How To Get Your Vision Back — Part 3

SPEAKER 02 : 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.

SPEAKER 03 : 0:24

Now, if Jesus Christ asked you this morning, what do you want me to do for you? What would you say? Some of you are a little reluctant and 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 to 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 here. 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 going to come and share his story and take us through the fifth point. Would you give him a warm welcome?

SPEAKER 01 : 2:43

So we’re looking at the story of blind Bartimaeus. I want to tell you the story of blind Buddymaeus. And I 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 him 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 had never done anything like that before. And that vision seemed 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 this. You 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 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 gonna 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 gotta 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.

SPEAKER 03 : 11:47

The sixth step is actually a step on how to keep your vision so you don’t lose it again. And this is it. Number six, stick with Jesus on the road he travels. If you wanna keep your vision, you don’t wanna have vision leak, you don’t wanna lose it, you need to stay on the road with Jesus on the road that he travels. And this is exactly what happened to Bartimaeus after he got his vision restored. In verse 43, it says this. Immediately, he, that’s Bartimaeus, the blind guy, received his sight and he followed Jesus Circle that word followed. He followed Jesus, praising God. And when all the people saw it, they also praised God. Now in Mark’s account, in Mark chapter 10, it adds this. He regained his sight and began following Jesus on the road. Now I want you to circle the phrase on the road. Notice he’s following Jesus on the road. And I want you to notice what happens when you get your vision back. What happens when you encounter Jesus Christ? Turn your outline over and look at the first sentence again. The first verse, the first sentence of that verse. As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was what? sitting by the roadside, circled by the roadside, sitting by the roadside. Then when his vision is restored, the last verse on your outline, turn it back over, now he’s following Jesus what? On the road. He’s either sitting beside the road as a beggar, now he’s following Jesus on the road. Now here’s the most important question of the day. Which of those two phrases is gonna describe you in the next 10 years? You’re gonna be sitting on the side of the road watching life pass you by and the parade goes by and you’re on the sidelines and you’re sitting in the dirt begging. You’re sitting on the side of the road. Or are the next 10 years gonna be you following Jesus on the road? You either be sitting on the side of the road or you’re gonna be following Jesus on the road. Those are your choices. Decade of Destiny is to help you follow Jesus on the road. You say, I wanna follow Jesus. How do I do that? Okay, it’s real simple. Here’s how you follow Jesus, watch me. One step at a time. That’s how you follow, one step at a time. You don’t run ahead of Jesus. You don’t take shortcuts. You don’t take sidelines and field trips and you don’t sit around and say, let’s smoke pot for a while and then we’ll catch up. You just follow him one step at a time. One step at a time. Now that’s simple. If you don’t take your next step of faith, you’re gonna get behind. Because he’s moving on. Following Jesus implies movement. And in the next 10 years, you just can’t sit around and do nothing. That’s called sitting on the sidelines. Or you can take one step at a time. Now, this week I was praying for you a lot. I did. I prayed for you a lot as your pastor. Because a lot of you are going through some tough times. And I was saying, Lord, give me a verse for every individual in our church that I can pray and give me a verse for our church as a whole that I can pray as we get ready to do the most significant 10 years together. My goal is to help you fulfill your destiny in the next 10 years. And God gave me this verse, Philippians chapter three. It’s here on the screen, verse 15, 315. I love it in the message paraphrase. It says, let’s keep focused on that goal. Those of us who want everything God has for us. I don’t know about you, but I want everything God has for me. I don’t want to miss out on any of the blessings. Let’s keep focused on the goal, those who want everything God asked for us. If any of you have something else in mind, you know, something less than total commitment, may God clear your blurred vision so you’ll see it. And that’s my prayer for you. God cannot fulfill your dream if you don’t have a dream for the next 10 years. God cannot fulfill your vision if you don’t have a vision for the next 10 years. God cannot answer your prayers and help you reach your goals if you don’t have any goals for the next 10 years. So that’s what Decade of Destiny is all about. I’m gonna help you get alone, get quiet, and help you set some life goals for the next 10 years. Now let me close with two questions. Number one, what’s your next step? I mean right now, not Decade of Destiny, right now, what’s your next step today? Well, I don’t know what it is, but I will tell you this. It’s whatever you know to do that you haven’t done already. You know it’s the right thing to do and you just haven’t done it. I haven’t slightest idea what that is in your life. For some of you, it may be go ask forgiveness for somebody you hurt. It may be go offer forgiveness to somebody who hurt you. I don’t know what it is. It may be tithing. It may be break up with somebody. It may be change a job. It may be get baptized. It may be start a group. Question, while you’re thinking about that, why aren’t you doing it right now? What are you waiting on? Why not today? Think about this. Bartimaeus, when he got up that morning, it wasn’t any other different than any other day. What was his plan for that day? The same as his plan had been for thousands of other days. Get out, go sit in the dirt under the hot sun and beg. That’s all he had planned for that day. Sit in the hot sun and beg. He had no idea that Jesus was coming by. He had no plan to get ready. The Savior of the world was going to walk right in front of him. And it was going to change his life. And when it happened, he took advantage of it. No time to prepare. By bringing you to Saddleback Church this weekend, God wanted you here because he wanted you to hear this particular message. And he’s passing you by. Don’t blow it. Don’t miss it. Don’t delay, procrastinate. Get up and follow him on the road. Let’s bow our heads. Don’t let this one pass you by. Would you pray this prayer whether you’ve prayed it for the first time or never in your life? Or maybe you’ve prayed it hundreds of times. Would you say this in your heart? Dear God, I want to know you. Jesus Christ, I believe you can change my situation. I believe you can change me. I’m putting my hope, not in anything else, but in you, Lord. Help me to ignore the negative voices around me and the things that I say to myself. You can’t do it. You’ll never have a dream. You’ll never amount to anything. Your best days are behind you. Help me to stop listening to the negatives. Help me to not worry about human opinion. I don’t want that disability in my life anymore. I don’t wanna worry about what other people think. I wanna worry about what you think. I want to be quiet and hear your call. What is your vision for my next 10 years, Lord? What is your calling on my life? Why am I still alive? What do you want me to do with my life this next 10 years? I want to hear your calling, your vision, your dream. And then tell God exactly what you want. If Jesus says to you, what do you want me to do for you today? Tell him right now. You tell him, Lord, this is what I’d like for you to do in my life. This is what I’d like for you to do for me. And be specific. Say, Lord, help me to receive your vision in faith. I wanna get my vision back. I don’t wanna drift through the next 10 years. But I wanna trust in you and I wanna stick with you on the road. I don’t wanna sit on the side of the road anymore. I wanna be on the road following you step by step. And this is gonna be my first step. And then tell him, whatever your first step is, I’m gonna do this. In faith. I’m going to do this in faith. If you’ve never opened your life to Christ, say, Jesus Christ, come into my life right now and save me. Change me. I want to learn to love you and trust you. I want to learn to follow you. In your name I pray. Amen.

SPEAKER 02 : 21:40

If you just prayed to receive Jesus, congratulations! We would love to send you some free materials to help you along on your spiritual journey. Just email rick at pastorrick.com. That’s rick at pastorrick.com. And now let’s hear how lives are changing through Daily Hope. Here’s Rick with a letter from one of our listeners.

SPEAKER 03 : 22:02

Friends, you are so essential to this ministry of Daily Hope. Your prayers, your support help us reach more and more people around the world. I was really blessed today when I read this note from Edward, and he talks about how he’s learning from Daily Hope while he’s working with inner city kids right here in America. He wrote this. Dear Pastor Rick, I’m a middle school teacher, and it’s a real challenge every morning waking up and coming to my school to teach. I teach at a school where 100% of our students need financial help just to eat lunch. In other words, it’s in a very poor section of a city. He says, I listen to your Daily Hope message during my break, and I usually give my students bits and pieces of it. Today, I told them to think about what they can do for others if they truly want to be happy. Pastor Rick, thank you for making your Daily Hope messages free. I’m able to keep listening to them until I really understand what you’re teaching. Well, Edward, you are making a real difference. I am so proud of you for working with those inner city students. You’re giving them a message of hope and healing and help. And you’re helping them to understand how that by giving their lives away to help other people, they bring new meaning and significance to their own lives. And I’m praying, Edward, that today you’ll be encouraged, not just today, but every day as you go to school, knowing that what you do is making a difference in students’ lives for eternity. God bless you.

SPEAKER 02 : 23:30

Thanks so much, Rick. And if you’d like to let Rick know how much this broadcast has meant to you, how it’s blessed you, please send him an email at rick at pastorrick.com. That’s rick at pastorrick.com. Rick looks so forward to reading those emails. 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.