Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind. 

—1 Corinthians 14:20

Scripture:

1 Corinthians 14:20 

You can’t be a kid again. But in one sense, you can because the Bible teaches that, as Christians, we should be childlike in our faith. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 18:3 NLT).

When I became a Christian, it was like a new world to me. I realized that I had so much to learn. I also realized that I really didn’t even know what I thought about so many issues in life, what really mattered, and what my priorities were.

The apostle Paul urged the believers in Corinth, “Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind” (1 Corinthians 14:20 NLT).

There are some areas of the Christian life in which we should be childlike, in which we should be simple. We don’t need to know all the intricacies of evil and the way this world works. We need to maintain our dependence on God and be childlike in that way.

On the other hand, there are areas in which we need to mature and grow. Of course, there is nothing wrong with being spiritual babies when we’re new in the faith. But as the years pass, we need to become spiritually mature.

When we begin as Christians, when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, when we are born again, we start out as spiritual infants. This is true of every person, regardless of age. Everyone starts out this way in the faith.

Some people were raised in the church and have always been familiar with the Bible, with worship, and with prayer. But at some point, they realized their walk with God needed to be their own, so they made their own personal commitment to the Lord.

Others came in cold from the world. I was one of those people. I had no background in the church. I had no understanding of the Bible. And I had never worshipped God before. I knew nothing about prayer. I knew relatively nothing about Jesus.

When we’re new in the faith, it’s all so different. It’s a bit of a mystery. That’s why we need people to help us acclimate. We need to learn how to start growing up spiritually.

I like the questions that new believers ask. I like the statements they make. But best of all, I like their zeal. They’re excited about what Christ has done for them.

A church that does not have a constant flow of new believers coming in will be a church that is stagnating spiritually. New believers need more mature believers to help them get grounded. And mature believers need new believers to help remind them of what really matters in life.

We need to remain childlike with our excitement about our faith, but we also need to mature and grow spiritually.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. 

—Hebrews 9:22

Scripture:

Hebrews 9:22 

The classic hymn by Robert Lowry says, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow; no other fount I know; nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

Sometimes, even people who are Christians say things like, “I think that other people may find their own path to God. Who am I to say they can’t know God if they haven’t come through Christ? I found my way to God through Christ. But maybe someone else has found their way through another path.”

That may sound sweet and touching, but it is not biblical thinking. The Bible clearly teaches that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins (see Hebrews 9:22). This is God’s order. He set it up.

In the Old Testament, a priest sacrificed an animal for a person’s sin. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ fulfilled all that the Old Testament pointed to. He became the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (see John 1:29).

Now, the only way that we can know God is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. We can only come to God through Jesus Christ. And if we are not coming to Him through the blood of Christ, then we cannot know God.

We don’t come to God because we seek to follow the example of Jesus alone. No one can do that. If anything, if we were to take an honest look at Jesus’ life, it would show us how far we fall short. We don’t gain access to God because we try to live by the teachings of Jesus, as wonderful and profound as they are as the words of God to us.

It isn’t following His teaching alone that does it. If we honestly look at the teaching of Jesus, it will make us aware of our own sinful condition.

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, among other things, “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48 NLT). He also said that God looks at our hearts as well as our actions.

His teaching drives us to Him. So, can we approach God because we’re worthy? No. It is built upon a relationship that stands, no matter what our state may be.

Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for us so that we could be forgiven of our sins. We put our complete trust in Him because it is only through His blood that we can approach God.

It is one thing to know that God has done this for us and to say that we believe it’s true. But we need to ask ourselves these questions: Have we applied it in our lives? Are we applying it to the situations that we’re facing?

We have open access to God through the blood of Jesus Christ. There is no other way.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 

—Hebrews 10:19

Scripture:

Hebrews 10:19 

Sometimes, our consciences can condemn us. They go into hyperdrive and won’t let us alone, whispering, “You are unworthy. You have done wrong. You can’t approach God.”

Yet the Bible tells us that God’s Spirit can cleanse us of a guilty conscience because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. Hebrews 10:19 says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus” (NLT).

And in 1 John 3:20, we read, “Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything” (NLT).

This means that we can approach God no matter what we have done.

However, the devil doesn’t want us to know this. He wants us to think that we can only approach God when we have done well. He wants us to believe that if we have been walking closely with the Lord, then we can pray. But if we’ve fouled up, we can’t.

For example, maybe you’ve had a disagreement with your husband or wife. You think, “Maybe we should pray before we go to bed. But that would be hypocritical because we just had a fight. How can we pray after we’ve had a fight?”

Or maybe you’ve thought, “I can’t pray because I lost my temper in this situation,” or “I can’t pray because I just had an impure thought.”

That kind of thinking is from the devil himself. The Bible calls him “the accuser of our brothers and sisters” (Revelation 12:10 NLT). And as you prepare to go into God’s presence in prayer, he’ll say, “Do you think you are worthy to approach God? You call yourself a Christian! What a hypocrite you are! What a failure and disappointment to God you are!”

But he is a liar. And when Satan talks to you about God, he lies. He lies to you because he wants to keep you away from God. He also wants to keep you out of the Word of God because he knows that is where the power is. That is how changes will take place in your life.

When the Spirit of God convicts us, He will use the Word of God, in love, to seek to bring us back into fellowship with the Father. In contrast, when Satan accuses us, he will use our own sins in a hateful way to drive us away from fellowship with the Father.

God’s Spirit will make us aware of what we’ve done wrong, but He always will bring us back to the cross. When we have messed up, we need to go to the cross. When we have done something wrong, we need to go to the cross. We always need to go to the cross and to God in prayer.

The devil wants to keep us away from God, and his accusations always will drive us away from the cross. God’s Spirit, however, always will bring us to the cross.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. 

—Ephesians 2:13

Scripture:

Ephesians 2:13 

Ancient Ephesus was known for its cultural learning, its incredible edifices, and its spirituality. The people of Ephesus were very religious. They worshipped many gods and erected idols of every conceivable deity.

These were religious people, but they did not know God. Their religion was their vain attempt to reach God through their own human efforts. Although there were numerous gods in Ephesus, the people of that city did not have a relationship with the one true God.

Historians tell us that a great cloud of hopelessness covered the ancient world. Their philosophies were empty, and their traditions were disappearing. In addition, their religions were powerless to impact them in this life or to prepare them for the life to come.

Yet, is that not a picture, in many ways, of our culture today? We have made incredible advances in technology, but people are searching spiritually. They’re asking the big questions: Why am I here? What is the meaning of life?

Sadly, so many are looking for truth in all the wrong places. They want the benefits of faith but not the restrictions of it. They have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. The Bible tells us that will be a sign of the last days. According to 2 Timothy 3:5, people “will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly” (NLT).

There is only one way of reconciliation that God has made available to us. If we want reconciliation with God, it will come only through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:13 tells us, “But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ” (NLT).

Notice the words “but now.” We were on our way to a certain judgment, but God interrupted that when He sent Jesus. It was a blessed interruption. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus and His shed blood, we now have been reconciled to God.

Sin is the great separator in the world. Ever since it entered in, it has been dividing people throughout human history.

When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, sin immediately began its work of separation. It separated Adam and Eve from God. And ultimately, it separated their sons Cain and Abel.

But at the cross of Calvary, Jesus eliminated the wall that separates us from God. He brought about reconciliation.

We can come to God right now, but not because of our worthiness or because of the good deeds we’ve done. We come to Him because of a relationship with Him—and that relationship was purchased through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

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

Scripture:

Philippians 3:8 

If ever there was a man who had a spiritual pedigree, it was the apostle Paul, formerly known as Saul. He was someone who had done it all.

In his own words, he said, “Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law” (Philippians 3:4–5 NLT).

Then, a few verses later, he made an amazing statement: “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 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” (verses 7–8 NLT).

Paul was saying, “I know all about self-righteousness. In fact, I obeyed the law so carefully, there was no one who could claim that I broke God’s commandments.” Yet Paul was saying that the things that he once considered valuable were worthless to him. They no longer meant anything.

We shouldn’t feel arrogant as believers. Paul reminded the Christians in Ephesus, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8–9 nlt).

Christians are not better than non-Christians. Are we better off? Yes. But are we better? No. I’ve often described myself as one beggar telling another beggar where to find food. We need to be humble because it wasn’t that long ago that we, too, were separated from God.

Sometimes people who were raised in a Christian environment or in a home where Christian values were honored develop a resistance to the gospel. There can be boasting in a spiritual pedigree.

Sometimes, we feel so proud of ourselves as Christians. We might sit in church and think, “Here I am at church while my children are in Sunday school, learning the Word of God. Right next to me is my spouse of twelve years. We’ve never had any problems in our marriage to speak of. Everything is going well in our lives. We’re very spiritual people.”

But we’d better be careful because the Bible says that pride goes before a fall (see Proverbs 16:18). And 1 John 2:16 warns, “For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world” (NLT).

The devil is cunning. If he doesn’t catch you in other sins, he might get you through pride. You might just slip and fall. So don’t boast.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 

—Ephesians 2:8

Scripture:

Ephesians 2:8 

Christians have no grounds whatsoever for boasting. There is nothing to boast about. We didn’t become Christians because we were born into a Christian family, were relatively moral people, or did a number of good deeds. Therefore, we have absolutely nothing we can take credit for.

And if we find ourselves bragging about anything that we have done to obtain our salvation, either we are not saved, or we don’t understand what it means for God to forgive us.

In Ephesians 2, the apostle Paul makes a bedrock statement about the Christian faith: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (verses 8–9 NLT).

This is a foundational Christian doctrine. Yet it’s surprising how many people don’t grasp the simple yet profound truth that we are Christians entirely and solely because of the grace of God.

Earlier in Ephesians, Paul spoke of God’s mercy. Here, He speaks of God’s grace. God has dealt with us in grace, which is getting what we don’t deserve: His forgiveness, His pardon, and adoption into His family.

Someone has accurately defined grace as “God’s unmerited favor.” This grace came in spite of what we were and what we did.

Grace is getting what we don’t deserve. Mercy is not getting what we do deserve. And justice is getting what we deserve.

We never want to ask God to give us justice because, in doing so, we’re asking Him to give us what we deserve. And what we deserve is Hell. Thankfully, God has not dealt with us according to justice because Jesus Christ met God’s righteous requirement at Calvary. The death of Jesus satisfied the justice of God.

An effective testimony (your story of how you came to faith) always will glorify God and never will glorify the past. Some Christians make their lives before Christ sound so juicy and interesting that they make the present seem dull. That is an inaccurate testimony.

If you are honest about what you were before you became a Christian, then you must talk about the spiritual state you were in. You were separated from God and in rebellion against Him. A good testimony never will glorify the past; it always will glorify the Lord.

Every Christian has a testimony because the power of God has gloriously transformed every person who has put his or her faith in Jesus Christ.

It’s important to realize that salvation does not come from anything that we’ve done. So, let’s not boast about what we’ve done or what we gave up to follow Jesus. Granted, we may have given up some things, but they’re nothing compared to what God gave us in their place.

If we don’t realize that, then we don’t know how dark our state was, how miserable of a condition we were in, and how far we were separated from God.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Harvest Ministries; Greg Laurie – God’s Greatest Creation

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. 

—Psalm 139:16

Scripture:

Psalm 139:16 

Without question, people are God’s greatest creation. We are His crowning achievement. In fact, the psalmist David wrote about the intricacies of the human body that God created. He said, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it” (Psalm 139:13–14 NLT).

David continued, “You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (verses 15–16 NLT).

As we look at Scripture, it appears that God has a plan for each of us, even before we were conceived. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “The Lord gave me this message: ‘I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations’ ” (Jeremiah 1:4–5 NLT).

These verses, among others, certainly lay to rest any warped concept that the Bible would somehow allow for abortion.

This masterpiece of God’s creation, the human being, is incredible. Scientists estimate that adult human bodies contain 16 trillion cells, all carefully organized to perform life’s various functions in harmony.

Consider these statistics about the human body and the amazing things it is capable of: The nose can recognize 10,000 different aromas. The tongue has about 6,000 taste buds. And the brain contains 10 billion nerve cells. Each nerve cell connects to as many as 10,000 other nerve cells throughout the body. In fact, the body has so many blood vessels that the combined length could circle the planet two and a half times.

God has custom-designed each of us with our own DNA blueprint, which every cell contains. And if you were to write out your individual blueprint in a book, it would require an estimated 200,000 pages. God, of course, knows about every word on every page.

We have the astounding capacity to store millions of bits of information, keep it in order, and recall it when necessary. We are “wonderfully complex,” as Psalm 139 tells us. And God’s plan for those who put their faith in Christ is even more amazing. We don’t have to be afraid because His motive is always love for us.

Ephesians 2:6–7 tells us, “He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus” (NLT).

God wants to spend all of eternity revealing to us His kindness, goodness, and grace. He wants to spend eternity showing us how much He loves us.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 

—Ephesians 2:2

Scripture:

Ephesians 2:2 

Have you ever bought something that you didn’t really need? You came back from the mall with a new purchase, and you wondered why you bought it. So, you mentally retraced your steps. How did it all start?

Maybe you went to the mall to pass some time. You were walking along and saw a nice window display, and there was something about it that got your attention. Then you walked into the store, and you browsed your way right over to something. Eventually, you decided to buy it. And when you got home, you thought, “How did I end up with this?”

It started because you were browsing. You were walking along without any aim or purpose. And the next thing you knew, you bought something that you didn’t need.

That is the picture the apostle Paul used in Ephesians when he wrote, “All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else” (Ephesians 2:3 NLT).

We were just browsing our way through the world, doing what everyone else did and parroting what everyone else said. We were acting like everyone else. That was the way we used to live before we committed our lives to Jesus Christ.

In fact, we thought we were in control of our lives, but it is clear that we were being blown about like a weather vane as Satan manipulated our lives.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians, “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God” (4:4 NLT).

And 1 John 5:19 tells us, “We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one” (NLT). This mentality, this realm, this wavelength that people are on is energized by Satan, the god of this world. That is a bleak scenario.

However, we come to these great words in Ephesians 2:4–5: “But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” (NLT).

But God. We were in a bad place, doing bad things and going the wrong way. But God. Underline those words in your Bible. If you want to do a fascinating word study, follow that phrase throughout Scripture.

Against a dark background with all the things that were going wrong in our lives, God, who “is so rich in mercy, . . . gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.” This is what God has done for every believer. This is what God has done for you.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 

—Ephesians 1:7

Scripture:

Ephesians 1:7 

At the time Paul was writing his letter to the Christians in Ephesus, there were many slaves living in the Roman Empire. Some scholars believe that up to six million people lived in slavery at this point in history.

So, in the first chapter of Ephesians, Paul used the analogy of a slave that had been bought out of a slave market. He wrote that God “is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins” (verse 7 NLT).

If someone wanted to free a loved one from slavery, they could go to the slave market and pay the price. They could purchase freedom for the enslaved person. This is what Christ has done for us. He redeemed us. He purchased our freedom. And it all came about through the blood that He shed for us.

The irony is that non-Christians often think they’re free, while they see Christians as people who live under a lot of rules, regulations, and restrictions. Meanwhile, they think they can do whatever they want to do because they’re the captains of their own ships and the masters of their own destinies.

But that simply isn’t true. They are not the captains of their own ships. The captain of their ship is, in fact, Satan. One of the greatest deceptions the devil pulled off on humanity was to convince people that he doesn’t even exist—all while he manipulates their lives.

Referring to unbelievers, the apostle Paul said, “Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants” (2 Timothy 2:25–26 NLT).

Before you became a Christian, you were not free. You were a captive, a slave. But Jesus Christ came and paid the redemption price for you. That is the Good News.

This, of course, points back to the Old Testament, where the priest went into the temple, took an unblemished lamb or goat, and killed it, thus spilling the blood of that animal. It symbolically placed people’s sins on the sacrificial animal.

The Bible says, “According to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22 NLT).

But that never got to the heart of the problem. In fact, the definition of the Old Testament word atonement means “covering.” At best, it was just a cover-up. But it didn’t get rid of the stain.

In the New Testament, however, we read that Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, took away the sins of the world. He got to the heart of the matter. He shed His blood for us. He met God’s righteous demands at the cross. Therefore, we have open access to the throne of God, regardless of what we have done. Our access comes through Jesus Christ.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

 But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love. 

—Jude 1:20–21

Scripture:

Jude 1:20-21 

Though God’s love is unsought, undeserved, and unconditional, it is possible for us to be out of harmony with Him.

The Book of Jude tells us, “But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love” (verses 20–21 NLT).

Notice the words “keep yourselves safe in God’s love.” The New King James Version translates it as “keep yourselves in the love of God.”

Does this mean we need to keep ourselves in a state where God will love us? In other words, do we need to make sure that we’re very lovable people? That is virtually impossible. No matter how hard we try, we ultimately will fall short of God’s standards.

Obviously, there is God’s part: He is ready to keep us. But we must take practical steps to keep ourselves in His love.

The Bible isn’t saying that we should do certain things to somehow merit God’s love or earn His approval. Rather, to keep ourselves in the love of God simply means that we need to keep ourselves in a place where God can actively bless us and show His love toward us.

Take, for example, the story of the Prodigal Son. His father loved him, but he foolishly took his portion of the inheritance and went to a distant country to live as a fool. Ultimately, he came to his senses and returned home.

Here’s the question: While the prodigal was away, was he still his father’s son? Yes, although he was a wayward son and a distant son. But technically, was the prodigal still his son? Yes. Was he keeping himself in a place where his father could actively demonstrate his love? No, he was not.

His father probably didn’t even know where his son was at the time. But when his son returned home, he forgave him. The father took off his son’s rags, put a ring on his finger, clothed him, and threw a party for him. So, was the son then in a place where his father could actively show his love toward him? Yes, he was.

The same is true when we disobey God and do things we shouldn’t do. It isn’t that God stops loving us. It isn’t even that we have ceased to be true Christians. We are simply wayward children or prodigals. We have essentially taken ourselves out of the love of God. We have removed ourselves from a place where God can actively show His love in our lives.

Stay in a place where God can show His love to you. Keep yourself from all that is unlike Him, from all that would violate God’s love and grieve Him. Stay away from the things that would tear you down. Instead, stay close to the Lord and around people who will build you up spiritually.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie

Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them. 

—Isaiah 43:7

Scripture:

Isaiah 43:7 

What is the purpose of our lives? Why do we exist? Why are we here on this earth?

According to the Bible, we exist primarily to bring pleasure to God. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God said, “Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them” (Isaiah 43:7 NLT).

That thought really bothers some people. They like to think that the world revolves around them. The result is they will end up squandering their lives in pursuit of something they never should have been seeking outright, and that something is happiness.

If you want to be an unhappy person, then try to be a happy person. In other words, if you try to find happiness by pursuing it, you never will attain it.

God predestined us to bring Him glory. That is a foundational truth that we all need to lay hold of. To miss this is to miss the reason that we’re on this earth in the first place.

The Bible says, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure” (Ephesians 1:4–5 NLT).

This is also echoed in Heaven. We read in Revelation 4 about twenty-four elders who fall in worship before the Lord on His throne, saying, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased” (verse 11 NLT).

Let that sink in for a moment. The twenty-four elders are saying to God, “You created everything, and it’s for Your pleasure that they exist and were created.” God didn’t create us for our own pleasure; He created us for His pleasure. He created us to glorify Him.

When people try to find happiness in someone or something, it always will be a little bit beyond their reach, a little bit elusive, a little bit hard to get. They think it will be in that next relationship, that next experience, that next possession, or that next accomplishment.

Those who live this way don’t care what it costs. They don’t care about rules and regulations. Happiness is the main priority of their lives. But they never will find it.

Here’s the good news for us as Christians. When we seek to fulfill the purpose for which God created us—which is to glorify Him, honor Him, and bring Him pleasure—then we will find happiness.

It will come not from seeking it but from seeking Him. As the psalmist David wrote, “Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 144:15 NLT). We must never lose sight of the simple truth that we were created to glorify God.

Harvest.org | Greg Laurie