This is Rick Warren, the Author of the Purpose Driven Life. His wife now has cancer and he is the Pastor of Saddleback Church. In spite of his fortunes, this is what he wrote when asked questions...
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..
Your words, your dreams, and your thoughts have the
power to create conditions in your life.
What you speak about, you can bring about.
If you keep saying you can't stand your job,
you might lose your job.
If you keep saying you can't stand your body,
your body can become sick.
If you keep saying you can't stand your car,
your car could be stolen or just stop operating.
If you keep saying you're always broke, guess what?
You'll always be broke.
If you keep saying you can't trust a man or trust a woman,
you will always find someone in your life to hurt and betray you.
If you keep saying you can't find a job,
you will remain unemployed.
If you keep saying you can't find someone
to love you or believe in you,
our very thoughts will attract more
experiences to confirm your beliefs.
Turn your thoughts and conversations around to be more positive
and power packed with faith, hope, love and action.
Don't be afraid to believe that you can
have what you want and deserve.
Watch your "Thoughts,"
they become words;
Watch your "Words,"
they become actions;
Watch your "Actions,"
they become habits;
Watch your "Habits,"
they become character;
Watch your "Character",
for it becomes your "Destiny"
So.......To prevent any obstacles.......
GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY!
Enjoy every minute you live!!
God didn't promise days without pain,
laughter without sorrow, sun without rain,
but He did promise strength for the day,
comfort for the tears, and light for the way.
Disappointments are like road bumps,
they slow you down a bit but you enjoy
the smooth road after they're gone.
Don't stay on the bumps too long. Move on!
When you feel down because you didn't get
what you want, just sit tight and
be happy, because God is thinking of
something better to give you.
When something happens to you, good or bad,
consider what it means -- don't be sad.
There's a purpose to life's events, to teach
you how to laugh more, or not to cry too hard.
You can't make someone love you,
all you can do is be someone who can be loved;
the rest is up to the other person
to realize your worth.
What the heart gives away is never gone...
It is kept in the hearts of others.
Remember that great love and great
achievements involve great risks.
Secure a special place in your heart.
A certain place only you can enter.
There will come a time to find yourself,
and only your heart will show you the way.
The measure of love is when you love without measure.
In life there are very rare chances that you'll
meet the person you love and who loves you in return.
So once you have it don't ever let go,
the chance might never come your way again.
It's better to lose your pride to the one you love,
than to lose the one you love because of pride.
We spend so much time looking for the right person
to love or finding fault with those we already love,
when instead we should be perfecting the love we give.
When you truly care for someone, you don't look for faults,
you don't look for answers, you don't look for mistakes.
Instead, you fight the mistakes, you accept the faults,
and you overlook excuses.
Never abandon an old friend. You will never
find one who can take his or her place.
Friendship is like fine wine,
it gets better as it grows older.
Five rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.
"This is My commandment,
that you love one another as I have loved you."
John 15:12 NKJ
Philippians 4:13 --- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
The road to success is not straight. There is a curve called Failure, a loop called Confusion, speed bumps called Friends, red lights called Enemies, caution lights called Family. You will have flats called Jobs. But, if you have a spare called Determination, an engine called Perseverance, insurance called Faith, a driver called Jesus, you will make it to a place called Success.
