Dear SCC & Friends,
The first to plead his case seems just, until another comes and examines him. ~Proverbs 18:17
Update #20
One of the hallmarks of maturity is the ability to not be reactive and listen when someone disagrees with our perspective or opinion. All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives. ~Prov. 16:2 We are all a work in progress and need the Lord’s help and guidance to grow. Jesus is the perfect embodiment of grace and truth. …and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. ~Jn. 1:14 Grace without truth is relegated to sentimentality and misplaced sympathy. Conversely, truth without grace can be arrogant and legalistic with little emphasis on compassion or love. We, like Jesus, are called to strike the chord of grace and truth…like the strum of a guitar…a harmonious blend of God’s grace united with His immutable truth. We especially need understanding and balance to navigate the slippery slope of secular culture. We need certainty in uncertain times, and we have it, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever. ~Heb. 13:8…with us always, even to the end of the age.
I often hear people say, “My truth,” which is code for “my opinion.” Regarding truth, there is no such thing as “my truth.” Sincerity is not the truth nor are good intentions. Belief in something doesn’t make it true, only truth makes a belief true. Christian apologist, Os Guinness said, “Truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it.” All truth is God’s truth; He in fact is truth personified! Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life…~Jn. 14:6 Truth is that which is inherently correct at all times in all places, that which is, has been or will be. Truth is not relative and does not rely on conjecture, opinions or emotions. Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” Little did he know he was looking truth in the face. Grace and truth are two sides of the same coin…We need them both and don’t want one without the other. Next time we start to get perturbed, let us lay hold of God’s grace, knowing His grace is sufficient in any and every circumstance. This includes all the background noise and rancor of present-day culture…Keep up the good work. We can do this!
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thess. 5:16-18
In His grace and truth,
Kevin