Greg Laurie here. You've heard about these devastating fires that we're experiencing right here in our backyard in Southern California. These fires are moving so quickly and they're 0% contained. So what should we do? Pray. Pray for these firefighters. Pray for their protection.
But we need to step into this situation. So we've created the Harvest Relief Funds for situations exactly like this. If you would like to send some support, to help people in need, you just go to our website, harvest.org slash relief. We want to bring help and hope to people in the name of Jesus Christ. I'm reminded of the passage that tells us that God can bring beauty out of ashes. Thank you for your prayers and let's pray that this fire is contained and stopped and that lives are spared and most importantly that people come to put their faith in Christ.
Thank you so much. When facing an impossible and even more impossible situation, pray. When you're facing an impossible situation and then it gets worse.
You think it can't get any worse and it gets worse. Cry out to God. The Lord invites us to come to Him when we're at the end of our road. Coming up today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie says that's where hope is found.
Are you facing hardship right now? Cry out to God. He will hear your prayer. We love to watch movies where the hero is stuck in an impossible situation with time running out. Will he make it? Can he make it?
And he's rescued just in the nick of time. But when we're stuck in a tough spot, it's not nearly as enjoyable. No inspiring music.
Maybe just an icy, lonely silence. And it may look like our time is up. Well, today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie says don't give up hope. Instead, realize where your hope comes from.
This is the day, the day when life begins. So let me start with a question. Have you ever been in a situation where the only way out was God? Have you?
Yeah. Maybe you're in that situation right now. Where that doctor delivers devastating news and actually tells you there is no real hope.
There's no medical solution. Or maybe it's a financial catastrophe where you're on the brink of collapse. Or maybe you have a marriage that is unraveling before your eyes. Or maybe a loved one has died and you don't know how you're going to survive something as devastating as that. Or maybe it's a preacher that won't finish his sermon.
He just drones on and on. Let's pray that doesn't happen today. Well, I bring this up because 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. But God intervened reminding us that with God all things are possible.
He's bigger than your problem. Have you ever looked up that phrase but God in the Bible? A lot of interesting places where it appears where God intervenes. Take the story of Noah. Of course the judgment of God came upon the earth through the flood. And there they are bobbing around in the ocean in that ark with all those smelly animals.
And I wonder if Noah started to lose hope. But Genesis 8 says but God, but God remembered Noah and the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark and he said a wind over the earth and the waters receded. And then the Lord gave them a beautiful rainbow to look at which is a reminder that God keeps his promises.
So whenever you see a rainbow, remember it's a reminder that God always keeps the promises he makes. Take the story of Joseph sold by his brothers into slavery. They thought he was dead. God preserved him of course and elevated him into a position of great power where he was in charge of the food supply.
And one day his brothers appeared before him and Joseph made this statement to them in Genesis 50 20. You intended to harm me but God. There's that phrase again. But God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done.
The saving of many lives. Even death does not have the final word. Oh I know.
It seems so permanent. It's so hopeless. But Psalm 49 verse 15 says but God will redeem my life from the grave.
He will surely take me to himself. So here's my situation. It's different. It's worse. It's harder.
Is it? Is it harder than the Red Sea in front of you and the Egyptian army behind you? Is it harder than some of the things we've already pointed out? God is bigger than your problem. I mean the very life of Moses demonstrates that. He had to overcome obstacles when he was just a little guy.
Actually his parents had to overcome. You remember the Pharaoh gave you the Cree. All the Jewish baby boys are to be put to death. But those Hebrew midwives would not go along with that game plan. They spared the lives of those little ones including the life of the beautiful baby Moses. The Bible actually tells us he was a beautiful child. And so his parents put him in that little basket and gave it a little push and it's kind of flowing down the Nile River. And as if on cue Moses cries and the Pharaoh's daughter the Princess of Egypt hears the cry, looks in the basket, sees this gorgeous little baby and adopts him as her own son. And now he's probably being groomed to be the next Pharaoh of Egypt. And he was a prince raised in royalty. But yet underneath his beautiful robes of royalty beat the heart of a Hebrew. And his heart broke over the mistreatment of his fellow Jews.
And you know the story. One thing led to another and he took matters into his own hands and he saw an Egyptian taskmaster cruelly treating a Jewish man. And so Moses looked to the right. He looked to the left.
He should have looked up. And God would have said no, no, no. And he killed that man. And then when the Pharaoh heard that he put a contract out on the life of Moses. And so Moses went into exile for 40 years. But of course the Lord recommissioned him at the burning bush and said that he was going to use him. And so now Moses goes in. He demands a release of the Jewish people and actually the Pharaoh agrees to it and Moses begins his great journey to the new destination the Lord was calling them to. He must have felt such a sigh of relief when they were finally out of the bondage of Pharaoh. Like Martin Luther King he might have said free at last, free at last.
Thank God Almighty I'm free at last. But a lot of troubles were still going to come his way. The Lord directed him to the new land. The promised land. The land of Canaan. What would later become known as the land of Israel.
They don't occupy all of the land that God actually gave them. And as they're making their journey the Lord set them up with this very interesting GPS system. By day it was a cloud that would move and at night it was fire in the sky. So if the fire moved you moved. If the fire stopped you stopped. If the cloud moved you moved.
If the cloud stopped you stopped. You know a lot easier to figure out than some of our GPS systems. I have a love-hate mostly hate relationship with GPS.
Because you know sometimes I think it takes us the wrong way. I've read some very interesting stories that people that were one person was led to the middle of a runway in an airport and they actually drove out there. And another person went off deep into the wilderness off the normal road.
And the cop came and said what are you doing. They said well the GPS said go here right. And on my GPS if I go off track or I follow it for a while and I make a wrong turn it will say recalculating recalculating recalculating. Then it will tell me to go do a u-turn or whatever. Then you know a little later if I don't do what it says it will say why didn't you do what I told you to do. It's very naggy GPS.
I have to fix that. But their GPS was very simple. Move when the Lord told them to move. Go where the Lord told them to go. God directs us through His Word.
This is our GPS system. Confirmed to us by the Holy Spirit in our heart. Everything you need to know about God is found on the pages of the Bible.
Everything you need to know about life is found on the pages of the Bible. God tells you things you should do and things you should not do if you want to be a happy person. A good summary is Psalm 1 where it says happy is the man or the woman who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful. So if you want to be happy according to Psalm 1 don't hang out with ungodly people and go to ungodly places and do ungodly things. But then it goes on to say but his or her delight is in the Word of the Lord and in it they meditate.
They contemplate. They ponder the Word of God day and night and then there will be like a tree planted by a river of water. So God says do this and you will be happy. Stay away from that because that will bring unhappiness. But then we will read these things and say but what does God know? Maybe you are young and you say come on man I have raging hormones. I don't like all this stuff in the Bible about these rules and regulations on sex.
I am going to go hook up and go out there and enjoy myself. And then you engage in premarital sex or extramarital sex and you don't understand why God has laid these parameters out. He has laid them out for your own protection. For your own good. And as you get older you start seeing the repercussions that come from these decisions that people make often when they are younger.
It might be another area where you realize God knows what he is talking about. Solomon was the king of Israel. Very powerful man. Renowned for his wisdom. But he decided that he wanted to go see for himself everything this world had to offer. He had unlimited resources. Unparalleled power. Opportunity galore. And so he just went for it hook, line, and sinker.
Or maybe I should say hooker, line, and sinker. Because he also had a thousand concubines. So he pushed the envelope and he said in Ecclesiastes chapter 2 I took everything I wanted. I never said no to myself. I gave in to every impulse. I held back nothing.
Then he says this. Then I took a good look at everything I had done. I looked at all the sweat and the hard work. And when I looked I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind.
This is a modern translation obviously. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing. So he says I looked at it all.
It was all empty. It was a huge mistake. I wasted years of my life. And then he comes to this conclusion. Ecclesiastes 12 he says here is the last and final word on this matter. Reverence God and do what he tells you to do.
And that's it. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Hey everybody I want to tell you about a major new ministry initiative that we have here at Harvest called the Harvest Discipleship Platform. So it's a major leap forward in our national ministry and we adapt teachings from the New Believers Bible.
Do you know about that? That's a Bible project I worked on years ago and they're all around the world. Well we have excerpts from the New Believers Bible and also we have an online community of believers who are looking for what's next in their spiritual walk. So at Harvest Discipleship you can find trusted Bible teaching in a community that cares for you and positive encouragement in your spiritual life.
That sounds pretty good right? So become a part of the Harvest Discipleship Platform and you can do that by just going to harvest.org. Well we're joining the Israelites as they flee the Egyptians today in Pastor Greg's top 10 message called Between Impossible and More Impossible.
Let's continue. So the Lord leads Israel on a different route than expected. Instead of the direct route straight through to the land of Canaan the Lord takes them on an alternate route and they end up at the Red Sea. And word gets back to Pharaoh. These crazy Israelites don't know where they're going and they're just sitting there at the Red Sea. And the Pharaoh says, you know what?
I should have never let them go in the first place. I'm going to go down there and we're going to wipe them out and bring some of them back to be our slaves again. But what the Pharaoh didn't realize is he was falling into a trap. And guess who set the trap?
God himself. He set a trap for the Pharaoh to go for and so the Pharaoh gets his army together, says let's go. And his charioteers and their gleaming armor and their swords and their spears are now in hot pursuit of the Israelis. And when the Israelites standing there at the Red Sea are thinking this is so bad, it's so horrible, it can't get any worse. Wait.
What's that noise? And here comes the Egyptian army and they said it just got worse. You ever been in a situation like that? It's so bad. And then it gets worse. And you think it can't get any worse? And it gets worse. This is it. This is as bad as it will get.
And it even gets worse than that. 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? Hey Moses, this is your fault. Yeah it was hard back there but this is even worse. You brought us out here to die?
This is crazy. You know it's an interesting thing. They ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years unnecessarily.
I might point out. But that was because of their disobedience. Have you ever been on a roundabout? They have a lot of those in Europe, especially in England. And it's weird when you drive in England because first of all their steering wheel is in my opinion on the wrong side of the car. Then you add to that the fact that they drive on the wrong side of the road.
And then you add jet lag and you have a bad combination. Right? Because everything is counterintuitive. You want to go right when you should go left. And so I was driving there some years ago when I was visiting and we got on one of those roundabouts. And you are supposed to go around and then exit. But I couldn't figure it because I wanted to exit one way and you are supposed to exit the other way. I was on that roundabout for one week. But do you ever feel like you are on an eternal roundabout in your life?
It's going around and around making the same mistakes and the same things over and over again. That's a summation of what happened to Israel in the wilderness. So now they are upset with Moses.
You know it's interesting. It took God one night to get Israel out of Egypt. But it took 40 years to take Egypt out of Israel. It was still in their heart. So they blame Moses. Did you bring us here to die in the wilderness? We do the same thing. We complain. We are upset with God. So that's how they were feeling.
That brings me to point number three. When facing an impossible and even more impossible situation pray. When you are facing an impossible situation that is the time to pray.
Verse 11 says, They cried out to the Lord and they said to Moses, Why did you bring us here to die in the wilderness? Cry out to God. Are you in trouble right now?
Are you facing hardship right now? Cry out to God. He will hear your prayer. You remember the disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee. A mighty storm came. Jesus was asleep. They woke Him up. They said, Lord don't you even care that we are going to drown. We have water coming over the top of the boat.
What are you going to do? And Jesus rebuked the storm. But He also rebuked His disciples for their lack of faith. But you have to at least give them credit when crisis came. When the storm hit they called out on Jesus.
As it has been said, If your knees start knocking kneel on them. And so faith and worry cannot coexist. If worry is prominent faith won't be there. If faith is prominent worry will lead. And that is why Paul reminds us of Philippians 4.
Don't worry about anything but pray about everything. Here was their problem. They were letting their circumstances affect their outlook. Look at verse 10. They saw the Egyptian army in pursuit. By the way this was a mighty army. Armor, spears, powerful chariots.
There was no mightier army on the face of the earth at this time. And they took their eyes off of God. Off of the promises of God. 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 are joking right? We are backed up against the Red Sea.
They are in hot pursuit. And you are saying just chill, relax. Everything is great. Oh this army you see now they won't even be here tomorrow. Just be still and wait on the Lord. It is 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 is Israel. They are between an unconquerable army and an impassable sea. They are between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Between a rock and a hard place. 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 the middle of the sea on dry ground. You know there can come a time in your life when it is 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 have prayed enough. Now it is time to take action. See there is God's part and there is your part. There is a time to pray and there is a time to move. And they are all calling out, oh God help us. Oh Lord, the Lord is saying okay, whatever.
Start walking. Pastor Greg Laurie with great insight today on what to do when faced with an impossible situation. And there is more to come from this study here on A New Beginning.
Today's study is a good reminder that sometimes it is the right time to take action. It is a good opportunity to ask if you have ever acted in getting a relationship right with the Lord. Pastor Greg, what would you say to the person listening who just does not know if they are really a Christian? They cannot think of a time when they made a deliberate decision for the Lord. It is just not a good idea to assume everything is just going to work out okay, is it?
No, this is one area of your life you want to be sure about. Where you are going to spend eternity. The Bible says these things we write to you that you may believe on the Son of God and that you may know that you have eternal life. Listen, I know I have eternal life. I know I will go to heaven one day. And I hope that does not sound boastful and if it does I am boasting on what God has done for me. Not on what I have done for God.
The reason I know these things is because I have turned from my sin and I have put my faith in Christ you see. And if you do the same you can have the same hope. You just need to call out to the Lord an adventurous sinner and ask Jesus Christ to forgive you and come into your life. The Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Will you call upon him right now? I am going to pray a simple prayer and I am going to ask you to pray this prayer after me if you would.
So if you want to know that you will go to heaven when you die. If you want to know for certain that Christ is living in your life then pray this prayer with me. Just pray these words. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner but I know you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin. I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and my Lord.
As my God and my friend. Thank you for hearing this prayer. Thank you for answering this prayer. And I ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
Amen. And listen if you have just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and you have meant those words sincerely. The Lord has forgiven your sin and you are now a Christian. And we want to help you get started in this new life of faith. Let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible.
It is in an easy to understand translation and there are scores of features to help a new believer build a solid foundation. So get in touch and ask for the New Believers Bible. We will send it free of charge. Just call 1-800-821-3300. You can call anytime.
Again that number 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. And Pastor Greg we are so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. We are touching lives for eternity. And we are really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further.
Isn't that right? Absolutely. When you invest in Harvest Ministries you are investing in the souls of men and women, boys and girls. And what is the value of a soul?
Well let me personalize it. What is the value of your soul? What is the value of the soul of your husband, your wife, your son or your daughter? Or your mom or your dad?
Or your best friend? Well I would say you probably couldn't put a price tag on it. It is so valuable. Well listen God says all souls are mine.
God loves us and sent his son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sins so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with him. I can't think of a better investment of my resources, of my money, than in the work of the kingdom of God. So we would ask you to preferably consider investing in Harvest Ministries as we continue on to fulfill the Great Commission. Yeah that's right and you can make your donation right now at harvest.org or write us at A New Beginning Box 4000 Riverside, CA 92514 or call 1-800-821-3300 That's a 24-7 phone number 1-800-821-3300 Well next time Pastor Greg continues his encouragement from the message between impossible and more impossible. Well see there comes a time when prayers need to give way to action. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins
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