Greg Laurie: Daily Devotions

“For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’” (Acts 27:23–24 NLT)

One of the vexing ironies of our modern culture is that people have never been more connected, technologically speaking, yet have never felt more alone. Social scientists warn that loneliness is becoming an epidemic.

Loneliness—feeling alone, abandoned, or in need of real connection...

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” (2 Timothy 3:16 NLT)

Martin Luther said, “The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me.”

The Bible is the most amazing book ever written. It is God’s message to us. Technically speaking, the Bible is not a single book; it’s...

“But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.” (Galatians 4:4–5 NLT)

Some people are keenly interested in researching their family tree. Perhaps they’re hoping to discover that they’re related to someone important, famous, or rich. Sometimes they find out things they wish they hadn’t. They discover some pretty notorious characters in their family tree.

You may be surprised t...

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.” (2 Chronicles 16:9 NLT)

Before he became a great evangelist, D. L. Moody found himself in a conversation with another evangelist named Henry Varley. Varley said to Moody, “The world has yet to see what God will do with a man fully consecrated to Him.”

Those words burrowed deep into Moody’s heart. He replied with something along the lines of, “I will...

“Then he said to the crowd, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.’” (Luke 9:23–24 NLT)

One of the most common misconceptions about the Christian life is that it’s restrictive—that it keeps people from the things that make life fun and interesting. But that’s not the case at all. In fact, the opposi...

“One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. ‘Where have you come from?’ the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, ‘I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.’ Then the Lord asked Satan, ‘Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.’” (Job 1:6–8 NLT)

In this week’s devotions, we’re going to tackle some difficult questions that b...

“The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, ‘Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?’” (Genesis 3:1 NLT)

Shortly before he died, the comedian W. C. Fields was spotted flipping through the pages of a Bible. When someone asked what he was doing, Fields replied, “Looking for loopholes.”

In the same way, I think the devil has been acquainting himself with the Bible for a long time, looking for loopholes. In the Garden...

“But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14 NLT)

When I was a kid, I collected snakes. I’m not sure why, but I used to be fascinated by them. I had all kinds. I would read books about snakes. I would go out looking for snakes and bring them home. I was bitten many times. I discovered that you never really know what a snake is thinking. Snakes aren’t expressive creatures; they’re cold-blooded reptiles.

Snakes are nothing like dogs. You know where you are with a...

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8 NLT)

The Bible doesn’t tell us how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden before temptation reared its head. The devil certainly had heard God’s warning to Adam: “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die” (Genesis 2:16–17 NLT). In narrative of Genesis, the tempter appears a...

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” (Hebrews 4:16 NLT)

One of the most jaw-dropping passages in all of Scripture is found in Hebrews 4:16: “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (NLT).

If you’ve spent any time in the book of Revelation, you know that God’s thron...

“Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, ‘It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night.’” (Revelation 12:10 NLT)

Victor Hugo, the author of Les Misérables, observed, “A good general must penetrate the brain of his enemy.”

Understanding how an enemy thinks is the first step in defeating him. As believers, we face a formidable enemy i...

“Therefore, rejoice, O heavens! And you who live in the heavens, rejoice! But terror will come on the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you in great anger, knowing that he has little time.” (Revelation 12:12 NLT)

Imagine a life with no opposition—where everyone wants what’s best for you, where people celebrate your strengths instead of looking for your weaknesses, where no one feels threatened by your success, where no one takes an instant disliking to you based on what you look like, where you come from, or who you assoc...

“Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12 NLT)

When you’ve had an encounter with death—a near-death experience of your own or the sudden passing of a loved one—it inevitably leads to a few essential questions: “What is life all about, anyway? Why am I alive, and what am I really living for?”

In other words, what gets you out of bed in the morning? What gets your blood pumping? Is it an alarm clock or a calling that gets you up each day? Every...

“Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, ‘What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.’” (2 Peter 3:3–4 NLT)

No mini-set of devotions about facing the future would be complete without a discussion of the Lord’s return. Nothing looms larger in the future of believers than Jesus’ coming.

It also looms large for many unbelievers, although for dif...

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6–7 NLT)

Worry is an obstruction that keeps us from seeing the bright future on the horizon. Yet it’s an obstacle that we put in our own way, for no good reason. Of all the things we worry about, how many are within our control? If we’re hones...

“Stop acting so proud and haughty! Don’t speak with such arrogance! For the Lord is a God who knows what you have done; he will judge your actions.” (1 Samuel 2:3 NLT)

Long ago, when prognosticators and science fiction writers envisioned life in the twenty-first century, few anticipated the outsize role that a culture-wide sense of entitlement would play. And by “a sense of entitlement,” I mean the idea that you don’t have to work hard and that everything should be given to you because you’re so wonderful.

I was born in the generation kn...

“‘I have made no trouble for Israel,’ Elijah replied. ‘You and your family are the troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the Lord and have worshiped the images of Baal instead.’” (1 Kings 18:18 NLT)

In yesterday’s devotion, we talked about the impossibility of knowing what lies ahead and the importance of trusting an unknown future to a known God. But there’s an important exception to the Bible’s warnings about not knowing what the future holds. In fact, in a general sense, some things are quite predictable.

The apostle Paul explaine...

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT)

In this week’s devotions, we’re going to be talking about the future. We’re not necessarily going to focus on specific events in the future, but rather on how Christians should approach and prepare for the future. Whether you’re hopeful or pessimistic about what lies ahead, you need to be aware that the Bible contains a wealth of wisdom on how to face the future as...

“Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still ‘today,’ so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.” (Hebrews 3:12–14 NLT)

The apostle Paul wrote, “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand...

“We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” (Hebrews 12:2 NLT)

When I was in high school, I went out for track and field. I was a fairly decent short-distance runner, but I was horrible at long-distance runs. Maybe this had to do with the fact that I hated to practice. My motivation might have been called into question as well. Some peo...

“So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: ‘Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.’” (Hebrews 4:7 NLT)

An attorney was trying to deliver an important paper to a man who was determined to avoid him. The man reasoned that the attorney had some type of subpoena, so he went out of his way to dodge him. Fourteen years passed, and the man finally found himself in the hospital, dying of cancer. Through a strange ser...

“Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.” (Hebrews 1:14 NLT)

Movies such as It’s a Wonderful Life, The Bishop’s Wife, and Angels in the Outfield have led many people to wonder whether angels really play a role in the lives of people here on earth. According to Scripture, if those people are Christians, the answer is absolutely yes.

Much of the work of angels is done without our knowing, and for good reason. Revelation 22 offers an informative illustration. Regarding the visions of Heaven he’d been given...

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, 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.” (Hebrews 12:1 NLT)

A professional concert violinist once was asked about the secret to her amazing performances. She replied, “Planned neglect. Anything that would keep me from practicing and playing well must be neglected.”

At first, this may seem like a harsh regimen. After all, many of t...

“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NLT)

In this week’s devotions, we’ll focus on the New Testament book of Hebrews. Today’s passage contains some crucial wisdom regarding faith, but first we need a biblical definition of faith. Hebrews 11:1 offers a great starting point for understanding this topic: “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see” (NLT).

Faith plays a...

“The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, ‘Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.’” (Exodus 34:6–7 NLT)

An unforgiving Christian is a contradiction in terms, an oxymoron. To say that you’re a follower of Jesus Christ an...

“God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12 NLT)

Several years ago, I was talking with a young woman in a wheelchair and her friend after church. The young woman had a severe disability. As we talked, I asked her, “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing fine,” she told me.

Then her friend explained that the woman had just undergone two brain surgeries to remove cancer and that the operations had been successful...

“The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” (Proverbs 11:25 NLT)

There is a story of an infamous pirate named Juan Carlos was rumored to have buried an enormous treasure in a location only he knew. One day a man approached Juan Carlos in Mexico, pushed him to the ground, and said, “Tell me where all your money is buried, or I will kill you right here on the spot!”

Juan Carlos didn’t speak a word of English and needed an interpreter, so he saw a boy nearby and called him...

“You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” (Genesis 4:7 NLT)

Many years ago, my son Christopher was lying out in the sun at our house when he woke up to find a huge gopher snake, coiled up and hissing at him, poised to strike. The snake must have been six or seven feet long. Terrified, he ran into the house and shut the d...

“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?” (Psalm 8:3–4 NLT)

There’s an old saying that goes, “You wouldn’t worry so much about what other people thought of you if you knew how infrequently they do.” And while the truth of that statement may sting, there’s an amazing truth in Scripture that can bring you tremendous comfort if you’re able to wrap your head...

“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31 NLT)

The Bible is full of amazing truths. In this week’s devotions, we’re going to focus on six specific truths and what they mean for us. The first amazing truth is this: God can use you in a profoundly impactful way.

I remember when, as a young Christian, I would sit in the pews at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa and listen to Senior Pastor Chuck Smith speak. I would think to myself, “...

“Then the Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.’” (1 Kings 17:2–4 NLT)

King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were among the most wicked rulers in Israel’s history. Not only did they promote the worship of Baal, but they also tried to wipe out the prophets of God. It fell to Elijah to confront the king and warn him of God’s judgment. In 1 Kings 17:1, Elijah...

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105 NLT)

“God is love; He doesn’t punish people.” “God wants us to be our authentic selves and not listen to people who judge us.” “God doesn’t care about rules; He cares about what’s best for each person.” How many variations of these statements and others like them have you heard or read recently?

There are a lot of people today who claim to hear the voice of God telling them to do this or that. Some even claim Go...

“May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” (Numbers 6:24–26 NLT)

Attention is becoming a scarce commodity in our modern culture. Attention spans have become alarmingly short. Algorithms are constantly being tweaked and perfected to keep people’s focus on their screens. As a result, many people have little attention to spare for others.

How often do you find yourself talking to someone who isn’t listening—or who’s giving you considerably less t...

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” (2 Corinthians 1:3–4 NLT)

Years ago, our grandson Christopher was playing in our backyard. Suddenly, he came running into the house with tears streaming down his face, unable to speak because of pain.

“Christopher, what happened?” I asked. He lifted his shirt, and I could...

“Then Gideon said to God, ‘If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.’ And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water.” (Judges 6:36–38 NLT)

One of the...

“She came to Jesus and said, ‘Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.’ But the Lord said to her, ‘My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.’” (Luke 10:40–42 NLT)

In our busy culture, where communication devices, social media, and countless other distractions constantly demand our attention, one of the hardest things to...

“Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips.” (Psalm 141:3 NLT)

It’s been said that God gave us one mouth and two ears for a reason: He wants us to listen more and to speak less. Think of how often we jump to conclusions or pass judgment in a situation. The writer of Proverbs warned, “Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish” (Proverbs 18:13 NLT). Nevertheless, when we hear something damaging about another person, our first instinct is to conclude immediately that the person is guilty as charged. An...

“I said to the Lord, ‘You are my God!’ Listen, O Lord, to my cries for mercy! O Sovereign Lord, the strong one who rescued me, you protected me on the day of battle.” (Psalm 140:6–7 NLT)

Few people in Scripture had a better understanding of God than David did. David knew what it was like to be favored by God. In 1 Samuel 13:14, he is referred to as a man after God’s own heart. He also knew what it was like to be on the business end of God’s discipline after his affair with Bathsheba. But mor...

“O Lord, rescue me from evil people. Protect me from those who are violent, those who plot evil in their hearts and stir up trouble all day long.” (Psalm 140:1–2 NLT)

There’s an old saying that goes, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” David’s words in Psalm 140 offer compelling evidence of that. David begins the psalm with these words: “O Lord, rescue me from evil people. Protect me from those who are violent, those who plot evil in their hearts and stir up trouble all day long” (verses 1–2 NLT).

“Stirring up trouble al...

“I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.” (Psalm 139:7–10 NLT)

One of God’s perfections is His omnipresence. He is present everywhere all the time. The psalmist captured the essence and implications of God’s omnipresence when he wrote, “I can never escape from y...