Daily Hope with Rick Warren - Saturday, 1
February 2014 – “To Get God's Power, Give Him Your Trust”
“For I can do everything through Christ,
who gives me strength.”--Philippians 4:13 (NLT)
A right relationship with Jesus is
foundational to every area of your life. Your physical health is no exception.
Through a secure relationship with Jesus,
you can grow and change in ways it’s impossible to do without one. In truth, we
can’t accomplish anything having to do with our health without God: “For I can
do everything through Christ, who gives me strength”--Philippians 4:13 (NLT).
Getting healthy, like any major change we
make in our lives, can seem like an impossible challenge. Of course, it is
impossible for those who try to do it on their own! But in our inadequacy,
God’s strength for the person of faith is made perfectly evident.
That’s why it takes faith to maintain
your health the way God desires. You’ll never be able to do it on your own. You
were never intended to be able to! Anything you can do in your own willpower
doesn't require faith, and when faith is not required, we’re living
faithlessly.
When you come to Christ in acknowledgement
of your weaknesses, he often turns your greatest weakness into your greatest
strength. God loves to turn our greatest weakness into our greatest strength.
If you feel you have a weak faith or even no faith, depend on God, and let him
turn it into your greatest strength.
But that only happens through God’s
power. The Bible tells us there’s a direct connection between faith and power.
The more faith you have in God, the more power and the more blessings you will
have in your life.
Jesus illustrated this in Matthew 13,
where he went for a visit in his hometown, Nazareth. The Bible says, “Jesus did
not do many miracles of power in his hometown because of their lack of faith.”
God blesses people who are not afraid to
trust him completely. When you give him your trust, God fills you with his
power. In the Bible, Abraham is considered the father of faith. It says, “He
didn't doubt God's promise out of a lack of faith. Instead, giving honor to God
for the promise, he became strong because of faith.” Romans 4:20 (GW).
Without God’s power in your life, you’re
just running on your own energy. And God never meant for you to do that. It’s
like having a laptop that’s unplugged; the battery will eventually drain and
all the power will be gone. Why would you live like that?
Think of it like this: You’ve got a small
battery in you. You can run through life on your own power, which means you’ll
be tired all the time.
Or you have access to God’s power plant,
provided you just plug in and admit you need God’s help.
It’s really a pretty easy choice.
Talk It Over:
·
When is the last time you attempted
something that could only be done by the power of God? How did you see God work through that
situation?
·
What are some of the differences between
getting healthy in your own power and getting healthy through God’s power?
·
What are some warning signs in your own
life that you’re trying to do something on your own power rather than God’s
power?
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Sunday, 2 February 2014 “Trust God for a
Second (or Third or Fourth) Chance”
“By faith we have been made acceptable to
God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at peace with God.”--Romans
5:1 (CEV)
If you’re like most of us, you could use
a second chance to get healthy in 2014. A December 2012 Journal of Clinical
Psychology report says the number one New Year’s resolution for the year was to
lose weight. By the end of the year, only 8 percent of respondents had
successfully fulfilled their resolutions — whether they were losing weight,
getting organized, cutting debt, or something else.
Even if you’ve made an ill-fated
resolution to get healthy in 2013, 2012, 2011, or every year for the last
decade, never forget that Jesus is all about second chances when you stumble.
We can be grateful that his mercies are new every morning — and every New Year.
Jesus said, “I didn’t come to condemn the
world. I came to save it.” That means God didn’t stand behind you and
shake his head disapprovingly when you blew your last diet. You don’t need to
feel ashamed about your past diet failures. God isn’t ashamed of you.
Too many people go through life feeling
guilty, judged and criticized by God. They have no desire to spend time with
the critical god they’ve imagined in their head whom they’re sure is
disappointed in them.
If you want to get healthy in 2014, that
kind of thinking is counterproductive. To get healthy you need to accept that
God loves you completely, totally, and unconditionally. Because Jesus died in
your place on the cross, you are completely acceptable to God — no matter how
many diets you’ve blown.
Romans 5:1 says, “By faith we have been
made acceptable to God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at
peace with God” (CEV).
God wants to give you his best in 2014 —
no matter how many times you’ve failed in the past. The Bible says you have
complete access to God and his power in your life today if know him. You don’t
have to wait until you get your life together. You get all the amazing benefits
of being a child of God today!
I believe your 2014 will be completely
and totally transformed — including your physical, mental, emotional, and
spiritual life — if you become consistently aware of God’s unconditional,
continuous, and never-ending love for you.
Unconditional love will turn a loser into
a winner. You have no idea how many times your heavenly Father has wanted to
reach out and grasp you in his arms when you felt like you blew it!
So as you look forward to getting healthy
in 2014, internalize the truth that God loves you despite your failures. He
longs to walk with you as you try to get healthy this year.
Instead of letting your past failures
define 2014 for you; my prayer for you this year is that you’ll fully
understand God’s great love for you. I pray that his love will give you the
power to do the unbelievable this year.
Talk It Over:
·
How have you let past failures define
your future, particularly in connection to getting healthy?
·
What makes it difficult to accept the
unconditional love of God in your life?
·
What makes God’s unconditional love for
you so potentially transforming?
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Saddleback Community Church
1 Saddleback Pkwy
Lake Forest, CA 92630 United States
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