Tag Archives: your word is truth

LIVING LOVED

Christian Life, ,

What a great question! Since the Bible assures us that we are deeply loved, how can we weave this truth into our daily experiences with their crises, disappointments, and challenges?

There is a principle in Scripture and in life…our decisions and actions are a process, that we function, first from our minds, through our thoughts, understanding, and belief, and eventually into experience.

So, Paul says, the transformation we experience as new creatures in Christ begins with exchanges that go on in our minds. We learn the truth and receive it in exchange for the wrong ideas we had. This is the essence of repentence.

The information we need that will move us from thinking, believing, and doing what affects us detrimentally, is truth. Truth is found in what God has revealed about Himself, us, and the world we live in.

John 17:17 NLT
[17] “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.”

2 Timothy 3:16 NLT
[16] “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”

Step number one, then, in the process of learning to live loved, is to replace whatever our opinion is about ourselves and God’s attitude towards us, with truth.

Romans 12:2 NLT
[2]”Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect”

The world has taught us to be suspicious of God, and the troubles and adversities we face or we see happening to others seem to confirm our suspicions that God is not be trusted.

Who is telling the truth? Is the world correct in its evaluation of God’s character? When we look at the evidence of what God has done for us through Jesus, we can only conclude that it’s the world that is lying, not God.

So, if it is true that God loves us absolutely, unconditionally, with a constant love, that same love as the love He has for Jesus (and Jesus assured us that this is true – John 17:25-26), then we can act on this truth.

Step two…how do we weave God’s love for us into our responses to our circumstances? Once we have accepted and believed the truth that God loves us, we must learn to change our awareness. We must discipline our minds to factor God’s love for us into every circumstance and situation, especially when we experience difficulties, hardships, disappointments, or loss of any kind.

Romans 8:31-39 is the passage to dwell on. As each situation arises, with a growing awareness of God’s love, we dwell on the truth that nothing can come in between us and God’s love for us.

This response, practised repeatedly through difficult experiences, slowly develops into a settled attitude of mind. We breathe the air of God’s love with every breath we take. We are not fazed by adversity because we believe that God’s love permits only what is beneficial for us, and works for our good in everything. God is sovereign. He supervises everything to work for our good.

Step three…we develop a new thought-habit. We attribute every situation, good or bad, to God’s love until we anchored in that truth. We are slowly learning to interpret and live in the confidence of God’s love in every situation. We are eventually resting and living loved.

IN THE BEGINNING… – 1

Bible Study, ,

​1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5

Since only God is eternal, everything else in the universe must have a beginning. Two books in the Bible start with the words, “In the beginning…” That’s comforting for us because at least we have a place to begin to unravel the mysteries of life that confront us every day.

The theory of evolution, which rejects the truth that God is the creator of everything, can only guess at where it all started. However, it doesn’t matter how far back they try to go, the evolutionists cannot answer the question, “Who or what began the process?”

So, best we trust what the Bible says and move on from there.

How did it all begin?

Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God…”
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word…”

So, God created by speaking.

‭Psalms‬ ‭33:6‬ ‭NLT‬
[6] “The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born.”

John, however, explains Genesis 1:1, that God’s spoken word, in Scripture, is a person. Everything that God does comes about through a person.

‭John‬ ‭1:1‭-‬2‬ ‭NLT‬
[1] In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He existed in the beginning with God.

That person is God, the one who made everything God created happen.

‭John‬ ‭1:3‬ ‭NLT‬
[3] “God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.”

‭Colossians‬ ‭1:15‭-‬17‬ ‭NLT‬
[15] “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, [16] for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. [17] He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.”

He came to earth as a human.

‭John‬ ‭1:14‬ ‭NLT‬
[14]”So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”

This Word accurately represented God’s Word on earth. Everything He said and did was God’s Word in action. Jesus testified to this truth…

‭John‬ ‭12:49‭-‬50‬ ‭NLT‬
[49]”I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. [50] And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

… so that He always spoke, not in His capacity as the second Person of the Trinity but as the living Expression of everything the Father had spoken. Thus He could say,

‭John‬ ‭14:6‬ ‭NLT‬
[6] “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

because He came to embody the word…

‭John‬ ‭17:17‬ ‭NLT‬
[17] Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.

Jesus is the life because…

‭John‬ ‭6:63‬ ‭NLT‬
[63]”The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”

When Jesus speaks, He speaks the very Word of God because He is the Word, not the “logos” of Greek philosophy but the “torah”, the teachings of divine wisdom.

‭Proverbs‬ ‭8:6‭-‬7‬ ‭NLT‬
[6] Listen to me! For I have important things to tell you. Everything I say is right, [7] for I speak the truth and detest every kind of deception….
[12] “I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment. I know where to discover knowledge and discernment…
[27] I was there when he established the heavens, when he drew the horizon on the oceans….
[30] I was the architect at his side. I was his constant delight, rejoicing always in his presence….
[35] For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord.

So, John has set the scene for his presentation of Jesus, in his gospel, as the Son of God.

To be continued…

SET APART BY THE TRUTH

Bible Study, ,

SET APART BY THE TRUTH

“‘Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

“‘As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

“‘For them I sanctify myself, that they, too, may be truly sanctified.'” John 17.17-19.

“Sanctify”? The dictionary meaning of sanctify is to set apart for its proper purpose. If something is not sanctified, it is abused, i.e., not used for the purpose for which it was intended; for example, if a paring knife is used for any other purpose than peeling fruit or vegetables, it is being abused.

God created human beings to be holy, to be separated to Him to bring glory to Him that is to reflect Him in His nature and character. We do this by living our ordinary human lives for Him.

“…Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Isaiah 43:7 NIV.

What has separated us from God and caused us to be abused – i.e., not fulfilling the purpose for which God created us? Through our ancient ancestor, Adam, we declared independence from God, set up our own standards of right and wrong and overthrew His right to govern us in righteousness and truth. We became subject to the devil’s deception, followed his lies and set ourselves on a path of self-destruction.

There is only one way back from this suicidal rebellion – to change our way of thinking (repent) and return to the truth about God and ourselves. God made this possible by sending Jesus to remove the barrier of sin that separated us from Him, cancelling our debt by paying it Himself, and pushing the “reset to factory default” button by reconciling us to Himself and restoring His image in us.

When we follow His prescription for sanctification – returning to the purpose for which He created us, we embark on a twofold process which begins when we start again through repentance from our old rebellious life and faith in Jesus to forgive our sin and enable us to begin a new life of trust in and obedience to Him. This process is both unlearning and re-learning – called repentance; not necessarily an emotional melt-down but rather the recognition that what we used to think about God and ourselves was wrong, lies spawned by the devil to degrade God and us and to take us away from God’s love. Lies must be replaced by the truth which God has set out in His Word for us.

There is only one antidote to lies – truth. Before we came to recognise that our thoughts about God were lies, we misjudged Him, were suspicious of Him and even outright hated Him. Why? The Bible says, “While we were God’s enemies…” Romans 5:10a. Enemies? Isn’t that a rather strong word? Yes, but it’s true. Why were we God’s enemies? Because we were on the side of His arch enemy, the devil. We listened to him, followed him and believed his lies about God and hated God for no reason other than the lies we believed.

How are we sanctified? When we believe and receive the truth that God loved the world so much that He gave His Son as a sacrifice to pay the world’s debt so that we can be reconciled to Him, we took the first step towards returning to God to fulfil His purpose for creating us. We began a journey that lasts a life-time, replacing lies with truth, one lie at a time, one thought at a time by learning from God’s Word what He thinks and plans for us.

Jesus’ high priestly prayer before He went to the cross was the expression of His deepest desires for His people, and the reason for His willingness to be sacrificed for us. In the entire prayer, He made only three requests for His disciples, both those whom the Father had given Him and those who would believe through them, and these requests summarise the purpose and outcome of His death:

1. That the character of God would be restored in them to immunise them against the devil’s deception (“Protect them by the power of your name”),

2. That the Word of God would be so deeply embedded in their minds that they would begin the journey of revealing God’s glory in the way they think and live (“Sanctify them by the truth”) and

3. That God’s image of oneness would be restored in them so that the world would believe that the Father had sent Him (“That all of them may be one. Father, just as you are in me and I am in you”).

This is the Saviour’s prayer for you and me. Will it be answered?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.