Wednesday, December 31, 2008

ေပ်ာ္ရႊင္ေသာ......နွစ္သစ္အတြက္



“ ေပ်ာ္ရႊင္ေသာ နွစ္သစ္ျဖစ္ပါေစလို႕ အားလံုးကို ဆုမြန္ေကာင္းေတာင္းေပးလိုက္ပါတယ္ ”


ဘုရားသခင္ထံမွ နွစ္ဆေသာ ေကာင္းခ်ီးမဂၤလာမ်ားကို အလံုးစံုေသာ ယံုၾကည္ျခင္းအားျဖင့္ ရရွိခံစားနိုင္ၾကပါေစ။

သင့္၏ အတိတ္မ်ားမဲေမွာင္ ေနေသာျငားလည္း အနာဂတ္သည္ ထြန္းလင္းေနလိမ့္မည္။
အတိတ္၌ အခြင့္အေရးမ်ား ဆံုးရႈံးခဲ့ေသာျငားလည္း ေနာက္မက်ေသးပါဘူး
အနာဂတ္အတြက္

ေကာင္းေသာအရာမ်ားကို လက္ခံေနရျပီဆို အေကာင္းဆံုးအရာမ်ား ေရာက္လာလိမ့္မယ္လို႕ ယံုၾကည္ေမွ်ာ္လင့္လ်က္ အသက္တာကို အသစ္အတိုင္း ေလွ်ာက္လွမ္းနိုင္ၾကပါေစလို႕ နွစ္သစ္ဆုမြန္ေကာင္း ေတာင္းေပးလိုက္ပါတယ္။

It doesn't matter if your past was dark, your future is bright.
If you feel like you missed your chance, it's never too later.
And even if you've experienced good things, your best is yet to come.
God will richly bless you all!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Don’t Settle for Happiness; Aim for Joy

“Whatever happens, dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord give you joy …”

Philippians 3:1 (NLT)


A man once told me that he’d broken up with his fiancé because she didn’t make him happy enough. Mind you, he was happy with her; she just didn’t make him as happy as he felt a future wife should.

What this man told me gives memorable insight into how some people view happiness: They believe happiness is dependent upon the people, the things, and the circumstances that surrounded them.

Yet, the Bible says don’t settle for happiness; aim for joy.

Joy comes from within; joy is not dependent upon the people in your life, or the possessions you accumulate, or what’s happening at this point in your life.

God says you’ll find joy, when you trust that he’s in control and working to use the good – and the bad – of your life for a greater purpose.

The apostle Paul understood this, writing about joy while in prison, chained to a guard, alone in a foreign city: “Whatever happens, dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord give you joy …” (Philippians 3:1 NLT).

He suggested there are two keys to transforming mere happiness into a deeply-felt, ever-present joy:

First, live each day by grace. Grace means you don’t have to earn God’s love or his approval. And here’s some joyful news: If you don’t have to earn God’s love, then you don’t have to earn anyone else’s love.

God offers his love unconditionally, and you can joyfully live in that grace everyday, all day long. Understanding this drains the tension from your life: you can make mistakes and know that you’re still loved by God, who desires a relationship with you over any rules or rituals.

The man who broke up with his fiancé appears to have had difficulty in understanding grace. His love came with conditions – “As long as you make me happy, I’ll love you” – and that means he probably assumes the love he receives from others is conditional too. How can anyone experience joy when they live each day thinking they have to earn love?

Second, stay focused on what’s really important. There are a lot of little things that can steal your joy – but only if you let them. Jesus taught this: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21 NIV).

My sister, Chaundel, thought about this Bible passage when she learned her house in Maryville, California, was under 9 feet of water. While she and her husband, Tom, were out to dinner, the local levy broke and flooded the area. Even in her grief, she joked, “We drove our Chevy to the levy, and the levy was dry.”

Looking back on that time, Chaundel says, “God taught us that such a loss really makes you think about what’s important and what’s going to last. Our possessions were wiped out in a matter of minutes, but the important thing is that we were alive and well. Within a year, our house was rebuilt, but we could have never replaced each other.”

Happiness is overrated. On the other hand, joy is often forgotten. Yet, joy will stabilize your life as you embrace grace and focus on the things that are truly important, moving a bad hair day down the list and relationships up to the top. No matter what happens, may God give you joy.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Don’t Settle for Happiness; Aim for Joy


“Whatever happens, dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord give you joy …”

Philippians 3:1 (NLT)


A man once told me that he’d broken up with his fiancé because she didn’t make him happy enough. Mind you, he was happy with her; she just didn’t make him as happy as he felt a future wife should.

What this man told me gives memorable insight into how some people view happiness: They believe happiness is dependent upon the people, the things, and the circumstances that surrounded them.

Yet, the Bible says don’t settle for happiness; aim for joy.

Joy comes from within; joy is not dependent upon the people in your life, or the possessions you accumulate, or what’s happening at this point in your life.

God says you’ll find joy, when you trust that he’s in control and working to use the good – and the bad – of your life for a greater purpose.

The apostle Paul understood this, writing about joy while in prison, chained to a guard, alone in a foreign city: “Whatever happens, dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord give you joy …” (Philippians 3:1 NLT).

He suggested there are two keys to transforming mere happiness into a deeply-felt, ever-present joy:

First, live each day by grace. Grace means you don’t have to earn God’s love or his approval. And here’s some joyful news: If you don’t have to earn God’s love, then you don’t have to earn anyone else’s love.

God offers his love unconditionally, and you can joyfully live in that grace everyday, all day long. Understanding this drains the tension from your life: you can make mistakes and know that you’re still loved by God, who desires a relationship with you over any rules or rituals.

The man who broke up with his fiancé appears to have had difficulty in understanding grace. His love came with conditions – “As long as you make me happy, I’ll love you” – and that means he probably assumes the love he receives from others is conditional too. How can anyone experience joy when they live each day thinking they have to earn love?

Second, stay focused on what’s really important. There are a lot of little things that can steal your joy – but only if you let them. Jesus taught this: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21 NIV).

My sister, Chaundel, thought about this Bible passage when she learned her house in Maryville, California, was under 9 feet of water. While she and her husband, Tom, were out to dinner, the local levy broke and flooded the area. Even in her grief, she joked, “We drove our Chevy to the levy, and the levy was dry.”

Looking back on that time, Chaundel says, “God taught us that such a loss really makes you think about what’s important and what’s going to last. Our possessions were wiped out in a matter of minutes, but the important thing is that we were alive and well. Within a year, our house was rebuilt, but we could have never replaced each other.”

Happiness is overrated. On the other hand, joy is often forgotten. Yet, joy will stabilize your life as you embrace grace and focus on the things that are truly important, moving a bad hair day down the list and relationships up to the top. No matter what happens, may God give you joy.


Friday, December 26, 2008

What Kind of Peace Does Jesus Give?


Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!

Luke 2:14 (NKJV)


· Peace with God (spiritual) – “Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1 TEV).

· Peace of God (emotional) – “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7 NLT).

· Peace with each other (relational) – “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9 KJV).

“It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from – if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open” (Acts 10:35 MSG).


A Prayer of Thanksgiving to God


God, I have so much joy right now, knowing that you decided to send Jesus to earth so I could be saved from a life of hopelessness and sin and be a peacemaker for you. I recognize in this moment that you saved my life when you sent Jesus, and that because of Jesus I now can live a life of joy, purpose, peace, and love. I hold onto that hope today.When I look at the world around me, I see so many people who are struggling with stressful, meaningless, chaotic lives without loving, caring relationships. That was my life before you saved me. To say I am grateful doesn’t begin to express what I am feeling.I just know I have a sense of meaning and peace I have never had before and could never get on my own strength – and I am full of amazing happiness.

I feel like celebrating right now, knowing that I am now on your side, instead of being at war with you. I know that with you I will never again be lost and alone.I am a new person today, and I recognize what I have just been given. I pray that, as I continue to grow spiritually every day, I will come to understand everything you have just accomplished in my life.By faith, I know I can trust you to be in my life today – and every day.I know I can count on you when things get tough, and knowing I will spend eternity in your presence gives me such hope!

Thank you, Jesus, for the peace you have given me. I pray you will use me as an instrument of that peace so I can help my family, friends, and the world in which I live.I feel so different right now, knowing that you and I are now OK, knowing I am on the road to a deeper understanding of what it means to live for an audience of one.I ask you to help me pray when I become upset so that I will have your peace in any situation I face – good or bad.Help me to get ready to help other people as others have already helped me.I want to make a difference in this world, and I want to help everyone I meet have the same hope I now have.I can’t do this alone, so I ask you to make me a peacemaker.

Thank you for loving me.Thank you for saving me. And thank you for giving me a peace I have never known before.May everything I do, from this day on, reflect these same qualities as I tell others what you just did for me.I am full of anticipation at the kind of life I can now live.


Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas & Happy Newyear















Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Christmas: Peace with Each Other


Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.

Matthew 5:9 (KJV)


Once you make peace with God and have the peace of God in your heart, you’re able to make peace with other people.

God says, “I want you to be a peacemaker. I want you to be a reconciler.” The Bible calls this “the ministry of reconciliation.”

As I’ve traveled from country to country over the past few years, I’ve seen the same problem – conflict. Between husbands and wives, between generations, ethnic groups, religious groups, language groups – between nations. The greatest need in our world is reconciliation. “Peace on earth, good will toward men.”

God says, “Once I have shown you grace, I want you to show it to other people. Show them the grace I have shown you. Be a peacemaker.”

Jesus said it like this. “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9 KJV). If you really know Christ the Prince of Peace, you’re going to be a peacemaker, not a troublemaker – at work, at home, or at school. You’re going to build people up, not tear them down. You’re going to compliment more than you criticize. You’re going to love people the way Jesus loves people.

Christmas is the perfect time to show grace to other people because we’re reminded of the grace God has shown us – that he gives us what we need, not what we deserve. So let me ask you a very frank question: Who do you need to restore a broken relationship with this Christmas? That’s the spirit of Christmas – “peace on earth, good will toward men.”

You say, “I can’t do it.” When families get together at Christmas, a lot of times it brings back a lot of bad memories and past hurts and things you just haven’t let go of. You say, “I can’t let go of it. They hurt me too bad. I can’t forgive them.”

You’re right. That’s why you need Jesus. You don’t have it in you to let it all go. That’s why you’re still holding onto it. You need to be filled with the love of Christ and the peace of Christ. Until that happens, you’re not going to have the ability to let it go.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas Brings the Peace of God


You will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6 (NLT)


Once you make peace with God, that’s spiritual peace, then you get the peace of God in your heart and that’s emotional peace.

This is the one you really need for daily living. The peace of God happens in your heart when you’ve made peace with God. All of a sudden, the stress in your life goes down. You’re not as angry as you used to be. Things don’t bother you as much. You’re a lot more patient. You’re filled with a lot more love and peace.

Why? Because once you have peace with God, you have the peace of God in your heart.

The Bible says, “Don’t worry about anything. Instead pray about everything” (Philippians 4:6 NLT). You have two choices in life: You can pray or panic, worship or worry. Those are your choices. Worry has never solved a single one of your problems. If you prayed as much as you worry, you would have a lot less to worry about! Prayer can change things. That’s why the Bible says, “Don’t worry. Pray!”

“Pray about everything. Tell God what you need. Thank him for all that he’s done. [And if you do this] You will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6 NLT).


Monday, December 22, 2008

Christmas Means Peace with God


Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

Romans 5:1 (NLT)



Do you realize that if you’re trying to live your life without God, you are at war with him? You are at war with God, and you need a peace treaty. You need reconciliation because your relationship with God has been broken. Jesus Christ came to be that bridge, to be the reconciler between God and man.

When you trust Jesus, he makes it all go away. He says, “I’m going to completely wipe out everything you’ve ever done wrong. You’re completely forgiven. Come on home!”

The Bible says, “Now that we have been put right with God through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1 TEV). Have you made peace with God? If you haven’t, you’d better, because one day you will have to face him. You need to make peace with God.

How do you make peace with God? You don’t do it by promising to be good or by being perfect. You can’t. The Bible says you make peace by faith – faith in God’s grace.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

This Is For You !!!!!


These are the picture of the crucifixion of Christ Sculptured from metal
by a man near Amarillo , TX.

The crosses are mede of metal also. The man did this out of the kindness
of his heart.

Someone donated the land on which to erect them.


Who is Jesus ?
He is Jesus


Who Is He ?


In Chemistry , He turned water to wine ;


In Biology , he was born without the normal conception ;



In physics , he disproved the law of gravity when he ascended into heaven ;




In economics , he disproved the Law of Diminishing return by feeding
5000 men with

Two fishes & 5 Loaves of bread ;



In medicine , he cured the sick and the blind without administering
a single dose drugs ;




In history , he is the begining and the end ;



In goverment , he said that he shall be called wonderful counselor ,
prince of peace


In religion , he said no one comes to the father except through him ;



So , Who is he ?
He is Jesus !!!


Join Me and let`s celebrate him ; He is worthy.



The eyes beholding this message shall not behold evil ;



The hand that will send this message to everybody shall
not labor in vain ;


And the mouth saying Amen to this prayer shall smile forever......


Remain in God and seek his face always.....Amen


In God I`ve found everything !!!!


The Greatest Man in history

Jesus had no servants , yet they called him Master.....



Had no degree , yet they called him Teacher....


Had no medicines , yet they called him Healer


He had no army , yet kings feared Him......


He won no military battles , yet He conquered the world.

He committed no crime , yet they crucified !!! Him.

He was buried in a tomb , yet He lives today.

I feel honored to serve suck a Leader who loves us !!!!

If You believe in God and is Jesus
Christ His Son....tell this to all Your Friends


From my forward mail !!!!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Christmas: God’s Grace at Work


God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT)


God says, “I will give you my grace.” What is grace? That’s when God gives you what you need, not what you deserve. Grace is when God says, “I’m going to take your problem and make it my problem.” Grace is God’s Riches given to you At Christ’s Expense.

The Bible says: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV). In other words, you can’t earn your way to heaven. You can’t work your way in. It’s just a gift.

Did you know that’s why we give gifts at Christmas? Because that’s when God gave the gift of his Son to you – by grace. We give gifts because God gave us the greatest gift at Christmas.

I know I don’t look like it today, but for three years I was a lifeguard. And every lifeguard knows you can’t save someone as long as they are trying to save themselves. If somebody is drowning and flailing around in panic, a lifeguard knows to just stay back for a few seconds and wait until they give up. Because if you try to save them while they’re trying to save themselves, they will pull you under too.

When they finally give up, they relax, you put your arm around them and just swim back to shore. It’s really quite easy.

God wants to save you. Jesus Christ wants to save you from your hurts, your habits, and your hang-ups. He wants to save you for his purpose and by his grace. But you’ve got to quit trying to do it yourself. You’ve got to relax. You need to let go and let God be God.


Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Christmas: Saved for a Purpose



He saved us and he called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace.

2 Timothy 1:9 (TEV)


The Bible also teaches that Jesus came to save you for something. God has a purpose and a plan for your life; he created you for a specific mission.

The Bible says: “He saved us and he called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace” (2 Timothy 1:9 TEV). You can live life at one of three levels: survival, success, or the highest level – significance.

Most of the world lives at the survival level. Half of the world’s six billion people live on less than $2 a day. That’s survival. If you’re an American, even if you are the poorest of the poor in the United States, you live at the success level. Most of the world would love to have your problems. But you say, “If I’m so successful, why don’t I feel fulfilled?”

You don’t feel fulfilled because you were made for more than success. The ultimate goal of life is significance, not success. You were made for significance – and significance comes from knowing God, knowing his purpose for your life, and then doing it. Then you realize, “This is what I was made for! This is my niche! It’s me! Now I know why I’m here on the planet.”

All the success in the world can’t give you that.

That’s why the very first sentence of The Purpose Driven Life is a very counter-cultural statement: “It’s not about you.” That’s the exact opposite of what our culture says. Our entire culture says, “It’s all about you.”

You’ll never find satisfaction and significance by living for yourself because God didn’t wire you that way. You were made for God. There will always be a hole in your heart because you need something greater than yourself. You need God’s purpose. You’ve tried everything else. Why not try God?

So Jesus said, “I want to save you from your past. I want to save you for a purpose. And I want to save you by something.”



Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Christmas: God Changes Us

I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?

Romans 7:24 (MSG)


Have you figured out yet that a lot of times you are your own worst enemy? It’s your own reactions, your own fears, your own inadequacies that cause you to act in foolish ways. I know that’s true for me.

I need to be saved from myself because there are things I don’t like about me – things I wish I had done differently, things I’d like to change. But I can’t change them, not on my own power. I need an outside power source.

You may be saying, “I can change.” I hate to say this, but you can’t. In January, you’re going to make a list of New Year’s resolutions. And, by the end of January, that list will be in the dumpster. Why? Because you can’t change on your own; you need God’s power. You need a Savior, someone who can make the changes you can’t make yourself.

Let me make an important point here: God never wastes energy. He doesn’t waste effort on things that are unnecessary. In other words, if you didn’t need a Savior, he wouldn’t have sent one. The very fact that God sent a Savior means you need one.

The truth is, if you are honest about it, sometimes you feel like your life is out of control. That’s a pretty common feeling. Welcome to the human race!

The apostle Paul felt that way 2,000 years ago. Paul says this in the Bible: “I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does” (Romans 7:24-25 MSG). That’s the answer!

Let me be honest with you. You may be looking for salvation in the wrong places, that’s why you’re frustrated. You’re looking for that one thing that’s going to give you fulfillment and meaning and peace in life.

Some of us think that if we could just get married, or if we could just get a certain job, or a promotion, or attain a certain level of wealth, or have a baby – or if our babies would grow up and graduate! – things would be great.

You’re looking in the wrong places.

A lot of people are looking for salvation in a self-help book. Or they’re looking for it in therapy or in a fad or diet. Or they’re looking for it in a vacation, “If I could just escape to Tahiti, everything would be great.” The problem is that if you go to Tahiti, you’re taking you with you!

The answer is not in a place. It’s not in a program or a pill. The answer is a person: Jesus Christ. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life is never going to make sense.


Monday, December 15, 2008

သူငယ္ခ်င္းအတြက္ ဆုေတာင္းမယ္



အခ်စ္ဆံုး သူငယ္ခ်င္းေလး~~~~~ကိုယ္ေတာ္ေပးတဲ့ သူငယ္ခ်င္းေလး
ျဖဴစင္တဲ့ စိတ္ကေလးနဲ႔ ~~~သခင္ဘုရားလက္ေဆာင္ပါ

အခ်စ္ဆံုး သူငယ္ခ်င္းေလး~~~~~ဂုဏ္ယူမိပါတယ္
ျဖဴစင္တဲ့ ေမတၱာတရားနဲ႔ ~~~ဆုေတာင္းေပးေနသူ

( သခင္ဘုရားရဲ႕ ေက်းဇူးေတြ သူငယ္ခ်င္းအေပၚ ~~~~အျမဲတည္ပါေစ
ဆုေတာင္းေပးေနတယ္~~~~သူငယ္ခ်င္းေလး
အရာရာတိုင္း ေအာင္ျမင္ပါေစ ရင္ထဲကေတာင္းဆုေခၽြ
သတိရေနပါ~~~~သူငယ္ခ်င္းေလး )

သခင္ဘုရားအလုိေတာ္အတုိင္းပဲ ~~~~~ေစရာခရီးထဲ အတူရြက္လြင့္
ျဖဴစင္တဲ့ ေစတနာမ်ားနဲ႔ ~~~~ကမၻာၾကီး အလွဆင္မယ္

လက္တဲြကာ ခရီးဆက္ ~~~~ေလမုန္တိုင္းထန္လည္း
ကူမရင္း~~~~တစ္ဦးကိုတစ္ဦး
ဆုေတာင္းေပးၾကမယ္ေနာ္

( သခင္ဘုရားရဲ႕ေက်းဇဴးေတြ ~~~သူငယ္ခ်င္းအေပၚ အျမဲတည္ပါေစ
ဆုေတာင္းေပးေနတယ္ သူငယ္ခ်င္းေလး
အရာရာတိုင္း ေအာင္ျမင္ပါေစ
ရင္ထဲကေတာင္းဆုေခၽြ
သတိရေနပါ~~~သူငယ္ခ်င္းေလး )


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က်မအခ်စ္ဆံုး သူငယ္ခ်င္းနွင့္တကြ သူငယ္ခ်င္းမ်ား အာလံုးအတြက္ ခရစ္ေတာ္ေမြးဖြားတဲ့ ဧခ်မ္းရာသီမွာ ေပ်ာ္ရႊင္တဲ့ ခရစ္စမတ္နွင့္ နွစ္သစ္ျဖစ္ပါေစလို႕ ဆုေတာင္းရင္း သီခ်င္းလက္ေဆာင္ေလးပါးလိုက္ပါတယ္။

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!!!!!!!

Christmas: Saved from Our Sin


She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus — “God saves” — because he will save his people from their sins.

Matthew 1:21 (MSG)


The term sin is tossed around so often that, for many people, it’s lost any significant meaning. They think of sin as a list of things they shouldn’t do. And, since everybody has their own list of sins, what may seem bad to me might not be such a bad behavior for you.

The problem with thinking of sin in this way is that I will look at my list and think, “If I just don’t do these things, then I’m not a sinful person.” And, you’ll look at your list, and think the same thing. And, we’ll both look at each other’s list and think, “His list is all wrong! A really good person would follow my list, not his!”

Get this: Sin is an attitude. It’s not something you do. It’s an attitude.

What’s the middle letter of sin? “I”

What’s the middle letter of pride? “I”

Sin is an “I” problem. Sin is saying, “I want to be my own boss. I don’t need God. I’m doing just fine, thank you very much.” Sin is saying, “God, I know what will make me happy more than you do. So I’m going to do what I want to do with my life, not what you put me on earth to do.” That’s sin.

The Bible says every one of us has had that attitude at some time or another. That attitude has caused us to be separated from God. That’s why, when you pray, you feel like your prayers bounce off the ceiling – because they do. There’s a separation between you and God. That’s why God sent Jesus as the Savior.

Every one of your problems is caused by sin – the separation from God. Sin causes confusion in your life. It causes guilt. It causes shame. It causes regret, bitterness, resentment, grudges, worry, fear, anxiety, depression, discouragement, emptiness, despair, and conflict between you and other people. Every one of your problems is the result of you not being connected to God. You are separated from God by your own sin.

The Bible says that Jesus came to save you from your sin, your “I’m going to do my own thing” past. No matter what you’ve done, Jesus can give you a clean slate. His ability to save you fromin your past. your past is more powerful than anything you ever did

The name Jesus means “to save people from their sin.” He came to set you free from your sin.

Jesus wants to set you free from the burden of guilt. Did you know God doesn’t want you to carry guilt around? That’s why Jesus came – to pay for all your guilt so you can be forgiven.

Jesus wants to set you free from the pain of bitterness. When you hate other people, when you hold resentment of others in your heart, it’s like a cancer. It’s going to eat you alive.

Jesus wants to set you free from the expectations of other people, from your worry of, “What would other people think?”

Jesus wants to set you free from the fear of death, from the burden of worry, from anxiety and stress. God says, “I want to set you free from all that.”


Friday, December 12, 2008

Christmas Is a Time of Salvation


Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

Luke 2:11-12 (NIV)


No doubt you’ve heard the phrase, “He was saved” or “She was saved,” but maybe you’ve wondered what that really means?

Let me give you a simple illustration. When my oldest child, Amy, was still young enough to be strapped into a car seat, she was with me as we were driving on a very, very hot day. She finally hung her head out the window, and being a three-and-a-half-year-old unable to get herself out of the car seat, she said, “Please, God! Get me out of this!”

Amy needed a savior! She couldn’t get out of her predicament by herself; she needed someone else to set her free. She needed someone to rescue her, to deliver her, to release her.

Maybe you’ve hit a point in your life when you felt the same way? Or, maybe you feel that way today? You simply want to hang your head out the window, and plead, “Oh, God. Get me out of this! Hello, God, I need your help here … please!”

What you’re hoping for is a savior. You’re hoping someone will somehow save you. The good news is that your hope is no longer an empty dream. God is actively engaged in a plan to save you. He is a God of hope, and it is a hope that will not disappoint.

God’s plan for your salvation is three-dimensional: You’re saved from something; you’re saved for something; and you’re saved by something.



Thursday, December 11, 2008

Christmas: God Is for You


But the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.

Luke 2:10 (NLT)



Knowing God is for you will change your whole perspective on life. You’ll stop thinking of God as someone looking down from heaven, ready to yell, “Gotcha!” anytime you mess up.

Instead, you’ll realize God loves you; God is with you; and God is for you! God is for your success in life; he created you for a purpose and he wants you to succeed. It is God, your Creator, who will measure your success in life, and no one else.

This is extremely good news!

It means you don’t need to be afraid of God because God is for you. Yet, some people are so afraid of God they get nervous just talking about him. Do you know why? They feel guilty, and then they start thinking, “If I get close to God, he’s going to lecture me. He’s going to remind me of all the things I’ve done wrong, and then I’ll feel even worse!”

Nothing could be further from the truth of God. Jesus said, “I did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save it.” In effect, Jesus is saying, “I didn’t come to scold you, I came to save you.”

And if God is for us, who can be against us?

Jesus came to save us, not to scare us. That’s why when the angel was telling the shepherds about the birth of Jesus, the first thing he says is: “Don’t be afraid!”

In fact, when God sends a message to people in the Bible, it’s not unusual for the first words to be: “Don’t be afraid.” There are 365 messages from God in the Bible that begin with a phrase like, “Fear not!” In other words, every single day of the year you can read a message from God that says, in effect, “You don’t need to be afraid. I am for you; I am with you; I love you.”

We celebrate Christmas because of this good news from God!


Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Christmas: God Is with You

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

Matthew 1:23 (NLT)



Have you ever been to a baby dedication where the child’s full name is announced to everyone, and the baby has three or four different names from first name to last name? Sometimes there may five or six names in the middle!

The baby Jesus was like that; God gave him several names to tell us about the character of Christ and the purpose of his life. One of Jesus’ names is “Emmanuel.” It means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23 NASB). He’s with you always and forever; he will never leave you, and he will never abandon you (Hebrews 13:5).

You may have been abandoned in life by your parents, or your spouse, or your children, or your friends. Because of that abandonment, you approach this Christmas season in pain and full of heartache. But, the Bible says God will never abandon you.

Everyone else may abandon you, but God will never abandon you. You may not feel God’s presence in your life right now, but that is no indication that God is not there. He is with you – even now and unto the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

Would you be surprised to hear that God hates loneliness?

He not only hates loneliness, he understands what it means to be lonely. The Bible records that when God created man, he said, “It isn’t good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18 LB).

Loneliness is not an issue unique to you or unique to people who are single. There are many married people who are painfully, desperately lonely. You feel lonely because God created you to need people in your life – but, regardless of how many friends you have – your loneliness will still remain until you are intimately connected to God.

The good news is this: Because of the birth of Jesus, you now know that God is with you, and you never have to face another day alone. God being near removes your fear. You don’t have to worry; you don’t have to sweat it; you don’t have to be anxious about what’s going to happen.

You may not feel like God is with you; in fact, some days, you may not even feel like he’s on the planet! But his presence in your life has nothing to do with your feelings.

Through the birth of Jesus, God says, “I’m going to give you hope.” If you’re lonely this Christmas, let Jesus fill the void in your heart......Rick Warren



Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Christmas: God Loves Us


For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 (NLT)


God loves you so much that he sent Jesus on a mission of love with a message of love. Christmas is a yearly reminder that God loves you. The Bible says God is love. It doesn’t say God has love; it says God is love. Love is his nature – God is love.

And God created the entire universe; he created this planet; he created the human race; then, he created you because he loves you.

It could be said the reason you’re alive is because God created you as an object of his love. God made you so he could love you and so that you could love him. God’s love for you is the reason your heart’s beating right now; it’s the reason you’re breathing.

God’s good news is that he loves you on your good days as much as he loves you on your bad days. He loves you when you can feel his love, and he loves you when you can’t seem to feel his love. He loves you regardless of whether or not you think you deserve his love.

There is nothing you can do that will make God stop loving you. You could try, but you simply can’t do it – because his love for you is based upon his character and not on anything you do or say or feel.

God loves you so much that he sent his only Son, Jesus, into this world – “so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NLT).

When the baby Jesus grows into a man, he will stretch his arms out as wide as the cross, saying, “I love you this much! I love you so much it hurts. I love you so much I’ll die for you so that I won’t have to live without you.”

God’s love surpasses all human knowledge, and it is difficult for any of us to grasp the width and length and height and depth of God’s love for each one of us (Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV)...Rick Warren



Monday, December 8, 2008

Christmas: Celebration!


“I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.”

Luke 2:10 (NIV)


This may come as a shock to you, but God really likes parties. God is into parties; God likes to party; God is constantly throwing parties. In fact, the Bible says that God’s angels throw a party every time a single person trusts Jesus as the Lord and Savior of his or her life. They party for joy whenever someone turns away from self-centeredness and turns toward Jesus.

Christmas is a party; it’s a birthday party for Jesus. It’s why we say “Merry Christmas.” Yet, we often leave the guest of honor out of our Christmas parties! Thinking about this irony, I started asking people, “What are you celebrating this Christmas?” This is what a few of them told me:

· “What am I celebrating? Not a lot.”

· “The blessings that we’ve had in our family this year.”

· “Just the Christmas spirit.”

· “Being home and not being on the road for the holidays.”

· “This Christmas? I’m celebrating the birth of Christ.”

· “Nothing. I just want to get through it.”

This last comment is true for a lot of people. Christmas may be a season of celebration, but they feel they have nothing to celebrate. Perhaps that’s true of you, too. You’re thinking, “I just want to get through Christmas. I just want to survive it. I’ve got nothing to celebrate.”

But God, through his angel, tells us that embedded in Christmas is good news of such great joy that, if we believe it, we won’t be able to contain the celebration within us.

But we get so frustrated in our circumstances or so busy simply getting ready for the celebration that we lose sight of the joy. The good news turns into the fact that your in-laws aren’t coming this year or you managed to keep within the Christmas budget.

God’s good news is so much more than that! The joy of Christmas is based on three things: (1) God loves us; (2) God is with us; (3) God is for us. Can you hear the celebration in that?!!!! Rick Warren


Friday, December 5, 2008

Some Facts about Fruit


But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)



One of my fondest memories of growing up is my father’s garden. It seemed my dad grew everything in his garden. In fact, he always grew enough to feed the entire neighborhood. Whenever people would stop by our home for a visit, they’d usually leave with a sack full of fresh vegetables and luscious fruit.

The kind of fruit my father grew is just one kind of fruit – natural fruit. There is also biological fruit, the offspring of animals and the children of people.

Then there is spiritual fruit, and that’s what God is talking about in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (NIV)

The question is: How do we develop these character qualities? Obviously, God doesn’t just zap us one day and suddenly these qualities materialize in our lives. He uses a process that involves a partnership with us and also the time to grow.

It requires partnership. The apostle Paul describes this partnership in Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV), where he says “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” but then he also says, “for it is God who works in you ….”

It’s important to note that Paul doesn’t say, “Work for your salvation.” The Bible clearly teaches we don’t have to work for our salvation. It is a free gift of God’s grace.

In a sense, Paul is talking about a spiritual workout, just like when you physically work out to develop or tone muscles. We’re to make the most of what we’ve been given. God provides the power for our spiritual growth, but we must flip the switch.

It requires time. It takes time for fruit to ripen, and in the same way, there’s no such thing as instant spiritual maturity. When you try to rush fruit, it doesn’t taste as good. If you’ve ever eaten tomatoes that have been artificially ripened to speed up the process, then you know there’s no comparing them to the wonderful taste of naturally, vine-ripened tomatoes. It takes time for fruit to ripen, and it takes time for spiritual fruit to ripen in your life.

You can begin by telling God right now that you want to be a productive, fruitful disciple, one who cooperates with his plan.

Ask God to use his Word to change the way you think. Invite the Holy Spirit to have free rein in your life. Don’t hold anything back. Ask God to help you respond to difficult people and unpleasant situations just as Jesus would. God wants to produce the fruit of the Spirit in your life, so partner with God on your spiritual growth and watch what develops over time...Rcik Warren




Thursday, December 4, 2008

Fruit Grows From Spiritual Seeds

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

John 12:24 (NIV)


When you think about your walk with Jesus, some days you may wonder, “Why is this so hard? I’m still struggling with so many problems. When will I finally get it right?”

In my journey as a pastor, I’ve learned that spiritual growth is often like the growth we see in nature – the best fruit ripens slowly. In John 12:24, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (NIV).

The problem is we tend to get impatient, so we dig up the seed to check the progress of its growth, and that slows down our growth! If you’re not seeing as much fruit as you’d like, don’t despair. Growth takes time.

In the meantime, try these steps for spiritual growth:

  • Nurture growth with God’s Word. I know you’re already doing this, but when you read the promises of God, again and again, it helps you remember that he is at work, even when you can’t see him at work: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV).
  • Cooperate with God as he prunes. Praise God for the work he’s doing in your life, remembering “he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more” (John 15:2 NLT).
  • Pray through the “fruit list.” Pray through the “fruit list” (the fruit of the Spirit) from Galatians 5:22-23. The NIV Bible lists the fruit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Ask God to help you grow this fruit in your life....Rick Warren

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Whose Battle Is It?


“But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out there tomorrow, for the Lord is with you!”

2 Chronicles 20:17 (NLT)



In today’s passage, God is talking to King Jehoshaphat and the Israelites. They’re about to be attacked by three enemies: the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Meunites.

Jehoshaphat had to be worried about how his people could defend themselves in such a battle, but God knew exactly what Jehoshaphat was thinking. He said, “You will not have to fight in this battle.” Now, that’s the kind of battle I like!

What God tells Jehoshaphat in this passage, and what he would remind us today, is this: “The battle is not yours; it’s mine. You don’t have to fight in it.”

In other words, it’s God’s problem. Let him solve it.

The fact is if you are God’s child, then your problems are his problems. And he’s much better at fighting your battles and solving your problems than you will ever be. Your job is to trust him to work it all out. Perhaps the reason we have so many tired, fatigued, and discouraged Christians is because we think, “It all depends on me.”

The day you resign as General Manager of the Universe, you’re going to find that it doesn’t fall apart. You can relax in faith, trusting that God is able to run things without your help.

Twice in this passage it says, “Don’t be afraid,” and “Don’t be discouraged.” When you face a seemingly impossible situation, don’t be afraid and don’t be discouraged. Has God ever lost a battle? No. He doesn’t lose battles.

There’s an important phrase in verse 17. God tells Jehoshaphat, “Take your positions and stand firm.” What does it mean to stand firm? It means to have a mental attitude of quiet confidence. It is never God’s will for you to run from a difficult situation. I’ve discovered that when I run from a difficult situation, inevitably God always brings it back around and gives me another chance. Why?

Because God wants us to learn – and he wants to teach us through experience – that in every situation he is sufficient. He is competent and capable and he will meet our needs in that situation. Don’t be afraid; fear is the opposite of faith.

You stand firm on two things:

  • The character of God – He’s faithful. He does not bring us this far just to let us down. He doesn’t bring you out on a limb and then cut off the limb. Have faith in the nature andcharacter of God.
  • The truth of his Word – God’s Word is faithful. You can count on the promises found in the Bible.

Stand still. Remember Who the battle belongs to. Trust that he is able to deliver you. And then watch him do it!

Rick Warren

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Releasing Your Regrets

People who cover over their sins will not prosper. But if they confess and forsake them, they will receive mercy.

Proverbs 28:13 (NLT)


How often do you play the “if only” game?

· If only I had it to do over.

· If only I had listened sooner.

· If only I could erase the past.

· If only I could forgive myself.

Because no one is perfect, we all have regrets. We’ve all made bad choices, said foolish things, wasted time, and hurt ourselves and others.

How do you release those regrets?

Here are some strategies that don’t work:

1. We bury them

Burying the past doesn’t work. Like creatures from a horror movie, unresolved regrets come back to haunt us over and over. Minimizing (“It wasn’t a big deal”), rationalizing (“Everyone does it”), and compromising (lowering your standards) are ways we try to bury our regrets.

2. We blame others

This tactic is as old as Adam and Eve. When Adam sinned, he took it like a man – he blamed his wife! We use blame to balance out our guilt.

3. We beat ourselves

We try to pay for our guilt unconsciously through illness, depression, setting ourselves up for failure, and other forms of self-punishment. The problem with beating up on yourself is this: your conscience never knows when to stop! Many spend their entire lives in self-condemnation.

What does God want me to do with my regrets?

· Admit my guilt

Own up to it.Don’t make excuses. The Bible says, “People who cover over their sins will not prosper. But if they confess and forsake them, they will receive mercy” (Proverbs 28:13 NLT).

· Accept Christ’s forgiveness

He’s waiting to clean your slate.Ask him to clear your conscience, and then remember “there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 NLT).

· Forgive yourself and focus on the future

“Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19 HCSB).

Rick Warren


Monday, December 1, 2008

When a Friend Betrays

He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman.

Psalm 15:2-3 (NIV)



Here are three steps toward learning to trust again when a friend betrays:

Reveal your hurt to God. Vent your frustrations to God. Tell him about the friend who betrayed your most intimate secret, the family member who broke a promise one too many times, or the co-worker who deliberately worked to make you look bad even while she pretended to be supporting you.

God will never be surprised or upset by your anger, your hurt, or your sense of loss over betrayal. You can tell him exactly how you feel, and trust him to understand.

Release those who’ve offended you. Forgiveness does not mean you instantly trust your friend again. God teaches us to forgive instantly and for as many times as it takes; however, trust must be rebuilt over time. Trust must be re-earned.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean you have to resume the relationship immediately, and it also doesn’t mean you have to resume it without any change.

Your friend, or family member, will only be able to rebuild your trust over time as he or she consistently and humbly shows that he or she is “one who lives honestly, practices righteousness, and acknowledges the truth in [his/her] heart – who does not slander with [his/her] tongue, who does not harm [his/her] friend or discredit [his/her] neighbor …” (Psalm 15:2-3 HCSB).

Re-focus your life. Don’t let anyone, particularly someone who has betrayed your trust, maintain a grip on your emotions. No doubt you’re feeling angry and hurt, but rather than trying to resist those thoughts, re-direct them.

For instance, try to see the situation from God’s perspective, and remember his ability to take things that are hurtful or mean-spirited in our lives and turn them into good...Rick Warren