Knowing the Truth

The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “ Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. Jeremiah 31:3 (New King James Version)

I am so glad that God let us know the many things about Himself and His heart! He did not wait until eternity to tell us of His love and care. He has made sure it is mentioned on pretty much every page of Scripture. His words are meant to minister to us and reassure us as we walk our path of life. I am delighted He chose to speak plainly of His love, forgiveness, presence, purposes, protection, attention, acceptance, and desires. It has never been His intent that I go through life unaware and unaccepting of His spoken truth. It can never be said of Him, “But you didn’t tell me how you felt!”

It is difficult to go through life desiring the love and acceptance of someone and not feeling that you have it. Or to know that you had it at one time and now believe it is no longer there. While there are times when that may very well be the case, I am coming to realize how often my perception is my reality. The person may in fact care deeply for me but if I believe the opposite than I will live out of my own belief and I will miss the joy of living in the truth. I am a long way from wholeness in this area, but I am choosing to take the first step in admitting my problem is more my perception than it is the other person.

I marvel that at one time, for years, my perception of God was such that I couldn’t receive all the truths I listed in the earlier part of this devotional. When my view of Him was so skewed, it affected my relationship with Him and response to Him. I was blind and deaf to the things He was saying in His Word. As He has opened my eyes and my ears to the truth about Himself, I am able to believe and receive that truth. It is what is changing me!

God is using that experience to give me hope that the same can be true of human relationships. Just as He revealed to me the harm my false perceptions of Him were doing and the freedom that resulted when I embraced the truth, He is now showing me the harm my perceptions of others is doing and the liberty that will be mine as I embrace the truth about them. Past lessons learned always become precious examples of what is possible in present situations.

Father, it is easy but harmful to walk in deception. Keep showing me where my thinking is off. Help me to live out my days with open eyes and ears to the truth about You, others, and myself. Amen.