Greg Laurie is the pastor and founder of the Harvest churches in California and Hawaii and of Harvest Crusades. He is an evangelist, best-selling author and movie producer. His newest book Lennon, Dylan, Alice & Jesus
We use the word bless a lot. It's an apropos response to someone who is sneezing, or we might use it to end a conversation: "Well, it's really good to see you! God bless!" And sometimes we may hear someone who has no interest in Jesus Christ say this or that is a blessing. But they don't even know what the word really means.
Believers and nonbelievers both die. Believers as well as nonbelievers get cancer, have auto accidents, have heart attacks. But, as believers, we have the promise that we will go straight into the presence of God at death.
We may look at the life of Moses in the Scriptures and say, "I wish I could have been Moses. I wish I could have a friendship with God like he had."
When Jesus laid out for His disciples what it really meant to follow Him, many of His so-called disciples left. Then Jesus turned to Peter and the others and said, "Are you also going to leave?" (John 6:67).
My youngest granddaughter, Allie (short for Alexandra), has a little rabbit that her older sister, Rylie, named Fuzzie.
I find it amazing that Moses negotiated with God and got away with it. But he wasn't the only one. Another man who negotiated with God was Abraham, and he was called the friend of God.
Israel committed a great sin. They knew better. They were God's chosen, covenant people. They had seen his power demonstrated time and time again. They saw the Red Sea parted as they passed through, and they saw it close on the pursuing Egyptian army. They saw manna provided every morning. They saw God's fire by night and His cloud by day. They saw miracle after miracle. They made a promise to obey God on three separate occasions. Much had been given to Israel, and much was expected from Israel.
Are some sins greater, or worse, than others? Our knee-jerk reaction might be that all sin is the same. But actually that is not true. All sin is not the same. According to the Scriptures, some sins are more offensive to God than other sins are.
Maybe you have had some serious setbacks in life. As a child, you were mistreated, neglected, abused, or even forgotten. You, like so many kids today, were just left to yourself. Maybe people haven't given you much hope; you've been written off by your parents and teachers.
A jeweler will display a ring or a fine piece of jewelry against a dark backdrop so that our eyes are automatically drawn to it. And that is what Noah was like against the dark backdrop of wickedness in his day. He was a rare jewel, a radiant light in a very dark place. The Bible tells us that "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8), which means that God extended grace toward him.
