Sins and Wickedness

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness; you cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked. Therefore, the proud may not stand in your presence, for you hate all who do evil. You will destroy those who tell lies. The Lord detests murderers and deceivers.”
Psalm 5:4-6 NLT

David started this Psalm groaning and crying for help. But after praying he waited on God expectantly, waiting for an answer to his woes. In the meantime, he reminded God of some things, perhaps to help Him along to reaching a decision over what was making him groan. In the three verses today, David mentioned things that God cannot accept – sins, wickedness, pride, evil, murderers and deceivers. None of these character traits found in human beings will ever be found in Heaven, in God’s presence. In fact, they will be judged and punished long before the people concerned got anywhere near God’s domain. God knows that He is holy and pure, and there is no way anything will be allowed to violate who He is. He knows all about these things so why was David reminding Him about them? Probably because listings them will act as a warning both to himself and to others. All types of sin, regardless of what they are and where they have come from, will one day be dealt with.

David lists some reactions of God to his list of sins. God takes “no pleasure in wickedness”, He “cannot tolerate the sins of the wicked”, the proud will not “stand in [His] presence”, He hates “all who do evil”, liars will be destroyed, and God “detests murderers and deceivers”. But in today’s more theologically liberal wings of the Christian church, such Godly sentiments would be rejected. Such doctrinal adherents say that God is love, and therefore would not have such negative emotions. Can a God of love actually hate someone, even if they are evil, they say? But such people forget that God has many attributes to add to His perfect love – righteousness, justice and holiness to name just three.  David had a wonderful relationship with God and he knew God loved him, but he also knew that God’s love could not be overruled by evil.

We pilgrims are, and will be eternally, grateful for Jesus and His demonstration of God’s love and grace to a wicked and evil world. Jesus proclaimed to the world that all those who believed in Him would inherit eternal life. But His message was underpinned by David’s experience of God, in that a person’s belief in Jesus had behind it the whole message of repentance and forgiveness, grace and salvation. There is no way a believer can accept what God has rejected, so we pilgrims follow too the way of holiness and purity, in preparation for our lives in Heaven.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Jesus, Your Son, and His sacrificial death at Calvary, opening a door for mankind to walk through into Your presence, holy and forgiven. Amen.

The Groaners

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.”
Psalm 5:1-3 NLT

Oh dear! David seemed to be in a bad place when he started to write this Psalm. I wonder what was troubling him. Perhaps he was suffering from a sickness, or a physical condition that was causing him some pain. Or was it a problem that today we would categorise with a mental health diagnosis? Was he depressed or something like that? But whatever it was he was at least praying, communicating with his Heavenly Father. There are of course those who might question how these words from David’s pen could be inspired by the Holy Spirit, as they seem to reflect a very human condition. But they are an example to everyone, because they expose the fact that people hurt, and God understands how we feel. If David was able to pour out all his troubles before God, then so can we.

But David was not in a good place. He was groaning and sighing, not at peace with himself. He needed help and had obviously woken up a bit distressed. It is almost as though he was incarcerated somewhere because each morning when he woke up he prayed, perhaps for deliverance, and then waited “expectantly”.

In it all, there is much here that a modern day pilgrim like us can relate to. How did we wake up this morning? Well rested and full of the joys of spring, leaping out of bed, ready to take on all that the day was about to throw at us? Or did we wake up heavy in heart, groaning, tired after a sleepless night? There will be some who find themselves imprisoned by their circumstances, trapped in a loveless marriage perhaps, or forced to go to a job that they hate. In today’s society there are many reasons for being a groaner at the start of the day.

But David left us with a remedy for the groaners, a timeless solution that will never fail. He gave us three pointers that we would do well to follow when in distress. The first is to acknowledge God for who He is. David had no doubts that God was his “Lord and King” and he prayed to no-one else. The second point is to lay the problem, the one that is causing us to groan, before the Lord. Cry to Him for help. Ask Him to listen to our prayers. Voice out our prayer, audibly if necessary. Thirdly, we must do something that we are not particularly good at. We must wait patiently expecting an answer. God is always ready to speak to us, far more than we are to listen. Acknowledge, petition and wait. Three very simple pointers to write but perhaps a little more difficult to apply – that will take us a lot of practice and perseverance.

Dear Heavenly Father. Thank You for David’s honesty, as he poured out before You all that mattered to him. Please help us to learn from his example. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Fear

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me. I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.”
Psalm 3:5-6 NIVUK

What are we afraid of? David lived in a politically unstable world and there were always enemies of the Jews present in the surrounding nations, looking for an opportunity to destroy them. And he, as the king of Israel, felt the pressure of needing to be ready. But in spite of all of that, David was able to sleep, safe and sound, because “the Lord was watching over [him]”. But back to us pilgrims. In the UK we live in a more politically stable environment, without the overt threat of aggressive and hostile nations willing and able to invade our island and do us harm. However, warfare is different today, with cyber attacks and the threat of a nuclear strike. And as we look back through history, warfare has never been far away from our shores. We are also aware that living in 21st Century societies is fraught with all sorts of “enemies” that impact our ways of life, and we can quickly tumble into a world of “what if’s” ranging from health care through to job security and financial sufficiency. There is much fear and stress around today. Our immediate enemies might be different to David’s but they are still real and can have a marked effect on our future. 

In a sense, we have little to fear because God is with us. I am writing these thoughts this morning, and you might be reading what I have written in a day or two. Like David, we woke up this morning after a night’s sleep. Recently, I said to a man I met during my prayer walk that it was a good morning. The sun was shining and for once it wasn’t raining here in Scotland, but his response was, “All mornings are good if you wake up”. And that is true in a world fearful and lost, but we pilgrims cannot lose. If God sustains us for another day, we still have work to do for His kingdom here on earth. If He doesn’t then we will wake up in His presence. Win-win. 

The go-to Psalm for me is 121. “He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep“. The Psalmist continues, “The Lord watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm – he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and for evermore”. Do we believe that or do these words just give us a momentary warm feeling that quickly dissipates in the chill winds of adversity that swamp our souls, as another night time worry raises its head and disturbs our rest? Fellow pilgrims, our Lord and God is constantly with us and we believe that whatever He says is what He does. I cannot count the many occasions when He has been there for me in times of anxiety and stress, and I’m sure that is the same for you as well. Trusting in God will not necessarily remove the enemies around us (although sometimes He will), whatever they are, but it will mean we can sleep at night in the knowledge that He is looking out for us, and will give us the strength and wisdom we need.

Dear Father God. Thank You that You are with us, every minute of every day. Amen.

Many Enemies

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me. So many are saying, “God will never rescue him!” But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high. I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain.”
Psalm 3:1-4 NLT

The introduction to Psalm 3 records that David wrote it while fleeing from his son Absalom. The account of what happened between David and Absalom can be read in 2 Samuel 13-19. But the outcome was that David was forced to flee by an uprising against him engineered by Absalom and supported by many in Israel. And so David ended up in a safe place but thinking that he had many enemies and that they were scornful of God’s ability or willingness to rescue him. In earlier times, David was well used to being on the run, when his predecessor, King Saul, was after him. But once again, David found solace in his relationship with God. He found that in God he had a shield around him, and that as a child of God He had royal status. And, significantly, he found that God answered his prayers for protection. 

Do we pilgrims have enemies, chasing us down and forcing us to flee to safer climes? Probably not, at least not here in the West. But we do have an enemy, the devil and his minions. Ephesians 6:12, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places“. And the verses in Ephesians 6 continue with details of the defensive means that God has provided for our safety, listing pieces of spiritual armour such as the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet shod by the Gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the one offensive weapon – the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. The way to resist the devil is also continued in James 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you“.

The comforting fact for us pilgrims is that God has not left us to fend on our own. If He had, then we would have been overwhelmed long ago. Deuteronomy 31:6 provided much comfort for the Israelites and still does for us today – “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you”. So, dear fellow pilgrims, whatever you are facing into today, God is standing right there with you. And me as well. He will surely answer all our prayers “from His holy mountain”.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your presence always in our lives, regardless of our circumstances. And one day we will see You face to face. What a wonderful day that will be. Amen.

The One Who Rules

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one. … But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury.”
Psalm 2:2, 4-5 NLT

Thinking about it, I’m not aware of a war being overtly waged today against God. Plenty of other wars but not one that is anti-Christ. But then, my thoughts continue to explore the reasons for why one nation battles against another, and then I wonder that wars being fought today are against God purely because their origins are in the wickedness and evil promoted by the devil. Wars fought through reasons of hate, greed, lust and any other attributes of devilish wickedness are anti-Christ.

So why should God laugh at them and not just leave them to their evil ways? No doubt they will find out soon enough. But the psalmist puts his finger on the human attribute of arrogance. As we look around the world today, we find that the rulers of despotic states have one thing in common – an bloated sense of their own importance, displaying breathtaking arrogance. On their way up the political greasy pole they manage to get to a point where they become a leader, and then set about removing their opponents. Of course, we can look back in history and see that not many of these rulers died peacefully in their sleep. 

God doesn’t sit on His throne in Heaven laughing with malice though. Because He is love and righteousness, these two qualities combine with a firm but gentle humour; to think that human beings should set themselves up as effective gods in opposition to Him is a laughable matter indeed. And then there will be the day when the “kings of the earth” will stand before Him to give an account of their lives. A video of their life will roll before them, but it will be a video seen through God’s eyes and at the end of it, God’s righteous anger will initiate  a terrifying rebuke. Then there will be that awful moment when the Judge pronounces His verdict – Guilty! And the door to hell will open before them.

Hebrews 10:31, “It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God”. We pilgrims are of course aware of the future set before us, and we respond to God with love and obedience. Not for us the trappings of political power, of arrogant leadership. We stand with the psalmist when he wrote, “A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked” (Psalm 84:10). The “kings of the earth”may live in splendid luxury. They may have servants who run at their beck and call. But one day they will be terrified in God’s presence, all their plotting having come to nothing. 

Dear Father God. Your patience with the arrogance of the nations is breathtaking. But we live in a moral universe and You will administer justice one day to balance the scales. Thank You that we can rest secure that You have all under control. Amen.

Fishing Lesson 1

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.”
John 21:1-3 NLT

This last chapter in John’s Gospel is entitled “Epilogue”. Seven of the disciples decided to go fishing, back to the time when Jesus called them from this very profession. A night-time excursion out on the Sea of Galilee. So they readied the boat and presumably headed off into the places where they knew they would normally have caught something. They returned to their comfort zones, as they struggled to get their minds around the grief over what had happened to Jesus, as they wondered what the implications would be from His appearance to them in the locked room, and at a loss to know what to do next. We read what happened after hours and hours of toil, “but they caught nothing all night”. How discouraging was that? They would have usually caught something, but nothing at all? So the depressed disciples ended up even more depressed after a fruitless night’s labour.

Do we pilgrims sometimes find the same? We encounter something that totally throws us out of our routines, or we experience a discouraging event, losing a job or a loved one, or suffer some other life event in our journey that totally throws us and all we can do is to get back into our comfort zones, doing something familiar to find comfort and give us time to make sense of what has happened. But that might not be the best place for us, because rather than reach into the temporal, we should instead be entering the Kingdom realm where we can find Jesus. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you“. Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”. 

The disciples lost their way for a bit, but Jesus had a solution, as we will soon find out. We too may lose our way sometimes, but we must always turn to Jesus instead of looking for a solution in a world corrupted by evil. Our comfort zones may not align with God’s Kingdom, and we run the risk of becoming depressed as the disciples did, catching nothing of any value even if we work hard at trying to make something happen. There is only one way to eternal life and that is through Jesus. Only He is the Way.

Dear Lord, You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. The comfort our souls crave for can only be found in You. Amen.

God Revealed

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me. I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”
John 17:24-26 NLT

Jesus said in His prayer that He had revealed God, His Father, to His disciples, and was going to continue to do so.  But how could they see the magnificence of all that God is in a human being, even though this was Jesus, God’s Son? To get our mind around all of this we have to look at Jesus’ mission and ministry in its entirety. Miracle after miracle, people healed, teaching about the Kingdom of God, demonstrations of love and compassion, the impact of Jesus’ ministry was huge, not just to the people He met, His native countrymen the Jews, but also to countless people ever since. But there was one factor underpinning all that Jesus did, and we find that in John 5:30. He said, “I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will“. All that Jesus did on Planet Earth was in accordance with His Father’s will. It was God’s plan for Jesus to be executed, for Him to be a willing sacrifice that defeated the devil and provided salvation for all who believed in Him. The challenge for the disciples was to see the will of God manifested in Jesus. Jesus said, and as recorded in John 10:37-38, “Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work. But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father”. Jesus’ mission was obvious to those with open eyes. Even a Jewish religious leader, Nicodemus, could see a glimmer of the truth, as recorded in John 3:2. “After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you””.

There was nothing special about Jesus’ appearance to set Him apart from His peers. He was an ordinary man, who grew up in a Jewish home just as any other boy of His times did. Schooled and then apprenticed to His natural father’s profession as a carpenter. A good worker who reached the age of thirty and then who laid it all down to become an itinerant rabbi. In His home town of Nazareth He preached in the local synagogue one Sabbath, and the people were happy with what He said. We read in Luke 4:22, “Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son””? But as soon as He said something they didn’t like, they wanted to kill Him – the account is in Luke 4. There is no record of Jesus speaking there again, and soon after this event He went to live for a time in Capernaum, a town near Nazareth. Jesus, an ordinary Man but with an extraordinary mission.

 Sadly today, most people in our Western societies fail to make the connection between Father and Son. In fact, they reject the Bible and its Godly content, consigning it to a corner of their bookcases with other books they never read. They may know about Jesus, but the only connection they have with Him is through making His name an expletive. And even more sadly, there are those who claim to be followers of Christ, but who reject some of His teachings because they are inconvenient or are at odds with their own particular ideologies. There was even a senior clergyman, who claimed to be a Christian in the Church of England who said that Jesus’ resurrection was a “conjuring trick with bones”.  He didn’t believe in much of the Bible at all! 

So, have we pilgrims had a revelation of God? There is only one place where we can find Him and that is in His Word and as revealed by the Holy Spirit. The books of Genesis and Revelation and all between, are a rich mine of spiritual nuggets exposing the character of God and revealing Himself to all who search after the truth. But just as a man and woman will get to know each other by spending time together, so the only way we can find out anything about our Heavenly Father is by reading about Him in His Word. There are no short cuts. No instant solutions. But through His love and grace, God will meet us in the pages of our Bibles. He loves it when we come to Him, like a small child bringing a book and sitting on His knee. And as He turns the pages with Him, we will find our God revealed.

Heavenly Father. All that we need for life we will find in Your Word. Please open the Scriptures before us, to reveal who You are in all Your glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Eternal Life

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“After saying all these things, Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you. For you have given him authority over everyone. He gives eternal life to each one you have given him. And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.”
John 17:1-3 NLT

The John 17 prayer of Jesus is rich in content relevant to disciples and pilgrims today, but verse 3 needs to be unpacked to find out why there is an apparent contradiction. The verse starts with the assertion that Jesus chooses people to whom He will grant eternal life, people who have been given to Him by His Father in Heaven. Did this just apply to His disciples or does this have a more far-reaching meaning? Jesus’ work of course continued through the work of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit. But specifically chosen? We of course can refer to Deuteronomy 7:6, “For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure“. In the New Testament, Paul wrote, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure” (Ephesians 1:4-5). So this brings a picture of God cherry-picking those He thinks would perhaps fit well into Heaven and ignoring everyone else. 

In the next part of verse 3, Jesus prayed, “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth”. This seems to introduce an element of personal choice, giving human beings the opportunity to believe in Jesus and, through repentance at the cross, to find the treasure of eternal life. Paul wrote to Timothy, “This is good and pleases God our Saviour, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time” (1 Timothy 2:3-6). So has God chosen everyone, leaving to each person the decision to accept salvation and eternal life? 

So we have an apparent conflict between the sovereignty of God and human will, that has introduced two schools of theological thought over the centuries. Perhaps the solution to the potential conflict lies in the character of God. He is sovereign over all, and as He said to Moses, as quoted by Paul in Romans 9:15, “For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose””. God knows the end from the beginning, being outside of time, so He knows in advance who will respond to His offer of grace through Jesus, becoming “chosen” in the process.

Dear God. That You for choosing us, the followers of Your Son Jesus. Amen.

From Grief to Joy

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Some of the disciples asked each other, “What does he mean when he says, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, but then you will see me,’ and ‘I am going to the Father’? And what does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.” Jesus realised they wanted to ask him about it, so he said, “Are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said in a little while you won’t see me, but a little while after that you will see me again. I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labour. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.”
John 16:17-22 NLT

This conversation started up between “some of the disciples”. We don’t know which ones, but some talked and some thought. Natural reactions to the crisis that was unfolding before them. If Jesus had said to them that soon He was going to be killed by the Roman authorities and would end up buried in a rich man’s grave, then they would have perhaps found that easier to understand. Their grieving process would have started and their thoughts would have extended to the period afterwards, as they faced into a life without Jesus. But Jesus said “So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again”. Such an event was totally out with their experience and understanding. How could Jesus die and then reappear again? They had obviously forgotten about the Lazarus event, where Jesus had resurrected a man who was graveyard dead, and was still alive at this time as they spoke with each other. But how could Jesus resurrect Himself? They didn’t know the answer and still hadn’t got their minds around the supernatural power of God. But with a natural analogy, Jesus tried to reassure His friends that their emotional experience would be a bit like childbirth, where a woman goes through much pain, but something soon forgotten when the new born baby is placed in her arms. Jesus told His disciples that their grief would soon afterwards be replaced by “wonderful joy”. 

What message is their here for us 21st Century pilgrims? There has to be the Kingdom reality that our faith and God’s power provides a limitless combination. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:15a, 19-20, “Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus, … I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honour at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” In the same epistle, Paul wrote, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).‭‭‭‭ Sadly, we too often put a boundary around God’s capabilities, looking at the situations around us with worldly eyes, instead of eyes of faith. As we look around at our challenges and sorrows, we mostly forget that our Heavenly Father has a remedy and through our faith He will bring about a Godly result. 

Father God. You are the all-powerful God. Nothing is impossible for You. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

Spirit of Truth

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’”
John 16:12-15 NLT

Earlier in John 14 we read, “He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. …” Jesus is now re-affirming the work of the Holy Spirit, by saying, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth”. Jesus, of course, always told the truth. In fact, He sometimes preceded what He had to say with a confirmation that it was true. For example, John 8:58 reads, “Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I Am!”” The King James Version of this verse starts with “Verily, verily”, a double assurance that the truth, the absolute truth, is behind Jesus’ words. But as Pilate famously said to Jesus, on trial before Him, “What is truth?”, a question influenced by a confused and rudderless society, where finding truth is elusive. This is because our world is in the hands of the devil, who Jesus warned us about when He said to the Pharisees, “For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). So we find endless definitions of the “truth” coming from the lips of our fellow members of society, truths that will dissolve before God’s gaze like snow before a hot sun. Truth is something that has to be absolute reality, and as such it as engaged philosophers for generations without a secular conclusion. Only God’s truth can bring an answer.

A well known saying from Jesus can be found in John 14:6, “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”. Jesus is the truth. So the records of His teachings in the Bible are truth, and when He left this world He sent Holy Spirit to continue His mission of telling the truth. And through Holy Spirit, who dwells within us, we are also a source of truth. But the truth Jesus brought, and the truth the Holy Spirit guides us in, is anathema to the world around us. They only what to hear the lies that affirm their sins and evil ways. But we pilgrims are privileged in that we have access to the Truth, Jesus Himself.

Dear Father God. All truth emanates from You. Please help us to share it with those around, as You lead and guide us in Your ways. Amen.