Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…First, I want to thank all of you who are my faithful readers. You keep me going. Just like everyone else, sometimes I get busy, distracted, anxious, and, in all truth, sometimes “the well” just seems to have run dry. But here is what I’ve learned. In that state of un-motivation: If I call on the Holy Spirit, He has proven Himself faithful to respond to my plea. Such was the case for today’s presentation. Once again, I was re-directed.
In our Southshore Falls intercessory prayer group, the prayers were focused this morning on our responsibility as Christ-followers to share the Truth of God’s Word. No doubt, that was Jesus’ last directive to His disciples: “Go! Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all I commanded of you. And surely, I am with you always, even until the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20) The obstacle that stands in the way of most people responding to that command is “FEAR…fear of being unprepared for the task, fear of rejection, fear of ridicule, or fear of letting God down. At this point, let me point out a rock on which we can stand: “God did not give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of love, of power, and a sound mind” (some versions say “self- control”) (2 Timothy, 1:7)
Since “God IS LOVE” (1 John 7:21), not only does He love, but His very essence is LOVE. This means that nothing can emanate from Him that is not rooted in “LOVE”, such as forgiveness, grace, mercy, compassion and kindness. Therefore, anything that is not rooted in LOVE is from satan, such as fear, anger, hatred, jealousy, doubt, depression, anxiety, guilt, shame, remorse, pain, suffering, sickness, and even psychosomatic illnesses. The spirit of fear is from the father of lies himself, and this spirit can stymie the best efforts of unsuspecting Christians.
God revealed Himself to His proudest creation so we could come to know Him. Since we were created for a relationship with our Creator – an everlasting relationship – He knew that we would have to come to know Him before we could choose to enter into that union. Therefore, He chose to speak through prophets to reveal what He thinks, and what He thinks about us; what His plans are, and how we fit into those plans; what His promises are, and how we can achieve these promises, and, of course, what His standards are. These words are collected and codified in a book called The Holy Bible. Everything we need to know about living in this world, and the world to come, is revealed in this book. In fact, the very name,” Bible” can be viewed as an acronym: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. Everything is there! And just a word of caution, not having time to read it is not a valid excuse when you are standing before God giving an account of your life.
Quite simply, faith or fear is the result of the voice we are listening to in our head. Galatians 5:16- 18 explains this perfectly. “So, I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives you desires that are opposite from what your sinful nature wants. These two forces are constantly battling each other and your choices are never free from this conflict. But now that you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer a slave to your sinful nature.” Your faith grows deeper and stronger as you submit to the direction of the Holy Spirit
Whether you know it or not, you are an actor in an eternal morality play entitled, “Good vs. Evil.” You were born into it; you didn’t ask for it, and maybe you don’t even care about such “foolishness”. But, the role you play depends on the choices you make throughout this life’s journey, and those choices have eternal consequences. You can choose to honor God with your choices (Good), or you can choose to honor satan by choosing “self” over “Him”. (Evil) That is the battle that is referenced in Ephesians 6:10-13:
“Be strong with the Lord’s mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor (The Word of God – the Truth) so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the devil. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms. Use every piece of God’s armor to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle, you will still be standing firm.” (Remember, if you let satan get you into a power struggle, he will win every time. He is, according to Jesus, the Father of Lies. None of us can stand against him toe to toe.)
Therefore, it is imperative that WE take the reins to turn these battles into Truth struggles, just like Jesus did when He was tempted. He stood on God’s Word and crushed satan three times. Notice that each of Jesus’ statements were proceeded by the phrase, “It is written…” God’s armor is the Truth. Satan’s lies cannot stand up against God’s truth.
The two previous paragraphs should make it abundantly clear that spending time in the Holy Bible (the Word of God) is essential to growing in our relationship with Jesus. This Book is the source of Truth, and it is by growing in, believing in, and experiencing those truths coming alive in our lives that our faith grows. Faith is simply choosing to believe what the Bible says is true. After all, the author of those magnificent words is God Jehovah of the Old and New Testament; the Creator of the Universe, the Godhead of the Trinity, the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, immutable, and the Alpha and Omega. What other source of claimed-to-be truths can possibly stand against this source? After all, God Himself said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will last forever.” (Matthew 24:35)
When we choose to believe God’s Word, and when we begin seeing it come to life in and around us, we know – without a doubt – that we are standing on solid ground. Satan and his minion army have but one purpose, and that is to shipwreck our best effort at becoming the person God created us to be. We are his enemies because we left the dark domain. We now live in the light, and that is why we are targets. In my previous life, whenever I heard somebody mention satan, or the devil or the dark domain, I would scoff and say, “I’ve never experienced any of that “crap” you’re talking about.” Today, I understand the error of my counterfeit security: satan already had me. He had me right where he wanted me, so there were other “fish to fry.” Make no mistake…when we make the choice to bask in the light, it becomes a whole different story. War is declared, and the battle is on. And believe me, it is a battle!
Satan’s most powerful lies are rooted in fear. So, when he comes at us, he already knows each of us intimately because he had us before we saw the light. Therefore, he knows our every weakness, and he knows just what buttons to push to bring us down. Not a pleasant thought, of course, but we are called to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are called to be discerning. The sooner we recognize satan as the author of our emotional turmoil, the sooner we can rebuke him by telling him (meaning, speaking out loud, and speaking with passion!) who we are in Christ. “Satan, I am a Child of God.” “Satan, Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior” “It is written, “The Spirit that is in me is greater than the spirit in this world” It is written, “You are a liar, satan; I choose to stand on the Truth of God’s Word.”
So, why should we be afraid to share the Gospel of Grace? After all, God said, “Be strong and courageous, for I will go before you. I will never leave you or forsake you” (Joshua 1:9) Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid, trust Me!” (Mark 5:36) “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13. And when called upon, the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth. Jesus said, “I will remind you of my teachings, and I will give you my words to say.”
We must not forget that carrying the message is not done through our own strength. Our role is to get out of the way, and to call on the Holy Spirit to give us His wisdom, His words, His courage and strength so we can be the ambassadors we are called to be. Don’t be afraid; trust Him! Put your faith into action!
Feel free to respond to this message, and please share with other social media friends.
May God Bless You Abundantly,
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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