Have You Ever Gone Thirsty To Benefit Someone Else?

By Rick Warren

“After this, Jesus knew that everything had been done. So that the Scripture would come true, he said, ‘I am thirsty.’ There was a jar full of vinegar there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth” (John 19:28-29 NCV).

The Bible says that as Jesus hung on the cross, he “knew that everything had been done. So that the Scripture would come true, he said, ‘I am thirsty.’ There was a jar full of vinegar there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth” (John 19:28-29 NCV).

When Jesus said, “I’m thirsty,” it shows how much he really loves you and me.
Jesus was willing to suffer and thirst for you so that you can go to Heaven. This is called redemptive suffering — when you suffer not for your own sins but on behalf of other people. Jesus had done nothing wrong. He was perfect, yet they killed him. Why? He died for the redemption of others. He was thirsty for our benefit.
Have you ever gone thirsty for anybody else’s benefit? Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (NIV).

Back in 1987, my brother Jim was sitting in a plane on the tarmac at the Detroit airport, waiting to take off. He was looking out the window, watching the plane in front of his, which happened to be Northwest 225. My brother watched as the plane took off and then 20 seconds later crashed and killed 155 people.
Only one person on that plane survived the crash — a 4-year-old girl named Cecilia from Tempe, Ariz. They couldn’t figure out why she lived when everybody else died until they asked her what happened. When the plane began to decline and everybody realized they were going to crash, Cecilia’s mother took off her seatbelt, turned around, and got in front of her child. She surrounded her with her arms and legs and body, smothering her in her love, protecting her little girl. The mother gave her life for another.

That’s exactly what redemption is. It’s what Jesus did for you! He went through Hell on the cross so you don’t have to go through Hell for eternity. He covered you and protected you from the punishment, the flames, and the pain.

God demonstrated his love for us by thirsting and dying on the cross.

Love In Action

By Rick Warren

“The time is surely coming … when I will send a famine on the land — not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord. People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from border to border searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it. Beautiful girls and strong young men will grow faint in that day, thirsting for the Lord’s word” (Amos 8:11-13 NLT, second edition).

The Bible says in John 19:28-29, “After this, Jesus knew that everything had been done. So that the Scripture would come true, he said, ‘I am thirsty.’ There was a jar full of vinegar there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth” (NCV).

The phrase “I thirst” was the life verse and the theme of Mother Teresa, who founded the Order of the Missionaries of Charity and Mother Teresa’s Home for the Dying. In every Home for the Dying around the world, where they take in the poorest of the poor, there is a picture of Jesus hanging on the cross and underneath the words “I thirst,” because Mother Teresa said that is our duty — to quench the thirst of Christ by helping those in need.

We cannot help Jesus on the cross. That’s long past. Can you imagine being that soldier who gave Jesus the drink? What a privilege! We can’t do that. But we can help those around us.
The aim of our existence is to satiate the thirst of Jesus on the cross for every soul, and it is shown by our love in action.
Love in action is when we meet the needs of other people in their thirst — physical, emotional, or spiritual — out of love for Christ, who was thirsty for us.
There are people all around you who are spiritually thirsty, but nobody ever uses that term. Here are some synonyms for spiritual thirst: boredom, unhappiness, dissatisfaction, stress, and desperation.
People who are spiritually thirsty have a need for meaning, purpose, and significance. They want to hear a word from God. They want to know what to do with their lives.

“The time is surely coming … when I will send a famine on the land — not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord. People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from border to border searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it. Beautiful girls and strong young men will grow faint in that day, thirsting for the Lord’s word” (Amos 8:11-13 NLT, second edition).

Is that not a perfect description of our society today? People look good on the outside, but they’re empty on the inside. They’re depressed, discouraged, defeated, in despair, unsatisfied, hopping from thing to thing, looking for what’s going to give them fulfillment and quench their thirst.
What is your responsibility as a believer to these people, to the world?
The only way you can serve God is by serving people and helping others in his name. Help quench their thirst by sharing with them what God has done to make them whole.

Grow Up

And ye shall go forth, and grew up as calves of the stall. (Malachi 4:2)


Yes, when the sun shines, the sick quit their chambers and walk abroad to breathe the fresh air. When the sun brings spring and summer, the cattle quit their stalls and seek pasture on the higher Alps. Even thus, when we have conscious fellowship with our Lord, we leave the stall of despondency and walk abroad in the fields of holy confidence. We ascend to the mountains of joy and feed on sweet pasturage which grows nearer heaven than the provender of carnal men.


To "go forth" and to "grow up" is a double promise. O my soul, be thou eager to enjoy both blessings! Why shouldst thou be a prisoner? Arise, and walk at liberty. Jesus saith that His sheep shall go in and out and find pasture; go forth, then, and feed in the rich meadows of boundless love.


Why remain a babe in grace? Grow up. Young calves grow fast, especially if they are stall fed; and thou hast the choice care of thy Redeemer. Grow, then, in grace and in knowledge of thy Lord and Savior, Be neither straitened nor stunted. The Sun of Righteousness has risen upon thee Answer to His beams as the buds to the natural sun. Open thine heart; expand and grow up into Him in all things.

Today Is The Day To Be Saved!

By Rick Warren

“I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43 NLT, second edition).

When the criminal hanging next to Jesus on the cross asked Jesus to remember him, Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43 NLT, second edition). With his response, Jesus was also giving us four characteristics of salvation that we can trust and believe in.

First, he said “today.” That means salvation is immediate. The moment you ask Jesus Christ to save you, it is done. When you die, you either go straight into the presence of God or you go straight into separation from God.

Second, salvation is certain. He said, “Today you will.”
Not “You might,” not “I hope.” Not “Let me think about it.” When God says, “You will,” you will. When you accept Christ, you can be certain of your salvation.

Third, salvation is a relationship. He said, “You will be with me.”
Salvation is not a religion. It’s not rules or regulations or rituals. Salvation is a relationship. That relationship doesn’t begin when you get to Heaven. It begins here on Earth. Jesus Christ wants to be your best friend, and he wants to talk to you all the time. God made you for a relationship with him!
Fourth, Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Heaven is a real place, and it is forever.

There were two criminals crucified with Jesus, one on either side. Jesus gave them the choice of salvation, and he gives you the same choice. He’s not going to force you to love him. He’s not going to force you to trust him, and he’s not going to force you to accept Heaven. There are two responses. One of those criminals rejected Jesus, and the other turned to him in faith. You can make the same choice.

Romans 10:13 says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” If you’re ready to call on the name of the Lord and you acknowledge these truths about salvation, then settle this issue of your eternal destiny once and for all.
“This is the hour to receive God’s favor; today is the day to be saved!” (2 Corinthians 6:2b TEV)

Confidence Not Misplaced

"The LORD God will help me" (Isaiah 50:7).


These are in prophecy the words of Messiah in the day of His obedience unto death, when He gave His back to the smiters and His cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. He was confident in divine support and trusted in Jehovah.


O my soul, thy sorrows are as the small dust of the balance compared with thy LORD's! Canst thou not believe that the LORD God will help thee? Thy LORD was in a peculiar position; for as the representative of sinful men — their substitute and sacrifice — it was needful that the Father should leave Him and cause Him to come under desertion of soul. No such necessity is laid upon thee: thou art not bound to cry, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" Did thy Savior even in such a case still rely upon God, and canst not thou? He died for thee and thus made it impossible that thou shouldst be left alone; wherefore, be of good cheer.


In this day's labors or trials say, "The LORD God will help me." Go forth boldly. Set your face like a flint and resolve that no faintness or shamefacedness shall come near you. If God helps, who can hinder? If you are sure of omnipotent aid, what can be too heavy for you? Begin the day joyously, and let no shade of doubt come between thee and the eternal sunshine.

Ho Do I Know I'm Saved?


By Rick Warren

“It is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).

In Luke 23:42, one of the criminals hanging next to Jesus on the cross prayed, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (NIV).

Notice that he didn’t ask Jesus to stop his pain, although he would have been in excruciating pain on the cross. By that time, Jesus was famous for doing miracles, but the man didn’t ask Jesus to save him from death, either.

He said, “Jesus, remember me.” Why? Because he knew that his deepest need was salvation from sin — not just salvation to get into Heaven. He believed in Jesus.
The Bible says in Acts 16:31, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”
So how do you know for sure that you’re saved? How do you know you’re going to Heaven when you die? How can you be certain? How can you eliminate your doubt?
Your assurance of salvation is not by your works, because you can’t earn your salvation. Your assurance of salvation is not by your feelings, because feelings come and go.

What is your assurance of salvation? The promise of God’s Word. If God says it, that settles it, because God cannot lie. You can trust the promise of God’s Word. You can rest in it.

Jesus replied to the criminal hanging on the cross, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43b NLT, second edition). Your assurance of salvation is the same: God’s promise that you will be in Heaven with him one day if you believe in faith.

He will Carry Us Home


 

And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. (Isaiah 46:4)


The year is very old, and here is a promise for our aged friends; yes, and for us all, as age creeps over us. Let us live long enough, and we shall all have hoar hairs; therefore we may as well enjoy this promise by the foresight of faith.


When we grow old our God will still be the I AM, abiding evermore the same. Hoar hairs tell of our decay, but He decayeth not. When we cannot carry a burden and can hardly carry ourselves, the Lord will carry us. Even as in our young days He carried us like lambs in His bosom, so will He in our years of infirmity.


He made us, and He will care for us. When we become a burden to our friends and a burden to ourselves, the Lord will not shake us off, but the rather He will take us up and carry and deliver us more fully than ever. In many cases the Lord gave His servants a long and calm evening. They worked hard all day and wore themselves out in their Master's service, and so He said to them, "Now rest in anticipation of that eternal Sabbath which I have prepared for you." Let us not dread old age. Let us grow old graciously since the Lord Himself is with us in fullness of grace.

Christ and His Children

When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. (Isaiah 53:10)


Our Lord Jesus has not died in vain. His death was sacrificial: He died as our substitute, because death was the penalty of our sins. Because His substitution was accepted of God, He has saved those for whom He made His soul a sacrifice. By death He became like the corn of wheat which bringeth forth much fruit. There must be a succession of children unto Jesus; He is "the Father of the everlasting age." He shall say, "Behold, I and the children whom Thou hast given me."


A man is honored in his sons, and Jesus hath His quiver full of these arrows of the mighty. A man is represented in his children, and so is the Christ in Christians. In his seed a man's life seems to be prolonged and extended; and so is the life of Jesus continued in believers.


Jesus lives, for He sees His seed. He fixes His eye on us, He delights in us, He recognizes us as the fruit of His soul travail. Let us be glad that our Lord does not fail to enjoy the result of His dread sacrifice, and that He will never cease to feast His eyes upon the harvest of His death. Those eyes which once wept for us are now viewing us with pleasure. Yes, He looks upon those who are looking unto Him. Our eyes meet! What a joy is this!

Forgiveness:There's A Right Way And A Wrong Way To Ask

By Rick Warren

“Yet now God declares us ‘not guilty’ of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sins” (Romans 3:24 TLB).

When you confess your sin to God, he does not rub it in. He wipes it out!
But, there’s a right way and a wrong way to ask for forgiveness. Let me tell you the wrong way.

First, don’t beg. God wants to forgive you more than you want to ask for it. You’re not waiting on God. He’s waiting on you.
Second, don’t bargain. Bargaining is saying, “God, if you will forgive me, I will never do this again!” If that’s your area of weakness, you will be back in that area of sin in a matter of hours or days. Don’t bargain with God and say, “I’ll never do it again,” because you will.

Third, don’t bribe. Bribing is saying, “God, if you’ll just forgive me for this, I will …” You’ll go to church every week. You will read your Bible every day. You will tithe 15 … 20 percent! But God doesn’t want or need your bribe.

So what do you do?

You don’t beg, bargain, or bribe. You just believe.

You believe the many promises of God that tell you if you confess your sins, he will forgive your sins. Period.

Another great verse of promise is Romans 3:24: “Yet now God declares us ‘not guilty’ of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sins” (TLB).

I know what some of you are thinking: “Rick, you don’t know what I’ve done.” And you’re right. I don’t know what you’ve done. I don’t need to know what you’ve done. But I can tell you this: It doesn’t matter what you’ve done.

Your forgiveness is not based on how little or how much you’ve sinned. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. What matters is what Jesus has done for you. That’s what the cross is all about! When Jesus said, “It is finished,” he meant it. It’s done. The price has been paid. You can be forgiven today.

Obedience Brings Blessing

Observe and hear all these words, which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God. (Deuteronomy 12:28)


Though salvation is not by the works of the law, yet the blessings which are promised to obedience are not denied to the faithful servants of God. The curses our Lord took away when He was made a curse for us, but no clause of blessing has been abrogated.


We are to note and listen to the revealed will of the Lord, giving our attention not to portions of it but to "all these words." There must be no picking and choosing but an impartial respect to all that God has commanded. This is the road of blessedness for the Father and for His children. The Lord's blessing is upon His chosen to the third and fourth generation. If they walk uprightly before Him, He will make all men know that they are a seed which the Lord has blessed. No blessing can come to us or ours through dishonesty or double dealing. The ways of worldly conformity and unholiness cannot bring good to us or ours. It will go well with us when we go well before God. If integrity does not make us prosper, knavery will not. That which gives pleasure to God will bring pleasure to us.

When We Confess,We Begin To Heal

By Rick Warren

“Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (James 5:16a TLB).

The first step in forgiveness is admitting your guilt. Then, you have to accept responsibility for your sin.

What’s the best way to ensure that you are really accepting responsibility for your sin? You’re not going to like the answer, but you need to hear it anyway: The best way to get over your guilt is to tell one other person who loves you unconditionally and who will listen and not judge you.

This is important: You don’t have to confess to another person to be forgiven. All you have to do is confess your sin to God, and you’ll be forgiven. But many of you have already been forgiven, and you still feel guilty. If you want to be forgiven, you tell God. If you want to feel forgiven, you’ve got to tell one other person. That’s the way God wired it. Revealing your feeling is the beginning of healing. We only get well in community! You don’t have to tell a bunch of people. You really only need to tell one person. If your sin is between you and another person, you go to that person.

James 5:16 says, “Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (TLB). It doesn’t say “so that you may be forgiven” but so that you may be healed. Forgiveness comes from God. Healing comes in relationships.

So why do you need to drag another person into your own personal sin?
Because the root of all of our problems is relational. We are dishonest with each other. We play games with each other. We wear masks all the time. We fake it. We pretend to have it all together when everybody knows we don’t have it all together. We’re all broken.

There are only two kinds of people in the world: people who are broken and sinful and know it and people who are broken and sinful and won’t admit it. When we refuse to be real with each other, it creates all kinds of fears in our lives and isolates us from each other. It is a roadblock to intimacy, and it creates insecurity.

God wired us to need each other. You need a friend who’s going to love you unconditionally and won’t think less of you when you share your guilt. If you’re not in a small group, you probably don’t know anybody like that. If you’re in a small group, you need to find one person you can share your heart with.

Why Remain Captive

The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity. (Deuteronomy 30:3)


God's own people may sell themselves into captivity by sin. A very bitter fruit is this, of an exceeding bitter root. What a bondage it is when the child of God is sold under sin, held in chains by Satan, deprived of his liberty, robbed of his power in prayer and his delight in the Lord! Let us watch that we come not into such bondage; but if this has already happened to us, let us by no means despair.


But we cannot be held in slavery forever. The Lord Jesus has paid too high a price for our redemption to leave us in the enemy's hand. The way to freedom is, "Return unto the Lord thy God." Where we first found salvation we shall find it again. At the foot of Christ's cross, confessing sin, we shall find pardon and deliverance. Moreover, the Lord will have us obey His voice according to all that He has commanded us, and we must do this with all our heart and all our soul, and then our captivity shall end.


Often depression of spirit and great misery of soul are removed as soon as we quit our idols and bow ourselves in obedience before the living God. We need not be captives. We may return to Zion's citizenship, and that speedily. Lord, turn our captivity!

Time To Tell Yourself The Truht

By Rick Warren

“The Lord gave us mind and conscience; we cannot hide from ourselves” (Proverbs 20:27 TEV).

The best way to get off a guilt trip is to first admit your guilt. Don’t bury it, don’t deny it, and don’t ignore it. Just own up to it!

Even when we know this truth, we still try to run from our guilt. But when you run from guilt, it’s going to catch up with you. The problem with always moving is that you take you with you. The problem is in your mind! No matter how busy you are or where you run, you’re going to be just as stressed if your stress is coming from regrets, shame, or guilt. When you finally slow down, all those feelings come crashing back in again. God doesn’t want you to live that way.

The Bible says you can’t run from yourself: “The Lord gave us mind and conscience; we cannot hide from ourselves” (Proverbs 20:27 TEV). You may be able to hide your guilt from everybody else, but you can’t hide it from yourself.

We as human beings have an amazing ability to lie to ourselves. You say it’s not bad when it really is bad and it’s getting better when it isn’t getting better. You tell yourself you’re really further along and better than you really are.

To stop defeating yourself, you have to stop deceiving yourself. You have to tell yourself the truth.

What is it that defeats us? All kinds of things. Worry defeats us. Envy defeats us. Bitterness and jealousy and guilt defeat us. Fear and anxiety and insecurity defeat us.

I suggest you do a little spiritual spring cleaning. A lot of people take time in the spring to go through the house and give it an extra scrubbing or organize things that are normally neglected. At least once a year, you should also do an extended personal inventory of your spiritual condition.

How do you do that?

Implicit Trust

For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee: because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 39:18)


Behold the protecting power of trust in God. The great men of Jerusalem fell by the sword, but poor Ebed-melech was secure, for his confidence was in Jehovah. Where else should a man trust but in his Maker? We are foolish when we prefer the creature to the Creator. Oh, that we could in all things live by faith, then should we be delivered in all time of danger! No one ever did trust in the Lord in vain, and no one ever shall.


The Lord saith, "I will surely deliver thee," Mark the divine "surely." Whatever else may be uncertain, God's care of believers is sure. God Himself is the guardian of the gracious, Under His sacred wing there is safety even when every danger is abroad. Can we accept this promise as sure? Then in our present emergency we shall find that it stands fast. We hope to be delivered because we have friends, or because we are prudent, or because we can see hopeful signs; but none of these things are one-half so good as God's simple "because thou hast put thy trust in me." Dear reader, try this way, and, trying it, you will keep to it all your life. It is as sweet as it is sure.

Can God Love You More Than He Does Now?

By Rick Warren

“I know that your love will last for all time, that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky” (Psalm 89:2 TEV).

Human love wears out — that’s why we have so many divorces. I know a lot of people who are not divorced, but they don’t love their spouses anymore. There’s a limit to human love. It dries up!
That’s why you have to have God’s love in your marriage — in every relationship — if it is going to last. God’s love never wears out. God’s love is patient, persistent, and persevering.

Isn’t it good news that God never gives up on you? No matter what you do, his love never gives up. It’s wide enough to include everybody, and it’s long enough to last forever.

God will never love you any more than he does right now. But he also will never love you any less than he does right now.

He loves you on your good days. He loves you on your bad days. His love is not conditioned by your response. God is love, and his love is given freely. It cannot be earned, and it is undeserved.

Accept his love and worship him, knowing that his love is long enough to last for all time: “I know that your love will last for all time, that your faithfulness is as permanent as the sky” (Psalm 89:2 TEV).

Necessary Knowledge

Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 34:30)


To be the Lord's own people is a choice blessing, but to know that we are such is a comfortable blessing. It is one thing to hope that God is with us and another thing to know that He is so. Faith saves us, but assurance satisfies us. We take God to be our God when we believe in Him; but we get the joy of Him when we know that He is ours and that we are His. No believer should be content with hoping and trusting; he should ask the Lord to lead him on to full assurance, so that matters of hope may become matters of certainty.


It is when we enjoy covenant blessings and see our Lord Jesus raised up for us as a plant of renown that we come to a clear knowledge of the favor of God toward us. Not by law, but by grace do we learn that we are the Lord's people. Let us always turn our eyes in the direction of free grace. Assurance of faith can never come by the works of the law. It is an evangelical virtue and can only reach us in a gospel way. Let us not look within. Let us look to the Lord alone. As we see Jesus we shall see our salvation.


Lord, send us such a flood-tide of Thy love that we shall be washed beyond the mire of doubt and fear.

Life:a Lesson in Love

By Rick Warren

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: ‘Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself’” (Matthew 22:37-39 TLB)
If you want your life to count, you have to focus it. You don’t have time for everything, and not everything is of equal value.

Matthew 22:37-39 says, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: ‘Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself’” (TLB).

Jesus said there are two things that are more valuable in life than anything else: loving God and loving each other.
Have you ever wondered why God didn’t just take you to Heaven when he created you? Why did he put you on Earth? You’re only here for 100 years at the most, and you’re going to live for eternity in Heaven or Hell. Why didn’t God just take everybody to Heaven?

The Bible is very clear that God put you here on Earth to do two things: to learn to love God and to learn to love other people. Life is not about acquisition, accomplishment, or achievement. It’s not about all the things the world tells you it’s about. You’re not taking your career to Heaven. You’re not taking your car to Heaven. You’re not taking your house to Heaven. But you are taking your character. You’re taking you.

God put you on Earth for 80 to 100 years so you can learn to love him with all your heart and learn to love others. Life is one giant lesson in love.

Look and Live

And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shalt come to pass, that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. (Numbers 21:8)


This is a glorious gospel type. Jesus, numbered with the transgressors, hangs before us on the cross. A look to Him will heal us of the serpent-bite of sin; will heal us at once–"When he looketh upon it, he shall live." Let the reader who is mourning his sinfulness note the words–"Everyone that looketh upon it shall live." Every looker will find this true. I have found it so. I looked to Jesus and lived at once, I know I did. Reader, if you look to Jesus you will live, too. True, you are swelling with the venom, and you see no hope. True, also, there is no hope but this one. But this is no doubtful cure–"Everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live."


The brazen serpent was not lifted up as a curiosity to be gazed upon by the healthy; but its special purpose was for those who were "bitten." Jesus died as a real Savior for real sinners. Whether the bite has made you a drunkard, or a thief, or an unchaste or a profane person, a look at the great Savior will heal you of these diseases and make you live in holiness and communion with God. Look and live.

Three Questions To Ask Of Any Bible Passage

By Rick Warren

“Does the LORD really want sacrifices and offerings? No! He doesn’t want your sacrifices. He wants you to obey him” (1 Samuel 15:22b CEV).

If you aren’t experienced in applying God’s Word to your life, you might be frustrated. How do you do it? Today I want to give you three questions you can ask of any passage that will help you apply the Bible to your life. Here are the three questions:

1. What did this Scripture mean when it was written?

2. What is the timeless truth behind what God is saying?

3. How does it apply now to me?

We call this the “application bridge.” We’re building a bridge between the world of the Bible and our world. Let’s try to build this bridge when applying what Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 8 about eating the food sacrificed to idols. Read 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, and then ask yourself the questions above.

1. What did this Scripture mean when it was written? There were people in the church of Corinth who knew that idols meant nothing and that the food offered to them had no magic power. It was just hamburger or a good steak. There was no harm in eating it because the idols to which they were sacrificed weren’t real.

So this group would eat freely but with no regard to what other people might think. Yet there were also new believers who were offended by that practice. They didn’t think that believers should eat food sacrificed to gods of other religions. Paul tells the mature believers not to allow their freedom in Christ to offend their brothers.

2. What is the timeless truth behind what God is saying? Don’t use your freedom in Christ to offend others. Freedom must be used in love.

3. How does it apply to me now? It’s not very common to come into contact with food being offered to idols where I live in Southern California. I’m guessing it doesn’t happen in your area, either. So does that mean it’s irrelevant for us? Of course not! If the timeless truth is: “Don’t use your freedom to offend others; freedom must be used in love,” then I need to be sensitive to people around me, because that’s how we demonstrate love. Ask yourself, “Lord, am I doing anything out of selfishness, arrogance, or deliberate insensitivity to other people that could be causing a fellow brother or sister to stumble? Am I being puffed up by my own knowledge of freedom, or am I building up others in love?”

No Cause to Blush

Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed. (Isaiah 54.4)


We shall not be ashamed of our faith. Carping critics may assail the Scriptures upon
which we ground our belief, but every year the Lord will make it more and more clear
that in His Book there is no error, no excess, and no omission. It is no discredit
to be a simple believer; the faith which looks alone to Jesus is a crown of honor on
any man’s head and better than a star on his breast.


We shall not be ashamed of our hope. It shall be even as the Lord has said. We shall
be fed, led, blest, and rested. Our Lord will come, and then the days of our
mourning shall be ended. How we shall glory in the Lord who first gave us lively
hope and then gave us that which we hoped for!


We shall not be ashamed of our love. Jesus is to us the altogether lovely, and
never, never, shall we have to blush because we have yielded our hearts to Him. The
sight of our glorious Well-beloved will justify the most enthusiastic attachment to
Him. None will blame the martyrs for dying for Him. When the enemies of Christ are
clothed with everlasting contempt, the lovers of Jesus shall find themselves honored
by all holy beings, because they chose the reproach of Christ rather than the
treasures of Egypt.

God Doesn't Leave You In The Dark


By Rick Warren

“No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11b NIV).

Have you ever heard someone say, “Well, that’s just your interpretation of the Bible”? It’s as if that little phrase disproves everything that’s been said. But it really doesn’t disprove anything.

There are right ways and wrong ways to interpret Scripture. Here are six principles of interpretation that are accepted just about everywhere.

1. You need faith and the Holy Spirit to interpret Scripture. The Bible doesn’t make sense to non-believers. It is God’s love letter to believers. When an unbeliever reads the Word, he is reading someone else’s mail. The Bible is a spiritual book that must be understood by spiritual people. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:11, “No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God” (NIV).

2. The Bible is its own best commentary. Scripture interprets Scripture. Practice this principle by getting a Bible with cross-references in the margin. By looking up cross-references, you’ll get a much bigger and clearer picture of what God has said in all of his Word, not just that one context.

3. Read the Old Testament with the New Testament in mind, and read the New Testament with the Old Testament in mind. The New Testament is hidden in the Old Testament. The Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament.

4. Always interpret unclear passages in the light of clear passages. Look at the full counsel of God in Scripture to get a clear understanding when you find a passage that seems contradictory or confusing. For example, 1 Corinthians 15:29 has a very obscure reference to baptism for the dead. It’s the only time the idea is mentioned in Scripture. Paul isn’t condoning this. Nothing in Scripture condones it. Let clear passages about salvation and baptism interpret this unclear one, not vice versa.

5. Don’t form a doctrine based solely on a historical event. Take historical passages of the Bible for what they’re meant to be: good lessons. Don’t build your doctrine upon them. For example, in Mark 1:35, the Bible says Jesus got up very early, went to a place of solitude, and prayed. Does that mean you must get up every morning at 4 a.m., leave your house, and go somewhere and pray? Of course not! God may convince you that it’s a good idea, but it’s not a command. Use doctrinal passages to base doctrine on. Use narratives to teach lessons.

6. Never interpret Scripture based on your own experiences. The point of Bible study is not to shape Scripture to agree with your subjective opinions or your experiences. Feelings lie. Emotions lie. Instead, discover God’s timeless truth, and let it shape your life. Study the Bible with an open heart, and invite God to conform you to his will.

God doesn’t want to leave you in the dark when you study Scripture. Following these basic rules of Bible study can help to ensure you read the Word from God’s perspective.

Nothing to Alarm Us



But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days. (Daniel 12:13)


We cannot understand all the prophecies, but yet we regard them with pleasure and not with dismay. There can be nothing in the Father's decree which should justly alarm His child. Though the abomination of desolation be set up, yet the true believer shall not be defiled; rather shall he be purified, and made white, and tried. Though the earth be burned up, no smell of fire shall come upon the chosen. Amid the crash of matter and the wreck of worlds, the Lord Jehovah will preserve His own.


Calmly resolute in duty, brave in conflict, patient in suffering, let us go our way, keeping to our road, and neither swerving from it nor loitering in it. The end will come; let us go our way till it does.


Rest will be ours, All other things swing to and fro, but our foundation standeth sure. God rests in His love, and, therefore, we rest in it. Our peace is, and ever shall be, like a river. A lot in the heavenly Canaan is ours, and we shall stand in it, come what may. The God of Daniel will give a worthy portion to all who dare to be decided for truth and holiness as Daniel was. No den of lions shall deprive us of our sure inheritance.


You Need Spiritual Food For Spiritual Strength

By Rick Warren

“Search for the LORD and his strength. Always seek his presence” (1 Chronicles 16:11 GW).
Just like you need physical food for physical strength, you need spiritual food for spiritual strength. The Bible describes itself as spiritual food — the water, milk, bread, and meat of our spiritual lives. It’s everything you need for sustenance.
If you were a construction contractor, you wouldn’t consider sending out a guy who hadn’t eaten anything in two weeks. If you were a commander in the Army, you wouldn’t send a person into battle who hadn’t eaten in a month. Right? We need to feed ourselves to have the strength to accomplish the tasks ahead of us.
You’re not going to have much success in winning the spiritual battles you face if you’re starving yourself to death. That’s why we need to feed on the Word of God.
Unlike eating physical food, whenever I feed on God’s Word, I get even hungrier. The more I taste and see how good God is, the more I want.
The Bible says in Colossians 3:16a, “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly” (NIV). Paul is telling us to let the Bible take up residence in our lives in a rich, profound, and life-giving way.
So how do we feed ourselves on the Word of God and allow that to happen?
Receive the Word with your ears. Commit yourself to go to church and listen to God’s Word being preached.
Read the Word with your eyes. Having a Bible in your house is not going to bless your life. You have to have the Bible in your heart.
Research the Word with your hands and mouth. When studying the Word of God, keep a pencil in your hand. Write down what God teaches. Talk about what you’re discovering with other believers in a small-group environment.
Reflect on the Word with your mind. Think about and chew on God’s Word.
Remember the Word with your heart. You’ll rarely have a Bible with you when you need it. Commit God’s Word to memory.

God's Word


By Rick Warren

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24 NIV).
The foundation of a house tells you how big the house can get. You can’t put a big house on a small or faulty foundation. It’ll collapse every time.
The same is true for our lives. You can’t become what God wants you to be on a faulty foundation. We’re given a lot of different options for what will be the foundation of our lives:
Popular culture. Some people think they’ll simply do what every other person is doing. If it’s popular, that’s what they do, too. Yet what’s popular today won’t be popular tomorrow. Basing your life on popular culture is like building a house on a constantly moving foundation. It doesn’t work!
Tradition. Other people build their lives on what has always been done or how their parents did it. That does make a little sense. Tradition becomes tradition because it works. But no tradition lasts forever. It eventually wears out, becomes obsolete, and is invalid. In Mark 7:8 Jesus tells the Pharisees never to put tradition before truth. It’s a good reminder for all of us.
Reason. God gave us the ability to reason; we need to use it. But our reason isn’t infallible. Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death”(NIV). The smartest among us will falter at times; it’s to be expected. Only God can be trusted all the time.
Emotions. Some build their lives on a feeling. If it feels right, they do it. But feelings lie — they lie all the time! You lie to yourself more than anyone else. If you live by your feelings, you’ll spend your life manipulated by your moods.
If it doesn’t work to build your life on popular culture, tradition, reason, or emotion, what should you build your life upon? God’s Word.
Jesus says this in Matthew 7:24: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (NIV).
Popular culture changes, traditions grow stale, reason can be faulty, and emotions lie. Yet God’s Word never changes.
You may not always understand his Word. You may not always like it. It won’t always be politically correct.
But it’s the only thing stable enough to build our lives upon.

WATCH EXPECTANTLY FOR GOD

Micah 7:7 (NASB) But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.


Our God hears us, and we hear Him.  Each day, as we hunger for Him, His Word declares that we will be filled.  I have found that there is living for God, and then there is watching expectantly for the Lord.  When we show God a hunger and a thirst for Him, it changes everything.


James said in James 5:16, ”The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”  Prayer is good, but effective, fervent prayer is a whole lot better. 


David was a man hungry for God.  He said throughout the Psalms that He thirsted for God like a deer; that He desired God more than His food, and more than silver or gold.  It is when we get hungry like this that we see how our relationship with God changes.  Remember, God does not change, WE DO!


The woman with the issue of blood said, “I am going to touch Him, no matter what.”  Jarius came to Jesus, and it did not matter what everybody else thought.  His daughter was dying, and he heard that Jesus was a healer, so He pushed through and got His prayer answered.


Now how about us?  Are we watching expectantly for the Lord?  Do we desire Him more than food and the riches of this world?  If we do, then look out!  Our God will hear us, and if we know that He hears us, we know that we have the petitions that we have come to Him for.


I do not know about you, but the thing that I desire more than anything is Him!


Confession:  I desire God, and I am hungry for Him.  He is my life, and my portion.  I want Him more than the wealth of this world, and I know if I seek Him, I will be found by Him.


Today’s Bible Reading


Jeremiah 23:21 – 25:38


2 Thessalonians 2


Psalms 84


Proverbs 25:15


Bible in a Year: 365-Day Reading Plan : English | King James Version (KJV)


WE’RE NEW CREATIONS

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.


We are new creations in Christ.  We are not going to be, in the sweet by and by.  We are today!  When Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, He opened the door for everyone in the human race to become, as one translation puts it, “a new species of being that never existed before.”


Think about that for a moment.  Before Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, there was no one who was a new creation, but once He did, it became available to every person that would believe on His work, and receive Him as their personal Lord and Savior.


The Scripture goes on to say in Galatians 6:15, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.”


To God, all He requires of us is to receive the gift of His Son and become new in His sight.  This puts you in the family.  This gives you Zoe: His eternal Life.  So if you have not received this gift, do it now!  I will help you by writing the prayer out for you, but you need to pray it with your mouth and believe it in your heart.  Once you do that, you are a new creation; you are a new species of being that never existed before.  Your body and your mind will not be changed, but your heart will. You will be born-again.  You will have received eternal life, or the Life of God.  So go ahead, pray this prayer, and then let me know you did.


Confession: Heavenly Father, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he died on the cross for me.  Father, I repent of my sins and ask you, Lord Jesus, to come into my heart and be my personal Lord and Savior.  I believe that I am born again, and I have received the Life of God in me.  Amen. 


(If you just prayed that prayer for the first time, please give us a call so we can help you in your new-found faith.)


Today’s Bible Reading


Jeremiah 22 – 23:20


2 Thessalonians 1


Psalms 83


Proverbs 25:11-14


Bible in a Year: 365-Day Reading Plan : English | King James Version (KJV)


Haus Persaingan

Haus Persaingan Cerita ini berisi tema atau penyebutan kekerasan fisik, gore, atau pelecehan. Saya telah menatap layar selama berjam-jam. ...