The Choices of a World Changer - III

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. To find out how to know God personally, go to knowgod.org. K-N-O-W, knowgod.org.

Hey, would you do me a favor? Share this message with someone who needs to hear it. God always gives His very best to those that leave the choice with Him, to those that say, not my will but Yours be done. God always makes wise choices because His knowledge is limitless. Pastor Greg Laurie invites us to let Him choose for us. Don't ever be afraid to commit an unknown future to a known God.

Don't ever be afraid to say to the Lord, you choose for me because God will make a choice far greater than any choice you will make for yourself. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

How can you hear when the angels are singing? This is the day, the day when life begins. All of us like to choose for ourselves. We like to have a sense that we're in control of what happens.

But in the timeline of our lives, our view is limited to the here and now. God knows what's just around the corner and the next corner and the next. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie advises us to let the Lord be the Lord of our lives. Let Him choose for us and direct us which way to go. Not only will He choose the wisest path, He'll walk with us along the way.

This is the day, the day when life begins. We're all going to face the three C's of life. Challenges, choices, and consequences. Again, challenges, choices, and consequences.

Those challenges may come as an opportunity or a temptation. The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which bridge to burn because choices are important. We will see in the story before us, here we have side by side two believers, Abraham and Lot. One, Abraham, most of the time made the right choices in life. And the other, Lot, made a series of wrong choices that he lived to regret, which just goes to show that your choices do matter. And God will show you the choice to make, but it's still up to you to act on that choice. And He says over in Deuteronomy 30, 19, I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life that you and your children may live.

I love that. God says, okay, here's your choice, life or death, blessings or curses. By the way, the right answer is choose life.

I'm giving you the answer. But we still cast a deciding vote by what we do. And it's so true. God says choose life that you and your, listen, children may live. Because your choices affect not only you but your children and potentially your grandchildren and your great grandchildren. Ungodly decisions can impact a family for generations. Godly decisions can impact a family for generations as well. So here is Abraham and Lot.

They have acquired great wealth. Abraham was content with his lot, but Lot wanted a lot more. Lot wanted stuff. Abraham wanted God.

What do you want? See if you seek God first, if you seek Him and His kingdom first, what does Jesus promise? All these things shall be added unto you. But if you are all about getting that stuff and getting ahead and being successful and on you go, then you are going to lose twice. You won't get the Lord and very likely you won't get the stuff you want. And even if you get the stuff you want you probably won't be satisfied with it because you will still want more stuff.

And this was the problem with Lot. He wanted to have all this world offers, but he still wanted friendship with God. And the Bible warns in James 4 for you adulterers don't you realize friendship with the world makes you an enemy with God.

I say it again. If that is your aim to enjoy this world you can't be a friend of God. So make a decision. Do you want to be God's friend or do you want to be the world's friend? Lot wanted to be the world's friend, but Abraham was drawn to God. You see it was Abraham's love for the Lord that kept everything in perspective. It was Augustine who said, love God and do as you please. That sounds like a crazy statement. Do as you please?

Yeah. But if you really love God as you ought to love God you will want to do what pleases God. And Abraham understood that. He had his focus on eternal things. He was looking to the Lord. But Lot was drawn to these other things. But Abraham thought, man we have got to part company now. Let's try to part as friends. And Abraham was a peacemaker.

He wasn't a troublemaker. And so he says, listen nephew I will tell you what. You choose what you want. Wherever you want to go I will let you go. You want to go to the left I will go to the right. You go to the right I will go to the left. You decide.

Genesis 13 9. It is not the whole land before you. Separate from me. And he says, go wherever you want. He gave the best choice to Lot didn't he? He could have said, I get the best choice. I am in charge here.

No. He said, pick whatever you want. I will go the other way. Abraham figured he would leave the choice and outcome to God. So make your choice now. And Lot made his choice. And it was certainly the wrong one. How did he end up in the worst city on earth? Sodom and Gomorrah.

If you are taking notes here is principle number one. He looked the wrong way. Verse 10. Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan that it was well watered like the land of Egypt. Genesis 13 verse 10.

He looked the wrong way. Notice that Lot's point of reference was Egypt. And why was he drawn to Sodom? Because Sodom reminded him of Egypt. So what is your point of reference?

Lot looked around saw Sodom and Gomorrah and he took the first step down. By the way this was not a casual glance. The phrase looked means he looked with longing.

Have you ever looked with longing at anything? Like I want that. That car on the showroom floor. That outfit in the window. That attractive girl or guy.

Whatever it is. Oh he looked with longing. I want that.

I desire that. So it started with a look. Instead of lifting his eyes up to heaven Lot lifted his eyes to the plain of Jordan. Verse 10. He took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley. Listen.

The eyes see what the heart loves. Abraham had taken Lot out of Egypt but apparently you couldn't get Egypt out of Lot. An outlook determines outcome. Abraham walked by faith.

World changers do. Lot walked by sight. His second step down was Lot separated himself from godly influence. Now this was a good thing for Abraham but a bad thing for Lot. And a sure sign of spiritual decline is when we find ourselves wanting to get away from godly people. When you are thinking about people to be around or maybe take your vacation with or spend extended time with and you want to be around believers.

That is a good thing. When you want to avoid believers that is not a good thing. Number three. His third step down was he moved his tents to a place near Sodom. Genesis 13 verse 12. He moved his tents to a place near Sodom. He was fascinated by the freewheeling lifestyle and their disregard for God. Lot thinking he could handle it edges even closer. Now if you were to ask Lot at that point, hey man what are you doing? Why are you moving close to this wicked city? He might have said, well you know I don't approve of what they do but there is a lot of opportunities and I could go in there and influence people and probably do a lot of good. Maybe you could and maybe it will influence you.

That depends on you. Now there is a twist in this story. Sodom is attacked by another army from another city and of all things Lot has taken hostage. He is not even a real citizen of Sodom but he has taken hostage because he is in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people. So what does Abraham do?

Hey check it out. Abraham the warrior. He gets an army together of his servants. They go over and they get Lot free from this king and bring him back again.

That is amazing. So how does Lot show his gratitude toward his heroic uncle? He moves to Sodom. If it wasn't bad enough to be living near Sodom now he moves to Sodom. You know sometimes God will send warnings to get our attention. We are just getting a little too close to sin and there will be those little warnings like you shouldn't be doing that. That relationship with that co-worker at work, a member of the opposite sex is getting a little too close.

That habit you have of stretching the truth so you tell another lie to cover up the lie you previously told and if you don't watch out you could end up like Lot. In a moment we will discover that Lot's compromises reached a boiling point. We will see he and his family required angelic intervention to spare their very lives.

More on that in just a moment. So many listeners have commented on the encouragement they receive from these daily messages. God's word ministers to them and it often gets them through some of their darkest hours. I frequently listen to Pastor Greg on Christian radio in my area. He was extremely helpful when my husband of 43 years suddenly and unexpectedly went to be with the Lord in January of this year. He was retired and I had just retired in May and we had plans for our retirement years.

However God's plans were quite the opposite. Needless to say I felt like my life was ripped out from under me. While listening to Pastor Greg one day he spoke of the promise of hope after the loss of a loved one. Of course he was speaking about the loss of his son. I am still in the grieving process but his message helped me find hope and some peace.

I continue to move forward through this trial. God is so good. Every time I cry out for comfort and strength he puts the right message or person in my path. So thank you for all you do. Have these daily studies ministered to you and your family? If so would you let us know? You can tell your story by calling 1-866-871-1144.

That's 866-871-1144. Pastor Greg is helping us compare and contrast the lives of Abraham and Lot. We are considering how Abraham's choices took him on the right path. Lot took him down the wrong path. And that brings us to his fourth step down.

Lot went from the frying pan into the fire. Genesis 19 one he sat in the gateway of Sodom. So first he was looking at Sodom as a point of reverence because it reminded him of Egypt. A place he should have never gone. Secondly he has his tent near Sodom. And now he has actually moved into Sodom. And according to Genesis 19 he is in the gateway of Sodom.

Now we could very easily miss what that meant. To be in the gateway meant that you were in a place of leadership. The leaders would serve near the gate. That is sort of where headquarters were. So now Lot is sort of like an elected official.

He is a leader in Sodom. He could have tried to influence them but apparently he himself was being influenced. As I said before Lot was more like a thermometer than a thermostat. A thermometer just tells you what the temperature is. A thermostat controls the temperature. Uncle Abraham was the thermostat. Lot was the thermometer.

They were influencing him more than he was influencing them. Now Jesus did tell us where to go out into this world and be both salt and light. Or to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Some are salt but they are not light. What does that mean? It means they live it but they don't proclaim it. They live it but they don't proclaim it.

Others are light but they are not salt. They proclaim it but they don't live it. I guess if I had to choose I would rather you live it and not proclaim it than proclaim it and not live it.

Better yet live it and proclaim it. Right? But Lot was neither. He was a prototype of a compromising believer. In fact we get a little commentary on him over in 2 Peter 2. It says, Lot, nearly driven out of his mind but his sexual filth and perversity was rescued, surrounded by moral rot. Day after day that righteous man was in constant torment. Yeah.

So there he was in this wicked place surrounded by all kinds of perversion. But listen. No one was holding a gun to his head. Of course guns hadn't been invented yet. No one was holding an arrow to his head. I don't know.

Whatever sword. He could have walked away at any time but he chose to stay there. So here is where it gets really creepy. One day the Lord dispatches some angels who are going to go now and deliver Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah. So the angels are walking around.

And the people of the city see them. And the angels end up at Abraham's house. And by the way angels when they made appearances sometimes we read of them having wings. But in general they appeared as men. By the way there are no female angels in the Bible.

I hate to break that to you. Because we always say she is as pretty as an angel. Actually angels are dudes in the Bible. So that is reality.

So anyway. The angels are walking through. The people of Sodom see them. Wow.

Those are good looking guys. So they show up at the door of Lot. In Genesis 19. You don't have to turn there.

You can if you want. Verse 5. They shouted a lot. Who are the men that came to spend the night with you? Bring them out so we can have sex with them. That is a literal translation.

Inaccurate. Lot stepped aside to talk to them shutting their door behind him. Please my brothers he begs. Don't do such a wicked thing. Look I have two virgin daughters. Do with them as you wish. Just leave these men alone. They are under my protection.

What did you just say dad? Are you glad you are not one of Lot's daughters? I have two virgin daughters. Do what you want with them. Leave these men alone.

The angels are like oy vey. This guy he has lost contact with reality. We have got to get him out of here.

What? You are coming now. Well I need to stay and wrap up a few things.

No. You are leaving now. Let's go. Grab your family.

Let's go. So Lot goes and warns his sons-in-law. Judgment is coming on Sunday and tomorrow. What did they do?

They laughed in his face. You know why? Compromisers don't reach anyone. They don't reach anyone.

Nobody cares about a compromiser. You are not living the Christian life as you ought to live. And the nonbeliever laughs at you because you won't even stand up for your own beliefs. And so they dismissed him out of hand. So Lot now is leaving Sodom and Gomorrah unwillingly with his wife and with his daughters.

And you know the story. As they are on their way out the angels say, Don't look back. But Lot's wife looks back. And by the way that is an intentional looking.

Not a casual whoa what is going on. But it was like in complete disobedience she turns into a pillar of salt and he gets out with his daughters. And that is by the way why Jesus said, Remember Lot's wife.

And then if things aren't bad they get even ickier. Because after they get out Lot's daughters have sex with him and they become pregnant. One of them gives birth to a child named Moab. And they became the father of one of Israel's worst enemies the Moabites. Hey.

Having some fun now. This is why I like the Bible. The Bible is so honest. When something horrible happens it tells you. When something wonderful happens it tells you.

It is all here. So these are the consequences of choices. Again you make your choices and your choices make you. Lot got out of the city by the grace of God by the hair of his chinny chin chin. He could have stayed there and been destroyed with them. But before the destruction the Lord came and delivered him.

But meanwhile Abraham made the right choices. Now we read these words in Genesis 13. Then the Lord said to Abraham after Lot had separated from him look around and see the land that God has given you.

Check it out son friend. This is all yours. After he separated from Lot. You see while he was with Lot he was sort of worn down.

He wasn't where he ought to be. Now he obeys God and now the Lord speaks to him again. Lot lifted up his eyes to see what the world had to offer. God invited Abraham to lift up his eyes and see what heaven had to offer. Abraham offered Lot the best land but God gave to Abraham the entire land.

He would have it all. Yeah he made some sacrifices. He lost Lot unto the point. Abraham kind of liked Lot. He had an affection for him. He lost that. He made a sacrifice. But listen to this. God always gives his very best to those who leave the choice with him.

Let me say that again. God always gives his very best to those that leave the choice with him. To those that say, not my will but yours be done. One day Jesus was with his disciples. They were talking about how much they had given up to follow him. And Jesus made this amazing statement.

We read that they blurred it out. We have left everything to follow you. Jesus said, I will tell you the truth. No one has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will fail to receive many times as much in this age and also in the age to come eternal life.

So what have you given up to follow Jesus? Maybe you have given up pleasures of this world. Maybe you have given up relationships with old friends that were dragging you down. Maybe you have given up vices or addictions.

Maybe you have given up whatever you have given up. Here is what God says. I am going to make it up to you. I am going to make it up to you in this life and I am going to make it up to you in the life to come. You have my word on that.

It is God's trade in deal and it is really good. So don't ever be afraid to commit an unknown future to a known God. Don't ever be afraid to say to the Lord, you choose for me because God will make a choice far greater than any choice you will make for yourself. Because you see we don't have all the information. We don't see everything. We just see that little moment that we are in. God sees the bigger picture.

He sees the ultimate goal. And you can let Him make that choice for you. So here is my question in closing. Are you a world changer like Abraham or are you being changed by the world like Lot? The choice is yours. Again you make your choices and your choices will make you. Some choices don't matter. But then other choices really matter.

Who are you going to marry? That is a big one. But the biggest choice of all is of course the choice about Christ. And it is an either or choice. I either choose to follow Jesus or I choose to reject Jesus.

So you say, well let me ask you this. If I become a Christian will I have to give up anything? Yes you will. I won't lie to you.

Yes you will. You will have to give up. Misery. An ever present guilt.

Fear of death. That big hole in your heart. You have to give it all up. God will give you His joy, His peace, the hope of heaven. He will fill that void inside of you.

Pretty good deal I would say. But there are other things you give up as well. But whatever you give up God will more than make it up to you. There might be some of you here that have never made the choice for Jesus Christ. You have never said yes to Jesus. And by not choosing Him, by not saying yes to Him you are automatically saying no to Him.

And I don't think you want to do that. So I am going to give you an opportunity to choose Him. Remember God says, I set before you life and death, blessings or curses. Choose life that you may live.

He tells you the options and He tells you what to do. Do the right thing. And if you have not chosen Jesus and asked Him to come into your life you can do it right now. Let's pray. Father thank You for Your Word to us.

Thank You for Your love for us. And now I pray for any that do not yet know You. Lord help them to see their need for Jesus. And help them to believe in You right now. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. And if you would like to make a change in your relationship with the Lord, Pastor Greg Laurie will help you do that in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes.

So please stay with us. If you missed any part of today's study you can get a replay by going to harvest.org. Just look for the message called The Choices of a World Changer. Or for a CD copy call us any time 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300.

1-800-821-3300. And then we want to offer some help for families. It's on the subject of money but it actually goes much deeper than that. It's a hot topic, sometimes a controversial topic. And this book is full of insight and practical help. We're talking about the book Thriving in Love and Money by Jeff and Shanti Feldhahn.

Jeff and Shanti are here with us today. You guys, why do you think this is such an emotional subject? You know, you can talk about so many things from the pulpit.

You can talk about faith and prayer, the importance of Scripture, the family, etc., etc. But the moment you bring up the word money, I think everybody impulsively grabs their wallet or at least, you know, they're going to ask us for money. And it's very emotional and people don't like to talk about this topic. Do you think it's because this is an area that they haven't surrendered over to the Lord, that they want control of? Do you think it's something else?

What is the thing? And, you know, and as we know, Jesus spoke so much about money, so many of his parables dealt with money. The Bible is very straightforward on this topic, but for some reason, we don't want to hear that message or we don't want to talk about that topic. Honestly, it comes back to what Jesus said, is where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

It turns out that a lot of us have treated it like a technical issue, right? Like it's about budgeting or getting out of debt or planning. And listen, all of that is important. That wasn't what we were studying. We were trying to figure out what's underneath all of that.

And that's the stuff that has to come before you can even be willing to talk with your spouse to be able to budget or plan. Oh, that's very good. You're listening to Shanti and Jeff Feldhahn. They've written a book called Thriving in Love and Money. And this is our special resource this month that we want to put into your hands. Folks, you know that when we offer these resources, it's because we want to help you. We want to encourage you. We want to strengthen you. And this is one of the most important that we've ever offered. And I would remind you that I'm offering this to you for your gift of any size.

Whatever you send, large or small, we'll get you your copy. But let me encourage you to invest in our ministry because this is a ministry that obviously teaches the Word of God. But it's also a ministry that calls people to Christ. And every year we see literally thousands of people make a commitment to follow Jesus Christ.

Because we'll invite them to do so at the end of our program. So if you believe that people need to come to Jesus, if you believe people need to hear the Word of God, then we would appreciate your investment in our ministry and we'll get you your copy of this book by Jeff and Shanti Feldhahn. Thriving in Love and Money. Five game-changing insights about your relationships, your money, and yourself.

Yeah, that's right. And let me pass along our contact information. And thanks so much for your investment in this ministry.

It's an investment that changes lives. You can write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. We're here to take your call around the clock seven days a week. So dial 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to Harvest.org. Well, Pastor Greg, you spoke today about having a relationship with the Lord. Someone can enter into that kind of relationship with God right now, can't they? Yeah, they really can. That's the amazing thing. I think people are surprised that it doesn't take years to become a Christian. It doesn't take months. It doesn't take weeks. It doesn't take days.

It doesn't even take hours. You can believe on the spot. And I would like to lead you in a prayer where you can ask for His forgiveness. A prayer where you can receive Jesus Christ into your life as your Savior and Lord. So if you want Christ to come into your life, if you want Him to forgive you of your sin, if you want a second chance in life, if you want to go to heaven when you die, stop what you're doing and pray after me these words. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner, and I'm sorry for my sin.

And I turn from it now, and I choose to follow You from this moment forward. As Savior and Lord, as God and friend, thank You for loving me and calling me and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed those words with Pastor Greg and meant them sincerely, the Bible assures us your sins have been forgiven.

We're told the Lord is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And we want to send some resource materials your way that will help you in your new relationship with the Lord. We call it our New Believers Growth Packet, and we'll send it without any charge or obligation if you prayed for the first time today with Pastor Greg. Just ask for it when you write, A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click on Know God. Well, next time we'll focus on Abraham's family life. We'll consider the failures and success of Abraham and his wife Sarah. Tune in next time for more of Pastor Greg's series called World Changers here on The New Beginning. This is the day, the day when life begins. The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.