Dedicated to Charlie Kirk, his family and friends, and all who loved him
Truth and peace
Last time on Choosing Peace, we explored God’s faithfulness in the midst of dark realities—COVID-19 vaccines, a pastor who murdered his wife, a police officer killed by a sniper, and more. Part 4 was heavy. Today’s mirror verses are about truth—the essential building block of healthy lives, and peace—something we can all use more of. What are mirror verses? Important truths featured in both the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Bible.
Get ready to read about Charlie Kirk, a bird, and Truth Rising.
Review
But first, let’s review the eight mirror verses or passages we’ve covered so far:
PART 1 mirror verses
1. Working for our good
2. God is for me
3. My shepherd
4. Finding rest
PART 2 mirror verses
5. Kind words and health
PART 3 mirror verses
6. God’s purposes
7. The word and light
PART 4 mirror verses
8. God’s faithfulness
9. Truth
From part 3: “The Bible—God’s holy word—shows us the truth about God, life, salvation and everything that matters. The truth. There’s no such thing as “my truth” or “your truth.” What a joke; I mean the devil’s mischief. God’s word shows us the truth.”
Old Testament truth
All nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord. They shall glorify your name. For you are great, and do wondrous things. You are God alone. Teach me your way, LORD. I will walk in your truth.
Psalm 86:9-11b, New Heart English Bible
New Testament mirror
“You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
John 8:32, New Heart English Bible
Without delay, let’s dive into this week’s horrific tragedy.
Remembering Charlie Kirk
Truth-speaker Charlie Kirk was assassinated on Wednesday, September 10. And we are shaken. He impacted the world in a remarkable way in his 31 years. Charlie pointed people to Jesus Christ, his Savior and Lord. He started the Turning Point USA movement. He spoke courageously, respectfully, and with clarity. Charlie boldly spoke the truth—reaching younger generations in a powerful way through his debates on college campuses, his presence on social media like TikTok, his podcast, conferences and more.
From part 11 of The Gift of the Bible:
Be blessed by this 6-minute Charlie Kirk podcast, which ends with Charlie’s wise advice: “Start all important things in prayer.” Amen, amen and amen. (Pssst. Here’s a tip from Yours Truly: Every day is important.) Thank you, Charlie Kirk, for your amazing work for God and We The People.
Charlie Kirk loved his Lord, his family and his country.
I honor him.
A beautiful tribute
Watch this beautiful tribute to Charlie Kirk by Candace Owens, filled with funny stories, videos, photos, texts and wonderful memories. You’ll learn a lot about them both. I loved it.
The assassin
For more about the apparent assassin, Tyler Robinson, see this 15-minute Brylan Riggs video.
Responses to a tragedy
Worst
People who went online and celebrated or mocked the assassination of Charlie Kirk are being fired, including a marine, an MSNBC analyst, and many more. A FEMA section chief was caught on an undercover camera laughing and saying Charlie Kirk “kind of deserved it.” Also fired.
Needless to say, this kind of behavior is atrocious and highly disturbing.
Best
Be encouraged by this article about the wave of tribute marches taking place in South Korea honoring Charlie Kirk, who visited South Korea a week before he was assassinated. Worldwide tributes are featured here—England, Germany, Spain, Italy, South Africa, plus a prayer in the Polish parliament.
“Scales FALL, Eyes OPEN: Liberals LOSING Millions After Kirk’s Death” is one of my favorites. This 25-minute podcast by A Righteous Perspective includes excellent videos and commentary. The boy’s remarks at the beginning will blow your mind and give you great hope for the future. One of my favorite video clips toward the end features a lifelong democrat acknowledging the violence of the democratic party, describing them as a cult, and recounting how a group on the right answered her questions and treated her graciously. They told her: “Watch Charlie.” “Watch Charlie.” “Watch Charlie.” She started watching him every day and her eyes were opened. Watch this podcast to the end. Highly recommended.
The respectful, prayerful reactions to Charlie’s assassination described above demonstrate our Old Testament truth:
All nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord. They shall glorify your name. For you are great, and do wondrous things. You are God alone. Teach me your way, LORD. I will walk in your truth.
Psalm 86:9-11b, New Heart English Bible
Charlie Kirk’s remarkable life gave us an example of God doing “wondrous things,” and Charlie walked in the Lord’s truth.
Awake and activated
Has the sleeping giant been awakened? I hear people talking about momentum. I feel it. Do you? The Turning Point USA movement is alive and well—with resolve.
Be inspired by the life of Charlie Kirk, an American hero.
What has God called us to do in this difficult hour? Boldly speak the truth. How can Christians be bold in this volatile political climate? Jesus tells us the answer in our New Testament mirror verse:
“You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
John 8:32, New Heart English Bible
We can be bold because we belong to Jesus Christ. Our eternity in heaven is assured and we have the guidance of the Holy Spirit. With the Lord’s help, we can be obedient, courageous and faithful.
Truth Rising
New documentary
A wonderful documentary, Truth Rising, was released by Focus on the Family less than a week before Charlie Kirk’s assassination. The makers had no idea what was right around the corner.
Two of the issues covered in Truth Rising are: (1) Societal renewal instead of decline, and (2) discovering and bravely walking out our individual purpose or calling. The key to both issues is truth—the truth of our nation’s founding/history and the truth of Jesus Christ. This documentary emphasizes the importance of choosing, loving and embracing the truth—and having the courage to act on the truth. The personal stories are amazing and give personal faces to these issues—freedom of speech and religion, the deceptive gender ideology movement, standing up to threats and the cancel culture, the danger of radical Islam, and more.
I’ve watched Truth Rising twice so far and can’t recommend it highly enough.
The essential message of truth speaks loudly into these times.
Available for free on YouTube.
The power of the truth
What have I written about truth in the past? Here are a couple examples.
God = truth
This post from the Grieving series focused on God being the truth.
The real you
We must seek truth from The One who is truth—God Almighty: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6, New Heart English Bible
And somebody else, even your parent, doesn’t get to tell you who you are when that “who” conflicts with what God has to say on the subject.
For more, including scriptures about who you are, see The Big Why, part 5.
Healing
Our New Testament mirror was included in a post about my parents.
Healed by the truth
As the lies that we heard and believed are replaced by the truth—by God’s truth—something powerful begins to happen in us. Our thinking starts to align with God. We experience healing. Truth is the key component in healing. And in transformation. That’s why Jesus said:
“You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
John 8:32, World English Bible
Free from what? Free from lies. Free from deception. Free from the power of darkness and sin. Free from worry and fear. Free to trust God and rest in his love.
I would add to that list: Free to be courageous.
10. Peace
Old Testament truth
Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but joy comes to the promoters of peace.
Proverbs 12:20, New Heart English Bible
New Testament mirror
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts….
Colossians 3:15, New Heart English Bible
Our Old Testament truth mentions “those who plot evil.” My sociopathic mother-in-law, also known as Her Majesty, the Sadistic Control Freak, is the poster child for evil in my life. Thankfully, I have no new tales to tell. Since we totally ignored her springtime attack letter, we haven’t heard from her or any of her many accomplices. Thanks be to God. (See the addendum about evil in this post.)
Let’s focus on the second half of our Old Testament truth:
Joy comes to the promoters of peace.
Proverbs 12:20b, NHEB
The ESV translates the second half of the verse like this: “[People] who plan peace have joy.” Planning for peace. I love that concept. Peace doesn’t magically happen. It requires planning. A decision. A particular heart posture. For those of us who’ve made this choice—“I seek and plan for peace”—the result is joy.
Peace, joy and humor
As more and more time has passed since we were tangled up in Her Majesty’s vicious spider web, I’ve observed Brandon’s transformation. He has consciously sought and planned for peace. He has lived this concept: “I will not play her sick game anymore.” My husband has always been funny. What I’ve noticed this year is an expansion of his joy as the Lord sanctifies and transforms him one step at a time.
I recently participated in a one-week sugar fast with my friend Meagan. She was supporting me to see if eliminating sugar would reduce my arthritis pain. (The results were great.) Here was the dilemma. Brandon wanted a Braum’s shake, so he wanted me to consume a Braum’s shake, and I declined. He was hoping to convince my fasting partner, Meagan, that certainly a milkshake wouldn’t compromise our fast. Nice try, buddy. Anyway, Brandon sent Meagan this photo and text.
“I SAID… there is no sugar in Braum’s shakes!”
I totally cracked up, multiple times. Laughter is good medicine. No doubt about it.
Peace in the storm
Peace is not the absence of trials. It’s peace in the middle of them. Peace despite them. I remember seeing a painting of a bird in a nest during a storm. The painting was described as depicting peace in the storm, and I agreed. Here’s an article about that painting and its deeper Christian meaning.
We find ourselves in recent days feeling like we’re in a storm. After the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Brylan Riggs ended this podcast reading Philippians 4:6-7, emphasizing the peace of God. He included a recent post by Charlie Kirk that began with these observant words: “Assassination culture is spreading on the left.”
Peaceful Readers, we can have peace in this storm as we focus on these truths: (1) the glory and attributes of God, (2) his purposes and plans, which stand firm and will be accomplished, and (3) our place in our faithful God’s hands.
Charlie Kirk is in heaven with Jesus Christ, his Savior.
Peace and prayer
Let’s end with our New Testament mirror:
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts….
Colossians 3:15, New Heart English Bible
Please think about Charlie Kirk’s wife Erika and their children as you listen to the song below. Remember them faithfully in prayer….
Coming next: Our mirror verses about truth surprised me today. They weren’t on my list. Then the events of this week happened—and the subject of truth came roaring in. I have two more sets of mirror verses on my list, but the Holy Spirit may surprise me.
Until next time, thanks for reading and for Choosing Peace.
Truth from The Word: John 16:33
Song: “God Is Over All” by CityAlight, featuring Colin Buchanan
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