Pastor Rick Warren: How Does God’s Grace Get You Through?

October 5, 2018 By Leave a Comment

By Rick Warren

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”My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace” (1 Peter 5:12 NLT).

We face many pitfalls in the marathon of life. But regardless of what you go through, you can count on God’s sustaining grace.The Bible says in 1 Peter 5:12, “My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace” (NLT).

There are three things in life that can cause you to stumble, to get cast off to the side of the race, and to not finish well in life. But in each of these situations, God’s sustaining grace will get you through.

  1. God’s sustaining grace helps you keep standing when you’re tempted.

Temptation is the first thing that can cause you to stumble. The Bible says, “God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure” (1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT).

God says, “I will provide the sustaining grace to always give you a way of escape.” It may mean turning the channel. It may mean running out the door. It may mean changing the way you’re thinking. But God will provide a way to escape temptation.

  1. God’s sustaining grace helps you keep standing when you’re tired.

Sometimes you’re not tempted. Sometimes you’re just tired! Life is often exhausting. It requires a lot of energy, especially when you’re trying to do the right thing rather than the easy thing. But where do you get the power to do the right thing when you’re dead tired? “It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). The key is having the Holy Spirit in your heart to have the energy to do the things you can’t do in your own power.

  1. God’s sustaining grace gives you the power to keep going when you’re troubled.

There are some hurts that all the wishing in the world won’t make go away. There are some things in life that are unplanned, unrelenting, and undeserved—and they hurt the most.

What do you do in those situations? You first stop doing the “if only” game and instead focus on Christ and his sustaining power. Isaiah 41:10 says, “Don’t worry, because I am with you. Don’t be afraid, because I am your God. I will make you strong and will help you; I will support you with my right hand that saves you” (NCV).

Talk It Over

  • How has God’s sustaining grace carried you through difficult times?
  • How can you extend God’s sustaining grace to others?
  • What do you think it means to play the “if only” game? When have you used this excuse?

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it

Filed Under: Columns

Commentary: War on Kavanaugh might prove to be a gift for Republicans

October 5, 2018 By Leave a Comment

As ugly and vicious as the war on Brett Kavanaugh has been, it might actually prove to be a gift for Republicans, as fair-minded Americans grow weary – and angry – over Democrats’ perpetual intimidation tactics and stalling game. 

Here’s a link to the editorial at Fox News.

Filed Under: Columns

Editorial: After the FBI report, confirm Kavanaugh

October 5, 2018 By Leave a Comment

The FBI has delivered its confidential report on Christine Blasey Ford‘s allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school. Some senators who’ve read the report say it contains no fresh revelations, or corroboration of her charge.

Here’s a link to the editorial at the Chicago Tribune.

Filed Under: Columns

Column: Democrats, Kavanaugh and the illness deep within the bones of the republic

October 3, 2018 By Leave a Comment

It is tempting to watch the political spectacle of Democrats destroying Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as if it were only some shameful partisan circus.

Here’s a link to the column at the Chicago Tribune.

Filed Under: Columns

Pastor Rick Warren: God Never Plays Favorites

October 3, 2018 By Leave a Comment
 

By Rick Warren
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Devotionalimage from Rick Warren

”[The promise] is not only for those who live under the law of Moses but for anyone who lives with faith like that of Abraham” (Romans 4:16 NCV).

God doesn’t play favorites—regardless of your background, your status, or your sin. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a religious person or a formerly religious person or if you have any religious background at all.

Romans 4:16 says, “[The promise] is not only for those who live under the law of Moses but for anyone who lives with faith like that of Abraham” (NCV). Who are these people who live under the Law of Moses? The Jews. The Jewish people were given the ways of God before anyone else.

Have you ever thought about why the Jews were called God’s chosen people? Does God love them more than he loves the rest of us? No. They were chosen for a purpose: to spread the message to everybody else that there is one true God. They were kind of like the missionaries to the rest of us.

Now God has taken that task and given it to the church, which includes everybody who puts their faith in Christ, regardless of their background. God says his salvation is available to anybody who opens up his or her heart in faith: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13 NIV). There are no quotas in heaven. It doesn’t say only really good people will be saved if they call on the name of the Lord or really religious people or really smart people. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

The sad thing is that even though many people know that God offers his gift of grace, they still try to work their way into heaven. They think that something in their lives makes them good enough so they don’t need to receive God’s gift of salvation through Christ.

You may have done some really nifty things in life, but if you think they’re going to get you into heaven, forget it. The only way any of us gets in is by receiving God’s gift of grace, which is available to every person.

Have you trusted Jesus for your salvation?

The Bible says we can only get to heaven by trusting in God through his Son, Jesus Christ. And we don’t have to earn God’s love or work our way into heaven. The Bible says, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).

If you haven’t trusted in Jesus and committed to following him, why wait any longer? If you’re ready to step across that line and make a decision to believe in Jesus Christ and follow him, pray this prayer:

“Dear Jesus, you have promised that if I believe in you, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and you will accept me into your eternal home in heaven one day.

“I confess my sin, and I believe that you are my Savior. You have promised that if I confess my sin and trust you, I will be saved. I trust you when you say that salvation comes by grace, through faith, and not by anything I do. I receive you into my life as my Lord. Today I’m turning over every part of my life to your management. You have the right to call the shots in my life.

“Jesus, I want to relax in your love. Thank you that I don’t have to earn it or work for it. I want to use the rest of my life to serve you instead of serving myself. I humbly commit my life to you and ask you to save me and accept me into your family. In your name I pray. Amen.”

If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at Rick@PastorRick.com and let me know about it. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>
Talk About It

  • How do you respond to the truth that nothing you can do will get God to love you more than he does now, or cause him to love you less?
  • What is your part in the church’s task to spread the message of salvation to those who have not heard?
  • What does it mean to “call on the name of the Lord”?

 

Filed Under: Columns

Kavanaugh chaos: You don’t have to be Nostradamus to make a prediction about Dems and the FBI

October 3, 2018 By Leave a Comment

Who believes another FBI investigation of Brett Kavanaugh will be the end of it? If the FBI finds nothing to support Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school party, will it be enough for Democrats to vote to confirm him? Republicans say the investigation is limited to her charge and that of a third accuser, Julie Swetnick, whose allegations, detailed in a sworn affidavit, claim she was the victim of gang rape. How many more will come forward?

Here’s a link to the editorial at Fox News.

Filed Under: Columns

Editorial: Pritzker and those toilets: A ‘scheme to defraud’

October 3, 2018 By Leave a Comment

Illinois voters have been hearing accusations for months now that billionaire Democratic candidate for governor J.B. Pritzker improperly pocketed tax breaks by yanking the toilets out of one of his Gold Coast mansions and declaring it uninhabitable. And they’ve been hearing Pritzker’s explanations. He said he wasn’t aware the toilets were inoperable. He said he was one of thousands of taxpayers who properly sought a property reassessment.

Here’s a link to the editorial at the Chicago Tribune.

Filed Under: Columns

Op-Ed: A spectacular failure in the Land of Lincoln

October 2, 2018 By Leave a Comment

State Rep. Tim Butler recently called for hearings into the latest sad turn of events for the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation and the state-run Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum that the foundation supports.

Here’s a link to the editorial at Illinois News Network.

Filed Under: Columns

A Word For Today

October 2, 2018 By Leave a Comment

BLESSED ASSURANCE

READ ISAIAH 28:1 THROUGH 30:33; GALATIANS 4:1–31

Pastor Scott had talked to his congregation many times about salvation. He took a survey to see if the members had been listening. Pastor Scott asked, “Do you know that you will go to heaven when you die?”

Some replied, “Yes, I will, because I attend church.” Others believed that being good would earn them a heavenly home. But a few members stated they had accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.

The Israelites felt that obeying the many laws the priests laid out for them would give them all they needed to live a godly life. 

The Lord says: “These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is based on merely human rules they have been taught” (Isaiah 29:13).

There is a similarity between Pastor Scott’s congregation and the Israelites. Many people from both groups were depending on their own good works rather than God to save them.

Challenge for Today: Stop depending on yourself and your good works, and accept the salvation Jesus Christ offers.

Filed Under: Columns

Pastor Rick Warren: Salvation Is a Gift; You Don’t Work for a Gift

October 2, 2018 By Leave a Comment

By Rick Warren

”All need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ” (Romans 3:24 NCV).

If you were to ask a hundred people on the sidewalk, “How do you get to heaven?” you’d get a lot of different answers that could be summarized by the idea that you have to earn your way to heaven. You’d hear things like, “Try to be good and do your best” or “Work really hard at being a moral person” or “Do more good things than bad things in life.” All of these ideas are based on works, not grace.But salvation is a gift, and you don’t work for a gift. It’s free! You can’t earn it, you can’t buy it, and you can’t work for it.

This is a fundamental difference between Christianity and every other religion. Christianity is the only religion that’s built on grace. Every other religion is based on works, and you can summarize them in one word: “do.” There are certain things you have do in order to gain God’s approval, to gain bliss, to gain heaven. There are always rules, regulations, and rituals—something you have to do.

On the other hand, one way you could summarize Christianity is with the word “done.” Jesus Christ has already paid the price for you on the cross. It’s done!

A guy asked me one time, “Pastor Rick, what can I do to be saved?” I said, “You’re too late!” (That kind of shocked him.) “You’re about 2,000 years too late! What needed to be done for your salvation has already been done, and you can’t do anything about it.”

Jesus Christ already did it. He paid for your salvation on the cross, and it’s now a free gift that’s offered to you. That’s why when Jesus was hanging on the cross, he said, “It is finished.” He didn’t say, “I am finished,” because he wasn’t. He’s still alive today. The “it” is your salvation. The plan to provide grace for every person is finished.

Romans 3:24 says, “All need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ” (NCV).

You won’t get to heaven based on what you do. You get to heaven based on what has already been done for you by Jesus Christ.

When we really understand grace, we’ll accept it, because it is the greatest gift we’re ever going to be offered.

Talk It Over

  • Why do you think so many people view salvation and forgiveness as something they must work for, instead of a free gift they can choose to accept?
  • After we’ve accepted God’s gift of salvation, why is it important to tell others about that gift, too?
  • How has your life changed as you’ve gained a clearer understanding of God’s grace?

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.

Filed Under: Columns
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