Time to Take Out the Trash: Where Our Focus Should Be

You're listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.

Visit our website and learn more about Harvest Partners at harvest.org. What you're going to eat, what you're going to drink, what you're going to wear, where you're going to live, who you're going to marry, all those things you're concerned about, and yes, all those things you sometimes worry about, God promises He'll take care of it if you put Him first. Driving instructors often tell their students to look ahead on the road.

Don't focus on the mailbox coming up on the right or the approaching car on the left. If you focus on those dangers, you tend to steer that direction. On a spiritual level, we find similar advice in the Lord's Sermon on the Mount. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie highlights this time-tested counsel Jesus gives us about the worries and cares that keep us from focusing where we should on Him.

This is the day, the day when life begins. Jesus Christ is our Savior. Jesus Christ is our Lord. Jesus Christ is our God. But Jesus, in effect, wants to pick up your trash.

Let me explain that. Jesus says in Matthew 11, 28, Jesus is saying, would you please bring your cares to Me? Would you please bring your anxieties and your worries and your problems and your burdens to Me? And He says, and when you do that, I will give you rest. I mean, that's quite a promise. And we all have cares and anxieties and worries that weigh us down.

Don't we? Here's what the Bible says we should do with them. Let's read 1 Peter 5, verse 6.

I'm reading from the New Living Translation. So humble yourself unto the mighty hand of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor, casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you. Stay alert. Watch out.

Your great enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him. Be strong in your faith. And remember that your family of believers are all over the world, and they're going through the same kind of suffering you are.

So if you're taking notes, here's point number one. You are not alone in your suffering. You are not alone in your suffering.

Look at verse 8 there of 1 Peter again. Remember that your family of believers all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. I don't know why it is, but it's just good to know I'm not the only one going through suffering. Right? That there's somebody else that is facing something as hard as I'm facing.

Maybe even quite a bit harder than I'm facing. And this is where community comes in. This is where the church comes in. The Bible says bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. It's so wonderful when we can do that for one another.

Number two. We need to give our burdens to God. We need to give our burdens to God.

Look at verse 7. Cassie know your cares upon Him. Why?

Because He cares for you. Listen. If it troubles you, it concerns God. So what do you do when your burdens are piling up? You bring them to God.

Alright. So let's shift gears now and go over to Matthew chapter 6 and we'll see the next thing that we need to do. We'll read a few verses together.

Matthew 6 verse 25 here is Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount. This is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life whether you have enough food or drink or clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food and your body more than clothing? Well look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns for your heavenly Father feeds them and you're far more valuable to Him than they are.

Can all of your worries add a single moment to your life? Why do you worry about clothing? Look at the lilies of the field.

How they grow. They don't work or make their clothing. Yet Solomon in all of his glory was not as dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow He will certainly care for you.

Why do you have such little faith? So don't worry about these things. Saying what shall we eat? What shall we drink?

What shall we wear? These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers but your heavenly Father already knows all of your needs. Very important verse.

Verse 33. Seek first the kingdom of God above everything else and His righteousness and He will give you everything you need. So don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today. So we will stop there. Powerful words from Jesus.

So let's review. Number one we are not alone in our suffering. Number two we should cast all our cares on God. Number three.

This is a big one. The believers should not worry. Jesus is saying don't worry.

Verse 25. Don't worry about your life. Or a better translation. Don't have anxiety about the issues of life. Stop doing what you have already been doing.

So the idea is you have been doing this now I want you to stop it. Stop worrying. It comes down to this. We need to trust in the providence of God. God is in control of all things and there is no accidents in our lives and nothing touches us that does not first pass through His loving hand. So God is in control.

Point number four. Worry does not make life longer. In fact it can make life more miserable.

Verse 27. Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? In other words can you through worry and anxiety by obsessing over your life make it longer?

No. Worry in fact may shorten your life. Studies have been done that have shown that worry can actually have a detrimental effect upon you physically. So you know and some people they want to live the healthiest life and they are always changing the rules.

Have you noticed that? We are told oh low fat only eat these low fat things you will be healthy. And then I just read in the paper the other day. I am not making this up.

Beef and cheese are really good for you especially together. Like really? Well I like that. That is a good.

That is a good discovery. Then we are told coffee is good. Coffee is bad. Coffee is good.

Coffee is bad. Right? So it is always changing and we are trying to figure it out. So you are down at the health food store and I find very interesting people hanging around health food stores. Have you noticed that? Wow. Interesting collection of people here.

And yet here I am among them for some unknown reason. And when did kale become so popular? Wasn't that just pretty much like what we used to call parsley years ago.

Just kind of a little decoration on the plate. Now we eat kale. We drink shakes made out of kale. We build our Priuses out of kale.

It is just a lot of kale. I want to tell you this. Probably if you are eating a healthy diet and you are exercising it means you are probably going to have a good strong life in contrast to the person who is not doing those things. But I am just telling you ultimately God determines the days of your life.

You don't determine it. Point number five. Worry is an indication of a lack of faith. Worry is an indication of a lack of faith.

Verse 30. If God so wonderfully cares for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? Now notice Jesus did not say you have no faith. You have little faith. Some have more faith than others. How do you build your faith up?

You build your faith up by doing what you are doing right now. And what are you doing right now? You say well I am actually taking a nap.

Wake up and listen to what I am saying. What you are doing right now is you are listening to a Bible study. And don't you love Bible study?

I do. Well why does this build our faith up? Because Romans 10 17 says, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. See when I hear the word of God it puts things in perspective.

I see everything the way I ought to see it. So it is important for us to hear God's word and bolster our faith. Listen. We need to believe our beliefs and we need to doubt our doubts. Far too often we doubt our beliefs and we believe our doubts.

Let's flip that around. Doubt your doubts. What if. Doubt that.

Forget what if. Go back to what God says in this word. What you know is true. And that is how you build your faith. And you also build your faith by using it. Faith often grows in the garden of adversity. And by that I mean when you are going through times of trial and testing your faith grows.

Because you have a choice. You know run away and abandon God or hang on to God tighter than ever. And faith also comes to use. It is not unlike a muscle. The more you use a muscle the stronger the muscle becomes. You effectively break down the muscle to build up the muscle.

And if you don't do that your muscles will atrophy. So you need to keep moving. And so we build our faith by using our faith. So we take steps of faith. We do things outside of our comfort zone.

We take risks. We do things that we would not normally do for God's glory. That is how you build up your faith. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. So many listeners have commented on the help they receive from these daily messages. God's Word ministers to them.

And it often gets them through some of their darkest hours. Hi Pastor Greg. Your messages have been a blessing to me this last year. In 2020 I had heart valve replacement. Then my dad had heart issues and was in the hospital until he passed away.

Three days after that my husband and I tested positive for COVID. It's been tough but listening to your encouraging words and your books on Audible have helped me through it with a smile on my face and joy in my heart. I know there will be more bumps in the road along the way.

Mainly because I'm a six time cancer survivor. But I know who guides me in my journey. And I thank God for servants like you as well.

God bless you. We're encouraged to know that listeners are hearing these messages and God is using His Word to comfort them. How have Pastor Greg's studies impacted your life?

Would you let them know? Drop an email to Greg at Harvest dot org. That's Greg at Harvest dot o-r-g. Well today in one of the past year's most requested messages Pastor Greg is pointing out why worry shouldn't find a home in a believer's life. It's a study based in Matthew chapter 6. Instead of worry, put God and His Word in your life first. Instead of worry, put God and His Word first in your life. Verse 33, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. So Jesus is effectively saying instead of worrying about food and drink and clothing like unbelievers do focus your attention and hope on the things of the Lord and God will take care of all of your needs. Seek God's kingdom first.

And the word seek speaks of persistence. Let's say you dropped a penny on the ground. Would you pick it up?

I would. I'll pick up a stinking penny. Dime for sure. Quarter.

It's an issue now. I'm going to find the quarter. What if you dropped a hundred dollar bill and a little breeze picked it up? Would you go looking for it? Yes you would.

Of course you would. And so think of this as something of the greatest importance. You know just putting God's kingdom first above all things. But what does it mean when we say seek first the kingdom of God? It means principally above everything else give God number one position in your life.

And what are you seeking? The kingdom of God. What is the kingdom of God? It's the rule and reign of Jesus Christ in your life.

So it's just saying Lord I want your will above my own will. Put God first. Put God first in your marriage. Put God first in your singleness. Put God first in your business. Put God first in your finances. Put God first in everything.

In every area of your life. You put God first when you start the day with prayer. You seek first the kingdom of God. When you start the day with study of Scripture. You seek first the kingdom of God.

When you're regular in fellowship. All these things are just pretty much no brainers. But sometimes folks don't understand to put God first.

And here's the last thing I want to point out. Number seven. When you put God in his kingdom first. Life will find its proper balance. When you put God first. When you put him in his kingdom first. Your life will find its proper balance.

Verse 33. All these things will be added to you. What you're going to eat. What you're going to drink. What you're going to wear. Where you're going to live.

Who you're going to marry. All those things you think about. All those things you're concerned about. And yes all those things you sometimes worry about. God promises he'll take care of it.

If you put him first. So amazing promise. But look these things that I've shared tonight.

Are not just for any person. The Sermon on the Mount is given to believers. You know it's interesting a point that's often overlooked. Is we think Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount to the multitudes. People say I just live by the Sermon on the Mount.

Well frankly no one probably really lives by it as much as they should. But it was given to his disciples. We don't read Jesus said these words to the multitudes.

It says the multitudes gathered and he called his disciples aside and he said to them. These words are given to Christians. These words are only true for Christians.

These words are only applicable to the man or the woman who has put their faith in Christ. So let me come back to the subject of worry. If you're not a Christian you ought to be worried. If you aren't a Christian you ought to be afraid.

Because there's a lot of things to be afraid of. Starting with you don't have God in your life and you're going to face the consequences for your sins and your actions. And also if you die. Well not if.

When? Everyone will die sooner or later. When you die there'll be no more chances for you beyond the grave.

Why would you risk something like that? You want to get right with God and then you can put him first in your life and discover his plan for you. Seeking first the kingdom starts with being born again. You know you must be born again.

What does that mean? Well Jesus actually coined the phrase. And he said it to some religious guy named Nicodemus. He said Nicodemus you must be born again. And whoever is born again will enter the kingdom of heaven.

What does that mean? It means you have a spiritual rebirth. You ask Christ to come into your life.

Remember Jesus said and I quoted this earlier in Matthew 11 28. Come to me all of you who are weary and you're carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Have you come to church with a heavy burden? Have you come with a lot of fears?

Have you come after maybe reaping the consequences for some really bad decisions you've made? And you don't know how to get it all sorted out. Here's what you need to do. Just come to Jesus. It's not a 12 step program.

It's a one step program. You come to him with your burdens. You come to him with your problems. You come to him with your sins. You come to him with your addictions. You come to him with your questions. You come to him with your trash. And say Lord would you pick the trash up. Because it's overwhelming me. You come to him with all of it and say I can't fix it Lord.

I need you to help me. And you cast your care upon him. You give it to him. He will lift it off of you and forgive you of your sin. See Jesus carried that cross. That heavy cross weighing hundreds of pounds on his shoulders.

And that back that had already been ripped open by the Roman cat of nine tails. He carried the weight of that cross for you 2,000 years ago. So you don't have to carry the weight of your sins today.

You can be forgiven. Come to him with all of your sins and all of your cares. I remember when I became a Christian many years ago as a kid.

17 years old. And I prayed this prayer to ask Jesus into my life. Frankly I really didn't even know what I was doing. I just knew I needed God. And so I prayed the prayer.

And I remember distinctly. After I prayed the prayer I had this feeling that a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. Didn't any of you ever feel that? I felt like a weight was taken off of me. I had not read Matthew 11 28 yet. I didn't know Jesus promised to take my burdens off of me.

I just know that as a kid who had made a lot of bad decisions in his life. All this weight was lifted off of me and I didn't realize it at the time. But I was carrying the weight of the world. I was carrying my sin. I was carrying my guilt.

And my pain. And Jesus lifted it off of me and he will do that for you tonight. So what do you need to do? You need to come to him. You need to come to him. So in a moment we are going to pray and I am going to give you an opportunity to come to Jesus. And say well where is he?

Where is he sitting? He is in this room. And he will come and live in your heart. And there is a phrase that we use and it sounds like a cliche but it is actually theologically correct. I like it. He will become your personal Lord and Savior.

I like the word personal because it is true. Yeah he is our Lord and Savior. He is my Lord and Savior. But he will be your Lord and Savior.

You won't be alone in life anymore. He will walk with you through life and forgive you of your sin. And then one day when you die you will go to heaven. And when the rapture comes you will get to heaven faster. Let's hope that happens. I am down for that. Unless you are eating kale.

No I am kidding. Even kale people are going to get to heaven. So we are going to pray in a moment. I am going to extend an invitation for you to respond to Jesus. An opportunity for you to take all of your cares and anxieties and worries and weight and sins and throw them on Jesus. And walk out of here tonight a person relieved.

A person at rest. A person who now knows God. If you need to do that why don't you do it as we pray now. Father I pray that your Holy Spirit will speak to every person here.

Every person watching. Listening wherever they may be. If they don't know you yet Lord let this be the moment they come and believe. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important closing prayer. And if you would like to make a change in your relationship with the Lord. Pastor Greg will help you do that in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. And then it is a real joy to have our good friend Pastor Levi Lusko with us.

He is lead pastor of Fresh Life Church in Montana, Utah, Oregon and Wyoming. And he has written the new book that we are making available. A colorful children's devotional resource called Roar Like a Lion. Levi what are you hearing from parents about the book? What has this resource done for kids and their folks?

Well it has been so surprising Dave. You know I knew that kids were going to like it because we had focus grouped it with our own kids. All my kids when I would write one would read it and tell me what they didn't like about it. Then when our illustrator Catherine Pearson would send us the rough sketches of the drawings.

She lives in Switzerland so she would email them. My kids would say I don't like that or that bear is not fat enough or you know whatever. And we would make the tweaks. So we already knew that we had something good on our hands. But what I was surprised by was the fact that I would hear back from adults who were blessed by it too. Matter of fact one pastor who I sent it to in Australia wrote me back and said, I don't even have kids in the house anymore.

My grandkids aren't around but I've enjoyed reading this myself. And that was a great laugh because you know God's word is God's word. And of course a kids devotional should encourage us because it's based on God's word which will encourage all of us.

And Jesus said we all have to have faith like a child to enter the kingdom of heaven. I also have heard a lot from homeschooled moms and homeschooled dads who have said that this has been a really indispensable part of their homeschooled curriculum because it has history and Bible. So they'll do maybe a little bit of this lesson then they'll do a deep dive on the Wright brothers and the fact that they flipped a coin to figure out who was going to fly first at Kitty Hawk or the Corey 10 Boom section. And then they'll learn more about that historical person and then they'll do a deeper dive on the scriptures and that they've said it's basically functioning as Bible and history class.

Great. So Roar Like a Lion, this new book by Levi Lasko deals with topics like having courage to try something new even when others are watching, facing fears about school and friendships, handling new challenges and past disappointments, dealing with peer pressure and bullying, and finally understanding how we each fit into God's great story. So you can see that Levi's bringing it into the real world of what your kids are facing right now so you can equip them, prepare them, help them, encourage them, and more. So order your copy of this brand new book by Levi Lasko titled Roar Like a Lion, 90 Devotions to a Courageous Faith. Yes, the perfect time for a new devotional resource at the start of a new year.

And what better way to have quality time with your kids or grandkids? We'll send it to you to say thank you for your investment in this ministry and the lives that will be touched in the coming year. And doesn't our culture need a touch from the Lord right about now? So thank you for your investment today, and we'll say thanks tangibly with a copy of the brand new book called Roar Like a Lion. You can donate securely online at harvest.org or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call us anytime 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Pastor Greg, you spoke today about having a relationship with the Lord. Someone can enter into that kind of a 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 Lord has heard you and forgiven you of your sin.

The Bible says Jesus is faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And we'd like to send you some materials to help you begin to live this new life. We call it our New Believer's Growth Packet. Just ask for it and we'll send it to you free of any charge if you prayed for the first time today with Pastor Greg. Just call us at 1-800-821-3300.

That's a 24-hour phone number, 1-800-821-3300. Or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God.

Well, next time, more from the most requested presentations of the year. Pastor Greg brings a heartfelt message called Hope for Those Who Have Lost Loved Ones. If you know someone facing that pain, invite them to listen as well. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins A New Beginning is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. If this show has impacted your life, share your story, leave a review on your favorite podcast app, and help others find hope.