“You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!”

The way of God. What is that? What does that mean? Does God only have one way or does He have many ways?

We could look at God being Holy, gracious, kind, loving, pure, forgiving, merciful and He is all those things and more, and in a sense they are all His ways but I want to look at God’s way, and that way being the way of truth.

In Psalm 86: 11 (ESV), David says, “Teach me your way O Lord, so that I may walk in your truth” and God’s way is truth.

 Now the word truth is mentioned in the Bible more than most things, (233 times to precise) and Jesus speaks about truth an awful lot. Today, you often hear the word truth used in many different contexts, the moment of truth, the naked truth, nothing but the truth, truth or dare, don’t believe the truth and I’m sure there are many more.

But what is truth? It’s is a very simple question. Of course, answering it isn't so simple. We can offer definitions like, "Truth is that which conforms to reality, fact, or actuality." But this basic definition is not complete because its definition is open to interpretation and a wide variety of applications. What is reality? What is fact? What is actuality? How does perception affect truth? We could offer answers for each of these questions, but then we could again ask similar questions of those answers.

 In order for truth to be defined properly, it would have to be a factually and logically correct statement. In other words, it would have to be true. But, perhaps we could look further at truth by determining what it is not. Truth is not error, truth is not self-contradictory and truth is not deception. Of course, it could be true that someone is being deceptive, but the deception itself isn't truth.

For the Christian, the ultimate expression of truth is found in the Bible, in Jesus, who said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life..." (John 14:6). Of course, most philosophers and sceptics will dismiss His claim, but for the Christian, He is the mainstay of hope, security, and guidance. Jesus, who walked on water, claimed to be divine, rose from the dead, and said that He was the truth and the originator of truth. If Jesus is wrong, then we should ignore Him. But, if He is right, then it is true that we should listen to Him.

Often when I hear the word truth come up, my mind often goes to the scene in the film a few good men where Tom cruise is cross examining Jack Nicolson in a court room for a crime he has committed and Tom cruise shouts “I want the truth” and Nicolson replies, “You can’t handle the truth”!

 Often people can’t handle the truth. When people find out they’ve lost their job or a loved one has died, they can’t or don’t know how to handle it. And it’s the same with the gospel, many people in the world can’t handle it and don’t want to handle it for many different reasons.

I believe a big reason people can’t handle it is because if it’s true, then they have to change their whole worldview. The whole way they approach life, the way they view things and the way they live would be wrong. Now I’m sure that there are other reasons as well but I believe this is one of the main ones.

In John 18:37-38 it says, “Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

Pilate was standing in front of truth and still didn’t understand what truth was. Ironically, the one charged with determining the truth in the matter just dismisses the relevance of truth in the very presence of the one who is truth incarnate. God became a man in Jesus and dwelt amongst us

 The Bible regularly pictures the moral course of one's life as a “way” or "path" (Prov 4:18-19) and one's conduct as a “walk” or journey. A faithful person seeks instruction in the ways that please God in order to learn how better to walk in God's truth

What does it mean then to walk in God’s truth?

Well I believe that it means to walk with God, to seek His will for your life and then walk in it. It means looking to Jesus daily, not looking to something or someone else. It means imitating and seeking to become more like His Son, Jesus Christ and It’s a daily thing.

David’s prayer and praise were not confined to a theory. He desperately wanted to live what he believed. So he asked God, “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth”. He desired to pursue the path of God’s will relentlessly, but the Lord must illumine the way.

As Christians, we have to let God teach us through His Holy Spirit and trust in His ways, to trust that His ways are true and then to walk in that truth, because like David, we’re all prone to wander, especially when hard times come our way.

Jesus says that, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

Knowing God’s truth and walking in it brings freedom, liberation and fullness of joy and that’s what David was asking God to teach Him and that’s exactly what we need to be doing if we are going to be people who walk in God's truth.

The first post - Its not about you...it's about Him.

When you read the Old Testament, what do you see? Do you see loads of boring stories that are pointless and irrelevant and are there for no reason? Can you even be bothered to read it and do you skip straight to the New Testament which sometimes makes more sense and is easier to read? Next time you read the Old Testament, look a little deeper and you will see something and someone that has always been there but has maybe been hidden because you haven't been looking for Him. If you search for Him, you will find Him. Have a look at this quote someone sent me, its very insightful and very true!

"Jesus is the true and better Adam, who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us. Jesus is the true and better Abel, who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out not for our condemnation but for our acquittal. Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void, not knowing whether he went to create a new people of God. Jesus is the true and better Isaac, who was not just offered up by his Father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “now I know you love me, because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me, now we can look at God, taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing Him, and say,” now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from us.” Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserve, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us. Jesus is the true and better Joseph, who at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold Him, and uses His new power to save them. Jesus is the true and better Moses, who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant. Jesus is the true and better rock of Moses who was struck with the rod of God’s justice, and now gives us water in the desert. Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends. Jesus is the true and better David, whose victory becomes his people’s victory though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves. Jesus is the true and better Esther, who didn’t just risk losing an earthly palace, but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people. Jesus is the true and better Jonah, who was cast out into the storm so we could be brought in. He is the real Passover lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so that the angel of death would pass over us. He is the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread..."

The Bible’s really not about you, it’s about Him.