truth

Truth Is…

August 1, 2024

…if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; 2 Peter 2:9-10

Good Morning! Have you read 1 and 2 Peter lately? I highly recommend taking just four or five verses at a time only, so you don’t miss anything. If we rush through,we might miss something. It’s good to read, pray, listen to God and apply His truth to our lives deeply. Truth is everything, everything we need.

So, Peter knows he will die soon, because the Lord told him, so he is trying to remind Christians of things they already know, but need to really remember after he is gone. He is all about holy living, loving and obeying God and being effective for God. No better goals!

Peter reminds us that…If God made Sodom and Gomorrah extinct , due to their ungodliness(which He did) and If He rescued Lot, the only righteous man in Sodom who was miserable, seeing so much sinful conduct(which He did) THEN…

He knows what’s going on, who is sinful or not and He is able to both punish and rescue us! It is not our job to punish anyone. Sidenote…I admit I took over God’s job a bit this past week and did a little judging. Oops! It made me feel awful! He understands when we mess up but is so good to forgive us:)

These verses remind me of something we already know, but need to remember about truth…that, in today’s world, we like to decide our own truths, but that leaves God out, which is wrong. He, THE ONLY JUDGE, will judge us all for how we obey or disobey His truth. We tend to obey our own truths. along with His truth… but is it really total obedience if we follow God AND wordly, popular trends, or what’s easiest or what suits us? NOPE! Truth, often is UNpopular…

We can’t create truth. Only God can and has. We can’t decide it or bend it to suit our desires. Since we can’t change His Word, His truth, then our only choice is to accept it or reject it. I am GLAD to accept truth from Truth Himself! I do not want a changeable god, one that humans can influence. Would we really want a god we could each change with our whims? Would he really be a god? NOPE!

I hope this makes sense.My heart has changed from anxious to peaceful today, by reading that God is still true and just, no matter what the world says or does. God’s got this, friends! He knows what is true and what’s not, and He will carry us through a sometimes dark world with His truth to light our way!

Dear Father ,Thank You for Your truth, our anchor in a dark and stormy world. Guide us all the way home to You as You desire. Keep us from falling in love with popular but ungodly lies. Thank You for being who You are, truth and goodness and light and love! We love You back! Amen.

With love from the Father to you, have a great day! Hang onto God’s truths!

Tina

Taking Out The Garbage

November 10, 2020

Has this happened to you? It is trash day, time for you to throw out the garbage but you forget because you have a hundred things on your to-do list? That means new garbage will pile up as the can is full and cannot take any more. The new garbage will just go wherever we can fit it, as we eagerly wait for trash day to come around again.

Believe it or not, this is similar to how we deal with knowledge of God and information from the world. Much of the information that the world sends us via social media, tv, movies or magazines, honestly is garbage. It does not make us a better self. It just piles up in our brains. It needs to be disposed of before we can enjoy what we know is truth.

The truth from the Bible is life-sustaining and reusable; over and over we can use God’s word to feed on, grow spiritually healthy. It will not bog us down. The more truth we know about God, the lighter we actually feel!

The problem comes when we cannot tell what information is garbage and which is truth. Not everything in the world is bad. Things OF the world that are contrary to the Word of God are bad for us…kind of like junk food. We have things that the world may consider valuable, things that have been given to us, things we have earned, even popularity or fame, but…anything we have gained is garbage as compared to gaining Jesus. I will go with Paul’s honest appraisal of the world’s contribution to our lives and how valuable Christ is, in comparison:

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. Philippians 3:7-8

The best part of holding the things of the world loosely or going without them is that we can gain more of Christ. I am sure you have heard the saying. “You can’t take it with you.” (This phrase is the title of a famous play in 1936 by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Source: theidioms.com)

Not only can we not take it with us. We cannot let it pile up in excess and burden us down where we cannot easily get to Jesus. Hebrews 12:1 draws a great picture of our journey with Jesus. It is like a race. I love this analogy!

Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Hebrews 12:1 NJKV

Dear Father,

There are so many bright, shiny things in this word that beg us to value them and accumulate them. These things may make me happy for a period but can also weigh me down. Letting go is sometimes hard but then I feel so light after I release them. Any suffering or losing I do here is to gain You. Help keep my eyes on the eternal, not temporary things. You are my treasure for all time! Amen