“it’s easy to forget that the pursuit of happiness is not what life is about.”
―
Rick Warren
“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.”
―
Rick Warren
“Often we try to offer God partial obedience. We want to pick and choose the commands we obey. We make a list of the commands we like and obey those while ignoring the ones we think are unreasonable, difficult, expensive, or unpopular. I’ll attend church but I won’t tithe. I’ll read my Bible but won’t forgive the person who hurt me. Yet partial obedience is disobedience.”
―
Rick Warren
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
―
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.”
―
Rick Warren
“How do you know when God is at the center of your life? When God is at the center, you worship. When he’s not, you worry.”
―
Rick Warren
“Los problemas nos obligan a mirar a Dios y depender de él más que de nosotros mismos. Pablo testificó de este beneficio: «Nos pareció que estábamos ya sentenciados a muerte y vimos lo inútiles que éramos para escapar; pero eso fue lo bueno, porque entonces lo dejamos todo en las manos del único que podía salvarnos: Dios«.10 Nunca sabrás que Dios es todo lo que necesitas hasta que él sea todo lo que tengas.”
―
Rick Warren
“The first way to balance stress in my life is to get an internal balance of who I am. And I know who I am by knowing whose I am. I am a child of God. I was put on earth not by accident, but for a purpose. I am deeply loved by God. I am accepted by him. He has a plan for my life, and because he put me here, I am significant.”
―
Rick Warren
“En realidad, nunca entenderás algunos mandamientos si no los obedeces primero. Obedecer abre la puerta al entendimiento.”
―
Rick Warren
“God made you to love you, and he longs for you to love him back. He says, “I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me.”
―
Rick Warren
“You have to trust God even when you don’t get what you want.”
―
Rick Warren
“It’s encouraging to know that all of God’s closest friends — Moses, David, Abraham, Job, and others — had bouts with doubt. But instead of masking their misgivings with pious clichés, they candidly voiced them openly and publicly. Expressing doubt is sometimes the first step toward the next level of intimacy with God.”
―
Rick Warren
“If you have felt hopeless, hold on! Wonderful changes are going to happen in your life as you begin to live it on purpose.”
―
Rick Warren
“Longing for the ideal while criticizing the real is evidence of immaturity. On the other hand, settling for the real without striving for the ideal is complacency. Maturity is living with the tension.”
―
Rick Warren
“DAY 10 Thinking about My Purpose POINT TO PONDER: The heart of worship is surrender. VERSE TO REMEMBER: “Surrender your whole being to him to be used for righteous purposes.” ROMANS 6:13B (TEV) QUESTION TO CONSIDER: What area of my life am I holding back from God?”
―
Rick Warren
