Happy July! Hard to believe that 2017 is already half gone. Despite the prevailing wickedness sweeping the earth, you and I can live each day with a holy purpose: shining the light, love, and truth of Jesus Christ into the darkness, one person at a time. Because we know for sure that our Lord is coming back for us (which could be before you finish reading this), we can manifest the peace that passes understanding and the joy of the Lord, whatever the circumstances.
Here in the USA, we celebrate the birth of our republic on July 4, calling it “Independence Day.” This holiday signifies our gaining national and individual freedom from governmental tyranny. One dictionary defines freedom as “exemption from the presence of specific control, restraint, or interference.” Freedom is the power to choose your own thoughts, words, and deeds.
As a Christian, your personal “Independence Day” was when you got born again of God’s incorruptible seed and, by way of the new godly nature you received, were given the power to escape the dominance of your old sin nature. And, because Jesus said that knowing the truth makes you free, your freedom has grown in proportion to the Truth of God’s wonderful Word that you have continued to learn and apply. Now, most limitations to our spiritual freedom are self-imposed.
Remember that the biblical definition of what we can call “capital-T Truth” is, “the way things really are (reality);” “the revealed essence of a matter,” that is, “what is true in any matter under consideration.” God’s Truth stands on its own merit, no matter who believes it or doesn’t believe it. Those who choose to believe it benefit from it; those who refuse to believe it receive the consequences of their unbelief. The same goes for what we can call “small-t truth,” that is, what is real and true in a given situation.
The above truths are in stark contrast to “Postmodernism,” a nihilistic (which comes from the Latin word meaning NOTHING), materialistic, (and utterly ridiculous) philosophy that rejects the possibility of objective truth, and concludes there is no such thing as absolute Truth (which, of course, is in itself an absolute statement). Postmodernists say that we each construct our own beliefs, and that “truth” is relative, with everyone’s beliefs having equal validity. Sad to say, Postmodern thought has infiltrated Christianity to a great degree. When push comes to shove, very few Christians really believe that the Bible is absolute Truth.
Logically, if knowingthe Truth makes one free, believing UN-Truth puts him in some degree of bondage/slavery/incarceration, whether or not he knows it. Thereby we see the practical relevance of Truth to the quality of one’s life. It is a matter of enjoying freedom versus suffering in slavery.
Although “UN-Truth” seems a fairly gentle way of expressing the opposite of Truth, God uses a much more poignant word in Scripture: a “lie,” that is, “a false statement made with de-lie-berate intention to deceive.” Consider the following verse, which Jesus spoke to the evil Pharisees:
John 8:44
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
How else do we know that God’s Arch-Enemy, the Devil, hates Truth, and that murder and lies often go hand-in-hand? Gimme a “J,” gimme JESUS! Remember the record in Jeremiah 36 when the prophetic words of Jeremiah were read to the bonehead king Jehoiakim? How did he respond? First, he cut up the scroll, and then he burned it. Certainly we can see the parallel to what Satan later did to Jesus, the Living Word. First, he cut him up beyond recognition, and then he would have burned his body in Gehenna, the city dump, as was the policy with executed criminals. The only reason he didn’t was the obedient intervention of Joseph of Arimathea, a rather unsung hero in the Bible, whose actions led to the blaring witness of the empty tomb!
Today, you and I are to be “living epistles, known and read by all men.” And we can be, if we properly relate to God’s Truth. We simply need to Be True to Truth, like Jesus was. That is, he hid the Truth in his heart to the degree that it “automatically” surfaced in his words and deeds. That’s why he could make the rather startling statement: “I AM THE TRUTH.” He was saying: “I BE TOTALLY TRUE TO TRUTH, because everything I think, say, and do is precisely according to God’s Word.”
Our risen and exalted Lord promises to help us follow in his steps. In Ephesians 4:15, the Greek text has no verb for “speaking,” so it reads: “Instead, truthing it in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” In essence, that refers to our living the Truth.
TRUTH is the basis for all godliness, which is why there is no substitute for biblical Truth. That is also why Satan works so hard to lace his lies into Christianity, to the detriment of God’s people. Think about it: Truth defines love, as well as every other biblical concept. And the most important truths in the Word are those about which Satan’s lies do the most damage. For example: Jesus Christ is God; God is in control; everything that happens is His will; there is no such thing as actual death; “dead” people are alive, either floating in “Heaven” or burning in “Hell”—forever; a Christian can lose his salvation; speaking in tongues is a “gift” that is not for everyone; and the positively rampant confusion about which parts of Scripture directly pertain to Christians today.
Have you considered how very few of our dear brethren through the centuries have ever opened “The Best Book” and been able to really understood God’s Truth regarding those critical issues? It has been a miniscule percentage, and yet YOU probably did that very thing today. Why? Because once upon a time you were in the right place at the right time to hear God’s genuine Truth. And what a joy to share it with a hungry person, like someone did for you!
The following section of Scripture brilliantly illuminates some truths pertinent to the subject matter of this letter. As with all its uses in the Epistles, the word “Lord” refers toJesus, whom God made Lord (Acts 2:36). The “treasure” in view is the “knowledge” at hand, both in the WRITTEN Word and in our Lord, the LIVING Word.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18; 4:1-7
17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
1Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ,who is the image of God.5For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
The “god of this age,” of course, is the Devil, who uses lies to blind people, that is, keep them in the dark, to the Truth of the Word. The more he can do so, the less they are transformed into the image of Christ. So don’t keep the lid on your “jar,” but let others taste of its delicious contents. In other words, open your heart and your mouth and pour out the Truth you are so privileged to know.
In a recent email exchange, I commented to a longtime believer friend that I just know there have to be at least, say, a million people (or more) on the earth who would absolutely LOVE the Word we teach. But, I said, I don’t know whom they are or how to reach them. She agreed that, given the excellence of our work, there should be more intense interest about it. Then she offered what I think is some good insight, which I will capsulize for you in closing, with a few of my thoughts interspersed.
The genuine display of God’s supernatural power is about the only thing that kindles a “fire” in today’s spiritual arena. Even though teaching based upon true biblical scholarship burns in the hearts of the relatively few who do think logically, it will always be the POWER of the spiritual life that taps most people’s passion, especially in times of transition and hardship.
Today, the appearance and effects of the supernatural (genuine) and the occult (bogus) have become stunningly apparent. Because of this, many of God’s most passionate people are primed to receive instruction in opposing, transcending, and negating the darkness in culture, politics, business, and education. People want to know how to beat it. That’s where the fire is in this century so far, and it seems hotter than ever. Nihilists, materialists, and fascists thought they had stamped out people’s passion for the power of our Father, but it appears that their attempted suppression has only created a volcanic eruption of determination to access the power of Christ to do the works he asks us to do. Generally, this movement is a beautiful thing. One just has to be careful, as always, to sidestep the land mines of the counterfeit—and God’s Word is our standard for so doing.
The Word tells us that, overall, things on earth will grow ever darker until the Lord comes for us, but amidst that darkness, our light can shine ever more brightly, and probably more so than we have allowed ourselves to imagine. We are children of the MOST HIGH GOD, and He is infinitely resourceful in helping us do His will, changing the lives of one person at a time and “pulling them from the fire.” With the confidence that “greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world,” we want to learn all we can about “weaponizing” the holy spirit in us and thus outshining all the false flares of the enemy.
I assume that you, like I, want to see many more signs, miracles, and wonders in your life in regard to delivering others from the grip of the Enemy. God’s TRUTH is the only basis for exercising His power like that, so let us hold fast to “every jot and tittle,” rejoicing with thanksgiving to our Father for so graciously making it known to us. And let us, like Samson with the Philistines, “seek an occasion” to step up in the battle and take advantage of every opportunity to boldly minister to everyone we can. You’re not going to hurt anyone by praying for him, and he might get healed! Cha-ching!
