Jesus Turns Your ‘Hopeless End’ into ‘Endless Hope’

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES God's Dream For Your Life

Jesus Turns Your 'Hopeless End' into 'Endless Hope' By Rick Warren — May 12, 2015 “This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us … and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.” (2 Corinthians 1:9-10 NIV) In whatever situation you find yourself right now, what are you expecting God to do? Some of you aren’t expecting him to do anything. But God works in your life according to your expectation. That’s called faith! Paul knew this. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 1:9-10, “This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us … and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us” (NIV). This is phase 6: deliverance. The purpose of the dead-end is to teach you to trust in God. Why does God let things get so bad and so out of control? So he can force you to learn to trust in him instead of trusting in your own ingenuity and cleverness. What’s the promise when you trust God? He has delivered you, he will deliver you, and he will continue to deliver you. When God delivers you in this last phase, he uses three different kinds of deliverance: God uses circumstantial deliverance. Sometimes God miraculously alters the circumstance, and the Red Sea splits. That will happen many times in your life, but it’s not going to happen all the time. God uses personal deliverance. Instead of changing the circumstance, God changes you from the inside. You get a new dream, a new vision, a new attitude, and a new perspective. God’s ultimate deliverance is Heaven. God has not promised to remove all of your pain in this world or solve every one of your problems. Because we are on Earth, there is pain and sorrow and suffering. The ultimate deliverance will be one day in Heaven where there will be no pain, no sorrow, no suffering, and no heartache. There is only one way to get to Heaven. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). When you’re at a dead-end, Jesus can take that hopeless end and turn it into an endless hope. Are you at a dead-end? I invite you to take that problem, that situation, and your own life and give them to Jesus Christ. Talk It Over No matter what phase of faith you are in right now, what are you expecting God to do in your life? Have you trusted your life to Jesus Christ? How does that change the way you face a difficulty or dead-end in your journey of faith? Our Gift: Everything Is Possible With God Study Kit with Bonus Worship CD: The Sound of Hope Just like exercise builds your physical muscles, God has a workout program for you to strengthen your faith. And in the Everything Is Possible with God Study Kit, Rick Warren shows you God’s divine training routine to help you strengthen your faith and develop your character. LEARN MORE Complete Audio Series (Purchase) Includes all complete sermons from the Rick Warren God's Dream For Your Life teaching series. LEARN MORE Series Summary Message 1: How God Builds Your Faith Message 2: God's Dream For Your Life Message 3: How To Make Wise Decisions Message 4: Delayed By Design Message 5: How To Deal With Difficulty Message 6: Dead End To Deliverance PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST

Pastor Rick Warren

Enjoy today's Devotional? Listen instantly to the full radio message at Daily Hope Radio. Did someone forward this devotional to you? Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional. This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at rickwarren.org. Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life," read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered across America. This devotional © 2015 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe at any time by changing your e-mail preferences. Update your preferences  |  Unsubscribe