Last week we attended a pastor’s conference with Restoration Fellowship International (RFI), the organization that ordained us two years ago. It was a wonderful time of authentic fellowship, joy-filled worship, enlightening teaching, and powerful prayer with other leaders from four different countries.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much. We had decided to attend because at the conference, the head of RFI would be stepping down and the new leader would be stepping into position and we wanted to honor them both. But I really had no expectations about the rest of the week. I am so glad God had more in store.

Most of our time was spent at a Yeshiva. Yeshiva, in Jewish culture, is a time of gathering together to learn and discuss truths about God’s Word, especially the first five books of the Bible, the Torah. RFI has a rich history of going deep into Jewish roots because it is the foundation of our faith. Many Christians think we don’t need the Old Testament because we have the New Testament. But Jesus fulfilled the Law. He did not abolish it. Everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus and if we skip over it, we are missing a depth in understanding on which our faith grows.

I’m a bit of a geek, so to hear these high-powered intellectuals dive deep into the Word was fascinating. From Genesis to Revelation, they pulled apart scripture and brought new meaning to it by clarifying what certain words meant in Hebrew or Greek. For example, in Genesis 1:3, it says, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” In English, it is translated in past tense. God said it long ago and that’s it. In the Hebrew, however, the word for “said” is in a continual present tense. So that verse is more accurately translated, “And God said and keeps on saying forevermore, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was and continues to be light.” Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1) and the light of the world (John 8:12). So now with more understanding of the Hebrew, we understand that Jesus was, is, and is continually sent forth from God to shine His light into all the dark places of our lives. God is not a once and done God.

These scholars also brought science and the human body into the discussion. One of the pastors there is a physician and he shined a spotlight on how the human body works and develops, and how every ounce of it reveals the power and goodness of God.

I left the week having a new appreciation for Jesus’ comment to the Samaritan woman, “God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth,” (John 4:24). In our culture today, it seems God’s worshipers lean one way of the other. We tend to either worship more in the Spirit OR more in truth. So many of us are missing a balance.

There are certain denominations who know their Bibles inside and out. They have Bible studies and can quote all the appropriate verses. They have great understanding, but they lack an intimate relationship with God and the leading of the Holy Spirit. In fact, many of them rarely talk about the Holy Spirit. They put the Holy Spirit on a shelf and dust Him off every once in a while when they talk about the Trinity. And because of this, they miss out on the love, intimacy, presence, and power of God.

Then there are other denominations that know the Holy Spirit well. They hear God speak to their spirits clearly and have learned how to follow and flow with the leading of the Holy Spirit. They seek signs, wonders, and miracles because they know that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so He still does amazing things. But these same people often lack knowledge of God’s Word. They know the basics but because they don’t have a solid foundation, their beliefs can be twisted and they can be easily deceived.

Jesus calls us to BOTH. We need the truth of God’s Word as our foundation – not just a few verses here and there. We need the whole thing. Without truth as our foundation, we are like the man who built his house upon the sand. It didn’t work out well for him. Yet if all we know is the truth, we are missing the relationship with God that God created us to experience. God is love. Jesus is the bridegroom and we are His bride. If we only know that He is love and don’t experience His love first-hand, our lives are a dry shell, like a marriage just going through the motions. No one can love us like God can. His love cannot be contained and can overflow within us, with His joy, peace, hope, and faith overflowing with it. To miss out on that is to never truly live.

So I ask you today – where do you fall in the Truth vs Spirit spectrum? Where are you strong? Where could you use some reinforcements? If you don’t know, ask the Lord. Then be quiet and wait for His answer. He will show you where you lack if you pay attention. His desire is for a truth-filled, intimate loving relationship with each and every one of us, as deep and high and wide as we are willing to go.

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And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.

~ Ephesians 3:17-18

Jesus answered, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

~ John 14:6

When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

~ John 8:12