The Truth is not what you think it is.

Don't believe everything you think! It seems that people naturally assume that their own thoughts are true. There is a strong tendency to measure every new idea by our own yardstick. We experience reality through our five senses, so our perception of reality is the only reality we know. Everything we see or hear is filtered through our mental filters, and information is often modified before being stored. Our past experiences, our past decisions, our accumulated knowledge, our emotions and our world view, all contribute to how we perceive reality, and what we do with new ideas.

It makes no difference what you think

Needless to say, truth does not originate in the human heart. Our thoughts are not the source of truth, nor the standard by which truth is measured. Naturally, we tend to assume that what we think is true, and what we feel is true. This is not safe. “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” - Prov. 16:25. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” - Jeremiah 17:9. Just think of the people who disagree with you on some point. This should be evidence enough that truth is not established by what people think. You wouldn't believe everything someone else told you, so don't just accept everything that you tell yourself either.

Truth comes from somewhere outside ourselves. It is quite separate from us, and we can't change it by thinking, hoping, or believing. Like the fabled alchemists who tried to convert lead into gold, for thousands of years people have been trying to make truth out of error. There are many theories that people subconsciously hold about how to make something true. Here are a few examples:

If I believe ________ enough, it will be true.

If I can convince enough people, then ________ will be the truth.

If the majority believes ________ (if it's “mainstream”), it's true.

If the eminent scholars see ________ the way I do...

I'm sure you could think of some others. However, there is no mental exercise that can turn error into truth. The bottom line is that, even if no one in the world believes it, the truth is still true. If everyone in the world believed a lie, it would not make that lie true.

In this “postmodern” age, it is popular to think that truth is a personal thing. “What is true for you may not be true for me”. This idea is mainly concerned with moral truth, as it would be absurd to try to apply it to math, science, or things like that. Actually, this relativism is absurd when applied to morality too. In the final analysis, what really matters is “what does God think is true?”. God is the judge - He alone sets the conditions on which He will give us eternal life. We will not be judged by our own personal “truth”, but by the law of God. So our own personal version of truth is useless, unless it squares with what God thinks. You may not like this at first thought, but nevertheless, it is a fact. Those who surrender their own “truth”, and accept God's Truth, discover that He really does know best.

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” - Isaiah 55:7-9.

It makes all the difference what you think

It is imperative that we find the truth and believe it. It is not safe to assume that what we think is true. The heart is deceitful above all things. When a person believes something to be true that is not true, we say that person is deceived. The thing with deception is that those who are deceived don't know that they are deceived! And how would they, if all they have to go by are their own thoughts and feelings? What if almost the whole world was deceived? Could someone safely assume that they were correct because “everybody” else agreed with them?

When it comes to our salvation, it makes all the difference what we think. The Bible indicates that in the time of the end, essentially the entire world will be deceived, and will follow the Beast.

“And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.” - Revelation 13:13,14.

That means that intelligent people - the scientists, the theologians, the political leaders - along with the “nit-wits”, will alike be deceived! The average person regards him or herself as having above average intelligence. If you think that you are too smart to be deceived, you are a prime candidate for deception!

“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” - 2 Thess. 2:8-12.

What I want to make clear is that those who do not have “the love of the truth” will ultimately be lost. If we don't love truth enough to search for it, believe it, and obey it, we will come under a “strong delusion” - and believe a lie. Jesus has warned us of the deceptions that are coming. Will we study His words carefully, and take them seriously?

Our only safety is in finding the truth, and conforming our thoughts to it. That's right, we sometimes have to actually change our minds – to discard an old belief, and adopt a new one. The word of God is the truth. “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” - John 17:17. “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” - Ps. 119:160. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us...” - John 1:14. Jesus Himself is the Truth: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” - John 14:6.

Our job is to find out what God thinks is true, and believe that. No matter how good a false teaching makes us feel - no matter how much comfort we think we receive from it – we need to reject it because it is contrary to God's word. This will insure that we are not taken in the traps that Satan will use to deceive the rest of the world. We will have to ignore our feelings and deny our senses when those demonic miracles and “great wonders” are being performed around us. But this will be possible if, and only if, we have made a habit of choosing to believe God's word instead of our own hearts. Now is the time to receive the love of the truth.