18 Jan Become lovers of Truth!

I love truth. I adore truth. Some of my reasons for loving truth are selfish. I know truth cuts like a razor blade. It does not lie. It does not beat around the bush. It is not deceptive. It does not make excuses. It does not cover up or manipulate.

Did I mention that the truth cuts? I love truth because it is one thing I can speak confidently, and know that Christ is standing with me. I know when I speak truth, to object against it is to become an adversary against God, and this is a battle that he will fight.

I like to say what’s on my mind. I don’t like to dial back my punches, or change my words in a way where the meaning of truth is lost, and the result that should have been gained from speaking it, has become lost for the sake of not being offensive.

The Bible says in Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit”. It is for this reason, I love speaking Truth. But it is also for this reason, I sometimes dislike it when it comes to hearing the truth about myself! Truth can be a hard thing to accept, let alone hear when it’s about yourself.

Reading a passage of scripture in the Bible, or listening to a sermon that feels like the Pastor is talking directly to you.; Truth does that. It hits you where you live. It finds you where you’ve hid. Truth knows all our hiding places, and finds us there. We all have our hiding places. Some people their hiding place is Church. A place you’d think would be the last place a person would hide. Some hide at work. Some hide in a bottle whiskey. Some hide inside themselves, inside their own thoughts. That is my preferred hiding place. My own thoughts.

Your mind is a powerful tool! When used properly, it can create the ultimate escape. An endless place of escape, full of limitless rooms and trap doors. As great an escape as it may be and is, truth will find you there also! But the place I think people hide the most is here. The World. Everything that the mind has thought of, has been created in the natural. Because sin is the opposite of righteousness, and stands firmly against truth, the world is a safe-haven for those who despise it.

The world has built a culture today, that not only fosters lies, but it encourages it! We are at a place today, where not only the truth of Christ will get you persecuted, but the truth spoken about anything that cuts or pierces the skin of an individual will get you persecuted. We see this occurring daily. The negative getting all the attention, the positive being persecuted and render “insensitive”.

The Lord would not stand a chance today in this social media era. Imagine saying homosexuality is an “abomination”. He would have a hard time securing ANY contract work as an carpenter. Imagine him speaking about the mis-treatment by officials, Police Officers, and the greed and hypocrisy of those who make and create law, they would immediately start a smear campaign that would go viral.

And it could not go viral without the cooperation of the Social media outlets and News outlets. They are all one big engine. He was born in a “manger” to an adulterous mother! He was born and raised in the projects of Nazareth! They would show photos of him getting his feet bathed with perfume and wiped by Mary’s hair. See, he’s a misogynist! A chauvinist!

Truths that ought to be common, are now being persecuted, and those who speak them are being punished. People have lost businesses over truth. Go to your social media account, and speak a truth that the World disagrees with, and watch the backlash! If you are resistant to ridicule, being firm in your faith, they have also instituted taking a way your lively hood as punishment.

Body of Christ, it is URGENT that we put aside the things that divide and submit to the “Truth”. Not my truth. Not your truth. But the only truth that cannot be questioned, and that is Jesus Christ. It is this division, within our own body that is keeping truth silent. If someone who is reading this, decides to speak a truth and post on their Facebook page, and this truth causes them to loose their Job, who will help to sustain them until they find another?

Some will say “God will provide”. Yes, but by whose hands? Will you sit on yours and see how God will provide? Or will you be one of the hands he uses? If there is a need that you can fill, and God had giving you the means, then your hands have been called to fill it.

This is why it is of Urgent matter. What I’m speaking is not theoretical, these things have already taking place on a large scale. There are those who have been fired from their Jobs, cast out of their communities, their homes, even the Church they were attending for speaking truth. Some have lost their lives or have been thrown into prisons for simply speaking truth.

Pontius Pilate said to Jesus: “What is truth? There are many truths”.

He did not see, and did not know, that the man standing before him was set to be killed for truth. Not a truth, but “The Truth”. There is one truth. When you look upon him, he encompasses all truths, which is why no falling man can stand before him in his glorified state. He pierces even to the division of soul and spirit. He literally splits a person, and separates what is false, which is our flesh, from what’s true, which is Holy Spirit God placed inside of us.

When Christ speaks to us it is his spirit on the inside of us that he is speaking to. Our flesh is not bilingual. It speaks one language, self. Everything is about it’s self. If anyone comes speaking anything that is not a gain for your flesh, it is not able to comprehend.

Give away money why? I could use that. We could buy more shoes or a better jacket. Look at the furniture around this place, looking a little worn. We could use a better setup.

Wanna volunteer your time to others for charity? For what? There’s about a 100 things on Netflix we haven’t even watched yet, that are still just sitting in your queue list, why don’t we start working on that list finally. Also, we haven’t played any games in a while, we haven’t even watched any games in a while. With the limited time we have to ourselves already, that would be a good place for us to start.

That is the language your flesh speaks. He is numb to the concern of others. When we walk in truth, we cannot hear him. But walking in truth takes daily effort, because our flesh has a great ally in the World. A person set to walk in Truth, can find himself walking in the flesh by lunch time. Some temptation or circumstance diverted him or her while on their way. The flesh does not “give up”. There is no “quit” in him. He is a boxer that never gets knocked out. He constantly gets back up beating the count.

So we must apply truth daily, or risk ending up on the canvas listening to the count of the referee.

Becoming a lover of the truth, will simplify your life. It will repel those who don’t love you, and attract people into your life that do. No one wants to be around a person who loves the truth, unless they love the truth themselves. The same way a sober person doesn’t want to be around someone whose drunk all the time. They only attract others who wish to drank as well.

Becoming a lover of the truth, will get you closer to Christ then ever. It will also get you closer to his sufferings. You will share in his victories, and you will suffer in his sufferings. You cannot have one without the other.

An example of how the Truth can pierce a person down to their bone, is the stoning of Stephen. This great confrontation takes place in Acts 7th Chapter. Stephen full go God’s grace and spirit, delivers the greatest gut punching and soul piercing speech in the New Testament to the council of the Sanhedrin. When he is done with his Christ filled soliloquy, the entire council of the Sanhedrin has him thrown from the inner court outside of the city and stoned.

If you have never read Acts 7 chapter, please do. Please. It is a sight to behold. This is the kind of truth that only he who is truth can bring. It will affect a person in only one of two ways: They will humble themselves and submit to truth, or they will stop up their ears and reject the truth. This is our daily battle.

When someone cuts you off on the road, will you submit to truth, and not get vengeful, or will you stop up (refuse to listen to reason) your ears and get angry and cuss back? When they post wicked lies and hurtful things about you on social media for speaking truth, will you submit to truth and respond delicately in truth, or will you stop up your ears and respond by fighting fire with fire?

I have all failed these situations time and time again. We all have. We see it worse within our own circles. Believers arguing with Believers over scriptures. No one trying to teach or correct out of love, only to prove their knowledge. They are scholarly only for the sake of being scholarly. But what is the point of being scholarly if you cannot obtain any pupils? If the one who seeks, finds a scholar who’s boastful, how willing are they to sit under such a man?

Believers arguing with one another over the most trivial of things. Back and forth that uncovers no new wisdom, just causes contention and the opportunity for those who are prideful to become even more prideful.

Wisdom comes from God, so no man is the possessor of it. Only God is. So why use knowledge as a weapon to break or destroy another believer who is seeking or have error-ed in their studies? Truth does not pierce to destroy. It pierces to correct. But we have many who seek to cut a person deep, and leave them in a wounded state. Turn away from these Men. They do not seek to teach out of love.

It is my desire that you bathe in truth everyday. Our lives are short, and our days even shorter. Let Truth be your everything. Truth will defend you from those who right at this moment is plotting to do you harm. Truth will negate their attempts, because you will not be in a place psychologically or spiritually where they can reach you.

Truth is never spoken to crush. Jesus was not that way. Jesus will speak truth that could calls you pain, and he will then speak truth that will pick you back up. If when speaking truth, you only bring consequences, you are not speaking the whole truth.

Jesus Christ is both. He is divine judgement, as well as Grace and Mercy. He must speak and walk in ALL sides of him. Not just the sides that particularly fit with our personalities. I never understood the purpose of going to a abortion clinic or homosexual festival just to picket and protest. You will get further with a hug then you will with an argument and a picket sign. Trust me on that.

The Apostles and the disciples reached thousands, and they did not do it through protesting. Let love lead you in all truths. Let love lead us together all truth. Especially on how we relate to one another.

I love you guys. I pray that the Truth will never depart from your eye, and never get stuck on your tongue…..