth.
Speaker 2: He does promise reward in heaven for the things you
Speaker 2: learn from it, if you become more and more like Christ.
Speaker 2: Anybody who tells you life is easy is out of
Speaker 2: touch with reality. Fact is life is hard. Everybody agree
Speaker 2: with that life is hard. It's not easy. Why because
Speaker 2: this isn't Heaven. This is Earth. Everything on this planet broken.
Speaker 2: Is there pleasure on Earth? Of course? There is? Are
Speaker 2: there happy times on earth. Of course, there are are
Speaker 2: there moments of joy on earth. Yes, are there times
Speaker 2: when things are going great, yes, But as a general rule,
Speaker 2: life is hard. You're not on easy street. Everything in
Speaker 2: life you have to struggle for, you have to work for.
Speaker 2: It's not easy. This is intentional, and you're learning through
Speaker 2: the school of character development, the character that you're going
Speaker 2: to carry with you into heaven. The Bible says this,
Speaker 2: look here on the screen, it's not on your outline. Romans,
Speaker 2: Chapter eight. Since we are his children, God's children, we
Speaker 2: will share in his treasures. In other words, we get
Speaker 2: the inheritance. If you're in a family, you inherit the
Speaker 2: family treasures. For everything God gives to his son Christ
Speaker 2: is ours too. What a deal. God owns everything in
Speaker 2: the universe. He says, we get to share as children.
Speaker 2: But here's the butt. But if we are to share
Speaker 2: his glory, we must also share his suffering. I don't
Speaker 2: like that part. Let's just cut that part out of
Speaker 2: the Bible. Okay, we just forget that part. No, it says,
Speaker 2: if you're going to share in his glory, then you're
Speaker 2: gonna share in his suffering. No. No, God's no glory.
Speaker 2: No no pain, no gain, And they say this is
Speaker 2: part of life. Don't be surprised. And when life gets hard,
Speaker 2: you need to remember the reward. Now, this week we're
Speaker 2: doing a memory verse every week. This week we're gonna
Speaker 2: memorize part of Romans chapter eight, verse twenty eight. So
Speaker 2: let's put it up here on the screen. Romans eight
Speaker 2: twenty eight says, in all things God works for the
Speaker 2: good of those who love Him, who have been called
Speaker 2: according to his purpose. Now, remember we say the verse.
Speaker 2: We save the address at the beginning at the end,
Speaker 2: So let's read it aloud together, Romans eight twenty eight.
Speaker 2: In all things, God works for the good of those
Speaker 2: who love Him, who've been called according to his purpose,
Speaker 2: Romans eight twenty eight. Now, by the way, where does
Speaker 2: in the Bible does it say that all things work
Speaker 2: together for the good of those who love God? Romans
Speaker 2: eight twenty eight. And what does Romans eight twenty eight
Speaker 2: say in all things God works for the good of
Speaker 2: those who love him, who have been called according to
Speaker 2: his purpose? And where is that? Romans eight twenty eight,
Speaker 2: Number five. The fifth step in the marathon to maturity
Speaker 2: is I must gather a team to run with me.
Speaker 2: I gather a team to run with me. Now it's
Speaker 2: your race, and nobody can run your race, but people
Speaker 2: can support you in your race. And what is helpful
Speaker 2: is that in your life, at different stages of the race,
Speaker 2: you're gonna need different people to run along with you.
Speaker 2: Nobody is going to run your entire life with you.
Speaker 2: If you married, there were years that you didn't know
Speaker 2: that person. But at different stages in life, you have
Speaker 2: people running with you through life, helping you, encouraging your,
Speaker 2: supporting you. That's called a small group. If you don't
Speaker 2: have anybody running with you, you're not going to make
Speaker 2: it to the end of the race. You're going to
Speaker 2: give up, You're going to discourage and you're not going
Speaker 2: to become the woman you were intended to be. You're
Speaker 2: not going to become the man God created you to be.
Speaker 2: You need some other people in your life who were
Speaker 2: encouraging you, spurring you on, helping you run your race.
Speaker 2: You know, I've been to Africa many many times. As
Speaker 2: an old proverb in Africa that says, to run fast,
Speaker 2: run by yourself, but to run far, run with other people. See,
Speaker 2: I don't want you to just run fast and burn out.
Speaker 2: Every One of us know people who started off great
Speaker 2: in life and they're nowhere to be found today. They
Speaker 2: had so much potential, they had so much ability. Need
Speaker 2: that guy, he's going somewhere. She is really going far,
Speaker 2: and you knew it. And where there are today? They're sideline,
Speaker 2: They're doing nothing. They're wasting their life. Why they didn't
Speaker 2: have anybody running with them? You need a small group,
Speaker 2: You need a few. You don't need one hundred people
Speaker 2: running with you. You don't even need ten people running with you.
Speaker 2: You need three or four running with you who you're
Speaker 2: running with them, and they're running with you, and you're
Speaker 2: supporting each other. When you feel like giving up, they
Speaker 2: keep you going. Hebrews chapter ten says this, let us
Speaker 2: consider how we may spur one another on to love
Speaker 2: and to good deeds. Spur that means encourage. How do
Speaker 2: we encourage each other to do the right thing. Let
Speaker 2: us not give up meeting together. Talking about a small group,
Speaker 2: let us not give up meeting together. I hope, hope
Speaker 2: you're going to keep your small group after we finish
Speaker 2: this series, as some are in the habit of doing.
Speaker 2: But let us encourage one another. As you see the
Speaker 2: day as approaching why do some people not make it
Speaker 2: to the finish line? Why do we get stuck? Why
Speaker 2: do we stop growing? Why do we settle for second
Speaker 2: best and less than God's plan in our life? Why
Speaker 2: do we cop out and give up? One reason? Fear.
Speaker 2: It's fear, and a lot of times we don't even
Speaker 2: realize how fearful we are. But what we think is,
Speaker 2: I am so afraid of failing. I'm so afraid that
Speaker 2: I won't be able to measure up. I'm so afraid
Speaker 2: that I can't keep this commitment, I won't even try.
Speaker 2: And it is fear that causes you to miss God's
Speaker 2: best for your life. But when you belong to a
Speaker 2: small group, and that small group believes in you, and
Speaker 2: that small group loves you, then when you are beloved
Speaker 2: and you belong you can become and they give you
Speaker 2: the courage to do things. Having a small group who
Speaker 2: loves you unconditionally gives you the courage to start the race,
Speaker 2: gives you the courage to stay in the race, gives
Speaker 2: you the courage to finish the race, and gives you
Speaker 2: the courage to get up and start over. When you
Speaker 2: stumbled and really screwed it up, they say you can
Speaker 2: do this, You can do it now. That is a
Speaker 2: safe place. When you get in a small group where
Speaker 2: people love you unconditionally. That doesn't happen overnight. You don't.
Speaker 2: A small group doesn't become safe in three weeks or
Speaker 2: five weeks or six weeks. It takes time. As you
Speaker 2: begin to learn to know these people that you begin
Speaker 2: to trust them. You know their weaknesses, they know yours.
Speaker 2: You begin to be more open. You can say I
Speaker 2: really had a tough time today, and you begin to
Speaker 2: have more openness with them because you're safe. Then you
Speaker 2: can grow. I am in a very safe small group.
Speaker 2: But it didn't happen overnight. We figured out this week
Speaker 2: that the group we started that I'm in right now,
Speaker 2: we started during the campaign fifty Days of Love. I
Speaker 2: know those people like the back of my hand. I
Speaker 2: know their strengths, their weaknesses, and I know that if
Speaker 2: I were to get sick tonight at three am in
Speaker 2: the morning, any one of them would get out of
Speaker 2: bed and take me to the hospital because I've done
Speaker 2: it for them and they've done it for me, and
Speaker 2: we've been there for each other in the last twelve years.
Speaker 2: Do every major problem you can think of, and I
Speaker 2: said this for her. I wouldn't be pastor of this
Speaker 2: church if it weren't for my small group. They've helped
Speaker 2: me through some very tough times. You need to gather
Speaker 2: a team to run with you. Okay, Number six, This
Speaker 2: is a big one. When you're running the race of life,
Speaker 2: you need to realize God is cheering me at every stage.
Speaker 2: I need to realize when I'm running the race of
Speaker 2: life to become the man of the woman God wants
Speaker 2: you to be, that God is cheering me at every
Speaker 2: stage of life. Some of you have the mistaken idea
Speaker 2: that God only smiles at you when you do things right,
Speaker 2: or that God only smiles at you once you've reached
Speaker 2: the finish line. Once you've arrived at maturity, then God
Speaker 2: is going to like you. But until you become spiritually mature,
Speaker 2: God doesn't have any time of day for you, you're dead wrong.
Speaker 2: Nobody shames a baby for not knowing how to read.
Speaker 2: You dumb, dumb baby. You don't expect a baby to
Speaker 2: be able to read. Nobody shames a ten year old
Speaker 2: for not knowing how to drive or balance a check book,
Speaker 2: You dumb ten year old. No, no, you know what
Speaker 2: is appropriate for that stage of growth. When my grandkids
Speaker 2: draw me a picture and they bring it to me,
Speaker 2: I say that's perfect. Now, I'm not saying it's a picasso.
Speaker 2: I'm saying it's perfect for that stage of their development.
Speaker 2: God smiles at you at every stage of your development.
Speaker 2: He's not waiting for you to get to a certain
Speaker 2: level of maturity before he says you're okay. You're already
Speaker 2: okay in his eyes, because Christ died for you. Nobody
Speaker 2: shames a baby for not being mature, and you need
Speaker 2: to not be ashamed at whatever stage of spiritual growth
Speaker 2: you are in right now. A lot of times were
Speaker 2: secretly thinking, man, I should be further along than this,
Speaker 2: given my age, I should be a lot more mature.
Speaker 2: I shouldn't have these problems anymore. I mean, I'm this
Speaker 2: number of years old. Why am I still having this
Speaker 2: hang up? Why am I still having this problem? Why
Speaker 2: am I still having this difficulty? And we start shaming
Speaker 2: ourselves because we think God is ashamed of us. God
Speaker 2: is not ashamed of you. There's no condemnation for those
Speaker 2: who are in Christ Jesus. Now, why is this important
Speaker 2: that you realize that God is cheering you at every
Speaker 2: stage of your life, because the major reason you don't
Speaker 2: become the man you're supposed to be is shame. It's shame.
Speaker 2: And what happens is, instead of admitting that we don't
Speaker 2: have it all together, we spend all of our time
Speaker 2: and energy trying to pretend that we have it all together,
Speaker 2: faking it, wearing a mask, pretending acting like I got
Speaker 2: it all together, when inside you know I don't have
Speaker 2: it all together by a long shot. Now I hate
Speaker 2: to shock you, but everybody in the world knows you
Speaker 2: don't have it together. In fact, you're the only one
Speaker 2: who doesn't know it. God knows you don't have it
Speaker 2: all together. As your pastor, I know you don't have
Speaker 2: it all together. All your friends know you don't have
Speaker 2: it together. They just want you to admit it. You
Speaker 2: don't have it all together. When you start becoming vulnerable
Speaker 2: and you start admitting, you know what, my life is
Speaker 2: really screwed up. My life is really a mess. There's
Speaker 2: a lot of errors here that just aren't right, then
Speaker 2: you can stop spending all that energy on faking it
Speaker 2: and pretending and convert that energy into becoming You can
Speaker 2: either become what God wants you to be or you
Speaker 2: can pretend you've already got it together, but you can't
Speaker 2: have enough energy to do both. This is why I
Speaker 2: love Celebrate Recovery so much. It's my favorite minister in
Speaker 2: our church because the first step of the twelve steps
Speaker 2: in Celebrate Recovery is I get out of denial. I
Speaker 2: quit faking it. I quit pretending like I've got it
Speaker 2: all together. I quit trying to pretend that I don't
Speaker 2: have problems. Instead, I just admit my life is unmanageable
Speaker 2: and I need a manager, and that manager needs to
Speaker 2: be God. God is God, and I'm not. Once you
Speaker 2: come to that, there's a great relief because you quit
Speaker 2: trying to fake it anymore. You realize God loves me
Speaker 2: even though my life's pretty screwed up right now, He's
Speaker 2: still cheering me on, and now I can actually start
Speaker 2: working on it. And by the way, Celebrate Recovery is
Speaker 2: not just for people who have an addiction to say
Speaker 2: alcohol or a drug or celebrate. Everybody needs recovery. Why
Speaker 2: Because everybody's broken. You're emotionally broken, your emotions don't work perfectly,
Speaker 2: you're relationally broken, your relationship sure don't work perfectly. Your
Speaker 2: mind is broken. You don't think right all of the time.
Speaker 2: Everything in your life, your body is broken, so we
Speaker 2: all need recovery. And if you think I don't need recovery,
Speaker 2: then you're the one who really needs recovery, because everybody
Speaker 2: needs to grow and can't grow until you admit I
Speaker 2: don't have it all together. Now, here's another passage. Philippians.
Speaker 2: Chapter three in the Bible is another one of these
Speaker 2: classic passages on the race of life. Paul, this is
Speaker 2: the guy who wrote most of the New Testament part
Speaker 2: of the Bible. Paul says this, Saint Paul, I don't
Speaker 2: mean to say that I have already achieved these things
Speaker 2: or that I've already reached perfection. Women, this is the
Speaker 2: guy who wrote the Bible, and he's going, hey, I
Speaker 2: don't have it together. I'm not saying I've already achieved
Speaker 2: all this. I'm not saying I've already done all this.
Speaker 2: I'm not saying I'm perfect. He's not. And thank God,
Speaker 2: I'm not what I used to be, and I am
Speaker 2: what I am. Thank God, I'm not what I'm going
Speaker 2: to be. One day says I don't have it already achieved.
Speaker 2: These things I haven't already gotten the perfection. But he says,
Speaker 2: I keep working toward that day when I will finally
Speaker 2: be all that Christ saved me for and wants me
Speaker 2: to be. One day, I keep I'm going to be
Speaker 2: what God wants to be, the man God wants to me.
Speaker 2: One day I'll be that, he says. I'm still not there.
Speaker 2: I'm still not all I should be. But I am
Speaker 2: focusing on all my energies on this one thing. I
Speaker 2: forget to pass. You know, all those dumb decisions that
Speaker 2: really messed me up. It's gone. My past is passed.
Speaker 2: I'm going to forget the past. Forgetting the past, looking
Speaker 2: forward to what lizahead, I strain to reach the end
Speaker 2: of the race and receive the prize for which God
Speaker 2: through Christ Jesus is calling. There's that word, the third
Speaker 2: calling to become, is calling us up to heaven. So
Speaker 2: they just keep on going. I don't have it all together,
Speaker 2: but I keep strain in a head. Now, God is
Speaker 2: cheering you at every stage of the race. Those of
Speaker 2: you are parents. Have you ever watched your child run
Speaker 2: a race at school? Yes? At what point did you
Speaker 2: start cheering them when they crossed the finish line? No?
Speaker 2: You start cheering your kids the moment they started the race,
Speaker 2: when the whistle was blown and the gun was shot
Speaker 2: and they'd get out of the starting box. You're going,
Speaker 2: let's go, let's go, let's go. You can do it,
Speaker 2: you can do it. You're cheering them at every stage
Speaker 2: of the race. God is doing that with you. Right now.
Speaker 2: Let's go. I know you can do it. I know.
Speaker 2: Keep going, keep going. You're doing good, You're doing great.
Speaker 2: Keep running, keep running. And God is cheering you at everything.
Speaker 2: He's not waiting for you to get to finish line.
Speaker 2: And what happens if you have a child who stumbles
Speaker 2: in the race and falls flat on their face and
Speaker 2: embarrasses themselves. What do you do? You cheer more? Come on,
Speaker 2: I know you can do it. Get up. I believe
Speaker 2: in you. You cheer more when they stumble. This is
Speaker 2: life changing for some of you right now. You've never
Speaker 2: realized that God is cheering for you. The moment you stumble,
Speaker 2: He's going, I know you can do it. You're better
Speaker 2: than this. I believe in you. I created you, I
Speaker 2: sent my son to die for you. I want you
Speaker 2: in my family. Come on, you can do it. I
Speaker 2: know you stumble. God is saying oh, you worthless piece
Speaker 2: of baloney. I regret the day that I created you
Speaker 2: once I No, that's not God, that's your dad. Don't
Speaker 2: project an unpleasable parent on the God. You may have
Speaker 2: grown up with a mother or father that no matter
Speaker 2: what you did, it wasn't good enough and it was
Speaker 2: Come on, you can do better than that. Are you
Speaker 2: kidding me? And they shamed you your entire life? That's
Speaker 2: not God. God is cheering you every moment, and when
Speaker 2: you stumble, he cheers more. Come on, I know you
Speaker 2: can do it. I know you can do it. I
Speaker 2: believe I made you, I created you, I died for you.
Speaker 2: I love you. I've got to put my spirit in
Speaker 2: your life. And he cheers even louder. You need to
Speaker 2: never forget that truth.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much for joining us today on
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Hey, would you like to go
Speaker 1: deeper with Pastor Rick to discover God's purpose in your life?
Speaker 1: Well now you can with the video based studykit called
Speaker 1: What on Earth Am I here for? This life changing
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Speaker 1: fundamental question, what on earth am I here for? You'll
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