Tag Archives: Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – The Antidote to Wandering

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Remembering to Say Thanks

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way . . . — Isaiah 53:6

King David stands as the prime example of someone who lost their first love. We remember him rightfully as the man after God’s own heart—but we also remember David as a murderer and an adulterer.

We may ask the question, how could one who was known for his devotion to God fall so horribly? What were the steps that led to his demise?

David’s steps to losing his first love were subtle—but very real. When David sat on his rooftop watching Bathsheba bathe on that fateful night, he was not walking with the Lord as he once had.

We read earlier in the psalms how David possessed this great devotion and passion for God. But at this particular point in his life, we don’t read of him worshipping or singing love songs to God. David was spiritually idle.

The Bible says that “at the time when kings go out to battle” (2 Samuel 11:1), King David was sitting on his housetop. He was resting on his laurels.

When you stop progressing spiritually, you will soon be a train wreck waiting to happen. We must recognize that deep in our nature we all have a natural tendency to wander.

It is no coincidence that God compares us to wandering sheep. That is our natural tendency. And as an old hymn says, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love.” We are prone to wander.

So the first love Jesus speaks of in Revelation 2:5 is the very thing that will counteract our wandering. Our first love exists as the antidote to the wandering spirit we have. That passion is what keeps us engaged in our relationship with God.

If you make Jesus your first love, everything else will fall into its proper balance.

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Remembering to Say Thanks

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Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! —Psalm 107:8

In the Old Testament, we find an interesting story of how King Jehoshaphat took an uncommon approach when his enemies waged war against him. Instead of sending in his army first, he sent the choir and musicians.

Imagine the scene: “All right, guys, here’s the plan today. An army is out there, armed to the teeth. So we are sending in the choir and the musicians.” If I had been a choir member or musician, I might have wondered whether the king liked our music.

But God had directed Jehoshaphat in this unusual battle tactic. We read that Jehoshaphat appointed people to sing to the Lord, praise the beauty of holiness, and go out in front of the army saying, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever” (2 Chronicles 20:21).

So that is exactly what they did. The Bible tells us that when they began to sing and praise, God sent an ambush against the enemy, and they were destroyed. God’s people were able to go into this situation giving thanks, because He was in control.

In approaching God to ask for new blessings, we should never forget to thank Him for the blessings He has already given.

Have you recently come to God for help and He came through for you? Did you come back to say “thank you”?

If we would stop and think how many of the prayers we have offered to God have been answered and how seldom we come back to God to thank Him, it just might amaze us. We should be just as deliberate in giving thanks to God as we are in asking for His help.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Every Fiber of Your Being

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“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” —Mark 12:30

I find it interesting that Jesus said, ” ‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ” This statement reveals that God is not simply looking for some emotional, gooey kind of love. He is looking for a complete, true love.

You see, some people only love the Lord with all of their soul or with all of their emotion, but they don’t love Him with all of their minds. Other people love God with all of their minds, but they neglect the emotional side of loving the Lord.

Jesus is saying, “I want a love that possesses an emotional, intellectual, and physical backbone.” Jesus desires a love that draws from every fiber of your being—inside and out. Any other kind of love is no love at all.

For example, let’s say you have the greatest physique with bulging biceps, protruding pecs, and rippling abs. In essence, you stand as an incredible specimen of humanity, because you sculpted your body day in and day out at the gym.

But what good is all of that muscle if you have heart disease? You may look good on the outside, but if your heart is diseased and sickened, your physique will not do you one bit of good.

In the same way, if you are attending church, reading your Bible, and praying, but your heart is spiritually diseased with a lack of love for God, you will face a similar dynamic.

Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God expressed His love for us from every fiber of His being. The very least we can do is to love Him back with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

 

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 question 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.

 

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Charles Stanley – Created to Love

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Have you ever wondered if your life has a purpose? The Word of God says it does—one that is both noble and desirable: Every believer was created by God to love and be loved.

God loves you personally and individually, without limit or qualification. He desires to shower you with His affection and kindness. Let me assure you of several things:

God’s love is the most important thing we can know about Him.

The very essence of God’s being—in other words, His personality and nature—is love (1 John 4:8). It is the reason Jesus came to earth, lived a victorious life, and then died to restore man’s relationship with the Father (John 3:16). The most important decision we can ever make is to receive this gift of God.

The Lord’s affection is absolute, unwavering, and sacrificial. Moreover, God’s love is not subject to favoritism. He cares for the sinner as much as He does for the saint. In our human pride or our desire to be “somebody special,” we may find that fact difficult to swallow. But God grants love to each person.

The Bible tells us that the rain falls on the just and the unjust, and the sun shines on the righteous and the wicked (Matt. 5:45). This means that with or without faith in God, everyone experiences certain benefits and blessings from Him. But the person who receives Jesus as Savior is in a position to reap the blessings that accompany an outpouring of love into his or her life.

The Lord’s love is not based upon what we do, what we have, or what we achieve. He freely gives it to us simply because we are His creation. You cannot win or earn more of God’s favor—it has nothing to do with performance. Accept and delight in that truth.

The most important response we can make is to reciprocate God’s love.

John said it simply and eloquently: “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19, NKJV). And Jesus said the first and foremost commandment was this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37). The only acceptable response to God’s great outpouring of love toward you is to love Him back.

We can choose to rebel. And while this doesn’t affect God’s nature, it will change us. Those who refuse to acknowledge and receive divine love cut themselves off from great blessing. Not only that, but such individuals typically yield to anger, hatred, and bitterness. To harden one’s heart toward God is the supreme act of rebellion—in doing so, a person hurts himself far more than he hurts others. Humbly receiving God, on the other hand, brings good into one’s life.

Satan constantly tries to convince us that if we follow Jesus, we will have to give up personal freedom, identity, and pleasure. But those who live apart from God’s love inevitably discover their rebellion did not make them any freer. They may not go to jail, but they end up in emotional or psychological prisons—caught in addiction or trapped by feelings of resentment. The longer they live separated from the Lord’s love and mercy, the less pleasure they find in life. In that situation, it is easy to become cynical, jaded, critical, and in the end, apathetic to nearly everything.

But those who embrace and reciprocate God’s love enjoy inner freedom they never imagined. They develop as individuals, discovering hidden talents and abilities. They experience true delight in God’s creation and know the joy of perpetual discovery.

When we choose to love and obey God, we can be sure He will guide us toward doing what will bring about the greatest fulfillment in life.

God’s love is our ultimate reason to hope.

If we know with certainty that God loves us and desires good for our lives, what is there to fear? Hope in Christ is for everyone. It compels us not to remain in a state of dread, doubt, or worry but to seek transformation by the Holy Spirit’s power. Trust encourages us to anticipate God’s best and look for the dawning of a new day.

Our heavenly Father is generous—even extravagant—in His love. Open your heart and let the Lord shower more of His good gifts upon you. You won’t regret yielding your life to Him.

Adapted from “Discover Your Destiny” (1997).

 

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Loving God

If you ask the average person if he loves God, his answer will probably be “yes.” However, words alone are not proof of love. In fact, we use the word love rather loosely, ascribing it to the most treasured people in our lives as well as our trivial preferences. In this message, Dr. Stanley explains why the Lord should have a prominent place in our hearts and why our love for Him should permeate every area of our lives. (Watch Loving God.)

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – What Every Growing Christian Needs to Know

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A father was talking with his daughter and her 5-year-old friend, Kristin, about birthdays. Kristin’s was March 30 and the father’s was March 27. The father said, “You know what Kristin? Our birthdays are three days apart!” She looked up at him and then said, “Yeah, but you grew much faster than I did!”

Why is it that some people grow faster spiritually than others? Why is it that some people make a commitment to follow Jesus Christ and then fall away, while others make a commitment that lasts a lifetime?

It all comes down to doing everything we can to grow spiritually. We need to understand that there is God’s part and there is our part.

The Bible tells us to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12 NKJV). A more accurate translation of that verse would be, “Carry to the goal and fully complete.” What this means is we are “working out” what God has “worked in.”

But then that scripture goes on to say, “For it is God who works in you both to will and do of His good pleasure.” Clearly there are some things only God can do, and some things only you can do. For instance, only God can save a person. Only God can forgive and forget our sins. Only God can change the human heart.

But at the same time, only I can believe. Only I can repent. Only I can follow.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Holy Disturbances

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Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too.” —Acts 17:6

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

It seems like wherever Paul went, there was either a conversion or a riot. There was never a dull moment with the apostle. Their critics in Thessalonica said that Paul and Silas had “caused trouble all over the world.” Then they added, “And now they are here disturbing our city, too” (Acts 17:6).

That is what we need today: a holy disturbance. We need to get back to the way the early church did things. The church was not perfect two thousand years ago, just as it isn’t perfect today. We can see as we read the book of Acts that the early church had all the challenges the church faces today. They had hypocrisy. They had division. But at the same time, it was the church that turned their world upside down.

Indeed, all the things we read about in Acts happened—but they didn’t happen every day. They happened over a period of time. Acts is a record of a thirty-year period, from AD 33 to AD 63. There were interventions of the Holy Spirit, but we also see people living out their faith in a practical way. It was the Spirit of God working through the Word of God in the hearts of the people of God. So we don’t need to re-envision the church. We don’t need to rethink the church. Instead, we need to rediscover the church. It is the only organization that Christ himself established.

In a way, the book of Acts is still being written today. I am not suggesting that we add new pages to the Scriptures, but I am saying that we can add new chapters to church history. And we are writing our own right now.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – It’s All about Him

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Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ. —Philippians 3:8

One of the best tools in a believer’s evangelistic toolbox is his or her own personal story. It’s a way for you to effectively put yourself in the other person’s shoes. You can say, “You know what? I used to be this way. And this is the way I thought. This is what I used to do. Then one day, someone shared the gospel with me [or however you came to faith], and here is what happened to me. . . .”

A lot of people don’t even know how others became Christians. They might think we were just born this way. They may be shocked to find out that we weren’t born this way at all.

How you came to believe in Jesus is your own story, but here are a few tips. When you share your story, don’t ever glorify or exaggerate your past. Sometimes we glorify our past. Sometimes the way certain people share their personal stories makes their past sound more appealing than their present. People start thinking, You know, maybe I will stop being a Christian and start doing what you used to do. That sounds like a lot of fun. If you were to really describe the way you were before you knew the Lord, you could acknowledge that you had some fun. You had some laughs. But then you also need to talk about the emptiness and the sin and the guilt.

Don’t make your past more appealing than your present. Don’t be defined by what you were. Be defined by whose you are. Don’t make it all about what you used to do. Talk about who you are now. It is about Him, not about you. It is about His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection, and what He has done for you.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Start with a Bridge

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Change from the Inside Out

Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

— Ephesians 5:16

A problem that Christians often have when they share the gospel is going into attack mode on a person’s sin straightaway: “Oh yeah, I see that you are into this. Well, let tell me you something. . . .”

Wait. Hold on. Maybe you ought to try to bring that person to Christ first. I am not saying that you shouldn’t confront someone about his or her sin. But remember the example of Jesus as He talked with the Samaritan woman at the well? She had been married and divorced five times and was living with a man. But Jesus didn’t start by slamming her for her immorality. He spoke to her in a symbolic way: “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life” (John 4:13–14).

When possible, find common ground and build a bridge to your listener. Paul, when he stood before King Agrippa, began by saying, “I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders, for I know you are an expert on all Jewish customs and controversies” (Acts 26:2–3).

This was not flattery on Paul’s part, but the truth. Agrippa was steeped in the ways of the Jews as their secular ruler appointed by Rome. Paul was respectful of Agrippa’s office. Agrippa was an immoral man, and Paul could have brought that out. Instead, he began building a bridge.

There is a built-in offense in the message of the cross. Let’s not make it worse. When we share the gospel, we need to build a bridge with people and not unnecessarily offend them.

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Change from the Inside Out

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Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. —Titus 3:5

In the 1600s, author Matthew Mead published a great book called The Almost Christian Discovered in which wrote, “The outward change is often without the inward, though the inward change is never without the outward.”

People can go through the motions and not necessarily be Christians. You can pray and not necessarily be a Christian. You can be baptized and not necessarily be a Christian. To the best of your ability you can keep the Ten Commandments and not necessarily be a Christian. You can even believe that Jesus is coming back and not necessarily be a Christian.

People may even make visible changes in their lives and not necessarily be Christians. There was a rich young ruler who came to Jesus and said, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17).

Jesus told him, “You know the commandments,” and then He listed them.

The young man said, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth” (verse 20).

This guy was basically moral. He had kept the commandments to the best of his ability. Certainly he had broken them, but at least he tried. But then Jesus told him what to do, and he wouldn’t do it. He stopped short of Jesus.

It is not your works that make you saved. You put your faith in Christ, and then you will see the evidence in your life. While it is true that faith without works is dead (see James 2:20), it could be said that works without faith is also dead.

You may say, “Well, I went forward at a Harvest Crusade” or “I stood up and prayed a prayer.” That is good, but it doesn’t necessarily make you a Christian. There has to be a movement of your heart toward God.

 

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Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Wonderfully Comforts

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“What a wonderful God we have – He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the source of every mercy, and the one who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us in our hardships and trials. And why does He do this? So that when others are troubled, needing our sympathy and encouragement, we can pass on to them this same help and comfort God has given us” (2 Corinthians 1:3,4).

Whatever God does for you and me is without merit on our part and by pure grace on His part, and it is done for a purpose. Here the apostle Paul tells the Corinthian believers why God so wonderfully comforts and strengthens them, and us, in our hardships and trials.

This scriptural principle is a good one to remember: God never gives to or benefits His children solely for their own selfish ends. We are not comforted and strengthened in our hardships and trials just so that we will feel better.

Eleven out of the 13 Pauline epistles begin with the exclamations of joy, praise and thanksgiving. Second Corinthians, obviously, is one of those. Though Paul had been afflicted and persecuted, he had also been favored with God’s comfort and consolation.

Paul delighted in tracing all his comforts back to God. He found no other real source of happiness. The apostle does not say that God’s comfort and strength is given solely for the benefit of others, but he does say that this is an important purpose. We are not to hoard God’s blessings.

Bible Reading: Hebrews 13:15-19

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: As I live in the supernatural strength of the Lord God, I will make an effort, with His help, to share that strength (and other blessings) with others

 

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Barriers to Answered Prayer

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These people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men. —Isaiah 29:13

You may have heard the old adage that says there are no atheists in foxholes. Actually, I think there may be some. But when the chips are down, most people will pray.

Remember the story of Jonah? He ran from God and boarded a boat that was going in the opposite direction of Nineveh, where God had told him to go. A great storm came, and the terrified sailors started calling on their gods. Meanwhile, Jonah had found his way to the ship’s hold and was sound asleep. The captain found Jonah and said, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish” (Jonah 1:6).

That is the way most people are. When we are in danger, we will call on God. But it is possible to pray all day long and never communicate with God. We can fervently say our prayers and never be heard. In Luke 18 we find a story Jesus told about a Pharisee and a tax collector who went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee “stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men’ ” (verse 11). Meanwhile, the tax collector prayed, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (verse 13). Jesus said that God heard the prayer of the sinner rather than the words of the self-righteous Pharisee.

You can pray and never really have a relationship with God. You can offer up prayers and never really pray. Psalm 66:18 says, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.” You can pray with all the passion and consistency in the world, but if your sin has not been confessed to God, then it won’t do you any good.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Why Jesus Had to Die, Part 3

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Last weekend we looked at Jesus in Gethsemane. Today we look at Jesus on the cross.

On the cross, Jesus gave seven statements—each one significant and necessary. One of the most arresting is “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” No fiction writer would have his hero say words like those. They surprise us, disarm us, and cause us to wonder what He meant. In many ways, this is virtually impossible to fathom.

No man has ever experienced loneliness and isolation as Jesus did at this point. First Judas betrayed Him, but His other disciples still stood with Him—until Gethsemane; then they too fled. But Simon Peter was still following, albeit at a distance. Then he too turned away from the Lord, openly denying Him.

But there was still the Father, who was always there. In John 8:29 Jesus said, “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone.” Jesus said to His disciples, “Indeed, the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet, I am not alone, because the Father is with Me” (John 16:32).

But at the cross, God the Father turned away His face from God the Son. Why? Because God, in all His holiness, could not look at sin. So holy is God that we are told that He is “of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look on wickedness” (Habakkuk 1:13).

So the holy Father had to “turn His face” and pour His wrath upon His own Son. Understand, for Jesus that was the greatest sacrifice He could have possibly made. It is my belief that His greatest pain occurred at this moment.

He felt forsaken of God because this is the consequence of sin. For a person to be forsaken of God is the penalty which naturally and inevitably follows separation from God because of sin. Jesus was forsaken of God so I don’t have to be. Jesus was forsaken that I might be forgiven. Jesus entered the darkness that I might walk in the light! Jesus was forsaken of God for a time that I might enjoy His presence forever!

As Christ hung there, he was bearing the sins of the world, dying as a substitute. To Him was imputed the guilt of our sins, and He was suffering the punishment for those sins on our behalf. The very essence of that punishment was the outpouring of God’s wrath against sinners.

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the punishment for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4–5).

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – What Makes a Christian?

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And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. —2 Corinthians 11:26

I once went to a children’s ministry event at our church dressed up as Noah. No one knew it was me, which made the whole experience a lot of fun. I was pretending to be someone I really was not. I was playing a little game, actually.

There are people today who do the same thing with the Christian faith. They pretend to be something they really are not.

So how do we know whether someone is a Christian? “It comes down to what they believe,” we might say. There is truth to that, but that is not all there is to it. You can believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He is the only way to God, and that He is coming back again and still not necessarily be a Christian. Now, if you are a Christian, you will believe what I just stated. But just because you believe that in and of itself doesn’t necessarily make you a Christian.

We may say, “Well, a Christian is judged by the way he or she behaves.” But that is not necessarily true. You can pray, keep the Ten Commandments to the best of your ability, attend church regularly, and even be baptized and not necessarily be a Christian. Those things should be a part of your life if you are a Christian. But those things, in and of themselves, don’t make you a Christian.

It is not enough to be exposed to the truth. You also need to act on it. You need to make a choice. It means recognizing that you have sinned (see Romans 3:23), turning away from your sins, and trusting in and receiving Jesus Christ into your life as your Lord and Savior. That is what makes you a Christian.

Have you made this choice? If you are not sure, please click here

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Finally in Focus

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For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. —Hebrews 13:14

Think back on the best moments of your life so far—those times with your loved ones or that gorgeous sunset or that precious thing your child said to you. These are just glimpses of what is to come.

That is why C. S. Lewis described earth as “the shadowlands.” You see, we tend to think of heaven as something surreal, while earth is real. But heaven isn’t a lame version of earth. Earth—the best moments of it, at least—is an incomplete version of heaven. Earth is like a copy of heaven, not the other way around.

Referring to the priests who would offer sacrifices according to the Law, Hebrews 8:5 says, “They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: ‘Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.’ ”

Our problem is that we start with earth and reason up toward heaven when we ought to instead start with heaven and reason down toward earth. This little span of time on earth is what the Bible describes as a “vapor” or “a morning fog” (see James 4:14) or a story that already has been told. Life isn’t just a date of birth to a date of death. Life goes on. God’s plans toward you are good, and the ultimate plan is heaven. When you get there, everything will come into focus for you. When you get to the other side, you will see things clearly.

God knows where you are at this very moment, and God has a future for you. And it is going to be beyond your wildest dreams.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – His Work, His Timing

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Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. —Philippians 1:6

I am an “artist”—kind of. Actually, I am an artist with very limited skills. But sometimes when I’m spending time with friends, they will ask me to draw something. So I’ll pull out a felt-tip pen and draw little cartoons.

Then someone inevitably says, “Draw me! Draw me!” They like me to do caricatures of them, but the thing about caricatures is they are never flattering. If you ever look at political cartoons, they always exaggerate a person’s features. If someone has a nose that is slightly long or ears that are somewhat big, the cartoonist exaggerates everything. That is the whole idea. But people don’t like that.

I’ve also noticed that when I’m drawing, people don’t see what I see. As they are looking over my shoulder, almost breathing down my neck, they want to know what I’m doing. They may see only a circle, but in my mind’s eye, I already see the finished work.

Sometimes when we look at the blank canvas of our lives, we ask, “What is going on? What is God doing? Where is this going? This doesn’t make sense. I don’t even know whether I agree with that.” But God, as an artist, is at work. And as Ecclesiastes 7:8 says, “The end of a thing is better than its beginning; the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”

God’s work will be done in His time. He sees the expected end. He knows what it will look like before He has finished because He is God. He knows how your life is going to turn out.

So don’t put a period where God has put a comma. He is not done with you. No matter your age, you are a work in progress—and He is still working.

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Thinking of You

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Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. —Psalm 40:5

One of my favorite verses about what God says concerning the future is Jeremiah 29:11: “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.”

Contextually these words were given to the Israelites while they were in captivity in Babylon. They saw no future. They thought they would be captives forever. But God was saying, “No, actually not forever. It will last for seventy years. I warned you. You kept turning to idols. And now you are reaping what you have sown. But one day you will get out of Babylon. You will return to your homeland. So I know the thoughts I think toward you, . . . thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

I love that for so many reasons. For one, notice that God doesn’t say, “I know the thought I once had toward you.” I don’t know about you, but the realization that God Almighty, the Creator of the universe, would have a single thought about me would be more than enough. Just one thought. Just one! I thought about Greg. I am done with him now. I am on to other things. But He did think about me for a moment. And He says, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you”—more than one.

Also, they are thoughts of peace, not of evil. They are good thoughts to give you a future and a hope. The word future in Jeremiah 29:11 also could be translated “an expected end” or “a ground of hope” or “things hoped for.” There will be an outcome.

God’s will for you is far better than your plans for yourself. Will you believe that?

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Standing By

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What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? —Romans 8:31

We tend to think that when we are in the will of God, the doors should fly open, birds should be singing, the sun should be shining, and everyone should be applauding. But it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes when we are in the will of God, so-called bad things happen. They seem bad, but in reality they might actually be good things.

I think sometimes that what we define as good may in fact be bad. And some of the things we think of as bad in turn will ultimately turn out to be good.

Acts 23:11 tells us that while Paul was in prison in Jerusalem, “The following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.’ ”

Here is what God was saying: “Paul, look. I told you what was going to happen, and you went for it. And I want you to know that you are doing what I wanted you to do.” You see, when a person is really walking with the Lord, it will impact other people. It will cause a reaction.

Paul felt that God wanted him to go to Jerusalem. The prophet Agabus warned him that if he went there, he would be arrested. Other believers begged him not to go. But Paul said, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13).

So Paul went to Jerusalem, and sure enough, he was arrested and found himself in a prison cell. Yet God still had a future for Paul. And guess what? God has a future for you, too.

 

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Why Jesus Had to Die, Part 2

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Hebrews 12:3 (NKJV) says, “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” Consider means to “think over, ponder, or compare.” So let’s consider what the cross was to Jesus Himself. For Jesus, the cross was a fate worse than death. Indeed it was death, and a very cruel one at that. It can’t get much worse than that, but for Jesus it was.

Can you remember the most painful moment of your life? There are different types of pain. There is physical pain. Perhaps you’ve had a horrible fall and broke an arm or a leg, or worse. It’s an interesting thing how the human body will sort of shut down temporarily when it’s in a state of shock, so that it doesn’t feel the pain as severely.

But there are other kinds of pain that can actually be worse than physical pain: the pain of rejection, betrayal, or abandonment, for example. When a husband says to his wife, “I’ve been unfaithful to you.” When a wife says to her husband, “I want a divorce!” When the child says to the parent, “I don’t want to live the Christian life!” Or when you are betrayed by a friend, perhaps someone you’ve done so much for. It cuts like a knife.

When we think about the most painful moment in the earthly life of Christ, our minds immediately race to the act of crucifixion itself—the crude spikes that were driven through His hands and feet, or the cruel lashes on His back, or the physical abuse he took from the soldiers. And all of that was truly horrific.

But, as horrible as that was, I believe that none of those things were Jesus’ most painful moment. The most painful moment for Jesus was when He bore the sin of the world. This is what He recoiled from in Gethsemane, this “cup” of God’s wrath. Understand that He had never spent a single moment out of fellowship with His Father. Now He would, for a time, be completely separated from God.

And that, for Jesus, was a fate worse than death. This, His worst moment of personal pain and anguish was our greatest moment in its effect. In essence, His lowest moment was our highest.

His pain, our gain.