Daily Huddle - Fri Sep 2, 2020 Hard To Find

Love you all, praying for you,
 
Have you ever noticed how truth can be hard to find?  It seems the more time passes, the more cloudy it becomes, the more voices the less truth.  Why is that?  Society has even redefined truth.  It is now a sliding scale, rather than an external standard.  It has become relative.  There is now your truth and my truth, his truth and her truth but this recent belief is completely false.  Jesus warned, if the light within you is darkness how great is that darkness.  There is no such thing as my truth. There is my experience, my opinion, my belief, my preference, but not my truth.  Because if there is my truth, then everyone has their own truth, that’s why truth is so hard to find.  This is not recent, this is ancient.  Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.  Jesus said I am the light of the world.  Truth dispels lies, like light dispels darkness.  So why are lies so popular?  God said because men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.  If truth is a sliding scale, deception reigns.  The greatest lies, are part truth, but twisted intent.  The devil is the liar, the father of lies, he has been a liar since the beginning.  He’s the catalyst of the sliding scale, of the end justifies the means, of the relativity of truth.  Why? Because He is anti-God, so He is anti-truth.  He wants to establish a truth apart from God, separate from God, so God’s truth is viewed as a lie.  Liars are the first to call others a liar, they project constantly.  What they say others do, is what they do.  And if truth is relative, there is no truth.  Everything that God says, the devil tries to discredit, through doubt, rationalization, or false equivalent.  That’s why liars will always say – "That’s been debunked."  No, it is absolutely true, just because you say it’s false doesn’t make it false, it just makes you a persistent liar.  What is truth? And why is it so important?  And how do you recognize it and live by it?  Truth – Conformity to fact or reality; exact accordance with that which is, or has been, or shall be.  The true state of facts or things.  The duty of the court of justice is to discover the truth.  Witnesses are sworn to declare the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  Purity from falsehood; correct opinion, fidelity, constancy, honesty, virtue, exactness.  Truth is a big deal to God.  He is the God of truth, and He hates lies.  Exodus 34:6 – And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.  Deuteronomy 32:4 – He is the Rock, his work is perfect:  for all His ways are just: a God of truth who does no wrong, just and right is he.   He expects truth from us.  Joshua 24:14 – Now therefore fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.  I Samuel 12:24 – Only fear the LORD and serve him in truth with all your heart for consider what great things he has done for you.  In fact those who practice lies have no part in His Kingdom, they will be eternally separate from Him.  Psalms 15:1-3 - Who may stay in God’s temple or live on the holy mountain of the LORD?  Only those who obey God and do as they should.  Who speak the truth in their heart, who do not slander others with their tongue, who do no harm to their friend or discredit their neighbor.  Wow! How absent is truth from our culture and society today!  This verse gives a secret.  Truth starts in your heart, what you say to yourself.  Why do people speak lies, because they believe them, relativism and false equivalence has deceived them.  To them, truth is not a standard outside of them, it is an opinion of them or others, truth becomes self-serving.  Why do people believe lies?  Because they lack intellectual honesty and due diligence.  They don’t do the research, they don’t require evidence, they just believe a certain way and every fact they encounter, they interpret through the belief, rather than form their belief on fact or truth and reality.  The devil is the master deceiver.  He wants you to believe lies about God, to doubt who He is, or what He said – so he can get you to believe lies about you.  Either you’re not worthy, or your sin is OK, God doesn’t care…   He wants you to believe God didn’t really say that, or He doesn’t really mean that.  Either to believe God is a cruel tyrant, just condemning everyone...  When God clearly said, He did not send His Son Jesus to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.  Or the devil wants you to believe that God is tolerant of sin, as if tolerance is the greatest virtue.  But Holiness means set apart from sin.  Light doesn’t tolerate darkness, they are mutually exclusive.  With God sin cannot dwell, we can excuse it all we want, and consequences delayed, do not mean that God has changed his mind.  Sin like lies, are the opposite of His character.  It’s the devil’s character, not God’s.  Psalms 51:6 – You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.  Wisdom cannot be found apart from truth.  That’s why those who believe lies, lack wisdom.  It’s unfindable or understandable to them.   So how do you live in truth? To base your life on God’s truth, so you can know Him, and know wisdom which will make your life, safe, secure, and prosperous?  How do you know the truth about God, and about you, so you can discern the deception around you?  First – The Word of God is truth – the more you know it, the more truth will reside in you.  It’s the standard of truth that everything is measured against.  That’s why PRISM is so important.  The more you soak in God’s Word, the more protected you are from lies.  You just sense something is off, even before the truth fully comes out.  God’s Word is the foundation of truth, so if your belief system is based on that, you can smell a lie a mile away.  The Holy Spirit will give you discernment.  Second – Obey immediately.  Hebrews 5:14 – But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to discern good from evil. (who through practice have developed the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong, between truth and lies).  If you know the truth about God He is Justice and Mercy.  If you know the truth about you – you are loved by God, saved from sin, for all eternity, and His grace gives you power to overcome, He forgives and forgets, and expects you to walk in purity which He will lead you in!  Then you can discern the things happening around you.  Third – Intellectual honesty and diligence.  Search out the truth, do the research, don’t be gullible, don’t be tossed by every wind of doctrine or opinion.     Proverbs 18:17 – The one who states his case first seems right, until another comes and examines him.  Ephesians 4:13 – Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God (who is truth) and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.  If you believe God and belong to Him, you are on the side of truth.  It’s not relative, it is established by God.  Praying that you will not pass judgment too quickly, or join in with what everyone else is saying.  Soak in God’s Word, be an obeyer – it will help you discern, be diligent in the discovery of facts, and it’s OK to say, I don’t know all the facts yet.  Praying that you will value truth like God does.  That it will matter to you.  Praying that you will be believe the best in people, but not believe anything.  Praying that your life will be grounded in truth, the truth of God which will last forever.  All the lies of the devil will come to nothing. 
 
Love you all,
dad