Happiness Habit: Never Stop Growing By Rick Warren

“I don’t mean to say I’m perfect. I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers, I’m still not all I should be.” (Philippians 3:12-13 LB)

Following Jesus is a decision and then a process for the rest of your life. You can’t follow without walking. You’ve got to have movement!

Philippians 3:12-13 says, “I don’t mean to say I’m perfect. I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers, I’m still not all I should be” (LB).

When Paul wrote that verse, he was an older man in prison in Rome. He’s at the end of life. He’s an incredibly mature person. Yet he says he hadn’t arrived. If anybody had the right to say, “I’ve arrived spiritually,” it would be the guy who wrote most of the New Testament. But Paul says, no, I haven’t arrived. I’m still growing. I’m still learning. I’m still becoming more like Christ.

What’s the trap that will keep you from following Paul’s example and continue growing in Christ? Pride.

Pride will keep you from growing, because when you pretend that you’ve got it all together, you won’t make an effort to become more spiritually mature. No one has it all together! Humility leads to happiness because it makes you teachable.

Happy people never stop growing. Happy people never stop discovering, never stop stretching, never stop learning. If you’ve stopped growing, you’re miserable, because you were made to grow.

Happiness and humility go together because humble people are teachable. They are always asking, “How can I be a better husband? How can I be a better friend? How can I be a better boss? How can I be a better follower of Jesus?”

“Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it” (2 Corinthians 13:5 MSG).

Happiness Habit: Never Stop Growing By Rick Warren

Happiness Habit: Relax in God’s Grace By Rick Warren

“I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.” (Philippians 3:9 NLT)

You can’t earn God’s approval. You can’t earn his love. You can’t earn his recognition. God is love, and he loves you unconditionally. If you want to be a happy person, you need to relax in God’s grace every day.

Philippians 3:3 says, “We Christians glory in what Christ Jesus has done for us and realize that we are helpless to save ourselves” (LB).

One of the things that will rob you of your happiness is legalism. Legalism is the attitude that you have to prove your love to God. Legalism is trusting in what you do for God instead of what Jesus did for you. It’s thinking that you have to follow rules and regulations and restrictions in order to prove yourself worthy.

How do you know when you’re a legalist? It’s when you’re judgmental of other people. How do you know when you’re living by grace? It’s when you’re gracious to others. People who live by grace often find it easier to forgive, because they recognize God continues to forgive them.

Legalism will suck your life dry of happiness. It sucks churches dry of happiness. Ever go to a legalistic church? That church is not happy. There’s no joy in a legalistic church. Everybody’s just there out of duty or guilt.

When you finally realize there’s nothing you can do to make God love you more, it is one of the most liberating feelings in the world. And, it is a key to happiness. Every day, remind yourself of the grace of God, and relax in it.

“I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith” (Philippians 3:9 NLT).

Happiness Habit: Relax in God’s Grace By Rick Warren

Does What You’re Doing Matter? By Rick Warren

“Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:60 TEV)

When you become a follower of Christ, God fills you with his Holy Spirit. The proof of the Holy Spirit in you is not some emotional experience. It’s not speaking in tongues or how high you jump.

The proof that you have God’s Spirit in you is if you are going. Are you telling anybody about the Good News?

Jesus said in Luke 9:60, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the Kingdom of God” (TEV).

What in the world does he mean by that statement? It sounds pretty callous. But what he’s saying here is that you need to be indispensible. There are some jobs in life that anybody can do, but there are some jobs that only a believer can do. Only a Christian can tell other people about Christ. Only a Christian can tell other people how to get to Heaven. Only a Christian can show Christ’s compassion the way Christ wants it shown.

God wants you to be indispensible. Let the people who are spiritually dead do the things that anybody can do. You should spend more of your life doing things that only you can do.

There’s a lot of stuff you can spend the rest of your life doing that isn’t going to matter at all when you get to Heaven.

But there is something you can do that will make an eternal difference. Is anybody going to be in Heaven because of you? What kind of legacy are you going to leave? The greatest legacy is having somebody come up to you in Heaven and say, “I’m here because of you.” That’s using your life in a valuable way.

Talk It Over

Do you feel an urgency to share the Good News? Why or why not?

What does it mean to be indispensable as a Christ follower?

What steps can you take today to do less of the things that won’t matter in eternity and more things that make an eternal difference?

Does What You’re Doing Matter? By Rick Warren

How to Get God’s Power in Your Life By Rick Warren

“God gives power to those who are tired and worn out, and he offers strength to the weak.” (Isaiah 40:29 NLT, second edition)

When you believe in Jesus, you get God’s strength for daily living.

I used to think this wasn’t a big deal. But I’ve realized that for most people the number one problem in life isn’t worry or fear or guilt or bitterness. Their number one problem is weariness.

I talk to people all the time who say, “I’m just so tired all the time. I can’t get it all done. I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

The reason why you’re tired all the time is you have a power shortage. And the reason you have a power shortage is because you’re not plugged in to God’s power. You’re trying to live your life on your power alone.

There’s no way you can fulfill your purpose in life without being plugged in to God’s power. A toaster unplugged is worthless. A blender unplugged is worthless. A vacuum cleaner has no purpose if it’s not plugged in to the power source.

Isaiah 40:29 says, “God gives power to those who are tired and worn out, and he offers strength to the weak” (NLT, second edition).

You need God’s power in more ways than you realize. Paul says it like this: “I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me” (Philippians 4:13 TEV).

This is not positive mental attitude. This is not self-help psychology. This is not pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps thinking. No. This is supernatural power.

What are the “all conditions”? The power to handle loneliness when you’re lonely. The power to handle stress when you’re under pressure. The power to handle guilt and fear and boredom and bitterness and rejection. The power to handle financial disaster. The power to handle health crises. The power to handle a relational predicament.

Where does that power come from? It comes from God — when you believe in Jesus Christ.

Talk It Over

What does it mean to plug in to God’s power?

How does he strengthen and encourage you?

How do you think God wants you to spend your time so that you can connect with him more and not be weary?

How do your priorities need to change?

What do you need God’s power to accomplish today?

What do you think he wants you to do first?

How to Get God’s Power in Your Life By Rick Warren

Three Spiritual Lessons to Keep You in the Race By Rick Warren

“In a race everyone runs, but only one person gets first prize. So run your race to win. To win the contest you must deny yourselves many things that would keep you from doing your best. An athlete goes to all this trouble just to win a blue ribbon or a silver cup, but we do it for a heavenly reward that never disappears. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I fight to win.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-26 TLB)

Did you know that you’re in a race?

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 9:24-26, “In a race everyone runs, but only one person gets first prize. So run your race to win. To win the contest you must deny yourselves many things that would keep you from doing your best. An athlete goes to all this trouble just to win a blue ribbon or a silver cup, but we do it for a heavenly reward that never disappears. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I fight to win” (TLB).

While you’re running your race, I don’t want you to get sidelined. I don’t want you to get run off into a ditch. I want you to make it to the finish line and win the prize.

Just like the soldier, the athlete has three things to teach us about being the best we can be.

1. You must intend to win. This is the difference in being a casual Christian and a committed Christian. Is there a difference between a competitive golfer and a casual golfer? Oh yeah. The committed golfer takes it seriously. He’s playing to win. The casual golfer is just having fun during his time off. The difference is the degree of seriousness. If you’re going to win in life, it’s got to be intentional. It’s not going to happen by accident or without effort. How serious are you about being who God made you to be?

2. You must discipline yourself. No athlete becomes a pro athlete without training. You don’t become great by doing whatever you feel like doing. There are no shortcuts to maturity. There are no shortcuts to greatness. What are some things you can do without so you can spend more time with God, give more to God, serve more, and be more of what God wants you to be?

3. You must stay focused on the reward. You can handle enormous pain and discipline in your life if you realize there’s a purpose for it and that there’s going to be a payoff at the end.

The Bible says in Hebrews 12:2, “Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed — that exhilarating finish in and with God — he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God” (MSG)

Three Spiritual Lessons to Keep You in the Race By Rick Warren

Rick Warren: Harness God"s Power to Overcome Stress, Weariness

Avoiding weariness in life involves allowing oneself to harness God’s power, Pastor Rick Warren says in a devotional on Isaiah 40:29.

Warren, who heads Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, said in the devotional published Sunday on his website, Daily Hope With Rick Warren, that the leading cause for exhaustion among Christians is not bitterness, guilt, or fear, but rather a feeling of weariness. He added that many Christians are simply “sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

The pastor writes that the overbearing feeling of weariness can only be overcome by allowing oneself to harness God’s power in their daily lives.

“There’s no way you can fulfill your purpose in life without being plugged in to God’s power,” Warren writes in the devotional.

He goes on to suggest that Christians need God’s “supernatural power” to adequately deal with all of the difficult aspects of life, including “the power to handle loneliness when you’re lonely. … The power to handle stress when you’re under pressure.

…The power to handle guilt and fear and boredom and bitterness and rejection.”

Warren has previously spoken on the topic of God’s power before, writing in May 2014 that God gives praise to those who relinquish self-reliance and put their faith in Him. And noted that God celebrates “people who are dependent upon Him and surrendered to Him,” because it is then that Christians put the full weight of their faith in God.

In his Sunday devotional, Warren lists the ways Christians can harness God’s power in everyday life, including prayer, perseverance, and taking risks in God’s name.

“When you take a risk to do what God tells you to do, even when it’s hard or unpopular, even when it may cost you, even when it doesn’t make sense, even when nobody else is doing it, God will pour out his power in your life,” Warren writes.

Warren also suggests that it takes faith and trust in God to accomplish all things in life, using the goal of a healthy lifestyle as an example.

“Getting healthy, like any major change we make in our lives, can seem like an impossible challenge. Of course, it is impossible for those who try to do it on their own! But in our inadequacy, God’s strength for the person of faith is made perfectly evident,” Warren writes, adding “That’s why it takes faith to maintain your health the way God desire.” “You’ll never be able to do it on your own. You were never intended to be able to! Anything you can do in your own willpower doesn’t require faith, and when faith is not required, we’re living faithlessly,” Warren adds.

 

 

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Rick Warren: Harness God"s Power to Overcome Stress, Weariness

Doubt Is the Enemy of Imagination By Rick Warren

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” (James 1:5-7 NIV)

Doubt is the enemy of imagination.

When you were a kid, you had a great imagination. But the older you get, the more your imagination grows rusty. You stop imagining what things could be, and you just start living the way they are. You get stuck in the status quo, which is Latin for “the mess we’re in.”

Doubt and fear neutralize what God wants to do in your life. It takes courage to imagine. Do you know why most people don’t imagine? Because they’re afraid of failure.

Courage is doing the thing you fear the most. If you’re not afraid, you don’t need courage. Courage is when you’re scared to death and you say, “I’m going to do it anyway.”

Every great thing that we’ve done at Saddleback Church, I was scared to death to do. But I just said we’re going to do it anyway. Why? Because I’m not about to let fear dominate my life. So I move forward, trembling.

Courage is when you do the right thing while you are afraid. You may wonder, “Should I wait until all my doubts are gone?” But you have to move against your fears. You have to ignore all the insecurity you’re feeling and just go for it.

James 1:5-7 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (NIV).

Your imagination is either going to be governed by fear or it’s going to be governed by faith. That’s your choice. If you let your imagination be governed by fear, you’re going to go around being freaked out, stressed out, and worried all the time. When you allow fear to control your imagination, you live a miserable life.

Instead decide that you’re not going to allow fear to dominate. Let your faith dominate. Trust in God. Then you can move forward in faith and allow your imagination to be filled with all kinds of possibilities, because all things are possible with God

Doubt Is the Enemy of Imagination By Rick Warren

Will You Trust God or Will You Worry? By Rick Warren

“Your generosity …. not only provides for the needs of God’s people, but also produces more and more prayers of thanksgiving to God.” (2 Corinthians 9:11b-12 GW)

Your faith is like a muscle. When you use it, it gets stronger.

Without a doubt, the number one way God tests your faith is through your finances. You’ve already been tested many, many times in your finances.

Do you trust God, or do you worry?

The Bible says your giving proves you trust God: “Your generosity …. not only provides for the needs of God’s people, but also produces more and more prayers of thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:11b-12 GW).

I’ll never forget the first time I learned to be generous in faith. I was in college. I had two bills: $500 to the college and $10 to a friend. But I only had $50 in the bank. I had just heard a pastor say the best time to start tithing is when you’re in debt.

So I thought, “I’ll just give that money away.” I took the $50 out of the bank and gave it to the American Bible Society (ABS). Then I wrote a letter to ABS that said, “Here’s a $50 donation. Since you’re reading this, I’d sure like prayer for a poor, starving college guy in debt. Say a prayer for me.”

I planted a seed.

Three weeks later I was invited to speak to a youth group in Norwalk, Calif. I was a volunteer, so I wasn’t supposed to get paid. But Sunday night the pastor stood up and said, “We’re going to take up an offering for this college student who has been here all week.” They took up an offering, and when they gave it to me, it was $565. That meant I could pay off my $500 college bill, give $10 to my friend, and I still had $55 to give my tithe on what I had been given.

I could tell you a hundred stories like that one. The truth that God blesses us when we’re generous isn’t a theory to me. I’ve seen it happen over and over again.

Generosity is built on the law of the harvest. The Bible says, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Corinthians 9:6 NIV).

You always reap more than you sow. This principle applies in every area of your life. If you give criticism, you’re going to get more back. If you show anger, you’re going to get more back than you gave out.

If you sow a kernel of corn, you get way more back than just one kernel — you get a whole stalk of corn with several ears! It’s an exponential return on your planting. You reap what you sow. That is the law of the universe. Whatever you need more of in life, give it away.

When you do that, you stretch your faith. Once you see God provide far more than you gave, you’ll be ready to give more the next time.

Talk It Over

⦁ How has generosity grown your faith?

⦁ What makes generosity tough for you? Are there any mental, emotional, or spiritual barriers that you believe get in the way of you being more generous? Why do you think you have these barriers?

⦁ How have you seen the “law of the sower” work itself out in your life?

Will You Trust God or Will You Worry? By Rick Warren

Is It Your Dream or God’s Dream? By Rick Warren —

“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.” (Mark 8:35 NLT, second edition)

How do you know if you are living for your dream or God’s dream?

You may think you were created to get up, go to work, come home, watch TV, and go to bed, to make a little money, retire, and die. Really? You think that’s all God put you here for?

If your dream is truly from God, it will somehow be connected to his Church and his plan for the world. Why would God give you a self-centered dream, unconnected to what he wants to do in the world? He wants to use you for his dream. He wants to use you for his plan.

And what is God’s big, overarching plan? God is building a family, and he’s collecting family members from every nation, every tribe, every language, and every people group. When everybody’s in the family that he knows will be in the family, it’s over. We’re going into phase two, which is eternity. That’s God’s big plan.

Right before Jesus went back to Heaven after the Resurrection, he gave the disciples a great vision, a great dream. It’s called the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20 NLT, second edition).

The Great Commission is your commission. We’ve had 2,000 years of God building his family so that now there are 2.3 billion people in it. The Church is bigger than China and India combined. It’s bigger than anything else on this planet. Why? Because God created it. It’s the whole purpose of history.

And when God gives you a dream for your life, it is somehow going to be connected to his overarching plan, the growth of his Church and his Kingdom, and the building of his family until the day it’s completed and we all go to Heaven.

You weren’t put here on Earth to live for yourself. Ask God to give you his dream for your life so that you can be part of the biggest, best, and most important story.

“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it” (Mark

Talk It Over

What are your dreams for your life?

How will your dreams contribute to the growth of God’s Kingdom on Earth?

Why is it important to have goals?

Is It Your Dream or God’s Dream? By Rick Warren —

God Can Top Your Biggest Dream By Rick Warren

“God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” (Ephesians 3:20 MSG)

God’s dream for your life is exponentially bigger than your dream. It’s eternally significant.

There are a lot of dreams you could have that may seem big, but they wouldn’t be significant. You could dream of being a millionaire by a certain age, but for what purpose? Do you think God put you on this planet to live for yourself? Of course not! God’s dream for your life is bigger than your dream.

Ephesians 3:20 says, “God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” (MSG)

I’ve never been accused of small dreaming. I have big visions in life. Yet God says, “Rick, think of the greatest thing I could do in your life, the greatest way I could bless your life. Dream the biggest dream, the greatest vision — and I can top that!”

You have no idea what God wants to do in your life. You are living such a small fraction of what you’re capable of. You are doing with your life such a small portion of what God wants to do in your life.

God wants you to dream big. He wants you to base your dream not on what you think you can do but on what you think God can do. He wants you to use the imagination that he gave you, because dreaming big honors him. It shows faith. It shows trust.

Many years ago Saddleback Church purchased 120 acres of land for our campus. That’s bigger than Disneyland! When word got out, people said, “What kind of church is this that’s going to go buy 120 acres of Orange County property? Who do those people think they are?”

When I heard that, I said, “That’s the wrong question. The question should be, ‘Who do we think God is?’” We were dreaming big because we knew God had a big plan for Saddleback.

Let the size of your God determine the size of your goal.

Talk It Over

If you could have one dream come true in your life, what would it be?

Do you have a hard time accepting that God’s dream for your life is bigger and better than your biggest and best dream? If so, why?

Take some time to pray and ask God how he wants you to expand and refine your goals so that they reflect your trust in his great vision for you and for the world

God Can Top Your Biggest Dream By Rick Warren

The Benefit of Believing By Rick Warren

“I am the one who raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone who believes in me, even though he dies like anyone else, shall live again. He is given eternal life for believing in me and shall never perish.” (John 11:25-26a TLB)

There are a lot of benefits to believing in Jesus and having a relationship with him, but even if there were nothing else, there would still be this, and it’s a pretty big deal: When you believe in Jesus Christ, you are guaranteed eternal life. Your eternity is sealed because of Jesus’ Resurrection.

You see, Jesus bringing himself back to life changed everything. It literally split history into A.D. and B.C. It’s the most important event. And, it proved three things.

First, it proved that Jesus is exactly who he claimed to be. He repeatedly said he was the Son of God who came to die for our sins. And he did just that.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most well documented events in history. It would stand up in any court of law. In fact it has many, many times throughout centuries.

The Resurrection also proved that Jesus keeps his promises. Jesus told his disciples that he was going to let the people kill him and that he would come back to life. If he kept that promise, then you know you can trust the other promises in the Word of God.

The third thing the Resurrection proves is that there is life after death. If Jesus Christ hadn’t resurrected, you would have no hope for the future.

Jesus said in John 11:25-26, “I am the one who raises the dead and gives them life again. Anyone who believes in me, even though he dies like anyone else, shall live again. He is given eternal life for believing in me and shall never perish” (TLB).

Where else are you going to get a promise like that? Nowhere! Who else can give that to you? No one! If you don’t get it from Jesus, you won’t have it. That is an amazing benefit, and it’s available to you today. What’s the qualification? You must believe.

If you want to make a decision to believe in Jesus Christ and follow him, just pray this prayer: “Dear Jesus, you have promised that if I believe in you, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and you will accept me into your eternal home in Heaven one day.

I confess my sin, and I believe that you are God, my Savior. I receive you into my life as my Lord. Today I’m turning over every part of my life to your management. You have the right to call the shots in my life. Jesus, I want to relax in your love.

Thank you that I don’t have to earn it or deserve it or work for it. I want to use the rest of my life to serve you rather than serving myself. I humbly commit my life to you and ask you to save me and accept me into your family. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

The Benefit of Believing By Rick Warren

Your Faith Can Move Mountains By Rick Warren

“Have faith in God! If you have faith in God and don’t doubt, you can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it will. Everything you ask for in prayer will be yours, if you only have faith.” (Mark 11:22-24 CEV)

Faith opens the door to miracles. If you study the Bible and history, you find that every time God moves on Earth and does a miracle, it’s because somebody believed.

Jesus said in Mark 11:22-24, “Have faith in God! If you have faith in God and don’t doubt, you can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it will. Everything you ask for in prayer will be yours, if you only have faith” (CEV). Faith can move mountains!

God has set up the universe in a hierarchy of laws, and the law of faith is actually a higher law than the laws of nature. That’s where miracles come in. Because when faith is used, the law of faith goes into practice, and the law of faith can actually do more than the laws of physics.

Does God still perform miracles today? Of course he does. Every time you stretch your faith, God does miracles — every single time. My question for you is this: What’s the mountain in your life that needs to be moved? What’s the thing you’ve already decided will never change? That’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. How do you know it won’t change? Maybe God wants your faith to supersede the law of nature. He has in the past, He is doing it today all around the world. God is in the mountain-moving business. Do not doubt or underestimate what he wants to do in your life.

Matthew 13:58 says, “[Jesus] did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith” (NIV).

You might say, “I don’t see many miracles in my life.” I wonder why! Are you seeing with eyes of fear, or are you seeing with eyes of faith? Faith opens the door to miracles

Talk It Over

What is something in your life that you have given up on or believed would never change?

How do you think God wants you to start praying for that thing?

What does he want you to do in faith?

What does it mean to see with eyes of faith and not eyes of fear?

Your Faith Can Move Mountains By Rick Warren

Grow, Sow, and Go in Faith By Rick Warren

“Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:7 NLT, second edition)

God wants you to focus on growing, sowing, and going in faith.

First, God wants you to grow in faith. He doesn’t want you to be a spiritual baby! The Bible says in Colossians 2:7: “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness” (NLT, second edition).

And, God wants you to sow in faith. He wants you to learn to become generous, because you cannot become like Christ without becoming generous. The Bible says,“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Corinthians 9:6 NIV).

This is the law of sowing and reaping, and it’s true in every area of life. If you sow criticism, you’re going to reap criticism. If you sow love, you’ll reap love. If you sow kindness, you will reap kindness. And you always reap more than you sow. When you plant one corn kernel in the ground, you don’t get one kernel back. You get a whole stalk. You always get more back —positive or negative — of what you put out in life.

Then, God wants you to go in faith.

Hebrews 11:8 says, “It was by faith Abraham obeyed God’s call to go to another place God promised to give him. He left his own country, not knowing where he was to go”(NCV).

Would you do that? Abraham was up in years. He was in his retirement phase, just about to hang it up and settle down when God said, “No. Dust yourself off, and get ready for the greatest journey of your life.” When you live by faith, it involves going, often to places you were never planning to go.

Why is it so important for you to develop your faith?

Because everything that God does in your life he does by his grace and through your faith:

“Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6a NIV).
“According to your faith let it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29b).

“Anything that is not done in faith is sin” (Romans 14:23b GW).

Grow, Sow, and Go in Faith By Rick Warren

The First Step to a Miracle By Rick Warren

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them …. So he began teaching them many things. By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. ‘This is a remote place,’ they said, ‘and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go … buy themselves something to eat.’ But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘That would take more than half a year’s wages!’” (Mark 6:34-37 NIV)

If you want God to do a miracle in your life, the first thing you have to do is admit that you have an unsolvable problem.

Mark 6:34-37 says, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them …. So he began teaching them many things. By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. ‘This is a remote place,’ they said, ‘and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go … buy themselves something to eat.’ But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘That would take more than half a year’s wages!’” (NIV)

In this passage, we learn the three typical responses to an unsolvable problem in our lives: We procrastinate, we pass the buck, and we worry.

First, we procrastinate. It was already late in the day when the disciples brought the problem to Jesus. They had all day to figure out how to feed the 5,000 people. When we have a problem we can’t solve, we just keep putting it off. We delay. We pretend it doesn’t exist. We look the other way.

What problem are you avoiding in your marriage? What problem in your finances have you procrastinated about? What problem in your body are you putting off addressing? Procrastination only makes problems worse.

Second, we pass the buck. We blame other people. Instead of dealing with the problem, the disciples wanted to send the people away. They thought, “Hey, we didn’t invite these people out here. We didn’t promise them food.” So they didn’t take responsibility for the need. Have you ever done that with a problem in your life?

The third thing we do is worry. We fret, we stew, we get anxious, we get stressed out. When Jesus told the disciples to feed the people, their anxiety went into overdrive. I can just imagine Peter doing the cost analysis. “Five thousand people! How are we ever going to get the food and keep it hot and distribute it and then clean it up?”

Just like we do when we face a seemingly unsolvable problem, the disciples procrastinated, they passed the buck, and they worried. What’s the problem with this picture? They’re standing next to Jesus — the guy who can easily turn stones into bread if he wanted to, yet when he tells them to do something, they say, “Lord that’s practically, financially, and humanly impossible.”

Has God ever asked you to do something impossible and you replied, “Lord, I don’t have the time. I don’t have the money. I don’t have the energy. I don’t have the education.”

God wants you to do the impossible because he wants to stretch your faith. When you have an unsolvable problem, just admit it, and then wait to see how God can turn it into a miracle.

Talk It Over

What is a problem in your life that seems unsolvable?

What do you think God wants you to do instead of worrying about that problem?

The Bible says God will never give us more than we can handle. What do you think about that?

The First Step to a Miracle By Rick Warren

You Can Be Saved, No Matter What You’ve Done By Rick Warren

“We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” (Romans 3:22 NLT, second edition)

Because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross, everything you’ve ever done wrong is forgiven. God forgives you freely, completely, instantly, and repeatedly.

Even if there were no such thing as a Heaven — but of course there is — it would be worth believing in Jesus just to get a clear conscience. I’ve talked to thousands of people, and I know that most people are carrying secret guilt, secret regrets, and secret shame. You can be completely forgiven of that!

Romans 3:22 says, “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are” (NLT, second edition).

I love that last part. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, who you’ve done it with, how long you did it, or where you did it — you can be saved. You can be forgiven. Everything is forgiven when you trust in Jesus Christ.

Talk It Over

Why do people find it so difficult to trust and accept God’s offer of salvation and grace?

What does it mean to be “made right” with God?

Who in your life needs to hear and be encouraged by Romans 3:22?

You Can Be Saved, No Matter What You’ve Done By Rick Warren

Want to Know Your Purpose? Ask Your Creator! By Rick Warren

“Everything, absolutely everything … got started in him and finds its purpose in him.” (Colossians 1:16 MSG)

When you put your trust in Jesus Christ, you learn God’s purpose for your life.

Most people don’t know the purpose of their lives. If you don’t know your purpose, you end up drifting through life. You get bounced around. You don’t control your life; your life controls you!

There’s only one way you’re going to learn the purpose of your life. You’ve got to talk to your Creator.

Sometimes people will say that if you want to know your purpose, look within. I did that. It didn’t work! You can’t tell you what your purpose is because you didn’t create you. Only the Creator can tell you what purpose you were created for. You will never, ever know the purpose of your life until you believe in Jesus Christ, because he is your Creator.

The Bible says, “Everything, absolutely everything … got started in him and finds its purpose in him” (Colossians 1:16 MSG).

Today so many people are confused about their identity and their purpose. They say, “I don’t know who I am, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing with my life.” That’s because they’re looking in the wrong places. There is only one place to find your identity and purpose in life, and that’s through a relationship with your Creator, Jesus Christ.

“It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for …. part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone” (Ephesians 1:11).

Want to Know Your Purpose? Ask Your Creator! By Rick Warren

God Wants Whatever You’ve Got By Rick Warren

“‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.” (John 6:5b-6 NIV)

Do you remember the story of Jesus feeding 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish? I think it’s amazing that out of 5,000 people, only one person brought a lunch. I’m thinking a lot of people were hiding a picnic basket under their robes because they didn’t want to share with anybody else. But one little boy offered the bread and fish that he packed for his lunch. He gave Jesus what little he had, and God used it not just to feed a lot of people but also to show them how much he cared and how powerful he is.

God always starts with what you have. You may not have much time. Your finances may not be worth much. You may not think you have much talent.

But you can give God everything in your life. Give him your heart. Give him your reputation. Give him your past, your present, and your future. It may not be much, but you can give him your five loaves and two fish.

In John 6:5-6 Jesus asks, “‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do” (NIV).

Jesus wasn’t sweating how to feed 5,000 people. He already had in mind what he was going to do. He saw the need long before they did. And he had a plan.

You need to understand this truth today: God always has the answer before you even know the problem. God is not sweating your unsolvable problem. It’s not too late in the day for Jesus. He saw your problem long before you did. He knew it was coming, and he already had a plan for it. God knows the solution to your problem before you even recognize it’s a problem.

So why are you worrying? Just admit you have an unsolvable problem, and then give God everything you

Talk It Over

When you face an unsolvable problem, is your first reaction to look at your own resources or God’s promises? Why?

What does it mean to give God something?

Why do you think God wants us to surrender what we have before he works a miracle?

God Wants Whatever You’ve Got By Rick Warren

Pastor Rick Warren: For Sexual Purity, Choose God"s Standard

Maintaining sexual purity before and during marriage is attainable, but commitment is a necessary ingredient, Pastor Rick Warren said in his “Daily Hope” blog post earlier last month.

Warren, who heads Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, suggests that Christians must accept that God knows more about sex than they do, and therefore it is important to trust God more than popular culture and peer pressure when choosing a sexual lifestyle for oneself.

The megachurch pastor writes that Christians must establish their sexual standard before they encounter temptation, so they will have a strong foundation to refuse such temptation and stay the course of purity. “You’ll need a standard to live by. You can either build your standard by yourself or choose God’s standard. You must decide whether God knows more about your life than you do,” Warren advised.

“You can only be pure by following God’s standard. God’s standards are in your best interest. If you want to live by them and avoid all the negative consequences that come from living outside of them—it starts with a commitment.” Warren has consistently taught the importance of understanding sex as more than a physical pleasure, saying in previous sermons that sex entails emotional and spiritual components that are equally if not more important than the physical act.

While attending a conference on sexual relationships at the Vatican in November 2014, Warren told EWTN during an interview that both marriage and sex are “God’s ideas,” and humans need to respect that God made both of these entities with a plan in mind.

“Sex is the fullest expression of who we are as a man or a woman. It’s not simply a physical act,” Warren said in the interview. The pastor added that Christians must build a foundation for their sexual values that rely on God’s teaching, rather than pop culture.

“We have to realize that truth is always true and we build our lives on this foundation. If you build your lives on what’s in style, here’s the problem: everything that’s in style goes out of style. […] The only way to be relevant is to be eternal,” Warren added.

 

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Pastor Rick Warren: For Sexual Purity, Choose God"s Standard

What Faith Does to Your Dreams By Rick Warren

“Glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of — infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.” (Ephesians 3:20 TLB)

Faith turns God-given dreams into reality. Nothing happens until somebody starts dreaming!

The Bible is full of people who had God-given dreams. Abraham dreamed of being the father of a great nation. Moses dreamed of setting God’s people free. Joseph dreamed of saving a nation and his own family. Throughout Scripture, there are all kinds of people who were inspiring dreamers, like Daniel and Paul and David.

Ephesians 3:20 says, “Glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of — infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes” (TLB).

Now, if there were ever a “blank check” verse in the Bible, that’s it. God is able to do far more than we would dare to ask. What are you afraid to ask God for? He is able to do far more than we could even dream of.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a pretty big dreamer. I can think of some pretty big dreams I’ve had in my lifetime. God says, “Warren, think of the greatest thing you could ever dream of, the greatest thing you think I could do in your life. Guess what? I can top that.”

If there were tears in Heaven, it would simply be because we would get there and realize all the things that we could have done if we had just believed God a little bit more. To me that would be Hell! Hell for me would be being shown everything I could have accomplished and become as a husband, a father, and a pastor if I had just believed God a little bit more.

But there aren’t any tears in Heaven, and God gives you everything you need right now to accomplish what he has planned for you. I want to challenge you to dream big about your relationships, your marriage, your family, and your career. Your faith can turn those dreams into reality, because God is able to do far more than we would dare to ask or even dream.

Talk It Over

How do you know if your dreams are from God?

What does it mean practically to apply faith to your dreams?

Why don’t all of our dreams turn into reality?

What Faith Does to Your Dreams By Rick Warren

Who Controls Your Future? By Rick Warren

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28 NLT, second edition)

 

One of the great fears we all face is the fear of the future. We fear for the futures of our families, our friends, our jobs, our communities — and everything else in between.

 

It’s natural. We’re not in control. But that realization should drive us to trust God more deeply.

 

We might not be in control of our future, but God is. He created the whole universe. If he wanted to, the Lord could just snap it out of existence in a moment. Yet he is working his plan in history. He is moving history to a climax, a destiny. One day Jesus Christ will come back to Earth. Nothing will stop that. Just as he is working in history to move events toward that day, he will work in your life for a purpose, too — if you’ll let him.

 

The Bible says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28 NLT, second edition).

 

God’s Word doesn’t say that everything is good. It also doesn’t say that God causes everything. He doesn’t cause war. He doesn’t cause cancer. He doesn’t cause rape, abortion, incest, or molestation. He doesn’t cause evil. We do that. God gives us the freedom to choose. Evil is the price of that freedom.

 

But the Bible does say that God causes everything to work together for good. He can take the dumb, evil, and bad decisions I’ve made in my life and use them for good if I’ll trust him. Romans 8:28 isn’t a promise for everyone, though. It’s for “those who love God.” It’s for those who trust God and say, “Here, Lord, you take all the broken pieces of my life and put them together.”

 

This is why when I read the headlines each day, I don’t worry. Sure, there are a lot of problems in the world today, but God is still in control. God is still moving history to a climax. And God is still moving his people toward his best for them. One day God will work everything out for his purpose.

 

Because God is in control, we can trust him with everything — including the good, the bad, and the ugly of our live

 

Talk It Over

How will knowing that God is in control help you to trust him better?

How have you seen God take a bad decision and make something good out of it?

What’s one fear of the future that you can hand over to God today?

Who Controls Your Future? By Rick Warren