A New Look on Life

Ok, I got this email from my sister-in-law and thought it was pretty neat. I hope it encourages all of you like it did me! Have a happy weekend!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, 'Purpose Driven Life' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life?

And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort; God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for..

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems:

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her- It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease..

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence.. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit... We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.

That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

Painful moments, TRUST GOD.

Every moment, THANK GOD.

Changing Direction??

So, lately I've really been struggling. Again... I know, I know. I'm sure you're all wondering when I will finaly get over this never-ending (or so it seems struggle.) I think it's all working out though, and in God's timing. I'm learning patience and I'm trying to bloom where I'm currently planted. Even though I feel like I'm just a little dead weed who can barely hold her stem up.

Here's a great quote that I can't stop thinking about:

"Unless we change the direction we are heading, we might end up where we are
going." ~ Chinese Proverb

I know. Pretty profound. :) But really, things need to change, and I needs God's guidance and wisdom and I need to obey His timing.

yummy

This one is delicious. (Don’t ask why I chose that word to describe it. It just sort of popped out.)

“It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than
anything else, will affect its successful outcome.” ~ William James

Have a great weekend!!

Driving, driving, driving...

Ok, I'm still moving in to my new house, so yes, I'm sticking with the "Inspirational quotes" theme for now. (Hey, it's better than nothing!)

"The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed."
~ Richard B. Sheridan

Climb that Mountain!

“Victories in life come through our ability to work around and over the obstacles that cross our path. We grow stronger as we climb our own mountains.” ~ Marvin Ashton

Climb that Mountain!

“Victories in life come through our ability to work around and over the obstacles that cross our path. We grow stronger as we climb our own mountains.” ~ Marvin Ashton

Sunday's Quote

“A failure establishes only this, that our determination to succeed was
not strong enough.” ~ John Christian Bovee

Another Quote!

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” ~ Robert Collier

Quote...

So, I'm moving in to my new house tomorrow (yay!), so I will not be able to blog much. Therefore, I thought I would use the handy-dandy "Scheduler" to automatically post some inspirational quotes while I'm off!

Here's your first one and I LOVE it!

“The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man
who will win.” ~ Roger Bannister

There is power in the tongue!

There is alot of power in your words. You can speak life over your dreams, or doom. I struggle with this at times, but I found 2 great quotes that are an instant reminder to bite my tongue and stay positive:

"Life and death are in the power of the tongue..."
~Proverbs 18:21...

"Keep your fears to yourself, but share your inspiration with others."
~Robert Louis Stevenson

DREAM BIG, my Friends. And speak amazing, faith-filled things over your life. Then sit back with an expectant heart to see God fulfill them. Love you!

Inspirational Quote of the Day

I love this one!

"Get excited and enthusiastic about your own dream. This excitement is like a
forest fire - you can smell it, taste it and see it from a mile away."

~ Denis Waitley

Jenni's Blog

So, I'm a little behind in catching up on everyone's blogs. But, I read my sister-in-laws blog this morning (sorry, Jen. It's almost been a month since you posted it.) She had an amazing post that I thought was incredible and Holy-Spirit inspired. She's such an amazing woman, and I would like to ask y'all to read this and wrap yourselves in the love of Jesus!

http://passionate-jennifer.blogspot.com/2009/02/happy-valentines-day.html

Whew! Back to Blogging!

Sorry friends ~ I've been swamped. I figured I should at least write something since it has been so long, so here is a great quote from a new calendar I got this year. (You might be seeing alot of these quotes when I'm lacking new blog material.) But, I like the quotes, and many of them correlate to my blog's purpose of inspiring others to live their lives to the fullest and do what God has put in their hearts!!

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do. Not that the nature
of the thing is changed, but that our power to do it is increased."

~ Marcus Porcius Cato