Reaching Your World with Luis Palau

A friend recently reminded me of this statement: Anxiety is picturing your world without God in it. Well, maybe you’ve never had God in your world, but you’ve had other things in your life that seemed to fill that void – things you counted on. But this world is changing constantly and can often be so uncertain. Does your life feel like it’s unsteady today? Is anxiety sneaking into your world? I pray today that God will speak to your heart in a powerful way. Some of the most famous lines from the Bible are found in John 3, verse 16 and 17: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” If you need that rescue operation, you can turn to God right now and make a decision for Jesus through prayer. Ask him to forgive you for the garbage in your life and to give you rest. He’s right there for you to give you a new start – to replace your anxiety with peace. All you need to do is talk to God about it. He is just waiting to hear from you. This is Andrew Palau.

Americans are about to celebrate their Thanksgiving holiday, but that does not mean sad and terrible things do not continue to happen in America and the world. Some people approach Thanksgiving with heavy hearts. Loved ones can still become ill, money can still be tight, and suffering can be worse than ever. Sometimes during holiday seasons, it can be even more difficult to deal with these hard times because we feel like we are supposed to be happy and act as though nothing is wrong. God does not want us to lie about how we are feeling. Job is a good example of that! But even in the midst of our pain and sorrow, we can still thank God for the gifts He has given us. Thanksgiving can be a time to slow down and count them. It is likely that when we take a look at the little things in life, we will find that God is blessing us in small ways that we did not even notice. We know that David did not have a perfect life, but many of the Psalms are songs of praise and thanksgiving. He writes, “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” We also should continually give God praise and thanks. The rest of the world focuses on the negatives of life. In our thankfulness, Jesus-followers can show a different way of life, one filled with gratitude and love. Doesn’t that sound like a better way to live? This is Luis Palau.

The actual holiday of Thanksgiving in the United States came about in two different parts. Our first president, George Washington, created the first national holiday of Thanksgiving in 1789 after the drafting of the United States Constitution. The holiday was not celebrated regularly until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the national day of Thanksgiving would be celebrated in November. Every year since 1863, America has set a day aside for prayer and thankfulness. The amazing thing about Lincoln creating Thanksgiving is that he did so during the Civil War. This was one of the most painful, bloody wars America has ever fought. It was on our own soil, and brothers fought brothers. It tore the country apart. Hundreds of thousands of people died so that all people could be free. It seems like in the middle of the fighting there wouldn’t be much to be thankful for. But that’s the beauty of Thanksgiving. It comes every year, regardless of whether we are ready or not. We can always thank God for what we have, even if it is just life and breath. Thessalonians says, “In everything, give thanks.” When we do, we will show the world that we believe in a God bigger than our circumstances, even if that circumstance is a civil war. God is bigger, mightier, and worthy of thanksgiving. This is Luis Palau.

You probably heard the history of American Thanksgiving in elementary school. In 1621, the Pilgrims gave thanks for their first harvest in America. They invited 90 Native Americans to join them for a big feast. But historians say that settlers of the New World, even before the Puritan Pilgrims, held days of Thanksgiving. They often celebrated the arrival of supply ships, good crops, or safe passages of new colonists. The community would stop all of their work and join together to eat and be thankful to God for survival. Thanksgiving Day should be a reminder to us that we ought to be thankful more than one time a year. First Timothy 4 in the Bible says that “everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” Thanksgiving day is a good time to be thankful for the blessings God has given us, but why stop there? We should have many thanksgiving celebrations throughout the year. Any time God blesses us is cause for celebration. So, the next time you recognize a big or small blessing, stop everything and invite your friends over for dinner. Especially invite your friends who do not yet know Jesus. They can see what true thankfulness is like, and they will want to join in on the celebration of what God is doing. This is Luis Palau.

In America, on the fourth Thursday in November, we celebrate Thanksgiving. Other countries have similar holidays. Canada has Thanksgiving in October, and Germany celebrates a Harvest Thanksgiving Festival. Japan also has a Thanksgiving celebration. In America, many families spend the day cooking together before having a big meal. Traditionally, a big turkey is made, with stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes. Pie is popular for dessert, especially pumpkin pie with whipped cream. After such a delicious meal, families take the evening to rest and relax. It is a day for giving thanks. Not everyone has the day off, and not everyone is able to spend time with family. In those cases, I’ve heard of people inviting single people, or older people, or those without families to join in their Thanksgiving feasts. The Bible charges us to take care of those who are alone, whether they are orphans, widows, a local college student, or your next door neighbor. Be thinking of whom you can invite to join your Thanksgiving feast. Who needs to know the love of Jesus? By your hospitality, you can share how thankful you are for Christ’s mercy and grace. You can invite others into the family of Christ. That would be cause for thanksgiving! This is Luis Palau.

It’s obvious to all of us that people are hurting in our world today. Many people feel marginalized and misunderstood. In some parts of the world, followers of Jesus are in real danger of harm. It would be easy, then, to feel angry and bitter towards the people who are persecuting us. Yet, as followers of Jesus, we are called to demonstrate forgiveness to others, just as God forgives us. The Bible says in Daniel 9:9, “The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him.” If God forgives our sin, we must obey His call to be forgiving towards others. His forgiveness of sin is a miracle. So don’t expect that your forgiveness of others will be anything less. Forgiveness is a miraculous work. It is easy to show kindness and respect towards someone who treats us well, but it takes utter humility, courage, and great faith to behave this way towards someone who treats us poorly. Consider today whether you may need to forgive someone who has wronged you. Pray for the courage to find grace within your heart. Then, go forward with courage! There’s no better way to reach your world than to show the world that you are a child of God, and you live by His standards of love, mercy, and forgiveness. This is Andrew Palau.  

How wonderful that confession is a healing balm for our souls. The Bible says, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed,” James 5:16. After entering into forgiveness, conscious forgetfulness is vital. The patriarch Joseph called his first-born son Manasseh, saying, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household,” Genesis 41:51. Joseph not only forgave his brothers, but he deliberately forgot the evil deeds they had committed against him. During the latter part of his life, his father, Jacob, died. Joseph’s brothers again feared for their lives. They thought Joseph hadn’t really forgiven them and would take revenge on them at last. Joseph wept when he realized their concern and said,“You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good,” Genesis 50:20. Joseph could see the sovereign, merciful hand of God at work in his life. He had completely forgiven his brothers and forgotten their offense years before, and longed for them to experience that forgiveness themselves. Forgive, be forgiven, forget. Enjoy all three today. This is Luis Palau.

Rudyard Kipling said it well: “Nothing is ever settled until it is settled right.” We can point our finger and make up excuses, we can invent arguments and do anything else we want, but the key to the skeleton jingles in our pocket until we settle matters right. How long have you kept a skeleton hidden in your closet? Oh, you desperately keep that skeleton locked up in some hidden place within your soul. You hope no one ever probes there. You hope no one ever finds a key and says, “Ah! There it is!” I beg you to take that skeleton out. Confess your sin to God and to whomever you have offended. Don’t tell unnecessary people. Our confession should only be as wide as the scope of our transgression. Then experience God’s forgiveness. Certain things may never be quite the same, but you can joyfully start walking with God again. With total freedom and complete joy you will be able to look every man and woman in the eye. Why? Because you’re clean. Forgiven. At peace with God and others. What a happy way of life! Start experiencing it today. This is Luis Palau.

I want to remind you of the biblical story of Joseph. The Bible gives us many reasons why this patriarch could have been a very bitter man. His brothers hated him and sold him into slavery. His boss’s wife falsely accused him of a serious crime and had him thrown into an Egyptian prison. A government official promised to help him yet left him there to rot. Despite all these things, Joseph did not allow any root of bitterness to take hold in his life. As many lives are spoiled by bitterness and a lack of forgiveness as by almost anything in the world. People go through physical and emotional breakdowns because they refuse to forgive others. The longer we carry a grudge, the heavier it becomes. We cannot afford to harbor bitterness in our soul, as Hebrews 12:15 teaches. The Bible also says, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you,” Colossians 3:13. Have you done that? If not, jettison bitterness and forgive that certain someone today. You’ll also be free to reach your world. This is Luis Palau. 

My friend, has anyone in your world really offended you? Has your spouse been unfaithful? Have your children disappointed you? Has someone cheated you in business? How we respond to the difficult experiences of life directly affects our spiritual well-being. The Bible says, “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge, I will repay,’ says the Lord,” Romans 12:19. The Lord, after all, is the One who measures out justice perfectly. He wants to handle such judgment for us--perhaps now, certainly ultimately. Have you become bitter or unforgiving in your attitude? I encourage you to read the account of the patriarch Joseph’s life in Genesis chapters 37 to 50. It is a dramatic portion of Scripture that teaches us many valuable lessons on the importance of forgiveness. Those lessons include our need to forgive, to jettison bitterness, to settle matters right, to confess our own sins, to forget the past, to accept God’s forgiveness. All that in 14 dramatic chapters. So remember, read Genesis 37-50 and you’ll be blessed in coming days. This is Luis Palau.

The lyric from rapper Jay-Z that says, “life starts when the church ends” typifies my early view of life and God. Life stopped at the doorway to church and restarted again on the way out each Sunday. I kept church in a bubble that burst soon after I started college. When I went to college, I thought I could finally live life. My rebellion began when I woke up in the morning and ended when I passed out. Life was girls, alcohol, and parties, and I was determined to live it for the long haul. In my eyes, I had been liberated from the restrictions of God and church. It took me years and many tough lessons to realize that I was far from free. My choices were ensnaring me in emptiness and despair. When I accepted Christ, I discovered life in abundance. It took time in God’s Word, prayer, and spiritual growth, but God changed my plan in a radical way. In place of selfishness and emptiness, I found love and compassion. In place of recklessness, I found purpose. Friend, God wants to give us so much more to live for than just ourselves. All we have to do is accept His offer of New Life. To pray with someone, right now, call 1-888-NEED-HIM. This is Andrew Palau.  

It is a common thing these days for people to say they like Jesus but not the church. That the church is full of hypocrites. And you know what? They’re not right. The Church is made up of rescued, sinful people who will never perfectly live out their faith. But the Church is who we are. Church is not a thing. It is people like you and me. Redeemed people, rescued from our brokenness and sin. Often throughout Church history, the Church has been likened to a ship. A ship God has given us to carry us on our journey through this life to the life to come. Similar to the story of Noah’s ark. Think about the ark for a moment. It was probably crowded on there with all of those creatures. I’m sure the family got on each other’s nerves after a few days. The animals probably got stinky. But the ark was how God saved Noah and his family for over six months. And the Church is how God is carrying Christians through this life. It’s His plan and design. We are being saved on a daily basis. It isn’t perfect but it is His perfect plan. As we journey through this life with the Church, let us remember God’s Word to the Colossians, “Bear with each other and forgive one another… Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” The Church won’t be perfect, but not full of hypocrites either. The Church is what God has made us We are better together. Don’t try to reach your world alone. Work with and through your local church. This is Luis Palau.

As a parent of four sons I remember how our parenting changed through the years. It was a gradual process of releasing control. As our boys grew older, we would allow them more independence. The goal, of course, being that they would grow up to be fully independent responsible adults. Interestingly, the Christian life works in the opposite way. We do not become more independent as we mature, but more dependent. John Kleinig writes, “On our journey we become more and more dependent on Christ for everything in every situation. We do not then proceed from childhood to adulthood; we move forward into spiritual childhood as we grow in faith and become people of prayer. Hence Jesus tells us to become as little children to receive our full royal inheritance as sons and daughters of God… As we mature in faith we learn to borrow all that we need and all that we are from Christ.” As you go out to reach your world, you don’t have to try to do it in your own power or out of your own strength. Depend on God. Have childlike faith, just as Jesus instructed. As you receive everything from God, you will have that much more to share with others. And that’s exciting! This is Luis Palau.

I have heard many people say they couldn’t possibly believe in God. That it’s too farfetched. Famous atheist Richard Dawkins once said, “Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.” But do you know that I think Richard Dawkins is actually a man of great faith? I believe that it takes greater faith to believe that all of the universe and its amazing perfection just happened. That the miracles we see all around us are by happenstance. By years of evolutionary change we just appeared. Out of nowhere? To me, the human body and all it is capable of, the beauty of the world, all that life has to offer- I don’t have enough faith not to believe in a Creator. As I go through life, all of it points me to God. “Does God exist?” a national TV person asked me. “Yes,” I said. “How do you know?” she insisted. “I talked to Him this morning,” I replied. I say with the Psalmist, “Know that the Lord Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” Amen! This is Luis Palau.

Perhaps you’ve had a conversation with a cynical person before. “Prove that Jesus is God,” they say. “Prove that there is a God. Prove that the Bible is true.” And you know, something that I’ve found to be true through the years is that lack of evidence is usually not the real issue in these conversations. There is an abundance of evidence for our faith. And usually those who question the evidence have already heard the facts. There is stubbornness to their unbelief. In John 6 we see an amazing example of this. Jesus just fed the five thousand. Then He walks on water. He’s performing miracles left and right! And then the people question Jesus, asking Him, “‘…what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?... Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus was there with these townspeople in person. And yet, even after witnessing His miracles, they doubted Him and resisted belief. So I want to encourage you today to be faithful in sharing the Good News Gospel and don’t be concerned with trying to “prove it.” Never underestimate the power of the Gospel to bring conviction. You do your part. Ultimately the Holy Spirit must change people’s hearts and minds. This is Luis Palau