Greg’s Blog

God Is Preparing You Today For Something Greater Tomorrow!

For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]. (Ephesians 2:10 AMPLIFIED)

A traveler was visiting a logging area in the Pacific Northwest and was interested in seeing how the logs that would be used for furniture were chosen. As the logs came down the stream, the logger would suddenly reach out and hook one, pull it up, and then set it down. He would sometimes wait for a few minutes before grabbing another. There didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to his choices.

After a while, the visitor said to him, “I don’t understand what you’re doing.”

“These logs may all look alike to you,” the logger said, “But I can recognize that a few of them are quite different. The ones that I let pass came from trees that grew in a valley. They were always protected from the storms. The grain is rather coarse.

“The logs that I pulled aside are from high up on the mountain, where they were beaten by strong winds from the time they were quite small. That toughens the trees and gives them a fine grain. We save these logs for choice work. They’re too good to be used for ordinary lumber.”

Ask Peter or Joseph

It was through the trying and testing that the logs were prepared for choice work.

The same could be said of us as Christians. If you were to ask Moses how he became who he was, he would remind you of his trials with Pharaoh and his times of testing in the wilderness. If you were to ask Joseph, he would most likely refer back to his years as a slave, his imprisonment on a false accusation, and his imprisonment in Pharaoh’s dungeon. Talk to Peter, and he would probably point back to his denial and how he learned many difficult yet important lessons.

Maybe you find yourself facing something similar in your life today. Maybe God is preparing you for a choice work.

It’s True! All Things Work Together For Good! (To Those Who Love God)

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

There are times in our lives as Christians when God will, or won’t, do things or not do things that we want Him to do, and it won’t make a bit of sense to us. And because we don’t see the big picture, we may falsely conclude that God has abandoned us. But we need to trust Him during these times, remembering that Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. In other words, what God starts, He completes.

Remember that wonderful word from the first chapter of Philippians? “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears” (Philippians 1:6 THE MESSAGE).

I often forget things

It seems that as I get older, I get distracted and forget things all the time. But what if God forgot about us?

What a frightening thought. Imagine being in the midst of a fiery trial as God is watching and waiting for that moment to take us out of it. Then the phone rings, and He’s gone for a decade!

Thankfully, God never forgets about us. He remains—forever and ever—in full control. He knows exactly what He is doing. He will complete what He has begun.

God is planning for tomorrow

Sometimes, in the middle of that process, we may think that the Lord is missing it. But He isn’t. We’re the ones who are missing it. From our limited human viewpoint, we think of the temporal, but God lives in the eternal. We are thinking of today, but God is planning for tomorrow . . . in fact, He’s already been there.

We are thinking of comfort, but God is thinking of character. We are thinking of an easy time, but God is thinking of how to make us better people.

So let’s trust Him. Whatever our circumstances or hardships, let’s believe His promise to His children . . . . All things are working together.

Watch The Southern California Harvest On TV!

You can watch the Southern California Harvest on TV around the world on TBN this coming Saturday.

I will give a message called “A Second chance in life “, and there will be music by Phil Wickham and Revive among others.
The broadcast will be at 2:00 P.M., Pacific Time. For more info, click here.

“It is I; Do Not Be Afraid!”

“Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.” (Matthew 14:25)

In Matthew 14, we read about the disciples being tossed by the wind and waves in their boat on the Sea of Galilee. Then Jesus came, walking on the water, at the fourth watch of the night.

The fourth watch was the last part of the night, just before dawn. At this point, the disciples had been at sea—their hands probably blistered and bloodied from toil at the oars—for at least nine hours in this fierce storm. So we see that Jesus came to them at the last conceivable moment.

God’s delays are not necessarily His denials

This reminds us that God’s delays aren’t necessarily His denials. Jesus had heard their first cries for help. He knew what He was doing all along.

Why did He wait so long before He intervened? Probably because it took a long time for these men to exhaust their resources and completely trust in Him.

Lifeguards will tell you that often the hardest person to save is the one who is panicking. But when an individual is exhausted, when he or she has no energy left, the lifeguard can pull that person back in to safety.

In the same way, sometimes God will allow us to get to the end of our rope, to the end of our resources, so we will finally cling to Him.

Just before dawn

The disciples were exhausted and afraid, but that was the moment that “[Jesus] said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’ Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going” (John 6:20-21).

For many of us, that is what Jesus is waiting for. He is waiting for us to say, “I can’t row another second. I can’t go another inch in my own strength. Please, Lord, help me. Come on board.”

He will step into your storm-tossed boat and take control, if you will invite Him. He will be there for you . . . even in the darkest night,  just before the dawn.

Does God Really Love us?

“Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1).

We have all probably heard someone say at some time, “God loves you.” And we may sometimes wonder, “Is that actually true? Does God really love me?”

Maybe you’ve been let down and sorely disappointed by people. Maybe someone said that he or she loved you and then turned against you. Maybe someone said that he or she was your closest friend, but ultimately betrayed you.

When it comes to God’s love, we tend to ask ourselves whether it is for real. We wonder whether He too will turn away from us if we let Him down.

Jesus knew what it was like to be betrayed. As Jesus celebrated the Feast of the Passover with His disciples, the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas to betray Him.

The other disciples didn’t stand by Jesus, either. They forsook Him, but He did not forsake them. They denied Him, but He did not deny them.

He loved His own who were in the world, and He loved them to the end.

The story is told of a little boy who was troubled one night by a thunderstorm. He cried out from his room, “Daddy! I’m scared!”

The father responded, “Son, don’t worry. God loves you, and He will take care of you.”

The boy replied, “I know God loves me, but right now, I need someone with skin on.”

Jesus is God with skin on. Jesus is God demonstrating His love for His own.

I love the passage from the Book of Hebrews that speaks about God “going the distance” to relate to us in our weak humanity:

Since we, God’s children, are human beings-made of flesh and blood-he became flesh and blood too by being born in human form; for only as a human being could he die and in dying break the power of the devil who had the power of death. Only in that way could he deliver those who through fear of death have been living all their lives as slaves to constant dread. (Hebrews 2:14-15 TLB)

Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t treat us the way we so often treat Him?

No matter what you do, no matter where you go, God will always love you.