TRUTH

Over the course of my reading and study of the Bible, I have to appreciate the definition of TRUTH as only that which God Himself in His word defines as true. To paraphrase,  if it is not in conformity with God’s truth, then it is a lie. The general finding from my studies is that we men can not agree upon the definition of TRUTH because we are a bunch of scheming swindlers who only want to accept the truths that fit our fantasies. Our own version of the truth. I call it “truth for convenience.”

When He was confronted with a question by Thomas, His disciple on how to know the way, Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6 NKJV). Jesus gives a definition of Himself in a way He never did at any instance in his life on earth. by finding Jesus, you find the WAY. Because that way is the right way, it can only lead to the TRUTH. The truth as we know is the very source of LIFE. God is true. The way, the truth, and the life are not three things that exist separately. They are all one and the same. It is like the Trinity of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  They are not distinct but one Who exists in the various forms. One is the other which is also the other.

Truth does not need to prove anything to confirm that it is true. Satan employs heavily the strategy of challenge in order to tempt us into his dark depths of hell. It has always been his way. The devil many times offers what looks like a genuine Christian challenge and we men, in our insatiable desire for recognition have numerously fallen for it. Be careful.

At the end of a hugely consuming and thoroughly exhausting forty days fast in the wilderness, Jesus has an annoying encounter with the devil and has to endure a series of temptations. The devil slyly pauses what appears to be a very suggestive challenge with his typical “If you are…” formula. The devil here attacks the very truth of Jesus' identity. This is the most inducing challenge I know of in my entire little life. When you are challenged to prove that you are a man, you’ll most certainly feel obligated to do it. The person giving the challenge most probably knows you’re a man. This is a dangerous arsenal in the armory of the devil and he uses it to great effect in his core mission to “kill, steal and destroy.”

The devil in this passage (Matthew 4) challenges the truth about Jesus being the son of God. But that’s not the extent of the temptation; Jesus is in dire need for food and the devil points this out as a weak area to hit Jesus from (how familiar). He asks Jesus to do what he(the devil) knows Jesus can do in order to quench his hunger. How many of us, being able to do stuff, can resist the temptation to do them just to prove some point? How many times have you been challenged to, for example, ‘type Amen' on social media, “If you are…” and you did?

At the core of this “if you are…” is a very insinuating attempt to question the TRUTH. Jesus, knowing the word, quotes Deuteronomy 8:3 because the word is the bedrock of truth.
•••But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4:4 NKJV)•••

Human beings like to decide for themselves what the truth is. This is because we refuse to accept the infallibility of God’s word and if we accept, we forget or selectively choose what fits our postures and this is how we end up plunging into the deep dark pits hopelessness, confusion and brutality. We forget that all the little truths we know are tributaries to the vast river of truth that is Jesus Christ, which then meanders its way slowly and steadily into the glamorous Kingdom of our creator.

From Fred Arani ArapNyankuru's wisdom pamphlet