A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: Sometimes in the dry wastelands of life, I will find God more than I find Him anywhere else.

Guest (Male): Do we grow closer to the Lord in times of spiritual success and excitement? Pastor Greg Laurie says we often realize God is all we need when He’s all we have.

Greg Laurie: I would love to perpetually live on a mountain top, never having an emotional low, but the reality is spiritual fruit does not grow on mountain tops, it grows in valleys.

Guest (Male): It’s been said that when we get to the end of our rope, we get to the beginning of God. A lot of truth is in that statement. When we’re out of answers and short on hope, God opens His supply of reassurance and direction. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie has good insight for those challenging times. We’re glad you’ve joined us for his new series called Refresh: What Every Christian Needs to Know. Valuable information for believers who face the challenges of life.

Greg Laurie: Have you ever been working on your computer and things sort of freeze? And I have a little ball tap trying to wake my computer up and sometimes it won't wake up. I may have to restart it, reboot it, and effectively refresh it.

In the same way, in our lives as Christians, sometimes we find ourselves a little bit down, a little bit frozen. We're not living the way we ought to be. It's not working as well for us, we're struggling spiritually. That is not a 21st-century phenomenon. Way back when, the Psalmist wrote these words in Psalm 42: "My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be."

Can someone here say those words maybe today describing their life? There was a time when you were stronger spiritually than you are today and so you say, "I remember how it used to be." And then the Psalmist continues, "I walked among the crowds of worshipers leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks." But then he honestly admits this: "So why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?"

And that can happen to any of us. You can be in the middle of a worship service, you find yourself down, you're discouraged, you're sad. And I love it because in the middle of a Psalm, he corrects himself and he says, "I will put my hope in God, I'll praise Him again, my Savior and my God."

Sometimes I do that, I preach to myself. I'll be thinking something down about this or concerned about that or something else, and I'll even say, "Greg, shut up." I'm very close to myself so I can talk that way to myself. "Greg, shut up." The Bible says, and sometimes I'll quote the Bible out loud to myself to sort of right my course. Have you ever done that?

Then the Psalmist continues and says, "As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, oh God. I thirst for God, the living God." Here's what he's saying: "I need some spiritual refreshment." And that's something God wants to give to every one of us.

Remember in our last message, we mentioned Ephesians 5, where Paul says, "Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord." In the original Greek, that is a command. So the Lord is saying, "I command you to be filled with the Spirit."

Also in the original Greek, it speaks of something that's continuous. In other words, the Lord is saying, "I command you each and every day to be filled, refilled, and filled again with the Holy Spirit." So we need to ask God to fill us. And by the way, that isn't an emotional thing necessarily.

As I illustrated, I don't know about you, but I don't have an emotional experience when I fill my car with gas. Or if you have an electric car, when you plug it into the wall, it’s emotional. Well, unless you're standing in water and you plug it into the wall, that will be very emotional. But no, the idea is that it's just something you do, it's functional.

And when you pray for God to fill you, it's not so much "Am I going to have an emotional experience?" but rather "Am I going to receive this from the Lord?" and that brings you refreshment. As Peter said in the day of Pentecost, "Times of refreshment come from the presence of the Lord."

Listen, God wants to refresh you today, right here, right now. How does He do that? Well, one way He does it is through reading and studying the Bible. Reading and studying the Bible because Psalm 19 says, "The word of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul." Proverbs 25:25 says, "Good news from far away is like cold water to the thirsty."

So as I read and study the word of God, it refreshes me. Number two, this is really important: I will find myself spiritually refreshed when I think of other people more than myself. That's counterintuitive. It seems to me that if I want to be refreshed, if I want to be happy, I have to focus on my needs, and I'll even find myself saying something along the lines of, "I need more me time."

And you even use that voice, which is especially obnoxious. "I need more me time." You don't need more me time. You need more Jesus time. That's what's going to refresh you spiritually and think of others.

Here's the reality: when I do things only for myself, that might bring a momentary happiness, but studies have found that selflessness brings happiness, not selfishness. They've even come up with a description of it; they call it the "helper's high." You know it. When you do something for someone else. It can be as simple as holding the door open for someone or helping someone load their groceries into their car.

Or it might be providing some food for someone that is in need or sharing your faith with someone. As you do that, you find yourself replenished in the process. And we're told in Scripture, Proverbs 11:25, "A generous person will prosper and whoever refreshes others will be refreshed himself."

Okay, so here's another thing that brings refreshment and this one might surprise you. Spiritual refreshment comes from times of spiritual testing. God says in Isaiah 43:19, "I'm about to do something new. See, I've already begun. Don't you see it? I'll make a pathway through the wilderness and rivers in the dry wasteland so my chosen people can be refreshed."

So listen, sometimes in the dry wastelands of life, I will find God more than I find Him anywhere else. I would love to perpetually live on a mountain top, never having an emotional low, but the reality is spiritual fruit does not grow on mountain tops, it grows in valleys.

But why do I have to go through trials as a follower of Jesus? Here's the answer: James 1 verse 2. "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. And know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow, so let it grow. And when your endurance is fully developed, you'll be perfect and complete."

We'll stop there. One of the things that often happens when crisis comes our way, when hardship comes our way, maybe it's trouble at work, maybe it's trouble with your family, maybe it's trouble with your health. But whatever it is, you ask why. Why is this happening to me? What have I done to deserve such a fate? I've been walking with the Lord, I've been reading His word, I've been praying, I've been going to church, I'm doing all the right things, I'm checking all the boxes and this hardship is happening.

Why? Simple answer: for your own good. What? Oh yeah. Trials are allowed in the life of the Christian for their own good so you will grow up spiritually. In fact, First Peter says, "Don't be surprised at the fiery trials you're going through as though something strange were happening. Instead, be glad for these trials make you partners with Christ in His suffering."

Look, it's not a matter of if you're going to have trials and hardship, it's just a matter of when. Jesus said, "In this world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." So if you're taking notes, here's point number one: God allows trials in the life of the Christian so we will grow up spiritually. Again, God allows trials in our lives so we will grow up spiritually.

J.B. Phillips translates verse 4 as follows: "Let this process go on until you have become men of mature character." Basically, it is God testing you to see if you've learned the material. Back when I was in school, I remember when the teacher would come out and say, "Close your textbooks, we're having a pop quiz."

All the nerds and the geeks got excited. They're all like, "Yeah!" And they even had voices like that—not really—but and I was not excited. And by the way, we don't call them nerds and geeks anymore, do we? We call them "boss" now, we probably work for them.

Isn't it interesting how the word "geek" is positive now? Right? So you—I can't get my computer working. I need a geek, help me someone! So they were excited. Why? Because they were prepared, they had studied the material. I was not excited. Why? Because I was not prepared, I had not studied.

Instead, I sat in the back of the class, mocking people, creating disruptions and perpetually being sent to the principal's office. Kids, don't do this at home. I'm a professional idiot, so don't follow my example. But why would a teacher do that? They wanted to see if you were learning the material. Guess what? God gives pop quizzes too. He wants to see if you're learning the material.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

Greg Laurie: Have you downloaded the Harvest Plus app yet? This is something you need to get on your phone or your tablet or even on your television set. It's full of messages that I've given and others. It has all the movies that we have done over the years, like Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon, Steve McQueen: The Salvation of an American Icon, A Rush of Hope, and many more, as well as my sermons, as well as our brand new podcast and our radio show, while the list just goes on and on.

And the best thing of all, it's free. Download it now for your device and start enjoying this library of spiritual resources right there at your fingertips to watch or listen to on demand. It's called Harvest Plus, so download it now. You'll love it.

Guest (Male): Well, in today's study, Pastor Greg has been explaining how God often brings times of testing in our lives to see if we're learning the lessons He's teaching us. It helps us grow and mature.

Greg Laurie: Take as an example the children of Israel. Why did it take them 40 years to get from Egypt to Israel? I mean, if they took their time, they could have gotten there in 40 days. If they picked up the pace, they could have gotten there in three weeks or so. Why did they wander like that? Because men were in charge and they would not stop and ask for directions. No, that's not the reason.

Here's the real reason. Deuteronomy 8:2 says, "Remember how the Lord your God led you all this way in the wilderness 40 years to humble you, to test you, in order to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not." God allows tests in our life to humble us because sometimes we think we're all that and a bag of chips.

We kind of believe our own press. "I am so awesome. I am so smart. I am so spiritual." You might need to be humbled a little bit and be brought back to reality. And so the Lord allows a test. Here's a perfect illustration found in John chapter 6.

A huge multitude had gathered to hear Jesus and it was lunchtime and people were hungry. Maybe you heard their stomachs grumbling. You can set a clock to my stomach. I am ready to have lunch at 11 o'clock, not 12, that's late to me. 11 o'clock and I'm ready for dinner at five, by the way. So they're hungry.

And so I love this because Jesus goes to Philip and actually says to him, "Hey Philip, where are we going to buy bread to feed all these people?" Do you think Jesus was like perplexed, like, "What are we going to do Philip, help me"? No, of course not. He knew exactly what He was going to do.

In fact, that verse goes on to say Jesus knew what He would do, but He was testing Philip. "Philip, where are we going to find bread? Where are we going to buy bread to feed the people?" Philip's like, "I have no idea." Andrew's standing nearby and he's listening. He says, "Well, there's this kid here with five loaves and two fish" and then catching himself, he says, "Ah, but what is that among so many?"

So both of them effectively fail that test. What was the test? The test was "Can you trust God when you need food on your table? Can you trust God when you need your financial needs met? Can you trust God when you're having a challenge physically or in some other area? Can you believe that God will come through for you? He has, after all, promised to provide all of your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

So trust Him. And God will test you and retest you and retest you again. I had a physical recently. They tested my hearing, they tested my eyesight, they tested everything. Why? I did this a year ago, why am I doing this again? Because you need to be tested and retested. Why am I going through this trial right now? Because you need to be tested and retested.

Think of this another way: instead of seeing these trials and challenges as horrible things, could you possibly think of them as good things accomplishing a greater thing? Another translation of James 1 is as follows: "When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don't treat them as intruders but treat them as friends.

They've come to test your faith and produce in you a quality of endurance. So let the process go on until the endurance is fully developed and you'll become men and women of mature character, men and women of integrity with no weak spot." It's like going to the gym. How many of you like to go to the gym? You love to work out. Wow, not a real active bunch, are you?

Well, I'm actually one of you. I don't like to, but I go to the gym a couple of times a week—you'd probably be surprised to hear that maybe—just to remain mobile, to stay in relatively good shape. I would far rather skip it and sit around and eat donuts all day long. I love donuts. I watched a documentary the other day with my wife on donuts.

Why would you even watch something like that? I don't know, but I did. And it's late at night and guess what I wanted? Donuts. Where can I buy a donut at 9:20 at night? Answer: probably nowhere. Unless it's a supermarket, and those don't count. Those are not legit donuts. Okay? I'm just saying. What are you, anti-supermarket here? I don't know.

But you go to the gym. People do interesting things in gyms, don't they? There's the person that dominates all the equipment, like they're using three things at once and you want to get in there but they've got their own private circuit going on. Then there's the guy who makes loud noises when he lifts. It's like "Agh!" You know, it's like, seriously? He usually has headphones in.

And it's the same guy that when he's done drops his weight, like drop, boom, it hits the ground. Then there's the person that gets on the treadmill and sweats on everything. There's like pools of perspiration, people are fleeing in horror. Well, why do we go to the gym? To show off, I don't know. You go and you break your muscle down to build it up.

Okay, trials are like God's gym where He breaks us down to build us up. Not to make us weaker, but ultimately to make us stronger because character is not made in crisis, it is revealed. Now think about Job because some people when they have hardship, they just turn against God. They walk away from God. I've heard people say, "I lost my faith. This crisis hit, this tragedy happened. I lost my faith."

Okay, maybe that's good. What was your faith in? Listen, the faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted. What are you putting your faith in? Are you putting it in a person? Are you putting it in the church? Listen, put your faith in Christ and your faith will grow stronger through difficulty, not weaker.

So Job, poor old Job. The problem with Job is he never read the book of Job because if he had, he would have realized that God was in control. But he had not. He just woke up one morning and everything in his life collapsed. His children died, his career was gone, his health was gone.

He probably wished his wife was gone too because of what she said to him. She looked at poor Job losing everything, covered head to toe in massive boils and she says, "Why don't you just curse God and die?" Thank you for those encouraging words, Mrs. Job. I was kind of hoping for something a little more hopeful, right?

But here's what Job did. He could have said, "I don't want to believe in you anymore, God. I've served you and this is what you give me." No, here's what we read. Job 1:21, he said, "I came naked from my mother's womb and I'll be stripped of everything when I die. The Lord gave me everything I had and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord."

And then it says Job did not sin by blaming God. This is the whole thing: we turn to God in times of trouble. What is the purpose of trials again? To make us stronger spiritually so iron will enter our soul. God is toughening you up for something He has in the future. And remember this, even when things look bleak, all things work together for God's glory and your ultimate good.

God has a plan. God has a purpose. You never know. I heard a story, actually read a story, about a guy who was bitten by a great white shark. How many of you have been bitten by a great white shark? Okay, nobody. Okay, well this guy was bitten by a shark and the headline was: "Man is bitten by great white and is thankful it happened."

I'm like, "What?" So I clicked this and here's what happened. This guy's out swimming, he's attacked by a great white shark, he's rushed to the hospital and as they're doing surgery to save his life, they see that there is a tumor on his kidney. It's cancer.

They remove the cancer and the man later said he was thankful for the shark attack because if the shark attack had not happened, he would not have known of the cancer. Who would ever think you would give thanks to God for being bitten by a great white shark? They tried to contact the shark for comment but he was unavailable. He was too busy looking for other people to bite, hoping for a positive outcome. But anyway.

So there's a really bad thing that turned out to be a really good thing. Even when things look bleak, all things will ultimately work together for God's glory and your good.

Guest (Male): Important insight today on A New Beginning from Pastor Greg Laurie’s message called "The Refreshment of the Spirit in Times of Trial." Many of us in hindsight can look back and see how God used the challenging times of our lives to bring about a greater good.

You know, it brings such a great sense of security to know that the Lord knows and cares for us. In Deuteronomy, we read, "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged." But maybe you’ve never entered into a relationship with the Lord. Pastor Greg, what would you say about that?

Greg Laurie: I would say that God is just a prayer away. You know, 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. And He's saying, "If you'll 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 that 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): Yeah, that’s right. And listen, as you begin to live this new life, we want to send you something to help you get started off right. It’s Pastor Greg’s New Believer’s Bible. It’s an easy-to-understand translation, plus hundreds and hundreds of study helps especially for those who are new to the faith. It’ll answer the questions you might have.

So get in touch for your New Believer’s Bible. We’ll send it free of charge. Just call us at 1-800-821-3300. Again, that’s 1-800-821-3300. You can call us anytime, night or day. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org and click "Know God."

You know, Pastor Greg, we hear from people all the time who tell us how these daily studies have impacted their lives. So many have found the Lord and been encouraged through this teaching. And we hope our listeners might pray about making an investment so these studies can continue.

Greg Laurie: Yeah, it’s really true. And even a little bit helps. You know, people need to hear the gospel so badly. They need to hear the teaching of the word of God. It changes everything because it changes us. And I'm so passionate about it and I'm called to do it and I'm thankful for it, but I can't do it alone.

So I'm going to ask folks that are listening, if you think more people need to hear the gospel, if you believe more people need to hear the teaching of the word of God, then prayerfully consider investing in Harvest Ministries and maybe even become a Harvest partner, which means you're someone who stands with us every month in your faithful giving and that opens up a lot of new opportunities for us. So thanks for that.

Guest (Male): Yeah, that’s right. And we really are thankful for your partnership. You can reach us anytime, day or night, at 1-800-821-3300. That’s 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org.

Well, next time, more insight on the challenging times of trial and suffering we may face and the way God will use those times to help us grow. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.