Category: Tĩnh nguyện

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.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.”  Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV)

It’s not enough to want to change. It’s not even enough to say, “I have a dream of changing.” Dreams are worthless unless you wake up and actually act on them. You’re not going to change the problems in your life until you choose to change.

How are you going to be different in six months? Are you going to be emotionally stronger? Are you going to be mentally sharper? Are you going to be physically healthier? Are you going to be more spiritually mature?

It isn’t going to happen automatically. You aren’t just going to get healthier by accident in any category of your life. A lot of times we think we’re waiting on God to change us. You’re not waiting on God. God is waiting on you.

There is no growth in your life without change. There is no change without loss. And there is no loss without pain. You’ve got to let go of some old stuff, and it’s not always going to be easy.

Some of you are stuck right now because you haven’t learned how to let go. That’s a choice. Ephesians 4:22 says, “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception” (NLT).

You might say that your defects are from your circumstances or your chromosomes. But it doesn’t really matter where they come from. You need to deal with them. Genetics explains your inclinations, but it doesn’t excuse your sin.

Here’s the good news: Once you become a believer, you have a new power in you that is greater than those old tendencies. That power is the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 2:12-13 says, “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (NIV).

Does that mean you are supposed to be afraid of God? Of course not! It means be afraid that you’ll miss God’s best and waste your life. Be afraid that you will go your entire life and never know God’s purpose.

The secret to changing your life is not willpower. It’s God giving you the will and the power through the Holy Spirit to do what needs to be done.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, ‘Father! my Father!’ God’s Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children.”  Romans 8:14-16 (GNT)

When I was a kid, I didn’t get scared often. I played fearlessly. But whenever I did get scared, I always cried out to my dad. I knew I could depend on him. He was strong, and he could take on anyone.

That’s what you and I are called to do when we’re scared, too: Call out to our Father for help.

Stop focusing on your fear. Focus on God your Father instead. Ask him for help! Romans 8:14-16 says, “Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children. For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, ‘Father! my Father!’ God’s Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children” (GNT).

The antidote to fear is the truth that you are no longer a slave but a child of God. Being a child of God changes everything. You’re part of a family now. And families take care of one another.

Let’s say you grew up in a big city, and your family was a part of the family—the Mafia. And, as a kid, someone starts to assault you. You could say, “Wait just a minute! Do you know who I am? My father is Guido. Are you sure you want to touch me? Because I’m in the family.”

That’s what God wants you to know when you’re scared. You’re part of his family, and he takes care of his children. He has your back. And he has all the power in the world—all the power you’ll need to face whatever makes you afraid.

Knowing you’re a child of the Creator of the universe changes everything.

When you’re afraid, you need to be reminded of who you are and the family you belong to. With the Holy Spirit’s help, all you have to do is call out to your Father. You can depend on him!

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”  Romans 8:5-6 (NIV)

You haven’t been sentenced to a life of frustration and stress. You don’t have to be stuck in your hurts, habits, and hang-ups. God has something far better for you.

We all want peace and freedom—and the good news is it may be closer than you think.

The Bible teaches that, for those who follow Jesus, peace is a mindset. If you’re not at peace, it’s your choice.

In the next few months, the economy more than likely won’t change. Your work situation won’t change. Your broken relationships may not get healed.

But your mindset can change. That will be the difference between a life of self-destruction and a life of peace.

The Bible says in Romans 8:5-6, “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace” (NIV).

Ask the Holy Spirit to give you better thoughts—thoughts that bring peace, not frustration. You need to look at your situation differently: in the Holy Spirit way.

Will you look at your life the way you’ve always looked at it, or will you look at it the way God does? Remember, the “mind governed by the flesh is death.” Choosing to look at your situation through your own lens is self-destructive.

Ask the Holy Spirit to replace the self-destructive thoughts with his own. When you’ve got something negative in your life, don’t resist it. Replace it.

If you turn on the TV, and there’s something on that you don’t want to watch or you shouldn’t watch, you can’t just sit there and tell yourself you shouldn’t be watching it. You have to change the channel. You replace it—immediately.

You choose what you dwell on. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the thoughts you need to focus on. He’ll do it! He will change your perspective. And that will change your life.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1 (NLT)

Do you get it right all the time? Of course you don’t! None of us do. None of us is perfect.

There is a lot of pressure in our society to have it all together, to be successful in every endeavor, to be everything to everyone. But those expectations are unrealistic. Why? Because you are human. And being a Christian does not make you a super-human.

The Bible says you won’t be perfect after you become a Christian. If someone tells you that, that person is not telling the truth. You’re going to mess up. You’re going to fail at times. And most likely you will beat yourself up for your failures.

But, if you’re a follower of Jesus, you can be sure of this: God never condemns you.

Way too many believers live in fear, bitterness, and insecurity. Although they’re saved, you’d never know it by how they live. They’re too stressed out with fear that God will condemn them for what they’ve done wrong. They’re walking around with tension in their mind and body, and it shows in how they look at the future and how they treat others. Instead of dealing with their own guilt, they often pile it on others.

Yet the Bible says there’s no need: “There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NLT).

In other words, God doesn’t judge you for all the things you’ve done wrong if you’ve trusted Christ. Jesus took all that judgment upon himself on the cross. God doesn’t have to judge you because Jesus was judged. He took the blame for your sins.

That’s amazing news. That is Good News—the Gospel! There’s no reason for a Christian to walk around in shame. There’s no reason to be bitter. Before you were ever born, God knew all the sins you’d ever commit—and he paid the price for every single one of them.

Whatever you’ve done in your past, whoever you’ve hurt, no matter what other people tell you—you can be sure of this: If you’ve given your life to Christ, you’re forgiven.