Rick Warren's Blog, page 665

Even Norman Borlaug Needs a Savior

"God had Christ, who was sinless, take our sin so that we might receive God's approval through him." (2 Corinthians 5:21 GW)

If you were to Google this question, "Who has saved more human lives in history than anybody else?" you would find a name you probably never heard of. When Norman Borlaug died in 2009 at the age of 95, the world hardly noticed, even though he's one of only seven people to have won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Congressional Gold Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Who was Norman Borlaug? He was an agricultural scientist who invented high yield, drought and disease-resistant crops that in the 20th century saved more than 1 billion people from starvation. Before Norman Borlaug, many countries like China, India, and Pakistan had famines every single year. Now those countries export food because of the crops that Borlaug developed.

Borlaug was a Christian and a lifelong member of an evangelical Lutheran church. In fact, his faith was the driving force for all of his scientific efforts. When he received the Nobel Prize, he quoted from the book of Isaiah as his motivation for what he had done. Borlaug was a truly great man, a real hero. But if you had asked him, "Were you the savior of the world?" he'd say, "no."

Even someone like Norman Borlaug needs a Savior.

That's why "God had Christ, who was sinless, take our sin so that we might receive God's approval through him" (2 Corinthians 5:21 GW).

It's the great exchange, friends. God takes all the junk in your life, all your pettiness, all your ego, all your anger, all your jealousy and gossip, all the thoughts and actions and words that you've ever said that were unkind, and he puts them on himself so you don't have to pay the penalty for your sins. The perfection of Jesus covers you so you can enter God's perfect place called Heaven.

What a deal! That's called grace, and it's the only way you'll ever get into Heaven - by accepting God's gift of grace in his Son, Jesus Christ.

Talk It Over

What do you think God wants you to do with the junk in your life once it has been forgiven through repentance?

Forgiveness: There's a Right Way and a Wrong Way to Ask

"Yet now God declares us 'not guilty' of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sin." (Romans 3:24 LB)

When you confess your sin to God, he does not rub it in; he wipes it out!

But, there's a right way and a wrong way to ask for forgiveness. Let me tell you the wrong way.

First, don't beg. God wants to forgive you more than you want to ask for it. You're not waiting on God; he's waiting on you.

Second, don't bargain. Bargaining is saying, "God, if you will forgive me, I will never do this again!" If that's your area of weakness, you will be back in that area of sin in a matter of hours or days. Don't bargain with God and say, "I'll never do it again," because you will.

Third, don't bribe. Bribing is saying, "God, if you'll just forgive me for this, I will ." You'll go to church every week. You will read your Bible every day. You will tithe 15 . 20 percent! But God doesn't want or need your bribe.

So what do you do?

You don't beg, bargain, or bribe. You just believe.

You believe the many promises of God that tell you if you confess your sins, he will forgive your sins. Period.

Another great verse of promise is Romans 3:24: "Yet now God declares us 'not guilty' of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in his kindness freely takes away our sin" (LB).

I know what some of you are thinking: "Rick, you don't know what I've done." And you're right. I don't know what you've done. I don't need to know what you've done. But I can tell you this: It doesn't matter what you've done.

Your forgiveness is not based on how little or how much you've sinned. It doesn't matter what you've done. What matters is what Jesus has done for you. That's what the cross is all about! When Jesus said, "It is finished," he meant it. It's done. The price has been paid. You can be forgiven today.

Talk It Over

Why do you think God wants you to confess your sin when he already knows everything you've done?

What Do I Do When My World Falls Apart?

"The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison. I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed. Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: The LORD's unfailing love and mercy still continue, fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise. The LORD is all I have, and so in him I put my hope." (Lamentations 3:19-26 TEV)

When your world is falling apart, it's so easy to focus on the pain, the problems, the pressure, and the difficulties. It's the natural response. But the biblical response is to turn your focus to God's love.

Even though you're mad at God, you need to remind yourself how much he loves you. Focus on his unconditional love. Remember that you can't make God stop loving you. You can complain, yell at him, and scream at him, but he will still love you forever.

You can see this biblical approach in Jeremiah's life in Lamentations 3:19-26. Jeremiah starts out focused on his pain: "The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison. I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed" (v. 19-20 TEV). He was consumed by the devastation around him; it filled his thoughts and made him bitter and depressed.�

If you want to change your life, you have to change your thoughts. So that's what Jeremiah did. We see the mental switch in the next verse: "Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing: The LORD's unfailing love and mercy still continue, fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise. The LORD is all I have, and so in him I put my hope."

You don't know God is all you need until God is all you've got. But that's all you need, because God will take care of you.

We make dumb mistakes when we start doubting God's love. We start to think, "I know better than God, and I'm going to start choosing to do things my way rather than following God's way." Or we think God is a cosmic killjoy who looks for ways to make our lives miserable.

We need to change our thinking. We need to remember, "The Lord is merciful and will not reject us forever. He may bring us sorrow, but his love for us is sure and strong. He takes no pleasure in causing us grief or pain" (Lamentations 3:31-33).

God loves you. He is not the strict parent that you couldn't please. He is not the imperfect parent with weaknesses and faults who messed up. He is God - the eternal, all-knowing, infallible God who created you to love you and will never leave you.

So when you feel like you've lost everything, stop focusing on what's lost and start focusing on what's left: God and his love for you.

Talk It Over

What are some of the promises and truths you can claim about God's feelings for you?

Why do you think God allows us to experience loss and pain? Does our experience change anything about God?

Where Is God in My Struggle?

"Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!" (Luke 24:31 NLT)

Ever feel like God is a million miles away? The truth is, he's not. Whatever struggle you're going through, you can rest assured you're not alone. You have God in your corner.

But you're not the only one who has ever wondered where God was during a struggle. On the very first Easter morning, right after Jesus' Crucifixion, the disciples wondered the same thing. In Luke 24, we learn about one particular pair of these disciples who were walking down the road to Emmaus, talking about all that had transpired over the previous few days - Jesus' arrest, beating, and Crucifixion - and trying to make sense of it all. They thought Jesus was the Messiah; their dream was crushed. They had heard reports that Jesus' grave was empty. They were very confused.�

Suddenly Jesus himself came alongside the disciples and joined them in their journey. Yet they were in so much grief, they didn't notice him. Jesus asked about what they were discussing, and so the disciples let him in on the discussion. Jesus went on to share Old Testament passages that explained the events of the past few days.

That night, as they ate dinner with Jesus, the Bible says that "Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!" Luke 24:31 (NLT)

Imagine what that experience was like for these disciples. The guy they thought was God was crucified and dead. Then they hear he's been resurrected, but they don't believe it. Then a stranger walks along the road with them, eats with them, and suddenly they realize that it's God himself! And then he disappears.

The disciples couldn't see Jesus in their grief. They needed God to show himself to them.�

You do, too. I don't know what you've lost this year - whether it's a loved one, your health, your job, a relationship, or a really big deal. But, if you've had a loss like that, you may have missed the fact that God has walked through the entire experience with you.

You were never, ever alone during that time. You couldn't see him, but he was there.

Ask God to show himself to you. He wants you to see him. He wants you to know you were never alone.

Talk It Over

How does God show his presence to you?

How do you think grief blinds us to the ways that God is providing for us?

When We Confess, We Begin to Heal

"Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed." (James 5:16 LB)

The first step in forgiveness is admitting your guilt. Then, you have to accept responsibility for your sin.

What's the best way to ensure that you are really accepting responsibility for your sin? You're not going to like the answer, but you need to hear it anyway: The best way to get over your guilt is to tell one other person who loves you unconditionally and who will listen and not judge you.

This is important: You don't have to confess to another person to be forgiven. All you have to do is confess your sin to God, and you'll be forgiven. But many of you have already been forgiven, and you still feel guilty. If you want to be forgiven, you tell God. If you want to feel forgiven, you've got to tell one other person. That's the way God wired it. Revealing your feeling is the beginning of healing. We only get well in community! You don't have to tell a bunch of people. You really only need to tell one person. If your sin is between you and another person, you go to that person.

James 5:16 says, "Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed" (LB). It doesn't say "so that you may be forgiven," but so that you may be healed. Forgiveness comes from God. Healing comes in relationships.

So why do you need to drag another person into your own personal sin?

Because the root of all of our problems is relational. We are dishonest with each other. We play games with each other. We wear masks all the time. We fake it. We pretend to have it all together when everybody knows we don't have it all together. We're all broken.

There are only two kinds of people in the world: people who are broken and sinful and know it and people who are broken and sinful and won't admit it. When we refuse to be real with each other, it creates all kinds of fears in our lives and isolates us from each other. It is a roadblock to intimacy, and it creates insecurity.

God wired us to need each other. You need a friend who's going to love you unconditionally and won't think less of you when you share your guilt with them. If you're not in a small group, you probably don't know anybody like that. If you're in a small group, you need to find one person you can share your heart with.

Talk It Over

Why do you think it's so hard for people to admit their guilt or sin to another person?

What difference has confession with another person made in your life?

Describe the kind of person you trust the most and with whom you would be willing to share your sin. Are you that kind of friend to someone else?

Time to Tell Yourself the Truth

"The LORD gave us mind and conscience; we cannot hide from ourselves." (Proverbs 20:27 GN)

The best way to get off a guilt trip is to first admit your guilt. Don't bury it, don't deny it, and don't ignore it. Just own up to it!

Even when we know this truth, we still try to run from our guilt. But when you run from guilt, it's going to catch up with you. The problem with always moving is that you take you with you. The problem is in your mind! No matter how busy you are or where you run, you're going to be just as stressed if your stress is coming from regrets, shame, or guilt. When you finally slow down, all those feelings come crashing back in again. God doesn't want you to live that way.

The Bible says you can't run from yourself: "The LORD gave us mind and conscience; we cannot hide from ourselves" (Proverbs 20:27 GN). You may be able to hide your guilt from everybody else, but you can't hide it from yourself.

We as human beings have an amazing ability to lie to ourselves. You say it's not bad when it really is bad and it's getting better when it isn't getting better. You tell yourself you're really further along and better than you really are.

To stop defeating yourself, you have to stop deceiving yourself. You have to tell yourself the truth.

What is it that defeats us? All kinds of things. Worry defeats us. Envy defeats us. Bitterness and jealousy and guilt defeat us. Fear and anxiety and insecurity defeat us.

I suggest you do a little spiritual spring cleaning. A lot of people take time in the spring to go through the house and give it an extra scrubbing or organize things that are normally neglected. At least once a year, you should also do an extended personal inventory of your spiritual condition.

How do you do that?

Talk It Over

First, you set aside a couple hours, and you go somewhere by yourself with paper and pencil. You sit down and say, "God, I want you to bring to mind all my sin. What have I messed up? What mistakes have I made? What do I feel guilty about, either consciously or unconsciously?" If you're genuinely repentant with God and honest with yourself, God's Spirit will start bringing these things to mind. Then, start writing them down.

Why do you have to write it down? Because it helps you be more specific. You committed those things one by one; you're going to need to confess them one by one and show God that you care enough to point them out and be specific.

Who Will Be in Heaven Because of You?

"The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me - to tell people the Good News about God's grace." (Acts 20:24 NCV)

The Bible says in Acts 20:24, "The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me - to tell people the Good News about God's grace" (NCV).

Notice it doesn't say the most important thing in life is to get married, fund your retirement, travel a lot, become famous, or pay off the house. It says the most important thing in life is to fulfill your mission. If Jesus died on the cross for you so that you can fulfill your mission and you don't do it, that is a massive, eternal waste.

God put you on Earth for a purpose. He has a mission that only you can fulfill. Part of that mission is to tell other people the Good News of God's grace. You know Christ because somebody told you about him. Now, who are you going to tell?

If somebody died for you, wouldn't you want to know about it? Jesus died for every single person in the world. This weekend, the typical American will sit at home watching TV, with a soda or beer, maybe reading the newspaper, kicked back and relaxed - and totally unaware that Jesus Christ died for him and unaware of the grace that is available to him.

The Bible tells us in 2 Peter that the Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. God wants everybody in his family, and because God cares, we must care.

We're approaching the Easter season. At this time of year, people are more open to an invitation to come to church than at any other time of the year. Don't waste that opportunity! Do not go to an Easter service to hear the best news in the world without bringing someone with you who needs to hear it for the first time. If you can't think of anyone, start praying that God would open up your heart to see people around you who are desperate for the Good News. They are running from fad to therapy to books, trying to find fulfillment in an affair, work, a sport, or a hobby. There's this gaping hole in their lives that only the grace of God can fill.

The way we show our gratitude for the grace of God is by making our own lives count, by living a life of extravagant generosity, and by telling as many people as we can about the Good News.

Is anybody going to be in Heaven because of you?

Talk It Over

Who can you invite to attend an Easter service with you? How will you approach that person?

What keeps you from sharing the Good News with people around you?

Take some time to write out your testimony so that you are better prepared to share it when God provides the opportunity.

How Does Your Giving Reflect God's Grace?

"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." (2 Corinthians 9:7-8 NIV)

If you want to measure how much you understand grace and how much you're living by grace, look at your giving.

The Bible says, "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work" (2 Corinthians 9:7-8 NIV).

Notice the "alls" - "all grace," "all things," "at all times," "having all that you need" - those are the promises related to the person who becomes like Christ. What was Christ like? He was a giver. God loved the world so much that he gave. Until you learn to be generous with your time, money, resources, and opportunities, you're not going to be like Christ. Nothing is greater proof that you understand grace than being lovingly gracious and generous to other people and to God.

If you're uptight or defensive when your pastor starts talking about giving, it means you don't understand grace. Look at the verse again. He says if you give cheerfully and liberally, God will take care of all your needs - all the time, in every way, however you need them.

Here's the question: Are you going to trust the God who gave his life for you? If you can trust him enough for salvation, can't you trust him in your finances?

The truth is, you really don't own anything. God just loans it to you for 70 or 80 years. It's all His in the first place. If my daughter comes to me, and I give her five bucks to buy me a present, where's the money really coming from in the first place?

God does that with us. He gives to us generously. Then he says, "Now show a little gratitude. Be generous in giving, including your tithe." Does he need the money? No. He wants you to become like him. He wants you to have a heart that says, "I can't wait to give in every area."

Romans 8:32 says, "Since God loved us enough to give us his own son, won't he love us enough to take care of every one of our other needs?"

The fact is, you can say you love God and sing that you trust God and put him first, but your checkbook is where you can show just how much God's grace means to you.

Talk It Over

Would you call yourself a cheerful giver? Why or why not?

How have you seen God bless your finances or provide for you as you have been faithful to tithe?

In what ways does your life reflect gratitude for God's grace?

What Should You Do When You Sin?

"If you return to Me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me." (Jeremiah 15:19a NLT)

When you became a believer in Christ, you were born again into God's family, and you cannot be unborn. Although the fellowship with God can be broken by sin, the relationship is still there. You're only one step away from returning.

So, what should you do when you sin? One word: Return! Come back to Christ. It's that simple.

Isaiah 1:18 says, "No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can take it out and make you as clean as freshly fallen snow" (LB).

If ever there were a sin you'd think was unforgivable, it would be denying Jesus three times on the night he was betrayed. But Jesus knew Peter would deny him, and he even knew Peter would come back to him. In fact, before it even happened, Jesus said to Peter in the Upper Room, "I have pleaded in prayer for you that your faith should not completely fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen and build up the faith of your brothers" (Luke 22:32).

Jesus knew that Peter's ministry would be more effective after his denial than it was before. And, sure enough, it was! Peter wrote two of the books of the Bible called 1 and 2 Peter. Then he shared his memoirs with a relative, and that's the Gospel of Mark.

You may think God's forgotten you. He hasn't. The Good Shepherd leaves the 99 sheep to go after the one. He knows how you've fallen away. If you have - either by one giant step or a series of petty steps where you just slipped away and you're not as close to Christ as you used to be - you need to pray what David prayed when he came back to God after committing adultery. He said, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation" (Psalm 51:12 NLT). David did not have to pray, "God, restore to me my salvation," because he hadn't lost his salvation. He had lost the joy.

And some of you have, too. Come home to Christ today.

Talk It Over

What keeps you from returning to Christ after you've sinned?

What do you need God to restore in your life that has been broken because of sin?

How can you be more effective for Christ by returning in repentance to him? What do you want to accomplish for God's Kingdom?

Anybody Need a Fresh Start?

"Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven." (1 Peter 1:3-4 MSG)

Once I typed the phrase "fresh start" into Google, and it brought up 485,000 links! Evidently, a lot of people would like to have a fresh start in life. They think, "I've blown it, I've messed up, I've really made a mess of things in my life. I'd like a fresh start."

Jesus is in the business of giving people a fresh start. The apostle Peter says, "Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven" (1 Peter 1:3-4 MSG).

Several things happen once you give your life to Christ:

You open up your life to God and get to know him.

You're given a brand new life, which gives you everything to live for.

You get a future in Heaven.�

You can say it this way: You get your past forgiven, a purpose for livin', and a home in Heaven. What a deal! Your past, present, and future are taken care of as you put your trust in Jesus.

"Everything that we have - right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start - comes from God by way of Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Talk It Over

How does your life differ from what it was like before you became a Christian?

What should a fresh start with Jesus look like in your life?

Who in your life needs to hear the Good News that Jesus gives a fresh start? How can you reach out to that person?