Category Archives: Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – By Faith We walk by faith, not by sight. —2 Corinthians 5:7

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The inspired writers of Scripture did not use the phrase walk by faith in a random way. Those three words are there for a purpose. Notice that the Bible doesn’t tell us to sprint by faith; it tells us to walk by faith. To walk speaks of continual, regulated motion. The Bible says Enoch walked with God. Many believers have their bursts of energy. For a few months, they run. Then they collapse for a while. They need to learn what it is to walk with God.

Of course, most of us like things fast. We have microwave dinners, e-mail, cell phones, and instant messaging. We have so much technology to make our lives a little easier and, most importantly, faster. Then, when we come to the Christian life, we say, “All right, what’s the angle? What’s the shortcut?”

Here it is: “The just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). It’s a day-by-day process.

We are always looking for the angle, for the inside track. But it’s very simple. The Bible declares that the just shall live by faith — not by feeling, not by emotion, not by fear, not by worries — by faith.

I know sometimes that it seems like nothing is happening in terms of our spiritual growth. There are times when we don’t really feel like we are changing, because as we look at ourselves every day, we don’t necessarily see any changes. But as we are walking by faith day by day, month by month, and year by year, we are being transformed.

Colossians 2:6 tells us, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.”

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – God’s Dynamite

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Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News — and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power. —1 Corinthians 1:17

There is explosive power in the message of the gospel because Paul says, “It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes . . .” (Romans 1:16, NLT). The word power that Paul used in this verse originates from the Greek word dunamis. It is the same word Jesus used in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power [dunamis] when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere” (NLT). The English words dynamic, dynamo, and dynamite also have been translated from this word dunamis. Paul was saying the very message of the gospel is the dynamite and dynamic of God.

We often underestimate the raw power of the gospel in reaching even the most hardened heart. We think we need to add to it, dress it up, make it ultracontemporary, gloss it over, or even complicate it. But there is distinct power in the simple message of the life, words, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Never underestimate its appeal. Never be ashamed of its simplicity. Never add to it or take away from it. Just proclaim it, and then stand back and watch what God will do. As Paul said, “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18, NLT).

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Surrender at Gethsemane

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He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.” —Mark 14:34

Have you ever felt lonely? Have you ever felt as though your friends and family had abandoned you? Have you ever felt like you were misunderstood? Have you ever had a hard time understanding or submitting to the will of God for your life? If so, then you have an idea of what the Lord Jesus went through when He agonized at Gethsemane.

Hebrews tells us, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it” (4:15-16 NLT).

The Bible tells us that Jesus was “a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief ” (Isaiah

53:3, NLT). But the sorrow He experienced in Gethsemane on the night before His crucifixion seemed to be the culmination of all the sorrow He had ever known — and would accelerate to a climax the following day. The ultimate triumph that was to take place at Calvary was first accomplished beneath the gnarled, old olive trees of Gethsemane.

It’s interesting that the very word Gethsemane means “olive press.” Olives were pressed there to make oil, and truly, Jesus was being pressed from all sides that He might bring life to us. I don’t think we can even begin to fathom what He was going through. Isaiah 53:5 says that He was crushed for our iniquities.

But look at what that crushing and bruising accomplished. It brought about your salvation and mine. Because of what Jesus went through at Gethsemane, and ultimately at the cross, we can call upon His name. Though it was an unfathomably painful, horrific transition, it was necessary for the ultimate goal of what was accomplished.

Maybe you are at a crisis point in your life right now — a personal Gethsemane, if you will. You have your will; you know what you want. Yet you can sense that God’s will is different. Would you let the Lord choose for you? Would you be willing to say, “Lord, I am submitting my will to Yours. Not my will, but Yours be done”? You will never, never regret making that decision.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Sent to Minister

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Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? —Hebrews 1:14

Do each of us have a guardian angel? I can’t say for sure, but I do know this: Angels are involved in the lives of Christians here on earth. The Bible says, “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (Psalm 34:7). We also read that angels are “ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). So the Bible teaches that we have angels around us as Christians.

Jesus also made an interesting statement when He was speaking about children: “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). So perhaps children have guardian angels. I do think children need guardian angels. You have to always keep your eye on them — especially when they’re young. But whatever the case, angels are involved in our lives.

When you had that close call, it may have been an angel who intervened. Or when something stopped you suddenly, keeping you out of harm’s way, maybe it was an angel. But we are to properly give glory to God for His protection because we aren’t supposed to pray to angels or even thank angels. They are there to do the work of God, like God’s secret agents, and we are to give the glory to God for what happens.

But what about when the accident does take place? What about when the plane does go down? Where was the angel then? I’ll tell you where the angel was: escorting the believer into God’s presence.

When things happen, when life ends suddenly, it doesn’t seem logical to us. But God is still in control. And the angels did their job, guiding us, protecting us, and finally taking us to glory.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The Leaning Tower of You

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No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.—1 Corinthians 3:11–12

Workers laid the foundation for one of Italy’s most famous structures in 1173, a tower designed to stand next to a cathedral. During construction, however, they discovered the soil was softer than previously thought, and the tower began to sink.

Today the top of that tower is nearly thirteen feet off center. People come from around the world to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and scientists travel to Pisa yearly to measure its slow descent. They calculate that at its current rate of decline, and without taking any countermeasures, it will one day collapse.

Nothing is more important in construction work than making sure you have the foundation right. If you don’t get that correct, then nothing else will matter. It may be more fun to decide what color to paint the rooms and how you will decorate the finished structure, but without a proper foundation, nothing else you do will last long enough to make any difference.

Smart and successful Christians build their lives on the right foundation. Scripture makes it clear that the only foundation possible for a sound spiritual life is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians

3:11). And where do you learn about Jesus? In the Word of God. The Word is truth and it will never lead you astray. If you are building your life on the right foundation, which is Jesus Christ, then you’re also regularly getting into the Word. Only that foundation will stand the test of time.

Don’t become the Leaning Tower of You.

Build your life on the foundation of Jesus Christ, as you learn of Him in Scripture and stand straight and tall as the years pass.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – A Legacy that Lasts

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So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. —Colossians 1:28

In his book, Nearing Home, Billy Graham said, “God doesn’t want us to waste our latter years or spend them in superficial, meaningless pursuits. Instead, He wants us to use them in whatever ways we can to influence those who will come after us. God wants us to finish well. . . .”

One day, your most precious possessions will fit inside a hospital drawer. You will leave it all behind and will enter into eternity. What kind of legacy will you leave? If you are a Christian, are you seeking to win people to Christ? Are you helping anyone to get on their feet spiritually, grow, and continue on to serve the Lord?

Someone did this for me. I accepted Christ during a meeting at my high school, but afterward, I was sort of left all alone, wondering what I was supposed to do. But then God brought along someone named Mark. He introduced himself and told me that he wanted to take me to church and that I needed to go to church if I wanted to grow spiritually. He was persistent in a good way. He brought me to church again and again. Mark showed up at a critical moment in my life. If he hadn’t, I tremble to think of where I would have ended up. He was just some regular guy who had a concern for me and took time with me.

You can be that regular person for someone else. Are you doing that? If not, will you start?

You can’t really control when God will call you home. That is not up to you. You don’t determine the date of your birth or the date of your death. But you have everything to do with what you do between those dates. So finish well.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Not Duration, But Donation

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To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. —Ecclesiastes 3:1

As one year comes to an end and another one begins, it is a great time to evaluate how we are doing and where we are going. We want to make sure that we are living our lives the way they ought to be lived because for some of us, this may be the last year.

Reflecting on the passing of human life, ethicist Michael Josephson wrote, “Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours, or days. . . . So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? . . . Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.”

The Bible says, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:1–2). It also reminds us that our times are in God’s hands (see Psalm 31:15). Regarding the length of our lives, Job said to God, “His days are determined, the number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass” (Job 14:5).

God determines how long we will live—not us. We may be able to improve the quality of our lives through diet and exercise. But the quantity of our lives—that is up to God. So we want to make sure that we are living our lives well.

As Corrie ten Boom said, “The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation.”

You determine the evening of your life by the morning of it. So start thinking about it. Start charting the course the rest of your life will take.

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The 3 Things we can give to God in 2014

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As we enter into a new year, here is something to remember: When it’s all said and done, we have three things we can offer God—our treasure, our talent, and our time. Each of these is given to us by God, and each of them should be given back in generous portions.

First, there is our treasure. I urge you to commit yourself to give faithfully and generously to the Lord in this coming year. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21 NKJV). Whenever we put our money into something, we develop a vested interest in it. It makes sense to us that we would place our treasures where our hearts are. If we love reading books, or being entertained, or the latest technology, we spend our treasure on those things. And if our heart’s desires change, that changes where we put our treasure.

But it works the other way too: Where we put our treasures, our heart will follow. Do you want your heart to be in the things of God? Then put your treasures in the things of God! Develop a vested interest in God’s kingdom.

The second thing we can give to God is our talent. God has gifted each believer in different ways. Everyone has something to offer for the work of the kingdom. Romans 12 says, “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us different work to do” (NLT).

Finally, there is our time. Let’s say that one day your phone rang and it was the president of the bank that you use. He told you that an anonymous donor who loved you very much had decided to deposit 86,400 pennies into your bank account each and every morning. At first, maybe that didn’t seem like a lot. But then you figured out that it was $864 a day. At seven days a week and 52 weeks a year, those pennies add up to almost $315,000 each year! But the bank president added one thing: “The anonymous giver said you must spend all of the money on the day you receive it! No balance will be carried over to the next day. Each evening the bank must cancel whatever sum you failed to use! Remember, what you don’t spend is lost.”

That may sound like fantasy, but here’s the reality: Every morning, Someone who loves you very much deposits into your “bank of time” 86,400 seconds, which represent 1,440 minutes, which of course equals 24 hours each and every day. God gives you that much to use each day. Nothing is ever carried over on credit to the next day. There is no such thing as a 27-hour day. It’s called time, and you can’t escape it. Time is ticking away right now. The Bible tells us to “redeem the time”—to make sacred and wise use of every opportunity.

Offer God your treasure, your talent, and your time. Live this next year as if it were your last, because it could be. Make those minutes count!

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – A Pivotal Moment in Church History

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Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.” —Acts 10:28

A pivotal moment arrived in the spread of the gospel by the early church with the conversion of a man named Cornelius. His conversion was significant because Cornelius was not a Jew, but a Gentile.

For us living today in the melting pot called the United States of America, that doesn’t mean a lot. But it did mean a lot to the first-century Jew. Despite the fact that Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel, that really wasn’t happening. Christianity was running the risk of becoming a sect of Judaism.

But that all changed when God impacted one man, and that man was Simon Peter. Peter was pretty much like any other Jew living in his time. He was proud of his heritage, and I don’t mean that in a critical way.

The Jews of this time, however, wanted nothing to do with non-Jews, or Gentiles. So God wanted to redirect the early church to go to the non-Jews and bring them the message of the gospel. And the Lord did that through Peter.

Acts 10 tells us that while Peter was waiting for lunch one day in Joppa, he went up on the housetop to pray. Then he fell into a trance and saw the sky open, while something resembling a sheet was lowered that contained all kinds of unclean animals. Then a voice said, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat” (verse 13).

This wasn’t about food as much as it was about people. God was saying: “Peter, time to leave your comfort zone and reach a whole new group of people—the Gentiles.”

Soon after, Peter preached the gospel to Cornelius and his relatives and friends, and they believed. Peter obeyed God and left his comfort zone, and it changed church history.

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie –The Unpopular Truth

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For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. —1 Timothy 2:5

One of the most often-asked questions regarding the Christian faith goes something like this: “What about the person who has never heard that Jesus is the only way to God? What about the person in the middle of the jungle who has never heard the gospel?” (They are always in a jungle for some unknown reason—or in the desert.)

The teaching that Jesus Christ is the only way to God has never been popular. But maybe it has never been more controversial than it is today. If you want to get someone’s blood boiling, then say that Jesus is the only way to God. The “coexist” bumper sticker on their car will catch fire.

The idea that you would have the audacity to say that Jesus is the only way is, in effect, saying that other religions are not true. That is the way it works itself out, and people don’t like it. It is acceptable if you say that Jesus is a way to God. But when you dare to say that He is the only way, then you can be certain that will have some pushback.

But here is what it comes down to. We have to say what the Bible says, whether it is popular or not. It is not for me to edit the message of the Bible; it is for me, as a Christian, to simply deliver it.

It would be like a doctor’s discovering a very serious problem with a patient’s health, but then being unwilling to say what that problem is, because it might make that patient uncomfortable.

We have to tell people the truth about their real condition, which happens to be sinful, and then seek to save them, which is to point them to Jesus Christ as the only solution.

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Christ the Lord

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Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” —Luke 2:10–11

The angel began that wonderful announcement to the shepherds with, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy. . . .” Maybe you are suffering today. You might find yourself wondering, Where is the joy? But what is the joy about? Is it about an opportunity to go shopping? Is the message of Christmas “Let it snow?” No, it is, “Let us worship.”

The angels’ visit to the shepherds became the first Christmas celebration. It’s as though heaven and earth were celebrating it together, as though a portal to glory had been opened up. These shepherds saw the supernatural world, the heavenly world. On that first Christmas, there was a big celebration in heaven and on earth over the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We have a Savior: “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). That is the most important thing. We have a Savior who came to save us from the power and penalty of sin. Whatever you are going through in life, remember this: you have a Savior. He has put your sins as far away from you as the east is from the west.

Christ means “anointed one.” Another word for that is Messiah. Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promise to send His Son as the Messiah. This is a simple reminder that God keeps His promises. God said that He would send a Messiah, and the Messiah came.

Lord means that we have a sovereign God who is in control of our lives.

So set aside the things you have become preoccupied with and remember that you have a Savior. You have a Lord. You have a Christ. And you have His promises.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie –Just Another Night in Bethlehem

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Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done marvelous things! —Joel 2:21

On the first Christmas Eve, there were no brightly colored lights on anyone’s homes. There were no stockings that had been hung with care or any visions of sugarplums dancing in children’s heads. It was just another night in Bethlehem. The census had gone out—that command by Caesar that everyone was to be taxed. But history was about to change in Bethlehem.

All of Israel was living in a very frightening time historically. They lived under the tyrant King Herod who would execute people at will. In addition, the Jews were living in occupied territory. The Romans had taken control of their country. They were no longer free to do what they wanted and live as they wanted. They wondered if Rome would ever leave. Would the violent rule ever cease? Would their world ever change?

Then suddenly angels appeared to the shepherds and told them not to be afraid; the Messiah had been born.

There is a lot to be afraid of in our unstable, volatile world today. It seems that at every turn, we hear about another horrific tragedy happening in our world. It can cause us to be terrified.

Then there are the personal fears: What if I lose my health? What if I lose a member of my family? What if this happens? What if that happens? A lot of things run through our minds.

Here is the message of the first Christmas—and the message for us this Christmas: Don’t be afraid. . . . I bring you good tidings of great joy.

Ray Stedman wrote, “The chief mark of the Christian ought to be the absence of fear and the presence of joy.”

Does that describe you? Fear is what Christmas came to remove—and now we can have joy in its place.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie –A Divine Birth Announcement

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Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. . . . Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.” —Luke 2:8, 10

If you are a parent, then you can remember the first people you called after you became one. You gave them the weight and length of the baby and the actual time when he or she was born. You shared the news with those who were closest to you.

When God announced the birth of His Son, whom did He tell first? It seems likely that he would have started with Caesar Augustus. He could have sent the angel Gabriel to appear in Caesar’s court and announce, “Check this out, buddy. You are not God! The Savior of the world has arrived!”

Or He might have had Gabriel appear to the religious leaders and say, “Wake up! The Messiah has been born! The One you talk about, the One you pray for—He is here!”

But that didn’t happen. Instead, God first announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds. We tend romanticize the shepherds along with everyone else in the Christmas story, but we don’t understand who they were. In this culture, shepherds lived at the bottom of the social ladder. Shepherds were so despised that their testimonies were not even allowed in a court of law. Shepherds did the work that no one else wanted to do. They worked hard, but they were perceived as unclean because they could not observe the ceremonial hand washings. They were the outcasts, the nobodies.

The only people less-regarded than shepherds were those who were suffering from leprosy. Yet God decided to announce His news to some shepherds in the fields as they kept watch over their flocks at night. This was the modus operandi of Jesus, from birth to death. He always appealed to the outcast, to the common, to the ordinary. And that should give hope to ordinary people like us.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie –”I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”

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“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” —Luke 2:14

One of the most familiar carols we hear during the holidays is “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.” The story behind the song, based on a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, is very interesting.

In 1860, Longfellow was at the peak of his success as a poet. Abraham Lincoln had just been elected President, giving hope to many in the nation. But things soon turned dark for America and for Longfellow, personally. The Civil War began the following year, and Longfellow’s wife died of severe burns after her dress caught fire. Longfellow sustained severe burns on his hands and face from trying to save his wife. He was so badly burned that he could not even attend her funeral. In his diary for Christmas Day 1861, he wrote, “How inexpressibly sad are the holidays.”

In 1862, the Civil War escalated and the death toll from the war began to mount. In his diary for that year, Longfellow wrote of Christmas, “‘A merry Christmas,’ say the children, but that is no more for me.” In 1863, Longfellow’s son, who had run away to join the Union Army, was severely wounded and returned home in December. There is no entry in Longfellow’s diary for that Christmas.

For Christmas Day that year, Longfellow wanted to pull out of his despair, so he decided to try to capture the joy of Christmas. He began:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men.

As Longfellow came to the sixth stanza, he was stopped by the thought of the condition of his beloved country. The Battle of Gettysburg was not long past. Days looked dark, and he probably asked himself the question, “How can I write about peace on earth, goodwill to men in this war-torn country, where brother fights against brother and father against son?” But he kept writing and what did he write?

And in despair I bowed my head;

“There is no peace on earth,” I said;

“For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

That could be said of our day as well.

But then, catching an eternal perspective and the real message of Christmas and Christ Himself, he wrote:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep;

“God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Have You Lost Jesus?

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Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.— James 4:8

Apparently it has become a national trend to steal baby Jesus figures from outdoor Nativity scenes. The problem has become so pervasive that churches are now placing GPS tracking devices inside their baby Jesus figures. The approach seems to be working. One church in Old Bridge, New Jersey, reported, “There’s been no attempt of theft since we announced that we’re tracking our Jesus.”

The good news is that the real Jesus cannot be stolen. However, this is a time of year when we can lose Jesus. How ironic that it happens at the very time when we should be celebrating His birth.

We rush around like crazy people, especially during this season. You could inscribe these words on the tombstones of many Americans: hurried, worried, buried. We are the only nation on earth that actually has a national monument called Mount Rushmore. And we can be so busy that we don’t have time for God. I would like go to church, but I am so busy this time of the year. . . . I would like to pray, but there’s so much going on—so many responsibilities. . . . I would like to invest in the kingdom of God, but I have other financial commitments. People are so preoccupied with their lives and what they are doing that they don’t have any time for God.

I think it is because people don’t have time for Jesus that so many are depressed during the Christmas season. People have a romanticized idea of what Christmas ought to be, and when they look at their lives, they are not anywhere close to their ideal. They are expecting Christmas to do what only Christ can do. But if we will make time for Him, then He certainly will have time for us.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Not an Optional Belief

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And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.” —Luke 1:35

I have heard people say that it isn’t important to believe in the virgin birth of Jesus as long as you believe in His death and resurrection. But I beg to differ. If you doubt the Virgin Birth, then you doubt the Word of God. If you doubt the Virgin Birth, then you are actually saying that Mary was an immoral woman who conceived Jesus out of wedlock.

If you doubt the Virgin Birth, then you doubt the character of Jesus. If Jesus had not been born of a Virgin, then He would have been a mere man with no ability to atone for our sins. If there was no Virgin Birth, then there was no sinless Christ. If there was no sinless Christ, then there was no atonement. If there was no atonement, then there is no forgiveness. If there is no forgiveness, then there is no hope of heaven. If you take away the Virgin Birth, you lose everything.

So don’t tell me the Virgin Birth is an optional belief. It is essential that we believe the Word of God when it says that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was supernaturally conceived in Mary’s womb. The Lord Jesus was born of a Virgin, He lived, and He voluntarily went to a cross and died for the sins of the world. Then He rose again.

When Mary and Joseph dedicated Jesus in the temple, Simeon said, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against” (Luke 2:34). We either believe in Jesus, or we reject Him.

Gabriel’s announcement to Mary introduced the pivotal point in redemptive history. How people respond to the Child whom Gabriel spoke of will determine their eternal destinies.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Joseph, the Unsung Hero

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Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. —Luke 1:26–27

To me, Joseph is the unsung hero of the Christmas story. Very little is said about him, but he was a righteous man.

Luke’s Gospel tells us that Mary was “betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph” (1:27). This arrangement was a little different than engagements of today. According to the rabbinical writings, there were two stages in a Hebrew marriage. The first, known as the betrothal period, was as legally binding as marriage. If at any time during this phase of marriage either person violated their vows, a formal divorce was required to nullify the marriage. Mary and Joseph were legally married, and during the approximate twelve-month period of their betrothal, they had no physical relationship and lived in separate houses. The second stage was the wedding ceremony, which lasted for seven days.

It was in the first stage of their betrothal that Mary became pregnant with the Son of God. Joseph could have divorced her because of this. His heart must have been broken, but he didn’t want to make a spectacle out of Mary. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20).

Joseph knew that he would be thought of as the husband of the woman who had broken her vow. And indeed Mary went through life with that reputation. The Pharisees once said to Jesus, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God” (John 8:41). In other words, “You were conceived out of wedlock, Jesus.”

Joseph was willing to endure all of that. He loved Mary. He obeyed God. And both of them agreed to God’s plan.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Childlike Faith

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Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. —Luke 1:38

Lord, I want Your will. I will do what You want me to do. I will go where You want me to go. I will say what You want me to say.

Have you ever said that to God? Mary did.

When Gabriel suddenly appeared to her one day and announced that she would be the mother of the Messiah, she was completely obedient, saying, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

I love that. Mary had childlike faith. How open and trusting children are. If my grandchildren are on a step and I tell them to jump to me, they will jump. Why? It’s because so far I’ve caught them (and I plan on continuing to catch them). So when I say jump, they simply jump, with a smile. I catch them, and they want to do it again.

But sometimes when God tells us to jump, we say, “What?” We think, I don’t want to jump. What if God drops me? But He won’t drop us. What kind of parent would do that? Our heavenly Father will catch us.

We often wonder about the will of God for our lives, but here is something to consider: Obedience to revealed truth guarantees guidance in matters unrevealed. Is there something you know to be God’s will for you right now? Have you done it? Don’t ask God to reveal His will beyond that until you take care of what you know is His will. We say that we want God’s will, but often we want Him to reveal it first so we can decide whether or not we are going to do it.

Mary said, “Let it be to me according to your word.” Have you made that commitment as well?

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Surprised to Be Chosen

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And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant.” —Luke 1:46–47

Had Mary lived her life like so many other girls her age, she would have married a poor man, given birth to numerous poor children, never traveled more than a few miles from her home, and died like thousands of others before her. You see, Mary was a nobody living in Nazareth, a nothing town in the middle of nowhere.

But here is the amazing thing: God intervened. Do you think Mary, in her wildest dreams, ever would have imagined that she was the Virgin the prophet Isaiah spoke of when he said, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14)? Do you think when she heard that, she said, “I am going to be that woman. That’s me”? I don’t think the thought even crossed her mind.

She could have said to the angel Gabriel, “Hello? It’s about time you showed up! I always knew I would be the Virgin spoken of by Isaiah! I’ve been waiting for you!”

But that isn’t at all how she responded to Gabriel’s announcement. In fact, it was the very opposite of that. Mary was honestly surprised that God had chosen her. It seems to me that when God uses people, they are always amazed that He would choose someone like them. A truly godly person will never boast of his or her great devotion or holiness. They won’t talk about what they have done for God. Rather, they will talk about what God has done for them.

God chose a young, unknown girl who lived in a relatively unknown city to bring about the most known event in human history. God uses nobodies to tell everybody about Somebody. God specializes in choosing ordinary people and doing extraordinary things with them and through them.

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The “Unsung Hero” of the Christmas Story

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When you set up your nativity set for the Christmas season, one of the figures that is often not noticed, or is put off to one side, is Joseph.

Joseph is not featured in many Christmas songs either. But I believe that Joseph, in many ways, is the unsung hero of the Christmas story. Just as surely as God chose Mary to be the mother of the Messiah, He also chose Joseph. God the Father in heaven chose Joseph to be a stepfather, or father figure on earth, for Jesus!

The angel of the Lord came to Mary and revealed that the Messiah of Israel would be supernaturally conceived in her womb. Hearing Mary was pregnant, Joseph was willing to simply put her away quietly and break the engagement. He did not seem to be buying the whole “supernatural conception” idea. At least he was struggling with it, pondering a life without his dear Mary. But the Angel of the Lord came to him too.

“But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins'” (Matthew 1:20-21).

Joseph could have walked away if he wanted. But to his credit, he stood by Mary and Jesus and, despite the shame, loved that Boy. Mary went through life with a “scarlet A” on her, in the eyes of many. And Joseph went through life being thought of as a man married to a promiscuous woman.

The irony of this is Mary was an extraordinarily virtuous and godly woman. On one occasion, the Pharisees said to Jesus, “At least we weren’t born of fornication!” (John 8:41). The implication of that statement is that Jesus was conceived out of wedlock.

But Mary bore this along with the death of her son on the cross. No, she was not perfect or sinless, nor should we pray to her or through her. But she was faithful to what God asked her to do.

And so was Joseph. He was chosen by God to be the stepfather of God in human form.