Tuesday, September 15, 2009

~ What Is The Purpose of Life ~

(TY Ann for sharing this piece ... it is wonderful!)
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..

17 comments:

  1. Oh My Gosh!
    Would I ever love to go and hear this Godly man speak. He has so spoken to my heart just reading this message of his. I would so love his book. I can see why he has sold so many copies. Thanks for sharing Peanut Butter. Love it. Have a wonderful day and hope you are feeling better soon. I love you, Cherry Jelly

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  2. WOW!! Sure does make you think,huh?
    Natalie,

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  3. "God is more interested in your character then your comfort" I love that sentence - How VERY true it is! I am constantly amazed at how difficult life can be at times - yet - when I really look around, I see someone else who has it ten times more difficult than I do. It is very often these people who have the full radiance of God shining in their eyes - they use their pain to turn around and serve HIM in total faith and trust. What a great testimony that is to me - it is how we USE the circumstances in our lives to build our character -THAT is what God WANTS us to do.
    I really like Rick Warren - he always gives me food for thought.

    Thank you for sharing this wonderful message today - I really enjoyed it
    Blessings to you,
    Kymber

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  4. First, I am very sad to hear that Rick Warren's wife has cancer...I didn't know. Second, he is a wonderful man and his book has been used in bible studies for years, changing lives and discipling people in a wonderful way. This video will change lives too, as it is a powerful witness to the glory of our God. Thanks so much for sharing it with us, and I pray that it availeth much!

    God bless,
    Mary

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  5. Sweet Marydon...

    I can't thank you enough for this post...it's so powerful, isn't it? I'm going to save it, if that's ok? It touched my heart. I had heard a similar quote in the past...It' not God's goal to make you happy, it's to make you HIS....

    Have a wonderful day, dear one...

    Hugs,
    Spencer

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  6. I love this Marydon...
    I especially like the two ways of a railroad track and the ending happy moments etc.! Yes, God does care more about character! Powerful stuff sis.
    Love, Laurie

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  7. Hi Marydon, Rick Warren is amazing.. I've read and been in classes studying LOTS of his stuff. He talks for ALL of us, doesn't he????

    Thanks for sharing.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  8. I am so glad I read this. The message was indeed powerful. I have never read any of his things, but reading this today has made me want to.

    thank you for sharing this.

    Iris

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  9. Amen. Such a wonderful touching post, very powerful.
    ~ Blessings to you my dear friend.

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  10. I LOVE this man! Amen Sista! I love his message of peace and his HUGE giving heart. We can all learn from this...if only we will.

    What I get mostly out of reading these words is that this man, a Christian, doesn't claim to walk a perfect life. After all...he's human. His desire of wanting to know the Lord better is very inspiring!

    Thanks for sharing MD...

    Rebecca

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  11. Marydon, this is a WONDERFUL post! Wish I had ink to print this out! Thanks for sharing it! ~tina

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  12. Hi Marydon,
    I have heard this interview and it is so powerful and awesome! How many of us would give all the money back that we made? What a Godly man!!
    Blessings~

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  13. Thanks, Marydon. Take good care and hugs across the miles.

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  14. HI!!!
    I have 2 of his books sitting on the nightstand and we both try and read some of them each night!!!
    He is a godly man with a great heart!!!
    Thanks for sharing
    hugs,
    jamie

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  15. What a great post. Thanks for all the tings to think about. Thank you for sharing this.

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  16. Dear Marydon,

    I love your phrase about God. Thanks for sharing!

    God Bless You!

    hugs from Jenny Malaysia.

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