Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Guest (Male): Hey friends, thanks for spending some time here at Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. And today, we're continuing our series with Rick Warren called Time to Dream, trusting God to open doors. Maybe you've been waiting for a breakthrough, an opportunity, or just some clarity about what's next. If so, you're in the right place. Rick will turn to the Bible, and you'll see how God opens doors when we trust him with our future. All right? And now, here's the final part of a message called Dreaming, the future God wants for you.

Rick Warren: Now, when God gives you a dream, it's not like the plan is all laid out, and you can see it from beginning to end. Cuz if you could see the end of the dream of God's God's dream for your life, it's scary to death. What it is, it's kind of like a scroll where you roll down a little bit, and you read that part of the dream, and you do that. Then you roll it down a little bit more, and you do that. Then you roll it down a little bit more, and you do that.

And eventually, you get to the end. Number five, my dreams define me. My dreams define me. We shape our dreams, and then our dreams shape us. If you don't have any dream, you don't have any definition of your life. Why are so many people today confused about their identity? One of the biggest problems in our society is identity confusion. Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going? What am I supposed to doing? Does my life matter? Is there any significance to my life? Is there meaning to life? What is it life all about, Alfie?

And the reason why is because your dreams define you, and if you don't have God's dream, you don't have any definition to your life. You don't know who you are. You don't know the woman you're supposed to be. You don't know the man you're supposed to be. My dreams define me. So, you better make sure you got the right dream cuz you don't want to be dreamed in the wrong way. Jesus said it like this, Matthew chapter 6 here on the screen, verse 22 and 23. He said, your eye is the light for your body.

Your your eye is like the window to your soul. It lets light into your body. Your eye is the light or the lamp for your body. If your eye if your vision is good, it's clear, it's bright. If your vision is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your vision, your eye is evil, your whole life will be full of darkness. Your dream defines you. Your dream defines you. A great dream will define a great person. A small dream will define a small person. An evil dream will define an evil person.

It's your choice. Your dream defines you. So, pick your dream wisely. Make sure it's the dream God has for your life because the dreams define us. If your body is full of light, if your vision is clear, then your body will be full of light. If your vision is unclear, it's cloudy, or it's dark, or it's evil, then that's the way you're going to end up living. Okay? Number six, a dream keeps me growing. This is one of the reasons I want to teach this to you, is because it is in having a dream, you keep growing.

A dream forces you to develop skills that you don't have. I have had to be on a learning curve my entire life. When God called me and gave me the dream at 25 to start Saddleback, I had none of the skills, zero zip, that I was going to need to lead a church as big. None of those skills, not a one of them. They might have been latent, they might have been hidden, but I certainly didn't I know I had them. You don't even know what you're good at until the dream pulls it out of you.

And then you go, oh, I didn't know I had that skill. I didn't know I had that spiritual gift. I didn't know I had that ability. I didn't know I was shaped for that. It is only in the dream that it pulls you out of yourself, forces you to be bigger than yourself, to grow beyond yourself, so you're not selfish anymore. Dreams make us great. You know, I I really have decided I I've read hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of biographies of great people. And I really just come to the conclusion, there aren't any great people.

There are only great dreams. But when an ordinary person goes after a great dream, she or he becomes a great person. There are no intuitively, instinctively great people on the planet. We're all born the same way. We don't even know how to eat. We We know nothing. We all start at the same level. And I just have concluded that we're all just ordinary people. But some ordinary people attach themselves to an extraordinary dream. And in attaching yourself to an extraordinary dream, you become an extraordinary person. You have no idea what God could do in your life.

Most of the things in your life that control your life, you had no choice over. I call them the sovereignty factors. You didn't choose who your parents were. You didn't choose when you were born. You didn't choose where you were born. You didn't choose your race. You didn't choose your gender. You didn't choose your parents. That's all God's choice. But there is one thing you do have 100% control over. It's one 100% I have control over in my life, and you have it in your life. And that is this, you have 100% control over how much you choose to believe God.

That's your choice. Believe God for a little, you have a little in your life. Believe God for more, you'll have more in your life. You believe God for great things, God will do great things in your life. You believe God for big dreams, God will do big dreams in your life according to your faith that will be done unto you. A dream keeps me growing. Philippians chapter 3 says this, verse 12 to 15. Paul says, I know Paul admits this, he's the greatest apostle. He goes, I know I'm not yet what God wants me to be.

Well, thank God Paul admits it cuz we can all admit that too. Everybody agree I'm not all what God wants me to be? Everybody agree with that? Okay, we're all in the same boat on that. We're not all what God wants. I'm not, you're not. None of us are what God wants us to be completely. I'm not yet I love that word yet. Circle that. I'm not yet what God wants me to be. I haven't reached that goal, that dream, but I keep moving toward it to make it mine because Christ made me, and he saved me for this.

You were saved to make a difference. I know that I haven't yet reached my goal, but there is one thing, one thing I always do. Forgetting the past, that's a good starting point. Forgetting the past and straining toward what is ahead, that's the dream ahead of you. I keep my eyes focused on the goal so that I may one day win the prize that God has called me to receive to Christ in the life above. All of you who are spiritually mature should think this same way. If you don't want to have a big dream for your life, you are not spiritually mature.

The mark of spiritual maturity is that right there. I have a dream that's so big for my life, I couldn't possibly do it on my own. It's going to take all of this working together. I can't do it on my own guess. I'm going to need God to step in. I'm going to need other people in my life. I going to need a small group. I'm going to need support. If if your dream doesn't scare you, it's too small. And it doesn't require any faith. Says I'm not what I ought to be, but I just keep moving forward toward the dream that God has called me to receive through Christ.

And he says, if your spiritual mature, you'll get this. You'll understand this. If your spiritual mature, you go, I'm in. For the next 6 weeks, I'm in. Sign me up, whatever it takes, I'm in for the next 6 weeks. I will do all I'll cross all of boxes. I 'll do whatever you ask. Let's focus on this together. I'm in. Number seven, a dream focuses my energy. A dream focuses my energy. By now, you've learned that you can't do everything. Everybody agree with that? You can't do everything. But you hopefully you've also learned not everything's worth doing.

That there's some things that are more important. God doesn't expect you to do everything. I don't expect you to do everything. You shouldn't expect yourself to do everything. God doesn't obviously expect you to do everything. So, what really is the key to life is selection's the name of the game, prioritization, to know what matters and know what doesn't, to know what counts and know what doesn't count, to know what dream is worth my life and what dream is not worth a second of my life. Like the dream of being famous, that's not worth a second of your life cuz it's fleeting.

One minute you're the hero, the next minute you're the zero. One minute you're on the cover of some magazine, the next week it's in the trash. Given enough going after trophies is a dumb goal. Why? Cuz given enough time, all your trophies are going to be trashed. Somebody is going to throw them out. If not this generation, the next one will. So, don't live your life for trophies. And whatever record you set is going to be broken by somebody else. That's not a big enough dream. You need a dream that affects eternity. A dream focuses my energy.

1 Corinthians 9 26 Paul says this, I run straight to the goal. That's the dream. With purpose in every step. He's purpose driven. I fight to win. I'm not like some boxer punching the air, playing around. I'm not shadow boxing. When I pull a punch, I I punch to win. I want to I want to hit something. I want to score. I'm not just shadow boxing. I'm not playing around with my life. So, I said last week, we're we're not in the in the shallows of Baby Beach anymore. A dream focuses my energy. I run straight to the goal.

You waste a lot of time when you don't know the dream for your life. Number eight, related to it, a dream stretches my faith. A dream stretches my faith. The Bible says according to your faith, it will be done unto you. You get to decide what God does in your life. A dream stretches my faith. It forces me to trust God. Number nine, a dream keeps me going in tough times. A dream keeps me going in tough times. If you don't have a dream, you're going to flame out, burn out, give up when things don't work out immediate.

Every dream has delays in it. Every dream has um it's not instant. No dream is instantly fulfilled. It's going to take the rest of your life. But but if you have a dream, it actually gives you the ability, the motivation to keep going when you feel like giving up. You know, you've heard me say this many time. You know how many times I wanted to give up as pastor? Every Monday morning when I get PMS, post message syndrome. God, surely somebody could have done a better job than that. That sermon stunk. It didn't help anybody.

Surely God, you could find somebody who's better at this. But you know what has kept me going for 40 years? A dream that won't let hold of me, won't let go. What is that dream? Your maturity to present you before Christ as the man, as the woman God intended you to be. I I'm growing my fruit on other people's trees. I want to see fruit in you. I want to see you become all God made you to be. I'm not going to let you settle for less than the best. I'm not going to let you play in Baby Beach anymore.

I'm going to push you to become the woman, the man that God knows and you know instinctively. I'm not what I could be. It's not too late. It's never too late to start dreaming. Never too late. And so, a dream keeps me going through tough times. This was the problem with Job. When he lost everything, here's what he said. Job chapter 6 verse 11 Job goes, I don't have the strength to endure. Why? Because I don't have a goal that encourages me to carry on. Does that make sense? It's not pain that makes you give up.

It's pain without a purpose that makes you give up. Human beings have the ability to handle enormous amounts of pain like people who survived the Holocaust and the Auschwitz death camps. And they survived that. Why? Because they had a dream bigger than the pain. And it is a dream that gives us hope. A dream keeps me going in tough times. He says I don't have a goal that encourages me to carry on. Number 10, a great dream inspires others to dream. This is one of the reason we're doing this. I want your life to be an inspiration to others.

I I can tell you from personal experience, it's a cool thing when you know you've inspired somebody. It's a it's a really it's a good feeling. Wow, I'm glad I encouraged that guy. I 'm glad I encouraged that woman. I want you to experience the joy of being an inspiration to other people because I know we have been given something God wants us to share. And I want you to be an inspiration to others. There's nothing like it. There's nothing like the feeling of knowing you've been used by God. A dream inspires others to dream.

Proverbs 11 27 If your goals, that's dreams, if your goals are good, you will be what?

Guest (Male): Respected.

Rick Warren: Respected. Now, you got self-centered goals, you're not going to be respected. But if you have unselfish goals, you have godly goals, you have big dreams, you have great plans, you haven't make a difference. You want to help people. You want to make the world a better place. Guess what? You're going to be respected. Respect comes from having a great dream. Number 11, myself discipline, which is go that's what it's going to take to reach your dream. Myself discipline will be rewarded in heaven. Not only are the dreams that you're given here on earth good for earth, but you're going to be rewarded in heaven for all the character that you developed and the discipline and the intensity that you put in to go after your dream.

1 Corinthians The Bible says in 9 25, all athletes practice strict self-control. You got to be disciplined to be an athlete. They do it to win a prize that will fade away. I mean, who's going to remember the Super Bowl next year? They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. My self-discipline will be rewarded in heaven. And then number 12 God given dreams are a gift of the Holy Spirit. God given dreams are a gift of the Holy Spirit. God's Holy Spirit gives us the ability to dream.

Acts chapter 2 verse 17 and 18 which Peter preached on the first day of the first church in Jerusalem. And here's what he said. He was predicting the future. He was prophesying. Acts chapter 2 17 18 God says, this is from the book of Joel. In the last days, I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and your daughters will proclaim my message. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will dream dreams. Yes, on all all all my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they will proclaim my message regardless of gender or age.

He says sons and daughters, young and old men and women. As I said last week, who's left out of that? Nobody. Everybody gets included. And he says when I pour out my spirit, what's going to happen? You're going to have visions and dreams. They are a gift of the Holy Spirit. That's what brings revival to a church. It's what brings revival to a nation. It's what brings revival to a world. When God's people are so attuned to the Holy Spirit that they start dreaming again. They start dreaming again. Now, here's my homework. I want us all to memorize this promise.

Revelation 3 8 I have set before you an open door that no one can shut. Come on, you can memorize that. All right. Now, remember when you're trying to memorize a verse, you say the the the hardest part to remember is the reference, the address, Revelation. What is it? Revelation 3 8. And what does Revelation 3 8 say? Say it with me. I have set before you an open door that no one can shut. And where is that found? Revelation 3 8. Okay, what is Revelation 3 8? I have set before you an open door that no one can shut.

Revelation 3 8. All right. Say If you say it over and over this week, you'll get it. Why do I want you to get it? Because God's going to bring that to your mind, and you're going to find an opportunity, and you're going to go, what? Where did that come from? And God's going to say, I set before you an open door that no one could shut. And another opportunity to come up, what? I set before you an open door that no one could shut. And then you get another opportunity to go, what? Might told you I've said before you an open door that no one could shut.

We're going after dreams, guys. All right. Now, I just want to tell you this happens every time in when we do a campaign. When you start getting serious about spiritual growth, first, expect a lot of joy cuz you're going to see some miracles in the next 8 weeks. That's why? Cuz I set before you an open door that no one's going to shut. Yeah, where is that by the way? Revelation 3 8. Good. Good. By the way, what is Revelation 3 8? I have set before you an open door that no one can shut. What?

That's a new opportunity. All right. Now, next week, we're going to look at how do I know a dream is from God? How do I know I'm not just making this up myself? How do I know? When do I When is it the taco talking? And when is it my mother talking? And when is it something I read yesterday to how do I know when it's God? We're going to talk about that next week. Let's pray. What a wonderful God you are. Literally, everything we have comes from you, and we wouldn't have anything if it weren't for you.

We have life, we have air, we have breath. We have water, we have food. We have family, we have minds. We have the ability to dream. Raise up an army of great dreamers. The Bible says young and old will dream. May young people in this church dream great dreams. May middle-aged people in this church dream great dreams. May people facing retirement dream great dreams. May elderly people in our church dream great dreams. Lord, if we're still alive, you're not finished with us. Make our lives an inspiration to others. Forgive us for small thinking and petty grieving and complaining.

Help us to see the future you have for us. The fact that we're still alive means you're not done. May we commit to pray for each other so that together we'll be better together, that we'll grow as a family. And today, Lord, we covenant with you to do these things that will help us grow. And we pray this in your humble name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Hey, thanks so much for being with us today and listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. I hope that you were just as blessed as I was from today's broadcast. Right now, here's Pastor Rick with a special message.

Rick Warren: You know, when I started Saddleback Church over 40 years ago, just a handful of people in our living room, I also began writing a simple devotional just for the people in our church to help them start each day with hope and with truth and with peace that comes from Jesus Christ. Well, you know, that little devotional grew and grew and grew, and today Daily Hope is one of the largest email devotions in the whole world. And each day, people all around the globe are reconnecting with God's promises and finding fresh strength in his word to face whatever comes their way.

And here's the best part. It's absolutely free. Okay? We don't have any charge for this. Every day, you'll get a quick devotional read and a podcast that you can listen to on the go. Now, you know, in a world that's more distracted and uncertain than ever, I want to help you start your day centered on what never changes. And what never changes is a God's love, his unconditional love for you, and his promises to you. You know, if you'll just spend just a few minutes a day in the morning with the Lord, it can bring so much more clarity, more purpose, more peace to everything that happens in your day.

Particularly, psychologists have said that what you do with the first 5 minutes of your day pretty much sets the tone. So, friend, you were never meant to go through life alone. I want to personally invite you to just sign up for the Daily Hope devotional. Do it today. I think it's going to bring fresh encouragement to your walk in God.

Guest (Male): If you'd like to sign up for the Daily Devotional, it's easy. Go to dailyhoperadio.com. That's dailyhoperadio.com. Be sure to join us next time as we look into God's word for our Daily Hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.