Skip to main content

Create Your Own Reality


A while back, I read about a journalist who, after having grappled with pressures to report the “truth”, left her position with a prominent newspaper.  While I’m not quoting her word for word, she essentially said that her editors had been asking the journalists to report the “truth” by creating a reality that fit their image of what they believed.

Reality, by definition, is the true situation that exists or something that actually happens.  By that definition, reality cannot be something we create.

In the media today, what is true or real is often hidden or distorted or thrown out if it doesn’t fit the image of how they think life should work or how they want it to work.  As a result, the media goes to great lengths to create a reality that fits what it wants and values. 

But the word of God is reality.  It records something that actually happened.  In addition, it is the only narrative that consistently points to what truth really is.

“Sanctify them by the truth, your word is truth”, Jesus said.  (John 17:17)

“I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me”.  (John 14:6)

Truth that is really truth is the Word of God.  Reality that is really reality is rooted in that truth.  And we didn’t create either; both have eternally existed in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Can't Get No Satisfaction

One of the songs that were popular in my youth was not particularly upbeat or helpful but it probably did express some of the angst of my generation.  It was not one that particularly resonated with me but as I recently read the book of Haggai, it did come to mind, well, at least some of the lyrics did.  It was the Rolling Stones song with the lyrics “I can’t get no satisfaction”.  Take a look at the chorus of that bleak song:   I can't get no satisfaction; I can't get no satisfaction; Gonna try and I try and I try and I try; I can't get no - I can't get no –   Now take a look at Haggai 1:6 – “ You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” It sure sounds like the people of Judah couldn’t get any satisfaction with the things of life that normally should have brought some type of s...

Hide Not...

Over the centuries, the words have brought great comfort and encouragement.   The words are often used as a benediction or a blessing:   The Lord bless you and keep you: The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you: The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.   (Num 6:24-26)   What in the world is a countenance?  By definition, it is a person's face or facial expression. So if the Lord’s face shines upon us and if He lifts up His countenance upon us, what does all that mean? It means that He is giving us His attention.  But even more so, His face shining upon us gives us t he picture of a beaming face like that of a parent for their beloved child.  And the reference to Him lifting up His countenance points to God extending divine favor and peace to us. Sometimes we can appreciate things more by seeing opposites.  The opposite of a lifted face is a face that has fallen, perhaps because of sham...

The Fewer, the Better and the Simpler, the Better!

Sometimes, the fewer the words, the better…  Many would probably argue that the most important words in the English language, when strung altogether in the right order, are just three simple words.  And each of those three words is just a one syllable word.  So, not only the fewer the better but also, as a bonus, the simpler, the better! Oh, the three words…they are “I love you” – few, simple and altogether meaningful!      God used them to encourage His people, the people of Israel :  “You are priceless to me. I love you and honor you. So I will trade other people for you. I will give up other nations to save your lives.” (Isa 43:4) The significance of the words “I love you” is inestimable, especially when used in a way that communicates value and commitment And when you look at Jeremiah 31:3, you see a past tense of those words so that “I love you” is “I have loved you”.  But that’s not all that the verse says, the “I have loved y...