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Greg Laurie – Box Canyon         

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Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. —Acts 12:5

In some of the old TV Westerns of the 1950s, the desperados (always in black hats) would be making their escape with the stolen loot from the stagecoach robbery. Suddenly someone in the posse chasing them (usually in white hats) would shout, “We have ’em now! They’ve ridden into a box canyon!” And everybody knows there is no way out of a box canyon.

There are box canyons in life too, seemingly impossible situations where there seems to be no way out and nowhere to turn. Surrounded by insurmountable obstacles, you find yourself temporarily paralyzed, not knowing what to do. Those are the very times when God invites us to pray.

In Acts 12, we find the story of how God took a tragic, even hopeless, situation and turned it around. It was accomplished by the power of prayer, the kind of prayer that storms the throne of God and gets an answer.

Both James and Peter were in prison. Tragically, James was put to death. But Peter was still incarcerated, awaiting his fate. Though all doors were closed, one remained open: the door of prayer. The church recognized that “we use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments” (2 Corinthians 10:4, NLT).

Prayer was and is the church’s secret weapon. Although the Devil struck a blow against the church, the church gained victory through prayer as Peter was miraculously released.

Sadly, we don’t pray often enough. Yet it is essential that Christians learn more about effective prayer because all of us will certainly face difficulties, hardships, problems, and more than a few box canyons. So we need to discover what God can do through the power of prayer.

Prayer for the Christian should be second nature, like breathing. We should automatically pray, lifting our needs and requests before the Lord. Jesus said that we should always pray and not lose heart (see Luke 18:1). Prayer is something we should never avoid and never grow tired of. Prayer should be woven through our day like a bright gold thread woven through a piece of fabric. The more we pray, the more we will see the kingdom of God break through the darkness of seemingly impossible situations.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

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Greg Laurie – “Looking unto Jesus”  

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We also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. —Hebrews 12:1–2

In the ancient Greek games, a judge would stand at the finish line holding, in plain sight, the laurel leaves that would be rewarded to the victor. As runners came down the final stretch, they were exhausted, perhaps in agony, and feeling as though they couldn’t go another step. But suddenly there was the prize in sight, and a new burst of energy would kick in.

This is the picture behind the phrase looking unto Jesus in Hebrews 12:2. We have to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ. And our prize is the privilege of standing before Him and receiving the crown of righteousness that He will give us.

That is why we try to live godly lives and why we try to reach people for Him. It isn’t for brownie points. It isn’t for applause. It isn’t for notoriety. It’s so we can hear Jesus say to us on that final day, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” No, we can’t earn our salvation because He has already provided it. But we want to please the One who laid down His life for us. Ultimately, we want to be able to say, “Lord, I took the life You gave me and tried to make a difference. Here it is. I offer it to you.”

Looking unto Jesus. . . . That keeps you going, doesn’t it? After all, you can get discouraged at times. People will let you down. They will disappoint you. They won’t appreciate your hard work or notice your efforts. Not bothering to understand your real motives, they’ll criticize that which they don’t (or won’t) understand. And that is when you need to remind yourself, I am not running my race for this person or that person. I am running for You, Lord. And I will keep running . . . with my eyes fixed on You.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

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Greg Laurie – When God Speaks   

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The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it. —John 10:2–5

Does God still speak to people today? Is He interested in what happens to us as individuals? Does He really have a master plan for our lives?

God truly is interested in us as individuals. He does have a master plan for our lives, and He does want to speak to us. Jesus described Himself as our Good Shepherd. And as His sheep, we can hear and recognize His voice.

So how can we know when it is God speaking? First, we need to remember that God primarily speaks to us through His Word, and He will never lead us in a way that contradicts that Word. We don’t have to go any further than the Bible to know the will of God for our lives.

God also speaks through circumstances that can include failure or even hardship. We don’t enjoy it when God speaks to us through tragedy and hardship, but as C. S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

Often I have found that if something is the will of God, then it will be confirmed. There are times when I feel the Lord has been speaking to me through circumstances, such as an opportunity that has opened up. But I never make decisions by looking at circumstances alone.

Lastly, God speaks to us through His peace. Colossians 3:15 tells us, “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts.” God is the author of peace, not of confusion.

Maybe we hear the voice of God more often than we think. Then again, maybe we’re not giving Him the opportunity to speak. Today would be a good day to take your Bible and get alone with Him, away from the noise and confusion, and ask, “Lord, what do you have to say to me today? I am listening!”

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

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Greg Laurie – Peace Among Lions

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Daniel answered, “Long live the king! My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.” —Daniel 6:21–22

Daniel was in the lions’ den, but the lions left him alone. It wasn’t because these were godly lions. They were very normal lions. Even hungry lions. But none of them wanted to mess with the Lord’s angel. And Daniel probably got a solid seven hours that night.

Real peace is being able to lay your head down on your pillow at night, at peace with God, committing your life and every detail of it to the Lord. It is no longer being plagued with guilt, saying the words, “Lord, I trust You” as you drift off to sleep.

David, who had good reason for a lot of sleepless nights in his life, wrote, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, O Lord, make me to dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8, NASB). I think Daniel could do that through most of his long life.

Do you find yourself in a “lion’s den” today? As with Daniel, you may have some enemies out there plotting your destruction. And you certainly have an adversary who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8, NIV). You feel like the heat is on, and you wonder if you can hold on to your sanity—and your faith—in this time of pain and perplexity.

Daniel refused to be distracted from the purpose in his heart. He maintained his priorities and kept his cool in the face of opposition and intimidating circumstances. So did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego when ordered to betray the Lord or die. And so did Job when Satan stole everything from him but that which he cherished most—his relationship with the living God.

These real people from the pages of Scripture teach us to keep our eyes of faith locked on our faithful God, no matter what. Keep on praying . . . keep on living a godly life . . . keep on claiming the promises of God’s Word . . . keep on trusting the Lord to come through for you and to continue working for your best and His glory.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

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Greg Laurie – The Fourth Man in the Flames  

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Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” —Daniel 3:24–25

Not many of us, perhaps, will face tests as great as Shadrach, Meshach, or Abed-Nego faced on the day when the king threw them into a fiery furnace. Even so, tests will come. Temptations will come. And many of those moments of great testing will come when you are alone, with no one looking.

We’re foolish if we think we can stand up to temptation—the lure of the world, our own flesh, and the Devil—in our own strength and wisdom. We need help from on high.

The key to the courage and serenity of these three teenagers in the midst of those flames was their Companion! Nebuchadnezzar said it best: “The form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

I don’t know that Nebuchadnezzar necessarily realized that this fourth person in the flames was Jesus Christ. I don’t know what he thought. All he knew was that he tossed three men in a blazing furnace, and they were walking around in the fire like it was a Sunday stroll in the park. And Someone else was walking with them.

Just that quickly, the king didn’t want to mess with these guys anymore. He had great respect (not necessarily belief at that point, yet respect) for the God they represented.

Are you in a fiery trial right now? Are you in the hot waters of temptation? Know this: You aren’t alone in life. Jesus is there with you each step of the way. Jesus said, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20, NIV). And again, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

Take your stand for the Lord in things great and small, and even though you may feel the heat, your Companion will never leave your side.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

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Greg Laurie – Kept by His Power         

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He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. —Hebrews 7:25

The Bible tells us to keep ourselves in the love of God (see Jude 1:21). But we are also told in the same passage that God will keep us (see verse 1). So who is keeping what for whom? Is this a contradiction? Not at all. The truth is, these verses complement one another, showing us both God’s part and ours. No, we don’t keep ourselves saved . . . but we can keep ourselves safe.

God’s love is unconditional. And—most happily for us—Jesus Christ loves, preserves, and intercedes for us before the Father. But we can do things that will get us out of sync and out of harmony with His love. That’s why we’re reminded to keep ourselves in the love of God, which means that we’re to keep away from all that is unlike Him. We are to keep our distance from any influence that would violate God’s love and bring sorrow to His heart.

We are loved by God, and He will protect His investment. Think about it: If you own an inexpensive pair of sunglasses, you may not be all that concerned about where they are. But if you have a really nice, expensive pair, then you will tend to know their whereabouts. Or, if you went to Disneyland with your children, you wouldn’t just forget about them. Instead, you would keep your eye on them because you want to protect what is dear to you.

In the same way, we are preserved, protected, and kept by the power of God. Peter said, “And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see” (1 Peter 1:5, NLT).

Even so, we, too, have a responsibility. We need to keep ourselves in a place where He can actively show His love to us. We need to keep ourselves in the love of God.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

 

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Greg Laurie – Asking Why  

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I am nothing–how could I ever find the answers? I lay my hand upon my mouth in silence. I have said too much already. —Job 40:4–5

We can ask God why anytime we want to. But I don’t know whether we will really be satisfied with His answers.

If God came down to you on a shining cloud and explained His purposes to you, would it really make it any better? I don’t know that it would. As far as we know, Job never was given the “why” of all the tragedies that befell him. But He was given an incredible revelation of God’s wisdom and power.

When Jesus was in great agony, dying on the cross for our sins, and He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He did ask why. But notice that He prefaced it with, “My God, My God.” It wasn’t an accusation against the Father. Jesus was merely stating the reality of what was taking place in those awful hours, as all of the sin of the world was being placed upon Him who had known no sin. And as the Father turned His holy face away, the Son cried out, “Why have You forsaken Me?” (see Matthew 27:46).

The fact is, Jesus was forsaken that I might be forgiven. But even in His great cry of grief and loneliness over His separation from the Father, as He bore the sins of the world for all time, Jesus still said, “My God, My God. . . .” There was complete trust in the Lord.

You might say, “Well, I have a lot of questions for God. When I get to heaven I’m going to ask Him some things. In fact, I’ve got a list.”

You just keep that list with you. Take it with you everywhere you go, and then if you die unexpectedly, you’ll have it handy to pull out and ask God when you stand before Him.

Somehow, I don’t think that is the way it will be. I suggest to you that when you arrive in heaven, when you see your Creator, your God, your Savior in all His blazing glory, you’ll forget all about your little list of questions. One commentator wrote, “I had a million questions to ask God, but when I met Him, they all fled my mind, and it didn’t seem to matter.”

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

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Greg Laurie – Equipped for Rough Roads    

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When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t treat them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence. —James 1:2–4

Suffering makes us strong. God allows hardship in our lives so that our beliefs—those handholds of faith in a troubled world—will became more and more real to us and less and less theory. We can start living out our faith-life in the real world.

I’m reminded of all the people you see on the road these days driving those gleaming new SUVs. Most of these fancy rigs have four-by-four capabilities. In other words, you could drive them through the mud or power up some rocky track on a mountainside.

But how many people really do that? Some guys brag to their buddies and say, “Yeah, just look at this thing. Look at what it can do. I could drive this baby up the side of a building.”

“Well,” someone might ask, “do you want to go out in the dirt?”

“Are you kidding? Do you know how much I paid for this thing? There’s no way! In fact, I was just on the way to the car wash.”

So they never want to actually use that vehicle for its intended purpose—what it was actually designed to do.

We can be that way with our beliefs. We talk about believing this and believing that and about the truths we hold dear. But I can hear God saying to us, “You know, you have a lot of really great beliefs. You talk about them all the time. You talk about how you believe I can provide for your every need. Okay. Let Me put you into a situation where you have no other resources and really have to trust Me for that provision.”

You see, God can allow these hardships and trials and shortfalls in our lives so that we will exercise our sometimes flabby faith muscles and step out on trust alone. We need to transfer our faith from the realm of theory to in-the-trenches reality.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

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Greg Laurie – A True and Loyal Friend      

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You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. —Romans 5:6–8

Two men camping in the forest were enjoying their morning coffee when they suddenly spotted a very large, hungry grizzly bear lumbering toward them. One of the men quickly pulled on his running shoes. “Do you actually think you can outrun that grizzly bear?” his friend asked.

“I don’t need to,” he replied. “All I have to do is outrun you.”

We’ve all had friends like that, haven’t we? At the first threat of danger or hardship or difficulty, they’re out the back door. So what makes for true friendship? It has been said that a true friend is one who walks in when others walk out. Thankfully, there have been people in my life who have stood by me and have been honest friends. But there’s one thing of which I’m confident: I have found a true and loyal friend in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ offers His friendship to us. In fact, the New Testament goes so far as to say that we have been called by God the Father into fellowship with His Son (see 1 Corinthians 1:9). But is it all one way? Do we really expect a friendship without a response on our part? A genuine relationship, obviously, is made up of two people committing themselves to one another. I can extend friendship to you, but until you return it to me, I can’t legitimately say we’re really friends.

Jesus demonstrated His willingness to have a friendship with us by what He did for us. He said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). Jesus forever proved just how dedicated He was to us when He did just that.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

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Greg Laurie – Trusting in the Dark Times

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When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. —Ephesians 3:14–15

Why does God even allow Satan to exist? Have you ever wondered that? As the Evil One says in his own words, he is restlessly going back and forth across the earth (see Job 1:7), looking for trouble . . . looking for lives to ruin . . . looking for saints to stumble. Why does God allow him to carry on? Why doesn’t the Lord just take him out, as He could in a nanosecond?

You might be surprised to know that Satan, in his own twisted way, serves the purposes of God. You ask, How in the world could that be?

Just consider this. Satan unwittingly played a major role in the cross of Christ. In his enduring hatred for God’s Son, the Devil thought it would be a great idea to have Jesus betrayed, arrested, beaten within an inch of His life, and then crucified and put to death on a Roman cross.

Everything went according to Satan’s plan. As Jesus told the mob who came to apprehend him, “This is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns” (Luke 22:53, NLT).

The power of darkness did indeed reign that day, and Satan’s plan succeeded. But so did the plan of God. What the Evil One didn’t realize was that it was the Father’s plan all along that the Messiah would die for the sins of the world. In the prophecy of Isaiah, we’re told, “It was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer” (Isaiah 53:10, NIV). Unaware that he was making the biggest blunder since his rebellion against God, Satan played into the plan and purpose of God when, in his rage and hatred, he inspired Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (see Zechariah 11:12-13).

Satan’s “best shot” against God and the people of God was the crucifixion of the God-man, Jesus Christ. And in that act he not only unwittingly sealed his own doom, but he opened the door for Jesus to offer redemption and salvation to the whole world.

Remember then, if you hold on to God and trust Him through the dark times, that Satan’s best shots against you also will end up working for your good . . . and God’s glory.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

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Greg Laurie – The Back Door    

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No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.—1 Corinthians 10:13

There is always a way out. There is always a back door. (Sometimes it may even be the front door or perhaps a window.) You may think you’re trapped and that there is no way out of Satan’s web. But there always is! The enemy may harass you, but he can never exceed what God, in His grace and wisdom, allows.

On one occasion Satan came asking for permission to assault Simon Peter. Jesus turned to the fisherman and said, essentially, “Simon, Simon, Satan has been asking for you by name that you would be taken out of the care and protection of God.”

It’s interesting that Satan asked specifically for Peter. Has he ever asked for me by name? I doubt it. I don’t know that I have ever been tempted by the Devil himself.

Let me explain. I have certainly been hit with temptations orchestrated by the Devil, but Satan only can be in one place at one time. Sometimes we think of him as roughly God’s equal, only on the dark side. We know that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and everywhere-present, and we may imagine Satan to have similar attributes. He doesn’t. The Devil is not God’s equal. The Devil is a powerful spirit being, but he has limitations. He can’t be all over the world, tempting and harassing everyone at the same time. That is why he employs his vast army of demons. So even though Satan himself may have never tried to tempt me and drag me down, he’s had lots of help over the years.

In the case of Peter, however, the Devil didn’t want to trust an attack to one of his underlings. He came knocking himself. Peter was a big fish and a direct threat to Satan’s kingdom.

Immediately aware of Satan’s designs, Jesus warned Peter, assuring him, “I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith should not fail” (see Luke 22: 32).

Jesus prays for you, too. He is your Advocate and speaks in your defense when the Evil One tries to slander you before the Father.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

 

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Greg Laurie – The Truth About Happiness    

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Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! —Habakkuk 3:17–18

Today’s Scripture from the book of Habakkuk is a magnificent description of a heart that holds on to joy by faith. The prophet looked around him and knew he was in a season of deep trouble and need. But in spite of all the negative circumstances, he said, “I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in my God.”

Solomon said, “For the happy heart, life is a continual feast” (Proverbs 15:15, NLT). The psalmist wrote that in the presence of God there is fullness of joy and at His right hand pleasures forevermore (see Psalm 16:11). Jesus said, “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10, NLT). God wants us to experience joy as believers—not a fickle happiness that depends on circumstances or changes with the wind direction, but a joy that remains in spite of what may be taking place around you.

Anyone can be relatively happy when things are going well. But when you face adversity or sickness or hardship and then rejoice, you show that something supernatural has occurred in your life. In fact, you show yourself to be a real Christian. This is a unique trait of believers—that we can rejoice when things go wrong.

How do we do it? We find the key in Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” Paul didn’t say to rejoice in circumstances. Rather, he said to rejoice in the Lord. In other words, God is still on the throne. You’re still going to heaven. You’re still forgiven. God still has a plan for your life; He has not abandoned you. We need to take joy in the Lord always. That is the key. I recognize that in spite of what I may be going through right now, His plans for me are still good. And He will never leave or forsake me.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

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Greg Laurie – God Is Good . . . Period      

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No one is good–except God alone. —Luke 18:19

Why does God allow tragedy? Why does He allow babies to be born with disabilities? Why does He permit wars to rage? If God can prevent such hardships and heartaches, why doesn’t He?

Here is the classic statement of the problem: Either God is all-powerful but He is not all good, therefore He doesn’t stop evil. Or, He is all good but He is not all-powerful, therefore He can’t stop evil. And the general tendency is to blame all of the problems of the world on God, to say that God is the one who is somehow responsible.

“If God is so good and loving,” people will say, “why does He allow evil?” By even stating it in that way, however, what they’re really saying is they don’t believe God to be good and loving.

By questioning God’s goodness and love, we are in essence saying that we know more about it than He does. The fact is, God doesn’t become good because that is our opinion of Him or because we happen to personally agree with His actions or His words. Nor does He become good because we vote on it and all agree that is the case.

God is good because God says He is good. And it is not up for a vote.

You see, God is good whether I believe it or not, and He alone is the final court of arbitration. As the apostle Paul said, “Let God be true, and every human being a liar” (Romans 3:4, NIV).

What, then, is “good”? Good is whatever God approves. And by the same token, bad is exactly what God says is bad. Some might say, “That’s circular reasoning,” but I would describe it as biblical reasoning. The Word of God is our source of truth, defining right and wrong and what our values ought to be.

In Isaiah 1:18 we read, “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the Lord.” God is saying, “Here’s the way I see things. You need to see it the way I see it.” And He goes on to tell us that His thoughts are above our thoughts and His ways are above our ways.

He is good. If you don’t start there, you’ll never get anywhere.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

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Greg Laurie – A Calm Heart in the Storm   

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The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. —2 Timothy 4:18

Paul could have a calm heart in the middle of the mother of all storms because he knew he was in the center of God’s will for his life. He was on business for God.

In his prison cell back in Caesarea, Jesus Himself had stood by Paul and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome” (Acts 23:11). Then, in the middle of the storm out at sea, an angel stood by Paul with this message from God: “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar” (Acts 27:24).

Bear witness at Rome . . . brought before Caesar . . .

Paul knew that God would get him to where he was supposed to be—at the right time, in the right place, and with whatever he needed to complete the job at hand. With these things in mind, Paul could even relax in the middle of a hurricane . . . just before a shipwreck. He knew he had heaven’s business to transact in Rome, and he knew that God would get him through any difficulty along the way. He was walking in God’s plan, and he could rest in the fact that it was God’s responsibility to get him through—rough seas or not!

The same is true of our service to the King. No, we aren’t assured of smooth sailing, and we’re not promised immunity from shipwrecks (or viper bites!) along the way. But we are definitely assured of a safe arrival. Know this: As long as God has work for us to do here on earth, we will be here to do it. God will preserve us to do it. And when that work is done, it is done, and He’ll bring us home to heaven—not a moment too soon and not a moment too late.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

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Greg Laurie – Thorn in the Flesh

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To keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.—2 Corinthians 12:7
Paul’s thorn in the flesh that he mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12 could have been some kind of disability, something he’d been born with. More likely, it was something he incurred later in life as a result of his many beatings, shipwrecks, or the time he was stoned and left for dead.
Whatever it was, it bothered him greatly—to the point that he asked the Lord on three separate occasions to take it away. Each time, however, the Lord said no, telling Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you” (verse 9). Effectively Jesus was saying, “Paul, I’m not giving you healing this time. I’m giving you Me. I’m giving you My presence, and that is My answer to you.”
Sometimes when we have physical afflictions, the healing will come. By all means pray for it, and pray more than once. Ask the Lord to touch you, heal you, restore you. But there are times in our lives too when He will say, “My grace is sufficient.” And instead of a healing, He personally will be there for you in a unique and sufficient way.
God is with you regardless of what hardship, heartache, or storm you may be enduring right now. You are not alone.
I remember teaching my granddaughter Stella some Bible verses when she was only twoand-a-half. One was: “Jesus said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ ” Stella did pretty good with it, even though she said “porsake” instead of “forsake.” I don’t think she even understands what it means yet. But that’s okay; she is hearing God’s Word and getting it into her little heart.
What a truth to hang on to! What a handhold in any storm! He will never leave or forsake you . . . even when tragedy hits . . . even when your company downsizes, and you get the dreaded pink slip . . . even when the doctor calls and says, “The test results are back, and I need you to come to my office immediately” . . . even when the phone rings and someone says, “There’s been an accident.”
You aren’t alone. The Lord is standing next to you. He cares. He will be there.
Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – What It Means to Prosper

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I know that as you pray for me, and as the Holy Spirit helps me, this is all going to turn out for my good.—Philippians 1:19
Sometimes I think that today’s “prosperity preachers” have hijacked a legitimate biblical term. After all, God does want His sons and daughters to prosper. But what does that really mean? That you’ll never get sick? Never have problems? Never run out of money? Never have strains in your relationships? No, that is not what the Bible means by “prosperity.”
Five years before making his journey to Rome, Paul wrote to the believers there and said in Romans 1:10, “Making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you.” In other words, “Hey, would you guys pray for me? I’m coming your way. And pray that the Lord gives me a prosperous journey by the will of God.”
Did God answer his prayer? Yes. He did make it to Rome and had an amazing ministry there of preaching, teaching, discipleship, and writing. He just hadn’t understood that getting to Rome would mean false accusations, arrest, incarceration, and chains. He couldn’t have foreseen that it would involve hurricane-force winds at sea, shipwreck on an island, and the bite of a poisonous viper on the way.
The reality is that you can live a prosperous life in the will of God and still face fierce personal conflict and adversity. Paul went through a shipwreck on his way to Rome, but he had a prosperous journey by the will of God because of what it ultimately accomplished.
Facing storms and shipwrecks in our lives really isn’t a matter of if; it is a matter of when. So it’s time for us to get our sea legs under us. Rather than trying to avoid the storms of life, we need to learn how to get through them, how to survive them, and how to learn the lessons that we can only learn in such times and such places.
It has been said that you can’t direct the wind, but you can adjust your sails. In other words, I can’t control all the elements of my world—or even very many of them at all. But I can control my reaction to them. I can adjust my sails—and adapt.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Break the Glass!

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You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.—Psalm 56:8
When you’re hurting and no one else seems to understand, God understands. You can bring a burden before the Lord that may seem insignificant to someone else. Whatever weighs on your heart is a concern to Him, and He wants you to talk to Him about it. As it says in the J. B. Phillips version of 1 Peter 5:7, “You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern.”
David understood this when he wrote, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book,” (Psalm 56:8, NLT). That is a wonderful insight into the personal compassion that God has for each and every one of us.
We are prone to only pray about the “big things.” We tend to think of prayer as a last resort, like the fire alarms that say, “In case of emergency, break this glass.” If it’s a little fire, so to speak, we think, I can handle this, and we’ll put the fire out. But if half the building is burning, then we go ahead and break the glass.
What is God telling us?
Break the glass.
No matter what it may be, run to Him in prayer. Don’t wait for a small thing to become a big thing. Your heavenly Father is interested in every detail of your life. Don’t reduce the infinite to the finite by placing a limit on God, because He says, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14).
Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything” (NLT). Note the word everything. It doesn’t say, “Pray about some things.” Nor does it say, “Pray about really big things.” I checked the original language, and guess what? It says “everything” in Greek and “everything” in English. And that is just what God intended. Pray about everything.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Shipwrecks   

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Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. —2 Corinthians 11:25

Writing to the church in Corinth, the apostle Paul said, in effect, “Trust me. I’ve been through it. I know more than I ever wanted to know about shipwrecks.”

I have never been literally shipwrecked, but I have been through some pretty rough seas. I remember being on one of those Bible study cruises years ago with a group of people from our church. We were trying to have an evening service as the ship bounced and rocked on the choppy waves. People were getting sick and lurching out of the room. Let’s just say the pastor gave an early benediction and ended the service before it ever really got started. But that wasn’t a shipwreck; it was only rough seas.

We’ve all had our share of rough seas, haven’t we? I’ve had my share of hardships in life. More than many? Perhaps. But not as many as some. I remember thinking not that long ago that maybe the days of big shipwrecks in my life were over. Oh, I know there always will be some difficulties, challenges, and trials in the Christian life. But I’d found myself hoping that I might somehow escape any big, traumatic events through my remaining years. You know . . . relatively smooth sailing the rest of the way to heaven. But of course, that was not to be with the unexpected death of our oldest son Christopher in July of 2008.

Anyone who has ever done any sailing can tell you how rapidly the weather can change—how quickly you can find yourself facing stiff winds and rising seas. The fact is, we can’t know what’s ahead of us in life. We can’t see the storms that may be churning just over the horizon. But God can!

And what was true for the psalmist in a time of uncertainty and great storms is true for you and me as well: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake. . . . The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Psalm 46:1-3, 7, NIV).

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

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Greg Laurie – The Positive Side of Adversity

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My troubles turned out all for the best–they forced me to learn from your textbook. Truth from your mouth means more to me than striking it rich in a gold mine. —Psalm 119:71–72

Here’s the problem in a nutshell: our definition of good is what benefits us in the here and now, not in our eternal life to come. In other words, we are interested in what will benefit us temporarily, but God is interested in what will benefit us eternally. We are interested in what will make us happy for a while, but God is far more interested in what will make us holy.

So here is the key. Jesus loves us, and He wants to be glorified through our lives. In view of that reality, He won’t always remove suffering because it can make us stronger and bring us closer to Him. Even though we would never choose it, suffering can give us a greater platform for glorifying God and pointing others toward Him.

Adversity levels us and keeps us humble. Success or prosperity has a tendency to make people proud and self-sufficient. We may not feel an overwhelming need for God when we have our salary, our investments, our career, our 401k, our homes, our health, and our family. But when the economy goes south or the stock market crashes or our home burns, we have the opportunity to turn back to God with all our hearts, being reminded of what really matters in life.

The truth is, you and I shouldn’t always be so afraid of pain. There’s something worse than pain: it is a prosperity that leads us to forget about God.

Adversity teaches us eternal truths we might not otherwise learn. For most of us, our basic objective in life is to avoid pain at all costs. Bottom line, we just want to dodge pain whenever we can. We want to get into better shape and look cool in our new gym outfit, but we don’t want to sweat and strain.

No pain, no gain? Alas, it’s true. And what is true of the gym or health club is also true of life. Our pain reminds us of a deeper need: the need for God in our lives. And God will teach us lessons in those valleys that we never would have learned on mountaintops.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Two Homes, Two Foundations

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We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. —Acts 14:22

We don’t always like to read a verse like that. We would rather the passage read, “Through many days of perpetual happiness we enter the kingdom of God.” But that isn’t Scripture, and that isn’t life. Trials and tribulations will come. Job said it well: “Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1, NIV).

Jesus once told a story about two men who built two homes. They may have been built at the same time, close together, and even with the same floor plan. One of the builders, however, erected his home on shifting sand, while the other built on a stable rock foundation.

Then the storms came, hitting both of those houses—hard! The house that had been built on sand collapsed and fell in upon itself, while the one built on the rock stood firm. The obvious moral of the story is to build your life on a foundation that will last, like the one we find in the pages of God’s Word.

But here’s an application we sometimes miss: The storm came to both lives. The wind beat on both houses. The rain poured on both building sites. The man who was wise and carefully chose a stable foundation got hit with the same hurricane-force winds as the man who foolishly took shortcuts and didn’t bother to plan ahead.

We all will experience storms in life. Good things will happen to us as well as tragic and inexplicable things. Every life will have its share of pain. Even so, we have a God who, despite the worst tragedy, can bring good out of bad. That is not to say that God will make bad good because bad is bad. But it is to say that good can come out of bad. As Romans 8:28 affirms, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (NIV).

Life is a process, and as finite beings who live moment to moment, we can’t see around the bend. We can’t discern God’s ultimate purposes. But we can know that the ultimate result will be good . . . because He is good.

Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Every Day with Jesus by Greg Laurie, 2013