{"id":1362,"date":"2025-07-01T18:18:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T18:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deborahjeankelly.com\/?p=1362"},"modified":"2025-07-07T21:34:33","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T21:34:33","slug":"truth-and-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deborahjeankelly.com\/?p=1362","title":{"rendered":"Truth and Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”1px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][et_pb_text quote_border_weight=”2px” quote_border_color=”#F7BAAF” admin_label=”Text” module_id=”quote” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ quote_line_height=”1.3em” header_font=”Vidaloka|||on|||||” header_text_align=”center” header_4_font=”Vidaloka||||||||” header_4_text_color=”#161616″ header_4_font_size=”24px” header_4_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font=”Vidaloka||||||||” header_5_text_align=”center” header_5_text_color=”#161616″ header_5_font_size=”50px” header_5_line_height=”1.2em” custom_padding=”11px||||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ header_4_font_size_tablet=”20px” header_4_font_size_phone=”18px” header_4_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_5_font_size_tablet=”35px” header_5_font_size_phone=”22px” header_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” border_color_all=”rgba(22,22,22,0.11)” border_width_top=”1px” border_width_bottom=”1px” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]

\u201cYou will know the truth and the truth will set you free.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

John 8:32<\/b><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ locked=”off” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]

The Pharisees searched the Scriptures, which testify of Jesus, and still failed to receive the truth regarding His identity. Their failure to see the truth caused them to vilify the Son of God and call for His crucifixion. In doing so, they partook of Satan\u2019s nature: the one whom Jesus called a murderer and the author of lies. This spirit is alive and well today in those who can look at another human being and see them as fodder for ethnic slander and persecution. All bigotry is rooted in the rejection of God\u2019s truth, and the acceptance of Satan\u2019s lies. It manifests in hate crimes, lynch mobs, and systemic racism. It drove Dylann Roof to sit through a Bible Study at a Black Church– and then murder everyone there. His justification was that Black people are evil, even though he acknowledged that the people he killed did not fit his stereotype! I saw a social media post asking why ICE would never go after the 660,000 undocumented Europeans in the U.S. One response was that Europeans are not lazy and do not sit around sponging off society. The fact that ICE is arresting non-White people at their places of employment is a truth that simply did not fit in with the narrative of prejudice embraced by the person who left the comment. When the truth is rejected, freedom is denied not only for the recipients of discrimination, but for the privileged who revel in the lies. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Dear Father,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Jesus made the connection between knowing the truth and walking in freedom. Because He is the way, the truth, and the life, we cannot truly walk with Him, unless we acknowledge and embrace the Biblical truth regarding our fellow human beings. Help us to acknowledge one another as your beloved creation, called to bear your image. In Jesus\u2019 name. Amen.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For Further Study:\u00a0
<\/span><\/span>John 5:39-40
<\/span>John 8:44-45 \/ Luke 19:41-44
<\/span>John 14:6
<\/span>Matthew 22:36-39 \/ 1 Timothy 3:15
<\/span>Matthew 7:12
<\/span>1 John 4:20-21
<\/span>Genesis 1:27<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou will know the truth and the truth will set you free.\u201d John 8:32The Pharisees searched the Scriptures, which testify of Jesus, and still failed to receive the truth regarding His identity. Their failure to see the truth caused them to vilify the Son of God and call for His crucifixion. In doing so, they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"blog","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"\"\"\n\n\u201cI am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel\u2014 <\/b> <\/b>which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God\u2019s curse!\u201d Galatians 1:6-7<\/b>\n\nThe Good News is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It\u2019s the truth that sets us free, from both the power and the wages of sin. Because the enemy is the author of lies, he distorts and perverts what God has said and done. False Gospels serve those who\u2019d rather embrace their sin, than repent of it. The theologies behind these fake gospels may use harmless sounding labels like inclusive <\/i>or progressive. <\/i>But anything that leads us to celebrate what God forbids, is not of God, and therefore has no power to redeem. So, we can choose to walk in truth by the Word\u2014or embrace our old nature by the counterfeit. One offers life\u2014the other offers death. But there is no middle ground.\n\nDear Lord, \n<\/i>Please keep us from deception. For in your perfect love, you are neither double-minded, nor swayed by popular opinion: You change not. No one can improve your word or your finished work. By your grace, we can take the narrow path, where our hunger for truth overrides the flesh. In Jesus\u2019 Name. Amen.<\/i>\n\nFor further study:\nMatthew 24:24 \/ 2 Corinthians 11:4\nLuke 17:22-23\n2 Timothy 4:3-4 \/ James 3:1\nMatthew 18:6-7\nGalatians 5:17 \/ Romans 7:18\nJohn 10:27 \/ John 10:4-5\nMatthew 7:13-14","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afterbirth","category-blogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deborahjeankelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1362"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deborahjeankelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deborahjeankelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deborahjeankelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deborahjeankelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1362"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/deborahjeankelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1368,"href":"https:\/\/deborahjeankelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1362\/revisions\/1368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deborahjeankelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deborahjeankelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deborahjeankelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deborahjeankelly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}