A gem called Integrity

Craig Groeschel, a pastor, learned about integrity in a powerful way. While on a high school trip with his tennis team, he and teammates passed the time playing a round on a miniature golf course. Like most of those courses, on the final hole the ball should have gone down a chute into a locked box.  Groeschel and his high school buddies decided that they would trap the balls and take them back to their hotel room.  As he lay on his bed tossing the purple golf ball into the air, his coach walked in and asked, “where did you get that golf ball?”  Groeschel dodged the question, but the coach knew the answer. He told him, “You’re off the team! If you’ll steal a golf ball, you’ll steal other things and without integrity, I don’t want you playing for me.”  Later, after much begging, the coach offered the 14 year old boy a chance to take the ball back, to tell the golf course owner what he had done with a sincere apology; which he did.  He never forgot the lesson!  (Altar Ego, Zondervan, 2013, Craig Groeschel)

Integrity is one of those qualities you either have or you don’t. It’s an all or nothing thing!  It’s a rare thing these days. For so many the question is not “what is right?” Instead they ask, “what can I get away with?”  

Christian, let me ask you – are you the same person inside and out? 
Do your actions away from home match your actions at home?
Would you flirt while traveling on a business trip, a 1000 miles from home?
Would you keep a $20 bill that a clerk mistaken gave you in change?

Would you claim deductions on your income tax return that you really did not deserve?

Would you tell a story in such way that you appear to be a better person than you really are?

Hard questions, aren’t they?  Integrity’s value cannot be overstated! If I discover that a person has misled me or lied, even about something relatively unimportant, it is very hard for me to trust that person about anything at all, ever. 

God desires integrity in us, too.  Living authentically, honestly, is one of the basic qualities that allow us to enjoy His presence on a daily basis.  David was inspired to write this.

"LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?
Who may live on your holy hill?

He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous,

who speaks the truth from his heart

and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong

and casts no slur on his fellowman,

who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD,

who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury

and does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things will never be shaken." (Psalm 15:1-9, NIV)

Do not confuse integrity with perfection! Nobody’s perfect. Integrity allows us to own up to our failures- without excuse, rationalization, or desire to continue in them.

If we admit our sins and gaps, we can grow. When we carry them to God, our confession allows us to experience grace that transforms us.  The amazing grace we find in Jesus, the complete forgiveness He offers, is not a reason to sin more, but a way to become whole.

Integrity is a critical component of our faith walk. It is real tempting to sing songs we do not really understand, to create an image that is far better than who we really are, to pray publicly in a way that does not reflect our actual relationship with the Lord. That is why Jesus tells us “Don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true." (Matthew 5:33-36, The Message)   He told a story about a Pharisee and a sinner that both went to pray.   The Pharisee ‘prayed’ but his words were not addressed to God. He proclaimed his own goodness and thanked God that he was so much better than those average sinners he lived among.  The ordinary sinner had integrity and his prayer was heard in heaven – “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

Integrity is the long way ‘round in life much of the time. Those who are ‘slick,’ who are willing to lie without a twinge of conscience, often climb the ladder of success; but sooner or later, their duplicity will catch up, the inner rot in their character will bring about a collapse.  Those who commit to integrity increasingly gain respect. They are honorable and honored. 

Here is a word from the Word. May the Spirit bring the Truth home to our hearts today.

"May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you." (Psalm 25:21, NIV)

"The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity." (Proverbs 11:3, NIV)

"Righteousness guards the man of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner." (Proverbs 13:6, NIV)

This is the prayer of the person of integrity:

"How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart?
Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
Keep your servant from deliberate sins!
Don’t let them control me.
Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.
May the words of my mouth and
the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you,

O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." (Psalm 19:12-14, NLT)  Amen

Would you talk to bleached, dry bones?

There is not a much more lifeless, hopeless picture than the one painted by the prophet Ezekiel in his vision of the ‘valley of dry bones.’ In chapter 37, he describes a valley full of bones, bleached and dried by the sun; all appearance of life totally past tense. In his vision of desolation, God asks Ezekiel, "Can these bones live again?"  What a question and the answer is obvious: "The day for life in these bones is long since passed! No, Lord, they won't live again." Ezekiel, however, knows that with God hopeless situations are not always that, so he says, "Lord God, only you can answer that." (37:3) It's not exactly a statement full of faith, but at least it allows for the possibility of life, however remote.

Some situations appear to be beyond hope, don’t they? It’s over. Relationships turn cold. Love for God dies under the weight of life’s urgent matters. Devotion evaporates in the heat of temptation and trials. Can these things live again? According to the Bible, yes! Ezekiel’s weird vision is about hope where there isn’t any!  We do not need a huge surge of faith to experience that kind of restoration. We just need to be willing to allow for the possibility. Jesus says that is more than enough. "If you had faith no larger than a mustard seed, you could tell this mountain to move from here to there. And it would. Everything would be possible for you." (Matthew 17:20, CEV)  His words are challenging, aren’t they?

Back to Zeke! Now comes the test. God said “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life." (Ezekiel 37:4-5, NIV)  “Preach it, brother,” the Lord told him.  So Zeke spoke.  I imagine that old man, rising up under the Holy Spirit’s inspiration with arms stretched out over that valley of death, thundering - “Live again, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord,” he said. At God’s direction, Ezekiel spoke the improbable into the impossible and as he spoke, those bones rattled and moved! They assembled into skeletons, began to be connected, then covered with flesh. As he continued to preach, the Spirit of God swept over the field of bones and "breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army." (37:10)

It's quite a vision, isn't it? I am captivated by the promise in it! It was God's message to His people who thought all hope was gone. These bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they're saying: “Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there's nothing left of us.” (37:11) The man of God needed obedience, courage, boldness, and vision to draw life back to that 'dead' nation. It was a work beyond his leadership skills and ability. Who can make bones live again? Only God can raise the dead! "You, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.'" Ezekiel 37:13-14

What seems dead, beyond hope, to you?

Did your dreams die?

Are your ideals nothing but old dry bones?

Is your church, once alive with the Spirit, now a museum to past glories?

Is your spiritual life just a duty, as you hang onto traditions?

God is putting the question to you - "Can these bones live?"  It’s His way to ask you for faith, be it ever so slight. As His Spirit stirs in us, let us become bold like the prophet, speaking the Words of life to a dead situation. "Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!" Nothing is so thrilling as seeing God bring life back, breathing His life into a person, situation, relationship, or church that is in the natural realm, beyond hope. So, hear the Word of the Lord!

History tells us that God’s people did ‘live again.’ After the total destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, after the best and brightest were carried off to Babylon, a long night fell over the Jews, but then improbably the Spirit breathed and the nation was restored, the Temple rebuilt, the Lord’s people regained their identity!  It was a story without parallel in history. Nehemiah gives us a snapshot of the restoration – “The whole company that had returned from exile built booths and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great. Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God.”  (8:17)

Here is a word from the Word to ponder today. May it bring life to the dry places!  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:9-11, NIV)

Listen for the Spirit. Believe what He says.  Speak His Word into your situation and see what God can do!

Spirit-led or Emotion ruled?

“Jerry, I do not know how you do it,” is a phrase I hear frequently these days.  People seem to be surprised that I try to carry on with life and faith in a time of great personal loss and sadness. Some appear to think that I somehow live without deep sorrow, that I exist in some kind of bubble that protects me from negative emotions.  The truth is that I ache, I cry, and I wonder where this will lead.  But, I refuse to be a victim of my circumstances.  I am no hero, nor am I a Lone Ranger. There are many who pray for us and there is great strength found in Divine Comfort. There are many who come alongside of us to offer practical help.  Our adult children, our church family, are treasures to us.

And there is this – I refuse to allow how I ‘feel’ to rule my life! Many days my emotions scream for relief.  Yes, part of me wants relief or escape and temptations to spend too much, eat junk, watch too much TV for a diversion are always with me. But, I also know that I am not a slave to my feelings. Some mornings when sorrow closes in on me and tries to throw darkness over me like a heavy blanket, I have to work to change my thoughts.  I speak to myself and direct my thoughts. “Jerry, it is time to change the story, to choose a different perspective!” That is not denial. I know the facts. I choose to believe the Truth of God.

Jeremiah, the ‘weeping prophet,’ wrote about this very choice. "I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” (Lamentations 3:19-24, NIV)  He did not pretend that things were great. He felt the weight of his emotions calling his experience one of ‘affliction,’ that were like ashes in his mouth.  But, Jeremiah also chose to trust the Lord.

God made us spirit, mind, and body. What part of you directs your daily actions in life?  For many, the body, with all of its desires, is allowed to be ‘in charge.’  Some people mistakenly believe that every appetite must be fed, every feeling acknowledged and served. “If I practice self-denial, I’ll just die,” they say. No, that is simply not true.  The mind that God gave us can be trained to overrule those desires. Ask any highly trained athlete! He learns to push his body past the cry for comfort. Paul speaks to this choice in his own life. “I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." (1 Corinthians 9:27, NIV)  Do not misunderstand his words. He is not talking about hurting himself. He is speaking to the discipline that governs his impulses. He brings them into line with the Truth!

This is not just a rigid self-discipline. It is a matter of the transformed heart. Because God, the Holy Spirit lives in us who belong to Christ Jesus, our spirits (The God-breathed part of every person) can and should take charge, responding first to God, the Holy Spirit, then directing our mind to order our physical existence in the body!  Here is how the Scripture teaches that principle: "The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you free from sin and death." (Romans 8:2, CEV)  How does that look in everyday life? Read on.  "People who are ruled by their desires think only of themselves. Everyone who is ruled by the Holy Spirit thinks about spiritual things. If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace." (Romans 8:5-6, CEV)  Does this happen without effort? No. We have a daily choice to make.  "If we follow our desires, we cannot please God. You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God’s Spirit, who lives in you." (Romans 8:8-9, CEV) The result of choosing to respond to God’s spirit is life and more life.

What I love about the life of the Spirit is that He allows us to fully experience our emotions without being ruled by them.  We can be and must be completely authentic. We do not fake it. We weep, we laugh, we stagger, we dance, we crawl, and we run.  We know what we feel and are enriched by the gift of our emotions but we are not slaves to them.  When tempted by their seductions, we look higher, take the strength, know the Truth – and do His will.

Here is a word from the Word. Receive it and live it – for the honor and praise of Christ who gives you life and strength.   

"What happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.  

… Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified. Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives." (Galatians 5:21-25, The Message)

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