Knowledge Without Truth

Today I voted.  No, I will not divulge who I voted for.  I will say though that as the Presidential race heats up and as the candidates vie for our votes, I encourage you to research and seek the truth.  I have heard statements like, " I'm voting for Hillary because we need our first woman president."  I've also heard, " I'm voting for Trump because he's not a career politician."  Both statements are beyond absurd.  This is not to say that Hillary or Trump are the better candidate.  However, the reasoning behind either statement is not founded in truly knowing what either candidate stands for. 

I am a social media person as well as one who watches television, reads several online journals and newspapers, and I follow news outlets such as the BBC, Al Jazeera, the New York Times, Dallas Morning News, and several bloggers on twitter.  What I've noticed are sensational headlines that set out to discredit or bring some crazy accusation against a candidate.  You've read them I'm certain.  " Trump reveals the Illuminati", " Carson lied about his scholarship to West Point", " Bernie Sanders is proposing a tax increase if elected president", "If Hillary was telling the truth about wall street speeches she'd release them", " Cruz lies to voters telling them Carson has dropped out of the race".  The headlines go on and on. Some make us angry, some make us laugh, and after a while they desensitize us completely. But as you dissect each headline they all have this in common.  Each one is an effort to divide us from the truth.  The wise will seek the real truth, and be able to read through the headlines in order to make a decision for themselves. 

Pastor Joyce teaches us how knowledge without truth only serves to draw us down a path of ill informed decision making.  Before you read her teaching I leave you with this thought. As you cast your ballot during the primary season, make sure you know the truth about who you are voting for.  Don't let a headline or popular opinion draw the conclusion for you. Make sure you are so informed about the candidate that if you had to defend your choice, you would be able to convince anyone else to vote for your candidate. 

Knowledge Without Truth

The Apostle Paul warns Timothy that in the last days there will be those who will be so ‘self’ consumed they will have a form of godliness but do not love God.  He says of this kind that they are, “learning, learning ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of truth.”

Jesus said in John 16:13, “However, when He the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”

Leaders in the Church and members in general may have the ability to quote ever passage of scripture and from their own acquired knowledge know more than most.  These scholars may have studied for years yet they still don’t know the truth.  They may impress the masses with their ability to explain the original Hebrew and Greek relating to the text but still don’t know the truth.

The truth of the scripture and that which makes it a living word; applicable to all current day issues, is only received and discerned by the Spirit.  We are told to test all the spirits that are speaking; this too can only be comprehended by the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is in us, but if we never listen to what He has to say about interpretation and application of the word we will fall into the same type of godliness that Paul describes to Timothy.  “They creep into households and make captives of the gullible loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts.

When we read the scriptures and study text we must always seek the Holy Spirits guidance so that in these last and perilous times we are hearing what God is doing and can ignore the voices that seem to be godly but have no knowledge of truth.