“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
Psalm 119:105 (NIV) Every day, we make one decision after another, and it can be hard to know how to make those decisions. But here’s a simple principle: If you want to make good decisions, listen to God. The Bible says, “If you want better insight and discernment . . . learn the importance of reverence for the Lord and of trusting him . . . He shows how to distinguish right from wrong, how to find the right decision every time” (Proverbs 2:3, 5, 9 TLB). So how do you listen to God? One major way God speaks is through his Word. So when you’re making a decision, ask yourself: “Is my decision in harmony with God’s Word?” When you’re making a decision, you’re choosing what’s going to be your ultimate authority in life. It really boils down to this choice: God’s Word or the world. Are you going to base your decisions on what God says or what other people say? If you base your life on popular opinion, you’re always going to be out of date because popular opinion changes every day. What was “in” yesterday is “out” today, and what’s “in” today will be “out” tomorrow. If you base your life on popular culture or opinion polls, you will struggle because you’re building on a shifting foundation! On the other hand, if you base your life on God’s Word, the truth never changes. Truth is always true. So if God says something was wrong 10,000 years ago, it was also wrong 500 years ago, it’s wrong today, and it will be wrong 1,000 years from today. I don’t care what the culture says or what is popular at the time. If God says it’s wrong, it’s wrong. And if God says it’s right, it will always be right. That is a solid foundation! God has set up the universe with certain laws—physical, moral, and spiritual. God built the universe around these laws because they’re all for your benefit. When you cooperate with the principles in this universe, you’re more likely to succeed. If you reject, disobey, ignore, and rebel against God’s principles, you may get hurt. When you keep all this in mind, you can be confident about the decisions you make. If God says it’s okay, then you do it. If God says no, then you don’t do it. As you learn to make decisions based on God’s Word, you’ll find this to be true: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105 NIV).
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“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
Ephesians 4:29 (NIV) Sometimes our words are like a sledgehammer. We swing away without thinking, and suddenly we look around and realize a pile of relational rubble surrounds us. When you thoughtlessly sling your words around and tear people down, your relationships are going to suffer. But God wants you to use your words to build others up. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (NIV). One reason we’re not effective with our words is we don’t realize how our mouths and words are powerful, God-given tools. We say things without thinking. And people remember them. Maybe you can still remember certain things people said to you in a careless way—even as far back as grade school. That’s how powerful words are. So when it comes to the words you say, think of them as a power tool and be extremely careful. In looking at an owner's manual of a power tool, you might consider how the use of a power tool relates to the words we choose to say. The directions generally say: 1. Know your power tool. 2. Keep guards in place. 3. Be careful around children. 4. Store idle tools when not in use. 5. Don’t overreach. 6. Never use in a volatile atmosphere. How can you use your mouth more carefully, so you are using it to build relationships and not to tear people down? 1. Stop excusing. Stop saying, “I didn’t really mean to say that” or “That’s just how I am before my first cup of coffee.” Realize that what you say impacts everybody around you. 2. Talk less. We often get in trouble because we just don’t know when to stop talking. If it’s a power tool, you shouldn’t have to use it as much, right? 3. Listen more. If you listen more, you can better understand people’s needs. 4. Start building. Let your first thoughts be, “What does this person need?” “How can I use a word of encouragement to build him up?” “What can I say to make a difference in her life?” Consider making this part of your morning prayers: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14 NIV). “For the Holy Spirit, God’s gift, does not want you to be afraid of people, but to be wise and strong, and to love them and enjoy being with them.”
2 Timothy 1:7 (TLB) If you want to connect with someone, you need to be willing to take the first step. This often requires courage. Why? Because it’s fear that disconnects human beings. When we’re full of fear and anxiety, it’s difficult to get close to others. In fact, we back off. We’re afraid of being rejected, manipulated, vulnerable, or hurt. All these fears can cause us to stay disconnected in life. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve gave us an example of what many of us do when we’re afraid. After they sinned, God came looking for Adam. And Adam told God, “I was afraid . . . so I hid” (Genesis 3:10 NIV). People have been doing that ever since. We’re afraid, so we hide. We hide our sins. We hide our true selves. We don’t let people know what we’re really like—because if we do and they don’t like us, we’ll face rejection. And so we pretend. Fear does three terrible things to relationships: Fear makes us defensive. When people point out our weaknesses, we retaliate and defend ourselves. Fear keeps us distant. We don’t let people get close to us. We withdraw. We hide our emotions. Fear makes us demanding. The more insecure we are, the more we attempt to control things. We try to have the last word in a relationship. We seek to dominate. So where do you get the courage to take the first step to connect with someone and go to a deeper level of intimacy? You get it from God’s Spirit in your life. The Bible says, “For the Holy Spirit, God’s gift, does not want you to be afraid of people, but to be wise and strong, and to love them and enjoy being with them” (2 Timothy 1:7 TLB). How do you know when you’re filled with God’s Spirit? You’re more courageous in your relationships. You love people. You enjoy being with them. You’re not afraid of them—because God’s Spirit is in your life. The Bible says that “God is love” (1 John 4:8 ESV) and that “love casts out all fear” (1 John 4:18 TLB). Is fear undermining your relationships? The more of God you have in your life, the less fear will have a hold on your life. “Many people received God’s gift of life by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ.”
Romans 5:15 (NCV) If you looked in your mail today and found a free gift waiting for you, it wouldn’t really be free. Someone paid for it at some point. The same is true of God’s grace. It’s totally and completely free to you—but Jesus paid for it. It cost Jesus his life. That’s why salvation comes through Christ and Christ alone—because he’s the one who paid for the grace we receive. The Bible says, “We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved” (Acts 15:11 NIV). Nobody else but Jesus volunteered to pay for your sins. And nobody else but Jesus paid the price for all the blessings God brings your way. Romans 5:15 says, “Many people received God’s gift of life by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ” (NCV). When you receive the grace of God through Christ alone, you are “in Christ.” That phrase is used more than 120 times in the Bible. And being in Christ changes how God looks at you. You may think that when God looks at you, he sees all your sins, failures, and rough spots. But when you’re “in Christ,” God just sees Jesus. You may see all of your scars, messes, and problems—but God sees perfection in Christ. That’s grace, and it can only be found in Christ. God’s love for you isn’t based on what you do. It’s based on who you are in Christ. In fact, there’s nothing you could ever do to make God love you any more—or any less. When you come to God through Jesus Christ, he won’t reject you. The Bible promises, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13 NIV). God is ready and willing to give you his grace and secure a future for you in heaven. You just need to accept his grace! “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) You can’t earn God’s grace. You can’t work for it. You don’t deserve it. The Bible teaches, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV). You can only receive grace by faith. The Bible is full of stories illustrating God’s grace. Maybe the most familiar one is about the prodigal son in Luke 15. As you might remember, the father in this story has two sons. One day the younger son said, “Dad, I’m leaving. I want my half of the family inheritance right now so I can get out of here.” So his father gave him half of the family inheritance, and the son moved to a foreign country. He then wasted his life on wild living. And, after a while, he realized he had wastefully spent everything he had. Forced to get a job, he ended up in a pig trough feeding pigs, and he was so hungry, he thought about eating the pigs’ food. Flat on his back, he thought, “What am I doing here? I know I blew it. It’s all my fault, but the people who work for my dad as servants live better than this.” So he decided to head home and tell his father, “I know I messed up. I admit it. I wasted all of my inheritance. I don’t deserve to be called your son. But just hire me as a servant, and I’ll work for you the rest of my life, because even your servants live better than I’ve been living.” Yet the Bible says the father was both loving and gracious toward his son. When he saw the son in the distance coming home, he ran to meet him with a giant hug. Then the father threw a party for his wayward son. When you accept God’s grace, that’s how God responds to you. Your past is forgiven, you have a purpose for living, and you have an eternal home in heaven. That’s good news. And that’s a reason to celebrate! “The promise is not only for those people that live under the law of Moses. It is for anyone who lives with faith like Abraham.”
Romans 4:16 (ICB) No matter who you are and no matter what you’ve done, God loves you and wants you to come home to him. He wants to shower his grace on you. He wants to throw a party for you when you return. The Bible says in Romans 4:16, “The promise is not only for those people that live under the law of Moses. It is for anyone who lives with faith like Abraham” (ICB). The apostle Paul is saying that, in the Old Testament, the Jewish people (the nation of Israel) lived under the Law of Moses. But Abraham, who became known as the father of faith, came into God’s grace by faith—continuing to hope against all hopelessness—and that same grace is available to anyone today when they place their faith in Jesus Christ. That was amazing news then, and it is amazing news now! All of us can come to God through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ. Does “everybody” include short and tall people? Yes. Does it mean rich people and poor people? Yes. Does it include politicians and blue-collar workers? Yes. Does it include people from every ethnic background? Yes. Does it mean people from every country in the world? Yes. Does it mean people who go to church every Sunday? Yes. Does it mean people who have never even seen a Bible? Yes. God’s grace is available to you no matter what—despite your secret sins, your faults, and your weaknesses. When you accept Jesus into your life, God’s grace is at work when you’re walking closely with him, but also when you feel far from him. When the Bible says that God’s grace is available to all, it gives no preconditions. The heart of Christianity—the heart of God’s grace—is this: When God sent his Son to die on a cross, he did it for everyone. Think about this truth: As you go about your day today, you’ll never set eyes on someone who Jesus didn’t die for. And that includes the person you see in the mirror every day! “God is able to make it up to you by giving you everything you need and more so that there will not only be enough for your own needs but plenty left over to give joyfully to others.”
2 Corinthians 9:8 (TLB) I heard a story about a man who took his son to McDonald’s and bought him super-size French fries. On the way home, he reached over and took one little French fry and ate it. His son got upset and said, “Dad, you can’t have that. These are my fries!” The dad immediately had three thoughts: “First, my child has forgotten that I am the source of all fries. I took him to McDonald’s, I paid for the order, I gave them to him, and I’m driving him back home. The only reason he got any fries was because of me, the Great Fry Giver! “Second, my child doesn’t realize I could take the fries away in a second if I wanted to. Or I could buy him an entire truckload of fries if I wanted to, because I have the power to do either. “Third, I didn’t need his fries. I could easily get my own. I could buy myself a hundred cartons of them if I wanted to. I just wanted him to learn to be unselfish.” Those three lessons are the same ones God wants you to learn so that you can be generous with other people. First, God wants you to remember that he is the source of everything you’ve got. You would have nothing—you wouldn’t even be alive!—if it weren’t for God. Second, God could take it all away from you in an instant, or he could double it, because he’s got the power. Third, God doesn’t need your money. He just wants you to learn to be unselfish and develop your faith. What happens when you start becoming a more generous person? “God is able to make it up to you by giving you everything you need and more so that there will not only be enough for your own needs but plenty left over to give joyfully to others” (2 Corinthians 9:8 TLB). If you will practice generosity, God will give you everything you need plus more so you’ll have enough to share with other people. He’s looking for a channel like a straw, and when he finds it—someone who’s willing to say, “God, use me to be a blessing to other people”—he just starts pouring blessing straight through it. If you will learn to be generous, God will bless you more than you can imagine! “Make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.”
Philippians 2:2 (NLT) You serve God when you serve other people. Whenever you use your talents, time, energy, and resources to help other people, that’s called ministry. But God doesn’t want you to minister alone! Philippians 2:2 says, “Make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose” (NLT). Why does God require this? Why can’t you just serve God on your own? Because we’re family – The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 3:9, “We are co-workers in God’s service” (NIV). If you’re in God’s family, God wants you to get along with the other family members. In fact, God is more interested in the relationships you build while serving together than he is in the service that you do. He wants you to learn to get along with the family of God. Because we need each other – We need each other to serve. Nobody has all the talents. Nobody has all the gifts. God did it that way intentionally so that you would need me and I would need you and we would need each other. As the Bible says, “Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of [Christ’s] body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we?” (Romans 12:5 The Message). Because we get more done – Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, “Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively” (GNT). Teamwork multiplies effectiveness. God wants to use you in ways you’ve never expected. You may say, “What do I have to offer?” You have something, but you don’t have enough on your own. That’s why you need other people in your life. God wants to use you, but he also wants to use you in a team where you help each other out. God wired us so that we feel most alive when we’re part of a team that’s accomplishing something for his Kingdom. Teams cause us to get closer to each other, to get more done, and to have more fun. When you get together for an eternal purpose, it builds an unstoppable team that can accomplish great things for God. “Give special attention to those who are in the family of believers.”
Galatians 6:10 (NCV) The Bible says in Galatians 6:10, “Give special attention to those who are in the family of believers” (NCV). So why do people in God’s family get special attention? Because whatever you pay attention to is going to grow. If you pay attention to your garden, it’s going to grow. If you pay attention to your kids, they’re going to grow. If you pay attention to your marriage, it’s going to grow. If you pay attention to your work, it’s going to grow. What is the greatest gift of love? It’s not diamonds, flowers, or chocolate. The greatest gift of love you can give is focused attention. You can affirm people just by looking them in the eye, which essentially tells them, “I value you. What you have to say is important to me, because you matter to me.” What people want more than anything else is focused attention. They want to know that their thoughts matter, that their lives matter, that they are valuable. The core of relationships is not what we do for each other or the things we give to each other. The heart of relationships is how much of ourselves we give to each other. Many men might say, “I don’t understand it. I provide everything my family needs. I give my wife everything she needs. I give my kids everything they need. What more do they want?” They want you! They want your time. They want your attention. They want your focus. They want to know that you think they matter. Nothing can replace time. Kids don’t need things; they need time. Marriages need time, and friendships need time, and small groups need time. Look for opportunities to show attention to the people in your life. That is the greatest gift of love you can give. But don’t just wait for it to happen; you have to make opportunities to show attention. If you have to put it in your schedule, do it. If you have to give up Netflix time, do it. If it means putting off housework, do it. If you have to make sacrifices, do it. Do whatever you need to do to give your relationships attention. It is essential to their growth! “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”
Colossians 3:13 (NLT) You’ve heard it before—and maybe experienced yourself—that opposites attract. When you’re single and see somebody that’s not like you, it’s fascinating. You find their characteristics and personality traits that are not like yours exciting and attractive. Then you get in a relationship or you get married, and a year later, all those exciting traits suddenly turn annoying. What once attracted you now makes you want to attack them! Unrealistic expectations in relationships set us up for resentment. Often it’s not the big things in life that make us resentful. A lot of little things can start to pile up. The irritations turn into resentment, and it’s easy to forget why you loved that person in the first place. We are all imperfect. You’re going to hurt people, and people are going to hurt you, whether or not it’s intentional. It’s a fact that you’re going to be hurt in life. The question is, what are you doing to do with that hurt? Are you going to let it make you better, or are you going to let it make you bitter? Resentment won’t just make you bitter. It will also destroy your relationships. The people we love the most are the ones we often end up resenting the most. The antidote to resentment is forgiveness. Resentment tears down relationships, but forgiveness builds them up. If you’re going to have meaningful relationships that last a lifetime, then you’re going to need massive doses of forgiveness. Colossians 3:13 says, “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (NLT). Don’t let resentment build up in your life because you’re holding on to a grudge. You’re only hurting yourself! You’ve got to let it go and forgive so that you can start living a life of purpose. |
AuthorTaken from Daily Hope by Rick Warren. Categories
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