Weekly Overview:
One of the most scandalous truths of the gospel is that our Creator longs to be encountered by his creation. God longs to meet with us. His greatest desire is for relationship with us. I can’t fathom why God in all his holiness and goodness makes himself available to us, but it is the powerful truth of Scripture. God is pursuing each of us with his relentless love, seeking out those who might respond to his open invitation by opening the door of their hearts to him. My prayer is that in response to God’s desire to meet with his people we would be those who say yes to centering our lives around his nearness. May your week be marked by the reality of God’s presence and love.
Scripture:“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
Devotional:
In the incredible, abundant blessings of Scripture and the Holy Spirit, God has demonstrated his longing for us to know truth. Truth is a powerful weapon against the schemes of the enemy. Truth has an ability to bestow confidence and freedom on all who find their satisfaction in it. And truth in the eyes of God is completely founded in relationship with the person of Jesus Christ. May God grant us a hunger for truth that is deeply satisfied in communion with our loving Savior today.
Everything God is and does is truth personified. There is no lie or deceit in our God. And therefore it is only in centering our lives around relationship with him that we will begin to experience the fruit of truth in our lives. In John 14:6 Jesus says,“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The life of Jesus is our example of truth. Everything he did was a perfect demonstration of truth. If we don’t devote ourselves to the study of his life and experiencing who he is personally, we’ll find ourselves living on the rocky shores of indecision and half-truths. We need his example to follow.
We need the life of Jesus at the forefront of our minds if we are to enjoy the abundant life that truth has to offer us. 1 John 5:20 says, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” Jesus is the Word made flesh. And through the Holy Spirit and Scripture, we have access to not only learning about his life, but being transformed into his likeness.
Romans 8:29 says, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” You and I are created to seek truth and see it come to fruition in our lives. We are created to shine the powerful light of truth into a world filled with the darkness of lies and deceit. But before we can share the truth of God, we must allow it to fill and transform us. 1 John 3:18 says, “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” Truth is meant to manifest itself in our actions. Truth is so much more about our deeds of love than the words we say. Anyone can say words and not truly mean it. No one can truly love someone without revealing to them Jesus, truth made manifest in flesh. We can’t love someone without the power of truth shining forth into the core of who we are, that God loves us unconditionally just as we are.
Take time today to allow the truth of God’s love and Jesus’ life to make its way into every part of your life. Continue the process of being conformed to the image of Jesus by meditating on Scripture and experiencing the living, active person of Jesus today. May the truth of God’s love lead you to a life of enjoying God’s presence and loving others well.
Guided Prayer:
1. Meditate on the importance of knowing and experiencing truth. Allow Scripture to stir up your desires to seek truth.
“And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 145:18
“Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” James 1:18
2. Where is the truth of God not shining forth out of you in deed? Where are you not experiencing the fruit of truth in your life?
“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:18
3. Give that area of your life to God and ask him to transform you into the likeness of Jesus today. Meditate on truth centered around that area and allow it to sink down from your head to your heart. Make space to let God fully love you and ask the Holy Spirit to help you love others well throughout your day.
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” John 16:13
God longs to reveal himself to you and fully love you today. He longs for you to taste and see his goodness. To grow in godly truth isn’t like taking a class or learning a subject; it’s all about relationship. May the truth of Scripture be revealed to you in relationship with the living, active God. May you experience firsthand the God of the Bible and see truth in the man of Jesus. And may your life be a better reflection of God’s love today as his truth works its way into every part of your life.
Extended Reading: 1 John 5
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