Lesson on Truth

TRUTH - John 4:24 (NIV)

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.

I always like to first get a real definition of a word into my brain before I begin to contemplate why the Lord chose this word for us to dwell on it. Here are the definitions from the dictionaries:

Truth is something that has been proven by facts or sincerity.

(I question sincerity which is a feeling or emotion. All the sincerity in the world does not make it the truth. I can sincerely say I am going to lose 20 pounds but if I don’t diet and exercise it won’t happen and that’s a fact.)

TRUTH

1) the quality or state of being true.

2) that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality.

3) a fact or belief that is accepted as true.

(I question acceptance which is a choice that can be altered at any time. I can accept another person into my life as a friend but if they gossip about me and hurt me I can choose not to be friends with them any longer. Fact is accepted because there is proof. Belief is based on faith and many people do not believe in or have faith especially a spiritual faith.)

True is being loyal, something that is real, factually correct, accurate or provable.

TRUE -

1) being in accordance with the actual state of affairs

2) conformable to an essential reality

(I question conformance which can also be changed or manipulated. People conform to their surroundings depending on the circumstances. This doesn’t make it real or fact it just means your gave in to whatever it was that was said or taught.)

3) fully realized or fulfilled

4) being that which is the case rather than what is manifest or assumed

5) in accordance with fact or reality

6) without deviation

7) without variation from type

8) truth

9) reality

The word truth and the word true are very closely associated and many times can be used interchangeably. Dictionary definitions tend to reflect the ideals of the writer, which doesn’t make the definition the actual truth. Truth #3 shows this with the remark “accepted as true” which we all know may not be the factual truth but skewed to look like truth. I believe someone once said, “If you repeat it enough, it becomes truth” and we know this is not true. Just because you say it is does not make it a reality. I believe that if something is true it is fact. It is real. It cannot be shaken by examination. It remains the same yesterday, today and forever. This would be the actual truth about it!

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I speak from the heart of a Christian believer, who knows for a fact that Jesus of Nazareth walked on the face of the earth at one point in time. This is a documented fact, written about in many religious and secular documents, a proven fact and not based on religious beliefs only. It cannot be said that he was never here just because some person said so. This is a reality. This is something that not one single person can refute. He was here.

There are many documented stories about Jesus in both religious circles and secular circles. These are the stories that, in a court of law, an attorney would call second hand knowledge, therefore it could all be true, there could be some truth to the story, or it could all be the creation of an imagination or a lie. There is no way to prove the story because the person who wrote the story was not actually there in the midst of the story or the person who wrote the story is no longer able to substantiate the story. This is where the person reading the story has to make a decision, based upon the facts in the story, and any other research, as to whether it is an actual, true account of the story or not. The reader must make an informed decision to believe it or not, based on proof or based on their own faith.

In the scripture John 4:24 it is talking about the Spirit of God. It is talking about those believers who worship God. It is talking about the spirit of the believer and their connection to what is the truth about God as spirit and about us as a spirit being. Only a believer can understand any conversation about the Spirit of God. Many, many people on this earth have never felt the spirit of God in their lives. They have never believed that God the Creator was anything or anyone who truly existed or still exists in reality. They only believe in what they can see, what they can touch, what they can hear. They only believe in a physical world and cannot fathom a spiritual world. They will never be able to experience the spiritual side of life because they have no proof there is a spiritual side to life. To them, something is reality or real only because it can be seen, touched, and heard. Something spiritual cannot be seen, cannot be touched, and cannot be heard, at least the majority of the time. I have heard God and I honestly believe it was an audible voice. Also, there have been several times I have felt the presence of God as well as the presence of evil, which I won’t go into right now except to say it was very scary and I verbally cried out to the Lord each time and he calmed my fears.

Ephesians 6:10-12

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

This is where it gets kind of tricky. Believers and non-believers are all searching for truth at one point in their lives. Why would a human being search for truth? I believe it is because they have a spirit that

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questions, “Why am I here? Why was I born? Why am I living? Where did I come from?” When searching for the truth of existence there are lots of questions that cannot be answered from a physical standpoint. The truth of our existence comes from a spiritual encounter. It’s a mystery how it all works but God always has a plan.

I Corinthians 15:51 (NKJV)

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—

When talking about truth with a believer regarding the Spirit of God, the believer actually believes, without a shadow of doubt, that God is real and exists in spiritual form. They do not require physical proof because it is a spiritual encounter. It is not of this world. Again, non-believers are spiritually unable to understand this. They still live only in physical world.

I could probably go on and on about this but I would want to talk about the liars who actually believe their lies about something. Back to the “say it enough and then you believe it” but in reality it is still a lie. Of course this kind of action is straight from the pits of hell and the master liar. God is never involved with deception or lies. That would only be from the evil one trying to manipulate the truth.

In winding this up, I only know that the real truth about Father God is that he is Spirit. He is not a human. Jesus was a human but he was also God. He was human and spirit and he was God and Spirit. When he left the earth to return to the Father all of his humanism was left behind. He then sent the Holy Spirit to be with us, the Spirit of God working in and through humans. The Holy Spirit of God is with every living person but many deny him. I believe the devil quenches anything holy and spiritual for many of these poor souls and they just go with him never looking at God for the answers. That’s a sad thought.

As believers we worship our God in spirit and in truth because our spirit knows the truth. God is real.