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Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Ready and Willing        

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Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” —Acts 8:30

Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?

That was the question the Ethiopian dignitary had for Philip (see Acts 8:34, NLT). It’s a good thing Philip knew the Bible because if he didn’t, he would have had to say, “I don’t know. Can I get back to you?” But this was an opportunity that had to be seized.

That is why the Bible reminds us time and time again to prepare ourselves for such opportunities. Paul wrote to Timothy, “Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15, NLT).

Philip had prepared himself for the opportunity that was waiting for him. And you must prepare yourself for the opportunity that might be waiting for you today, tomorrow, or the next day.

I have found that when I am sharing the gospel—whether it’s preaching or one on one—the most powerful tool I have is the Word of God. In speaking of His Word, God said,

The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. (Isaiah

55:10-11, NLT)

I know that Greg Laurie’s word can accomplish zero sometimes. But God’s Word “always produces fruit” (verse 11). Let’s hide it in our hearts and minds. Then, like Philip, we’ll be ready for the opportunities God sends our way.

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

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Greg Laurie – The Truth About Happiness    

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Greg Laurie – Break the Glass!

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

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Greg Laurie – The Clock Is Ticking   

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A person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God. —Luke 12:21

A watchmaker who built grandfather clocks inscribed these words on every clock he built: “Lo, here I stand by thee upright to give thee warning day and night, for every tick that I do click cuts short the time thou hast to live.”

Jesus told the story of a rich farmer who enjoyed great success. Reflecting on his accomplishments, he said, “I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, ‘My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!’ ” (Luke 12:18-19, NLT). But God told him, “You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?” (verse 20, NLT).

We can find some commendable things about this rich man. He was a hardworking farmer. He probably would have had to work longer and get up earlier and expend more energy than the other farmers of his day to achieve such success. But his mistake wasn’t in being successful in his work. His mistake wasn’t even in acquiring possessions. His mistake was failing to make plans for eternity. He was living large. But he forgot that the clock was ticking, that life was passing by.

And this man who died, leaving all his possessions behind, is like many people today. They just want to enjoy the moment. “Take it easy!” they say. “Eat, drink, and be merry!” Yet God says that is not the way to live.

In Psalm 10, the psalmist describes an arrogant, wicked man. One of the most striking things he says about this man is in verse 4: “In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God” (NIV).

That says it so well, doesn’t it? There was no room for God, no room for the Creator, Lord, and Savior in all this man’s many thoughts about this and that.

Our lives on this earth may be very brief, but when we fill our thoughts with the eternal God and His purposes, we prepare ourselves for an endless life in His presence.

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

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Greg Laurie – Sleepwalking

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Be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. —1 Thessalonians 5:6

Have you ever gone sleepwalking? It’s kind of scary, really — especially the next day when someone tells you what you did.

There are people in the church today who have gone to sleep. They aren’t watching the signs of the times. There is a lethargy, a passiveness — even a laziness — in some Christians. There is an apparent disconnect between their so-called spiritual lives and real lives. Instead of walking in the Spirit, some believers are sleepwalking.

We need to wake up. The Bible says, “So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded” (1 Thessalonians 5:6, NLT).

In other words, we need to wake up to the urgency of the time. We need to wake up to the imminence of the Lord’s return.

We also need to sober up. First Thessalonians 5 goes on to say, “Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation” (verses 7-8, NLT).

I think we can interpret this both literally and figuratively. An obvious interpretation is, don’t get drunk. Don’t be under the influence of anyone or anything except Jesus Christ. But figuratively speaking, we can be intoxicated with other things. Jesus said, “Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware” (Luke 21:34, NLT). What you will eat or wear or where you will live are normal human concerns as you provide for yourself and your family. But let’s not allow these things to become our preoccupation.

Let’s not allow ourselves to become intoxicated with things that aren’t the main thing.

 

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Greg Laurie – The Sovereignty of God

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Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you. —Psalm 119:91

Luke’s gospel tells the story of ten men with leprosy who were in need of a touch from Jesus. Leprosy was incurable. They asked Jesus for a healing, and He extended it to them. But out of the ten, only one returned to give Him thanks. We read that “one of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, ‘Praise God!’ He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done” (Luke 17:15-16, NLT).

Earlier he had prayed loudly for a healing, and then he was loud with his praise. I love the fact that the original language uses two words from which get our English word megaphone. The man was loud in thanking Jesus for what He had done for him.

As Christians, we should give thanks to God because we recognize that He is in control of all circumstances surrounding our lives. As Proverbs 16:9 reminds us, “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps” (NLT).

God is sovereign, which means that God is able to do what He pleases with whomever He chooses whenever He wishes. The prophet Jeremiah said, “I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course” (Jeremiah 10:23, NLT). And we read in Proverbs 20:24, “The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?” (NLT). That is the sovereignty of God.

But what about when bad things happen? Is God still in control? Yes. And the Bible tells us that despite the bad things that happen, which many times are inexplicable, God can work all things together for good to those who love Him (see Romans 8:28). As the psalmist wrote, “Everything serves [His] plans” (119:91, NLT).

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Greg Laurie – An Eternal Perspective

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So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. —2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT

When you are younger, you think certain things are always good, while other things are always bad. For example, success is always good, and hardship is always bad. But when you have lived life for a while, you can look back and realize that success actually can be bad for some. And hardship actually can be good for others. You begin to see things differently. And sometimes the things you thought were really good things turned out to be bad things. And the things that you thought were bad things turned out to be good things.

We must realize as Christians that God is in control of all circumstances surrounding our lives. God takes all of the events of life, the good things and the so-called bad things, and works them “together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28).

We must also realize that God loves us and is always looking out for our eternal benefit—even if what we are presently going through is difficult. We are told in 2 Corinthians 4:17–18, “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (NLT).

Are you thankful for what God has blessed you with? Have you given thanks recently for your health? For the freedom to worship openly? For the clothes on your back and the roof over your head? We need to give thanks to God—because there is so much to give thanks for.

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Greg Laurie – In His Eyes

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I was with my granddaughter Stella and she said the cutest thing. She looked deeply in my eyes, then pushed her little nose right up to mine and said, “Papa, I can see myself in your eyes!”

What Stella was saying was that she saw her reflection in my eyes. I responded, “Stella, you are always in my eyes, and in my heart too!”

Do you ever wonder how God sees you?

I think you might be surprised. We may think that God looks askance at us or with anger or disappointment—or that He may, as my friends in Hawaii like to say, be “giving you the stink eye!”

The fact of the matter is God looks at you with love.

We read in Scripture of that rich young ruler who came to Jesus. He was brash and proud and demanded to know what he needed to do to enter God’s kingdom. Before Jesus would reveal the answer, we read, “Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him” (Mark 10:21 NLT).

That is also the way He looks at you. With love. He sees you for what you can become, not just what you are.

Jesus gave to Simon the fishermen the new name of Peter. The name Peter means “Rock.” If there was anything Simon was not, at this point, it was a rock. He was legendary for his hot-headedness, impulsiveness, and willingness to speak his mind on pretty much everything. But Jesus saw that Simon would grow into that new name of Peter.

In the same way, we look at our own lives and see a lump of clay. God sees a beautiful vase.

We see a blank canvas. God sees a finished work of art.

We see coal. God sees a refined diamond.

We see problems. God sees solutions.

We see failures. God sees potential.

We see an end. God sees a new beginning.

Yes, you can see yourself in His eyes, just like Stella saw herself in mine. But to do so, you need to get really close.

“Come close to God, and God will come close to you” (James 4:8 NLT).