Hope with God... with Andrew and Wendy Palau

Do you have peace? Or do you feel like every stress and every bit of bad news throws you into a dark spiral of anxiety?  If so, I long for you to know the peace that Jesus offers. His peace does not depend on circumstances. It cannot be taken away by bad news, poor health, or financial instability.  Before Jesus was taken away to be crucified, he tells his friends in John 14:27, “Peace I leave wit...

Do you see God as a provider? All through the Bible are stories of God’s miraculous provision for people: food and water in a desert, cherished children for barren women, husbands for widows, wisdom for kings, healing for many. The very first time the name Provider was used to describe God is in a difficult story where God sent Abraham to a mountain to sacrifice his precious son. Just as Abraham w...

Do you ever think that you only go to church out of habit? Or maybe, a sense of duty? What has happened to that great desire you once had to grow closer to Jesus? Jesus doesn’t want you to do things for Him as an employee would do for their boss. He wants the real and honest love and faithfulness of your heart. In the Old Testament of the Bible, the Israelites would offer sacrifices of animals and...

God is in the business of making all things new. Do you need newness in your life? Something different in your life? Do you feel tired, worn down, worn out? Ask God to bring HIS ‘newness’ to your life. Even as your body wears down, ask Him to renew you from the inside by His presence and His grace. His love and His forgiveness.  Ask Him to bring life where there is none, wholeness where there are...

The wisest person who ever lived was Solomon, back in Bible times. Some of his wisdom has been distilled in the book of Proverbs, which contains a lot of sage advice. Solomon himself said, “Wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.”  Many of the Proverbs we could also call common sense. For example – “Lazy hands make a man poor but diligent hands bring wealt...

I was meeting with a large group of church leaders in Buenos Aires last year. At the end of the session, one pastor came up to me, along with his wife, and told me about the heartbreak he was experiencing because of his son. This young man was far from God, struggling with addictions. The father feared for the boy’s life and health, but mostly for his eternal salvation. He asked if I would pray wi...

What does God do in heaven? That’s a silly question, isn’t it? Because God isn’t like us at all and doesn’t do things the way we do. But I read this the other day: “A defender of widows and a father to the fatherless is God in His holy dwelling.” There is so much mystery in these verses, but what does it reveal? What can we know? In His perfect place, God is a father and defender to those who need...

If the Palau Association came to your town to hold a festival, we would encourage you to write a prayer list. On the list are the names of five people you would love to bring to the festival in hopes that they would meet the Savior. Well, we might not be in your area in the near future, but I want to suggest that you write a prayer list anyway. There are friends, relatives, coworkers around you wh...

There’s so much pain in the world and we can’t escape it. I wish we could. We are hurt and we hurt others. Sickness comes to us and to people we love, and even death. And the sadness causes us great grief. God is called the Father of all compassion, who comforts us in our troubles. Have you known this about God? The word “comfort” means: a call, urging, done by someone close beside. This image is...

My dad, Luis Palau, was an evangelist. He spent his whole adult life preaching the Gospel, introducing people to Jesus, traveling the world to reach everyone he could. He was never more thrilled than the occasion when he preached to hundreds of thousands in Buenos Aires, the capital city of his native Argentina. It was such a joy for him to see many responding to God’s invitation that day. Then wh...

Sometimes when I walk into a place where I am not known personally, I feel I am immediately sized up and judged. It often feels as though I am misjudged. You know, the holier than thou preacher guy.  When you don’t know someone you may place them into a category in your mind, based on what your eyes can see. God doesn’t see people the way the world might, elevating the more beautiful, powerful, ri...

What do we do when we feel guilty? What do you do? We all do things wrong, things that hurt ourselves and hurt the people we love the most. Things that make us wonder why. Why did I do that? Why did I say that? Why did I think that? There is a tension in each of us. We want to do what is right, but we are inclined toward doing what is wrong.  The beautiful thing is, God doesn’t sit up in heaven wa...

“Forgiven” is one of the most heartwarming words in the English language. If we ask someone’s pardon for an offense we committed and they grant it, we are exhilarated. But sometimes when the shoe is on the other foot, we have difficulty in forgiving. Some people don’t seem to deserve forgiveness. But here’s the thing – Jesus forgave us when we didn’t deserve it, and He asks us to do the same.  Onc...

The word “Gospel” simply means good news. It’s full of joy. We celebrate good news, and the Gospel of Jesus is the best news ever. And what is this news? First Peter 3:18 says it perfectly. “Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God.” That’s it! Jesus did everything that was needed to bring us to God. In John chapter on...

When I’m at the gym I notice that when it comes to conversation there are two kinds of people. Some seem to be compulsive talkers who will start a conversation with anybody willing to listen. Then there are the quiet people who just keep to themselves after a quick “Good morning.” It got me thinking about our use of words and conversations. Knowing that the book of Proverbs in the Bible mentions o...

C.T. Studd was a famous evangelist and missionary over a hundred years ago. One statement he made that I kind of grabbed hold of is this: “The light that shines furthest shines brightest at home.” C.T. had a wife and six children, and preached on four continents, so he must certainly have tested that truth. When Wendy and I stand in front of church groups and encourage them to be bold in sharing t...

Throughout the Bible God is called the King of kings. In the book of Revelation God is referred to as the Lord God Almighty - worthy to receive all glory and honor and power and praise. He created all things. By His will they were created and have their being. He is the One who holds all things together The beautiful thing about the King of kings is that He is different to earthly Kings. He is per...

I’m an evangelist. I love to tell people about God’s love for them and the salvation He offers. But all Christians are called to be witnesses and ambassadors for Christ. The first step is to obey that command which came directly from Jesus. He said, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.” The first step in evangelism is obedience. We must take that command from Jesus seriously and find out...

I love to tell people what God has done for me! Do You? Maybe you have someone in your life who is like me, always telling you about God’s goodness. And maybe it’s annoying to you. Well, my friend, God has been good to me, and I love to tell people. The words of Psalm 66 resonate with my heart. The writer says: “Come and listen, all you who fear God. Let me tell you what He has done for me. I crie...

Why do we share the Gospel? To make that more personal – why have I spent the last twenty years or so as an evangelist? What motivation do we have to be ambassadors for Christ? In my own case, I was greatly motivated by the gratitude I felt when God saved me and forgave all my sins. I was 27 years old at that time and had been living very far from God. But God brought me into His family, and my fi...

You may be at a difficult place in your life right now when you are struggling. I want to encourage you today with some quotes from the Bible which tell us about the help and strength available to us in God. Psalm 54:4 tells us: “God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.”  Are you burned out from the stresses of life? In Matthew 11:28 we read the words of Jesus: “Come to me, all of you...

**What do you do with your stress, the burdens you carry? ** Some of us eat. Some of us sleep. Some of us ignore our troubles or we exercise. Many of us lean toward vices that are very destructive. But there are some burdens that are so heavy they meet us each morning and lie beside us in the bed at night.  Listen to these words: “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burde...

What image comes to your mind when you hear the word “fight”? A fistfight? An argument? Those are the fights we are most familiar with. Well, the Bible talks about a different kind of fighting. It’s a fight within ourselves – a fight to hold onto our faith. Sometimes this can be a conflict between your own desires and what you know God wants you to do. Or it could mean humbly holding onto your bel...

One of the first things we ask when trouble comes is, “Where is God?” God – powerful, strong, able – why hasn’t He protected me from this trouble? Sometimes the trouble is a devastating tragedy that floors us, shocks us, and we wonder – how can this be my story? Trouble has walked through my door, taken a seat at the table and doesn’t seem to want to leave. Where is God? He says these words to us:...

Do you have what you need to be victorious? In Ephesians chapter 6, Paul urges us to put on spiritual armor in order to protect ourselves from the enemy. He writes, "Finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes…” There's no demilitarized zone in this war. Either we're standing in the strength of...