Choosing Your Future — Part 3

Hey everybody. You know Pastor Rick Warren often says you were made by God and for God. And until you understand that, well, life will never make sense. Thank you for joining us today on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and in our series called God's Vision for the Rest of youf Life. Today Rick will continue in his effort to help you discover the unique purpose and vision that the Lord has for your life. Alright, well, here comes Rick with the final part of a message called choosing your future.

Now there's a fourth life shaping choice that Moses made. It's the fourth resolution and it is this number four. I choose to live by faith rather than by fear. I choose to live by faith, not by fear. If you will make this resolution and you'll keep will change your life dramatically for the rest of your life, you stop living in fear and you start living in faith. Verse 27. By faith, Moses left Egypt, in other words, with all of the slaves, not fearing the king's anger. That's Pharaoh's anger. Circle faith and circle. Not fearing. You're gonna live by one or the other. You're gonna live by faith in life, you're gonna live by fear. In life, by faith. Moses left Egypt not fearing the king's anger. He persevered because he saw him who is invisible. That's Christ. Now Moses goes to the most powerful man in the world and he says, you know these slaves that are building all your pyramids? I'm taking them and we're all leaving. We're packing up and we're leaving. And you're not gonna have slave labor anymore. Let my people go. Now Moses had every reason to be afraid. Cause he's going up against the most powerful man on the planet at this point. Pharaoh's Egyptian empire is the most powerful empire on the planet at this point. Pharaoh in those days was considered a God. And whatever Pharaoh said you had to do, if Pharaoh said cut your right arm off, you had to cut your right arm off. If Pharaoh said murder your wife, you had to murder your wife. And if Pharaoh said, you gotta drown your children, you had to drown your children. What he said was the law. And Moses comes and says, we're not gonna do that anymore. I'm gonna choose to live by faith, not by fear. We're leaving. We're out of here. Goodbye. And Pharaoh goes, you and who else? And Moses says, I'm not afraid of you. Cause I report to a higher authority. And the closer you get to God, the less fear you're gonna have in your life, the more further you get away from God, the more you're gonna be filled with fear. The closer you get to God, the more you're gonna be filled with faith. I cannot overemphasize the importance of faith for the rest of your life. The Bible says whatever is not of faith is sin. How many times did you sin this week? A lot. So did I cause anything I did that wasn't done in faith, that I did in doubt and I doubted about doing was a sin? The Bible says without faith it is impossible to please God. How many times did you please God this week? See, God doesn't listen to your complaints. He listens to your faith. You want something to change in your life, stop complaining, start believing. God is not moved by complaints. God is moved by faith. According to your faith, the Bible says it will be done unto you. You get to choose what I do in your life. And during the next six weeks, we're gonna build your faith on God's purpose and plan for your life. It's so important that you live by faith. Now here's the key. What matters is not the size of your faith. Listen. But the size of the God you put it in. A little faith in a big God gets big results. The key is who you put your faith in. That makes the difference. See, everybody's got faith. Everybody has faith. Even an atheist has faith. You can't live in a world without faith. You use faith every day. It's just what you put it in. You had faith when you came in and sat down in that chair that it would hold you up. For some of you, that took great faith. When you get in your car and you drive home, you're gonna go through an intersection and there'll be red lights stopping other cars. You have faith that they're gonna abide by their law. You're not going up very genuinely and going, are you gonna go through or not? No, no. You have faith that they're gonna keep the law. Everybody has faith. It's just what you put it in. The key is to put it in Jesus Christ. There are people who live their lives by fear. And they're all afraid of the fear of rejection. I was thinking this week about Bethany Hamilton, that young surfer girl, remember that 14 year old who lost her arm? She's surfing in Hawaii a couple years ago, 14 years old, shark came up, bit her left arm off. And they told her she'll never compete again. In fact, she'll never get in the water again. Cause she'll be afraid, she'll be scared. Death Bethany faced her fears. She got back in the water and became a champion surfer. Some of you, I don't know what this refers to. You need to get back in the water. You've been scared to death. You got bit, you got burned, you got hurt, maybe by a relationship. You need to get back in the water. You need to live by faith, not by fear. You need to go. I'm not gonna let fear dominate my life. I am not gonna let fear dominate my life. I am gonna be filled with faith, and I'm gonna put that faith not in just myself. I'm gonna put that faith in God. If you put your faith in somebody else, you are gonna severely be disappointed, whether it's a boyfriend or the President of the United States. Cause everybody's gonna let you down eventually. The Bible says this in Galatians 2. No one can please God by simply obeying the law. Why? Cause we're not perfect. We break the laws. So we put our faith in Jesus Christ and God accepted us because of our faith. Have you done that? Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ? If you haven't, you need to do that. That's the first thing you need to do. By the way, it says Jesus Christ. Have you noticed that sometimes in the Bible it says Jesus Christ and sometimes it says Christ Jesus. Which is it? Jesus is his name. Christ is his title. Christ means Messiah. It means Savior. It means the anointed one. Jesus is his name. Christ. Christ is his title. So you can say Jesus Christ or you could say Christ Jesus. It's like saying Jesus is Lord or saying Lord Jesus. Does that make sense? Some of you didn't know that. That's the only thing you're gonna get out of today's sermon. Okay? Ah, Christ is his title. Jesus is his name. All right. I've been a Christian for 40 years. I never knew that. All right, well, now you know.

All right.

Now we all know that keeping resolutions is a lot harder than making them. Everybody agree with that? Yeah. So how do you keep these life shaping resolutions? Two ways. Write them down. Here's how you keep them. Number one, get support. You need to get support from a small group. You weren't made to go through life on your own. You need to be part of a small group that supports you in your goals, in your resolutions. In life, it's like climbing Mount Everest. You can't climb Mount Everest on your own. You won't make it. You have to have a team to climb Mount Everest. You can't keep these kind of major resolutions you won't keep them on your own if you don't have some people in your life to give you support and give you energy to keep you going. You gotta keep on having support. I remember one time there was a guy, you know, I talk about small groups all the time. Cause they're more important than what we're doing right now. We have, on the weekends, maybe 20,000 people at Saddleback Church, about 32,000 are in small groups every week during the week, that's more important. Why? Because that's the real church. Cause you can't share your prayer request here, in a crowd. When you get sick and in the hospital, a crowd can't visit you when you need prayer. A crowd can't help you when you're out of work, when you need a babysitter, when you're sick, when you need a meal brought to your house. A crowd can't do that. I'll never forget, a number of years ago, there's a guy who came to Saddleback for many, many years, set up in the. Came every week, but never met anybody, never got in a small group, got very, very sick and was in the hospital for nearly a month. During that month, I was on a world tour. I was gone almost a whole month. When I got back, I was one of the few guys who actually knew the guy, said, I'll go visit him. So I go to the hospital, see him. He was so mad. He said, I've been in here a month. Nobody from the church visited me. It was his fault. He had nobody to blame but himself. He hadn't made any relationships. He hadn't joined a small group. He hadn't made any connections. Now, as your pastor, who loves you, let me just tell you this. I hate to tell you this, but it's true. You're probably gonna have a crisis that's called life. You're probably gonna have some kind of crisis. Financial crisis, relationship crisis, physical illness crisis, I don't know. But the likelihood of you going through the next 365 days without a crisis is pretty rare. I highly recommend you put the support system in place before the crisis happens. That you build the safety net now. That you establish the relationships. That you be there for people in their crisis so they will be there for you in yours. You need to get in the group now. Not when the problem comes now. Not before you hear that your best friend or your love or your spouse has gotten cancer. You need it now. Get in the group now. Here's what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 10. Let us be concerned for one another and help one another. We wanna help one another show love. We wanna help one another do good. That's what groups do. Let us not give up the habit of meeting together. Circle the word habit. Small group is a habit. Let us not give up the habit of meeting together as some are doing. Instead, let us encourage each other. You know, we started the Daniel Plan for people who wanted us to get in shape. And about 12,000 people in our church signed up. And last year, our church lost £269,000 on the Daniel plan. A lot of people getting healthier and healthier. One of the things we discovered is that people who did the Daniel plan in a small group lost twice as much weight as those who did it on their own. Scientifically, statistically proven people in a group lost twice as much weight. Got healthier doing it with others than doing it by themselves. Let's have a little true confession. I had some major back problems all fall. I was in pain most of fall. And finally in November, I had a couple of procedures. Back procedure, little surgery. And I think it's gonna be okay. But all during that time, because of the procedures, because of back pain, three things. Number one, I couldn't exercise like I'd been doing. And number two, during the holidays, you started bringing me all kinds of really great food. It was delicious, but it was not good for me. Okay. And third, my small group, which was my support group, I've been in for years. Many of them travel on the peace plan. And we weren't getting to meet every week during the fall. Those three combinations were lethal for me. And I fell off the wagon. And during the fall, I gained about 10 pounds because I didn't have my support group there. So what do you do? You just get back on the wagon. And I get my support group back. And I say, okay, we're gonna get this thing going again. I mean, it's like having a quiet time. You say, well, I tried to have a quiet time, but I couldn't be consistent in it. And because I can't be consistent, I'm just not gonna have a quiet time every day. That's like saying, you know what? I missed the last four meals. If I can't be consistent at eating, I'm just gonna give up. I'm not gonna eat anymore. You know, I didn't get a bath for two days. If I can't be consistent, I'm gonna stop. I'm gonna give up bathing. Okay, no more showers. If I can't be. No, no. You just get back on the wagon. Some of you need to get back on the wagon in the Daniel plan and you know it. Some of you need to get back on the wagon in a daily quiet time. Some of you need to get back on the wagon in a small group. You need to be a part of that. Get support from a small group. Number two, the other thing you need to do to keep these life shaping resolutions, ask and expect God to help. Ask and expect, expect is the prayer of faith. Expect God to help. Isaiah 50 says this. Because the sovereign Lord helps me. I'm expecting him. I will not be dismayed. Therefore I have set my face like a stone. That's commitment determined. That's resolution, determined to do his will. And I know I will triumph. That's faith. I'm gonna make it. Now in that verse, it says two things. Focus on God, have faith in God. That's how you keep a resolution. You focus on God and you have faith in God. The Bible says about Moses, he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. You can only accomplish the impossible if you see the invisible. He's living in light of eternity. That's the only thing that's gonna keep you on track. And my job as your pastor is to keep you on track, to keep you focused. So you ready to do this? Are you ready to make these four life shaping resolutions that will change your life? Let's bow our heads for prayer as we begin this together. I urge you to make these four life shaping resolutions and then ask God's spirit to empower you to keep them. And they will set you on a successful course. I want you to succeed in life. And in the next six weeks, we're gonna look at God's plan for your life in detail. But nothing happens until you make some choices. Are you ready? As I pray this prayer, you follow me in it and say, me too God. Me too. Dear God, as I begin this year, I don't wanna drift through it and say, me too Lord. As I begin this new life, I don't wanna drift through the rest of my life. I wanna move with direction and purpose. So today, like Moses, I wanna commit these four life shaping resolutions. First, with your help, I resolve to not let other people define me anymore. Say me too Lord. I resolve to not let other people define me. I wanna be what you made me to be. Second, I resolve to choose short term pain in order to have long term gain. I wanna do the right thing, not the easy thing. Third, I resolve for the rest of my life to live by your values, not the world's values, which aren't gonna. And finally, I resolve to live the rest of my life as best I know how, by faith and not by fear. I don't want to live by fear. I don't want a fear driven life anymore. Now, Father, I realize that only by your grace and power can I keep these commitments. So, Jesus Christ, I put my total faith in you starting today. Jesus, I ask you to save me, empower me and help me, guide me. I'm gonna stop making excuses. I'm gonna join a group or start a group where I can receive support. And I pray this in faith, in Jesus name. Amen. Hi everybody, this is Rick and I.

Hope you enjoyed today's broadcast.

You know, if you just prayed that prayer for the very first time or you just recommitted your life to Jesus.

Again today, would you let me know about it?

There's something real about sharing your commitment. So write me rickastorrick.com and say, Rick, I prayed that prayer of commitment.

I gave my life to Christ.

And I'll send you some material that'll help you on your journey with Jesus. And I'll also pray for you. God bless you.

That was such an encouraging message from Pastor Rick. And now to encourage us more, here's Rick with a letter from one of our listeners.

I want to close today by just.

Reading another letter from somebody who's written to me after a broadcast. This one's from Sharon.

She says, pastor Rick, for sure, it hasn't been easy for me to believe.

That God could talk to someone like me about my situation, but now I believe it. And I believe it so much. You've sent me encouraging, guiding messages that are real and applicable to my situation. And I thank God so much for you and the Daily Hope team. Your messages have encouraged me and challenged me when I feel like giving up.

Pastor Rick, your prayers and your encouragement.

Are enabling me to believe in God more and more and more and to carry on in my challenging new job. So thanks, Sharon. Well, thank you, Sharon. Everybody needs hope. That's why I started Daily Hope for.

People just like you.

And I wanna continue to encourage you to keep on listening and keep on supporting this ministry so more and more people can be encouraged with Daily Hope. God bless you. We'll see you next time as we continue to look into God's word for our Daily Hope.

Hey, if you'd like to let Rick know how this broadcast has blessed you.

He would love it.

Please feel free to send him an email@rickastorrick.com that's rickastorrick.com this program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.