(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.) I ended last week’s message with the stark comparison between the work of satan and the work of Jesus. It is important to remember that what you put into mind, whether through reading, viewing, talking or thinking, produces mental images which set up expectations. Most often, the actions that follow these expectations grow out of the seeds that have been planted. For instance, satan’s sole purpose is to “steal, kill and destroy YOU!.” His method of shipwrecking your best effort at becoming a Christ-follower is through lies, accusations, and deception of every kind. His evil schemes are intended to produce fear, doubt, anger, hatred, depression, anxiety, guilt, shame, remorse, jealousy, and a sense of hopelessness, and unworthiness. When these poison darts define your behavior, nothing good is ever the outcome. Now, let’s compare this to Jesus’ purpose and message.
Jesus said, “Satan came to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come to give you life, and life to the fullest.” (John 10:10) Because God is Love, so also is Jesus Love. His very essence IS Love. He told His disciples, “If you follow My teaching, you will know THE TRUTH, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) So the next logical question should be, “What did Jesus teach?” I’m glad you asked that question. His message was about love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, kindness, faithfulness, Kingdom principles, service to God, service to your fellow man, and joy. When your mind (and your heart) is filled with these qualities, your behavior displays honor and integrity. Therefore, the more you grow in these virtues, the less lying, cheating, stealing, gossiping, finger-pointing and aggression shape your character. Now you are being prepared to be the person He created you to be. You are, in fact, becoming more Christ-like.
Living Life to the Fullest (or the Abundant Life)
In the paragraph above, Jesus said He came to “give us life, and life to the fullest” (some translations say, “life more abundantly.”) So, what does that mean to you? Does it mean you get the desires of your heart; does it mean you will accumulate more wealth, or does it mean you will climb the ladder of success? Unfortunately, that is most likely the world’s translation of that statement. In fact, there are even some church doctrines built around that erroneous teaching. The next Scripture should illuminate the flaw in that way of thinking.
We are told in Matthew 6:33, “If you seek FIRST the Kingdom of Heaven and His righteousness, all these things will be added unto you.” If you are wondering, “what things will be added unto me?”, the two paragraphs above that statement list the things you have been trying to get through your own effort, such as food, clothes, shelter, security, and purpose. But If your focus is on serving God and achieving His purpose, those things that you have tried so hard to get, many times in vain, will be added to you as blessings. You don’t have to work for them; they are given to you as gifts. God blesses those who are in line with His will.
You might be thinking, “That sounds wonderful, but how do I live my life to the fullest? How will I recognize it? Again, I’m glad you brought that up. Let me start with two Truths. First: Today we are no longer living under the Old Covenant. Under that covenant, it was about our performance; it was about us trying to achieve God’s forgiveness, thus, His acceptance. Second: Today, we live under the New Covenant; it is no longer about our works or our effort. Jesus did the work for us. He paid OUR sin debt at the cross. All that is asked of us in return, is that we believe He IS the Son of God, and that He came to carry out that very purpose. Yesterday, I was explaining this to a man with whom I am discipling, and he asked me the all-important question: “How do I know if I am truly believing?” Wow! In that question is the key to living life to the fullest.
2 Peter 1:3-4 tells us: “The more we grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ, His divine nature gives us EVERYTHING we need for living a Godly life. We received all of this by growing in our relationship with Him. He has also given us great and precious promises that enable us to share in His divine nature, and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” (divine nature means “supernatural power” manifested through the Holy Spirit.”) As we learned earlier, the Holy Spirit empowers us with His supernatural power so we can be victorious over the world, our flesh and satan. As Apostle Paul stated in Ephesians 6:12-13, we need this power so that after our engagement with satan and his minions (spiritual warfare), we will still be standing firm. The more we shift our focus from “my effort” to “His effort”, the stronger our faith becomes. Ephesians 2: 14 tells us, “The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He WILL give us the inheritance He promised, and that He purchased us to be His own people.” All of this is because we are in Christ.
This, My Friends, is how we achieve the fulness (or abundance) of life. We become more and more aware of the supernatural power afforded us by God’s gift (the Holy Spirit). As a result, we minimize our natural desire to “go it alone.” The more we abide in the process of calling the Spirit into action, the more that action becomes our new way of life. (This is explained in detail in pt. 7 of this series.)
The result of this transformation is a deeper wisdom, courage, strength, patience, compassion and love , which in itself produces in us a confident assurance and a peace and serenity that we would have never thought possible. “And why is that?” you might ask. Because we are in the process of becoming more Christ-like ourselves! Two Scriptures substantiate that statement: “When we come humbly before the Lord and admit our dependence on Him, He WILL lift us up and give us honor.” And again, Jesus told His disciples, “The world will know you are my disciples by your love for one another.” (John 13:35)
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 this 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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