Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers… Last week Pam and I had the opportunity to vacation in Florida. We traveled the Gulf Coast from Clearwater south to Venice visiting with friends, real estate agents, and spending two days and nights at Velencia Lakes to get a feel for that property. It was particularly awesome, but we’re still open to new discoveries. I had prepared a blog to go out automatically last Monday, but obviously I set it up wrong. I’ll hold that one in reserve because I have a completely different idea about what I want to share today, and I want to dedicate this to my dear friend, Rick.
Isn’t it interesting that when we meet someone for the first time, the conversation usually revolves around our profession, where we’re from – and maybe even why we’re here, where we went to school, our family, and sometimes, but rarely, we might even have a chance to mention our faith; “I’m Lutheran, Presbyterian; Methodist, Catholic”, etc. All of this gives us a chance to present the image we want the other person to see, but it doesn’t open the door to who we really are. In other words, we have no idea what is really going on inside the other person. To get from that level of acquaintance to a real friendship takes an investment of time and desire.
In the culture in which we live today, there are a lot of faulty “success” equations that have captivated our mind. For instance, in the book, “The Sensation of Being Somebody, Maurice Wagner points out some of these misconceptions: a good appearance plus admiration equals a whole person; star performance plus accomplishments equals a whole person; a certain amount of status plus the recognition we accumulate equals a whole person; success equals happiness, and conversely failure equals hopelessness. “Not so”, he says. “These equations are no more correct than 2 plus 2 =6.” It is not what we “do” that defines “who we are”; it’s actually “who we are” that defines what we “do.” But in today’s culture, that statement is often looked at as upside down.
Let me explain. By worldly standards we have to keep up with the constantly changing culture in terms of the latest fads, fashions, changing values and morals in order to be considered “hip” or “with it.” To stand against this changing tide takes incredible knowledge of The Truth and courage, because one can expect a barrage of demeaning labels such as “racist”, “bigot”, “xenophobe”, “masagenoist”, or “homophobe”. The truth is…the current culture, which claims to be tolerant, is particular intolerant with those who hold opposing views and have the courage to stand for something contrary to their way of thinking. And truth be told, the stress and turmoil that comes from participating in this worldly “rat race” often results in what our medical profession has labeled “psychosomatic illnesses”.
So our choice is to decide where we want to find our identity. Do we want our identity to be defined by the shifting shadows of the world, or do we want to find our identity in the immutable standards found in God’s Kingdom? In God’s Kingdom, there is only one equation, and it is: Me + Christ = fulfillment, joy, purpose, peace and serenity. As one who was totally sold out to the worldly way of thinking for the first half of my life, I‘ve experienced living the “lie”. In my quest for fulfillment, happiness, and purpose, my life was my job, alcohol, drugs, women, and more and more material things as I tried to fill that preverbal “hole in my soul”. But all of that was temporal. There was always “something” missing.
On April 21st of 2000, I finally hit my bottom. I was caught on tape and finally saw myself as others had been portraying me – but I wouldn’t listen or believe them. But that day became my first day in a recovery program, and it was also my first prayer after a thirty year drought. “God help me stop drinking. I know I’m killing myself and I know I can’t do it without your help. Please help me.” Nothing more ceremonious than that, but I haven’t had a drink of alcohol or used any drug since that memorable moment. Needless to say… that got my attention, but even more important, it started me on the quest of searching for answers to the “whys”, “hows” and “ifs” of my experience. In 2002 I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, and in 2008 I became an ordained Pastor.
Neil Anderson, author of “Victory Over The Darkness”, states that God’s will for our life is two-fold. First is to accept his Gift of Grace (Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior); and second is to begin growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ: who he is, why he came, what he did for us; and what he will continue doing for us right here, right now. Jesus promised his disciples – and that includes us today who are in Christ – that he would not leave us as orphans. He told us he would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit (the essence of Jesus Christ) who will live in us to be our counselor, our comforter, our guide who will lead us into all Truth. The Holy Spirit will also empower us to become the person God created us to be. God gave us this gift because he knows we are still living in our fleshly bodies; that we are living in a fallen world; and that we have a formidable foe who is hell-bent on shipwrecking our efforts to become more Christ-like. But God’s plan for us already includes victory over this darkness! Just keep reading. 🙂
1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us: “…God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it.” That way out is the Holy Spirit empowering us with God’s wisdom, courage, strength, insight, patience, perseverance, whatever it is we need, to be victorious over the trial or tribulation. Two scriptures that totally support this are: 1 John 4:4 “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won your fight with temptation because the Sprit who lives in you is greater than the spirit that lives in this world.” And nothing is more pleasing to God than when we bring James 4:10 to life: “When you (we) bow down before the Lord and admit our dependence on him, he will lift us up and give us honor.”
Because we are in Christ, we’re in! We inherit everything Christ did on the cross on Good Friday, and we inherit the eternal life to which he rose on Easter Sunday. To fully understand the power and freedom we have from being in Christ, allow me to enumerate: our sins are forgiven (Christ paid our ransom from spiritual death); we inherit eternal life (because Christ rose to eternal life); we have the indwelling Holy Spirit (so we can become the people God created us to be right here, right now); we are grafted into God’s family (we are now His child too); we are the righteousness of Christ (not because of anything we did, but because of what Jesus did for us); we are worthy and acceptable in God’s eyes (because we are covered by the blood of Jesus); we are heir to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm; we are heir to every promise and covenant in the Bible. How’s that for strikin’ it Spiritually rich???
The prerequisite for the indwelling Holy Spirit is being in Christ. Once we’ve accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, this is God’s gift to us so we can bring honor and glory to Him through our choices, and so we can become the person he created us to be. When either of these two purposes motivate us, we say “Holy Spirit, empower me with YOUR wisdom, power, perseverance, courage, insight, patience, eyes to see, ears to hear” – whatever it is we need to honor God with our choice. James 4:10 above says he will honor this request.
So the choice is yours. Do you want to live by the standards, teachings and turmoil of this world, or do you want the simplicity of adhering to God’s equation: Me + Christ = fulfillment, joy, purpose, peace and serenity…oh yes, and for eternity!. I found it to be a no brainer!
Feel free to respond to this posting, and please “like” and share with other social media friends.
May God bless you abundantly,
Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)
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