Section One: The Spiritual Characteristics of a Godly Life.

Our current theme: Characteristic Four: Being A Warrior.                                           

Our reading for today: John 4: 23-24 (MsgB)

It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before Him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship Him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.

It’s been said that the great British statesman, Winston Churchill, commented once on the lack of truthfulness found in our modern society…

Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.

Hmm. If that was true for Churchill’s time, how much more might this be true today? You see, there are many more people in our world who enjoy the truth being told about others, but heaven forbid, if God’s light of truth ever dared to touch their own lives!

So if you and I are truly going to be serious about patterning our lives after the Master, we must pay strict attention to everything Jesus has to say about living lives of truthfulness. In today’s passage (John 4: 23-24), we find Jesus telling the Samaritan woman at the well, that any person who desires to engage in authentic worship of the Living God must, first and foremost, be one that pursues truth. And as we commented last time, from Jesus’ perspective, the pursuit of truth is not a fleshly hunt for honest principles or lofty ideas with honorable merit. No…the Bible fully indicates that the pursuit of truth, in fact, is a pursuit of a person, an entity known as the Triune God.

It’s the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who impart real truth into us as we offer our lives to the Divine, in humility, worship, and grace. And in return for our true worship of our Creator, He slowly changes us from the inside out, re-making and reshaping us, forming the image of Christ in us, the image that brings truth to us in all things, including who we truly are and who we can truly be, if we will allow the Holy Spirit access to every part of our inner life, our true self.

Paul talked about this holy transaction of truth, as he encouraged his friends in the Ephesian church (Ephesians 6: 10-18) to daily gird their own lives with God’s Belt of Truth.

Can you imagine yourself doing what Paul suggests?

Every day, as we dress ourselves for the work or play we have planned, we can choose to place God’s truth, and nothing but God’s truth, around our mid-section. Like a belt of honor, followers of Christ are given the option to live our lives with the full truth of God holding everything, inside and out, intact. Or, we can choose, like the rest of the world, to wander around like helpless children, hoping we might stumble onto a piece of truth, yet fearful, at best, of the many half-truths and out-n-out lies that await those who take life into their own hands.

So what will it be today, Jesus-follower?

Are you man-enough, or woman-enough to handle to the Truth…the real Truth…and nothing but the Truth?

In Christ, and with the empowering and indwelling work of the Holy Spirit, there should be no fear that whatever God’s Truth might reveal; it will all work together for the good of those who worship God, in Spirit and in Truth!

My prayer: Jesus, You say that true worshippers must worship God out of our very being, our spirits, and our true selves, in adoration of the King. Teach me more, Holy Spirit, to live this type of truthful life as I gird myself today with Your Belt of Truth. For Your name’s sake. Amen.

My questions to ponder: Am I attempting to live out this Christian life without the full benefit of God’s Belt of Truth? Am I fearful of God’s Truth, afraid that Jesus might not accept me, or that others might not receive me, if they knew all the truth about me? If that’s true about my situation today, what steps can I take to run away from that lie and embrace God’s Truth that He receives me and loves me just as I am this day…warts and all?

So what is God speaking to you today as we attempt to live the Christ-centered life?

Over a thirty-six week period, you and I will take a deeper look into twelve key characteristics of a godly life. In other words, we’ll take A Journey into Christian Discipleship. In order to keep all the blog sessions organized, we suggest you bookmark our Journey home page for ease of use. ENJOY!

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