More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Rick Warren
Read between
May 7 - July 3, 2023
There are no unspiritual abilities, just misused ones. Start using yours for God’s pleasure.
In today’s competitive culture we are taught to never give up and never give in — so we don’t hear much about surrendering. If winning is everything, surrendering is unthinkable.
Offering yourself to God is what worship is all about.
Fear keeps us from surrendering, but love casts out all fear. The more you realize how much God loves you, the easier surrender becomes.
You know you’re surrendered to God when you rely on God to work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force your agenda, and control the situation. You let go and let God work. You don’t have to always be “in charge.”
You also know you’re surrendered when you don’t react to criticism and rush to defend yourself. Surrendered hearts show up best in relationships.
Stubborn temptations and overwhelming problems can be defeated by Christ when given to him.
Sometimes it takes years, but eventually you discover that the greatest hindrance to God’s blessing in your life is not others, it is yourself — your self-will, stubborn pride, and personal ambition. You cannot fulfill God’s purposes for your life while focusing on your own plans.
Don’t be afraid; nothing under his control can ever be out of control.
“If any want to boast, they should boast that they know and understand me. . . . These are the things that please me.” 12
Friendship with God is built by sharing all your life experiences with him.
God is with you all the time, no place is any closer to God than the place where you are right now.
You can’t love God unless you know him, and you can’t know him without knowing his Word.
The more you meditate on God’s Word, the less you will have to worry about.
Prayer lets you speak to God; meditation lets God speak to you. Both are essential to becoming a friend of God.
If you want a deeper, more intimate connection with God you must learn to honestly share your feelings with him, trust him when he asks you to do something, learn to care about what he cares about, and desire his friendship more
the friends of God were honest about their feelings, often complaining, second-guessing, accusing, and arguing with their Creator. God, however, didn’t seem to be bothered by this frankness; in fact, he encouraged it.
Until we mature enough to understand that God uses everything for good in our lives, we harbor resentment toward God over our appearance, background, unanswered prayers, past hurts, and other
The antidote, of course, is to realize that God always acts in your best interest, even when it is painful and you don’t understand it.
Great opportunities may come once in a lifetime, but small opportunities surround us every day.
Your problems are not punishment; they are wake-up calls from a loving God. God is not mad at you; he’s mad about you, and he will do whatever it takes to bring you back into fellowship with him.
“Dear Jesus, more than anything else, I want to get to know you intimately.”
God is not interested in halfhearted commitment, partial obedience, and the leftovers of your time and money.
Heartless praise is not praise at all! It is worthless, an insult to God.
“Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 3
The best style of worship is the one that most authentically represents your love for God, based on the background and personality God gave you.
Gary identifies nine of the ways people draw near to God:
Ascetics prefer to love God in solitude and simplicity.
You don’t bring glory to God by trying to be someone he never intended you to be. God wants you to be yourself.
Now God is pleased with different sacrifices of worship: thanksgiving, praise, humility, repentance, offerings of money, prayer, serving others, and sharing with those in need.
When you praise God even when you don’t feel like it, when you get out of bed to worship when you’re tired, or when you help others when you are worn out, you are offering a sacrifice of worship to God. That pleases God.
The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart.
The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of pain, thanking God during a trial, trusting him when tempted, surrendering while suffering, and loving him when he seems distant.
“Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light.”
So don’t be troubled by trouble. 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.
When you feel abandoned by God yet continue to trust him in spite of your feelings, you worship him in the deepest way.
Every human being was created by God, but not everyone is a child of God.
You became part of the human family by your first birth, but you become a member of God’s family by your second birth.
Your baptism is a physical picture of a spiritual truth.
Whenever you feel unimportant, unloved, or insecure, remember to whom you belong.
Life without love is really worthless.
Busyness is a great enemy of relationships. We become preoccupied with making a living, doing our work, paying bills, and accomplishing goals as if these tasks are the point of life. They are not. The point of life is learning to love — God and people. Life minus love equals zero.
Love leaves a legacy. How you treated other people, not your wealth or accomplishments, is the most enduring impact you can leave on earth.
The importance of things can be measured by how much time we are willing to invest in them.
Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift you can give someone is your time.
Whenever you give your time, you are making a sacrifice, and sacrifice is the essence of love.
You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.
Why is now the best time to express love? Because you don’t know how long you will have the opportunity. Circumstances change. People die. Children grow up. You have no guarantee of tomorrow. If you want to express love, you had better do it now.
The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now.
Following Christ includes belonging, not just believing.
