Declare

You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you;
So light will shine on your ways.  (Job 22:28  NKJV)

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood
 and speak truthfully to your neighbor,
 for we are all members of one body.  (Ephesians 4:25)

Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long. (Psalm 25:5)

The last post left us in an uncomfortable place – the middle of an argument.  What makes this doubly unpleasant is that we have authority (and to a large extent, a responsibility) to settle.  We do?  Absolutely!  That doesn’t mean everyone comes to agreement, but we can speak truth into the chaos and subsequently know we are standing on solid ground.  We can bring light into the darkness.  Jesus said we are the light of the world.  After all, Jesus – the Light of the World – dwells within us.  We are like living lanterns in this dark world.

We understand that as followers of Jesus Christ, we’ve been given authority on this earth, the mind of Christ and access to the One Who is Truth.   Hebrews 13:8 tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.  That means that Truth is the same, too.  Really?!?! Yes!

And He has come!

Culture changes.  Technology changes.  Truth does not.

There are many things that are not in the bible, per se.  Elevators.  Cell phones.  Internet.  Airplanes.  Television and movies.  However, there are truths in scripture that can give guidance on those things.  There are also behaviors explicitly mentioned in scripture, and what it says about those is true and always will be true.  I won’t go into those things in this post.  (Aren’t you glad?)

Okay, what do we do amid all the different “truth tellers.”  Can we make them all agree?  No.  The authority we’ve been given is not over people.  God gave all people a free will and He won’t take it back, even if it is misused.

As I’ve mentioned before, Satan is the father of lies.  Jesus said lying is the devil’s native language.  If his lips are moving, he’s lying.

Lying is not a physical thing.  It is spiritual.  You cannot see a lie.  You may observe evidence proving the untruth, but the lie itself, no.  It is spoken into the spiritual atmosphere.  People and circumstances react accordingly.  Lies are Satan’s chief weapon against the kingdom of God.  What has been believed directs people’s actions, for good or bad.  Mankind has been given dominion over this physical world.  The only way Satan can accomplish his purpose – establishing his kingdom here on earth – is by convincing people to believe his lies, and then by working through those people.

Satan’s chief goal is to have the earth under his rule.  His tactics including turning people away from God (the ULTIMATE Source of truth, love, kindness, etc.)  to worshipping him.  This is the reason Jesus told us to pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in the Lord’s Prayer.  We, His church, are to declare and release His kingdom here and now.  This happens when we speak truth into the atmosphere.  Not just true facts, but truth, what God has said, and is still saying.

But how?  How do we release the kingdom of God?  The same way lies are released.  WE SPEAK.

Back to the verse on the top of the page.  You will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways.  (Job 22:28 NKJV)

“Declare” is the Hebrew word gazar, which means: to cut, divide, cut down, cut off, cut in two, snatch, or decree.  It is the same word used in I Kings 3.  King Solomon had to decide an argument between two women.  One woman’s baby had died and she took the other mother’s baby.  Solomon had to decide who was the baby’s mother.  His method?  He ruled that the baby should be cut in two (gazar), one half going to each mother!  One woman was fine with this.  The rightful mom said “No! Let her have the baby.”  Solomon declared a dividing, a cutting, and this revealed who the true mom was.  Wisdom!

When we declare the truth, we cut and divide – lies vs. truth.  When we speak the Word of God we are releasing a force into the atmosphere to counter all the lies.  Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 to put on the armor of God.  The Word of God is our sword, an essential part of our armor.  In fact, it is the only offensive weapon of our armor.  Every other piece of armor is defensive.

Actually, there are two places we declare God’s truth.  The first is in the spiritual realm.  The second is here, in the physical world, right in the middle of “arguments.”

As I re-read the above, it could be interpreted that we are to be abrasive antagonists always stirring up trouble, not listening to what others say.  Everyone has a right to their own opinion – even if it’s way off base.  Right?  In the next article, we’re going to look at how Jesus spoke truth.

In this day and age of “politically correct” speech, cancelling people, and students needing their “safe spaces,” is there a right and wrong way to declare truth?  I believe so.  Jesus said we are to be a sweet-smelling fragrance in this world.  The early church was known by the love they showed to one another, which was not the everyday norm in regular society.  I believe we can learn a lot from how Jesus dealt with those who wanted to argue, trap Him, and discredit Him.

Holy Spirit,
You are our Helper. 
You are the Spirit of Truth. 
Help us to recognize Truth. 
Help us to stand for Truth. 
And help us to do it like Jesus.

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