See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 

—Ephesians 5:15–16

Scripture:

Ephesians 5:15-16 

There never was a dull day for the first-century followers of Jesus. In fact, it seems that wherever Paul went, there was either a conversion or a riot.

The early church didn’t have modern technology at their disposal. Yet in a relatively short time, these believers changed their world. They permeated their culture.

Tertullian, a Christian leader and a contemporary of these early followers of Christ, said of the church, “We are but of yesterday, and we have filled every place among you—cities, islands, fortresses, towns, marketplaces, the very camp, tribes, companies, palace, senate, forum—we have left nothing to you but the temples of your gods.”

He was pointing to the fact that the church had infiltrated everything. There were even Christians in the palace of Caesar. This is what we need today. We need Christians to go out and make a difference. We need Christians involved in the arts, making great films and creating graphic design. We need Christians in places of authority, because the Bible says that when the righteous rule, the people rejoice (see Proverbs 29:2).

We need Christian doctors, lawyers, and businesspeople. We need believers to let their light shine in this culture today.

Religious leaders in Thessalonica had this to say about Paul and Silas: “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too” (Acts 17:6 NKJV).

G. Campbell Morgan said, “Organized Christianity which fails to make a disturbance is dead.”

Believers in the first century made a disturbance because they understood that God had called them to do their part. They took risks. They left their comfort zones. In the Book of Acts, we see their fearless preaching, their expectant prayer, and their willingness to obey God.

Twenty-first-century believers should be living like these first-century believers, impacting our culture. We should be making a difference. We should be turning our world upside down.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Then we will not turn back from You; revive us, and we will call upon Your name. 

—Psalm 80:18

Scripture:

Psalm 80:18 

We can’t create a revival. We can’t organize a revival. But we can agonize in prayer for a revival. A revival is a supernatural invasion of God. It is something that God does for us and not something we do for Him.

One person defined revival as a community saturated with God. Richard Owen Roberts, who wrote a great book called Revival, described it as “an extraordinary movement of the Holy Spirit producing extraordinary results.”

A. W. Tozer defined revival as that which changes the moral climate of the community.

Revival is nothing more or less than a new beginning of obedience to God.

And really, nonbelievers don’t need revival; they need salvation. The church needs revival. Revival is for believers only, but evangelism is for nonbelievers.

Charles Spurgeon said, “To be revived is a blessing which can only be enjoyed by those who have some degree of life. Those who have no spiritual life are not, and cannot be, in the strictest sense of the term, subjects of a revival. A true revival is to be looked for in the Church of God.”

I don’t think most Americans have heard an authentic, biblical gospel presentation. In fact, I think we have a lot of “almost Christians” in our nation today. They know a little about the gospel, but they don’t understand it fully. They haven’t responded to it or embraced it.

For example, when the apostle Paul presented the gospel to Herod Agrippa, the ruler said, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28 NKJV).

One of the greatest revivals in human history started with one man, Jonah. Initially he ran from God, but ultimately he came to his senses. God has called us, like Jonah, to go and preach the gospel. The question is, are we doing it?

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed! 

—Jonah 3:4

Scripture:

Jonah 3:4 

It was a stunning spiritual awakening. An entire city of about one million people turned to God. They even turned from their sin of violence, which they were known for. God spared Nineveh and sent a nationwide revival.

Amazingly, they turned to God after they heard this simple message from Jonah: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” (Jonah 3:4 NLT).

The very fact that Jonah gave them a warning was somewhat hopeful. For instance, when God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, He didn’t send a warning. There was no prophet walking through their streets. Judgment came suddenly.

But in Nineveh’s case, Jonah warned them. And the Bible tells us that “the people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow” (verse 5 NLT).

This reminds us that no one is beyond the reach of God. These people were exceptionally wicked, yet God saved them.

Do you know someone who is a sinner with a capital S? You can’t imagine, in your wildest dreams, that they ever would come to faith in Christ.

God can save that person. Remember, Saul of Tarsus was converted. He hunted down, tortured, and killed Christians. Yet God took hold of him. So, start praying for that unbeliever by name.

I think sometimes we prepare for failure, not success. A young preacher once complained to Charles Spurgeon that whenever he preached, no one came to Christ.

“Do you expect people to come to Christ every time you preach?” Spurgeon asked.

“Well, of course not.”

“That is your problem,” Spurgeon told him.

Missionary William Carey said, “Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.” That’s what we need to do. Could God send another spiritual awakening to America? I believe that He could. I believe that He can. And I pray that He will.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights 

—Jonah 1:17

Scripture:

Jonah 1:17 

Tarshish is about as far away from Nineveh as you can get. Yet that’s where Jonah went when God told him to go to the city of Nineveh and preach. He boarded a boat going in the opposite direction.

As a result, God sent a storm that was so bad, it even alarmed the seasoned sailors. They tried to figure out why this storm had come and realized the culprit was a passenger named Jonah. They brought him up on deck and asked him what was going on.

Jonah told them he was an Israelite and served the Lord God of Israel. This was the miracle-working God, the same God who parted the Red Sea, drowned the entire Egyptian army, and sent supernatural food from Heaven. So they said to Jonah, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?” (Jonah 1:11 NJKV).

Jonah told them that if they threw him overboard, the storm would stop. They kept trying to row to land with no success, so eventually they threw him overboard. Then a great fish swallowed Jonah.

Now, was this God’s way of getting even? Was He saying, “All right, Jonah. You messed up. It’s payback time”? That is how some people see God. But God doesn’t deal with people that way, especially His own children.

This wasn’t about getting even. This was about disciplining one of His own kids. Because God loves us, He will discipline us when we go astray. God’s discipline is preparation for a future task. His discipline tells us that He has something more for us to do. And if you are one of God’s kids, He will discipline you.

God was preparing Jonah for his greatest work yet, and He revived and recommissioned Jonah.

In the same way, revival starts with you. It starts with me. And nothing can happen through us until it has first happened to us.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me. 

—Jonah 1:2

Scripture:

Jonah 1:2 

One of the largest spiritual awakenings in human history swept one of the most wicked cities ever, the city of Nineveh.

The people of Nineveh were so bad that they effectively stunk to high heaven. The first chapter of Jonah tells us, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me’” (verses 1–2 NKJV).

We could translate the phrase “their wickedness has come up before Me” to say, “Their wickedness has reached the highest pitch.”

The Ninevites’ cruelty was legendary. Historical records include graphic accounts of how they treated their captives. When the Ninevites plundered a city, they burned children alive, tortured adults, and even skinned people and hung their skin on the walls. They built monuments out of the skulls of those they beheaded.

We can see why the city stunk to high heaven.

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, a superpower of the day. With the strongest military power, Assyria had essentially ruled the world for two hundred years. But things were about to change. A more powerful military was about to overtake Nineveh and Assyria. Effectively the days of this nation were numbered.

Every nation’s days are numbered. We know this historically. Every nation has a moment when it is born and a moment when it dies—or is diminished dramatically. And that is true for the United States of America.

We know that judgment is coming. It is only a matter of time. So, let’s pray that God will send at least one more spiritual awakening to our nation before judgment comes. If God could bring a mighty revival in Nineveh, then certainly He could do the same for the United States.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death 

—2 Corinthians 7:10

Scripture:

2 Corinthians 7:10 

Sometimes we confuse remorse or regret with repentance. The person who gets caught in a lie is sorry. The criminal who gets arrested is sorry. But are they repentant? I don’t know. Maybe the person who lied will just be more careful the next time. And the criminal will plot his next crime with more foresight. But that isn’t repentance.

For example, Exodus 9 tells us that Pharaoh, who was hardened in his sin, acknowledged the sin existed. He called for Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned this time. The Lord is righteous, and my people and I are wicked” (verse 27 NKJV).

That’s good, but then he continued to sin against God, and ultimately God judged him. He never came to faith.

Saul, the king of Israel, said at one point, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord” (1 Samuel 15:24 NKJV). But does that mean he changed his life? No. He continued as he had been living, and he threw his life away.

The Bible also tells us about a rich, young ruler who approached Jesus, wanting to know how to have eternal life. Jesus gave him the answer, and he went away sorrowful but not repentant.

Even Judas Iscariot was sorry because he betrayed Jesus. But he didn’t do anything with that sorrow. His sorrow did not lead to repentance.

It isn’t enough to be sorry. We must do something about it.

The Bible says that “godly sorrow produces repentance.” Repentance means that we are willing to change. Repentance means being sorry enough to stop.

It is not enough to be sorry. God’s people need to repent of the sins they have committed. Are you ready to turn your back on sin and follow Jesus? He will give you the strength to do what He has called you to do.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the LORD will not hear. 

—Psalm 66:18

Scripture:

Psalm 66:18 

I wonder whether people even know what shame is anymore. The things that once embarrassed us are being proclaimed as virtues today. Everything is upside down. Wrong has become right. Right has become wrong. And we’ve forgotten how to blush.

This is what Daniel was describing when he prayed, “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You” (Daniel 9:8 NKJV). And Daniel personally repented.

Throughout the Book of Daniel, we don’t read of Daniel sinning. That doesn’t mean he lived a sin-free life, because he was human like the rest of us. But Daniel lived a godly life. And this man of God thought it was necessary to personally repent because he didn’t want unconfessed sin to get in the way of his relationship with God.

This reminds us that the closer we get to God, the greater the sense of our own sinfulness will be. Just about the time you think you’re reaching spiritual maturity, God will show you a little more of your heart, and you will realize how far you have to go.

The more you know of the Lord, the more you will see that you still need to change. There isn’t some spiritual plateau where we finally will be above it all. It isn’t going to happen in this life.

The more you grow, the more you will realize that you need to grow more. The more you learn, the more you will realize that you need to learn more. But it’s a great pursuit.

Is there any sin that you need to repent of? Is there any area of your life that is displeasing to the Lord? Don’t allow it to get in the way of your relationship with God. Get rid of it. Let it go.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. 

—Revelation 2:5

Scripture:

Revelation 2:5 

When we talk about the need for revival in our country, we must first individually ask ourselves these questions: Am I personally revived? Am I living as a committed, on-fire follower of Jesus Christ?

If we are not, then we’re part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Here’s what Jesus said to the church of Ephesus in the Book of Revelation: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love” (2:2–4 NKJV).

It’s clear they weren’t lazy. They were discerning, persevering believers. And they were making a difference. But Jesus was saying, “That’s all great, but we have a problem here. You have left your first love.”

What does that mean? It means that in spite of all their activity, they had lost that first passion when Jesus was their highest priority. They still believed. They hadn’t abandoned their faith. But they were spiritually drying up. They were leaving their first love, and they needed to be revived.

Jesus went on to give them the three Rs of revival: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent” (verse 5 NKJV).

Remember. Repent. Repeat. Remember from where you have fallen. Repent and do the first works. And repeat. Go back and do what you did before.

Let’s remember the three Rs of revival and put them into practice, because we need to be revived before God. We need a personal revival.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Thus says the LORD: “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. 

—Jeremiah 6:16

Scripture:

Jeremiah 6:16 

The first-century church, the one that Jesus started, turned their world upside down. They set their world on fire.

On the other hand, the church of today, which is much larger than the first-century church, has considerable resources and technology to use. Yet it seems as though the world is turning the church upside down.

Why aren’t we setting the world on fire? It’s because we need a revival. We need an awakening.

Speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16 NKJV).

Historically, revivals often began with one person who decided to do something. For example, in 1857, businessman Jeremiah Lanphier decided to start a prayer meeting on Fulton Street in downtown New York. Only a handful of people showed up to pray at the first meeting on September 23.

But Lanphier was persistent, and they kept meeting for prayer. Then something dramatic took place. The stock market crashed, and suddenly the prayer meeting grew. Then prayer meetings began popping up throughout New York City. And within six months, ten thousand people were gathering for prayer throughout the city, calling on the name of the Lord.

Within eighteen months of that first prayer meeting on Fulton Street, an estimated one million people had come to faith in Jesus Christ. It wasn’t orchestrated. It wasn’t a campaign planned by people. Rather, it was a work of God in which He poured out His Spirit. We need to see that today.

Any genuine revival will bring about repentance in the lives of the people, a change in the community, and evangelism en masse.

Jeremiah Lanphier was not a preacher. He wasn’t famous. He was an ordinary person who decided to pray. And you can do the same.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 

—Psalm 51:12

Scripture:

Psalm 51:12 

At my house we have electronic gadgets, like most people do, and each one has an alarm. The microwave signals when my food is ready. An alarm on the dryer lets me know that it’s time to take the clothes out. The printer signals when it’s out of paper.

And all these gadgets also have error codes. When an error code appears, I have to consult the user’s manual to find out what’s wrong. Then I’ll try to correct the problem.

I think there are multiple error codes flashing across the United States today. We’re standing at a crossroads. We have never been in worse shape morally. Crime continues to explode. Families continue to splinter. And the fabric of society continues to unravel.

Meanwhile, God has given us His user’s manual for life: the Word of God, the Bible. It tells us what to do when a society unravels. And what we need today in America—and around the globe—is a far-reaching, Heaven-sent revival.

The word revive means “to restore to original condition.” A lot of people today like to restore old cars, and they’re sticklers about original paint and original parts. They want the original equipment.

In the same way, to be spiritually revived means to get back to God’s original design. Charles Finney, who was part of a great revival, described it this way: “Revival is nothing more or less than a new beginning of obedience to God.”

A real revival isn’t something that we start or stop; it’s something that God supernaturally does. There are times in history when God has intervened. Each of these divine interventions has come during a very dark time when there was a moral breakdown. Then God, in His grace, stepped in and brought about a spiritual awakening.

We need a real revival today. We need to see God work because our nation needs it as never before.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. 

—Psalm 139:23–24

Scripture:

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln said, “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. . . . But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.”

One person in the Oval Office, in Congress, or on the Supreme Court cannot get to the deepest part of America’s problems. That is because our deepest problems are spiritual. And the only hope for America is a spiritual awakening.

God gave us His recipe for revival when He said, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV).

There’s an interesting nuance regarding the word “pray.” Of the twelve Hebrew words employed to address this verb, the one in this verse means “to judge self habitually.”

God didn’t say, “If My people who are called by My name will love themselves . . .” We already do that. Rather, God was saying that we need to judge ourselves.

That means we are to come into God’s presence and say, “Lord, if there is anything in my life that is displeasing to You, show it to me.” Like the psalmist, we should pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23–24 NKJV).

We are to set aside our own aims, goals, ambitions, and desires in life, giving up our own wills. That is what it is to follow Jesus.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 

—Ephesians 4:3

Scripture:

Ephesians 4:3 

When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you become part of the church. You are a part of the body of Christ. And because we’re all together in this new family, we should do nothing to unnecessarily disrupt it.

In Ephesians 4 the apostle Paul used the human body to illustrate the church. He wrote, “For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all” (verses 4–6 NLT).

Paul was saying that we need to keep unity in the church. For instance, all the parts of your body need to work together. Your brain sends signals to your hands, and your hands do thus and so, working together. You don’t want your hands to break loose and do their own thing.

In the same way, the church must work together as a body. We are part of the body of Christ, and we need to cooperate with each other.

However, Paul wasn’t saying that it doesn’t matter what we believe as long as we work together. Sometimes in our desire for unity, we can end up embracing the wrong people and the wrong beliefs.

We do not want to have unity with someone who doesn’t believe in the essentials of the Christian faith. That doesn’t mean we’re rude. We can disagree and still be pleasant.

But unity between brothers and sisters in Christ is a different issue. We might have differing viewpoints on the order of prophetic events or some other thing. But we shouldn’t break fellowship over that. We build our unity on the truth of what we have learned in Scripture, on the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 

—1 John 3:3

Scripture:

1 John 3:3 

I’ve met people who have an impressive knowledge of the Bible, know Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic, and have a vast knowledge of history. They dazzle you with what they know. But their personal life is in shambles.

They can’t keep a marriage together. They can’t live right before God. And they’re always falling into sin and different troubles. The problem is they’re imbalanced. They have the knowledge. They have the doctrine. And if you were to sit down and talk with them, they would know far more than you may know. But their life is out of balance.

I’ve seen this sometimes with people who love to study Bible prophecy. It’s almost like a hobby for them. Understand, I’m a firm believer in the imminent return of Jesus Christ. I believe the rapture of the church could happen at any time. But some people, in their zeal to see Bible prophecy fulfilled, jump to conclusions.

With that said, there are Christians who are lopsided in another way. They don’t know much doctrinally or what the Bible teaches on certain subjects, but they’re passionate about their faith in Jesus Christ. You might hear them say things like, “Let’s not quibble over doctrine. I just love Jesus.”

That sounds nice, but it’s a dangerous statement. The Bible clearly teaches that in the last days there will be false Christs, false gospels, and even false miracles. If we’re not careful, we might end up loving the wrong Jesus. We might end up believing the wrong gospel. That is where doctrine comes in.

We need the balance of having both areas working together. The Bible tells us, “And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:3 NKJV).

We can have an understanding and belief in prophecy and facts and figures. But if it isn’t affecting the way we’re living, then we’re missing the point.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. 

—Ephesians 4:1

Scripture:

Ephesians 4:1 

I don’t have many childhood memories, but one has stuck with me for quite some time. I was a toddler, and one of my cousins stole my tricycle. With my toddler brain, I reasoned that if I reached my fingers into the spokes and grabbed them, the tricycle would stop.

You can guess what happened. The tricycle didn’t stop, and it felt as though I’d broken every finger. I screamed and cried for a long time.

I certainly don’t have memories of when I took my first steps, but I do remember when both of my sons took their first steps. My son Jonathan fell so many times when he was learning to walk that he had a permanent bruise on his forehead. He would fall, the bruise would start to heal, and then he would fall again. He had bruises on top of bruises.

Walking spiritually can be like that, especially when we’re taking our first steps as new believers. We stumble and fall, we get up, and then we stumble and fall again. It is all part of growing spiritually.

The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus about how to walk spiritually. Walking speaks of effort and having direction with a destination in mind. It speaks of steady motion, regularity, consistency, activity, movement, and progress.

And in Ephesians 4, Paul said, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called” (verse 1 NKJV).

From the original language, the word “worthy” could be translated as “to balance the scales.” It can be applied to anything that is expected to correspond to something else. Paul was saying there needs to be a balance between our belief and our practice.

Our doctrine and belief should affect us in the way that we live.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. 

—Ephesians 4:1

Scripture:

Ephesians 4:1 

I don’t have many childhood memories, but one has stuck with me for quite some time. I was a toddler, and one of my cousins stole my tricycle. With my toddler brain, I reasoned that if I reached my fingers into the spokes and grabbed them, the tricycle would stop.

You can guess what happened. The tricycle didn’t stop, and it felt as though I’d broken every finger. I screamed and cried for a long time.

I certainly don’t have memories of when I took my first steps, but I do remember when both of my sons took their first steps. My son Jonathan fell so many times when he was learning to walk that he had a permanent bruise on his forehead. He would fall, the bruise would start to heal, and then he would fall again. He had bruises on top of bruises.

Walking spiritually can be like that, especially when we’re taking our first steps as new believers. We stumble and fall, we get up, and then we stumble and fall again. It is all part of growing spiritually.

The apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus about how to walk spiritually. Walking speaks of effort and having direction with a destination in mind. It speaks of steady motion, regularity, consistency, activity, movement, and progress.

And in Ephesians 4, Paul said, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called” (verse 1 NKJV).

From the original language, the word “worthy” could be translated as “to balance the scales.” It can be applied to anything that is expected to correspond to something else. Paul was saying there needs to be a balance between our belief and our practice.

Our doctrine and belief should affect us in the way that we live.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. 

—Luke 14:33

Scripture:

Luke 14:33 

When Jesus said, “Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple,” did He mean that Christians must take a vow of poverty and give away every possession?

No. Jesus was saying that we need to surrender our claim to our possessions. It simply means that we understand the ID tags on all that we have are not ours; they’re God’s.

It means that you recognize it is the Lord’s family that He has given you. It is the Lord’s life that you are the steward of. They are the Lord’s resources that you are spending. It is the Lord’s house that He has given to you.

The Bible says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NKJV).

We surrender our claim and say, “Lord, it belongs to You. What do You want me to do?” Then we pursue the path that He has for us.

The apostle Paul summed it up well when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20 NKJV).

The crucified life really means one thing: dying to self. It means losing yourself and, in the process, finding yourself. Through death you find life.

What it doesn’t mean is that we will be miserable and unable to live life to its fullest. It means the opposite. When we discover God’s plan for us, life becomes what it was meant to be.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 

—Luke 14:27

Scripture:

Luke 14:27 

It can sound quite daunting and very unappealing to say, “I’m taking up the cross.”

If we hear someone say they’re living the crucified life, we might think, “I don’t want to hang out with that person. They’re not going to be any fun. They’re never going to laugh or want to do anything enjoyable. I don’t want to live like that. The crucified life sounds restrictive and oppressive.”

But that isn’t the way it is. In fact, it’s the very opposite of the truth.

Jesus said, “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27 NKJV). A disciple must take up the cross and follow Jesus.

There are people today who say they are trying to find themselves. Some will abandon their spouses and children because they want to go find themselves.

Jesus also said, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39 NKJV). Jesus was saying that if you want to find yourself, then lose yourself. If you want to find the purpose of life, meaning, and even personal happiness, then lose yourself.

You come to God and say, “Father, here is my life. Here are my plans, aspirations, and dreams, along with my weaknesses, shortcomings, and sins. I offer it all to You. I believe that Your plans are better than mine.”

Speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV).

God’s plans for us are good, so we can dedicate our lives to Him. If we will live the crucified life, if we will take up the cross, then we will find life.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 

—Luke 14:26

Scripture:

Luke 14:26 

The popularity of Jesus was exploding. Everybody wanted to be near Him. But He could see there were a lot of individuals who didn’t understand what it really meant to be His disciples. He knew that a lot of them were nothing more than fair-weather followers.

One day Jesus turned to the adoring masses and laid out the criteria for what it means to be His disciples. His words still ring true for us today.

These perhaps were among the most solemn and searching words that ever fell from the lips of Jesus Christ. And this is the only time He explained the severity of His terms for disciples.

He began, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26 NKJV).

A statement like that sounds shocking to us today. Why is Jesus asking us to hate members of our families and even our own lives?

In the light of the New Testament, Jesus was not demanding an unqualified hatred. After all, He would not command us to honor our fathers and mothers and then tell us to hate them. Nor would He command husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church and then tell them to hate their wives. And He wouldn’t tell His followers to love their enemies and then hate them.

Jesus essentially was saying, “Are you willing to be more than just a fair-weather friend?”

If you really want to be His disciple and live the Christian life to its fullest, then you must love Jesus more than anyone or anything else.

In what seems to be a paradoxical statement, there is very clear logic: by loving God more than anyone else, we develop a new love for others that we have never known.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. 

—1 Peter 2:2

Scripture:

1 Peter 2:2 

It’s always amazing to watch a baby grow. Babies start with milk for nourishment, then move to baby food, and then are fed digestible adult food. And eventually they graduate to feeding themselves.

Growing up is a process, and we must nurture babies to maturity.

In the same way, when we come to Christ, we’re spiritual babies. The apostle Peter wrote, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2 NKJV). At first, we need spiritual milk. Then we move to baby food, and then we consume food served in bite-sized pieces, which is called a sermon.

But the goal is to learn how to feed ourselves and prepare our own spiritual food, which means that we learn to study the Bible for ourselves.

However, some Christians have never taken the next step. They haven’t grown up spiritually. Although they’ve been Christians for quite some time, they never have really matured.

The writer of Hebrews said, “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God” (6:1 NKJV).

It’s called growing up spiritually.

Paul wrote that God gave us leaders in the church to help us mature and to equip us for the work of ministry. But he also said, “We should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ” (Ephesians 4:14–15 NKJV).

There is more to living the Christian life than receiving forgiveness for our sins and the assurance of Heaven. Are you growing up spiritually?

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” 

—Luke 9:62

As we are looking forward in life, it is so important to put our hand to the plow and serve the Lord.

You might say, “I’m going to wait until I get a little bit older before I really start serving Jesus. Maybe when I’m around 95, I’ll really get serious. I want to have a little fun first. I still want to do some things that interest me personally. I believe in Jesus and want to follow Him, but I will get serious later.”

No, you need to do it now.

Jesus said, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62 NKJV).

To appreciate the point Jesus was making, we have to understand the land in Israel. Putting your hand to the plow meant moving at the decisive moment. It meant moving when it rains.

Between May and October there is hardly any rain in Israel. The ground is dry and hard, and everyone would wait for the first rain. First-century farmers didn’t have the advanced irrigation systems that we have now.

So when the rain came, it was a decisive moment. Whether it was 3:00 PM or 3:00 AM, once it started raining, farmers had to go out with their plows and seed while the ground was still moist. And with their eyes on the furrow, they went forward.

In the same way, we must be aware of the danger and tragedy of the unseized moment. God will bring opportunities into our lives to go out and make a difference, and we have to seize them. If we wait or if we’re not paying attention, we might miss them. And we might become so set in our ways that we’ll have no interest whatsoever in the things of God.

Put your hand to the plow now—and don’t look back.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie