Good Decisions Always Agree with God’s Word

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Essentials For Living

Good Decisions Always Agree with God's Word By Rick Warren — Aug 19, 2015 “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105 NIV) When you need to make a decision, the first and ideal test is this: “Is my decision in harmony with God’s Word?” You have to decide what’s going to be your ultimate authority in life. It really boils down to two choices: God’s Word or the world. Are you going to base your decisions on what God says or what other people say? If you base your life on popular opinion, you’re always going to be out of date, because it changes every day. What was “in” yesterday will not be “in” today and what’s “in” today will not be “in” tomorrow. If you base your life on popular culture, political correctness, or opinion polls, you do not have principles to live by. That’s called a shifting foundation! On the other hand, if you base your life on God’s Word, the truth never changes. Truth is always true. So if God says something was wrong 10,000 years ago, it was also wrong 500 years ago, it’s wrong today, and it will be wrong 1,000 years from today. I don’t care what opinion polls or political correctness or the media says. If God says it’s wrong, it’s wrong. It always has been, and it always will be. If God says it’s right, it will always be right. That is a solid foundation! God has set up the universe with certain laws— physical, moral, and spiritual. God built the universe around these laws not because he’s capricious but because they’re all for your benefit. When you cooperate with the principles in this universe, you succeed. If you reject, rebel, disobey, and ignore God’s principles, you’re the one who gets hurt. You don’t ever break God’s laws. They break you! If I go up on top of a building and jump off, I don’t break the law of gravity. It breaks me. The same is true with moral laws and spiritual laws. You cannot just thumb your nose at God and get away with it. There’s inevitably a reckoning. Any time you violate God’s principles, you’re asking for trouble.   With all this in mind, you can be confident in your decision. If God says it’s OK, then you do it. If God says “no,” then you don’t do it. “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path” (Psalm 119:105 NIV). PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over How does society try to convince you that truth is subjective? What do you need to be doing in order to know the Bible well enough to base your decisions on it? How have you experienced freedom when you obeyed God’s laws and direction in your life? Our Gift: God's Answers To Life's Difficult Questions Rick Warren takes you to the Bible for answers to 12 of life's toughest questions. Drawing from the examples of different biblical characters who faced the same issues, Warren offers concise, practical insights you can understand and apply in order to move past hardships and experience a life of purpose and significance. LEARN MORE Complete Audio Series (Purchase) Includes all complete sermons from the Rick Warren Essentials For Living teaching series. LEARN MORE Series Summary Message 1: Living By Grace Message 2: ​​​How To Connect With People Message 3: ​​Using The Bible To Make Decisions Message 4: ​​How To Invest Your Life Message 5: How To Tell God You Love Him PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST

Pastor Rick Warren

Enjoy today's Devotional? Listen instantly to the full radio message at Daily Hope Radio. Did someone forward this devotional to you? Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional. This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at rickwarren.org. Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life," read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered across America. This devotional © 2015 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe at any time by changing your e-mail preferences. Update your preferences  |  Unsubscribe