2005-07-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
This morning, the Holy Spirit leads me to write about integrity. It’s important that we know God’s will from His word on this matter first. The section of EPH 4 on a new life in Christ really helps us with this endeavor. EPH 4: 17-19, “In the Lord’s name, then, I warn you: do not continue to live like the heathen, whose thoughts are worthless and whose minds are in the dark. They have no part in the life that God gives, for they are completely ignorant and stubborn. They have lost all feeling of shame; they give themselves over to vice and do all sorts of indecent things without restraint.” This is tough talk, but it is true. Many a person is portrayed on TV or in the movies as thinking nothing of “cheating the system” or as “getting the edge” over someone else by some shady and/or underhanded action. It pains me to think of how much of this goes on in real-life business. This kind of thing is actually encouraged in the system of doing business, which is why situations like what happened at Enron ever occurred. Greed and lack of integrity are at the bottom of it. So is mean-spirited competition. I doubt that people like Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skillings care at all that many stockholders and employees have had their financial lives ruined.
God inspired Paul to go on in EPH 4: 22-25, “So get rid of your old self, which made you live as you used to-the old self that was being destroyed by its deceitful desires. Your hearts and minds must be made completely new, and you must put on the new self, which is created in God’s likeness and reveals itself in the true life that is upright and holy.” As I was reading this passage, I was awed with the power that God has to transform human hearts. This is especially true when the person is willing to listen. One such individual who has turned over his life to God’s direction is a Watergate lawyer who spent the greatest time of all those offenders in prison. This was a time when God really went to work, and when this individual was released, he had not only truly converted to Christianity in his heart, but he began a prison ministry that is still in place today. God really does sometimes use evil for good. GN 50: 20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
Not everyone is willing to open his heart to the Holy Spirit, and therein, lays a tragedy. For God loves all of His creation and wants to see each one loosed of the bonds of sinfulness and back to Him for the freedom of eternal bliss. EPH 4: 25-27 deals with lying and anger. “No more lying, then! Everyone must tell the truth to his fellow believers, because we are all members together in the body of Christ. If you become angry, do not let your anger lead you into sin, and do not stay angry all day. Do not give the devil a chance.” As I have said before, lying and grudges held are at the basis of many wrongful decisions and much hurtful behavior. While my grown son thinks it’s terrible, I often watch the TV show “Cops.” This is a reality show in which the viewer sees some of the worst people doing their evil. Often the officers on the beat must leave their cars and chase the perpetrators on foot. Dogs are sometimes used to nab the thieves, people-beaters, pimps, addicts, and other lawbreakers that are a continuing problem for an otherwise peaceful society. This is one of the reasons, I appreciate these courageous men and women who are willing to put themselves in harm’s way, so that we can live better lives. The underlying message may seem trite, but it still remains that lying, covetousness, greed, anger, grudges, and other evil motivations acted on will always lead to misery of one sort or another.
Our words used matter too. EPH 4: 29: 32 addresses itself to this important subject. “Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you. And do not make God’s Holy Spirit sad; for the Spirit is God’s mark of ownership on you, a guarantee that the Day will come when God will set you free. Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort. Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ.” If only those without faith in Christ understood how much we owe it to Him to be pliable as clay in the Potter’s hands in view of His sacrifice on the cross, so we can be saved! Anyone who has read my writing knows that I personally have struggled with the issue of words. While I’m making progress, I still swear on occasion-a leftover dreg from my own angry past. We must understand God’s vulnerability in the comment, “do not make the Holy Spirit sad.” Yes, because He loves us, we can make Him sad and disappoint Him. Our words are a window on our hearts. That is why PR 25: 11 tells us, “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” Our words must be genuine, not false flattery, sly lies, or mean-spirited manipulators. Our Lord suffered and died on the cross, so that we could put off our old evil selves and become new creations in union with Christ [2 COR 5: 17]-ones that are living the lives of holiness and righteousness that God wills for us [LV 11: 44-45; LV 19: 2; 1 PET 1: 16]. Our greatest desires should be to seek God and to gain a greater knowledge of Him [COL 3: 9-10].
PRAYER: O Lord, we are imperfect sinners who are sorely in need of You. Without You, our lives are evil, meaningless, and useless. With You, our transformed hearts are capable of love and caring. We are no longer self-centered, greedy, angry, sinful beings. That doesn’t mean we can’t commit a sin, but it means that the Holy Spirit will act as our conscience to let us know what is a sin and what is not [RO 7: 7]. Through Your patience and compassion, You are giving us time to repent and stop the sinful thoughts and behavior. We are on our knees in gratitude for that. You allow a certain amount of evil, an amount You carefully measure, into our lives. That is to force us to work through the problems we have from it and to become stronger in our faith and acknowledgement of our need for You in our lives. Our faith grows in this way, as You sanctify us gradually, so that we can return to the place where nothing evil is allowed to enter [REV 21: 27]. You call us to keep the big picture of our salvation in mind, when You remind us that we owe it to Christ to live righteously and with integrity. We must consider His great sacrifice (and Yours) for us. We are in awe of Your power to transform sinful human hearts to humble, obedient ones. It pains us to think of the disappointments You are forced to suffer when people are rebellious, sinful, and stubbornly rejecting of You. Our tongues, as James says in JAS 3: 5b-6, are “like tiny flames that can set a whole forest on fire. They are a world of wrong, occupying their place in our bodies and spreading evil through our whole being. They set on fire the entire course of our existence with the fire that comes to them from hell itself.” This does not have to be. Instead, we can use our tongues to increase spiritual territory for You, by spreading goodness and kindness to others. Our words can help bring others to where the Holy Spirit gives them true faith in You. We thank You and praise You for making clear Your will in the matter of integrity and on many other things. In Christ’s holy name, we pray. Amen.
The Spirit gives me more to say about integrity next week. In the meanwhile, let’s focus on the question: what is God’s will for my thoughts and behavior? We can examine our own lives, without guilt, and discover pockets of unbelief and disobedience. The Lord gives us only so much time to do this and to expunge those pockets, so it behooves us not to procrastinate. He has also given us the ability to get rid of the evil in us, recognizing it for what it is. How can we not love Him for that? Our Lord loves each of us so much, that He is right beside us in the arena of battle against the devil all the time. He guides us, roots for us to be victors in Christ’s name, and sometimes joins in the battle with us. He did this for Gideon, Jehoshaphat, Joseph, Moses, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Paul, Peter, and many others. He does this for His Son, Jesus Christ, and He does this for each of us- His treasured creations. The devil knows he has only a limited time before He will be entirely vanquished [REV 12: 12]. That’s because of God’s great power, power He uses to love and want to save each of us. Praise be to His holy name!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn