The TRUTH

Trust no one.

The truth is out there.

I’m a big X-Files fan. If you know the show, you know those two phrases were the tag lines. Growing up, every Friday when I got home from working at the bank, my dad and I would make margaritas and popcorn and watch the latest episode. We’d watch Scully and Mulder, two FBI Agents from very different backgrounds, relying on very different things, searching for answers as partners. One led by science and her medical training; the other led by a love for his sister who he witnessed be abducted. The truth was out there at the end of every episode. And it was a different truth for each of them.

It has never been more important than now to know the truth.

Just turn on the t.v. Between the Kavanaugh hearings and every single ad you hear with the political campaign going on right now– Who do we believe? What is the truth? And if we count on our TV’s for the truth, we’re in serious trouble.

But we’re all searching for it.

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I often wonder how many times Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus, talked about Jesus Christ and all that he witnessed as one of His disciples? Did he ever point someone to His saving grace?

Then I remember, Jesus knew him.

And Jesus knew Judas’s heart.

Jesus answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with Me will betray Me. 2The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed. It would be better for him if he had not been born.” Then Judas, who would betray Him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” Jesus answered, “You have said it yourself.” Matthew 26: 24

I kinda feel bad for Judas– Did his heart feel bad for what he did?

Jesus Knows.

It had to happen.

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Isaiah the prophet spoke of Jesus long ago, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release from darkness to the prisoners,”  Isaiah 61

I also sometimes wonder how many times the Jewish leaders of their day spoke of the One who came to set the captives free, and yet led the way for Jesus Christ to be crucified. And now, how many new believers, or even “seasoned believers,” are missing the whole story when told about being a good person, and many ways leading to heaven? How often are we led astray into dangerous behaviors and beliefs and by this world’s desire for comfort, for money, for status, or for a desire to be so politically correct that we give a trophy to everyone and we miss the truth that, although it is available to ALL, the road is indeed narrow.

The truth is, in fact, out there.

If you’re in a hotel room- it’s right next to your bed. Maybe it’s in your closet. Maybe it’s left behind in the pew in that beautiful building down the street. Or maybe it’s in your hand right now.

God’s Word: “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.” Colossians 1:13

Sometimes I’ve got it right, and more often times than that, I’ve gone so wrong. My intentions could be good, but where was my heart in my behaviors? What were my intentions?

How many times did I intend to eat a salad and ended up eating a whole bag of Tostitos thin and crispy Cantina tortilla chips (seriously amazing chips!)? (I confess, more than once).

How many times in college did swear I was going to stay in and make it to my 8 am class, but  then stayed out too late drinking too much and miss my 10 am classes?

How many times did I get sucked in to gossip, to doing the wrong thing- the very things I hate… I confess–more often than not.

But I know the truth.

I know the cost that God paid by sending his son Jesus to be betrayed and crucified, but to open the door wide for all who believe him. For all who know He rose again, and that he’ll be returning.

Jesus tells us: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”

There is only 1 way. His name is Jesus Christ.

Truth.

And God knows your heart.

“The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.” Psalm 51:17

We’re told that God desires a repentant heart. And that what’s most important is to Love God and to Love one another. We will go wrong. We can be let astray. But there is hope for those who turn their hearts and their minds back to the truth.

And at the end of this episode there is the TRUTH.

Trust Him.

 

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”Philippians 2:9-11 ESV