More Gratitude Means Less Stress - Daily Hope with Rick Warren - November 21, 2018
More Gratitude Means Less Stress
By Rick Warren
“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV).
I used to think that life was a series of hills and valleys. I thought we faced good times and bad times, and they didn’t intermix.
But that’s not how life works. There’s no time in your life when everything is good or everything is bad. No matter how good your life seems, you always have something to work on. No matter how bad life gets, you always have something to thank God for.
The Bible tells us, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NKJV).
Notice the Bible doesn’t tell us to thank God for everything. We’re told to thank God in everything.
There’s a big difference between the two. You don’t need to thank God for everything. You don’t have to thank God for cancer or someone’s death.
But you can be thankful for something at all times in your life. You can always find a blessing in your life to be grateful for.
In fact, God includes gratitude in the Bible’s classic text on overcoming stress in Philippians 4. When we’re stressed and worried about something in life, the Bible says to “ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart” (Philippians 4:6 GNT).
Grateful people are less stressed.
It’s hard to be stressed and grateful at the same time.
Gratitude gets your eyes off of yourself and gets them onto others. Instead of looking at what they don’t have, grateful people look at what they do have.
That choice always leads to less stress.
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God’s Big Plans for Me Storybook Bible and Integrating God’s Word Into My Life CD Message
Help the children in your life experience God’s Word!
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” –Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)
One of the greatest ways to fulfill the Great Commission is to share Jesus and God’s Word with the children who God has placed in your life.
And there’s now a great tool to help do that — Pastor Rick Warren’s brand-new book, God’s Big Plans for Me Storybook Bible.
This 223-page, full-color, beautifully illustrated, hardcover children’s version of God’s Word shares key Bible stories along with the 40 foundational principles from the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Purpose Driven Life. And it’s written in a way that’s easy for even the youngest readers to understand.
The God’s Big Plans for Me Storybook Bible will help the children in your life . . .
• Experience Bible stories coming to life with child-friendly language
• Connect deeply with Scripture through engaging illustrations
• Grow to love Jesus through lessons targeted specifically for them
• Discover God’s plans and purposes for their life
God’s Big Plans for Me Storybook is our gift to thank you for your donation below. And as an act of our appreciation, we’ll also send you Pastor Rick’s CD message, Integrating God’s Word Into My Life.
So when you give below, be sure to request your copy of God’s Big Plans for Me Storybook to bless a child in your life — and Integrating God’s Word Into My Life for yourself.
Thank you for giving today to help more people learn, love, and live God’s Word through Daily Hope!
This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.
