You may have been like me…your parents took you to Church every Sunday, you participated in activities at Church, and you even memorized Bible verses. You had lots of head knowledge about God…but it never migrated south to your heart. It wasn’t until years later when I had a very personal encounter with Jesus, that my life was changed forever. So what happened? We can go through life knowing “about” something, but it’s not until we come to the full comprehension and experience it for ourselves that it’s made real. When God reveals the spiritual truth of just who Jesus Christ is to us and that He died for our sins…there is no longer any confusion. For the spotlight of truth shines brightly onto our wretched lives, and we see ourselves for what we really are…a sinner needing salvation.
Tag: worship in spirit and in truth
II John 2 ” Because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever.”
Truth comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in you. We are to be firmly established in that truth, which is ultimate, absolute, and divinely revealed, but at the same time difficult to distinguish from all the world’s noise. That still small voice is a whisper against the clamber of everything around us. Oh how wonderful it would be if the Holy Spirit had a blow-horn poised by my ear to direct me! But instead I must listen…and listen acutely for His voice. Do you want to know the truth? Then you must train your ears to listen carefully, blocking out the din around you and disciplining your mind . As this verse says, the truth lives within you…you just need to listen.
II Timothy 4:3-4 ” For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
There’s nothing more uncomfortable than the conviction of the Lord as He shines the light of truth onto our sinful lives. Conscience-stricken, we nervously look for a way to escape the situation and the guilty feelings that are overwhelming us. Humans don’t like feeling convicted…instead, we’d rather hear lovely, benign platitudes and feel-good stories that don’t offend. Over history, mankind has fabricated falsehoods in their minds…lying, deceiving fables and myths that go against the teachings of the Bible…but help to make them feel less guilty about their own forbidden and unrighteous desires. These fables and myths gloss-over doctrinal truth…rejecting the Gospel and deceiving the listener.
Isaiah 49:6 ” I will also make You a light for the Gentiles, that You may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”
Jesus told His Disciples, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19) And for Believers, the Great Commission holds true for us today. The Lord is the God of salvation and the Gospel message, the Good News of Jesus, is to be brought to the scattered children of God. (John 11:52) We are to take this light – this truth – to every man (John 1:9)…for it gives revelation. (Luke 2:32) God’s plan and purpose is for the Gospel message to be brought to the ends of the earth by the feet of His Believers…for as the truth of His light is spread abroad, darkness must flee.
Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”
I can’t stress too much the need for you to be in the Bible…to be reading for yourself…learning for yourself what is said within the book covers. Devotionals and commentaries are good…but they’re telling you about God. To have a full, complete, and enlightened instruction of what’s in the Bible, you must read it for yourself…allowing the light of truth to illuminate the areas of your life that need change. So I ask you…are you brave enough to have the word of God shine a light into the dark places of your soul?
John 17:17 ” Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.”
In this chaotic and deceptive world today, how do we know what’s true and what’s false? With fake news and questionable anonymous sources spewing misleading information…where are we to find balance and authenticity? So I ask you this, how can we not search for the truth from the Creator of all truths? God’s words are trustworthy, (II Samuel 7:28). The truth found in the Bible is absolute, transcendent, and divinely revealed to you…if you but open the book. When you are armed with God’s truth, you will not be easily swayed or deceived…for when God’s word is your bedrock, you will be able to look past confusion and see God’s hand at work.
Matthew 10:27 ” What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.”
In those times of darkness… when unhappiness and turmoil have you crouched down in the valley of despair…God will speak truths softly to you. Precious truths that will encourage, exhort, and sustain you during that critical time…but it doesn’t stop there. God wants you to share with others these precious truths when the light of day finally shines again in your life. For after you have passed through the valley of the shadow of death, the truths God whispered to you then, become the lifelines for others who still remain in darkness.
II Corinthians 3:18 ” And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, Who is the Spirit.”
Jesus spoke of this glory in John 17:22, when He said, “I have given them the glory that You gave Me that they may be one as we are one.” When we become Christians, we undergo a spiritual transformation…a invisible process, a metamorphosis if you will, where our very character is changed. And by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit we become a mirror, reflecting Jesus to others. But you’ll also notice that this Scripture says we are “being” transformed with “ever-increasing” glory…which means His work in us will never be completely done until that day we meet Him face to face.
Matthew 6:27 ” Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? “
In our minds, we’d love to have it…the perfect Christmas, complete with bells and mistletoe, gifts and family. But it usually doesn’t work out that way, and in the weeks leading up to Christmas stress takes over and we find ourselves focused on the wrong things. We’re worshipping the problems by worrying…we’re devoting ourselves to a crazy schedule out of desperation…and we’re putting up on a pedestal the to-do list only we think must get done. Quit fretting and stewing over the small stuff…Christmas will happen with or without every detail being done and it will be perfect in its imperfect way. For if you think about it…there has been only one “perfect” Christmas…and it happened in all places – a cow shed.
Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.’ “
The verse written here was the fulfillment of prophecy first spoken by the prophet Isaiah, “The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (Isaiah 9:2) Jesus was the embodiment of light and truth, and His message still rings true today…”Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
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