Rick Warren's Blog, page 602

What Faith Does to Your Dreams

Faith turns God-given dreams into reality. Nothing happens until somebody starts dreaming!

The Bible is full of people who had God-given dreams. Abraham dreamed of being the father of a great nation. Moses dreamed of setting God���s people free. Joseph dreamed of saving a nation and his own family. Throughout Scripture, there are all kinds of people who were inspiring dreamers, like Daniel and Paul and David.

Your Faith Can Move Mountains

Faith opens the door to miracles. If you study the Bible and history, you find that every time God moves on Earth and does a miracle, it���s because somebody believed.

How Can You Know God Loves You?

One of my pet peeves is water-saving shower heads. I can���t stand them! It���s just a tiny stream coming down. It���s not a shower; it���s a dribble! I���m a pretty big guy, and it takes me a long time to get wet with one little dribble.

There���s No Christmas without the Cross

Christmas without the cross is irrelevant. If Jesus had just stayed a baby in a manger, you could stop reading this right now ��� it���s pointless. Without the cross, there���s no reason to spend an entire month getting ready for the celebration of his birth. There���s no reason to put up Christmas lights, play music, send cards, or buy gifts.

Three Ways God Shares Your Pain

I don���t know what pain you���re in this Christmas. I certainly don���t know what caused the pain. But I know that God understands it.

God is not some distant force. Nor is he callous. The Bible teaches that God enters into our pain. And he doesn���t just care about your pain; he feels it, too. He shares your pain. The Bible says, ���The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed��� (Psalm 34:18 NLT, second edition).

Christmas Is About Your Eternity

Turn on your television or surf the Web this Christmas, and you���ll discover all sorts of Christmas messages. But for the One who invented Christmas ��� God ��� there���s only one message that really matters.

God wants to share eternity with you.

You Can���t Out-Give God!

God wants to bless your life. He has set up the universe so you get blessed when you follow his commandments and live like he wants you to live.

The Bible states it over and over again: God blesses those who are generous.

Will You Trust God or Will You Worry?

Your faith is like a muscle. When you use it, it gets stronger.

Without a doubt, the number one way God tests your faith is through your finances. You���ve already been tested many, many times in your finances. Do you trust God, or do you worry?

God���s Antidote to Materialism: Generosity

We live in a society where the goal of life is to get more, more, and more.

The Bible has a word for that: stupid. Proverbs 18:1 says, ���It���s selfish and stupid to think only of yourself��� (CEV).

Being Generous Isn���t About How Much You Give

Christmas isn���t primarily about compassion. It���s about generosity. First and foremost it���s about God���s generosity toward us that was demonstrated when he gave his one and only Son so that we could have new life.