Rick Warren's Blog, page 641

Fruit Comes from Deep Roots

During the springtime, all the grass in Southern California turns green, the wildflowers and poppies bloom, and it’s really pretty. But the moment the rains stop, the hills turn brown again. Why? Because the grass has no roots. It can’t go down deep enough to get water from the springs that are deep beneath the ground.

What Gets Between You and God

We’ve all noticed that the quality of reception on a cell phone varies widely. The same is true with you. You must be positioned correctly in order to hear God speak.

Sometimes we never give God a chance to talk to us. We’ve made up our minds. We want to do what we want to do, not what God wants us to do. Our hearts are hardened, and we’re unwilling to listen.

When Times Are Tough, Thank God

When the Apostle Paul says, “Always be full of joy in the Lord,” he doesn’t say to only be joyful in good times. Even when times are tough, the Bible teaches we can be joyful if we follow this simple strategy:

Give More and Live With An Attitude of Gratitude

What an amazing verse! God makes you rich in every way so you can be generous on every occasion, which will result in thanksgiving to God.

God doesn’t bless you so you can be greedy; he blesses you so you can be generous. You give away and God gives back to you so you can give more away and he can give more back to you and on and on and on. God doesn’t give you things so you can pile them up. When you let go of what’s in your hand, it’s now empty to receive greater blessings from God.

Trusting God through Gratitude

An attitude of radical gratitude is God’s will for you because it develops your faith.

How does gratitude develop my faith? It happens when times are tough — when things don’t make sense, when you can’t figure it out, when your prayers are unanswered, when everything is going the way you didn’t want it to go. It happens when you can say in those circumstances, “God, I know you’re in control. I know you love me, and I know you can bring good out of this. I’m thankful that you’re bigger than my problem.”

Radical Gratitude

Thanksgiving is not supposed to be a day that we celebrate once a year. It is to be a spiritual habit of the radical believer. The more deeply you understand God’s love, the more grateful you’re going to be.

So what does it mean to be radically grateful?

The Power in Group Prayer

To get through what you’re going through, you need to recruit other people to pray for you.

This is very easy when you’re in a small group. When you’re going through a tough time and you’re not in a small group, you are unprotected. You don’t have the strength that people in a small group do because you don’t have people praying for you.

Your Pain Often Reveals God’s Purpose

Your pain often reveals God’s purpose for you. God never wastes a hurt! If you’ve gone through a hurt, he wants you to help other people going through that same hurt. He wants you to share it. God can use the problems in your life to give you a ministry to others. In fact, the very thing you’re most ashamed of in your life and resent the most could become your greatest ministry in helping other people.

Never Doubt the Light

Your circumstances cannot change the character of God. God’s grace is still in full force; he is still for you, even when you don’t feel it.

Remind yourself what you know to be eternally true about God: He is good, he loves you, he is with you, he knows what you’re going through, he cares, and he has a good plan for your life.

Don't Give in to Your Fears

God is watching over you, so don’t listen to your fears. This is a choice. Trust God, and don’t give in to your fears.

2 Corinthians 1:10 says, “From such terrible dangers of death he saved us, and will save us; and we have placed our hope in him that he will save us again” (TEV).