Recorded in the Gospel of John, our Lord made seven statements referring to Himself as I AM…

I AM The Light of the World
I AM The Bread of Life
I AM The Door
I AM The Good Shepherd
I AM The True Vine
I AM The Way, The Truth, and The Life
I AM The Resurrection and The Life

Each week during this season of Lent, here on the Seeking Him blog, we will be focusing our devotionals on a different aspect of Jesus’ revelation of Himself as I AM.  The aim of Lent should be to prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice—His trial and torture, the Crucifixion and His death…and above all, the celebration of His Resurrection from the dead.  We pray that this will be a great encouragement to each of you who read them.  And that all of us will consider the significance of Jesus’ words and, through them, be helped as we remember and are thankful for all Jesus went through during the last few weeks of His life on this earth.

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 Jesus said to him,
I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life;
no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me.
John 14:6

What’s true…or not…is not for us to decide.  Truth is truth.  The Lord helps make this simple by being that Truth.  If ever we wonder what we should do, we have a Compass to point us in the right direction.  Jesus said that He is “…The Way, The Truth, and The Life.”  So, when we come across new teachings we need to be diligent in comparing this teaching to the Word of God that we know.

Anyone can look at the Bible and interpret it the way they want; but that doesn’t mean that you should blindly follow every interpretation of the Bible.  Go to it and read for yourself.  What does God say to you about what you are reading, and what does He say to you about the teaching you just heard?

There are concepts and things in the Bible that we KNOW for a fact.  We would know it immediately if we were to hear a teaching that contradicted what we KNOW to be true from our time spent in the Word.  I myself have encountered instances where someone was preaching and what they said directly went against what I KNOW to be true from the Bible.  I have also heard teaching that I was uncertain about. But everything in my spirit screamed, “This is not correct…run! Run quickly!”

Pastors are awesome.  They help teach us and guide us and share knowledge about the Word of God.  However, your Pastor cannot KNOW the Word of God for you.  You must KNOW it for yourself, so that you can live it and apply it and discern what you are being taught.

The Bible says that we should, “…not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world” (1 John 4:1).

There is only one Truth and one Way—the Way of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Lord, help us to have discerning minds.  Let us not be critical or cynical, but discerning.  We desire to be good stewards of Your Word and teaching.  We do not desire to lead anyone astray.  Help us to clearly interpret Your Word and spread nothing but Your Truth to one another that we may grow to be a truth-loving and -following people of God.  Amen.