Skip to main content

“It is great to have God with you, but it is even greater to know he is for you!”

A thought by Rick Warren (2008-11-04) from his book, The Purpose of Christmas (Kindle Locations 185-186). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. (Kindle Locations 212-213). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Our picture of who God is and how he acts goes a long way in our having any kind of relationship with him.  Rick says, “Many people feel that God is secretly out to ‘get’ them— that he is constantly playing a game of ‘Gotcha!’ and just waiting for them to mess up and fail so he can say, ‘I told you so!’ They imagine God as some kind of sadistic cosmic grouch who enjoys frustrating our plans and is always looking for ways to criticize, judge, or get even with us.

But God himself says in Jeremiah 29: 11 NLT, “’I know the plans I have for you,”’ says the Lord.  “‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” 

Rick goes on, “No one wants what’s best for you more than God. No one knows better what will make you truly happy! God doesn’t want you to be afraid of him. He wants you to run to him, not from him.”

And he’s not mad at you. Rick says, “He is mad about you! Jesus said, ‘God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world.’ (1 John 3: 17 NLT)  If you study the life of Jesus, you’ll quickly see that when you make a mistake, Jesus doesn’t rub it in. He rubs it out. He came to erase all your sins, mistakes, failures, and regrets. That’s why the first statement the angel made to the shepherds was ‘Do not be afraid!’ Jesus came to save us, not to scare us! It’s a reason to celebrate.”

You see, Christmas is a time to celebrate that God is for you!


And that is such good news, isn’t it?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle?   Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...
Post a Comment
Read more

“When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 57). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. To realize that from God’s perspective life is a test goes a long way in determining how you handle your life.   It is important to see that in testing your character is both developed and revealed.   Rick goes on to say that “even the smallest incident has significance for your character development. Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to deepen your character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God.” So there is a God purpose behind each situation in your life.   Even the bad ones are there to strengthen you and develop you.   You see those bad situations are really good ones because they are there for your good. I start each day with a reminder that God is good.   Not every situation that is going to come in my day is good but because G...
Post a Comment
Read more

“What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?”

A thought by Rick Warren, (2012-10-23) from his book, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (Purpose Driven Life, The) (p. 35). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. Rick posed this question at the end of his chapter, You Are Not an Accident.   In this chapter he deals with the fact that God created you the way you are with a purpose.   In other words you are not an accident.   I am also reading the Apostle John’s view of Jesus and what He said and did while He was here on earth.   In the beginning of Chapter 9 there is a story about a blind man.   And the disciples who were with Him asked Him a good question, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind? ”   Have you ever asked the same thing about something in you that you don’t like?   Like that characteristic is a curse or something.   Society has set a standard that is not a standard of God.   Remember, He created you and you are not an accident. Je...
Post a Comment
Read more