Truth is a wonderful thing. The Apostle John declared that he had no greater joy than to hear that his children walk in truth. Imagine his absolute joy upon hearing and seeing that those to whom he gave the truth by evidence and eye witness account, were displaying daily, new evidence to confirm all that he had shared and experienced.
But do we walk in truth? Or is it possibl to stand still in the truth? If we are stagnant in what we believe is true, is what we believe really true, or are we deceived?
This is a question I have been pondering and as I search I am discovering something. We can trust stories by eyewitnesses; we can affirm what we know with historical, geographical, archaeological, even scientific proof. This is enough to persuade many, yet many will still deny what is put in front of them.
As time goes on people begin to be even more distrustful of these things to identify what is true, having never seen or experienced such things themselves, nor having a proper knowledge and understanding of them. But there is one thing no one can deny. It can only be accepted or rejected: present truth.
There is no greater force on earth. What is true of history is known by what is true now. Even what is true of the future is established by what is true right now.
The I AM
This long neglected nature and name of God is, I believe, His most revealing attribute! A name not based on what He has done before, nor what He will do in the future, but discloses everything He is right now!
It is the name that Moses, the friend of God, knew. The name that Jesus dared to proclaim from His very own mouth. The right here, right now, present God. Not the past, not the future, but the NOW.
Present truth is the most reliable of all truth—it vindicates what is true before and establishes what is true in the future.
I recently shared these examples with friends and I think it can be helpful to point people to the present truth.
For example, many of us have been hurt and offended in the past by people who believed a lie about us as a person, thus straining or breaking down a relationship. Sometimes we can hold onto these hurts and they begin to change our behaviour, making us angry and bitter and our personality begins to change. We think and wish that somehow vindication will come and the person who hurt us will be able to go back in time and realise they were wrong about us, then come begging for forgiveness. But that will never happen.
We can't go back in time. Those people can't and won't see now what they couldn't see then. So how will they ever know the truth?
Beholding present truth
The only thing that can change their mind about what was true about you then is what they observe to be true about you now. If what happened then took root and began to make you bitter, cynical and resentful, chances are that the person who believed a lie about you in the past would only have their convictions re-enforced.
Their negative view of you as a person is re-established by the fact that you became the negative person they believed you to be!
Yet if your intentions toward that person were pure in the past, and you run into them today and treat them with the same love, respect and value that you always did, not letting their changed attitude towards you, change your attitude towards them, you will surprise them and they may begin to think that if you are such a nice person now, how did they think you were such a bad person before?
They may even change their mind about you completely.
That's the power of I AM
What is true about your past can be brought to light by your present—the same with your future.
Stagnation is not truth. Truth is found in the walking.
I have had lots of people in my life who have accused me of one thing or another, when my intentions were pure towards them. As I'm sure most people have. I can never take them back to those times to show them what was really true about me. So why worry about it. Instead let them observe that a lie cannot break the truth, by continuing in the attitude I had towards them before the lie came.
Truth is always found in the present
Let's see two examples that the Son of God gives us. How do we know that God the Father gives life? Because the Son does also. How do we know there is a future resurrection? Because of 'I AM the resurrection and the life'.
There is so much more but I thought it would be good just to write a few things down to remind you, the truth is not 'out there'. No. The Truth is here, walking right amongst us.
Joshua Robbie is from the Gold Coast Australia where he runs a painting and decorating business. He recently started a church fellowship with his wife Rene' in Currumbin Queensland. Though he has many interests, including basketball and surfing, he with Rene' have determined to give themselves in service to the kingdom of God in all aspects of life.
Josh Robbie's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/josh-robbie.html