Thought for the day...

Don’t Just Believe. Belong!

BY RICK WARREN — MARCH 31, 2019

1.4K


“God’s family is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15 GW).


You are called to belong, not just believe.


Even in the perfect, sinless environment of Eden, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone”(Genesis 2:18 NIV).

We are created for community, fashioned for fellowship, and formed for a family, and none of us can fulfill God’s purposes by ourselves. The Bible knows nothing of solitary saints or spiritual hermits.

While your relationship to Christ is personal, God never intends it to be private. In God’s family you are connected to every other believer. The Bible says, “In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others”(Romans 12:5 NIV).

Following Christ includes belonging, not just believing. British author and theologian C.S. Lewis noted that the word membership is of Christian origin, but the world has emptied it of its original meaning. Stores offer discounts to “members,” and advertisers use member names to create mailing lists. In churches, membership is often reduced to simply adding your name to a roll, with no requirements or expectations.

To Paul, being a “member” of the church meant being a vital organ of a living body, an indispensable, interconnected part of the body of Christ. We need to recover and practice the biblical meaning of membership. The church is a body, not a building, and an organism, not an organization—truths we encounter in such Scriptures as Romans 12:4-5, 1 Corinthians 6:15, and 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.

 

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace. Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise. ~Robert Robinson

 

April 6, 2019
Verse of the Day
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1

 

Start with the Needs of Others

BY RICK WARREN — APRIL 2, 2019

1.6K


“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others”(Philippians 2:4 NIV).


If you want to connect with people, you start with their needs, not your own. Start with their hurts, not your own. Start with what they want, not what you want. There’s an old Chinese saying that says this: “Seek to understand before seeking to be understood.”


The Bible puts it the same way. You need to be thoughtful of others first and not worry about people understanding you. You try to understand them. That’s how you make that first connection.

Scripture tells us, “Look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4 NIV). That is such a countercultural verse. From the moment we are born, everything in our culture conditions us to think of ourselves first.

There are two basic truths about life. First, the world does not revolve around you. I know that’s shocking! Yes, you’re special in God’s eyes. Yes, you were created for a purpose. But the world does not revolve around you.

Here’s the second basic truth of life: God has promised that when you focus on meeting the needs of others, he will meet your needs. If you want your needs to be met, start meeting the needs of other people. Why? Because God wants you to learn to be unselfish. He wants you to learn to be loving and generous like he is.

Colossians 3:13 tells us, “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (NIV). Part of being considerate of other people’s needs is not expecting them to be perfect—and making allowances for their faults.

Great friends are good forgetters. They forget the bad stuff intentionally. Love forgets mistakes.

A good friend is considerate of the other person’s needs.

 

“Lord, You are more precious than silver. Lord, You are more costly than gold. Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds, and nothing I desire compares with You.” ~Lynn Deshazo

 

April 7, 2019
Verse of the Day
The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
Psalm 24:1 NIV

 

“For Christ also suffered for sins once for all…that He might bring you to God, after being put to death in the fleshly realm but made alive in the spiritual realm.”
-1 Peter 3:18

 

April 8, 2019
Verse of the Day
And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
Matthew 18:3-5

 

April 9, 2019
Verse of the Day
Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the LORD’s anger.
Zephaniah 2:3 NIV

 

“Blessed is the man [whose]…delight is in the law of the LORD and on his law he meditates day and night.”
-Psalm 1:2

 

April 10, 2019
Verse of the Day
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Psalm 51:1-2 NIV

 

God Says to Come as You Are

BY RICK WARREN — APRIL 5, 2019

1.5K


“God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 NLT).


Everything that Jesus did for you, he did out of love. The Bible says that God made you to love you. The only reason you’re alive is because you were made to be loved by God.


God made you and wants you alive so he can love you and so you can love him back.

God didn’t just say he loved you; he demonstrated it. The Bible says, “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8 NLT). It says he did this while we were still sinners. Before I even knew God or knew I needed God in my life, Jesus died for me.

There’s a myth that says I’ve got to clean up my act before I can come to God: “I have to get it all together. There are a few things I need to get right in my life first, and then I’ll come to God.” No! You come to God with your problems—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

It’s like when we brush our teeth before we go to the dentist to have a teeth cleaning or when we wash the dishes before we put them in the dishwasher or when we pick up the house before the housecleaner gets there. Why do we do this?

God says, “No, no! You don’t have to clean up your act. Just bring it all to me. Bring me all your problems. I have all the answers. Come as you are.”

If you don’t act on this news, then the death of Jesus Christ and his Resurrection are wasted for you personally. It makes no difference in your life. You may recognize the gift, but you still have to receive it.

“You will be saved, if you honestly say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and if you believe with all your heart that God raised him from death. God will accept you and save you, if you truly believe this and tell it to others” (Romans 10:9-10 CEV).

God is not asking you to make a promise you cannot keep. God is asking you to believe a promise that only he can keep.

 

April 11, 2019
Verse of the Day
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
Romans 1:16 NIV

 

God Wants to Give You Freedom

BY RICK WARREN — APRIL 6, 2019

1.3K


“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36 NIV).


The world defines freedom as a life without any restraint: “I can do anything I want to do and say anything I want to say without anybody ordering me around.” Everybody else may get burned by you, but you get to do it your own way. The world says you can have your freedom, but only by being totally selfish.


Yet the Bible says the only way to true freedom is through Jesus: “If the Son sets you free, then you will be really free” (John 8:36 GNT).

Real freedom is freedom from fear, where you’re truly free from guilt, worry, bitterness, and death. You’re free to quit pretending because you’re free to be yourself.

How do you get rid of those kinds of fears? By letting God love you! The apostle John teaches, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18 NIV).

When you realize how much God loves you, you’ll begin to live in true freedom. In fact, you worship God when you recognize that God is love. It is an act of worship to agree that he is a loving, caring, generous God and that we can “rely on the love God has for us” (1 John 4:16 NIV).

 

April 12, 2019
Verse of the Day
Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.
Psalm 126:5 NIV