Truth

In one of my favorite dialogues of all time in "A Few Good Men," the following takes place:

Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee (Tom Cruise): I think I'm entitled to them.
Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I want the truth!
Jessep: You can't handle the truth!

Every time I listen to that scene I get goosebumps. Deep down inside we want truth, not just answers. The challenge presented is that we are told today that "truth" is relative. And, this is no new concept. Listen to the other great dialogue I love:

You are a king, then!" said Pilate.

Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

³⁸"What is truth?" Pilate asked.

Even in Jesus day, truth was seen as something that is relative. Like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder. The problem with that world view as a Christ follower is that truth is not a concept. It's not relative. In fact, it is a person. Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life..."

Truth is a person and his name is Jesus. What I am not communicating is that there is always a black and white answer on all things. There's not. And, that's why it is so important for us to understand that the person of truth wants to lead you into truth in your life.

As Christ followers, we must stand firm on the clear cut truth of the word. We must extend grace in areas of grey. And, for our own specific life issues, we must seek Truth. Be careful, though. If you just want "answers," he's not the right person to speak with. Sometimes, truth is hard to handle.

Ask, God for truth the ability to handle the truth as it applies to your life.

Bottle Caps

Words. They matter. We are told they can destroy or build. We are told to use words that edify the hearer of them. And then, there are words that you and I just need to hear. From God. There are times when we need a timely affirmation from God. The question is what manner will he use to communicate to us? I don't want to speak about the conventional ways he uses -- the bible, friends, etc. I want to talk about the fact that the God of the universe can use whatever medium he desires. And, so about bottle caps....

Two nights ago I had just received some messages from someone that were not nice. While not overly upset, i was frustrated by this person. A little later, I took off the bottle cap to a drink I was going to have. And for some reason i looked at the underside. I didn't know there were words on it. It said, "all we need is humble patience." I sat there and said, you're right ---Patience laced with humility.

God communicated to me in an unconventional medium. You cant convince me otherwise. God will speak. Even through a bottlecap....

Stone Rolling

Many times in our lives there are challenges and obstacles that are in our way. And, while we may be able to do "something" that something seem so miniscule in the grand scheme we wonder why we should even do that. It won't make a difference.....we say.

In John 11, Jesus performs the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. I believe he wants to do the miraculous in our lives as well. Let's look. Jesus arrives on the scene. Lazarus is dead. Jesus, standing at the tomb, says "take away the stone." The first thing to note is that this was something that COULD be done by those there. It was not something that required a miracle. And, yet, there was resistance....."he has been there four days." We do the same thing don't we? What does it really matter anyway? What will this accomplish....we say to ourselves. Jesus doesn't ask for our opinion. He asks for our action. And, so they act. And, upon acting, Jesus now acts where they cannot and calls Lazarus out of the tomb.

The second takeaway is a corollary to the first. God won't do for us what we can do ourselves. We must act. Action shows faith and in God's economy faith is the currency we spend. The general actions God wants to see are clear -- love one another, be kind to one another, show mercy, be tenderhearted, have honest scales, etc. The specific actions God wants you to take will either be an application of these principles to your daily walk and relationships or a word from God in concert with these principles and his Word. Then, we are in a position to see God do only that which he can do.

Are you wanting God to act? If so, what has God equipped you to do? Start there.

20/20 Vision

When I was a kid, I didn't want to wear glasses. I had 20/40 vision and an astigmatism. Not really bad vision and nothing that affected my ability to play sports. And, I just didn't want to wear glasses -- not cool, not really needed. But, the reality is that with glasses things would become much clearer. I would have 20/20 vision. In John 9, Jesus talks about vision and the division created by lack of vision.

Jesus healed a man blind from birth. And, when he did, the blind man accepted the undeniable fact of Jesus though it was unexplainable how the healing took place -- miracles are unexplainable if you don't have 20/20 vision. And, when he explained to the leaders of the synagogue what took place it lead to a division because of a vision problem. Some of the leaders couldn't see because they wanted an explanation on their terms and their vision didn't allow them to see (their worldview lenses). If it could not be explained on their terms, then it wasn't true. And, they didn't want to trade in the old lenses for new ones.

We act the same way in our lives. We are told by Jesus to act certain ways. To speak a certain way. To think certain ways. And, when it doesn't seem clear, at times, we opt to remain with 20/40 vision. The problem with this is that when we don't change our lenses and embrace the lenses of God's worldview, we will never truly see clearly. And, we will miss out on God's plans for us. I had a friend tell me yesterday "well God will work it out for the best." That's not true. It's not Biblical. As we talked -- and agreed -- God will work it out but we can't wave magic Jesus "dust" over bad decisions and say "it will work out for the best." There are built in consequences to our actions. At times, God saves us from them. But, how much better would it be for me -- us -- to ask God what the right decision is based on 20/20 vision? Jesus, wants to commune with you and speak to you giving you 20/20 vision.

How's your vision? Pause and ask God for 20/20 vision today. Oh, and by the way, I have 20/20 vision now. I wear glasses....

Free

We all want to be free. Free from stress. Free from fear. Free from debt. Jesus talks about a freedom that is transformational not momentary. He says in John 8:21& 22, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. ³²And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

There are a few interesting points about this. The Jews that heard this claimed they were never not free. Funny considering that the Jewish existence had been one marked by captivity with intermittent periods of freedom (i.e. Egypt, Babylon). But, I think this goes to a deeper issue. A core issue. Jesus said that those who sin are slaves to sin. The Jews (and we) don't want to believe that. We want to believe that we are free to make wise choices on our own. And, yet, Jesus says only if we are faithful can we be free to make wise choices.

The starting point is believing Jesus is who he said he is. And, if you do, now you can begin to be free. But, then, we must remain "faithful" to what he says to do. And, honestly, many times I think I am just smarter, wiser. Or, my flesh pulls. But, Jesus bids us to remain faithful to his teachings and if we do the truth will set us free. The truth will come from basic Biblical principles like the one below and from his spirit communing with and speaking to us.

Do you want to be free, really free? Be faithful.

Oh, one cool proverb I read today: Prov. 11:24&25 "Give freely and become more wealthy;be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed."

Focus

I was speaking with a friend last week about prayer and it was interesting to me that when Jesus ended his discussion on prayer, he says in Luke 11:11: "how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" What is interesting to me is that Jesus diverts the focus of prayer from a need to a person -- the Holy Spirit, basically saying focus on Spirit led prayer and that will take you to what you really need not what you want. That's important because all of us take time in our day to tell God what we want -- and that's important (though He already knows), but it seems to imply that there's a more core issue and that is: who is leading the prayer.

Do I go to God with my needs only or do I go "asking God to fill [me] with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding?" (Col. 1:9). This seems to be the wiser choice but so many times I discard the person and focus on the needs.