Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry
Speaker 1: of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we continue in our series
Speaker 1: called Strategies for Stressful Times. In these lessons, Rick SHARE's
Speaker 1: biblical wisdom for navigating difficult and stressful times so that
Speaker 1: you can experience God's peace and thrive in any situation. Now,
Speaker 1: in just a bit, we're going to tell you how
Speaker 1: you can get a very special copy of Pastor Rick's
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Speaker 1: Now here's Pastor Rick Warren with part one of a
Speaker 1: message called how to Be Happy no matter what happens.
Speaker 2: Anytime you want to study what God has to say
Speaker 2: about happiness, you go to the Book of Philippians here
Speaker 2: in the Bible. It's the most positive happy book in
Speaker 2: God's Word. In spite of the fact that Paul wrote
Speaker 2: it while he was a prisoner in a dark Roman
Speaker 2: prison dungeon, and he was chained to a twenty four
Speaker 2: hour guard. But Paul knew how to be happy no
Speaker 2: matter what happens now. One of the key verses is
Speaker 2: Philippians one, Chapter one, verse twenty seven. It's at the
Speaker 2: top of the message outlined. Philippians Won twenty seven says this,
Speaker 2: whatever happens, whatever happens, conduct yourself in a manner worthy
Speaker 2: of the good news of Christ. Have you ever held
Speaker 2: a pity party for yourself? It's quite easy to throw
Speaker 2: a pity party. All you have to do is think
Speaker 2: up a list of everything negative in your life and
Speaker 2: then think about it over and over and over, and
Speaker 2: then feel sorry for yourself. Last Tuesday, I gave myself
Speaker 2: a pity party. It was a good one. And first
Speaker 2: I thought of the chronic pain that I'd been feeling
Speaker 2: for three weeks that was sapping all my energy. And
Speaker 2: then next I thought of all the things that I
Speaker 2: wasn't getting done and the pressure that I felt from
Speaker 2: those deadlines because I hadn't been feeling good, so I
Speaker 2: had pain and pressure. Then I thought of the people
Speaker 2: who needed my help, and I thought of some other
Speaker 2: people who were upset with me. And finally, in case
Speaker 2: that wasn't enough, I thought of all the problems in
Speaker 2: the world that we just keep hearing about. So you
Speaker 2: got pain, pressure, people, and problems. These are the foremost
Speaker 2: common sources of unhappiness. They're what I call the kill joys,
Speaker 2: the common kill joys of life, and I know you're
Speaker 2: very familiar with them too. Now today we're going to
Speaker 2: see how Paul handled all four of these kill joys
Speaker 2: in the first chapter of Philippians. Anyway, I started holding
Speaker 2: this pity party for myself, and at one point I
Speaker 2: actually thought the words, you know, I don't like any
Speaker 2: of this, and I'm really, really, really not happy right now.
Speaker 2: Have you ever felt that way? Maybe this week too? Well?
Speaker 2: You know what, I try to live each moment in
Speaker 2: my life in constant conversation with God throughout my day.
Speaker 2: The Bible says to pray continually, pray without ceasing, and
Speaker 2: that means keep a running, ongoing conversation with God in
Speaker 2: your head. So as soon as I thought the idea
Speaker 2: I'm not happy right now, I also heard this little
Speaker 2: question in my mind from the Holy Spirit that said,
Speaker 2: do you want to stay unhappy? Do you want to
Speaker 2: stay unhappy? And I immediately answered no, No, I don't
Speaker 2: want to stay unhappy. You see, friends, God says that
Speaker 2: happiness is a choice. It's not based on circumstances. It's
Speaker 2: based on choices. You must choose happiness now. Happiness is
Speaker 2: it's not something you look for. That's what many people mistake.
Speaker 2: It's not something you look for. If you look for it,
Speaker 2: you're not going to find it. Happiness is something you create.
Speaker 2: Happiness is something you choose. The truth is, regardless of
Speaker 2: your circumstances, no matter what's going on in your life
Speaker 2: right now, no matter what happening in your life, you
Speaker 2: are as happy as you choose to be. You are
Speaker 2: as happy as you choose to be. You can't blame
Speaker 2: anybody else or your unhappiness. And regardless of the pain,
Speaker 2: regardless of pressure, regardless of other people, and regardless of
Speaker 2: problems in your life, you are as happy as you
Speaker 2: choose to be. One of the most common mistakes we
Speaker 2: make in life is what I call when and then thinking,
Speaker 2: when I get this, then I'll be happy. When something
Speaker 2: happens the way I want it to happen, Then I'll
Speaker 2: be happy when I get out of school, then I'll
Speaker 2: be happy when I get a man in my life
Speaker 2: life or a woman. Then I'll be happy when I
Speaker 2: get a job or a promotion when I retire. But
Speaker 2: you could fill it in with a million things when
Speaker 2: and then, thinking in Paul's case, it could have been
Speaker 2: when I get out of prison, then I'll be happy.
Speaker 2: But the truth is this, if you don't know how
Speaker 2: to choose happiness right now in spite of your circumstances,
Speaker 2: there's going to be pains and pressures and people and
Speaker 2: problems to blame for your unhappiness for the rest of
Speaker 2: your life, and you're never really going to be happy
Speaker 2: long term. Now, let me explain the background of today's text,
Speaker 2: which is Philippians Chapter one. In the previous four years
Speaker 2: of Paul's life before he wrote this chapter we're gonna
Speaker 2: look at today, in the last four years, Paul had
Speaker 2: spent two years in jail in Cesarea on false charges,
Speaker 2: false charges. Two years in jail, then he was shipwrecked
Speaker 2: while he was sailing to Rome for another trial under Nero,
Speaker 2: who was the Caesar at that time. Then in that shipwreck,
Speaker 2: he was stranded on a desert island for a while
Speaker 2: and actually got bitten by a poisonous snake. And then
Speaker 2: when he finally got to Rome, he was imprisoned again
Speaker 2: in Rome for two years in a deep, dank, dark
Speaker 2: dungeon with a twenty four hour guard chained to him.
Speaker 2: Paul had every reason to be unhappy, every reason to
Speaker 2: be bitter, every reason to be resentful or fearful or depressed.
Speaker 2: He had the right to hold a pity party, but instead,
Speaker 2: in that dark, dank prison, Paul wrote the most positive
Speaker 2: book in the Bible.
Speaker 1: Philippians, you're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Rick will
Speaker 1: be back in just a moment with the rest of
Speaker 1: today's lesson. If you've missed any part of today's teaching,
Speaker 1: you can listen online anytime at pastorick dot com. That's
Speaker 1: pastorick dot com.
Speaker 3: Do you ever wonder if your life really matters? Or
Speaker 3: what on earth are you here for? Astor Rick says
Speaker 3: God has a good plan and purpose for your life,
Speaker 3: and in his best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life,
Speaker 3: he lays out an easy to follow roadmap for your
Speaker 3: spiritual journey, a journey that will transform your life. As
Speaker 3: you go through this book, you'll discover that real meaning
Speaker 3: and significance come from understanding and fulfilling God's purpose for
Speaker 3: you here on earth, and how living out the purpose
Speaker 3: you are created for moves you beyond mere survival and
Speaker 3: success to a life of significance, the life that you
Speaker 3: were meant to live. For a limited time, we are
Speaker 3: offering this timeless classic and a special leather edition featuring
Speaker 3: gold foiled cover art and gilded pages. It's a great
Speaker 3: addition to your personal library and it also makes a
Speaker 3: wonderful gift with eternal benefits. Get your special edition of
Speaker 3: The Purpose Driven Life with a beautiful leather cover today
Speaker 3: as a thank you for your gift to help take
Speaker 3: the hope of Jesus to people around the world through
Speaker 3: Daily Hope. Quantities are very limited, so act quickly. Go
Speaker 3: to Pastorrick dot com right now to get your copy.
Speaker 3: That's pastor Rick dot com or you can call it
Speaker 3: eight hundred six hundred five zero zero four. That's eight
Speaker 3: hundred six hundred five zero zero four. Thank you so
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Speaker 1: Now back to more from God's Word with Pastor Rick Warren.
Speaker 2: In Philippians chapter one, verses twelve to thirty. Paul, who's
Speaker 2: writing from prison, models four principles for being happy no
Speaker 2: matter what happens in your life. This is a very
Speaker 2: practical message. I hope you'll take notes on this. I
Speaker 2: want you to see the four choices that Paul made
Speaker 2: so you can make these same choices too. Again, you're
Speaker 2: as happy as you choose to be, all right, So
Speaker 2: here's here are the four principles, the four choices. First,
Speaker 2: I can be happy no matter what happens in my life.
Speaker 2: If I choose to write this down, remember God can
Speaker 2: bring good out of anything. That's the first choice. I
Speaker 2: choose to remember that God can bring good out of anything. Now,
Speaker 2: of course, Romans eight twenty eight, that famous versus scripture
Speaker 2: in the Bible, says this, we know not we guess.
Speaker 2: We know that in all that happens, all that happens,
Speaker 2: that's the good, the bad, and the ugly. We know
Speaker 2: that all in all that happens, God works for the
Speaker 2: good of those who love Him and are called according
Speaker 2: to His purpose. Now that verse does not say all
Speaker 2: things that happen are good, because they're not. There's a
Speaker 2: lot of bad. There's a lot of evil in the world.
Speaker 2: But it says in all things that happen, God works
Speaker 2: for the good. God works for the good. The good
Speaker 2: is not what happens. The good is what God does
Speaker 2: with even the bad in our lives. God can bring
Speaker 2: good out of bad. Now, we get frustrated and we
Speaker 2: get unhappy when we don't see what God sees, when
Speaker 2: we don't have his perspective. The truth is God is
Speaker 2: working out a plan for your life. And even when
Speaker 2: all the circumstances, the people, and the pressures, and the
Speaker 2: problem and the pain are not good, God is still
Speaker 2: working for good in your life. Now. Knowing this truth
Speaker 2: is for instance, why King David years earlier was able
Speaker 2: to say in Psalm thirty four, verse one, I will
Speaker 2: praise the Lord no matter what happens. I'll praise the Lord,
Speaker 2: no matter what happens. Can you say that you see
Speaker 2: circle the word will. I will will means a decision,
Speaker 2: will means a choice, will means you had an option.
Speaker 2: It's not it's I can decide. It's a decis I
Speaker 2: will praise the Lord no matter what happens. David made
Speaker 2: a choice. It was a decision. Now, how do you
Speaker 2: do that? How do you consistently make that decision to
Speaker 2: praise God even in bad circumstances, by learning to look
Speaker 2: at everything from God's perspective, not your own. Let me
Speaker 2: say that again. The way you make this first choice
Speaker 2: is by learning to look at everything in your life
Speaker 2: from God's viewpoint, God's perspective, not my own. It's a
Speaker 2: life skill you're going to have to learn if you
Speaker 2: want to be happy no matter what happens in your life.
Speaker 2: Now listen closely. You must choose to look at every
Speaker 2: situation in your life from God's viewpoint. That's called wisdom.
Speaker 2: Happy people have a larger perspective. Happy people see a
Speaker 2: bigger picture. They look past the pain, the people, the problems,
Speaker 2: and the pressure, and they see a bigger picture. What
Speaker 2: is the bigger picture? Roman's eight twenty eight That we
Speaker 2: know that no matter what happens, God is working for
Speaker 2: good in our lives. Let me show you Paul's example
Speaker 2: of this principle. It's verse twelve of Philippians, Chapter one.
Speaker 2: Paul says this, I want you to know, dear brothers
Speaker 2: and sisters, that everything circle that word everything, all what
Speaker 2: had happened in the past four years. That I told
Speaker 2: you about everything that has happened to me has helped
Speaker 2: to spread the good news. That's a whole different perspective
Speaker 2: rather than the pity party, say God is using this
Speaker 2: for good. Let me explain you. See, Paul had dreamed
Speaker 2: for many, many years of sharing Christ in the center
Speaker 2: of the empire. At that time that Rome was the empire.
Speaker 2: It was the Roman Empire. And I'm sure his idea was,
Speaker 2: let's go to Rome, rent the Colosseum, have a harvest
Speaker 2: crusade every night with Paul preaching. That was his idea.
Speaker 2: I've taken the message and getting it spread all through
Speaker 2: the Roman Empire. God's idea was to make him a
Speaker 2: royal prisoner of Nero. Nero was the emperor at that time. Now,
Speaker 2: as a royal prisoner, he had an opportunity to share
Speaker 2: Christ with many key people that even other prisoners wouldn't
Speaker 2: be able to do. He's chained. He's not only in
Speaker 2: a Roman prison, He's chained twenty four hours a day
Speaker 2: to a palace guard. What's the palace guard? They were
Speaker 2: the elite, handpicked security agents of Caesar and they guarded
Speaker 2: prisoners in four hour shifts. Now follow me on the
Speaker 2: math of this. Paul was in prison in Rome for
Speaker 2: over two years. He's chained to an elite, handpicked crack
Speaker 2: agent guard every four hours. That means over two years,
Speaker 2: there would be four thousand and three, one hundred and
Speaker 2: eighty different guards who would be attached to him. What's
Speaker 2: going on here? He's dealing with people of influence and
Speaker 2: he's got a captive audience, no pun intended. You know,
Speaker 2: when I think about this, He's chained to these guards,
Speaker 2: nearly five thousand and over four thousand guards. Who's the
Speaker 2: real prisoner here? You're chained to Paul, and you are
Speaker 2: a captive audience, and he talks to every one of
Speaker 2: these guys about the Lord. The Bible tells us that
Speaker 2: there were two results of this. In chapter four of Philippiings,
Speaker 2: it tells us that some of Nero's own family had
Speaker 2: come to christ. Did you know that some of Nero's
Speaker 2: own family had become Christians? Because Paul is witnessing to
Speaker 2: the prison or the royal guards. You might call that
Speaker 2: a chain reaction because he's chained to these guards Paul
Speaker 2: is for That's the first benefit. Second benefit is this
Speaker 2: instead of Paul going out and preaching in the coliseum,
Speaker 2: Paul was forced to sit still in his prison cell.
Speaker 2: And you know what he did during all that two
Speaker 2: years He wrote the New Testament, over half the New
Speaker 2: Testament or letters of Paul to different churches, including this one,
Speaker 2: to the people in Philippi. And so he's writing the
Speaker 2: New Testament and the expenses are paid by Nero. Now
Speaker 2: I write this down. Face every situation with faith, not fear.
Speaker 2: If I want to be happy, I must face every situation,
Speaker 2: whether it's people, pain, problems, or pressures. Face every situation
Speaker 2: with faith, not fear. Get the bigger perspective. Learn to
Speaker 2: see your problems, your pains, your pressures, the people in
Speaker 2: your life from God's point of view, not just your own. Now,
Speaker 2: before we go to the second principle, I want to
Speaker 2: practice this first one. So I want you to bow
Speaker 2: your head right now. Okay, you can pull over to
Speaker 2: the side of the road if you're driving. Don't bow
Speaker 2: your head while you're driving. Pull over the side of
Speaker 2: the road. And here's the first thing I want you
Speaker 2: to do. Think of a situation that you're facing right
Speaker 2: now that is either scaring you or it's causing you unhappiness.
Speaker 2: Think of a situation in your life that's either scaring
Speaker 2: you or it's causing unhappiness. Now, I want you to
Speaker 2: say this in a prayer to God. Say God, just
Speaker 2: say that, God, help me, help me to see this
Speaker 2: from your perspective. Help me to see this from your
Speaker 2: perspective this situation. Help me to face this problem with
Speaker 2: faith not fear. Amen. Amen, Now what you just did
Speaker 2: is the first step to perpetual happiness anytime, by the way,
Speaker 2: you face a situation in faith rather than in fear,
Speaker 2: and you trust that God knows what he's doing, and
Speaker 2: you remember that he's working out his plan. Two things
Speaker 2: happen when you face your problems with faith not fear. First,
Speaker 2: it's a witness to unbelievers every time you have faith
Speaker 2: instead of fear. Verse thirteen Philippians, Chapter one says this,
Speaker 2: Paul says for everybody here he's talking about in the prison.
Speaker 2: Everyone here, including all the soldiers in the palace guard
Speaker 2: knows that I'm in chains because of Christ. Okay. So
Speaker 2: it's a witness to unbelievers. When you act in faith
Speaker 2: towards your problems rather than in fear, it's a witness
Speaker 2: to unbelievers. It's also number two and encouragement to other believers.
Speaker 2: It's an encouragement to believers. Verse fourteen. He says this,
Speaker 2: and by the way, because of my imprisonment, many of
Speaker 2: the Christians here, the believers here, have gained confidence. They
Speaker 2: become bolder, and they've become more bold in telling others
Speaker 2: about Christ. Any time you react to the pain, pressures, problems,
Speaker 2: are people in your life from god'spective than your own,
Speaker 2: it's going to be a witness to unbelievers, and it's
Speaker 2: going to be an encouragement to believers. You know, when
Speaker 2: our youngest child, Matthew died and took his life during
Speaker 2: a period of great mental illness, Kay and I noticed
Speaker 2: that both of these things happened with us because we
Speaker 2: saw God's perspective and we faced this horrible crisis in
Speaker 2: our lives with faith not fear, and as a result,
Speaker 2: we were able to witness to millions of unbelievers. For instance,
Speaker 2: being on the cover of People magazine and doing a
Speaker 2: one hour interview on CNN and a lot of other things.
Speaker 2: We were able to witness to millions of unbelievers, and
Speaker 2: we were able to courage and even still today encouraging
Speaker 2: many believers who are struggling with mental health issues in
Speaker 2: their family or personally, or thoughts of suicide. So the
Speaker 2: first thing I do if I want to always be happy,
Speaker 2: regardless of the circumstances, how to be happy in spite
Speaker 2: of whatever happens. I remember that God can bring good
Speaker 2: out of bed. Here's the second thing. I can be
Speaker 2: happy no matter what happens in my life if I
Speaker 2: choose to do this. Number two, never let others control
Speaker 2: my attitude. Never let others, either by their words or
Speaker 2: by their actions, control my attitude. They can't control you
Speaker 2: unless you allow them to control you by their words
Speaker 2: or by their actions. Now, while Paul was in prison,
Speaker 2: there were people who criticized his ministry. While he's down,
Speaker 2: they're kicking him all he's down. They slandered Paul, they
Speaker 2: judged Paul, they criticized me. There were those who were
Speaker 2: his friends, who supported his ministry, they were companions and friends.
Speaker 2: There were those who competed with his ministry while he's
Speaker 2: in prison, taking advantage that he's off out of circulation.
Speaker 2: And there were those who undermined his ministry. They actually
Speaker 2: attacked him and tried to destroy him while he was
Speaker 2: in prison. And if Philippians Chapter one, the next couple
Speaker 2: of verses, Verses fifteen sixteen to seventeen, Paul describes four
Speaker 2: kinds of people. Three of these four kinds of people
Speaker 2: are killed, joyce, and guess what. You're going to have
Speaker 2: all four of these hope in your life. Hopefully're gonna
Speaker 2: have companions. But there are critics, there are companions, there
Speaker 2: are competitors, and there are challengers. You're going to have
Speaker 2: all four of these in your life, and if you
Speaker 2: don't know how to deal with them, you're not going
Speaker 2: to be happy much of your life. Verse and verse
Speaker 2: fifteen Paul had critics, and he said, it's true that
Speaker 2: some people preach Christ because they're jealous of us, and
Speaker 2: they like to argue. They're jealous of us. They like
Speaker 2: to argue. You know the word they're eras in Greek
Speaker 2: means they love to argue. They love conflict, They enjoy
Speaker 2: creating controversy. These people hang out on social media. They're contentious,
Speaker 2: they're divisive, they're critical, they love conflict. They they love
Speaker 2: debate people in the controversy. They're on social media all
Speaker 2: the time. They've ever heard a preacher on the radio
Speaker 2: or the television like that, He bates everybody by being
Speaker 2: provocative and being critical of somebody else. Ever read a
Speaker 2: blogger or someone in social media like that.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. If you've missed
Speaker 1: any part of this message, or you'd like to find
Speaker 1: out more about Pastor Rick Warren in this ministry, just
Speaker 1: visit Pastororick dot com where you can listen online anytime.
Speaker 1: That's pastorick dot com, and be sure to sign up
Speaker 1: for Rick's free daily email devotional. While you're there. Rick
Speaker 1: will be back to close out our time today. But first,
Speaker 1: do you ever wonder if your life really matters? Or
Speaker 1: what on earth am I here for? Pastor Rick says
Speaker 1: God has a good plan and purpose for your life,
Speaker 1: and in his best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life,
Speaker 1: he lays out an easy to follow roadmap for your
Speaker 1: spiritual journey, a journey that will transform your life. Here's
Speaker 1: Pastor Rick to tell you more.
Speaker 2: One of the things that I've discovered is that everybody
Speaker 2: eventually asks the questions of significance. Why am I here?
Speaker 2: And what is my purpose? What on earth am I
Speaker 2: here for? That's why I wrote the book Purpose Driven Life,
Speaker 2: because I wanted to help people like you understand how
Speaker 2: God created us for five eternal purposes. The Bible says
Speaker 2: that long before we heard of Christ, he had his
Speaker 2: eye on us, had his designs on us for glorious living.
Speaker 2: That it was part of his overall purpose that he's
Speaker 2: working out in everything and everyone. God has never made
Speaker 2: a person that he doesn't have a purpose for. You know,
Speaker 2: that simple message needs to be shared with a whole
Speaker 2: new generation. A young girl who was twelve years old
Speaker 2: when I wrote Purpose Driven Life is now twenty two,
Speaker 2: and she needs to hear this essential message that God
Speaker 2: has a plan, has a purpose, and has a reason
Speaker 2: for everything that happens in our lives. So I've updated
Speaker 2: the Purpose Driven Life. And what I did is, after
Speaker 2: reading hundreds of thousands of comments that have come into
Speaker 2: me over the past decade, I've added two new chapters
Speaker 2: that'll help you handle the two most common problems and
Speaker 2: barriers to living a life of purpose. Now I want
Speaker 2: you to have this newly revised, expanded copy of Purpose
Speaker 2: Driven Life. I think you'll find that it's a fresh reminder
Speaker 2: of things that you may have forgotten when you first
Speaker 2: read it. Or you might want to give the book
Speaker 2: to somebody who has never read and is struggling to
Speaker 2: find their purpose.
Speaker 1: Get your special edition of The Purpose Driven Life with
Speaker 1: a beautiful leather cover today as a thank you for
Speaker 1: your gift to help take the hope of Jesus to
Speaker 1: people around the world through Daily Hope. Quantities are very limited,
Speaker 1: so act quickly. Go to pastorick dot com right now
Speaker 1: to get your copy. That's pastorick dot com, or you
Speaker 1: can call eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four.
Speaker 1: That's eight hundred six hundred five thousand and four. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for your support, and don't forget to
Speaker 1: tell us you listen to Daily Hope on the radio.
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.