The Truth

Tag: LORD JESUS CHRIST.

  • YOU ARE THE FRUIT- BEARING THORNY TREE

    The thorns represent the pain, rejection, opposition, misunderstanding, or difficult circumstances surrounding your life. A thorny tree is not an attractive or comfortable thing to approach. People may avoid it, criticize it, or even hate it because of its thorns.

    Yet you bear fruit.

    The tree’s value is not determined by how people treat it. It is determined by the fruit it produces.

    Lord Jesus said: “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16).

    And apostle Paul describes the fruit produced by the Spirit: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22,23).

    You may experience rejection, but continue loving.

    You may be misunderstood, but continue walking in truth.

    You may be opposed, but continue doing what is right.

    You may be wounded, but do not stop producing good fruit.

    The thorns do not cancel the fruit.

    A person can have thorns around them without becoming thorny within them.

    People may hurt you but you don’t have to become hateful.

    People may reject you but you don’t have to reject everyone.

    People may speak against you but you don’t have to answer evil with evil.

    People may fail to recognize your fruit but God sees it.

    Our Lord Jesus Himself experienced rejection:

    “He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).

    Yet His life produced the greatest fruit the world has ever known.

    You might be hated by everyone.

    Lord Jesus warned His followers that obedience to Him can bring opposition:

    “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 10:22).

    Do not measure your calling by people’s acceptance of you.

    Sometimes obedience to God will make you unpopular.

    Sometimes standing for truth will cost you relationships.

    Sometimes doing what is right will leave you misunderstood.

    But rejection does not mean you have failed God.

    Your patience can encourage someone who is suffering.

    Your forgiveness can teach someone mercy.

    Your faithfulness can strengthen someone who is weak.

    Your testimony can give hope to someone who thinks there is no way forward.

    Your wounds, when surrendered to Christ, can become places from which wisdom, compassion, and spiritual fruit emerge.

    Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:10: “For when I am weak, then am I strong.”

    Do not be discouraged by your thorns.

    Do not measure yourself by those who reject you.

    Remain rooted in Christ.

    Keep bearing fruit.

    Let the fruit speak louder than the thorns.

    Our Lord said,  “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” (John 15:5). 

    You may have to endure pain, rejection, and opposition, but do not allow the thorns around your life to prevent the Holy Spirit from producing beautiful fruit through your life.

    The goal is not to prove that you are a good tree to people. The goal is to remain rooted in Christ and allow Him to produce good fruit through you. 

    “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:8).

    John Mark

  • YOU BELONG TO GOD

    “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;

    And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:19,20).

    There was a time when we were far from God, separated by sin and without hope. We may have felt like strangers, unwanted, forgotten, rejected, or without a place to belong. But when we come to Christ, everything changes.

    We are no longer strangers.

    We are no longer foreigners.

    We are no longer outsiders.

    We are members of God’s household.

    God does not merely allow us to stand at the door of His house. Through Christ, He brings us into His family. We become fellow citizens with His people and heirs of His promises.

    “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26).

    Your past does not determine your place in God’s family. Your failures do not have the final word. Your circumstances cannot cancel what Christ has accomplished for you.

    You don’t belong to this world. God says, “You are Mine.”

    When people reject you, remember that you have a place in the household of God.

    When you feel alone, remember that you are not walking alone.

    When you feel forgotten, remember that God has not forgotten you.

    “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).

    Our lives are like a spiritual building, and our foundation is described as the apostles and prophets, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Cornerstone.

    Christ is the Cornerstone. The cornerstone determines the alignment of the entire building. If the cornerstone is right, everything built upon it can be properly aligned.

    Lord Jesus must be the centre, foundation, direction, and authority of our lives.

    “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).

    Build your life on Christ and not on wealth, reputation, human approval, relationships, emotions, or the changing opinions of people.

    Everything else can shake. Lord Jesus Christ remains.

    The world changes. People change. Circumstances change. Our strength may change. But the Cornerstone never changes.

    “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8).

    We are not being built alone. God is creating a people who belong to Him, united in Christ.

    “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Romans 12:5).

    You have a place. You belong to Christ, you have a spiritual identity that the world cannot give you and cannot take away.

    You are God’s child.

    You are a citizen of His kingdom.

    You are a member of His household.

    You are part of His spiritual building.

    And your life is being built upon Jesus Christ, the Chief Cornerstone. So stand firm.

    Do not return to the identity of a stranger when God has called you His own.

    Do not live like an outsider when Christ has brought you into His household.

    Do not build your life on things that cannot stand.

    Build on Christ. Trust Christ. Follow Christ. Obey Christ. Remain in Christ.

    For storms will come, but a life founded upon Christ can stand.

    “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24).

    John Mark

  • LORETA

    Loreta left her home,

    for she had found a strange home;

    the love of a stranger

    seemed more fascinating

    than the love of those who loved her.

    And so, love went on for Loreta.

    She gave birth to two children—

    two little lives,

    whose father was known to God alone.

    Then disease came knocking.

    AIDS struck Loreta

    and her newborn children.

    Poverty entered through the same door,

    and suffering became her companion.

    Disease tormented her.

    Hunger tormented her.

    Loneliness tormented her.

    And betrayal sat beside her

    when no one else remained.

    Then, somewhere beyond human hearing,

    a whisper was heard:

    “Loreta… Loreta…”

    The prophet asked,

    “Who is that, Lord?”

    And the Lord described her.

    He gave him the place where she lay,

    and guided his steps

    with the precision of the All-Knowing God.

    The prophet went searching for Loreta.

    And when he found her,

    the description was unbelievably true.

    For He is Truth—

    and truth can never hide

    from the Truth.

    God saw what men had refused to see.

    He saw her disease.

    He saw her poverty.

    He saw her betrayal.

    He saw her loneliness.

    But above all,

    He saw her heart.

    And from the depths of her brokenness,

    Loreta cried out to the One

    who had created her.

    Her faintest cry

    reached His ears.

    She cried.

    She repented.

    And heaven heard.

    The God who found her

    did not condemn her.

    He healed her.

    He saved her.

    He comforted her.

    He fed her.

    He gathered the pieces

    of the life that had been shattered.

    What men had abandoned,

    God remembered.

    What men had betrayed,

    God restored.

    What the world had overlooked,

    God saw.

    And Loreta—

    who had lost so much—

    received something back

    that no man could give her:

    her laurel.

    Her honor.

    Her dignity.

    Her hope.

    Her victory.

    For the eyes of God

    had pierced through her suffering

    and seen into the deepest chambers

    of her heart.

    And He heard

    even the faintest cry

    of a forgotten woman.

    Loreta gets her laurel back—

    because she was never forgotten

    by the One who knew her

    all along.

    John Mark

  • SHINE FOR CHRIST

    “Ye are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14)

    When Christ comes into your life, darkness no longer has the final word. His light begins to shine through you, not because of who you are, but because of Who lives in you.

    God did not give you His light so that you could hide it. He gave it to you so that someone walking through darkness might find their way.

    Your kindness can show them Christ’s love.

    Your forgiveness can show them His mercy.

    Your faith can give them courage.

    Your integrity can show them His truth.

    Your peace can reveal His presence.

    Your testimony can give hope to someone who has almost given up.

    You may think your light is small, but even a small light can be seen in great darkness.

    Do not allow fear to cover your light.

    Do not allow rejection to extinguish your light.

    Do not allow disappointment to dim your light.

    Do not allow the darkness around you to become darkness within you.

    You are the light.

    You are called to shine.

    You are called to be a witness.

    You are called to glorify God.

    So stay close to Jesus.

    Walk in His Word.

    Listen to the Holy Spirit.

    Keep your heart clean.

    Love when it is difficult.

    Forgive when you have been hurt.

    Speak truth with grace.

    Do good without seeking recognition.

    And let your life become a living testimony:

    “There is something different about this person.”

    That difference is Christ.

  • HAVE UNDERSTANDING AND DISCERNMENT

    Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.” (Psalm 32:9)

    Do not make God force you to do what is right. A horse or mule does not naturally understand where its master wants it to go. Therefore, the rider uses a bit and bridle to control and direct the animal. God does not want us to live like that spiritually. He wants us to have understanding hearts to listen when He speaks, recognize His direction, and obey Him willingly.

    Let’s not be stubborn, but be obedient to Him and sensitive to God’s voice.

    A stubborn person may know what God is asking but continually resist Him. When God says forgive, we hold onto resentment. When He says stop, we continue. When He says go, we refuse. When He says wait, we rush ahead.

    The problem is not that God has failed to guide us. The problem is that we are refusing to be guided.

    Do not wait until God has to restrain you. Listen while He is instructing you.

    Don’t wait for a painful consequence to teach you what obedience could have taught you peacefully.

    Don’t wait until every door closes before you realize God told you not to enter.

    Don’t wait until you fall before you decide to listen.

    Have understanding. Have discernment.

    Be teachable. Be sensitive to God’s voice.

  • BE STILL BEFORE GOD

    “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few” (Ecclesiastes 5:2).

    There is a time to speak, and there is a time to be silent.

    When you come before God, do not rush to speak. Do not allow your emotions to make promises that your heart cannot keep. Do not speak carelessly in the presence of the One who knows the deepest thoughts and intentions of your heart.

    He is the Creator; we are His creation. He is Almighty; we are dependent upon Him. He sees what we cannot see, knows what we cannot know, and understands what is hidden even from ourselves.

    Sometimes we speak too much when God is asking us to listen.

    We bring God our plans, our demands, our explanations, our promises and our questions, but forget to become still and hear His voice.

    Prayer is not merely speaking to God. Prayer is also waiting before God.

    Your greatest prayer may be nothing more than silence before Him.

    Be quiet and silent, and allow God to speak.

    God does not need many words. He desires a sincere heart.

    A few words spoken with truth are more precious than many words spoken without understanding.

    When you stand before God, remember:

    He hears every word. He sees every motive.

    He knows every thought. He examines every heart. So speak carefully. And when you have nothing worthy to say, be still.

    Sometimes silence is not the absence of prayer.

    Silence is surrender.

    For God is in heaven, and you are upon the earth. Be still before Him. Listen for His voice.

    Trust His wisdom. And let your life speak louder than your words.

    “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

  • GODLY LIFE

    What begins in the heart can eventually determine the direction of your entire life.

    Guard what is within you. Guard your heart.

    Guard what comes out of you. Guard your words. Guard what you look upon. Guard your eyes. Consider where you are going. Watch your path.

    Do not allow your feet to turn toward evil. Guard your steps. Remove your foot from evil. Move away from it. Sometimes the wisest spiritual decision is not to fight temptation while standing beside it, but to walk away from it altogether.

    And above everything, keep your eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ, because the safest path is the path that leads us toward Him.

  • ANOINTED AND SET APART

    Rise up, holy generation!

    You are not forgotten. You are not insignificant. You are not here by accident.

    God has called you, chosen you, and set you apart for His purpose. His hand is upon your life. The Holy Spirit has been given to empower you, not merely to speak about Christ, but to live for Christ, stand for Christ, and shine His light in a world growing darker by the day.

    The Lord says in Isaiah 61:1

    “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me.”

    That anointing is not for your glory. It is for His glory. It is not given so that you may exalt yourself, but so that you may lift up the name of Jesus.

    When others are losing hope, you must carry hope.

    When others are walking in darkness, you must shine His light.

    When others are bound, you must proclaim liberty through Christ.

    When others are afraid, you must stand in faith.

    Jesus said, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me.” (Acts 1:8).

    Therefore, do not shrink back. Do not be ashamed. Do not allow the world to silence the voice God has placed within you.

    Be strong when you are tested.

    Be faithful when you are overlooked.

    Be bold when you are opposed.

    Be humble when God lifts you up.

    Be obedient when He calls you to go.

    Your battle may be great, but your God is greater.

    Your enemies may be many, but the Lord is with you.

    The road may be difficult, but His grace is sufficient.

    You were not anointed to sit in fear. You were anointed to arise.

    You were not set apart to blend into the darkness. You were set apart to shine.

    So go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit. Carry the Gospel. Speak the truth in love. Break chains through the name of Jesus.

  • THE UNKNOWN

    Theological seminaries, Bible colleges, and universities will not teach you to know the Unknown.

    The priest and the pastor will teach high-level spirituality only if they have encountered the Unknown.

    The revelation of the Unknown is revealed by the Spirit of the Unknown.

    “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions” (Joel 2:28). This prophecy is directly addressed to common believers. It is not addressed to any pastor, priest, clergy member, or prophet.

    Our Lord Jesus promised that when the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide all the believers into all truth and tell them what is yet to come.

    You have to know the Unknown.

    Knowing the Unknown is what you should know.

    The Unknown becomes known when you desire to know Him.

    The more you seek the Unknown, the more the Unknown reveals Himself to you.

    Love the Unknown, seek the Unknown, and pursue the Unknown, and what was once unknown will become known.

    The Unknown is beyond your understanding, Knowing the Unknown is greater than knowing everything the world claims to know.

    The Unknown has no limits.

    The Unknown is the greatest mystery, the greatest discovery, and the greatest knowledge you can ever seek.

    Know the Unknown.

    Seek the Unknown.

    Love the Unknown.

    And the Unknown will reveal Himself to you.

    The One who is beyond our understanding can still be known when we sincerely seek Him.

  • WHERE DO WE STAND?

    Life is too short to be spent pursuing the things of this world. We must never exchange eternal life for the temporary pleasures of a sinful life. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

    Heaven and Hell are real. Eternity is real, and every soul must ultimately face the consequences of the choices it makes. “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:46).

    Lucifer, the chief among the archangels, was given a place of great honour and was in the presence of God. Yet pride arose within him. Scripture says, “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness” (Ezekiel 28:17).

    The desire to exalt himself above God took root in his heart. Isaiah records his proud ambition: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God… I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:13,14).

    Yet pride could not stand before God. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” ( Isaiah 14:12)

    He fell from his exalted position because of rebellion and pride. Jesus Himself said, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18).

    Hell is not Heaven, and Heaven is not Hell. Scripture speaks clearly of eternal judgment and the “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels”(Matthew 25:41).

    If God judged the rebellion of such a glorious creation, where do we stand? If pride and rebellion brought such terrible consequences, how carefully must we guard our own hearts and minds?

    “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” ( 1 Corinthians 10:12).

    The reality of judgment should awaken every soul to the seriousness of sin. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

    God tested Judas by entrusting him with the money bag, even while allowing him to walk with Jesus, hear His words, receive His love, and witness His works. Yet Judas chose another path. Jesus said of him, “Woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed!” (Matthew 26:24)

    Judas had the privilege of walking with Jesus, yet privilege alone could not replace obedience.

    Likewise, Lucifer was surrounded by the glory and holiness of God, yet he allowed pride to enter his heart. “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

    What is revealed within the heart ultimately determines the direction of a person’s life. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).

    Therefore, we must examine ourselves. We must guard our hearts and turn away from sin. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

    We must seek the Lord while He may be found. “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6).

    Speaking through angels, prophets, and those whom God chooses may occur according to His will and purpose. Yet every spiritual manifestation must be tested against the Word of God. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1).

    Everything must ultimately point us back to God, His truth, and His will. “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33).

    This world is temporary. Its pleasures are temporary. Its possessions are temporary. But eternity is forever.

    “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17).

    Therefore, let us not live for this passing world while neglecting the eternity that lies before us. Let us repent, humble ourselves before God, guard our hearts, and seek the Lord with all that is within us.

    This life is temporary. Eternity is forever.

    Where do we stand?

    “Choose you this day whom ye will serve” (Joshua 24:15).