“If you have your health, you have everything.”

I have heard this over and over again all through my life.
I have even accepted it as wisdom.

But, it’s really not true.

Don’t get me wrong……..health is extremely valuable. We all want to be healthy. You really can’t appreciate health until you lose it………or until you deal with someone who has lost it…….or with someone who has much more of it than you. You can’t really appreciate health until you get old. In the last few years I have dealt with all of these situations.

Health is a really big deal……… perhaps the most important thing………in this temporal world. But, in the face of eternity, health is inconsequential. In paradise, we will all be perfectly, eternally healthy. We will be at our physical peak……..maybe in our mid 20’s. Our weight will be just right, no pain, no weakness, no disability, no suffering. Not only will our cholesterol be just right………it will be irrelevant.

So, if you take the long view, we will spend eternity in perfect health…….. except for our extremely brief stint here on Earth. This, of course, assumes that you get to paradise. For those who don’t get to paradise, I can’t promise you eternal health. In fact, the best descriptions of “non-paradise” are discriptions of physical suffering…….. eternal unhealthiness at best……..or black nothing at worst.

What it comes down to is this. From an eternal perspective, we can be either healthy or unhealthy. And it will have nothing to do with our weight, our cholesterol, or our blood pressure. It will have nothing to do with whether we have heart disease, cancer, mental illness, arthritis, or physical disability today.

It will be the result of a simple binary choice that we each must make. Because, like it or not, paradise is a conscious choice that is completely in our hands. You either accept forgiveness from Christ………or you reject it. You either recognize Christ……or deny his divinity. One choice leads to paradise. The other leads to non-paradise. One choice leads to healthiness. The other leads to unhealthiness.

So……..the only really important question that you need to answer at your annual checkup is this one:

Are you saved?

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”

Jesus, NIV

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord ,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Paul, NIV

I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.

Isaiah, NIV

America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles…….there is no question about it. Our founders protect other faiths and set up an even playing field for all. But, at their core, the founders were Christians and set up a government based on Christian principles.

Separation of church and state is a phrase that we hear a lot…… but it is not found in the Constitution or in the Declaration of Independence. What the Constitution does say is that there can be no official state sponsored religion and that the government cannot interfere with the practice of any religion.

And yet, in the name of “separation of church and state”, Christianity has been slowly driven out of the public space.
Part of this is due to the failure of the Christian community to live the Christian life……. Love God & Love your Neighbor………but a lot of it is driven by a small vocal minority of atheists…….and their attorneys.

This month I am reading Jeremiah. It is a history of a time when the people of Israel voluntarily walked away from God. Then a lot of bad things happened. Jerusalem and the temple were wrecked. Their nation was destroyed and they were exiled to Babylon. Jeremiah describes this as God’s punishment for Israel’s abandonment of God. Ultimately, Israel returns to God. God then heals Israel and sends them back home.

If you look at the history of the United States of America, you can see a long period when we thrived. We grew from a bunch of rebels angry at the strongest nation on the planet to become the strongest and most prosperous nation on the Earth. But, I would argue that America is now past her peak. National debt, Abortion, Extramarital Sex, Sexual fluidity, our toxic politics, hate, constant war, drugs, the entitlement culture, the poisoning of the planet……..these are all symptoms of the downhill slope that we are entering.

We have also seen two eras of our public life……..the Christian era and the post-Christian (secular humanist) era……..the first era when we recognized God’s authority (even if we didn’t follow it) and the second era when the only authority is “whatever we want”. An unborn child is a human being……only if it suits our needs. A man is male and a woman is female…….only if they want to be.

You can call it coincidence if you wish, but it is hard to deny that America thrived as a Christian nation and is beginning to fail as a secular humanist nation……………Just as Israel failed when it walked away from God.

I believe that a national revival………a return to our Christian roots is the key to rescuing America. We need to return to plan A……..which was working. And phoney, superficial posturing won’t do it. It must be centered on love……..for God and for our fellow man. In Jeremiah, Israel turned around and recovered………so can we.

Or we can continue our experiment with secular humanism. The secular humanists keep telling us that they have the solutions to our problems. They say give us more time and resources……….step a little further away from God………..and we will fix it all………you can have whatever you want. But the problems keep getting worse. And we keep listening to them.

There are promises in the Bible too. I keep coming back to this one.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

God, NIV

As for me………..plan A sounds pretty good.

When I was a kid, one of my mom’s recurrent lines was:

“If Sammy jumped in a mud puddle, would you?”

Sammy was my friend and we had lot of fun. And we landed in our share of mud puddles. Fact is, I think that Mom had forgotten how much fun mud can be. I’m 66 years old now and generally avoid mud. In looking back, mom was right. But, today, I hear lines that are the opposite of Mom’s line often.

They go something like this:

“OK, yes, I used the handicapped parking spot………but lots of people do.”

Or

“Yeah, I let my kids watch half dressed people on TV…….but it was on network TV in prime time.”

Or

“Abortion is legal…..I won’t interfere with the choices of others.”

What it comes down to is this……. Mom was right. Just because “everybody is doing it” ………doesn’t mean that it’s right. I had my own version of Mom’s line. In these situations I used to tell my sons “that makes it common……..it doesn’t make it right”.

We live in a world where two things are happening.
There are people who are working very hard to make things common that were once wrong. The result of this is that we have come to accept as normal things that are not good for us. Then we are told to be ”tolerant”…….in other words to sit down and shut up when somebody tries to tell us something that just isn’t right.

The media is complicit in this. The amount of murder and mayhem that we and our children ingest in one evening of prime time TV is amazing. The movies are even worse. There are images that harm me that are trapped in my head from movies that I watched 50 years ago……..from magazines that I looked at as a teen.

And we tell ourselves that it’s all okay…….. that it’s normal. And it is…….. normal that is……normal in the statistical sense that 95% of us do it. The trouble is that we have come to accept that ”normal” means OK………or even good. The fact is that ”normal or common” ………and “right” are completely unrelated. The first is statistical concept. The second is moral concept.

Just because it is common does not mean that it is right.

I believe in God as described in the Bible and I highly recommend Him to you.

But, even if you don’t believe in God, the Bible is still the best moral code that we have. It is far superior to the flexible “home brew” moral code that most of us use.

Love God
Love your neighbor
Don’t lie
Don’t steal
Don’t murder
Honor your parents
Sex is for husbands and wives
Don’t covet
Take the day off on Sunday

It is going to take strength of character to stand up for what is right……..in the face of what is normal. But, it is necessary….
in order to protect yourself. It is even more critical to protect your children and grandchildren from ”normal”. Because “normal”………is getting worse every day. Can you imagine what “normal” will look like to your grandchildren when they are adults? In my lifetime, we have gone from “Andy of Mayberry” and “The Walton’s” to “Criminal Minds” and the Joker. Where will Hollywood take us next?

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Paul, NIV

Every day somebody tells me something that just isn’t true. In spite of my best efforts, I probably say things that turn out to be untrue as well. Here is the bad news…… So do you.

So how do the things that we say……. that are not true…….. break down?

Some of them, hopefully very few, are outright lies.

Some of them are disagreements.

Some of them are honest mistakes.

I sometimes get called a liar in these circumstances…..and that is upsetting…….. because I try really hard to be truthful……even when the truth is painful.

What, then, is the difference between lies, disagreements, and mistakes…….and how do we handle them? This is especially relevant in our current, highly toxic, political conversation.

First, the lie. The lie has three characteristics all of which MUST be met and you must be absolutely sure. First, it is untrue. Second, the person who says it knows it is untrue. Third, the person who says it is intentionally trying to mislead you. Lies are out there, but, with the possible exceptions of advertisements, the practice of law, and politics they are not common.

Second, the disagreement. The issue of truth here is bit slippery. One or both parties may be right. One or both parties may be wrong. Neither party knows that they are wrong……if they are wrong. There is no intention to deceive.

Finally, the mistake. There is a factual untruth. The person who says it does not know that it is untrue. They believe it……. perhaps passionately. They often try very hard to convince you; but, because they believe it, there really is no intention to deceive.

How do we handle this mess?

The first step in solving any problem……..is to accurately identify the problem. When somebody tells you something that is possibly untrue, you have to accurately characterize it. You have to ask three questions:

Are you absolutely sure that it is untrue?
If it is untrue, are you absolutely sure that the other person knows it is untrue?
What is the other person’s motivation? Are they intentionally trying to deceive you?
These are difficult questions and they deserve serious consideration……..because labeling somebody a liar is serious business………and it happens far too often in today’s politics.

If all three conditions are met, then you are dealing with a lie and with a liar. You need to protect yourself and others from the liar. This must be done gently and with love and that is not easy. If there is any doubt about the three conditions, then you are probably not dealing with a lie….. but with a disagreement.

If only the first condition is met, then you are dealing with a mistake. You can ignore it or try to educate/correct the other person. This often doesn’t work so don’t get upset…….move on.

If none of the conditions are met……..and I have to emphasize the part that says ABSOLUTELY SURE……then you are dealing with a disagreement. You can discuss it. You can try to sell your argument. You need to listen to the other person’s argument. You will probably not resolve the disagreement. In that case you should drop it. Disagreements are the most common of the three…….and they often get labelled as lies, particularly in politics. The key point about disagreement is what you CANNOT do.

You cannot, get angry.
You cannot call names (liar, racist, hater, homophobe, misogynist, baby killer).
You cannot allow the disagreement to damage relationships.
In a word…….you cannot allow yourself to become a “hater” over a disagreement.

In short, you and I must learn to disagree with one another in a loving way. The first step may be to turn off your TV and computer. Because, in spite of what the politicians and the talking heads tell you, most of the things we are fighting about are disagreements, not lies.

I’m not naive……there are liars out there…… in both political parties. But, there are few of them…….and don’t kid yourself, they are evenly distributed on the left and right.

So….. let’s disagree…… passionately. But let’s do it with kindness and love. Our democracy demands it.

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus, NIV

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Paul, NIV

As part of my morning prayer and meditation, I set aside a few minutes, sit quietly, and listen….. just in case God has something to say to me. I don’t hear a physical voice, but, sometimes an idea comes to me. Sometimes an entire post comes to me……………straight out of the blue. Sometimes, however, there is nothing. I invite God to speak…..and there is nothing. I wonder what in the world I will say this week. I wonder what God is up to. Where did he go? I worry that I will mess up and let everybody down……. that I will come up with something that comes from some source other than God.

Then it occurred to me. This probably happens to all of us. Some situation comes up in our life……..we need some guidance……..we turn to God……..and nothing happens.

Does this mean that God doesn’t hear…….that he doesn’t care……or worse….. that he doesn’t exist? I hear this a lot. Somebody is in crisis…..they pray…… they don’t get the response that they expected…….and they reject God.

I don’t know what God is up to…….when he is silent.

But I do know this.

God loves me. Not with a generic “one size fits all” kind of love…..but with a parental love that is specific to me. He is fully aware of my strengths…….and of my failures……my sin.

And he loves me……..still.

When was a child, my dad left the house and went to work…..seven days a week………10 to 12 hours a day. I missed his presence…….often I resented his absence…… sometimes I still do……swim meets that he didn’t attend…….the boy scout functions that he rarely attended. I miss the conversations that we didn’t have. But, I never doubted that he was hard at work taking care of me.

So……… what does it mean……. when God is silent?

It means that……just like my dad……he is hard at work taking care of me…… taking care of you…….even in his silence……even though I can’t see or hear him.

When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour.

John, NIV

God didn’t speak to the prophets of the Old Testament for 400 years………then he sent us Jesus.

God is sometimes silent……..just before he does something big.

This calls for confidence in God’s love. It calls for trust that he cares and will make things right…….on his terms and in his good time. It calls for patience.

I know someone. She is smart, organized, she works hard and she treats you well……….. as long as she gets what she wants……. exactly what she wants….. on exactly the terms that she dictates. When she doesn’t get what she wants, she goes on the attack and she hurts everybody within reach……. ultimately, including herself. She doesn’t have a lot of friends…….. because sooner or later they all encounter her rage. They wander off in search of a friendship that is just a little easier………and safer.
Ultimately, her drive to get what she wants costs her…….. It costs her the most valuable thing in life……… relationships. When I think of her, it seems such a shame.

BTW, she doesn’t follow my posts…….ever……..so if you think that she is you……….she’s not.

Then I look around. She is an exaggerated example of something pretty common. I know a fair number of people who treat God much the same way. We start out in life with the best of intentions…….. everything is going well. Then one day something happens……… and we don’t get what we want. Our spouse leaves us……… Someone important to us dies……. We get sick….. Lose our job. Maybe we pray hard about it…….maybe not. Then, we don’t get what we want…….at exactly the time that we want……..on exactly the terms that we dictated. We end up in the same place. We wind up using the same phrasebook that she does: we say ” it’s not fair!” or “I can’t accept a God who would allow_________to happen!” In a word…… We get mad at God because we didn’t get what we wanted.. exactly what we wanted…….on exactly the terms that we dictated.

This would be completely appropriate, if we were the boss and God was our “personal assistant”. But, that…..of course……is not the case. God is the creator of the universe…….. our creator. And we are children. When we get mad and lash out at God, it is exactly the same as when our 2 year old throws a tantrum and dumps his strained carrots on the floor.

So………this post is about disappointment………and how we handle it. What do we do when the things that are happening in our life don’t line up with our “master plan”. What do we do when we want Cocoa Puffs and we get strained carrots.

We can throw a fit……….and the carrots……….or we can trust that our father, mother, and God love us and are operating with our long range well being in mind………even when God’s long range plan isn’t clear to us……even when it messes up our short range plans. And let’s face it……all of our plans are “short range”.

I have seen many triumphs and more than my share of disasters. My “master plan” went into the recycling bin a long time ago. It’s very easy to take credit for the triumphs and get mad about the disasters. But, if you accept the fact that God loves you and will take care of you over the long haul, then you develope an attitude of thankfulness……….and hopefulness……not just for your triumphs…….but also for your disasters.

And that is a very good place to be.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

God, NIV

“I can’t get no……. satisfaction”

Mick Jagger

When I was a kid I made things with my hands….boxes, bags fishing lures…….all kinds of things. Then, when I was in high school, I discovered that I was smart. I figured that the best way to use my smarts was medical school. So I began studying…….hard, sometimes 18-20 hours a day…………….and I stopped making things. This led to a nearly 40 year career in medicine. I really enjoyed my job, made plenty of money, and got to help a lot of people. I used to say “I have the best job in the world”. In fact, I probably did. Then I retired…….. and now I’m making furniture. My work ranges from high end craft furniture to pieces that approach art.

It is really satisfying…….much more satisfying than my practice of medicine. It is so much more satisfying that I have come to the conclusion that a this is what I was meant to be from the start. This is what I was made for. Looking back, my “real career”, medicine, was great……. but this is even better. From where I stand now, I can see that medicine, while it was rewarding…….was a distraction……..a detour en route to my real destination.

Then it hit me………… this is what heaven will be like. Forget the cloud, the halo, and the harp. In paradise you will be exactly where you were meant to be. You will be doing exactly what you were meant to do. You will be with the people you were meant to be with. You will experience the reality that you were designed for. You will know a degree of satisfaction unlike anything that you have ever dreamed of…….unlike anything that any human being has ever known.

Your life today could be a disaster…….. or it could be a huge success. Still, if you honestly search your heart, you know that your life is not all that it could be. That emptiness, that vague sense that something is missing is speaking to you.

You were created. You were specifically designed for something……….and that something is paradise. That is where you were meant to be. This violent broken world is not what God had in mind for you when he designed you. The dissatisfaction that you feel in your heart is the result of being in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing. You may be very successful…..or not…….but, at your core, you know that this is not quite right. You know that there is something more.

This is your heart pointing you toward home………toward the peace, satisfaction, and joy that comes from being in the place that you were designed for……. the place that you were created for.

For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Paul, NIV

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”

Paul, NIV

It seems like a lot of problems have been cropping up in my life lately. They range from big to small……..from annoying aggravations to full blown disasters. I’m sure that you are dealing with problems too. The challenge is to ride out the storms without losing your joy and peace……..and that can be hard.

So how do we deal with problems?

What do we do when our best laid plans go off the tracks?

One of the rules that I try to live by is this:

Don’t worry about things that you cannot change…….focus on the part of the problem that you can fix. This is easier said than done……but it is good counsel.

When an annoying problem surfaces (speeding ticket) …….when a full blown disaster crashes down on your world (illness, job loss, the death of a loved one) the first step is to sort the problem into two categories……..the part of the problem that you can fix……and the part of the problem that is beyond your control.

The first category is the easy one. Do whatever you can to fix the fixable…….. and this includes getting help. Oddly, diving into the fixable will help take your focus away from the part of the problem that you cannot fix.

The second category is problematic. It can be hard or easy. For the secular humanist there are two approaches: #1 ignore the problem and #2 worry pointlessly………”we’re all gonna die!”. Unfortunately, neither of these approaches will fix anything. Ignoring the unfixable at least buys you a little peace…..as long as you can keep it up. Pointless worry just makes you and those around you miserable. This is the hard approach. For the easy approach, for the Christian, things are different. You pray, turn the unfixable over to God, and then get back to work on the fixable. People will wonder how you can find peace and joy in the face of tragedy. They may even think that you are heartless……..or just hard. But here’s the thing, the Christian approach works. It works by helping you to live and love your way through the crisis. But, also, when I look back over the years, it is surprising how many times God has taken care of the “unfixable”. I suspect that I will someday learn that he has also fixed many of the things that I thought he had missed.

So…….there it is…….the secret to living a life of joy and love in the midst of tragedy.

Fix what you can……..turn the rest over to God in prayer……then get back to work on the fixable.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Paul, NIV

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

David, NIV

A recent post dealt with “How does God feel?” That post was a bit of a reach. As I said then, I don’t presume to speak for God………I was just making my best guess.

Today I’m going even further out on a limb.

First of all, let me clarify some “ground rules”.

Satan is real……..just look around…….. if you don’t believe he is real, you just aren’t paying attention.

Satan is not a metaphor, a hazy concept, an idea, a guy in a red suit. He is a living creature with a goal and the tools to pursue it.

Satan wants power and control……over you.

Satan looks out for Satan………and nobody else.

God will defeat Satan…..in the end…..and Satan knows it.

Because he knows that he will ultimately lose, Satan wants to do as much damage as he can before the end. He is not a “good sport”.

Satan was created by God. He was an angel. I think that he and God were once close. He rebelled against the power structure in God’s world and was “ejected from the park”. He now roams the Earth trying to set up his own kingdom. Unlike God’s kingdom which is based on love….. Satan’s kingdom is based on domination. He still visits and talks to God……..but, his access is limited and his power is limited…….by God. He will ultimately be destroyed.

So……..what does it feel like to strive to build a kingdom?

Satan is proud.
Satan is ambitious.
Satan is hopeful.
Satan has big plans.
Satan is organized……..he has a team that he manages closely.
Satan is powerful and he has extensive resources.
Satan loves his power and his resources and he uses them skillfully.
He builds his kingdom by separating us from God.

What does it feel like to strive to build a kingdom based on domination when you know that you will ultimately fail,?

Satan is frustrated.
Satan is angry.
Satan has an inferiority complex.
Satan wants to share his pain….because misery loves company.
Satan is vengeful……he can’t hurt his real enemy……. God……. so he attacks you and me.
He finds joy in our failures.

To sum it up……. Satan is a combination of ambition and angry frustration……..and he takes his anger out on us.

How should we deal with him?

Focus on the primary power structure…….. God.
Know that in the end ……….God wins.
Do not ignore Satan……..but know that he is a second tier operator…… ultimately, a bit player.
Know that he will try to pry his way into your world….. every day.
Know that you get to choose which team to join……..the winner who operates on love………or the loser who operates on domination.

“Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Jesus, NIV

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Peter, NIV

Sounds like a pretty simple idea.

We all agree that truth is a good thing. We teach our kids to “tell the truth”. We say that we want more of it. We see others doing and saying things that don’t seem true fairly frequently and this offends us…….at least intellectually.

But, how much of our effort goes into seeking the truth internally. In other words, how much time do we spend dispassionately analysing the things that we say, believe, and do in order to determine if they align with the truth?

The truth, it turns out, is a bit more complicated than we like to admit.

One of our greatest failings is that we tend to filter the truths that we encounter. We pay attention to the truths that support our beliefs and we ignore the truths that keep us from getting what we want.

Here is wisdom………it is entirely possible…..even common….. to say a dozen things all of which are factually correct and in the process to be untruthful…….. to lie. It turns out, that in any area of controversy, there is truth on both sides. As an example: a woman should be able to control her body without government interference…. and……abortion kills her child. If you only deal with the truth on one side of an issue and ignore the truth on the other side, then you are being dishonest. And we all do this……every day. How many conservatives do you know who only watch Fox? How many liberals do you know who only watch CNN? Do YOU watch both? Or do you just listen to the talking heads who tell you what you already believe?

There is even a term for this……”the echo chamber effect”.

If the truths that you focus on uniformly support what you believe……what you want. If the truths that you believe never lead you to change. If the truths that you believe never drive you to do something outside of your comfort zone, something that you wouldn’t ordinarily do……..then you are either a saint or you are ignoring the truths that you don’t like.

The great immutable truths are in our hearts from birth. We all recognize these same basic truths…… because they were intentionally put there……..by our Creator. We can run from them. We can beat them down. We can try to bury them. But, they are there…….. If we care to look. If we are honest with ourselves.

There is a connection between God and truth because God is the source of truth. There is a connection between truth and joy because the closer that we get to truth, the more joy we feel. In a word…….the closer that we come to God and his truth, the more joy we feel.

So…..what is true?

God is love……..he loves me…..and I love him.
I love my children and my grandchildren.
God is truth.
Loving others brings us joy.
To cause others pain is bad.
To help the downtrodden is good.
There is something bigger than me.
There is something waiting for me……after I die.
There is good in my heart……. but there is evil as well.

There is good in the world and there is evil…… hatred, lust, jealousy, murder, and, yes, dishonesty to name a few. Each of us has both good and evil inside of us. Most of the ideas that we support contain both good and bad…… and it’s a lot more fun to attack the bad in the other guy than it is to ferret out the bad inside of us.

But…… honesty demands that we look at both the truths that we like and at the truths that bother us….. the truths that restrict us and our appetites.

Democrats must look at the harm that abortion does.

Republicans must look at the harm that gun violence does.

Or we could just keep attacking each other……..an ongoing exersize in dishonesty……..each of us ignoring the inconvenient truths that tell us that we are at least partly wrong…..and, all of the while, believing that we occupy the moral high ground.

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus, NIV

“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.”

Jesus, NIV