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- [00:00]
Rick Warren
Hi, this is Rick Warren, Bible teacher for the Daily Hope Broadcast. Did you know that because of Easter your past can be forgiven? You get a purpose for living and you can have a home in heaven. That's good news. Where else can you get that kind of news? Nowhere else. And did you know that at Easter, studies have shown people are more open to an invitation to go to church than at any other time of the year. Don't go to church by yourself, but bring somebody who doesn't know Jesus Christ. A family member, a friend, a co worker, a neighbor, a relative. And if you bring them to that church service and they come to know Christ, you're going to be making a friend for eternity. It'll be the most important investment you can ever make in their lives. And by the way, if they come to Christ, would you let me know about it? I'd love to hear that story that you brought somebody to Easter and they found Jesus. You can write to me. Rickastorrick.com that's rickastorrick.com I. I would love to hear from you. God bless you and happy Easter.
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Announcer
Thanks for joining us here today on Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, the audio broadcast ministry of Pastor Rick Warren. Today we bring Rick's series called the seven Greatest Words of Love to a close. There are seven words in particular that Jesus spoke during his final hours on the cross that hold the keys for finding fulfillment in your life, relationship, and even your career. Right now, here's Pastor Rick with the final part of a message called the Word of Trust.
- [01:36]
Rick Warren
We only see the physical things in life. We only see the material things in life. But we know that there's a lot of things going on in life we can't see. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not real. It's as real as what you see. What you see is limited by your eyeball and your brain. We know, for instance, right now there are radio waves and television waves running through this building and actually going through your body. You can't see them, but if you turn on a radio, turn on a TV and tune in, you can get the picture. They're there. They're in this air right now. There are all kinds of radio and television waves going through the air right now. You cannot see them. Just because you cannot see them does not make them false. There's far more to life than just the material. There's far more to life than just the physical. In fact, the things that are gonna last are not material. All the material Stuff. This chair is not gonna last. One day it'll fall apart. Cause all material things, according to the second law of thermodynamics, deteriorate. This building will one day deteriorate. The trees will deteriorate. Your body is deteriorating. Hate to tell you that, but the physical is not getting better. Anybody wanna give a testimony of that right now? The physical, the spiritual, is actually more real. And God is taking care of the things that you can't see. So when you're in your dark days, you can't see the solution. When you're in the dark, you can't see the antidote. You can't see the solution. The problem that's solved. And while you're waiting, God is working. What you need to do is trust. While you're waiting for that job, while you're waiting for that answer to prayer, while you're waiting for that change, while you're waiting, God is working. And that's why you need to trust. I entrust my spirit. Circle that word, My spirit. That implies that you're far more than a body. And of course you are. Life is far more than material or physical. You're made in the image of God, which means you have a spirit, you have a soul. One of my friends is a brilliant businessman. His name is Peter Thiel. He's a good friend. And some of you know who Peter Thiel is. He's an entrepreneur. He's up in the Silicon valley. He started PayPal, became a billionaire, starting PayPal. And one day, I was at one of his intellectual confabs called the Dialogue. It's upheld at Sundance in Utah. And there's all these brainiacs, he's, you know, nuclear physicists and stuff like that. And we were in a discussion one day, and Peter Thiel asked me, he said, rick, with the advent of artificial intelligence, which we know is getting smarter and smarter and smarter, he said, rick, is artificial intelligence ever gonna need faith and religion? That's a legitimate question. And the answer to that, of course, is no. Now, if all you were was simply an intellect, we know that we can create machines right now that are smarter than you or me in certain things. We human beings can create machines that are smarter than us, but you're far more than intelligence. Human being, yes, has intellect, but you have far more than just intelligence. You have spirit, you have a soul. And while we can create greater intelligence, we can't create a soul. And so it's a question that's not needed. Now, the Bible says that here on Earth, there's an unseen battle going on for your soul between good and evil. And evil. Let me give you a couple examples where you have to trust. Job says it like this. When he talking about God, when he is at work in the north, I don't see him. And when he, God, turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of it. In other words, I don't see God with my physical eyes. But he says he, God knows the way that I take. And when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. That dark spot you're in right now, this is a test. And although you cannot see God, he can see you. And God can see what you cannot see. And you can trust God that He loves you, that he cares for you, that he can be trusted, and that he's taking care of the things that you cannot see. Paul says the same thing. 2 Corinthians 4. Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So he says we fix. By the way, what does that part mean? He's saying that the problems you're going through right now, God's purpose is greater than the problem you're going through. And what you need to do is get your eye on God's purpose rather than your problem. That's what it means, Father, I entrust myself to your care. Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory, a greater purpose that far outweighs them all. So he says, here's the solution. We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. One last thing you need to remember when you're going through dark days. These are all four important. And the fourth one is this. My father can handle anything I put in his hands. My father can handle anything I put in his hands. He loves me. He's trustworthy, he's taking care of things I can't see. And he can handle anything I put in his hands. That's the last part of the phrase, Father, He's a loving father I entrust. He's trustworthy, my spirit. He handles the stuff that we, the spiritual stuff, we can't even see in the spiritual world. I entrust it into your hands. This phrase into your hands is a beautiful expression of care and security. You know, there's a well known TV commercial. You're in good hands with Allstate. Yeah, right. Okay, good for you. What in the world does that mean? What they are implying is our insurance company will take care of you. You're in good hands with Allstate. You know, I have big hands because my dad had big hands, and my dad was a carpenter. And when my dad swung a hammer and he built all of his life, the hammer seemed small in his hand. He had such a giant hand. And I got big hands as a result. But my heavenly Father has even bigger hands. Even bigger hands. He's got the whole world in his hands. Somebody should write a song about that. Really. Okay. I mean, that's how big his hands are. When Kay and I got married, one of the first Bible studies she did was called the Hand of the Lord. And she told me that she discovered over 200 times in the Bible the phrase the hand of the Lord is used. So I just end with this. And you can write this down real quickly. How big is God's hands? How big are they? How big are his hands? Well, write these down. Number one. God's hands are big enough to bless me. God's hands are big enough to bless me. Jesus often put his hands on people to bless them. And in Isaiah 62, it says, the Lord will hold you in his hands for all to see. A splendid crown in the hands of God. They're big enough to bless me. Number two, God's hands are big enough. They're strong enough to keep me eternally secure. God's hands are strong enough to keep me eternally secure. If I put my life in that lockbox in that safety deposit box, it isn't going anywhere. Jesus said it like this very important verse. Follow me on it. John 10. Jesus says, I give them. That's you, eternal life. And they will never circle the word. Never, never perish. My Father has given them to me, and he's greater than all. And no one can snatch them out of my Father's hands. You cannot lose your salvation once it's been given to you. Nobody can snatch you out of God's hands. Even Satan can't snatch you out of God's hands. You say, well, you can't be snatched out of God's hands. Maybe you could jump out on your own. How big do you think God's hand is? You think you can get to the edge of it and then fall off? No. God's hand's so big, and you're in God's hands, there's no way you can fall out of it. When my kids were little, I'd get in the pool, and Amy and Josh and Matthew would line up on the side and I'd say, jump to me. Jump into my hands. Trust me, I'll catch you. And they were always scared to death to do it. First time, they just, I don't wanna do it. Oh, Daddy, Daddy, jump to me. I'll catch you. I'll catch you in my hands. Look, I can handle it, all right? And they were just afraid to jump into my hands. But then finally they do it. And when they jump into my hands, of course I catch them. And then they wanna do it 100 more times. Because once you jumped into your father's hands, that's flat out fun. And you wanna do it again and again and again. Once you've learned how to trust God with your life, you get addicted to it. And you wanna do it over and over and over. And you wanna trust God for bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger things. And that is the story of my life. Because as a little boy, I jumped into my heavenly father's hands and it caught me. And at that point I knew I can trust God. And so I started jumping further and further back, further and further back, and then jumping off cliffs. And every time he has caught me and I'm addicted to it, it's flat out fun trusting God, trusting the loving hands. His hands are big enough to bless me and strong enough to keep me eternally secure. And I wanna just tell you today, this God, your heavenly father, is waiting for you to jump. He's standing in the pool going, come on, I love you. You can trust me. I'm accountable. You can count on my faithfulness. And I'm big enough to handle you. Jump into my hands. You need to do that. And you need to start doing it all the time. There's a third thing you need to know about the hands of God. It's this. His hands are scarred. Yes, the hands of Jesus are scarred with the nail prints so that he cannot forget me. Do you know that in heaven you're gonna have a perfect body? There will be no scars in heaven. Aren't you grateful for that? No flaws on your body in heaven. No warts, no pimples, no scars. None. The only scars that will be on anybody in heaven will be on Jesus. From his hands and his head and his side and his feet. And they're gonna be there for eternity to always be reminders of us, of what he cost, what it cost him to pay for our salvation. The Bible says this. Isaiah 40:9. Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has born? The obvious answer is, of course not. A Nursing mother could not forget her baby, though she may forget. He says, I'm not. God says, I'm not gonna forget you. I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. When you look at the nail prints of the cross, Jesus says, this is how much I love you. This is how much I love you. I love you this much. I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. God has a tattoo of you. You get a tattoo of people you love. God has a tattoo of you. I have engraved you on the palms of my hands when they were nailed to the cross. Now I don't know what you're going through, but I advise you to do this last verse. Paul says this. I think you oughta know, dear brothers, about the hard times that we went through in Asia. We were really crushed and we were overwhelmed and we feared. We feared that we would never live through it. Some of you feel that way right now. And we felt we were doomed to die and we saw how powerless we were. But here's the big change. But that was good, you know, the problems you're going through, those are good. Why? For then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for he can even raise the dead, give it to God, commit it, deposit it in the safety deposit box. I mentioned earlier that Jesus was quoting Psalm 31, the greatest Psalm. And I mentioned that probably, Mary probably taught that Jesus. It's like now I lay me down to sleep, you know, when I was little, a little, little boy, when I'd get scared at nighttime, I'd go in and I'd fall asleep on my parents bed. I'd actually try to get between them and I'd try to fall asleep between my parents because I felt safe there. And after I'd fall asleep, my daddy would pick me up in his strong arms and his big hands and he would carry me back to my bed after I'd fallen asleep. And in the morning I would wake up and something amazing would happen. I would be awake in my own bed. Why? Because while I was sleeping, my father would carry me with loving arms to where I belonged. And I've thought about that a lot as that is a perfect picture of what it means to die as a believer in Jesus Christ. One day you will go to sleep and your heavenly Father will pick you up in his loving arms and he will take you to where you belong for eternity. And that's what heaven is all about. Friends, I know this has been a long message, but this is a theme that you need the rest of your life. It's not something just to say when you're dying, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. It's something to say every single day of your life. When you are fearful, Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands. When you're angry, Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands. When you're worried, Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands. When you're depressed, Father, I trust my spirit into your hands. When you're confused, Father, I trust my spirit into your hands. When you're in despair and you don't know which way to go, Father, Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands. When you have a big decision, Father, I trust my spirit into your hands. You need to use this theme every day the rest of your life. Let's pray. If you've never said it the first time, you need to say it right now. Just like me saying to the little kids in my family, jump. Daddy will catch you. You need to jump into the arms of a father who loves you, who is trustworthy, who is handling the stuff that you can't see and can handle anything you put into his hands. So I invite you to pray a one sentence prayer this weekend. Say Jesus Christ. I don't understand it all, but with all that I am, in simple humility, I say to you, I entrust my life into your hands. Everything in your name I pray. Amen.
- [19:06]
Announcer
Hey, if you've just prayed along with Rick to accept Jesus in your life, Rick would love to hear from you. Just email rickastorrick.com and now, here's Rick to tell you about a resource that he created to help you in your walk with Jesus.
- [19:21]
Rick Warren
You know, as we close today, I just wanna say thank you for joining me in today's broadcast. I wanna encourage you in another way through my free Daily Hope Devotionals. Are you getting those? These Daily Hope Devotionals are a summarization of many of the things that I teach on the broadcast. All you gotta do is just go to my website, pastorrick.com and you can sign up for the Daily Devotionals. They're free. They'll be delivered free to your inbox seven days a week. And I want to help you in this other way. It's another way of reinforcing your spiritual growth.
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Announcer
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.