Knowing the spiritual life brings many exciting experiences. It also provides us with faith challenges, as the facts we notice don't always line up with the truth we live through. To productively maneuver through these intricate opportunities, we must recognize the differentiation between truth and facts, as well as how they influence each other. Definitions: Facts Facts are what we become aware of in the physical dominion. At the wedding at Cana, Jesus observed the servants place water into stone water jugs (John 2). The fact in the physical was that water was what existed at that instant. Another day, Jesus approached Bethany to go to see friends. He was presented with a very severe fact, his friend Lazarus was deceased (John 11)! Moses was presented with the fact that he had led the People out into the wilderness and they had no water to drink (Exodus 15). After three days, they saw some water, but it was unhealthy and could not be drunk. The Israelites were revolting. The facts were very authentic and precarious! Isaac was going through one of the worst famines of his lifetime (Genesis 26). Still, the fact was that his family desired food. He prepared to transport his family to Egypt, where he could resettle and plant crops. One day, Peter and John were travelling to the Temple. As they passed through the gateway referred to "Beautiful", they were faced by a man who had been lame since birth - about forty years (Acts 3)! In 1 Kings 17, Elijah is commanded by God to move. He had no food or water. As he followed God's command he reached a stream, where he was able to drink. Still, he had no food, a fact he could not disregard... Truth: Truth is best defined by the Bible itself: John 17:17: "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth". Psalm 119:160: "The sum of Your word is truth" Truth is established in God's Word, the Scriptures. What God proclaims is truth, even when it opposes identified facts. In God's order, truth is superior to facts. Let's look back at the instances listed above and how the truth affected the facts: The wedding ceremony at Cana was captivated as the water in the half a dozen stone containers was changed to wine. The fact was that water was placed in the jars. However, as the servants obeyed Jesus' words and dipped into the water, they served wine! The facts had to line up with the truth of Jesus' instructions! At Bethany, Jesus summoned Lazarus from his burial place. The fact, Lazarus was departed, surrendered to the truth of God's command and Lazarus lived! As Moses prayed about no water after days, God showed him a tree and led Moses to throw it into the bitter water. As that tree touched the water, the water became purified and the Israelites were able to drink. Again, the facts were altered by the truth! God commanded Isaac not to move to Egypt, despite the famine. Isaac followed God's Word and planted seed during a famine! As the truth transformed the facts, Isaac received a 1 hundred fold return from those crops. Peter and John were familiar with some truth. They knew that by the beating of Jesus we are healed (1 Peter 2:24). With that utterance from God in mind, they commanded the lame man to rise and walk. As the truth transformed the facts, the man walked away, carrying his bed, for the first time in his life. Elijah was facing the fact that he had no food. Still, he had acted upon God's Word. Soon, birds began feeding him! This continued everyday until the brook he was drinking from dried up. Subsequently God sent him to a widow for food. The fact was that she and her son had no food, other than a tiny sum of flour for bread and they reconciled themselves to the fact that they would shortly pass away from hunger. Elijah told her God's instructions - provide him some of the bread! She and her son were to consume some as well. Elijah proceeded to instruct her that God's Word was that the flour would not expire until the drought ended. And that's exactly what happened as the truth overrode the facts. The truth always prevails over the facts. Nonetheless, there is a connection between the 2 that is essential to absorb: faith. Once faced with a horrific fact, we must choose to have faith in God's Word instead. Discover God's promises and opt to have faith in them over the facts. That is the launch of the bridge of faith. The next part is to act upon the truth! The servants at the nuptials at Cana chose to act upon Jesus' instructions. Their very lives could have been at stake had they served water to their host. However, they still chose to obey... Lazarus may have been pretty happy in Heaven. Nevertheless, he chose to obey Jesus and walk out of that grave. By the way, the men who pushed away the stone from the burial place also chose to believe the truth and obey Jesus' words. Moses acted by slinging the tree into the unhealthy water and instructing the people to drink. Did he seem foolish throwing a tree into the water? What would have happened if someone drank afterward and became sick or died? Yet, despite the hazard, he chose to listen to the truth. Isaac believed the truth to the point that he placed his own life, and his family's, at stake by staying in Israel all through a famine. He also acted upon the truth by sowing a crop during a famine. The lame man, who had never walked before, had to rise up and walk. He may well have looked at his wilted legs and made excuses not to, nevertheless he chose to obey God's Word. Elijah obeyed God's Word and set out to the brook. He also obeyed God's Word by taking a major share of the bread that the widow had remaining to feed himself. I'm reminded of God's directions to Joshua in Joshua, chapter 1. He tells Joshua to be brave in obeying the truth of God's Word. This daring marked Joshua's life and brought him achievement, as the truth of God's Word overrode the facts he was confronted with. Sadly, the Church is packed of non-acting believers. They state that they believe God's Word, but are too fearful to act. Thus, the facts linger unchanged. The incredible thing is that they blame God for this! Still, the error is not with God. It is with the lack of action. As James avowed, "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead" (James 2:26). The Greek word translated "works" here is more fittingly translated "corresponding action". In other words, if you refuse to execute what you state you believe, the entire process that God established (truth overcoming facts) is derailed and the facts linger. My question then is, what will you do when presented with your next unpleasant fact? If you desire to believe God and act upon His Word, a miracle awaits you.
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Living the spiritual life presents countless exciting moments. It also challenges us with faith crisies, as the facts we catch a glimpse of don't always line up with the truth we recognize. To profitably maneuver during these hard opportunities, we must comprehend the dissimilarity relating truth and facts, as well as how they shape each other...
The writer, Dr. Paul Graden, is the founder of The Joseph Gate. The Joseph Gate is a complimentary web site with intensive education in Scriptural methods to reveal the meanings of dreams.
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