Good morning, my Friends.  With Thanksgiving only a few days away, I thought I would take this opportunity to write about the importance of that day and its original intent.  I didn’t want to be redundant with my title, but I did want to add clarity – or perhaps perspective to the topic that will follow.  Like so many traditions, ie. Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving…when mixed with our culture’s spin, the reason for the season can easily become convoluted.  While I have no statistics to quantify this statement, judging from what I hear in social conversation or what I hear or read via the media, Thanksgiving is portrayed as a day of feasting, football and resting up for Black Friday.  Now bear in mind, my intent is not to appear snooty or judgmental with that last statement because I am a willing participant in the feasting and football scenario.  But I have found that taking time to reflect on the blessings I have received and giving thanks for what I have only prepares me to enjoy all the more any activity that follows.

 The first American Thanksgiving, celebrated in 1621, was to give thanks to God for his blessing of a bountiful harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter. In that year Governor William Bradford proclaimed a “day of thanksgiving”. The colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast, to which they invited the local Wampanoag Indians.  According to an attendee’s account (Edward Winslow), found in a letter dated December of 1861, the celebration lasted for three days and “food was plentiful.” In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln, looking for ways to unite the nation during the Civil War, proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday that would fall on the fourth Thursday of November.

The primary reason for the first Thanksgiving was to give thanks to God for his blessings.  The Bible is abundant with scriptures regarding “thanks” and “thanksgiving”.  Ps. 95:2-3, Let us come before him with thanksgiving. Let us sing him psalms of praise.  For the LORD is a great God, the great King above all god;  Ps. 7:17, I will thank the LORD because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High;  Ps. 28:7, The LORD is my strength, my shield from every danger. I trust in him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving; 1 Cor. 1:4, I can never stop thanking God for all the generous gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus; 1 Chron. 16:34, Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever; and Jer. 33: 11, …the sounds of joy and laughter. The joyful voices will be heard again, along with the joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the LORD. They will sing, ‘Give thanks to the LORD Almighty, for the LORD is good. His faithful love endures forever!

 As you can see from the order of events at the first Thanksgiving and from the scriptures above, giving thanks to God prepares one’s heart for celebration and praise.  And when we acknowledge Him as Lord of our life and source of our strength, his promise is to bless us.  This is spelled out clearly in the book of Malachi 3: 10 when the Lord challenges his people to test him:  Bring all the tithes (food in this case) into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do, says the Lord Almighty, I will open the windows of heaven for you.  I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in!  Try it! Let me prove it to you!  “Let me prove it to you!”  How awesome is that?  When we honor God, his promise is to honor (bless) us.  In fact, He wants to honor us.   James 4:10 states, When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.

 Now I don’t want to sound Pollyannaish about this, because I know there are times when all of us face circumstances that suck; life is a burden; and there doesn’t appear to be much hope in the future.  Unfortunately, everyone at one time or another passes through their own version of a “living hell”.  I certainly have been there, and I know most of my friends have experienced their very own pathos.  Today, however, I belong to a 12 step recovery program, AA, and I’ve learned new ways of dealing with life’s struggles.  What I am going to suggest is certainly not a panacea, but it almost always changes our attitude about what we are facing.  With a new attitude often comes new perspective, and with this combination of new attitude and new perspective, we often begin to see a glimmer of hope up ahead.

Unfortunately, statistics tell us that most people focus on what is wrong in their life rather than what is right in their life.  Now add to that…psychology tells us that what we put in our minds sets up our expectations and our actions follow.  So, what is the revelation I want to share with you to help change your attitude and perspective?  Very simply…make a gratitude list.  Everyone has things in their life that are blessings, but when we’re focused on the negative, it is easy to overlook the positive. Now I know this is not rocket science; it may seem too easy…perhaps not intellectual enough for you because “after all, you’re a complicated case”, but trust me…I have seen incredible results, even with “complicated cases” through this inventory.  Let’s face it; it’s hard to be angry, frustrated, and disappointed when you’re concentrating on the blessings you already have.  It may be as simple as “I woke up this morning”, “I could hear the birds chirping”, “I could see the sunset”, “I have clothing to wear”, etc.  Focus on the blessings you have, not on what you don’t have.  That is why Apostle Paul stated in Rom. 12:2: Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

 Jesus reiterated the same message when he stated in Matt. 11:28-29, Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you.  Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.  Even when we are facing major life-crisis, (ie. health, employment, marriage, financial, etc.), Jesus tells us He is the answer.  When we are in Christ we have the Holy Spirit to empower us to face these issues with strength, courage, confidence, patience, dignity, etc.  One of the many gifts we get from being in Christ is the Holy Spirit to do for us what we are not capable of doing for ourseleves.  Through Him we can rise above the ways and the mind-set of this world and respond in a way that brings honor and glory to God.

As Thanksgiving Day quickly approaches, I would like to ask all of you to use this opportunity to thank God for what he has done, or is doing in your life.  Let this spirit of thanksgiving result in joyful celebration of your relationship with Him.  He has been very clear that he loves us unconditionally; his love is unending; his love is unfailing and he want’s nothing more than a relationship with us…an eternal relationship with us.  What more do we need to know?  As Christ followers, we are heir to all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm, the promises to Abraham and all the many promises in the Bible.  Whatever our life issue, Jesus Christ promises us He is the answer!  That should put you in the mood for Thanksgiving as it is meant to be.

Enjoy the feasting and the football…I will.  But let’s not forget…first things first.  Happy Thanksgiving!

May God Bless ya.  Feel free to give feedback on this by going to the top of the page and clicking on the title under the list of blogs.

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

I’m filled with joy today, and I gotta tell ya…I’m pretty happy toooo!  Last weekend the Saint Louis Wind Symphony appeared for the fourth time as part of the guest artist series at East Central College in Union, MO.  The concert was awesome; there was a huge crowd, and I’m proud as a peacock to be part of such a quality ensemble.   I’m also happy to I have this opportunity to share the truth of God’s word with you, and I know that one of my closest friends is reading this right now.  That makes this a very special posting for me because there is transforming power in these words…not my words, mind you, but God’s words.   I have coffee in hand; Glenn and Cliff lying at my feet, so here we go!

The Bible talks frequently about “joy”, but that is not a term we use every day in our casual conversation.  We are more likely to talk about being “happy” or “unhappy”.  So what is the difference between joy and happiness?  I believe it has to do with the source of the emotion.  When we talk about being happy or unhappy, it usually has to do with our circumstances.  “I am happy because…..” or I am unhappy because….”  The source of our happiness is generally “what I did or didn’t do to find myself in this situation.”  In other words, the root of  our happiness seems to be triggered by external stimuli.

Joy on the other hand  is an “inside” job.  It comes from a different source.  When one is filled with joy, the source is found deep within us – in our heart – and wells-up because of peace, serenity, and absolute assurance.  For example, Apostle Paul wrote the Ephesian, Philippian, Colossian and Philemon Epistles during his imprisonment in Rome.  This was a trying time for Paul because he was facing a trial before Caesar in Rome, and his life was at stake.  Needless to say his circumstances were not good, yet he talked of being “filled with joy”.

He spoke to the Ephesians telling them in 3:20-21:  “Now glory be to God!  By his mighty power at work with us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.  May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen.”  To the Philippians he stated in 3:13-14, “…I am focusing all my energies on this one thing.  Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.  I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.” And again in 4:13, Paul states, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” And in Colossians, 2:22-23 “… he (Christ) brought you into the very presence of God and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.  But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly.”  Now I ask you…where does someone who is in prison, facing the possibility of execution, find the strength, the courage, the confidence to offer encouragement and hope to others?  It emanates from a heart-felt confidence and absolute assurance that can only come from being in Christ.  As the song says, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.  Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!”

As I wrote a few weeks ago in a blog entitled, The Great Exchange (Oct. 21), I quoted one of my favorite Christian authors, Bob George, who stated, “You will never have a changed life until you have an exchanged life.”  What he was referencing was the miracle that takes place when one accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.   At the moment of conversion we become a new creation in Christ.  2 Cor. 5:17 tells us “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.  The old is gone; the new is here.” Before conversion, we were slaves to what our culture refers to as our “human nature”.  The Bible refers to this same state as our “sin nature”, meaning we are living our life based on our own passions, desires and values rather than living a life that brings honor and glory to God.  Since we were driven by a “sin nature,” we just did what came naturally to us and what our culture told us was acceptable.

But now our old self is gone and we are a new creation in Christ, meaning we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a life that is pleasing to God.  This, however, is a challenging task for these reasons: (1.) We have no mental delete button to erase all the hurts, lies and deceptions from our past; (2.) we are living in a fallen world whose standards are contrary to God’s standards; (3.) we live in these fleshly  bodies and are prone to carnal desires, and (4.) Satan is not going to give you over without a fight.  He will challenge your vulnerabilities – and he knows them ALL – with temptation after temptation to sabotage your efforts to change the way you think and behave.  He will try to convince you that “you can’t…”, “you’ll never…”, “you’re not worthy…”   This is why you have to rely on the truth found in 1 John 4:4; “He that is in me (the Holy Spirit) is greater than he (satan) that is in this world.”  Make no mistake… this world is Satan’s playground.  This is his kingdom… and it definitely is not paradise!  But because you are in Christ and are empowered by the Holy Spirit, you are already guaranteed victory in this world.   Do you get that? ?  That is a promise from God!

So what did Paul know that allowed him to rise above his circumstances – even the possibility of death?

The answer: he knew the truth of who he was in Christ.  Not only did he understand that truth, but he also knew that as a Child of God he would be empowered by the Holy Spirit to face his challenging circumstances with wisdom, strength and courage.  For instance, 2 Tim. 1:7 tells us, “God has not given me a spirit of fear and timidity, but one of power, love and a sound mind.”  The last part of that truth, the part about “a sound mind” refers to clarity…the peace and serenity that comes from standing on a foundation of scriptural facts.  God made it clear to us in Heb. 13:5 when he said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” That is a promise from God! And just like the father in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32), our loving God is waiting with open arms for us to come home; to declare, “He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God and I am trusting him.” (Ps.91:2)   This past week that message came loud and clear to me after I had been praying for clarity of thought and direction.  I opened Facebook to find at the top of my home page in bold capital letters “LET YOUR FAITH BE GREATER THAN YOUR FEAR!”  I smiled…OK God, I get it.

While I am writing this message of hope to everyone, I am also writing this particularly to my dearest and closest friend who is struggling with an issue in his life.  I want to share some scriptural truths – or “scriptural facts” as Watchman Nee calls them – that will provide a foundation of faith on which he and everyone can stand regardless of what life, this world or Satan puts in your pathway.

First and foremost, if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are saved.  Your acceptance of God’s gift of grace is your ultimate show of trust (faith) in Him. You are a new creation in Christ; you are now in Christ.  That means you are heir to what He did for you at Calvary; your sins – past, present and future, are forgiven; you are now acceptable to God because you no longer are stained with sin.  You are worthy to come before him “with no fear of condemnation” (Rom. 8:1), not because of anything you did or didn’t do, and certainly not because you deserve it, but because of what Jesus Christ did for you.  He voluntarily went to the cross to pay the price for your sins. This is a gift from a loving God who wants an eternal relationship with you.

You are also heir to what Christ did for you three days after his crucification.  He broke the bonds of death and rose to eternal life when he walked out of the tomb.  Now that you are in Christ, you also inherit eternal life.  This is scriptural fact.  This is God’s promise to you.

These truths should give you peace and serenity, and the same sense of security and assurance Paul had.  He knew that he was in Christ, and he knew his ultimate destination was eternity with God, Jesus and fellow believers.  And let’s not forget who Paul was.  He was first Saul, who was responsible for the persecution and execution of Christians.  If God can transform him, he can certainly transform YOU!  As he stated in Phil. 1:20-21, “…my life will always honor Christ, whether I live or I die.  For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better.”  This is an example of living the message I referenced above… “Let your faith be greater than your fear”.  Faith comes from knowing the truth of God’s Word.   Fear is the lack of faith.

So my question to you today is…what has precedence in your life; faith or fear?  Do you believe the gospel of grace?  Why? or Why not?

May God bless you.  Feel free to give feedback on this posting by going to the top of this page and clicking on the title on the right side on the list of previous blogs.

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Good morning, my friends.  I love Veteran’s Day, and I love the Veteran’s Day concert we do with the Saint Louis Wind Symphony each year to honor the brave men and women who serve, or have served in our armed forces.  Yesterday was that concert, and the STLWS was awesome!!  The program included the flashy repertoire we will be doing at the 2014 Missouri Music Educators Conference as well as the expected patriotic fare.  Judging from the rousing response from the audience, everyone there was waving the flag in their heart.  How cool is that?!  It is a real thrill to stand in front of such a formidable ensemble.  It is one of the many blessings I have in my life, and I thank God for all of it every day.

On to today’s post:  As I mentioned in a previous message, when we are in Christ, the sin-issue ceases to be an issue.  To drive that point home, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins – past, present and future – at Calvary.  Therefore, as it states so clearly and succinctly in Romans 8:1-2; “…there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. ² And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”  Does that mean we no longer have to be concerned about how we live our life?  Or does it mean that since we are saved, we can continue living the way we did before without consequence?  I’ll let Apostle Paul answer that same question; “Of course not!” (Rom. 6:15)  There is more to God’s gift of grace than forgiveness of sin.  Now that we are “a new creation in Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17), meaning that at conversion our sin-nature was replaced with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we are faced with the challenge of living the Christian life in this fallen world.  To meet that challenge our focus must shift from who we were as “sinners” to who we are today as “saints”. (explanation below)

A sinner is one who sins.  When we followed our sin-nature, or as our culture calls it, our “human nature”, we lived our life focused on self-satisfaction and self-aggrandizement.  Through that lens our gods became power, status, wealth, material gain, pleasure, etc.  In that state of being, our life was about adhering to the standards of this world rather than God’s standards.  Whenever our focus is on living life according to our own best effort, we will discover that we’ve bought into the same lie that seduced Eve in the Garden of Eden; “…You will become just like God, knowing everything both good and evil.”  In other words, you will become your own god.  You won’t need God.

Unfortunately, many Christians still live their life after conversion seemingly unaware of their new identity in Christ.  Here are the common reasons people get stymied.  We still live in these fleshly bodies and are tempted to yield to our carnal passions and desires; we are still living in a fallen world that espouses standards quite contrary to God’s standards; and Satan, the great liar and manipulator, is hard at work in each of us trying to sabotage the new Christian life we have choosen to pursue.  Remember, before you decided to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you were a slave (not my word, but Apostle Paul’s in Rom. 6:17) to your sin-nature. Satan had you right where he wanted you; in his grasp.  The devil does not give up without a fight, and as new Christians, we’re vulnerable to his tactics.  Referece Eph.6:10-18.  This tells us to put on “the whole armor of God (the foundation of scriptural truth) so that we will be able to stand firm against all the strategies and tricks of the devil.”  We will  then be able to defeat Satan the same way Jesus did when He was tempted in the wilderness; with the TRUTH of God’s Word!

One of Satan’s most effective tactics is to try to convince us we are unworthy of God’s gift of grace.  Since there is no mental delete button to push after conversion, if we keep focused on who we were before we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we can get mired down in guilt, shame and remorse.  We all have a past; we all lived in sin, and like it or not, we are still going to continue to fall short during our new walk with Christ.  But take solace in the truth of this mini-gospel found in Rom. 3-21-25:  “We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins.  And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.  For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us NOT GUILTY!  He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.  For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us.  We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.”  And did God wait until we cleaned-up our act to step in on our behalf?  No!!  Rom. 5-6 tells us, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”  God provided a savior to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.  He did this because he is a God who loves us beyond our ability to comprehend, and he wants a relationship with us; an eternal relationship.  Rom. 8:38 tells us, “nothing can separate us from the love of God.”   Now when we fall short, and we all will….it’s not about repenting for sin, but rather asking the Holy Spirit to empower us to be the person God created us to be.  Our goal now is to become more Christ-like each day.

What we have been talkinog about is who we were before salvation.  After salvation (accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior) we are a new creation in Christ.  We also have a new identity.   Rom.1:7 refers to those in Christ as Saints, meaning holy…without sin and acceptable to God.  Now we can come boldly before God without any fear of condemnation, not because of anything we have done to make ourselves acceptable to God, but because of what Jesus Christ did for us 2013 years ago.   Now when God looks at us he no longer sees a sinner, but instead he sees a Saint because we are covered with the blood of Jesus.  That’s why the sin issue is no longer an issue!

 Now we know that Satan will go into warp speed to try to derail our efforts to change, so we should expect temptation after temptation along our new pathway.  But when we realize who we are in Christ – a Saint, loved unconditionally, forgiven, worthy and acceptable to God – and that we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to empower us to meet these challenges, we can step out with boldness and confidence as we pursue our new Christian life.    How do we know that?…because God revealed that in His Word.  John 4:4 tells us, “He that is in me (The Holy Spirit) is greater than he (Satan) that is in this world.  That is a promise from God!  We are told in Gal. 5:17-18, “The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just the opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants.  And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires.  These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict.”  But as we learned from the scripture above, we are already promised victory because the Holy Spirit will empower us to live the life God has called us to live.

When we realize the power of the Holy Spirit in our life, we are confident that we can become the “masterpiece” referred to in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”  Now we are capable of becoming the person God created us to be.  Once we have experienced our new identity in Christ…the security, the freedom, the joy and the peace and serenity, the more sin loses its appeal.  We now realize we do have what we always wanted, but previously had been looking in all the wrong places.

Before I close, I want to be very clear about the role of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit empowers us to do the necessary work to be pleasing to God.  He does not do the work for us, then tap us on the shoulder and say, “problem solved, now enjoy your life.”  No!  He empowers us to do the work.  So whatever mountain we need to tackle, whether it is a temptation from Satan, a mean person, an unkind boss, loss of a job, an embarrassing situation, etc., we call on the Holy Spirit to give us the wisdom, patience, strength, courage, perseverance… whatever we need, to cast that mountain into the sea.

God’s plan is absolutely perfect.  Not only do we have assurance about our eternity, but He has provided us with the power to rise above this fallen world and begin experiencing the Kingdom of Heaven on earth right now.  Take it from one who has been on both sides;  there is nothing like turning your will and your life over to the care of God.

My question to you today is…do you allow the Holy Spirit to empower you to be victorious?  If not,  why?

Feel free to give me feedback.  Click this title above in column  of previous blogs on the right side of the page.

May God bless ya,

Dan Presgrave(a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Yesterday my message to Discovery Church was about hope; specifically about the hope found in Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians.  For some reason that subject is still rattling around in my head today, but from a slightly different perspective.  As I was out for my morning excursion with Glenn and Cliff, it dawned on me that the message from Paul is more than a message of hope.  It is a message of assurance.  Faith, as defined in Hebrews 1:1, is “…the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen.”  All the blessings and promises found in Ephesians (and to be exact, throughout the whole Bible) are the substance of – the reality of – what we hope for.  They are, according to Watchman Nee, scriptural fact because we are in Christ.   That means we have now moved beyond hope.  Now we are resting in the blessed assurance of God’s truth.

I remember visiting my aunt Mildred in a nursing home a few days before she died.  Mildred was my favorite aunt.  She was kind, gentle, always smiling, always with encouraging words to share, and to me she was the perfect lady.  She loved church, and it seemed to me that she was always there to attend services; to teach Sunday school; to volunteer or sometimes to clean.  Whenever she could be of service, she was the first to step up.

I also remember our last conversation together, and I remember her being totally distraught.  I asked if there was anything I could do, and she finally said to me in a weak, frail voice, “Danny, I’m afraid.  I’m afraid I haven’t been good enough to get into heaven.”  Now bear in mind, this was way before I was a believer, but I do remember becoming a bit nervous knowing I had nothing of any substance to share.  “Oh, you’ll get in.  You’re the best Christian I know.”  (To be totally honest, I have no idea what that meant to me at the time.)  But my point of sharing this story is the sadness of someone being that close to drawing their last breath, and not having any real assurance of what lies ahead.

Unfortunately that scenario is not unique.  Many people spend their whole life in churches that keeps the focus on sin, and being a sinner.  The message Sunday after Sunday is “you’d better watch out; you’d better be good because if you make God mad…He will punish you.”  The message is about trying harder and harder to measure up to God’s standard based on your own effort, but when people fall by the wayside and feel like they’re “just not making it”, they are told, “you just don’t have enough faith.” Where is the hope in that message?

If you sit in a church that preaches the gospel of grace week after week and encourages you to develop a personal relationship with God and Jesus Christ, consider yourself blessed.  As I have mentioned in previous postings, there are two Biblical principles that I believe are the underpinning of everything written in God’s word.  Those two principles are:  God is love and God wants a relationship with each and every one of us…an eternal relationship.  The enormity of those two truths are mind-boggling, to say the least, as we struggle to grasp them through our own finite thinking.  But bear in mind that God knew we would struggle in our limited ability to grasp such majestic principles, that is why he spoke through the prophet Isaiah, 55:8-9, stating, “My ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts.  As high as the heavens are above the earth, as far as the east is from the west, my thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways.”  God also knew that in order for us to develop a relationship with him, he would have to reveal himself to us so we could come to know him.  He chose to reveal himself to us through His word, The Holy Bible.

Since God is love; and since he wants a relationship with us; and since he has chosen a way to reveal himself to us, his desire is for us to experience His truth.  That’s what the Word of God is…God’s Truth.  (the term “word” comes from the original Greek word, “logos”,  meaning logic, rational thinking or “the truth”.) Romans 10:17 says, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”.  The source of everything we need to know about God is found in The Holy Bible, or the “living word” as it is sometimes called.

Every word spoken by the prophets or written by scribes was inspired by God.  2 Peter 1:21-22 states “…you must understand that no prophecy or scripture ever came about from the prophets themselves or because they wanted to prophesy.  It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak the word of God.”  2  Timothy 3:16 says,  “ 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.”  1 Chronicles 28:9 states: “And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the LORD sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him.”  The highlighted part of that verse is a promise from God, and like almost all promises it begins with the first two words, “if you”. God’s promise to us is, “if we seek Him, we will find Him.”

As we continue to develop a relationship with God, the more we will experience the truth of His Word coming alive in our life. As one of my favorite Christian authors, Neal Anderson states, “you cannot have faith in something you don’t know anything about.”  So as the truth of His word begins to manifest itself in our life, the more a solid foundation of faith develops.  That foundation of faith – or truth – now determines how we are going to live our life, and with those choices comes a peace and serenity never before experienced.

I wish my aunt Mildred would have experienced that.  I wish she would have known the truth of the gospel of grace; that when she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior she became a new creation in Christ; that she immediately was grafted into God’s family based on what Christ did for her at the cross, not anything she did or didn’t do.  I wish she could have accepted that truth as scriptural fact; that the price for any sins she may have committed was already paid 2013 years ago.  I wish she would have known that because of her decision to accept God’s gift of grace, she was assured eternal life with God, with Jesus and with all other believers.

Apostle Paul states in Ephesians 3:14,17-18, “When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan (God’s gift of grace; his salvation package), I fall to my knees and pray to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  “…I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love really is”  As we continue to develop that understanding, we also rest in our assurance that we are building our life on the truth of God’s word; that as His children we are heir to “all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm” (Eph. 1:3); to the same blessings Abraham received because of his faith (Gal. 3;9) and to all the other promises in the Bible…and they are numerous.

The fact is, God wants to bless us.  In Eph. 2:10 we are referred to as God’s masterpiece. In Genesis we were referred to as his proudest creation; now we are his masterpiece.  Why?…because now we are in Christ.  We are no longer slaves to our sin nature.  Now we are filled with the Holy Spirit (whose purpose is to empower us to fulfill God’s plan), so now we can become the person God created us to be.

As you can see, God’s plan for us is not only about what happens to us after we die, (which no doubt is comforting, and I wish my aunt would have had that assurance), but it is also about how to experience the blessings of his Kingdom on Earth right now; the same kingdom Jesus referred to when he taught his disciples to pray, “…Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done…” (Matt. 6:10)   This is way beyond hope.  This is the assurance that only comes from knowing and experiencing the Word of God as the truth, and nothing but the truth!   Thank you God.

My question to you is: are you experiencing God’s truth coming alive in your life?  If so, how?

May God bless ya, and feel free to respond with your thoughts. (click this title above at the top of the list of postings.)

Dan Presgrave, (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Good morning, My Friends.  Unfortunately last night was not a good night for the Birds…but I still think we’ll take it in six games.  Wasn’t the best rehearsal for The Saint Louis Wind Symphony either, so maybe it was just a dark-clouded day.  Oh well, both organizations have the potential to be awesome and have shown it before, so I feel confident the tide will turn.  Coffee is good though, so here I go….

For the past month I have been writing about what it means to be a Christian;  the what, when, why’s and how’s of that transformation.   The first step down that path began with a posting entitled; “What Does It Mean to Be Saved?” followed by “The Salvation Package”, “What is the Holy Spirit”, “Free from the Yoke of Slavery” and “The Great Exchange”.  If you are a new comer to these blogs, I would suggest you check out those listed above in their entirety, but for now allow me to explain briefly (whew! …that will be a challenge) the preparation that came before today’s topic.

Being saved is about accepting God’s gift of grace.  We have come to know Jesus Christ and believe he is the Son of God; that he was the sacrificial lamb that came to take away our sins; and we know that when he rose from the dead three days later, he broke the bondage of death and rose to eternal life.  When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we become a Child of God and we inherited those two gifts; forgiveness of sins and eternal life.  As clearly stated in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish (to be condemned because of our sins), but have eternal life.”  That truth – that scriptural fact, is a gift from God.  It is His gift of grace. We did nothing to earn it nor do we deserve it.  But Jesus’ atonement for our sins on the cross is God’s ultimate show of his love for us.  When we accept His gift, it is our ultimate show of faith (belief; trust) in Him.  Romans 5:8 tells us, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”

What I just talked about is the part of God’s gift of grace that deals with what happens after we die.  No doubt that is awesome and comforting, but we don’t have to wait until we die to start experiencing God’s Kingdom on earth.  Jesus talked about, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10)  And what is God’s will for us on earth?…to be His light in this fallen world.  We are called to share the love of Jesus Christ with people everywhere.  No doubt that is a formidable charge, and most of us feel inadequate – not to mention fearful – of meeting that calling.  That might indeed be true based on our own effort.  But as Christians we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit to empower us to do greater things than we could do of our own volition.   God has given us the power (the Holy Spirit) so we can be victorious in this fallen world.  When we call on the Holy Spirit to be our guide, our counselor, our comforter; to give us wisdom, strength, courage, perseverance, patience, etc. – whatever we need to accomplish His will, we are told, “whatever we ask for that is in line with his will, he hears us…and we will receive what we ask for.” (1 John 5:14-15)

We learned that as human beings we inherited the same sin nature that was passed from Adam and Eve to all future generations because of their disobedience to God’s directive.  All that means is that man’s natural inclination is to live with the focus on himself rather than on God. The only way to remedy the loss of the spiritual connection that originally existed between God and man, is for man to initiate the process.  When we become willing to repent, meaning we become willing turn from our ways and turn to God’s ways, He is there to welcome us with open arms.  James 4:10 reads, “When we humbly bow down before the Lord and admit our dependence on him, he will lift us up and give us honor.”  As we develop our relationship with God, we quickly learn that his foremost will for our life is that we accept his gift of grace.  That is the only way we can be freed from the yoke of our sin nature.  2 Corinthians states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ the new creation has come: the old has gone; the new is here.” Now we are capable of becoming the person God created us to be.  Ephesians 2:10 reads, “We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.  We are his masterpiece because we are in Christ.

 That is the mystery revealed concerning our salvation.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have an exchange of spirit, or nature.  Our old nature, sin nature, is replaced with the Holy Spirit.  The nature of the Holy Spirit is not to sin, but to empower us to live a life that is pleasing to God; a life that reflects the teachings of Jesus.  And what did Jesus teach?…love, tolerance, humility, forgiveness, and being of service to others. Sound impossible? The only reason it is not impossible is because we have the Holy Spirit in us to empower us to accomplish that purpose.

 As Christians we have been set apart for God.  Ephesians 1: 4 reads, “Long ago, even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy (without sin) and without fault in his eyes.”  Notice that God chose us because we chose to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Now we are in Christ.  (Notice “being chosen” has no predestination overtones.  We are chosen because we are in Christ.  There is no other reason.)  The Holy Spirit is the essence of Jesus Christ living in us.  (Ref. “What is the Holy Spirit” Oct. 7^th, paragraph 5).  God knows the weakness of human beings.  He knows that by our very nature we yield to the temptations of the world; the temptations of our flesh; and the lies and deceptions of  Satan.  That is why His plan, even before he created the world, was to send “at just the right time” a savior to do for us what we were incapable of doing for ourselves. (Ref. Romans, 5:8 in paragraph 2 above.)

Jesus also knew that his disciples were, of their own volition, a rather weak bunch. He also knew they drew whatever strength they needed to accomplish their purpose from him.  That is why he told them that after he was gone (meaning after his death), he would not leave them like orphans, but instead would send a comforter, a guide, a teacher, a counselor to empower them – and us – to accomplish his purpose.  And what was Jesus’ purpose; to do “the Father’s will.” (John 6:38)

Because we are in Christ, we inherit not only (1.) forgiveness of sins, which means we can come boldly before God with no fear of condemnation (Romans 8:1): (2.) eternal life with God, Jesus and all other believers: (3.) the Holy Spirit to empower us to live a life that is pleasing to God, as well as a life that will bring us abundance, joy, peace and serenity like we have never before experienced.   BUT THERE IS MORE!

We are also heir to all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm, and all the promises in the Bible…and there are many.  Because we are in Christ, every time we set out to grow in our Christian walk, more truth is revealed.  It is through this revelation that our faith grows and we become more comfortable and confident that our life is built on a solid foundation.  It is on this solid rock of faith that we begin experiencing God’s blessings. He wants us to put our trust in Him.   As stated in Malachi, 3:10, “…I will open the windows of heaven for you.  I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in.  Try it!  Let me prove it to you!” 

My suggestion is that you go to the Bible and open it to Ephesians and read the Chapter 1 (only 23 verses). Notice how many times the blessings come because we are in Christ.  We are truly set aside to be God’s ambassadors to the world and to receive all the blessings he promised His children (us).  When the reality of who you are in Christ sets in, you cannot help but be flooded with joy and hope!!  And who are you in Christ?… You are forgiven; now you are acceptable to God. You are worthy to come before Him with no fear of condemnation..  You are loved unconditionally with a love that is unending and unfailing. You are the righteousness of God, no longer outside his will.  You are a Saint because when God looks at you, He sees you covered with the blood of Jesus.  You are now grafted into His family; now you are his Child.  Regardless of what anyone else thinks of you , this is your new identity in Christ.  Does anything else really matter????

My question to you is:  Are you in Christ?  If not, why not?  Please feel free to give me your feedback.

May God bless ya,

Dan Presgrave, (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Good Morning, My Friends:  This is always a great time to live in St. Louis.  When the Cardinals are soaring, everyone is soaring. Not only are the Birds are flyin’ high, but so is the Saint Louis Wind Symphony…excellent rehearsal yesterday.  Between those two blessings, my beautiful wife and my four-legged boys, all I could say when I awaken today was “Thank you, God!”

Last week I wrote about being Free from the Yoke of Slavery.  The term “yoke” means oppression, burden or bondage and was used in reference to living under the Law (the 10 Commandments).  Now don’t mistake what I am saying…there is certainly no intent to suggest that God’s Law is faulty.  In fact, Psalm 19:7 states “…God’s Law is perfect.”  If you remember from an earlier blog, when the Lord gave the law to Moses on Mt.Sinai it served two purposes.  God’s chosen people, the Israelites, were experiencing freedom for the first time after 400 years of slavery to the Egyptians and they had no idea how to live together in harmony.  The Law served as their civil law.   But it was much more than civil law: it was God’s standard.  It was what He expected from us if we expect to spend eternity with Him in Paradise.  It is still His standard today!

When giving us His law, God knew that man would struggle with it because it’s simply contrary to human nature.  Now I know many of you reading this may think, “I’m a good person.  I have never stolen anything; I certainly have never killed anyone; and I haven’t committed adultery”.  But what about the others laws?  Have you ever gossiped or bore false witness against anyone?  Have you ever taken the Lord’s name in vain?  Do you set aside a day to honor God?  Is God the Lord of your life or do you spend more time focused on other gods such as money, power, prestige, getting ahead, the next new car or house?  Do you ever covet?   Hummm?

Unfortunately, God’s standard is not measured on a grading curve.  It’s not about getting more pluses than minuses after your name or coming close with a score of 98%.   James 2:10 states, “For the person who keeps all laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all the laws.”  You may think, “Wow! That doesn’t seem fair”, but God states in 1 Peter 1:16, “You must be Holy because I am Holy”.

To be Holy means to be clean; to be without sin.  God cannot tolerate sin because it is contrary to his perfect, holy nature, and because it separates man from Him.  Isaiah 59:2, reads, “but your iniquities have separated you from God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” And finally, we cannot come into the presence of God stained with sin because sin spreads, contaminates, kills and destroys.  If you doubt that, look at the Garden of Eden before sin entered the world.  It was paradise.  Adam and Eve were spiritually connected to God and all of their needs were met; there was no sickness, suffering, poverty, famine, hatred, wars, not even death.  It was paradise!  But after sin entered the world, all of that changed.  Just look at the world we live in today; look at its standards; its values; turn on the TV; listen to the latest news, or read the popular magazines.  Does this world look or feel like paradise??

It may seem odd to you that God would give us a standard to live by that would prove to be beyond the capability of man.  But God’s plan was always to show man’s inability to meet His standard based on man’s own effort.  But the good news is…God always had another plan to implement at “just the right time.”  In Romans 5:6 Apostle Paul wrote, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”  ‘Utterly helpless’ is a very powerful statement.  It is clear that in God’s eyes man had proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt, his inability to live a sin-free life based on his own strength.   At “just the right time” means God decided to implement what was always his “plan A”; to provide for man a Savior to do what he was totally incapable of doing for himself.  That is God’s gift of grace.  We did not earn it, we did nothing deserve it.  It was a gift given to us because God is love, and he wants a relationship, an eternal relationship, with us.

In last week’s blog it was shown that man’s bondage was to his human-nature, or as the Word of God calls it, his sin-nature. Bear in mind, we didn’t become sinners because we sinned; we sin because we’re sinners, meaning we were born with a sin-nature (spiritually separated from God because of the fall of man at creation).  We just do what comes naturally; we live with the focus on ourselves instead of on God.  Fortunately we can restore that connection with God any time we choose to do so.  For many of us it happens when we discover the hopelessness of our own efforts and are ready to surrender to God and seek his will for our life; for others it happens when the pain resulting from our choices literally breaks us and we cry out for help; for others it may be a revelation that “there has to be more to life than this.”   Whatever the reason, when we are ready to repent, meaning we have decided to change from our old path and are willing to follow a new path, God – just like the father in the story of the Prodigal Son –  says (with open arms), “Welcome home!” (Luke 15:11-23)

Because God paid a hefty price for us – the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ– he wants us to accept His gift of grace so we will be sin-free when we come before him.  Roman’s 8:1 states, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.”  We are in Christ when we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, and as a result of that decision we inherit forgiveness of sins and eternal life.  While that is indeed awesome and mind-boggling in itself, there is more…much more!  We also receive the Holy Spirit to empower us to live a life that brings honor and glory to God right here, right now in this fallen world.  We are called to be his “light on the hill” to those who do not know Jesus, and to live a life that reflects the principles he taught, ie. love, compassion, mercy, grace, service.

That, my friends, is difficult for three reasons:  we live in these carnal, fleshly bodies; we live in this fallen world; and the Enemy (Satan) attacks us at warp-speed to sabotage our efforts to change.  That is why one of my favorite Christian authors, Bob George, states in his renowned book, Classic Christianity: “You will never have a changed life until you have an exchanged life.”  What he is referencing is what happens at salvation.  The mystery of salvation is the exchange of our spirit.  2 Cor. 5:17 states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come.  The old self is gone; the new is here”.   This is the good news.  Our old nature was to sin.  But our new nature is not to sin because the Holy Spirit empowers us to live for Christ.

As I stated earlier, when we accept God’s gift of grace, we still live in this fallen world; in these fleshly bodies and Satan is an ever-present threat to our success.  Make no mistake, Satan is very real and very much alive today and will use any lie or deception necessary to keep us mired right here in our bondage.  But as stated in 1 John 4:4, “The spirit that is in me [The Holy Spirit] is greater than the spirit in this world. [Satan]” Now we don’t have to yield to our lustful thoughts or any other temptation that may come our way because we have the Holy Spirit to empower us to make choices, and to follow them, to bring honor and glory to God.  Our role is to call on the Holy Spirit to give us patience, strength, courage, perseverance, wisdom…anything we need to overcome the challenging circumstance we are facing.

The more we realize the power that we have within us and how to use it, the more we can grow in our effort to live a life based on Jesus teaching; a life that truly  brings honor and glory to God.  The more we travel down that road, the more blessings we will receive because we are now in line with God’s will.  As his children we are heirs to all the promises of Abraham; all the promises in the Bible; and all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly realm.  Once we experience His blessings and the new life that comes from being in Christ, the more sin loses its appeal.   We are now like the beautiful butterfly that has freedom to soar above the world.  Why would we ever again want to go back to being a caterpillar crawling around on the ground?  After all, in Christ we are promised an abundant life, and  God is true to his promises.

My question to you today is… Do you call on the Holy Spirit to help you overcome?  What blessings have you received as a result of purposely living your life for Christ?

May God bless ya, and we’ll connect again next week.  Let me know your thoughts on this.

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Good Day, My Friends…just got back from spending last weekend in Ohio at my 50^th HS reunion.  What a hoot!  And as you might expect, none of us have changed a bit…other than our eyesight may have become a bit faulty…  But it’s when we have an experience like that we come to appreciate the true value friendships, and come to realize all the more, it’s what we invest in people that is our most important investment.  I am very thankful today God has blessed me with so many friends!

Last week I talked about what it means to be a Christian.  Quite simply it means we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and as a result of that decision, (1) our sins have been forgiven and (2) we inherit eternal life.  It is those two blessings that draw most people to Christianity, and well it should. It certainly beats the alternative: Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.”(spiritual death; eternal damnation!)   While I certainly don’t want to under-state or under-rate the value of those blessings, I do want to point out they are only the beginning of the many blessings that come to us from being in Christ.  Allow me to take a moment and explain the “why” and “how” we get those two blessings before I get into the “icing on the cake” result that comes from being a follower of Jesus Christ.

Prior to our decision to become a follower of Jesus Christ, we lived our life according to the values of this world, albeit a “fallen world”.  We didn’t set out to sin.  We just did what comes naturally according to our human-nature (sin-nature), or what we observed other non-believers doing.  We were living life to satisfy our prideful, lustful, self-centered desires while conforming to the standards of this world without even realizing it was displeasing to God.  In essence we all are (or were) participants in this fallen world. But the good news is…there is an alternative to this quagmire of stressful, sometimes futile, existence that offers us the hope, fulfillment, peace and serenity we have all been searching for, but have been looking for in all the wrong places.

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the above scenario changes.  We are no longer slaves to our sin-nature. Now we have a choice.  At conversion, we became a “new creation” in Christ, meaning our old nature (our sin-nature) has been removed and we are filled with a new spirit, the Holy Spirit that empowers us to live a new life – a God-centered life.  That is what we as Christians are called to do; we are called to be “God’s light in a world filled with darkness.” (Matt.5:14-16)

As I mentioned in last week’s blog, God’s plan for our salvation is perfect.  Not only does he save us from eternal damnation; not only does he promise us eternal life, but he empowers us to begin living a life that brings honor and glory to Him right here, right now in this fallen world.  While salvation certainly gives us hope for what happens after death, it also gives us the ability to begin receiving God’s blessings in this life.   As followers of Jesus Christ, we are called to be his ambassadors to non-believers by carrying his message to the world.  The best way to carry that message is by demonstrating the principles Jesus represented:  love, mercy, grace, forgiveness and service to others.  A message lived is much more effective than a message preached.  Conversely, a message preached, yet not lived does little or nothing to further the truth of Jesus’ teachings to non-believers.   As we learn from 1 John 4:4, Jesus told his disciples, “…if you follow my teachings you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  Jesus was very specific about the truth he was referencing: my teachings, which is the truth of God’s word.

The freedom Jesus is referencing is freedom from our sin-nature.  As stated in 2 Cor. 5: 17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:  the old has gone, the new is here.”  The “old has gone” refers to our sin-nature; the “new is here” refers to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  (Ref. last week’s blog, “What is the Holy Spirit”, paragraph 5, for a more detailed explanation of the Holy Spirit.)   Briefly, the Holy Spirit is the essence of Jesus Christ that indwells all believers and empowers us to rise above this world and live the life we are called to live.

Jesus absolutely knows what it means to be a human living in this fallen world.  He experienced it himself.  Therefore he understands the temptations, the pressures, the trials and tribulations we will face as his followers. The same concern and compassion he showed to his original twelve disciples, he still shows for his disciples today through the Holy Spirit. That is why he said in John 16:7, “I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go away.  If I do not go the Helper will not come to you.  If I go away, I will send him to you.”  It is the Holy Spirit – our helper, our guide, our strength – that empowers us to resist the pressures of this world; the lustful desires of our flesh, and the temptations of the enemy (Satan).  It is the Holy Spirit that empowers us to love God with all of our heart; all of our strength; and all of our mind, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  If we live those two commandments, we automatically live the Law that was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai.  Jesus said in Matt. 5:17, “…I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses (the Ten Commandments) or the writings of the prophets, but to fulfill them.”

As Christians, we too are called to be an example of God’s love, mercy and grace to the world around us.  That is a super-human calling, and without the help of the Holy Spirit, we too would still be in bondage to our sin-nature.  But now we have the power and the freedom to resist the standards of the world and rise to a higher standard, not by our own effort, but by allowing the Holy Spirit to live in and work through us.  Now when we face temptations, trials or tribulations, we ask the Holy Spirit to give us whatever we need to overcome the issue at hand.  Perhaps we need wisdom; perhaps strength; perhaps perseverance; perhaps patience.  1 John 5: 14-15 tells us that “whatever we ask for, that is in line with His will for our lives, will be given to us.” And in Romans 8:28 we find that “…in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  God’s promise to us is that he will bless those who are in line with his will.  Step III of the twelve step recovery program states this most eloquently: “we became willing to turn our will and our life over to the care of God, as we understood Him.”

I highlighted “care” above because I believe that is key to understanding God’s plan for our life.  He is not interested in controlling our lives.  If that were the case, he would have programed us at creation to be perfect ladies and gentlemen and this would still be the perfect world he created.  But he didn’t do that.  Instead he gave us free-will so we have the power to choose our own destiny. But when we turn from the corruption of this world and turn to Him, he becomes our care-giver and does what any care-giver would do.  He meets our needs and looks out for our safety. He also delights in blessing those who are in Christ. In the beginning we were his proudest creation, but now that we are in Christ, we are his Masterpiece.  Eph. 2:10 reads, “He has created us anew in Christ so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”  First and foremost among those things he planned for us long ago was to let his light shine through us as we love one another.  That, my friends, is why we are here.  

Unfortunately there are many Christians today who live their lives seemingly oblivious to the power of the Holy Spirit that indwells them.  That is a sad situation, because it is that power that allows us to live a life that is happy, joyous and free right now.  As I stated earlier, salvation is not something that is reserved for our after-death existence; it is intended to start the moment we become followers of Jesus Christ.

But the truth is…when we become Christians there is no mental delete button to immediately erase the many years of faulty teaching; faulty impressions; lies and half-truths we have stored away in the recesses of our mind.  Again, when we make the decision to follow Christ, the great deceiver (Satan) goes into warp speed to do everything he can to shipwreck our new life.  His greatest weapons are lies and deception, so he uses those faulty impressions, faulty teachings, lies and half-truths as his weapon against us.  “You don’t really think you’re worthy…..”; “You’ll never be able to do…..”; “God will never forgive….”.  All of that is a lie!  The truth is found in 1 John 4: 4, “He (the Holy Spirit) that is in me is greater than He (Satan) that is in this world.”

We are already victorious!  Satan was defeated more than 2000 years ago at the cross.  Your sins were forgiven. You are now acceptable to God because you are a Child of God. Romans 8:1 makes it crystal clear: “There is no condemnation for those in Christ.”  Sin is no longer an issue.  You have been set free.  Now you have the power of the Holy Spirit in you to resist temptation, so now you ask:  Holy Spirit, empower me with, patience, strength, wisdom, courage…(whatever you need) to resist sin and bring honor and glory to God.  That is when the shower of blessings is bestowed on us. We, as followers of Christ, are heirs to all the promises of Abraham; all the promises in the Bible, and all the blessings in the spiritual realm.  It doesn’t get any better than that, my friends, and that is the source of our joy!

My question to you today is… Do you live your life with confidence realizing you have the Holy Spirit in you?  Are you God’s light in this fallen world?

May God bless ya,

Dan Presgrave, (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Good Morning, My Friends.  It’s a cool fall morning in St. Louis so today’s walk required a sweatshirt and sweatpants.  Pam has a swollen foot (perhaps a fracture), so it was just me, Cliff and Glenn.  This cool weather gets them charged up, so they were indeed a handful.  But I’m back home (gym tomorrow instead of today), coffee is at hand and the recording of the last Saint Louis Wind Symphony concert is playing in the background.  Already it’s a grrrreat day and I’m anxious to start writing.

For the past two blogs I have written about salvation.  The first was September 23^rd, “What Does It Mean To Be Saved?”, and the second was September 30^th, “The Salvation Package”.  The uniqueness of Christianity lies in how we reap our reward at the end of life’s journey.  Every other religion in the world is about man reaching up to God, trying to earn His favor through our actions.  Christianity is about God reaching down to man and providing a Savior to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.  The former is about our actions, which translates into a list of “do’s” and “don’ts”.  The latter is about faith; not faith in our own actions, but faith in what Jesus Christ did for us 2000 years ago.  He was the final atonement for our sins!

Romans 3:22-25 states: “We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins.  And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.  For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us “NOT GUILTY”.  He has done this through Christ Jesus who has freed us by taking away our sins. For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us.  We are made right with God when we believe (trust) that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us.”  I personally love these three verses because it is a complete and concise presentation of the first part of the Gospel, the cornerstone of Christianity.  When we accept Jesus’ death on the cross as the payment for our sins, God says in Hebrews 8:12, “I will remember your sins no more”.   And again, Romans 10:9-11 states: “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.  Anyone who believes in him will not be disappointed.”   Being saved is accepting  Jesus Christ as who he said he was, The Son of God; that he came as the sacrificial lamb to die in our place for the forgiveness of our sins; and that he was raised from the dead on the third day and through Him we inherit eternal life.

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we inherit a salvation package that not only includes forgiveness of sins, but also makes us acceptable to God.  In other words, now there is no barrier between us and that perfect fellowship with Him, because the spiritual connection that was severed by the “fall of man” in the Garden of Eden has now been restored. We are also “justified by faith”, meaning when we accepted God’s “gift of grace” we have been grafted into his family as a “Child of God”.  And again, we are made righteous with God, meaning when He looks at us, he no longer views us as a “sinner” but instead sees a Saint (without sin) because we are covered by the blood of Jesus.  As stated in Romans 8:1, “There is no condemnation for those in Jesus Christ!” 

In the Gospel of John, 14-16, we get a close-up picture of Jesus’ final hours with his disciples in the upper room after the Last Supper.  Jesus told his disciples about his impending death and what it would mean to them as he laid out the series of events that would occur within the next few hours.  He could tell they were shocked and frightened, but he also knew the men in front of him were, of their own volition,  a weak lot.  (He was also keenly aware that the responsibility of carrying the message of salvation to the world would rest on their shoulders).  So when he told them he was “going away”, he also told them it was better that he left them so he could ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to be their comforter, counselor,  teacher, and a guide who would lead them into all truth.  This is key…he told them they did not need the Holy Spirit at that time, because He was with them.  Jesus knew that for the past three years the men drawn whatever strength they had from him, so he promised them he would not leave them as orphans.  Instead would send the Holy Spirit  to live in them; to empower them to accomplish God’s will.  (For a picture of the transformation that took place in these disciples, I would direct your attention to Acts, 2-4.  These same men who were in hiding during Jesus crucifixion became giants among men in terms of spreading the truth of Jesus death and resurrection.  On the day of Pentecost, Peter – the same Peter who  recently denied Jesus three times  –  converted 3000 Jews to believers.)  

So what is the Holy Spirit?  It is the essence of Jesus Christ (it is the action part of the Trinity) that indwells every person who accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  Jesus knew that as Christians  – especially new Christians – we would also need to draw our strength from Him just as his disciples did.  Why?…because as Christians we are called to live to a higher standard than the world around us.  We are called to love God with all of our heart, all of our soul and all of our might, and to love our neighbor.  (In a fallen world, that often presents a challenge!)  In fact, those are the only two commandments  under the New Covenant.  But when we are living our lives focused on fulfilling that directive, we automatically live the remaining Ten Commandments.  For instance, how can we steal, murder, lie, cheat, and commit adultery if we are engaged in loving God and our neighbor?

Most churches and most people are focused on the issue of sin, sin, and more sin.  We have  been taught that God hates sin, so often times we spend our entire life wrestling with our sin-nature while trying to live up to God’s standard.  That battle will never end, and in fact can cause us a lifetime of consternation unless we have an encounter with Jesus Christ.  The truth is, if we have been born again (meaning we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior), that issue – the SIN issue, is a non-issue now.   It was resolved when Jesus paid the price for our sins 2000 years ago.  Only when we understand our new identity in Jesus Christ (that we are a new creation in Christ; our old self – our sin nature- is taken away and we are filled with a new spirit – the Holy Spirit),  can we  shift our focus from the matter of sin to the matter at hand: how to live a new life.  As new Christians, the new life we are called to live is one not based on our own effort, but one that allows  Jesus to live his life through us.  We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to empower us to be the person God created us to be.  When we begin to grasp that truth, the scripture found in 1John 4:4 comes to life: “The Spirit that is in me (Holy Spirit) is greater than the Spirit (Satan) of this world”.   That scriptural truth tells us we are already victorious because we are in Christ.  

As I stated last week, God’s plan for our salvation was perfect!  Nothing needs to be added to or subtracted from His plan to spend eternity with us.  From creation to 2000 years ago man proved his inability to live according to God’s standard.  Why?…because God’s standard requires perfection.  As stated in 1 Peter 1:16, “You must be Holy (without sin) because I am Holy”.  His standard is not a sliding scale; it requires 100% purity.  Why…because sin contaminates, spreads, kills and destroys.  In other words, just “being good” is never going to be good to get through the pearly gates and into God’s Kingdom.  (Remember…before our salvation, we were subject to our “sin nature”, meaning it was our nature to live for ourselves instead of for God. We just did what comes naturally, and what we saw everyone else around us was doing.)  The solution to man’s dilemma is found in Romans 5: 6, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”  God’s plan was always to provide a Savior to do for us what we had proven, without a shadow of a doubt, we were incapable of doing for ourselves.  Utterly helpless, as stated above, means totally lost.  The finality of that statement is revealed in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.” (spiritual death; eternal damnation!) 

Let us now turn our focus from the subject of sin, which is really a non-issue for those in Christ, and focus on the real challenge facing new believers: how to live a new life, the life Christians are called to live.  Let me again reference Romans 23, “For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” The truth is…we are still going to fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Why…because there is no mental delete button to push to relieve us of past memories; because we still live in a fallen world; because we are still living in our fleshly bodies; and because Satan, the great deceiver, goes into overdrive to shipwreck our new life.  Consequently we will still continue to stumble and at times even feel like a miserable failure.  Don’t panic!   Apostle Paul dealt with the same issues in Romans 7.  He wrestled with his own humanness and his shortcomings and cried out in vs. 24, “….Oh what a wretched man I am!  Who will save me from this life dominated by sin?  Thank God!  The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord!” (A-men!  He nailed it!!) 

Here is the good news, the truth and the answer.  As Christians we have the power of the Holy Spirit to empower us to rise above the trials, tribulations, and temptations we face in this world.  When we fall short, and we will, instead of begging for forgiveness for our shortcomings (remember, we are already forgiven because Jesus paid the price for our sins), we call on the Holy Spirit to empower us to be the person God created us to be.  We ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom, courage, strength, patience, perseverance, whatever we need, to overcome the world.  1 John 5:14-15 tells us that whatever we ask for, that is in line with God’s will for our life, will be granted.  God wants us to overcome; to prosper; to live the abundant life Jesus promised.  God wants us to begin experiencing the glory of His Kingdom right now.  We don’t have to wait until we die!  That glorious life is available to us right now, and will bring us a peace, serenity, confidence and joy never before experienced.  As Jesus said in Matthew 3:27, “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 

My question to you today is:  Do you realize the power you have as a Christian?  Do you call on the Holy Spirit to empower you to be the person God wants you to be?   How does this manifest in your life?

May God bless ya, and we’ll meet again  next week.

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)

Last week my topic was, “What Does It Mean To Be Saved?”  In that blog we learned that at Creation man was spiritually connected to God and that the Garden of Eden was paradise.  Adam and Eve lived in total harmony with their Creator and they wanted for nothing; it was perfect! However…when they disobeyed God’s directive and sin was allowed to enter the world, Utopia came to an end and Adam and Eve were cursed and put out of the Garden.  Unfortunately for mankind, the same curse that befell our forefathers has been passed on to every generation since Adam. The spiritual connection between God and man that was severed by sin (disobedience) in the Garden has dictated that every generation thereafter be born in sin, meaning spiritually separated from God.  As a result of that separation, man’s focus went from a God-centered state of being to a self-centered state of being, meaning man’s focus, instead of being in line with God’s will and bringing honor and glory to Him, was now shifted to satisfying himself and his lustful passions.  Living in a state of separation from God is referred to as “living in sin”.  As one might expect, if we live in sin, we do sinful things.  The Bible refers to that state as following our “sin nature”.  I find it interesting that our culture refers to this same condition as following our “human nature”.

But there is good news. Because God is a loving God, a merciful God, and a forgiving God and because he wants a relationship with us…an eternal relationship with us, he always had a plan for our salvation, even before the world was created.  We had from Creation to 2000 years ago to try to live up to the standard He revealed to Moses on Mt. Sinai, but man continued to sink deeper into the quagmire of sin.  This is stated so beautifully in Romans 5:6 “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. ..” and again in Roman 3:22-25, “²² We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are or what we have done.  ²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. ²⁴ Yet God, with his gracious kindness, declares us “not guilty”. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. ²⁵ For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood for us”. 

Because we cannot have an eternal relationship with God if we are stained with sin, He knew the only answer was to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.  The sin issue had to be solved, because by its very nature sin spreads; it contaminates; it kills and it destroys.  (If you doubt that, look at the Garden of Eden – paradise; now look at the world we live in today.  Is this paradise?) He solved that problem by offering Jesus Christ as the sacrificial lamb to take our sin upon himself at the cross, thus allowing us to come into His presence.  He sent a Savior to save us from ourselves…from our sin nature.

Now that we have seen the necessity for our salvation, I am thrilled to share with you the transformation that results from the decision to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  In Romans 1:16, Apostle Paul states: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…”  All of this is a gift of grace, meaning we did nothing to earn it and we certainly did not deserve it.  It is, quite simply, given by a loving God who wants us to spend eternity with Him!

One of the most influential books I have read is “Classic Christianity” by Bob George, published by Harvest House Publishers.  God has gifted him to take complicated concepts found in the Bible and state them in a clear, concise manner.  Because of the work he has already done and the clarity of his presentation, I will refer occasionally to his verbiage in the material that follows.  I will put his material in boldface italics.

When people first hear the Gospel, they are almost unanimously drawn to it because of the promise of forgiveness of sin and eternal life.  Now don’t get me wrong, that is reason enough to embrace the offering of Christianity. Forgiveness of our sin is a requirement for being in the presence of God and eternal life is certainly appealing.  If the focus is on what happens after we die, that certainly can add a sense of security to our current existence.  But what about the life you are living now?  Is this the abundant life Jesus promised?  Are you filled with joy?  Are you confident you are fulfilling God’s will for your life?  Is your life a model of peace and serenity?  Do you live your life with confidence that you are heir to every promise in the Bible?

As Christians, we don’t have to wait until we die to begin experiencing God’s Kingdom.  God’s Kingdom is available to all believers right here and now, and we can, and should, be partakers of all His blessings because we are “in Christ”.   The only thing that stands between us and living life to the fullest is the lack of understanding of our new identity “in Christ”.  Prepare for an awakening!  What I am about to write below is your new identity “in Christ”. 

God loves you unconditionally.  Romans 8:38-39 states: “³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[a] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.’’  Because you are in Christ, meaning you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are totally accepted by Him…no matter who you are or what you have done!  

Your sins are forgiven and you can come boldly before God without any fear of condemnation. (Romans 8:1)  This happens because your old nature (your sin nature) is taken away at conversion and you are a new creation in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit to empower you become the person God created you to be. 1 John 4:4, “The spirit that is in me (The Holy Spirit) is greater than the spirit that is in this world (Satan)” You are already victorious because you have the Holy Spirit in you to empower you to overcome Satan, your flesh, and this world!

You are made righteous with God because you are covered with the blood of Jesus.  When God looks at you, he does not see a sinner (that’s who you were).  Now he sees a Saint (that’s who you are today) because you are in Christ.  “Keep in mind that we are made right with God because of our identity, not because of our actions”.  As a Saint we will continue to stumble and fall short of God’s standard, but because we have the Holy Spirit in us, we ask Him to empower us to be the person we now want to be. We want to live a life that brings honor and glory to God.

God’s plan for our salvation is perfect. Not only does he call us to live to a higher standard than the world around us, but he gives us the Holy Spirit to empower us to accomplish His purpose. When we fall short, we no longer have to pray for forgiveness. That issue has already been solved!!  Our course of action now is to ask the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom, strength, courage, perseverance, patience, whatever we need to accomplish our purpose.  If our purpose is in line with His will for our life, our prayer will be answered. (1John 5:14-15)  (It is important that I state clearly…the Holy Spirit empowers us to do the work.  We have to be involved in the process of change, and the processis the root of our spiritual growth!)

Hebrews 4:16 states, “…we may approach the Throne of Grace with confidence that we may receive mercy and grace to help in our time of need.”  “No reason to wait outside the throne room wondering if you’re worthy or because you’re concerned about what you need to do to make yourself more acceptable. You are a Child of God! You have full access to Him, and when you pray in “Jesus Name”, recognizing that apart from Him there is no way we could be accepted by a holy God,  he will delight in blessing you”. 

My question to you is…are you living life to the fullest?  Are you far enough along in your spiritual growth to step out in faith??  Let me know your thoughts on these ideas.

May God bless ya,

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)