All in Truth
I felt the crack in our friendship the moment the lie left her lips. Years of joys and shared life-events seems to shift in my heart with that untruth. For days, I teetered between anger and despair. The Lord detests lying lips (Proverbs 12:22), I preached to myself, justifying my estrangement . As the convicting of his Holy Spirit resurrected memoires of past untruths from my own lips, God's quiet voice told me to forgive with love and grace.
I recently heard a recording purported to be a message from a well-known pastor whom I admired and trusted. As I listened, I noticed that the content did not sound like something the pastor would say, and the voice didn’t sound exactly like the pastor’s. I discovered that the audio was AI (artificial intelligence) generated and posted from a channel other than the pastor’s official channel.
Ah, parables! There had been a shift in Jesus’ teaching, an urgency to make the secrets of the kingdom clear. Now that He was on the road to the cross, it was imperative His followers understand these truths and pass them on. Parables would touch their hearts and be remembered when He was gone.
I like secrets! To me, they are fun little surprises… like gifts! Helpful hints, secrets or tips that encourage you or make life better.
What moves you?
I mean … moves you to action … compels you to do something.
Anger? Injustice? Anger can motivate.
It seems fear of the Lord has me in its grip for 2024. Let’s spend the week seeing what the book of Malachi has to say about a fearful attitude. How in the world do we live in the fear of the Lord?
Why is it hard to tell others the truth? We might be mocked and minimized. Maybe we don’t want to hurt others’ feelings. Maybe they will reject us. Maybe they will be angry. Maybe relationships will change.
Downsizing required sorting multiple boxes of yellowed childhood treasures. The task felt daunting. One item, though, made the experience worth the effort—a folded piece of manila paper with a title scribed by a child. “Prays and Verses.”
Why be a psalmist? Are you struggling with dark thoughts and troublesome feelings? I strove this way for over forty years. I prayed but wasn’t honest with God about my feelings.
Rhetoric: “the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech” (online Oxford Languages). Amos is variously praised in the commentaries for his gifted writing. I was intrigued.
The woman in Luke 7 that poured perfume on Jesus’ feet was called Sinner and Sinful Woman by the local townspeople. Jesus called her Forgiven.
Sarah was known as Barren and Disgraced. God called her Princess and Mother of Nations.
Mary Magdalene was labeled Demon-possessed. Jesus knew her as Healed.
Oswald Chambers identifies a common subtlety of the Christian walk. It’s one I’ve often struggled with—how to discern between the Holy Spirit’s leading and your own thoughts. He states it this way: We must distinguish between the working of our own suspicions and the checking of the Spirit of God who works as quietly and silently as the breeze. *
A comment from Oswald Chambers created a fresh perspective for me on the darkness of night:
“We are only what we are in the dark, all the rest is reputation. What God looks at is what we are in the dark—the imaginations of our mind; the thoughts of our hearts; the habits of our bodies; these are the things that mark us in God’s sight.” *
How many times have I anguished over my “self-image”? I can be my own worst critic. I am not pretty enough, ambitious enough, good enough, smart enough. What must God think? Where did it all begin?
Today, when I don’t know an answer … I admit it … I google.
But is Google always right? Can I trust Google? Sometimes.
Paying careful attention to what we have heard is critical ladies—what we have heard being the Gospel truth, not the word on the street. Truth is: Jesus is the author (2:10), of such a great salvation (2:3) as these Judean believers had, and as we have.
I cannot be good on my own or explain spiritual truth on my own … I need help.
It is freeing to admit that … I need help.
What moves you?
I mean … moves you to action … compels you to do something.
Anger? Injustice? Anger can motivate.
