Transcript
A (0:02)
Hey, everyone. Welcome to Pastor Rick's daily Hope. We're so glad you're here today. Rick continues in a series called preparing for your future, where he shares how God's destiny for your life is good and how you get to choose much of your destiny. And now let's join Rick for the final part of a message called how to get your vision back.
B (0:24)
Now, if Jesus Christ asked you this morning, what do you want me to do for you? What do what would you say? Some of you are a little reluctant. Go. I don't know if I should ask God for what I'd really like to ask God for. Look at this verse on the screen. Romans 8:32. The Bible says this. Since God did not spare even his own son, he sent Jesus to die for us, but gave him up for us all. If God loved us enough to do that, send Jesus on the cross, won't God, who gave us Christ also give us everything else? Duh. You get the logic of that. If God solved your biggest problem, which was getting you out of hell and into heaven, taking an imperfect person and making them to a point that you by grace could go to a perfect place. If God solved your biggest problem, everything else is small potatoes. If God loved you enough to come and die for you on the cross, don't you think he loves you enough to help you with your mortgage or that school bill, or the fact that you're out of work or that part of your body that isn't working right now? Don't you think he loves you? Everything else is small potatoes by comparison. If God loved us enough to send Jesus die for us, he loves us enough to care for us in all our areas. Tell God exactly what you want. You know, when you're hearing the call of God, God often gives you a call to a new direction by letting things dry up where they are right now. What we think is a dead end is often a detour to a better path. We think it's a dead end. It's not a dead end. He's saying, I just don't want you going down that path anymore. So I'm putting this there. It's not a dead end. It's a detour. You're going that way the next 10 years. Pastor Buddy went through this in the loss of a job a number of years ago. He's gonna come and share his story and take us to the fifth point. Would you give him a warm welcome?
C (2:43)
So we're looking at the story of blind Bartimaeus. I want to tell you the story of Blind Buddy Mayus. And it won't take long, but eight years ago this week, eight years ago, I was struck blind. Now, it wasn't by a plant in my backyard like some people I know, but I was blindsided by a job loss when the economy hit. The business I was in, I was a record producer. I was in the music business. And I lost my job. And I didn't see it coming. I was blindsided by it. I was kicked to the curb. And I had no idea what the future was going to look like. I could not see any other future. I didn't know what to do. But I knew that Jesus was near. And I knew that Jesus could change my situation. And I knew that Jesus was asking me a question, so what do you want me to do for you? And I had to get very specific when I answered that question. You see, the more specific you get in your prayer, the more specific the answer is. If you have a vague request, you get a vague answer. Well, I'm not really sure God said something, but if you ask specifically, then God answers specifically. And in my answer to that question, what do you want me to do for you? I didn't ask the Lord for money. I didn't even ask him for a job. I asked him for vision. I just said, lord, I have to see. I need vision. What does the future hold? What do you want me to do? Where do you want me to go? And that was my prayer. Just like Bartimaeus, Lord, I want to see. What do you want me to do? So what I did was I got a couple of close friends of mine, a couple of men of God, guys who loved the Lord, guys who loved me. And I called them away for a life planning retreat, just like Pastor Rick was talking about a moment ago. Got away for 24 hours, and we looked at the gifts God had given me, my abilities, my passions in life. And a vision began to take shape of what God wanted me to do in the next season of my life. Now, remember, I was a businessman. I was not a pastor. But the vision was a surprise to me because out of that time together, the vision that took shape was this. That I was to become a teaching pastor in a large church focused on the spiritual growth of people. Now, I have never done anything like that before. And that vision seems so strange. And yet at the same time, I knew in my heart that it was true. And I knew that I had to receive it, I had to accept it and receive it. And that actually takes us to the fifth step. In order to get your vision back. And it's receive the vision in faith. Write that down. You receive your vision in faith. That's what Bartimaeus did. He received it in faith. Look at this next verse. The Bible says that Jesus said to him, receive your sight. Your faith has healed you. And immediately he received his sight. Now, I want you to circle a couple words in that verse. I want you to circle the word receive and circle the word faith. Receive and faith. He said, receive your sight. Your faith has healed you. Receiving and faith go together. If you don't believe, then you won't receive. The two of them go together. And just as in my case, I had to receive this vision that God was giving, even though in some ways it didn't really make a whole lot of sense, because I'd never done it before. And there were people in my life who were naysayers, just like Bartimaeus had, people who were saying, look, just stay where you are. Just don't get out of line. Don't try to become something you've never been before. There were naysayers in my life, and I had to ignore what those people said because, as Pastor Rick said, when Jesus calls you, it doesn't matter what other people think. I like to say, what others think of you is none of your business. When Jesus calls you to do something, you do what he calls you to do. You step out in faith, you receive the vision that he has. And that's what I did. I received the vision by faith. I walked as though it were already something that was accomplished. About six months later, I got a phone call from an old friend of mine. Guy was a pastor here in Southern California. I was a member at a church in Irvine. This guy was a pastor here in Southern California. I had known him for about 10 years, and I had only visited his church a couple of times. His name was Rick Warren. And he called me up and he said, hey, let's have lunch together. I want to see what God is doing in your life. So I had lunch with him and I never left. Which should be a lesson to you. Never invite me for lunch. I stick around like a stray cat. I didn't go anywhere. God opened the door, and I stepped into the future that he had designed for me. I received the vision by faith. I accepted it. I surrendered to it. I didn't struggle. I didn't resist it. I accepted it and I walked into it. That's how you receive the vision by faith. You welcome it gratefully into your life. That's What Bartimaeus did, he had faith in Jesus. He knew that that was his only answer, that Jesus Christ was his only answer. Because faith is placed in a person. I talked about this a couple of weeks ago when I preached on one of the weekends here. Faith is placed in a person. Bartimaeus didn't have faith in an outcome. He wasn't just thinking positive and happy thoughts. It wasn't karma. He placed his faith in a person. He knew that Jesus was the only answer and he placed his faith in him. Faith is believing that something is true because you know, you believe someone is truthful. Faith is believing that something is going to happen because you believe that someone is able to make it happen. And Bartimaeus placed his faith in Jesus. That what he was asking for. I need vision. I need sight. I need to see his vision. His faith was placed in Jesus Christ because Bartimaeus may have been physically blind, but he actually could see something. He could see who Jesus was. He could see that Jesus was the answer. Now notice this. Bartimaeus did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. He was a stranger to him, but he believed. And there may be people here who are saying, I don't have this personal relationship with Jesus. I don't know him well enough to ask him to do anything for me. So I just need to sit over here and be quiet and mind my own business. Don't ever be afraid that you don't know the Lord well enough to ask him for something. Bartimaeus did not know Jesus personally. The relationship came after the request. The relationship came after the healing. And the Lord can do the same thing in your life. Don't be afraid to ask Him. In just a couple of minutes, Pastor Rick is going to give you the opportunity to start a relationship with Jesus Christ. But you have to notice that when Bartimaeus faith met the grace of God in Jesus Christ, that's when the miracle happened. When your faith and God's grace come together, that's when miracles happen. Do you see that? It takes both of them. Look at this verse in John, chapter one. The Bible says, from the fullness of his grace, we have all received one blessing after another. And the Bible also says in Romans 4, it says this faith is the key. Faith is the key. God's promise is given to us as a free gift. So to get your vision back, you've got to tell God exactly what you want. Lord, this is what I need. And don't be vague about it. Be specific. And then you have to receive it by faith. Now Pastor Rick is going to share with us the sixth step in getting your vision back.