The Balanced Life: Upward, Inward & Outward | Priceless Joy

Greg Laurie and Harvest Ministries recommend a great new children's book by Sally Lloyd Jones called Jesus Our True Friend. You have kids and they need to hear the story of Jesus and I bet you struggle at times trying to read Bible stories to your children. This is a great tool so order your copy of Jesus Our True Friend Stories to fill your heart with joy written by Sally Lloyd Jones. Yours for a gift of any amount at Harvest.org. Coming up today on a new beginning. Pastor Greg Laurie helps us get back to basics and recalculate where we stand and who will one day stand in front of. Often we'll say well it's my life it's my life it's my future it's my career it's my car it's my house it's mine but actually it isn't yours everything you have has been given to you is a gift from God so honor him and glorify him and worship him it's about time to pay the credit card bills from this past Christmas. Sadly often those bills last longer than the gifts did out but that's how it is right. The things of this world promise a lot of joy but the joy expires before the cost. Today on a new beginning Pastor Greg Laurie helps us re-evaluate our priorities and set our focus on the eternal. A life live for eternity experiences joy that never fades and the price has been paid. Why do we exist? Why am I here on this earth and the answer to that question is found among other places in Revelation chapter 4. If you were to go out on the street today and ask people why do you exist they would probably say well I to be happy or to live my truth whatever that means or to follow their passion and maybe they think that would come about through career success financial security others would think fame this is not what the Bible teaches it's not that God doesn't want you to be happy in fact he does but you will never find happiness by seeking it specifically you'll find happiness will come into your life as a byproduct of putting God first in your life. Jesus said in the sermon on the Mount seek first the kingdom of God in his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. In fact one of the unhappiest things a person can do is live to be happy. One of the least pleasurable things you can do is live for pleasure live for the Lord seek the Lord and you'll find the right kind of pleasure in your life the Bible says in this presence there is fullness of joy and on his right hand there are pleasures forever more so we want to put God first in our life so here we come to Revelation 4 John is seen heaven and he sees the Lord seated on his stone verses 2 to 3 of Revelation 4 and then he says in verse 3 I saw the globe and emerald circling the throne like a rainbow. Can you imagine a circular rainbow and it's emerald how interesting but then he also sees innumerable angels surrounding the throne of God and so now here we have John's description of what he sees in heaven and the answer to the question why we exist is answered. A Revelation 4 verse 8 look at it with me the four living creatures each have been six wings these would be angelic beings or full of eyes around them within they did not rest day or night saying holy holy holy Lord God Almighty who was who is and who is to come and whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne who lives forever the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever and they cast their crowns before the throne saying I don't miss this here's why you exist it's revealed verse 11 you are worthy of Lord our God to receive glory and honor and power for you created everything and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created so why do we exist we exist for the pleasure of God we exist to glorify God he created us for his glory Ephesians 111 says he chose us from the beginning that we would trust in Christ and bring praise to our glorious God but there are people that waste their lives on the pursuit of nothingness I think so often we'll say well it's my life it's my life it's my future it's my career it's my car it's my house it's my dog it's my everything it's my party and I'll cry if I want to know that's a song lyric but you know it's mine but actually it isn't yours everything you have has been given to you is a gift from God the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 619 you don't belong to yourself God bought you with a high price so glorify God with your body heard a story about a lady that was at an airport she was waiting for her flight so she went and bought some cookies to eat and sat down at a table and there was another man seated at the table and and so she took her first cookie and she was munching on it and all of a sudden much to her surprise this man reached out into her cookie back and took one of her cookies and ate it she thought I can't believe this guy what does he think he is she reaches in takes another cookie the man reaches in he too takes another cookie she reaches for a third so does he finally they come to the last cookie in the bag she reaches for it and he grabs it first he smiles at her breaks it in half and gives her half of the cookie she was so outraged she stood up and walked away in a hub and opened up her purse and saw her bag of cookies was in her purse see he was not eating her cookies she was eating his cookies and he was nice enough to share the last one with her get it that's us in God and they're his cookies life is a gift from God the breath you're drawing in your lungs the beating your heart it's a gift from God so honor him and glorify him and worship him you see we're made to worship we're wired to worship and by the way everybody worships republicans worship democrats worship skeptics worship even atheists worship you say Greg you're wrong they don't worship God I didn't say they worship God I said everyone worships we worship someone or something some worship themselves some worship objects some worship other things but we're wired to worship God himself but what is worship when we say glorify God what do I mean when I say worship God it means to uscribe worth or value to something or someone it comes from the root word worth ship and God is clearly worthy of our praise that revelation in chapter 5 verse 12 it says in a loud voice they sing worthy is the lamb who is slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise there's actually a number of words in the bible that are translated into the word worship one is the word shaka which means to bow down and do homage we get our English phrase shaka con from it now that's effort if you laughed at that I don't even know it's a pretty old reference but to give reverence to something so it's like respect and reverence but then another way it's translated from the Greek word proscunial means to kiss forward so in contrast to reverence this speaks of affection you know you don't kiss someone you don't know unless you want to get slugged in the face right so putting it together I'm starting to get a concept of what worship is it's to honor and respect God but it's to show affection in that honor and respect toward God but then another word translates it to serve and minister so it's the idea of serving him I remember we went to visit Billy and Ruth Graham and Ruth had a sign over her sink that said divine service done three times a day because Ruth felt you know when I watched my dishes I can do it for the glory of God but here's a verse that pulls it all together I'm here to glorify God Paul sums it up this way in Philippians 121 to live as Christ and to die as game there it is to glorify God what does it mean to say to live as Christ and to die as game that's the Christian worldview in a nutshell and it also addresses two of the most important issues everyone will face number one what is the meaning of life number two what is the meaning of death we all live for something to live is if you were to fill in that blank what would you say to live is pleasure to live is fame to live is success to live is personal happiness Paul says to live is Christ Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment emails phone calls and social media messages from listeners are so encouraging to us and they let us know the effectiveness of these studies Pastor Greg I was involved in new age spirituality when I watched the Jesus revolution movie it was partially because of your story that I felt safe to start exploring a relationship with Jesus I ended up praying a prayer to expect Jesus and now I feel like a new person my husband and 14 year old daughter are also getting church with me and reading the Bible we are so grateful thanks again has Pastor Greg heard from you why not drop him an email and share your story send it to Greg at harvest.org again that's Greg at harvest.org well we're re-evaluating our values today as Pastor Greg brings us his message called the balanced life upward inward and outward he continues let me ask you is it an alarm or a calling that gets you out of bed in the morning what do you passionate about what do you dream about and that's what you're living for and if you can say to live is Christ you can also say to die is game death for Paul was a certainty not an uncertainty but he knew he would go to be with Christ where life would continue not conclude its life on a far better level it's a promotion it's a coronation if our Paul goes on there in Philippians 1 and he says I don't know which is better I'm torn between the two I want to go and be with Christ but I need to remain here with you and you know it's interesting because the word that Paul uses for departing can be translated in different ways the depart and be with Christ one word means to strike the tent you know sort of like camping how many of you like to camp raise your hand I'm not a big camper but but you know campers love it you know you set the tent up and you build the fire if you're next level you get out your bow and you hunt your dinner or maybe go fish now you're gonna you know be out there at the campsite then when the camp is done you have to extinguish the fire you take down the tent and you go back again to me it's sort of like going to the beats my favorite time of going to the beach is when I arrive and when I leave you know I think I like the idea of the beats more than the beach itself because it's I'm gonna go to the beach and I'm gonna just look at the water so you get down there and you set up your beach chair and you lay out your beach towel maybe have a little music to listen to put on some sunscreen put on your shades life is good and the beach is empty you got it all to yourself the sound of the waves rolling in and then some guy comes down he has all of the beach to choose from and he sets his towel right next to yours and his towel is even touching your towel that should be illegal and he's one of those guys that talks of someone on the phone on speaker the whole time right or plays obnoxious music on his boombox or whatever it is so you go in the water to get away from the guy but you're thinking I'll have lunch a little bit later can't wait to have that lunch and then you see a seagull flying off with your lunch and so I'm leaving this place and you're going home now you're happy again I'll take a hot shower get all the sand off of me one day we're going to depart we're going to strike the tent but another word that is used for departure is to untie a boat from its moorings untie a boat from its moorings so you sailors know about this you get on your boat now you're going to go out and you're going to sail or maybe you're getting on a cruise ship and I read about a pretty interesting cruise it was a carnival cruise that set sail in February of 2013 and on day four an engine room fire knocked out the ship's power leaving 4,000 passengers and crew with no electricity refrigeration or functioning toilets it became a hygiene nightmare and it was horrible that's one cruise ship I don't want to get on but one day we'll all set sail and you determine where your destination is so if you put your faith in Christ you know that destination is heaven in fact that's what Paul says I want to depart and be with Christ which is far better and by the way the phrase he used it's a purlative in the original language which means far far better or to put it in Hawaiian vernacular mo better bra it's far far better it's mo better bra it's the best of all heaven is way better than earth why heaven is better because you go from a tent to a mansion you trade an aging body for a new body it's better because it's immediate notice Paul says I'll depart and be with Christ it doesn't sail depart and hang out in purgatory for a few years there is no purgatory the Bible does not teach purgatory that's Catholic teaching built on their tradition not built on scripture and this is why when I fly or I travel I never get stopovers if I can avoid them I always wanted direct flight reason being I've I've been stuck in airports because it was a delay with this flight or that flight or your flight is late and you know you can't get out of the airport and so it's immediate you go straight into the presence of God the Bible says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord listen if you have loved ones who have preceded you to heaven just know that's exactly where they are the moment they close their eyes on earth they open them in heaven the moment they took their last breath on earth they took their next breath in heaven but the best thing about it all is you depart to be with Christ being His presence so coming back to the question I raised earlier why do you exist what do you live for if you say well for me to live is money then for you to die just to leave it all behind as I've said before you've never seen our curse hauling a you haul trailer you leave it all if you would say to live is fame for you to die is to be forgotten if you would say for me to live is power then for you to die is to lose it all but if you would say like Paul to live is Christ then you can say to die is gain so let me ask you in closing are you living the life God created you for why do God create you so you can have a relationship with him and that comes through having your sin forgiven and discovering his unique and wonderful plan for your life instead of chasing after all the things this world says you should have to make you happy the other day I was having a conversation with a psychiatrist that practices in Newport Beach and I said tell me what is the number one thing your patients ask you about what does the mean thing that is troubling them he said actually it's an emptiness in their lives they wonder why despite the fact that they have so many things in their life they're empty inside still and they said and the other thing is they feel alone and isolated they don't have relationships with other people and I thought the answer is simple they need a relationship with God and they need to be a part of a church family right it's it that's what you need God built you this way but we settle for all these cheap substitutes when the real thing is in front of us we're separated from God by sin but Christ came to this earth and died for our sin he would never sin once he would never broken a single commandment he lived literally a perfect life died a perfect death for imperfect people and then he rose again from the dead three days later he bore the sin of the world as he hung on the cross so I don't have to bear it and then he rose again from the dead three days later and he stands at the door of our life right now and he knocks and he says if you hear his voice and open the door he will come in so I close by asking have you asked Christ to come into your life yet have you figured out the reason you exist and if not why don't you do that right now he's just a prayer away and a mama we're going to pray and I'm going to extend an invitation to anyone here anyone watching online or wherever you're seeing this if you need Jesus Christ if you want your sin forgiven if you want to go to heaven when you die if you want this personal relationship with God respond to this opportunity right now let's all pray no father I pray that your holy spirit will convict people of their sin and convince them of their need for Jesus and help them to come to you now we pray. Amen. Pastor Greg Laurie talking about the important decision to come into a relationship with Jesus Christ and before we go any further on today's edition of a new beginning we'd like to give you an opportunity to do that and here's Pastor Greg to lead you pray these words Lord Jesus I know that I am a sinner but I also know that you are the Savior because you dine in the cross from my sin and you rose again from the dead Jesus come into my life and forgive me of every sin I've ever committed I choose to follow you from this moment forward thank you for hearing this prayer thank you for answering this prayer Lord and I pray all of this in Jesus name. Amen. If you just pray that prayer and ment it I want you to know on the authority of scripture God Almighty has heard your prayer and he will answer this prayer you are now a newly minted child of God so congratulations you've made the right decision and welcome to the family of God I want to send you a special gift because of that prayer you've just prayed it's called the new believers Bible so the new believers Bible is the new testament in the new living translation with hundreds of notes that I wrote that will encourage you in this commitment you are making to follow Christ there's some other materials included as well and what we call the new believers growth pack but let me get this new believers Bible into your hands as quickly as possible here's Dave to tell you more yeah we'll be glad to send it all your way free of any charge if you've prayed along with Pastor Greg today just ask for the new believers Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300 you can reach us anytime 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300 or write a new beginning box 4,000 Riverside, California 92514 or just go online to harvest.org and click no God 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 4,000 Riverside, California 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 well next time Pastor Greg reminds us of the power tools of the Christian life spiritual gifts God makes available to us and the importance of using them join us here on a new beginning with Pastor and Bible teacher Greg Lauren