Day Twenty Six - Growing Through Temptation (12/08/03 - 0 Comments)
Day twenty seven of The Purpose Driven Life deals with temptation and how every temptation is an opportunity to do good. A temptation is only a stumbling block if I react the wrong way. What Satan uses as his primary tool to destroy me is what God uses as a primary tool to develop my character. “God develops the fruit of the Spirit in your life by allowing you to experience circumstances in which you’re...
Day Twenty Five - Transformed By Trouble (12/07/03 - 0 Comments)
Because today is a very busy Sunday, this is an abbreviated look at day twenty five of The Purpose Driven Life God has a purpose behind every trouble. God uses circumstances to develop my character. God will often use tough times in life to test me and mold me into Christ's likeness. Through the hard times I need to remember that God is in control and that He has promised to work all things for...
Day Twenty Four - Transformed By Truth (12/06/03 - 0 Comments)
God’s truth transforms me. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make me like the Son of God. Unlike any other book in the world, the Bible is alive. It is the spiritual nourishment I need to grow spiritually. I need to not only read God’s Word, but abide in it. There are three aspects to this: I must accept it’s authority. The Bible needs to be authoritative in my life. I...
Day Twenty Three - How We Grow (12/05/03 - 3 Comments)
God wants me to grow up. It is God’s will that I mature as a Christian, becoming more and more like Jesus. We see that in the Christian world many people never do grow up and much of the reason for this is that people do not dedicate themselves to spiritual growth. Growth is not automatic. It takes dedicated effort and every Christian needs to make a conscious decision to grow spiritually. Nothing shapes my...
Day Twenty Two - Created To Become Like Christ (12/04/03 - 0 Comments)
Day Twenty Two of The Purpose Driven Life begins the examination of my third purpose – becoming like Christ. God’s plan for me from the very beginning was for me to become like Christ. The way to achieve Christ-likeness is through the transformation of my character. It is important to note that this does not mean losing my personality! God wants me to develop the kind of character Jesus outlined in the beatitudes and that...
Day Twenty One - Protecting Your Church (12/03/03 - 3 Comments)
It is my job to protect the unity of my church. Unity is a critical component of God’s plan for Christian community and I must do all I can to promote it. The Bible gives several pointers on how to protect the unity in my church. Focus on what we have in common, not our differences. We are called to be united, not uniform. Therefore I need to focus on what we have in common...
Day Twenty - Restoring Broken Fellowship (12/02/03 - 1 Comments)
Day twenty of The Purpose Driven Life is devoted to restoring broken fellowships. Now that I have been shown the importance of community and the ways to cultivate community it seems logical that we would discuss those with whom we no longer have fellowship. Warren provides seven biblical steps to restoring broken fellowship: Talk to God before talking to the person. Discussing the problem with God will make the rest of the process far more...
Day Nineteen - Cultivating Community (12/01/03 - 0 Comments)
Having discussed the importance of a small group community, Warren now provides pointers on how to cultivate community. Cultivating community takes honesty. Sometimes it is necessary to speak the truth in love, even when the truth hurts. To have authentic community I will have to bring problems to the forefront and not let them fester in the background. Cultivating community takes humility. Pride builds walls between people and blocks God’s race in my life. The...
Day Eighteen - Experiencing Life Together (11/30/03 - 0 Comments)
I need to belong not only to a church but also to a small group within the church. Life is meant to be shared and it is best shared with a small group of dedicated friends with whom I can experience true fellowship. The ultimate model for a small group is Jesus' twelve disciples. He realized that a group that is much bigger than that causes people to shut down. Warren gives several pointers as...
Day Seventeen - A Place To Belong (11/29/03 - 2 Comments)
God does not just call us to believe; He also calls us to belong to His family. The Bible shows that from the beginning of creation “it was not good for man to be alone.” We were formed to be part of a body of believers. The Bible speaks of a human body and shows that each part of the body is dependent on the others (though it gives no mention of the tonsils or...
Day Sixteen - What Matters Most (11/28/03 - 0 Comments)
Life is all about love. Because God is love – because He is the greatest example of love and because He embodies love – he wants me to spend my life loving others. Love is the foundation of every law and commandment He has given. Though I am called to love everyone in the world, I am to give special attention to the members of God’s family. The love that Christians show to each other...
Day Fifteen - Formed For God's Family (11/27/03 - 1 Comments)
God made me to be part of his family. So begins my study into the second purpose of my life. God, who already had perfect relationships within the Godhead, desired a family to bring Him glory. The only way to be part of God’s family is to be born again as a child of God. God has extended a universal call for all people to join His family (see my articles on Calvinism and Arminianism...
Day Fourteen - When God Seems Distant (11/26/03 - 1 Comments)
Sometimes in my life God feels distant, but I need to realize that He is real and He is there, even when it doesn’t feel like it. It is always easy to be worshipful when life is good, but when times are tough am I able to worship God? It is in the times of trouble that real relationships are forged. God may feel distant, even if I am a close friend of His. David,...
Day Thirteen - Worship That Pleases God (11/25/03 - 2 Comments)
Day thirteen of The Purpose Driven Life begins with telling me that God wants all of me. He wants me to serve Him with all of my heart, all of my soul, all of my mind and all of my strength. Warren offers four characteristics of worship that please God. God is pleased when my worship is accurate. I need to worship God as He is revealed Himself in the Bible and not create my...
Day Twelve - Developing Your Friendship With God (11/24/03 - 1 Comments)
I am as close to God as I choose to be. Like any friendship, my relationship with God requires work. Just as a human relationship would die out if ignored, so my relationship with God will only improve with dedicated effort. In this chapter Warren presents several ways I can have a deeper connection with God. I must choose to be honest with God. God expects honesty. He does not want me to sugar coat...
Day Eleven - Becoming Best Friends With God (11/23/03 - 2 Comments)
God is my Creator, Redeemer, Master, Judge and Saviour. Yet about all of these, He is my friend. What an incredible thought it is, that God desires to be my friend! The Bibilical model for this friendship is what we see with Adam and Eve in their relationship to God. They delighted in God and He delighted in them. Since the fall, humans, created to live continually in God's presence, have been seperated from Him,...
Day Ten - The Heart of Worship (11/22/03 - 0 Comments)
Surrendering to God is the heart of worship. My natural response to an understanding of what God has done for me should be to surrender my life fully to Him. There are three barriers to trusting God: Fear. Before I can fully surrender myself to God I need to be able to trust Him. Fearfulness can keep me from fully trusting Him and trusting His plans for me. Pride. My human pride can keep me...
Day Nine - What Makes God Smile? (11/21/03 - 0 Comments)
Day nine of The Purpose Driven Life begins with the statement, "The smile of God is the goal of your life." And certainly Rick Warren has been building to this statement. Because pleasing God is the first purpose of my life, it is crucial that I understand how to do that. To illustrate how to please God, Warren uses the example of Noah. Noah was a man who pleased God and in his time was...
Day Eight - Planned For God's Pleasure (11/20/03 - 0 Comments)
I was planned for God's pleasure. With this sentence Rick Warren begins day eight of The Purpose Driven Life and his discussion of the first of my five purposes. The first purpose of my life is to bring enjoyment and pleasure to God. As the crowning achievement of His creation, I can bring Him pleasure like nothing else. Bringing pleasure to God is called "worship." Therefore, anything that I do that brings Him pleasure is...
Day Seven - The Reason For Everything (11/19/03 - 2 Comments)
It's all for Him. It's that simple really. The reason God created everything is to show His glory. This leads to the question of what is God's glory? Warren answers this by saying, "it is the essence of His nature, the weight of His importance, the radiance of His splendor, the demonstration of His power, and the atmosphere of His presence." I would suggest you read that again because there is some incredible depth in...
