"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Hello. Welcome back to the One Thing Podcast. Today I wanted to share an interesting topic God has really been speaking loudly to His Church. It’s about His truth, really understanding what the truth is, receiving the truth in our lives and living it out.From John Chapter 8:31, it says "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'"

It’s really important to look at what Jesus is telling us, He’s saying if you hold to my teaching…another word for holding is abiding, if you abide in my teaching. What is His teaching? It is His Word, it is His truth, it is Jesus himself…the Living Word.And so to abide, when we hear that word, He is really giving us a comparison of a relationship, of two lovers that would abide in each other. When we think of a marriage relationship - becoming one. So He calls us to become one with His truth, to be so familiar with it, so deep and in relationship with it.

"Get to know the truth."

How do we form a relationship? Biblically, a true relationship between two lovers begins with courtship - with courting. Now in our culture, if you were to bring that word up, many people with a blank stare might not even know what it means to court. Courtship is an unheard thing. In order to have relationships now, you kind of jump into it and there really is no working toward really getting to know each other, really developing a foundation. But what Jesus is saying here.. He is saying 'Come and form a relationship with the Truth!'. Take it wherever you go. Get to know it. Open up the Bible, open up the scripture, ask the Holy Spirit to speak and to unfold His Word. And not only that, as the truth starts to come in from His Word , from our leaders, from wherever God may be bringing truth into our life-- be ready to receive it and become one with it. Get to know the truth - that is powerful, that is what Jesus has called us to do.

"Free to worship God."

We look at the end of this verse He says "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." You see, as we court the truth of God, as we walk with the truth as our closest friend, our lover, the lover of our soul we truly come to know it. We truly come to know it deep in our minds, in our hearts. And as you know the truth, the truth shall set you free. Free to what? Free to worship God in the way that He has called us to worship Him. Free to serve Him because no longer can the chains of darkness hold us back because truth is powerful - it breaks all darkness and it brings the light of Christ.'You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free'.

Will you join today? Will you join with us as a church? For each one of us to take hold of the truth. For some of us it may be the beginning of a brand new relationship with the Word of God - taking it in, getting to know Christ, getting to know the Word and taking it where you go, preserving it in your heart, holding on to it and beginning to cultivate something special there. For some of us, we have begun this relationship with the truth. Will you continue to grow it? Will you take hold of the precious gift that God has placed in your heart and placed in your mind? Wherever we may be, may we abide in His truth and become the disciples He has called us to become - and then we shall know the truth, and the truth shall set us free.