Is there a template for living a rewarding, fulfilling Christian life? Today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie addresses that very question. The secret to the Christian life is consistency. I think we're all looking for the big emotional experience. The real secret sauce of Christianity is daily obedience to God.
One person defined it as long obedience in the same direction. It's walking by faith, not by feeling. 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. It seems about half the population avoids reading the operating instructions. any new gadget. They call these people men.
And we think it should be self-evident by the knobs and switches. Oh, we read a manual once. must have been translated from the original Swahili. a lot of help backwards.
Well today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie brings us insight provided by God himself on how to live the kind of life that pleases God, a life of true fulfillment. Life is filled with lots of choices, isn't it? You can sit down in front of a television set and have over a thousand channels to choose from. Have you ever flipped through those channels and literally not found anything worth watching? And if you're like me, I'll start on something.
Oh, I'm going to watch this, and then the commercial comes, and now I'm gone. I leave. I'm off to something else, so I'm watching this. Then a commercial comes, so I go back to the other thing I was watching until the commercial comes again.
Now I go to a third thing.
So sometimes I'm watching three things at the same time while scrolling on my phone. Am I the only one? All these choices in front of us. Then you have choices when you go into restaurants. Have you ever gone to Cheesecake Factory?
That menu is too big. It's like a book, page after page after page. Let's turn in our menu to page four. I mean, it's like, what is this? That's why I like In-N-Out Burger, it's so simple.
Hamburger. Hamburger with two patties. Add cheese, french fries, malts. That's it. We're done here.
Or even Chick-fil-A. You know, you get the spicy, you can get the regular, but not a lot of options. It simplifies life.
Well, we have choices we make that are really important in life. What career path we're going to follow? Who we're going to marry, that's a huge choice. The most important choice of all is what we do with Jesus Christ.
Well listen, we're not the only one that makes choices. God makes choices too. And his choices don't always make sense to us, but we're starting a brand new series on the life of David. And this is a man that God chose, David. He rose from obscurity.
To being the greatest king in the history of the nation Israel. They still sing about David today. There's a folk song that's been popular that's still sung to this present day: David, David, Melek, Israel, Hai, Hai, Vei Kayam, which means David is still the king in Israel. It's been a long time since he sat on the throne there in Jerusalem. But think about David.
A shepherd boy, a musician, a poet. a warrior and a great king. But he also was a part of the messianic line, and that's so significant. Because when Jesus walked this earth, he could have identified with a lot of people. He could have said, I'm Jesus, the son of Abraham, or I'm Jesus, the son of another great patriarch.
But he identified himself as Jesus, the son of David. Remember, blind Bartimaeus heard Jesus was coming. And he cried out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. There's more written in the Bible about David than any other Bible character. As an example, there are 11 chapters dedicated to the life of Abraham and Joseph.
There are 11 chapters dedicated to Jacob. Elijah has 10. But in contrast, there are 66 chapters dedicated, 66 chapters dedicated to the life of David, 59 references to him in the New Testament as well. But he was not only a shepherd and a warrior and a king. But he also was an adulterer.
and a murderer in a dismal failure. The story of David is not the greatness of a man. It's a greatness of the God who gave him second chances. David's life is a study in contrast. In battle, he was fearless, in wisdom and ruling, without peer.
But he was not just some macho dude. He had a tender heart. He was a poet. He was a musician. He had a heart toward God, and he's uniquely described in the Bible as a man after God's own heart.
Who can forget his dramatic rise from shepherd boy The giant killer. And two other names come to mind when you think of David. And I bet you know them both: David and Goliath, and David and. That's it. One was his greatest victory, the other his worst defeat.
But yet he was greatly loved by his people, and he had his heart turned toward God. And David kept a diary. It wasn't a little diary, but the little heart-shaped lock, you know, with the little tiny key. But he kept a diary. And the diary is what we call the book of Psalms.
And in many ways, these were songs.
Some of them were composed with music. And some But they're also lamentations. Honestly, sometimes they're complaints.
Sometimes they're declarations of praise, other times, they're prayers. And actually, the Psalms, 150 of them in total, are Psalms and prayers from the history of Israel, but 73 of them were written by David. Think of the comfort and the encouragement. That people have received from the Psalms. Just take Psalm 23.
How many people have been blessed by that song? Especially as they're passing into eternity. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. My cup runneth over. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Such a powerful psalm. We're going to look at Psalm 1. And this first psalm is a study in contrast. It shows us that life is filled with cause and effect.
You do this, and that will happen. You do that, and this will happen.
So, we need to think very carefully about our choices. Last night, my granddaughter Stella was at our house, and she has a little Bible study that she goes to. Saturday nights. And I thought, what a great thing for a bunch of kids to do on a Saturday night, right? And these kids range from age 18 all the way down to 11, one of them.
And she said, Papa, that's what they call me, would you come over to the Bible study? It'll freak the kids out.
So. I went. And I had a great time talking to these kids. And so I said, why don't I talk to you about Psalm 1? Because I'd been preparing for it.
And I just said, you guys, you're young. And you have your whole life in front of you. And you're making choices today that are gonna affect you in years to come.
So choose well. And make the right choices. And then we just sort of went through Psalm 1 and showed them how it applied to their life. And that is true for all of us as well. Here's what it comes down to: do you want to be a happy person?
If you want to be a happy person. There are certain things you should do, and there are certain things you should not do, and they're laid out for us. Here in Psalm 1.
So, why don't we read it together? And by the way, I'm going to read from the King James Version. Normally I read from the New King James Version. Or from the New Living Translation, but I'm going to read the King James Version. For this reason.
I memorized this psalm at the age of 17. in the King James Translation. There's something about the cadence and the way that it's written that is very memorable and has somehow stuck in my mind in the best way possible.
So from the King James we read these words, Psalm 1 verse 1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth fruit in his season.
His leaves shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth. shall prosper.
Now in contrast, the ungodly are not so. They are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. There is someone.
I recommend you commit it to memory too, and you can do it. Oh, I can't, I can't remember anything. Oh, stop, you can. You remember weird jingles on television? One, eight, seven, seven cars for kids.
Songs from the radio. Or from Spotify, you remember lines from movies that you quote. Don't tell me you can't memorize scripture, you can't. Memorize this.
So, here are some points from what we have just read. If you're taking notes, and I hope you are. Point number one, the happy person walks the right way. The happy person walks the right way. Verse 1.
Blessed is a man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
So walk. Most of us walked.
Some of us run. I think you notice a person more if they run, especially if you're Tom Cruise. He's always running. Have you ever noticed that? In all of his movies, here's the scene where Tom Cruise is going to run really fast.
Okay, you can run, you can walk, but... But what's so great about this word walk is it just speaks of a cadence and a consistency. It's not a spectacular thing to do, but it's something that speaks of the Christian life on more than one occasion. The Bible compares our relationship with Jesus to a walk. Colossians 2:6 says, As you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, so walk in him.
Galatians 5 says, walk in the Spirit. and he will not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 1 John 1, 7 says that we walk in the light as he is in the light. We have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. Back in the book of Genesis, we read that.
Enoch walked with God. And what's not? Which means that one day he was out taking a walk with the Lord, and maybe the Lord said, Hey, buddy, we're closer to my house than yours. Why don't you come home with me today? And he was caught up in the presence of the Lord.
But this is the idea of just consistency. Uh 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. From Psalm 1, today Pastor Greg is offering practical insights on living the kind of life God wants us to live.
the kind of life he blesses. The secret to the Christian life is consistency. I think we're all looking for the big emotional experience. And I'm going to go to church and have this encounter with God or go to that retreat and everything's going to change. And I'm not in any way suggesting God can't move at certain moments in our life, but here's what I'm saying.
The real secret sauce of Christianity is daily obedience to God. One person defined it as long obedience in the same direction. It's walking by faith, not by feeling. And the problem is, you know, we have these emotional highs and lows and these ups and these downs, and we're at the height of the mountain, then we crash and burn. It's consistency.
It's walking with God. If you want to be a happy person, you need to walk with God. And also, don't walk in the counsel of the ungodly.
Now when we see ungodly It doesn't mean that you're necessarily an immoral or wicked person, though. People who are wicked and immoral would be ungodly. It could just be a description of what we might call a garden variety non-believer. You know, they're actually a nice person. They pay their bills, they provide for their families, they clean up after their dogs.
I hope they do. Are you one of those people that let your dogs go and don't do anything, leave it there for others to step in? Are you just raise your hand now?
Okay, nobody. Glad to hear that. But on the weekend, church is not a part of their plan. Are we going to go to the mountains? Are we going to go to the desert?
We're going to go to the beach. We'll do whatever, but there's just no God in their life.
So, in that sense, they're ungodly. But when you're ungodly, you don't have any real direction in life. The ungodly are aimless. They're not sure what right and wrong are. They're just drifting through life with no real direction, no biblical worldview, no distinct person going nowhere fast.
But when God is not in your life, a regression will begin to happen. Non-believers always go from bad to worse. Notice it says you go from walking in the counsel of the ungodly to standing in the way of sinners to sitting in the seat of the scornful. This is pretty much how temptation works. First you're walking, then you're standing, then you're sitting.
So let's say you're on a diet and you go out for a brisk walk every day, and it just so happens that you walk by Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. You ever been to Krispy Kreme Donuts? And as you're walking along, you know, just... Burning calories. You see that little sign is on.
You know what I'm talking about? The sign?
So, when they light up the sign, it means they're making fresh donuts.
So, you're walking, now you're standing. You stop, you're not walking anymore, you're standing, you're looking, your face is pressed against the window. And now you're sitting where? Inside Krispy Kreme Donuts. eating 12 of them and washing them down with cold milk, right?
First you were walking, then you were standing, then you were sitting. Temptation works.
Well, I'm not going to do that. You're walking, but then you stop and you check it out. Then you're sitting. That's what it says. Blessed or happy is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scornful.
This means the mocker. When you become the mocker, you know you've gone really far. The person who mocks God. You don't want to be that person. I used to mock Christians.
I thought they were crazy. And then I became one. But at first I mocked them because I didn't understand them. I didn't understand why anyone would want to carry a Bible publicly. I didn't understand why people would want to talk about Jesus all the time.
It seemed excessive and strange to me. But then I heard the gospel and it made sense to me. But here's the thing: the Bible says. Don't be deceived. God is not mocked.
Whatsoever a man sows, that will he also reap. If you sow to the flesh, you'll reap corruption. But if you sow to the spirit, you'll reap life everlasting. I think of that King Belshazzar. It ascended to the throne of Babylon.
And one day, this young king, this boy king, Decided he would go out of his way to mock God.
So he said, I want all those goblets and All the things the Jews used in their worship of God, bring them in here.
So they bring all these things that they had taken from the Jews after they took them into captivity, and they filled them with wine, and they started toasting their false gods, the false gods of Babylon. And the Bible says there was a hand writing on the wall: many, many, techo, pharson. And it freaked out Belshazzar.
Someone said, There's a prophet here that interprets dreams. He says, Call him in. They bring in Daniel. He's an old dude at that point. But he's fearless.
He reads it and goes, okay. That says, you've been weighed in God's balances and you've been found lacking. And judgment came on Belshazzar. We have to be very careful. America is an amazing nation.
Uniquely built. A Judeo-Christian Principles. Our laws are based on our faith. Many times in the first 150 years of our history, the Supreme Court actually referred to America as a Christian nation, but we have strayed so far from that. And maybe that's why a recent poll revealed that Americans are less happy today than they were 30 years ago.
It's because we've turned away from God and we've forgotten God. But here's what the Bible says in Psalm 33:12. Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord. We need to turn back to the Lord again. We need him desperately.
It concerns me. That I cannot find the United States of America in the end time scenario. I've been a student of Bible prophecy for 50 years. I'm not an expert on it, but I've been a student of it. And as you look at the end times and the superpowers that will be in place.
It's concerning that we can't find America. We, at this moment, still are the reigning superpower. Who knows how long that will last? With the emergence of China and the aggression of Russia and all the things changing around the world, but at the moment, We are still a powerful nation on this earth with great influence. But why are we not in the end time scenario?
Where's Waldo? You ever seen those little books, Waldo, Find Waldo? Where's America?
Some would say, well, we're Babylon. I don't really agree with that. I don't think you can find us.
Now, to the point, you can find the nation Israel. She's squarely in the end time scenario. You can find Possibly Russia if she's Magog. You can find Iran or Persia. I already mentioned that, but you can't find America.
Why are we not there?
Well, we know that there's going to come an Antichrist. He'll have 10 nations confederated under Him. Would we be one of those nations, diminished in economic, military power? I don't know. Could be.
Would we be taken out through some kind of a nuclear exchange? I hope not. I pray not. I don't think we would necessarily, but you can't rule it out completely. I have another idea.
What if so many Americans came to Christ that when the rapture happened, so many of us were in heaven? You know, that's why we're not a superpower. I don't know. But I know this: we need to turn back to God. He has blessed us, and I believe He'll bless us again.
Uh Good insight today, here on a new beginning, as Pastor Greg Laurie launches our brand new study series called Psalms of David, House of David. And there's more to come from today's message. You know, our mission statement here at Harvest Ministries is knowing God and making Him known. We've seen how important that is.
So, question Do you know the Lord personally? Have you come to Him and ask Him to forgive your sins so your eternal life is secured? Pastor Gregg, what would you say to the person who would like to make a change today in their relationship with God? Yes, I think they need to make this commitment to Christ. Here's what the Bible says: whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
So you need to. Reach out to God. Not just think about it, not just say, one of these days I would like to, just do it. In fact, you can do it right now. You say, well, how do I call out to the name of the Lord?
You do it through prayer. God is just a prayer away. He desires a relationship with you. He wants you to know him. He wants to reveal himself to you.
So you just need to call out and say, Lord. Save me and help me. How about if I lead you in a prayer? And you could pray this prayer after me. You can pray it out loud if you like.
You can pray it quietly in your heart, but. Direct this prayer toward God, and you could pray it after me right now. You ready? Pray this after me, Lord Jesus. I know that I'm a sinner.
But I know that you are the Saviour, And I want a relationship with you.
So as your word says, I'm calling on the name of the Lord. I'm asking you to save me from my sin. And I'm asking that we begin a new relationship today. Thank you for loving me, and sending your Son Jesus to die on the cross for my sin, and then raising him from the dead. I now put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
And I ask this In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed along with Pastor Gregg and you've meant those words sincerely, let us be the first to welcome you into the family of God. And we want to help you get started off right in this new daily walk with the Lord.
Pastor Greg would like to send you his New Believers Bible. It's a special edition of God's Word for those who are new to the faith, with scores of helps for new believers written by Pastor Gregg.
So get in touch and ask for the New Believers Bible. We'll send it to you free of charge. Just call us at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God.
And then 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 Gregg? Yeah, it's really true, Dave. And I believe it's so important because, you know, the gospel saves lives, it saves eternal lives.
Because 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. And then, of course, that changes the course of their future. That impacts their children and their children's children. The gospel changes everything. And thousands and thousands of people respond every single year.
Thanks to the Lord. Also, thanks to you for your investment in this ministry, enabling us to reach people. Wherever they are.
So if this is something you care about, I encourage you to make a financial investment. And a new beginning in Harvest Ministries. Yeah, that's right. And 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.
So 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.
Well, next time, more insight from Pastor Gregg from our encouraging text in Psalm 1. Join us here on A New Beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. The menace. The day, the day when life begins.
