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A Testimony
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, 'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California. In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:
People ask me, what is the purpose of life?
And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.
I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity... We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.
We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.
Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life... No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.
You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems: If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.
So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit... We made no major purchases.
Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD. Difficult moments, SEEK GOD. Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD. Painful moments, TRUST GOD. Every moment, THANK GOD..
If you do not pass it on, nothing will happen. But it will just be nice to pass it on to a friend....just like I have done.
God's Blessings
Rick Warren
Psalm 23
The Lord is my Shepherd = That's Relationship!
I shall not want = That's Supply!
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures = That's Rest!
He leadeth me beside the still waters = That's Refreshment!
He restoreth my soul = That's Healing!
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness = That's Guidance!
For His name sake = That's Purpose!
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death = That's
Testing!
I will fear no evil = That's Protection!
For Thou art with me = That's Faithfulness!
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me = That's Discipline!
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies =
That's Hope!
Thou annointest my head with oil = That's Consecration!
My cup runneth over = That's Abundance!
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life =
That's Blessing !
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord = That's Security!
Forever = That's Eternity!
Author Unknown
The following is a list of Bible verses which describe some of God's Promises.
The Major Biblical Covenants
| Covenants with Noah. Genesis 6:18 - Promise to save Noah and his family from the flood. Genesis 9:11 - Promise never again to destroy the earth by flood.
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| Covenant with Abram. Genesis 12:2, 3, 7. Make Abram into a great nation. Bless Abram. Make Abram's name great. Abram would be a blessing. Bless those who bless Abram. Curse those who curse Abram. All peoples on earth would be blessed through Abram. Give land to Abram's descendants.
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| Covenant with Moses and the Israelites. Deuteronomy 28:1-68. Promise of blessings to the Israelites if they obeyed God. Promise of curses to the Israelites if they disobeyed God.
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| Promise that David's kingdom would be established forever. 2 Samuel 7:16. |
| Promise to Israel of a New Covenant. Jeremiah 31:31-34. God will put His law in their minds. God will write His law on their hearts. God will be their God and they will be God's people. Everyone will know God. God will forgive their wickedness and their sins.
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Promises To Remember When We Are Afraid:
| Genesis 28:15 - "I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." |
| Deuteronomy 31:8 - "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." |
| Psalm 50:15 - "and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me." |
| Luke 21:17-18 - "All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish." |
| James 4:8 - "Come near to God and he will come near to you." |
Promises To Remember When We Make Decisions:
| Psalm 32:8 - "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." |
| John 8:12 - "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." |
| John 14:26 - "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." |
| James 1:5 - "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." |
Promises To Remember When We Have Done Something Wrong:
| Matthew 6:14-15 - "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." |
| 1 John 1:9 - "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." |
Promises To Remember When We Are Having A Bad Day:
| Jeremiah 29:11 - "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" |
| Matthew 11:28 - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." |
| Luke 6:35 - "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked." |
| John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." |
| John 10:28 - "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." |
| John 14:3 - "In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." |
| John 20:29 - "Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'" |
| Romans 10:9 - "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." |
| James 4:10 - "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." |
Promises To Remember When We Need Something:
| Luke 12:31 - "But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well." |
| John 14:14 - "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." |
| 1 John 5:14-15 - "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us-- whatever we ask-- we know that we have what we asked of him." |
Promises To Remember When We Are Being Tempted To Do Wrong:
| 1 Corinthians 10:13 - "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." |
| 2 Thessalonians 3:3 - "But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one." |
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