Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry
Speaker 1: of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we continue with a series
Speaker 1: called how God Turns Setbacks into Comebacks. We're so glad
Speaker 1: that you've joined us today. Now, if you know someone
Speaker 1: who needs some encouragement right now, be sure to invite
Speaker 1: them with a text or a phone call to listen
Speaker 1: along with you. Now, in just a few minutes, we're
Speaker 1: going to tell you how you can get a very
Speaker 1: special set of Bible scripture cards hands selected by Pastor
Speaker 1: Rick to bolster your sense of gratitude and increase your happiness.
Speaker 1: You can find out more by going to Pastorick dot
Speaker 1: com while you listen to today's message. If you want,
Speaker 1: you can just text the word hope to eight hundred
Speaker 1: six hundred five thousand and four for more information. That's
Speaker 1: the word hope to eight hundred six hundred five thousand
Speaker 1: and four. Right now, Here'sick with the final part of
Speaker 1: a message called when you feel like giving up.
Speaker 2: You know it's foolish to start a business without a
Speaker 2: business plan. Nobody in their right mind would ever do that,
Speaker 2: start a business without a business plan, But most Americans
Speaker 2: plan everything except their lives. Do you have a life plan.
Speaker 2: I want you to notice in this plan that Neamia
Speaker 2: comes up. He says. He posted them by families. What
Speaker 2: does that mean? He made sure that they had support.
Speaker 2: What's your support group? One of the reasons you may
Speaker 2: be discouraged because you're trying to handle everything by yourself.
Speaker 2: You need a support group. You need to be in
Speaker 2: a small group. You need to start a small group.
Speaker 2: Hebrews four twenty five says this. Some people have got
Speaker 2: out of the habit of meeting with other believers, but
Speaker 2: we must not do that. Instead, we should keep on
Speaker 2: encouraging each other. Who's encouraging you? Who are you encouraging?
Speaker 2: You need to be in a small group. Maybe your
Speaker 2: action step this week is that you know the reason
Speaker 2: I'm discouraged is I'm not in a small group. I
Speaker 2: don't have a support group. He posted them by groups
Speaker 2: by families. You need a spiritual family. If you don't
Speaker 2: have a spiritual family, you need to join Saddleback Church.
Speaker 2: Take class one oh one are joining the family discovering
Speaker 2: the benefits of being a part of a spiritual family.
Speaker 2: We teach that class every month at every campus. So
Speaker 2: that's what you need to reorganize whatever's not working in
Speaker 2: your life. Don't give up on the dream. Just look
Speaker 2: at it from a different direction, and you need to
Speaker 2: get some support. Second thing Neamiah did, reorganize whatever's not working.
Speaker 2: Number two, refocus on God. That's the next verse in
Speaker 2: Neamiah four fourteen. It says this. Then Nemiah says, I
Speaker 2: looked over the situation, and I called together all the
Speaker 2: leaders and the people, and I said to them, don't
Speaker 2: be afraid of the enemy. Remember the Lord. Underline that,
Speaker 2: remember the Lord, who is great and glorious. He says,
Speaker 2: you know what, you've been so busy working for God.
Speaker 2: You've forgotten God. Has that happened in your life? Have
Speaker 2: you forgotten the Lord that you're working for? You're trying
Speaker 2: to serve. You can be so busy doing work for
Speaker 2: the Lord, you forget God's work in you. What you
Speaker 2: need to do is you need to refocus on God.
Speaker 2: You need to recommit yourself to Christ. You need to
Speaker 2: draw on spiritual resources. The Bible says when David got discouraged,
Speaker 2: it says, quote he encouraged himself in the Lord. It
Speaker 2: doesn't say encouraged himself by watching TV or encourage himself
Speaker 2: by playing golf. It says he encouraged himself In the Lord.
Speaker 2: He says, remember the Lord. Underline that what do I
Speaker 2: remember when I'm discouraged? I remember three things. God's good
Speaker 2: to me in the past, God's closeness to me in
Speaker 2: the present, and God's power from me in the future.
Speaker 2: I get my mind off the discouraging circumstances, and I
Speaker 2: remember God's goodness in God's closeness, in God's power. And
Speaker 2: remember that your thoughts determine your feelings. Discouragement is a feeling.
Speaker 2: If you want to change your feelings, you change what
Speaker 2: you think about. One of my favorite verses is in
Speaker 2: Jonah two seven Jonah swallowed up by the great fish
Speaker 2: and in the bottom of the ocean. He says this,
Speaker 2: when I'd lost all hope, I once again turned my
Speaker 2: thoughts to the Lord. That's what you need to do.
Speaker 2: If you've lost all hope today, you need to turn
Speaker 2: your thoughts to the Lord. David's antidote was the same
Speaker 2: thing saw one nineteen five when he said, I'm completely discouraged,
Speaker 2: so revive me by your word. You need to get
Speaker 2: in the word of God. You need to be having
Speaker 2: a quiet time if you're a discourage today, it means this,
Speaker 2: you're not spend enough time in the Word of God.
Speaker 2: We're spending more time on social media than you are
Speaker 2: listening to God. That's a clear sign you're not spending
Speaker 2: enough time in the Word. Because the word revised, refreshes, restores, rebuilds.
Speaker 2: So I reorganize what needs to be changed. Keep doing
Speaker 2: what you're doing, but do it in a new way.
Speaker 2: And then I remember and I refocus on the Lord.
Speaker 2: And then the third thing that Neamiyah does is he
Speaker 2: tells them to do this, and you need to do
Speaker 2: it too. Resist resist the discouragement. This is your choice.
Speaker 2: You're gonna have to fight it. Resist the discouragement. You
Speaker 2: don't give into it. Neamiah four fourteen second part says this.
Speaker 2: Nemi says, Then I told them fight, fight for your brothers.
Speaker 2: These are people who wanted to give up. Fight for
Speaker 2: your brothers, fight for your sons, fight for your daughters,
Speaker 2: fight for your wife, fight for your homes. Don't you
Speaker 2: dare give in without a fight. Friends, We're in a
Speaker 2: spiritual battle. We're in a warfare every day of your life.
Speaker 2: We're not in a playground. We're in a battleground, and
Speaker 2: as believers, we are called to engage in a spiritual
Speaker 2: battle every day of our life. Ultimately, it's already been one,
Speaker 2: but there are battles going on every day, and we
Speaker 2: are in a supernatural struggle on mortal combat. And Satan
Speaker 2: is called the accuser of the believers, and he's accusing
Speaker 2: you every day, and he would love to neutralize your
Speaker 2: effectiveness by discouraging you.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Rick will be
Speaker 1: back in just a moment with the rest of today's lesson.
Speaker 1: You can sign up for Pastor Rick's free email devotional
Speaker 1: at pastorick dot com. That's pastorick dot com.
Speaker 3: Do you want to be happier, healthier, and more resistant
Speaker 3: to stress, then you need to develop an attitude of gratitude.
Speaker 3: In fact, the Bible says we're to rejoice always, continually
Speaker 3: and give thanks in all circumstances. But it can often
Speaker 3: be difficult to feel grateful. So to help you, Pastor
Speaker 3: Rick hand selected fifty two verses to bolster your sense
Speaker 3: of gratitude and increase your happiness. This set of beautifully
Speaker 3: designed cards will help you memorize scripture so you can
Speaker 3: recall God's word when you need it the most. You
Speaker 3: can also use them to minister to others. Give one
Speaker 3: to a friend and write a personalized note of encouragement
Speaker 3: on the back. If a scripture really speaks to you,
Speaker 3: frame it, put them in places where you can read
Speaker 3: them during the day for encouragement. And today, when you
Speaker 3: give a gift to help daily hope take the hope
Speaker 3: of Jesus to a world in need, we'll send you
Speaker 3: the Gratitude scripture card set to say thanks. Go to
Speaker 3: pastorik dot com right now to get your copy, or
Speaker 3: you can call eight hundred at six hundred five zero
Speaker 3: zero four. That's Pastorick dot com. Or call eight hundred
Speaker 3: six hundred at five zero zero four. Thank you so
Speaker 3: much for your support, and don't forget to let us
Speaker 3: know which radio station you heard us on.
Speaker 2: Hi, it's Pastor Rick with some big news. My daily
Speaker 2: devotional is now available in French. If you know somebody
Speaker 2: who would enjoy reading the devotionals in French, would you
Speaker 2: please email me and I'll send you a link to
Speaker 2: sign up. My email is Rick at Pastorick dot com.
Speaker 2: That's Rick at Pastorick dot com.
Speaker 1: Now let's get back to today's lesson here on Pastor
Speaker 1: Rick's Daily Hope.
Speaker 2: So I reorganize what needs to be changed. Keep doing
Speaker 2: what you're doing, but do it in a new way.
Speaker 2: And then I remember, and I refocused on the Lord.
Speaker 2: And then the third thing that Neamyah does is he
Speaker 2: tells them to do this, and you need to do
Speaker 2: it too. Resist, resist the discouragement. This is your choice.
Speaker 2: You're gonna have to fight it. Resist the discouragement. You
Speaker 2: don't give into it. Namiyah four fourteen second part says this.
Speaker 2: I says, Then I told them fight, fight for your brothers.
Speaker 2: These are people who wanted to give up. Fight for
Speaker 2: your brothers, Fight for your sons, fight for your daughters,
Speaker 2: fight for your wife, fight for your homes. Don't you
Speaker 2: dare give in without a fight. Friends, We're in a
Speaker 2: spiritual battle. We're in a warfare every day of your life.
Speaker 2: We're not in a playground. We're in a battleground. And
Speaker 2: as believers, we are called to engage in a spiritual
Speaker 2: battle every day of our life. Ultimately, it's already been one,
Speaker 2: but there are battles going on every day, and we
Speaker 2: are in a supernatural struggle on mortal combat and Satan
Speaker 2: is called the accuser of the believers, and he's accusing
Speaker 2: you every day, and he would love to neutralize your
Speaker 2: effectiveness by discouraging you. His favorite weapons, Satan's two favorite weapons.
Speaker 2: I've been a pastor for forty years, I've been walking
Speaker 2: with the Lord for about fifty five years, and I
Speaker 2: know that the two favorite discouragement tools are two favorite
Speaker 2: weapons of Satan. Art distraction and discouragement. Distraction to get
Speaker 2: you off your focus and discouragement. James four seven says this,
Speaker 2: resist the devil. Resist the devil, and he will flee
Speaker 2: from you. We are at war with negative thoughts, negative forces,
Speaker 2: negative emotions that want to keep us from developing our
Speaker 2: potential from God for God. So make this and let
Speaker 2: me just be as clear as I can possibly say this.
Speaker 2: If you're discouraged right now, you need to hear this.
Speaker 2: Discouragement is a choice. It's a choice. You don't have
Speaker 2: to be discouraged. The reason you are discouraged is you
Speaker 2: are choosing to listen to discouraging thoughts. And that's your choice.
Speaker 2: You don't have to listen to those discouraging choice. Those
Speaker 2: thoughts your choice. You know the difference between great people
Speaker 2: and ordinary people. Great people simply refused to be discouraged.
Speaker 2: Great people are just ordinary people with an extraordinary amount
Speaker 2: of determination. You know, I'm not that smart, I'm not
Speaker 2: that talented, but there is one thing I've learned. I
Speaker 2: don't know how to quit. And I never, never, never,
Speaker 2: never give up, even when things go wrong. And if
Speaker 2: God wants to use you the way he wants to
Speaker 2: use you, and you're going to be used the way
Speaker 2: he wants to use you, then you cannot give up.
Speaker 2: Even when you're fatigued, even when you're frustrated, even when
Speaker 2: you're fearful, even when you feel like you're failing, you
Speaker 2: just choose to keep going. When you're going through hell,
Speaker 2: you keep going. And maybe what God wants to say
Speaker 2: to you is this, keep going, reorganize what's not working,
Speaker 2: refocus on God, and resist the discouragement. It's your choice.
Speaker 2: You're discouraged because you're choosing to think discouraging thoughts. You
Speaker 2: don't have to think those thoughts. Let me ask you
Speaker 2: a very personal question. What's unfinished in your life? Is
Speaker 2: there a relationship you need to reconcile or is there
Speaker 2: is a relationship that somebody who's dead or something that
Speaker 2: you need to do closure on. Some of you have
Speaker 2: unfinished business with God, and yet the walls half finished,
Speaker 2: the projects half done. What have you known that God
Speaker 2: wants you to do, but you just keep putting it off.
Speaker 2: Maybe you've been checking checking out Jesus Christ, maybe considering
Speaker 2: giving your life ten but you've never stepped across the line.
Speaker 2: It makes me think of that verse in Jeremiah twenty
Speaker 2: that says the summer is over and we are not
Speaker 2: saved Jeremia eight twenty. Really you're gonna go into the
Speaker 2: fall having not made that decision for Christ. Maybe you
Speaker 2: need to be baptized. Maybe you need to finish all
Speaker 2: of Saddleback's life development courses, the purpose driven courses that
Speaker 2: teach you how to grow, how to know Christ, love Christ,
Speaker 2: serve Christ, share Christ, live in Christ. You need to
Speaker 2: take all those classes. Some of you got stuck at
Speaker 2: first base. You took one on one and then you
Speaker 2: haven't gone any further. Maybe you need to join or
Speaker 2: begin a small group. You've been hearing me talk about
Speaker 2: it for months or years. Now, let me, just as
Speaker 2: your pastor, talk to you about how you're feeling today.
Speaker 2: If you're feeling down If you're feeling discouraged, which of
Speaker 2: these four might be causing that? Is it fatigue? Maybe
Speaker 2: you just need to get some rest. Is it frustration?
Speaker 2: Is it the rubble in your life? Maybe you need
Speaker 2: to do some reorganizing and you need to do a
Speaker 2: little house cleaning and get some of the trash cleaned
Speaker 2: out of your life, out of your schedule, and you
Speaker 2: need to get your goals back in focus. Is it
Speaker 2: a sense of failure? You need to remember the Lord.
Speaker 2: Remember that he loves you unconditionally, and he has never
Speaker 2: stopped loving you, and he never will love you anymore
Speaker 2: or less than he does right now. And if you're
Speaker 2: falling and you stumble and you send, he forgives. The
Speaker 2: Bible says there's no condemnation for those who are in
Speaker 2: Christ Jesus, and he loves to give you second chances.
Speaker 2: That's a theme of saddleback, where a second chance places
Speaker 2: of grace. And how about fear? Is fear dominating your
Speaker 2: life right now? It is causing to be discouraged. You
Speaker 2: need to resist the devil. You need to resist a discourage.
Speaker 2: You need to fight for your future, fight for your family,
Speaker 2: fight for your marriage. You need to fight for your career.
Speaker 2: Some of you are just barely holding on. I know that,
Speaker 2: and I pray for you. And you may be thinking,
Speaker 2: you know, Rick, this just isn't worth it. Well, don't
Speaker 2: give up.
Speaker 3: Look up, look up.
Speaker 2: The answer may just be right around the corner. Hold on,
Speaker 2: you know. In nineteen eighty one, I went through an
Speaker 2: entire year of depression. It was the second year Saddleback
Speaker 2: Church and I had a experience and my health had
Speaker 2: fallen apart. And this is forty years ago, and I
Speaker 2: was so broken emotionally and so discouraged and so pressed
Speaker 2: that I barely had enough energy to do the services.
Speaker 2: And every Saturday, after I'd finished the message preparing it,
Speaker 2: I would drive the Laguna Beach and I would sit
Speaker 2: and I would watch at the ocean. It just had
Speaker 2: a calming effect on me as I was preparing my
Speaker 2: heart to teach on Sunday. And I discovered that when
Speaker 2: the tide goes out on the beach, the beach is
Speaker 2: pretty ugly. There's driftwood and junk, and it reveals a
Speaker 2: lot of stuff that doesn't look good. But I've noticed
Speaker 2: that the tide always comes back in. The tide may
Speaker 2: be out in your life, right now, but it always
Speaker 2: comes back in There's a there is a plaque in
Speaker 2: my office in Hebrew, and it says this, this too
Speaker 2: shall pass. It didn't come to stay. The problem was
Speaker 2: in your life right now. It didn't come to stay.
Speaker 2: It came to pass. Tough times never last, but tough
Speaker 2: people do. And Jesus Christ can give you that inner strength.
Speaker 2: He can give you the power that you need to
Speaker 2: make a difference. Let's power heads and prayer. Let me
Speaker 2: pray for you, father. I know that there are a
Speaker 2: lot of people are discouraged here today because of fear
Speaker 2: or frustration or fatigue or sense failure. And some are
Speaker 2: tired and worn out, and some are feeling like it's
Speaker 2: taken longer than I thought it would take. And some
Speaker 2: are thinking it's more complicated than I thought it would be,
Speaker 2: and some are thing. But people are attacking me, and
Speaker 2: I'm under it. I'm being criticized for what I'm trying
Speaker 2: to do. And some are scared and think I might
Speaker 2: lose my job, and I'm I'm I might even lose
Speaker 2: my life. And there's all kinds of fears that come
Speaker 2: in our lives. Help us to do what Neamiah did.
Speaker 2: Now you pray, and you pray these three steps. Say Lord,
Speaker 2: today I want to I want to refocus on you.
Speaker 2: I want to refocus on you. I want to remember
Speaker 2: the Lord, your goodness to me in the past. I
Speaker 2: want to remember that you're with me right now. I
Speaker 2: want to remember that you're You're going to give me
Speaker 2: the power in the future. And Lord, I need the
Speaker 2: strength to reorganize and not give up on what I'm doing,
Speaker 2: but do it in a new way so I'm not
Speaker 2: so frustrated and I'm not so fatigued, that i don't
Speaker 2: feel like a failure, that I'm not afraid. Help me
Speaker 2: to clean out the rubble in my life and help
Speaker 2: me to see what that is. Maybe there's a relationship
Speaker 2: that's holding me back, or I got too many things
Speaker 2: I'm doing that I need to simplify my life and
Speaker 2: simplify by my budget and simplify my lifestyle and so
Speaker 2: many other things. Help me to remember the Lord and
Speaker 2: reorganize my life. And Lord, I've asked you to give
Speaker 2: me the power to resist the discouragement and to fight
Speaker 2: for my future, and to fight for my family, and
Speaker 2: to fight for my career and fight for my dreams,
Speaker 2: and to not just give in help me to remember
Speaker 2: that when I'm discouraged, that's a choice. Then I don't
Speaker 2: have to remember those thoughts. But I can trust in you.
Speaker 2: You've never opened your life to Christ. Say Jesus Christ,
Speaker 2: please come into my life right now. I can't do
Speaker 2: this on my own. I need a savior. I want
Speaker 2: to follow you from this day on. I want to
Speaker 2: do whatever you tell me to do and trust you.
Speaker 2: I want to learn to love you, and I want
Speaker 2: to commit and surrender myself to you as best I
Speaker 2: know how my way has not worked. I want to
Speaker 2: go your purpose for my life, and I humbly ask
Speaker 2: you to accept me into your family in Jesus's name. Amen.
Speaker 2: Hi everybody, this is Rick and I hope you enjoyed
Speaker 2: today's broadcast. You know, if you just prayed that prayer
Speaker 2: for the very first time, or you just recommitted your
Speaker 2: life to Jesus again today, would you let me know
Speaker 2: about it. There's something real about sharing your commitment. So
Speaker 2: write me Rick at Pastorrick dot com and say, Rick,
Speaker 2: I prayed that prayer of commitment, I gave my life
Speaker 2: to Christ, and I'll send you some material that will
Speaker 2: help you on your journey. With Jesus, and I'll also
Speaker 2: pray for you. God bless you.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. We are so
Speaker 1: happy that you've chosen to study along with us today.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to receive hope and encouragement every day
Speaker 1: delivered right to your inbox, then sign up for Rick's
Speaker 1: free daily devotional by going to Pastor Rick dot com.
Speaker 1: Right now, Rick will be back to close out our
Speaker 1: time today. But first, do you want to be happier, healthier,
Speaker 1: and more resistant to stress, then you need to develop
Speaker 1: an attitude of gratitude. In fact, the Bible says we're
Speaker 1: to rejoice, always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances.
Speaker 1: But it can be difficult to feel grateful. So to
Speaker 1: help you, Pastor Rick hand selected fifty two verses to
Speaker 1: bolster your sense of gratitude and increase your happiness. This
Speaker 1: set of beautifully designed cards will help you memorize scripture
Speaker 1: so you can recall God's word when you need it most.
Speaker 1: You can also use them to minister to others. Give
Speaker 1: one to a friend and write a personalized note of
Speaker 1: encouragement on the back. If a scripture really speaks to
Speaker 1: you frame it, put them in places where you can
Speaker 1: read them during the day for encouragement. And today when
Speaker 1: you give a gift to help daily hope take the
Speaker 1: hope of Jesus to a world in need, we'll send
Speaker 1: you the Gratitude scripture card set to say thanks. Go
Speaker 1: to Pastorick dot com right now to get your copy,
Speaker 1: or you can just call eight hundred six hundred five
Speaker 1: thousand and four. That's Pastorick dot com. Or call eight
Speaker 1: hundred six hundred five thousand and four. Thanks so much
Speaker 1: for your support, and don't forget to let us know
Speaker 1: which radio station you hurt us on. Here's Pastor Rick
Speaker 1: with the closing thought.
Speaker 2: Jesus told his disciples that they should live their lives
Speaker 2: according to five specific purposes. He said, you've got to
Speaker 2: love God with all your heart. That's worship, and love
Speaker 2: your neighbors yourself. That's ministry. That's called the Great Commandment.
Speaker 2: And then Jesus said, go make disciples. That's evangelism, Baptize
Speaker 2: them into the Family of God. That's fellowship, a sign
Speaker 2: of fellowship. And then he said, teach them obay everything
Speaker 2: I've taught you. That's discipleship. And we call that the
Speaker 2: Great Commission. We believe it Daily Hope that a great
Speaker 2: commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will
Speaker 2: produce a great Christian, a great church, a great company,
Speaker 2: a great community. You know, I started Daily Hope so
Speaker 2: I could spread the good news about Jesus, not just
Speaker 2: across America, but all around the world. And we want
Speaker 2: people to know that God's word is filled with hope
Speaker 2: and truth, and the power that we need to follow
Speaker 2: him every day is available to every single one. You
Speaker 2: know as well as I do, that the Word of
Speaker 2: God changes lives. It's a live it's active, and it
Speaker 2: breathes new life and new love into all of our lives.
Speaker 2: So wherever you listen to this, whether you listen on
Speaker 2: the website, whether you listen on a radio station, or
Speaker 2: whether you listen to a podcast, you're a part of
Speaker 2: the Daily Hope family, and I need your help. We
Speaker 2: could not do this without your support. Now, you know,
Speaker 2: I don't take any funds from this broadcast. We don't
Speaker 2: have any giant, million dollar donor who's giving big gifts
Speaker 2: to this. It comes from daily donations from listeners like you.
Speaker 2: We're one hundred percent listener funded. Would you continue to
Speaker 2: pray for this broadcast, and would you continue to support
Speaker 2: us and let write to me, let me hear from you.
Speaker 2: I absolutely love reading the stories that are sent to me.
Speaker 2: So write me, pray for me, and support this ministry
Speaker 2: and God will bless it, and God will bless you,
Speaker 2: and we'll get to heaven and we'll thank God for
Speaker 2: all the people going to be in heaven because you cared.
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
Speaker 1: support