Beating the Barriers • Transformed • Ep. 20

nothing happens without a dream everything you see every piece of art every business every architecture every product everything happens because somebody thought it up first everything begins as a dream Napoleon says imagination rules the world and Einstein said imagination is more important than knowledge is that ability to dream that makes us creators in the image of God now I've invested my life encouraging people to discover God's dream God's purpose for their lives and then helping them fulfill that dream and what I've discovered is that for every person who figures out their life dream their life work which is far more important than your job because your jobs are going to change but your life work is the dream that God gives you for your life for every person who figures that out and heads after their dream dream there are nine people who are afraid to get started and what causes us to be afraid to go after our dream or what I call the Giants in the pathway these are giant problems these are dream Busters that stand there in your path saying you will not pass by you will not go any further than this and if you believe it you get stuck in mediocrity these problems can be financial problems they can be be emotional problems they can be relational problems they can be problems with your your health what do you do when you face these Giants in life how do you face the Giants in your life and work well fortunately we have a wonderful story in the Bible that shows us how to deal with the Giants in our lives it's called the story of David and Goliath now it's unlikely that you're ever going to have to face a physical giant like David did but it is highly likely that you're going to have to face a whole lot of other common Giants these joh Giants of financial problems relational problems marriage problems work problems problems that keep you from going after your dream and in this story 1 Samuel 17 David actually had to fight four other Giants before he gets to Goliath they weren't physical Giants but they were giants in here in his mind you are far more likely to have to face those giants than a Goliath but they can be just as big and just as intimidating and can keep you from becoming who God wants you to be and fulfilling the dream that God has put in your heart there is delay then there's discouragement then there's disapproval and then there's doubt am I capable for this am I up to the task for this can I actually do what God is asking me to do and then there are people all around you who tell you you can't and in David's case the expert doubted his ability now there was nobody who was a greater expert on war than King Saul because Saul had been in battle his entire life and when Saul King Saul hears that this little kid is willing to take on the giant whose par paryz the nation he invites David to come see him at the palace so David Goes to s King sa see seeing Saul and uh and and here's the conversation verse 32 and 33 David says to the king don't worry about a thing King David told the king I'll fight this Philistine and by the way let me just stop right here confidence is God is often misinterpreted as Cockiness by other people a lot of people might think a person is cocky when they're just a person of Faith it's not that they think that they can do it it's that they know God can do it that's confidence in God not Cockiness David says don't worry about a thing King I'll fight this Philistine don't be ridiculous Saul replied there's no way you can go against this Philistine you're only a boy and he's been a professional Warrior all his life now that expert is saying you can't do it and there's enough to make you start doubting yourself I will say it about experts that I said about conventional wisdom the experts are often wrong they're often wrong I remember when I I'm a Californian but I went to Seminary in Texas and when I went to Seminary in Texas while I was there God gave me a dream of moving to Southern California to City I'd never been in and to start a church with no money no members no building and no support and I'd never been a senior pastor and so I called up an expert on starting churches in Texas his name was Jean and I called him up and I said hey I'm thinking about graduating going to Southern California starting a church with no money no members no building no support and I've never been a senior pastor what do you think and this Jean said expert said that's the dumbest idea I've ever heard he said Rick if you do that you will never be heard from again H 20 years later he called me back he said that was the dumbest advice I ever gave in my life I was dead wrong dead dead wrong on that okay now now I remember when I wrote purpose-driven Life I got a letter from the editor I framed it it said this book will never work nobody's going to read 40 chapters the experts are often very wrong very very wrong so there's this doubt that comes now how do you defeat these giants that are keeping you from being the man God wants you to be how do you defeat these fears that are keeping you from being the woman God wants you to be to be a person of great faith with a great dream and a great life work how do you overcome those giants you do the very things that David did quickly let me just give them to you the four things that David did to defeat these Giants before he gets to Goliath number one I remember how God has helped me in the past that's the first thing you do to face the Giants and to fulfill your dream remember how God has helped me in the past this is a confidence Builder when I recall when I recollect when I remember ways that God has helped me in the past it gives me confidence for the future I say remember this time I thought I wasn't going to make it but I did and I remember that time I thought it was the end but it wasn't and I remember I thought I was at the bottom and I was never going to climb out but I did and remember when I thought I was all alone but I wasn't and you remember how God has helped you in little times and realize he's going to help me in big times in the future because God never changes God doesn't love you one day and not another day and if he helped you in the past in little ways he will willingly help you in the future in big ways you remember how God has helped you in the past this is what David did verse 36 David says when everybody tells him it can't be done he says you know in protecting my sheep as a Shepherd I've killed both a lion and a bear and the Lord who delivered me from the teeth of that Lion and the claws of that bear will surely now deliver me from this Philistine too that's confidence I remember how God's helped me in the past number two I Ed the tools that God has given me now I use the tools that God has given me now I don't wait for something I don't have I don't have enough money I don't have enough education I don't have enough connections I don't have enough opportunities I don't have this or I don't have that no you use the tools you've got right now now some people are just waiting for something to happen you don't wait for your ship to come in you swim out to it because if you wait for it to come into the harbor you're going to wait a long long long time you use the tools God has given me now now David Goes to see Saul and Saul says well if you're going to fight this guy you may as well use my armor how ridiculous is that David is a short small boy Saul is a tall big grown man to take his armor and put it on David his hands probably didn't even show through it it would it would be comical and David says this verse 38- 4 then Saul dressed David in his own armor but David said if I can't go out in these he said I can't go out in these because I'm not used to them so he took them off instead he chose five smooth stones for his sling he goes this is what I'm used to I I I know how to use a slingshot I don't need your armor I'm going to just do this now let me just say this when you start going after your dream that God has given you some people are going to pose you on it they're going to be opposition but other people say oh yeah go ahead and go after your dream but do it my way and they're going to try to condense you to do it their way but you're not them and it's going to fail I see this Saul's armor syndrome in businesses everywhere well they're doing it that way so we should do it that way well not necessarily because God doesn't create clones God made you to be you and God's going to use you to fulfill the dream he has for you your way not the way somebody else did it and if you try to do it the way somebody else did it you are bound to fail it's like trying to wear Saul's armor you can't wear it because you're not Saul you just need to use the tools you got he had a slingshot so he picks up some stones and he's going to go after it often people will try to load some things on you that are just too heavy for you and you're not going to fulfill your dream that way today I want to ask you to join with daily hope as we focus on fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus Christ you know sharing Jesus with others is the most important thing you can do and if we join together we can reach across the whole world with the message of Christ now right now through daily hope the good news of Jesus reaches into almost every country of the world including regions where it's difficult are dangerous to share the gospel and it's even being translated into 25 different languages and Counting and by translating into these 25 languages we're able to reach over 80% of the world's population that's why I'm so excited to tell you that some incredibly generous friends have stepped forward and offered to double every single dollar you give in support of daily hope thanks to the matching Grant your gift will now go twice as far and together we can watch God transform the lives of people with the hope of Jesus Christ when you give to daily hope you're helping share the hope of Jesus with people everywhere and right now your gift will be doubled by the $50,000 matching Grant and we'll send you 52 Bible memorization cards based on scriptures found in the re-energize your life book [Music] I love this verse in Ecclesiastes 11 look up here on the screen verse four says if you wait for perfect conditions you'll never get anything done how many of you agree with that verse yeah if you wait for perfect conditions you're never going to get started on your dream someday I one of these no today's the day we're ending 50 days of transformation this is the day to start the new dream this is the day to go after it and when everybody else is saying you can't do it discouragement and when you're full of doubt you're going to trust God and when there's been a delay and people have held you back and when people disapprove you just say sorry I've got to do what God's asking me to do number three the third thing he did is ignore the dream Busters you must ignore the dream Busters in your life now it is interesting to me that as David's going to take on a giant that everybody else is scared to death to take on he didn't get any encouragement from anybody not a single word of encouragement as he's going out on this show his dad didn't encourage him his mom didn't encourage him his brothers didn't encourage him the Army the soldiers who are scared to death didn't encourage him the king whose reputation is on the line didn't encourage him nobody gave David any encouragement what did he do he had to encourage himself in the Lord look at the next verse 1st Samuel 30:6 when others were speaking against him David read it with me encouraged himself in the Lord Circle in the Lord do you do that sometimes nobody else is going to encourage you and you're going to have to encourage yourself in the Lord now this is very very different from Simply Having a positive mental attitude ude no no this is far more deep when you encourage yourself in the Lord there is a Bedrock trust in God's faith God's grace God's provision God's security God's kindness God's power you're trusting in God it's not just a positive mental attitude now I'm not against positive thinking I mean considering the alternative I think you ought to be a positive thinker because the alternative is negative thinking and that's worse so it between negative and positive thinking you ought to to be a positive thinker but friends there are some problems in your life that are so significant and some Giants so big all the positive thinking in the world isn't going to make a difference at all the Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow have a nice day is just pretty shallow when you're facing the deepest darkest problems of life when you've had a son who struggled with mental illness for 27 years all the positive thinking in the world is worthless well just feel better put a smile in your face think good thoughts believe have fun so no no you need something far deeper that in the deepest darkest days of life you need a Bedrock trust in God's grace in God's love in God's power in God's sovereignty in God's plan and you have to encourage yourself in the Lord because nobody else can give you that encouragement number four fourth thing David did expect I expect God to help me for his glory I expect God to helped me for his glory this is what David did this is what you must do in going after your dream it is the fa Faith factor I love what David says to Goliath as he runs onto the battlefield David runs onto the battlefield shouting and he says says this David shouted to Goliath you come at me with sword and with spear and with javelin but I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty and today the Lord will conquer you not me the Lord will conquer you and the whole world will know that there is a God and everyone will know that the Lord doesn't need weapons to rescue his people it is his battle not ours are you fighting God's battle and that's why you're tired it is his battle not ours and the Lord will give you to us what are you expecting God to do in your life without even knowing you I can tell you this God is doing exactly what you expect him to do no more and no less because every time God moves out of heaven and moves on Earth and does a miracle it's because somebody believed the Bible says according to your faith it will be done unto you the Bible says the just shall live by faith the Bible says without faith it is impossible to please God the Bible says whatever is not a faith is sin according to your faith that would be done to you you get to choose how much God does in your life life it's based on how much you choose to trust him I don't have to be the smartest person in life I don't have to be the best looking person in life I don't have to be the wealthiest purpose in life I have a choice to trust God and you do too whatever is not a faith of sin he say I expect God to help me for his glory I made this decision when I was a young man and in the mountains of Northern California one night I got down on my knees and as a young man I said God I'm not the smartest guy I'm not the most educated and I'm not the best looking and I'm not the most talented but God by your grace I'm going to trust you and I don't have to know or understand why you tell me to do what you wanted me to do but I will do anything anytime anywhere in faith even when it doesn't make sense to me and what an adventure my life has been I would have never imagined as a teenager that one day I would stand and speak to a crowd like this much less to all of our campuses around the world because this this group right here is about five times bigger than the town I grew up in I'm a country boy with a slingshot and God says I will use anybody who will trust me and say I expect God to use me not because of who I am but for his glory that God knows and the world knows that there is a God I'll never forget um looking into my wife's eyes many years ago as we were finishing up school in uh in Texas and I said okay I think God has given me a dream and it is to be a pastor and I think we're supposed to go to Southern California to a place we've never been and start a church with no money no members no building no support and I've never been a senior pastor and I said 'what do you think about that dream and she looked into my eyes and she says it scares me to death but I believe in God and I believe in you so let's go let's go for it now I've often thought how would history be different if my wife had said no if she'd been afraid and scared and said let's don't do it there would be no Saddleback Church there would be no purpose-driven life there would be no movement of churches in 160 Nations there would be no peace plan thousands of people that are going to heaven now would not be headed to Heaven you have no idea how much you're un belief could be limiting somebody you love is your unbelief limiting your wife is your unbelief limiting your husband is your unbelief limiting your child don't be Jessy don't hold them back when God has a great dream for their life it's not your dream for them it's God's dream for them and you need to say I'm not going to let anybody else's unbelief hold me back and I'm not going to let my unbelief hold anybody else back let's bow for prayer there are a lot of things in your life you don't have control over you didn't choose your natural Talent you didn't choose when you would be born where you would be born you didn't choose your race you didn't choose your gender you didn't choose your talent but you do get to choose how much you're going to trust God and it is that Faith factor that will defeat the Giants of delay and discouragement and disapproval and doubt and if you will say yes to God he will take you on the adventure of your life it doesn't really matter what's happened in your life if you say I want the rest of my life no matter how how many years I've got to be God's 100% I want you to pray this prayer dear God you have helped me many times in the past you've helped me through things I thought I'd never get out of but you did help me and if you've helped me in the past I know you're going to help me in the future help me to remember that and draw my confidence from that even when people discourage me or disapprove of me or even when people misunderstand me help me to use the tools that you've given me now to not wait for a perfect time and a perfect place and a perfect tool but to use the slingshot and the stones that are I have right now help me not to wear somebody else's armor but to just go in your your strength and Lord help me to ignore the dream Busters and help me to start every day with a time alone with you so that I will encourage myself in the Lord that I don't need the encouragement of other people because I'm encouraging myself in the Lord and spending time with you help me to expect you to help me not for my glory but for yours that the whole world will know that there is a God and that everyone will know that the Lord doesn't need weapons to rescue his people Lord I've been tired because I've been trying to fight battles as if they're mine it's your battle I want to relax and trust you to give me the victory Jesus Christ I invite you into every room in my life the living room the bedroom the bathroom the kitchen I want you to run every area of my life I want you to be the manager and the Lord From This Day Forward and I thank you in advance that the Giants will fall and the dream will come true and I pray this in your name amen friends one of the most powerful ways you can transform your spiritual life is to memorize scripture God tells us in Proverbs 7:2 guard my words as your most precious possession write them down and also keep them deep within your heart now here's how I want to help you memorize God's word word we've put together a new packet a new set of cards with verses from the Bible for you to memorize they're very beautiful and they will keep these Bible verses God's word before you every day helping you to memorize the word of God I hope you'll take advantage of this new resource don't miss this opportunity to get these brand new scripture cards based on the key verses found in the re-energized Life guided experience all this month every fin iial gift received will be matched by a very generous donor up to $50,000 [Music] [Music]

Channel: Pastor Rick

Views: 5,461

Keywords: Pastor Rick Warren, Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, Pastor Rick, Rick Warren sermon, Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, Saddleback, christianity, church, church sermon, Daily Hope, Daily Hope TV

Id: 6Bkb0D9_Cyk

Length: 27min 16sec (1636 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 27 2024