Daily Hope with Rick Warren - Sunday, 12 January
2014 – “To Get Enthusiastic, Get in God”
“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your
spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction,
faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:11-12 NIV)
In order to reach your goals, you have to
figure out how to maintain your enthusiasm over the long haul.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great
is ever accomplished without enthusiasm.” I believe that with all of my heart.
I have found it to be true in my life. You’ve got to have passion, you’ve got
to have enthusiasm, or you’re never going to make it to the finish line.
Most people would consider me an
enthusiastic person, and I am. But I haven’t been an enthusiastic person for a
week or a month. My enthusiasm has not waned over a year or five or 10 years. I
have been consistently enthusiastic about the goals that I’ve set for more than
30 years.
How do you do that? How do you stay
enthusiastic day after day in spite of delays and difficulties and dead ends
and problems and pressures and criticisms? How do you stay enthusiastic for
more than 30 years?
Positive thinking is not enough. Pulling
yourself up by your psychological bootstraps is not enough. Talking yourself
into optimism is not enough.
The way you stay enthusiastic for a
lifetime is found in the word “enthusiasm.” The word “enthusiasm” comes from
the Greek word en theos. En is the Greek word for the English word “in.” Theos
is the Greek word for “God.” So en theos means to be “in God.”
When you get in God, you will be
enthusiastic. It’s the kind of enthusiasm that isn’t affected by the economy or
the weather or your circumstances. It’s eternal because you are tied to the
eternal God. You are in Christ.
Paul tells us how to do this in Romans
12:11-12. He says, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor,
serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer”
(NIV).
If you want to reach your goals this
year, you need to get God’s power by being joyful in hope, patient in
affliction, and faithful in prayer.
Pray this prayer today: “Dear God, I
don’t want to go another day without you in my life, controlling every part of
my heart. I offer you my body. I dedicate myself to you. In light of all you’ve
done for me, I give myself as a living sacrifice to you as a spiritual act of
worship.
I humbly admit that I need help. I want
you to help renew my mind. Help me to think the way you want me to think.
Please forgive me for my pride. I don’t want to think more highly of myself
than I should. My faith needs to grow, and I need your help to set goals that
can be measured so I can manage them. Forgive me for trying to change on my
own.
I want to fill my life with love. I want
to fill my life with you. Help me to get group support. Help me to take delight
in honoring other people, to focus on giving my life away so that you can take
care of my needs. I want to nurture my enthusiasm by being in you. Help me to
be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. I give myself
to you. In your name I pray. Amen.”
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Saddleback Community Church
1 Saddleback Pkwy
Lake Forest, CA 92630 United States
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