All the Truth
We can completely trust the Lord to lead us into all His truth by His Holy Spirit. All men are liars. Only the Lord is always truthful. God desires us to know the Truth to set us free, to have His wisdom in sharing His truth with others. As we desire the truth from God, the attitude of our hearts in searching the scriptures is important to the Lord:
“Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.” Acts 17:11 NKJV
The Bereans examined the Word they were hearing from the disciples to see if it was confirmed in the scriptures. They were listening and searching for truth. They did not search the scriptures with the intent to prove this message, new to them, as false. They were not looking for ways to support the truth of their current understanding or to validate their traditions. They were open, teachable, and willing to search the scriptures for confirmation.
Thank God many were open to our Lord’s new teachings or we would not have a body of believers today! In contrast, Jesus chastised the leaders of His day for their erroneous motives in searching the scriptures. The Lord does not desire Christians to search the scriptures to prove something wrong, though He has saved more than one unbeliever such as the well-known author C.S. Lewis, who set out to do just that!
When we are growing spiritually in God’s Holy Spirit school, we recognize and welcome God’s refinement and correction of any erroneous understandings we have. We ask Father God and He grants understanding to teachable hearts. Can any of us as Christians say that we yet understand as we should? We grow as the truth He is teaching us by His spirit continually refines ours, working out a more pure comprehension through the fire of His presence.
This is how he creates gold in us, the gold of His nature. He is the Master teacher, always willing to show us His ways that are past our human comprehension.
“Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold that can be destroyed. They will show that you will be given praise and honor and glory when Jesus Christ returns.” 1 Peter 1:7 CEV
We don’t grow when we see only through our biased lens, looking to prove and justify what we already believe.We all have biased, subjective “filters.” residing in our souls—our minds, will, and emotions. Filters are created by all of our life experiences: our personality, family, culture, society, and unique life paths. These develop a “lens,” of viewpoints through which we see life, limiting what each of us can see, hear, and understand.
We literally do not have the same reality as others. It’s astounding to realize how much our human nature influences what we believe is truth. We can’t help developing our own unique ways of seeing things. But our God is a consuming fire and an excellent refiner of His own:
“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say,
‘It is my people’: and they shall say, ‘The Lord is my God.’” Zechariah 13:9 KJV
What we have been taught, what we come to believe, is the pattern of how we see ourselves, others, and the world around us. Our perceptions limit and determine “truth.” One small, but astounding example is the difference in how people living in snowy areas perceive snow. Most of us in the northern midwest US distinguish snow in pretty basic ways: wet snow, heavy snow, fluffy snow, lots of snow. But the Inuits native to Alaska see dozens of types of snow and have many more ways to describe it.
Their survival is much more dependent upon seeing the reality of snow in a different way than we do. Our vision of the “reality” of snow is overlaid —limited or expanded—by our learned filters what we know as snow. This is just one example of how we literally do not see the same world. There is so much more to the universe than our finite mind can comprehend, but we do have the mind of Christ within us and He is Life. He is our covering, overlaying and exponentially expanding the believer’s vision of our human reality.
The Lord is our vision, and thankfully, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He cares about and exposes the motives of our hearts when we seek truth. He knows if we really and truly want to understand Him or if we are more intent on justifying ourselves and our beliefs. Let us see, hear, and understand what God said through the great prophet, Isaiah, about an acceptable motive for seeking the Lord when we enter into a time of fasting and prayer:
“‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, and oppress all your workers.
Behold, you fast for contention and strife [to justify yourselves], and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you have done today to make your voice heard on high! Is it a fast like this that I choose?...Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?...
Is this not the fast that I choose: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the ropes of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke?...
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ if you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness..” Isaiah 58:1-7; 8-11 NASB
Isaiah chastises the leaders of his time for fasting in a visible way, giving the outward appearance of religious holiness while inside, in their hearts, they are far from it. They have many wrong motives for fasting and prayer, with God naming each of them. God chastises them for fasting to “point the finger”of blame rather than to bring redemption to others. Clearly, God cares a great deal about the motives in our hearts when we fast, pray, or search the scriptures for truth.
This is particularly true when someone tells us something different from our established understanding. Do we go to the Lord to teach us the truth or immediately jump to expose or condemn the “error” of this new information? Do we search the scriptures to justify our position, to prove we are right? God needs no defense so who are we justifying or defending in these situations?
God may lead us to speak His truth to those in error but it must be in His way “truth in love,” led by the holy spirit in His timing when ears are open to hear. We’re not to search for truth in order to get more ammunition to challenge others. We have likely all done it at one time or another, but it is not ideal. We do not have to defend God. He is perfectly capable of doing that and He will let us know what He would say or do when His truth must be shared.
Yes, there are, indeed, foundational truths upon which we are built. Once the foundation is established in our hearts, however, we are encouraged to go on to maturity rather than settling for what we already have, often requiring a change in our current spiritual understanding.
“Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
And God permitting, we will do so.” Hebrews 6:1-3 NIV
Our knowledge and understanding of foundational principles of this faith are established in us. God is faithful to write such essential principles of faith deeply in our hearts that remain unshakable. We know Jesus Christ was a God-man who lived and died on the cross. We know He was resurrected and gifted us with the Holy Spirit within. Through Him, we are saved and have eternal life. We know these things to be true and have no need to search the scriptures or hear message after message to establish them again and again in our Christian walk.
But God teaches us more through daily food to nourish our spiritual bodies for further growth in Him. We pray He will “Give us this day our daily bread,” our daily spiritual food needed to sustain and further the Christ within us to grow into maturity. These are continual feedings where the Father and the Son come to sup, to dine with us, as promised. Each day we are to build on these solid foundations, not to “lay them again,” as Paul admonishes.
God is continually creating this house of His habitation for His body as we are built up in Him. As we increase in spiritual understanding and knowledge, we grow up into Him. His knowledge, truth and ways are so vast, so beyond our present ability to comprehend, so there is much to learn. We cannot digest too much “meat” of the word at once nor when still needing the “milk “ of the word.
There are new things God brings to our spiritual minds to be examined with a right heart to see if they are true. We can trust the Lord to keep us from any error, and there is already lot of that! There would not be division and strife in the Body if everyone was right. Much confusion and misunderstanding arise with very popular teachings of doctrine based on one scripture and passed down through the traditions of men: r
“Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” 2 Corinthians 13:1b NIV
We have been given a clear direction about what the Lord expects of us. In order to continue to grow:
“Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.” Lamentations 3:40-41 KJV
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.” Psalms 139:23 KJV
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Can't you see for yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you--unless you actually fail the test? ” 2 Corinthians 13:5 Berean
Some of us were fortunate to spiritually grow up with a ministry that did not caution us to fear the ministry of other groups or sources of spiritual knowledge. Our leaders trusted God to lead us into all truth, spiritually relying on the holy spirit to protect us from error as we learned and grew under their leadership. Such ministers do not fear losing their flock to another and have no need to warn or control those in fellowship with them. They trust God, standing on His word:
“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples;
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” John 8:31-32 NASB
God’s truth is making us free. It begins with our faith in His salvation and is a continual process. As we know more and more truth, taught by God’s spirit, we are more and more free from the bondage of old ways and beliefs, laws and traditions, from others who want to limit our freedom in Christ. Hasn’t this been the experience of many of us? We are created for fellowship with Him, learning new things and further refinements of what we believe from His word every day. Without this, there is no growth, and our entrance into His Kingdom of peace, love and joy is limited.
When we remain in God’s spiritual school, we don’t set up camp, put down stakes, and think we have all the truth there is. We are freed of old understandings and fleshly ways. Each new truth He reveals makes us more free of the old. Sin and death must loosen their authoritative grasp upon us. We are being made free, as true disciples who know the Truth.
God says to search ourselves, to try or test our ways before God. Then it is astonishing when the Lord corrects long-held misconceptions of the scriptures. That’s why Christians continue to read the Bible year after year. Same book, same words, but endless growth and teaching from the holy spirit. Whether it be fasting, prayer, studying and searching the scriptures, or receiving ministry from others to gain His truth, we are to present ourselves to Him with pure heart motives. We come humbly to the Father to learn His as a faithful and maturing son or daughter, hungry to know His ways.
We are not to come in order to prove ourselves right (pride) and others wrong (revenge), or maintain control (fear) over another. This only brings contention and strife. God help all of us men and women of God to move past doing battle with each other about the Word! Isaiah prophesied that a Day will come when many people seek the Lord:
“In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say:
‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths, for the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Isaiah 2: 2-3 Berean
What a time this will be! The highest, holiest and chief mountain represents Zion, God’s house, the New Jerusalem, descending from heaven to be seen within a people, here on this earth. Jesus said His kingdom is within us in the gospels. We are not to listen to those saying it is here or there in this visible earth. Natural Jerusalem is not God’s destination. There are no nations in the spiritual realms. This promise is to earthly groups of people living in all nations, all being drawn to the kingdom of God.
All will be drawn to this heavenly spiritual dwelling of God by His sons and daughters who are called to do this end-time work. If this is a new understanding of scripture for you, take it to God so that He may lead you in examining the scriptures concerning this truth. It is an opportunity to search the scriptures to “see if these things are true.” Examine your heart to see what is there as you do so. There need be no fear of error when we leave it in His hands.
We all are already in error, anyway! Who can say that we understand all we should, all of the Truth from and about the Master of the entire universe? Day by day, He teaches us and writes truth in our hearts. It’s His job to correct errors so that we are made free. God knows everything and is the searcher of the thoughts and intents of the heart. When we examine or test ourselves, it is to see evidence of Jesus Christ within us.
God continually reveals the motives in our hearts so we, His people, may have pure hearts without guile. This was the very first word God whispered in my spirit when I received the baptism of the Holy spirit in the 70’s and is still a work in progress! Oh, how tempting it is to defend, to justify ourselves, but Jesus, our Example, did not. Our need to be right when there is a difference is fundamentally human but falls short of what the Lord desires for His own. And even when we are right, we can be wrong in the motives of our hearts.
The first motive of my heart God exposed at that time was chastising me for my anger at the sinner rather than the sin. God said my anger “stunk in His nostrils,” more than the unbeliever who was doing wrong but did not know His ways. What a shock to this believer who thought she was so right! That is one of the strongest words of correction I have received in my walk with the Lord. It was most humbling and not a favorite of the new things He was teaching me!
There followed several years where I continually was led to humble myself by asking forgiveness for my anger even though I was right in my standard of truth. How clear it is, over and over, that it is about the heart, the character of Christ within.This was not an enjoyable test but it worked further truth and righteousness in me. God was training me to act and react according to His truth instead of my own self-righteousness.
“No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful.
Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11 Berean
During this period of learning with God, God revealed the futility of being angry and “beating unbelievers over the head” with my godly words and beliefs. Many do not know our Lord nor His truth. They may know religion but they do not know Him. He bluntly told me I was “beating a blind man,” as He continued His correction in dealing with my heart. He was purging my pride and self-righteousness through the humble, and yes, repetitive process of asking for forgiveness for my anger.
My anger clearly did not, could not, work the righteousness of God—nor could it ever do so because it was not coming from His spirit. God’s focus was on me, not on the other person, an unbeliever who did not know God or His truth. My soulish anger had no good effect on someone who did not even know God. How could I continue to righteously condemn someone who does wrong and lives in error because he does not know the truth?
There are multitudes all over the world who have no opportunity to know God, let alone understand His ways. Thank the Lord, He exposed my sin to me and corrected it through obedience to Him. It is embarrassing now to recall how long it took for the Lord to work His truth into my stubborn heart!
Jesus is truth. He is the only true and righteous one, yet was continually accused unjustly by many ignorant souls who did not know Who He was. Consider all of the opportunities Jesus had to defend Himself when the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of His days on this earth, attacked and discredited Him. He did not defend or explain Himself to His enemies.
Jesus only explained His ways to those in intimate fellowship with Him, and then only spoke what Father God gave Him. More than once, when the disciples reported disagreements in opposition to Him, He essentially told them to forget about it. Jesus expected those Jewish religious leaders to resist and discredit Him. He knew what they were saying as well as what was in their hearts. No one had to tell Him about it. Jesus revealed the ugly, secret motives of their hearts, uncovering what was underneath their outward religious ways. That really insulted them and stoked their anger at our Lord!
Isn’t it time for the people of God to allow Him to purge our hearts of such falsity, such hypocrisy? We are not just to “talk the talk,” but “walk the walk!” We do this not by more effort or good works, but by fully surrendering to the only One who can change our hearts into His heart of love, peace and joy. We are all to continue on this path of heart-purging until our hearts are written with the truth of His ways. We are called to be the righteousness of God, the light of the world, not to just make proclamations about our faith.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV
The Lord has not given us a message of “try harder, do better” like some heavenly motivational speaker. Rather, He is saying in this hour for us to yield, surrender, lay down our heavy burdens and let Him teach us His rest. We are learning to become peacemakers, understanding His ways of peace, surrendering to His work of change in us with faith in His promises. We in our flesh cannot do it and the law will never make us righteous. If it could, we would have seen it by now. He is our righteousness and His dwelling within our temple will produce a purified people.
“It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 NIV
For some, like the religious leaders and well-established Jews of Jesus’ day, it is most difficult to let go of past beliefs when new light is shed on our understanding. The more time, energy, and effort we have invested in it, the harder to allow God to disentangle us from old beliefs that are not His truth. It is a very common battle, first illustrated by the trials Jesus faced in the wilderness.
The need to be right and prove who you are to others is one of the three tests our Lord passed in that time of trial and temptation. The devil tempted Him in the wilderness to prove who He was and He refused, quoting His Father’s word in rebuke of the enemy. The devil was working to have Jesus act in self-interest rather than obedience to God:
“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil…the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he said, throw yourself down. For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’
Jesus answered him, ‘It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ Matthew 4:1;5-7 NIV
Three of the four gospels give an account of Jesus’ testing in the wilderness. He must have talked with His disciples about His experience or it would not be written. Do you notice that the devil is using scripture to deceive? This is his highest and most evil deception, the most powerful spiritual attack our enemy has in his arsenel. He excels in getting believers to use parts of scripture for self-interest, to fight with each other over doctrine, and to be “accusers of the brethren” by bringing God’s truth in a deceptive way, knowingly or not.
Jesus knows all of us will be tested to see what truth we stand firmly upon in our lives. It’s a critical issue of humanity. Our human need to be right, to prove we are good and worthy, is a destroyer of many things. Examine any country’s story over time. Harm and destruction to others is a part of any great nation’s history, including our own. This is routinely revealed in national and international politics. It’s rare to hear a politician acknowledge their adversary as right and humbly admit they are wrong when exposed in error.
It is quite powerful when national leaders actually apologize to people their country has harmed or destroyed in the past, as some have done for past slavery and colonization of other peoples. The sad thing is that many of us would respect and perhaps even be inclined to vote for such a leader or politician if they were to do so. But it remains rare in the world of politics. And how many honest and dedicated politicians find it difficult to sustain their values once they get into the ways of our system of government?
Those in politics have campaign managers and public relations advisers who promote attacking, denying, and covering up any error as the way to win votes. Advisers assist by finding more ways to avoid taking responsibility, particularly when facing loss of wealth, power, or position, or elections. We will never be perfected in politics or by human government, but we can learn much from God by observation. He gives discernment so that we can see His truth about the motives of others.
Thus is the way of man and seems to lead to earthly success, but it is neither godly nor righteous. The underlying motives are just those things God is purging from His own. There continue to be many ways that our pride and ego lead us down a path of arrogant, closed-minded beliefs and assumptions. The former politician, Upton Sinclair, said: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
Such self-interest, rather than God-submission, thrives in the hearts of many Christians, particularly those of us who refuse to examine our motives and actions. What if we as Christians looked to the heart, the character of our leaders, rather than what they say or do that might benefit us? God is and will continue to deal with those of us with teachable hearts, knowing human hearts are very easily deceived.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:9-10 KJV
It is even more powerfully expressed in the Concordant Literal translation of this passage:
“The heart is crooked above all things, and it is mortally ill; who can know it? I am Yahweh Who investigates the heart, Who tests the innermost being, so as to give to each one according to his ways, according to the fruit of his actions.” Jeremiah 17:9-10 Concordant Literal
Even in the supposedly objective field of science, what researchers already believe—their filters—influences their studies. New information is strongly resisted by the scientific establishment earning their living by beliefs that are later discredited. Think of the persecution the originator of the germ theory experienced from his contemporaries. Thus is man’s wisdom. Science does take a long time to catch up with God’s wisdom!
Once a theory begins to be discredited with more advanced research, those who are still embedded professionally and financially in the old view put up a huge fight such as happened with the new idea that washing the hands stops the spread of disease. Historically the “objective” field of science has fought vigorously against and discredited many a scientist who learns new and most valuable information that has the potential to destroy their incomes, if not their life work.
Humans have great difficulty in being objective, to get out of our own limited vision. In fact, we are likely not aware of many of the areas where our vision is limited because we don’t even recognise it. It is impossible to be fully objective, so the best we can do is be open to our own subjectivity. None of us know all truth and most of us stubbornly cling to more than one questionable, unexamined thing we picked up somewhere along the way.
All of this is carried into our walk with God, who is all truth, all the time. Because of human limitations, our ears may be closed to the present truth now being revealed by God. Yet, there is much truth in every move and every era of God, even when He moves on. Consider the great moves of God in the past. Where are they now? It was and is truth, but God is moving on, moving us further, doing a new thing.
There are always those who just stop learning, encamped and resting on their present fund of knowledge no matter how dated or unexamined. Such were the religious leaders of Jesus’ time and not much has changed. And how many of the next generation get weary of hearing us older ones resist change, crying “But we have always done it this way!” It would be wonderful if God’s people were different, but we are not.
Many religious leaders resist what God is presently doing. They are unwilling to be examined if it does not fit with the basis of their ministry, particularly if the ministry is popular and lucrative. They hang on long after God’s presence is no longer with them, many sitting with empty buildings with a few loyal followers left. Great ministries who have been anointed by God for a time fall into decline and error because of this. What was a godly foundation becomes wood, hay, and stubble that God has to burn to ashes when they no longer hear Him.
Some will be wailing and gnashing their teeth as God continues to burn up the old for the new He is now bringing.
“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’But he will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ And he will answer, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers.’
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God.
And indeed, some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.” Luke 13:24- 28 KJV
Why would the last be first? Because those who came first are more often entrenched, unwilling to move on with the Lord. Thosw who come in last have much less to lose, not having years of religious accumulation to lay down. They just want God! Jesus said the Master does not know many of those who were using His name, doing things with and for God. God did not have their hearts for they have not yielded them in surrender to Him.
It is not how long we have been Christian, professing faith and outwardly following religious ways. It is how intimately we are coming to know the Master and His ways. God is spirit and we are to worship Him in spirit and truth. The Jews of Jesus’ day were at the top of the religious order, having studied to gain knowledge of the Mosaic law for years, but Jesus was quite clear in saying the tax collectors and prostitutes would enter before them. These known sinners were last in that culture but first to enter in because they saw their need for a Saviour.
It’s good not to have any worldly standing, no religious or cultural status or benefits to defend or prove right. They had much less to lose than those who held positions of honor and pride that they fought to keep. The Jews of Jesus’ time had centuries of the law of Moses, but Jesus was not impressed! He saw how their hearts were far from Him, putting heavy burdens on others while not being themselves able to fulfil the law.
The established leadership, as is often the case, resisted the new covenant while blocking others from the present truth that Jesus was bringing. It seems we just can’t keep from putting our stakes down into what we already believe, resisting or refusing to pull them up until we are sitting on the ashes of our works. This human need to be right, the “pride of life,” has a negative impact on personal relationships as well. Relationships are damaged and even destroyed when one or more prioritize “being right” above their loving connections.
Marriages fail because one or both partners insist on their point of view as being the truth rather than how they view things. Such partners refuse to humble themselves to truly listen and hear the other’s viewpoint nor are they able to see the heart of the other during such conflicts. This pride of life is destructive and damaging, bringing many intimate relationships to an end. When we resist, becoming unable to acknowledge our lack of understanding and our own shortcomings, we cannot hear what another is saying nor comprehend the root of the issues we face.
We become unwilling to work towards reconciliation. Years ago, a couples therapist and author, Jay Haley, said that conflicts in intimate relationships appear to be about the rules for the relationship, but they are really about who makes the rules. Isn’t that our ultimate wrestling match with God and our flesh? God will not be satisfied until the heavens rule in us.
Daniel told this to King Nebuchadnezzar, the second ruler of Babylon, when he was called upon to interpret the King’s dream. Fulfilling the warning in this dream, Nebuchadnezzar was granted a glorious kingdom by God but forgot Who had provided for it and the success this King experienced. He had to go through seven years of humility, losing his mind and becoming like the animals, eating grass, until he repented of exalting himself over God.
Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar would endure this:
“…until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.” Daniel 4: 26b Berean
This came true for the King of Babylon and it is true now. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The Heavens do rule! We believers know that Almighty God makes our rules to live by and writes them in our hearts. He is the truth. God’s truth written in love within our hearts by the Holy Spirit creates the only unity possible. Yet disagreement on the rules of life in God is rampant. Only love is the unifier, stronger than any power on earth, any thought or belief.
Love unites, it does not divide. And there’s no point in a power struggle with Him such as we might indulge in with people. He remains faithful as His mercy endures forever, covering our fleshly ways and human error when we do not yet know the truth. Then, when we allow the Lord to shine His light into our hearts, He reveals the root of conflicts. He reveals the hearts, showing what our arguments are really about.
Conflicts and disagreements are likely to be rooted and nurtured in one of these sinful motives within: lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Beneath our human desire to be right and pronounce it to others are these sinful motives that fall short of God’s best. Often we, ourselves, do not know what is in our own hearts. Others sense it and even accuse us of feeling that way, while we remain unaware, creating discord and distress.
All humans desire to be heard and loved, to have their loved ones hear and respect them. But our arguments are so often not about the topic at hand but about how people are understanding, loving, and respecting each other….or not. Conflict comes from what is in our hearts, not what we are saying. It leaks through in tone of voice, facial expression, and gestures with meaning beyond our words. In many cultures, more of what is not said, the nonverbal signals, are relied upon for communication rather than the actual words being said.
The tone of voice, word emphasis, and a visual expression if face-to-face, are a stronger, more believable way we rely upon to understand communication from others. We can make a statement of absolute faith, such as “The Lord is my helper. Why should I be afraid of what man can do to me?” and make it sound like a completely different message just by adding a sarcastic, mocking tone to these precious words. Think about it!What is in our hearts does come out.
God will deal with us when we resist learning something new, including seeing the truth of our ways that displease Him. We risk being unteachable when someone we consider beneath us, less knowledgeable or respected than we are, someone who has no authority over us, tries to tell us the truth. Sometimes it is the child who shows us, but can we receive it from them?
God does have vessels of honor and dishonor that teach us so we may be the truth teller or resister. I dare say most of us have been one or the other on occasion. His lessons are all around us and He reveals His truth in many ways. We can consciously and unconsciously block out His truth, particularly if we resist the vessel through whom God chose to speak to us. Human bias rejects true wisdom from many a source whose outward status or history would, in our eyes, disqualiy the truth they are sharing.
Have you ever rejected someone’s potential for truth because they are “too young, uneducated, too educated, divorced or single or childless, a recovering addict, too old, too rich, too poor, culturally limited…”? God is the qualifier of any vessel, not man. Through our walk with God, we realize He is always teaching us, even when we do not realize it is Him or resisting the vessel through which it is being delivered.
God used an unbeliever to humble me and teach me about my own angry self-righteousness. He was with me in that situation and wanted me to learn. The unbeliever had an opportunity to witness this and change as well, learning to know the Lord I passionately was trying to follow, but that never happened. I benefited but the only “reward” I got from the unbeliever was a comment on being impressed with my steadfast belief in God when things were not going my way. Our rewards are from Him, not other people!
God does not waste any of our experiences when we long to know His ways, prioritizing seeking the kingdom of God. He is very efficient in using a circumstance or an experience to teach all if we are willing. God’s truth is everywhere, not limited to religious people or religious gatherings. His truth is everywhere in this world, especially as we seek it with our whole hearts. God’s lessons are everywhere when we have spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear the truth He is teaching us.
When someone points out that we are in error, we might consider in more depth the account of King David, the man after God’s own heart. He committed many grievous sins when he took Bathsheba, another man’s wife, to his bed. It had to be difficult for a King (or any prominent leader) to admit to wrongdoing. After all, most Kings surround themselves with others who support them, even many who will agree and bow to their every wish, right or wrong. It is dangerous to challenge a king who can kill you with just an order.
Wise rulers, in contrast, surround themselves with people who will “speak the truth in love'' to them. Such leaders know their strengths and have those around them who add their skills and knowledge. These advisers know they have permission to tell the leaders when they are wrong. Wise leaders want to be aware of their areas of lack and error so they may grow in their leadership of others. These are wise rulers indeed!
When Nathan the prophet confronted David about his grievous sin against God, David’s eventual response is written in the Psalms:
“Create in me a clean heart, God and renew a steadfast spirit within me.…For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You do not take pleasure in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.” Psalms 51:10-11:16-17 NASB
What David immediately feared was the loss of his relationship with the Lord of his life. He pleaded with God to grant a restoration of the heart-to-heart relationship David had with God. We hear nothing from David about asking God to allow him to remain King. God could have stripped David of this calling, as He did Saul, but He did not. You see, He had given David His word of promise about David’s kingdom.
We can assume David had not been discussing these sinful actions with the Lord while the affair with Bathsheba was unfolding. He surely was not seeking God’s advice as had been David’s way. He was already distancing from the Lord so he could do what he wanted but he still had a heart for God. He knew God was the source of His life and the success of his kingdom. But it took someone else to speak truth to David, to confront him with his sinful actions.
Unlike Nebuchadnezzar, David immediately humbled himself before God with this beautiful prayer. He was well aware that the sacrifices and burnt offerings required as part of his religion would not suffice. Sacrifice and offerings are all external acts that could be done without the motives of the heart being purged. David was wise to know God required a change of heart within him for the restoration of their relationship. This is the best, the only sacrifice: a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart that is acceptable to God when we are in error that causes harm to others.
God is a master at humbling us so that we can let go of this need to be right and all its accompanying self-righteousness. If we do not humble ourselves when we hear the voice of His spirit, He will allow circumstances to do it for us. It may eventually be publicly known, shouted from the housetops, rather than just between God and ourselves. God will do what it takes to discipline us in order bring about the righteousness in our hearts that He desires.
“By this time the crowd, unwieldy and stepping on each other’s toes, numbered into the thousands. But Jesus’ primary concern was his disciples. He said to them, ‘Watch yourselves carefully so you don’t get contaminated with Pharisee yeast, Pharisee phoniness.
You can’t keep your true self hidden forever; before long you’ll be exposed. You can’t hide behind a religious mask forever; sooner or later the mask will slip and your true face will be known. You can’t whisper one thing in private and preach the opposite in public; the day’s coming when those whispers will be repeated all over town.” Luke 12:1-3 The MSG
After such trials and tests as are common to believers, it may take years before we see what God was teaching us. In my early years of walking with God, I saw myself as a butterfly pinned against the wall, flapping my wings but unable to fly. I could not escape what had me pinned to the wall. I just recently realized that it was God Who had me pinned, so that I could not fly off and do what I wanted. I had asked Him to keep me in His will, to not allow me to turn back no matter what happened.
He was faithfully answering my prayers, denying what I wanted while I learned to submit to His will. How unfathomable is His love for us and His patient teaching of His own! When we persist, when we really want to know God’s truth regardless the cost, understanding of why we resist His truth eventually is revealed. It is usually our flesh man that is in the way. Something of self does not want to hear Him, fearing the loss of something we want though, deep down, we often know that it is neither God’s will nor God’s best for us, as David’s heart knew.
We love the Lord, as David did, so we desire the full gospel, the whole truth, to remain teachable in God no matter who is bringing us the truth as God’s vessel. We do not want to stubbornly hang on to something we have always believed or insist on having in our life while missing out on what God has for us now. As a line from a chorus says, “Our God is moving on but His name [nature] remains the same.” When God wants to move us on with Him by refining the truths we have had or correcting erroneous beliefs, we want to move on with Him!
God is very clear about what happens when we stubbornly refuse to go on to maturity. We lose Him, the light of His presence and countenance, becoming at risk of:
“…having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” 2 Timothy 3:5 KJV
This is what the scribes and Pharisees did and exactly what Paul warned Timothy to avoid. They clung to the law of Moses, what they already knew. Their knowledge of the Law of Moses gave them stature among the people. It is difficult for us humans to lay down what we have known, particularly from years of dedication and study. These all-too-human leaders did not want to yield one inch to this new Messenger from God Who threatened to rob them of all they had established and held dear. They had too much to lose!
But Jesus told them:
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.
I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?
Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope for if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” John 39-47 NASB
They searched the scriptures but remained blind to the Savior in their midst, lacking the love that God is. Jesus told them that He knew all about them and their lack of love for others. In sharp contrast, He did nothing to receive the glory and adulation of men, knowing that it would quickly fade when he was honored and respected. Jesus confronted the leaders of His time by seeking the glory of man rather than God, living it daily. He only did what the Father showed Him to do. His heart intended to please God, not people.
Now when we hear something new in our spiritual walk, we can take it to Father God and trust that we will be taught the truth. We can, like the Bereans, search the scriptures to see if these things are true. We have no spiritual growth when we refuse to keep learning from God. God is the best Teacher we can ever have. He is all truth and does all things for our good. What earthly teacher can say that?
When we are willing, His teachings bring about a change within us. God can establish right motives in our spiritual lives so that we shine forth His truth in who we are, not just what we say. He refines and corrects what we have learned as we continue in our walk with Him. Aren’t you glad that His word is many-faceted, like a diamond depending upon where the light is shining upon it? He is mindful to equip us with His truth and His love, essential to fulfill our calling in Him:
“This is what the Lord says, he who made the earth, the Lord who formed it and established it—the Lord is his name:
‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’” Jeremiah 33:2-3 NIV
What God told Jeremiah when He called this prophet into His service is still true today. When we call to Him, He will teach us more and more. There is no end to what God will teach us when we are open to Him. The holy spirit is given to guide us into all truth, including the motives of our hearts. God prepares His people, most particularly His leadership, when there is humility and submission before Him. He will teach us of His ways and reveal His secrets to His elect.
God discerns the thoughts and intents of our hearts, revealing these to us as His light shines within, so that we may learn how to live in peace and harmony with God and others. God owes us nothing but because He loves us and we have a heart of faith to know Him, He graciously teaches us Truth by the spirit within us. Isn’t it wonderful that we have an eternity to learn from our Lord?
“O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor? Who has first given to God, that God should repay him?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:33-35, quoting Isaiah 40:9-31 NKJV