Rick Warren's Blog, page 605

Just Enough Time to Do God���s Will

In a 21st century world where we���re overworked, overstressed, and over-scheduled, this may be one of the most significant and freeing sentences you���ll ever read: You have just enough time to do God���s will.

The Cost of Misplaced Anger

Anger has a price tag. When you realize that truth, you���re more likely to control the anger in your life. The Bible tells us, ���A hot-tempered man ��� gets into all kinds of trouble��� (Proverbs 29:22 TLB). Most of us have seen someone do something really stupid because that person was angry.

Three Things to Avoid When Angry

We all get angry from time to time. We may handle it differently, but none of us can escape the emotion entirely. But just because we get angry doesn���t mean we���re sinning.

THINK Before You Speak in Anger

Anger confounds many people in our world today. We simply don���t know how to handle our anger like we have in the past. One of the Bible���s simplest yet most profound answers for our anger comes in Proverbs 29:11: ���Stupid people express their anger openly, but sensible people are patient and hold it back��� (GNT).

Who Controls Your Future?

One of the great fears we all face is the fear of the future. We fear for the futures of our families, our friends, our jobs, our communities ��� and everything else in between.

It���s natural. We���re not in control. But that realization should drive us to trust God more deeply.

God���s Answer for Your Fear

I���ve talked to thousands of people about why they don���t fully trust God. Usually it���s one of three things. People are afraid that if they give their lives fully to God, they���ll lose their freedom, they���ll lose their fun, and God will turn them into some kind of religious fanatic.

Can You Really Count on God?

For most of us, the reason we don���t trust God fully with our lives is because we really don���t know him. We usually don���t trust people we don���t know.

When You Make Idols, You End Up Like Them

I mentioned in yesterday���s devotional that everyone trusts in something. We can even make good things ��� like our marriages, our families, or even our ministries in the church ��� into idols.

Not Trusting God Leads to Stress

Everyone trusts something. The question is, what ��� or who ��� do you trust?

Our society tends to spurn trust ��� or at least we say we do. We���re skeptical of everyone and everything. We don���t trust the government. Employees don���t trust employers. Customers don���t trust businesses. When you get down to the bottom of the decline of trust today, you���ll find that our society���s ���truth decay��� is a big part of it.

Why We Should Respond with Grace

You can���t control much of what happens to you in life. Like I mentioned a few days ago in these devotionals, you can���t control who your parents are, where you were born, and a variety of other factors that have a significant influence on your life.