Sometimes I wonder where people get their ideas. What are they building upon to understand their own world? Is it truth and what are they building their lives upon?

I would like to start this dialogue with a plea to the people out there. Please, do not take other people’s reasoning verbatim! How do you know they are right about which they speak? You must learn to think like Jesus Christ teaches us and measure your and their thoughts against God’s holy word or you will continually find yourself on the yellow brick road ending up at someone else’s version of the truth, which isn’t the truth at all, and not God’s truth.

I can remember when I was quite young, maybe 6th grade or so, paging through our family bible and I came upon 1 Tim. 2:5,6 which states, ‘For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.’ Wow I thought! I don’t have to go to the priest and tell him my private, personal sins! I was so happy; I had always felt dislike for such a rule in the Catholic church. That rule just didn’t sit right inside of me. I asked my mother about it and she didn’t have an answer for me. Wow, my mother didn’t know?! We think our parents know everything at that age. I grew up Roman Catholic and I had naturally assumed my mother would know the answer. I wondered did other Catholics believe this as the truth for their own lives? And did the Catholic church have other rules that differed from God’s Word?

What is our measuring stick for real truth?

Fast forward a few years to a young adult in her mid-twenties. I had become a born again Christian. I had an insatiable appetite for God’s word. It told me who God was and who I was. It showed me that unless my foundation is built upon God and his word my foundation was like shifting sand, never staying steady, and would unsafely send me toppling to the ground. Sand is unpredictable, unmanageable, and difficult to deal with. How can you build a marriage, a family, or have any decent relationships like that? Who needs it! We need solid advice that does not change.

For instance peoples’ thoughts, words, and deeds can be unstable vessels unless anchored inside God’s holy word. And they are not to be trusted sometimes as we grow and learn because we need the truth! Others thoughts and words sometimes can be unsound advice or untrustworthy at times even though they think they are giving us good advice. By faith I now try to only look at and depend on Jesus Christ, not on myself, and measure my thoughts, words, and actions against his holy word and what it says. And I do the same if puzzled about what others may say or do. I pray for his confirmation if something is right or not. If it goes against God’s word then I know it is wrong.

I like tranquility in my life. I like steady, reliable, unchanging rules that help guide me. Christ is my center and I depend on him for his help, I don’t want to depend on myself, for I know I need to trust God more than I trust myself to keep things on track as he would like and that is always best for me. I need Jesus in this world because he has all wisdom and all understanding so I can be guided into the right port! That is why God’s word is so good. It sets my feet on solid ground. He is my rock. His words teach me, they give me peace in the storm, and shows me the way no matter the situation. Sometimes it may take some time in praying and being patient to hear but persevere and you will see.

God’s word is truth and life to us. In John 6:68 it says, ‘Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.’ So God’s words are not just for the here and now, but they are for us and our eternity. The beginning of James 4:8 states, ‘Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.’

Hebrews 4:12-13 states, ‘For the word of God is quick, andpowerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.’ Aren’t his words amazing and wonderful!

The bible was given first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles, to use and to cherish, and to be a light unto our feet. Psalm 119:105 tells us, ‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.’ Isn’t that a lovely truth? God being there for us, holding a light out there for you to be able to find your way in the darkness. He really cares! What love, truth, and hope he brings us!

What will be your measuring stick for the truth? How about the bible that tells us only Jesus Christ is ‘the way, the truth, and the life?’ In Matthew 24:35 Jesus states, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words shall not pass away.’ How about from the one who even knows the number of hairs on your head? In Luke 12:7 Jesus says in part of this verse, “But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, Jesus is coming back one day!