Devotional for the Week 11th April 2005

This Week's Devotional | 2004 Devotionals | 2005 Devotionals

Devotional For the Week 11th April 2005

DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE — Preparing for 40 Days of Purpose

A bumper sticker stated once, “Life is too precious to waste”. But how do you do that? How do you prevent wasting your life? Well, the Bible says this in Ephesians, 5:15-17: “Be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.”

Now notice the word “careful”. It says, “be careful how you live”. The opposite of careful is 'careless'. It says, don’t be careless. Literally in the Greek here it means “don’t stumble through life; don’t just drift through life”. Think it through, know what you’re here for, know your purpose and it says there, “make the most of every opportunity, be wise” and then it says, “try to understand what God wants you to do”.

If I would ask you to be honest, how many of you would say, you really would like to know what God wants you to do with your life? Here are three questions for you to prepare your heart.

3 BASIC QUESTIONS

1. WHAT DOES GOD WANT? MY WHOLE LIFE.

“Give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.” Rom. 6:13 (NLT)

“This is what the Lord your God wants you to do: Respect the Lord and do what he has told you to do. Love him. Serve the Lord your God with your whole being.” Deut. 10:12 (NCV)

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matt. 6:24 (NIV)

“In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.” Prov. 3:6 (LB)

2. WHAT DOES IT TAKE? DISCIPLINE.

“Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” 1 Tim. 4:7 (NASB)

“Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit.” 1 Tim. 4:7b (LB)

“Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.” Heb. 12:1b (NLT)

“Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; but there is need of only one thing and Mary has chosen the better part...” Luke 10:40-42 (NRSV)

“God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose.” Phil. 2:13 (TEV)

3. WHY SHOULD I DO IT? THE CROSS.

“(Jesus Christ) died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” 2 Cor. 5:15 (NIV)

“Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness.” Eph. 1:7 (GW)

“Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have just shared about God's compassion, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to him.” Rom.12:1 (GW)

“We beg you, please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us!” 2 Cor. 6:1 (Msg)

“Lord, I have heard the news about you; I am amazed at what you have done. Lord, do great things once again in our time; make those things happen again in our own days.” Hab. 3:2 (NCV)

Prayer

Let's pray together as we begin the 40 Days of Purpose. In your heart say, “God, I don’t want to be a fence sitter anymore. I don’t want to be a casual Christian, a part time believer, a lukewarm servant. I want to give You my whole life, every part of me. I need Your help in developing the habits, the disciplines I need to grow spiritually. So help me to let go of things that don’t really matter, and put You first in my life. Help me to know what to cut out, so I have time for what’s important. Thank you for giving Your life for me. I want to be a part of what You’re going to do here in the next 40 Days. In Your name I pray, amen”.

Source: Rick Warren, Saddleback Church – Lake Forest, Calif.

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This Week's Devotional \| 2004 Devotionals \| 2005 Devotionals Devotional For the Week 11th April 2005 *DON’T WASTE YOUR LIFE — Preparing for 40 Days of Purpose* A bumper sticker stated once, “Life is too precious to waste”. But how do you do that? How do you prevent wasting your life? Well, the Bible says this in Ephesians, 5:15-17: “Be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.” Now notice the word “careful”. It says, “be careful how you live”. The opposite of careful is 'careless'. It says, don’t be careless. Literally in the Greek here it means “don’t stumble through life; don’t just drift through life”. Think it through, know what you’re here for, know your purpose and it says there, “make the most of every opportunity, be wise” and then it says, “try to understand what God wants you to do”. If I would ask you to be honest, how many of you would say, you really would like to know what God wants you to do with your life? Here are three questions for you to prepare your heart. 3 BASIC QUESTIONS 1. WHAT DOES GOD WANT? MY WHOLE LIFE. “Give yourselves completely to God since you have been given new life. And use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God.” Rom. 6:13 (NLT) “This is what the Lord your God wants you to do: Respect the Lord and do what he has told you to do. Love him. Serve the Lord your God with your whole being.” Deut. 10:12 (NCV) "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Matt. 6:24 (NIV) “In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.” Prov. 3:6 (LB) 2. WHAT DOES IT TAKE? DISCIPLINE. “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness.” 1 Tim. 4:7 (NASB) “Spend your time and energy in the exercise of keeping spiritually fit.” 1 Tim. 4:7b (LB) “Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.” Heb. 12:1b (NLT) “Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; but there is need of only one thing and Mary has chosen the better part...” Luke 10:40-42 (NRSV) “God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose.” Phil. 2:13 (TEV) 3. WHY SHOULD I DO IT? THE CROSS. “(Jesus Christ) died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” 2 Cor. 5:15 (NIV) “Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness.” Eph. 1:7 (GW) “Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have just shared about God's compassion, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to him.” Rom.12:1 (GW) “We beg you, please don't squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us!” 2 Cor. 6:1 (Msg) “Lord, I have heard the news about you; I am amazed at what you have done. Lord, do great things once again in our time; make those things happen again in our own days.” Hab. 3:2 (NCV) Prayer Let's pray together as we begin the 40 Days of Purpose. In your heart say, “God, I don’t want to be a fence sitter anymore. I don’t want to be a casual Christian, a part time believer, a lukewarm servant. I want to give You my whole life, every part of me. I need Your help in developing the habits, the disciplines I need to grow spiritually. So help me to let go of things that don’t really matter, and put You first in my life. Help me to know what to cut out, so I have time for what’s important. Thank you for giving Your life for me. I want to be a part of what You’re going to do here in the next 40 Days. In Your name I pray, amen”. Source: Rick Warren, Saddleback Church – Lake Forest, Calif.
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