Know the truth — Say the truth

A young friend called today asking how I am feeling after pacemaker insertion. One of her questions deeply touched me, “Is God giving you comfort?” She knows me, and she knows God. She wanted to hear me say it.

Sometimes this is the way God works; I don’t hear Him until I say He is speaking, I don’ realize His blessing until the moment I declare that He is blessing me. I feel His saving power as soon as I verbally affirm that He is my Savior.

He did this a few times today. Feeling tired and beat up and old, I opened my laptop and the lock screen came on with this verse:

“Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” (Isaiah 46:4)

Oh Lord, how gracious of You to speak exactly what I needed to hear. This is one of the reasons why I praise You and am so thankful that I know You.

A few minutes later He did it again, this time from Tozer’s devotional with this verse:

“And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.” (Exodus 29:46)

This foundational truth counters a foundational human issue — a ‘poor me’ response to pain or other unwanted situations. Knowing that I am a child of God is wonderful — focusing on that blessing is easier when I feel good, and an extraordinary blessing when I feel terrible.

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Jesus, You said to know the truth and the truth will set us free. This is true on so many levels. I’m grateful. I do not deserve even the least of Your blessings, yet You continue to pour them out. Thank You.

Satan’s Favorite Lie

From the account of the first sin, I’m aware that one of Satan’s main strategies is telling me that God really does not want the best for me. This lie is easy to rebuff when all goes well, but a few events in life have pounded me suggesting that the lie is true, God does not care, and I am alone in these tragedies.

Yet the Word of God persists. In the very beginning of my Christian life, God gave me a wonderful truth . . .

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:28-29)

For nearly fifty years, these verses have sustained me in good times and even in those horrid days when it seemed like God was gone and everyone had stopped praying. He continued to whisper that what was happening would make me more like Jesus, and that is a good thing. The next verses repeat this truth, verifying its reality . . .

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. (Romans 8:31-34)

Even if God seems gone, Jesus Christ is an historical reality. He came, He died, and He rose from the dead. God gave Him that I might live — and what then could He withhold? Not only that, even if the whole world stops praying, Jesus continues to pray for me!

This New Testament reality is also an Old Testament truth, a promise to Israel, and to all who believe:

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Bring out the people who are blind, yet have eyes, who are deaf, yet have ears! All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true. “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God. Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?” (Isaiah 43:1-13)

Simply put, nothing can thwart the love of God and His gracious care for His own.

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Jesus, I’m emotional this morning. Part of it is that we are leaving Italy, a fascinating place with a gamut of memories. Part of it is that we are going home. I miss my bed and my bathtub! But an even greater reason is that You have reminded me once again that You love me, gave Yourself for me, and nothing can change that or stop it from continuing. Life here has its quirks, challenges, changes, and trials, but You remain the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Changing the default setting

At one time I thought that because all sin is forgiven, then I am free to do whatever I please. It didn’t take long to figure out that if what I wanted to do did not fit with the will of God, then it was sin, and sin puts me in bondage – every time.

Applying this to the Christian mind, I cannot be free if I believe lies, but am held in bondage to fantasy and falsehood. My mind is only free if I believe the truth, which strongly implies that freedom means obedience to the truth. That is, if I really believe it, then there are no other options but to follow it.

Paul must have heard the same rationale about freedom, for he wrote this: “Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”

I don’t have to be too wide-awake to realize that once I give in to believing lies, I begin to sin. And once I give in to sin, it leads to more of it. Without Christ, I’d be a slave to all sorts of selfish and sinful behavior. With Christ, there is a way out.

Paul describes that way: “For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.”

Everyone is a slave to something. I’ve quoted David Foster Wallace before. He didn’t know Christ, but he did understand a vital truth: “Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship… is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough… Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you… Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is… they’re unconscious. They are default settings.”

He is right. I need to pay attention all the time about what I choose as my master. If it is pleasing myself with whatever I might fancy, I will never get enough, will never be satisfied. However, if it is Christ, I also cannot get enough, not because He does not satisfy, but because there is no end to the riches that are in Him. Not only that, He offers freedom. He said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31–32)

Paul ended his words (above) with this: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:15–23)

Wallace never found out that there is a way to change the default setting. We cannot do it, but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ changes everything. Instead of being stuck with sin, He sets me free to worship and serve Him. What a warm and wonderful thought for a cold and snowy day! 

The Power of Truth

We laugh at a jingle about hypocritical religious people: “We don’t smoke and we don’t chew, and we don’t run with the girls who do.” No wonder many people think Christianity is a life of ‘don’ts’ and no one has any fun!

Nevertheless, being kept from evil is important. Jesus prayed that for His followers. He knows that a life of sin is destructive and deserving of God’s wrath. Like parents who want the best for their children, He also wants the best for His lambs.

Jesus also prayed that His people be set apart for Him. Holiness is not merely about staying away from evil, but about knowing the truth and being set free by it. He said…

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)

If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:31–32)

Truth has the power to make me holy. Sin began with a lie that God does not want the best for us, and because that lie was believed, the human race plunged headlong into ruin. We still struggle with this lie. Even those who know and believe in the goodness of God stray because they are duped into thinking that God’s way is not the best way. This is why every Christian needs to read, study, think about and obey God’s Word. Without it, we are prone to fall for deception.

His truth is my lifeblood, my daily medicine for my soul’s ailments. I cannot be holy nor do the will of God apart from truth. For me, the Bible is God’s tool to produce piety and zeal for Him. It is His way of purifying my thoughts, words and actions. I’m thankful to have it on my desk, bookshelf, even on my computer. Truth is never out of reach. I can read it in private, hear it read in public, and remember it when unable to read or listen.

God tells me to fill my heart and mind full of His teachings. He has taught me to pick it up with a prayer that I will hear Him speak and the expectation that He will say what I need to hear. Even as I read, I become aware of the state of my heart. When I am prone to obey I know it, but when I’m dangerously close to disobedience, the Word of God also makes me aware of my condition. It keeps me alert to lies that hover nearby, ready to turn me aside.

Sometimes I hear Christians say, “I know the Bible says… but I’m not sure where to find it” or they speak revealing that the liar has diverted them from truth. Those are sad times because I know what happens in my life when I neglect or forget the Word instead of being devoted to it.

I’m thankful Jesus prays for us, caring that we are godly people. May that prayer be answered so we always know truth and find great joy as He sets us free by His Word, the Word of truth and power.

The power of truth

In ancient times, funerals were performed by Egyptians who strongly believed in an afterlife. They thought that a deceased person crossed over to the land of the dead and continued ‘life’ there. For that, they needed to recognize their body so they could be reunited with it. Therefore, the body must be preserved as long as possible, leading to elaborate embalming. Then deceased person might have been buried in a tomb with all their possessions for use in their afterlife. 

Other cultures had different ideas about death and the afterlife, if they believed in one. However, the people of God had been promised life after death. Job knew that after he died, he would, “in my flesh see God.” Yet the Israelites did not embalm; their deceased were buried as soon as possible.

This was true when Jesus died. I’ve not had time to research this, but it seemed that in His time, the event of death was a bigger issue than focusing on the body as the Egyptians did. Still, the body needed to be taken care of, and oddly enough, His mother and family did not do that, but a prominent member of society.

And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. (Mark 15:42–46)

In those days, a devout Jew highly valued the nation (God’s chosen people), obedience to the Law of God, the temple and their faith in one God. Jesus challenged all four values every time He had anything to do say about Gentiles, told them they missed the major purpose of the Law, predicted the destruction of their temple, and told them He was the “I am.” It is little wonder that they hated and crucified Him. 

But not all rejected His teaching. Joseph of Arimathea was one of the devout that listened to Jesus. He asked for Jesus’ body, and then took care of the burial. Courage was needed since the disciples had scattered, rightly fearing that they would be next to die because they followed Jesus. But this Joseph took courage.

What was it that made the difference? The passage says that he was “looking for the kingdom of God.” In those days, that anticipation meant a restoration to Israel of their former glory resulting in their rule over all oppressors, Rome in particular. Did Joseph believe that? Or did he understand that the kingdom of God was as Jesus said and not about political sovereignty?

Matthew’s Gospel says this man was rich, and also a “disciple of Jesus.” Luke says he was “a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God.” John said that Joseph made this request secretly “for fear of the Jews.” 

This tells me that Joseph believed what Jesus said about the kingdom. He knew that it was about the rule of God and concerned the spiritual condition of humanity, not their physical or political circumstances. By believing this, which was so contrary to popular thought, no doubt he also believed what Jesus said about their religious value system. Like Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea was going against the tide. His life may also have been in danger. Courage indeed!

All of this makes me think of the cushy life I have; no threats from the authorities, no worries that I will be strung up by the thumbs for believing in Jesus. The worst I’ve ever experienced is the wrath and ridicule of ‘religious’ people who think that faith in Christ is about being “good” and about chalking up points with God. My faith in Christ and in the grace of God is a challenge to their value system, something like Jesus’ challenged the ‘devout’ in His day yet I’m protected by ‘civil rights’ — at least for now.

Joseph also points to the power of truth. Jesus embodied it and declared it, and when He did, many believed it and many still do, regardless of popular thought and opinion. Faith in Christ continues today because truth changes lives and gives people courage to go against the tide.