What is the Purpose of Life ?

A good friend sent me this message and I would like to share it with you...


A Great Read from Rick Warren

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 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..

GOD Bless You

Note :
2 Corinthians 9: 6-8 " Remember this : Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. "

Power of Love

Proverbs 23:22 " Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old."

A little bit of fairy tale for your reading pleasure..................................


We can all learn something from this.
A long time ago in China , a girl named Li-Li got married & went to live
with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-Li found
that she couldn't get along with her mother-in-law at all.
Their personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by many of
her mother-in-law's habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li constantly.
Days passed, and weeks passed. Li-Li and her mother-in-law never stopped
arguing and fighting.But what made the situation even worse was that,
according to ancient Chinese tradition, Li-Li had to bow to her
mother-in-law and obey her every wish. All the anger and unhappiness in
the house was causing Li-Li's poor husband great distress.
Finally, Li-Li could not stand her mother-in-law's bad temper and
dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it!
Li-Li went to see her father's good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs. She
told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison so that
she could solve the problem once and for all.
Mr.Huang thought for a while, and finally said, "Li-Li, I will help you
solve your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I tell you."
Li-Li said, "Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whatever you tell me to do." Mr.
Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes with a
package of herbs.
He told Li-Li, "You can't use a quick-acting poison to get rid of your
mother-in-law, because that would cause people to become suspicious.
Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will slowly build up
poison in her body. Every other day prepare some delicious meal and put a
little of these herbs in her serving.
Now, in order to make sure that nobody suspect you when she dies, you must
be very careful to act very friendly towards her. "Don't argue with her,
obey her every wish, and treat her like a queen."
Li-Li was so happy. She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her
plot of murdering her mother-in-law.Weeks went by, and months went by,
and every other day, Li-Li served the specially treated food to her
mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr. Huang had said about
avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her temper, obeyed her
mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother.After six months had
passed, the whole household had changed. Li-Li had practiced controlling
her temper so much that she found that she almost never got mad or upset.
She hadn't had an argument with her mother-in-law in six months because
she now seemed much kinder and easier to get along with.The
mother-in-law's attitude toward Li-Li changed, and she began to love Li-Li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and relatives that Li-Li was the best
daughter-in-law one could ever find.Li-Li and her mother-in-law were now
treating each other like a real mother and daughter. Li-Li's husband was
very happy to see what was happening.
One day, Li-Li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again.She
said, "Dear Mr. Huang, please help me to keep the poison from killing my
mother-in-law! She's changed into such a nice woman, and I love her like
my own mother. I do not want her to die because of the poison I gave her."

Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head. "Li-Li, there's nothing to worry
about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitamins to
improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and your attitude
toward her, but that has been all washed away by the love which you gave
to her."

HAVE YOU REALIZED that how you treat others is exactly how they will treat
you?
There is a wise Chinese saying: "The person who loves others will also be
loved in return."
God might be trying to work in another person's life through you.

SPREAD THE POWER OF LOVE

Wow great song "El Shaddai"

Listen to this song on YouTube..." El Shaddai " by Amy Grant ... Be blessed.


El Shaddai
el shaddai, el shaddai,
El-elyon na adonia,
Age to age you're still the same,
By the power of the name.
El shaddai, el shaddai,
Erkamka na adonai,
We will praise and lift you high,
El shaddai.

Through your love and through the ram,
You saved the son of abraham;
Through the power of your hand,
Turned the sea into dry land.
To the outcast on her knees,
You were the god who really sees,
And by your might,
You set your children free.

El shaddai, el shaddai,
El-elyon na adonia,
Age to age you're still the same,
By the power of the name.
El shaddai, el shaddai,
Erkamka na adonai,
We will praise and lift you high,
El shaddai.


Through the years you've made it clear,
That the time of christ was near,
Though the people couldn't see
What messiah ought to be.
Though your word contained the plan,
They just could not understand
Your most awesome work was done
Through the frailty of your son.

El shaddai, el shaddai,
El-elyon na adonai,
Age to age you're still the same,
By the power of the name.
El shaddai, el shaddai,
Erkamka na adonai,
I will praise yo 'till i die,
El shaddai.