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February 2, 2022 3:00 am
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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.
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Everybody you're listening to a new beginning, which is a podcast made possible by harvest partners. If this program is impacted you love to hear from you.
So just send an email to me at greg@harvest.org again it's greg@harvest.org you can learn more about becoming harvest partner by going to harvest.org marital harmony can be a challenging we married the wrong person pastor Greg Laurie wonders your spouse marrying the wrong person.
A successful marriage is not so much finding the right person is much as it is being the right person. Stop blaming your may be the best husband you can be. Stop blaming to be the best wife that you can stop reading each other's mail. Just do what God tells you to do and you'll be amazed at what will have an delivery thermostat is too hot toilet paper roll was replaced incorrectly. All TV remote control is missing again.
The car was parked without enough gas to make it back to the gas station. Those things never happened to you. You must be single today on a new beginning pastor Greg Laurie continues his Christian families. Five biblical principles for a successful marriage heard a story about a husband and wife.
There was a liberating 25th wedding anniversary from friends and family that all men I love this woman so much in the door here because you've given me 25 years of wedded bliss I'm taking you to China. All she was so excited that she says I've always wanted to go to China that she said if you're doing that for our 25th wedding anniversary. I can't wait to see what you will do for our 50th wedding anniversary. The husband said that's what I'll pick you up. Maybe that's why one person marriage is like a three ring circus engagement ring and wedding ring and suffering doesn't really have to be that way. Oscar Wilde was quoted to say the world is grown suspicious of anything that looks like happily married life." About this statement from one of the wealthiest men were ever live J Paul Getty who was married many times he said quote I would give my entire fortune for one happy marriage. One happy marriage.
That's all he wanted is it even possible gentlewoman and a man fall in love and get married and live happily ever after about that. The fairytales tell us, but like dozen back that up now does it because we look at the divorce rate in our country today. It's roughly a 50% and then if you get married for a second time.
The divorce rate jumps up to 60% and then if you go for third marriage arises even higher for 73%. Yet fairytales usually end with the words happily ever after, but maybe we should change it to say happily even after let's be realistic, it can be a happy marriage. It can be a strong marriage all right. Let's look at our textile Ephesians chapter 5.
No, I think what we think of this particular chapter and we immediately remember the verses were Paul says husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for Edson wives submit and your husband's is on the Lord and so for the will get to those verses. But we don't consider the verses that precede them. In many ways the verses that precede those passages I just quoted lay the foundation for a strong and happy home sober. Get a look at those preliminary statements in this particular message Ephesians 5 starting in verse 13, all things are exposed or made manifest by the light for whoever makes manifest is like. Therefore, he says awake use sleep and arise from the dead in Christ will give you life see then that you walk circumspectly, not as full but as wise and redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Therefore, don't be unwise. Understand what the will of the Lord is don't be drunk with wine, which is dissipation, but be filled with the spirit speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.
So if you're taking notes or some Takeaway truths. Some points. Point number one if you want a successful marriage. Shine the light of God's word on it. If you want a successful marriage. Shine the light of God's word on it. Verse 13 all things are exposed to made manifest by the light. Whatever makes manifest is like you know sometimes when marriages are having troubles. They get counseling and I'm for that. As long as it's biblical counseling. Counseling is not enough. Listen to this. Just because a person says a Christian counselor doesn't necessarily mean they're giving biblical counsel if all the matters when it said and done, are you getting counsel from the word of God, because I've heard counsel that comes from people who are supposedly giving Christian counseling that frankly is contradictory to what the Bible says they might some away. The second Greg what if you don't agree with what the Bible says simple answer change your opinion because the Bible is right. If you don't agree with it, you're wrong. Sorry to tell you that. But it's the truth. So we want to look to the word of God because it gives us the answers that we need in tells us what to do. Principle number two. We need to wake up, wake up verse 14.
Awake you that sleep awaken from spiritual lethargy. Listen, you can sleepwalk through a marriage you have to constantly be giving attention. You have to be proactive, not merely reactive.
What will happen as a marriages neglected the husband neglects his role. The wife neglects hers. One problem turns into another and it gets worse and worse and worse, now or in the state of crisis, I say go back to the beginning and engage in preventative maintenance Springs and it every day is not unlike your relationship with God. If you neglect the study of Scripture. If you neglect being a part of church if you neglect your prayer life. It's no affect you spiritually, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not even a week from now. But in time you'll see the effect the same is true of marriage.
So wake up to that fact number three walk carefully while carefully look at verse 15. See then that you walk circumspectly to an interesting word. It carries the basic meaning of that which is accurate and exact. It conveys the idea of looking examining and investigating something with great care.
Sort of like the kind of attention you would give before signing a contract you want to be very careful before you put your John Hancock is a C on the contracted initial all those little things that they highlighted because the devil may be in the details to see so in the same way I look at this very carefully and I'm going to be attention to detail and make sure I've done everything I can do that so much worried about will my spouse is doing or is not doing my doing my part because again I want to emphasize. We need to strike this word divorce from Mark vocabulary. Someone once asked Ruth Graham, the wife of Billy Graham. She had ever considered divorcing billing and she said I've never once considered divorcing him murdering him. Yes, divorcing him know that was been humorously course. Don't get any ideas what carefully conveys the idea of alertness, you know, sometimes he will say all they have a marriage made in heaven.
When you think good marriages happen randomly. All is I mean others of a marriage made in hell know if you see a marriage. It looks like it was made in heaven. It's because those people have applied themselves. Number four.
Use your time wisely. Use your time wisely. Verse 16 redeeming the time for the days are evil. Redeem means make the most of your time, or make use of every opportunity take the time to strengthen your marriage Mr. Greg Laurie will have the second half of this message in just a moment, emails, phone calls, and even text messages from listeners are so encouraging to us and they let us know the effectiveness of these studies after Greg listening for a decade now and grow closer to God because of the way he speaks three asked to listen to your podcast.
In my free time while driving your teaching through God's word is giving me hope to work. There may be some child that carried me into adulthood. I'm now married, has been, and I listen to getting he served in the Army line in nursing school. It's a little silly that we sometimes spend quality time laying on the floor with our dog and listening to your messages as a grown woman and wife Allison thoroughly enjoyed listening to your wife Kathy speak I can just see her love for God and others. And I want to thank you both for providing such amazing resources for every stage of my life were so grateful to hear of changed lives to harvest ministries and if you have a story to tell of how these studies touched your life. Email Pastor Greg greg@harvest.org that's great harvest.org will we continue now with pastor Greg's practical marital counsel today study home sweet home number five to have a successful marriage.
You must be filled with the Holy Spirit that have a successful marriage. You must be filled with the Holy Spirit. Look at verse 18. Don't be drunk with wine, which is dissipation, but be filled with the spirit, by the way, in the Greek that is a command to not be filled with this power is the cut off your power supply years ago we had a workday.
The church, so we were painting and trimming hedges and doing all sorts of things and I'm really bad with tools of any, you and I mentor my mom is very good divorce. I never had a dad go over the basics with me, like how to tie a tie and how to build something so II this big huge deficiency in that area of my wife's easy walk into the house with a hammer. She's alarm I like hardware stores all of all the cool tools I'm just not very good with them.
That's all. So were out here at the forget George and Derek that they had was a hedge trimmer.
You know, and I that will cool you nose plug in the wall type trim in the top of that, this is fun I like this and I was really paid attention and I kept moving that thing is cut because it became right to the work just stops.
I look over the right to look to the left. I just walked off just like this.
It's a kind of a man who just got his power supply offsets with you to want to do that you need the power of the Spirit would you think of when you think of being filled with the spirit.
I think sometimes people imagine it should be an emotional experience right and it can be. Sometimes it is always you might go to be filled with the spirit need to get a jump up and down and scream really loud will really God's power and consequently is a practical power. It's not so you can jump client so you can walk straight. It's sort of like a fire hose if they lose control of it. It can be dangerous to get killed someone to grab hold of that firehose and direct the stream of the water in the right direction. They can put out a fire they can save the lives of people. So God gives us his power not just throw off with no purpose but to do what he is called us to do be filled with the Holy Spirit and by the way, this is an interesting little twist where it says be filled with the spirit, because in the original language, we find that the last clause in the long previous sentence is submitting one to another in the fear of God so in other words, here's another verse should go be filled with the spirit speaking yourself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord submitting one to another in the fear of God's is very important to sometimes why show on the verse that says wives submit under your husband's is on the Lord you much. I don't want to submit to my husband or anybody else wait a second before God tells wives to submit to their husbands before God tells husbands to love their wives. God says to husband and wives, submit to one another in the fear of the reverence of God. If you're a spiritual person, you'll be a submitting person.
Now maybe you think of subservience and slavery, but that's not what submission is in the Bible.
Let me put it another way, if you're really filled with the spirit, you'll think of others over yourself in military language it means to rank beneath the rank under there's order of ranking in the military and police officers and so forth and you can outrank a person so the ideas you put yourself under that person you want to hold him up you want to support them. This is not about superiority or inferiority. It's about sacrifice.
It's about obedience, it's not about you it's about your mate.
Listen a successful marriage is not so much finding the right person is much as it is being the right person. Stop blaming your mate and be the best husband you can be. Stop blaming him to be the best one that you can be stop reading each other's mail. I just do what God tells you to do drives me crazy when I hear wives quote versus about being a good husband of the man in them" versus the reacher own stinking versus doing God tells you to do and you'll be amazed at what will happen.
I shouldn't say stinking versus I retract that statement, there's no stinking versus in the Bible, but you get what I was trying to say by that. So we want to be filled with the Holy Spirit. But what does that mean specifically addressing this three word pictures are given to convey well. The idea of what the Bible saying one way that this phrase filled is used is when filling a sale going along any of you like the sale you know how wonderful it is when you turn up the engine. You catch that gust of wind and you're just cruise along fantastic makes life so much easier doesn't it, and the same is true of marriage when he can try to do it on your own due to your own strength but men just let the Holy Spirit fill your sales and help you to do what God has called you to do.
It also conveys the idea of permeation back in the first century they would take salt and rub it into me to preserve it before refrigeration so the idea being conveyed is let the Holy Spirit permeate your life you rub it in deeply that the Holy Spirit be deeply embedded inside of you affecting you and what you say and what you think and what you do and finally it conveys the idea of total control.
Paul compares the filling of the spirit to drunkenness. Don't be drunk with wine, where it is excess but be being filled with the Holy Spirit's mother would still be under the control of the spirit be under the control of the holy spirit. Let him have control of your life. So put it all together.
What is it mean to be filled with the holy spirit beings which are carried along and permeated by and under the control of Jesus Christ to fill yourself with God's word so his thoughts become your thoughts to standards your standards is will your will to be filled with the spirit of walking, thought by thought decision by decision act by act under the Holy Spirit's control. This is true of the Christian life to know we can try so hard to not do this and not to that. Listen to this Galatians 5 says if we sort of the spirit will reap life everlasting. We sort of the flesh will reap corruption so were told walk by this spirit, you will not carry out the desire of the flesh soap you focus on the positive. It will help you deal with the negative.
So I am saying I want to be filled with the spirit under the control of the spirit living by the Council of Scripture, then the other things will all sort themselves out. We need the help of the Holy Spirit we can do this on her own. We need the Holy Spirit's power to be the husbands.
God is called us to be. We need the Holy Spirit's power for you girls to be the wives of God is called you to be. We need the Holy Spirit's power to be the parents. God is called us to be. We need his help and singles need the Holy Spirit's power to be the single God has called you to be.
Let me just close with this one thought when I say one thought that the preacher's way of saying I'm to go for 20 more minutes. God nodded I'm almost done.
Actually, but of all the pictures that God could've chosen to show his love for the world. He chose marriage. Husbands are told. Love your wife as Christ loves the church wives really are submissive, your husband is on the Lord. So here's what the Lord is saying hey world, a secular culture you want to know how much I love my people check out the way the Christian husband loves his wife.
Hey nonbelievers you want to see how much my people let me check out the way that Kristin wife loves her husband, can't you see how bad it is now we Christians get a divorce. How it so devastates our witness were telling these people how to live were telling them how to be changed by Jesus, and we can't work out our problems in our own marriages. It should not be so. God's chosen the marriage is a representation to a lost world, and therefore, when you have a strong marriage or a powerful witness but again I want to emphasize that.
How did God show his love he showed up by sending his son Jesus to die on the cross for us. Talk is cheap. Words are easy to say God put his own son on the cross to die in our place to show how much he loves each and every one of us in Austin. Closing married or single, forget about that for a moment.
Do you know God. What if this was your last day on earth is your life in order.
Are you ready to meet God.
If not you can come into a relationship with him right now and be forgiven of all of your sin and all of us need that Jesus who died on the cross in your place in line and absorb God's wrath in our place rose again from the dead and now he stands at the door of our life and the nonsense as a full hers voice and open the door he will come in. Have you ever asked Jesus Christ to come in your life. Do you know right now was certainly that you go to heaven when you die, if not would you like to know Christ in a personal way. Would you like your sins forgiven you like a second chance in life. When a close now with a prayer and I want to give you an opportunity to get right with God.
If you need to solve our heads.
If you would please father, thank you for your word to us. Thank you for loving us.
Thank you for sending Jesus to die for us and now we pray for any person, here does not yet know you, Lord, help them to see their need for Jesus to help them become believe we pray that Greg Lord important prayer if you'd like to make a change today in your relationship with the Lord.
Pastor Greg will help you do that in just a moment before today's addition of a new beginning. Concludes what were making available a unique book called divine disruption by Dr. Tony Evans. Many people are familiar with that name, and many also know that he has four adult children who were also all involved in ministry and they co-authored this book along with him.
The Evans family has suffered some terrible tragedies eight family members passed away over the course of the last two years now and we all experience some rain in our lives. Problems and worries and crises sometimes is even a downpour and sometimes it's a flood and Pastor Greg. This new book, divine disruption is from a family that survived the flood and grew through it is not right. Yes it is right and you know that probably the most profound loss for Tony and his children was his wife going to be with the Lord.
Lois she was sick for quite a long time and that her faith was strong throughout her suffering and her sickness, but then she was called home to heaven. There is one quote in this book, which says we have one goal in this one short life we have on planet Earth. Do not lose focus serve the purposes of God.
Lois Evans did that. The rest of the Evans family is doing that. Are you doing that that's what we all should be doing serving the purposes of God, you know, let me be honest and I think you know this already. It's not a matter of if you're going to die its a matter of when. Death will come but death is not the end for a Christian. It's not the end of the road.
The road continues on into the presence of God. Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life and he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Then he asked this question, do you believe this, I mean really, of we believe life is short and I want to live it well going to want to live it for the glory of God. We don't want to waste our life. We don't want to waste our months and our weeks in our days, we want to invest our life into honoring and serving God. So here's a book now that I want to offer you called divine disruption written by Tony and his two sons and his two daughters, telling you how they dealt with losing their mother and other members of the family how they dealt with it in faith, but it's also an honest book. It's candidate did talk about the pain and the heartache that comes with losing someone that you love so much. So this is going to be a hopeful book. It's going to be a hopeful book and it's going to be an instructive book for many of you, and I want to send you a copy of divine disruption by Tony Evans and his family for your gift of any size whatever you send will be used. To help us continue to preach the gospel and teach the word of God.
So if you believe in what were doing. Please respond to this offer and will rush to your copy of divine disruption. Thanks in advance.
It's powerful encouragement for those times of serious challenge in heartache and we hope you let us send us your way. Thank you for your generosity as you request this thank you gift divine disruption by Dr. Tony Evans and his family. You can call us right now at 1-800-821-3300. We are here to take your call around the clock that's 1-800-821-3300 and you can make your donation and request online@harvest.org and then the pressure just before we go. Would you mind praying with the person listening who wants to make a change today in the relationship with the Lord. I'd be happy to Dave you know is you been listening to this today.
Maybe you've heard another voice.
By that I mean, you heard me say a few things, but you heard God's voice speak to you deep in the recesses of your heart and it suddenly dawned in you. This is what I need order stated more accurately. This is who I need I need Jesus.
And I want Jesus, but maybe you don't know how to make that connection. Let me help you pray this after me right now if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner and I am sorry for my sin and I need your forgiveness right now. Would you come in to my heart, my life as Savior, as God as friend. I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for calling me and accepting me and for giving me in Jesus name I pray, amen. I know there was a relatively short prayer. Maybe you felt something as you prayed it.
Maybe you felt nothing, that doesn't really matter because God's word says these things we write to you that believe on the name of the son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
It doesn't say so. You may think you have it or you may hope you have it of gods in a good mood.
No that you can know it and I want you to know if you pray that prayer and minute Jesus Christ, the son of God has come into your life. So congratulations, you're now a Christian now continue to follow the Lord to help you as you follow the Lord would like to send you some materials we call our new believers growth package will answer many of the questions you might have and get you started off right in your new relationship with the Lord. So get in touch and ask for will send it free of charge. Call us at our 24 hour phone number 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300 or go to harvest.org and click on know God one next time as pastor Drake's new Christian family series continues, he presents a message because God's plan for sex and marriage join us here on a new beginning.
Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie new beginning as 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 and help others find help