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Overview
The Purpose Driven Life is the book that's guided over 34 million people to deepen their spiritual journey by finding the answers to three of life's most important questions:
- The Question of Existence: Why am I alive?
- The Question of Significance: Does my life matter?
- The Question of Purpose: What on earth am I here for?
The best way to reinforce your progress in fulfilling God's purposes for your life is to keep a spiritual journal. This is not a diary of events, but a record of the life lessons you don't want to forget—a way to reflect, discuss what you read each day, and then journal your thoughts as The Purpose Driven Life helps you:
- Explain the meaning of your life.
- Simplify your life.
- Focus your life.
- Increase your motivation.
- Prepare for eternity.
Also available: The Purpose Driven Life video study and study guide, devotional, book for kids, book for churches, Spanish edition, Large Print edition, and more.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780310337232 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Zondervan |
| Publication date: | 03/13/2013 |
| Series: | The Purpose Driven Life |
| Edition description: | Updated |
| Pages: | 192 |
| Sales rank: | 119,267 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.70(d) |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Tens of millions of copies of Pastor Rick’s books have been published in 200 languages. His best-known books, The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church, were named three times in national surveys of pastors (by Gallup, Barna, and Lifeway) as the two most helpful books in print.
Rick and his wife, Kay, founded Saddleback Church, the Purpose Driven Network, the PEACE Plan, and Hope for Mental Health. He is the cofounder of Celebrate Recovery with John Baker.
Pastor Rick has spoken in 165 nations. He has spoken at the United Nations, US Congress, numerous parliaments, the World Economic Forum, TED, Aspen Institute, and lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and other universities.
Rick is executive director of Finishing the Task, a global movement of denominations, organizations, churches, and individuals working together on the Great Commission goals of ensuring that everyone everywhere has access to a Bible, a believer, and a local body of Christ.
Read an Excerpt
The Purpose Driven Life Journal
By Rick Warren
ZONDERVAN
Copyright © 2013 Rick WarrenAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-33723-2
Chapter One
A Journey with Purpose
Before you were born, God planned this moment in your life. It is no accident that you have chosen to read The Purpose Driven Life. God longs for you to discover the life he created you to live—here on earth, and forever in eternity.
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As I wrote Purpose Driven Life, I prayed you would experience the incredible joy that comes from knowing God's purposes for your life. I admire you for your interest in this book. It shows you want to know your purpose, and God loves that. You'll learn the big picture—how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. This perspective on life will reduce your stress, increase your satisfaction, help you make better decisions, and most importantly, prepare you for eternity.
I invite you to join me in a life-defining 40-day spiritual journey that answers life's most important question: What on earth am I here for? The best way to reinforce your progress in fulfilling God's purposes for your life is to keep a spiritual journal. This is not a diary of events, but a record of the life lessons you don't want to forget. We remember what we record. Writing helps clarify what God is doing in your life.
If you're serious about fulfilling your life's purpose you can't be in a hurry. God isn't. So slow down and take the time to reflect, discuss what you read each day, and then journal. Allow the Scripture to speak to you.
Your life is a journey and a journey deserves a journal. You owe it to future generations to preserve the testimony of how God helped you to fulfill his purposes on earth. It is a witness that will continue long after you are in heaven.
Write down for the coming generation what the Lord has done, so that people not yet born will praise him.
PSALM 102:18 (GNT)
WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?
DAY 1
It All Starts with God
For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, ... everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.
COLOSSIANS 1:16 (MSG)
POINT TO PONDER: It's not about me.
QUESTION TO CONSIDER: How can I remind myself today that life is really about living for God, not myself?
The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions.
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There is an alternative to speculation about the meaning and purpose of life. It's revelation. We can turn to what God has revealed about life in his Word. The easiest way to discover the purpose of an invention is to ask the creator of it. The same is true for discovering your life's purpose: ask God.
God's wisdom ... goes deep into the interior of his purposes.... It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us.
1 CORINTHIANS 2:7 (MSG)
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Father, as I begin this journey, help me to realize that building my life around myself instead of you will only lead to emptiness and meaninglessness. I was made by you and for you, and I want to discover my purpose in you.
DAY 2
You Are Not an Accident
"I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born," says the Lord.
ISAIAH 44:2 (CEV)
POINT TO PONDER: I am not an accident.
QUESTION TO CONSIDER: Knowing that God created me for a purpose, what areas of my personality, background, and appearance do I need to accept?
Long before you were conceived by your parents you were conceived in the mind of God. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you!
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O Lord, You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!
PSALM 139:16 (LB)
God made you to love you and you are his special creation.
God was thinking of you even before he made the world! In fact, that's why he created it! God designed this planet's environment just so we could live in it. We are the focus of his love, and the most valuable of all his creation.
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Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love.
EPHESIANS 1:4 (MSG)
If there was no God, then we'd all be "accidents," the result of astronomical random chance in the universe. But there is a God, he made you for a reason, and your life has profound meaning! We discover that meaning and purpose only when we make God the reference point of our lives.
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God doesn't play dice.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
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God, your plan is amazing. Thank you that I was custom-made for a reason. Help me to trust your wisdom in choosing my parents, race, background, gifts, and appearance.
DAY 3
What Drives Your Life?
You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.
ISAIAH 26:3 (TEV)
POINT TO PONDER: Living on purpose is the path to peace.
QUESTION TO CONSIDER: What would my family and friends say is the driving force of my life? What do I want it to be?
Everyone's life is driven by something. Most dictionaries define the verb drive as "to guide, to control, or to direct." Whether you are driving a car, a nail, or a golf ball, you are guiding, controlling, and directing it at that moment. What is the driving force in your life?
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Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters."
MATTHEW 6:24 (NLT)
Many people are driven by guilt, resentment and anger, fear, materialism, or the expectations of others. This journal will help you to live a purpose-driven life—guided, controlled, and directed by God's purposes. Nothing matters more than knowing God's purposes for your life.
We are all products of our past but we don't have to be prisoners of it. God's purpose is not limited by your past. He can turn a murderer (Moses) into a leader, a coward (Gideon) into a courageous hero, and he can do amazing things with the rest of your life.
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There are five great benefits of living a purpose-driven life:
• Knowing your purpose gives your life meaning.
• Knowing your purpose simplifies your life.
• Knowing your purpose focuses your life.
• Knowing your purpose motivates your life, and ...
• Fulfilling your purpose will create an eternal legacy.
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Everyone wants to be remembered when they're gone. Ultimately, what matters most will not be what others say about your life but what God says about you. How will you answer God when he asks, "What did you do with my Son, Jesus Christ?" and "What did you do with what I gave you?"
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Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God... Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.
ROMANS 14:10, 12 (NLT)
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Father, I don't want my life to be driven by anything but love for you. Help me to center my life on your plan and purpose for me, and not worry about the expectations of others.
DAY 4
Made to Last Forever
This world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
1 JOHN 2:17 (NLT)
POINT TO PONDER: There is more to life than just here and now.
QUESTION TO CONSIDER: Since everything has eternal consequences, what is one thing I should stop doing and one thing I should start doing today?
You have an inborn instinct that longs for immortality. This is because God designed you, in his image, to live for eternity. The reason we feel we should live forever is because God wired our brains with that desire! God has planted eternity in the human heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT).
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Surely God would not have created such a being as man to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
How you relate to God now on earth will determine where you spend eternity. If you develop a relationship of love and trust in God through his Son, Jesus Christ, you'll spend the rest of eternity with him. When you live in light of eternity, your values change. You use your time and money more wisely. You place a higher premium on relationships and character instead of fame or wealth or achievements, or even fun. Your priorities are reordered. Keeping up with trends, fashions, and popular values, just doesn't matter as much anymore.
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Paul wrote, "I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done."
PHILIPPIANS 3:7 (NLT)
[God's] plans endure forever; his purposes last eternally.
PSALM 33:11 (TEV)
God has a purpose for your life on earth but it doesn't end here. His plan involves far more than the few decades you'll spend on this planet. It's more than "the opportunity of a lifetime"; God offers you an opportunity beyond your lifetime.
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God, open my eyes to see that there are eternal consequences in even the smallest choices of my life. Remind me to look past what is temporary and focus on what will last forever. Teach me to live in light of eternity.
DAY 5
Seeing Life from God's View
If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones.
LUKE 16:10 (NLT)
POINT TO PONDER: Life is a test and a trust.
QUESTION TO CONSIDER: What has happened to me recently that I now realize was a test from God? What are the greatest trusts God has entrusted to me?
The Bible says life is a test, life is a trust, and life is a temporary assignment. These ideas are the foundation of purpose-driven living. To fulfill the purposes God created you for, you'll have to challenge conventional wisdom and replace it with the biblical metaphors of life.
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Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God.
ROMANS 12:2 (TEV)
When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life. Even the smallest incident has significance for your character. Every day is an important day, and every second is a growth opportunity to develop character, to demonstrate love, or to depend on God. Some tests seem enormous and overwhelming while others you don't even notice. But all of them have eternal implications.
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Blessed are those who endure when they are tested. When they pass the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.
JAMES 1:12 (GWT)
Never forget that everything in your life really belongs to God: your home, children, job—everything. You're just a caretaker, a trustee, a steward of it all. It's your privilege to enjoy it but it's also your responsibility to faithfully use it the way God wants it used.
Our culture says, "If you don't own it, you won't take care of it." But Christians live by a higher standard: "Because God owns it, I must take the best care of it that I can."
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Those who are trusted with something valuable must show they are worthy of that trust.
1 CORINTHIANS 4:2 (NCV)
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At the end of your life on earth you'll be evaluated and rewarded according to how well you handled what God entrusted to you. That means everything you do, even simple daily chores, has eternal implications. If you treat everything as a trust, God promises three rewards in eternity. First, you'll be given God's affirmation: He'll say, "Good job! Well done!" Next, you'll receive a promotion and be given greater responsibility in eternity: "I will put you in charge of many things." Then, you'll be honored with a celebration: "Come and share your Master's happiness."
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Gracious God, give me the wisdom to see life as you see it. Help me to pass the test of character you place before me and to treat everything you give me as a sacred trust. You own it all; I just get to use it while I'm on earth.
DAY 6
Life Is a Temporary Assignment
We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:18 (NIV)
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Purpose Driven Life Journal by Rick Warren Copyright © 2013 by Rick Warren. Excerpted by permission of ZONDERVAN. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
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