Skip to main content

Be Wise: Look Ahead and Face Reality

Daily Hope Devotional Tuesday 2nd August 2016
By Rick Warren 

“The wise man looks ahead. The fool attempts to fool himself and won’t face facts” 
- Proverbs 14:8 

Many people in life start out well, but they end up progressing poorly because they don’t plan for the pitfalls. But the Bible says the wise man looks ahead and faces reality.

As we make plans for our future, we all face pitfalls, such as cultural distractions, voices of doubt, tempting shortcuts, and discouraging delays. Just look at Noah: He had pitfalls after God told him to build the ark, but he overcame them  and you can, too.

Now, this doesn’t mean God will give you a goal as audacious as building an ark, but I pray he’ll give you a big goal  even an audacious one for your next 10 years.

The Bible says, “The wise man looks ahead. The fool attempts to fool himself and won’t face facts” (Proverbs 14:8 TLB). By looking ahead, we’ll not only be prepared to spot the pitfalls when they come into our lives; we’ll also be equipped to make plans that help us become the man or woman God wants us to be.

Ask God to help you establish goals for the next decade of your life. Then you’ll be ready to move forward and learn how to handle the pitfalls that could potentially keep you from getting where God wants you to go.

Talk It Over

  • What are the lessons from your last 10 years that you can apply to your next decade?
  • When you look to the future, who do you want to become? What do you want God to accomplish in your life?
  • How do your goals reflect the power of God in your life? Do you dream big because you serve a big God?


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Dominion Mandate Daily Devotional February 26, 2016

THEME: RETREAT TO REFRESH READ: Matt. 11:25-30 When some musicians want to release great songs, they retreat to secluded places where they can reflect, meditate and create. Some choose places overlooking the vast oceans, some choose where there are waterfalls, and some choose places with thick forestations.  As they observe the beauty of nature, the swift moves and songs of the soaring birds, the colourful flowering vegetations, the serene beaches and the unending waves of the nearby waters, they capture inspiration that helps them develop the hit songs they have been longing for. I met one of the world’s renowned musicians in Atlanta, USA a few years ago where journalist surrounded him and were asking what he had come to do and why his beards had grown so much. He said that his last album did not perform well enough and he was incubating another one he wanted to release that would perform better. He said that he needed to pull away from the Noise of New York and California ...

A NEW MONTH OF DIVINE ANNOUNCEMENT

But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. Luke 1:13 The Bible is replete of records on how God announced some events before they finally happened. Because you made it into the new Month, God will specially announce you in Jesus name.  Whenever God want to do something unusual, He first of all announce it, for instance, when He wanted to delivered the children of Israelite from the hand of the philistine whom He has delivered them to, He sent an angel to break the new to the parent of the deliverer - Samson. Judges 13.  When God wanted to turn the hearts of men back to Himself, He sent angel Gabriel to announced the birth of John the Baptist to his father, Zacharias. Also when God was fully ready for the redemption of man, He first announced it to the one whose body His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ will pass through to the earth. Luke 1:26-38. That was the...

Marriage Booster: Do You Still Love Her/Him ?

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; Ephesians 5:25 KJV "This is what I love about you" In the beginning you love everything about him. You are captivated by his six pack, his spirit of adventure, and his lion’s heart. In the beginning you love everything about her. You go crazy with the swing of her hips, a wink or a chewy chocolate cake baked especially for you. One day you wake up. Daily routine has shattered your rose-tinted glasses. “His six pack is not so hot anymore, instead his joints creak with every move.” Or: “It would be better if she swung her hips into a gym one of these days.” You realize: “My partner has changed.” Fortunately! He isn’t standing still. The problem is not the change but rather, that you are a creature of habit. It is your task to rediscover your partner and to simultaneously not forget why you went up the aisle with sparkling eyes to marry your bride/groom. MARRIAGE BOOSTER Write d...