Is Integrity Guiding You?

Good Morning Everyone,

 The word INTEGRITY has been hi-lighted to my heart this last week, as I was put in some positions to do what the world has deemed acceptable or to really take a stand and walk in the integrity that I have in my relationship with Christ!!!

Proverbs 11:3  The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the willful contrariness and crookedness of the treacherous shall destroy them.

 in·teg·ri·ty [ in téggrətee ] noun Definition:

1. possession of firm principles: the quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering to high moral principles or professional standards

With Jesus Christ living in us, the Holy Spirit which raised Christ from the dead, we have the power in our lives to walk in integrity if we choose to do so!

 2. completeness: the state of being complete or undivided ( formal ) the territorial integrity of the nation

 3. wholeness: the state of being sound or undamaged ( formal ) public confidence in the integrity of the voting process

Lets look at a situation that arose, where the integrity of someones heart actually kept him from sinning, when he wasn’t aware of the whole picture! If our heart is right before God and we are wanting to walk uprightly and in integrity, God will enlighten the situation so you can make the right choice if you choose.

Genesis 20

   ¹And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.

   ²And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

   ³But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.

   ⁴But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, LORD, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?

   ⁵Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.

   ⁶And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.

God is a gracious God. He withheld the King from sinning againist God because he saw the integrity of the Kings heart and then he gave the king a choice, to do the right thing or not. Because of the integrity of the Kings heart and because of protection on Abraham and Sarah, God intervened and exposed the truth!!

   ⁷Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

   ⁸Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.

   ⁹Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

   ¹⁰And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

   ¹¹And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake.

Sometimes our thoughts will cause us to do things we may not should do, God searches our heart and in this case brought protection over Abraham, Sarah and the King.

   ¹²And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

   ¹³And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

   ¹⁴And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.

   ¹⁵And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.

Lets look at another example:

1 Kings 9

   ¹And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the LORD, and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he was pleased to do,

   ²That the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon.

   ³And the LORD said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

   ⁴And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:

   ⁵Then I will establish the throne of thy kingdom upon Israel for ever, as I promised to David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel.

God is setting the two choices before Solomon, and not only the two choices, but also the promise or consequence of those choices… Walking in Integrity of  Heart and Uprightness before the Lord is important to God and will determine the future events of our lives and he continues to explain to Solomon in the proceeding verses.

   ⁶But if ye shall at all turn from following me, ye or your children, and will not keep my commandments and my statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods, and worship them:

   ⁷Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:

   ⁸And at this house, which is high, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and they shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and to this house?

   ⁹And they shall answer, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath the LORD brought upon them all this evil.

There is promises and consequences on all of our actions and sometimes it effects many in our pathway, not just our own lives. That is why it is so important to walk in integrity in all situations.

David knew the  importance of walking in integrity and that integrity and uprightness would PRESERVE him through tough and difficult times.. Lets look at the following verses in Psalms and see Davids veiw on integrity:

Psalm 7:8  The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.

 Psalm 25:21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.

David knew the  importance of walking in integrity and that integrity and uprightness would PRESERVE him through tough and difficult times.. 

Psalm 26:1 Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.

He knew that walking in integrity and trusting God was a key for him not to slide or to stumble and fall.

Psalm 26:11  But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.

Not everyone around you will make the choice to walk with integrity and there will be those around you, may even family members like Job had that would say, are you still going to hold fast to your integrity, just curse God and die. But we have to know that as we hold onto integrity, God redeems the situation and is merciful to us.

Psalm 41:12  And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.

God upholds us and we can dwell face to face will him forever as we choose to consistantly walk in righteousness and integrity. It is our choice.

 

 Proverbs 11:3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.

This is the scripture I began with! We have a choice everyday to walk in the integrity of the upright or in the perverseness of trangressors. When we become a child of the living God we become the righteousness of God and we are the upright in His eyes. We need to make the decision daily to live by his word and allow his word to guide our every thought and action!! He has given us allow we need to walk with integrity and allow it to guide us, now its our choice.

There are blessings that come from making the decision to walk in integrity:

 Proverbs 20:7 The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.

  Psalm 101:2 (Whole Chapter) I will behave myself wisely and give heed to the blameless way–O when will You come to me? I will walk within my house in integrity and with a blameless heart.

 Proverbs 1:3 Receive instruction in wise dealing and the discipline of wise thoughtfulness, righteousness, justice, and integrity,

Proverbs 2:7 He hides away sound and godly Wisdom and stores it for the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with Him); He is a shield to those who walk uprightly and in integrity,

 Proverbs 19:1 BETTER IS a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is perverse in his speech and is a [self-confident] fool.

There is also a consequence of compromising your integrity.

 

 

 Proverbs 25:26  Like a muddied fountain and a polluted spring is a righteous man who yields, falls down, and compromises his integrity before the wicked.

I pray this teaching has brought some revelation and understanding. We live in a world that is constantly drawing us to walk as they walk… Constantly testing our integrity. Hold fast to your profession of Faith and live the life of intregrity that God has for you to live. Be the light to the darkness around you.

God Bless You,

Pastor Carol Mora