Rick Thomas | Your Daily Drive

The more you want someone to change, and the more you are pulling for someone to change, and the more you’ll be tempted to feel too much pressure regarding your role in the change process. Here is one thing that you must remember: if a person wants to change, he can in spite of your inadequacies. The grace of God is more vital than your strengths and weaknesses or their hopelessness and resistance...

Everybody suffers. It does not matter who you are. It doesn’t matter who you belong to—the world or God’s family. Suffering is suffering, and nobody is exempt from it. The difference between Christian and non-Christian suffering is how we view and respond to it. When the world suffers, they lose hope. When God’s children suffer, they grow in confidence that God is there and working on the believer...

The most satisfying relationship a person can have with another is when they are mutually sharing their personal experiences with God. They cannot be more honest, transparent, humble, vulnerable, courageous, and life-giving. Though you can’t be this way with everyone, it’s vital to have one person in your life with whom you can penetrate the barrier of loneliness. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net...

Do you discipline your children? How do you do it? When it comes to corrective care, how does your child experience it? Just as important, what is your motive behind your discipline? Anytime you’re talking about parental discipline, you want to make sure you are beginning at the right place, which is with the Lord. The Bible says, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves” (Hebrews 12:6). Read He...

What does “bear all things” mean when Paul was talking about loving others from the love chapter? Am I supposed to permit or endure others to do what they want to do with me? Is this a “grin and bear it” theology of love? When preachers quote the “love chapter” at weddings, it sounds nice, but what about when the honeymoon is over and the marriage is hard? Read. Here: https://rickthomas.net/a-weak...

There is a problem for the Christian who believes he can live any way he wants to live because God has saved him. Though he is free from the penalty of sin, he is not free from the consequences of idolatry. Grace does not give him the freedom to live a self-indulgent and idolatrous life. The big question is, how can a person like this change? Paul gives us help from 1 Corinthians 10:1-14. Read Her...

How do you stay true to what you believe while not offending those who aren’t willing to get on board with your perspectives and practices? What if you have a weaker brother or sister that you can’t correct? Does the “weakest link” in the relationship, group, or church determine how things will be? When do you take a stand for what you believe or capitulate to the other person? Read Here: https://...

There are two general categories of people who attend a local church meeting on any given Sunday. Those who sin and admit it and those who sin and are unwilling or tentative about admitting it. Two people groups and one common denominator—we all sin. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/do-your-friends-permit-you-to-be-imperfect/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the worl...

The people that you spend the most time trying to help may turn on you quicker than anyone else. Not every individual that you serve will react that way, but a few of them will not be responsive to change and may retaliate against you and your efforts to help them. What started with the best intentions can devolve into an acrimonious parting. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/people-you-love-the-m...

Overcoming past disappointments are hard enough in themselves. But sometimes, our inability to move forward is self-inflicted, as we use our past disappointments to gain acceptance, love, respect, and pity from others. Biff was such a person. Clinging to the past, not only gave him an identity, but it was a manipulative method to control his friendships. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/manipulat...

Let’s free associate: name two people in your life that you cringe when you think about them. They are a pain in the neck. How about the person you would rather not be around? Do you have a person in your mind? A friend? A church member? A relative? Great! Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/here-is-some-motivation-to-love-that-pain-in-your-neck/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free c...

Do you know of any Christians who do not act like Christians? Are they your friends? How would you help them? A friend asked me this question, and I gave him nine ideas that provided some clarity on how to help those who claim to be believers, but their lifestyle contradicts their profession. Perhaps these things will serve you too. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/my-friends-say-they-are-christi...

Two people have a similar struggle. Both of them struggle with discouragement because of their ongoing patterns of sin. Rather than seeing sin as an opportunity to lean into God, they are heading farther down the path of frustration and fear. Sinning plus struggling with ongoing discouragement about your sin is a double-sin-paradigm. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/struggling-with-sin-is-one-way...

The backstory is the story behind the story. There is always a backstory to every story. The story that you know is not all there is to what is happening. Behind every story, God is mysteriously working. How does not knowing the whole story affect how you think about the Lord and what He’s writing into your life? Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/if-you-knew-the-back-story-would-it-make-any-differ...

How would people know you if you had no filter on your inner person? How would folks experience the authentic you? We live in a duality: our authentic self and the person we present to the public. Closing the gap between the two happens when the power of the gospel starts transforming us from the inside out. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/breaking-down-my-heart-when-its-breaking-bad/ Will you h...

If you read approximately 4.25 chapters a day, you will be able to complete the Word of God in a year. Okay. But the more significant questions are, “How much of that reading is changing you? Is God’s Word transforming you, or are you a duty-reader, assuming you read the Bible at all? Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/seven-keys-that-will-transform-your-life/ Will you help us so we can continue to...

A man’s job was never meant to be like the tail wagging the dog. In this illustration, the tail is the job, and the dog is his family. When the job becomes the most significant thing to a man, the family will become a lesser thing. This problem is what happened to Biff and Mable. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/how-to-change-a-home-from-job-centered-to-god-centered/ Will you help us so we can co...

What would it be like if you had to qualify for marriage? What if being a husband or wife was like meeting the qualifications for a high-ranking job? I know it’s silly, and nothing like that would ever happen, but it is something to ponder. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/do-you-qualify-to-have-a-spouse/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a s...

Comparing yourself to other people can be a huge blessing when you do it the right way. Of course, that is the key—the correct way. The implication is that you must not choose outward behaviors as the only way for assessing people. If you do, you will rank people according to those behaviors, whether good or bad. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/the-insightful-advantage-of-comparing-yourself-to-p...

My son is pushing away from my wife. He’s fourteen years old. I’ve noticed a growing embarrassment from him toward his mother. I’ve tried to talk to him about it, but he hardly responds, only to say it’s weird to be still hanging out with mom. He’s a good kid and seems to have a heart for God. This issue is one of those rare times where he has been obstinate. How should I approach him? What would...

The best relationships are the messiest ones. At first glance, it sounds odd, right? How can good friendships be dirty? Because we’re fallen, broken people, and to live well with others requires getting into the muckiness of each others’ lives. If you’re interested in going beyond the superficial with others, read on. I have seventeen helpful tips that can transform your relationships. Read Here:...

“How can I help you?” “We don’t communicate well.” And that is how many counseling sessions begin. The truth of the matter is that they do not have a communication problem. Or to say it better, that is not their primary problem. Rarely does anyone have a communication problem as the central issue in the relationship. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/how-can-i-get-my-husband-to-talk-more/ Will you...

You have a desire that you want your spouse to meet. That wish does not have to be a bad thing. Desires only become evil when we demand them from others while punishing them if they don’t meet them. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/how-to-respond-when-a-spouse-will-not-meet-expectations/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member h...

Volunteering to serve in a local church and within the surrounding community is at the heart of the gospel. Jesus best capsulated the idea of how the gospel connects to serving in Mark 10:45. The non-serving Christian is an oxymoron. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/how-to-motivate-church-people-to-volunteer/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become...

The question you never ask anyone is whether something is controlling you. The reason because something or someone is always controlling us. The most independent and autonomous person you know is not as he presents himself to be. Read Here: https://rickthomas.net/these-six-things-want-to-control-your-life/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a s...