Day 114 "There is only one truth and the creator of it is a jealous God."

Day 114 Matthew 13:10-17 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. I can recall on more than one occasion my grandfather using the term "You can't see the forest for the trees." In this passage, Jesus is saying something very similar; the religious leaders couldn't see who He was because they were still looking for Him. He looked different than what they expected; this Jesus didn't measure up to their standards. This Jesus was not eloquent enough. He was, after all, illegitimate. He was not from royalty, and He wasn't a scholar. How could He be the Messiah? The truth, you see, didn't matter, because it wasn't their truth, it wasn't pretty enough and, to top it all off, this man didn't agree with them; they, after all, were the ones in charge–the keepers of the religious truths, or so they thought. Today, our world is infested and controlled by people who have decided that they are the ones with the truth; that they have found the loophole to get into heaven without Jesus. The new buzz seems to be something like this: "Surely Jesus is not the only way to heaven." Warning! Danger! This belief is exactly what the devil wants you to fall for, and he is the one fostering the lie. People like Tom Cruise, Oprah Winfrey and, yes, even some very well-known TV pastors are spending far too much time trying to woo people into the Kingdom by making them feel good; however, Jesus never said that the way to heaven would feel good. I don't know about anyone else, but once I was convicted of my sin, it felt good to have it paid for, but I surely never have felt good about falling short or missing the mark. When people place the focus on feelings and sweet words or the ‘I think’ and ‘what ifs,’ that is when the water gets murky and people get deceived. Truly, the Word is the only answer. Revelation 2:12-28 is a great passage of scripture that everyone with the ‘touchy-feelies’ needs to read, and when they do, if it doesn't scare them straight, I don't know what will. There is one way to God, and for those who decide to compromise the Word and make their own way and not confront lies with truth, they will be judged according to their works. By the way, I'm not judging the people I have mentioned; I'll leave that to the Lord, and I'll pray for them; however, I am speaking the truth and for that no one should ever apologize. When people by their actions lead others astray, we have the duty to expose the lies by speaking and revealing the truth. Daily Prayer: Father, help us to confront the truth in love while not compromising the truth of Your Word. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. "There is only one truth and the creator of it is a jealous God." Pastor Gene Burroughs