Obedience to God is the key to freedom

Obedience to God is the key to freedom

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READ: Numbers 14:1-10

If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us. —Numbers 14:8

Eugene Cussons rescues chimpanzees. Orphaned by those in the business of bush-meat trade and taken from the jungle as infants, many have lived their entire lives confined in a space smaller than a prison cell. When Cussons arrives to take them to the game reserve he calls “Chimp Eden,” he often finds them hostile and untrusting.

“These chimps don’t realize that I am one of the good guys,” Cussons says. When he tries to put them into a smaller crate for the trip to their new home, they put up quite a fight. “They don’t know that I’m going to take them back to Chimp Eden and give them a life so much better.”
On a much grander scale, God’s offer to liberate us from the slavery of sin is often met with resistance. When He rescued the children of Israel from Egypt, God took them through difficult places that caused them to doubt His good intentions. “Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” they cried (Num. 14:3).

On our journey of faith, there are times when the “freedom” of sin that we left behind is more appealing than the restrictions of faith that lie ahead. We must trust the protective boundaries found in God’s Word as the only way to get to the place of ultimate freedom. — Julie Ackerman Link

Sin’s lure may look like freedomBut in its grip we’re bound;It’s when we’re bound to JesusReal freedom will be found. —D. De Haan

Obedience to God is the key to freedom.

Postponement Problems

Postponement Problems

ODB RADIO: Listen Now DownloadREAD: Romans 12:4-13

We have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. —Romans 12:4

Many of us struggle with them—postponement problems. A professor at the University of Calgary in Alberta studied the problem of procrastination for 5 years and reported that 95 percent of us put off doing one thing or another. One estimate showed that Americans lose approximately $400 million a year by putting off filing taxes! Because of fear of failure or other insecurities, we wait and wait before starting a project or making a decision.

Procrastination is a problem in the church too. Many of us postpone serving God. We know we should reach out to others, but we feel insecure or worried about what to do. Because we’re unsure of our gifts or interests, we put off our involvement in the church. We worry, What if I do a poor job? What if I find out I can’t even do it?

Romans 12 gives us some encouragement. Serving starts with presenting ourselves to God as “a living sacrifice” (v.1). Pray and give yourself anew to the Lord and His work. Then look around at what others are doing in your church and ask if you can join in. Start small if you need to, and try a number of things.

Your church needs you. Ask God to help you overcome your postponement problems. — Anne Cetas

Don’t put off for tomorrow
What you can do today;P
ostponement may bring sorrow,
Prompt action is the way. —
Hess

For a healthier church, exercise your spiritual gifts.

May God Smile on You

May God Smile on You

by Jon Walker
May the Lord smile on you. Numbers 6:25 (NLT)
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The smile of God is the goal of life.

Since pleasing God is the first purpose of your life, your most important task is to discover how to do that. The Bible says, “Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it” (Ephesians 5:10 MSG).

Fortunately, the Bible gives us a clear example of a life that gives pleasure to God. The man’s name was Noah.

In Noah’s day, the entire world had become morally bankrupt. Everyone lived for their own pleasure, not God’s. God couldn’t find anyone on earth interested in pleasing him, so he was grieved and regretted making man. God became so disgusted with the human race that he considered wiping it out.

But there was one man who made God smile. The Bible says, “Noah was a pleasure to the Lord” (Genesis 6:8 LB).

God said, “This guy brings me pleasure. He makes me smile. I’ll start over with his family.” Because Noah brought pleasure to God, you and I are alive today.
Over the next few days, we will learn from Noah’s life the five acts of worship that make God smile.

God smiles when we love him supremely. Noah loved God more than anything else in the world, even when no one else did! The Bible tells us Noah “consistently followed God’s will and enjoyed a close relationship with him” (Genesis 6:9 NLT).

This is what God wants most from you: a relationship! It’s the most astounding truth in the universe: our Creator wants to fellowship with us. God made you to love you, and he longs for you to love him back. He says, “I don’t want your sacrifices – I want your love; I don’t want your offerings – I want you to know me” (Hosea 6:6 LB).

Can you sense God’s passion for you in this verse? God deeply loves you and desires your love in return. He longs for you to know him and spend time with him. This is why learning to love God and to be loved by him should be the greatest objective of your life.

Nothing else comes close in importance. Jesus called it the greatest commandment. He said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38 NIV).

God Smiles When We Obey

God Smiles When We Obey
by Rick Warren

Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him. Genesis 6:22 (NLT)

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Noah obeyed completely (no instruction was overlooked) and he obeyed exactly (in the way and time God wanted it done). That is wholeheartedness. It is no wonder God smiled on Noah.
If God asked you to build a giant boat, don’t you think you might have a few questions, objections, and reservations? Noah didn’t. He obeyed God wholeheartedly. That means doing whatever God asks without reservation or hesitation. You don’t procrastinate and say, “I’ll pray about it.” You do it without delay. Every parent knows that delayed obedience is really disobedience.

God doesn’t owe you an explanation or reason for everything he asks you to do. Understanding can wait, but obedience can’t. Instant obedience will teach you more about God than a lifetime of Bible discussions. In fact, you will never understand some commands until you obey them first. Obedience unlocks understanding.
Often we try to offer God partial obedience. We want to pick and choose the commands we obey. We make a list of the commands we like and obey those while ignoring the ones we think are unreasonable, difficult, expensive, or unpopular. I’ll attend church but I won’t tithe. I’ll read my Bible but I won’t forgive the person who hurt me. Yet partial obedience is disobedience.
Wholehearted obedience is done joyfully with enthusiasm. The Bible says, “Obey him gladly” (Psalm 100:2 LB). This is the attitude of David: “Just tell me what to do and I will do it, Lord. As long as I live I’ll wholeheartedly obey” (Psalm 119:33 LB).

James, speaking to Christians, said, “We please God by what we do and not only by what we believe” (James 2:24 CEV). God’s Word is clear that you can’t earn your salvation. It comes only by grace, not your effort. But as a child of God you can bring pleasure to your heavenly Father through obedience.

Any act of obedience is also an act of worship. Why is obedience so pleasing to God? Because it proves you really love him. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments” (John 14:15 TEV).

Still

Verse For The Day

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.” (Psalm 33:12)

Short Devotional Thought
Our Daily Devotional:

Still

Psalm 18:2 NIV: The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

You still feel something is missing. You still wonder what it is. You still try to find God´s answers. You still question whether the answers are His. You still put your best foot forward. You still feel inept in your tries. You still long for something far greater. You still hope God hears all your cries. And somewhere in the midst of questioning, and confusion in all that is, Truth quietly whispers. "I´m still here," the voice says. In your heart of hearts you have no doubt that He is. He´s still present no matter how quiet. Still faithful no matter the trial. Still longing to help you get through it. Still walking with you, every mile. He´s still beside you in the still quiet moments. Still comforting you in His arms. Still cherishing you as His loved one. Still keeping you safe from what harms. "I´m still here," He says, "So be still." Embrace His peace and take heart. And know no matter whatever may be—God´s still with you throughout every part.

Faith the Facts!

by Rick Warren

When will you ever learn that “believing” is useless without doing what God wants you to? Faith that does not result in good deeds is not real faith. James 2:20 (LB)
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Is faith simply a frame of mind? A passive attribute of a Christian w aiting to see what God has in store for you: a promotion, cancer, depression, betrayal, blessing, wealth, and injustice . . . some see it that way. They might say, “I’ll just wait to see what God is going to do for me and go with the flow.” That’s crazy talk.

Faith is active. It’s not passive. It’s a commitment. Look at your lifestyle and see what kind of actions follow as a result of it. If you’ve got the real stuff, faith can be demonstrated.
When you were baptized you made a statement to God and the people around you. You said, “I’m in!” But it doesn’t stop at baptism – not by a long shot! What else do you do? You start following the pattern of Jesus. Faith is proven by how we live. Don’t misinterpret this. What you do – your walking around, everyday life – doesn’t get you into heaven. It doesn’t make you saved. It doesn’t mean you’re a Christian; it shows you are a Christian.

The next steps:
· Celebrate the lavish gift of grace. You were saved because Jesus is crazy about you and wants you to be with him in heaven. Revel in it!

· Show your faith. Wedding rings don’t make you married, but they say “Yes” in a visible way. In the same way, baptism isn’t the thing that will get you into heaven but it’s an act of obedience. (Jesus commanded us to baptize and be baptized.)

· Share your faith with the people around you. If you are excited about what God has done in your life, then why not share it? There are lots of ways to do that. Get plugged into serving God. There are literally millions of possibilities. Point people to Jesus and love them like Jesus did. It’ll be something you will relish for eternity.

Fear No Evil

Verse For The Day
“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:18)
Short Devotional Thought
Our Daily Devotional:
Fear No Evil
Psalm 23:4 NIV: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Have you ever wondered if you have walked through the valley of the shadow of death? Perhaps you have. Perhaps you have had troubled times but are not certain you would go so far as to say you have walked through times where death seemed looming--almost imminent. David knew what it was like to be surrounded by an enemy that sought to take his life. But he knew His God watched over him like a shepherd over sheep. The knowledge that God´s protection was always present gave David peace and contentment. "Your rod and your staff, they comfort me" he said. God watches over us during the day, and He keeps watch over us by night. And even in our times when death is looming, and tragedy imminent, we do not need to fear evil--for God will take us through the most dangerous, and darkest of valleys--and faithfully bring us to the other side. AMEN!

Risks in Faith: God Multiplies

Risks in Faith: God Multiplies

by Rick Warren

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
2 Corinthians 9:10 (NIV)
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If you give God your time, he multiplies it. If you give him your money or energy, he multiplies those too. It’s like planting seeds. Farmers know that seeds must be given away – sacrificed by being buried in the ground – to do any good. If you keep a seed in a sack, it does no good, but if you plant it, it multiplies. For example, when you plant just one watermelon seed, you get a bunch of watermelons with hundreds of seeds in them. In the same way, God multiplies whatever you give him.

What’s the key ingredient in this seed planting? Faith. But we have to understand the difference between faith and bargaining. Bargaining is when you say, “God, help me close this deal and I’ll give you part of it.” But God doesn’t work that way. God asks for faith – he wants us to sacrifice in advance, not knowing that we’ll get anything in return –then he wants us to let him figure out how to repay us.

One of the great lessons that Kay and I have learned is that you cannot out-give God. Whatever you give him, he multiplies. Three different times in our marriage, God told us to give away our entire savings. Each time we obeyed, and each time God restored our finances in greater ways than ever before.

I’ll never forget one of our church building campaigns. Kay and I prayed about how much to give, and God told us to give an amount equal to one year’s salary. I didn’t know how we would live for an entire year without a salary, but we obeyed God.

About a month later, we saw God’s plan when a publisher asked me to write a book and offered an advance of $100,000. That book became The Purpose Driven Church.
Jesus makes us this promise in Luke 18:29-30: “I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life” (NIV).

And 1 Corinthians 15:58 says: “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (NIV).

Remember, when you give a seed in faith to God, he will multiply it.

Resist Discouragement

Resist Discouragement
by Rick Warren

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay.” Hebrews 10:36-37 (NIV)
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If you’re discouraged because of God’s delay in answering your prayers, understand the delay is NOT a denial. Just because the answer or the miracle hasn’t come – yet – that doesn’t mean God isn’t going to answer, or that he’s forgotten you, or that he doesn’t care about you. It simply means “not yet!”

Spiritual maturity is knowing the difference between “No” and “Not yet,” between a denial and a delay. The Bible tells us, “He who is coming will come and will not delay” (Hebrews 10:37 NIV).
The delay may be a test of your patience. Anybody can be patient once. And, anybody can be patient twice. And, just about anybody can be patient three times. So God tests you patience over and over and over.
Why? To see how patient you are?

No, he does it to show you how patient you are. So you’ll know what’s inside of you, and you’ll be able to know your level of commitment. God tests you so that you can know he is faithful, even if the answers you seek are delayed.If you’re discouraged, turn it around by remembering God teaches you patience during delay. Ask him to transform your discouragement into patience.
You may be going through difficult times right now and feel like dropping off the planet. You’re discouraged because the situation you face seems unmanageable, unreasonable, or unfair.
It may seem unbearable and inside you’re basically saying, “God, I can’t take it anymore. I just can’t take it anymore!”

But you can.

You can stay with it longer because God is with you. He’ll enable you to press on. Remember, you are never a failure until you quit.
Don’t quit. Resist discouragement and finish the race God has set before you.

Resisting Discouragement

Resisting Discouragement
by Rick Warren

So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. Galatians 6:9 (NLT)
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There are many things that work to keep us from completing our life-missions. Over the years, I’ve debated whether the worst enemy is procrastination or discouragement. If Satan can’t get us to put off our life missions, then he’ll try to get us to quit altogether.
The apostle Paul teaches that we need to resist discouragement: “So don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t get discouraged and give up …” (Galatians 6:9 NLT).
Do you ever get tired of doing what’s right? I think we all do. Sometimes it seems easier to do the wrong thing than the right thing.
When we’re discouraged, we become ineffective. When we’re discouraged, we work against our own faith.
When I’m discouraged, I’m saying, “It can’t be done.” That’s the exact opposite of saying, “I know God can do it because he said ….”
Ask yourself these questions:

· How do I handle failure?

· When things don’t go my way, do I get grumpy?

· When things don’t go my way, do I get frustrated?

· When things don’t go my way, do I start complaining?

· Do I finish what I start?

· How would I rate on persistence?

If you’re discouraged, don’t give up without a fight. Nothing worthwhile ever happens without endurance and energy.

When an artist starts to create a sculpture, he has to keep chipping away. He doesn’t hit the chisel with the hammer once, and suddenly all the excess stone falls away revealing a beautiful masterpiece. He keeps hitting it and hitting it, chipping away at the stone.
And that’s true of life, too: Nothing really worthwhile ever comes easy in life. You keep hitting it and going after it, and little-by-little your life becomes a masterpiece of God’s grace.

The fact is, great people are really just ordinary people with an extraordinary amount of determination. Great people don’t know how to quit.

Keeping Fit

Verse For The Day

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

Short Devotional Thought
Our Daily Devotional:

Keeping Fit

Romans 12:1 NIV: Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God´s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.

I have the best of intentions to stay physically fit. I sometimes set up schedules with real and reachable goals. I have a weight bench, a treadmill, and a membership to a fitness club. But for some reason, that by itself isn´t enough. I actually have to follow through with my plans and use the resources I have available. And if I don´t, it´s easy to see the results each time I step on the scale or look in the mirror. There may be a lot of drawbacks from not being physically fit, but I can think of nothing as bad as the difficulties I face when I am not spiritually fit. Just like with my body, when I don´t do what is needed for my spirit—it shows—and sometimes it´s not pretty. I cannot overemphasize our need to stay spiritually fit. We must maintain good spiritual condition for the sake of our relationships, our personal walk with God, and our effectiveness as ministers and witnesses.

Fear & Grace

Fear & Grace
by Rick Warren

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6 (NLT)
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God is watching over you.

When King David writes, “Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me,” he’s not saying, “Surely only good things will happen to me!”

The fact is bad things happen to good people. What David is teaching us is that God can take bad, evil, and difficult situations and bring something good out of them.

It’s one of God’s great promises to us: we can know that all things are working for our good “if we love God and are fitting into his plans” (Romans 8:28 LB). If you’re a believer, the Bible says all things are working together for good – not that all things are good, but that they work together for good. There’s no difficulty, dilemma, defeat, or disaster in life that God can’t ultimately turn toward good.

When you understand God’s grace and mercy, there’s no need to fear the future. God isn’t trying to get even with you. Jesus shouldered the penalty for everything you’ve ever done wrong or will do wrong. He paid for it on the cross. So when a bad thing happens, you don’t have to think, “God’s getting even with me.” That’s how God’s grace and mercy work.

Mercy, like goodness, follows us in life. Picture a parent following a little child around picking up after them; God is constantly picking up our messes.

Think about this:

· Christians go to the future, not with a question mark, but with an exclamation point. God will be with you no matter what happens. He will help you out.

· God’s goodness provides and protects;God’s mercy pardons and forgives. God’s goodness will supply; God’s mercy will sooth. God’s goodness will help; God’s mercy will heal.

· Goodness is the fact that God gives us good things in life that we don’t deserve.Mercy means God holds back the condemnation we deserve.

Neighborly Compassion
by Jon Walker

One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?”
The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” Luke 10:25-28 (NLT)
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If you had to boil all of the commandments of God down to no more than a sentence, Jesus confirmed it would read something like this: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, and also love your neighbor as yourself.
Once again, we see the connection between our love for God and our love for others. We see the connection between the compassion we receive from God and the compassion we extend to our neighbors.
But the lawyer in this exchange with Jesus pressed in like a prosecutor, drilling for a specific definition of neighbor. Luke writes, “The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” (10:29, NLT)
A gentle teacher, with a gentle yoke, Jesus did not answer directly (or even crack any lawyer jokes). He told a story many of us are familiar with, about a man beaten and left for dead on the road to Jericho. First, a priest walked by, and seeing the man, crossed to the other side of the road. Then, an assistant at the Temple who was in charge of purity and tithing walked by, and seeing the injured man, he crossed to the other side of the road.
Finally, a man from a despised race, a Samaritan, walked by and stopped. He treated the man’s injuries and then took him to a nearby inn, paying for his care and lodging until he could get back on his feet.
Who, Jesus asked, was the injured man’s neighbor?
The lawyer responded, “The one who showed him mercy.” “That’s right,” Jesus said, “Now go and do the same.” (based on Luke 10:37, NLT)
Compassion is as compassion does. The ones in need are our neighbors, whom we should love with the same love we have for ourselves.
What does this mean?
· Maintain a teachable heart – When the lawyer faced Jesus, he tried to justify his current behavior, instead of allowing Jesus to teach him the compassionate behavior. In other words, the lawyer was trying to bend the scriptures to match his behavior when he should have been changing his behavior to match the scriptures. Instead of defending a position, ask God to help you become teachable as you learn to receive and give compassion.

· Listen to constructive criticism – “If you listen to constructive criticism, you will be at home among the wise. If you reject criticism, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding. Fear of the Lord teaches a person to be wise; humility precedes honor.” (Proverbs 15:31-33, NLT)

· Relationships over religious rules – In the story of the Good Samaritan, it is the religious people who walk by, and it is the despised Samaritan who helps the injured man. It seems Jesus is less interested in religion – rituals and rules – than he is in compassionate relationships; it is compassion in relationships that reveals the heart of God, not the following of religious rules.

· How would you want to be treated? “Now go and do the same.” (Luke 10:37, NLT)

Pleasing God – Practical Worship

by Rick Warren

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1 (NIV)
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Why does God want your body? Why doesn’t he say, “Offer your spirit”?
It’s because without your body you can’t do anything on this planet. In eternity, you’re going to get a new, improved, upgraded body but while you’re here on earth God says, “Give me what you’ve got!” He’s just being practical about worship.
You’ve heard people say, “I can’t make it to the meeting tonight but I’ll be with you in spirit.” Do you know what that means? Nothing. It’s worthless! As long as you’re on Earth your spirit can only be where your body is! If your body isn’t there, neither are you!
In worship we are to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices.” Now, we usually associate the concept of sacrifice with something dead, but God wants you to be a living sacrifice. He wants you to live for him!
However, the problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar, and we often do that. We sing “Onward Christian Soldiers” on Sunday, then go AWOL on Monday.
In the Old Testament, God took pleasure in the many sacrifices of worship because they foretold of Jesus’ sacrifice for us on the cross. Now, God is pleased with different sacrifices of worship: thanksgiving, praise, humility, repentance, offerings of money, prayer, serving others, and sharing with those in need.
Real worship costs. David knew this and said, “I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24 TEV). One thing worship costs us is our self-centeredness. You cannot exalt God and yourself at the same time. You don’t worship to be seen by others. You deliberately shift the focus off yourself.
When Jesus said, “Love God with all your strength” (Luke 10:27), he was pointing out that worship takes effort and energy. It is not always convenient or comfortable, and sometimes worship is a sheer act of the will – a willing sacrifice.

Daily Ponder

Verse For The Day

“A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1)
Short Devotional Thought

Our Daily Devotional:

At Hand

Matthew 4:17 KJV: From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Consider the words, "at hand." If we have a pencil at hand, we have a pencil near and in our reach. When Jesus came to us, He placed the Kingdom of Heaven in our reach. The Kingdom of Heaven was not only something near as in the future, but near as in "Stretch out thy hand." As a man seemed to grasp what Jesus was teaching, Jesus told him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God" (Mark 12:34). As children of God, we belong to the Kingdom of Heaven. We are part of His glorious and eternal Kingdom. We need not wait to enjoy the riches of our relationship with God. He is near--even within our reach. AMEN!

Our Witness: God’s Good News

Our Witness: God’s Good News
by Rick Warren

“Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” Mark 16:15 (NLT)
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Every Christian is called to share with others what we’ve been given from God. But, I’m often asked, what exactly are we supposed to share?
Here’s your message in two words: good news.
Mark says in our key verse today that we’re to tell the good news to everyone.
Do you like to get good news? Everybody does. Do you like to share good news? Most people do. At my house, we compete to see who gets to share the good news.
Now, many of us think, “The people I work with, my friends, they’re not interested in the good news.”
But, we’re dead wrong! They may not be interested in religion, but they are interested in the good news. The problem is not that our friends and co-workers aren’t interested; the problem is we’ve forgotten how good the good news really is.
Once you’ve been a Christian for a while, you forget how miserable it was to live without hope. You forget what it was like to worry where you would go when you die. You forget what it was like to have guilt, fear, regrets, bitterness, and boredom in your life – a life before Christ brought meaning, purpose, and significance.
What happens to most of us is that the longer you’re a Christian the more you tend to take for granted how good the good news really is. Likewise, most people who do not know Jesus don’t understand how good the good news really is.
If you go out on the street and ask people, “How do you convince God to like you?” most of them will probably say, “You’ve got to work real hard to get God’s approval and you’ve got to be really, really good. You’ve got to keep a lot of rules and you probably have to follow a lot of regulations and do some rituals. You’ve got to be religious. I’m none of those things, so I’m never going to please God or get to know him.” If that’s what some people think the good news is, it’s no wonder they don’t get too excited about discussing it.
But here’s the good news: you are able to enter into a relationship with God through an attitude of trust – trust in Jesus Christ – and not through a religion of rules, regulations, and rituals.
God says you get to know him just by trusting him. If you trust his Son with your life, you get forgiveness for your past, a purpose for living in your present, and a home in heaven in the future.
Is that good news? Do you think anybody you know would be interested in that?
The good news keeps sounding better and better because the bad news of the world keeps getting worse and worse.

How to Let Go of Past Hurts

How to Let Go of Past Hurts
by Rick Warren

Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, “I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it,” says the Lord. Romans 12:19 (NLT)
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First, relinquish your right to get even. Leave that up to God; he’ll take care of it (Romans 12:19).
I’ve been married for thirty years and I’m ashamed to say, I’ve hurt my wife many times. But after thirty years, we’re still together and more in love than ever before. Why? Because it’s not hurt that destroys relationships, it’s an unwillingness to forgive. We’re human; we’re going to hurt each other. But the question is, will you give up your right to get even? And will you offer forgiveness? When you do, any hurt can be overcome.

Second, respond to evil with good. How can you tell when you’ve released somebody, when you’ve completely forgiven them? You can actually pray for God to bless the person who hurt you. The Bible says we should overcome evil with good, praying for those who hurt us (Romans 12:21; Matthew 5:44).

Third, repeat these steps as long as necessary. Forgiveness is rarely a one-time shot. When somebody hurts you, we tent to think about it over and over and over. How often do you have to forgive the person? The Apostle Peter once asked Jesus, “‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times’” (Mathew 18:21-22 NIV). In other words, it needs to be continual, limitless; we shouldn’t even try to count the times we forgive, just as Jesus doesn’t count the times he forgives us.

Fourth, begin telling others about God’s forgiveness. The Bible says, “For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. We are Christ’s ambassadors, and God is using us to speak to you. We urge you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, “Be reconciled to God!” (2 Corinthians 5:19-20 NLT).

Practice Makes Peaceful

Verse For The Day

“ I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” (1 Corinthians 1:10)

Short Devotional Thought
Our Daily Devotional:
Practice Makes Peaceful

Philippians 4:9 NIV: Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Playing on the piano is easy. Playing the piano well, takes a great deal of practice. Even after a year of piano lessons, I still fumble and fail—and the results are easy to hear. Becoming a Christian is easy. Living the Christian life takes dedication, devotion, daily seeking, and a heart that is willing to remain in Christ. It seems so many try to live as Christians as though one year of lessons is enough. It is not enough to hear about stepping out in faith, or to hear about victory that comes when trusting Jesus with everything; we must put these Biblical principles into practice. Practice will not make us perfect here, but as we remain in Christ, practice will bring us peace in the meantime.

Why Must We Forgive?

Why Must We Forgive?
by Rick Warren

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV)

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We have to forgive the people who’ve hurt us, and it has nothing to do with whether or not that person deserves forgiveness. They don’t deserve forgiveness, but then, we don’t deserve it either.
We forgive those who’ve hurt us because God forgives us for how we’ve hurt him. To be honest, the reason we often have a hard time forgiving others is because we don’t feel forgiven ourselves.
But when Jesus died on the cross he paid the penalty for every sin that you or I ever committed or will ever commit. And if we’re going to be forgiving people, we first need to accept God’s forgiveness that comes from Jesus Christ.
Also, we should forgive knowing we will need God’s forgiveness sometime in the future. Jesus said, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins” (Matthew 6:14-15 NIV).

Carrying a grudge just keeps us stuck in the past, and when we’re stuck in the past, we’re controlled by the past. Our unforgiveness can control us. The Bible says, “Surely resentment destroys the fool, and jealousy kills the simple” (Job 5:2 NLT).

The Bible also says that only the foolish harbor a grudge (Ecclesiastes 7:9). Accept forgiveness from God and give forgiveness to others.

Daily Devotion - Without Love

Verse For The Day

“For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:10)

Short Devotional Thought
Our Daily Devotional:

Without Love

1 Corinthians 13:2 NIV: If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

We face a never-ending struggle to find a certain feeling of being satisfied with who we are. So much of what we do is motivated by a desire to gain something for ourselves, and it is a hard thing to set aside that part of us controlled by our flesh in order that we might be more like Jesus. The mind of Christ is selfless and is always seeking what is best—not just for self, but for others. Yet our insatiable desire to shine, to be the best, or get the appreciation and applause of others can greatly harm our effectiveness in loving others as Jesus did. Even what we may see as the noblest things (serving others, ministry, witnessing, etc.), can become an avenue for self-glorification if we are not careful. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul warns of the dangers in using the gifts God has given for reasons other than love. Just as it was in his day, it is still so today—we can do many things that seem right, and good and honorable. We can witness, preach, share, serve, tithe, and teach. But it all means nothing if we are motivated by anything other than a genuine and Christ like love for those to whom God sends us.