Good Morning Friends,
There is a deception in this world that seems to be growing and it is a personal and collective problem not limited by political party or culture. We are plagued by fake news and real viral pandemics that are the rewriting of history. Some of the rewrite is for profit and it does not tell the full story and often promotes a very ominous future without hope. Indeed, we live in a world where truth is a rare and elusive reality. And sometimes the truth is tough love. If you are old enough, you may remember a time when we were told that cigarettes did not cause cancer. The lies change but the smoke screens continue to erode trust. Scripture tells us we are freed by letting out the truth of our lives. We are to help others to let go and be free of their past mistakes and no longer perpetrate a lie. It is not healthy for individuals or our cultures to promote lies and for this reason alone we must be moved to forgive. But know this we are not to lie to the Holy Spirit. God knows all things anyway. We all are to let go and be unbound. But take a moral inventory of your own life, Have You Been Freed By The Spirit Of Truth Or Are You Being Deceived By The Devil?
Scripture: Jair the Manassite acquired the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and he named them—that is, Bashan—after himself, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) To Machir I gave Gilead. And to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Wadi Arnon, with the middle of the wadi as a boundary, and up to the Jabbok, the wadi being boundary of the Ammonites; the Arabah also, with the Jordan and its banks, from Chinnereth down to the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, with the lower slopes of Pisgah on the east. At that time, I charged you as follows: “Although the Lord your God has given you this land to occupy, all your troops shall cross over armed as the vanguard of your Israelite kin. Only your wives, your children, and your livestock—I know that you have much livestock—shall stay behind in the towns that I have given to you. When the Lord gives rest to your kindred, as to you, and they too have occupied the land that the Lord your God is giving them beyond the Jordan, then each of you may return to the property that I have given to you.”
Deuteronomy 3:14-20 (NRSV)
Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.” They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are indeed doing what your father does.” They said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me.
John 8:31-42 (NRSV)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6 (NRSV)
Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him.
John 18:38 (NRSV)
Message: Jesus shows us the Way to salvation and the Truth that sets us free spiritually. Oh, there is a political freedom we seek for ourselves and others, and if we limit our vision, we might just think it has been achieved, but the freedom Jesus references is primarily spiritual in nature. Still justice must be served and that is where we really need Jesus. When Jesus declared that we will be free he said that this freedom would come from knowing the truth in Him. So, we need to be living proof of this reality. We need to confront the problem and live a little more fearlessly actually believing that God will provide, and that God will never leave or forsake us if we walk in the truth. In today’s text from Deuteronomy, the Israelites were afraid as they camped on the eastern banks of the Jordan River. The newness of the experience brought on a spirit of fear for they lacked faith in the promises of Abraham. But God did not give them this spirit of fear. The Israelites were within eyesight of the Promise Land and it did indeed flow with milk and honey. But they instead focused on the tales of strong giants, hostile tribes that ruled Canaan. They believed the bad news. Moses tells them he will not enter the new land with them, leaving them with an emotional complex of desperation. They initially failed to seek God for strength and courage. Now, we may be subjective to similar situations in our lives, as we face daily oppositions in determining the truth. Just like Israel, we may be too weak spiritually to seek God for strength and courage. Interestingly Moses casts out doubt and reassures Israel, that God is with them. And friends, get this because it is important, we have an even greater assurance that God’s Son, Jesus Christ has liberated us from this bondage of fear. So, as we face the unknown, the tests, the trials, the challenges, all marked by God’s promises and God’s presence, we need to be freed to say with confidence that God is with us and will not forsake us. We are to have faith that we are indeed free to serve the purposes of God.
And So, knowing the truth of Jesus, even the Jesus that Peter denied is what sets us free. Jesus when asked by Pilot what is the truth, answered truthfully that his kingdom was not of this world and Pilot found no fault in him. But upon a closer look at scripture in is clear that Jesus did not say he was a truth or even spoke truthfully, though he did, but that he was the Truth and the only way to heaven coming to earth. Maybe Pilot did not get the message and that is too bad. He played his part but, the tragedy of life for him and others is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it. People occasionally stumble over the truth, some on their death bed, but most of them run away from it. Pilot probably never believed that finding the truth of Jesus was so important. He was all about staying in the game for as long as possible. Oh, that he had received the gift of the Holy Spirit’s guidance to believe in Jesus as a personal savior, then he too might have been born again and become free to begin life with a glimpse of heaven. Who is to say? It is not me. Jesus came for him too. And for us so we might know the Truth and be freed.
Pray we are guided by the Holy Spirit to the truth of Christ. Pray
we pass the test of faith but also learn a lesson in the process. Pray we increase our knowledge of the truth with the purpose of being changed so we might be used by God. Pray that the leaders of the world will get to know and promote the truth, so that they can govern in a way that glorifies God. Pray we do the same in our individual lives. Pray we are no longer bound by fear. Pray we know our rights and privileges of being part of the Kingdom of God. Pray we confront the opposition we face with the certainty of God’s love and the power of the truth in Jesus. Pray we come to Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life because that is what makes us free. That is what bring us victory.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 