Reaching Your World With Luis Palau

My sins eventually betray a serious defect deep in my heart. When we look back at all the sins we’ve committed along the way the past few weeks or months, we may have reason to worry. Sometimes you may feel, in your heart of hearts: “What’s wrong with me?” Or, perhaps better put, “Why am I so self-inclined and so God-averse? Why am I so apt to choose my will, my way, my timing...instead of choosing God’s will, God’s way, God’s timing? Why am I apt to commit various assorted little sins?” By “little,” of course, I mean little in our eyes, not in God’s eyes. Sin is sin. That I am quite glad not to murder or start a sexual affair today is no great virtue when I’m just as apt to ignore God’s presence in my life. So, here’s my prayer for both of us. It’s found in 1 Thessalonians 3:13. The prayer is this: “May [the Lord] strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” What a wonderful prayer of blessing! Again, yo

Have you ever wondered if there is life after death? I once met a businessman named Ben who seemed to have it all. He had a fancy New York City apartment, a beautiful wife and children, and a lot of financial security. One day, however, Ben’s colleague passed away unexpectedly, and this caused Ben to consider some important questions. He had never been religious, but Ben began to wonder if this is all there is, or if there is life after death. As followers of Christ, we know that there is, indeed, life after death for everyone who has a relationship with Jesus and who has received Him as their Savior. What Ben came to realize was that none of his earthly possessions could help him in the grand scheme of things; no amount of money or earthly status can get a person into Heaven. Ultimately, Ben came to know and receive Jesus Christ into his heart – but there are still many people living like Ben today. People are consumed with earthly status and security, but these things mean nothing when you keep eternity in

Do you remember hearing the biblical accounts of Jesus’ miracles when you were in Sunday School? He healed the blind and the sick. He brought the dead back to life. He turned water into wine. Yes, as Christians we know that God is powerful. But sometimes I wonder: do we really believe in God’s power in our own lives today? Do you trust that God is powerful to change your entire world? Do you really, truly, deeply believe that God is capable of changing someone around you? Sometimes, I think we forget that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.” The God who created the earth is an advocate for you, and for everyone else here on earth. He wants to change your life by calling you into a relationship with Him. The question is: will you let Him? It’s tempting to try to fit God into a box, or pray to Him only on Sundays, and forget that God is capable of working in every area of our lives, every day of the week. How can you allow God’s power to do more in your life? What can you entrust Him with?

God is not performance-driven. That means He won’t love you any more or any less based on how you do. You can’t earn extra love by doing more. And you can’t lose God’s love by making mistakes. God’s love is a free gift, so it can’t be earned or lost. But God does care about what we do – and we know this because God gave us a great assignment in the Great Commission. In Matthew 28: 19, Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. Are you tracking with me? This is it! This is what God wants from you. His main concern is not your performance at work or how you measure up by earthly standards. Rather, God cares about more people hearing His Good News in Jesus Christ. And He wants your help to do it. What a privilege it is to work with God to build His kingdom. What might happen if you live for more than just success here on earth? Let all of your actions give glory to God. Look for ways to share His Good News with peo

Do you believe God has something more in store for your life? There was a time in my life when I wanted to become a banker. It was a secure profession in my home country of Argentina. And I figured I’d be able to support my family in that profession. But then the Lord changed my heart, and I felt called into evangelism. Now let me tell you, there’s nothing wrong with being a banker. We need good bankers and lawyers and businesspeople. But God had something different in store for my life and it was more than I could even imagine. And yet – it was scary! Sharing the Gospel throughout the world wasn’t a “conventional” career by any means. I could have chosen to ignore God’s calling out of fear. But I chose to follow God, because I trusted Him. And boy am I glad I did! The Bible says in Ephesians 2:30 that God is able to do “far more than what we could ask or even think, according to His power at work within us.” Looking back at my life, I can tell you this is the truth. I believe God has something ‘more’ in stor

The other day I was reading the Gospel of Luke… Jesus was on his way to Galilee and came across ten men with leprosy. They asked Jesus to have pity on them and Jesus healed them. Now, here’s the verse that stood out to me. Luke 17:15 says, “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.” Jesus healed ten men. Of the ten, only one returned to thank him. How convicting! Jesus has healed us too. Through His sacrifice on the cross, He has made a way for us to have a relationship with Him. We can be forgiven of our sins, spend eternity with Him in heaven and live life with Him right now. And yet, how many of us have earnestly thanked Him? Are our daily lives clearly showing people our love and gratitude for our Savior? If we’re to reach our world, people have to see that we are different. Our lives should reflect thankful hearts. As followers of Jesus, we need to show and tell the world how grateful we are for the difference Jesus C

As followers of Christ, Thanksgiving should be one of our favorite holidays. Sure, it isn’t a religious holiday in the sense that it celebrates the life of Christ. Instead, it reminds us of the blessings we have in Christ. Even when life is difficult, we always have the gift of salvation to be thankful for, and that is worth a Thanksgiving celebration. How do we show our thankfulness to God, though? Psalm 100 says we are to “enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him; bless his name.” Doesn’t this sound like it could be a thanksgiving dinner? Traveling, joining with other believers, praising God’s name, giving thanks aloud and with great joy. Children and grandchildren should see and feel our praises to God for His goodness. But as followers of Christ, we are called to be thankful beyond Thanksgiving. It’s part of our daily life. As Philippians says, we are commanded to “not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let [our

The question “Who should be thankful?” seems like an easy one to answer. Everyone should be thankful, obviously. Everyone has something to be thankful for. But in reality, it’s easier said than done. Sometimes life is difficult and things go wrong. Someone loses a job, a loved one, or a dream. Maybe a family member is sick, bills are overwhelming, or the days feel lonely and hopeless. In those moments of struggle, our tendency can be to look at others and say, “Of course THEY can be thankful! Look at how perfect their lives are!”The truth is that no one’s life is perfect. This is a fallen world. We all have struggles. But as followers of Jesus, we always have reason to be thankful. Colossians says, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Because of Christ, we are blessed, regardless of what life throws our way. This is why Paul could write from prison about how thankful he w

As a kid, did your mom or dad ever make you write “thank you” notes? Maybe after your birthday party or after Christmas, they would sit you down at the kitchen table with a stack of notecards and stamps. You would have to write until your hand hurt, sentences like “thank you for the socks.” I know some of those thank-you notes were probably done because your parents were making you do it. It can be hard to be thankful for socks when you are a kid. But still, you wrote the notecard. Sometimes people associate thankfulness with obligation. Sometimes we feel forced to be thankful, because sometimes things in life don’t go well. In those situations, it can be hard to be thankful. Yet, the Bible calls those who love God to be grateful. In Psalms, it says, “I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord.” Thankfulness is called a sacrifice. Sacrifices are often difficult. It means we give up something, or we have to lose something – time, or habits, or other difficult things. Yet

American Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November each year. We have presidents Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt to thank for that. Lincoln scheduled it, and Roosevelt made it a law. So every year, many Americans get that Thursday off, and we spend the day with those we love. There are many ways to celebrate Thanksgiving. Some families have a special recipe that is always made, like grandma’s pumpkin pie. Other families have a special tradition, where everyone shares what they are grateful for. Some families volunteer, helping those in need on Thanksgiving every year. These are all great things to do! Regardless of how we celebrate, taking a day for giving thanks is important. Yet as Christians, we don’t just wait until the fourth Thursday of November. Following Christ means that we are “giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20). Did you hear that? Always and for everything! We never stop giving thanks for ever

Did you know Jesus traveled not only to Egypt as a young boy, but to three other countries during His public ministry? What’s more, Jesus met with people from many, many nations. They included Jewish people from a wide assortment of nations traveling to Jerusalem for the sacred feasts. They included Greeks, Romans, and others who had converted to Judaism. And they included officials, soldiers, and others serving Rome. In other words, Jesus didn’t just know and minister to Jewish people. He ministered to a Roman centurion (and all who knew him), to a Syrophoenician woman (and many in her town), to two Gadarene demoniacs (and many in that region), and to many Samaritans of all ages (in the town of Sychar). What’s more, right before His ascension back to heaven, Jesus told His disciples, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, [pause] and to the ends of the earth,” Acts 1:8 [NLT]. I’m s

Recently, as I was reading the Bible, I was struck by something about the early followers of Jesus. When Jesus called the disciples, they dropped everything and followed Him. Similarly, after Jesus appeared to the disciples shortly after His resurrection, they immediately began going out and sharing the good news everywhere. In both of these cases, they didn’t say, “I’ve met Jesus, but before I can really follow Him, I have to go to seminary. Or I have to read all of these books.” No! They had an encounter with Jesus. That was all they needed in order to start telling everyone about the gospel of Christ. There is no waiting period when you become a Christ follower. As Jesus said in Acts chapter 1, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” As soon as the Holy Spirit is in us, as soon as we start to follow Jesus, we are witnesses of Christ. If you are a new follower of Christ, or a young f

People have said to me before, “Luis, I could never be an evangelist. I’m too shy.” Maybe this sounds likes you. God makes us all different. Some of us are loud talkers, and others are quiet. Some are quick to speak, and others are more cautious. Some of us like to mingle in a crowd, and others would like to be in the back of the room, serving the cake. That’s wonderful! God’s kingdom needs all sorts of people. But just because some of Christ’s followers don’t talk much doesn’t mean that they are not meant to evangelize; that is, share the Good News of Jesus Christ. We share God’s love in many more ways than just our words. In fact, our words will mean little if we do not back them up with the testimony of how we live our lives and treat other people. First John says, “Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” This isn’t saying that talk is bad. It’s just saying that actions speak as loud as words, especially if we are the type of people to use action to communicate more often than we do word

My father set a great example for me by sharing God’s love anywhere he could: on street corners, at work, with friends and strangers alike. I inherited his caring for people and his passion for proclaiming the Good News of God, whether that is in my living room or on a stage in front of thousands of people. There is nothing like the energy of being around so many people, talking about the love of God. God called me personally to be an evangelist. He made me a person who loves to travel and gets energy from talking to people. Not everyone is built like me, but those who are often are pastors and teachers, and worship leaders. We are often the ones who get excited about evangelism, sharing our stories with anyone who will listen. We are all called to be witnesses. First Peter says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” Sometimes it is easy for us to do the first part — tell our story — but hard for

I loved taking my kids, and then my grandkids, to the playground at the local park. But I couldn’t help but notice all of the different kids and their personalities. Some kids would go up to anyone and play with them. A stranger was just a friend they’d never met before. Other kids preferred following the more rambunctious kids. They would go down the big slide, but they liked to see someone else do it first. And then there were the kids happily playing by themselves in the sand, making designs and singing to themselves. They would stop singing anytime someone else came near them. A playground is just a miniature version of adult social situations. We can see the same personalities in any workplace or coffee shop. God has made us all different. He’s done that for a reason! We can’t all be leaders; otherwise, who would follow? We can’t all be followers, either. God has given us special gifts that we can and should use for His glory to build His kingdom. As it says in Romans, “Having gifts that differ according

In His parable about the prodigal son, Jesus describes a rebellious son and a loving father. You can read this amazing, life-changing parable in Luke 15, particularly verses 11 to 24. So, what does the Lord’s parable tell us? First off, the prodigal’s father can’t wait to see his son. Day after day he watches the road, and when his son finally appears the father can’t even wait for him to get to the house – he runs out to meet him. He can’t wait to throw his arms around the young man and hug him. The father can’t wait to bless his son with radical forgiveness. In fact, he interrupts his son, who doesn’t even get to finish apologizing. The prodigal is welcomed, loved, and transformed. In his father’s words, “This son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” The father can’t wait to start celebrating. Notice what’s missing in the father’s responses. What’s missing are the harsh words, angry tones, and deep-felt heart damage created when radical forgiveness is nowhere to be seen. Indeed, t

I’ve had many people ask me through the years, “Luis, does God really love me?” Sometimes, people tell me about the trouble they’ve been in, or the ways they have messed up their lives. They say, “how could He love me?” but I assure them—and I assure you now, yes, Jesus loves you. More than you know. And there is nothing you could ever do to stop Him from loving you. The Bible says in Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Before we were even born, God had sent His only Son, Jesus, to die for your and my sins on the cross. By doing so, He gave us the opportunity to have eternal life. This amazing gift comes to you and me because of His wonderful grace toward us. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works…” So wherever you are today, with whatever past you have, know that God loves you. Christ died for you. And He wants a relationship with you.

When my father died, my mother took over our family business in an effort to take care of her six children. At one point, someone purposely swindled her out of a lot of money in a business deal, causing my family very serious and deep financial pain, and poverty. The person responsible for putting us in this position never, ever came to apologize, but even so, my mother forgave him. As kids, we learned a big lesson from her. In life, sometimes people hurt us and they don’t get around to saying sorry. Sometimes, they don’t apologize because they don’t realize they hurt us. At other times, they don’t apologize because they don’t think they were wrong, or they aren’t remorseful, or they just don’t care. In any case, when we are hurt by someone, we have the choice to hold onto anger towards that person, or offer forgiveness and grace. The Bible says in Matthew 5:43-48, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who p

I know a man named Stephen who was treated poorly by someone at work. He was deeply hurt, and soon, his hurt turned into anger. When the person apologized to Stephen, he had two choices: Stephen could remain angry, bitter, and resentful or he could forgive. In life, we will all come to this point at some time, where we must choose to either show forgiveness and grace, or act out our anger and resentment. Stephen ultimately chose to forgive. As Stephen later said, “Forgiving others, even when it’s not easy, is showing God’s love.” And I couldn’t agree more! It’s relatively easy to love people who are good to us, but anyone can do that. We have to rely on God to forgive and love people who have wronged us. The Bible says in 1 John 4:19-21, “We love because He first loved us…whoever loves God must also love his brother.” This week, consider loving others the way God loves. Maybe this means showing forgiveness and grace to someone in your life. Maybe it means offering up to the Lord, through confession, our feeli

Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might”. In the New Testament, Jesus repeats this command and even points it out as the most important commandment of all—along with loving your neighbor as yourself.So, how do we actually show our love for God? Is it by telling Him “I love you”? Is it by singing praises to Him? These are certainly good things, but they only scratch the surface. We demonstrate our love for God first, by gratefully receiving Jesus into our hearts first of all, and walking with Him. And just as you want to please someone you love, like a spouse or parent, we do our best to love God by following His commands. This doesn’t mean we have to be legalistic, and it doesn’t mean we’ll be perfect. But by trusting and obeying God our Father, we show Him our love is genuine and true. This week, consider showing God you love Him by demonstrating His love for others, His kindness, His gentleness, and His faithfulness, and