In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me." At times we deal with situations in our lives that aren't going the right way.

Telltale signs such as confusion, pain, or disgrace will reveal that something isn't right. Often we believe there is little we can do. Human tendency is to walk away when we see something wrong.

Many ignore what's not right. Sometimes we can't walk away because we may simply be too close to the situation. In those cases, we probably just ignore the problem and hope it will go away. But it rarely does.

Another option is that we retreat within ourselves. We hole up. We close up and distance ourselves emotionally from the problems we face. We get proactive in staying out of situations that involve pain or turmoil.

We find ourselves retreating farther and farther into our shell. These options don't solve the problems. We choose to do nothing because we actually believe we can't make a difference anyway, and we aren't responsible for the outcome.

The Way
Let's look at John 14:6 again. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes unto the Father but by me." To get the heart of God in any situation we must come according to the way that He established. The way might be a path we need to follow. Decisions, of which way to go, are often required.

Remember, as we face various options our decisions must be based on Jesus because He is "the way." If we take a wrong path, we'll not end up in the right place. But thankfully God will give us course corrections to adjust our steps along the way.

The way to go in handling situations may be a procedure that we should follow. Some actions may need to be taken to resolve a negative situation. Procedures might involve communication. Words may need to be shared and finances may need to be given. Our priority of time may need to be attuned to do what is most important.

The Truth
The next term is "truth." How do we know if the path we are traveling is the right way to go? One signpost on God's way is truth.

I live in North Dakota. When traveling from Bismarck to Fargo, Interstate 94 is "the way." Jamestown is a town on the Interstate between Bismarck and Fargo. If you go through Jamestown you know you're on the right road to Fargo. That's like John 14:6. When you are on the way, heading toward the life of God, you go straight through truth. Some people, sadly, try to have the good life of God, but don't want to go through truth.

We must address a couple of different things when dealing with truth. One of them is facts. Ignoring the facts doesn't help you obtain the truth. In most cases, especially in spiritual matters, the facts are not the truth of the situation because the facts are always subject to change.

If the doctors say that you have a terminal disease, that may be a fact, but it isn't the truth. God's Word is truth. The fact of a disease is subject to change. In John 8:31-32 Jesus said, "If you continue in my word, then you are my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free."

Sometimes we have to ask ourselves whether the facts we see are the truth, or whether we need to keep searching for the truth in the Word of God?

The other word we need to tackle is feelings. Facts and feelings need to be dealt with when we are searching for truth. Many people, when trying to find the truth, will put total trust in how they feel about their situation. Truth—not our feelings—makes us free.

The life of God is our destination. The development we want to have is where the solutions have come and the problems have been solved. In John 6:63 Jesus says, "My words, they are spirit and they are life unto you." The real guidebook for our life is the Bible, the Word of God.

The Dangers of Offense
We face a lot of things in our lifetime that are not perfect and we must deal with a word called "offense." Offense can come when other people hurt you. Where offense is most likely to occur is when someone has done a wrong and they haven't acknowledged that it was wrong for them to do it.

A second kind of offense is when people are offended at us because of what we've done. It is important we see this and be accountable for our actions. Offense is something that is laid out in front of you. You either take it or you leave it.

Another way offense comes is by secondary offenses. These occur when someone mistreats a person you care for and you take offense for them. These are deadly because of what is missing—a connection to the offender. There's no way to rectify or solve this offense other than for you to acknowledge that you stuck your nose in where it didn't belong.

How do we get offense out of our life? Humility gets it out. Repentance gets it out. Going through truth gets offense out of our life.

Here are three things we should not do with offense:
• Don't curse it
• Don't rehearse it
• Don't nurse it.

These all have to do with holding on to it. The more you rehearse your offense the harder it is to let it go. We nurse it by getting other people to agree with us.

Here are two things to do with offenses:
• Disburse it
• Reverse it

Let it go and turn it around. Scripture is clear about how to reverse offense. Bless them that curse you. Do good to them that despitefully use you.

Psalms 51:10 is a prayer that we can pray regarding finding the right way in which to go, dealing with truth, and dealing with offenses. It says, "Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew a right spirit within me."

This prayer is a humbling admission that some of the problems might be on our part. Jesus is the way, and the truth and the life. Go God's way and you'll have the Life of God in your life.

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