Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Rick Warren from his book, God's Answers to Life's Difficult Questions (Living with Purpose) (p. 72). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) We’ve been looking the past couple of days at ambition.   This is a good follow up question, isn’t it? Here is Rick’s answer.   He says, “One thing: the motive behind it.” He goes on, “… God never honors an unworthy request. Consider this: God dares you to ask for big requests. What do you ask God for when you pray? God encourages you to ask for things: ‘You do not have, because you do not ask God’ (James 4:2). The Lord said to Jeremiah, ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know’ (Jer. 33:3). Paul says that God ‘is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us’ (Eph. 3:20). This means that you cannot out-ask God. You cannot out-dream God. If yo...

A thought by Rick Warren from his book, God's Answers to Life's Difficult Questions (Living with Purpose) (p. 66). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Ok, maybe this is what you need today. Rick says, “The first misconception is that we confuse fear with humility . We tend to say, ‘Oh, I could never do that,’ and we think we’re being humble. But that is not humility. That is fear ; that is a lack of faith . A truly humble person would say, ‘With God’s help, I can do it. With God’s blessing, I will do it. I may not be able to do it on my own, but with God’s help I will do it.’ That’s real humility.” OK, that is the first one.   Rick then says, “Second, we tend to confuse laziness with contentment. It’s true that Paul said, ‘I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances’ (Phil. 4:11). But this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t set any goals. Paul was not saying, ‘I’ve learned to not set any goals, and...

A thought by Rick Warren from his book, God's Answers to Life's Difficult Questions (Living with Purpose) (p. 63). Zondervan. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) That is so true. Rick says, “You are designed for excellence, and you were uniquely created. Instead of being one in a million, you are actually one in about six billion! Yet there’s nobody else exactly like you; you are unique.” I was watching the snow fall the other day with my 6-year-old granddaughter from Las Vegas and she said no snowflake is the same and I said that is also true of us, there is no one exactly like you, like me.   We are all different. Rick goes on, “Everybody wants to be recognized. In fact, not only do you want to be recognized , but you need recognition , for the sake of your own emotional health and image. When my daughter Amy was very young, she would say to me, ‘Watch me, Daddy, watch me, Daddy!’   She wanted to be recognized. Sh...