From the Chosen series, Pastor Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries are pleased to offer the Chosen graphic novel. Here at Harvest, we want to reach unexpected people in unexpected places with an unexpected message. And I can't think of a better way to do that than with the Chosen graphic novel. It's going to be a great tool to share the story of Jesus.
So get your copy of the chosen graphic novel for your gift of any size. Available at harvest.org. How do you build hope?
Well, here's something that might surprise you. Hope grows in the garden of adversity. We may wish it was the opposite. Why not let our hope grow in a time of pain-free serenity? Pastor Greg Laurie says that's not God's design, and Father knows best.
Hope actually gets stronger when things get harder. But you must turn to God, not turn away from God. Are you hopeful or are you hopeless? This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. But can you hear all the angels are singing? This is the day the day when I begin. When the alarm goes off early so we can get up and work out, it's easy to wish we could strengthen our muscles while we lie there in bed. Ah, but we know it doesn't work that way.
When it comes to growing strong in our faith, sometimes we have to exercise our faith. And sometimes that comes at the most painful, distressing times of life. Today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us get through the toughest times of our lives. Today we'll see our faith grows as we lean hard on the Lord. Is the day, the day when life begins here before us in John 11.
is a story of a loved one dying. It's a story of severe grief that accompanies the death of someone you love. It's also a story of how Jesus reacts. In such situations, and it tells us how God can actually be glorified through difficult circumstances. But it's also a hopeful message.
So we will remember that no matter what we're going through, God is going to be with you. He'll give you the strength you need in your hour of need. Not necessarily before, never after, but he'll give you what you need when you need it. This is the story of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Now, These people were personal friends of Jesus Christ. And he would go to their home in Bethany when he would be going into Jerusalem. Whenever he went into Jerusalem, there was conflict, there was drama, there were things going on.
So he'd go hang out with his friends first. And by the way, Martha was a killer cook. And I'm sure he loved her food, as did his 12 buddies he took with him everywhere he went.
So he'd just show up, and Martha would whip him up a feast, and Jesus liked to spend time in their home. And it could be accurately said that Mary, her sister Martha, and their brother Lazarus were personal friends of Jesus Christ. I think that's an important thing to note. And so, as our story picks up, Hardship has come their way. Sickness has invaded their home.
John 11.
Now, a certain man was sick. Lazarus of Bethany. The town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was then Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sister sent to him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.
Look at this.
Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Therefore, therefore. When he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. Huh? What?
And finally, Jesus comes strolling into town. And he's days late. Not only has he missed healing Lazarus, Lazarus has died and he missed the funeral.
So as he arrives in Bethany, Martha goes up to him and says the following. John 11, verse 20. Then Martha, as soon as she heard Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary was sitting in the house. And Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died. But now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.
Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. Martha said, I know he'll rise again in the resurrection of the last day. Jesus said, Read my lips. No, he didn't say that. But he said, I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believes in me, though he were dead, Yet shall he live, and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.
So here comes Jesus. Greeted by Martha with this statement: Lord. If you would have been here, my brother would not have died. Allow me to loosely paraphrase that. Jesus.
It kind of blew it. You really let us down here. We were bragging on you to our friends, telling them all how awesome you are. And you don't even show up. You even miss the funeral.
You could have done something, but then there's a spark of faith in there too, and Martha. does say, yet I know. That, whatever you ask of God, He'll give it to you.
Okay, so she's very upset with Jesus. Have you ever been upset with God? Have you ever not agreed with what God did in your life? Have you ever been disappointed with God? Maybe he's saying something like, Where were you, Lord, when my parents divorced?
Where were you when my marriage dissolved? Where were you when my child went prodigal? Where were you when my loved one died? Where were you when you let me buy a cat in a pet shop? Why did you.
Why? I have to throw crazy stuff in every now and then. I know this is an intense message, folks, so. I'll throw in wacky humor here and there. But you know, where were you, Lord?
We feel that way. And we cry out to him. And I want to say this. Mary and Martha were doing the right thing. We all have our anxieties and we all have our concerns.
Don't separate yourself from God and isolate yourself from other Christians. Be with them and go to God in prayer with your concerns. Listen, with your complaints, with your frustrations, and say, Lord, I don't get it. And I don't like it. But I believe in you.
And I believe you're in control, and I love you, but I still don't like it. That's okay. It's just honesty. It's just honesty with God. There's nothing wrong.
With asking God why. Don't necessarily expect an answer. But you can ask God why. You know, if the Lord did tell us why. Things happen.
The way they do. Do you think it would ease your pain? And heal your broken heart. I mean, imagine for a moment if you were saying, God, I don't understand this. Why?
Why? He says, You really want to know? Yes, I do. You ready for it? Yes.
Here it is. The reason. That happened, so this would take place. Boom. What would you do?
I don't agree. That's not right. That's messed up. You probably wouldn't agree with it.
So I don't even think knowing the answer. Would help you. God says, My ways are above your ways. My thoughts are above your thoughts.
So we should live on promises, not explanations. And we shouldn't spend too much time asking why. Why? Why? Now Jesus is going to put things in perspective.
Martha, listen to me now. I am the resurrection and the life. And he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet he shall live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Martha, listen, death is not the end.
This is the promise of God for all of us, and this is why we as Christians have hope. Everything doesn't end when I leave this earth. Oh, yes, my physical life ends, but I am a soul in a body, and I live on in eternity. And one day, heaven, according to scripture, is going to come down to the earth. Heaven and earth will become one.
God has a future and a hope for every one of his followers. That's why we have hope. in a seemingly hopeless world.
Okay, let's go back to John 11, verse 32. And when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw him falling down at his feet, saying, Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died. Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, he groaned in his spirit and was troubled. And he said, Where have you laid him? They said, Come and see.
Now here's the shortest verse in the Bible. Jesus wept two words. Jesus swept. Then the Jews said, Ah, see how he loved him? You know, men have uh Harder time in general than women.
Expressing their feelings and emotions. Girls do it so well. We so admire you, we don't understand you. But we admire you. The way you're just talking and 12 girls talking at the same time.
Understanding each other. We're really perplexed when you all go to the bathroom together. That makes no sense to men. I'm going to the bathroom. Who wants to go?
I'll go and you all go. We're like, guys would never do that ever. We're embarrassed if we see each other in the bathroom. Oh, hi, is it true? But girls.
A girl will say to a girl, I love you so much. I love you. I love you. I love you. Love, love, love.
Guys are like And we do feel love. We feel love for our brothers. We feel love for our wives. We feel love for a lot of people. It's just harder for us to say it.
That's all.
So we'll punch each other. Love you, bro. You know. Come on, we're messed up. Let's just admit it.
And it's really hard for a man to cry, generally. For many men They'll hold it back, they'll fight it. And some would even say it's not masculine to cry. For anyone who would say it is not masculine for a man to cry, I have a two-word answer. Jesus wept.
Jesus wept. Jesus. of Nazareth. Was the most masculine man that ever walked this planet. He was the man.
Even Pilate said, Behold the man. He was the mayor. Don't forget. He carried that wooden cross to the streets of Jerusalem after having his back ripped open by a Roman whip. He was tough as nails.
Not this effeminate little Scrawny Jesus, you see in religious art. That's not the Jesus of the Bible. He was strong. But he wept. Because it was heartbreaking.
What was heartbreaking? What was heartbreaking was What sin had done? Who was he mad at? Was he mad at Mary and Martha? I don't think so.
Was he mad at the people mourning? I don't really think so. I think he was mad at the grim reaper, if you will. He was mad at death itself, because this was never part of God's divine plan for us to die. We would have lived forever if our crazy first parents didn't eat the forbidden fruit.
And by the way, it wasn't an apple. The Bible never says apple. People say, when Adam and Eve ate the apple, there was no apple. It was a nectarine, don't you know? Actually, We're not told.
But because he ate that fruit, sin entered the world. If Adam and Eve had not eaten of the forbidden fruit, we would live forever. Have Adam and Eve had not eaten the forbidden fruit? We would never age. If Adam and Eve had not eaten of the forbidden fruit, I would have hair right now and lots of it.
Beautiful hair. I was uh signing copies of my book after the service and uh Some lady came up to me and said, um I have to ask you, how old are you? I said, well, how old do you think I am? She said, Well, I don't really want to say.
Well go ahead, take a shot. She says, 72? I'm like, What? Seriously? She said, I told you I didn't want to say.
Yeah. That's all because of sin, aging, sickness, and of course, death. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We love to hear how the various resources at Harvest Ministries touch lives. Pastor Greg.
After watching the movie Jesus Revolution, it completely changed my life. I looked you up on YouTube and then found out that you also had a podcast. I am so thankful for your solid biblical teaching. I listen to you every single night and use your messages to help me in my walk with Jesus. Thank you.
If your life has been changed because of harvest ministries, would you let Pastor Greg know? Just drop him an email. Greg at harvest.org. Again, that's Greg. At harvest.org.
And now, Pastor Gray continues his message called Hope for Hurting Hearts. God can be glorified through human suffering and bring good out of bad. God can be glorified through human suffering and bring good out of bad. Mary and Martha wanted a healing. Jesus wanted a resurrection.
He wanted to do more than they wanted him to do. You know, there are many times God wants to do way more than you're asking for. The Bible says in Ephesians 3:20, He is able to do exceedingly above and beyond that which you can ask or think.
So don't limit God by your unbelief. Maybe you have a bill due, you need $942.76 to pay it.
So you go to the Lord, Lord, I need this much money.
Well, would you provide it?
Well, don't limit them and say, if you want to throw in five extra grand, I'm good. You know, whatever you want to do.
Now, I'm sort of being a little humorous there, but the point is, he might want to do more than you're asking for. They say, Lord, here's my need. I bring them before you, but I know you can do exceedingly above and beyond that which I could ask or think. Here's the thing about hope. You think, how do you get hope?
How do you build hope?
Well You need sunshine, lollipops. Rainbows. And a couple of unicorns, right? They're not real, by the way. But...
Don't tell that to little girls. But the point is, we think, oh, all the good times, all the happy times will bring hope. Not really. Here's something that might surprise you. Hope grows in the garden of adversity.
Hope actually gets stronger when things get harder. See, that doesn't make any sense to me.
Well, listen, the Bible says this in Romans 5:3, we glory in tribulations, which means. We're happy when things are hard. That's not easy. Knowing that tribulation produces perseverance or endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. You see, when a Christian suffers and still glorifies God, it reassures the rest of us that there will never be a valley so deep that God will not get us through it.
It reminds us that our faith is real and will sustain us in our hour of need. When you're going through hardship, that's when you're going to find out how real your faith actually is.
Okay, I've been saying these things for years, I've been telling these things to other people.
Now it's time for me to get on this little bridge called faith and put my full weight on it. And I had to do that. And that bridge did hold me up because everything God says in His Word is true. And my faith grew stronger, and my hope burned brighter. And it can happen for you as well.
But you must turn to God, not turn away from God. See, that was a smart thing about Mary and Martha. They went to the Lord, and that's where you need to go with your pain right now. And I'm asking you in closing. Are you hopeful?
Or are you hopeless? I talked about the hopeless generation. They have. probably more materially than any generation that's ever existed. They're very, you know, iPads.
Now I'm talking about the pets have iPads now, you know. Everybody has uh all these great things and So many of them are just have a high suicide rate. What's going on? I think it's because there's all these bright, shiny, dazzling things, and they quickly see the emptiness of all of it, and they're wondering: is there more to life than this?
Well there is, but it's not in stuff. It's in a relationship with God. You know, when you're young, you say, Well, I'm not that happy now, but one day when I Graduate from high school, I'll be happy, I'll be fulfilled. Then you graduate.
Well, I need to graduate from college, then you do that.
Well, I need to get married, then you get married, and you're like, Hmm. Um Maybe I need to get remarried.
So you get divorced, and I'm not making light of that, by the way, but I'm using it as an illustration.
So you remarry again, oh, well, maybe I made the wrong decision, I'll get remarried again. Then you say, Well, kids, we need kids. If we had kids, we'd be happy. Then you have kids. Then you say, if we can get rid of these kids somehow, we'll be happy.
Have you ever noticed it's always just a little beyond your reach? That's because it, the thing you're looking for, isn't out there. It's not a thing you hold in your hand. It's having Christ in your heart. That's what you're wired for.
That's what you're looking for. I'll close with this verse. And this verse is 25 chapters, so be patient. No, it's just one verse. Proverbs 10, 28.
The hopes of the godly result in happiness. But the expectations of the wicked are all in vain.
So if you're a believer And you have your hope in Christ. It'll result in happiness. But if your expectations are in other things, It's all in vain. Jesus has what you're looking for. He'll forgive you of all of your sin and give you hope if you're young, if you're middle-aged, if you're 72.
Or if you look like you're 72.
Okay. Or you're 85 or you're 95. Whatever your age, the answer is the same. We need Jesus. And I want to close by offering an invitation to anybody here that may not have a relationship with God yet.
Because listen to this: life without Jesus. is a hopeless end. But life with Jesus is endless hope. You've heard of the endless summer? I'm talking about endless hope.
It doesn't stop. For you in a relationship with God, Jesus died on the cross for you 2,000 years ago. He died in your place and bore your sins, and he rose again from the dead three days later. And now he's here standing at the door of your life, and he is knocking. And he's saying, if you'll hear his voice and open the door, he'll come in.
Have you asked Christ to come into your life yet? If not, why don't you do it right now? You'll find the hope you're looking for. He's just a prayer away. Let's all pray together.
Father, thank you for your love for us. Thank you for your word to us. Thank you that you can give us hope in a seemingly hopeless world. And now I pray for any person here. Watching, listening, wherever they may be, if they don't have a relationship with you, if they don't know that their sin is forgiven, Would you help them to see their need for you today?
Help them to come to you and believe in you, we ask. Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer. And if you'd like to do just that, if you'd like to make a change in your relationship with the Lord today, Pastor Gregg will help you with that in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. Stay tuned.
All right. Are you receiving Pastor Gregg's daily devotions? They're a great way to start your day with extra insight and inspiration. Sign up for his devotions today at harvest.org. 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, well, 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, California, 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300. Again, that's 1-800-821-3300. And then, Pastor Gregg, just before we go, would you mind praying with the person listening who wants to make a change today in their relationship with the Lord? I'd be happy to, Dave.
You know, as you've been listening to this today, maybe you've heard another voice. By that, I mean, yeah, you heard me say a few things, but you heard God's voice speak to you. Deep in the recesses of your heart, and it suddenly dawned on you: this is what I need. Or to state it more accurately, this is who I need. I need Jesus and I want Jesus.
But maybe you don't know how to make that connection. Let me help you. Pray this after me right now if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life. Lord Jesus I know I am a sinner. And I am sorry for my sin.
And I need your forgiveness right now. Would you come into my heart and my life? As Saviour As God as 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. I know that was a relatively short prayer. Maybe you felt something as you prayed it.
Maybe you felt nothing. That doesn't really matter. Because God's Word says, These things we write to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. It doesn't say, so you may think you have it, or you may hope you have it if God's in a good mood. No, that you can know it.
And I want you to know: if you pray that prayer in a minute, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come into your life.
So, congratulations. You're now a Christian.
Now, continue to follow the Lord. Yeah, and to help you, we'd like to send you something that'll help you build a strong foundation for your faith. It's Pastor Greg's popular New Believer's Bible. It'll answer many of the questions you might have and get you started off right in your new relationship with the Lord.
So, get in touch and ask for it. We'll send it free of charge. Call us at 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime. That's at 1-800-821-3300.
Or write us at a new beginning box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God.
Well, next time, Pastor Gregg launches a new series examining the practical lessons to be learned by an inspiring study of the life of King David. Join us here on a new beginning. Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laura. This is a day, the day when life begins.
