God Is for You

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES What On Earth Am I Here For?

God Is for You By Rick Warren — Oct 7, 2015 “But the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.’” (Luke 2:10 NLT, second edition)  Knowing God is for you will change your whole perspective on life. You’ll stop thinking of God as someone looking down from Heaven, ready to yell “Gotcha!” any time you mess up. God is for your success in life; he created you for a purpose, and he wants you to succeed. It is God, your Creator, who will measure your success in life and no one else. This is extremely good news! It means you don’t need to be afraid of God, because God is for you. Yet some people are so afraid of God they get nervous just talking about him. Do you know why? They feel guilty, and then they start thinking, “If I get close to God, he’s going to lecture me. He’s going to remind me of all the things I’ve done wrong, and then I’ll feel even worse!” Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus said, “I did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save it.” Jesus was saying, “I didn’t come to scold you; I came to save you.” And if God is for us, who can be against us? Jesus came to save us, not to scare us. That’s why when the angel was telling the shepherds about the birth of Jesus, the first thing he said is, “Don’t be afraid!”   In fact, when God sends a message to people in the Bible, it’s not unusual for the first words to be: “Don’t be afraid.” There are 365 messages from God in the Bible that begin with a phrase like, “Fear not!” In other words, every single day of the year, you can read a message from God that says, in effect, “You don’t need to be afraid. I am for you; I am with you; I love you.” God is for you! PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over How would your life change if you deeply believed God is for you? Ask God to help you in your unbelief. Why do you think so many people are afraid of God? What other Bible verses talk about how God is for you? Try memorizing one of them this week. Today’s Scripture “Then said Jesus, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’” (Luke 23:34, KJV) SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS Extend Forgiveness When you’ve been hurt or offended, sometimes it’s tempting to hold on to unforgiveness. But we have to remember, when people wrong us, our battle is not against flesh and blood. In other words, that person who hurt you is not the real enemy. The Bible says that your adversary is the devil, and he knows that if you don’t forgive, your prayers won’t be effective. Unforgiveness puts up a barrier in your life to the power of God. In fact, if we don’t forgive others, we can’t be forgiven by God. However, when you choose forgiveness, you open the door for God’s healing power to flow through you! Disarm the enemy in your life today by choosing forgiveness. Bless those who curse you and pray for those who wrong you. Look at what Jesus did—when He was betrayed, beaten, mocked and disrespected, He chose to forgive. Follow His example, and open the door for victory in every area of your life! A Prayer for Today “Father, thank You for forgiving me and giving me new life. Today I choose to extend forgiveness to others. I bless those who have wronged me and ask You to heal every broken place in my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.”