God Is Cheering You On!
By Rick Warren

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26 NIV).

Some people mistakenly believe that God only smiles at them when they’re doing something right, when they mature spiritually, or when they complete what God has called them to do.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

God smiles at you at every stage of your journey with him. He smiles at you when you’re a new Christian, just figuring out what it means to follow Jesus. He smiles at you when you’re a mature Christian, with years of growth behind you.

If you want to understand who you are in Christ, you need to recognize this truth: God is never ashamed of you. Even the apostle Paul, who wrote portions of the New Testament, understood he was far from perfect.He wrote, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:12 NIV).

God wasn’t ashamed of Paul’s imperfections. God isn’t ashamed of yours, either.

Instead, God is cheering you on. He wants to bless you. He wants you to fulfill your calling.

Look at God’s message to the Israelites as they wandered in the desert: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26 NIV).

The Israelites were far from perfect. They made poor decisions. They had weak faith. They even chased after different gods. But God smiled on them. God is smiling at you, too.

He cheered them on.

And he’s cheering you on, too.

PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick

For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!

Take your soul on a special journey — and experience renewed hope this year.

Join Pastor Rick Warren in tracing Jesus’ path through Jerusalem on the way to Calvary, with his compelling book, Journey with Jesus.
 
This deluxe gift edition 12” x 9” book has a soft leather-like cover and 148 weighted high-gloss pages.
 
You’ll see the story of Jesus come to life through gorgeous custom mosaic artwork and beautiful photos and you’ll learn the fascinating biblical and historical insights related to each stop Jesus made along the way. This inspirational book opens the door to worship Jesus and also serves as a practical tool to share the certain hope of Jesus with others.
 
Request Journey with Jesus when you give to Daily Hope today to help others discover the certain hope of Jesus Christ. It’s our thanks for your generous partnership.
 
*The USA IRS code permits you to deduct the amount of your financial gift to Daily Hope that exceeds the fair market value of materials you received from Daily Hope.

This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.