The Life God Blesses — Part 1 - Pastor Rick's Daily Hope

Summary

Podcast Summary: Pastor Rick's Daily Hope – "The Life God Blesses — Part 1"

Podcast Information:

Title: Pastor Rick's Daily Hope
Host/Author: PastorRick.com
Episode: The Life God Blesses — Part 1
Release Date: January 27, 2025
Description: Rick Warren is an innovative pastor, renowned author, and global influencer.

Introduction to the Episode

In the January 27, 2025 episode of Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, Pastor Rick continues his enlightening series titled "Discover Your Destiny." This series is designed to guide listeners through practical steps to grow spiritually, emotionally, financially, physically, and relationally over the span of ten years. In "The Life God Blesses — Part 1," Pastor Rick delves into the obstacles that may impede one's journey toward fulfilling their God-given destiny.

Recap of Previous Week

Pastor Rick begins by referencing last week's message during the Decade of Destiny series. In that session, he outlined a nine-step plan on how to achieve one's long-term goals aligned with God's vision. He emphasizes the importance of revisiting previous messages, as each week builds upon the last, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of one's destiny.

Main Topic: Four Pitfalls on the 10-Year Journey

This week's focus is on identifying and understanding the four primary pitfalls that can derail a person's ten-year journey toward fulfilling their destiny. Pastor Rick underscores the necessity of foresight and planning, aligning with biblical teachings that advocate for goal-setting and strategic planning.

1. Cultural Distractions

Pastor Rick identifies cultural distractions as the first major obstacle. These are pervasive influences in society that can divert individuals from their long-term goals. He outlines four specific distractions:

Pleasure ([05:20]):
- "If you live only for fun, only for comfort, only for entertainment, you will never fulfill your destiny."
- While enjoying life is important, prioritizing pleasure above all else can lead to missed opportunities and unfulfilled potential.
Possessions ([07:45]):
- "A man's life doesn't consist in the abundance of things he possesses."
- The societal emphasis on accumulating wealth and material goods can overshadow spiritual and personal growth.
Popularity ([10:15]):
- "If you're always worrying about what other people think, you will never reach your destiny."
- Seeking approval and status from others can detract from one's true purpose and mission.
Profit ([13:30]):
- "If your number one goal in life is to get rich, you will never fulfill your destiny."
- While financial success is not inherently negative, making it the sole focus can lead to neglecting more meaningful and purposeful endeavors.

2. Voices of Doubt

The second pitfall involves voices of doubt, which Pastor Rick describes as "dream busters." These doubts can stem from various sources, including critics, cynics, societal norms, media, competition, and even the devil. Importantly, he highlights that self-doubt is the most significant obstacle:

"The greatest dream buster in your life is you." ([12:50])

Self-imposed limitations and negative self-talk can undermine one's confidence and hinder progress toward their goals.

3. Tempting Shortcuts

The third pitfall revolves around the allure of tempting shortcuts. These can be moral, ethical, financial, or relational shortcuts that promise quicker results but compromise integrity:

"Our society values speed. God values doing it right." ([16:05])

Choosing shortcuts over the right path can lead to long-term consequences that derail the pursuit of one's destiny.

4. Discouraging Delays

Lastly, discouraging delays are identified as common obstacles that emerge over a ten-year journey. These include:

Delays
Difficulties
Detours
Dead ends

Pastor Rick references the six phases of faith studied by his church family, emphasizing that delays and challenges are integral parts of the journey that test and refine one's faith and commitment.

Antidotes to the Pitfalls

To combat these four pitfalls, Pastor Rick presents antidotes inspired by the biblical story of Noah from Genesis chapters 6 to 9. Noah's unwavering faith and distinctiveness amidst a corrupt world serve as a model for overcoming challenges.

1. Dare to Be Different from the Culture

Drawing parallels to Noah's life, Pastor Rick emphasizes the importance of daring to be different:

"You cannot try to fit in and be different and make a difference at the same time." ([18:40])

Noah stood out in a morally bankrupt society, prioritizing his obedience to God over societal norms. Similarly, individuals must distinguish themselves from cultural distractions to stay aligned with their destiny.

"I can only make a difference by being different." ([19:10])

This bold stance requires resilience and a steadfast commitment to one's values and goals, regardless of societal pressures.

2. Listen to the Voice of God, Not the Voices of Doubt

The second antidote focuses on heeding God's voice over external doubts:

"Listen to the voice of God, not the voices of doubt." ([17:05])

Noah faced immense skepticism and ridicule for building the ark, yet his unwavering faith guided him through. Similarly, embracing divine guidance over negative voices is crucial for maintaining purpose and direction.

"When you trust what you hear from God, there's a word for that. It's called faith." ([19:50])

Trusting in God's plan, even when it's not immediately visible, fosters resilience and perseverance in the face of challenges.

Conclusion and Encouragement

Pastor Rick concludes the episode by encouraging listeners to embody Noah's principles—dare to be different and listen to God's voice. By doing so, individuals can navigate the four identified pitfalls and remain steadfast on their path to fulfilling their God-given destiny.

"I want God to smile when he thinks of you. She's fulfilling her destiny." ([19:30])

This heartfelt message serves as a reminder that with faith, determination, and divine guidance, one can overcome obstacles and achieve meaningful success in all areas of life.

Note: This summary focuses solely on the primary content of Pastor Rick's message, omitting promotional segments and advertisements to provide a clear and comprehensive overview of the episode's key teachings.

Transcript

A (0:02)

Hey there, everybody, and welcome to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. And whether today is your first time tuning in or if you're a regular listener, we're really excited that you're here. Well, today, Pastor Rick is continuing his series called Discover your destiny. So get ready to explore the practical steps to grow in all areas of your life, spirit, mind, body, relationships, and even your career. So stick with us as we uncover God's incredible plan for your future. And now, here's Rick with part one of a message called the Life God blesses.

B (0:39)

As your pastor, I am committed to helping you succeed spiritually, emotionally, financially, physically, relationally, in your career, in your family, and in every area. Now, last week, we looked at a plan on the weekend to get where you wanna go, where God wants you to go, your destiny for the next 10 years. And there were nine steps. If you missed that message, I would encourage you to go back and listen to it, because each week builds on the next. During Decade of Destiny. This week, I want us to look at the four pitfalls in your path on your journey of the next 10 years. There are gonna be four things that can keep you from fulfilling your destiny. Reaching your dream, accomplishing your goal, fulfilling your vision. Now, so many people in life begin well. They start off great, but they end poorly because they don't know how to plan ahead. The Bible says it's wise to plan ahead. I know this is a stretch to get you to think about 10 years, much less just a year or even a month. But the fact is, the Bible says it's smart, it's wise to set goals and to plan ahead. But as you go through this journey of the next 10 years, there are gonna be traps, there are gonna be problems, there are gonna be troubles that test your life. Life is a marathon. It's not a 50 yard dash. And there are things that will detour you if you don't know that they're coming and you don't know how to avoid them or solve them. Now, these four pitfalls on your path will test you. This week in our small groups, we looked at the fact that the Bible teaches life is a test. And God is testing us for eternity. And life is a trust. God is seeing how much he can trust us with responsibility. And life is a temporary assignment. And all of this life is preparation for the next. You're gonna spend far more time in the next life than in this life. There's trillions and trillions of years. There only maybe 80 at the most, 100 years here. Now. There are four pitfalls on your path. You might write these down. The first is cultural distractions. Cultural distractions will test you. If you intend to do anything significant with your life, it's going to be in spite of the culture around you, not because of the culture around you. Everything in this culture pulls you down, not pushes you ahead. Everything in this culture gets you to think about here and now, not 10 years ahead. Would you agree that there are many things to distract you from your destiny in our culture? Yeah, of course. I could give you dozens and dozens of them. Let me just mention four. Four distractions that are in our culture that'll keep you from fulfilling your long term destiny. Number one is pleasure. You might just write that down somewhere. If you live only for fun, only for comfort, only for entertainment, you will never fulfill your destiny. Now, there's nothing wrong with entertainment. There's nothing wrong with fun. But if it's your sole goal, you will miss your destiny. Number two, possessions. Possessions can get you off track. And our society says that you judge your success by how many things you acquire, how many things you accumulate. And yet Jesus said a man's life doesn't consist in the abundance of things he possesses. It's not about things. The greatest things in life aren't things. Number three, popularity is a common goal in our culture. You wanna be loved, you wanna be respected. You wanna be looked up to. You wanna have status. If you're always worrying about what other people think, you will never reach your destiny. You will never worry about popularity and worry about purpose or be concerned about purpose at the same time. And number four is profit. Our society teaches that the number one goal in life is to get rich. Now, there's nothing wrong with profit. In fact, the Bible says it's smart to make a profit. The Bible commands and commends the people who are smart enough to make a profit. There's nothing wrong with profit. But if your number one goal in life is to get rich, you will never fulfill your destiny because that's not why you were put here. In fact, Jesus said you cannot serve God and money at the same time. Money is a tool to be used. It is not something to be served. So you have to decide what's number one. Cause whatever's number one in your life is your God. Now, cultural distractions are gonna test you. Number two, the voices of doubt will test you. We'll come back and talk about these. But the voices of doubt are what I call the dream busters. Once you establish a dream for your life, there are gonna be all kinds of people who don't want you to fulfill that dream. They can be critics, they can be cynics, they can be culture, they can be the media, they can be competition, it can be the devil. All kinds of people will put doubts in your mind, but it also can be friends. It can also be family. Sometimes your family doesn't want you to succeed in your dream for many different motivations. But the greatest dream buster in your life is you. The way you talk to yourself, the own voices of doubt inside you can keep you from fulfilling your God given destiny. We'll talk about that. Number three, the third pitfall on the journey is tempting shortcuts. Tempting shortcuts will test you. These are moral shortcuts, ethical shortcuts, financial shortcuts that you're tempted to make, relational shortcuts when you start skimming on your relationships. And these kind of temptations to do something faster rather than do something right. Our society values speed. God values doing it right, Doing it right. And you'll be tempted to take shortcuts and you'll say at some point in the journey in the next 10 years, Lord, I think my way could help me reach my goal faster than your way. Shortcuts are always short sighted and we'll look at those. And number four, discouraging delays are another common pitfall that you're gonna have in the next 10 years in trying to reach your destiny. Now, last spring, remember, as a church family, we studied the six phases of faith. So you already know that if you set a dream, you're gonna have delays, difficulties, detours and dead ends. Those are gonna come into your life. And that's why this week in our small groups, we're gonna look at managing your troubles and the five purposes of the problems on the pathway to fulfilling your destiny. Now, the antidote to these four traps, these four pitfalls are all found in Genesis chapter 6 to 9 in the story of Noah. Now, we all know who Noah was. Noah and the flood and the ark. And, and everybody's always fascinated by how did the flood happen and what is the miracle of the ark. I'm much more fascinated by the man Noah than I am. The miracle of the flood. Because the flood was a one time event, God said he would never flood the earth again like he did then. And he promised that. But what Noah did and what Noah became are the same things you can do and the same things you can become to have the blessing of God in your life in the next 10 years. Now let's look at these four things that Noah did, which are the antidote to the four pitfalls on the pathway. Number one, if I wanna make it to my destiny, if I wanna fulfill my dream, my God given goal, my vision, my ambition that God has given to me, Number one, I must dare to be different from my culture. I must dare to be different from my culture. Until you settle this issue, you will never reach your dream. You cannot try to fit in and be different and make a difference at the same time. You've got to decide. I'm willing to be different than the culture because the culture's headed one way and God's headed another way. In Noah's day, the human race had hit bottom. It was morally bankrupt. There was really nothing good about it. The Bible says in Genesis, chapter six, look there in your outline. Verse 12. God observed all the corruption in the world and he saw the violence and he saw depravity everywhere. Corruption, violence and depravity. Does that sound familiar? Yeah. Okay, look at the next verse. Genesis 6, 5, 6. When God saw the extent of human wickedness and that the trend and direction circle, that the trend and direction of men's lives was only toward evil. He was sorry he had made them, made men. It broke his heart. This is only 10 generations in and God says it's already a mess. The world was broken by all kinds of sin and all kinds of evil. By the way, what, what's the trend today? Is the trend toward God or away from God? Yeah, yeah, it's away from God in our culture. In fact, Jesus told us this. He said to expect it. Look here on the screen, Luke 17. Jesus said, when the son of man, that's Jesus, comes again, it will be like it was when Noah lived. Jesus said, it's gonna get worse. Count on it. Culture is going to get worse. And he said, right up to the time when I come back. But in all of this darkness, the world is in a mess. God looks down in the darkness and he sees one bright spot. And his name was Noah. Now Genesis 6, verse 8 says this. I love it, the message. But Noah was different. And God liked what he saw in Noah. Circle the phrase. But Noah, an entire culture is headed one way. And two words save the world. But Noah, would God save the whole world because of you? If God looked down on the world today and said, you know, I'm tired of the world, it's messed up, it's sick, it's broken. There's sin, violence, evil, perversion, abuse, rape, corruption everywhere, would God look at your life and say but. And say your name. There's a bright spot. Would God say, I'm gonna save the world just because of you? See, there are only two people who've ever saved the world. Noah saved it physically. Jesus saved it spiritually. By the way, one of the reasons you should be interested in Noah is because you're related to him. I mean, think about that. You've traced your tree back far enough, it's got Noah in it. So certain to the person next to you. You don't have to do this, say, hey, brother, or distant relative or whatever. Cause really, you are related, okay? You may be a brother from another mother, but you are related, okay? Now here's the thing about Noah. Noah isn't worried about what other people think. He isn't worried about the approval of others. He isn't worried about being popular. He isn't trying to keep up with all the latest trends because the trends are all evil. They're headed in the wrong direction. He's willing to be different to fulfill his destiny. And you must be willing to be different to fulfill your destiny. You just can't fit in with a crowd and fulfill your dream at the same time. People who do great things with their lives march to a different drummer. They're not interested. Their number one goal is not, what do other people think? Would you write this down? I can only make a difference by being different. I can only make a difference by being different. I can only make a difference in my family by being different in my family. I can only make a difference in my finances by being different with my finances. I can only make a difference in my career by being different with my career. I can only make a difference in my church, my community, or the world by being different in my community or the church or the world. Great people never follow the crowd they take. What is the road less traveled. And that means you can't stop. You can't be worried about what other people think. If you're gonna go after your decade of destiny in the next 10 years. The Bible says this Noah was a pleasure to the Lord. God looked down and he goes, that guy makes me smile. I look at that guy's life, he makes me smile. This is what I want so badly for your life in the next 10 years. I want, when God looks down at you, to go, that's my boy. He's doing what I told him to do. That's my girl. That's my woman. She is doing exactly what I made her to do. She's fulfilling her destiny. I want God to smile when he thinks of you. But in order for that to happen in the next 10 years, you gotta be willing to be different from the culture. The Bible says in verse 9, Noah, Genesis 6, 9. Noah was the only truly righteous man living on Earth at that time. Can you imagine that? The only person on Earth, he lived with such integrity. But that integrity required that he be different from everybody else on the planet. Number two, the antidote to the second pitfall is if I'm gonna reach my destiny and fulfill my dreams and goals that God gives me, I must listen to the voice of God, not the voices of doubt. And there are plenty of voices of doubt who will try to dissuade you, detour you, cause you to fall off the road into the ditch. Listen to the voice of God, not the voices of doubt. Now, imagine all of the dream busters that had to be in Noah's life. Everybody's going the opposite direction in the world. He's the only guy, and he's building an ark in his front yard. Now, the ark was about the size of a battleship. If you look at the dimensions in the Bible, it's about the size of a battleship. How'd you like to be Noah's neighbor? And people go, what's going on with the guy next door? Oh, he's a nut. He's a crackpot. He's a kook, that guy. Oh, Noah, he thinks he hears from God.