Skip to main content

Really? Truly!


"Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth." (Psalm 31:5)
 
          Are you glad that God is the God of truth? Imagine a world in which "truth" changed from moment to moment. That cup of coffee you enjoyed earlier could turn into poison in your stomach. Red lights could come to mean "go" and the solidity of your car, or the fluidity of the air could change in an instant. Rain could turn to rocks. The universe could wink out of existence or come to life. The sun could move so that we're as close as Mercury, or as far away as Neptune. Your pay check could be given to someone living in Bumblebee, Arizona. Your marriage license suddenly say that you are married to Hannibal Lector. He could eat you for breakfast and regurgitate you for lunch, except you wouldn't be yourself, you would be Jabba Desilijic Tiure and in the meanwhile, he could turn into a flying spaghetti monster. Your children could cease to exist, or turn into cockroaches and spiders.
          In order to function, we need a stable physical reality. We also need a stable non-physical reality. Who or whatever establishes what is real and true is God.  That's one of the things that a god does. That's the problem today. There are many people who think that they have the right to choose their own realities, and that there is no problem with those realities being fluid. They further believe that any reality of which they don't approve is a personal offence. This means that everyone around them is obligated to accept their reality even if those around them find it offensive. Do you see how impossible it would be to function in such a world?
          Thank God, God is the God of truth. The universe that He created reflects that truth because like any piece of art, it reflects its Creator. It is because God is the God of truth that life, sanity, health, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are even possible, and it is as we conform to that truth that we find them. Being "real" doesn't mean being what we want to be or think we are. It means being what God says we are and what He wants us to be. Anything else is folly.
 
 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...