The Infusion We Desperately Need

In this Biblical Thinking UPGRADE, Dawn reminds us of the power of the Word of God when it is "infused" into our lives.

I'm a tea-drinker, not a coffee-drinker. I love the smell of coffee, but the taste makes me gag every time. (I don't even like coffee-flavored desserts or ice cream.)

I love hot teas—I get a strange calming satisfaction out of watching tea from a tea bag infuse into hot water. When we place a tea bag in hot water, the water has more energy. The molecules in this steeping process move around faster and this helps start the diffusion of the tea leaves in the tea bag, making a strong brew.

There's another kind of infusion that I'm grateful for, but I don't especially like it. Chemo infusions help me stay alive by killing off rogue cancer cells—cells that might destroy me.

I thought a lot about these two kinds of infusions as I went through the process of CAR T-cell therapy. There were many days of infusions before that process, and more afterward. Besides the physical side effects, the enemy tried to discourage me emotionally.

But during those infusions, I wanted to have powerful "infusions" from the Word of God to help me cope with tough days—infusions I desperately needed.

   Be Blessed by Truth Infusions

I find at least three blessings come from "truth infusions" of scriptures. These blessings are for anyone who turns to the Word of God for help.

1. The Word of God infuses our hearts with truth and gives us life.

In a world of chaos and confusion, God's Word infuses us with truth—not mere head-knowledge, but rather, life-transforming truth. The Word is "God-breathed." Although men of God wrote down the words, the Bible itself claims that the words of scripture are from God (2 Peter 1:21; 1 Corinthians 2:12-13).

The Holy Spirit teaches us the Word to help us and change us.

I've noticed that it's when I am in "hot water"—when I am facing deep trials or frustrating struggles—the infusion process is strong and deep. God knows the brewing process that will create the best infusion of truth into my life.

Isaiah 41:13 reminds us that in our struggles, God will give us chazaq—a "continual infusion of His strength and power." (The word "hold" in this verse is chazaq in Hebrew, and it means to have our strength renewed by the addition of God's strength.)

Oh, how we need God's strengthening, life-giving power!

I've always loved the story of Ezekiel and the "dry bones." Ezekiel said, "This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life" (Ezekiel 37:5). God breathed life—infused life—into God's people in the Old Testament. And He will do that for Christ-followers too.

2. The Word of God exposes our sins and the toxic things we believe.

As I read the Bible during my chemo infusions, or meditated on scriptures I'd memorized, God pointed out some areas where I still struggle trusting God consistently. The scripture confrontations were uncomfortable; but I need healing from sin, not just cancer, so I was grateful.

As we read, study, and memorize scriptures—hide it in our hearts—we learn how to resist sin. God uses the Word to reveal our hidden sins. He turns the light on in the dark corners of our hearts.

The authoritative Word is useful to teach, rebuke, and correct us, and to train us in rightousness. In doing so, the Word of God teaches people how to be rightly related to God.

In a bit of a rabbit trail . . . I read some powerful words written by Bobbie Wolgemuth to Joni Eareckson Tada. Bobbie was the first wife of Robert Wolgemuth (Robert is now married to Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth). Bobbie wrote about the infusion of God through sufferings—words that deeply resonated in my heart.

Bobbie said:

". . . just as chemo medicine is designed to kill the bad cancer cells, so God designs a toxic, painful trial to destroy and starve and kill anything in my soul that is selfish, unholy, or offensive to Him. I willingly surrender to HIS INFUSION (emphasis mine), knowing that He has chosen what will ultimately bring me more abundant life—more abundant life than I can ever imagine.

"So I choose to open my hands and my heart and offer my veins to be infused with His choice of trial so that I might receive His beauty and His perfect health." *

The Word of God exposes our sins to us, but sufferings allowed by our loving Father also can reveal how sinful we are—and both the Word and sufferings from His hand are tools in our becoming more like Christ.

3. The Word of God, used by the Spirit of God, infuses our lives with all we need to serve the Lord.

The Bible has supernatural ability to transform us and make us complete—"thoroughly equipped" to do good works and serve God.

Lord willing, I'll have more years to serve the Lord. I've been a Christian for more than 50 years, but I still need the Word of God to infuse my life and prepare me for daily service to my King.

I've noticed over the years that sometimes my spiritual life feels "dry."

It's during times of spiritual dryness that I most need an infusion of God's Word.

When I am most thirsty for living water, I find that I'm actually longing for Jesus and the empowering of the Holy Spirit in my life. My thirst is often quenched and my heart prepared to worship and serve God when I am infused by the precious truths of scripture about the Trinity and how God works in my life.

Infusions of the Word of God are the infusions we desperately need:

• when life falls apart,
• when challenges get tough,
• when our hearts hurt, and
• when we don't feel close to God.

But we shouldn't only "receive those infusions" in hard times. Daily infusions of the Bible prepare us to surrender to God's will and serve Him with all our hearts—no matter our circumstances.

Have you had an infusion today? Do you need to make an appointment with God in His Word?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is a speaker and author, and the creator the blog, Upgrade with Dawn. She is a contracted researcher/reviewer for women's teacher and revivalist, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth at Revive Our Hearts, and is a regular columnist at Crosswalk.com. She and her husband Bob live in sunny Southern California, and Dawn has traveled with Him in Pacesetter Global Outreach. They have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

Graphic 1 adapted, courtesy of Conger Design at Pixabay.

Graphic 2, courtesy of Klbz at Pixabay.

* Quote by Bobbie Wolgemuth in the interview, "How Much Pain Is Enough?"

How to Know if My Truth Is True

As I've developed a friendship with Julie Sanders, I've come to know her as a woman who handles the Word of God in beautiful, practical ways. In this Biblical Thinking UPGRADE, she reminds us of the importance of discerning truth in our culture, and then explains how Christ-followers are to express the truth.

"We purpose to say what’s true and teach it to our families," Julie says, "but this decade seems determined to disrupt confidence about truth. Instead, conversations center around 'speaking my truth.' How do you know if your truth is true?"

I (Dawn) am so glad Julie wrote this post. Whether we're considering false prophets or "fake news," it's sometimes difficult to know what is true. As Julie explains, our Father God has given us guidelines for knowing what is true in the culture today—or even if we are believing lies in our own hearts.

Julie continues . . .

As if underlining uncertainty about so much in 2020, this year has us continuing to wonder about so much. With technology sending out information faster than we can process it, there’s no time to confirm details.

It seems like we’ve entered a time when it’s impossible to know what’s true.  

Christians follow Jesus, “who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Following Him as Lord means being, “prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks … with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15).

Followers of Christ value truth and a respectful delivery of it.

Here are five questions to ask to know if what we accept and what we share is actually true.

1. What Does Man Say Is Truth?

Before the new decade arrived, Oprah Winfrey popularized the phrase “speaking my truth” in her 2018 Golden Globe Awards speech.

• It’s become a mantra to validate sharing truth and untruth.
• It’s been pointed for permission to speak opinions, judgments, and emotions under an umbrella of “truth,” accurate or not.
• It’s also liberally used as license to spew truth in whatever way speakers choose, regardless of offense.

We live in a day when people speak whatever they want in whatever way they want.

Does the popular idea of “my truth” mean I get to choose what’s true? Is it possible to know what’s true?

And does making it “my truth” lift limitations on a caustic delivery?

2. What Is God's Measure of Truth?

All of God’s word is true (Psalm 119:160; John 17:17)—a reference point for comparing what is presented to us as real.

A follower of the true God can pray, “Guide me in your truth and teach me” (Psalm 25:5a). His Word illuminates sometimes murky paths of life on earth.

If we keep God’s Word in front of us and lay it over our questions to see it clearly, God's truth will emerge.

Since garden days, when Satan spoke the first lie, untruths have needed exposure.

Now as then, ignoring God’s words opens the door to deception and the destruction that comes with it.  His holy Word provides the measure, distinguishing a truth from a lie.

The only one who can rightly claim “My truth” is the Maker of truth.

3. How Does Truth Turn into Untruth?

Truth becomes untruth when we push aside God’s truth for a twisted version of our own making.

Creating and communicating untruth is like rejecting God’s righteous truthfulness out of a preference for what better serves our agenda. By plagiarizing the righteous reality, a peddler of a self-made stories takes a path leading to a disappointing destination.

Untruth never serves God’s holy purposes. Instead, untruth serves our unholy agendas. If it’s still true, it still belongs to God, and it’s still truth.

4. How Can I Be Sure I’m Telling the Truth?

With fake stories and false accounts filling our news feeds, it’s easy to focus on dissecting the stream before us. After all, the Serpent told Eve, “You will certainly not die” (Genesis 3:4)—though he knew her acceptance of this version of “my truth” would lead to her death.

Satan never held to truth telling, “for there is no truth in him … he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

While we need to discern truth from lies, our focus is on ensuring we speak the truth. We’re warned not to “let any unwholesome talk come out of” our mouths (Ephesians 4:29), and not to “lie to each other,” because that’s a practice of our old self (Colossians 3:9).

Since God sees everything (Proverbs 15:3)—none of our actions or words are hidden from Him (Jeremiah 16:17).

To be sure you’re telling the truth, ask yourself two questions.

• Did God see what I say I saw?
• Did God hear what I say I heard?

5. What Does God Want Me to Do with My Truth?

If our message aligns with God’s Word, it needs to be communicated God’s way.

Ephesians 4:15 directs us to speak “the truth in love.”

Delivering a wholly truthful message in a wholly loving way means we need to be empowered by a wholly loving Savior.

His forgiveness cleanses us and His Spirit grows us, so loving delivery reflects maturity as we become more like Jesus. Loving Him and His truth means, “we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:10-12), because “God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

Once MY truth transforms into HIS truth, God wants me to speak it in HIS loving way.

The world loves to stamp “legit” on a version of truth. That way, every man can do what’s right in his own eyes, spinning it into tales of triumph (Proverbs 12:15; Judges 17:6). Changing the narrative avoids changing hearts.

When we embrace God’s truth as the only truth, it will set us free (John 8:32).

How am I letting God’s word shed light on messages I receive and shape messages I create? What am I accepting as truth that may not align with God’s truth?

Julie Sanders loves lifting women who lead globally. She’s the author of The ABCs of Praying for Students and Expectant, a devotional for new moms. Julie finds joy in helping women discover and develop their gifts to influence others. She writes from her online home at juliesanders.org.

Graphic adapted, vector courtesy of Pixabay.

Memos from Mama

Deb DeArmond writes about relationships and her relationship with her mama has some great lessons for all of us. In this Mother's Day UPLIFT, she writes about communicating truth with "mama-inspired" confidence.

"Laughter," Deb says, "is the shock absorber that softens the blows of life."

I (Dawn) am sure we all have fun sayings and words of advice from parents and grandparents. My grandpa's favorite to me was, "Don't just sit there like a lump on a pickle." But Deb's mama was  especially wise.

Deb continues . . .

My head is filled with memos from mama.

• "The only person who really likes change is a wet baby."
• "Don't make me take you to the north forty"—the last warning before a spanking.
• "If you had everything, where would you put it?"

My mother had an interesting and pragmatic outlook on life. And enough unusual expressions to create her own dictionary.

She’s been gone nearly 20 years, and still, I’m stunned at how often in the midst of a challenge, heartbreak or opportunity, I hear her voice.

• Usually a soft supportive tone, meant to encourage.
• Occasionally, a bit sharper, to help redirect my thinking when I might not get it quickly enough to make the best choice.

I can’t count the times her words have echoed in my heart and set me on the right path.

Down-to-earth, practical, and no-nonsense advice is tough to come by these days. Sometimes the facts are inconvenient or uncomfortable to address.

And it seems the older I get, the more political correctness and sensitivity training I’m exposed to. I believe it’s caused us to move further from telling it like it is—with love—and the more watered down our message becomes.

Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not an advocate for using the truth as a battering ram.

• I support speaking up when it can advance the cause of Christ.
• The truth is also essential when we have the opportunity to build up, encourage, or exhort others to live more like Jesus. That is what the word of God asks us to do: “Speak the truth in love...” (Ephesians 4:15a).

Truth is compelling. It has the power to touch the heart and bring our thoughts and actions into alignment with the life Jesus died to redeem.

Facts persuade. Truth transforms.

Here are three practical ways to express truth with mama-inspired confidence.

1. Pray before you speak.

Be certain it’s the truth you’re sharing and not your opinion. It’s a short hop and a skip from expressing our opinion to judgment.

Asking God’s Spirit to help us distinguish between the truth and our opinion fulfills the remainder of the verse in Ephesians 4:15—"let’s grow in every way into Christ.”

The truth is found in Christ, not our version of life as it should be.

2. Truth will set you free, too.

The truth receiver and the truth teller are blessed in the process.

When we walk fully in the truth, we are free—released and confident to share it with others, assured it will convey the message of our heart.

The ability to express our concern comes easily and communicates love, not criticism.

We can’t shame people onto the right path; encouragement and exhortation of God’s word must be the foundation.

3. Don’t over-communicate your message.

Mama’s messages spoke to my heart because they made me think.

Her truth, God’s truth, could become my truth only when communicated with love not lecture.

The battering ram rarely finds an open heart.

Jude 1:20 reminds us to build one another in the faith.

What message is God waiting for you to deliver? What’s holding you back? Fight truth decay and share it—in love—today!

Deb DeArmond is an expert in the fields of communication, relationship, and conflict resolution. Deb’s books help readers create the life God meant marriage and family to be. Read her at: Family Matters/Deb DeArmond.

Graphic adapted, courtesy of Bru-nO at Pixabay.

Counsel Your Heart—with Truth Talk

In this Biblical Thinking UPGRADE, Dawn says we need to be careful what we say to our hearts. While we're surrounded by discouraging worldviews and perspectives, the right kind of counsel can be life-giving.

I appreciate these words by Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: "We should not be controlled by our circumstances or by our emotions. We need to counsel our hearts according to truth."

Nancy said those words in 2016 in the midst of a divisive, confusing and polarizing election in America. But she has said the same words many times over in various women's conferences and on the radio; and I've found the concept of "counseling our hearts" powerful and helpful in making wise choices.

"We need to go back to God's Word and remind ourselves of bedrock, solid foundational truth," Nancy says.

With a recent cancer diagnosis, I've found the need to counsel my own heart especially urgent, because I have an enemy who is doing his best to sow lies in my frightened heart.

• Lies about the goodness of God.
• Lies about my worth.
• Lies about the future.

Oh, how I need the truth of God's Word to permeate my mind and soul every day.

In an effort to counter Satan's lies, I began collecting scriptures and faithful Christians' comments about helpful Bible verses. I call my collection "Truth Talk for Hurting Hearts"—but truth talk is important to face every human need and frailty, not just when we're hurting.

The world tries to help.

Some people turn to religion, but religion without the Power Source in our lives—a living relationship with Jesus Christ—doesn't bring lasting change.

Many others turn to psychology for answers, but they may get only half-truths. For example, the sciences of the mind and good mental health promote proper "self-esteem" and "self-worth," and certainly this sounds positive. Who wouldn't want a good sense of personal worth.

But the whole truth is, without God, we are and can do nothing (John 15:4-5; Jeremiah 10:23; Galatians 6:3). Our worth is tied up in who He is, who we are in Him and what He says about us.

I am struck by Peter's words in John 6:68:  

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

Peter understood the life-giving words of the Lord regarding his eternal soul. But the Word of God is powerful to speak to us in many other ways—not only about our salvation. We see this throughout Psalm 119.

When I was a younger Christian, I came to believe in the power of self-talk for overcoming bad attitudes, behaviors, habits and addictions.

But with maturity, I realized self-talk per se is not as important as telling ourselves the truth.

We can use self-talk to bolster our own agenda and get our own way. We may even lie to ourselves to accomplish our purposes. Instead—

God wants us to use "truth talk" to remind ourselves what He has said.

Here's how I've been counseling my own heart. Perhaps it will help others navigate the tough, confusing circumstances of life.

1. Discover the truth.

You can't discover—and apply—the truth of God's Word if you aren't reading it. Studying it. Meditating on and memorizing it.

We are to search the scriptures, looking for treasured truth about the Lord. If we seek Him, we will find Him (1 Chronicles 28:9; Matthew 6:33). We will come to know Him as He truly is, not as the culture misquotes and misrepresents Him.

2. Proclaim the truth.

To proclaim something is to announce it officially or publicly, to declare something is important and emphasize it.

Essentially, we act on the truth of God's Word when we respond to it, first by making it known.

We might speak it, write it, or share it in a post or meme. We testify to its power.  We leave a legacy of truth-telling.

3. Counsel with the truth.

To counsel is to share wise advice. But for the Christian it is so much more, because we are handling the Word of God. It is treasured counsel, life-giving truth and hope-filled practical principles.

We're meant to counsel not only our own hearts, but to encourage others' hearts in their times of need as well (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

The scriptures are powerful (Hebrews 4:12) and must dwell in us "richly" (Colossians 3:16). We can trust what God has told us.

Counseling our hearts is one way to LIVE OUT the truth of scripture—to rely on and practice it in our daily lives.

I recently fought a hard battle with Satan about God's goodness. 

"Why would a good God give you cancer?" my enemy said.

My recourse was to study the goodness of the Lord—my Father God's sovereign and awesome providence. I discovered deep truths about God's character, began to speak and write about those truths, and intentionally counseled my heart.

Before long, the ugly accusations ceased. Satan's attempts to make me bitter only turned into praise for God! (In other words, the devil wasn't happy.)

I know the enemy has more strategies to bring me down, but I also know the greatest resource to do battle with Satan's lies is the wonderful Word of God.

I intend to keep on counseling my heart with biblical "truth talk."

How about you? Are you struggling with a tough diagnosis? A frustrating circumstance? A disheartening relationship? An inner war that you feel you're losing? What truth from scripture can you use today to counsel your heart?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Today, is a speaker and author, and the creator the blog, Upgrade with Dawn. She is a contracted researcher/reviewer for Revive Our Hearts  and a writer at Crosswalk.com. She and her husband Bob live in Southern California and have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

To Tell the Truth

Deb DeArmond loves to build strong relationships, especially marriage relationshps. In this Relationship UPGRADE, she reminds us how "truth" can strengthen and empower any relationship.

“It’s not always easy to tell the truth," Deb says. "The truth can sting, bruise or even break a heart. And we may worry about the impact it will have on someone we deeply love ... like our spouse.”

This is something I (Dawn) have debated with many people. Truth must always win out, but there's a way to be honest that will honor God.

Deb continues . . .

July 7 is National Tell the Truth Day. I’m sure God expects it to happen more often than just one day each year. And He has a lot to say on the matter of truthfulness—how to do it, why to do it, and the price of failing to do it. 

Telling the truth is a lesson we learned early in life. Mama and Daddy, the Sunday school teacher and every adult we knew reminded us of the importance of truth-telling.

And children are often known for telling the whole truth—sometimes to the chagrin of their parents, who hadn’t counted on a personal family moment being shared with the pastor or the next-door neighbor!

As adults, however, the truth can feel more complicated.

• “Oh, it’s okay. It’s no big deal.” (He has no idea how it hurt me. Again.)
• “What she doesn’t know can’t hurt her.” (Maybe someone else will tell her.)
• “I’ll just let it go.” (It’s not worth the effort or thought required.)
• “Sure. That’s fine with me.” (Forget it. She won’t listen anyway.)

It’s easy to convince ourselves that it would be too uncomfortable for the other person to hear the truth.

More likely, we’re the ones who aren’t comfortable. We may be unsure the relationship is strong enough to withstand honesty. Experience might suggest the truth is not welcome or perhaps it’s has been used as a battering ram in the past.

No wonder we simply let ourselves off the hook—even with our husband or wife. It’s easier.

The Word is clear about the truth:

“But speaking the truth in love, you may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ” (Eph. 4:15 NKJV).

And there’s the rub. The truth is to be spoken, no question about that. But it’s always to be done in love.

Without love, it’s just a set of facts, information, data. And data often fails to inspire, encourage, motivate, or move the heart to understanding. And what’s a marriage with out understanding?

In the research for our book on marital conflict, we discovered that many couples have surrendered—no longer telling one another the truth. They’d rather live what was described as “living compatibly” than to trouble the waters in what they feared would be conflict they couldn’t contain.

Conflict isn’t the problem. It’s how we handle conflict that determines whether the end result is discovery or damage.

We often regard confrontation as aggressive. It doesn’t have to be.

Confronting one another in love restores connection. It says, “I love you enough to fight along side you for our marriage.” Your marriage has an enemy, but it’s not your spouse.

Just because there’s quiet in the house doesn’t mean there’s peace. God wants so much more for our marriages and our lives.

So why not make a fresh commitment to the truth today—with yourself and your spouse. No fudging on facts. No little white lies.

Love will make the way.

What truth is overdue today? How can you wrap it in love?

Deb DeArmond’s passion is family—not just her own, but the relationships within families in general. Her books provide tools, tips and biblical perspective to build sound relationships within marriage, as parents, and extended family-including mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. Deb and her husband of 41 years, Ron, live in the Fort Worth area. For more about Deb and her books visit her "Family Matters" site.