"Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky.
How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time? Why don't you
judge for yourselves what is right?" (Luke 12:56-57, NIV2)
In this series we have found how deadly these radioactive churches can be,
spreading death instead of life, condemning the innocent and focusing rather on
their own doctrines than on our Heavenly Father Himself. Mercy is a foreign word
to them. If you find yourself in one of these churches and are thoroughly
confused because you believe that they may have "the" truth as they broadcast it, it's time you go straight to your Heavenly
Father, and with an honest heart ask Him directly: "Lord, lead me to your
truth!"
God will honor your prayer and will show you, not the credible-sounding,
man-made "truths" of the world, but The Truth. After all, God promised: "So I
say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and
the door will be opened to you." (Luke 11:9, NIV2), I can vouch for that, as I
myself used to be in your very shoes.
You will need courage, a lot of courage (See Acts
27:22), to act upon what our Heavenly Father will reveal to you. You will need
guts to follow His direction, all the while watching as those who used to be
your friends turn against you and criticize you. To them, you are now dead,
heading straight to hell.
It will hurt you deeply, but as you focus on Jesus and His cross, you will start
to realize how much He suffered just for you, and His love will overflow in your
heart. What seemed so important to you before will fade into nothingness as you
now realize that His love was what you were after but never really discovered
before.
You are not heading towards hell, but towards heaven itself, where Truth is the
norm: "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to
the Father except through me.'" (John 14:6, NIV2) God Himself will sustain you
and you will experience Him fully as bit by bit the following will occur:
" God's Word, the Bible will become crystal clear, not based any longer by any
man-made doctrines. It will become so clear because its author, God's Holy
Spirit will take residence in you: "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he
will guide you into all the truth." (John 16:13a, NIV2) You will be astounded by
His presence, and you will start to hunger to know Him more intimately than ever
before.
" Peace will fill your heart: "I have told you these things, so that in me you
may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have
overcome the world." (John 16:33, NIV2)
" You will find complete rest in Jesus' arms: "Come to me, all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matt 11:28, NIV2)
" Your joy will eventually overflow: "I am coming to you now, but I say these
things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of
my joy within them." (John 17:13, NIV2)
But all this can only be realized if you never give up.
A good allegory can be found in the Irish. They fled their homeland during the
potato blight to get away from the rule of the foreign tyrants and the horrible
famine in the land. When they arrived in the Promised Land, called North
America, however, they discovered they were not welcome. Because they were
farmers, the industrial revolution was quite foreign to them. No one wanted to
hire them. They were useless.
Even through these impossible challenges, most of them were determined. They
would not let themselves become discouraged, even though most of them lived in
ghettos where disease, crime, unemployment and despair reigned.
They searched for work, whatever jobs could be found, and they took these
whole-heartedly. They built railroads, bridges, dug canals and tunnels, mined,
tended furnaces, worked as servants and seamstresses. They even fought
vigorously for their freedom. 263 of them received the Congressional Medal of
honor.
In our day and age, the impact of these Irish immigrants is broadly recognized
throughout North America. They positively impacted business, science, education,
politics, and whatever else we may think of. They finally found a place where
they could have a voice.
"Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study
how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed - that
exhilarating finish in and with God - he could put up with anything along the
way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right
alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that
story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That
will shoot adrenaline into your souls! (Heb 12:2-3, The Message)
Pontius Pilate once asked himself: "What is truth?" (John 18:38a, NIV2) Sadly,
he never pursued the answer to this question.
What about you?
Rob Chaffart
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.