Between Impossible & More Impossible | Get Moving

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Sign up at harvest.org. So you pray, God help us. Oh Lord, Lord say, okay, whatever. Start walking. GPS systems have come a long way over the years. Not only can they show the best route, but traffic along the way, coffee stores, gas stations, and fast food. You know exactly which way to go and how long it'll take.

But you still have to put the car in drive and get moving. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the same is true in our walk with God. Turn in our Bibles to Exodus chapter 13. We're in a series that we're calling Water, Fire, Stone, based on the life of Moses.

And the title of the message today is Between Impossible and More Impossible. We're going to look at the nation Israel. They're facing the Red Sea. They're facing an insurmountable obstacle.

And right behind them, if that wasn't bad enough, right behind them is the Egyptian army in hot pursuit. So basically it was them between the devil and the deep blue sea. They were between a rock and a hard place.

They were between impossible and more impossible. So what do they do as the army is closing in on them? They did what you would do. They completely freaked out.

Okay. Look at Exodus chapter 14. It's Pharaoh approached the people of Israel, looked up and panicked. And when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them, they said to Moses, weren't there enough graves for us in Egypt? Now I love what Moses says to them. He reassures them that God will protect them and guide them. Look at Exodus chapter 14 verse 13. Moses told the people, don't be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today.

The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. You're joking, right? We're backed up against the Red Sea.

They're in hot pursuit. And you're saying, just chill. Relax.

Everything's great. Oh this army you see now, they won't even be here tomorrow. Just be still and wait on the Lord. It's not easy to do that, is it? See when I put my eyes on my circumstances, I can see them in a different light. Unbelief tends to create or magnify my difficulties. But in contrast, faith rises up above them and helps me see them through the eyes of faith.

So here's Israel. They're between an unconquerable army and an impassable sea. They're between the devil and the deep blue sea. Between a rock and a hard place. And now we're gonna see the Lord work.

Bringing me to point number four. When you're led by the Lord, make your move. When you're led by the Lord, make your move. Look at Exodus 14, 15. Then the Lord said to Moses, why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving. Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea and divide the water so the Israelites can walk through, underline those two words, walk through the middle of the sea on dry ground. You know there can come a time in your life when it's time to move instead of pray.

That might sound strange. We should always pray. Yes we should. But there can come a moment where you've prayed enough. Now it's time to take action.

Let's illustrate. Let's say you have a marriage that seems to be falling apart. So you pray. You pray for your husband and you say, oh Lord, change the heart of my husband. Help him to love me more. Help him to appreciate me more. Help him to work harder. Lord just change him.

He's such a jerk. Meanwhile the husband is praying, Lord change this wife of mine. Help her to stop nagging me and harassing me.

And help her to respect me. And that's what you're praying. And you pray these prayers over and over again. Maybe it's time to stop praying and start doing.

Start by reading your own mail. And by that I mean read what the Bible says to you. The Bible is very specific in what it says to husbands and wives and how we can have strong marriages. First of all it says to the husbands, husbands love your wife as Christ loves the church and gave himself for it. So want husbands to love their own wives as their own bodies. So start by loving your wife.

Yeah pray for her. But love her. Because maybe one of the reasons she is the way that she is is because you're not doing your part. You see we love Jesus right now because Jesus first loved us right. The Bible says you love him because he first loved you.

My love for God is a response of God's love for me. And in the marriage when a husband loves his wife as he ought to love her she will respond in a different way because he's taken the initiative. Meanwhile looking at the wife it says specifically respect your husband. Respect your husband.

When's the last time you told your husband how much you appreciate all that he does for you. Not just all the things he hasn't done. But the things that he does do every single day. See here's my point. You can pray and pray and pray but do what God has told you to do and do and do at the same time.

Both need to be happening. And maybe it's someone that's wronged you. Someone that's hurt you. Someone has said something to you that's been very painful for you. So you pray Lord help me forgive this person. Every time I see them my blood just starts to boil.

So what do you do? Oh I prayed Lord take this anger away. Take this bitterness away. That's good. Pray for that.

But now here's the next step you need to do. Why don't you just go forgive them. Instead of praying Lord give me the strength to forgive them. Just go forgive them. Well I don't feel that. Who cares what you feel. Just do it.

I forgive you. You might find that the emotions will follow the act of obedience. Go and do the right thing. Because when you forgive a person as we pointed out before you set a prisoner free yourself. Or we're praying Lord save so and so. Help them come to Jesus. Help them believe in you. Amen. Keep praying for them. But have you engaged them with the gospel yet. See there's God's part and there's your part. There's a time to pray and there's a time to move. And they're all calling out oh God help us. Oh Lord. The Lord's saying okay whatever.

Start walking. And Moses holds up his staff and the water parts and they're walking now through it. And here's another thing I find very interesting. God could have airlifted them over the Red Sea. Could have just picked them up.

Dropped them over on the other side. They'd be looking at the Egyptians. You know. The Lord says I want you to walk through it.

And by the way that was a long walk. Imagine for a moment. It's hard to really but these massive walls of water on each side. But you could probably see the sea creature swimming around in there.

A few great whites kind of give concerning me. You know. Because I hear the theme song playing in the background of course. And they're walking through. And it's not a quick walk.

It takes a long time. They walk and they walk and they walk. And is that not a summation of the Christian life.

You know it's a walk. God doesn't save us and just take us straight to heaven. He saves us. He forgives us. And then we begin our walk with Him.

And that's what we do for the rest of our life. Putting one foot in front of the other. It's a walk of faith. Not a walk of feeling. Because the Bible says the just will live by faith.

There's one person put it. The Christian life is long obedience in the same direction. So every day I just walk by faith.

I live by faith. And one day I come to the end of my walk and I enter into eternity. Sort of like the story of Enoch. The Bible says Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him or translated him. So every day Enoch would go on a walk with his buddy God. And they would stroll along each and every day. And one day the Lord said to Enoch you know buddy we're closer to my house than yours why don't you just come home with me.

And he was not and he went to heaven. And that's what will happen to you and to me. We're walking with the Lord each and every day and then one day the Lord says you're coming home now. It's it.

Come on home. But that's what they did. They walked through and we need to walk through as well. And they went to the other side where God had called them. And so we all are in this walk and we're all facing our challenges and God is bigger than the problems we are facing right now. And so we need to now as we walk with the Lord and see the answers he gives to our prayers to give him the glory.

Bringing me to my next point. After overcoming the impossible give God the glory. After you overcome the impossible and you will there will be situations that there's no way out and God makes a way where there wasn't a way.

Haven't you had that happen? That's why it's a good thing to write down what God has done for you. Write down answers to your prayers because maybe you're feeling overwhelmed right now and if you would just reflect back a month ago or six months ago or a year ago what you were facing and then remind yourself of what the Lord did.

That'll give you encouragement on what you're facing right now. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We really enjoy hearing when Pastor Greg's teaching and preaching touches lives. I just want to start off by saying I struggled with drugs and alcohol for a long time. I come from a broken home. I feel like I could relate to Pastor Greg a lot.

Life is hard and we all have our own battles but I should have I should have done better. Now I'm repenting and changing and one day I happened to run across one of Pastor Greg's talks and you know his voice just captivated me and the way he preaches and everything. I just want to give thanks to him for his work towards spreading God's truth because it is the truth and it's changing my life and Jesus is real. The peace and the love they offer us.

I feel it in my heart and thank God for everything. We're so grateful to hear of the changed lives through Harvest Ministries and if you have a story to tell I hope you'll contact us today. Call 1-866-871-1144. That's a special number for this purpose only.

866-871-1144. Well we're crossing the Red Sea with the Israelites today as Pastor Greg leads our study of the life of Moses in a message called between impossible and more impossible. So they came to the other side and they sang a special song to God. By the way this is the first song recorded in the Bible.

It's Exodus 15 verse 1. Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord. I'll sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously and He has hurled both horse and rider into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song. He's given me victory. This is my God and I will praise Him.

My Father's God and I will exalt Him. So what happened? They walked through the Red Sea. They got to the other side and the Lord brought the walls of water down on the pursuing Egyptian army. You might say well that seems very cruel on the part of God.

Does it? Don't forget Pharaoh drowned the baby Jewish boys just for being Jewish. And he was ready to kill the Israelites fleeing from him including their children. I say Pharaoh simply reaped what he sowed.

But here's the takeaway truth of this particular point of the story. And that is remember to bring as much passion in your thanks that you offer to God after He answers your prayer as you put into the need before He answered your prayer. Does that make sense? So we're like on our knees. We're pleading with God. Oh God come through. Oh Lord help me.

Oh Lord change this. And the Lord does it. He does it. We say Amen.

God see you next crisis. Wait what? Now you offer Him the praise and the thanksgiving. And that is what the people of Israel did. They brought their praise to God. You know we all have a Red Sea that we face in life.

And by that I mean something that stands in the way of the blessings of God. Because what was on the other side was the promised land. And we'll get to that later. That's where they were headed. But they had to get over first.

They had to get to that destination. And maybe there's something in your path. You know here even at our church we have a Red Sea in front of us so to speak. And that's because we feel that the Lord wants us to go and make a difference in our world. You know I'm called as you know to be both a pastor and an evangelist.

Yes I am schizophrenic. And this has always been sort of this a balancing act of my life. Because when I first became a Christian I did feel a call to evangelism. And in fact as a young Christian I went down and saw Billy Graham preaching in San Diego. And I thought wow that's what I would like to do when I grow up.

And little did I ever dream that I would actually be doing something similar to it. But so I was out preaching the gospel and doing evangelistic ministry. And this little Bible study opportunity opened up for me here in Riverside. And it was a group of young people. And so we were studying together and praying together and building a community together.

And it kept growing. And and people started calling me Pastor Greg. And I'm like 20 years old. I'm thinking I only had been a Christian three years. I'm thinking I can't be a pastor. I'm not qualified to be a pastor. I tried to get other people to take this little Bible study over but nobody wanted to do it. And I realized God's calling me to do it. But I thought how can I be an evangelist and a pastor. But I just continued to do both as the years went by. And then in 1990 the Lord opened up a new door to do large scale evangelistic events. And we just celebrated doing that for 30 years as you all know.

And we're thankful to the Lord for all that's been accomplished. But we're still doing both. And sometimes people ask me what do you like doing more Greg. Do you like being a pastor or do you like being an evangelist.

And my answer might surprise some. What I like doing way more is being a pastor. That's where my heart is. That's where my passion is. I love that the most. I love to study the Word of God. I love to deliver the Word of God. I love to see the impact of the Word of God. The lives of people. And then I see it now passing on from generation to generation.

The people that were kids and we started to become parents and their grandparents and they're handing it on to their children. And it's just a wonderful thing to see. But I do feel a calling still to be an evangelist. And I've never shared this story publicly but I'll share it with you now. Something Billy Graham said to me once. So one day I'm sitting with Billy Graham. And we had started our crusade ministry. It was up and running.

It was going very well. Billy turns to me and he says, Greg I think you should leave your church and no longer be pastor and go into full-time evangelism. And I was like whoa. I mean you know when Billy Graham says something like that to you you can't dismiss it. I looked at him and I said Billy you are Billy Graham.

And he kind of smiled. And I said it's like Moses just said that to me. Okay. I can't just say oh whatever.

It's like you said it to me. So now I need to pray about it. And I did pray about it for quite a while. Then I went back to Billy and said Billy I really appreciate your encouragement but I feel called by God to still be a pastor and do evangelism. And that's what I've been doing since that day.

And I love to do both. And so let me just wrap this message up with these thoughts. What looked like a hopeless situation turned out to be a time of glorious deliverance. Pharaoh's plan backfired. He thought if I can just wipe these people out that will be the end of it. And he actually helped to bring about the plan of God. The same thing happened at the cross.

You know the devil never wanted Jesus to come. Remember when those wise men from the east came to Pharaoh saying that they followed the star. They had come to worship the one who was the king of the Jews. When Herod heard that he flipped out. And he went and murdered all those Jewish baby boys thinking he would stop Messiah from arriving.

Obviously that didn't work out. But then the devil changed his strategy and entered the heart of Judas Iscariot. And Judas betrayed Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver. The devil thought he won. The devil thought he stopped Christ. In reality the devil helped to fulfill prophecy because God not only told us that his son would be born in a manger in Bethlehem. God not only told us that his son would die on a cross for the sin of the world and rise from the dead. But he told us it was all going to happen before it happened. And that was the plan and purpose of God from the beginning. The devil's plans will always backfire. And God will always have the last word because God is bigger than your problem.

So let me close with this. Do you have a relationship with God right now? Is Jesus Christ who was born in that manger and died on that cross and rose again living inside of you. God wants to come and live in our hearts and forgive us of all of our sins.

And if you've never asked him to come into your life and forgive you of your sins. If you need Jesus to come into your life right now I want to close with an invitation for you to believe in him. Let's pray. Father thank you for sending Jesus. Lord Jesus thank you for coming. And I pray now for any person here wherever they are watching listening if they don't know you yet let this be the moment they come to you and believe. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an invitation to get your heart right with the Lord.

And if you'd like to do that today Pastor Greg will help you in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. And then we're so excited to make available the unforgettable film called Johnny Cash the redemption of an American icon. There was no one like Johnny Cash. He was a country superstar but also a man whose shortcomings and missteps often ended up as front page news. His honesty and vulnerability came through his singing but also the country toughness that kept him moving forward. Johnny or JR as his family called him was a man of deep faith but a man who needed large doses of God's forgiveness.

And we want to make this new film available to you right now a film that tells this fascinating story. You know when you order your copy of Johnny Cash or redemption of an American icon from us here at Harvest on DVD along with a streaming code so you can download it to your computer phone or tablet you're going to hear some stories from well-known people including Johnny's sister who he was very close to Joanna Cash Yates. One of the events that dramatically impacted Johnny's life was when his older brother Jack was killed in a tragic accident.

Listen to Joanna now the sister of Johnny Cash tell that story. He said mama I have a feeling I shouldn't go today and mama said well don't go go fishing with with JR. Jack worked part-time after school and on weekends at a local wood mill cutting fence posts. He happily volunteered to make a few cents to help pay the family bills and he said no I'm gonna go make three dollars we need it for the groceries. So he told Johnny I'll meet you at the blue hole and we'll fish when I get through. And so they both went their separate ways and Jack went to the sawmill and he was sawing some fence posts and as he pushed the fence post and jerked him into the sun.

He was cut from his neck to his groin and survived even though it tore him open very badly. And Johnny was sitting at his bedside holding his hand and he looked at daddy and he said daddy will you meet me in heaven? Daddy dropped down on his knees and gave his heart to the Lord and so did the doctor. Jack called me Janna he said Janna tell me bye and I was scared and I said no I don't want you to go anywhere. I wished I had but I couldn't and that's when he left us he went to heaven.

It was a moment of unbelievable sorrow for the Cash family but it played a role in influencing the pathway Johnny Cash chose for the rest of his life. You owe it to yourself to hear the full story as told in the new movie Johnny Cash the redemption of an American icon and we'll send it to you the DVD and the free streaming code to thank you for your partnership in bringing these daily studies your way and thank you for your generosity. This resource is a bit more expensive than normal so please get in touch today. You can call us at 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24 7 phone number 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org and then Pastor Greg I know there are some in our audience who felt God speaking to them today through your message and they want to make a change in their relationship with the Lord. Could you help them with that? Yeah you know Dave the Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved so I want to lead you in a prayer where you will be doing just that calling on the name of the Lord so listen if you want your sin forgiven if you want to know that when you die you will go to heaven if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life and take away your guilt and your shame then just stop what you're doing and pray this prayer with me right now pray this after me if you would Lord Jesus I know that I am a sinner I have broken your commandments I have fallen short of your standards but 2,000 years ago you died on that cross for me then you rose again from the dead so Jesus come into my life and be my Savior and my Lord and my God and my friend I choose to follow you from this from this moment forward thank you for calling me and accepting me and forgiving me in Jesus name I pray amen amen and listen if you have just prayed along with Pastor Greg and you've meant those words sincerely God has heard you and forgiven you of your sin and we want to send some materials your way to help you as you begin your new life as a follower of Christ it's a collection of resources called the new believers growth packet we'll send it without charge if you've made a first-time commitment to the Lord today just ask for it when you call 1-800-821-3300 we're here around the clock to take your call again dial 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org and click know God well next time Pastor Greg continues our studies in the life of Moses as we follow the children of Israel into the wilderness with the Egyptians in hot pursuit join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. Hey everybody thanks for listening to A New Beginning this is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners so for more content that can help you know God and equip you to make him known to others or to learn more about how you can become a Harvest Partner just go to harvest.org