God Wants You Free From Worries

Matthew 6:25
25“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Is your heart full of worries about your health, finances, family or future? Even when all is well, some people still worry because they have heard others say, “You should worry when everything is peaceful because something is wrong when the devil leaves you alone.” So they worry even when there is nothing to worry about!

But Jesus does not want you to worry about what you will eat or drink, or about your body and what you will put on your back. He tells you not to worry about your daily provisions because God, who is your heavenly Father, knows that you need all these things and He wants to add these things to you. (Matthew 6:32–33)

God is the same God who took care of the children of Israel in the wilderness, feeding them with manna every day for 40 years! (Exodus 16) Under His care, His people had no lack. When the people wanted meat for dinner, He simply rained quails on them. (Numbers 11:31–32) The children of Israel only had to pick them up. If they had gone to look for meat themselves, they probably would not have found any in the desert.

The problem with us today is that we think that we must do something to help ourselves. Some of us may even think that it is easy for Jesus to say, “Don’t worry. Take no thought for your life,” because He does not understand the problems we face in life.

But the truth is that Jesus understands the problems we face in life. In fact, He faced what I would call the “final problem” — death. Death is the “final problem” because it puts an end to all our other problems. Jesus faced death at the cross, conquered it and rose from the dead. And because He conquered the problem of problems, we can trust Him when He tells us not to worry!

There are no Instant Habits

By Rick Warren

“Practice these things. Devote your life to them so that everyone can see your progress” (1 Timothy 4:15 GWT).

While you were given a brand new nature at the moment of conversion, you still have old habits, patterns, and practices that need to be removed and replaced.

We are afraid to humbly face the truth about ourselves. I have already pointed out that the truth will set us free but it often makes us miserable first.

The fear of what we might discover if we honestly faced our character defects keeps us living in the prison of denial. Yet, we often build our identities around our defects. We say, “It’s just like me to be” and “It’s just the way I am.” The unconscious worry is that if I let go of my habit, my hurt, or my hang-up, who will I be? This fear can definitely slow down your growth.

Only as God is allowed to shine the light of his truth on our faults, failures, and hang-ups can we begin to work on them. This is why you cannot grow without a humble, teachable attitude.

Godly habits take time to develop. Remember that your character is the sum total of your habits. You can’t claim to be kind unless you are habitually kind—you show kindness without even thinking about it. You can’t claim to have integrity unless it is your habit to always be honest. A husband who is faithful to his wife most of the time is not faithful at all!

Your habits define your character. There is only one way to develop the habits of Christlike character: You must practice them—and that takes time! There are no instant habits. Paul urged Timothy, “Practice these things. Devote your life to them so that everyone can see your progress” (1 Timothy 4:15 GWT).

If you practice something over time, you get good at it. Repetition is the mother of character and skill. These character-building habits are often called “spiritual disciplines,” and they include such things as meditation, prayer, fasting, Bible study, simplicity, stewardship, solitude, submission, service, and evangelism.

God Is Real, No Matter How You Feel

By Rick Warren

“The Lord has hidden Himself from His people, but I trust Him and place my hope in Him” (Isaiah 8:17 TEV).

It is easy to worship God when things are going great in your life—when He has provided food, friends, family, health, and happy situations. But circumstances are not always pleasant. How do you worship God then? What do you do when God seems a million miles away?

The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting Him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving Him when He seems distant.

Friendships are often tested by separation and silence; you are divided by physical distance or you are unable to talk. In your friendship with God, you won’t always feel close to Him.

Philip Yancey has wisely noted, “Any relationship involves times of closeness and times of distance, and in a relationship with God, no matter how intimate, the pendulum will swing from one side to the other” (Reaching for the Invisible God, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000; 242).

That’s when worship gets difficult.

To mature your friendship, God will test it with periods of seeming separation—times when it feels as if He has abandoned or forgotten you—when He feels a million miles away. St. John of the Cross referred to these days of spiritual dryness, doubt, and estrangement from God as “the dark night of the soul.” Henri Nouwen called them “the ministry of absence.” A. W. Tozer called them “the ministry of the night.” Others refer to “the winter of the heart.”

Besides Jesus, David probably had the closest friendship with God of anyone. God took pleasure in calling him “a man after My own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22).

Yet David frequently complained of God’s apparent absence:

• “Lord, why are You standing aloof and far away? Why do You hide when I need You the most?” (Psalm 10:1 LB).

• “Why have You forsaken me? Why do You remain so distant? Why do You ignore my cries for help?” (Psalm 22:1 NLT).

• “Why have You abandoned me?” (Psalm 43:2 TEV; see also Psalm 44:23 TEV; Psalm 88:14 MSG; Psalm 89:49 LB).

Of course, God hadn’t really left David, and He doesn’t leave you. He has promised repeatedly, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:8; Psalm 37:28; John 14:16–18; Hebrews 13:5).

Ready To Speak

Lee Eclov and his wife were at a coffee shop in Estes Park, Colorado. At another table sat four men, one of whom was mocking Christianity and the resurrection of Jesus.

Lee could sense the Lord telling him to respond. But his fear kept him from doing so. Finally, he knew he had to make a stand. So he walked over to the men and began giving historical evidence for the resurrection.

How do we respond when we’re in a similar situation? The apostle Peter encouraged his readers to make a commitment to stand up for Jesus, especially during extreme suffering. This commitment meant not remaining speechless when circumstances warranted them to defend their faith. He said, “Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15). Their readiness to answer required them to know God’s Word. They were to respond in godly meekness and fear, so that their persecutors would be ashamed of their own conduct.

Had Lee Eclov remained silent or responded rudely, the cause of Christ would have suffered. Lee later wrote, “God has a way of flushing us out of our quiet little places, and when He does we must be ready to speak for Him.” — Marvin Williams

When people wonder about our faith,
What answer will we give?
We’ll tell of Jesus who bore our sins
And shows us how to live. —Fitzhugh

To be silent about the Savior and His salvation is a dreadful sin of omission.

Why Does It Take So Long?

By : Rick Warren

“The Lord your God will drive those nations out ahead of you little by little. You will not clear them away all at once” (Deuteronomy 7:22 NLT).

Although God could instantly transform us, He has chosen to develop us slowly. Jesus is deliberate in developing His disciples. Just as God allowed the Israelites to take over the Promised Land “little by little” so they wouldn’t be overwhelmed, He prefers to work in incremental steps in our lives.

Why does it take so long to change and grow up? There are several reasons.

We are slow learners. We often have to relearn a lesson forty or fifty times to really get it. The problems keep recurring, and we think, “Not again! I’ve already learned that!”—but God knows better. The history of Israel illustrates how quickly we forget the lessons God teaches us and how soon we revert to our old patterns of behavior. We need repeated exposure.

We have a lot to unlearn. Many people go to a counselor with a personal or relational problem that took years to develop and say, “I need you to fix me. I’ve got an hour.” They naïvely expect a quick solution to a long-standing, deep-rooted difficulty. Since most of our problems—and all of our bad habits—didn’t develop overnight, it’s unrealistic to expect them go away immediately.

There is no pill, prayer, or principle that will instantly undo the damage of many years. It requires the hard work of removal and replacement. The Bible calls it “taking off the old self” and “putting on the new self” (Romans 13:12; Ephesians 4:22-25; Colossians 3:7-10, 14).

Growth is often painful and scary. There is no growth without change; there is no change without fear or loss; and there is no loss without pain. We fear these losses, even if our old ways were self-defeating, because, like a worn out pair of shoes, they were at least comfortable and familiar.

Every change involves a loss of some kind: You must let go of old ways in order to experience the new.

The Six Phases of Faith

By :Rick Warren

“Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, ‘Let it happen, then, just as you believe!’” (Matthew 9:29 TEV)

God takes our belief and He blesses us through it, and that makes life a great adventure. It is critical that we cooperate with God as He builds faith within us. Because of its importance, I want to review the six phases of faith we’ve studied over the past week. This will also let you see them all in one place.

Phase 1—Dream: Do I have a dream planted in me by God? If you don’t have a dream, start praying, “God, give me Your dream.” If you can’t write down the dream God has given you, you need to be praying. If you don’t have a dream, you’re not living; you’re just existing. God placed you on this earth for a purpose.

Phase 2—Decision: Do I need to make a faith-decision that will help that dream become a reality? Some of you have a dream from God, but you haven’t made a decision to follow it. You’re still on the fence. God’s word for you is “Go for it!” Some of you may need to make the decision to give your life to Christ. Some of you may need to make the decision to join a church. Some of you may need to make the decision to get involved in ministry.

Phase 3—Delay: What has caused my dream to be delayed? If your prayer hasn’t been answered, that’s okay. It just means you’re in God’s waiting room. Now is not the time to detour. When things don’t happen on our timetable, we tend to run ahead of God and create detours to make it happen. You may end up making the wrong decision. Wait, wait, and wait for God to work His hand.

Phase 4—Difficulty: What difficulties have I faced waiting for the dream to be fulfilled? You are being tested, but it’s not going to be the last time. You’ll go through many, many tests in life. God says, “I know exactly what you’re going through. I see it. I’m watching. Don’t think I’ve forgotten you—I haven’t.”

Phase 5—Dead End: Have I come to a dead end yet? Some of you are there ready to give up. But the truth is—you’re right where God wants you. You’re getting prepared for deliverance. God’s word for you is “Hang on! Keep on believing! Don’t give up!”

Phase 6—Deliverance: Do I expect and trust God to deliver me? “According to your faith will it be done to you” (Matthew 9:29 NIV). God is faithful. What He tells us to do, He will do. But it doesn’t happen overnight. You go through the faith-phases of Dream, Decision, Delay, Difficulty, and Dead End . . . and then comes Deliverance.

Just A Groan Will Reach God’s Throne

Romans 8:26
26Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Once, when my father was hospitalized, I remember driving as fast as I could to the hospital to see him because his condition was deteriorating rapidly. I was just sobbing in my car on the way there. I didn’t know what to pray. So I just cried and prayed in tongues, groaning in my spirit.

I believe that at that very low point, the Holy Spirit was helping me in my weaknesses — “For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered”.

The events that soon unfolded in the hospital convinced me that just a groan or sigh will reach the throne of our Abba Father.

I managed to reach the hospital just in time to clasp my father’s hand before he was wheeled in for surgery. The surgeons came out of the operating theatre some time later to inform my mother that they didn’t need to do anything after they had opened him up because they discovered that “surgery” had already been done on him!

Surprised, my mother answered, “He has never been operated on. I am his wife. I should know.” Not convinced, the surgeons told my father when he regained consciousness, “We opened you up and found that surgery had already been done. Whoever did it did a perfect work.”

Equally surprised, my dad told them, “I have never had surgery done on me.”

“No, you have!” the surgeons insisted.

As my parents and the doctors continued arguing, I found myself thinking, “My goodness, I didn’t even pray for a miracle on my way to the hospital. Yet, a miracle has just happened!”

My friend, when we who are God’s children groan as we pray in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which will reach the throne of our Abba Father, and cause Him to move powerfully on our behalf!

GBU

Let Love Motivate Your Work

“Do all your work in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14 TEV).

The apostle Paul says, “Do all your work in love.” He doesn’t say some of your work, but all of your work. He also says “no matter . . . what I do, I’m bankrupt without love” (1 Corinthians 13:3 MSG).

The point is any job can be turned into worship when it is built on the model of Christ’s love: that love is expressed to co-workers, clients, and customers. Mother Teresa said, “It’s not what you do so much that matters, but how much love you put into it.”

Think about it like this. Two-thirds of the word career is “care”: C-A-R-E. John Rushcan once said, “When love and skill come together, expect a masterpiece.”

So, I want you to pray a prayer every day this week. When you get up to go work—whether it’s at home or at school, in your backyard or at an office or wherever you work—I want you to pray, “Father, today I want to worship You through my work. I want to express my gifts, I want to do it as if I’m doing it for You, and I want to do it in love.”

“So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to His service and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer” (Romans 12:1 TEV).

How God Builds Your Faith: Dream

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

Faith is like a muscle: it can be strengthened. It can be weak or it can be strong, depending on how much you use it.

How does God build your faith? He uses a very predictable pattern that we will look at this week, and, if you understand it, you can cooperate with Him in developing greater faith. It’s like when the father, seeking help from Jesus for his son, said, “Have pity on us and help us, if you possibly can!” (Mark 9:22 TEV)

Jesus replied, “What do you mean, ‘If I can?’ . . . Anything is possible if a person believes” (Mark 9:23 NLT).

The first thing God does to build your faith is give you a dream. When God wants to work in your life, He’ll always gives you a dream—about yourself, about what He wants you to do, about how He’s going to use your life to impact the world.

There are many examples in the Bible of this.

• God gave Noah the dream of building an ark.
• God gave Abraham the dream of being the father of a great nation.
• God gave Joseph the dream of being a leader that would save his people.
• God gave Nehemiah the dream of building the wall around Jerusalem.

How do you know when a dream is from God or when it’s just something you’ve thought up yourself? The Bible tells us that God, “by His mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of—infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes” (Ephesians 3:20 LB).

In other words, if a dream comes from God, it will be so big in your life that you can’t do it on your own. If you could do it on your own, you wouldn’t need faith. And if you don’t have faith you’re not pleasing God, because the Bible says whatever is not of faith is sin (Roman 14:23).

God starts to build your faith by giving you a dream. He may be speaking to you now, but you just don’t recognize it for what it is. That dream you have—the idea, the concept, that thing you’ve been thinking about doing that would be of real benefit to other people—where do you think that idea came from?

God will never tell you to do something that contradicts His truth. In other words, He won’t give you a dream of leaving your family and kids and moving to Hollywood to be a movie star. If you’ve got that dream, then you can know it is not from God.

God starts with a dream as He works within your life to build faith.

Christian Quotations

"Our little time of suffering is not worthy of our first night's welcome home to Heaven."
- Samuel Rutherford

"I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go."
- Abraham Lincoln

"We turn to God for help when our foundations are shaking only to learn that it is God shaking them."
- Charles West

"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for."
- John Shedd

"The next time you are called to suffer, pay attention. It may be the closest you'll ever get to God."
- Max Lucado

"If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?"
- Stephen Levine

"Heaven is full of answers to prayers for which no one ever bothered to ask."
- Billy Graham

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."
- C. S. Lewis

"I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all, but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess."
- Martin Luther

"The best way to show that a stick is crooked is not to argue about it or to spend time denouncing it, but to lay a straight stick along side it."
-D. L. Moody

"I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love."
-Henry Ward Beecher

"The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else."
-Oswald Chambers

"It's not what you did, but what you could have done if you allowed the Lord to work His will in your life."
-A. W. Tozer

Don't Fear Deeper Friendships

By : Rick Warren

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7 NIV).

When we’re full of fear and anxiety, we don’t get close to each other. We back off from each other. We’re afraid of being rejected, manipulated, vulnerable, hurt, or used. All of these fears cause us to disconnect in life.

This fear is as old as humanity. When Adam and Eve sinned, and God came looking for them, Adam said, “I was afraid . . . so I hid” (Genesis 3:10 NIV). People have been doing that ever since. We’re afraid, so we hide. We hide our true selves.

We don’t let people know what we’re really like. We don’t let them see the inside of us. Why? Because if we let people know what we’re like and they don’t like it; we’re up a creek without a paddle. Tough luck. Why am I afraid to tell you who I am? Because if I tell you who I am, and you don’t like me, I’m in for it. I have no alternative. So we wear masks and we pretend.

Fear does three terrible things to relationships:

1. Fear makes us defensive. We’re afraid to reveal ourselves. We defend ourselves. When people point out our weaknesses, we retaliate and defend ourselves.

2. Fear keeps us distant. We don’t let people get close to us. We want to withdraw, pull back. We want to hide our emotions. We don’t want to be open and honest. We become defensive and distant.

3. Fear makes us demanding. Whenever we’re insecure, and the more insecure we are, the more we try to control. So we try to have the last word in a relationship. We try to dominate, control. It’s always a symptom of fear and insecurity.
Where do you get the confidence, the courage, to take the first step in connecting with someone, to go into a deeper intimacy? Where do you get that courage?

You get it from God’s Spirit in your life. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For the Holy Spirit, God’s gift, does not want you to be afraid of people but to be wise and strong (courageous), and to love them and enjoy being with them” (LB).

How do you know when you’re filled with God’s Spirit? You’re more courageous in your relationships. You love people. You enjoy being with them. You’re not afraid of them because God’s Spirit is in your life. The Bible says “God is love,” and “Love casts out all fear.” The more of God you have in your life, the less of fear you’re going to have in your life.

So the starting point in connecting with anybody is to pause, pray, and say, “God, give me the courage to take the first step.” You need to do that now with a person you want to connect with.

Find Power in Prayer!

James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Throughout the United States today believers are gathering for the National Day of Prayer. Since the founding of the country there have been 134 national calls to prayer, humiliation, fasting and thanksgiving issued by the President of the United States.

Prayer needs to be a huge part of our lives. We need to recognize that our spirit needs prayer like our body needs food! Charles Spurgeon once said, “We cannot all argue, but we can all pray; we cannot all be leaders, but we can all be pleaders; we cannot all be mighty in rhetoric, but we can all be prevalent in prayer.”

Let’s commit to spending more time in prayer today! Make sure you don’t allow the enemy to rob your time to pray — for it’s in prayer that we tap into God’s unlimited power that makes demons tremble!

Red Alert!

Romans 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

As we spoke across the United States these past months, it seems we were continually met with a spirit of apathy and a lack of understanding about the times in which we live. Despite all the things going on in the world today, the sense of urgency about the hour seemed lost among many.

Dr. Albert Bartlett, an expert on compounding, gave this scenario. Let’s suppose you’re sitting in a water tight baseball stadium which seats over 50,000 people, and you’re handcuffed to the top bleacher. Let’s say a single drop of water is placed in the center of the stadium and is allowed to double at a rate of 1 time per minute. In other words, 1 drop doubled, equals two drops added to the stadium. The next minute, two drops doubled equals four drops, next minute, four doubled equals eight, and so on.

How many minutes do you suppose you’d have before you’d drown? A few months? A few days? Get this — how about 49 minutes?! That’s right; it would take only 49 minutes to drown completely! What’s even more remarkable is that at 44 minutes, the amount of water in the stadium would only be at 7%! Seriously, do the math!

You see, the real action takes place only in the last five minutes. It seems there is all the time in the world and then…perhaps this is one reason the scriptures say the Lord will come as a thief in the night!

I do not want to be sitting there in the top bleacher, oblivious and helpless — do you? Those of us who are aware of the times have a key to the handcuffs — discernment, wisdom and faith! We will begin preparing now for the times drawing nearer by the second!

Let’s get a sense of urgency about the hour in which we live. Let’s pray earnestly, invest wisely, and be about His business while there’s still time! There’s SO much work to be done!

God Designed You to Work

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV).

Your work can be an act of worship. No matter what you do, it’s never just a job if you are a believer. This is because God designed you with talents, gifts, and interests that He wants used for his glory.

You are custom-made. There’s nobody like you in the whole world. And the gifts, the abilities, the talents, even the interests you have, they were genetically encoded into you by God. You didn’t have a say in what you were going to be interested in, what you are naturally good at. God made you with a specific mission in mind and He wants you to use the gifts He’s given you in your work.

The Bible says that you are God’s workmanship. The Greek word used for workmanship is poema; that’s where our word for “poem” comes from. You are God’s poem! You are God’s work of art. You are God’s masterpiece.

Your work is part of God’s plan for your life and that is why, as you work, you worship God.

Are You in a Mismatched Job?

By :Rick Warren

“Each of you should go on living according to the Lord’s gift to you, and as you were when God called you. This is the rule I teach in all the churches” (1 Corinthians 7:17 TEV).

God does not expect you to glorify Him with gifts you don’t have. But He does expect you to glorify Him with gifts you do have.

To fulfill God’s will for you life, you need work that expresses what God made you to be. If you’re in a job that is not using the talents, gifts, abilities, and interests that God gave you, you may want to pray about whether or not you’re in a mismatched job.

This is a serious problem and it’s a spiritual issue. It is far more important than you may think it is because God has given you your gifts, talents, and abilities, and one day He’s going to say, “What did you do with them?” And do you want to say, “Well, I spent my life at a job that didn’t use them”?

Now, I know this raises some questions, you may be saying, “Rick, what if my current job doesn’t express my gifts?” As someone committed to your fulfillment in life, living for the purpose God designed you for, I urge you toward this: If you are in a job that does not match the gifts, interests, and abilities God gave to you, then give serious consideration to taking steps to get out of it and get into the job that God has called you to by the very nature of who you are.

It’s a very important issue for your spiritual life: Get into what God made you to be. The first step you need to take is some self-appraisal. You need to ask yourself, “What did God make me to be?” As the Bible says, “Try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of the faith that God has given to you” (Romans 12:3 PH). During this appraisal, you may even discover that you are in the very job God wants you to be, and you can develop a new attitude about your work.

“Each of you should go on living according to the Lord’s gift to you” (1 Corinthians 7:17 TEV). Pray about this: Are you in a job that doesn’t match who God made you to be, or are you exactly where God wants you to be?

Don't Fear Authentic Relationships

By : Rick Warren

“But if we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other. Then the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:7-8 NCV).

Authentic fellowship is not superficial, surface-level chit-chat. It’s genuine, heart-to-heart, sometimes gut-level sharing.

It happens when people get honest about who they are and what is happening in their lives. They share their hurts, reveal their feelings, confess their failures, disclose their doubts, admit their fears, acknowledge their weaknesses, and ask for help and prayer.

Authenticity is the exact opposite of what you find in many churches. Instead of an atmosphere of honesty and humility, there is pretending, role-playing, politicking, and superficial politeness, but shallow conversation.

People wear masks, keep their guard up, and act as if everything is rosy in their lives. These attitudes are the death of real friendship.

It’s only as we become open about our lives that we experience authentic fellowship. The Bible says, “If we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other . . . If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves” (1 John 1:7-8 NCV).

The world thinks intimacy occurs in the dark, but God says it happens in the light. We tend to use darkness to hide our hurts, faults, fears, failures, and flaws. But in the light, we bring them all out into the open and admit who we really are.

Of course, being authentic requires both courage and humility. It means facing our fear of exposure, rejection, and being hurt again.

Why would anyone take such a risk?

Because it’s the only way to grow spiritually and be emotionally healthy. The Bible says, “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed” (James 5:16 MSG).

Work to Please God, Not People

By Rick Warren

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people” (Colossians 3:23 TEV).

The apostle Paul teaches that we are to work as though we are “working for the Lord and not for people.” He’s saying that no job is too small; no job is too menial; no job is too insignificant when you have the right motive and perspective. We should think, “I’m doing it for God; I’m doing this job as if I’m doing it for the Lord.” I used to clean meat lockers in a butcher shop, and I would clean them as unto the Lord.

Now, how do I know if I’m doing my work for the Lord? Two characteristics will show up in your attitude: excellence and enthusiasm.

First, if I’m doing my work, not for the boss but for the Lord, I’ll do it with excellence. That means I give it my best shot. I do the best I can because I’m not doing it for anyone’s approval, except God’s. I do it with excellence, being the best I can be.

Second, I do my work with enthusiasm. I’m working for God; therefore, I do it with a cheerful attitude. “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically” (Romans 12:11 NLT).

When you are working with all your heart, motivated by the love of Christ, your work is transformed into an act of worship for God.

Why Go to Church?

If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this! If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it. If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope!

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote,"and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."

This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column. Much to the delight of the editor, it went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:

"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this... They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today.
Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!"

When you are DOWN to nothing....God is UP to something!