Soul Scientist

Today’s post is part 2 of an excerpt from the book, “Nevertheless: Finding Hope in Suffering”, set to be released in early 2025 from Northeastern Baptist Press.

Coming soon – The Evangelical Environmental Network Spring 2024 book club is using my book, “Good Ground, Volume 2”, in a free online study starting March 7 at 7pm CST. Even if you can’t come at that time, if you sign up, the sessions will be recorded and emailed to you. I’d LOVE for you to sign up for this using the below link:

https://creationcare.org/get-involved/een-book-club.html

Part 2 of Words Matter

Pain, grief, and loss don’t give us an excuse not to know truth. They give us added motivation to seek truth and cling to it against the waves of doubt, despair, and denial that try to erode faith and overwhelm with fear. Without truth, we are those who have built on the sand and are watching it wash away as the waves keep crashing. Yet, with truth, we are those who can build on God our Rock and hold on to Him as we know He is holding fast to us, no matter how high, long, or often the waves come (see Matthew 7:24-27).

            Or to put this idea into scientist-speak, everything is made up of atoms of some sort or another. Elements are made up of only one type of atom. But molecules can be made up of more than one type of atom. Thus, you can’t use the terms atom, element, and molecule interchangeably because they’re not the same thing. For example, if you have a bunch of gold atoms and just a few silver atoms combined, you have something other than gold as a pure element. The combination might even be shinier or prettier than the gold itself, but it’s not pure gold. And this idea applies to a phrase or thought other than Scripture – it might sound shinier or prettier than the Word itself, but it has the potential to not be pure truth. And if it’s not pure truth, it doesn’t have the power of Scripture as discussed above.

The principles found in Luke 16:17 GNT But it is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest detail of the Law to be done away with and Isaiah 40:8 CEV Flowers and grass fade away, but what our God has said will never change are not only powerful, they are life-changing. God tells us to seek Him and stand firm in Him in the truth of Scripture, not in words others have said, no matter how good they might sound (see Ephesians 6:14). And there in truth, we will be set free and be free indeed (see John 8:32 and 36 NIV)!

God said what He chose to say in Scripture through those He chose to write it for Him. He declared truth then; He defends truth now. God gives us the same opportunity every single day: to declare and defend truth (or not). And here in the hard of today, truth can help hold us together for it reminds us that our Good God, our Rock, is holding us in the today and the not-yet. Only He truly understands what has happened to us and knows what is to come. He is the Rock of our salvation. He is the One Who doesn’t change as seen in James 1:17 ERV Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same.

In the past week, I’ve had opportunity to declare and defend truth to two close friends in hard circumstances. They both knew what was true, but the enemy was trying to use the pain, grief, and loss in their lives to blind them to the truth that God was with them, for them, and in them. I was privileged to be able to remind them that neither God nor His truth would ever change, even if the pain was overwhelming. I knew the importance of this because our Good God has provided friends to do the same for me in the past. No matter the depth of faith, we all struggle at times. And in our struggles, we all need friends to remind us what is true (and what isn’t).

If you’re anything like me, you might be hesitant to ask someone for help with struggles like these. So, on that note, has someone come to your mind now who needs you to defend and declare truth to for his hard life situation? If so, this might be God’s prompting for you to remind this friend of what is truth from Scripture, even if he hasn’t asked you for advice. Please take a minute or two and write his initials in the margin and stop and pray for him right now. Consider calling or sending him a note with a Bible verse or two to follow through on this prompting of your heart by our Good God. And if the someone who came to your mind is yourself, then stop and read some of the verses listed at the end of this chapter aloud and more than once, if needed.

We must declare and defend truth to ourselves first, so that we can do the same for and with others. But to whomever we’re declaring/defending truth, we must do in the matter Scripture tells us to do in Ephesians 4:15-16 TLB Instead, we will lovingly follow the truth at all times—speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly—and so become more and more in every way like Christ who is the Head of his body, the Church. Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly, and each part in its own special way helps the other parts, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. We’re not just here for ourselves; we’re here for all peoples to know and grow in the freedom of the truth of Christ’s amazing love.

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Stay tuned for part 3 of words matter coming next week!

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written by and copyrighted to Beth Madison, Ph.D., 2024.