August 21 devotion - What is Truth?

Psalm 34:12-13 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. (NIV)

            Someone recently said that ‘Truth is not truth,’ which although it sounds totally absurd, it is actually a reflection of the times we live in. We all operate with our own perceptions of what is real and we color truth with what we want to believe. For instance, if you have two people standing at opposite ends of a chalk drawing of the number nine, one will declare it to be “9” while the other person sees it only as “6.” Both believe their perception to be absolutely correct and from where they are standing, both declarations are true. So long as both of them stay where they are, they will not even consider the other person’s viewpoint, even though it is just as valid. Only when one or both of them decide to look at things from the other side will they see the unbelievable truth: both of them are correct!

            Truth is something that is sacred in the eyes of God and, in the end, it is His perception that decides what is absolutely and eternally true. We may think differently from Him because God gives us the gift of free will, so we seem to believe that our experience in life is what really counts. However, our time on Earth is so short compared to God’s immortality. We last for only a moment, so how can we finitely contend against what God knows to be eternally true?

            To deliberately go against the truth is to live a lie and the Bible constantly tells us that lying is not good for our health, our souls, our community, and our faith. This is different from perception – a lie is something that is deliberately told to destroy the truth. For instance, if a third person comes up to the two others who are arguing over the 9 or 6 and stridently says that the number is actually ‘3,’ that would be a falsehood. If that person kept declaring it to be ‘3’ loudly and long enough to confuse the other two until they accepted his word, then all of them would be accepting a lie. In the 20^th century, Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot used this technique and brutally bullied their people into accepting lies which consequently caused the deaths of millions of people across the world. Liars make the worst kind of leaders because eventually they destroy themselves and the people perish under their control.

            As Christians, we are meant to be religious people who side with the Truth and contend against lies, especially when falsehoods disrupt, diminish, and destroy our communities. If we, of all people, accept and spread lies, then we are no longer servants of Christ – the Way, the Truth, and the Life – but have sadly become purveyors of our own prejudices and traders in untruth.

Point to ponder

How do I discern the truth? Am I guilty of passing on lies?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us the gift of discernment so that we may honor You by seeking, knowing, and advancing the truth. Teach us that lies destroy our humanity and falsehoods can even wreck our faith. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Come and join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 11:00 AM. You will be made very welcome 😊

August 18 devotion - Making a Difference

Judges 6:15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” (NIV)

            Like most Christians, I love the story of Gideon in the Old Testament. He starts from humble beginnings and ends up becoming one of the greatest leaders the Israelites had ever known. He was chosen by God to do something significant and make a difference in his generation. In the Bible passage, Judges 6:1-24, when the angel of the Lord visits with him, Gideon cannot believe what is being asked of him. In his own eyes, he’s too small, too insignificant, and too weak to change his people’s world and make an impact on his community.

            In times of turmoil and crisis, we can all feel that way. There are too many problems to overcome and we convince ourselves that we don’t have enough power, resources, or strength to make a difference. We believe that we are weak vessels, unable to stand up to what is going wrong in our society or too insignificant to be able to change things. However, when we read the Bible we soon discover that God changes things when the humblest, weakest, and most powerless of folks become resolute, focused, and intentional. I guess God likes it when we rely on His strength instead of our own and follow His guidance rather than doing it ourselves.

            We can all become agents of change and confront evil in our cities, towns, and communities. We can all stand up for what is right and face down what is false. Instead of worrying about current situations, we need to pray. Rather than buckling under every crisis, we need to build up ourselves as people of faith, compassion, and justice. No matter who we are, God can lead us to do better things. No matter what we’ve done in the past, God can use us today to make a difference, to right wrongs, and build a better, freer, and lovelier world for future generations. After all, if God could take a weak person like Gideon and turn him into a strong leader, then who knows what God can do with each one of us?

Point to ponder

What changes would I like to see in the world today? Am I ready to let God help me make those changes?

Prayer: Lord God, You know every weakness about us and yet You are still willing to call and equip us to do Your work in the world. Allow us to make an impact in our congregations and communities so that changes can be made which will make our world a better place. In Christ’s Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. You can read the church website at www.erinpresbyterian.org. Come and join us for worship on Sunday mornings at 11:00 AM. You will be made very welcome :)

Today’s image is one of John’s cross drawings called “Celtic Rainbow.” If you would like to view a larger version, please click this link: Cross.

August 16 devotion - The War

Revelation 12:7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. (NIV)

I think we all have this image of Heaven as a place of love, harmony, and peace. We picture beautiful landscapes and wonderful buildings, streets paved with gold, and angels on every corner. We look forward to being there eternally with Jesus, to look upon His face, to hear His voice, and listen to His stories. We create these wonderful pictures of Heaven in our minds because we want it to be a perfect paradise, where all our hopes are fulfilled and our fears are set aside. We want it to be a place like no other where we can joyfully spend the rest of Eternity with our Creator, Savior, and loved ones.

And then, when we are reading the Book of Revelation, we come across today’s verse, so we wonder if our images are naïve and largely unreal. How could there be a war in heaven? How could the most beautiful and peaceful place in existence be plagued with division and violence, separation and conflict? Surely there must be something wrong here. We can sadly see all those things going on in our sinful world, but Heaven? How could Heaven be penetrated by war?

According to the scriptures, Satan tried to overthrow God and ruin both Heaven and Earth. A third of the angels in Heaven was on his side, so Satan almost conquered the invincible God. The greatest angel of them all, Michael, fought against Satan and prevailed, hurling the devil and his demonic cohorts to Earth, where the war continues, which is why our world is so full of violence, hatred, racism, and injustice. Satan wants to spoil the Earth because God loves it. He wants to separate us from one another because Christ redeems us. He wants to destroy humanity, the environment, and this beautiful planet simply because the Holy Spirit sustains Christ’s Church here.

Like the worm He is, Satan will do everything to contaminate our congregations, communities, politics, and nations in order to divide and conquer us because Satan is full of embittered grudges and seeks vengeance for his downfall by creating havoc among us, especially with regard to what is good and true. If the devil can make us question, twist, or reject the Truth, then we will become his pawns which will harm our present days and cause us to forfeit our future. No wonder then that Jesus called Satan the ‘Father of lies.”

Perhaps you were expecting a different kind of devotional today. Maybe you were looking for something to comfort and sustain you, help and encourage you. I do write those kinds of devotionals, too, but today, I would be failing as a pastoral writer if I did not also write about the uncomfortable and inconvenient truth, or as the Apostle John reminds his readers at the end of today’s passage (Revelation 12:7-17): Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. (Revelation 12:17)

Point to ponder

Where do I see conflict and division in today’s world? Is this affecting my church and family? What does this tell me about its origin?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the Prince of Peace and the Teacher of Truth. Help us to see that the things which separate and divide us may be part of the war that Satan still wages among us. Grant us the ability to discern what is actually and factually true, instead of blindly accepting what we want to be true. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Come along and join us for worship on Sundays at 11:00 AM. You will be made very welcome 😊

Today’s image is one of John’s drawings for Lent called ‘Battle Beneath the Stars.’ If you would like to view a larger version, please click this link: Battle.