(Because of the targeting nature of the next few blogs, the first two paragraphs will be a copy of those in Pt. 1. The new material will begin in the third paragraph for the next few weeks.)
Good Morning, Unbelievers (and faithful Readers): Welcome! Let me introduce myself: My name is Dan. You might not know me, but I know you. “How do you know me”, you might be wondering? Because I was an unbeliever myself for most of my life. I was a very proud Atheist; I was an intellectual. In fact, I even had the title, Professor, to prove it. Therefore, I could not possibly accept that trivial drivel the church is selling. I mean, “Come on…smart people like me and you can’t fall for gibberish that makes no rational sense.” That was my excuse. What is your excuse? You don’t believe in God, or you believe in God, but not Jesus? You don’t believe in organized religion, or you’ve been scared by organized religion? You don’t believe there is only one way to an after-life; you don’t believe in heaven or hell; you don’t believe the Bible can be true; you’ve seen church leaders that you once followed fall from their pedestals; you know hypocrites who claim to be Christians, but who continue to live as heathens; you see no way you could have fun if you’re expected to follow all of those confining “dos” and “don’ts”, or… you believe you are a “good person”, in fact, better than most, and you know that God, because He is a good God, will welcome you into heaven. Those are many of the classic reasons for remaining an unbeliever. I get that! The truth is, all of those thoughts were stumbling blocks for me as I continued to live in bondage to my arrogance.
So, you may be asking yourself, “What is Dan’s deal? Why does he care about what I believe, or what happens to me? My honest answer to that question is this: There was certainly a time when I could not have cared less about you, your belief or your destiny. But during that period of my life, I was totally consumed with “me”, my agenda and my career. As smart as I thought I was, in reality…I was totally ignorant of The Truth. I had a lot of knowledge and common sense, but I was ignorant of what I now know to be THE TRUTH. (I want to be perfectly clear here; I am not referring to worldly truth, worldly philosophy, or situational truth. I am referring to God’s Word (or God’s Truth, which is collected and codified in the Holy Bible). Today, it breaks my heart to know that people will perish just because they do not know THE TRUTH. I want to do everything possible to give unbelievers the same opportunity I had for redemption. I hope you will take five minutes to read each of these blogs. If you have questions, or criticisms, please respond to me at drpresgr@gmail.com , or you can call me at 314-799-7075. What have you got to lose?
(The new material for this lesson starts here). For the past two weeks we have learned about the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the evil schemes of satan (the devil) The Spirit is not only our source of courage, strength, wisdom, patience and perseverance, but He is also our promise of “victory” over the dark domain. Satan, on the other hand, is a liar, an accuser, a destroyer, a thief and a cheat. His sole purpose is to shipwreck our best effort at breaking free from Sin (living to please “self” rather than honoring God), and experiencing the joy and freedom that comes from being in Christ. His methods include lies, deception, and trickery of every sort that entice our vulnerabilities. Unfortunately for us, he knows ALL of our weaknesses. But here’s the good news! This week we will learn how to stand against our enemy. (Just a reminder: I am talking about the spiritual realm, not the natural realm. Both the Holy Spirit and satan exist in the spiritual realm, but their activities manifest themselves in the natural realm, as you will see as you read on..
Let’s look at the Holy Spirit’s (God’s) realm. His realm is LOVE; everything emanates from His LOVE for us (mercy, grace faithfulness, self-control, patience, goodness, gentleness, joy, kindness, and peace). If what we are experiencing, or facing, doesn’t emanate from those qualities, the author is “the father of lies”, satan himself! Now let’s compare the spirit of LOVE with the spirit of EVIL.
Since satan’s role is to lure us back to the dark domain, or to take us out, his means of spiritual warfare includes, fear, pride, unforgiveness, doubt, anger, hatred, jealousy, depression, anxiety, doubt, fear, remorse, and convincing us that we are unloved or unlovable. No joy or freedom exists when our minds and our hearts are filled with this kind of vitriol. Here is the truth! When our minds and hearts are polluted with such condemnation, our thoughts, and eventually our actions, mirror those feelings. Make no mistake, satan and his minions ARE fanning the flames of destruction: doubt becomes unbelief, fear becomes lying, cheating and stealing, jealousy or hatred become physical action, pride or unforgiveness prevents relationships from healing or flourishing, and depression or unworthiness becomes suicide. What you have just read in this paragraph is hell on earth.
Remember, we are living in a fallen world. As I wrote before in pt.6 of this series, we are living in an eternal morality play entitled, “Good vs Evil.” (If you’re new, I suggest you go to my website (meetpastordan.com) and read pt 6 so this will make more sense.). Ephesians 1 tells us that even before God created the world, He had a plan. That plan was for Jesus Christ to come in a human body to pay the penalty for the sins of Mankind. Throughout the New Testament, we are told that anyone who accepts this “Gift of Grace”, meaning those who are in Christ, will experience eternal life. Revelation 21:27 makes this perfectly clear: “Nothing evil will be allowed to enter (The New Jerusalem – God’s New Kingdom). Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (meaning, those who are in Christ.)
In other words, our life in this world is an audition for eternal life. As I said in last week’s blog, unbeknownst to us, we are all actors in this morality play. The choices we make along this journey will determine our fate. Our natural inclination is to yield to the teaching and philosophies of the world. Why? Because before we made a decision to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, satan had us right in the palm of his hand. He was actually the puppeteer pulling our strings, and we didn’t even know it. So, when we yield to satan and his evil ways, we are known as “sinners.” Now look at the previous paragraph and what it says about evil (synonymous with sinner) and eternal life. “Nothing evil will be allowed to enter.” In other words, anyone stained with sin will not qualify for eternal life. (Not my words, but God’s words.)
As I have written in previous blogs, when you decide to leave the dark domain and transfer to the domain of light, you now have a target on your back. Satan has you in his cross-hairs, and he will be relentless in his pursuit of your destruction. But here’s the good news; you have the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit in you. This is your gift from God so you can be victorious against satan and his evil minions. When Jesus was sending His disciples out to carry His message, to cast out demons, and to heal the sick, He said: “I have given you authority over all the evil schemes of the devil…no harm will come to you.” (Luke 10:19) That promise to His disciples 2021 years ago is still applicable to all Christ-followers today. So, the next logical question should be, “How do I take authority over satan and his minions? I’m glad you asked.
James 4:7 tells us: “Submit to the will of God. Resist the devil, and He will flee from you.” I know what you’re thinking: “That can’t be it. That’s too simple.” Well, that is it, and it is simple…but definitely not easy. Notice there are three parts to that all important key to victory. First: We have to submit to God’s will. In other words, we have to be in Christ. If we’re in Christ, we have already accepted His Gift of Grace. God paid a hefty price for our salvation, and all He asks from us is to believe and accept His gift of Love, and to continue growing in that gift.
Second: Satan is the father of lies. His sole purpose is to deceive and to fill our minds and hearts with lies. But Jesus has given us authority over the dark domain. The only way to confront satan’s lies, is with the truth of God’s Word (Scripture), just like Jesus did in the wilderness. “Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. I am a Child of God”, “My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has given me authority over you”, The Spirit in Me (Holy Spirit) is greater than you, satan” “Jesus said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.”
Third: When you take your stand against satan and his minions, he knows you’re armed and dangerous because you’re standing on Biblical Truth. The truth is, you have seen him for who he is, a liar! But you, on the other hand, are standing tall on the Truth of God’s Word, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. (The following is a sample of the process.)
(First, call the Holy Spirit into action; “Holy Spirit, give me your courage, your strength, etc. I am relying on your divine power to win this battle in the name of Jesus.” Now you’re ready to rebuke satan.)
So here is what a confrontation might look like: Speak out loud; be FORCEFUL, be CONFIDENT!
“In the NAME OF JESUS CHRIST, I REBUKE you, satan. You were defeated 2021 years ago AT THE CROSS. Jesus is my LORD AND SAVIOR; I AM A CHILD OF GOD. You have NO AUTHORITY over ME; JESUS GAVE ME AUTHORITY OVER YOU! GET BEHIND ME SATAN!!
OK, Believers… it is time for us to partner in this effort of sharing The Truth with unbelievers. All I ask of you is to either copy, or send via email, these messages week by week to any unbelievers you know. It will be most impactful if you send them in sequence, 1,2,3 etc. With our partnership, we can save souls that will otherwise be condemned. Thank you for supporting this endeavor.
May God Bless You abundantly,
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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