THE VALUE OF FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES (2) #299

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers…Have you ever noticed, in a moment of enlightenment, that the answers you were searching for were right before your eyes all the time, but for some reason you kept stepping over them? If you’re honest with yourself – and I know you are – you know exactly what I mean.  Last night I was asking the Holy Spirit to direct me to the topic for today’s blog, and it was very quiet.  Again on my walk this morning, still nothing.  So when I sat down at my desk in front of the keyboard and asked the same question, the answer came quite clearly: “Dude…yesterday you were expounding more than once about the value of fundamental principles and the need for repeating and reinforcing them! What’s wrong with that?  If it was worthy of so much attention yesterday, why not share it today?”  Daahhh…I could only smile and shake my head. How did I miss the obvious…again?

In my Christian counseling experience I have learned one undisputable truth, and that is…the answer is always the same.  Whether someone is struggling with addictions, relationship issues, anger issues, self-esteem issues, gambling, pornography – whatever the issue might be,  the answer IS… realizing what our identity in Christ really means, and the power that comes with that identity.  Now I realize that may sound too simplistic to some readers; “one size never fits all”, you exclaim, but in this case it does!

Since we are all living in this fallen world – both believers and non-believers – “stuff happens”, to slightly misquote a popular worldly phrase.  That’s life, right?  But the answer to “life’s issues” is how we respond – or react – to them, and depending on what tools we have in our “coping with life” toolbox, that pretty much defines our behavior.  For instance, the unbeliever’s action regarding relationship issues, low self-esteem, anger, jealousy, disappointment etc. are most often “reactions” because  when “self” is being challenged or threatened, the most important thing at that moment is protecting the image they want to portray.  In virtually every case, fear in one form or another is usually the motivation  behind this behavior.  When we talk about living in these “fleshly” bodies, we are referring to actions and reactions that developed to protect or satisfy “self” when living independent of God.

As a nonbeliever, you are in this world and “of this world”, meaning you have assimilated the patterns and customs of this world and have bought into its teachings, stresses and values. Apostle Paul cautioned against this in Romans 12: 2: “Don’t conform to the patterns and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will know (and only then) what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.” (my edit)

Now that I have defined what the answer is NOT, let me focus on the value of fundamental principles as stated in the title.  First and foremost, we serve a loving God (“God is Love”, 1 John 4:8).  God created us for a relationship with himself, and not just a here and now relationship, but an eternal relationship.  But since mankind proved itself “utterly helpless” (Romans 5:6) to overcome the issue of SIN (Romans 6:23), God sent his only Son to pay our sin ransom (with His blood) so we can partake of eternal life in Paradise that is promised to all who are in Christ.  Not only does God’s Gift of Grace seal our eternal destiny, but his salvation plan is so perfect that it includes a gift to empower those of us who are still living in this fallen world to rise above our trials and tribulations to become the person he created us to be.  And that gift is the indwelling Holy Spirit, whose purpose is to empower us to bring honor and glory to God through our thoughts, words and deeds.

Ephesians 2:10 defines the last sentence in the paragraph above: “For we are God’s masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can now do the good things he planned for us long ago.”  “Now” is very important in that Scripture because before we were in Christ, we were totally focused on doing the things we wanted to do, not the “good things he planned for us long ago.” 

Being in Christ means that the moment we say we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we are immediately “justified” with God.  To be “justified” means we are made right in God’s eyes because we are covered with the blood of Jesus.  We are immediately grafted into God’s family; now we’re his Child: our sins are forgiven; now we qualify for eternal life: we’re heir to all the promises in the Bible: we’re heir to all the blessings in the heavenly realm.  But of utmost importance to those of us who are still living in this corrupt and broken world, we have the indwelling Holy Spirit to do for us what we proved from Creation to 2019 years ago we were incapable of doing for ourselves.  2 Peter 1:3-4 tells us: “As we know Jesus better, his divine power 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 might power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises.  He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature.”  How is that for assurance?

So here is why I say the answer is always the same.  Jesus told us, “In this world you will have trouble.  But fear not! I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:33)  Bear in mind, if Jesus has overcome the world, so have we because we are in Christ and Christ is in us (in the form of the Holy Spirit.)  We are already victorious…we just have to know that truth and hold on to that truth!   1John 4:4 tells us that “He that is in me (Holy Spirit) is greater than he that is in this world.” (satan)  The indwelling Holy Spirit is what gives us His wisdom, power, courage, strength, patience, perseverance, whatever it is we need, to rise above and escape the decadence of this world.  (as referenced in the paragraph above) We are empowered to do this so we can bring honor and glory to God through our choices..

In the third paragraph above, I talked about fear being the motivator for many of our ungodly behaviors: fear of insecurity; fear of unworthiness; fear of powerlessness; fear of being exposed.  Bear in mind, “God didn’t give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of love, power, and self control.”  (2 Timothy 1:10)  But when our motivation from being in Christ is bringing honor and glory to God through our choices, or desiring to become the person He created us to be, God’s gift of the Holy Spirit  empowers us to achieve those goals.  Nothing is more pleasing to God than bringing to life the truth of James 4:10: “When we come humbly before the Lord and admit our dependence on him, he will lift us up and give us honor.”  That’s exactly what we are doing when we get out of the way and call on the Holy Spirit to do for us what our human nature prevents us from doing: resisting addictive behaviors; loving our neighbor when they are down-right unlovable; forgiving those who have wronged us; living a life of honesty and integrity.

To sum this up…2 Peter, three paragraphs above, tells us we have been given “everything we need for living a godly life.”  That’s why we have been given the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  God wants us to succeed in this fallen world.  He wants us to be the light of Jesus in the darkness.  We’re in Christ!  We just have to rely on and use the power (the indwelling Holy Spirit) that comes from that identity.   When we do, one size does fit all.

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May God bless you abundantly…

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)