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Elevate Christian Network :: Ministry Outreach TV

Elevate Christian Network :: Ministry Outreach TV

Video Transcript

in this series I’ve been telling you that you have to rethink the things in your life if you’re going to change the things in your life the same kind of thinking you’ve been using doesn’t work if you think the same thing over and over you’re not going to have any changes in your life the Bible calls changing your mind repentance this is a series on repentance the Greek word Metanoia is the word for a pen it simply means change your mind any time you change your mind from the way you’ve been looking at something to the way God sees it is called repentance and life is about learning to think less and less from my point of view which is often skewered and messed up and you know twisted because of background and all kinds of stuff biology but the best way is to think the way God thinks because God’s always gonna think the truth and the more I get God’s truth in my life the more then I can change my thoughts I can repent and then I can start living in a better way now last week I told you that if you’re gonna deal with temptation you have to you can’t resist it you have to out think it you have to think about temptation in a different way you have to change your mind you have to repent and the same is true with sin and the same is true with life and with happiness and money and sex and every other area that we’re going to be covering in this series this week I want us to look at changing your mind about the way you think about the things that discourage you I I meet people who are discouraged all the time and they’re ready to throw in the towel they’re at the end of their rope they’re ready to give up and they’re discouraged about a lot of things when people go you know there’s so much bad in the world right now well I hate to tell you this but there always has been it’s not like it it’s worse it always has been bad because the Bible says God gives us a free choice and we often choose to not follow what he says to do the Bible calls that sin and evil and and so people get discouraged and I thought this week we look at how do you defeat discouragement in your life now I don’t know what’s discouraging you but if you’ve been discouraged by your finances or your health or a relationship rang you picked a good week to come to church because that’s what we’re gonna look at if you take out your message notes it’s inside your program so we began to look at defeating discouragement you know discouragement can be quite debilitating it can cause you to give up trying you can give up hoping you can give up caring when you get discouraged when you get discouraged you can give up believing and the Bible has a lot to say about discouraged but I’ve put a couple of examples there at the top of your outline Exodus chapter 6 verse 9 says this Moses told the people what the Lord had said but they wouldn’t listen any more they had become too discouraged by the increasing burden of their slavery I wonder what you feel is enslaving you I wonder what burden is getting you down I wonder what problem you’ve had that’s you’ve had it for so long it’s been so chronic did you get discouraged that like these people they wouldn’t even listen to God they couldn’t hear God because of their discouragement the burden was too heavy in their life and we all know that times in life you come to a point where you guys go I’m so burdened down I’m so overwhelmed I don’t even know what to think what to believe what to care about that’s discouragement David felt this in psalm 42 verse 5 David says why am I so discouraged why am i sad and then he answers his own question I will put my hope in God anytime you feel discouraged you need to change your thoughts you need to change your focus you need to change your mind now what we’re gonna do today is look at a great example from Paul on how to change your thoughts so you’re not discouraged Paul of course had many reasons to be discouraged at Paul had a very tough life certainly a whole lot tougher than your life if you don’t believe that look at this on the screen let me read this to you the Bible says in Sector granthia this is Paul’s testimony I’ve worked much harder I’ve been in prison more frequently because of preaching the gospel I’ve been flogged more severely I doubt you’ve ever had that I’ve been exposed to death again and again five times I received 39 lashes you know with the whip three times I was beaten with rods once I was stoned nearly stoned to death three times I was shipwrecked I spent a night and a day in the open sea and I’ve been constantly on the move and I’ve been in danger from rivers from bandits from my own countrymen I’ve been in dangers from the Gentiles in danger in the city in the country at sea and a dangerous from false brothers he says I have often gone without sleep I’ve known hunger and thirst and I’ve gone without food I’ve been cold and I’ve been naked no clothes besides everything else I faced daily the pressures of my concern for all the churches and you think you got problems I wanted to read that to you because if anybody had a right to be discouraged I would say it’s that guy if your life was that you you would have a right to be discouraged and yet in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 Paul gives us the 7 secrets of defeating discouragement this is going to be a very hopeful and very helpful message today so if you take the message notes out and if you look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 let’s get right into what Paul says and he just goes really let’s go verse by verse first the first secret of defeating discouragement is this never forget how much God loves me never forget how much God loves me you have to keep this constantly in focus if you’re going to be immune to this because everything in life flows out of the love of God out of the mercy of God out of the grace of God out of the kindness of God it all flows out of his love now of course you know God loves you you’ve heard it probably all your life you’ve heard me preach on it week after week after week you know God loves you but do you feel it it when you stop feeling the love of God you can’t feel it in your heart that’s when you start to get discouraged and so you’ve got to know the mercy you’ve got to know the grace but you’ve got to feel God’s mercy you’ve got to feel God’s grace here’s the first verse second Corinthians chapter four verse one God in His mercy has given us this ministry and work to do that is why we do not become discouraged and we never give up now in this whole chapter about three or four times this chapter he goes this is why we don’t get discouraged this whole chapters on discouragement and he starts by saying I don’t get discouraged because I remember how much God loves me I remember the mercy of God the grace of God I remember the kindness of God when I’m focused on that it drives a discouragement away you know he says God and His mercy has given us everything you have in life is a gift of God’s mercy the breath you’re breathing right now the the brain you have the health you have the body of everything you have your life in itself is a gift of the mercy of God what is mercy well it’s a lot of things but mercy is God gives me what I need what not what I deserve and mercy is when God knows every mistake I’ll make in my life and yet he still created my life that’s mercy and that God knows every sin I’ll commit in my life and yet he still loves me that’s mercy and Paul says for me to not get discouraged what I have to do is I have to focus on the mercy and the grace and the love of God he says that keeps me going when you get discouraged I guarantee you when you get discouraged at that moment you stopped feeling the love of because you can’t feel how much God loves you and be discouraged at the same time so it’s either one or the other I I don’t know why but a lot of people who followed the Lord for a long time they’ve been Christians a long time they don’t feel God’s love because they only think God speaks to him in the critical voice they hear their mom or their dad and every time God speaks to them it’s always negative friends if the voice is always negative it’s not God I remember there used to be a woman who came to Saddleback Church and she every Sunday out on the patio I’d walk out and she’d come up to me who this little whiny voice and she said you know Pastor Rick today God really convicted me of and it was some sin and the next week I preached didn’t matter what to speak I’m on even as an encouraging message you know pastor Rick today god convicted me of and she did this every week it was like sin of the week okay and and and finally after six months she came up to me he says you know Pastor Rick God convicted me and I go ma’am does God ever say anything nice to you and the truth was she didn’t feel that she didn’t feel the love of God in her life and as a result I guarantee as she was discouraged you’ve got to keep the love of God in in your mind remember that you were created to be loved by God God made you to love you we’ve talked about this so many times and the number one purpose of your life is not for you to do good the number one purpose your life is not for even to love God back the number one purpose of your life is to let God love you let God are you letting God do that are you letting God love you that’s your first purpose you were made to let God love you he made you to love you now this is what it means to have the mercy and grace and love of God always in your mind two of the benefits of always focusing on God’s love and mercy is number one I don’t have to prove my worth you can get off the performance cycle trap and number two I don’t have to wallow in my failures because I know of God’s mercy and grace in his love so Paul starts with that now in the second verse he gives us the second key of defeating discouragement and this is really important never fake it never fake it be yourself what I’m talking about here is being authentic being genuine being real you gotta be who God made you to be nothing is more discouraging than trying to be something you’re not because when you wear a mask when you act when you pose that gets tiring and and you’re afraid that other people might find out who you are and you’re afraid that God might not love you and all of these things nothing’s more discouraging than trying to be something that you’re not I’ll say it as clearly and simply as again God didn’t make you to be somebody else when you get to heaven God isn’t going to say why aren’t you more like your sister or your mom or your dad or your brother or Billy Graham or I want you more like Pastor Tom or pastor ray yeah we’re getting way up there next to Jesus let me talk about Tom but but you know Rick I just got a break in because I think they’re not listening they’re not live you know because I’m just afraid that you know those gender-reveal parties you know where you reveal by the blue or the the paying for the baby Pastor Rick and I are willing to rent ourselves out for one of those parties we’re just I was just afraid they were thinking it so I was probably thinking that yeah pink and blue yes mama here’s the point [Laughter] God does not bless fakes or phonies God does not bless posers does not God does not bless when you try to pretend to be something you’re not if you want God’s blessing on your life you better just start being who God made you to be stop trying to be live for the pleasure or the pleasing of other people the approval of other people God didn’t put you on earth for the approval of other people he put you on earth to be who you are and when you be who God made you to be God looks down and goes that’s my boy that’s my girl that’s how I made you be if you try to be somebody else we don’t need to of anybody else and if you’re not gonna be you God should just go ahead and kill you and take on to heaven because we don’t need a carbon copy most of us start off as originals in life and end up as carbon copies when you try to be something you’re not that’s discouraging Paul says don’t fake it here’s what he says in 2nd Corinthians 4:2 we don’t try to trick anyone in other words we’re not putting on a phony mask we’re not trying to pretend we’re something we’re not and we don’t twist the Word of God instead we teach the truth plainly showing everyone who we really are that’s an antidote to discourage you who we really are then they can know in their hearts what kind of people we are in God’s sight Paul says I’m just trying to be myself I’m not trying to please everybody else I’ve got nothing to hide what you see is what you get nothing is more discouraging than trying to please everybody why because even God can’t do that if you realize this even God can’t please everybody somebody’s praying for the Rams to win somebody’s praying for the Chargers to win ok and some is praying for it to rain and some is praying for not rain and some he’s praying little snow and I can stay home from school and I said please don’t let it snow even God can’t please everybody so only a fool would try to do what God can’t do you know just about time you get crowd a please crowd B gets ticked off at you and then when you get crowd be please crowd as upset with you you know I’ve been on the cover of Newsweek magazine twice once as a hero and once as a zero why don’t they were building me up and one of them they were tearing me down that’s life folks that’s just life and so you you can’t fake it you got to be who you’re going to be if you’re always trying to be something you’re not you’re always gonna be under stress you’re always gonna fear being exposed y’all is gonna have to wear a mask and you’re going to be prone to discouragement what I’m telling you is your pastor is you don’t have to be perfect for God to bless you but you do have to be authentic you do have to be real so Paul says first I want you to remember that God’s never gonna stop loving you and then second be who he he made you to be warts at all you know I’m a very flawed man if you don’t believe that ask my kids RK or Tom or anybody who’s close to me huh I’m very flawed but I actually think that talking to you about my flaws not trying to pretend like I’ve got it all together is a good thing because we don’t grow from other people’s strengths we grow from their weaknesses because you go oh man if God blesses Rick that much and he’s such a doofus then maybe God could bless me because he that certainly doesn’t have it all together so maybe God could bless me like that and and it is in our weakness we actually help other people now what keeps you from really being real one word fear what keeps you from being honest about your weaknesses is your own fear of rejection and what’s the antidote to the fear of rejection point number one focusing on God’s unconditional love for me and if I’m focused on how much God loves me if God loves being I like me and you don’t like me that’s your problem so it’s really important these first two don’t fake it but focus on them on the love of God now here’s the third secret to defeating discouragement remember that it’s not about me remember that it’s not about me the more self focused I am in life the more prone to discouragement I’m going to be every time you forget that life is bigger than you that you’re not the center of universe you’re not God’s gift to the world you’re not holding up you’re not Charles Atlas holding up the world or whatever you think it’s all about you and anytime you forget that it’s not about you you’re gonna get either prideful or you’re gonna get fearful or you’re gonna get bitter prideful fearful or bitter because God didn’t make the world to revolve around you and not only that when you think everything’s all about you then you take everything personally and you get your feelings hurt so fast and here’s the next verse second Corinthians 4 verse 5 he says our message is not about ourselves it’s not about us it’s not about you it’s not about me our message is not about us it is about Jesus Christ as Lord we’re merely your servants for Jesus sake now you know it says a couple important things in that verse first he says our message is not about ourselves God has a unique life message for you he puts you on this earth and he has a message he wants to say to the world through you the message that God wants to say through you – the whole world is called your life message but your life message is not about you it’s about him God didn’t put you on earth to be about you he put you on earth to be about him is your Creator your life message is about God and he says it’s not about you you know when I wrote Purpose Driven Life the first four words of that book are it’s not about you and I intentionally chose those four words to start the book it’s not about you because that’s the most counterculture message you could give in today’s world because everything in our world says the exact opposite it’s all about you have it your way we do it all for you you deserve the best today you’re number one look out for one I’ve got to do what’s best for me everything in society every music a song every video game every TV show you know the news everything around you every advertisement says you got to think about you you got to think about you know no advertisement says think about others certainly no overtime says think about God everything says think about you it’s all about you you you you you and that’s why I put in there it’s not about you I’ll tell you personally sometimes I wish I hadn’t put that in there because I had no idea I didn’t know that for the rest of my life maybe 20 times a day I was gonna get tested personally on that verse on that phrase it’s not about you and sometimes I think I have to say that to myself 20 times a day somebody gives me a praise I got it’s not about you somebody gives me a criticism it’s not about you somebody misjudges something that I did it’s not about you somebody disagrees with me it’s not about you and I’ve often had to say it to myself sometimes every hour in a particular day but it’s one of the things we have to learn remember it’s not about me when I focus on me I’m going to get discouraged now in the second part adversity says it’s not about us but we’re merely servants for Jesus sake now this phrase for Jesus sake Paul uses it twice in this chapter he says we do what we do for Jesus sake and when he’s talking about here is motivation now motivation and discouragement have a lot to go dude together God is always more interested in why you do what you do then what you do let me say it again God is always more interested in why you’re doing what you’re doing then he is what or even how because he cares about the motivations of your heart you can do the right thing for the wrong reason why always determines how long in your life if you go out on a project or you get a goal you get an ambition and you forget why you’ll get discouraged and quit a lot of people start off in life knowing why they want to do what they want to do this particular career or Mary this person or whatever when you forget why you married the person when you forget why you went into that career when you forget why you gave your life to Christ when you forget the why you’re gonna stop doing the how long discouragement always happens when we forget to what so let me ask you before we go on why do you do what you do why do you do what you do well I I do it to put money you know in my pocket to put food on the table that’s not a good enough motivation that that will wear out pretty pretty quickly so remember that it’s not about me number four the fourth secret of defeating discouragement is in the next verse and it has to do with this I need to relax excuse me I need to relax in my limitations I need to relax in my limitations now why is that an important antidote to discouragement because you get discouraged when you try to be Superman you get discouraged when you try to be superwoman you get to try it and you get discouraged when you try to do more than new is humanly possible you have not relaxed in your limitations or I have not relaxed in my limitations what we all need is a realistic view of you I need a realistic view of me you need a realistic view of you and and the facts are I mean let’s just say them you can’t fix everybody’s problems you agree with that but sometimes you act like you can you can’t fit you can’t be that in more than one place at one time is that true yeah you know people say well I’ll be with you in spirit what does that mean absolutely nothing as long as you’re in a human body you can’t be you can’t be in spirit somewhere else you you can only be where your body is okay so you can’t do everything you want to do you can’t spend money you don’t have now you try and there’s a word for that debt and then you get discouraged anytime you don’t live within the limitations of your life that are normal then you’re going to get discouraged you cram too much in is that easier to fill your schedule than it is to fulfil your schedule oh yeah it’s not always easier to get in than it is to get out yes easier to make a promise and keep a promise yeah easier to get into death and then get out of debt oh yeah yeah and that’s because we’re not relaxing in our limitations now Paul talks about literally physical limitations of your body in verse seven he says you know you need to know your limits you you need to know your warning signs when you’re overextended you need to realize you’re just a body in second Corinthians 4:7 we are like clay jars in which this treasure the treasure of God is stored and the real power comes from God not from us he says we’re where our bodies are like pottery they’re like clay jars some of us have very big jars some of the jars in this room are very ornate and very beautiful and others is kind of we’re kind of plain but you know what the one thing in common about all pottery you drop it it breaks easily so we’re all clay jars God says our bodies like clay jars and we’re all a little cracked okay because we’ve all been dropped we’ve all been dropped here and there and this is just being honest about who we really are I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I’ve noticed this that God often puts his greatest gifts in the weakest people I think that’s a good thing because then people go what’s got to be God there’s some people I watch on TV or like teaching the Bible and I’m going boy they’re goofy but God is using them and God often puts his greatest gifts in the weakest vessel that way his glory shines through the truth is for all of history God has only used flawed instruments he’s never used a perfect person except Jesus Christ if God only used perfect people nothing would get done because there aren’t any and so God has always used flawed instruments and sometimes in this series I want to do a message on rethinking your weaknesses because you think your weaknesses are something to hide but they’re actually something that God wants to use in your life I actually thought about this the other day that I’ve grown through I don’t know five or six different phases or stages toward violent weaknesses that when I when I first started living for the Lord I actually didn’t even know I had any weaknesses okay I was so out of touch with me I I didn’t I no even had any weaknesses then I discovered him and I denied them and then I moved from denial to just hiding them and I knew I had him I just hid him and then I went from hiding them to rationalizing and excusing them in my life and eventually I matured enough that I could actually accept them but today I feel like Paul I glory in my weaknesses Paul says I glory in weakness because when I’m weak Christ is strong when I’m weak he’s strong through me when you think about it God invaded earth as a baby of peasants in a barn the kingdom entered through weakness not through strength God has always done that he’s always used weak people who trust him so his strength can go go through them so this is what humility is all about you’ve heard me say this before humility is not denying your strengths it’s being honest about your weaknesses you’re a bundle of both I’m a bundle of both I have some good strengths and I have some major weaknesses you have some good strengths in your life and you have some good weaknesses in your life we’re all a bundle of both humility is not denying your strengths just you’re good at what God is give it the glory to God God gave you that ability humility is being honest about your weaknesses and it’s actually not thinking less of yourself it’s just thinking of yourself less I said when you walk into a room in a party and if you’re going I wonder what everybody thinks about me how do I look as my is my dress right is my shirt right do you know is my makeup on right and that’s pride when you walk into a room and you go who in here could use my encouragement that’s humility it’s not thinking of yourself lest you’re just so busy thinking about other people you’re not thinking of yourself that’s real humility not thinking less but thinking of yourself less they’re all have our weaknesses I really come to conclusion you can be spiritually godly and emotionally dysfunctional at the same time I don’t know if anybody’s ever said that but it’s true it’s true people can be close to God and can be a veritable housed a Bible knowledge and actually give good wisdom and they’re still messed up in their emotions or their personality and he says just be real and and and be honest and accept your limitations number five the fifth secret of defeating discouragement is use my pain to help others this is the fifth bank Paul talks about in this chapter on discouragement Paul says I use my pain to help other people remember that list we went through the shipwrecks and the you know the prison’s of the beatings and all those things in 2nd Corinthians chapter four and verse eight and nine he now says this we often suffer and we often suffer but we’re never crushed and even when we don’t know what to do we never give up there is again we never give up we’re not getting discouraged we never give up and in times of trouble God is with us and when we’re knocked down we get up again now why why is Paul this resilient Wyatt is Paul so resistant to discouragement what allows him to just get back up again every time he’s knocked down well if you were to ask Paul why did you put up with all that why did you put up with all that jailings and beatings and going without food and going without clothes and being shipwrecked three times and you know on the night in the day in the in the ocean and all of those things that have happened why did you put up with all of it his response would be verse 15 the next verse all of these sufferings of ours are for your benefit Circle that phrase for your benefit he says all the stuff this is called redemptive suffering folks all of these sufferings of ours are for your benefit and the more of you who are one to Christ then the more there are to thank him for his great mercy and the more God gets glory okay what is Paul saying here he said I keep on going I don’t get the score because I know it’s helping others even my pain study after study after study has shown that human beings can handle an enormous amount of pain if they see a purpose in it when you have pain and you don’t see any purpose it’s unbearable it’s unbearable but when you can see a purpose a good purpose in it then it becomes bearable and he says here what’s the purpose my purpose of my suffering is for other people’s benefits sometimes you will suffer for the benefit of other people and at that moment you are more christ-like than any other moment because that’s what Jesus did he suffered on the cross not for his benefit he hadn’t done anything wrong he suffered on the cross for our benefit redemptive suffering and sometimes God will let you go through pain not for your benefit yeah you can grow from it but for the benefit of other people he says I keep going I don’t get discouraged because I know it’s helping us can I’ve tried to do this you know when when Matthew died worst day in our lives greatest pain to lose a child to mental illness it was excruciating ly painful it’s still painful today but we’re not gonna waste our hurt so we use it to help other people who struggle with suicide we’ve used it to help other people who’ve families that have struggled with mental illness and their family y ways to hurt I’m not gonna waste that pain I’m not gonna go through it and waste it what is it in your life that’s so painful that you need to be using to help other people your greatest ministry will come out of your deepest hurt if you are honest to God honest yourself and honest enough to talk about it with other people the pain you’ve gone through in your life I’m sorry I’m sorry but that’s called Earth this is not heaven this is Earth and everything’s broken on earth so there’s suffering and pain and evil here it’s not good and we should fight it and avoid and avoid it and you know push it back where we can but it’s gonna happen there is suffering in earth don’t waste it use it for good Paul says I used my pain to help others you know in a couple weeks we’re gonna be having Easter and it’s gonna actually be our 40th Easter at Saddleback Church last year we had almost 71 thousand people at Easter and several thousand came to Christ for the very first time and this year we’re reaching out to try to reach born we’re telling them right bring your friends and what why do we need any more people in this church I mean like isn’t this enough isn’t it big enough friends we don’t grow for our benefit we grow because people need the Lord we don’t grow we don’t reach out we don’t get this church bigger cuz we need a bigger church friend my favorite size was 300 people that way they could pay my salary Geico played golf three times a week if we stopped it at my favorite size none of you’d be here well a couple of you would be in this service but but the truth is we do this for Jesus sake Paul says it twice for Jesus we put up with the problems the bigger the church gets the more problems there are the more stress there is the more heartaches to deal with the more people to help but why do we do it not for our sake we do it because everybody needs to know the Lord and as long as there’s one person who doesn’t know Christ we’re gonna keep reaching out now number six the sixth secret of defeating discouragement this is an important one take time for renewal over the long haul you’re gonna figure out how have to figure out ways to recharge to refresh and to renew yourself if you don’t learn how to refresh and renew and recharge yourself you’re going to get discouraged and you’re going to give up no matter what the project or the gold or the dream is Paul talks about this in verse 16 this is why we never give up okay here’s now this is the third time you use this phrase this is why we never give up he’s talking about overcoming discouragement this is why we never give up though our bodies are dying literally in Greek that word they’re dying is wasting away okay so our bodies are wasting away our spirits are read it with me allowed being renewed every day circle the word renewed you’re gonna have to learn how to be renewed every day that’s called daily renewal now you’ve got to renew your mind you got to renew your body you got to redo your heart renew constantly now obviously and physically our bodies are decaying have you noticed that okay you’re not the sexy being you were ten years ago all right and so when you we have bifocals and baldness and bulges and wrinkles and aches and pains and some of us have furniture problem in our chest dropped into our drawers you can’t stop the aging process but you can stay fresh inside and notice Paul says I renew myself daily how do you do that well you need to spiritually renew yourself daily with time with God every day you spend some time with God every day you read the word you pray you talk you get spiritually recharged it’s like hooking up the jumper cables to get your spirit recharged you need to know what renews you emotionally you need to know what renews you physically and you need to really new yourself every day you’ve heard me say divert daily withdraw weekly abandonned annually and I’ve talked about that a lot so let’s just go on to number seven the seventh secret of defeating discouragement this is a big one stay focused on eternity stay focused on eternity Paul’s final secret for defeating discouragement it is not you know look at the here and now he says you need to maintain an eternal perspective you can’t live for just hearing now you got to look beyond the here and now the here and now is what’s discouraging you but when you look into heaven and you look into the future and you look at the coming rewards and you look at all the things that God has planned for you then you’ll get over your discouragement the reality is you you lose your perspective every time you get tired when you get tired you you lose your perspective and and so Paul says this in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 in verses 17 18 the last two verses he says our present troubles are quite small no one need to stop right there this is the guy who’s been shipwrecked three times been thrown in presidents been beaten gone without food gone without clothing all of these different things and he goes our present troubles are quite small compared to what compared to what okay he this is a matter of perspective and he’s going to say it’s small compared to the rewards and the joys were gonna have forever and ever and ever he said you know even if I had a chronic problem and I had that problem every day of my life well my life on Earth’s only gonna be maybe 60 70 80 years but I’m gonna spend trillions and trillions and trillions and trillions of years in heaven reaping the rewards so he says really this is quite small even if I had it all my life our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long yet they produce in us and the immeasurable great glory that will last how long forever circle that forever it’s gonna last forever so temporary problems joy and glory and results and rewards forever so he says here’s the key we don’t look at the troubles which we can see right now that’s what discourages you rather we look forward to what we have not yet seen talking about in heaven for the troubles that we see will soon be over but the joys to come will last forever you know there are three kinds of motivation in life and you got to have motivation to keep going now there’s internal motivation that’s inside you there is external motivation that’s something from the outside that motivates you and those are okay but stronger than internal or external motivations is the Third Kind eternal eternal motivation which is this life is not all there is we’re made to last forever and we’re gonna spend more time on that side of death than on this side you only get a little bit on this side you’re gonna have far far more on the other side so think about eternal motivation you realize this is how Jesus endured the cross look at the next verse Hebrews 12 to let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus that’s stay focused on eternity keep our eyes fixed on Jesus on whom our faith depends from beginning to end he did not give up there’s that phrase again he did not give up he didn’t gets couraged he did not give up because of the cross on the contrary because of the joy that was waiting for him he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross and he’s now seated at the right hand the right side of God’s throne see Jesus how did Jesus handle all the pain and suffering of the cross he was looking beyond it to the joy that was set before him he’s looking to the reward he had his eyes set on eternity only when you see the invisible can you do the impossible you’ve got to look you know we’ve done a lot of impossible things at Saddleback Church everybody thought they were impossible but you have to look beyond the impossible to see the invisible see what God is doing in the spirit realm are one of my favorite quotes Corrie ten Boom if you look at the world you’ll be distressed if you look within you’ll be depressed but if you look at you’ll be at rest it all depends on what you’ve got your eyes on let us fix our eyes on Jesus or as Paul says we look forward to what we have not yet seen those are the seven secrets Paul gives us for overcoming discouragement but let me add one on that it’ll be a little booster point and it would be this all seven of these things they’re a whole lot easier if you do them with other people it’s a whole lot easier if you have a support group and I know I talked about some small groups all the time because they’re important that every one of these things happen easier when you have other people who will help you with the seven things that are going on if you have a small group you need to get in a small group we’ll be glad to help you start a small group you can go out after this service out to the patio and any of our campuses and say I’d like to get in a group will help you start a group let me close with this promise Galatians 6 verse 8 I don’t know what’s discouraging you this weekend but here’s a verse for you let us not get tired of doing what is right for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up that is a promise of God to you let’s bow our heads let me pray for you father I I don’t know who’s hearing this message right now but you do and you know the hearts and you know those who are on the edge of discouragement or deep deep in it and I pray that we’ll take your word and not just hear it and not just learn it but actually apply it and do it and practice it and it would take these seven steps this week and and put them into our lives and that we’ll review this message all week in order to fight the discouragement that you don’t want us to have now you pray say lord help me to never forget how much you love me help me to never forget how much you love me help me to never fake it do not try to be something that I’m not just to be who you made me to be and lord help me to remember that life is not about me that it doesn’t all revolve around me it’s all about you help me to relax in my limitations do not try to be Superman a superwoman to realize I behold your treasure in clay jars and Lord when I go through pain help me to not just wallow in that pain but to use that pain to help others for other people’s benefit I don’t want to waste the pain I’ve been through Lord I want to use it to help others help me to take time for renewal every day to do the things that recharge my spirit my soul my body my heart my relationships and help me to not get so caught up in the day-to-day and the problems of the moment that I lose my focus on eternity help me to remember that this life is not all there is that I’m made to last forever and that even the pain in my life is temporary compared to the the thousands and millions of years that I will be with you tell the Lord Lord I’m gonna claim this promise that if we do not get tired in doing what’s right that after a while we’ll reach a harvest a blessing if we don’t get discouraged and don’t give up God I’m saying today I’m not gonna give up tell the Lord that I’m not going to give up but I’m gonna trust you just like Paul did in Jesus name Amen thanks for checking out this message on YouTube my name is J and I’m Saddleback’s online pastor I want to invite you to take your next step by checking out our online community or help get you connected to a local Saddleback campus three things we have to offer you right now first learn more about belonging to a church family by taking class 101 second don’t live life alone and get into community with others by joining an online small group or a local home group in your area third join our Facebook group to be more engaged with our online communities throughout the week take your next step and learn where a local campus is near you by visiting Saddleback.com/online or email online@Saddleback.com hope to hear from you soon

Discouragement can be debilitating. It can cause you to give up trying, give up hoping, and give up caring. The Bible has a lot to say about it, and in this message Pastor Rick Warren will talk about how to rethink the things that discourage you and seven secrets to defeating discouragement.

About Saddleback Church

Saddleback Church started in 1980 with two young church planters, a dream, and a map. God gave Pastor Rick and Kay Warren the dream to plant a church for people who didn’t like church, and he led them to Southern California.

This church celebrates God’s presence in worship. Their worship God because we want to magnify and exalt his name. Since their first service in 1980, God has continued to expand the influence of Saddleback Church.

Pastor Rick Warren and his wife Kay founded Saddleback Church when he was just 26 years old and he continues to serve as the senior pastor. To many, he is Pastor Rick, but to his church, he is Papa Rick—a voice of wisdom, hope, encouragement, and vision.

It is now “one church in many locations,” with eight Southern California campuses, and online campus, and three international campuses. They currently have more than 200 ministries serving the church and community.  Now, more than 200,000 church leaders from around the world have been trained in Saddleback’s purpose-driven philosophy.

 

Saddleback Church - Pastor Rick Warren - One Family Many Locations

Saddleback Church is one family in many locations that is passionate about family, friendships, and finding our calling. This is a family, and a place to call home. It’s a place to get help, healing, and hope. | Image: courtesy: saddleback.com

 

 

Saddleback Church Channel | Pastor Rick Warren

 

 

Photo Gallery:

Pastor Rick Warren ministering at Saddleback Church.

Pastor Rick Warren ministering at Saddleback Church. | Image courtesy: saddleback.com

 

 

Saddleback Church - Family Ministries

Saddleback Church – Family Ministries. | Image courtesy: saddleback.com

 

 

Saddleback Church - Outreach Ministries

Saddleback Church – Outreach Ministries. | Image courtesy: saddleback.com

 

 

Saddleback Church - International Ministry

Saddleback Church – International Ministry. | Image courtesy: saddleback.com

 

More resources:

Saddleback Church – Home | Facebook

Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, California. There are no accidental children. God put you on this Earth for a purpose, and before you were even born, he planned what he wanted you to do with your life…

Saddleback Church (@Saddleback) | Twitter

The latest Tweets from Saddleback Church (@Saddleback). Find your purpose and your place at Saddleback Church. No matter where you’re at in life, we have …

Daily Hope with Rick Warren – Devotional – PastorRick.com

We all have people in our lives that drive us nuts. I call them EGRs, which stands for Extra Grace Required. But have you ever thought that God puts them in your …

Pastor Rick Warren – Home | Facebook

Pastor Rick Warren, Lake Forest, California. God is inviting you to live for his glory by fulfilling the purposes he made you for. It’s really the only way to live. Everything else is just existing. Real life begins by committing yourself completely to Jesus Christ…

Purpose Driven Life – What On Earth Am I Here For?

The Purpose Driven Life - Pastor Rick Warren - Christian Book

The Purpose Driven Life (Book) by Pastor Rick Warren

The most basic question everyone faces in life is Why am I here? What is my purpose? Rick Warren says the starting place must be with God and his eternal purposes for each life. Real meaning and significance comes from understanding and fulfilling God’s purposes for putting us on earth.

This book helps readers understand God’s incredible plan for their lives. Warren enables them to see the big picture of what life is all about and begin to live the life God created them to live. | Learn more…

 

See also: Christian News Updates and Christian Music & Bookstore at Elevate Christian Network

About 

Cee Harmon is the founder of Elevate Christian Network and Elevate Your Potential Magazine. He enjoys helping people improve the quality of their lives - spirit, soul, and body.
 
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