How to Never Stumble or Fall | God Can Remold Your Life

Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries recommend the bestselling book Cold Case Christianity from former detective J. Warner Wallace. That's a book we're offering this month to our listeners. Cold Case Christianity written by detective J. Warner Wallace, a homicide detective, investigates the claims of the gospel. So get your own copy of Cold Case Christianity. It's our offer for this month for your gift of any size.

Request yours for a limited time at harvest.org. Maybe you didn't plan on falling, but you fell. And you're wondering, can I get up again? Well, the answer is not in your own strength. You need a helping hand. Before we fall, we don't think we will. After we fall, we don't think we can get up.

Pastor Greg Laurie has good encouragement today. Maybe you've said, yeah, I have fallen and I've tried to overcome this addiction and it's become a worse addiction. I've tried to fix it. It's gotten worse. Okay, Jesus is saying, take my hand now.

Let me pull you up. In 1998, Play-Doh was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. We've all had Play-Doh. You can mold it into anything you want. Squash it, reshape it, and start over as many times as you like. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie says no matter how your life has taken shape, God offers you the chance to be remolded and start fresh.

No squashing involved. A case in point today from the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Luke. Here in Luke 22, Jesus is in the upper room with his disciples. He's headed to the cross. He's told them he's headed to the cross. He's going to break bread with them and tell them to do this in remembrance of him.

But before that, he has a fascinating conversation with Simon Peter. Luke 22, verse 31. Jesus says, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat, but I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. And when you have repented and turned to me again, you'll strengthen your brothers.

Peter said, Lord, I'm ready to go to prison with you and even to die with you. Jesus said, let me tell you something, before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even knew me. Look at Luke 22, verse 39. Coming out, he went to the Mount of Olives as he was accustomed and his disciples followed him to the place and he said to them, pray that you enter not into temptation. Now this place being referred to by Luke is the Garden of Gethsemane. As he was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, he knelt down and prayed, saying, Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. When he rose from prayer, he came to his disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow.

And he said, why did you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation. So they're there in the Garden of Gethsemane. They're sleeping when they should have been praying. Here comes the temple guard. And along with them Roman soldiers, they've got swords and spears and shields and torches. And they're coming to arrest Jesus. But before that happens, as the guards come in to grab Jesus, one guy named Malchus, probably his first, and Simon Peter, in an attempt to defend Jesus, pulls out his sword and slices off the ear of Malchus. Jesus is like, you know, he has to pick the ear up.

He puts it back on the guy and he heals him. So the last earthly miracle of Jesus was covering the blunder of a disciple. So coming back to our story, now we shift over to John 18. I'm reading from the New Living Translation, starting in verse 15. Simon Peter followed Jesus as did another of the disciples.

That would be the apostle John, the writer of this gospel. The other disciple was acquainted with the high priest and he was allowed to enter the high priest's courtyard with Jesus. Peter had to stay outside the gate and the disciple who knew the high priest spoke to the woman watching at the gate and she let Peter in. The woman asked Peter, you're not one of that man's disciples, are you? No, he said, I am not.

Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards had made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself. And now a woman asks him, this is his first denial, you're not one of that man's disciples, are you? He said, no, I am not. Whoa, he just did it. Now you would have thought that Peter would have said, hold on, I just, I did the thing I said I would never do.

I've got to get out of here. No one was holding him here. He could have escaped if he wanted to, but he did not do it.

That leads me to his next step down. Verse 25, as he was standing by the fire, warming himself, they asked him again, you're not one of his disciples, are you? He denied it, saying, no, I'm not. Ah, but one of the household slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, didn't I see you in the olive grove with Jesus? Mm-hmm, your sin will find you out. Oh, yeah, right, yeah, you were there. And that brings us to the third denial, and here's something you may have missed, between the second and third denial, there was a one hour interval.

That's a long time. That's plenty of time to get out of there, but he stayed there, he's compromised now, he's not thinking rationally, and finally someone says to him, yes, you were with Jesus, and I know you're one of his disciples because your accent betrays you. And then we read that Peter began to curse and swear, and he took an oath saying, I never knew the man. Now when we read curse and swear, it does not mean that Peter used profanity or swore like a sailor, though he was one. It means he took an oath. He took an oath and swore to God he didn't know Jesus. Now this is the worst kind of taking the Lord's name in vain. The Bible says, God gave him the commandments, a specific commandment, thou shall not take my name in vain.

And we've heard people do it. Now there's the obvious applications when people curse using the name of God. But even when someone uses the name Jesus to punctuate a sentence, you've heard that, someone will say, Jesus Christ, what's going on here? When I see someone do that, I'll say, careful, he might answer you sometime.

I don't even think people realize what they're doing. But we could even take the Lord's name in vain in church, because the phrase to take it in vain means to use it in an insincere and frivolous way. So I might be singing a song with the name Jesus in it, and while I'm singing the song, I'm judging the person in the pew in front of me, how could she wear that to church? Or I'm thinking about lunch, hamburger, In-N-Out Burger, animal stuff, wait, you're singing Jesus, Jesus, and you're thinking burger, burger, right?

You're doing it in an insincere, frivolous way. But Peter did even more than that, here's what he effectively did. Because people will take a note that says, I swear to God, I put my hand on a stack of Bibles, like a stack will be more important.

Not just one, a stack. A stack of Bibles, they swear. Here's what Peter effectively said, I swear to God, I never knew Jesus.

And guess what happened? At the moment he said that Jesus was let out of the courtyard of Caiaphas and he made eye contact with Peter. Peter said, I swear to God, says Peter, I never knew Jesus. Oh, hi Jesus.

Literally, right there, oh, Jesus. And the Bible says Jesus looked at him. I wonder what kind of expression that was, you know, we all have looks we get, right? Parents, we've got these looks down, kids are acting up, you see. Johnny, look at me.

All that means is stop, stop it now. Or someone says something ridiculous, we roll our eyes, oh, that's a look. Or we look at someone with anger because they cut us off on the freeway, we have our looks. What kind of look did Jesus give to Peter? Was it a I told you so look? Did he roll his eyes like, loser, why did I choose you?

I don't think it was, no, I can't say with certainty because the Bible doesn't tell us. But here's an interesting thing, the Bible says Jesus looked at Peter, or a better translation, Jesus looked through Peter. Have you ever had anyone look through you? I'll restate the question, do you have a mother? You're out late, you come in, where have you been?

Nowhere, Mom. Look at me. Look at me.

Whatever. He looked at him. Looked right through him. I think it was a look of love.

And I'll tell you why I think it was a look of love because Jesus predicted this, right? He said, you're going to deny me, but don't forget the rest of it. When you have returned, you'll strengthen your brothers. Peter, you're going to mess up. Trust me, it's going to happen.

Roosters are involved. But when you have returned, you'll strengthen your brothers. Peter, you're coming back.

I don't think Peter heard the you're coming back part because the Bible says he went out and wept bitterly. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hearing about listeners who find Jesus because of Harvest Ministries is so encouraging. Pastor Greg, both of my sons accepted Jesus because of your ministry. My oldest and one of your harvest crusades and my five year old as we listened to you on the radio as I was driving him to school. I knew he had prayed the prayer of salvation when I looked over as he had tears in his eyes looking out the window. It was so precious and sweet to see that. Thank you, Pastor Greg.

What a great story. If you'd like to share with Pastor Greg, send him an email. Greg at Harvest dot org. That's Greg at Harvest dot org. Well, just a word of thanks to those who support this daily study, especially our harvest partners.

Your generosity allowed us to present this message today. Pastor Greg is examining the denial of Simon Peter today. Contrast Judas Iscariot and Simon Peter. Judas, going back to the Garden of Gethsemane, was given one last chance to repent. When they came to arrest Jesus, Jesus said to Judas, friend, why have you come? Jesus was giving Judas that one last chance.

Well, of course, Judas went on. He betrayed the Lord and he hung himself. So two men came short. Two men sinned against the Lord. One went out and took his own life. One went out and went bitterly. One left and never returned.

One came back again and was restored. And that was Peter. Because three days later, Jesus rises again.

Oh, yeah, remember? He not only said he would be crucified, he said he would rise again from the dead. And here's the message that went out from the angels. Go tell the disciples and Peter he's risen. Not go tell the disciples and Peter, James, and John. Or go tell the disciples and Matthew. Or go tell the disciples and Mary.

No. Go tell the disciples and Peter. Why was Peter singled out? Because he needed an encouraging word.

Maybe there's someone here today that needs an encouraging word as well. You've fallen away and you don't know how to get back. You're like the lady in that commercial, I've fallen and I can't get up. Now, I'm not making fun of that lady. But I don't think she actually fell.

I think she's an actor, okay? Saying her lines not that convincingly in my opinion, but I've fallen and I can't get up. Okay, sorry. But if you've ever fallen, you know what it's like. I was playing racquetball a while ago and I went for some shot and I lost my footing, went in the air and landed on my back. It was so loud a guy upstairs on a treadmill stopped and said, Are you okay? I'm like laying there.

Yeah, I think so. I didn't plan on falling. Maybe you didn't plan on falling, but you fell. You're wondering, Can I get up again?

Well, the answer is not in your own strength. You need a helping hand. If you're flat on your back, someone says, Let me help you get back up again. Grab my hand.

And you pull them up, right? So maybe you're saying, Yeah, I've fallen and I've tried to make this better and it's gotten worse. I've tried to overcome this addiction and it's become a worse addiction. I've tried to fix this.

It's gotten worse. Okay, Jesus is saying, Take my hand now. Let me pull you up. You have to reach out to me.

You have to call out to me. You have to ask me for forgiveness and I will extend this forgiveness to you. Listen, I don't know what trajectory your life is on right now, but I know this. God can change your story.

He can change it today. Yeah, well, my dad did this and my mom did that and my grandparent in this pattern of sin. Shut up.

I don't care. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away.

Everything becomes fresh and new. I'm sorry I said shut up. But I think sometimes we use a pattern of sin or bad behavior in a family to excuse our actions. And there has to come a point where we just say, I'm responsible for my own actions. And I make my choices and then my choices make me. And I have Christ living inside of me and he will give me the power to live the life he has called me to live.

You know, yesterday at the baptism, I will take a few moments with every person and I will ask them, When did you come to Christ? And they will tell me their story. I heard amazing stories.

I wish I could have filmed them right there. But one guy just covered in tattoos and he said, You know, I was a heroin addict and he showed me a hole in his arm that was still there. He had used so much heroin over the years.

He had a permanent hole in his arm. But he was just radiating the love of Jesus because God had changed his story. I talked to couples. We were on the verge of divorce. Our marriage is falling apart. And we came to the Lord and now we are here today getting baptized and our kids are with us.

And I am looking at that. A whole family changed. Because you know here is what can happen. You know the parents will get divorced and the kids are caught between the two parents. They remarry and they divorce again. And now the kids follow that same pattern. And then they have kids and they follow the same pattern. And these sins go on for multiple generations. But then you look what happens. Christ intervenes. Changes this. And instead of ungodliness going to multiple generations, godliness goes to multiple generations.

It happens. That is why we are so committed to calling people to Christ. But I didn't just baptize people who had lived crazy lives. I baptized some little kids too. And you know I always want to make sure a child understands.

And so someone came up to me. Would you baptize my son? So I talked to him and I baptized him. And then they said would you baptize his little brother? I said how old is he? They said he is four. I said you know that is kind of young. And you know it is not a bad thing to wait until later to baptize a little one so they understand what they are doing. You know because it says repent and be baptized. What does a four year old repent of?

You know I have had a lot of time outs lately. Anyway whatever it is. So I said well let me talk to him. And this cute little kid. His name was Graham. So I sat down on the beach with him. I said so Graham do you want to be baptized today? He said yes.

I said hmm. Now tell me who Jesus is. He says Jesus is God and God is Jesus.

And I said that is pretty good. And then Graham says and then there is the Holy Spirit. I was like oh wow. So we talked a little bit more and I thought okay the way I see it is this little child wants to get closer to God knowing as much as he knows in his little four year old mind.

Who am I to say no to him? So I took him out and I baptized him. And it was such a great moment. And it reminded me of a young lady that came to me. I was at our church in Maui last Sunday. A young lady came and said I came to Christ at one of your crusades when I was four years old. I said you came to Christ at four? She says yeah.

I said don't get mad at me. How old are you now? She looked like she was 21. She says I am 30 and I have been walking with the Lord all these years. So someone can come to Christ at four.

Right? But my point is simply this. Young or old whatever life you have lived we all need Jesus. And we need to come to him. And if we reach out to him he will take hold of us and he will forgive us of our sin.

So I am going to close with this thought. Is there someone listening to me right now that does not have the certainty that they will go to heaven when they die? Is there someone listening to me right now that is not sure that their sin is forgiven? You can come to Jesus and be forgiven of your sin because he died on the cross for you.

This can be the day where everything changes. But there might be somebody else here or wherever you are that has fallen and you can't get up and it is no joke. Well the Lord can lift you up but you must admit your sin and he will forgive you and restore you. So we are going to close now in prayer. I am going to extend this invitation for you to get right with God. Let's pray. Father I pray for every person here.

Every person listening or watching wherever they are. Help them to see their need for you and help them to come to you now. I pray that you would ask in your name. Amen. An important prayer from Pastor Greg Laurie.

And if you would like to follow through and do as Pastor Greg suggested and make a change today in your relationship with the Lord, Pastor Greg will help you do that before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. And then let us say a word of thanks to those who support us financially. Those who make it possible for us to bring you these studies each day. We are definitely a listener supported ministry. It's the generosity of listeners that help us be here with these programs. So if you've partnered with us, thank you. And if you have yet to partner with us, I hope you'll get in touch today and let us know that you're standing with us. Even a small investment would help.

It's actually an investment in changing lives. Thank you for partnering with us. You can donate securely online at harvest.org. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300.

Again, that's 1-800-821-3300. Well, Pastor Greg, I know there are some in our audience who felt God speaking to them today through your message. And they want to make a change in their relationship with the Lord.

Could you help them with that? Yeah, you know, Dave, the Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So here's the picture. You're out at sea. You're drowning. You have no energy left.

And there's a lifeguard on the shore. And you need to call out for help. Sometimes we're reluctant to do this, but if you want to be saved, this is what you need to do. Well, the same is true in your relationship with God, or lack thereof. You're drowning in the sea of sin. Jesus can save you, but you have to call out to Him.

And the Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So I want to lead you in a prayer where you will be doing just that, calling on the name of the Lord. So listen, if you want your sin forgiven, if you want to know that when you die you will go to heaven, if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life and take away your guilt and your shame, then just stop what you're doing and pray this prayer with me right now.

Pray this after me if you would. Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I have broken your commandments.

I have fallen short of your standards. But 2,000 years ago you died on that cross for me. Then you rose again from the dead. So Jesus, come into my life and be my Savior and my Lord and my God and my friend.

I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for calling me and accepting me and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Amen. And if you have just prayed those words with Pastor Greg and meant them sincerely, the Lord has heard you and forgiven you of your sin. And we want to welcome you into the family of God. We'd like to send some follow-up materials your way to help you begin to live this new life of faith. Let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible and some other resources that will help you build a solid foundation for your faith. Just give us a call at 1-800-821-3300. You can call anytime.

Again, 1-800-821-3300. Or just go online to harvest.org and click Know God. Well, next time Pastor Greg begins a brand new study of Nehemiah. He relies on rebuilding our lives from the miraculous rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible Teacher, Greg Laurie.