1 John 3:16-19 NIV
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence:”
INSIGHT
-Truth in Hebrew is written as emet and aletheia in Greek which means to know and uphold what is good and right. Jesus sacrificed His life for us as both proof of His love and the standard of our own love. If we then believe in Jesus Christ and remain in His truth, we become partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end. We remain in love for God and one another, as one cannot claim to love God yet hates his brothers and sisters who he can see. If we love in truth, we demonstrate this by actions and not by mere words. James 2:26 reminds us that, “as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” We need to apply our faith by acts of love for one another, by laying our lives for our brothers and sisters just like Christ did. Love should be shown by our daily lives of compassion and care for those who need us most and not by mere speech. May the Lord give us the grace to love like Him and to remain in His presence always.
PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus we come before You this morning with thanksgiving in our hearts. We thank You for enabling us to see this new day, we rejoice and are glad in it. May You take charge of this week and everything that we do and purpose to do. May Your presence go with us and be with us always. Thank You for the rains that You continue to shower upon us and our land. May You increase our productivity and economic prosperity. We thank You for Your peace in our nation and for Your intervention in the peace talks among our leaders. You are the Prince of peace, we exult Your holy name. May You grant us the grace to love You and to love one another as ourselves. May You fill our hearts with love and compassion that we may love in truth and not by mere words. We thank You Jehovah and exult Your name, now and forever. Amen
Further reading: James 2:14-26, 1 John 4:20
1 John 1:8-9 NIV
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
INSIGHT
-David in his prayer of repentance notices that we were brought forth in iniquity from our mothers womb (Psalm 51:5). John in the main scripture reveals that we are sinners and there is need for constant confession, and if anyone claims that he/she is without sin deceives himself and the truth is not in them. We are reminded to walk in the light of God and we will not fail to see our own sinfulness. For the fruit of light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth (Ephesians 5:9). God also calls us to walk in the Spirit and we will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
PRAYER
Almighty Father, we come before Your throne of grace and mercy with confidence so that we obtain grace to help us in our time of need. We humbly repent for all the sins we have done, said and thought. We repent for the times we have not done Your will and disobeyed Your voice, Your guidance and Your word, may You forgive us. We commit all our lives, families, churches, ministries, leaders and nation unto You, that You may forgive us and teach us Your truth. May You wash us, cleanse us and purify us with Your precious blood Jesus. Oh Lord may You keep us for Yourself; faithful till the end of time. May Your Holy Spirit guide us that we may not walk according to the flesh but in the Spirit. May You fill us afresh with Your Holy Spirit that we may do Your will and Your purpose for our lives. Lord we thank You and honor You for You are great and wonderful, and it is in Jesus name we pray trusting and believing. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen
Further reading: Psalms 51:1-19, Ephesians 5:8-20
Numbers 23:19 NKJV
“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”
INSIGHT
-Balak was angry with Balaam, thus a confession of God’s overruling power is extorted from a wicked prophet, to the confusion of a wicked prince and the proposed curse is turned into a blessing. Unlike man who has the capacity to lie and make false promises and decrees, God is truthful. God’s integrity and faithfulness is unmatched and unrivaled. God calls us to be honest and truthful. He detests lying lips but delights in those who are trustworthy (Proverbs 12:22). We are cautioned from lying to each other since we no longer have our old self and it’s practices (Colossians 3:9). What God promises He fulfills at His appointed time, and He calls us to wait on Him.
PRAYER
Abba Father You are our True God, our reliable Friend in whom we put our trust. You remain faithful even when we have become faithless. You are faithful to keep Your promise. You are our Ebezeber, our all in all. We rejoice in Your Holiness and love. May You remove all forms of falsehood from our hearts and nation, and transform us to be more like You. May You uproot every form of evil from us and shine Your light of truth in us. Lord You are not a man that You should lie or a son of man that You should repent, may You fulfill every promise that You have made unto us, according to Your faithfulness and love. All victory and honor belongs to You Lord now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Proverbs 12:17, Exodus 20:16
John 3:20-21 NKJV
“For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
INSIGHT
-Jesus Christ is the Light of the world and shines the light of His salvation in our hearts. He is our Good Shepherd and calls us His sheep. When we hear His voice we are called to respond. Our responses should be sincere and in compliance to His will as we practice His truth. Those who do not receive the gospel are condemned and do not know the Light. But those who hear His voice and follow Him have eternal life and no one can pluck them out of His hand (John 10:27-28).
PRAYER
Dear Heavenly Father we come before You today with thanksgiving, thanking You for Who You are and what You have done unto us. We thank You for loving us and always being with us through and through. This far we have seen Your hand of power working in us and through us, You have been our Ebenezer. May You help us to forgive all those who offend us and forgive our trespasses too. Dear Jesus our Good Shepherd we love You. We humbly ask that You help us to always walk in Your light for You are the Light of our salvation. Once we have You Jesus we shall not stumble for You are the Light in us and with us. May You reign in our lives and help us in all things. May You answer our prayers and hearts desires Lord Jesus. May You grant access to Your salvation power to all those do not know You among us. Thank you for everything that You have done and continue to do unto us. We pray this believing and trusting in Jesus name, Amen.
Further reading: 1 John 1:6–7, John 10:11-18
John 18:37-38 NIV
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.”
INSIGHT
-Jesus spoke to Pilate during His sentencing, but Pilate could not fully comprehend His message and nature of truth. Pilate was therefore unable to make a judgement as to how Jesus was the King of Jews. Although Pilate did not find any offense against Jesus and opted to substitute Him for Barabbas, he did not believe in Jesus. As we celebrate Good Friday, we acknowledge the victory that Jesus Christ won for us through His death on the cross and the benefits that we accrue as believers. Through His blood on the cross we have the forgiveness of sin, in accordance with the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7). We are then justified through faith into grace and have peace with God in Jesus Christ. Let us then believe in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, and appreciate His sacrifice on the cross leading to salvation; by the grace of God.
SUMMARY
Truth in Hebrew is written as emet and aletheia in Greek which means having the quality of loyalty, sincerity, faithfulness, fidelity, and veracity. It is vital to note that no human individually or corporately, or angelic creature have the ability of establishing the Truth. The truth entirely originates from God. Revelation 22:19 cautions us that, “if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.” We also know that, all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). The Truth is God Himself. John 14:6 reminds us that, Jesus in the way, the truth and the life, and one comes to the Father except through Him. Also that, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). The word of God which is the Truth therefore, will never pass away even as heaven and earth do so (Matthew 24:35). As we celebrate Good Friday, let us remember to witness Christ to others. Through our words and actions, let us be agents of love as we are ambassadors of Christ Jesus. Like Jesus Christ laid down His life for us, let us lay down our lives for others by loving one another truly (1 John 3:16-19). We are called to display love by sharing what we have with the less fortunate among us. Through Jesus’ death we have been set free from fear and we have been made children of God. As we know the truth and accept the Truth, we are made free (John 8:32). Further, as we learn and come to the knowledge of truth, we practice it and shun from evil. Also, as we walk in the Light of God and His word we are transformed and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. Since we are the salt and the light of the earth, we witness Christ in our walk of faith and His name is glorified. We should then hold fast the true confession of His salvation power, and repentance of our sin and draw closer to God day by day. By His grace and mercy, we obtain Christ’ promises unto us through His word that transcend into eternal life.
PRAYER
Jesus Christ You were beaten, mocked, tortured, and disgraced for the sake of our salvation. You became sin so that we may become the righteousness of God. You became the sacrificial Lamb and bore our sins on the cross, and liberated us from sin, slavery and eternal condemnation. You have shown us great love we cannot thank You enough dear Lord Jesus. May You touch our hearts and heal all our wounds, physical, mental, emotional, financial, economical and spiritual. May You annoint us afresh and do a new thing in our lives, families, society and nation. May You cause Your revival to come and touch the hardened hearts of men. May You Lord Jesus rescascitate every form of death and hopelessness in our lives and society, and strengthen us in Your presence. We thank You dear Jesus for Your salvation power upon us and the victory that we have obtained in You. We bless Your name and enthrone, now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Ephesians 1:7-10, Galatians 2:20