It's the Truth!

2 Thessalonians 2:9-10) - The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

I'm sure I sound like a broken record being so adamant about relationship over religion. When a person learns the truth of who Jesus is, it can't be helped. Honest!

Maybe relationship's not for you. Maybe you'll stick with what you know or what you've been told. That's your choice and I am not one to judge. What I feel inside is a constricting in my heart, a sadness. Jesus has said, "the truth will set you free." (John 8:32) I would prefer to know the truth, at any cost, and have that freedom. I know that no matter what happens in this world or even in this country, I have freedom in Christ, even if our freedoms are stripped away. God may be removed to pacify some in our country, but no one can take God from me as an individual.

We had another class last night at church on The Truth Project. As difficult and deep as the subject matter is, we all walk away with a sense of the awesomeness of God. We are realizing that as some of us grew up, apart from God, separated from Him, out of the realm of His knowledge and wisdom, we believed the lies.

Where do the lies come from? They do not come from God. In Titus 1:1-2 the Apostle Paul tells us: ...according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness, in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began... Truth is Jesus Christ, who brings freedom through the truth of knowing Him. That freedom is the knowledge of our eternal destination. We are told to acknowledge truth. We are also told to acknowledge Jesus, who is Truth.

So to get back to the question where the lies come from. God has an adversary and his name is Satan, whose name means "the accuser." He has the ability to mimic what God does. Through what he does people believe that God does not have a corner on the market for miracles. What the devil does is grip the human heart in the same way God can and but begins to speak lies to that heart and create a transformation in the opposite way God does. He's a deceiver and a liar. Once gripped by the lies, erosion takes place.

Before you cluck your tongues and roll your eyes, listen...the devil is a deceiver. In the Garden of Eden he twisted God's words about why Adam and Eve should not eat from the tree of good and evil. And he's been lying ever since. He twists the truth to make it sound palatable, and in this case palatable enough to eat the apple, cause the first husband and wife  to sin, become separated from God, and cause all mankind to be born into this same sin. He can cause us to believe just about anything if we do not have that link to the knowledge and the truth of Jesus Christ...the devil's adversary.

We wonder why our country and the world is the way it is. We might be upset but we are at a loss as to figure out how we got where we are. We try placing blame on people. But it all started with that deceptive serpent in the Garden. The lies have continued today and there are those who will believe those lies.

In the video we watched last night we were shown how illogical Darwin's Theory of Evolution is and how it is beginning to implode. I wish I could go into detail how this was explained, but I'd be too verbose! Scientists can't come up with logical answers and are even questioning Darwin's theory, but they still back Darwin. Does that make sense? It is because they just cannot begin to believe the truth that there is a Divine Creator, or intelligent design. They just can't let themselves believe the truth. How humiliating it might be for them to admit they were wrong, they'd been deceived.

In our discussion after the video someone said many people will react with "So what does it matter anyway?" "Who cares?" If we desire the truth, we should care. We were asked if anyone had believed the lie at one point in our life. I admitted I had and so did someone else. But once the truth of Jesus Christ became known, that all changed. It's not that we are believing yet another lie, as some might suggest, but through the power of God's Holy Spirit we have been shown what truth is. What once made sense now looks like foolishness. 

A relationship with Christ takes us to a whole new level of understanding. I'm not trying to infer that I am smarter than anyone else. We all know that we each are programmed to understand some things more than others; but none are better, just different. God's Word became flesh...Jesus came to set us free from the lies and deception of this world. That is why a relationship with Christ is so important if we want to understand truth. Oh, how I pray the truth of Jesus Christ would permeate this world, that the deception would be seen, eyes would be unveiled. Psalm 98:2 tells us The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. But the devil has blinded eyes to this truth of who Jesus is.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...full of grace and truth. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. [And Jesus said] "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."  John 1:14,17, John 8:31-32