Daryl K. Anderson - 7 Habits for a Rich and Satisfying Life: Becoming Who God Designed You to Be

DARYL K. ANDERSON

HABITS FOR A RICH AND SATISFYING LIFE

Becoming Who God Designed You to Be

Copyright 2019 Daryl K. Anderson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 (866) 928-1240

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7688-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7690-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-7689-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019915763

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/29/2019

Except where noted, all scriptural references are to the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[Scripture quotations are] from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible copyright 1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.http://netbible.org All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

I could not have written this book without the support and encouragement of my wife, Dianne. She is my love, my partner, my best friend, my hero, and my example of how to live a life of lovealways caring and sacrificing for others.

Contents

God has two purposes for your life. The first is that he wants you to enter into a loving relationship with him. He desires your love. When Jesus was asked, Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses? Jesus replied, You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:3638). Of all the things that God would have us to do, loving him is the most important.

It may not surprise you that God desires your devotion, but a loving relationship means that God loves you in return. Younot humanity in general, but you in particular. Thats amazing. As one of billions of people on this planet, it is surprising that God would give you that sort of personal attention, yet that is what God has revealed to us. The psalmist wrote of Gods intimate knowledge of each of us

O LORD , you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when Im far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord. (Psalm 139:14)

and Jesus said:

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Fathers care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So dont be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:2931 NIV)

It is also surprising that God, so perfect and so holy, would want a relationship with us, who are so imperfect and unholy. God does not overlook our faults but has provided a way for us to draw near to him in perfect sinlessness. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to live a sinless life and die for our sins, so we could obtain his righteousness:

God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting peoples sins against them God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:19, 21 NIV)

Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. (1 Peter 3:18)

The verse below, John 3:16, is the most well-known verse in the Bible, and for good reason. It speaks of Gods incredible love for us, the necessity of believing in Jesus (more on that later), and that our relationship with God is not parted by death. Our bodies will die, but our spirits will live onloved by God and loving him in return, eternally:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 NIV)

God showed his great love for us. As stated in the verse above, God loved the world by giving us his Son. That God sent his Son to suffer and die on our behalf is unmistakable evidence of his great love for us:

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real lovenot that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (1 John 4:910)

We did not earn Gods extravagant love for us by being good. On the contrary, God loves sinners:

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:68)

Paul, a zealous persecutor of Christians before becoming one himself, wrote of Gods love for even the worst sinners:

This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinnersand I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:1516)

Jesus was a willing participant in the Fathers plan to reconcile us to himself. Jesus loves you so much that he died for you:

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. (1 John 3:16)

Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us (Ephesians 5:2)

That God loved the world (John 3:16, quoted above) means that he wants everyone to be saved from their sins and enter into a loving relationship with him: