Pastor Rick Warren: You Don’t Have It All Together, and That’s Okay

January 28, 2019 By Leave a Comment

By Rick Warren

“Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you” (Romans 12:3 NIV).

The first and greatest barrier to change in any area of your life is pride.

The fact is, nobody has it all together. I don’t have it all together. You don’t have it all together. The Pope doesn’t have it all together. The Bible says nobody is perfect—period. Everyone on this planet is broken because of sin.
But we walk around trying to impress people and pretend like we’ve got it all together. The problem is that if you want lasting change in your life, you first have to humbly assess your current state and admit that you don’t have it all together. You have to admit you have a problem with your finances, your health, or wherever you’re struggling in your life.
Romans 12:3 says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you” (NIV).
Are you willing to ask the people closest to you, “Where do I need to change?” Do you have the courage to ask others to be honest about you and with you?
Why is this so important? Because you can only manage what you measure. If you don’t know the measure of your faith, you can’t grow in your faith. If you don’t know the measure of your health, you can’t develop and grow in health. If you don’t know the measure of where you are financially, you can’t set goals financially. If you don’t know the measure of where you are spiritually or vocationally or relationally, then you can’t grow in those areas. You can only manage what you measure.
It’s also important to record your progress in any goal—whether through a journal or a record or some other tool you want to use. If you’re going to set some health goals, financial goals, or any other kind of goal, record your progress throughout the year so you can measure your growth and your development.
Evaluate where you are so that you can know where you should go.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick
Talk It Over

What people in your life can you talk with openly and honestly?
What areas of your life do you need to evaluate so that you can set realistic goals for change?
What are some ways you can keep track of your growth and progress?

Give hope, prayer, and encouragement below. Post a comment & talk about it.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick
Talk It Over

What people in your life can you talk with openly and honestly?
What areas of your life do you need to evaluate so that you can set realistic goals for change?
What are some ways you can keep track of your growth and progress?

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

Filed Under: Columns

Op-Ed: Another Illinois lawmaker hits the pension lottery

January 28, 2019 By Leave a Comment

State Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie, announced his retirement days before he was slated to start his 17th term in Springfield last week.

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

Filed Under: Columns

The state of Nancy Pelosi’s union

January 23, 2019 By Leave a Comment

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is doing the unthinkable: She’s denying President Donald Trump the forum to verbally deliver the State of the Union address. The far left is cheering. For them, the move confirms that they selected the right speaker by once again entrusting Pelosi.

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

Filed Under: Columns

Your Daily Prayer: A Prayer to Remind You of Your Worth

January 23, 2019 By Leave a Comment

A Prayer to Remind You of Your Worth
By Julie Sunne

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” – Psalm 139:14

For years, I had secretly thought that if I accomplished enough I’d be accepted and worthy. Each day I spent trying to please others by earning enough money, making a name for myself and providing for every need that crossed my path.

I believed I should be the greatest mom, the perfect wife, the best friend, the hardest worker, the one who had all the answers and cared enough to respond to everyone’s requests. I bought into the lie that success equals validation.

It was beginning to strangle me. Then the thought snuck in that my worth isn’t something to be found or earned, but it’s innate because of who God created me to be.

Each of us is created in the image of God — remarkably and wonderfully made. We don’t need to prove ourselves or earn our worth. And as today’s key verse reminds us, God’s works are wonderful. We already have worth in our Creator and Redeemer. That realization alone should give us peace as we live out who we are freely in Christ.

Who are you trying to prove your worth to? Today, embrace the truth that in Christ you are already worthy.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, Thank You for fearfully and wonderfully creating each of us. Thank You for giving us worth in Your eyes. Help us live as the one You uniquely intended us to be. Help us abide instead of strive, living peacefully and joyfully as heirs to Your Kingdom and co-heirs with Christ. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

fearfully-wonderfully-made

Filed Under: Columns

Pastor Rick Warren: You Can’t Change by Accident

January 23, 2019 By Leave a Comment

By Rick Warren

“Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception” (Ephesians 4:22 NLT).

Change requires making choices. It’s not enough to dream of changing. It’s not enough to desire change. In order for you to change, you will need to make a decision. You must choose to change.

Change is intentional: Are you going to be any different in six months? Are you going to be better a year from now? Are you going to be healthier, stronger, and more mature? Are you going to be happier? Are you going to be less in debt? Are you going to be more like God wants you to be?

I can tell you the answer right now: It will only happen if you choose to change, because it isn’t going to happen accidentally. You need to think ahead to where you need to be at the end of this year and where you need to be in three years, six years, and a decade from now. I want you to be better in 10 years than you are today, but you won’t be unless you choose to be.

Change requires a choice.

A lot of times we think we’re waiting on God to change us. No, you are not waiting on God. God is waiting on you! He’s waiting on you to say, “Yes, Lord, I’m willing to make these changes.”

We have to make intentional choices in order to grow. There is no growth without change, there is no change without loss, and there is no loss without pain. If you are going to grow, you will have to change, and change means you let go of some old things and grab hold of some new things.

It’s like swinging on a trapeze: The trapeze artist swings out on one bar, and then he has to reach out and grab the other bar. At some point, he’s got to let go of one to grab the other, or he’s not going to make it to the other side. If he thinks he can hold on to both, what happens? He gets stuck in the middle, and he’s going down.

Perhaps you are stuck in the middle, and you’re going down because you haven’t let go of the old patterns, the old habits, and the old ways of thinking. You have to let go of your old ways.

The Bible says, “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life” (Ephesians 4:22 NLT). In other words, let it go. Those old habits, those old hurts, those old patterns, those old sins in your life—let them go. The Bible says to throw them off and trust that God is working in you “to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13 NIV).

Filed Under: Columns

Pastor Rick Warren: Four Things You Shouldn’t Do with Your Money

January 16, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Four Things You Shouldn’t Do with Your Money

by Rick Warren

12

“Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own” (Luke 12:15 NLT).

The Bible tells a story in Luke 16 of a rich man who enlisted a manager to take care of his property. When the manager was accused of mishandling his master’s money and was called in to give an account of his stewardship, the manager devised a plan. He knew he was going to lose his job but decided to make some friends who would take care of him when he was fired. So he summoned everyone who owed his master money and lowered their debt; if someone owed 800 gallons of olive oil, he told them to change their bill to 400 gallons.When the master heard what he had done, he “had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light” (Luke 16:8 NLT).

In the parable, Jesus doesn’t praise the manager’s dishonesty, but he does praise his shrewdness. What is shrewdness? To be shrewd means you’re smart, strategic, and resourceful. You see a problem clearly, you know what needs to be done, and then you figure out how to do it. God wants you to learn how to be biblically shrewd with your money for the rest of your life.

From the story, we can learn four things that we shouldn’t do with our money.

  1. Don’t waste your money.

Luke 16:1 says, “A report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money” (NLT). Because everything you have belongs to God and is a gift from him—including your money—you have to be careful not to waste what belongs to your master.

  1. Don’t love your money.

You’ve got to decide if God is going to be number one in your life or if making a lot of money will be your number one goal in life. You cannot make both your top priority.

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money” (Luke 16:13 NLT).

  1. Don’t trust your money.

I don’t care how much money you’ve got—you can always lose it. The manager learned this pretty quickly in Luke 16:3: “Now what? My boss has fired me” (NLT).

If you want to be secure, the center of your life has to be built around something that can never be taken from you. And there’s only one thing that you can never lose: God’s love for you.

  1. Don’t expect your money to satisfy.

If you think having more will make you happier, more secure, or more valuable, you are seriously misguided, because money will never satisfy: “Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!” (Ecclesiastes 5:10 NLT).

That’s why Jesus says in Luke 12:15, “Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own” (NLT).

Talk It Over

  • What would you do differently with your money if you considered with every purchase that you were spending someone else’s money?
  • If others looked at your life and how you use your money, what would they say is most important to you?
  • How can you be ambitious and satisfied with your income at the same time?

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

Filed Under: Columns

Editorial: Trump and Democrats: Stop embarrassing yourselves. Cut a wall-for-Dreamers deal.

January 15, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Tuesday brings Day 25 of the partial government shutdown, the longest such stoppage on record. Blame President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats for choosing stubbornness over compromise.

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

Filed Under: Columns

Opinion | Dan McCaleb: Capitol building will remain ‘unsafe workplace’ as long as Madigan is speaker

January 15, 2019 By Leave a Comment

The best journalists are the ones who ask tough but fair questions.

Here’s a link to the editorial at the Southern Illinoisan.

Filed Under: Columns

Your Daily Prayer: A Prayer for Moving On

January 15, 2019 By Leave a Comment

A Prayer for Moving On – Your Daily Prayer

A Prayer for Moving On
By: Gwen Smith

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.” – Philippians 3:13b

It spoke to me as I strolled down the check out aisle of Marshalls that day. The wall art that was featured on an impulse-buy rack.

Amen! I thought.

The message? Simple: “Don’t Stumble On Things That Are Behind You.”

My mind reeled, and I thought hard about this seemingly simple directive that points to a habit that trips so many of us up: looking back. Allowing the past to deter and diminish our future.

The Apostle Paul had a difficult past to contend with. His early years were spent tormenting Chris followers. Then he met Jesus and everything changed for him. He chose to move forward as the new man he’d become.

Instead of wallowing in the muck of condemnation, he stepped into the grace of Christ with determination.

Are you struggling with this? Let me ask you a few direct questions {in love}. Do you really think that living in the past and letting it loom large in your now is helping you? Is it empowering you to grow in strength, dignity and joy? Is it fueling you toward the prize that awaits you in Christ? No? Then be done with it in Jesus’ name. Spend a few moments in prayer and write about this in your journal.

Holy Lord, Thank You for grace. Please help me move beyond the hurdles that trip me up and give me the strength and wisdom to look up and see the hope I run toward in Christ.

In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

Filed Under: Columns

Pastor Rick Warren: Remind Yourself What God Thinks of You

January 15, 2019 By Leave a Comment

Remind Yourself What God Thinks of You

By Rick Warren

1.4K

“The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end” (Isaiah 54:10 GNT).

If you don’t feel loved by God, you’re certainly not going to offer love to anybody else. It is impossible to be loving unless you understand and remember the way God loves you.You need to remind yourself every day what God thinks about you—not what the world thinks or what you think about yourself. Remembering God’s love is what removes your fears.

Let me share four things God thinks about you that will help you remember why and how to love.

You’re completely accepted.

We spend much of our lives trying to earn acceptance from our parents, peers, those we respect, those we envy, and even total strangers. But you need to realize God has already settled this issue of acceptance: “Jesus . . . made us acceptable to God” (Titus 3:7 CEV). What Jesus did on the cross made you completely acceptable to God—no matter what you’ve done or will do.

You’re unconditionally loved.

God doesn’t say, “I love you if . . .” or “ I love you because . . .” He says, “I love you—period!” You can’t make God stop loving you, because his love is not based on what you do but on who he is. Isaiah 54:10 says, “The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end” (GNT).

You’re totally forgiven.

Because Jesus died on the cross and gave his life as a payment for your sins, you are totally forgiven when you accept the gift of forgiveness from God. Romans 8:1 says, “There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (NLT). God doesn’t rehearse your sins. He releases them.

You’re considered extremely valuable.

There are two things that create value: who the owner is and what somebody’s willing to pay for it.

You are a child of God and “have been bought and paid for by Christ” (1 Corinthians 7:23 TLB). Jesus Christ paid for you with his life. That’s how valuable you are.

When you remember that you are accepted, loved, forgiven, and valuable to the Creator of the universe, you will be better equipped to show that love to others and build deeper relationships.

Talk It Over

  • How does the way God thinks of you change the way you think about yourself?
  • What keeps you from completely loving, accepting, and forgiving the people with whom you have a relationship?
  • How do you show others that they are valuable to you?

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

Filed Under: Columns
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