“If you have just been going through the motions spiritually, don’t be surprised when God allows pain in your life. Pain is the fuel of passion — it energizes us with an intensity to change that we don’t normally possess. C. S. Lewis said, “Pain is God’s megaphone.” It is God’s way of arousing us from spiritual lethargy. 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.”
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Rick Warren
“A second barrier to total surrender is our pride. We don’t want to admit that we’re just creatures and not in charge of everything. It is the oldest temptation: “You’ll be like God!”11 That desire — to have complete control — is the cause of so much stress in our lives. Life is a struggle, but what most people don’t realize is that our struggle, like Jacob’s, is really a struggle with God! We want to be God, and there’s no way we are going to win that struggle.”
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Rick Warren
“Every problem is a character-building opportunity, and the more difficult it is, the greater the potential for building spiritual muscle and moral fiber.”
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Rick Warren
“We have become food consumers, not food producers or makers. We have outsourced our cooking to corporations.”
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Rick Warren
“IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.”
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Rick Warren
“Think about this: What positive changes in your life could happen if you relied on God’s unlimited power instead of your limited willpower.”
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Rick Warren
“Remember how far you've come, not just how far you have to go. You are not where you want to be, but neither are you where you used to be.”
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Rick Warren
“There's a Grand Designer behind everything. Your life is not a result of random chance, fate, or luck. There is a master plan. History is His story. God is pulling the strings.”
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Rick Warren
“Get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to — the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, and you must put on the new self, which is created in God’s likeness” (Ephesians 4:22 – 24”
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Rick Warren
“His plan involves far more than the few decades you will spend on this planet. It’s more than “the opportunity of a lifetime”; God offers you an opportunity beyond your lifetime. The Bible says, “[God’s] plans endure forever; his purposes last eternally.”
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Rick Warren
“If you haven’t been baptized as an expression of your faith in Christ, do so as soon as possible, as Jesus commanded.”
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Rick Warren
“Maturity is produced through relationships and community.”
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Rick Warren
“Since pleasing God is the first purpose of your life, your most important task is to discover how to do that. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it. EPHESIANS 5:10 THE MESSAGE”
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Rick Warren
“He gave us taste buds, then filled the world with incredible flavors like chocolate and cinnamon and all the other spices. He gave us eyes to perceive color and then filled the world with a rainbow of shades. He gave us sensitive ears and then filled the world with rhythms and music. Your capacity for enjoyment is evidence of God's love for you. He could have made the world tasteless, colorless, and silent. The Bible says that God "richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." He didn't have to do it, but he did, because He loves us.”
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Rick Warren
“Spiritual maturity is becoming like Jesus in the way we think, feel, and act. The more you develop Christlike character, the more you will bring glory to God. The Bible says, “As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.
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Rick Warren
