The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth

What you heard me teach is an example of what you should teach. Follow that model of right teaching with the faith and love we have in Christ Jesus. This teaching is a treasure that you have been trusted with. Protect it with the help of the Holy Spirit, who lives inside us. (2 Timothy 1:13-14)

Teaching or instruction abounds, but knowing which one should be impacting your life is best left to the best tutor one could ever have - the Holy Spirit. When we ask the Holy Spirit to 'control' what comes into our minds, hearts, and emotions, we are trusting him to 'weed out' any instruction that isn't 'spot on' and 'zero in on' that which is truth. Any 'almost truth' isn't worth our time or effort!

What you hear me teach - God gives us so many positive examples, but is it wise to just 'accept without question' whatever it is they are teaching? No, absolutely not. We need to test every teaching against the Word of God and then rely upon the Holy Spirit to bring a confirmation of that truth deep within our spirit. If it doesn't ring true on ALL accounts, we aren't to buy into it. When I say, 'all accounts', I mean it lines up with the Word of God, is in keeping with the way God acts, and is born up by a confirmation from the Holy Spirit.

If we don't spend time getting to know the voice of God, we might just accept half-truths, or total untruths all together. One of the things we hear so much about these days is 'fact-checking' our political candidates. Maybe it is time we ask the Holy Spirit to 'fact-check' some of the things we have been believing as 'gospel' in our lives! Trust me on this one - the Holy Spirit is kind of like God's "Snopes" when it comes to 'sniffing out truth'!

God's teaching is something we are entrusted with - so we want to get it right. We don't want 'mixed messages' that are a bit 'muddied' by opinion, subtle untruth, or selfish ambition, do we? We want the truth, nothing but the truth, and the whole truth. To that end, we need the wisdom that comes from getting to know God's Word. We must protect the treasure of truth with the help of the Holy Spirit. Then we must share truth (and nothing but the truth), so others may know it, too. Just sayin!

Just the facts, ma'am...just the facts

Sophocles reminded us: "Quick decisions are unsafe decisions." I have made my share of those 'impromptu' decisions, only to regret the aftermath of not having taken more time to think things through. How about you? Deciding without knowing all the facts can lead to unforeseen consequences. Ever turn the wrong way thinking you were going to take a shortcut somewhere only to find yourself smack-dab in the middle of a traffic jam? The bad decision not only made you late, but it gave you unwanted stress and anxiety as you crept along in all that traffic. While that may not have been what some may label as an 'unsafe' decision, it might have been 'unsafe' in the terms of what it did to your reputation by being late, or in how it affected the others who were waiting on your arrival in terms of their worry, lost work time, or frustrations. As I have said on more than one occasion, our decisions - good or bad - affect not only us, but all those around us.

Pride ends in destruction; humility ends in honor. What a shame—yes, how stupid—to decide before knowing the facts! A man’s courage can sustain his broken body, but when courage dies, what hope is left? (Proverbs 18:12-14)

Back in the day, there was a show on TV known as 'Dragnet' in which Detective Joe Friday used to say, "The facts, ma'am, all we want are the facts." From that, we got the saying, "Just the facts, all I want is just the facts." If we were to operate a bit more in the 'facts' and a little less in the 'unknown', we might just make better decisions. God's plans aren't known to those who don't seek him, but to those who seek him, he opens their hearts and minds to understand his purposes. That helps us make better decisions - because we come into awareness of the 'facts, just the facts'. We can operate without those facts, muddling through and coming 'pretty close' to God's purpose in every circumstance, but I will be the first to admit 'pretty close' doesn't cut it.

If we don't know the 'facts', we only need ask God. He doesn't want us wandering around in darkness when there is light available for the asking! If you haven't figured this one out yet, it takes humility to ask for help. When we don't have clear vision, we have to humble and quiet ourselves long enough to actually listen for the 'facts'. We can bumble through with minimal light, because we didn't listen long enough, or we can walk in the fullness of light, having waited on God until he revealed the facts we needed to move forward. I hope I choose the latter more often than I do the former. How about you? Are you willing to ask for God's help? Are you willing to wait on his answers - the facts - before you move? Just askin!