Truth is Pragmatic

In John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am the WAY, and the TRUTH, and the LIFE..."

In John 1:1-3 we learn that, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

The Way, the Life, the Word, are irrevocably and intrinsically tied into Truth - into Jesus Christ!  None of these are subjective, mystical, nor impractical.  They are not subject to a whim.  All of Creation is built upon the Word!

Revelation 19:15 tells us (about Jesus), "From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron...  

A rod of iron is unmoving.  It does not give way.  There is no 'your truth', and 'my truth'.  There is only THE unmovable Truth - Jesus Christ.  To the one who bristles at this, we must know Jesus - His Character, His Authority.  We MUST come to fear Him, and BELIEVE in Him.  This is the will of God.  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom!  We MUST come to love Him, and trust in His goodness toward us.  Our confidence is well placed in Him!

Anything that bristles against the iron rod rulership of Jesus Christ can be rightly identified as rebellion.  From this rebellion arises slander against God, and accusation.  Lucifer is the accuser and slanderer - and the Father of Lies.  Thus, he is the Father of all accusers, slanderers, and liars.  This is why it is so important to be guarded in what we say. Sins of the tongue are repeatedly warned against, and the tongue is most unruly. Among the things listed that God hates, two are involving the tongue: a lying tongue, and a false witness. Both are untruths (fantasy, even). We are also warned against gossip and slander. We are warned against coarse and unwholesome talk.

And, Lucifer is set upon our eternal destruction and torment.  He is set upon our bondage to sin.  Do we mistake our right to sin as 'liberty'?  It is not.  It is bondage, from which we need to be free if we want to live.  The sin of rebellion is as the sin of Witchcraft, and does manifest in Witchcraft, even to the undiscerning.  And, Lucifer is an ultimately cruel master.  He purely hates.  Do we love the things of the world?  Our sins?  The one who hates us?

In the Book of Matthew, chapter 5, Jesus instructed us how to live.  In conclusion, He said, "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)  Yet, we know that all our own righteousness is as filthy rags! (Isaiah 64:6)  In John 15:5 Jesus tells us, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."  Then there is the most comforting and cherished Psalm 23: The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.  He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.

Jeremiah 23:6 tells us ...this is His name by which He will be called, 'The Lord our righteousness.'  It is the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, Who causes us to stand, and keeps our feet on paths of righteousness!  Apart from Him we can DO nothing that we are called by our Heavenly Father to DO.  Yes, there are requirements for holiness that we may enter our eternal Home - and God has provided every one for us in  Christ Jesus!

We must repent (turn) from our sin, and BELIEVE in Jesus and His provision for us.  It is God's will that we BELIEVE in the One He sent.  Yet, even the devil and his demons believe, and they tremble.  

Belief is always followed by an action of the heart.  We seek for Jesus.  We even grope for Him.  We let our desire for Him be known to Him!  We fear the Lord God.  We let our hearts be broken.  We die to ourself so we may live for Him.  It is HIS righteousness that pours forth from us in every good work God has planned for us.  It is God, through Jesus Christ, Who works holiness through and in us!

2 Corinthians 3:5 tells us, "Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God."  Further on in the chapter it tells us, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2 Corinthians 3:17)  This 'liberty' is freedom from the law of sin in our mortal body.  We are set free NOT to sin!  We must be born again in Jesus Christ.  He makes us a New Creation.

All the commandments - all holiness - is fulfilled in our love for God, and for others.  If we love Him, we will obey Him - and this by His provision in Christ Jesus.  We will not resent His Kingship.  Instead, we will know of "the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off."

The Gospel is good news for those who are in Christ Jesus.  It is death and torment for those who are perishing.  Come to Jesus.  Place yourself, today, under His Kingship and all will go well with your Soul.

Serving All

Consider this: knowing who would betray Him to the cross, Jesus washed Judas' feet, along with all the Disciples. That said, wasn't Jesus betrayed by all His Disciples? All fled when Jesus was arrested. Following that, Peter denied Jesus three times - that he ever knew Him - before the rooster crowed. In response to the remorse of his betrayal of Jesus, Judas hung himself. Conversely, Peter sorely grieved and repented (turned). 

After His resurrection, when Jesus was eating with His Disciples on the beach, Jesus asked Peter - three times (one for each denial!) - "Peter, do you love me?", to which Peter replied, "Yes, Lord. You know I do". Jesus knew what healing that would bring to Peter's remorseful and repentant heart - to be able to declare his love for Jesus in response to each of his regretful denials. Then Jesus gave Peter a task as an expression of his love for Jesus. Jesus asked Peter to tend to, feed, and shepherd His sheep.

When hurt, scared, and regretful, we can either take matters in our own hands (Judas), or come to Jesus in repentance (Peter). Jesus will forgive, receive, and heal us!  He has also assigned us a task... to tend to one another, in service and care. That is an important part of our healing. And, all the commandments of God are fulfilled in love. 

Back to the washing of feet before the day of Jesus' crucifixion... as one who has taken up their cross to follow Jesus can I, too, wash the feet of (be in service to) betrayers - even until the day of my departure from this earth? Can I do so for even those who are accusing, angry, unkind, unrepentant, false, and stealing of resources and God's Words? While I may be able to discern, know, and judge certain fruits - even exposing lies, and those promoting them - can I also still forgive and serve even those ones? Can I tend to the needs I see around me according to what God has given me - even if all I have to give is prayer? Praying for everyone, at all times, without ceasing - while remaining uncompromising in the truth. Jesus Christ is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE.

Love never compromises truth.  To be truthful is not to be unkind or unloving. By abiding in Jesus we can adhere to the truth, in love, even as we serve all.