Criticized? Trust God to Defend You

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES The Keys to a Blessed Life   Criticized? Trust God to Defend You By Rick Warren — Oct 12, 2015 “I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated. My salvation and honor depend on God; he is my strong protector; he is my shelter.” (Psalm 62:5-7 TEV) There are always going to be people in your life who misunderstand you and people who don’t like you. There will always be people who criticize you, judge you, attack you, and spread rumors about you. When you are misunderstood, you’re going to have a tendency to get in there and defend yourself. When you’re attacked, your tendency is attack back — just like the rest of us. When people criticize you, you want to criticize back. When people insult you, you want to insult them back. Don’t do it! Let God be your defender. Every time you are under attack, criticized, put down, or misunderstood, you have two choices. You can defend yourself, or you can let God defend you. Which will it be? Who do you think can do a better job defending you? God can. Pay attention to this: You’re most like Christ when you say nothing in the face of attack, lies, and unfair criticism. You’re most like Jesus when you remain silent and leave it in God’s hands. When Jesus was insulted, “he did not answer back with an insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge” (1 Peter 2:23 TEV). Even Jesus did not fight back in the face of his unjust conviction and persecution. He trusted God to defend him when it mattered most and to have the ultimate justice. In the Bible, King David was criticized and attacked his entire life. In fact most of his life people wanted to kill him because they were jealous of him. David said this in Psalm 62:5-7: “I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated. My salvation and honor depend on God; he is my strong protector; he is my shelter.” A lot of people are going to be jealous of your success, too, and they’re going to want to attack you for many different reasons. But, like David, you need to let God be your protector, your Savior, your defender, your victor, and your shelter. Let God handle it. Let him be your defense. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over What are some practical things you can do in the moment to keep from speaking or acting in retaliation? Why do you think God wants us to remain silent when we are under attack? Why doesn’t he want us to try to prove that we are right? How does someone’s attack on your character say more about that person than it does you? Today’s Scripture “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...” (Romans 12:2, NASB) SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS Transform Your Thinking Your life will move in the direction of your most dominant thoughts. You can choose to think according the world’s system or according to God’s system. The world’s system says, “Look out for number one...do whatever you can to get ahead...make yourself happy.” But in God’s system, it’s just the opposite. You find happiness and blessing by serving and putting others first. God doesn’t want us to have an attitude that is self-centered, jealous or greedy. He knows that those attitudes end in destruction. God wants us to live a blessed and prosperous life, and that’s why Scripture tells us to renew our minds or transform our thinking. We have to make sure our thoughts are the same as God’s thoughts. Just like a computer, whatever you allow into your mind is what will come out in your attitude and actions. The more you meditate on God’s Word, the more you will transform your thinking to be like God’s thinking. Choose today to focus on His Word and allow your mind to be renewed. Transform your thoughts and experience His blessing! A Prayer for Today “Father, today I submit to You all that I am. I ask that You renew my mind as I meditate on Your word. Transform me into Your image in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

While You’re Waiting, God Is Working

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES The Keys to a Blessed Life

While You’re Waiting, God Is Working By Rick Warren — Oct 11, 2015 “I trust the LORD God to save me, and I will wait for him to answer my prayer.” (Micah 7:7 CEV) The Bible is clear that there are seasons in life, and one of the seasons that God talks about again and again is the season of waiting. While you’re waiting, God is working. Don’t think that the season of waiting means that God has stopped working. He’s just taking you through that season because he’s using the time to work in your circumstances for your good. You’re going to spend a lot of life waiting. If you don’t figure out how to trust God while you’re waiting, you’re going to spend a lot of your life not trusting God. God is never in a hurry. He’s eternal! He is watching; he is working. He is seeing how and when you will trust him as you’re waiting. You’re saying, “When, Lord? When is it going to happen?” And God’s saying, “You can trust me with this.” The problem with waiting is that our human nature and our culture say, “Don’t wait! Get things as quickly as you can.” That’s the way our culture is wired, but it goes against God’s blessing in our lives because God’s blessing comes through these times of waiting. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “[God] has set the right time for everything” (TEV). You might be in a time of waiting. Maybe it’s for school to end. Maybe it’s for a man or a woman to come into your life. Maybe it’s for a marriage to happen or a baby to come. And you may be frustrated with how slowly things are happening. We’ve all been there. There’s a promise in the Bible that tells you not only that God is working but also how God is working, and you need to claim it while you’re in your time of waiting: “I am the LORD, and when it is time, I will make these things happen quickly” (Isaiah 60:22 NCV). That’s how God worked when he sent Jesus into this world. The world waited thousands of years for Jesus to come the first time. And he came at just the right time. We’ve been waiting 2,000 years now for Jesus to come again. When is he going to come again? At just the right time — God’s time. That’s when he’s going to come. You need to apply this to your time of waiting and remember that a delay is not a denial. When you think God is saying “No,” he may just be saying, “Not yet. Will you keep trusting me through this?” Micah 7:7 says, “I trust the LORD God to save me, and I will wait for him to answer my prayer” (CEV). That is the kind of faith that God blesses. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over What have you been waiting on God to do in your life? What has been your response to the season of waiting? How have you seen God work in your life when you have had to trust in his timing and not your own? What can you do to slow things down in your life so that you learn patience and trust?   CURRENT RADIO SERIES The Beginning of the End   CURRENT TV SERIES All Things New: The Revelation   But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.  --Joshua 24:15 If you are a parent who wants to pass your faith on to the next generation, I have some advice for you—KEEP IT REAL! If you and I are going to instill a strong, unshakable faith in our children, we must be transparent, authentic, and real. Exercising your faith at home must be part of your everyday life! Now you certainly don’t have to dress up for it or put a face on for it. Real faith works in a suit or in blue jeans. Make faith a normal, comfortable part of your everyday life and your children will see faith in action. I love today’s verse when Joshua said, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” He took the lead and made the decision that his household would live for God. You can make the same decision for your family today! If your heart and soul longs to know Christ, real faith will permeate your life as a parent, whether you are worshipping or working, praying or playing, going to church or fishing. When you rise and when you go to bed at night, be real! Make God’s Word part of your daily walk. Talk the truth, model the truth, and live the truth. According to Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Training your child in the ways of the Lord is a 24/7 job, but you can do it with God’s help. MAKE FAITH A NORMAL, COMFORTABLE PART OF YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE AND YOUR CHILDREN WILL SEE FAITH IN ACTION.

Your Strength Is Limited, God’s Is Unlimited

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CURRENT TEACHING SERIES The Keys to a Blessed Life   Your Strength Is Limited, God’s Is Unlimited By Rick Warren — Oct 10, 2015 “You bless all who depend on you for their strength.” (Psalm 84:5a CEV) Are you tired? Some of you are running on steam. You’re tired a lot. At the end of the day, you’re worn out and you’re running out of energy, and the reason why is real simple: You’re a human being. Your strength is limited. God’s strength is unlimited. Your strength is finite. God’s strength is infinite. Your strength is exhaustible — that’s why you get exhausted! But God’s strength is inexhaustible. God never runs out of energy. God never gets tired. Psalm 84:5 says, “You bless all who depend on you for their strength” (CEV). Do you want God’s blessing in your life? Then you need to depend on God for your strength. One of the most famous Christians of the 19th century was a guy named Hudson Taylor. He was a missionary to China, and he was a spiritual giant and a brilliant man. In his old age, he lost his health and became very weak. He wrote a letter to a friend that said this: “I am so weak I can no longer work. I am so weak I can no longer study. I am so weak I can no longer read my Bible. I cannot even pray. I can only lie still in the arms of God like a little child in trust.” Sometimes in your life you’re going to be so weak you can’t even pray, read the Bible, or go to a Bible study. You can’t work. You can’t do anything. What do you do in those moments? You rest in the strength of the Lord, in his arms like a little child, and you trust. Weakness can actually be a good thing in your life if it causes you to depend on God. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (NLT, second edition). That’s the paradox of depending on God — the more you’re weak, the more you depend on God. And the more you depend on God, the stronger you get. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick>> Talk It Over Why is it difficult for us to admit or show our weakness? How does our culture perpetuate the idea that we have to be strong all of the time? What does it mean to depend on God’s strength? What would that look like to other people? Today’s Scripture

“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my Refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust [with great confidence, and on whom I rely]!’” (Psalm 91:2, AMP)

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What Do You Say?

Your words have tremendous power. No matter what you may be facing today, the words of your mouth can help set the course for victory or defeat. When you wake up with an attitude of faith and expectancy and declare that God is your refuge, you will be strengthened and empowered by His Spirit. When you talk like you are blessed, when you walk like you are blessed, then you will live like you are blessed! Understand that your words are like seeds. When you declare favor and blessing, you are sowing favor and blessing, and you will reap a harvest of favor and blessing in return. That’s why its so important to take inventory of what you are saying on a regular basis. Even when challenges and obstacles arise, you have to rise up and say, “If God is for me, who can be against me?” Every day, let go of the weeds of unforgiveness and bitterness. Water your seed with the Word of God so you can move forward into the the abundant life He has in store for you!

A Prayer for Today

“Father, thank You for Your Word which is like refreshing water to my soul. Help me choose the right things to say so that I can live in victory all the days of my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Past and Present .. Future =)

After a long weekend of work, I am currently listening to music and reminiscing the good times... visiting who, where and when

 

it's worth to remember.

I did smile, too =)

Depend on God’s Wisdom, Not Yours

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES The Keys to a Blessed Life

Depend on God’s Wisdom, Not Yours By Rick Warren — Oct 9, 2015 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.” (Proverbs 3:5-7 NLT, second edition) Have you ever had a feeling that something was so very, very right, and then when you did it, it ended up being so very, very wrong? Feelings lie. They lie to you all the time! There’s an old country song that says, “How can it be wrong when it feels so right?” Are you kidding me? There are a lot of things that are wrong that feel so right at the moment. After six months in a relationship, you wonder, “What was I thinking?” Just a few months into a job, you think, “How in the world did I get messed up in this?” A quick decision that seemed harmless at the time leaves you broken and scarred years later. If you want to have fewer dead ends and failures in your life, you need to hear what the Bible says in Proverbs 3:5-7: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil” (NLT, second edition). If you really want God’s blessing on your life, you have to depend on God’s wisdom and not what your feelings say or what your gut says. Trust in the Lord and not on your own understanding. So, how do you get God’s wisdom? You pray. You talk to God, and you let him talk to you by reading the Bible. That’s how you get God’s wisdom. The Bible says in James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (NIV). God doesn’t want you to make dumb mistakes. He doesn’t want you to hit dead ends or go through failure after failure in your life. God wants you to succeed. He wants you to make wise decisions with your time and your money and your relationships. It’s not like you’re waiting on him for his help. He’s waiting on you! God’s says, “Hey! I’m here. I’ll give you wisdom, and I’ll give it generously. I’m not grudging about it. I want to make you wise. You’ve just got to ask.” If you want to be blessed, you’ve got to get God’s wisdom. If you want God’s wisdom, then you’ve got to get in God’s Word. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over Think of a time in your life when you depended on your feelings to make a big decision. What was the result? How does God speak to you? How do you know it’s his voice speaking to you? Why do you think it’s so important to spend time with God every day if you want to know his will for your life? Today’s Scripture “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?” (Isaiah 43:19, NLT) SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS Look What He’s Doing God wants His people to be the most blessed! He wants His people to increase so they can live as an example of His goodness. But in order to partake of everything He has in store for us, we have to be open to what He wants to do in our lives. We have to have a vision for increase. If you’re not expecting favor, if you just get satisfied with where you are, then you’re living below your privileges. But if you will get a vision for increase, a vision of who you are as a child of the Most High God, you’ll see supernatural opportunities, favor and increase in your life. Today, take time to focus your thoughts on God and His promises. Meditate on His Word. Look for what He is doing and receive the blessings He has in store for you! A Prayer for Today “Father, right now I choose to set my mind and heart on You. I choose to look for what You want to do in and through me. I let go of any wrong thinking, attitudes or actions that would hold me back in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

God Loves You This Much

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES The Keys to a Blessed Life   God Loves You This Much By Rick Warren — Oct 8, 2015 “God is love.” (1 John 4:8b NIV) The Bible says God is love. It doesn’t say God has love; it says God is love. Love is his nature. God is love.   God created the entire universe. He created this planet; he created the human race; then, he created you because he loves you. God created you as an object of his love. He made you so he could love you and so you could love him. God’s love for you is the reason your heart is beating right now; it’s the reason you’re breathing. God’s good news is that he loves you on your good days as much as he loves you on your bad days. He loves you when you can feel his love, and he loves you when you can’t seem to feel his love. He loves you whether or not you think you deserve his love. There is nothing you can do that will make God stop loving you. You could try, but you simply can’t do it, because his love for you is based on his character and not on anything you do or say or feel. God loves you so much that he sent his only Son, Jesus, into this world, “so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NLT, second edition). Jesus stretched his arms out as wide as the cross, saying, “I love you this much! I love you so much it hurts. I love you so much I’ll die for you so that I won’t have to live without you.” God’s love surpasses all human knowledge, and it is difficult for any of us to grasp the width and length and height and depth of his love for each one of us (Ephesians 3:17-19). PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over How should a deep belief and confidence in God’s love for you change the way you live your life? Why do you think so many people have a hard time accepting God’s love? What can you do to show God that you love him? Today’s Scripture “Taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8, ESV) SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS Take Refuge in Him Where do you take refuge when the storms of life come? Where do you go for comfort and safety? Some people find it easy to turn to their friends, their job, or even a bowl of ice cream. There’s nothing wrong with any of those things, but God wants us to turn to Him first. He wants us to take refuge in Him. He longs to protect us, defend us and give us His strength. We serve a good God, and when we take refuge in Him, He will pour out His abundant blessing in our lives. Taste and see that the Lord is good, and His promises are good. When you turn to God, the Bible promises that you will find rest and refuge for your soul. No matter what you may be facing today, come to the Father. He will give you His peace and strength as you take refuge in Him. A Prayer for Today “Father, today I open my heart to You. Thank You for Your peace and rest and for showing me Your hand of blessing as I take refuge in You in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

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