The Truth – almost

My first words this week need to be words of gratitude. Many of you donated to our ministry last week through the North Texas Giving Day, and once again, we at Denison Ministries realize we are abundantly blessed. You, our readers and friends, make this ministry possible. We praise God for each of you.

I went back and forth on this blog post. Should I write it or should I not? In the end, the message was so close to the focus of our entire ministry that I decided it was important for us to consider.

If you have been a reader of this blog post for a while, you know I am a huge fan of Christian music. Some of the best “God thoughts” these days are in our music. A song that is playing often now on our Christian stations is one that I almost love. 

The song is practically perfect, except for one important line. The song is titled “The Truth,” and it is mostly true. Take a few minutes to listen to the song by Megan Woods. Are you able to discern the one line in “The Truth” that just isn’t biblical truth?

Why does that one line matter?

I spoke to two groups last week, making this point to both: God’s word is pure truth and doesn’t contain any error. Yet, we live in a culture that often feels the need to alter God’s word to align with or sympathize with people’s emotions, values, and feelings.

All of us at Denison Ministries have committed to a singular value. If we write content, we want it consistent with biblical teaching, even when it might not be a culturally popular subject. We never want to teach something about God that the Bible would not teach.

That’s why one morning when I was enjoying a Christian song titled “The Truth,” I cringed a little when I heard the chorus. Did you pick out the line that doesn’t stand with the “truth” of God’s word?

Megan Woods sings, “I was made in the image of a perfect King.” That is full truth. God is our Father, and he loves us completely, as a perfect King loves his child. But the line that follows that truth says, “He looks at me and wouldn’t change a thing.” That one line is just not true. 

Why does that one line matter so much that I wanted to write a blog post about it? 

Jesus said, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Jesus was praying for his disciples when he said, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). If I could rewrite that one line in the song “The Truth,” it would say, “I was made in the image of a perfect King. He saved my soul and changed everything.”

Right now, a great movement in Christian ministry is especially appealing to the younger generations—one that is especially important to correct. The message intends to bring healing, comfort, and self-esteem to a generation that has been greatly impacted by the content and messaging of a lot of the social media they consume. But if a message isn’t biblically true, it won’t be truly helpful to our lives.

That one line in the song matters because while God loves us as we are, he would never leave us as we are. In fact, his great love for us is why he sent his Son to die for every sin we would commit. God gave us Jesus so that we could be “born again” and experience complete change. The problem with that one line is that it dismisses the lifelong journey of sanctification that God wants us to live. 

Why is the need for sanctification crucial biblical truth?

One of the great omissions in much of today’s popular preaching is God’s command to be sanctified. Over and over again, God said in the Old Testament, “Be holy because I am holy.” Jesus prayed we would be sanctified by the truth. 

In his letter to the Ephesian church, Paul wrote to Christians who were slipping back into the Gentile practices they had lived with. Paul was very specific about their need to grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord continuously. He wrote about their desire to carry on with some of the cultural practices, saying, “But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:20–24). 

To teach that God “wouldn’t change a thing” about our lives is to deny the truth of Scripture. It also gives the listener permission to live without the transforming work of the Holy Spirit that God has given his children. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul wrote, “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9–10). 

God, our heavenly Father, loves us as we are. Our salvation means we are his beloved child. The perfection and holiness of God calls his children to live perfected holy lives, growing in wisdom and grace and knowledge of who he is. God wants his children to become more like him every day. 

How might the truth about sanctification change our culture? 

I love almost all of Megan Woods’s song, “The Truth,” but I had to write about that one line: Truth matters because partial truth deceives.

A 2024 WebMD article stated, “Teen mental health problems have hit a new peak in the US, and the gap between the number of teenagers who report conditions like anxiety, depression, and hopelessness and the number of those who receive treatment is increasing.”  Our kids need to know they are loved by a perfect God, but they also need to know that God’s truth is the source of their self-esteem. God doesn’t want to leave them as they are. He wants them to be sanctified by the truth and continuously strive to be like him. Holiness can be their lasting confidence if it is their lifelong goal. The same is true for all of us.

People’s feelings truly matter, just not as much as the truth of God’s word. God made certain we would have his word and be filled with his Spirit so that we could live with the discernment we need to ignore the cultural versions of truth and trust what actually is truth.

It might seem that I have been too picky about one line of a song, but if a song is titled “The Truth,” then it needs to be entirely true. Discernment matters, and as our culture continues to drift from biblical truth, it will become increasingly crucial that God’s children do not.

Our perfect God loves us as we are, but we can be grateful that he wants to change who we are. Our Father wants us to be sanctified, made holy, so we can become more like him.

5 Tips for a Stronger Summer Soul

I’m done teaching my Bible study for this year, and so I’m writing this article for my own sake as much as yours.

It’s a lot easier for me to stay close to the Lord when I have to teach his Word each week. I usually spend a lot of time studying and preparing lessons as well as praying for the wisdom to teach them. Then summer rolls around and I spend less time relying on God and more time enjoying my coffee.

I want to do a better job enjoying both!

Now, I’m all for a summer break. We need some downtime once in a while. I will start to write next year’s Bible study in a couple of weeks and that will help. But, there are a few things that I try to do, especially in these summer months, to keep my soul inspired and God’s direction front and center each day. I thought I’d share those ideas with all of you.  

These are my ideas, but I would love to hear some of yours. Use the comment section or our Facebook link to share your thoughts.

1. Rise early.

“Joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5).  

The summer days are longer, but they will also get hot (especially in Texas). I like to have my first cup of coffee early, while I read The Daily Article, my husband’s morning essay, and the First15 devotional, written by my son.

Most of you probably get these already, but if you don’t, you should! Spending your time with these words about God will often inspire a word from God.

How do you take that word into your soul?

Put on comfortable shoes and start walking. Consider what God has spoken to you, and, chances are, God will speak words through you that day.

We all need to consume God’s thoughts if we want to have a well-fed soul.

2. Go to bed early.

“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep” (Psalm 127:2).

This is an obscure verse of Scripture, but it shouldn’t be!

Have you ever stopped to consider why we were created to need sleep?

God didn’t have to create us with that need, but he did. A ton of studies discuss the importance of sleep to our physical bodies, but have you ever thought about the benefits of sleep to our souls?

God can speak to us as we dream. Have you asked him to?

A good night’s sleep is healing to every aspect of our lives. We weren’t meant to work and toil all day. God wants us to rest, and to rest in him.

Give God your dreams, and, each morning, as you are thinking about what you have dreamed, ask God what he might be speaking to your soul.

3. Spend time on your friendships.  

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and not another to lift him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:9–10).

There are so many people in this world I would love to know better. I wish I knew all of you, for example!

But there are only twenty-four hours to a day, and there are a lot more acquaintances in our lives than there are friends.

Heed King Solomon’s words: don’t just spend time with friends; spend some time on your friends.

Our friends should not just be good company. They should be people who strengthen our walk with the Lord and bless our souls—and we should be that kind of friend to them as well.

4. Experience God in an ancient, new way.  

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22–23).

These are familiar and favorite verses. God’s people have been sharing God’s wisdom for centuries. Add something to your spiritual journey that is ancient wisdom but new to you.

There are books of Christian quotes, websites with old sermons, and Christian novels written decades ago. There is something particularly refreshing to our souls to read words that God inspired in the past that are still his truth today.

God is timeless and timely. If he inspired truth one hundred years ago, it is still truth today.

5. Take time to enjoy God’s warmth.  

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

I have to admit, I love the warmth of summer. I love warm weather, flowers, vacations, swimming, and long, lazy walks on a beach. I love the sun on my toes and a great novel in my hands. I love long days and a slower work schedule.

And I love that I have time to just love the One who provides it all.

Fall will arrive, if Jesus doesn’t. I would love for all of us to look back on these summer months with gratitude for the time we spent just enjoying our God. He would enjoy our enjoyment. Our souls were made to find joy in our Father.

Your soul was created to enjoy its Creator. And he wants to spend these summer days with you, joyfully present in your life.

Strengthen Your Summer Soul

Those are my tips, and you can go to my website or Facebook page to share yours.

The summer months will come and go. Don’t you want to use them to strengthen your soul?

If you are like me, then some weeks will probably be better than others—but I’d like to have more of those great weeks. God gave us the season we call summer. He had to have a perfect reason! Let’s plan to enjoy the days ahead because we trust that God has a plan to strengthen our souls with his joy.

One Word That Makes All the Difference

The word is “whatever.”  Interestingly, that word was labeled one of the top five annoying words in 2016. The meaning of the word depends a lot on the attitude behind the person using it. The Bible uses the word whatever about 173 times, depending on your translation and, when the word is used biblically, it makes all the difference.

God used the word whatever in the very beginning to show us the difference between human beings and the rest of creation. People were created in the image of God and he honored us with the power of choice.  He had just finished creating all the living things on earth and he brought them to Adam. Scripture says, “Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name” (Genesis 2:19).

Imagine if God had presented those animals for Adam to name, but Adam felt he had something better to do. Adam could have glanced at all those animals and flippantly tossed his hand saying “whatever” and a trip to the zoo would be a much different experience.

Almost every time the word “whatever” is used, it’s because we have a choice to make. God created everything, but only human beings were created in his image, with the ability to choose. Whatever happens today, we can choose to look and act like God’s unique and powerful children or something less. The whatever verses in Scripture will help us choose what is best.

God instructed Moses to consecrate the altar saying, “Whatever touches the altar shall become holy” (Exodus 29:37). Those words give added meaning to the moment when the veil of the temple was torn, from top to bottom. Only God could have done that and only the death of Christ could make that holy altar available to everyone.  Whatever touches the altar of God is made holy, and Jesus gave everyone access to the altar. What do you need to bring to his altar today?

Later the Apostle Paul taught one of the most important things we can bring to God’s altar is our thoughts. If our thoughts are made holy, our actions will follow. Philippians 4:8 is possibly the best use of the word whatever in the Bible. The verse says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

When we take our thoughts to the altar of God, He will make them holy. What are holy thoughts?

  • God will make our thoughts true and separate them from the lies we might have believed.
  • Our thoughts will honor God and his purpose
  • Our thoughts will be just and we can see things with God’s perfect judgment
  • God can remove whatever is making our thoughts dark and purify them with his holiness
  • God can change our ugly thoughts to ideas and opinions that are lovely
  • Our thoughts can often condemn us and others. God can make them commendable instead.
  • God can make every thought excellent and worthy of praise.

So, whatever plans you have made for the day, remember that God created you with the ability to choose his holiness and Jesus provided everything you need to attain it. The altar is right in front of you, and the curtain is wide open. Whatever will you choose to do?