Month: June 2024

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”  1 John 4:4 (NIV)

You were born into a battle. You didn’t ask for it. But a cosmic battle that started before you were born and will continue long after you die is taking place all throughout the universe. You can’t escape the battle between God and Satan, good and evil. Even people who don’t know it exists can’t escape it!

Because we’re talking about God, there’s good news. It’s important to know God and Satan are not equal sides. You don’t have to wonder who’s going to win this war. There is no suspense, no wondering who’s going to be standing at the end. God is far superior in all ways. And the Bible tells us that at the end of this world, God is going to have the last word. One day God will completely wipe Satan out.

Until then, he allows us to have a choice of whose side we’re on.

People are often pawns in this cosmic battle. Why? Because Satan can’t hurt God. What do you do when you can’t hurt someone? You hurt his children—so Satan goes after you.

The bad news is, you were born for a spiritual battle. But you were also born to win the battle. The Bible says, “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world” (1 John 4:4 NIV).

Satan isn’t afraid of you. He is afraid of who is in you: God.

When you become a Christian, God gives you the Holy Spirit to live in you. With the Holy Spirit in you, you don’t have to be afraid of Satan. Because with the Holy Spirit, you have the power that raised Jesus from the dead. That power guarantees you victory not just over the war but over every battle you face in your life—every temptation, every sorrow, every pain you experience.

All you have to do is call on the Holy Spirit. God is ready to give you the help, comfort, and power you need for life.

You’re on the winning side of this war. Now it’s time to live like it.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Let us examine our ways and turn back to the LORD.”  Lamentations 3:40 (GNT)

When your life feels like it’s falling apart, knowing what you can change—and what you can’t change—can make all the difference.

You can’t change your past. You can’t change your parents. You can’t change the gifts and talents God has or hasn’t given you. You can’t change a handicap you’ve been given. You can’t bring back a loved one who has died.

You might as well accept all of those things. You’ll start to find peace in the midst of troubles when you accept what you can’t change. Otherwise, you’ll make yourself and the people you love miserable.

There’s much you can’t change, but there’s something important you can change: you can change you.

When Jeremiah’s world was falling apart, he wrote in Lamentations 3:40, “Let us examine our ways and turn back to the LORD” (GNT).

What’s going on in your life that doesn’t line up with what God wants? Depending on how we react, crises can help us as we learn to focus our eyes on what matters: Jesus.

To re-order your life God’s way, it’ll take some gut-level self-evaluation. You’ll need to do an inventory of every area of your life. You’ll need to take a look at your relationship with God, your spouse, your kids, your friends, and your co-workers. You’ll need to look at hurts and hang-ups that may be bringing you down. You have to assess what habits are leading you closer to Christ-likeness and which ones are pulling you away. You need to be honest about your flaws—not someone else’s—that got you where you are. Nothing can be off limits.

It’s not easy. It can get messy. It’s always tough to turn from sin, even when it’s tearing us down.

But you can’t find healing without telling yourself the truth about yourself. Healing apart from repentance can’t last. When your world is falling apart, you’ll be tempted to bemoan every area of your life.

That’s a waste of time. You can’t change everything—but, remember, you can change you.

And when your world is falling apart, that can mean everything.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“The LORD is good to everyone who trusts in him, so it is best for us to wait in patience—to wait for him to save us.”  Lamentations 3:25-26 (GNT)

When life seems to be falling apart, your best and most “spiritual” response may surprise you: Get alone with God, and wait.

The Bible tells us in Lamentations 3:28, “When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don’t ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don’t run from trouble. Take it full-face. The ‘worst’ is never the worst” (MSG).

Most of us don’t know how to “enter the silence.” We’re always anxious. We don’t like to wait on God because it stresses us out. We like to be in control.

What does it mean to wait on God? You sit down, close your mouth, and just listen. You may read your Bible. You may pray. But most of all, you’re quiet in front of God.

Anxiety comes when we’re not “waiting for hope to appear,” as Jeremiah tells us. God wants to talk to us. He wants to give us the hope we crave. But we’re way too busy to hear him.

If we want to listen to God and experience the hope he has for us, then we have to get alone with him. We must “enter the silence” and be ready to hear him.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:6, “Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace” (MSG).

Get honest with God, and your focus will shift from just seeing your problems—no matter how overwhelming they seem—to God’s grace.

Lamentations 3:25-26 says, “The LORD is good to everyone who trusts in him, so it is best for us to wait in patience—to wait for him to save us” (GNT).

Before you go out and try to solve your problem on your own, let God save you. No matter what obstacle you’re facing, you’ve got to wait for his timing. He’ll time your next move perfectly.

Get still, and listen. Then, wait for hope to appear.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“He has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones. He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress. He has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead . . . And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers.”  Lamentations 3:4-6, 8 (NLT)

We all go through a time when our lives seem to be falling apart. We lose our job. A relationship falls apart. Someone dies. Our health takes a turn for the worse.

In those times, we’re tempted to think God has abandoned us—but he hasn’t.

The prophet Jeremiah was in the same boat when he wrote the book of Lamentations. His country, Judah, endured an economic tailspin and was terrorized by a foreign enemy. He witnessed incredible inhumanities committed against his people. People were out of work and starving to death.

Where did Jeremiah start? He told God how he felt: “[God] has made my skin and flesh grow old. He has broken my bones. He has besieged and surrounded me with anguish and distress. He has buried me in a dark place, like those long dead . . . And though I cry and shout, he has shut out my prayers” (Lamentations 3:4-6, 8 NLT).

Jeremiah felt like God had forgotten him. But Jeremiah didn’t ignore what he was feeling. He didn’t sugarcoat the situation. He told God what was on his heart. In fact, Jeremiah spent five chapters telling God what he thought about the situation. He told God, “This stinks!”

Why would God put that kind of passage in the Bible? He wants you to know that he can handle your anger, your gripes, and your grief. Jeremiah spends an entire book of the Bible blowing off steam. If God was big enough to handle Jeremiah’s pain, then he’s big enough to handle yours too.

If you swallow your emotions, then you just hurt yourself. Your stomach will keep score!

Instead, unload your emotions on God.

When my kids were little, they’d throw temper tantrums, but that didn’t make me love them any less. It reminded me that my kids were immature. They didn’t know what I knew. God doesn’t love you any less when you throw a temper tantrum. He doesn’t owe you an explanation, but he is never afraid of what you have to say.

So tell him how you feel. Your honesty and humility with him will be the beginning of your healing.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!”  2 Corinthians 4:16-17 (NLT)

Do you know the difference between faithful people and unfaithful people? Unfaithful people give up at the first sign of difficulty. Faithful people keep on keeping on. Faithful people are determined, diligent, persistent. They don’t know how to quit! You know how a little acorn becomes an oak tree? An oak tree is just an acorn that refused to give up.

I don’t have it all figured out, but I do know one thing: You are never a failure until you quit, and it is always too soon to quit. God uses tough times to test our persistence.

When we started Saddleback, I thought we’d get a building quickly. We went 15 years without a building. In the first 13 years of this church, we used 79 different facilities. You know how many times I felt like giving up? Just every Monday morning! But I don’t know how to quit. And God said, “Rick, if I never give you a building, would you still serve me?” And I said, “Absolutely!”

Saddleback grew to more than 10,000 people before we built our first building. How would you like to set up and take down a church for 10,000 people every week? There’s not a lot of glory in that. It’s just hard work. God used those tough times to test our persistence.

If you’re going through tough times right now, then this verse is for you: “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:16-17 NLT).

God is more interested in what you’re becoming than what’s happening to you. He often allows trials, troubles, tribulations, and problems in your life to teach you diligence, determination, and character. The problem you’re going through right now is a test of your faithfulness. Will you continue to serve God, even when life stinks?

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9 NIV).

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.”  1 Peter 4:10 (NLT)

God uses your talents to test your unselfishness.

You have to decide in life who or what you’re going to live for. You’re either going to live a self-centered, miserly life or you’re going to live for something greater than yourself—the kingdom of God.

Faithful people don’t live for themselves. They realize that the talents God gave them are not for their own benefit. They’re meant to make the world a better place.

When God made you, he gave you all kinds of gifts, talents, abilities, and experiences. Those things make you you. And God made you you. There’s nobody like you in the whole world, and he wants you to be you for his glory.

God shaped you to serve him, and there’s only one way to do that: by serving other people.

You may have a talent for art and say that you do it “just because you love to do it.” That’s nice, but that’s not a good enough motive. God didn’t give you artistic ability just so you can love to do it. He gave it to you so you can use your art to help other people in some way.

Some of you have an ability to fix things. Some of you are good at math. Some of you are good at closing deals. Some of you are good at music. Some of you are good at organizing. And some of you are good at gardening.

God made us all different so that everything in the world gets done. If we all liked to do the same thing, then there would be a whole lot left undone.

The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:10, “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another” (NLT).

You are the steward of your talents, and God is watching to see if you use what he gave you on earth to bless other people. If you use them effectively on earth, then he’s going to give you more responsibility in heaven—and those responsibilities will bring you joy forever!

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“You are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.”  Romans 8:9 (NLT)

Some people today insist that we should just give in to any desire that comes our way. If it feels good, do it! If it serves you, go for it! If everyone else is doing it, why not? As long as it doesn’t hurt anyone, have at it!

It’s a destructive mindset. Just because you have the desire to eat an entire chocolate cake doesn’t mean it’s good for you. And just because you think doing something won’t hurt anyone doesn’t mean you’re free of the consequences of your choices.

Romans 8:9 says, “You are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you” (NLT).

Before you became a believer, you only had willpower to fight against temptations. But it was never enough. You were relatively powerless against the cravings that drove you to make unhealthy and destructive choices.

As a believer, you now have the Holy Spirit—and a new ability to say “no.” You still have the same compulsions, desires, lusts, and impulses you had before you began a relationship with Jesus. But now the power of God resides in you. Now you have the power to say “no.”

The Bible says, “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves” (Galatians 5:16 NLT). It doesn’t say you won’t have sinful desires after you become a Christian. You’re still going to be a sinful human. But you do have the Holy Spirit, who will help you choose not to satisfy those desires.

If you ever hear people say, “I’m a Christian, but I couldn’t stop myself,” they’re lying. They can stop themselves! They simply never called on the power of the Holy Spirit in the moment of temptation. They didn’t surrender to his guidance in their lives.

You have the greatest power in the universe available to you. It’s your choice to use it to say “no” to anything that does not honor and please God.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body.”  Ephesians 4:23-25 (NLT)

To change the defects in your life, you’ve got to have people in your life who tell you the truth. You’re not going to get well on your own. You’re going to need support. You’re going to need a small group.

Change requires honest community.

The things in your life you’re never going to be able to change on your own are typically the things that are the most difficult in your life. They’re also often the things you don’t want anybody else to know about.

You’re never going to get over those things until you share them with someone. You don’t have to tell everybody. You just need to find at least one person who will trust you and whom you trust—someone who will be confidential, love you unconditionally, not be judgmental, and pray for you. You’ll find that revealing your feeling is the beginning of healing.

This does not mean a small group where you get together on a superficial level and everyone is “fine” or “doing great.” You have to get to the level of maturity in your small group where you can say, “I had a tough week. Life is really hard right now. Here’s what happened.”

Ephesians 4:25 says, “So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body” (NLT).

If you’re a believer, you’re also a belonger. You belong in God’s family, and every other believer belongs to you. You cannot become until you belong. You can’t become what God wants you to be until you belong in a group that’s going to have gut-level, honest community.

So put away falsehood. Talk to your neighbor. Tell your friend the truth, because we belong to each other.

If you are serious about changing the deepest hang-ups and defects in your life, you’re going to have to face the fear of being honest. You’ve got to stop faking it. You’ve got to be real.

You can go through life one of two ways: pretending like you’ve got it all together or getting it all together. But you’ll never get it all together as long as you pretend you’ve got it all together.

In God’s family, we belong to each other. Let’s be honest with each other so we can help each other make the changes that bring health and healing.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”  2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)

You need more power than just willpower in your life. You need God’s power.

The fruit of the Spirit is the qualities that God puts in your life when the Holy Spirit lives in you: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT).

How does God produce the fruit in your life? Not by willpower. You could go out and say, “I’m going to be a more patient person!” but that doesn’t mean it’s going to work.

The Holy Spirit has to grow it on the inside. You try to say, “I’m going to be more patient. I’m going to be more loving.” It’s like tying some oranges on a eucalyptus tree and calling it an orange tree. It doesn’t work that way. The fruit of the Spirit can only come from the inside—God’s Spirit living through you.

How does the Holy Spirit work in your life? The answer is gradually: “And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT).

When God wants to make a mushroom, he takes six hours. When God wants to make an oak tree, he takes 60 years. The question is: Do you want your life to be a mushroom or an oak tree?

You didn’t collect your hurts, habits, and hang-ups overnight. The things we most want to change usually developed in us over years. Someone approached me once and said, “Pastor Rick, I need you to solve my marriage problem.” I said, “How long have you been married?” Fifteen years. “How long have you had this problem?” Ten years.

And you want a five-second answer? It isn’t going to happen! You’ve got to peel that onion one layer at a time.

The Holy Spirit works within us to make us gradually more and more like him. Our character is the sum total of our habits. Our responsibility is to develop new habits that reflect his work in us.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”  Philippians 2:5 (NLT)

Changing your life requires new thinking. The battle to change the defects in your life is always a mental battle. It starts in the mind—and that’s where the battle is won or lost.

Ephesians 4:23 says, “Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes” (NLT).

You’re not going to change until your thoughts and attitude change. This is why a daily quiet time is important. The time you spend intentionally studying God’s Word and in conversation with him through prayer is the spiritual renewal in your mind. Even with the Holy Spirit, it takes spiritual discipline to have the power to change. You have to get to know God so you know what he expects from you and desires for you.

Do you know what the theological term for “change of mind” is? It is the word “repentance.” To repent literally means to change your mind.

The word “repent” is actually a Greek word: metanoia. Metanoia means to change your mind—to turn from death to life, sin to forgiveness, guilt to peace of mind, hell to heaven. You turn from “my way” to God’s way. The most positive change in your life will be when you repent of your sin and turn from regret to forgiveness and peace of mind.

You have to learn to think in new ways about your defects. Defects are often strengths being misused. That’s a new way of thinking. You probably never thought of that, but that’s repentance! That’s a change of mind. Your defects are often the strengths God gave you that are being misused.

You have to change the way you think so you can make the most of your strengths instead. To do that, you “must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” (Philippians 2:5 NLT).

God wants you to learn to think like Jesus. How do you do that? Again, it’s a choice. You’ve got to make a choice and say, “Lord, how would Jesus think about this?” The more you fill your mind with God’s Word, the easier that’s going to be.