The Refreshing Power of the Word of God: Spiritual Nourishment

We are glad you're joining us for a new beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast supported by harvest partners get more encouraging audio content. When you subscribe to pastor Craig daily defenses. Learn more and sign up@harvest.org growing believer will delight you love the word you love it because if you read Tony memorize the word of God will rush you. God gave us his word spiritual nourishment, social pastor Greg Laurie says it's good to have a hard Bible story.

The Bible brushes you Bible not just hungry, angry mood, Louisville slugger top of your mind, we can start a few weeks so many times. Her ritual is top of our minds today on a new beginning pastor Greg Laurie points out what God's word does for the weary traveler's actual power for living drivers pricing power of the word of God.

Listen if you want to be a growing Christian. If you want to be a successful Christian.

If you want to be a believer that brings forth spiritual fruit.

As Jesus says he wants us to bring forth and you need to be a Bible study Christian and as a believer.

We are either progressing or regressing were either going forward or going backwards in the moment we stop the forward momentum is when we begin the backward regression. I read not long ago about a coach, a guy who trains people for a living in most of his clients were quite overweight, some 60, 70 pounds overweight. This guy, this trainer was in perfect shape, washboard abs eat the right foods love to exercise any really couldn't relate to what does client for going through so this guy decided to intentionally put on 70 pounds to see what it was like and so he started by changing his diet from the foods he used to eat to fattening foods for incense for breakfast.

He had Cap'n Crunch cereal and then he would have a snack, it would be banana bread anyone of chicken Alfredo pasta for dinner and lots of corndogs and donuts in between.

By the way this diet sounds really good to me except the Cap'n Crunch cereal I could live without that. But all the rest. This sounds amazing while it was exhilarating to him because at first there was no difference in his body. He still look good. But then he noticed the first thing to go with the abs and then he started getting flabby. Then he found that his blood pressure was going up he was tired all the time. He found himself lethargic and depressed into me. This is the picture of what it's like when we start going in the wrong direction spiritually instead of eating the nutritious message of God's word. We fill our lives with spiritual junk food. So when that happens, you need a restart.

You need a reboot. You need a refresh and I want to talk to you about the refreshing power of the word of God, because the reality is, as believers, we all love those moments when we stumble when we trip up when we make the wrong decision. We think that wrong thought and we need to repent.

We need to reboot. We need to be revived and refreshed and that's over going to be focusing on together because you want to build your life as a Christian on Christ and his work at the end of the sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave this summary statement in Matthew seven whoever hears these words of mine and puts them in the practice.

He is a wise man who built this house on the rock and the rain came down in the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall, because this foundation was on the rock within Christ goes on to say, whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does not put them in the practice. He is a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rain came down in the streams rose, and it fell the great crash look every life is going to be tested every one of us is going to face storms in life as followers of Jesus, so make sure your build on the right foundation, which is a relationship with Jesus himself and of course on God's word.

Don't build your Christian experience on experience.

Don't build your faith on your physical emotions build your life on Christ and his word because as you read, study, memorize and dig into the word of God. It will refresh you some 19 verse seven says the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The word that the psalmist uses therefore converts means to revive the restore the transform number we see the love the Lord that could just as easily be translated the word of the Lord, or simply the Bible. In other words, the Bible restores you. The Bible refreshes you. The Bible transforms you.

I can think of so many times in my life work.

My mind was going in the wrong direction. Have you ever been gripped by fear, worry or anxiety found by just quoting the right Scripture that it sort of righted you or when you're dealing with pain or with grief, you know, we just Mark 13 years since our son Christopher went to be with the Lord. And since that is happened. I've spoken to countless families who lost loved ones, especially children, and I've talked to them about grief. Grief is powerful and can overwhelm you. And there were times when our grief was so powerful and so overwhelming.

We didn't know we could go on but the thing is is grief has its place.

It's the process of healing. It's a process of processing the thing that is happened to you. I compare it to being out on the ocean maybe runner surfboard dry standup paddle boards or maybe were on our boogie boards right. Have you redone over the falls like going over the front of the way and you're in Whitewater you like you're in a washing machine if you don't know which way is up. So if you have a boogie board or some surfboard and a leash attached to your ankle. You know, one thing is certain that boogie board that flotation device will always go to the surface because people become disoriented with a gun over the falls, especially if the wave is big and they don't know which way is up. And instead of going up they go down.

So here's what you do if you got that leash grab the leash and go in the direction of your surfboard or your boogie board and get your head above the water, get a gulp of air is a new set of waves might be coming. That's grief. It just turned you upside down you don't know what to think you don't know what's going on. Your emotions are running amok. Grab the leash. What is the least the leash as the word of God and it pulls me to the surface and I can get my eyes on Jesus for a moment and they can get these sorted out and back in alignment with God again how important the word of God is in our life.

The word of God restores us and refreshes us transforms us. Listen to this success or failure in the Christian life depends on how much of God's word you get into your life on a regular basis and obedient, you are to it. Let me repeat that for emphasis. Success or failure in the Christian life depends on how much of God's word you get into your life on a regular basis and how obedient you are to it. God told his people back in the book of Joshua that they want to succeed spiritually. They needed to constantly be looking at his word. Joshua 18, it said, this book of the law or the word of God shall not depart from your mouth, meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.

And if you do this your way will be prosperous and you will have good success meditate in the word of God. What is it mean to meditate. One of the Bible it means to contemplate. That's the ideas given in Scripture of chewing one's food carefully. In Eastern meditation one empties their mind in biblical meditation one fills their mind with the word of God and as you memorize and know and understand Scripture. It'll be a weapon to use as you share your faith, and a weapon to defend yourself when you're being attacked. Remember the first temptation that happened back in the garden of Eden is when Satan effectively came to Adam and Eve and challenge them to doubt the word of God, he said, did God really say what you think.

He said because God really said you cannot eat of all of the trees in the garden. This is one of the first things that happens to a person when they become a Christian. They have doubt about what they believe in Jesus told us how to handle this and showed us really when he was tempted in the wilderness. Remember three waves of temptation came to Christ from Lucifer, and in each instance, Jesus says it is written, it is written, he came back to the word of God which the Bible describes as the sword of the Spirit is in a growing believer will delight in and love the word of God, you'll love it if some acute dread reading it. Look forward to reading it.

Someone describing the happy man says happy is the man that doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the word of the Lord, and he did does seem meditate day and night. The psalmist said in Psalm 119.

How I love your commandments. Lord to give my life back to me because your unfailing love and your words are true or Greg Laurie of the second half of this message moment right after a quick look at the way a new beginning touches the lives of listeners. 20 years ago I gave my life to Jesus. After listening to on the radio. God bless you always. Thank you for leading Christ years ago are you majoring in my life and I can't thank you enough. Early last year.

I found the Lord that harvest Christian Fellowship God is so I'm happy to partner with you in your mission more folks that know me know that I often in my message, no matter what the topic with an invitation for people to come to Christ because there's always someone out there that doesn't know the Lord. Maybe there in the congregation. Maybe there listening, then radio maybe there watching online, and I want those people to know they can never relationship with Christ and I know that this is what God wants, because the Lord says he's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance, so I'd like to throw the net and as you know, if you listen to a new beginning we throw the net a lot and you know what we see thousands of people come to Christ every year through our radio program along so that is why am thankful when you invest in our ministry because you enable us to reach a lot of people that I can never reach otherwise they'll never darken the doorway of a church, but they might be turning the radio dial income upon our show and say what is this all about, and I've had more than one person tell me that's all they found their program and ended up listening and coming to Christ, so that's what were all about.

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Pastor Greg is presenting his message on the importance of Scripture called the refreshing power of the word of God. How do you know the Bible is the word of God sometimes will doubt can I believe the Bible can I be certain that this really is God's word to me.

So if you have a Bible wanted to just grab it right now and hold onto it. Maybe it's an app on your tablet or your phone but want you to think about this book that we call the Bible. This is God's message to us. Technically speaking, the Bible is not one book, but it's actually 66 different books written over a 1500 year span of time. If words were written by authors 40 of them all told up front every walk of life.

King's presence, philosophers, fishermen, statesmen, and scholars.

Yet all of the authors of the Bible write about one primary theme that theme is God's redemption of man kind in each one of these individuals was inspired by God to write these words.

Second Peter 120 says you must understand no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophets themselves as they wanted to prophesy. It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God. How do we know the Bible is the word of God hears one point I know the Bible is the word of God because it gave me the experience. He claimed it would give me now don't say will Greg, you shouldn't build your life and experiences is just one of many points as to why I believe the Bible is the word of God.

I believe it because everything the Bible promise to me was true everything the Bible says to me I have found to be true friends in the Bible says God would forgive me of my sin for someone nine says if I will confess my sins he is faithful and just to forgive me my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. So I read that verse and I said, Lord, cleanse me of my sin.

One of the first things I remember experiencing this a brand-new Christian was the sensation of having a massive weight removed from me now. I didn't know what I just done. I prayed and asked Jesus into my life. I had read that I suggest all of my care upon him, for he cared for me. I had read any verses yet, but I remember feeling this weight lifted off of me that was God for giving me of my sins. The Bible says to me, if any man be in Christ, he is an altogether different kind of person the old things are passed away. Behold, everything becomes fresh and new. I became a different person after I gave my life to Christ.

I saw that change inside of me and I knew it was real.

I tried to be a better person. I wanted to be a more caring person I wanted to be different than I was but I couldn't change myself and suddenly with Christ living in me and reading the word of God.

I saw that these things happen for me is the Bible said they would. I read in the Bible that God could give to me a peace that passes all human understanding because of Philippians we read, don't worry about anything, pray about everything.

And the peace of God that passes all human understanding, keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Have you experienced that peace that passes all understanding. I mentioned already that my son would to be with the Lord and I tested the word of God, then I could even get to sleep at night and I would remind myself of what Scripture says and I would quote Scripture to myself and it would console me and comfort me and sustain me. I believe the Bible is the word of God because he gave me the experience. It promise number two. I believe the Bible is the word of God and that it is true because it's confirmed by science that some of you might be thinking no Greg, you're wrong. Science and the Bible contradict each other. That's not necessarily true.

People over the years of scoff at the Bible say that so unscientific you know they did the people that believe the Bible there. Well it's actually the Bible told us that the Lord sits on the circle of the earth. It's a Bible told us the earth was round, not flat, as many of the experts thought at one stage in human history is the Bible the tells us and told us that the stars in the sky were innumerable, but of course astronomer said well that's ridiculous. We can actually kill the stars and they had their account and then they get a more powerful telescope and add some more numbers to that in on a group with the Bible tells us that God stretch forth the heavens into a limitless expense which can never be measured and filled it was stars, which are as numerous as it stands upon the seashore when a modern sciences confirm this is true that we really can't even count the stars in the sky. It was the Bible that told us the things that we see are made out of things that we don't see he was 11. Three says, by faith we understand the entire universe was formed at God's command and what we see now is made out of things we don't see everything that we look at right now is made up of protons, neutrons and electrons and also croutons know those are underselling but the ideas God told us the things we see are made of things we don't see how the Bible was ahead of science in many ways would listen.

The Bible is not a scientific textbook if it were, it would be much larger and much less comprehensible. The objective of this Scripture is not to tell us how the heavens go, but how to go to heaven. Let me say that again. The objective of the Bible is not to tell me how the heavens go and how to go to heaven and hell.

To know God there's another point the Bible is true because it's the one book that dares to predict the future, not once, not twice, but hundreds of times with 100% accuracy. Think of all the scriptures in the Old Testament that pointed to the arrival of the Messiah. The Bible told us in the Old Testament Messiah would be born of a virgin he be born in Bethel again. He would be crucified, and the Bible said in the Old Testament, he would be crucified before the actual act of crucifixion even existed. The Bible is the one book that tells us what is coming in our future as well. I'm not talking about Nostradamus here are the Mayan prophecies. I'm talking about a reliable source, and that really is the mark of a true messenger from God or a book that comes from God chanted predict the future. The answer with the Bible is yes, then I could go on and talk a lot about how archaeology confirms the Bible. It doesn't contradicted it seems that whenever there's a new archaeological find it confirms what the Bible said I could talk about so many things happening in our world right now that are fulfillments of Bible prophecy, the turmoil in the Middle East and much much more.

As a reminded in second Timothy three all Scripture is inspired by God for another translation says all Scripture is breathed by God Greg Laurie solid insights on why we can rely on the Bible is the word of God. Our message today on a new beginning is titled the refreshing power of the word of God.

And there's more to come. Have you ever wondered what would've been like to walk alongside Jesus during his earthly ministry listening to his conversations with Mary Magdalena and Nicodemus the moment Jesus told Simon and Andrew to cash their nets and then they hold in a great catch of fish well of the TV series called the chosen. You're right there with Jesus in each episode. The series is impressed so many people that John Erickson totter said thank you for telling the old, old story in such an impossibly fresh way after Pastor Greg saw them re-create Jesus conversation with Nicodemus, he said, wow they got it. It was one of his favorite episodes and out we want to send you season one of the chosen to thank you for your donation for this important time of the year here harvest ministries.

We are obviously committed to preaching the gospel and we believe in the power of film to reach people with that message. That's why were excited about making this critically acclaimed resource available on DVD. Let us send this to you to thank you for your generous donation and this is the most important time of the year for your investment. We see so much fruit to this ministry and you play a part in that you not only give to us. You give through us to touch lives we heard from a parent who attended a recent SoCal harvest and she wrote tonight I received the greatest gift. My son gave his life to Christ right here in front of me. You know that was able to happen because someone invested in the work of evangelism.

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And when you do will send you season one of the chosen, you can make a donation online@harvest.org or write us at a new beginning. Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514 or we have a 24 hour phone number 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300 are you receiving Pastor Greg's daily devotions each day via email is not much to care that right now you can sign up today free of charge@harvest.org and you receive a daily inspirational thought from God's word each day in your inbox again. Go to harvest.org the next time more insights on the ship God's word and how it refreshes the lives of believers. Join us here on a new beginning. Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie and everybody thinks her list. Beginning this is a podcast made possible by harvest partners. So for more content 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