Speaker 1: This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope with Rick Warren. I'm
Speaker 1: really glad you've joined us. And today we're bringing our
Speaker 1: series from Psalm twenty three called Living in the Goodness
Speaker 1: of God to a close with a final look at
Speaker 1: how God's goodness meets you right where you are and
Speaker 1: brings hope even in difficult seasons. So let's get started
Speaker 1: with the final part of a message called Heaven, God's
Speaker 1: eternal Goodness to you.
Speaker 2: John gives us another glimpse of heaven in Revelation chapter
Speaker 2: twenty two, and he says this, the throne of God
Speaker 2: and Jesus will be in the heavenly City. This is
Speaker 2: the heavenly city in heaven. It's called the New Jerusalem.
Speaker 2: Is the name for it. It's just a metaphor name.
Speaker 2: The throne of God and Jesus will be in the
Speaker 2: heavenly City, and his servants that's you and me, will
Speaker 2: serve him. They that's us. We will see his face
Speaker 2: and they We won't need any life light from a
Speaker 2: lamp for the sun in heaven, for God will be
Speaker 2: the light. And then notice he adds this end, and
Speaker 2: they will reign forever and ever. You will rule and
Speaker 2: reign with Christ in heaven. Did you know that the
Speaker 2: Bible has a whole lot to say about this. We
Speaker 2: could go into a lot of other verses. So what
Speaker 2: are we going to do in heaven. We're going to
Speaker 2: be reunited with those we love, We're going to rest
Speaker 2: and all those other things. But we're also going to
Speaker 2: receive our rewards and receive our inheritance, and we're going
Speaker 2: to be reassigned to new things to do. And the
Speaker 2: more faithful you've been here on earth, the more God
Speaker 2: is going to give you in heaven. So everything you
Speaker 2: do has implications. Only one life will soon be passed.
Speaker 2: Only what's done for Christ will last. I want you
Speaker 2: to hear a testimony and carry have been my friends
Speaker 2: and case friends for over thirty years, dear people. Dave
Speaker 2: was a church planter. It means he started churches like
Speaker 2: I started Saddleback Church, and this church, Saddleback actually sponsored
Speaker 2: Dave and a couple of different churches went out in
Speaker 2: the desert, and one up in northern California, up in
Speaker 2: the Auburn area, and he pastored up there. And then
Speaker 2: last year Dave came back on staff at Saddleback and
Speaker 2: he is now a pastor to the campus pastors, our
Speaker 2: eighteen campus pastors, and his job is to encourage and
Speaker 2: mentor and help supervise all of our incredible campus pastors
Speaker 2: and supervise all of our different campuses. But I want
Speaker 2: you to hear his story about heaven. Give him a
Speaker 2: warm welcome.
Speaker 3: Go for here, all right, Hi, saddleback, I'm Dave, and
Speaker 3: Pastor Rick wanted me to just share how the reality
Speaker 3: of heaven has been a great comfort and great encouragement
Speaker 3: to me since my five year old daughter, Jackie, lives
Speaker 3: in heaven having lost a battle with a brain tumor.
Speaker 3: My wife and I are blessed to have three children,
Speaker 3: two living with us here on this earth, one Jackie,
Speaker 3: who lives in Heaven. When Jackie, our youngest daughter, was five,
Speaker 3: she was suddenly diagnosed with a brain stem tumor. It
Speaker 3: was so fast growing that the neurologist said it probably
Speaker 3: wasn't even in her brain three months before the diagnosis.
Speaker 3: After she was diagnosed, just six weeks later, she died
Speaker 3: in our arms. In just forty two days, our world
Speaker 3: turned upside down. Anyone who has lost a young child
Speaker 3: knows that it's one of the most excruciating agonizing experiences
Speaker 3: you can ever experience here on this earth, and our
Speaker 3: family was completely crushed.
Speaker 4: And devastated as a result.
Speaker 3: Without the love of Jesus, without the hope of heaven,
Speaker 3: without the promises of the Word of God, and without
Speaker 3: a strong support system from our church, we would have
Speaker 3: never made it as we passed through the valley of
Speaker 3: the Shadow of death. But we know for sure, and
Speaker 3: I can say this, even having lost my daughter, that
Speaker 3: God is good, that Heaven is real, that Jackie is alive,
Speaker 3: and that one day we're going to join her in
Speaker 3: that perfect place that gives me hope. Before Jackie got sick,
Speaker 3: she always wanted a hamster. Now, my wife, Carrie and
Speaker 3: I we are not fans of the rodent, if you
Speaker 3: know what I mean, and we never let him get one,
Speaker 3: but we thought, what the heck, and so it was
Speaker 3: my job to go to the pet store with her
Speaker 3: and help her pick out her own pet hamster. So
Speaker 3: we go to this pet store and she looks at
Speaker 3: every hamster, she holds every hamster, and she chooses a
Speaker 3: little dwarf hamster named Emily. As we're driving home from
Speaker 3: the pet store, she looks at me quizzically and she says, Daddy,
Speaker 3: when I get to Heaven, will I see Grandpa right away? Now,
Speaker 3: she doesn't know that she's going to die at this point.
Speaker 3: This is just a short time after her diagnosis. She
Speaker 3: knows she's sick because we're taking another doctor, but she's
Speaker 3: running around. She's fine from that standpoint. And she says, well,
Speaker 3: when I get to him, will I see Grandpa right away?
Speaker 3: And I said that was her grandpa. My father had
Speaker 3: died a year earlier. And I said, yes, Jackie, you'll
Speaker 3: get to see Grandpa right away. She thought for a moment,
Speaker 3: and then she said, Daddy, when I get to Heaven, well,
Speaker 3: I get to see Jesus right away. And I said, yes, sweetie,
Speaker 3: you'll get to see Jesus right away.
Speaker 4: And then she held up her little hamster. Not like this,
Speaker 4: she held it like this.
Speaker 3: She's holding her little hamster dangling him really, And she says, Daddy,
Speaker 3: can I take Emily with me to Heaven? Oh my gosh,
Speaker 3: now I know the correct theological answer. Okay, But I said, yes, sweetie,
Speaker 3: we can arrange that.
Speaker 4: Arrange that.
Speaker 3: And then she looked at me, and I looked at her,
Speaker 3: and I said, Jackie, you don't really think you're gonna die,
Speaker 3: do you? And then she said something I'll never forget.
Speaker 3: She said, silly, daddy, We're all gonna die someday. Amazing,
Speaker 3: absolutely amazing for a child at five years old to
Speaker 3: have this deep curiosity about heaven. She even asked Carrie
Speaker 3: if angels were going to escort her to heaven, and
Speaker 3: Carrie said absolutely. God was preparing Jackie for her transition
Speaker 3: to eternity.
Speaker 4: Jackie's favorite movie was The Wizard of Oz, and the.
Speaker 3: Climax of that movie is when Dorothy clicks her heels
Speaker 3: and repeats over and over, There's no place like home.
Speaker 3: There's no place like home. When Jackie died, I was
Speaker 3: pastoring a church in northern California that saddle Back had sponsored.
Speaker 3: And this saddle Back church that they sponsored, this church
Speaker 3: family of ours, sent me and Carrie a beautiful frame
Speaker 3: poster of the Wizard of Oz, but it said on it.
Speaker 4: There's no place like Heaven. There's no place like Heaven.
Speaker 3: After Jackie died, Heaven became especially real to our family.
Speaker 4: We thought about it more than ever before.
Speaker 3: Of course, I'd taught about heaven many times, but now
Speaker 3: I formed a close attachment to heaven. I know it,
Speaker 3: I feel it, I long for it, and anybody here
Speaker 3: who's lost a dear loved one knows exactly what I'm
Speaker 3: talking about now. I wanted to know everything I could
Speaker 3: about Heaven, so I researched it. I wanted to discover
Speaker 3: what it fully means to dwell in the House of
Speaker 3: the Lord forever. As the Apostle Paul pointed out, in
Speaker 3: this life, this life is not all there is. If
Speaker 3: this life was all there is, and if Heaven did
Speaker 3: not exist, then our faith would be worthless.
Speaker 4: But Jesus promised that.
Speaker 3: He was going and preparing a place for us, and
Speaker 3: if that was not true, then Jesus would be the
Speaker 3: greatest liar in history. But the truth is, we're just
Speaker 3: passing through this life on earth. As Pastor Rick says,
Speaker 3: this life is just a dress rehearsal for eternity and
Speaker 3: for Heaven, where the real.
Speaker 4: Show will never end.
Speaker 3: The Apostle Paul said that if we're in God's family,
Speaker 3: our true citizenship is in heaven.
Speaker 4: So I can't wait to see my Savior.
Speaker 3: I can't wait to see my precious daughter and a
Speaker 3: lot of other people that I love.
Speaker 4: A reunion that's gonna be. I can only imagine.
Speaker 3: Sometimes when people talk to me about Jackie, they'll say,
Speaker 3: I'm sorry you lost your daughter, like I left her
Speaker 3: at the mall or somewhere like that and didn't know
Speaker 3: where to find her.
Speaker 4: But you know what, our daughter is not lost. We
Speaker 4: know exactly where she is. I'm just upset that the
Speaker 4: little booger beat me. There.
Speaker 3: In the Bible, King David also lost a child, and
Speaker 3: he said with complete confidence, he will not return to me,
Speaker 3: but one.
Speaker 4: Day I will go to him. I know that feeling.
Speaker 3: Jackie will not come back here, but I will definitely
Speaker 3: go to be with her one day and be reunited
Speaker 3: with her in heaven. This is the true hope, based
Speaker 3: on the reality of God's promises.
Speaker 4: Jackie loved to play a game where she would.
Speaker 3: Jump up onto the counter in the kitchen and she
Speaker 3: would jump into my arms. She'd ask me to go
Speaker 3: back sometimes, and sometimes she'd take a flying leap, sometimes
Speaker 3: three feet away, and I would catch her in my
Speaker 3: arms and we'd laugh and she'd say, Daddy, do it again.
Speaker 3: And so she'd gotten to a point as a result,
Speaker 3: now a few weeks later, where she couldn't walk anymore,
Speaker 3: and yet she pointed for me to come and pick
Speaker 3: her up, and she motioned for me to take her
Speaker 3: to the kitchen, and so I put her on the counter,
Speaker 3: thinking she wanted something from the refrigerator. And then she
Speaker 3: started to stand up just one more time, and it
Speaker 3: was all the strength and her little body that it
Speaker 3: could muster, and she was able to stand completely straight up.
Speaker 3: And then she jumped into my arms and I just
Speaker 3: caught her and I hugged her and we laughed, and
Speaker 3: I just said, Jackie, Daddy is so proud of you.
Speaker 4: And I'll never forget that moment.
Speaker 3: And every time I think about it now, I imagine
Speaker 3: what it was like when she jumped into our heavenly
Speaker 3: father's arms in heaven. If you haven't yet opened your
Speaker 3: life to your loving heavenly Father and to Jesus who
Speaker 3: came to die for you and is right now preparing
Speaker 3: heaven for you, I'd urge you to do it at
Speaker 3: the end of the message today. Then you'll be ready
Speaker 3: for heaven too. God, bless you, saddle back. Thank you
Speaker 3: for letting me share.
Speaker 2: Thank you Dave for that testimony. You know, after Jackie,
Speaker 2: who was five years old, died, her older sister, who
Speaker 2: is named Jessica, who's twelve, wrote a poem in her
Speaker 2: younger sister's words and called it Heaven. Read you this
Speaker 2: poem written by a twelve year old Mommy, what's wrong
Speaker 2: with me? My head hurts so bad? You take me
Speaker 2: to the doctor and tell me I'm sick? Are do you?
Speaker 2: And Daddy looks so sad. I don't want any more radiation. Mommy,
Speaker 2: Please get me out of this place. I want to
Speaker 2: talk to you, but my mouth won't move. All I
Speaker 2: can do is watch your crying face. Mommy, I can
Speaker 2: laugh and smile again. Guess who I can see. Jesus
Speaker 2: is calling me toward Heaven. You always said it is
Speaker 2: a great place to be, Mommy. I'm getting closer now,
Speaker 2: I'm walking through the big golden gate. Stop crying, Mommy,
Speaker 2: because I'll see you again and I'll be happy up
Speaker 2: here as I wait. Have you settled this issue? This
Speaker 2: heaven issue? Only a fool would go through life unprepared
Speaker 2: for what you know is inevitable. Friends, We're not talking
Speaker 2: about some minor issue this weekend. We're talking about your
Speaker 2: eternal destiny forever and ever and ever and ever and
Speaker 2: ever and ever and ever. I'm betting my life that
Speaker 2: Jesus told the truth. What are you betting your life on? Well,
Speaker 2: I like to think that's not a very good basis
Speaker 2: for a bet. The night before Jesus Christ went to
Speaker 2: the cross, he gathered the twelve closest disciples together, and
Speaker 2: he said this to them, Let not your heart be troubled.
Speaker 2: You believe in God. Believe also in me. In my
Speaker 2: Father's house are many men. If you were not so,
Speaker 2: I would have told you I go to prepare place
Speaker 2: for you. And if I go and prepare a place
Speaker 2: for you, I will come again and receive you onto myself.
Speaker 2: That where I am there you may be. Also. Thomas said,
Speaker 2: unto Jesus, Lord, we don't know where you're going. We
Speaker 2: don't know the way. And Jesus said, I am the way,
Speaker 2: I am the truth, I am the life. No one
Speaker 2: comes to the Father except through me. I'm betting my life.
Speaker 2: He was telling the truth. What are you betting your
Speaker 2: life on? You better bet have better odds. If you've
Speaker 2: never opened your life to Christ, you need to do
Speaker 2: it now. And if you have opened your life to Christ,
Speaker 2: what on earth are you doing? For Heaven's sake, what
Speaker 2: are you doing now to prepare for the inevitable heaven.
Speaker 2: Even when you know where you're going, the vast majority
Speaker 2: of people pay no attention to the eternity issue. They're
Speaker 2: living one hundred percent for here and now, which is
Speaker 2: a total waste because everything that's here and now isn't
Speaker 2: going to matter in five minutes, much less fifty years,
Speaker 2: much less for eternity. Stop wasting your life on stuff
Speaker 2: that doesn't matter, reading things that don't matter, watching things
Speaker 2: that don't matter, listening to things that don't matter, talking
Speaker 2: about things that don't matter. Start living for things that last.
Speaker 2: Know what lasts, and know what doesn't last, and invest
Speaker 2: your life in the things that are going to last forever.
Speaker 2: That's about our heads. Father, we thank you for heaven
Speaker 2: and as we have now for twelve different sessions, look
Speaker 2: that your goodness, that you are a good God. The
Speaker 2: Lord is my shepherd. I have everything that I need.
Speaker 2: When I need it, you will provide it. Thank you
Speaker 2: that when we're tired you make us lie down in
Speaker 2: green pastures, and when we're stretched to the limit, you
Speaker 2: lead us beside still waters. And when we feel like
Speaker 2: there's nothing left to give, you restore our souls. Thank
Speaker 2: you that when we're confused, you lead us in the
Speaker 2: bright paths for your name's sake. Thank you when we
Speaker 2: go through the troubles and trials and the deaths of life,
Speaker 2: that even when we walk through the valley the shadow
Speaker 2: of death, we don't fear any evil because You're going
Speaker 2: to be with us. Thank you for every one of
Speaker 2: the metaphors that have the deep truths of your goodness
Speaker 2: we've looked at and Psalm twenty three, Thank you that
Speaker 2: you prepare a banquet before us in the presence of
Speaker 2: our enemies, and you show how much you love us,
Speaker 2: even in front of people who may hate us. That
Speaker 2: you annoyed us with oil, that you heal our hurts,
Speaker 2: that you overflow our cup. You don't just give us
Speaker 2: what we need. You give us more than we need
Speaker 2: in every area of life. You are a good God.
Speaker 2: Thank you that surely goodness and mercy, those two sheep
Speaker 2: dog are going to be nipping at our tails as
Speaker 2: we follow the shepherd. And and thank you that I
Speaker 2: will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. God.
Speaker 2: How could you be that good? Why would you be
Speaker 2: that good? You are a good God. You thought us up,
Speaker 2: you created us, You love us. Even when we turn
Speaker 2: our back on you. You forgive us, You show us
Speaker 2: your grace. You sent your son to die for us,
Speaker 2: and you want us to be in love with you,
Speaker 2: and in fellows with you, and to live in your
Speaker 2: house forever and ever and ever. What a god you are, Lord.
Speaker 2: I pity those who don't know you. I've walked with
Speaker 2: you now over fifty years. I know you better than
Speaker 2: I know any of the people sitting here, and I
Speaker 2: think that you've taken me through every stage of life,
Speaker 2: the ups and the downs, on the highs and the lows.
Speaker 2: And I want other people to know you that way.
Speaker 2: If you've never opened your life to Christ, say yep, Lord, today,
Speaker 2: this is it. Jesus Christ. I open my life completely
Speaker 2: to you. Just say that, Jesus Christ. I humbly opened
Speaker 2: my life to you. I want to learn to love
Speaker 2: you and trust you and get to know you. I
Speaker 2: don't want to live on my own power anymore, or
Speaker 2: my own purpose or my own plans. And God, the
Speaker 2: fact that you would want me in your heaven, in
Speaker 2: your family is amazing grace, and I humbly ask you
Speaker 2: to accept me into your family. I want to be
Speaker 2: adopted in I want to be born again into your
Speaker 2: family in your name. I pray Amen.
Speaker 1: Hey, if you've just prayed along with Rick to accept
Speaker 1: Jesus in your life, Rick would love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: Just email Rick at Pastorick dot com. Here's Rick to
Speaker 1: tell you how you can help support this ministry.
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 obey everything
Speaker 2: I've taught you. That's disciples. 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. We're one hundred
Speaker 2: percent listener funded. Would you continue to pray for this
Speaker 2: broadcast and would you continue to support us? And let
Speaker 2: write to me, let me hear from you. I absolutely
Speaker 2: love reading the stories that are sent to me. So
Speaker 2: write me, pray for me, and support this ministry, and
Speaker 2: God will bless it, and God will bless you, and
Speaker 2: we'll get to heaven. And well, thank God for all
Speaker 2: the people going to be in heaven because you cared.
Speaker 1: Hey, if you'd like to support Pastor Rick's Daily Hope,
Speaker 1: just go to Pastorick dot com. That's Pastor Rick dot com,
Speaker 1: or you can text the word Hope to seven oh
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Speaker 1: three oh nine. And really, from the bottom of our hearts,
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Speaker 1: time when we look into God's word for our daily hope.
Speaker 1: This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and
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