Displaying Christian Sermons by tag: Daily Hope

Rick Warren (March-20-2023) Daily Devotional: What Is Redemptive Suffering? - Daily Hope.

“[God] comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” - 2 Corinthians 1:4 (NLT)

One of the purposes of your life is to serve others. And God can use your pain to help you serve more effectively—by making you more sensitive to other people’s pain.

Pain makes you more empathetic to those who are experiencing the same kind of pain you’re in. Rather than focusing on your own pain, you can choose to redirect your focus to helping others in pain.

Jesus wants to redeem your suffering. Redemptive suffering is when you use the pain you’re going through to help other people. This is what my wife Kay and I have tried do with the pain we feel from losing our son through suicide. In the years since Matthew’s death, not a week has gone by without someone—a friend or stranger, well-known or unknown, old or young—calling Kay or me and asking for help, because they know we’ve been through it and we’re willing to share God’s comfort with them.

The Bible says, “[God] comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer” (2 Corinthians 1:4-6 NLT).

Who is better qualified to minister to a parent grieving the loss of a child than another parent who has experienced such grief? Who is better qualified to help someone with an addiction than someone who has also battled an addiction? Who is better qualified to walk with someone through a cancer diagnosis than someone who has fought their own cancer?

Whatever pain you are suffering right now, God wants to use it to help others if you’ll surrender it to him.

Talk It Over

• What pain have you experienced that you believe God wants you to use to serve others?
• In what ways has suffering taught you patient endurance? If that has not been your experience, you can ask God to show you how to “patiently endure” (2 Corinthians 1:6) in whatever pain you are suffering right now.
• Ask God to show you someone who is suffering with a pain similar to yours. Then ask him to show you how to walk alongside them and offer his comfort.

Will you follow Jesus today?

God proved his goodness through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 CSB).

Are you ready to trust God to fulfill his promise of eternal life? If so, pray this simple prayer: "Dear God, I believe Jesus Christ is your Son. I confess I have sinned, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died to take away my sins and that you raised him to life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow him as Lord from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen."

David Jeremiah (March-18-2023) Daily Devotional: Spring Forward: Be an Ambassador.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. - 2 Corinthians 5:20

 Recommended Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 - 16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

 
Ambassadors must leave the comfort zone of their own nations to settle for a while in a country not their own. To spring forward to renewed usefulness, we need to leave the comfort of complacency and represent Christ to a world that’s foreign to Him.

Thom Rainer recalls his high school coach, Joe Hendrickson: “To the best of my recollection,” Thom writes, “he called me into his small office one day after practice. I had no idea what he wanted. I feared I had messed up a play. But Coach Joe didn’t want to talk football; he wanted to talk about Jesus. I’m sure there was a bit of small talk, but I don’t remember that part. I just remember that he clearly presented the gospel…. Later that night, I repented of my sins and by faith accepted what God had done for me through Jesus Christ.”[1]

You can share Christ too—with the authority of an ambassador.

Let’s try not to complicate evangelism. At its core, it’s very simple. Evangelism is sharing the Good News about Jesus Christ. - Thom Rainer

Rick Warren (March-17-2023) Daily Devotional: Run to God with Your Pain - Daily Hope.

“We were really crushed and overwhelmed, and feared we would never live through it. We . . . saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us.” - 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 (TLB)

Whenever you experience something painful in your life, you have a choice: You can run from God, or you can run to God.

Running from God never made sense to me. How are you going to get any comfort when you’re running from the greatest source of comfort? I’ve spent more time alone with God in the years since my youngest son died than in all the previous years. In the grief of that loss, what kept me going through all my painful days was worshipping God and being close to him.

If you’ll choose to run to God, you can use your pain to draw closer to him in worship. How do you do that? You don’t tell him what you think you ought to say. Instead, you tell him exactly how you feel. You argue with him and tell him that you don’t like the pain. This is called lament. The Bible is full of people crying out to God in lament, including one-third of the psalms.

Even complaining to God is an act of worship. You can worship in all the phases of grief. You can express your shock. You can unload your sorrow. You can share your struggle. You can surrender. You can ask God to use the pain for good in your life.

Paul does this in 2 Corinthians 1:8-9. He says, “We were really crushed and overwhelmed, and feared we would never live through it. We . . . saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us” (TLB).

I’ve heard thousands of stories of people who came to know Jesus out of their pain, whose lives were totally transformed in the process of worshiping when they were in pain. And I can say to them, like Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7:9, “I am glad . . . not because it hurt you but because the pain turned you to God” (TLB).

When you’re in pain, it’s not a time to run away from God. It’s a chance for you to draw close to God, trust him more, worship him more, and—ultimately—know and love him more.

Talk It Over

• Who is the first person you run to when you are in pain? At what point do you usually turn to God for help?
• When you are in pain, can you worship God in your own strength? Why or why not?
• Going to God with your pain—with your complaints, grief, and frustration—can be an act of worship. How does that truth make you feel?

Rick Warren (March-13-2023) Daily Devotional: Only You Can Share Your Life Message - Daily Hope.

“Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word . . . The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message!” - 1 Thessalonians 1:8 (The Message)

Did you know that God put you on Earth for a special reason? He wants to say something to the rest of the world through you. It’s called your life message.

The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 1:8, “Your lives are echoing the Master’s Word . . . The news of your faith in God is out. We don’t even have to say anything anymore—you’re the message!” (The Message).

Any time you say, “This is what God’s doing in my life,” you’re giving your life message. Any time you say, “I was praying about this, and here’s what’s happened,” you’ve given a life message. Any time you say, “I’ve got this problem I’m struggling with, but God is helping me,” you are sharing your life message.

Only you can share your unique life message. Nobody else can do it for you. And if you don’t share your life message, the world gets cheated.

God wants to use you. But why?

It’s because the best messages are personal messages. The most powerful message comes through a person. I’m so glad that when God wanted to share his message of love, he didn’t email it. He came in person. The Word became flesh. Jesus Christ came to Earth so we could see what God is like.

God has a message to share with the world, and instead of writing it in the sky, he wants to share it through your personality; he wants to share it through you.

You don’t have to be perfect to share your life message. You just have to be honest, real, and authentic. Just say, “I don’t have it all together, but here’s what God is doing in my life. Here’s the difference Jesus Christ has made.”

If you don’t share your life message with other people, they may never hear about what God can do for them too.

Your life message is yours alone. No one else can share it. So what will be the communication of your life?

Talk It Over

• What keeps you from boldly sharing with other people the difference Jesus Christ has made in your life?
• Who in your life needs to hear a message of hope? How can you share your life message with them this week?
• Take some time to write out your life message so that you are prepared to share it. It should include what your life was like before Christ, how you came to believe in Christ, and what your life is like now as a follower of Christ.

Rick Warren (March-12-2023) Daily Devotional: What Will Be Your Contribution? - Daily Hope

“God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God’s many kinds of blessings.” - 1 Peter 4:10 (TLB)

What will be the contribution of your life? Are you going to use your God-given talents and abilities to benefit yourself or other people?

The Bible says, “God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God’s many kinds of blessings” (1 Peter 4:10 TLB).

God wired you to make a difference. He wired you to make a contribution in this world. You were not put on this Earth just to take up space, use resources, retire, and die. God uniquely shaped you so you can make a unique contribution.

You need to ask yourself, “Based on how God wired me, what is the greatest contribution I can make? How can I make a difference?”

In the Bible, the Good Samaritan is an example of someone who had margin in his life so that he could make a contribution. Remember the story? A guy was mugged on his way from Jerusalem to Jericho. The attackers beat him up, robbed him of all his stuff, and left him for dead at the side of the road. The first guy who came walking by and saw him was a religious leader who had no margin in his life. He was in a hurry and basically said, “I don’t have time to help this guy.” And he walked on.

Another religious leader walked by. He said, in effect, “I’ve got my own agenda. I’ve got my own goals and ambitions. I’m too busy. I don’t want to be associated with that guy anyway.” And he walked past the dying man.

The third guy came along, and he had every reason to pass. He was a Samaritan, and the Samaritans and Jews hated each other. But he stopped anyway. He put this total stranger on his donkey, took him to the nearest hotel, and told the manager something like this: “You feed him, you clothe him, you restore him to health, and I’ll pay for it.”

When was the last time you helped someone in need? If it’s been so long you don’t even remember, you probably don’t have any margin in your life. But this guy did. He had time margin; he left early enough to stop along the way to help somebody in need. He had financial margin; he was able to give away his money. And he had energy margin; he was able to help because he wasn’t stressed out.

Every day of your life, you walk by people you could help. But if you’re overloaded and only focused on your own life, you can’t stop to help anybody. You can’t make a contribution.

When you boil it all down in life, there are only two kinds of people: givers and takers. Which are you going to be?

Talk It Over

• What unique abilities has God given you? How are you using them to bless others?
• How does culture try to convince you to be a taker instead of a giver?
• In what ways can you build margin into your life so that you are focused on other people and not yourself?

Rick Warren (March-11-2023) Daily Devotional: Are You God-Centered or Self-Centered? - Daily Hope.

“Instead of worrying, pray . . . It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.” - Philippians 4:6-7 (The Message)

What will be the center of your life?

In other words, who or what are you going to live for? You have a lot of options. You can center your life around a career, a sport, a hobby, making money, or having fun.

There’s nothing wrong with any of these things. They’re all fine, but they all make a lousy center for your life. You need something at the center of your life that is absolutely unchanging, that can never be taken away from you. Because if your center can be taken away, you will always be under stress, knowing you could lose your security. That’s why you need to center your life on something that is unchanging and secure.

There’s only one thing you can put at the center of your life that will never change and is strong enough to sustain you through life: Jesus Christ.

Do you remember an old toy called a Superball? When you bounced it on the ground, it would go dozens of feet into the air. Why? Because the center of a Superball was a tightly compacted, solid core, not a mushy center like a tennis ball. Its solid core gave it bounce-ability.

When your core is solid in God, you also have bounce-ability. You bounce back from stress faster. You bounce back from problems faster. You bounce back from grief faster. You bounce back from crisis faster. You have something solid in your life that doesn’t change, and you worry less.

The Bible says in Philippians 4:6-7, “Instead of worrying, pray . . . It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life” (The Message).

One of the ways you know that Jesus is at the center of your life is you worry less. Any time you start worrying, it should be a red flag, a warning sign that says, “I’ve allowed someone or something to become the center of my life instead of God.” If you make a person the center of your life, you’ll be under stress because you know that person can walk out of your life or even die. Knowing your center isn’t secure brings constant stress.

So what’s at the center of your life? If it’s the stock market, your grandchildren, or your dating life—something other than Jesus—you’ll be stressed. But if Jesus is at the center, you’ll be blessed.  

The choice is yours: Are you going to live a life that is self-centered or God-centered? Make the decision today.

Talk It Over

• What do you think about the most? What does that say about your priorities?
• Why do you think you bounce back faster from adversity when your life is centered on Jesus?
• If you were to live a God-centered life, what changes do you think people would notice in you?

Will you follow Jesus today?

God proved his goodness through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Bible says, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 CSB).

Are you ready to trust God to fulfill his promise of eternal life? If so, pray this simple prayer: "Dear God, I believe Jesus Christ is your Son. I confess I have sinned, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died to take away my sins and that you raised him to life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow him as Lord from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen."

Rick Warren (March-10-2023) Daily Devotional: How Do Gentleness and Humility Reduce Stress? - Daily Hope. 

“Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” - Matthew 11:29 (NIV)

No matter what part of the world you’re reading this from today, it’s likely you’re living in a culture that’s stressed out. This is not anything new. People have always dealt with stress.

In the book of Job, the main character experienced one source of stress after another. Eventually Job said, “If my misery could be weighed, if you could pile the whole bitter load on the scales, it would be heavier than all the sand of the sea! Is it any wonder that I’m howling like a caged cat?” (Job 6:2-3 The Message).

Have you ever felt like Job, as if you were carrying all the sand of the sea on your shoulders? Have you wanted to just howl like a cat trapped in a cage?

There’s only one place to go for relief from stress like that: Jesus. He tells his followers, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29 NIV).

What can you learn from Jesus Christ that will lower the stress in your life? Gentleness and humility.

But you may be saying, “Wait a minute! Why didn’t Jesus say, ‘I’ll teach you endurance and stamina,’ or ‘I’ll teach you confidence and courage’? That would make more sense.”

But Jesus knows things like courage and endurance ultimately aren’t what you need to lower your stress. You need gentleness and humility—and he wants you to learn them from him.

Why gentleness and humility? You probably don’t realize it, but the two biggest causes of stress in your life are aggression and arrogance—and gentleness and humility are the antidotes to those two things.

Aggression happens when you do things too quickly. You don’t wait. You don’t ponder. You don’t delay. You don’t think it through. You don’t trust God’s guidance and direction. You just jump in with both feet. As a result, you get overcommitted, and you fill up your life with the wrong things.

Arrogance is the idea that you know what’s best for you, so you try to control everything in your life. You think you can handle things better than God can. But that that attitude creates a great deal of stress in your life.

The truth is, when you try to do it all, have it all, be it all, and experience it all, the results are aggression and arrogance. And their opposites—their antidotes—are gentleness and humility.

You’ve tried everything else to reduce your stress. Why don’t you try trusting God? Come to Jesus. Give up control, and let him teach you how to live with less stress and more gentleness and humility.

Talk It Over

• In what areas of your life are you experiencing stress? How are you also experiencing aggression and arrogance in those areas?
• How can you practice gentleness and humility today with the people and activities you have committed to?
• What does it look like to learn from Jesus?

Rick Warren (March-09-2023) Daily Devotional: Get Rid of Your Stress by Giving Up Control - Daily Hope.

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:29-30 (NIV)

If you’re living life on overload, here’s one reason why: You’re trying to control too much. You think it all depends on you. You believe things like, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me. I’ve got to hold it all together. I’ve got to make it all work.”

Friend, you are not the general manager of the universe. The greater your need to control, the more stressed you’re going to be in life.

Jesus has a different plan for you: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30 NIV).

You say, “Wait a minute. Take something else on? That sounds like a burden. I don’t need to take on more. I’m already carrying way too much!”

Let’s take another look at what Jesus is saying in Matthew 11 when he tells you to take his yoke on yourself. If you didn’t grow up on a farm, you may never have seen a yoke. A yoke is a single piece of wood that brings two farm animals together, so they can share the burden of a load. A yoke is not a harness. When you put a harness on one animal, it has to pull the whole load. But with a yoke, you team up two or more animals, so the load is shared; it’s lightened. A yoke makes life easier on the animal, not harder.

When Jesus tells you to take his yoke upon yourself, it’s like he’s saying, “I never meant for you to carry all your problems by yourself. Let me help you! Team up with me, partner with me, and I will help you carry the load.”

If you feel stressed right now, it means you are not yoked to Jesus Christ. Stress is a warning sign. It tells you that you’re trying to control things and carry too much on your own.

Every time you get disconnected from Jesus, the stress goes up in your life. You may be a follower of Jesus Christ, but if you’re overloaded at this moment, you are not yoked up to him.

But every time you get reconnected and yoked up, Jesus helps you pull the load. And your stress goes down.

It’s tempting to think that the antidote to stress is escape. But the problem is that stress is in your mind—so you take it with you wherever you go. You can be just as stressed lying on a white sandy beach as you are right in the middle of your problems at home.

The answer is to give up control, to accept the yoke of Jesus. And when you do, God will give you peace.

Talk It Over

• What areas of your life have you been trying to control that are causing stress for you?
• In practical terms, what does it look like to give up control to Christ?
• How can you reconnect with Jesus this week so that he can help carry your load?

Will you follow Jesus today?

The Bible says you can only get to heaven by trusting in God through his Son, Jesus Christ. You cannot earn your way into heaven: “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).

If you’re ready to commit your life to Jesus, start with this prayer: 

“Dear God, you have promised that if I believe in your Son, Jesus Christ, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and you will accept me into your eternal home in heaven one day.

"I confess I have sinned, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus died to take away my sins and that you raised him to life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow him as Lord from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen."

Rick Warren (March-07-2023) Daily Devotional: The Best Time to Love Is Now - Daily Hope.

“Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it. Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now.” - Proverbs 3:27-28 (GNT)

We’ve been looking at the truths you need to remember if you want to focus your life and strengthen your relationships. We’ve learned that the best use of life is love and that the best expression of love is time. The third truth is this: The best time to love is now.

Proverbs 3:27-28 says, “Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it. Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now” (GNT).

Why is now the best time to express love? Because you don’t know how long you’re going to get the opportunity to show love. Circumstances change. People die. Children grow up and leave home. You’re not guaranteed tomorrow. If you’re going to express love, you’d better do it now.

Charles Colson and George McGovern were at opposite extremes in the political spectrum. In fact, in the 1972 presidential campaign, they worked on opposite sides. But they both ended up with the same regret.

Colson wrote, “As I think back on my life, my biggest regret is not spending more time with the kids. Making family your top priority means going against the culture where materialism and workaholism are rampant. It means realizing you may not advance as fast in your career as some do. It means being willing to accept a lower standard of living, knowing that you’re doing the right thing for your children, giving them the emotional security that they will draw on for the rest of their lives.”

McGovern wrote a book about his daughter Terry, who died of alcoholism in 1994. After the tragedy, McGovern poured over Terry’s diaries and discovered that he was not as good a father as he thought he’d been. While he was spending 18-hour days fighting for political causes, Terry was at home writing in her diary that she missed her daddy but that he probably didn’t miss her because he probably didn’t care about her. McGovern wrote in his advice to parents, “Show more love to your kids by spending more time with them, especially during the adolescent years—no matter what it costs your career. That way neither of you will have regrets.

“I’d give everything I have for one more afternoon with Terry, just to tell her how much I love her and have one more of those happy times that we used to have all too infrequently.”

Friend, the question is not if you’re ever going to regret a frantic, overloaded, stressed-to-the-limit lifestyle. The only question is when. When it’s too late? After your family has fallen apart? After your children are grown? Look around at the people in your life. The time to love them is now.

That’s worth repeating: The best time to love is right now. How would your life change if you lived out this truth each day?

Talk It Over

• Who do you need to start spending more time with?
• What do you need to cut out of your schedule to make time to love the people in your life?
• What financial sacrifice do you need to make for things that really count?

Rick Warren (March-06-2023) Daily Devotional: The Best Expression of Love Is Time - Daily Hope.

“We must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words.” - 1 John 3:18 (GW)

It’s easy to go through life stressed and overloaded. But getting your relationships right is one significant way to reduce the stress you feel. Yesterday we looked at one truth about life and relationships: The best use of life is love. Today we’ll look at a second truth: The best expression of love is time.

You may think that love is spelled L-O-V-E. But a better way to spell love is this: T-I-M-E. The Bible says in 1 John 3:18, “We must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words” (GW).

When you love someone, do you know what gift you desire most from them? Their focused attention. When I love you, I want to see your eyes. I want to talk. I want to listen. I want to commune. I want to fellowship. I want you! The greatest gift you can give anyone is your time—because your time is your life.

Time is your most precious commodity. You only have a certain amount of it. God has already decided the number of days you are going to live; you’re not going to get any more. You can always get more money, but you cannot get more time. When you give someone your time, you are giving that person a portion of your life that you will never get back. That’s why your time is the greatest gift you can give.

Many people are in time-starved relationships. They may live in the same home, but they’re passing each other like ships in the night. Even though they give a goodbye kiss here and there, their relationship is shriveling. It’s drying up for lack of attention.

Many things can rob a relationship. Work can rob a relationship. Activity can rob a relationship. Too much church involvement or ministry can rob a relationship. Even hobbies can rob a relationship.

You may wonder, “How can I find more time for those I love?” Start by turning off the TV, unplugging the computer, and putting down your phone! It’s amazing to me that people spend so much time in the virtual world while neglecting the people right beside them.

If you want to revitalize a dying relationship, a dying marriage, or a dying friendship, start with investing more of yourself by giving the gift of your time.

Talk It Over

• What are the things—even if they are not necessarily bad things—keeping you from giving your time to people in your life?
• If you are in a dying relationship, what changes can you make to give the other person more of yourself through the gift of your time?
• Is quality time one of your “love languages”? Even if it doesn’t seem important to you, how do you think the people you love perceive quality time with you?