Slip Sliding Away…

And this world is fading away,
along with everything that people crave.
But anyone who does what pleases
God will live forever.
Dear children,
the last hour is here.
You have heard that the
Antichrist is coming,
and already many such
antichrists have appeared.
From this we know
that the last hour has come.
These people left our churches,
but they never really
belonged with us;
otherwise they would
have stayed with us.
When they left,
it proved that they did
not belong with us.
But you are not like that,
for the Holy One
has given you his Spirit,
and all of you know the truth.
 So I am writing to you
not because you don’t know
the truth but because you know
the difference between truth and lies.
 1 John 2:17-21 NLT


Jesus had promised that the Holy Spirit, whom he called the Comforter (Counselor or Advocate depending on the translation), would come and lead us into all truth (John 16:13). The Spirit, who inspired the writing of the Scriptures (2 Tim. 2:16-17), is alive in us and helps us discern, know, and understand God’s truth (1 Cor. 2:10-16). The Spirit of the Living God lives in us and is at work in us — in me! So each of us needs to ask our self if we are inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives to help us discern, know, and understand God’s truth. Am I yielding to the Spirit and am I in the word of God seeking to be informed and transformed by the Holy Spirit? Am I asking the Holy Spirit to filter, correct, challenge, and redeem what I think, read, hear, and see? Rather than succumbing to the lie that all truth is subjective, let’s subject what we think, read, hear, and see to the Spirit of truth!

O Father,
I join my heart with the words
of your servant David, who said:
“Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Please transform my thinking
and my living by your Holy Spirit.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

 

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Author: Ken Crawford

Church Transitions and Conflict Solutions

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