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.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
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!
“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!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
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.
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)
*** *** *** ***
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.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
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)
*** *** *** ***
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.
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)
*** *** *** ***
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.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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.
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)
*** *** *** ***
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.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
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.
“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.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
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)
*** *** *** ***
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.
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)
*** *** *** ***
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.
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