It Takes Energy to Do God’s Will

“Lord, when doubts fill my mind, when my heart is in turmoil, quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer” (Psalm 94:19 LB).

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The fact is it takes energy to do God’s will. What do you do when you run out of energy?

God suggests when we’re feeling uneasy, perhaps low on energy; we should be still and get quiet before him: “Lord, when doubts fill my mind, when my heart is in turmoil, quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer” (Psalm 94:19 LB).

But many of us have trouble getting quiet. It’s as if we are afraid of silence; it makes us very uncomfortable. The moment we get in the car, the radio or CD player goes on. The moment we get home, the TV goes on.

Yet, God, in a sense, says, “If you want to lower your stress, it’s as simple as this: Shut up. Be silent. Stop talking and start listening.”

I suggest that once a day you should go out in your backyard, sit down, and just be quiet. I’m not talking about reading your Bible. You ought to read your Bible every day, but I mean get alone for five minutes a day and be completely silent. Ask God a question, and then just sit and listen.

Sometimes we say, “God, I really need your guidance on this,” and then we get up and walk off. We don’t wait for an answer. Could it be the reason we never hear from God is we never listen?

Learn to take little mini-breaks during the day. When you feel your blood pressure rising, stop and say, “God, I want to tune in on you again. I want to focus in on you.” I’m not suggesting thirty minutes of meditation. I’m talking about fifteen or twenty seconds. Just little mini-breaks to stop and be quiet.

Why is this important? Because the race of life is tough and, quite honestly, it’s tough to live God’s plan for your life. It’s important to be still and know He is there.

Tell God You Love Him by Remembering What Christ Did for You

“And anyone who is ashamed of Me and My message in these days of unbelief and sin, I, the Messiah, will be ashamed of Him when I return in the glory of My Father, with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38 LB).

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You can’t say you love Jesus Christ and be ashamed of Him at the same time. In Mark 8, Jesus’ words could be summarized this way: “If you’re ashamed of Me on earth, I’m going to be ashamed of you in heaven.” We need to publicly identify ourselves with Christ. That’s how we show our love for Him.

Jesus gave us two very powerful symbols that help us publicly declare we belong to God. The first one is Communion, which helps us identify with what Jesus Christ did for us:

• He saved us from the penalty of sin. Everything you’ve ever done wrong was paid for on the cross so you get to go free and forgiven.

• He saves us from the power of sin. He breaks its grip in our lives. He gives us a new power to be able to make changes so we’re not the same anymore. He can do new things in our lives that we always wanted to do but never thought we could do on our own.

• Eventually He saves us from the presence of sin in heaven where there will be no sin, no sorrow, no suffering, no pain, no grief. That’s good news.

What should my attitude be when I take the Lord’s Supper? Should I sit there feeling guilty, remembering all the wrong things I’ve done in my life? No. They’ve already been paid for by Jesus Christ and forgiven. When I take Communion, should I feel grief, thinking about all the torture and suffering that Jesus Christ went through for me? No. Because He didn’t stay dead; He came back to life.

So what should be my attitude when I take the Lord’s Supper? It should be the attitude of gratitude. Gratefulness for all that God has done. That God loves me so much He sent Jesus to save me from my sins. We can be grateful because we are a forgiven people.

As we take Communion we do several things. We publicly identify our faith in Christ. We publicly identify our love for Christ. We publicly state that we want to be closer to Christ.

When you participate in the Lord’s Supper, you worship God because it requires you to “examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe” (1 Corinthians 11:28 MSG).

Jesus^Savior……….my playlist..

Three Habits to Help You Grow Spiritually

by Rick Warren

“But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress” (Psalm 59:16 NLT).

We all want our relationships to be characterized by persistence and self-sacrifice. But we can never do that on our own. The kind of love we long to show others is only found in a growing relationship with God. Without God’s power in our lives, our love will run out.

You don’t build that kind of relationship with God—one that will help you love others when you want to give up—by accident. You do it through habits.

Real Servants Pay Attention

by Rick Warren

“Never tell your neighbors to wait until tomorrow if you can help them now” (Proverbs 3:28 TEV).

Real servants pay attention to needs. Servants are always on the lookout for ways to help others. When they see a need, they seize the moment to meet it, just as the Bible commands us: “Whenever we have the opportunity, we have to do what is good for everyone, especially for the family of believers” (Galatians 6:10 GWT).

Servants Make Themselves Available

by Rick Warren

“No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier” (2 Timothy 2:4 NASB).

Real servants make themselves available to serve. Servants don’t fill up their time with other pursuits that could limit their availability. They want to be ready to jump into service when called on.

Self-Control Is Christ’s Control

by Rick Warren

“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12 NIV).

There’s nothing you can do as well without Christ as you can with him. Any struggle you’re facing will be easier to conquer with his help.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you have to clean up all your messes before you ask God for help. That’s like curing yourself of a disease before you go see the doctor. Go to God first and get his help in all your battles.