08.29.07
What is the PURPOSE of LIFE?
This is a thought provoking read about how it is in this world by a very candid man. This is an absolutely incredible interview with Rick Warren, author of “Purpose Driven Life”. His wife now has cancer, and he now has “wealth” from the book sales. In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said: “People ask me, “What is the purpose of life?” And I respond: In a nutshell, LIFE is preparation for ETERNITY. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body – but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act – the dress rehearsal.
God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn’t going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that’s not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys – you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don’t believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it’s kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you’re going into self-centeredness, “which is my problem, my issues, my pain.”
But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don’t think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for Possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by Pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God’s PURPOSES (for my life)? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don’t get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn’t put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He’s more interested in what I am than what I do. That’s why we’re called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD; Difficult moments, SEEK GOD; Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD; Painful moments, TRUST GOD; Every moment, THANK GOD.
08.20.07
Ten Steps To Achieving Your Goals
As we approach the final quarter of the year here’s a little GOAL-SETTING BOOST on accomplishing the rest of the GOALS you have set for this year, before 2007 becomes history. Here’s Zig Ziglar’s 10-step formula to achieving your goals:
1. Make the commitment to reach your goal. “One person with a commitment is worth a hundred who only have an interest.” Mary Crowley.
2. Commit yourself to detailed accountability. Record your progress toward your goals every night, and list the six most important things you need to do the next day. Daily discipline is the key to reaching your goals.
3. Build your life on a sold foundation of honesty, character, integrity, trust, love, and loyalty. This foundation will give you an honest shot at reaching any goal you have set properly.
4. Break your intermediate and long-range goals into increments.
5. Be prepared to change. You can’t control the weather, inflation, interest rates, Wall Street, etc. Change your decision to move toward a goal carefully–but be willing to change your direction to get there as conditions and circumstances demand.
6. Share your “give-up” goals (i.e., give up smoking, being rude, procrastinating, being late, eating too much, etc.) with many people. Chances are excellent they’re going to encourage you.
7. Become a team player. Remember: You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.
8. See the reaching. In your imagination see yourself receiving that diploma, getting that job or promotion, making that speech, moving into the home of your dreams, achieving that weight-loss goal, etc.
9. Each time you reach a goal your confidence will grow so that you can do bigger and better things. After accomplishing any goal, record it in your journal, Weekly Planner or Palm Pilot.
10. Remember, what you get by reaching your destination isn’t nearly as important as what you become by reaching your goals –what you will become is the winner you were born to be!
God’s WILL for your LIFE
“I will betroth you to Me forever, yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in loving kindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.”
Hosea 2:19-20 NKJV
GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY
As we ponder the big question in life, our minds wander down well-worm paths, “Who am I?” “What should I do?” “Where should I go?” “Why am I here?” we long to do something of value, to be recognized, to distinguish ourselves, and to leave a legacy. As Christians, we also wish to discover God’s will for our lives. Surely He is already laying the groundwork for our lofty aspirations in life. Then, when the things don’t quite meet our expectations, we are perturbed. And if they take a dire turn into disaster, we are perplexed. What went wrong? We miss the point.
The thing is, God’s will is just that – God’s WILL. He tends to do things His way, in His time, according to His own plan, and with His own purposes in mind. God often ignores our agenda. Over and over the Scriptures bring up an important theme: “My ways are not like our ways!” Sometimes we need a gentle reminder that He is not like us.
But though we are mere specks in the Presence of His power and Majesty, God has told us that we are precious to Him. When we become Christians, the Spirit draws us in His direction. There is a longing for His Word, for prayer. Those are the building blocks of a relationship – and a divine one at that! Though we cannot see this new Father, this new Brother, this new Friend, there is no doubt about His presence. He has chosen us and welcomes us to know Him better. God assures us that He has a plan for our lives – a purpose in our place here. Though His purposes may only become clear to us in hindsight, we can walk forward in confidence. He who has led us safely thus far will surely lead us on!
by Christa Kinde from Women of Faith Devotional Bible
08.18.07
On My Knees
by Jaci Velasquez
There are days,
When I feel
The best of me
Is ready to begin
Then they’re days,
When I feel
I’m letting go,
And soaring on the wind
But I’ve learned in laughter or in pain,
How to survive
I get on my knees
I get on my knees
there I am before the love that
Changes me
See, I don’t know how,
But there’s power
When I’m on my knees
I can be
In a crowd,
All by myself,
or almost anywhere
When I feel
There’s a need,
To talk with God
He is Emmanuel
When I close my eyes,
No darkness there,
There’s only light
When I get on my knees
When I get on my knees
there I am before the love that
Changes me
See, I don’t know how,
But there’s power
In the blue sky,
I don’t know how,
But there’s power
In the midnight,
I don’t know how,
But there’s power
When I’m on my knees
I get on my knees
I get on my knees
there I am before the love that
Changes me
I don’t know how,
But there’s power,
I don’t know how,
But, God gives me power,
I don’t know how,
But there’s power,
When I’m on my knees
La, la, la, la,
La, la, la, la, la,
La, la, la, la,
La, la, la, la, la,
La, la, la, la,
La, la, la, la, la,
La, la, la, la,
La, la, la, la, la
Thank You Lord
by The Katinas
Just a little while longer I wanna pray
Can’t get You off my mind so I came to say
Thank You Lord just for loving me
Many times as I do forget
Every need that You have met
Oh thank You Lord, I know You’re showing me
You are there when I am down and out
You’re holding me, Your love is so amazing
Oh it changed me
Here I am with all I am
Raise my hands to worship You
I wanna say thank you, oh thank you
For everything, for who You are
You cover me, You touch my heart
I wanna say thank you
I could have died in my sin but You saved me
Didn’t have any hope at all
You gave me peace divine, strength to carry on
I should have been the one to pay
But instead You took my place
Amazing grace, its more than just a song
Even though I don’t deserve Your love for me
You look beyond my fault and You showed me mercy
repeat chorus
I wanna say thank you for the sun
I wanna say thank you for the rain
Everything You do is beautiful
I’m so grateful for Your love
08.03.07
God has a GREAT FUTURE for YOU
I am writing this as a letter to you personally, my dear brother and sister in Christ, so that if you become anxious of the future, or you need encouragement about what is ahead, you can read it and hopefully hear GOD speak to your HEART…For this is really His MESSAGE to ALL of US….
I am writing this because I want to remind you of the great future God has for you. I know this because He said so. He says you have not seen, nor heard, nor even imagined anything as great as what He has prepared for you (1 Corinthians 2:9) You have no idea how great your future is. He says that what He has for you is so great that if you truly understood it, you would feel “that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed” in you (Revelation 8:18). That means whatever you envision for your life right now is already too small.
Although God promises you a future full of hope and blessing, it’s not going to happen automatically. There are some things you have to do. One of them is PRAY about it (Jeremiah 29:11-13). Another is OBEY GOD. But don’t worry, God will help you with both of those of you ask Him. The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee to you that He will help you do what you need to do and bring to pass everything He promised (Ephesians 1:13-14). Just know that every time you PRAY & OBEY, you are investing in your future.
Remember, my precious brother and sister in the Lord, that walking with God doesn’t mean that there won’t be obstacles. Satan will see to it that there are. While God has a plan for your future that is good, the devil has one too and it’s not good. But the devil’s plan for your life cannot succeed as long as you are WALKING with God, living in OBEDIENCE to His ways, standing strong in His WORD, and PRAYING without ceasing. God’s plan for your life won’t happen without a struggle, however, so don’t give up when times get tough. Just keep on doing what’s RIGHT and RESIST the temptation to quit. Ask God to give you the strength and endurance you need to do what you have to do.
Don’t judge your future by what you read in the newspaper or the words someone spoke over you one time. Your FUTURE is in God’s HANDS. The only thing that is important is what He says about it. He doesn’t want you to be concerned about your future anyway. He wants you to be concerned with Him, because He is your future.
Don’t become discouraged if things don’t happen as fast as you would like them to. They never do. God wants you to learn PATIENCE. Our perspective is temporal. He is eternal. So don’t be concerned if you are not seeing all that you want in response to your prayers. You will. If you draw close to God and do what He asks you to do, if you worship Him in spirit and in truth, if you love others and give yourself to them, if you speak God’s Word in faith and pray, you will see God’s blessings poured out on your life.
I believe that we are denied certain things for a time because God wants us to fervently pray and intercede for them. That’s because He wants to do something great in response to your prayers, something that can only be birthed in prayer. There may be things that won’t happen in your life unless you are praying long and fervently.
In the meantime I know that you want to do something significant for the Lord and move into new areas of service for Him. God is looking for men & women who will be committed to living for His way and stepping into the purposes He has for their lives. He wants man and woman who are willing to sacrifice themselves for His kingdom, who are willing to say, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” You are one of those men and women. I pray that you will be equipped and ready when God says, “Now is the time.” And the doors of opportunity open. Just keep doing what’s right and when you least expect it, you will get a CALL from God giving you your assignment.
Remember, God “is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20). He has more for you than you can imagine. And now may “the God of hope fill you with all joy and peach believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). Stay focused on God, and He will keep you in perfect peace as He moves you into the future He has for you.
*Excerpt from The Power of a Praying Woman by Stormie Omartian, pp.249-253.
Italized was added by the Author.
