A New Beginning

Guest (Male): Are you a person of faith? Coming up today on *A New Beginning*, Pastor Greg Laurie points out that on one level, we are all people of faith.

Greg Laurie: You apply faith every single day. When you board a 747, you expect that this metal tube weighing over 900,000 pounds is somehow going to get off the runway, go to your desired destination, and land. But listen, there's no safer place to put your faith than in God himself.

Guest (Male): Some people don't understand the logic of faith. Believers put their trust in a God who parted the Red Sea, raised the dead, healed the sick, calmed the storm, walked on water, and created the heavens and the earth. Doesn't it make sense to trust a God like that? Doesn't it make sense not to?

Today on *A New Beginning*, Pastor Greg Laurie brings a story about a woman who had faith that just wouldn't quit. It's inspiring insight for those times when we're ready to throw in the towel.

Greg Laurie: How many of you have GPS in your car or on your phone? That would probably be most of us, right? We program the address in. Sometimes if I'm going up to LAX, even though I know how to get there, I'll put LAX in my GPS—by the way, the worst airport in the world. Anyway, I digress.

I've had times where I'm driving in LA, I know what freeway to take, I know what the off-ramp is, but suddenly GPS will say, "Take the next off-ramp." I'll say, "Oh good, GPS is helping me. GPS knows what's happening up the road. Maybe there's a wreck or something; it's taking me around." So I obediently turn off as GPS tells me to. It says, "Turn left on this street. Turn right on that street. Turn left here. Stop. Get out of your car. Jump up and down five times. Get back in."

Wait, what is going on here? Then I say I'm just going to go the way I know to go, and then it goes into its little mode: "Recalculating, recalculating, recalculating." Then do this and do that, etc. Why do we do that? Because we trust in technology to get us where we want to go. The bottom line is all of us put our trust in something.

All of us have faith in general. When you go to a restaurant, you're applying faith. You're expecting that food will be prepared properly, it will be fresh, and it will be sanitary. When you board a 747, you have little understanding of aerodynamics, but despite that, you expect that this metal tube weighing over 900,000 pounds is somehow going to get off the runway, go to your desired destination, and land.

You trust the pilot and the co-pilot and the people who are directing them know what they're doing. You're applying faith in all of these things every day. You go to the pharmacist. They fill your prescription. You expect they're going to put the right pills in that little bottle. You go and get a surgery. You expect they're going to do the right surgery. You apply faith in so many areas of life.

So someone says, "Just have faith in God," and suddenly we recoil and say, "There's no way I could put my faith in God." But listen, there's no safer place to put your faith than in God himself. After all, who's more trustworthy: the chef in the kitchen or the creator of the universe?

The pilot in the cockpit or the one who spoke the universe into existence? The surgeon with a scalpel or the great physician who can heal both our body and our soul? We put faith out every single day. Even atheists have faith. They don't necessarily have faith in God, but they have faith.

Some put their faith in technology. Some put their faith in politicians. Some put their faith in science. I don't put my faith in science. I don't put my faith in politicians. I don't put my faith in technology. I'm going to put my faith in God. That's the only trustworthy one.

Jesus says, "Have faith in God." Okay, good. What is faith exactly? I think we over-mystify faith. It's defined for us in Hebrews 11:1. The Bible says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, it's the evidence of things not seen." As the New Living Translation puts it, "What is faith? It's a confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It's the evidence of things we cannot yet see."

Faith is belief plus action. Faith is not giving mere intellectual assent to something. In other words, I acknowledge that may be true. It's putting my weight on it. For instance, when I climb on this platform, I expect that it's built well and it will support my weight. When I step onto the platform, that is now me believing it enough to stand on it, to believe it's true for myself.

The devil gives intellectual assent to certain truths. If I could interview Satan, which I would not want to do, I think we might be surprised how orthodox he is in some areas of theology. As an example, if I were to ask the devil, "Lucifer, let me ask you this. Do you believe the Bible is the word of God?" He would say, "Yes. I hate every word of it," he might say, "but I believe it's the word of God."

If I were to ask, "Devil, do you believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God?" Grudgingly he again would say, "Yes," because the Bible says that when Christ was tempted, Satan said over and over, "Since you are the son of God." But the Bible even says the demons believe and tremble. They acknowledge the power of God, but they don't have faith in God.

Faith is applying yourself. Faith is belief plus action. Faith does things. The Bible says, "Faith without works is dead," in James 2:17. A faith with no works is a faith that does not work. Noah, of course, used faith when he built that ark. It had never rained. There was no body of water to take his ark to. It would be like building a cruise ship in the middle of the desert in Arizona. Why are you doing that? But you see he put feet to his faith, so to speak.

David, when he ran toward his adversary Goliath, was applying his faith. Faith is not just something we talk about or put in a display case and admire; it's something we use. It's not unlike muscle. The more you use your muscle, the stronger it becomes. If you fail to use your muscle, it will atrophy. In the same way, faith grows stronger through use. And the Bible tells us indeed, "The just shall live by faith."

It is very easy for us to tell someone else they should have faith, but we don't always have it ourselves. I heard about a lady that went to her pastor and said, "Pastor, my husband told me if I keep coming to this church, he'll kill me." The pastor said, "Now, now. God will protect you. Have faith in the Lord and just keep coming."

She came back to him again. "Pastor, my husband said if I keep coming here, he's going to kill me." The pastor said, "No, no. You'll be fine. God will protect you. Have faith in God." Then one day she came and said, "Pastor, my husband said if I keep coming to this church, he'll kill you." The pastor said, "You know, there's a nice little church on the other side of town." You see, it's easy to tell someone else to have it, but when it comes to us, it might be something altogether different.

Listen to this. Faith can make the difference between something happening or not happening. Faith can make the difference between something happening or not happening. God is sovereign and powerful and he can do what he wants, when he wants, wherever he wants, but yet he primarily chooses to work through us.

God could have sovereignly parted the Red Sea without any assistance from Moses, but the Lord told Moses to stand there and hold out his staff in faith. God could have brought fire down from heaven in the story of Elijah and the false prophets, but he told Elijah to pray first.

Jesus could have healed everyone when he walked this earth, but he didn't, did he? There were people that were still sick after Christ had his public ministry and died and rose again. But then there were those that were healed. Who were the ones that were healed? So often they were the ones that called out to him.

Like blind Bartimaeus, hearing that Christ was coming his way, he said, "Son of David, have mercy on me." They said, "Quiet. Don't bother Jesus." And he yelled louder, "Son of David, have mercy on me." And what happened? Jesus stopped and healed Bartimaeus.

Then there was that woman that had the medical issue that caused her to constantly bleed. She had spent all of her money on doctors. She just reasoned, "If I can touch the hem of his garment, I will be healed." One day Jesus comes walking through and she manages to slip her hand through the crowd and touch the edge of his robe, and suddenly the healing power of God was released in her life.

Jesus stops and says, "Who touched me?" The disciples effectively said, "Who didn't touch you? Everybody touched you." "Ah," he says, "but I perceive that power has gone out of me." What caused that power to go out of him? Her faith. Her faith extended. Her faith put into action.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We love to hear stories of how lives are impacted through Pastor Greg's studies.

Pastor Greg, listening to you every day on my way to work reminds me to focus myself on the Lord so that I may serve him in every way, even at work. One morning as I was listening, you mentioned reading the Bible in a year and that sparked my need to do the same. So far, I'm halfway through reading the Bible. Thank you, Pastor Greg, and praise God.

Has Pastor Greg heard from you? Why not drop him an email? Send it to greg@harvest.org. Well, we're focusing on faith today, the part it plays in our lives and how our lives are strengthened when our faith is strengthened. Let's continue.

Greg Laurie: Before us here in Mark chapter seven is a story of faith: the faith of a woman who is desperate, the faith of a woman who effectively would not take no for an answer. It's the faith of the mother who wouldn't give up. Let's read about it. Mark 7, starting in verse 24.

"Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre. He didn't want anyone to know what house he was staying in, but he couldn't keep it a secret. Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter. Since she was a Gentile born in Syrian Phoenicia, Jesus told her, 'First I should feed the children, my own family, the Jews. It isn't right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.' She replied, 'That's true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children's plates.' 'Good answer,' Jesus said. 'Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.' And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed and the demon was gone."

What a powerful story that is. Here we see this woman was a model of faith that we should emulate. In fact, in Matthew's commentary on this same story, Matthew 15:28, we find Jesus says, "Oh woman, great is your faith." So he wanted others to pay attention. Check out this girl's faith. Look what she has done.

Think about this. Jesus is obviously an expert on the topic of faith. He is God incarnate who created all things. He has known every person he has ever called: from Abraham to Moses, from Sarah to Ruth, from Elijah to Elisha, from Peter to John. Yet he specifically commented on her faith.

But what's going on? Her daughter, her beloved little girl, has come under the power of a demon spirit. I think our children today are under spiritual attack perhaps more than any other generation I've ever seen. One of the main ways this is happening is through social media. You've heard the phrase "social contagion." It's real. It means that you take something that actually spreads in a viral way.

Take gender dysphoria as an example. In the past, a very small percentage of people would deal with this. Now there's a sharp increase among Generation Z, specifically among adolescent girls identifying as transgender. This is reinforced by influencers, celebrities, school curriculums, and media in general, glamorizing this and normalizing this. We have so many young people now grappling with this that did not grapple with this in a generation earlier.

Then we have witchcraft that has been romanticized like never before: from crystals to tarot cards to astrology. People say, "Well, it's just self-care. It's harmless," and they're opening the door to the devil. I believe that people can still be demon-possessed today. So this is a very real problem. As parents, we need to be good spiritual leaders and pay attention to this.

What are some takeaway truths from the story of this woman? Well, she had a desperate need and a relentless faith. She had a desperate need and a relentless faith. She didn't have any basis to approach Christ. Why? Because she was a Gentile, verse 26 says, born in Syrophoenicia. As a non-Jew, as a Gentile, she lives in a pagan city that Christ specifically went out of his way to visit.

He effectively leaves the country. He's becoming more popular, the crowds are swelling, and it's like Jesus says, "We're leaving the country now, and we're going on foot." No Uber, no cars, no anything. We are going to walk there because he had an appointment with this woman. He arrives there and she probably worshiped false gods. She probably worshiped the goddess of her people known as Ashtart, the goddess of fertility. She was disillusioned with this. She felt Jesus could intervene and help her, but her daughter finds herself possessed by demons. And there were probably little idols in her home.

It just reminds us that what we do in the home really matters because our kids are watching us. Little ears are listening to all of your conversations. Little eyes are watching the way that you live. Children don't just listen to what you say; they watch what you do. As an example, you drink in front of your kids and wonder why they one day end up with their own alcohol problems.

You crack open a beer and say, "Well, I need this to relax after a hard day of work," and then you see your kids turn to alcohol for comfort and escape. You wonder, "How did this happen? Where did they learn this behavior?" They learned it from you. You fight with your spouse. You scream, you yell, maybe even use profanity. Then one day your son or daughter shouts back at you in disrespect and you wonder, "Where did they learn that?" They learned that from you. They learned it from the way you treat your spouse.

Or you skip church often and wonder why your kids don't care about God. You go to church when it's convenient. Then your kids grow up and they don't go at all because you showed them church was optional. It just got so quiet in here. Am I stepping on some toes? You have a very limited period of time with your children before they grow up. Precious days and weeks and months that slip by. Don't waste them. Take the time to train your children in the way of the Lord. To train means you have to correct at times and give parameters.

Listen to this. Your kids don't need you to be their best friend; they need you to be their parent. Parent your children. Tell them what's right, tell them what's wrong, have rules, and have absolutes in your home. The word "train" also means to stimulate their thirst. It means that you're to provide constraint and parameters, but at the same time, hopefully in the way that you live, you motivate them to want to have a relationship with God like Mom or Dad has.

This poor woman, her daughter was now under the complete power of the devil. So she finds Jesus and she says, "Please touch my little daughter." Matthew 15:23 gives us some commentary. It says, "He answered her not a word." He answered her not a word.

Wait. Here's Jesus. He's going out of his way to visit Tyre and Sidon because he wants to have this moment with this woman. Now she finally comes to him and pleads that he would deliver her demon-possessed daughter, and he answers her not a word. In other words, he ignored her. He blew her off. Was Jesus ghosting her? Was he ignoring her?

Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt as though God wasn't listening to your prayers? He wasn't paying attention to what was going on? Nothing could be further from the truth. Why is it that our prayers aren't answered more often in the affirmative? Let me give you a couple of reasons.

One answer may be there's something going on in the spiritual realm that you or I don't even know about. In Daniel chapter 10, there's a fascinating story where we find the prophet Daniel praying. An angel is dispatched from heaven with the answer to his prayer, and then the angel arrives 21 days later. That's a long time for an angel, because they move fast, by the way.

Then the angel explains, "I was on my way to you with the answer to your prayer, but I came to a fallen angel, a demon power that overcame me, so Michael the archangel was dispatched to overpower that other angel. Now here I am with the answer to your prayer." Wow.

So who knows what's going on when you're praying? You think God's not listening. Oh, things are going on. Just remember his delays are not necessarily his denials. This is why Jesus said men ought always to pray and not give up.

Another reason our prayers are sometimes not answered is because of unconfessed sin in our life. Nothing will bring your prayer life to a halt more quickly than unconfessed sin. Psalm 68:18 says, "If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, my Lord would not have listened." In Isaiah 59, the Lord says, "Listen, my hand is not too weak so it can't save you. It's not that I'm becoming deaf so I can't hear you. Here's the problem. Your sins have cut you off from God, and because of your sin, he's turned away and will not listen anymore."

I need to confess my sins on a regular basis because you and I sin way more than we think we do. Jesus taught us in the Lord's Prayer to pray, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sin as we forgive those who've sinned against us," right?

In context, he says pray for God to give you your daily bread. Not your monthly bread, not your yearly bread. Each day, give me my daily bread. Right after that, "And forgive us our sins." Looking at that in context, it would appear to me I not only need to pray for daily bread, I need to pray for daily forgiveness. There may be unconfessed sin in your life and that can be hindering your prayers from being answered.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie pointing out the importance of confessing our sins and the way that affects the answers to our prayers. Good insight today here on *A New Beginning*, and there's more to come as this message continues.

Pastor Greg, let's speak to the person listening who's never done what you just talked about. They've never come to the Lord and confessed their sin. They're ready to make that change but just need a little help. What would you say to them?

Greg Laurie: I would say that God is just a prayer away. It doesn't take years to become a Christian. It doesn't take months. Frankly, it doesn't even take hours. It can happen so quickly. It just starts with you saying to God, "I know I'm a sinner. I know that you love me. I know that you sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sin and pay for those sins and then to rise again from the dead, and I want him to come into my life."

So here's my question to you: have you done that yet? Because Jesus, who did die on that cross and rose again from the dead three days later, is alive and standing at the door of your life right now, and he's knocking. He's saying, "If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in."

Would you like your sin forgiven? Would you like to know that when you die you will go to heaven? Do you want Christ to come into your life right now? If so, why don't you just stop whatever it is you're doing and pray this prayer with me? You could pray it out loud, you can pray it in the quietness of your own heart, but pray this prayer to God.

Say, "Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, but I know that you are the savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I'm sorry for my sin and I turn from it now, and I choose to follow you from this moment forward. I ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen."

Listen, if you just prayed that prayer, the Bible promises that God has heard your prayer and has answered that prayer. The Bible says if we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So God bless you. You've made the right decision: the decision to follow Jesus Christ.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg would like to help you get started off right living for the Lord. He'd like to send you his *New Believer's Bible*. It features hundreds of helps for new believers, and it's written in an easy-to-understand translation. Contact us for your free copy of the *New Believer's Bible*. Call us at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write *A New Beginning*, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click "Know God."

Let us take a moment to thank you for praying for this ministry and for supporting it through your generous donation. It's an investment in kingdom business, isn't that right, Pastor Greg?

Greg Laurie: It's really true. I believe it's so important because the gospel saves lives. It saves eternal lives. When a person believes in Jesus according to scripture, they pass from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God. Then, of course, that changes the course of their future. That impacts their children and their children's children. The gospel changes everything.

Thousands and thousands of people respond every single year. Thanks to the Lord and also thanks to you for your investment in this ministry, enabling us to reach people wherever they are. If this is something you care about, I encourage you to make a financial investment in *A New Beginning* and Harvest Ministries.

Guest (Male): We really do appreciate your support. Thanks for partnering with us today. It can make a real difference, not just for today or this week, but for eternity. Get in touch with your support today by calling 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24/7 phone number: 1-800-821-3300. Or write *A New Beginning*, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or go online to harvest.org.

Next time, more to come in this story of the mother who wouldn't give up from Mark chapter seven. Join us here on *A New Beginning* with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.