God Is Bigger Than Your Problem: The Almighty Power of Our God

Today's episode of A New Beginning is brought to you by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.

Learn more at harvest.org. And while you're there, browse our library of free e-books designed to help you grow in your faith. Satan is a fallen angel, a powerful one for sure. And once he has you where he wants you, he'll chew you up and he'll spit you out. But Pastor Greg Laurie says there's good news. He points out today that Satan is powerful, but his power is no match for our God. The Bible reminds us that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

So God is more powerful than Satan, and God is bigger than your problem. Some people are into trucks. The more power, the more capacity, the bigger, the better. Well, consider the Velaz 75710 mining truck. It weighs 750,000 pounds empty, and its tires are 13 feet tall.

There's no comparison to consumer pickup trucks. Well, today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out there's no comparison between our enemy and our God. God's power and capabilities are infinite. God is bigger than your problem.

How does that sound? I'm sure I'm talking to somebody right now that is facing a problem of some kind. So I have a very hopeful message for you today. Starting with this thought. There is a God in heaven who deeply loves you. If you forget everything else I say to you in this message, just remember that. You are loved by God, and God wants to reveal his custom-made plan that he has just for you. He wants to flood your life with love and peace and joy and purpose. And then, if that's not enough, and that's a lot, he wants you to spend all eternity with him in this amazing place called heaven. One of my favorite verses from the Bible is Jeremiah 29 11 where God says, I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you a future and a hope. So yes, it's true. God loves you, and God has a plan for your life, and God has a future for you.

Now listen to this. Just as surely as there is a God in heaven who loves you, there is a devil from hell who hates you. He's a hateful, spiteful, wicked creature who opposes God and opposes anybody who follows God. The Bible describes him like a roaring lion skulking about seeking whom he may devour. Jesus summed it up this way. He said in John 10 10, the thief, speaking of the devil, comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But in contrast, Christ says, but I have come that you might have life and that more abundantly. So the devil, he wants to stop you from following Jesus Christ. He wants to ruin your life. When you're being tempted, you ought to remember the words of the great evangelist, Billy Sunday, who said, quote, hell is the highest reward the devil can offer you for being a servant of his.

Wow. Hell is the highest reward? With that in mind, why would anybody ever give in to the temptations of the devil? Answer, sin makes us stupid. I mean, think about it. Think about the people that you know that are intelligent individuals who've gone and done the craziest things under the sway and power of sin.

That's why we give in to these things. So though the devil is powerful, don't forget this, God is way more powerful. Listen, the devil is not God's equal. God is the almighty creator of the universe. The devil, Lucifer, Satan, is a fallen angel, a powerful one for sure, but not anywhere near the equal of God. And the Bible reminds us that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. So God is more powerful than Satan and God is bigger than your problem. I want to tell you a story from the Bible. Mark chapter five.

I'd encourage you to turn over there with me right now. It's a story of a man who had been completely taken over by the power of the devil. A tortured, miserable, suicidal shell of a man in what appeared to be an absolutely hopeless situation.

That is until Jesus came along. What we see in this man is the devil's package deal, if you will, that he has in store for any person who is in his grip. You see the devil will start with just a foothold and then he'll take over.

Give him an inch and he'll take a mile. And once he has you where he wants you he'll chew you up and he'll spit you out. Judas Iscariot is a classic example of this. One of the handpicked disciples of our Lord. But of course we know that Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. I guess that money looked pretty appealing to Judas. But then after the devil got what he wanted from Judas Iscariot he kicked him to the curb like yesterday's garbage. So Judas found out the end result of doing the wrong thing. The story before us illustrates these points and more.

We see three forces at work and the text that we're going to be looking at. We see Satan, society, and the Savior. Or another way to look at it we see chaos, culture, and then Christ. Now as our story begins we see that Jesus is on his way to reach this tragic man who had actually been taken over by the power of demons. Not one demon.

Not ten demons. But many demons as it turns out. And so as Jesus is on his way a storm comes on the Sea of Galilee effectively sent by the devil to stop Jesus from reaching this man.

But Christ would not be stopped. And it reminds us how God seeks us out. How God loves us. Jesus told the story of a shepherd who had 100 sheep and one sheep went astray. And he left the 99 sheep and sought that one stray lamb and found it wrapped it around his neck and brought it back rejoicing. That's how Jesus is. He's going to reach that person like that tragic woman at the well from Samaria who had ruined her life. And Jesus had an appointment with her. Like little Zacchaeus the tax collector who lived in Jericho. Jesus sought him out.

And Jesus will not take no for an answer. Years ago I was with my son Jonathan who is now in his thirties. But then he was just a little guy probably around five years old. So we were in a hotel. And he loved to push the button.

I'd let him do that. And so he had always run ahead to get in the elevator. And so I said wait for dad Jonathan. And he ran ahead around a corner. And I come around the corner. And just as I got to the elevator the doors were closing with little Jonathan in there all by himself.

Well I almost had a heart attack. I'm pushing the button. By the way when you push the button on an elevator over and over it doesn't make you come faster but it makes us feel better. I'm pushing the button. Pushing it. Pushing it. Pushing it. It seemed like an eternity. Finally the doors open.

No Jonathan. Oh my gosh. So I get in the elevator. I go down to the lobby.

I go to the front desk. Excuse me though ladies on the phone. Excuse me. Excuse me sir.

No no excuse me. I need to tell you. Yes yes what is it. My son got in the elevator and I don't know where he is. I need you to call security. I need you to call the police. I need SWAT in here.

I need Delta Force. Help me find my boy. Well hold on one second sir. So I run back to the elevator and I push every button on every floor. It has the elevator would go to the floor. The doors would open and I would yell out his name. And after about five floors the doors open and there he is.

Oh man. I got him in there. I was so thankful to find him.

That was a very scary situation. But look I was going to find my son. Nothing was going to stop me from locating him.

I would have knocked on every door in that hotel until I found him. God is going to seek you out. He loves you.

He cares about you. But the devil tries to stop Jesus from reaching this man. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We send these daily studies out via radio satellite and over the internet and we don't always know how these messages are touching lives. Hey Pastor Greg. I stumbled onto your daily Bible studies one morning while listening to the radio. I became so interested in the way you explained the Bible, but then the station went off the air.

I searched and was able to find your Google podcast and now listen to you every day. The way you explain the Bible stories has finally let me connect with the Lord in a way I've never been able to before. I grew up attending Christian school and church and I've always believed in God, but I'm thankful to your ministry because it was like someone finally turned the lights on and connected the dots. After all these years, it took someone across the country for me to finally explain things in a way I can understand. I appreciate you and thank you for turning on the lights. We're so grateful to hear of the changed lives through Harvest Ministries and if you'd like to download Pastor Greg's podcasts, you can do that through Google, Apple or Spotify or go to harvest.org.

That's harvest.org. Well Pastor Greg digs into today's text now as he brings us our message, God is bigger than your problem. Let's listen. Mark chapter 4 starting in verse 35. By the way, I'm reading from the New Living Translation. As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, let's cross to the other side of the lake. You might underline that phrase.

I'll come back to it. Let's cross to the other side of the lake. So they took Jesus in the boat and started out leaving the crowds behind and the other boats followed. Soon a fierce storm came up and high waves were breaking into the boat and it began to fill with water. Look at verse 38.

I love this. Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. He had a pillow.

That's nice. He was comfortable in the lower part of the boat as the storm is raging. The disciples woke him up shouting, teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown? Jesus woke up. He rebuked the wind and said to the waves, silence.

Be still. Suddenly the wind stopped and there was a great calm. Then he asked him, why are you afraid?

Do you still not have any faith? I love this last verse. The disciples were absolutely terrified saying, who is this man that even the wind and the waves obey him? Storms happened all the time on the Sea of Galilee. Apparently this was a pretty bad storm because the seasoned sailors themselves were freaking out. Then we find the Lord coming up on deck and stopping the storm. I wonder if I'm talking to somebody right now who is going through a storm. When I say a storm I mean a hardship, a difficulty, perhaps even a tragedy. It's a big powerful storm. You feel like the disciples are saying to the Lord, Lord don't you care that I'm suffering? Don't you care that I'm in trouble right now?

Are you even paying attention? Storms come into our lives as Christians. Sometimes God Himself will send the storm. As in the case of Jonah who was disobedient to God. The Lord called him to go and preach to the city of Nineveh and he said no. God said go. Jonah said no. God said oh. And God always has the last word.

So you might say that Jonah was the original chicken of the sea. Going the wrong direction. Running from God.

What happened? The Lord sent a mighty storm. And of course it was through that storm that God got the attention of Jonah. Sometimes we bring these storms on ourselves because of our disobedience. You might be in a situation right now where you are effectively reaping the consequences of your actions.

Chickens have come home to roost if you will. And you're saying why is this happening to me? You actually brought it on yourself. So sometimes God will send a storm. Listen to this. Sometimes the devil will send a storm as in the story before us. But God allows it. Sometimes we call on the Lord and He stops a storm like the story before us. Other times the Lord sustains us through the storm. But know this. Wherever you are at your storm has a beginning, middle, and an end.

One more thing I would add. You are either pulling into a storm or you are coming out of a storm. There will be another one coming. Just know that. And please don't let that sound depressing.

I hope it doesn't. Because Jesus is with you in your storms as well as when He is with you on your sunny days. And the fact of the matter is you learn things in the midst of storms or hardships or trials that you will not learn anywhere else. And besides there is no reason to panic.

Why? Jesus said to the disciples in Mark 4.35, let's cross to the other side of the lake. Now if Jesus had said let's get on the boat and go into the middle of the lake and die I probably would not have boarded that boat. But that's not what He said.

He said let's go to the other side of the lake. He did not promise smooth sailing. But He did promise a safe arrival. He promises the same to you right now. He never said life is going to be easy. He said in this world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer.

I have overcome the world. But He'll get you to the other side. And ultimately for us as Christians the other side is when we get to heaven. Let's go to the other side. He was on board.

Listen to this. Better to be in a storm with Jesus than anywhere else without Him. You know I find it interesting that the storm did not awaken Jesus from His sleep. I guess He was a deep sleeper. But the cry of the disciples did.

They say in verse 38 don't you care that we're going to drown. Has that ever seemed to you as if God is sort of asleep? Well in this sense Jesus really was asleep. Remember He was fully God but He was fully man and He was really exhausted and drained from the activities of the day. He really was asleep. But in a broader sense God never sleeps. The Bible says he that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. So God's always aware of what you're going through.

But listen to this. In this story Satan was trying to stop Jesus but he failed. By the way when Jesus went out to the storm and said peace be still it could better be translated peace be muzzle. As though He was talking to a crazy aggressive wild animal or a dog. My wife and I were out walking the other day and we went into this one street and there's this big dog. No leash and he's barking kind of coming at us.

And I kind of pushed her back okay let's not go down that street. I don't know what the owner was up to but that dog was clearly saying this is my street. You know but it's not usually the big dogs that bite you it's those little yappy dogs. We recently or a while ago I should say we're walking through another area of our neighborhood where there's this tiny little park and and we are walking on a little sidewalk and a lady was approaching with one of those small yappy little dogs.

And when I see a person with a dog I always go around the dog. I don't trust them. They might bite. And sure enough that dog bit Kathy in the ankle and it broke the skin.

It was not a good thing. And it's always those yappy dogs. You know why do they bite so much.

Maybe they're just upset. I'm little. I'm yappy. I am not an attractive dog.

Even a cat is better than me. And they know it. Like the little chihuahuas are always shaking.

Why are they shaking. Because they're thinking I'm not a rat. Don't feed me to a snake.

I don't know. But she got bit by the park. And the funny thing is now whenever we walk near that park I say let's go through dog bite park.

So we've sort of memorialized it. But look Jesus was speaking to the power behind this storm which was the devil like a wild animal or an aggressive dog. Peace be still or peace be muzzle. Listen when the devil has a person under his control he's not going to give them up easily.

He's sort of like a lion with a kill. Nothing's going to happen without a fight. That's why it's so hard to get someone to go to church with you. Well I don't know.

I have other things to do. And the devil holds on to his prey. But again remember God is more powerful than the devil and God is bigger than your problem. So they come across the Sea of Galilee. Jesus has stopped the storm and what is waiting for them on the other side but a man who is possessed by demons.

Turn now to Mark chapter 5. I'm going to read verses 1 through 9 which says, So they arrived on the other side of the lake in the region of the Gadarenes and when Jesus climbed out of the boat a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained even with a chain. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles as he often was he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him and day and night he wandered among the burial caves and the hills howling and cutting himself with stones. When Jesus saw him some distance away the man saw him and ran to meet him and bowed before him and with a shriek he screamed, Why are you interfering with me Jesus son of the most high God? In the name of God I beg you don't torture me. And Jesus had already said to the spirit, Come out of this man you evil spirit.

Wow what a story. This is downright spooky. A frightening evil man with superhuman strength hanging around in a graveyard screaming and howling. Another one of the gospel accounts tells us if that wasn't enough the guy was naked. So he's running around. Nobody wanted to go near that graveyard.

No one would want to go pay their respect to their loved ones who had passed. They might run into the crazy naked guy who broke chains. And so everyone wrote this guy off. Man he's out of his mind.

He's under the power of the devil. And notice it says he cut himself. Isn't that interesting. You know cutting or self-injury as it's sometimes called is becoming far more widespread among young people today. Kids cutting themselves with sharp objects like razor blades.

And by the way girls do it more often than boys. At the end of my message I'm going to tell you a story of one of these young people. A young girl named Nikki who cut herself and was very despondent and what God did for her. How this guy ended up in this day where he's cutting himself and so tormented we can only imagine. This man was dead spiritually. The Bible says that we're dead in our trespass in our sin.

The Bible also says that she that lives for pleasure is dead while she is living. You know when guards will lead a condemned man down the prison hallway they would call out the words dead man walking. Dead men walking here. That's exactly who this guy was.

He was a dead man walking. A dramatic story today on A New Beginning. Pastor Greg Laurie with a study from Mark 5 titled God is bigger than your problem.

And he'll have that final story in just a moment. Hopefully you heard all of Pastor Greg's counsel today. But if any interruptions prevented that you can catch up by listening again online. Stream the study or download an mp3 for later.

Just go to harvest.org. And then it's a real privilege to have Shannon Bream with us today. She's of course anchor of Fox News at Night on the Fox News Channel and she's also author of the brand new book we're making available called The Women of the Bible Speak.

Pastor Greg. You know Shannon I was wondering I mean you're on the Fox News Channel. It's the number one news channel really in the country right now and and you're very open about your faith and we really appreciate that. You're really a bright light and you do such a great job as a journalist as a newscaster and and also your coverage of the Supreme Court and explaining things that are happening there that are not always clear to everyone including me. But I just wanted to ask you like what are some of the challenges you face like you know in the job you have other Fox News maybe some of the difficulties you deal with just in in the workplace or challenges or opportunities.

Just tell us a little bit of what it's like to be a believer in that setting. Well I think anybody working in media will tell you it's 24-7 pretty much so you got to love what you do and I I do I feel very blessed and very grateful to be on this assignment forever how long the Lord has me here but but the truth is especially over the last year we've all had to look and watch as people around us and in our own lives have suffered great loss. People have been frightened they have been very ill we've lost people we love people have lost their people have lost jobs they don't know how they'll hold their household together.

I mean it's been an incredibly painful time we've had unrest over racial divisions and you know cries for reconciliation where that is such an open wound in this country as well we have so many things that need so much healing and so much attention. So there are times that reporting the news gets very difficult because you see such destruction and such heartbreak and over the last year what that has made me do is root deeper into my faith. I've always been somebody who tries to spend time in the word every day I know I need the equipping I know I need the forgiveness every day but really over the last year and a half or so it's been okay my priority is this when I get out of bed the very first thing I do is I pray I get in the word I don't turn on my phone once I do that you know I'm off to the races with emails and texts and people who need things and you know things pulling at us and bad news but I realized last year no I can't wake up and turn that on and see how many more people have died how many jobs have been destroyed cities that have been burned people who are hurting I've got to be in the word first. So for me it was a wake-up call that I had found comfort in things that are not the Lord and anything short of Him is not Him it's not where I need to be rooted and laying up my treasure so it was a good wake-up call for me to remind myself that I need to spend that time in the word and rooting in that every day then I can take on the rest of what the Lord has planned and I can be somebody with a a longer fuse and more compassionate more empathetic and not rattled by the things of this world because it will all pass away. Wow so you just heard it Phil, here's a lady who's in the epicenter of news and she starts her day off not with their phone not with the news but with the good news with the word of God that's a good example for all of us and a good way to you know get ready for the day and get yourself prepared for the challenges that come your way I think that's excellent advice.

Yeah absolutely. Pastor Greg is speaking with Shannon Bream today about her new book called The Women of the Bible Speak. It's full of revealing insight on women who made a difference women who are inspiring examples for us to follow. In fact the subtitle of the book is The Wisdom of 16 Women and Their Lesson for Today.

Don't miss this encouragement. We'll only be mentioning this resource a short time longer so get in touch right away. We'll be glad to send the book your way to thank you for your investment and keeping Pastor Greg's teaching coming your way each day.

You can write us at A New Beginning Box 4000 Riverside California 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300 call anytime 24 7 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org. Well Pastor Greg give us the news about your new TV program called Harvest with Greg Laurie. So we've really expanded on television I would say quite dramatically wanting to reach new people wanting to reach unexpected people in unexpected places like the Lifetime channel and has a huge viewership. This is not what you would call a Christian channel it's more of a secular channel a mainstream TV outlet will be on the Lifetime network also will be on the Fox Business Network also on Newsmax. In addition to that we'll be on great Christian networks like Daystar and TBN.

If you want to find out more about air times go to harvest.org. Well next time more of Pastor Greg's rich insights from this fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark but before we go Pastor Greg closes this way. I mentioned earlier about how young people are cutting themselves and I received a letter a while ago from a young lady named Nikki who came to one of our Harvest Crusade events and this is what she wrote and I'll just read it. She says my life lately has been in the slumps I was freaked out about school I was having boyfriend trouble I was stressed to the max and to top it off my family life hasn't been the greatest so Nikki says I started to cut myself to cope with all of this. It was just hurting me more.

I tried to stop but I was addicted. How do you reach a young lady like this? She's at the Harvest Crusade hearing the Gospel she said I heard that Christ saves lives so I decided to give it a chance and after attending your service I felt my like my life has made a complete turnaround. I committed my life to Jesus and I decided to stop hurting myself. At the time I thought God would never forgive me for what I'd done to myself and all the sins I committed but after hearing what Greg had to say God opened my eyes and Nikki concludes I'm now living my new life as a Christian.

Isn't that a great story? Am I talking to a young person like Nikki right now that's been cutting themselves? A young person that has a family that's falling apart? Am I talking to an older person that's lost hope in life? Whoever you are wherever you are God is bigger than your problem. Hey everybody thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries follow this show and consider supporting it just go to harvest.org and to find out how to know God personally go to harvest.org and click on know God.