NEW TESTAMENT READING PLAN: Matthew 10-12
SCRIPTURE READING
John 17:17 (NIV); Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
John 14:6 (NIV); “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me.”
Jesus said that sanctification comes by way of the truth. As believers in a world of
uncertainty, we can know what is true, and this is a huge blessing. Those around us are in
desperate need of truth – the certainty that there is right and wrong, that there is purpose in
life, that there is an afterlife. We have the truth, which is found in a Person, who is the very
Word of God.
Jesus prayed the words of John 17 over His disciples, and we can take His words for us as
well. “Father, make them holy by your truth,” He prayed. If the knowledge of the truth is not
continually encouraging us to evaluate our lives, if the knowledge of the truth is not bringing
about conviction, then there is a problem. The truth, when humbly accepted, can sanctify us
– it can lead us in our process of transformation to being a holy people. However, when the
truth is ignored, rebellion grows in our hearts, and we harden ourselves to future conviction
and transformation.
PRAYER and MEDITATION
1) How have you been responding to God’s truth? Spend some time listening about this
question.
a. How do you respond when others confront you? Do you get angry, or do you take
the confrontation to prayer and ask if there is any truth to it? Spend some time
praying about any recent confrontations you’ve had.
b. How do you respond to God in your Bible reading? Do you look for His truths in the
passages, or do you just read and close the book?
2) Ask God if there is anything He has been trying to reveal to you that you have missed.
Confess as necessary, and ask God to open your eyes and ears to the truth.
3) How can you lovingly take God’s truth to others today? Who needs to hear the truth of
God, and what is it that they specifically need to hear?
