An absolute

There's been a question popping up inside my mind a lot. It bugs me because this summer I was introduced to a feeling of full faith. Without question. God spoke to me in a way that I couldn’t deny it. With that truth came a joy and a freedom that I will never be able to express in words. It was like what Jesus said in John 8:32, “And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” This is why I encourage everyone to seek truth. Because when you find him, this person of truth, he does give you a freedom that is so amazingly beautiful.

Since the summer, the world has been changing my view. Which kind of sucks. The world is full of voices that claim to be truth. The world is full of voices that claim that they will give you this freedom and this joy that I know that only the father can grant. Its hard for Christians, especially teenagers in high school to go through these years and not be deceived by the lies that are always upon us. Its hard for us to maintain an integrity that we know our father would be proud of. Its hard to be in this world and not of it. Our battle is not one that will end while we are on this side of heaven. Even Paul, the one that wrote over half of the New Testament had shown his struggles, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward that goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14.

I'd rather go back to full faith without question. But I know this question was put in my mind, so I would be able to have an answer for my faith for anyone who asks. I know this is a chance for me to grow and a chance to be challenged in a way that will help me be able to protect my heart and mind from the evil one.

The question that has been so persistently in my mind:
Is there such thing as absolute truth?

If you think about it, we all come from different worlds. We all come from different mindsets about this world and how it operates. So, according to this idea, it would seem that everyone is entitled to their own standard, and through that, everyone is entitled to his or her own truth.

Within my group of Christian friends, we all have different opinions on what a life of integrity looks like. We all have different standards and different ideas about the life that God wanted us to lead. We sometimes define this as discipline. A friend of mine for example, feels that yoga isn't right for Christians to partake in. This was something I had never had a problem with and I had actually partaken in yoga before. Granted, of course, I did not have the knowledge of the fact that each yoga pose was a different stance for worshiping a Hindu God. But now that I do know that, I have to ask the question, is that going to change my view of it? I had never believed while I was doing it, that I was a worshiping a Hindu God. But now that I have that knowledge, I cannot simply take it so easily for granted. It would seem, in this case that truth has changed because of new found knowledge.

But, is that possible? Truth is truth- is it not? Truth doesn't change does it? My change in knowledge about yoga seemed to change the truth I believed about yoga. This is where we take a look at the frailty of lies.
Proverbs 12:19: "Truthful words stand the test of time, but lies are soon exposed."

Where truth is constant, lies change frequently.

First of all, lies are all around us. Take a piece of untrue gossip for example. We make it to be true in our mind until someone can prove that it is a lie. Which each new person that receives the piece of gossip comes a new perspective and the story becomes more and more distorted. Gossip changes frequently. It you were to hear a story that is absolute truth however, how often will it change? Never- because truth transcends perspective. The only part of truth that will distort it is our knowledge or perspective of what the truth looks like. And, in that sense, it can no longer be called truth because truth cannot change.

The second point I want to make is that this seems to jive with everything that God says about his personality. He calls Himself a rock, unchangeable, faithful. Throughout his word, we see the truth of these claims. He is constant and does not change. Paul says in Titus 1:2: “…-A faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…”

Jesus said himself, "I am the way, THE TRUTH, and the life..." he explicitly says that he is truth. Because I believe that whatever God says is truth, if Jesus says he is truth and those words came from his father, who speaks truth, it must be absolute truth. What does that mean though? How does Jesus being truth affect us?

If Jesus is truth, than that must imply that whatever he says must be truth as well. That affects our whole perception of who Jesus is and who God is. Jesus, made a ton of claims while he was on earth, and in John especially, we see that a high percentage of them are claims about his father- claims about God. In chapter 5 verse 31-36, Jesus says, “If I testify about myself, my testimony in not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor and I know that his testimony about me is valid… I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the work that the Father had given me to finish, and which I am doing testifies that the Father has sent me.”

If you believe in the truth of Jesus, than you have no choice but to believe in the truth of God. Each entity proves the other. If you believe in the truth of God than you must believe that the bible is true and if you believe in the truth of the bible, than you must believe that there is a God who desires to be with us, to see life change in us, who wants us to go out and make disciples of many nations.

But what about for those who don't believe in this truth that I believe? Does the fact that we are all humans with the ability to form opinions fight against the idea of absolute truth? God's word also says that he is the one who granted us freedom of thought, opinion and action. He is the one who said to his children, yes I have given you the truth to believe in, but it’s your choice to believe. It’s your choice to acknowledge that I am God, that I am real, that I am absolute truth.

Can I make an argument within this quest for truth that points to the God that I believe in? Can I say in a totally unbiased mindset that everyone on earth should believe the God that I believe because I believe he is truth? As much as I would love it for everyone to believe the truth I believe, that doesn’t make it truth until they find it for themselves. Going back to my yoga example, truth wasn’t truth to me until I saw or heard or experienced it for my own eyes.

What I can conclude from this that there is an absolute truth. There is a truth that cannot be changed by perspective. God is truth. Jesus is truth. The bible is truth.

Saying that, I also must conclude that we live in a world where truth is hard to find. It will ever be distorted by perspective. Distorted by small changes that turn it into lies. The question I now must take into account is Am I going to be a representative of God- a representative of truth, to a world that is full of lies? Am I going to encourage truth seekers? Am I going to take this freedom that I’ve found through the discovery of truth and share it?

Are you?

bored.bored.bored.

at school. bored. harrison and sam are talking to me. im not even listening to them. haha. i have biology next. not fun. i dunno why im typing like this. probably cause im bored. so whos all coming to robyns? im hungry.

RETREAT

OKAY STAND UP.
RIGHT NOW.
I MEAN IT. I'M WATCHING YOU.
YOU BETTER BE STANDING.
IF YOUR STILL SITTING I'M GONNA BE MAD.
OKAY, NOW START JUMPING.
YES, I SAID JUMPING- AS IN UP AND DOWN.
OKAY, NOW THAT YOU ARE JUMPING- AND YOU HAD BETTER BE JUMPING, FLAIL YOUR ARMS.
OKAY, NOW THAT YOU ARE FLAILING AND JUMPING- AND YOU HAD BETTER BE, GIVE OUT A LITTLE SCREAM AND GO ALL OUT HAPPY DANCING
HAPPY DANCE!!!! HAPPY DANCE!!!! THE RETREAT IS TOMORROW!!!!! HAPPY DANCE!!!!

please prayy

so i forgot to pray about this in my small group last night. but most of u know Colton Garbe who used to come to our youth group, anyways, his grandma passed away recently and his moms taking it pretty hard. just pray that God would be with them right now and that they would be at peace. thanks girlies... oh and i have news... read my blog..hahah or the chat box thinger in the corner..haha love u all!!!

The One Who Never Leaves

God you are sooo amazing! I look back at all the answered prayers you have made for us, for all the love you lay on us. For the comfort for the learning for the safty for the peace you give us. Lord right now Erin is going through a tough time. You know what is happening and what its about lord. You know what she has to give up to you. And I ask you for the courage and streanth she needs to do this. I ask you to remind her of her comitements to you. To remind her of your unfailling love and your undieing comfort. God just let her be at peace with you this week let her give up what you have told her to and let her understand why she had to give it up. Let her see your path for her life not her own. And God that is a constant struggle and sooo hard sometimes but let her realize how much better her life will be when she finally surrenders to you lord. Show her that every single day of her life has a purpose and that you have layed it out infront of her lord. Be the center be the core be the everything of her.
Your love is amazing
steady and unchangeing
Your love is a mountian firm beneath my feet
your love is a mystry
how you gently lift me
when i am surrounded your love carries me
Halleluia
Halleluea
Halleluia
your love makes me sing!!
Amen

This is for all of you girlis not just erin! i love you all!
God Bless
xoxox
sammie

would appreciate a little prayer

Hey sammie. First of all, you are awesome and your heart for encouragement always shines through.
i'm responding to your post a while ago, because i've been struggling- not tons- but still struggling, espicially with jealousy. I can feel a constant battle going on inside of me- one part trying to convince me to conform to the world and one side telling me to fight with everything in me for my integrity. And i'm trying- but the thoughts keep coming. If all you girlies could pray that my actions would portray a heart of integrity and I could learn to trust God to fight for me, i would really appreciate it.
LOVE YOU ALL!!

THIS THURSDAY

at my house! 126 mulcaster cres! call if you need more directions! let me know if you're coming! bring food! 7:30! love!

Hey girls! how are you all doing? i feel like i haven't REALLY talked to all of you in FOREVER!! how are you for real. Do you need prayer for anything? Are you really struggling with something right now that has been like a cloud over your head that wont go away? or bricks on your back that keep pilling up and up? I hope that we can be really .. well real with each other. I LOVE you all soo much! ok well i'll see you all soon k! love xoxoxox

sammy