Whispers of Truth

Sometimes I think I am just rather dense--it takes a while for the known to penetrate my heart through the work of the Spirit. How many times have you read (like I have) Ephesians 6:10-17?  10  Finally,  be strong in the Lord and in  the strength of His might.   11  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the  schemes of the devil.   12  For our  struggle is not against  [ a ] flesh and blood, but  against the rulers, against the powers, against the  world forces of this  darkness, against the  spiritual  forces  of wickedness in  the heavenly  places .   13  Therefore, take up  the full armor of God, so that you will be able to  resist in  the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.   14  Stand firm therefore,  having girded your loins with truth , and  having   put on the breastplate of righ...

Today, Pastor Derek preached from Luke 7 and spoke about Jesus' interaction with the sinful woman at the home of Simon the Pharisee. Although the story is one I've read many times, today, the thought that kept visiting me was the idea that forgiveness leaves behind a pleasing aroma. Sin is ugly and smelly, but when Jesus washed away the sins of this woman, she was so filled with gratitude that she came and washed Jesus' dirty feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, rained kisses upon them, and anointed His now-clean feet with an expensive and fragrant oil from her alabaster jar. Jesus no longer saw her sin, but her faith, and he told her to go in peace with the pleasing aroma hanging in the air like a punctuation mark demonstrating just how much she had been forgiven and just how thankful she was for that forgiveness. From that point on, God no longer saw (or smelled) this woman's sin, but rather the righteousness imparted to her through the blood of Christ. In...

In Galatians, Paul speaks hard truths to the Church, and in verse sixteen of chapter four, he says this: "Have I therefore become your enemy by telling you the truth?" (NASB). Speaking truth to those who should be able to recognize it when they hear it is hard enough, as evidenced by Galatians and other books Paul wrote to churches he helped to establish during his missionary journeys; however, speaking truth to those who don't have spiritual ears to hear without them getting upset is impossible. They have no "ken" to borrow an old Scots word. The ability to perceive God's truth is just not there! Yet we act as if we expect them to understand. It is insanity! As Christians in today's culture, we can sometimes feel we are walking a tightrope if we try to balance truth with not offending. Don't get me wrong, giving offense is not the goal, but pleasing God is, and sometimes that means letting go of the attempt to balance something that is unbalancea...