The apostle Paul admonishes us in 1 Timothy chapter 2 to pray and give thanks to God on behalf of
all men because it is good and acceptable in the sight of God who desires all  men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2: 1-4). 
 
Why does the Lord  desire for us to come to the knowledge of the truth? The bible makes it clear in  John 8:32 that the truth we know will determine our experience of the freedom  that Christ has already obtained for us on the cross of Calvary. 

    “And you  shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”  

The bible makes it  clear that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (John 14:16). Jesus is also
the Word according to John 1:1.  We can therefore  re-phrase John 8:32 as, “And you shall know the Word (Jesus) and the Word shall  make you free’’. 

Is it therefore  possible that the lack of freedom in an area could be due to the lack of knowledge of the truth/word? Rather than spending time in the Word and with the  Word, many of us are crying, begging God For the things that He has already  given to us and many even run from one church to another seeking help from  different pastors. I want to encourage us to shift our attention/focus on the  Word; a great revelation awaits us that will cause us to reign over every  situation and circumstance of life. There are many promises in the bible that  are waiting for our discovery. 

What does it mean to  know the truth, i.e. the Word (Jesus)?  

The Oxford dictionary defines,  ‘know’ as follows; 
      To understand something, 

      To have something in your mind that you have  learnt or discover, ‘what have you discovered about the Lord recently? He yearns  to reveal Himself to us, 1Samuel 3:7 

        To recognize or to be familiar  with a person, that is to have an intimate relationship with someone. 
 
Jesus gave an example  of such relationship between Him and the Father in John 10:15  “As the  Father knows Me, even so I know the Father” 

How to establish close  relationship with Him 

Delight yourself in Him  (Psalm 37:4). The word delight means to take great pleasure in something or
someone, to feast on or to love. He becomes the number one in our life. The Word  is our priority, which is our number one. 

Dwell in Him (John 15:4  -7). The word dwell means to abide or reside in Him. 

Colossians 3:16 “ Let  the Word of Christ dwell in you richly”. This means the responsibility is mine
not my pastor or my spouse. 

Desire Him (Psalm  27:4). Desire means a feeling of wanting something very much, a craving or  longing for something or someone. This connotes that my very existence depends  on Him. The bible says in John 15:5 “for without Me you can do nothing”. 
 
Spend time with Him in  prayer; He desires to reveal Himself to you and to show you the way out. 
 
The last part of John  8:32 says that the truth (the Word) shall make you free. This means that once
you discover the truth in that area, your freedom is guaranteed. 
 
The word, “make” means  to create which also means to manufacture. This means that the word of God will
“manufacture” or engineer your freedom in that area. The word “make” also means  to produce (accomplish or bring about).  

Again this is very  clear the truth you discover will bring about a turn around in you life. Finally
it means to force, i.e. to compel something to happen, this denotes a degree of
force, and the truth or the Word will forcefully produce the freedom required. 

Most of the time, when we hear the word ‘counsellor’ our minds race to human beings. And yes, man can counsel us, however the word ‘counsellor’ is not limited to man.

 Lets have a look at this scripture:
Psalms 119: 24 
Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors.


Are you going through a difficult time? Are you saying to yourself, where is  my way of escape? Perhaps its time to look at what the Lord has done for you in  the past. Consider the various testimonies in your life, and let them be your  counsellors. Ponder on what the Lord did for you before, how He brought you out,  how He delivered you, for He has not changed. Let what the Lord did in the past,  be your present counsellors in that situation.

 Encourage yourself in the Lord. Say to yourself, what the Lord did then, He   will do now. Remember David, 1 Samuel 17: 37  David said moreover, The Lord  that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he  will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David,  Go, and the Lord be with thee. Did the Lord not deliver   Him?

 Begin to remember all of your testimonies and ponder on them. Let them  encourage you and be your counsellors. Say to yourself as the psalmist said  ‘Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors’.

B.O