Greg Laurie: Daily Devotions

But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. (2 Peter 3:10–12 NLT)

After reading Peter’s description of the end times, would you be surprised to learn that many people experience extreme stress when the topic of the last days comes up? Psychologists have coined a phrase for their excessive concern about the end of the world or life as we know it: doomsday anxiety. (The Latin term for it is rapturus nuttiness—okay, maybe not.) The symptoms of this very real condition include chronic nightmares, a constant sense of fear, and obsessive “doom scrolling” through online media.

That’s not the reaction Jesus wants from His followers. He didn’t say, “When all these things begin to happen, freak out.” He said, “When all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!” (Luke 21:28 NLT).

And make no mistake: These things are beginning to happen. Even secular futurologists are sounding the alarms as they see converging lines of danger and instability around the world. So, what does it all mean to us? How should we prepare for Christ’s imminent return?

James 5:7–11 offers a few ideas. The first is to be patient. James isn’t talking about a passive resignation, though. He’s talking about patience with an element of excitement—like a kid waiting for Christmas morning. It’s not something you approach with a relaxed attitude. You’re alert to the possibilities, but you realize there’s nothing you can do to speed things up. You take comfort in the fact that everything is happening according to God’s schedule. You remind yourself that your patience is tied to God’s loving grace. The reason Jesus hasn’t returned yet is that God wants more people to come to Him. He’s giving them a little more time.

The second is to stand in unity with fellow believers. People who haven’t yet come to Christ look to believers for their cues. If they see Christians at odds with one another, treating one another worse than unbelievers do, they’ll question Jesus’ impact on our lives.

The third is to endure. Be courageous and strong in the face of what this world throws at you. Trust God to work His will in your life. And always look to the life He’s promised you when this one is over.

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“Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other.” (Matthew 24:9–10 NLT)

Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 were in response to a question His disciples asked in verse 3: “What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?” (NLT). Think they were sorry they asked? The disciples faced intense persecution for sharing Jesus’ message with the world. All but one of them, John, died a martyr’s death.

But the persecution didn’t stop with them. And it didn’t end in the first century. Some scholars estimate that more Christians were killed in the twentieth century than in all previous centuries combined.

Christians have been persecuted more than any other religious group. And it’s not just confined to atheistic or Islamic countries. We’re starting to see more and more persecution in the United States. We see it in the woke ideology that has infiltrated our education system. We see it permeating the military. We see it being spread by the media. I describe it as an “ABC culture”: Anything But Christ.

When you stand up and say, “I’m a Christian,” you can expect pushback, resistance, and even persecution. Paul said, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12 NLT). That’s a promise of God we rarely claim.

Yet Jesus said the closer we get to the time of His coming, the more His people will be persecuted. So how should we respond? First, remember that it’s not us people hate; it’s Jesus. And if people see Jesus when they look at us, it means we’re doing something right.

Second, consider the times. Jesus said persecution will intensify as we draw closer and closer to the time of His return. If you notice an uptick in the mistreatment of believers, look up. Don’t get discouraged. Remind yourself that something amazing is on the way. Our suffering is temporary; our glorious reward for faithfulness is eternal.

Third, pray for believers who are facing persecution. Ask God to give them the strength and endurance to persevere. Ask Him to help persecuted Christians remain faithful in their mission and not abandon their faith.

Staying strong in the midst of persecution is one of the most powerful testimonies a Christian can offer. It says to unbelievers, “Here’s something worth suffering for. Here’s something more important than my life.” So as persecution increases in the last days, so do the opportunities to impact other people’s lives with our response. The challenge of Christians is to look beyond our own suffering and persecution to see the good that God is bringing from it in the lives of others.

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Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. (Colossians 2:8 NLT)

Everybody has a worldview—a way of looking at, reacting to, and navigating this life. The question is, do you have a biblical worldview? The way to develop a biblical worldview is to read, memorize, and internalize God’s Word. To fill your mind with the truths of Scripture. As those truths become second nature to you, your thinking starts to change. Your priorities start to change. Your perspective starts to change. Your attitude starts to change. And your actions start to change.

As Christians, our worldview should align with Jesus’ worldview as much as possible. And if you want to know what Jesus’ worldview is, read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7. Do you want to know what Jesus thinks? Read the sermon. (And by the way, you can read the entire sermon in one sitting.) Do you want to know how His heart really beats? Study the sermon. Do you want to know how He feels about living life in general? Read the sermon. Not only is the Sermon on the Mount the longest recorded message that Jesus ever gave, but it’s also one of the most beautiful and best-known portions of Scripture.

In it, you’ll discover that a biblical worldview influences every aspect of the way you live your life. How you express your anger. How you express generosity. How you pray and fast. How you establish healthy priorities and pursue what’s truly important. How you deal with anxiety and uncertainty about the future. How you take full advantage of God’s generosity with a truly grateful heart. How you build your life on a solid foundation.

You’ll also find that a biblical worldview influences the way you interact with others. How you repair damaged relationships. How you respond to people who have wronged you. How you treat your enemies. How you judge others. How you avoid being a hypocrite. How you live the Golden Rule. How you ensure that other people see Christ in you.

And you’ll discover that a biblical worldview influences the way you react to events. If you have a biblical worldview, you won’t panic when evil seems to be winning. You won’t see a world spinning out of control. Instead, you’ll draw on your knowledge of biblical prophecy. You’ll see that events are unfolding as God determines. You’ll see His hand in the things happening around you. Instead of panicking, you’ll rejoice and prepare as you anticipate the return of Christ and eternity with God.

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Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead. (1 Timothy 4:1–2 NLT)

False teachers have been a problem for Christians since the earliest days of Christianity. In fact, false teachers appeared on the scene almost at the same time as the first Christian evangelists. The false teachers took advantage of the early believers’ limited understanding of God’s Word.

Paul was often left to clean up the mess left by false teachers. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul identifies some of the teachings that were leading people astray. Apparently, some false teachers were telling people that it was wrong to get married or to eat certain types of foods.

False teachers continue to cause problems for believers and seekers today. And they’ll keep going until Jesus returns. The Bible says so. You may be tempted to duck the problem by saying, “I don’t pay attention to theology. I just love Jesus.” Be careful. You may end up loving the wrong Jesus. Jesus warned that “false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones” (Matthew 24:24 NLT).

The people who are most vulnerable to deception are those who don’t know what the Bible actually says about the end times. Christian history is littered with stories of people who gave up everything to follow some persuasive leader to some specially chosen location to await Jesus’ return. Unfortunately, the stories end with the people awkwardly returning to society, embarrassed, humiliated, and discouraged. The book 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988 was very popular—until 1989.

The most obvious way to discern between truth and fiction is to study the only trustworthy source of information. You can’t swing a stick in Scripture without hitting a passage that refers to Jesus’ return. You’ll find prophecies written thousands of years before Jesus was born. You’ll find descriptions of signs and events that will precede Jesus’ return. You’ll find words of comfort and encouragement. And you’ll find warnings like this one: “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows” (Matthew 24:36 NLT).

Study these truths. Understand the big picture of what will happen and when. Help others understand it as well. Talk to your pastor about things that aren’t clear to you. Get comfortable with the truth of the end times so that you can spot counterfeit teaching.

And when you do spot counterfeit teaching, call it out. Counter it the way Jesus countered the devil’s temptations in the wilderness: by using the Word of God.

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Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NLT)

Revelation 17 describes “the great prostitute” who will wreak havoc in the last days. The prostitute is the image John uses to refer to the one-world religion that will dominate the end times. Because of the imagery John uses, it’s hard to say what the false religion will teach. But it’s likely that it will combine the teachings of various major existing religions. Or that it will just gloss over the differences between religions and declare them all to be equally valid. Sound familiar?

It’s a message we hear a lot today: “All paths lead to God.” Instead of focusing on the differences that separate Christianity from other belief systems, we are encouraged to embrace the things we have in common: sincere faith, the desire to make the world a better place, and so on.

It’s a tempting proposition. With all the divisiveness in our world today, what’s wrong with ignoring some of the lines that separate us and finding common ground, especially when it comes to spiritual things?

There are two theological words we need to understand when we talk about this issue: interdenominational and interfaith. An interdenominational ministry bases its doctrine on the nonnegotiables of the Christian faith, starting with Jesus’ words in John 14:6. But in the areas that are negotiable—such as worship style, the observance of the Lord’s Supper, and the interpretation of certain Bible passages—it breaks down the walls that separate different Christian denominations.

An interfaith ministry tries to create common ground among different religions. And here’s where we must be careful. There’s nothing wrong with Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and other religious groups working together to help people in need. But we can’t blur the lines that God’s Word establishes. Jesus said there is no other way to God—no other way to experience eternal life—than through Him. If He’s wrong on that point, how can we trust anything else He said?

There’s value in having a dialogue with people of other religions. We see that in Acts 17, where Paul takes the gospel to Athens, the cultural and intellectual center of the world at that time. Some two thousand years later, I got to do the same thing. I walked in the footsteps of Paul. I even spoke on Mars Hill, where Paul addressed the people of Athens.

Athens was an interfaith city, to say the least. It’s estimated that it housed at least thirty thousand altars to various deities. Acts 17:16 tells us that Paul was “deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city” (NLT). He didn’t see them as equally valid as his Christian faith. He wanted the people who worshipped those idols to know the truth about Christ. So Paul used what he’d learned about those false religions to begin a dialogue. He embraced the interfaith setting as an opportunity to share his faith. And we can do the same—as long as we understand what is nonnegotiable.

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O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? (Psalm 13:1 NLT)

Christians have been asking variations of David’s question for two thousand years: How long, O Lord, will You delay Your return? How much worse does the world have to get? How many more prophecies must be fulfilled? How long will You make us wait?

As the apostles watched Jesus ascend to Heaven, two angels joined them. “‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!’” (Acts 1:11 NLT).

And the waiting began.

There’s no question about what’s going to happen. The Second Coming of Jesus is mentioned more than 1,800 times in the Old Testament and 300 times in the New Testament. One out of every 25 verses in the Bible mentions the Lord’s return.

Jesus said, “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am” (John 14:3 nlt).

The question is, how do you feel about it?

Charles Spurgeon said, “The sound of His approach should be as music to our ears.” When you think about Christ’s coming, your heart should jump with excitement. If, instead, you feel dread or indifference, I would wonder where you are spiritually. The teaching of the imminent return of Jesus is a great barometer of your walk with God. When you’re right with God, you look forward to Christ’s return.

In fact, anticipating His return has a purifying effect on you spiritually. First John 3:3 says, “All who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure” (NLT).

Jesus is coming again. It’s our blessed hope. We live in a world filled with bad news. And you can find it 24/7 on the newsfeed of your choice. War is imminent. Our nation is unraveling. AI is making us rethink what’s real. It’s enough to stress out anyone.

But what did Jesus say? “So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near!” (Luke 21:28 NLT).

Don’t panic. Look up.

The scary stories we see on the news are reminders that God keeps His promises and Jesus is coming back again. I’ve read the last page of the Bible. We win in the end.

Are you ready? Are you living in anticipation of Jesus’ return by honoring and trusting God and putting Him first? Are you sharing the gospel whenever you have the chance? Are you living the life God has called you to live?

We may have many years left before Jesus returns. Or we may have a few. The timing is in God’s hands. Our job is to make every day count for the glory of God until then.

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But Jesus answered, “Rather, how happy are those who hear the word of God and obey it!” (Luke 11:28 GNT)

What makes you happy? The question should be easy to answer, right? “Just give me this, this, and this, and I’ll be happy.” But that’s not always the case, is it? You can surround yourself with your favorite people, immerse yourself in your favorite activities, and still not be happy. You may be amused or entertained, but those are temporary experiences. Happiness is something that goes deeper.

Many people believe money, success, and fame are the surest paths to happiness. Until they have money, success, and fame. When comedian Dave Chappelle was at the height of his popularity, making millions of dollars, he walked away from it all. His reason? “The higher up I go, . . . the less happy I am.” 

That’s why it shouldn’t be a shock to us when we read of celebrities overdosing on drugs, or going into rehab for the thirtieth time, or, even more tragically, taking their own lives. These people climbed to the top and found nothing there that could bring them happiness.

Apart from God, the pursuit of happiness is a mad scramble for something—anything—that will bring us sustained joy and fulfillment. Jesus’ words in Luke 11 may not seem like an obvious answer to our search. “Hear the word of God and obey it”? But don’t be too quick to dismiss it. After all, Jesus wrote the schematic of human happiness. He knows how we’re wired, and He knows what input will produce joy and fulfillment in us.

Remember, we’re created in God’s image (see Genesis 1:27). At the very core of our being, we have a vested interest in His will being done. What matters to Him matters to us, whether we realize it or not.

We can deny being created in God’s image and even rebel against it because God gave us free will. But we can’t deny or rebel against it and expect to find genuine happiness. We’re not wired that way.

When people say, “I deserve to be happy,” they’re usually talking about happiness on their own terms. And that’s not how happiness works. And when they say, “God wants me to be happy,” they’re right. Just maybe not in the way they intend.

God wants us to make His Word a top priority in our lives. He wants us to study it, memorize it, meditate on it, obey it, and apply it to our lives. He wants us to pursue His will instead of our own. If we do that, we will find genuine joy and fulfillment. We will be happy. But happiness isn’t the goal. Obedience is. Happiness is just an amazing by-product of obedience—a gift from our loving heavenly Father. That’s why Psalm 144:15 says, “Joyful indeed are those whose God is the LORD” (NLT).

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be happy. We just need to go about finding happiness in the right way. You’ll never find happiness by pursuing it. You’ll find happiness by pursuing the Lord. If you want to live a happy life, live a holy life, live a godly life, and put the Lord first. You’ll find that happiness will come as a result.

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But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. (1 John 1:9 NLT)

Believers quote these words to celebrate God’s loving and forgiving nature. This verse conjures up images of God standing ready to erase our sinful past and let us start anew with a clean slate, only waiting for us to admit what we’ve done wrong.

But what this verse doesn’t mention is how the cleansing takes place—or, more specifically, what’s necessary for the cleansing to take place. God doesn’t simply dismiss the charges against us like a lenient judge. His perfect justice demands that our sins be punished. And the punishment is death.

We are helpless to save ourselves from that punishment. Only a perfect sacrifice, offered in our place, can satisfy God’s justice. The only perfect sacrifice is Jesus, God’s Son. God cleanses us from all wickedness. But the only cleansing agent that can remove sin is the blood of Jesus. The author of Hebrews wrote, “Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins” (9:14 NLT).

God’s plan of salvation and forgiveness of sins required an unimaginable sacrifice. The best way to prepare to confess our sins is to meditate on Jesus’ sacrifice, to fully absorb what was necessary for our sins to be forgiven. The more we appreciate the gravity of our sins, the less likely we’ll be to downplay our confession. Remember, confession isn’t a plea bargain with God where we cop to our wrongdoing and get our record expunged. Confession isn’t a begrudging “Sorry” or “My bad.”

Confession is agreeing with God. Let’s say you and I went out to eat together, and we both ordered burgers. If I said, “I think this burger is amazing,” and you said, “I do too,” we agree. If God says, “That’s sin, and I hate it,” and you say, “I agree with You, God; that’s sin, and I hate it too,” that’s confession.

Genuine confession is a soul-deep awareness that our sin is so serious, and so destructive to our relationship with God, that repairing it required the death of His only Son. Genuine confession is a longing to restore that relationship, even if it means revealing our ugliest truths—admitting that a sudden temptation was more attractive to us than God’s perfect will or that we tried to grab the controls of our life from God so that we could steer in a direction that seemed exciting.

A genuine confession comes from a humble heart. It doesn’t try to justify our behavior, offer excuses, shift the blame, or downplay the impact of our wrongdoing. Genuine confession sincerely regrets taking a path away from God and announces a 180-degree turn back to Him.

First John 1:9 gives us a glimpse at how God responds to genuine confession and a humble heart. He doesn’t offer a half-hearted show of forgiveness. He doesn’t berate us for our faithlessness. He doesn’t restrict our access to Him. God is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (NLT).

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God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1 NLT)

Meteorologically speaking, “times of trouble” in the summer months usually involve thunderstorms or tornadoes. When the conditions are right, the National Weather Service issues a severe thunderstorm or tornado warning that encourages people to seek shelter.

Spiritually speaking, “times of trouble” may include anything from a scary medical diagnosis to a financial setback. For me, as a boy, it was “Charlene’s Wild Ride,” as I called it. Charlene is my mother, an alcoholic who married and divorced seven times and kept numerous boyfriends in between. Some treated me like a son; others abused both my mother and me. But chaos reigned. My times of trouble lasted years. 

Whatever the situation, the recommendation is the same: seek shelter. And that shelter is God. The more intense the hardship, the closer we must draw to Him.

One of the best ways to draw close to God is through prayer. But how should we pray? There’s nothing wrong with asking God to remove a hardship. Jesus did. Just before He was arrested, Jesus prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Matthew 26:39 NLT).

The apostle Paul did. According to 2 Corinthians 12:5–10, Paul suffered from what he called “a thorn in [his] flesh” (NLT). Three times Paul prayed, begging the Lord to take away the thorn. 

God didn’t deliver Jesus from His hardship. Nor did He deliver Paul. Instead, God reminded them that He was accomplishing something important through their hardship. He reassured them that His will was being done. He made His presence felt in a profound way during their hardship, but He didn’t deliver them.

If we pray for deliverance from our hardship, God may grant our request. He may show His power by removing the hardship in a dramatic and unmistakable way. But what if He doesn’t? What if He allows us to experience hardship for a season as part of His bigger plan, as He did with Jesus and Paul? What should we pray for then?

We can pray for perseverance, the ability to endure our hardship with a trusting and faithful spirit. Paul explained it this way: “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation” (Romans 5:3–4 NLT). What’s more, the ability to survive and thrive in the face of difficult circumstances leaves a powerful impression on others, whether we realize it or not. People who see a spiritual strength and resilience in us that’s missing in their lives may be moved to ask us about the hope that’s in us.

We can also pray for perspective—the wisdom to recognize what God is accomplishing through our hardship. For example, hardship can turn sympathy into empathy. Instead of feeling sorry for others who are struggling, we can come alongside them as fellow strugglers. We can commiserate. We can ask the questions and say the things we wish people had asked and said to us. We can make a difference in the lives of others.

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“But if you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the LORD, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23 NLT)

When I was a kid, I got caught stealing. I thought I was being sneaky, but my sin was discovered. My stepfather Oscar took me to a local jail to “scare me straight.” The problem was, through the eyes of a child, jail seemed pretty cool to me. So that didn’t go as planned. Thankfully, I didn’t pursue a life of crime. But I realized that secret sins don’t always stay secret.

“Your sin will find you out” may be the oldest lesson in human history. Adam and Eve learned it when God asked them, “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” (Genesis 3:11 NLT).

The warnings are clear in God’s Word. So why is it tempting to try to hide certain sins instead of confessing them? Fear is one factor. We’re afraid to face the truth of our “dark side.” We worry that our reputation—or self-image—would suffer if our secret sins were revealed. Or we convince ourselves that our secret sins aren’t serious enough to do any harm. As long as no one else knows about them, no one gets hurt, right?

The reality is that secret sins do tremendous damage. Maybe no one else knows about them—but we do. We know they’re wrong. And if we know they’re wrong, that means we’re experiencing guilt at some level. The Holy Spirit, who lives in us, works through our conscience to help us understand the seriousness of what we’re doing. We ignore His work at our own peril. Guilt doesn’t go away on its own. And it can’t continue to build indefinitely. If we don’t address it, it will find an outlet—often one that undoes all our careful work to keep our sins secret.

Secret sins create distance between us and God because they’re committed in darkness, figuratively speaking. We go to great lengths to make sure that no one can connect us to them. In contrast, “God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all” (1 John 1:5 NLT). We can’t embrace sin and God at the same time. If we become too comfortable in darkness, we start to avoid God’s light. 

Secret sins are illusions. Hebrews 4:13 says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable” (NLT). We may hide the truth from others, and maybe even ourselves, but God sees everything. And His opinion is the only one that truly matters.

Secret sins keep us from reaching our true potential as disciples. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us” (NLT). Secret sins are the weights we refuse to strip off. No matter how hard we try to navigate the course that God has laid out for us, our secret sins cause us to stumble. We can’t achieve our personal best until we remove those hidden sins by confessing them to God.

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