How To Live a Blessed Life: Depending On God With Pastor Rick Warren

I humbly depend on God instead of myself
1. I depend on God's wisdom, not mine
Proverbs 14:12
Proverbs 3:5-7
  - You get God's wisdom when you pray and read the Bible
James 1:5
 - You talk to God throughout your day and you are reading His word on a daily basis
 - God's wisdom and will are in God's word
2. I depend on God's strength, not mine
Psalm 84:5a
Isaiah 40:31
Psalm 71:16a I walk in the strength of the Lord.
Psalm 73:26
2 Corinthians 12:8-10
3. I depend on God's timing, not mine
Isaiah 20:60
Psalm 31:14-15
Delay is not a denial
Ecclesiastes 3:11
Michah 7:7
While I'm waiting, God's working
God always gives His best to those who wait
4. I depend on God's defense, not mine
Psalm 2:12
Psalm 62:5-7
5. I depend on God's wealth, not mine
Phil 4:19
My job is a channel but God is the source
How to take steps of dependance
1. Make a public declaration of dependance (baptism)
Romans 6:3-5

Resting in the faithfulness of God

Resting in the faithfulness of God
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Deuteronomy 7:9
Psalm 119:89-90
1 Thessalonians 5:24
2 Timothy 2:13
1 John 1:9
5 Attributes of God to say that he is faithful:
1. God is omniscient
2. God is omnipotent
3. God is omnipresent
4. God is truthful
5. God is immutable (He cannot change)
1 John 5:14

We need wisdom in our trials to discern the source of our trials

Guided by God
Psalm 32:7-11
- I *will* instruct you and teach you in the way you should go
The source of the promise is God
God will instruct us
God will teach us
- Read the word of God
God will councel us
There are many sorrows for those who will not listen to God
What is the right thing to do in light of my past circumstances?
What is the right thing to do in light of my present circumstances?
What is the right thing to do in light of my future hopes and dreams?
What would God have me to do in this situation?
We need wisdom in our trials to discern the source of our trials
1 Peter 1
Purpose of trial
1. Proof of faith
2. Testing our devotion
3. Purifying our life
4. To show God's strength in our life
5. Provide Christ like character in our life
   2 Corinthians 1:3-4
6. To equip us to help others through the same difficulty
1. If we value comfort more than character, then trials will upset us.
2. If we value the material and physical more than the spiritual, then we can't count it all joy.
3. If we live only for the present and forget the future, then trials will make us bitter instead of better.
We can rejoice in trials when we are convinced
1. That God is in Control of the time and intensity of the trial
2. That God has a specific purpose for allowing it
3. That it is designed to meet a specific need in my life
4. That the trial is an opportunity to demonstrate perseverance under pressure
5. That the trial helps us measure our spiritual growth
6. That God will walk with me through this trial

Learn How To Overcome Your Failures Through God's Mercy with Rick Warren

Causes of Failure:
1. Overe-stimate your strengths
Matthew 26:31-35
1 Cor 10:12

An unguarded strength is a double weakness
 2. Fear the disapproval of others
 3. We speak without thinking
James 3:5-6

Once you fail, this is what you do:
1. Grieve the failure - Don't minimize it. Don't rationalize. Don't act like it didn't happen.
To get past it, you gotta go through it.
Matthew 26:75
Psalm 51:17
2. Let my small group support me
John 20:26
3. Cast myself on God's mercy
1 Peter 5:7
God, I blew it. I don't deserve your forgiveness, mercy, kindness or love but you are a kind God, a loving God, a merciful God and a forgiving God so I am throwing myself on your mercy. I couldn't earn it. I don't deserve it. So I am depending on you.

When you cast your care, you loose your despair.

Luke 22:31-32

What Jesus does with our failures:
1. He isn't shocked
2. He prays for us
Hebrews 7:25
3. He believes in us. He expects us to recover.
Luke 22:32
Proverbs 24:16
When you fail, God knows your name
4. He shows us His mercy when we are down.
John 21:1-14
Lamentations 3:22-23
2 Timothy 2:13
5. He uses our failures to build His church
John 21:15-17

When We Cry Out to God – Dr. Charles Stanley

Psalm 57
This is how I feel!!!!

- A cry is a spontaneous response to an urgent need
How to cry out to God:
- Cry out in out with our voice

Direction without doubting

1. God is willing to speak to us as clearly as is necessary if we are willing to do what He says do.

Psalm 25:2 - Who, then, are those who fear the LORD? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

God will instruct the man that reverences God. 
- Clear the pathway
   - Clear your heart of any known sin or disobedience
   - Bring your desires to a point of neutral
      - Submit your will
      - God, this is what I want but your will be done
- Exercise patience
   - Willing to submit to God's timing
- Be alert to pressure
   - External pressure
   - Internal pressure
(Consequences always follows decisions)
- Persist in our prayer
   - God softens our hearts
   - Sometimes he has to deal with something in our heart
- Rest in God's promises
   - Look at God's promises about prayer
   - Read Psalms and Proverbs
   - Ask God to speak to your heart
   - God is there something here you want to say to me?

When God gives your peace, there is nothing like it.  When God directs you, you have peace.

Chase the lion devo - Dealing with Would-Be Dream Destroyers

“Dealing with Would-Be Dream Destroyers” Remember the story of Joseph? His heartless brothers fake his death, selling him to human traffickers. Things go from bad to worse, and Joseph ends up in an Egyptian dungeon. Thirteen years later, in the most amazing rise to political power ever, Joseph becomes Pharaoh’s right-hand man. That’s when his brothers come begging for food. But instead of taking revenge on his brothers, Joseph says, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Let me reverse-engineer this. Do you remember why Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery in the first place? The short answer is Genesis 37:8: “They hated him all the more because of his dream.” They mockingly called Joseph “the dreamer” (verse 19). Your dreams will inspire many people, no doubt. But your dreams will also summon opposition. They will cause a wide variety of reactions, including jealousy and anger. Some people might even want to kill you because of them. Why? Because you are disrupting the status quo. Every dreamer has to deal with naysayers, and I’ve had more than my fair share. So let me tell what I’ve learned about dealing with criticism. First of all, don’t let an arrow of criticism pierce your heart unless it first passes through the filter of Scripture. Second, you’ve got to come to terms with the fact that you can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot please all of the people all of the time. You’re going to offend someone. You’ve got to decide who. My advice? Offend Pharisees, those who nitpick and belittle while walking apart from the Spirit of God. Jesus did this very kind of offending with intentionality and regularity. Your dream is going to ruffle some feathers, but don’t play chicken. Operate in a spirit of bold humility, knowing that God goes before you. He turns the harm others would do to you into the kind of good that only he can accomplish. And remember this: a compliment from a fool is really an insult, and an insult from a fool is really a compliment. Make sure you consider the source. And never abandon the dream. What kind of criticism or opposition have you been receiving? How do you need to respond to it?

Chase the lion devo - Dealing with Would-Be Dream Destroyers

“Dealing with Would-Be Dream Destroyers” Remember the story of Joseph? His heartless brothers fake his death, selling him to human traffickers. Things go from bad to worse, and Joseph ends up in an Egyptian dungeon. Thirteen years later, in the most amazing rise to political power ever, Joseph becomes Pharaoh’s right-hand man. That’s when his brothers come begging for food. But instead of taking revenge on his brothers, Joseph says, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Let me reverse-engineer this. Do you remember why Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery in the first place? The short answer is Genesis 37:8: “They hated him all the more because of his dream.” They mockingly called Joseph “the dreamer” (verse 19). Your dreams will inspire many people, no doubt. But your dreams will also summon opposition. They will cause a wide variety of reactions, including jealousy and anger. Some people might even want to kill you because of them. Why? Because you are disrupting the status quo. Every dreamer has to deal with naysayers, and I’ve had more than my fair share. So let me tell what I’ve learned about dealing with criticism. First of all, don’t let an arrow of criticism pierce your heart unless it first passes through the filter of Scripture. Second, you’ve got to come to terms with the fact that you can please all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot please all of the people all of the time. You’re going to offend someone. You’ve got to decide who. My advice? Offend Pharisees, those who nitpick and belittle while walking apart from the Spirit of God. Jesus did this very kind of offending with intentionality and regularity. Your dream is going to ruffle some feathers, but don’t play chicken. Operate in a spirit of bold humility, knowing that God goes before you. He turns the harm others would do to you into the kind of good that only he can accomplish. And remember this: a compliment from a fool is really an insult, and an insult from a fool is really a compliment. Make sure you consider the source. And never abandon the dream. What kind of criticism or opposition have you been receiving? How do you need to respond to it?

Favorite Drinks

Moscow mule
Dark and stormy
Old fashioned
Tom Collins

Do you want this to work?

When words and actions don't align, i look at actions.

Words:
- I love you
- I want this marriage to work
- Let's have more children

Actions:
- Packing clothes whenever we disagree
- Taking issues outside of our relationship so that there will be witnesses (why are there witnesses if you want things to work out)
- Threatening to leave me if I seek outside council

Priority

Lord, help me to make prayer and my relationship with you the number one priority in my life. Help me also to learn to delegate. Help me to find capable people, who fear God and are trustworthy, to release and empower them so that I can ‘stand the strain’ and that ‘people will go home satisfied’ (v.23).

See people as you see them

Lord, I stand in awe and amazement at the people you choose. Help me to see people as you see them – not by the world’s standards but with your eyes.

Confession

Confession

I bring deliverance to every creation in my world, taking them out of bondage and corruption, into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. I give life to the things around me through the power of my words, for these are the days of the manifestation of the sons of God. Halleluiah!

further study: Luke 6:45; Proverbs 18:20-21

: Joshua 7-9 Luke 8:40-56

: Romans 5:1-11 Psalm 103

Thank you

Praise you, Lord, that you have rescued me from all my enemies. Thank you that you have shown me mercy. Thank you for forgiving my sins. Thank you that you give me freedom from death and fear. Thank you that you set me free to serve you. Help me today to serve you without fear, in holiness and righteousness, and guide my feet into the path of peace. May your hand be with me.

Affirmations

Isaiah 55:11
You wicked circumstance have to change because Gods plan, power and promises are greater than my circumstances

Psalm 107:20
When i speak the word of God, people are healed physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially and in every way that they can.

When I go to church, something will be released in my life. Something good is going to happen. i am going to change, circumstances are going to change.

I'm expecting you to give me answers today, I'm expecting you to release these chains of bondage, your words are powerful, speak to me through my pastors, speak to me through my teacher!

Complete in Christ

PRAY: Jesus, I praise you for your unending love. Even in your greatest moment of distress, you fulfilled a purpose greater than anything I can ever imagine. Lord, I surrender every area of distress in my life to you. I receive the fulfillment that only your love can bring. Everywhere I go today, give me the peace of knowing that I am complete in you. In Jesus' name, Amen. APPLY: Memorize Philippians 4:10-13 as a picture of the peace, strength, and fulfillment that Jesus makes available to you on a daily basis. For more resources, visit www.SevenMileMiracle.com.

Devotional prayer

Thank you, Lord, for the inspiring examples from the Bible and in society today of those who live within your boundaries. Help us to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous. Lord, transform our society. Restore marriage and good parenting. Fill me today with the Holy Spirit.

TMM and weekly goals

1. Pump at least 4 times daily
2. Read for Systems Eng class
3. Watch at least 10 mins of C++
4. Work on Thank you notes
5. Daily devotionals

Note: Complete Nilia's website

I pumped at least 3/4 times. I completed daily devotionals. I finished OB class. I completed the cleaning schedule.

I'm grateful for completing all action items. I'm grateful for a new week. I'm grateful that baby is happy and healthy.

TMM and weekly goals

1. Pump at least 4 times daily
2. Read for Systems Eng class
3. Watch at least 10 mins of C++
4. Work on Thank you notes
5. Daily devotionals

Note: Complete Nilia's website

I pumped at least 3/4 times. I completed daily devotionals. I finished OB class. I completed the cleaning schedule.

I'm grateful for completing all action items. I'm grateful for a new week. I'm grateful that baby is happy and healthy.

TMM and weekly goals

1. Pump at least 4 times daily
2. Read for Systems Eng class
3. Watch at least 10 mins of C++
4. Work on Thank you notes
5. Daily devotionals

Note: Complete Nilia's website

I pumped at least 3/4 times. I completed daily devotionals. I finished OB class. I completed the cleaning schedule.

I'm grateful for completing all action items. I'm grateful for a new week. I'm grateful that baby is happy and healthy.

TMM

I completed my pumping goal, i completed organizational behavior, i completed daily devotionals but i didn't complete my cleaning schedule although i started.

I'm grateful for the large quantity of milk i pumped. I'm grateful for God begin with my husband at work. I'm grateful for good health for me and my family.

TMM

I completed my pumping goal and my daily devotionals yesterday. I didn't complete my organizational behavior class or my cleaning schedule.  today I will try again and begin anew.

I am grateful for the things that I did accomplish. I'm grateful for my loving husband. I'm grateful for my family who has been so helpful with the new baby. I'm grateful for my cute little baby.  I am humbled and grateful to God for the things that he has entrusted me with. I am grateful to God for the paycheck that I received today.

I am ready to commit to make this my best year yet

TMM and weekly goals

This week's goals:
1. Pump at least 4 times in 24 hours. Goal is 8 times.
2. Complete Organizational Behavior
3. Daily Devotionals
4. Make cleaning schedule

I am grateful for my wonderful son who eats well and my supportive husband. Going to try to reach these goals.

TMM and weekly goals

This week's goals:
1. Pump at least 4 times in 24 hours. Goal is 8 times.
2. Complete Organizational Behavior
3. Daily Devotionals
4. Make cleaning schedule

I am grateful for my wonderful son who eats well and my supportive husband. Going to try to reach these goals.