Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Pastor Rick Warren: Hello everybody. This is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope with Rick Warren. I'm really glad you're here. Today we're continuing our series from Psalm 23 called Living in the Goodness of God. It's all about how God's goodness meets you right where you are and brings hope even in difficult seasons. And now, here's part one of a message called How to be led by God's spirit.

Pastor Rick Warren: You know, life is a series of choices, we make our choices and then they make us. We make our decisions, and if we make good decisions, we become successful. If we make bad decisions, then, you know, we're not. And every decision has a consequence, and the potential for error is great because obviously we're human beings, we're imperfect.

Some of you today are struggling with some kind of difficult decision about where do I move, what job do I take, do I get married, do I stay in this marriage? All of these different, do we, where do we put our kids in school? And indecision is one of the greatest sources of stress in your life.

And yet your Heavenly Father doesn't want you to be stressed out by your decisions. But when you have this tension in you, do I hold on or do I let go? Do I keep on doing what I'm doing or do I try something else? Do I move on? Do I get married? The Bible tells us in the book of James that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. And that word unstable actually in Greek means staggering like a drunk. That's literally what it means.

That when you're pulled in different directions by a decision because you just can't figure out which way to go, it creates enormous tension in your life. And then even after a lot of times you've made a decision, you start guessing, second-guessing yourself. Did I make the right decision? And then you just prolong the pain.

Now, what is the antidote? Well, the antidote is to let God guide you. And we're going to look at that as we come to our fifth message in this series on Living in the Goodness of God, where we're going verse by verse through Psalm 23. And the Bible tells us that life is a journey. And that God has given us a roadmap, it's this book, the Bible, this is our roadmap for life. That God has given us a compass, that's our conscience, that keeps us headed in the right direction if we listen to it. And that God has even given us a personal guidance counselor. And he is the Holy Spirit.

And a personal guide is even the best thing of all. That's better than a map. If you have a guide taking you through a city you've never been in, that's a whole lot better than you trying to figure it out on a map or with a compass. Now, the Bible tells us that God wants to lead us in the paths of righteousness. That's that means the right paths. God doesn't want you to mess up your life.

What we're talking about in this message is, am I going to waste my life, am I going to spend my life, or am I going to invest my life? I don't want you to waste your life, and part of that means making right decisions. How do you get on the right path? How how do you the Bible says he leads me in the paths of righteousness. That means a modern translation, he keeps me on track. God wants to keep you on track in your life.

Now, I know some of you think, Rick, this just doesn't work for me, I've tried to let God lead my life. I don't get it. How do we, how do you let God lead? Well, that's what we're going to look at this weekend. Because there's some things you need to start doing, there's some things you need to stop doing in order to let God lead your life. But really, the question comes down to, why is it so difficult to figure out what God wants me to do with my life?

Why, why is God's will often, it seems, hidden? Is God playing games with me? Is God playing cat and mouse? Is he is he playing hide and seek? Does God enjoy confusing me? Of course not. Of course not. The real issue is, we often look for the wrong thing from God. Now, we are in this series of Psalm 23, and I told you we're going to memorize over 10 weeks these six verses together.

Now, many of you memorized this as a kid. And if you memorized it in the King James version, it's okay for you to say thee and thou and and all that Elizabethan English that's just 400 years old. But it's okay, as long as you memorize this important verse. Now, I told you a couple weeks ago, this is the most quoted passage in funerals, Psalm 23. But it's not even about death. There's only one line in it, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me, you are with me.

This verse is not, this chapter is not really about death. It's the most famous Psalm quoted at death, but it's not about death. It's really about how God wants to guide you and lead you all the way through your life. Now because God is a good God, and that's what we're looking at. God has good plans for your life, not bad plans. And God wants you to understand those plans, and because he's good, he has promised to guide.

The good shepherd doesn't just feed us, he leads us. He doesn't just correct us, he directs us. He he guides us. And so this is part of leading, feeding and meeting our needs. Which is what the good shepherd does. Now, look at the top of your outline. And we're going to start with now the first three verses. So, let's read it together.

The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. Now here's the verse we're going to look at this this weekend. Read it with me. He leads me in the right paths for his name's sake. As I said, because God is a good God, he promises to guide us. We're not left out on our own, on our own.

God says, I'm going to give you my guidance. In fact, listen. If you've never felt guided by God, that's a problem. Because one of the proofs, or one of the evidences that you do have a relationship with God, that you're in his family is he guides you. Look at this next verse there on your outline. Romans 8 verse 14, only those people who are led by God's spirit are God's children. Uh-oh.

Let me read it again. Only those people who are led by God's spirit are God's children. So it is absolutely vitally important that you learn what we're going to talk about this weekend on how do I get guidance from God? Or how do I be led by God's spirit? Only those people who are led by God's spirit. Circle that. Led by God's spirit are God's children.

So, you can see the importance of this. On Friday, I took a couple guys from our staff, and we just did a little day hike. It was such a beautiful day after all the rain we've been having. And I noticed that as we were taking this hike, that a hike or a journey or a walk is a composition of both starts and stops. And when you're, when you're on a journey, you're not always walking, you stop, you slow down, you look at things, you might pause.

And there's some things on a journey of life you have to stop doing, and there's some things you have to start doing. Life is composed of starts and stops. What I want to do is take that little metaphor today and talk to you about how do you hear God speak to you? How do you learn to get God's will in your life? How do you get God's guidance whether it's a business decision or a relational decision or a financial or a health decision?

How do I get God's guidance in my life? How do I be led by God's spirit? Well, there are some things you need to stop doing in order to do that, and there's some things you need to start doing. So let's begin with the negative. This may not be comfortable, but it's necessary. If I really want to be led by the Spirit of God. Okay. So you might write these down. Number one. These are right from God's word.

If I want to be led by God's spirit, first, I can't follow a culture that doesn't follow God. I can't follow a culture that doesn't follow God if I'm trying to follow God. If I'm trying to be led by the Spirit. So I've got to stop that. I can't you can't run in two directions at the same time, you can't chase two rabbits at the same time. You can't serve God and money, you can't serve God and anything else.

You got to decide what's number one in your life. You can only have one number one. In Exodus 23 verse 2, the Bible says, do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. Now that's an important verse today because the whole idea is, if everybody else is doing it, it must be okay. If it's legal, it must be moral. Not necessarily. If everybody else is doing it, then I should do it.

You can't follow a culture that doesn't follow God if you want to be led by the Holy Spirit. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. You know, most people make decisions in their life according to what is acceptable. And I just want to fit in, and if they're doing it, then I'm going to do it. And if they're not doing it, I'm not going to do it.

Because I don't want to stick out, I don't want to stand out. You don't want to rock the boat, when in Rome, you know, do as the Romans. And you know, there are magazines that put out what's in and what's out to tell you this is now out, stop doing that. This is now in, start doing that. Wear this, don't wear that, say this, don't say that. And there are great pressures to make you conform to our culture.

You cannot conform to our culture and be just like everybody else and be led by the Holy Spirit because he's going in a different direction. This problem was Israel's biggest problem for 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 years in the Bible. They kept trying to want to be like every other nation. And God said, no, no, you're supposed to be different. I don't want you doing that.

He gave them all kinds of moral laws and civil laws. And uh, and you know, ceremonial laws. He said, this is going to just make you different from everybody else. And it's intentional, God said, because you're my people. I want you to be different. And so don't copy what everybody else is doing, what other cultures are doing, what other people are doing. Today, many believers accept many of the standards simply because they're politically correct, culturally correct, or what everybody else is doing.

Here's what the Bible says. Romans 12 verse 2. Do not copy the behavior or values of this world. Instead, let God transform you, that means you're going to be different. Into a new person by changing the way you think. So you're not going to think like everybody else does. Then you will know, notice, then you will know what God wants you to do.

Now, let me pause right here. The reason you don't know what God wants you to do is because you're too enculturated with this culture. And you can't think like the world and think like God thinks. And so you have to decide a life, do I want to be popular with the world or do I really want to do what God put me on this earth to do? Do I want to be who he made me to be, not try to be poor carbon copy of somebody else?

Don't copy the behaviors or values of this world. Let God transform you into a new person. How? By changing the way you think. Then, he says, then you'll know. You want to know God's will? Then you'll know what God wants you to do. And you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. I want you to circle those three words, good, pleasing, and perfect.

God's will for your life is good, it's not bad. God has good plans for your life, not bad plans. God's will for your life is good. It's pleasing, that means it's enjoyable. It's not a not a bad deal, it's not painful. Can involve pain. But it's good, it's pleasing, and it's perfect. That's what God's will for your life really is. You see, one of the weaknesses of following culture is it's all temporary.

Whatever is in style now, next year it's going to be what? Yeah, out of style. So, nothing is as worthless as yesterday's fashion. Unless you hold on to it for 30 years. And then what goes around comes back, and ties get wide and narrow and wide and the hem lines go up and down and and all of that. But the Bible tells us in 1 John 2:17, the world and all of its desires passes away, but the person who does the will of God shall live forever.

Really, you don't want to care about whether I'm fitting in with culture or not. People will tell you, well, you're on the wrong side of history. For you, it's not important on whether you're on the right side of history or the wrong side of history. It's important that you just be on the right side. Because history is often wrong. You ever heard anything called Nazism? Communism? So many other. History is often wrong.

It's not important to be on the right side of history. It's important to be on the right side. And if you're going to let God guide you, you can't say, well, I'm going to try to let culture guide me what I do, think and be, and I'm going to let God do that too. It doesn't work that way. Now, let's get a little more personal. That was pretty easy. This is going to, this is getting to meddling in your life now.

If I want to be led by God's spirit, I can't follow friends who aren't led by God. If my friends are going in the exact opposite direction that God is going, I have to make a choice. Am I going to go the direction my friends are going or am I going to go the direction of God? It's one thing to say, well, you know, I'm going to be counterculture. But it's another thing to say, I'm not going to let my friends influence me.

You got to stop letting your friends set the agenda of your life. One of the reasons you don't hear God's will is because you're always hearing what their will is. Let's do this, let's do that, let's drink this, let's eat that, let's go here, let's talk like this. Let's watch this TV show. There are some shows you just shouldn't watch. Doesn't matter if they're the most popular shows on TV, you're filling your mind with with garbage.

We all worry about air pollution, water pollution, have you ever worried about mind pollution? Some people are so open-minded, their brains fall out. And and and you all of you're just letting a freeway go through your mind of all kind. None of that stuff's forgotten. That's why you've had some of those weird dreams over the years. It's all, everything you've seen. Every rape, every murder, every violent act, every cuss word, it's all in there.

It's all there. I can't follow friends who aren't led by God. Why am I making a big deal about this? Because one of the things that causes people to miss God's will for their life, God's plan, God's perfect, good and pleasing plan, is peer pressure. You can get it in school, you all know what that was like in school when you felt pressured by the kids in your class.

But you can also get it at work. There's a lot of peer pressure today. And you have to say, am I going to listen to my friends, my co-workers, my my teammates, or am I going to listen to what God says? First John 3:7 says this. Do not let anyone, that includes friends. Lead you in the wrong way. Christ is righteous. That means he does what's right.

So be like, so to be like Christ, you must do what is right. Not what's necessarily popular. And anyone who keeps on sinning is being led by the devil. So if I got a friend who is habitually sinning, I mean they're having one affair after another, they're and they're bragging about it at work. And I'm, you know, I'm listening to them, I'm then I'm just following them.

Who are they following? The devil. The devil. He says, don't let anybody lead you in the wrong direction. What do you do? You got to be tender without surrender. Now, there's a lot of bad advice floating around the world. Everybody agree with that? I mean, anybody can be a blogger today. Anybody can write a column today.

I'm not making this up. Yesterday I read an article called why everybody should have an affair. Oh, that's the best advice I've ever heard. Right there. Boy, that's, let me just tell you how many how much destructiveness that creates in the lives of kids. Let me talk to the men for just a minute here. Guys, you know what's the number one need that you have, and you may have never even noticed it?

If you're a daddy, if you're a husband and a dad, one of the biggest needs you have in your life is you want your grown adult children to respect you. I don't know a man who doesn't want that. You want your grown adult children to respect you. That should have a hamper on the decisions you make now. And a lot of other issues. Notice how quiet it got when I said that.

I had every attention of every man in the house for one second. All right, go back to your ball game. All right. Ha. There's a lot of bad advice out there. Proverbs 13 verse 20. Look up here. It says this. Keep company with wise friends and you'll become wise, but if you associate with fools, your life will suffer great hurt. You can't soar with the Eagles if you're running with the turkeys. Okay.

So it says, you know, who you hang out with. You need to choose your friends wisely. You keep company with wise friends, you're going to become wise. If I want to follow God's direction, I I can't let culture get me off track. And I can't even let friends get me off track. Make sure your advice is from the right source. Now, it bothers me when people like get counseling.

I've met believers who are going to non-believers to get counseling for their life. And I'm going, really? They have no spiritual insight on that. The Bible tells us in 1 John 3:7, it says, don't just let anybody lead you astray, because you'll miss God's will. Go ahead and get counsel, but get it from a mature believer. Now, let me be really clear when I talked about this about friends, it means I can't follow friends.

You mean I'm saying I have to give up all my non-Christian friends? Of course not. In fact, you shouldn't do that. Listen to me loud and clear. God wants you to have friends who are unbelievers. First place, you're commanded to love everybody. You're not allowed to not love anybody. If you're a believer of Christ, you're to love everybody. In fact, I'm even commanded to love my enemies.

I'm commanded to love the people who hate me, criticize me, attack me. I don't get a choice. If I call myself a believer, follower of Christ, I'm to love everybody. And God wants to use you to bring them to Christ. But here's the difference. Look up here in the screen. Jeremiah 15:19 says, you will be my spokesman to these non-believing friends.

You are to influence them, but do not let them influence you. Every day, when you go to work, you're deciding, am I going to be a thermostat or a thermometer? A thermometer just reflects what the temperature is of the environment. They're being talking dirty, I'm going to talk dirty. They're doing this, I'm going to do that. A thermometer just reveals what the culture is like. A thermostat turns the heat up or down. God wants you to be a thermostat. He doesn't want you to influence them to influence you, but you to influence them.

Pastor Rick Warren: What a great and timely message today. Let's end our show with a closing thought from Pastor Rick.

Pastor Rick Warren: If you've been blessed by this message today, here's what I want you to do. Share it. Tell somebody about it. Now there's a lot of great ways you can share Daily Hope. One of the easiest is by posting it on social media. On Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn or Instagram. But you'll find a share button today next to the message on my website. PastorRick.com. Don't keep the good news to yourself. It's too good to keep to ourselves, we've got to pass it on to others. Thanks for listening today. And join me next time as we continue to look into God's word for our daily hope.

Pastor Rick Warren: We'd love for you to share this broadcast. Just go to PastorRick.com, that's PastorRick.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.