September 11 - In Truth

John 17:10-19

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17 ESV)

Is truth objective? Is it subjective? Does it change based on the situation and individual? Is it constant regardless of circumstances?

People have been arguing about the nature of truth for a long long long time. Philosophers, theologians, and various other thinkers have defined and redefined their take on truth numerous times over the years. That's not to say they're right, or even close. But the general consensus is that truth is personal, flexible, and private—which is false.

Jesus prayed his high priestly prayer and included a lengthy bit about the disciples and what he hoped for them. He asked God to "sanctify them in the truth." A singular declarative statement which narrows truth down to something more pointed than the generalities and vagueness our modern era passes for truth.

Jesus went on to define truth. He said that truth is God's Word. In other words, Jesus believed that the Bible, for him it was the Old Testament, was the truth that God would use to redeem, changed encouragement and instruct his people. I am encouraged to know that Jesus saw our need for centralized truth. I am even more encouraged to find that he had prepared that truth before those men were ever even born.

And here is the big idea for you and I. Jesus wants us to be sanctified, cleaned, and set apart, through the careful reading and application of the Bible. Because it is not enough to think we know truth. No, we need to be in truth.

February 15 - Believe

Read: John 2:1-11

This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. (John 2:11 ESV)

Jesus' first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding feast. He used containers typically reserved for a separate Jewish religious observance, the rites of purification, had them filled with water, and changed the water into wine. It was a sign to his disciples that Jesus was more than just another teacher.

It took the miraculous to convince the disciples present with Jesus at the wedding in Cana of who he actually was. Are we guilty of that same kind of doubtful default position? Is the miraculous something that should be a regular occurrence among God's people?

There are almost as many varying opinions about the subject of miracles as there are people who talk about miracles. One thing is pretty clear. Across history Orthodox Christianity has held that the miracles Jesus performed were true historical events.

In an age of automatic skepticism that is of key importance. But even during Jesus' days with his disciples there was a tendency to sometimes lean away from belief in the supernatural. Jesus changed water into wine. In doing so he made a wedding feast a little more festive, but he made his disciples a lot more attentive.

What will it take for you and I to believe in Jesus like that? Or if you already do, what are you doing with your belief? How does it shape the decisions you make or your interactions with others? Or does it?

February 14 - Among Us

Read: John 1:14-18

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14 ESV)

Both the power and mystery of the truth of Christianity rests in the idea of God becoming a man as Jesus. He is often called Immanuel which means God with us. The way John worded it was equally powerful. That Jesus was with God from the beginning of beginnings is a central idea to historical Christianity. He is often referenced prior to the incarnation as the Word.

The word of God, the bible, is God's written account to us. It is inspired, supernatural, and active in its communication of God's voice to mankind. Jesus is the Word of God. More than written account, theological facts, or revelatory teachings, Jesus is the Living Word. He is the ongoing Truth of God's love for mankind.

The bible is important, and it is the word, but Jesus is the divine inspiration behind the bible. He is the Word. In truth he left infinitude and became flesh to display and reveal the glory of God to all people. Our only path to the absolute truth is through the Word, through Jesus. Ultimately he is God's final, future, and ongoing message of grace and truth.

If you find yourself alone, miserable, and wayward, Jesus is the way back. If you find yourself confused, condemned, and corrupt, Jesus is the way back. He came lived, died, and lived again to go on living in us so that in him we might be free. In him we might the Truth of the Glory of God.

January 2 - The First Gospel

Read: Genesis 3 and Galatians 4

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15 ESV)

In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Galatians 4:3-7 ESV)

Adam and Eve's sin brought a curse upon creation, and in that moment God revealed to them a promise for the future Messiah, Jesus. 4,000 years before the birth of Christ he was promised to come and bring about an eternal victory over the schemes of the enemy.

There is great comfort for the soul in knowing that a life lived with, by, through, and in Jesus is free from the slaving sin of this fallen world. All of us have sinned. All of us have missed the mark. But Jesus came in the fullness of time to set it right. To make us right. To restore, to seek, and to save all that had been lost.

Placing your faith in Jesus means placing your faith in the God who knows your tomorrow, forgives your yesterday, and abides in your today.

January 1 - In the Beginning

Read: Genesis 1 and John 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5, 14 ESV)

Everything starts at the beginning. Everything except God. Both Genesis and John's Gospel speak of beginnings, not because God has a beginning, but because at the beginning of human history God was already there. Jesus was there. As you start this new year, this new beginning, resolve to live a life that follows where Jesus has already been. He was before our beginnings.

Not only was Jesus there before, but he was present during our creation. And in time when the created needed the intervention of the Creator to right our wrongs it was Jesus, God the Son, who stepped from eternity into history to shine his eternal light upon a dark world. No darkness of this life can swallow, stifle, or dispel the Light of Christ.

As creation was birthed by the Word of God, from within the grace of God came the Son of God to light the way for you and for me. Resolve this year to draw closer to the Living Word, the Light of the World, the Son of God. Let your resolution be to spend a year with Jesus.