Category: Tĩnh nguyện

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

FROM HOW GOD TURNS SETBACKS INTO COMEBACKS

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” Psalm 23:4 (NIV)

No one gets through life without setbacks. All of us will face storms from time to time.

The real issue is how we respond. When you experience a setback, what happens next? Do setbacks dominate you? Do you stop trying and give up?

If we’re not careful, setbacks will cause us to make unhelpful decisions:

Drifting from our goals. We hear the little voice inside that asks, “What’s the use of trying?” Then we stop striving for what God has clearly called us to do.

Discarding what we value. Sometimes, after a period of intense pain, our priorities change—we let go of what once mattered greatly to us.

Despairing about our future. We figure we’re doomed, we’re finished, and it’s all over.

As a pastor for more than 40 years, I watched many people react to crises in one of those three ways. I’ve discovered that the true test of faith is not how high you jump when you’re singing praises to God, but how straight you walk when you’re going through the valley of the shadow of death.

You’ll always drift in a storm without the right anchor. And only one anchor will really do.

One of the Bible’s most famous passages says it like this: “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4 NIV).

God’s presence is the greatest anchor in any situation.

When you’re feeling hopeless, remember that God hasn’t left you. Choose to make him your rock-solid anchor.

No matter how dark your valley, you’ve never been closer to God than you are at this exact moment. When I remind people of that truth while they’re in the middle of a setback, they often tell me: “Well, I don’t feel his presence.”

But it really has nothing to do with how you feel. The Bible says God is there in your darkest valley. That’s reality—whether you believe it or not.

The Bible says, “I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us” (Romans 8:38-39 The Message).

No matter what you’re going through, God and his love are right there with you.

That truth offers stability in any storm.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.” Acts 27:24 (NLT)

Sometimes a setback is rooted in your own actions or choices. You made a mistake. You did something that hurt another person. You disobeyed God. And now you’re facing a storm as a result.

But often the storms we face in life aren’t because of something we did. Instead, we suffer because of other people’s poor decisions—or even their sins.

Acts 27 gives us a dramatic example of suffering a setback because of the foolish choices of others. Paul had been unfairly put on trial for crimes he didn’t commit. He was a Roman citizen, so he had the opportunity to appeal to Caesar in capital-offense cases.

On the prison ship heading toward Rome, Paul told the others that they were headed toward disaster. But no one listened, and it didn’t take too long before they hit a terrible storm.

But that didn’t mean the storm sidetracked God’s purpose for Paul—and a storm doesn’t have to sidetrack God’s purpose for you either.

God’s purpose for your life is greater than any setback you’ll ever go through. An angel assured Paul of that in Acts 27:24: “Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you” (NLT).

The angel told Paul that, despite the setback, he would one day stand before Caesar and share his testimony. God’s purpose wouldn’t be thwarted.

God doesn’t need a Plan B for your life. Hitting a setback—whether it’s your fault or someone else’s—doesn’t mean God won’t work through your life. When disaster hits, God just fits it into his plans.

When someone else’s decision turns your life upside down, God uses it for his glory.

When someone else’s mistake puts you in a difficult situation, God works through it anyway.

When you feel like you’ve lost everything, God does the incredible so you can do the impossible.

You can’t sink God’s purpose. Neither can anyone else.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Because you are praying for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ is helping me, I know this trouble will bring my freedom.” Philippians 1:19 (NCV)

When we experience setbacks, our most common response is our worst response: We want to withdraw, to build a wall around ourselves, to push people away.

But that’s the last thing we should do.

When setbacks leave your faith weak, you need other people to trust God for you. You need a church family to help support you.

When Job lost his family, finances, and health, it was a devastating setback—just as it would have been for anyone.

But here’s what one of Job’s friends told him: “Don’t let your anger and the pain you endured make you sneer at God . . . Others have praised God for what he has done, so join with them” (Job 36:18, 24 CEV).

That’s great advice. When you’re in the midst of troubles, don’t get bitter. Join with others who can pray with you, worship with you, and support you.

Where do you find that kind of support?

First, join with others for worship at a local church. Worshiping with other people will give you a new perspective on your setbacks.

Second, get involved in some kind of small group Bible study. Most churches are too big to build relationships just through attending worship services. You need a group of 10 to 12 people to gather with not only to study the Bible, but also to share your pain and pray together.

You won’t find a comeback on your own. You need God’s people to build you up and help you focus on God.

Gathering with others will be a huge step toward your comeback. Just ask Paul. As he sat in a Roman prison, Paul wrote this about the support of other Christians: “Because you are praying for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ is helping me, I know this trouble will bring my freedom” (Philippians 1:19 NCV).

With the support and prayers of God’s people, your setback is only temporary. Your best days are ahead.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!” Job 1:21 (GNT)

When you hit a setback, it’s okay to tell God you’re mad, you’re sad, or you’re depressed. It’s okay to express all your emotions to God.

Just don’t get bitter.

Bitterness is like saying you don’t trust God when troubles hit. It’s like a poison that will tear your life apart if you let it.

Job endured all kinds of problems. He lost his family, his fortune, and his health. But instead of becoming bitter, he kept his focus on the big picture. He understood that God was still in control even though everything in his life seemed to be falling apart.

Job said, “I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!” (Job 1:21 GNT).

I was in the room when each of my three children was born. They didn’t come with anything. They didn’t have toys, a resume, a wardrobe, or a cell phone. I’ve also preached enough funerals to know that no one drives a trailer of possessions to the graveside.

You come with nothing. You leave with nothing.

When setbacks come your way—and they most certainly will—you must focus on the fact that God has your big picture in mind.

Many things will change in your life. Your faith will be tested and tried. Like Job, you haven’t been promised a perfect life. You likely won’t get an explanation when setbacks come. But you can choose to trust God anyway.

No matter what setbacks you face, you can trust that . . .

• God will never stop loving you.
• God has a plan for your life.
• God cares about every detail of your life.
• God is in control of things even when you don’t understand it.
• God will protect you.

Regardless of any setback, those five truths make up the big picture of your life. When everything else falls apart, you can base your life on them.

You won’t get bitter if you keep your eyes on a big picture like that.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord.” Lamentations 2:19 (NLT)

You’ve just had an awful setback. You’ve lost a job. You’ve ended a relationship. You’ve failed in some way.

What do you next? Do you just grin and bear it? Do you tell God what you think he wants to hear?

No, the first thing you should do is to tell God how you feel—unload your pain. When you’re honest with God about your emotions, it’s actually an act of worship.

Job is a great example of this. Job loses everything—his family, his livestock, his home, and his wealth.

But the Bible doesn’t sugarcoat his response: “Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship” (Job 1:20 NLT).

Job grieved the way people did in the Middle East back in his day, by tearing his robe and shaving his head. But then he worshiped God.

Any time you experience loss, you’ll face four emotions:

• Anger: Why did this happen to me?
• Grief: What have I lost?
• Shock: What’s going on here?
• Fear: What’s going to happen next?

When you experience a setback, you need to express every one of those emotions. And God can handle them because he is the one who gave them to you.

In fact, the only reason you have any emotions at all is because you are made in the image of God. God is an emotional God; he has emotions. He can handle your anger, your grief, your shock, and your fear.

Job was brutally honest with God, and you can be too. Job said, “I cannot keep from speaking.

I must express my anguish. My bitter soul must complain” (Job 7:11 NLT).

The right response to a setback isn’t to fake a good response. God never wants you to fake an emotion.

In one of the most difficult setbacks in the entire Bible, after Jerusalem had been looted and destroyed and the Israelites had been killed, enslaved, and exiled, the prophet Jeremiah writes this: “Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord” (Lamentations 2:19 NLT).

With God, honesty is always the best policy.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks through him to God the Father.” Colossians 3:17 (GNT)

Ever wonder why God isn’t blessing your work?

Ever wonder why you struggle to find fulfillment at work?

The answer might be pretty simple. Maybe you’ve never invited God to guide you at work.

In Luke 5, we’re told Simon Peter and his fishing partners were cleaning their nets after a long night without catching a single fish. But then Jesus stepped into one of their boats. For a while, Jesus taught a crowd of people from the boat—and then he told Peter where to cast his nets.

Peter reluctantly did what Jesus told him to do, and God did the rest. They caught so many fish that their nets began to break, and they needed extra help to bring in all the fish.

What was different about the period of time when they couldn’t catch anything and the moment when they had too many fish to handle?

It was the same lake, the same boat, the same nets, the same fishermen, and the same fish. The difference between empty nets and abundance was Jesus’ presence in the boat.

Jesus was a game-changer. They were no longer fishing by themselves—God was in their boat.

What is your boat? It’s whatever you do to make a living.

If you want God to bless your work, you need to invite God to be part of it.

This isn’t the same as salvation. I know lots of people who have Jesus in their lives but not in their jobs. To get Jesus into your boat, you need to dedicate your career to him.

When Simon Peter and his companions did this, God gave them more fish than they could handle.

How did these guys go from nothing to abundance? They let Jesus use their boat for his ministry.

God wants you to do the same. Don’t ask God to make you a success so that you can serve him with your career. Instead, do the opposite. Tell God, “I’m struggling in my career, but I’ll give you whatever I have to use for you to work.”

That’s when God does a miracle.

The Bible says, “Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks through him to God the Father” (Colossians 3:17 GNT).

Everything means everything, including your career.

Maybe you’re in a rut right now and you’re brainstorming every option to turn your career around. You’re considering a move, a new job, or an entire career change. Perhaps that’s what you need to do.

But do this first: Ask Jesus to take control of your boat. Commit to using your work for God’s glory.

Then watch Jesus do a miracle.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.” Luke 5:6 (NIV)

If you’ve ever felt discouraged with your work, you’re in good company. Maybe you’re worn out from overwork. Maybe you’ve put your heart and soul into a project, and it simply failed.

We’ve all faced similar setbacks in life. But it’s what happens after the setback that is truly important.

Just ask Simon Peter.

He was a fisherman by trade. One day he and his fellow fishermen were washing their nets after spending the whole night fishing—and catching nothing. When they didn’t catch fish, they didn’t make money. No doubt they were discouraged and tired.

And then Jesus came along and did the impossible.

He told Simon Peter: “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4 NIV).

Simon Peter’s response was typical of someone who’s frustrated: “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything” (Luke 5:5 NIV).

We’ve all hit that stage. We’ve given our work our best shot and come up empty. We’ve done everything right—and we may even believe God led us to do what we’re doing—but we have nothing to show for it.

We’re ready to give up.

But then Jesus shows up. He reveals how he’s been working in your life, doing things you haven’t been able to see until now. He meets your needs. He redeems a bad situation.

And he proves he is Lord over everything.

Simon Peter and his companions obeyed Jesus’ instructions, and “when they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break” (Luke 5:6 NIV).

Not only did they catch enough fish for themselves, but God also gave them enough to share with other fishermen.

When Jesus joined their efforts, they caught more fish in 10 minutes than they had in the previous 10 hours. God turned a setback into a comeback.

You may be frustrated because of setback after setback in your life. You’re tired and discouraged, wondering if things can ever get back on track. And you can empathize with Simon Peter’s frustration.

But your comeback may be just around the corner.

Even if you can’t see it yet, God is working in your life, transforming bad into good, turning your setback into a comeback.

By Rick Warren – Soucr: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT)

Lasting love is persistent. It is determined. It is diligent. It is resolute. It endures the worst and doesn’t give up on a relationship. It’s stubborn!

The purpose of a relationship is not just to make you happy but also to make you holy. Relationships—whether with a spouse or child or even a close friend—teach you to think of others more than you think of yourself. As you persevere with them through difficult times, you will learn certain things that you would never learn any other way.

When my wife and I got married, we discovered that we were complete opposites. We started arguing on our wedding night, and from there, it just got worse. We loved each other, but we did not get along.

But we had made a vow, and we decided divorce was not an option. We said, “We’re going to make this thing work if it kills us”—and it nearly did! We got counseling, even though we were broke. We sacrificed so that we could honor our commitment to each other. We grew up. We struggled for the first two years of our marriage, but we became better through it.

Maybe you need to hear this today: Don’t give up. Keep on. Persevere. Be stubborn. Don’t let go of God’s gift of lasting love because you have to work for it. It will always be worth the fight.

Learning to love is the single greatest lesson in life. It is why God put you on this planet. But it’s not always easy—and it’s just plain hard to love some people.

There really isn’t a “secret” to lasting love. The key, however, is to let God’s love flow through you.

Philippians 2:5 says, “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had” (NLT). Human love wears out. But having Jesus’ love in you lets you offer lasting love to others.

Open your life to him—and then let him love others through you.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Love . . . always looks for the best.” 1 Corinthians 13:7 (MSG)

When you have high expectations of someone, you don’t tell it like it is. You tell it like it could be. What does that mean? It’s means you believe in what God wants to do in and through that person, and you affirm God’s purpose for them.

An excellent example of how this works is a story from Bruce Wilkinson, an author and teacher. Years ago, he was a new professor at Multnomah University, and at the first faculty meeting, he received his class assignments. Another professor saw his sheet and said, “Bruce, you’ve been given two of the section A classes. They’re the brightest students in the university. They’re really engaged and a joy to teach. You’re fortunate to have section A students in your first year.”

Bruce discovered that to be true—he absolutely loved teaching those kids. They were so much more fun to teach than the other classes. They were smarter and asked better questions.

At the end of the year, Bruce told his department supervisor, “Man, I sure hope I get the section A classes again next year!” The supervisor told him, “Bruce, there is no section A. We canceled that program six years ago.”

When Bruce went back and checked his grade books, he found that those “section A” classes may not have been advanced placement, but they received higher grades and wrote more thoughtful term papers than his other classes. Bruce realized—because he expected them to be better students—they rose to the challenge.

Throughout your life, you will shape the people around you by your expectations of them. When you expect the best from others, you are reflecting the lasting love of Jesus.

The Bible says that love does not nag or perpetually bring up past mistakes. The apostle Paul said it this way: “Love . . . always looks for the best” (1 Corinthians 13:7 MSG). Lasting love is forward-looking. It’s optimistic.

Lasting love is full of hope.

By Rick Warren – Source: nhulieuthanhkinh.com

“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)

No relationship will survive without grace. You’ve got to cut people some slack! You’ve got to let things go.

The Bible says, “Love patiently accepts all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7 NCV). In the original Greek, this literally means “covered with a roof.” Would you buy a house without a roof? Of course not. You’d have no protection from wind and rain. A roof covers and protects your home.

In the same way, biblical love covers a relationship and lets some things slide. It doesn’t hold people accountable for every little mistake they make. You need a roof on your relationship, because people damage pretty easily, and we need the kind of love that extends grace.

Why is grace essential to relationships?

Because we are all sinners. If you’re married, you married a sinner—and your spouse did too! Two imperfect spouses will never make a perfect marriage. And it’s the same way in friendships. No friendship is perfect—because no friend is perfect! Two imperfect people will never create a perfect relationship.

The Bible says in Romans 3:10, “There is no one who always does what is right, not even one” (NCV). Nobody gets it right 100 percent of the time. It’s never just one person’s fault. We all make mistakes, and there’s always responsibility on both sides. The saying goes, “It takes two to tango.” It also takes two to disagree!

That’s why the Bible says we have to learn to extend grace to each other. Forgiveness is a two-way street. We cannot receive what we’re unwilling to give to other people.

You build strong relationships by treating other people the way God treats you. Romans 15:7 says, “Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you” (NLT). Accepting others may look like listening without judging to a friend or giving space to a tired, grumpy family member.

When you accept others as they are, looking past their faults for the sake of love, that’s extending grace.