The Truth will MAKE you FREE!!

John 8:32- And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall Make you free.

We have all heard this scripture before, but to what truth is it referring to? The entire bible itself is truth and is the infalliable Word of God. I want to look at another truth in the Word of God. It is Mark 12:30-“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength.” I think many times in the body of Christ we often overlook this powerful life changing scripture. We tell ourselves that we love God but do we really love Him the way this scripture suggests. If we are distracted by loved ones, finances, circumstances, and just life in general than chances are you are not living out this scripture to its fullest potential. It’s not a rebuke, just a gentle correction so that you can begin to live the life Christ intended for you. When you live for Christ with all of who you are, you are not only telling Him that you value Him, but you are now inviting “the rest” of Him to dwell with you.

Let me show you what I mean. In the book of Acts, Paul and Silas were thrown in jail, beaten, and chained in the inner part of the prison. This did not stop their praise.

Acts 16:22-28

 ²²The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. ²³After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

 ²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. ²⁷The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"

Notice it says, “About midnight”. This was on the same day they were beaten and severely flogged and that did not stop their praise. We have to learn from Paul and Silas here. They did not wait for their wounds to heal, for the situation to look better or to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Instead, at midnight (when grace and mercies are made new) they began to lift up the name of the Lord and Praise Him. Their faithfulness to the father didn’t cease because their situation had gotten worse. They still continued to do the very thing that gotten them thrown into the prison.

Now the jailer woke up and saw the doors open, he drew his sword to kill himself because he thought the prisoners escaped. But Paul shouts to him and says, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” This is where it gets good. Not only were the men in the prison all there, but the bible says in Psalms 22:3  But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. If God inhabits our praises than the trinity is present. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When you are fully devoted to God in loving Him with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength, then “We are all here!” is truth. This means that as you love Christ with All of who you are, then Christ can now fill you with All of who he is.

The true blessing comes in what I will share with you next. Continue with me as we read about Acts 16:29-34.

²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

 ³¹They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household." ³²Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family.

When you come together(within yourself)  in loving God as the First Commandment requires, you and your household will be saved. This love that God shares with us and makes available to us, is not a selfish love. It is a love that gets returned to you with interest. The jailer not only believed in the Lord so that he and his household were saved, but then he turns around and blesses Paul and Silas by cleaning their wounds and preparing a meal for them.  This is a picture of what the Lord does for us. He heals us of all of our hurts, and he delivers us to a place of peace. The Lord has also prepared a table for us in heaven, where someday we will dine with Jesus. Mark 14:25 “²⁵"I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."

 A similar account is recorded in Acts 2:1.

¹When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues^[a] as the Spirit enabled them.  ⁵Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? ⁸Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?

The disciples were all together in the house (in one accord. One mind, one body, one soul and one strength). When the Holy Spirit’s fire comes upon you it will cause the nations under heaven to wonder what in the world is going on. After these things Peter goes out and addresses the crowd and reminds them of the words spoken of the Prophet Joel. (Joel 2:28-32)

The Day of the LORD

 ²⁸ "And afterward,
       I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
       Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
       your old men will dream dreams,
       your young men will see visions.

 ²⁹ Even on my servants, both men and women,
       I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

 ³⁰ I will show wonders in the heavens
       and on the earth,
       blood and fire and billows of smoke.

 ³¹ The sun will be turned to darkness
       and the moon to blood
       before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.

 ³² And everyone who calls
       on the name of the LORD will be saved;
       for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
       there will be deliverance,
       as the LORD has said,
       among the survivors
       whom the LORD calls.

Peter ends his warning to the crowds and pleaded with them in Acts 2:40-41 saying “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Glory to God, what an awesome testimony to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You see, because they were all on one accord with eachother, and within themselves and there was no division among them, 3,000 were added to the church that day. What if we stopped playing God? What if we really loved Him the way we ought to? How many lives could be saved? What power would we see in our own lives, and the lives of those around us? What if the truth will make you free?

 Evangelist Nadia RN