A Truth or THE truth?

Weekday mornings in our home are pretty busy. We have both boys to get up, get into school uniforms, get fed, and get to the bus stop by 7:37, plus little Emma who gets up around the same time and needs to be changed, fed and just loved on for a bit. Not to mention lunches & snack bags to be packed, backpacks to get ready and getting ourselves ready enough that one of us can take the boys to the bus stop. As I was rushing around doing ten things at once on Friday morning, I heard something from the TV in the living room that stopped me in my tracks. I just stood staring at the TV in amazement. I couldn't believe what I was hearing on a national morning newscast. No, it wasn't another natural disaster or terrorist event. It was this simple phrase:

"There is no real truth."

This was followed by the newscaster giving commentary along the lines of "people standing on different corners will each have a different view and therefore a different idea of the truth."

The final statement was aimed at the audience: "Don't say you've found THE truth, say you've found A truth."

After a few more moments of shock-induced stupor, I quickly wrote down what I'd just heard and went back to rushing around and getting the boys out the door on time for school. By 10:30 AM my house is usually pretty quiet. Don leaves to go run errands and Emma goes down for a nap. The two hours of peace and quiet is usually my biggest chunk of time with God each day. I'm either reading His word, praying, writing about something I've learned, or journaling a prayer question and response.

Friday morning, all I could do during those two hours of quiet time is read the words I'd copied down from the TV newscast and wonder how they could teach these lies to the whole world. I tried to write and nothing happened. I prayed, but it was a jumbled mess (thankful for the Holy Spirit's intercession there). I ended up going to God's word and listing as much as I could find about truth.

Here are some of the verses that stood out during that search:

In Isaiah, the Lord says "I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right." JESUS speaks the TRUTH. HE declares WHAT IS RIGHT.
Isaiah 45:18-19 For this is what the LORD says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the LORD, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I declare what is right.

Daniel 10:21 refers to the Bible as the book of Truth. GOD'S WORD is TRUTH.
but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.
John also references the Bible as the truth:
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

In John, Jesus tells us He IS the truth. JESUS IS THE TRUTH.
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

We also read in 1 John that the Spirit is the truth. The SPIRIT IS THE TRUTH.
1 John 5:6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth

Jesus also tells us in John that He is giving US the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit of Truth is WITHIN US. WE can recognize TRUTH by the power of the Holy Spirit living within us. It lives IN us and will be with us FOREVER.
John 14:16-17 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
John 15:26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.
John 16:13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
1 John 4:6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit[a] of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
2 John 1:1-3 The elder, To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.

1 Timothy refers to the living God as the pillar and foundation of the truth. GOD is the FOUNDATION of TRUTH.
1 Timothy 3:14-16 Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

In 1 John, we not only are told no lie comes from the truth, but we are given a definition of a liar as well. We know the truth because we have been anointed by God. Those who deny Jesus is the Christ are liars.
1 John 2:20- But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.

We BELONG TO the TRUTH. We are at peace in God's presence when we are living in the truth. We will feel rebuke when a lie has entered our minds/hearts.
1 John 3:18-20 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

So, in summary, GOD IS the FOUNDATION of truth, JESUS IS the truth, the SPIRIT IS the truth, JESUS SPEAKS the truth, GOD'S WORD IS truth, the spirit of truth LIVES IN US, and WE BELONG TO the truth. God, Jesus, the Holy Sprit, and God's Word ARE THE TRUTH. That same truth lives inside us as Christians. Because we belong to the truth and have it inside of us, we can recognize the lies of the world, like those heard on Friday morning's newscast.

Now that we know what the truth is, how do we fight the lies? We live the truth in our lives by following Christ. Then, we lead others to the truth by sharing with them about Jesus. If people find Jesus, they find truth. Then, they too will recognize the lies of the world. For every lie the world tells us, God's word has a truth to combat it. God already fought the war against the lies and the father of lies and WON. The Truth IS. Nothing can change it. It's already inside you as a Christian. Your Bible is filled with Truth. Read it, learn it, memorize it, share it and live it. God IS the truth. Know HIM, and know the TRUTH.