Category: truth

Becoming a Truthful Person

“Jesus answered, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.”  John 14:6, NCV

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As we travel through this amazing life, we’ll experience so many things.  We engage every kind of scenario.  Much of it is good, but some will be bad.  When my Mom would give me medicine, she would often mix it with sugar.  But I could still taste the bitter, even with the added sweetness.

We have come to the place where we must swallow the truth.  We are learning to see that truth must be accepted.  We are brought to a place where we must take the truth in, and become true people.  The Word is the place where we start to assimilate what is real and true.  We are confronted “point blank” by what is real and trustworthy.  Falsehood flakes off us, and we begin to bask in the solid and eternal.

We are supposed to become people of the truth.  What is false should have no real business with us.  It is alien to the believer in Jesus.  It is a gear that no longer “syncs” in our mechanism.  We only mesh with the truth from this moment on.  We have been altered and we now see things from a brand new perspective.

We belong to the truth.  It is who we are, and nothing should distract us.  So much however assaults us, and we must focus pretty much exclusively on the things we know are authentic.  Our faith is to be bona fide and true blue.  There should be not the  slightest hint of duplicity.  We must avoid the trap of becoming fraudulent to our generation.

Each of us must accept the truth.  About ourselves, and about the unfolding of this life, about the reality of evil and salvation.  The presence of Jesus turns life upside down.  The things that were on the bottom have now moved to the top. Everything has been tilted.  It’s not surprising that we have issues as we try to sort things out.

I want to be a truthful person.  Lies and half-truths are fluent in my world.  I become inured to what is real, as I choose the lie.  And the amazing thing, is when I lie, the other person seems to know it on some deep level.  I suppose I am a terrible liar, and my attempt at sincerity only makes it worse.  I think I could make several million dollars if I could only teach people how to lie better.

Truth must become an intimate friend.  We need to be guided by what is real and sincere. “Buy truth, and do not sell it, get wisdom and instruction and understanding.” Proverbs 23:23.  There has to be a firm grip on what is true, and certainly we cannot barter it away.  Christians are to be truthful, even in a world that isn’t.

 

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Flight Control

” But the people who trust the Lord will become strong again.
    They will rise up as an eagle in the sky; 
       they will run and not need rest; 
       they will walk and not become tired.”

Isaiah 40:31

To ‘renew’ your strength carries the idea of change– just as if you would change your clothes to go somewhere special.  The NCV translates this to “become strong again.”  I trade the clothes of weak patheticness, and wear intended strength that He gives.  God fully intends that we put on His greatness when we come before Him.

He does not want us to merely have a ‘changed life,’ but He really wants us to have an ‘exchanged life.’  He doesn’t intend to better us.  But He insists on exchanging His life for ours.  A trade if you will– the ugly for the pure, and the black for the white.    He absorbs our sin, and He gives us His righteousness.  We give Him desperate weakness, and He gives us an awesome strength.

But there is a time thing.  We will need to wait.  The transaction has already taken place.  It all has been transferred to your account.  Our waiting will never be too long.  The ultimate end will happen.  Until then, we must trust and obey, in anticipation of a wonderful thing.  We will not, or never be– ashamed.

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Take the Next Turn for Truth

 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 8:32, King James Version (KJV)

 

This is one of those verses that seems like a cliché.  It has been sanded down and polished to the point where its beginning to lose its outrageousness and distinctiveness.  It still sounds noble though, and we do respect it.  Typically it is one of the first verses we commit to memory.

But what is it saying?  We  look around and see so much ignorance and fear, even among the ‘educated.’  There is the fear of cancer, the fear of misguided children, the fear of sudden poverty, the fear of growing old, and much more.  It seems human beings are attracted to fear like a moth is to a candle.

Ignorance is just as prevalent.  Many see, but few understand.  We make His message very simple, so all can know.  But the backlash is many are miffed by our simple message.  In Mexico, in one of those pathetic camps, I heard the most anointed gospel presentation I have ever heard in all my years in ministry.  A very young American girl stood up in front 80 kids.  She shared using a glove with five colors of the gospel.  I sat and I wept.  The nearness of the Lord was so strong, and the message was so real.

We are often a confused people. The Bible’s favorite metaphor is that we are misguided and misdirected sheep.  Sheep, mind you!  Much of the time our ignorance doesn’t come out of simplicity.  It comes out of complicating ideas and circuitous understanding.  We think we will be able to latch on to meaning and understanding if only we read difficult books, or take that course in philosophy. We are buffeted by the complexities. (But surely then we will grasp the truth!?)

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  One of the ways we come to recognize truth will be seen in a subsequent freedom.  Only people of the truth have real liberty.  And perhaps that is the best way there is to be a free person.  Bondage to sin is way overrated; ignorance and confusion puts you in terrible servitude to the whims of your sinful desires, and Satan and his kingdom.  But when we comprehend what is truth, it gives us an appetite for even more of His rule in our lives.

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BB Book Review: “Imaginary Jesus”

“Imaginary Jesus,” by Matt Mikalatos

This was a book saturated with holy surprises.  For sure, the title seemed eccentric and I couldn’t be certain that it be worth reading.  After I read several pages I was able to use my own “spiritual” GPS and locate, and understand the “lay-of-the-land.”  There was a sense of reading something very fresh, and striding to keep up with Mikalotos.  I discovered that I couldn’t wait for the next page, which is a great indicator.

Imaginative and engaging.  If this book transformed into a person, I would immediately invite him to my living room for coffee and a conversation.  I would not hesitate.  Plot and content wise–this is a narrative of a man’s journey to what is real.  Especially in the spiritual realm of the truth, where it is best to possess what you confess.

The book unfolds with adventure after adventure.  It has a plot that seems like sci-fi.  It is both exotic and friendly, all at the same time.  If I could think out loud my impressions of “Imaginary Jesus” in a single word it would be “winsome.”  Mikalatos presses into our imaginations a journey that is both amusing as it is cutting.  It is a fun read, that is explosive and sure, it puts together for us an understanding of our own hearts in this generation.

Outside Review: “Take the theological forcefulness of Bonhoeffer, combine it with the imaginative whimsy of C. S. Lewis and the wit of Charles Spurgeon, and you get Matt Mikalatos. Imaginary Jesus marks the debut of one of today’s most prominent young Christian writers. “(Gary Thomas, Author of Sacred Marriage and Pure Pleasure )

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I purchased my book direct from Amazon.com for $10.19 USD.

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: BarnaBooks (March 18, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10:9781414335636
  • ISBN-13:978-1414335636
  • ASIN:1414335636
  • Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars.  (134 customer reviews)
  •  Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #75,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)