Good Day, Meetpastordan Readers…I am filled with joy today as I write this message, and I can only credit this euphoria to my growing relationship with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For quite some time, I have been consciously choosing to live in the “victory that is mine” because I am in Christ. Jesus gave me, and all other Christ-followers, “authority over all the evil schemes of the devil”; He said, “no harm will come to you.” And James tells us, “rebuke satan, in the name of Jesus Christ, and he will flee from you.” Are these promises true? How do you know? It’s one thing to say they are true, but are you willing to step out in that truth? That’s when the rubber hits the road. Getting from “believing” to “stepping out” all depends on the intimacy of your relationship with God and His Son, Jesus Christ. Stepping out and becoming the living Word yourself, is the goal of being a Christ-follower. The more you grow in your personal relationship, the more you will come to believe, without a doubt, that “if He said it, it is true!”
2 Peter 1:1-4 substantiates the above paragraph: ”The more we grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ, His divine power (the indwelling Holy Spirit) gives us EVERYTHING we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive His own glory and goodness. And by that same mighty power, He has given us ALL of His great and wonderful promises. He has promised that we will escape the decadence of this world caused by evil desires, and that we will share in His divine nature.
When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are immediately “justified” (made right) in God’s sight. This happens in the blink of an eye; we are transformed. We are now the living truth found in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “We are a new creation in Christ, the old is gone (we are no longer slaves to our sin-nature), the new has come” (the indwelling Holy Spirit). We are now covered by the blood of Jesus. When God looks at us, He sees this new creation (that re-born us) that has inherited the righteous of His Son. We are now His children, and we are Jesus’ brother or sister. We’ve definitely moved from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light.
As overwhelming as this is, it is only the first step in an intended journey to become more Christ-like ourselves. Being justified only prepared us for this journey; now it is up to us to participate in the process of growing and maturing in Christ. This is where we find the new wisdom, courage, strength, perseverance, patience, peace, serenity, and joy! This is where our faith grows; this is where we can begin experiencing the promises and the blessings that God so delights in giving. This is how we become the person He created us to be while living in this fallen world. (ref. the last sentence two paragraphs above.) It is through this process that Jesus can become our Lord!
As I’m sure you are aware, many people make the decision to accept Jesus as their Savior only to get fire insurance. While that decision does seal their eternal destiny, they miss out on the journey of transformation. They continue to live the lifestyle they lived before, then wonder why they’re missing the abundant life that Jesus came to give them. Other than professing the title “Christian”, they are ensconced in the values and mores of this world. Unfortunately, that is a very sad existence.
Jesus didn’t come to start a new religion, He came to shine the light of the deficiencies of the religion into which He was born. He did, however, come to teach Kingdom principles in order to show how far Man had drifted away from God’s standard. Those who followed His teaching were known as Christ-followers, or The Body of Christ. Jesus told His disciples: “If you follow My teachings, you will know The Truth, and The Truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) That promise is still very much alive today, but notice His specificity; He said, “My teachings”, meaning the Truth of God’s Word as opposed to worldly teachings, philosophies, or religious doctrines. Following Jesus’ teachings IS the pathway to freedom.
God’s salvation plan for Mankind is perfect. Not only does it seal our eternal destiny, but God also provided a special gift to those of us who are living in this fallen world. This gift is available to ALL who are in Christ, and it is a power that allows us to tap into the spiritual (or supernatural) realm to accomplish more than we could ever accomplish through our own best effort. It is the indwelling Holy Spirit, that is referred to in the second paragraph as “His divine power”, or “His mighty power”. This power is unique to Christianity, but unfortunately, many people tackle life as though they are totally unaware of this blessing. Apostle Paul addressed this same issue two thousand years ago with the Galatians when he sent them this letter. He stressed the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit to guide their steps and decisions.
“Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by keeping the Law? Of course not! The Holy Spirit came upon you only after you believed the message you heard about Christ. Have you lost your senses? After starting your new Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? It is clear that no one can ever be right with God by keeping the Law. For the Scriptures say, ’Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey ALL of God’s Law.’ Let me say it again, “If you want to find life by obeying the Law, you must obey ALL of the Law.” But Christ has rescued us from that curse. When He hung on that cross, He took upon Himself the curse of OUR wrong-doing. Through the work of Christ Jesus, God was pleased to gift all Christians with the indwelling Holy Spirit “ to empower us to do more than we could ever accomplish through our own effort.
“So, I advise you to live your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. For 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 the sinful nature craves. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict. But when you walk according to the Holy Spirit, you are no longer a slave to your sin nature.” (taken from Galatians3-5)
Do you get that? Take a few moments and let that incredible Truth sink in. The above paragraph is what I have referred to many times as “Man’s dilemma”, and this is why I say that. When Sin entered the world, God allowed man to wrestle with the issue of.Sin through his own effort. But when it became obvious that Man could never meet God’s standard through his own effort, God, in His mercy, implemented His plan that had been in place even before the world, and Man, were created. To substantiate that statement, Romans 5:6 is Man’s report card on his best effort. :”When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time to die for us sinners.” And what was “just the right time”? When we proved ourselves to be utterly helpless. Wow! That’s quite an indictment.
Now I want to clarify what sometimes is a misconception. The Holy Spirit does not fight our battles for us. But if called upon, He will empower us with His wisdom, courage, strength, insight, patience, perseverance, words to speak, ears to hear, whatever it is we need, to be victorious in our battle against worldly teachings or philosophies, our flesh, or satan’s lies. Remember, when you made the choice to move from the domain of darkness into the domain of Light, satan marked you with a target on your back. You are now subject to his barrage of lies, schemes, and accusations, which are intended to shipwreck your walk and growth in Christ. Don’t sell him short…he is a master at his craft.
But, here is the Good News! Because God knows what we have to deal with in this fallen world -remember, he saw what the world did to His Son – He gifted us with the Holy Spirit so we can be victorious right here, right now. As the Scripture from Galatians (three paragraphs above) so clearly states, it’s all about the choices we make. We can either choose the domain of darkness or the domain of Light. We are told in 1 Peter 5:8 that “satan is constantly prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” But fear not, because “the Spirit that is in you (the Holy Spirit) is greater than the spirit that is in this world” (satan). This IS a promise from God. Are you ready to step out in that truth?
I will close with this beautiful promise found in Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s Masterpiece. He created us anew in Christ Jesus so that we can NOW do the good things He planned for us long ago! How beautiful and true is the Word of God!
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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