Your Choices Control Your Calendar

[Your Choices Control Your Calendar]( Current Teaching Series [Life's Healing Choices]( [Listen to Today's Broadcast]( [Your Choices Control Your Calendar]( By Rick Warren — 07/13/2021 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email]( “We are each responsible for our own conduct.” Galatians 6:5 (NLT) Your choices are far more powerful than your circumstances. You can see that clearly in how you spend your time. You may not like how complicated and busy your life has become. But with few exceptions, no one is forcing you to keep your life complicated. You have the power to simplify your life. In fact, God expects you to assume responsibility for your calendar and to carefully choose how you spend your time. Do you know how much time you have here on earth? You have just enough time to do God’s will. In other words, you’ve been given just enough time to fulfill your purpose. When you try to do more than God planned for you, it’s only natural that you find yourself constantly out of time or stressed over your schedule. You may have heard the saying: If the Devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy. He’ll get you so busy that you don’t have time for the important stuff—time alone with God, ministry, and mission. What do you need to let go of? The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:23, “‘Everything is permissible,’ but not everything is helpful” (HCSB). What does that mean? It means this: A lot of things aren’t necessarily wrong; they’re just not necessary. Life often means choosing either “Am I going to do something good?” or “Am I going to do what’s best?” Take some time this week to pray over your calendar. Ask God to show you what parts of it are part of his purpose for you. As you do this, I pray that you will find relief from stress and a new sense of satisfaction as you do only the things God created you to do. [PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>]( Talk It Over - Make a list of the activities and responsibilities that are causing you stress. Ask God to help you determine the things on your schedule that he never intended for you to do. - Where do you believe God wants you to focus your time and energy? - What choices do you need to make that will help you focus more on what God has planned for you? Have you committed your life to Christ? No matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been, you’ve got a place in God’s forever family ready and waiting for you. The invitation is wide open. Just believe and receive. Are you ready? Start with this prayer: “Dear God, I know when I die I’m going to give an account of my life to you directly. I confess I have ignored you. I know I have sinned against you, and I have lived by my plan, not yours. I want that to change, starting right now. I want to turn away from my sins toward you. “Thank you for sending Jesus to die for all I’ve done wrong so that I don’t have to pay the penalty. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I know only your grace can save me, Lord. I could never be good enough to get into a perfect place. “Jesus, thank you for loving me so much that you took all my guilt on yourself. You made me acceptable for heaven, and I humbly ask you to save me. I ask you to save me from the sins and habits that are messing up my life right now. I believe in you, Jesus. And I believe you will keep your promise to save me instantly, certainly, completely, and eternally. I want to live the rest of my life by your priorities, not my own. In Jesus’ name. Amen.” If you prayed the prayer above, please write and tell me at Rick@PastorRick.com. I’d like to send you some materials as you begin your journey with Jesus. The post [Your Choices Control Your Calendar]( appeared first on [Pastor Rick's Daily Hope](. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Pinterest]( [Email]( [Get the Life's Healing Choices Study Kit when you give a gift to support Daily Hope]( You’ve probably experienced pain in your life, even caused some to others. We all have. As a result, every single one of us struggles with some sort of nagging hurt, hang-up, or habit. But how you respond to these difficulties often determines whether you get better—or bitter. Get practical help finding freedom from your hurts, hang-ups, and habits with Pastor Rick’s, Life’s Healing Choices DVD and workbook study kit. Using the Beatitudes of Jesus as a foundation, this study guides you through eight healing choices that promise true happiness and life transformation. As you learn to apply these biblical principles, you’ll find God’s pathway to wholeness, growth, spiritual maturity, and healing. [LEARN MORE]( [Complete Audio Series (Purchase)]( Includes 10 full-length messages from Pastor Rick's series Life's Healing Choices. [LEARN MORE]( [Series Summary]( Message 1: The Reality Choice Message 2: The Hope Your Need for Change Message 3: Letting Go and Letting God Message 4: The Housecleaning Choice Message 5: The Transformation Choice Message 6: The Relationship Choice Message 7: The Growth Choice Message 8: The Sharing Choice Message 9: What Destroys Relationships and What Builds Them Message 10: There's No Recovery Without Prayer [PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST]( Pastor Rick Warren [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Linkedin]( Enjoy today's devotional? Listen to Pastor Rick’s daily audio teaching at [PastorRick.com]( Did someone forward this devotional to you? [Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional.]( As the founding pastor of Saddleback Church with his wife Kay, Dr. Rick Warren leads a 30,000-member congregation in California with campuses in major cities around the world. As an author, his book [The Purpose Driven Life]( is one of the best-selling nonfiction books in publishing history. It has been translated into 74 languages and sold more than 50 million copies in all formats. His book [The Purpose Driven Church]( was named one of the 100 Christian books that changed the century. Rick also founded [The PEACE Plan]( to address five global issues—spiritual emptiness, self-serving leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy—through the power of ordinary people in the local church. You can listen to Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope, his daily 25-minute audio teaching, and sign up for his free daily devotionals at [PastorRick.com](. © 2021 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe by clicking the link below. Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( Pastor Rick's Daily Hope, 23182 Arroyo Vista, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688, United States