“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7
Dear Ones:
The age-old battle on this earth is that of the battle for the mind, for it is what the mind thinks that will dictate the life. No truer words were ever spoken than those by the Lord Jesus when He said: “You shall know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall set you free.” (John 8:32) Why did He say this, and what are we to be freed from?
Throughout history, biblical and cultural, we find that men have been made the prisoners of other men by either deception to make them believe a lie, or imposing that “lie-filled” mindset upon them. At the end of the day, with regard to the freedom given by the truth, refusing to believe the lie, we are faced with the words of the Apostle Paul: “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” (Romans 3:4) Most of the founders of our nation, though not all Christians, believed in a “higher Power,” a benevolent, righteous and good God and Creator. Just that notion established a foundation upon which to build a nation, for there was in it the recognition of a Wisdom and Authority that was above that of men. Paul’s words concerning the truth of God, as opposed to the lies of men, resound down the halls of history, and have been proven true over and over again. Also, the words of Jesus to Pilate: “To this end I was born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness unto the TRUTH.” (Jn. 18:37) If there was any doubt as to what that truth was and is, we find the Lord Jesus declaring: “I AM the truth.” (Jn. 14:6) So then, it stands to reason that if we would be free from the deception, and sinful dictates of men, based on that which is not true, we have only to neglect or turn away from Christ, the One declaring to BE the truth, the eternal truth. However, if we have believed that He is the truth, and that His desire for us is benevolent, and good, in the greatest and most demonstrable way, then we must believe that He also reveals the truth of Himself and His ways, in order to set us free from being the slaves of depraved, and disillusioned men, who are not just absolutely limited in their knowledge of life, but hell-bent in their assessment of what they consider right, or righteous. To become the prisoner of men, and our enemy Satan, is to believe the lie. To be free is to be the Lord’s servant, and child, believing Him to be the truth, and submitting to that truth. But what of the capacity to KNOW the truth, and the experience of the POWER to believe, and obey it, even in the face of opposition and unbelief?
Herein is the secret of grasping the truth, making it ours, and living it. “For if the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” (Jn. 8:36) Christ is not only the objective truth, He is the very POWER of truth. It is by HIM that we learn the truth, and it is by His Spirit, that we are strengthened to believe it. The Lord Jesus is our POWER by the Spirit.
Dear Father, give us grace to refuse to be the slaves of men, by being submitted to Thee according to Thy truth. Open our eyes to increasingly grasp Thy Son as our objective truth, but also, as our power to believe. We praise and thank Thee in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad