You Can Be As Close to God As You Choose to Be

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Awesome Relationships

You Can Be As Close to God As You Choose to Be By Rick Warren — May 23, 2016 “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8 NLT, second edition). You’re never going to become a friend of God in your spare time. You have to make knowing God your number one priority in life. Paul says it like this: “Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8 NLT, second edition). Are you doing that? Are you seeking God with all your heart every day? Remember: You are as close to God as you choose to be. You’re going to become a friend of God when you want to become a friend of God. You can’t blame anybody else. You can’t blame your wife, your husband, your parents, or your kids. You are as close to God as you want to be. And if you feel far from God, guess who moved? You didn’t make him the number one priority of your life. Knowing and loving God is our greatest privilege. And being known and being loved by God is our greatest pleasure. I’ve noticed that you can tell what’s important to people by what they brag about. If their kids are most important, they brag about their kids. If their job is the most important thing in their life, they brag about their job. If travel and having experiences is most important, that’s what they talk about. If partying or buying new clothes is what you talk about most, guess what you value most? You brag about what you value most. God says in Jeremiah 9:23, “The wise should not boast of their wisdom, nor the strong of their strength, nor the rich of their wealth. If any want to boast, they should boast that they know and understand me” (TEV). Why? Because that’s what life is all about. Knowing God is what matters most. The God of the Universe loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. Getting close to God will give you peace and perspective. Now that’s Good News! PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over How do you need to re-prioritize your life so that getting to know God better is your number one priority? What would people say is most important to you by what you talk about most? How can you boast about your relationship with God in your everyday conversations? Our Gift: Awesome Relationships Study Kit If you’d like to improve all of your relationships then you’ll want to experience Pastor Rick’s new four week DVD study called, Awesome Relationships. In this amazing study Pastor Rick shows you how to be intentional about building up your relationships so you can experience the awesome relationships that you desire. LEARN MORE Complete Audio Series (Purchase) Includes all complete sermons from the Rick Warren Awesome Relationships teaching series. LEARN MORE Series Summary Message 1: Fighting for an Awesome Marriage Message 2: ​​​​​​​​Fighting for an Awesome Family Message 3: ​Making Friends for Eternity Message 4: What ​Destroys Relationships and What Builds Them Message 5: Finding the Love of Your Life Message 6: ​Becoming Best Friends with God 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 © 2016 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