“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32 NIV)

What’s real and what’s fake?

As I write this, the main stream media is filled with much discussion and opinion on the topic of so called, “fake news.” And, every side of every issue is accusing the other side of being guilty of it. And, quite frankly, it's hard to tell the difference between what is real news and what is fake news because each side spins the “facts” to support their own opinions.

How can they do this with actual “facts” you may ask?

Wall Street Journal columnist, James Taranto, opined on Twitter: “Fact checking” is opinion journalism pretending to be some sort of heightened objectivity.” Simply put, “fact checkers” cherry-pick the statements to “fact-check” and then decide which data to back it up with. In short, statistics can be manipulated to come up with any conclusion wanted to promote.

This is nothing new

the enemies of Jesus took statements He had said and twisted them to use against Him. “Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’” (Mark 24:57-58)

What is truth?

According to the dictionary, truth is the quality or state of being true; truthfulness, honesty, accuracy, correctness, validity, factuality, and authenticity. The exact opposite of truth (antonyms) is falsehood, dishonesty, fiction, and lies.

Truth comes from God

·      Jesus is the truth – “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6 NIV)

·      Jesus’s Word is truth - “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17 NIV)

·      Jesus is full of grace and truth - “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14 NIV)

The truth test

 “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.”  (1 John 1:6 NIV)

 “He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.” (James 1:18 NIV)

 “Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” (Psalm 25:5 NIV)

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 1:4 NIV)

"I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." (John 8:12 NIV)

God is light with no darkness

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5 NIV)

The Word of God gives light and direction

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my pathway.” (Psalm 119:105 NIV)

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:130 NIV)

We must walk in the light

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:5-9 NIV)

“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his faithful servants.” (Psalm 116:15 NIV)

Recently I lost two pastor friends. One died suddenly on the mission field in another country and the other died locally of a heart attack while helping a neighbor. I will miss them both and know they have been promoted to a new home prepared for them in Heaven. (Rom. 8:16-17)

When people near us die, it helps to focus on important Bible truths.

We don't grieve as others do!

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” (John 14:1-4 ESV)

We are temporarily here

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die.” (Ecc. 3:1-2 KJV)

We have a permanent home in heaven

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” (Phil. 3:20-21 NIV)

We have much to look forward to

“The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (Rom. 8:16-17 NIV)

Be of good courage

“Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.”  (2 Cor. 5:6-9 NASB)

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Cor. 2:9 NIV)

Steve Mason and Felix Anderson, my dear brothers in the Lord, I'm looking forward to seeing you again someday in heaven!

“Then the Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied.” (Ex. 4:2 NIV)

It is easy to get discouraged when things look bad  

Perhaps your supplies are low and the need is very big, even looks impossible. But, be encouraged, when you follow God’s instructions, and you do what He says to do, He can cause what you already have in your hands to produce miraculous results. The Bible is filled with many examples of this.

A boy’s lunch feeds thousands

Jesus prayed over a small amount of loaves and fishes, then placed them into the hands of His disciples, and the miracle continued as the loaves and fishes kept dividing in their own hands as they fed thousands!  “Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.” (Matt. 14:19b NIV)

A desperate mother’s last meal doesn't run out

A mother was down to her last and all seemed hopeless for her and her son! She told the prophet Elijah that she planned to eat her last meal then die!

But, Elijah told her to take her last flour and oil and prepare him a meal, (what a step of faith!) and then, he promised her that her food would not run out! She followed his instructions and was blessed for doing so. The food she already had in her hands did not run out! (1 Kings 17:10-15)

Moses had a staff in his hand 

Moses had been a Hebrew baby rescued from the Nile river by a Pharaoh’s daughter (Ex. 2:5). He was raised and educated to be a leader there in Egypt. But things took a nasty turn when he stood up for a fellow Hebrew who was being beaten by an Egyptian. He killed him and tried to cover up the crime (Ex. 2:12), but was found out and then fled to live the next 40 years in the backside of the desert. Then one day, God spoke to him out of a flaming bush (Ex. 3) and told him that he was to do what seemed impossible – to deliver the Hebrew children from pharaoh’s evil control. Moses was filled with fear, objected, and gave God excuses for why he couldn't do what God had said. Then God asked him a question, “Then the Lord said to him, 'What is that in your hand?' 'A staff,' he replied." (Ex. 4:2 NIV)

Moses had a staff in his hand! It was a walking stick! A piece of wood! But, it’s what God worked His power through to enable Moses to do miraculous things like parting the Red Sea (Ex. 24:21).

So, what has God placed in your hand?

It doesn't really matter what it is, big or small, God can use it, if you have the faith to allow Him to! (Heb. 4:2)

“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” (2 Chron. 16:9 NKJV)

“Look, Mommy! Look, Daddy!”

Have you ever watched little children at play in a public playground? The children will often look up to make sure their parents are looking at them. Every now and then, a child will say, “Look, Mommy! Look, Daddy!” And, of course, the parents are looking, because they love and care about them.

It's wonderful to know that God loves us (John 3:16), and constantly keeps His eyes on us, too!

He sees the sparrow and he sees you!

One of my all-time favorite gospel songs is, His eye is on the sparrow, written in 1905, by Civilla Martinand and Charles Gabriel. The lyrics were inspired from a story in Matthew 10:29, which tells how God knows when a small sparrow falls to the ground, and yet, we are more valuable to Him than they.

The chorus is very joyful and I often have it running through my head

I sing because I’m happy.

I sing because I’m free.

For His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me.

“But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.” (Psalm 33:18 NIV)

“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." (Heb. 7:25 NIV)

Completely saved!

That means totally, entirely, wholly, thoroughly, fully, utterly, absolutely, perfectly, unconditionally, quite, altogether, downright, in every way, in every respect, one hundred percent, every inch!

How is this possible to be saved completely? Two reasons are given in the verse above.

First reason: You are saved through Jesus. The verse says, “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him…” You are saved completely because It's done through Jesus.

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6 NIV)

And because your salvation is through Him, you can have complete confidence that He will keep it completely safe!

“For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2 Tim. 1:12 KJV)

Second reason: Jesus lives to intercede for you! The verse says, “because he always lives to intercede for them.” To intercede means to mediate, intermediate, arbitrate, conciliate, negotiate, moderate, intervene, interpose, step in, act, plead, petition, and advocate. This is what Jesus does for you!

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Tim. 2:5-6 ESV)

We can have confidence in Jesus!

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 1:6 NIV)

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might  that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, (Eph. 1:16-20 ESV)

How you should pray

If you ever wonder how you should pray for those you’d like to become followers of Christ, the above passage has some guidelines for you to follow.

• Begin by thanking God for them in prayer (verse 16)

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”

• Pray that God will give them revelation in the knowledge of Him (verse 17)

“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,”

• Pray that God will open the eyes of their heart so that they will become enlightened concerning the hope He has called them to (verse 18)

“having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,”

• End by thanking God for His immeasurable power towards those who believe (verses 19-20

“and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places…”

"But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14 NIV)

Jesus talks to a woman at a well

The longest one-on-one conversation with Jesus, recorded in John 4:4-26, is with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. On a hot day, when Jesus was tired and thirsty from a long journey, He stopped at the well to rest and to get a drink of water. A Samaritan woman was there, drawing water from the well, and He spoke with her. The conversation was unusual, because Jesus didn't follow the well-established religious rules of the day.

First, he was traveling through Samaria rather than walking around it as most Jews did to avoid Samaritans. Second, Jews weren't supposed to speak with Samaritans. Third, men weren't permitted to speak with women without their husband present. Fourth, rabbis had no business speaking to shady ladies such as this one.

The woman focused on the law; Jesus focused on grace

"You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman," she reminded him. "How can you ask me for a drink?" (John 4:9 NIV)

Jesus kept the conversation focused

“Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.'" (John 4:10 NIV).  After more questions from her, “Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’” (John 4:13-14 NIV).

The woman misunderstood Him

She thought Jesus was talking about the regular kind of water and therefore, meant that she wouldn't have to get water from the well any more as she usually does, so she asked Him for some. “The woman said to him, 'Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.'" (John 4:15 NIV)

Living water is a different kind of water!

Like many people today, the woman at the well misunderstood what Jesus meant when He said, "the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." (John 4:14 NIV). He was actually talking about the Holy Spirit. This is made clear In the seventh chapter of the gospel of John, when Jesus identifies the "streams of living water" that flow from within those who believe in him as the Holy Spirit. “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’” (John 7:37-38 NIV)

“You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” (Ne. 9:6 NIV)

God can handle anything!

In a recent posting, I spoke about the complexity of the incredibly small atom, and how God Himself, is the force that holds neutrons and protons together, (Col. 1:17). But, not only is He able to handle the smallest things, He can also handle the largest things!

Just consider the distant stars!

“Is not God in the height of heaven? Look also at the distant stars, how high they are!” (Job 22:12 KJV)

“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host.” (Psalm 33:6 ESV)

“For You are the LORD Most High over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.” (Psalm 97:9 NIV)

“This is what the LORD says: 'Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.'” (Isa. 66:1 NIV)

Nothing, in fact, including any problem you may face, is too big or too small for our God to handle!

“I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Jer. 32:27 NIV)

 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7 NIV)