Dear Church Family,
I have no way of knowing how many of you are taking the time to read these any longer—that is what happens when something like this drags on so long. We can only hope and be praying that the end is coming to this forced shutdown.
It is hard to accept a ruling like this when other organizations, some of a very dubious nature, are allowed to continue to operate at will. As with most things like this, a tipping point will come, and I pray that it will be a positive one. In California, I am sure many of you know, churches are suing the governor in a bid to be granted their constitutional rights.
As we wait for the present deadline to pass, there is a great deal we can still do together, and at the top of the list is to pray for one another. Along with that, I am so thankful to see such a good tune-in rate for our messages on Sunday.
In situations like the present one, ferreting out the truth is often a difficult thing. Conflicting reports abound, and the thing denied yesterday proves to be the admitted truth of today. The absolute truth of today proves to be the undeniable lie of tomorrow. Sometimes it is malicious and deliberate, sometimes it is just the result of better and more reliable information, but whatever the cause it makes the truth seem like such a changeable thing that it can never be reliably known.
Who to believe and what to believe becomes a real challenge to us all.
Thankfully, as Christians we do have one perfectly reliable source of truth and it comes down to us from the living God.
Deuteronomy 32:4 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.
In the Word of God, we find unadulterated, unchanging truth, and as such it proves to be a revealing filter through which we can view the whole world, and all that goes on and all that is said.
Psalms 119:105 & 160 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
This truth is the means by which God works in us and brings our own thinking and actions around to what is true and right.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
But through our relationship with the LORD in Jesus Christ, we also have another advantage—protection from falsehood, no matter how maliciously intended. Look at this beautiful prayer in Psalm 120.
Psalms 120:1-2 A Song of Ascents. In my distress I cried to the LORD, And He heard me. Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips And from a deceitful tongue.
William Plumer said, “Good men are often so situated that the only resource left them is Prayer.”
And what a blessing that proves to be. When we hear all the noise about us, and we try to glean the truth so that we know what to do and how to do it, the confusion in the world tends to lead us into perplexity. But we can sit back and breathe this prayer, looking at the world around us through the prism of the Word of Truth, trusting God to show us the truth and to protect us from those who are liars, especially those whose aims are evil.
How well Your blessed truths agree!
How wise and holy Your commands!
Your promises, how firm they be!
How firm our hope, our comfort stands!
Should all the forms that men devise
Assault my faith with treacherous art,
I’d call them vanity and lies,
And bind the gospel to my heart.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The LORD bless you and keep you; The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”
