Hebrews
4:12 ESV
For the word of God is living and
active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and
of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions
of the heart.
The book of
Revelation hasn’t been one I’ve been excited about. I’ve studied it. I like some of it, but most of it is hard for
me to read. It promises that anyone that reads it aloud and keeps its prophecy will be blessed. (Revelation 1:3) It’s hard on my heart to see the trouble
coming.
2 Thessalonians and Daniel also
prophecies of the end time evil and the character traits of the Anti-Christ,
False Prophet and Lawless One. I’d
rather read about love, forgiveness, grace, mercy, miracles and Jesus. That other stuff is heavy.
Avoiding the
fullness of truth leaves us exposed to be deceived.
If I didn’t recognize the traits of Satan’s
deceptions I wouldn’t recognize the times or to know how to set myself apart
from being entangled with it. I am kept
free by the knowledge of what to avoid, even if it was hard to read about. It also removes my fear. I know certain things have to happen prior to
Jesus’ return. It’s the truth. It isn’t pretty, but it sets me free from
fear because it was known ahead of time and like I said, there are parts of Revelation
that I do like, like when Jesus returns.
There was a
time when my husband played for a professional soccer team. It was known that the current owners were
going to be folding the team or selling it.
A man came in from another country and said he was planning to purchase
it. The team players and staff fawned
over this man. He said he was of the family
of the owners of Harrod’s of London and other grandiose stories. He hosted a huge party and had it catered in
a penthouse suite in a large hotel for all of the players and staff. He had
television interviews aired. Everyone
was eager to cater to him in hopes that he was saving the team and keeping it
going.
One staff
member didn’t cater to him. She doubted
him. He knew it and said to others that
she would be the first one he fires when he takes over the team. She was young and amazingly unthreatened. She
didn’t cave in. She did some background
checking. It wasn’t as easy then because
we didn’t have all of the technology to do it as we do now. But, she discovered that his identity was
false.
He left
town. He left unpaid hotel bills. He stiffed the restaurant that catered all of
the elaborate food for the event that he hosted. He left us all in shock, except for one. One person that wasn’t willing to cling to
any false hope. She looked for truth no
matter how disappointing it may be that this man wasn’t really going to save
the team.
Knowing the
traits of end time evil keeps us from falling for what is false. Also, knowing what is Holy to God and walking
in His righteousness through His Spirit keeps us better able to walk out of our
sinful pasts. Thinking God is “okay”
with things that He says He isn’t doesn’t free us from an underlying
guilt. The truth is what sets us free
when we confess the guilt.
I had a
tooth that I thought had chipped. I was
afraid to look at it. I didn’t want to
see how bad it was because if I did, I knew I would have to address it. I avoided feeling the tooth or looking at it
for a couple of months, even to the point of feeling that I needed to floss,
but I didn’t because then I would have to look.
If this seems extreme to you, you need to know that I have a hard time
with seeing my body in rough condition.
When my children were born I was offered a mirror to see their birth
just as they were being delivered. I
swiftly motioned it away with my arm and told the nurse that I didn’t want to
see. I didn’t want to see that much
truth. I would see the child when they
got here.
I ended up
with a toothache that progressed to excruciating. I knew I would have to feel the tooth and
look at it. When I did, the tooth looked
fine. It was smooth and whole. I had ended up needing a root canal because I
had allowed that little piece of food to sit in there that I should have
flossed out a long time ago, but I didn’t because I was afraid to see something
I didn’t want to see because I believed it to be awful.
How often do
we try to avoid or not face the bad or our own bad?
By avoiding it, something else bad can get in there and get stuck and
then we end up with something far worse.
But, once I checked out the tooth I could begin to know the full reality
and get the true needed help and get it
fixed. I was finally set free of the
fear of a bad break, but I had to deal with getting the mess I had made by
avoiding doing what was right with a now painful cleaning out with a root
canal.
The truth
sets us free.
Children
that have been told there was a Santa start to reach an age where they question
it. They don’t really want to know and
yet they do want to know the truth. As
disappointing as it is when they hear it, there is a relief. They don’t have to
succumb to the game and the effort of holding onto something that was starting
to not feel real and the embarrassment of that.
The truth sets them free.
When I
thought more about the power of truth both in its joy and in its harder to face
view, I remembered that the armor of God in Ephesians says that we are to put
on the “Belt of Truth.” Belts keep our
clothes on. If we didn’t have it, we
could become exposed, embarrassed or tripped up by something not being secured. I move a whole lot freer when my belt is well
fastened. We’ve seen people not wearing
belts and allowing pants to drag. Have
you seen them try to run? They become
tangled up and sometimes trip and fall. Calling Truth a belt is pretty powerful.
Doing a
quick glance in the back of my Bible for study verses that had the word truth
in them, it revealed row after row of examples. What I found was that a large amount of them
were in verses where Jesus was saying, “I tell you the truth…”
John 14:5-7 5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not
know where You are going, how do we know the way?" 6 Jesus said to him,
"I am the way, and the truth, and
the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. 7 "If you had
known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and
have seen Him."…
This is
basic. The Father existence of God in
His holiness is not to be met with sin.
In His coming as Christ as God with us as Yeshua, “God Saves,” He gives
His blood to remove the sin so that we can be with Him. He came as a Son, as man and God, and in that
flesh is the portion of Son-ship to His own fullness of God-ship and creator as
Father. He is the way by His sacrifice
and saving blood in the form of man so that we can be with Him in His Holy
fullness as Father. No one comes to the
Father and the supreme Holiness of Him except by His blood as Christ.
I get
concerned when I read how many will be deceived in the end times. We should spend time in the Word looking at the
truth and reading all that Jesus says when He says, “I tell you the truth.” Also, we should read who will be deceived and
what they will be deceived by. We need
to know the tactics of the enemy in order to be on the defense and the
offense. It takes both. It takes knowing truth on both sides however
joyful or hard it may be. But always, it
will set us free.
Reviewing
the Scripture and reminding ourselves keeps the truth on our heart and mind so
that when words that come that are twisted or fuzzy and maybe even a false
feel-good are presented we are able to quickly identify the deception in it or
research it to see if it is validated in God’s Word. We need to do a bit of a background check.
The Word also helps us not to fear or become hopeless in the times of
darkness. Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light
to my path. Sending a child to bed
that is scared of the dark with a flashlight can help them sleep peacefully,
freed from fear. They have a light when they need it.
Jesus’ power
reigns in His Word and Truth by the breath of His mouth.
2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then the lawless one will be revealed,
whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing
by the appearance of his coming.
John 8:31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said,
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know
the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
