The Genuine Article – Greg Laurie – http://www.harvest.org/

"For I know this that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock."
— Acts 20:29

The story is told of an inspector who worked for the counterfeit department of Scotland Yard. His job was to detect the false currency from the real. When asked if he spent a lot of time handling and examining counterfeit money, he said no. He spent so much time handling the real thing that he could immediately detect the counterfeit.

The best way to detect what is false is to know what is true. And I believe that if you have a good working knowledge of the Bible, then you will be able to detect the false rather quickly, because you are so familiar with the genuine article.

I have found that people who are into false teaching don't seem to go out into the culture and win people to their convictions, because they are so weird. Instead, they come into strong, growing churches and infiltrate their ranks, saying things like, "Hey, do you want to get into the real deep things of God? Do you want to really get into heavy-duty truth? Then come over to this little meeting we are having." They go about their deception in a clandestine, secretive way.

The apostle Paul warned about false teachers who would creep into the church: "For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves" (Acts 20:29–30).

We need to be equipped. We need to be prepared. We need to know the truth, because when we are conversant with the Word of God, we will recognize when something weird comes along. We will be aware that it does not jive with Scripture.

So be a student of the Word of God.

How important it is to feed on the Word daily! If you don't feed yourself, you start to get weak. And if you start to get weak, you are susceptible to all kinds of attacks, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Be strong in the Lord, be of good courage. Keep stuffing those spiritual calories in!!
In Him

Just Doing Our Duty – Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org

And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.
— Isaiah 64:8

In Luke 17, Jesus told a parable about servants who were given a task to fulfill. At the end of the story, Jesus said, "And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey me you should say, 'We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty' " (verses 9–10).

You see, true servants of Jesus want to do what God wants them to do. We are just doing our duty. And as God's servants, we need to remember that everything we have is on loan from Him: our lives, our health, our careers, our ministries, our possessions, our families, and our future. It all belongs to God.

So the idea is not finding out how God can bless our dreams and ambitions and goals. Rather, our objective is to discover His goals, His purposes, and then align ourselves with them. Why? Because we are His servants.

Some people just want Jesus along for the ride. But God does not want to be our copilot. He is the Master, and we are the servants. He is the Potter, and we are the clay. When you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you become His: "You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body" (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).

We like the fringe benefits, if you will, of being a follower of Jesus. But our Master, the one we are following, is not only a Friend who loves us, but a Potter who is molding us. And the more we know of Him and His plan and purpose, the more willing we will be to do what He wants us to do.

Every time you read, servant, bondservant, bondslave, it is the literal meaning as we know it, SLAVE. We are God's slaves. We have no rights of our own, only those Jesus has given us as believers. Pray earnestly to be the slave God wants you to be so you can truly call Him Lord! To obey is better than sacrifice. How much do you sacrifice? How obedient are you?
Love and Compassion
In Him

In It to Win It

In It to Win It – Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org

But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

— Acts 20:24

The analogy of running was one the apostle Paul favored in his writings. He often compared the believer to a runner in a race. For example, he wrote that we need to run in the race of life to win: "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it" (1 Corinthians 9:24).

When I participate in a competitive sport, I always try to win. That doesn't mean I do. In fact, it seems like I lose most of the time. But at least I try, and I enjoy the competition. And when we are in the race of life, we need to run to win. When we watch athletes compete in the Olympics, we primarily celebrate those who win the gold. In the same way, we need to run the race to win—not to get second or third or fourth place or an honorable mention.

But in running to win, we also need to understand who our competitors are. I am not competing with you. I am not trying to beat you in the race of life. You are not trying to beat me. Our real enemies—our competitors, if you will—are the world, the flesh, and the devil (see 1 John 2:16). That is what we are trying to overcome.

I have my lane that I'm running in, which is the life that I have to live and the challenges that I have to face. And my job is to complete my race. You have your lane as well, with your unique challenges and goals.

But ultimately we all have the same goal of running for God and honoring and glorifying Him. And we must run to win.