Share This Episode
A New Beginning Greg Laurie Logo

Between Impossible & More Impossible | Get Moving

A New Beginning / Greg Laurie
The Truth Network Radio
January 21, 2025 3:00 am

Between Impossible & More Impossible | Get Moving

A New Beginning / Greg Laurie

On-Demand Podcasts NEW!

This broadcaster has 2352 podcast archives available on-demand.

Broadcaster's Links

Keep up-to-date with this broadcaster on social media and their website.


January 21, 2025 3:00 am

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. After we’ve prayed for direction and strength, it’s time to get moving. It’s harder to steer a parked car.

Send help and hope to SoCal

Listen on harvest.org

---

Learn more and subscribe to Harvest updates at harvest.org

A New Beginning is the daily half-hour program hosted by Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Southern California. For over 30 years, Pastor Greg and Harvest Ministries have endeavored to know God and make Him known through media and large-scale evangelism. This podcast is supported by the generosity of our Harvest Partners.

Support the show: https://harvest.org/support

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

COVERED TOPICS / TAGS (Click to Search)
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

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. You know, there can come a time in your life when it's time to move instead of pray. You've prayed enough. Now it's time to take action.

Motive without motion is meaningless. Today, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us put feet to our prayers. 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. So you pray, God, help us.

Oh, Lord, Lord, say, OK, 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. After we prayed for direction and strength, it's time to get moving.

It's harder to steer a parked car. 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 going to 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 is 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 is 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 is someone that has wronged you. Someone that has hurt you. Someone that has said something to you that has 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 is 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 are 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 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. And Moses holds up his staff and the water parts and they are walking now through it. And here is 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 would 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 is hard to really with these massive walls of water on each side. You could probably see the sea creature swimming around in there.

A few great whites kind of concerning me. You know. Because I hear the theme song playing in the background of course. And they are walking through it. It is 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 is 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 is what we do for the rest of our life. Putting one foot in front of the other. It is a walk of faith. Not a walk of feeling. Because the Bible says the just will live by faith.

As 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 are 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 is what will happen to you and to me. We are walking with the Lord each and every day. And then one day the Lord says, You are coming home now. It is it.

Come on home. But that is 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. So we all are in this walk. And we are 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 is no way out and God makes a way where there wasn't a way.

Haven't you had that happen? That is why it is a good thing to write down what God has done for you. Write down answers to your prayers.

Because maybe you are 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 will give you encouragement on what you are facing right now. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Well we are 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 is Exodus 15 verse 1. Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord. I will 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 has given me victory. This is my God and I will praise Him.

My Father is God and I will exalt Him. So what happened? They walked through the Red Sea and 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 is 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 are like on our knees. We are 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 will 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 is something in your path. You know even at our church we have a Red Sea in front of us so to speak. And that is because we feel that the Lord wants us to go and make a difference in our world. You know I am called as you know to be both a pastor and an evangelist.

Yes I am schizophrenic. And this has always been sort of this balancing act in 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 is what I would like to do when I grow up.

A 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 people started calling me Pastor Greg.

And I am like 20 years old. I am thinking I only had been a Christian three years. I am thinking I can't be a pastor. I am 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 is 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 are thankful to the Lord for all that has been accomplished.

But we are 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 is where my heart is. That is where my passion is. And 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 in 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 are handing it on to their children. And it is just a wonderful thing to see. But I do feel a calling still to be an evangelist. And I have never shared this story publicly.

But I will share it with you now. Something Billy Graham said to me once. So one day I am 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 is like Moses just said that to me. I can't just say oh whatever.

It is like you said it to me. So now I need to pray about it. And I did pray about it for quite a while. And 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 is what I have 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. And the devil's plans will always backfire. And God will always have the last word because God is bigger than your problem.

Applause 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. Applause Pastor Greg Laurie with an invitation to get your heart right with the Lord. And if you'd like to do that Pastor Greg will help you in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. And then thank you for partnering with us to help these daily studies continue.

Your investments have eternal benefits. Why not make this a part of your personal ministry to partner in an effort that's making a real difference with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayers and for prayerfully considering how God might lead you to help tangibly. Online you'll find us at harvest.org. And there you'll see the way we'd like to thank you for your donation right now.

That's harvest.org. Or write us at A New Beginning Box 4000 Riverside, CA 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300.

We're here around the clock to take your call again at 1-800-821-3300. 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 here's the picture. You're out at sea, you're drowning, you have no energy left, and there's a lifeguard on the shore and you need to call out for help. Sometimes we're reluctant to do this but if you want to be saved this is what you need to do. Well the same is true in your relationship with God or lack thereof. You're drowning in the sea of sin. Jesus can save you but you have to call out to him. And the Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So I'm going 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 two thousand 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 moment forward. Thank you for calling me and accepting me and forgiving me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Amen. And listen if you've just earnestly prayed those words with Pastor Greg. The Lord has heard you and forgiven you of your sin. And we want to welcome you into the family of God. We'd like to send some follow-up materials your way to help you begin to live this life of faith. Let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible and some other resources that will help you build a solid foundation for your faith. Just give us a phone call at 1-800-821-3300. You can call anytime 24-7.

Again, that's 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. Well, next time as our series of top ten messages continues, Pastor Greg points out how to get a handle on our challenges simply by changing our perspective. We'll learn how our problems get smaller when we recognize the greatness of our God. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie.
Whisper: medium.en / 2025-01-21 05:33:04 / 2025-01-21 05:42:41 / 10

Get The Truth Mobile App and Listen to your Favorite Station Anytime