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I used to think integrity was primarily truth-telling, but I discovered truth-telling is only the tip of the iceberg. Integrity involves the entirety of a person, wholeness. We would have to be hard-pressed to eat a fruit that has bruises or has a worm in it. Integrity includes internal consistency of honesty as well as moral and ethical character. Enron and other prominent figures in sports or religion have failed due to a lack of integrity. Trust is quickly destroyed by a flaw that was tolerated in some aspect of a person’s inner being.

Each of our lives includes all of who we are in our workplace, home, church, privately or publicly.

How can we become people of integrity? It naturally happens as we give the Holy Spirit full access to every part of our lives. If the soul were a house, this would mean allowing Him into every room. It’s possible to happily give Jesus access to some rooms but put little Do Not Enter signs on others. Do we ask Him to supervise our finances, political views, family room, or where we do our devotions? We must remind ourselves Jesus’ original audience identified themselves as God’s people, yet Jesus described them as “… so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness!” Luke 11:39 (NLT2) Groups of Christians can do this too, posting “Keep Out” signs to block Jesus from entering culturally cherished beliefs, practices, and goals.

While I am certain I have blind areas in my life, I try repeatedly to scrutinize my life to see if I am tolerating a wrong attitude, contempt, deception, unhealthy manipulation, unforgiveness, covetousness of any sort to embed itself in my thinking or motivations. Believe me, it keeps me humble, and I am not so foolish as to think I don’t have blind spots that I inadvertently overlook. Yet it is my desire to work with the Spirit to root out my flaws. I must depend on the Sanctifier to purify me. The most recent area He and I have been working on is trusting in myself rather than fully trusting in God. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5 (NLT2) I have been astonished at how often I default to leaning on my own understanding instead of His guidance and oversight.

On the night of his betrayal, Jesus held up his cup and said, “Drink ye all of it…” That word “all” can be translated as whole. I don’t know if by “all” Jesus meant “all of you drink” or “drink it all.” But I do know he drank his cup to the last drop. He is our model of integrity.

If I ever hope to be like Jesus, I must take the entire cup He offers, whether it is bitter (like Connie’s death) or sweet. I want to freely trust Him in every nook and cranny of my personal and public way of thinking. I have recently learned from experience the incredible peace of God that resulted when I cast all my cares upon Him. His way is always better than mine in every dimension of my life. His way is wholeness, not fragmentation.

If you are not experiencing all the peace of God in your life, I highly recommend that you invite Him into every area of your life, so your integrity is in more areas than truth telling.

The humbling aspects of looking back, both good and bad, become apparent when one reaches my age. I am more aware of the grace and mercy that God has bestowed upon me. I have been a part of Him working literal miracles through me. My self-awareness of my own limitations makes me feel humbled by these achievements.

 

I am also able to see when I foolishly leaned on my own understanding and regretfully brought pain and suffering. I’m also sure I unknowingly limited what God wanted to do in and through me. I’ve often said, I wish I had known about this 50 years ago!!

I recently did some Bible reflection on the book Isaiah the prophet wrote. Chapter 48 seems to reflect sad grief on God’s part. Notice with me; “16 Come closer and listen to this. From the beginning, I have told you plainly what would happen. And now the Sovereign Lord and his Spirit have sent me with this message.  17 This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow [alt: for you to profit or do what is best for you]. 18 Oh, that you had listened to my commands! Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea. 19 Your descendants would have been like the sands along the seashore— too many to count! There would have been no need for your destruction, or for cutting off your family name.’” Isaiah 48:16–19 NLT.

I have been in the Philippines for the last 3 months. When I arrived on January 1, I was stunned by the level of peace of God I sensed.

To me, although Connie and I have faced countless serious life difficulties, I have also consciously found and felt God’s peace throughout our lives.  His peace has served as my primary guide for many years. It allowed me to experience a multitude of divine interventions. Yet, my recent Philippine experience was notably more extreme. If God’s peace on Earth can be this powerful, I pondered how much greater it must be in Heaven. When I pondered the above passage, it messed with my thinking. It made me wonder just how much more of God’s gifts I had missed out on in my earlier decades of my efforts to follow God.

It then struck me how much those less committed to finding God have missed and continue to do so. I grieved for their losses, and mine, as God was mourning for the people of Israel. Could it be that you may very well have also missed out on so many blessings you could have had if you had been more intimate with God through the years? Does it also make you regretful?

But let’s remind ourselves, our life is not over. All of us may have missed out on so many blessings God wanted to give us. However, by altering our daily lives to more closely align with God’s word, we can still experience more of what Paul was inspired to write. “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Ephesians 3:20 NLT. We can’t change our past, but we can improve our future. How? By taking initiative to better align ourselves with what God has already told us.

After serving as a youth pastor in Oregon, wonderful friends and youth group sponsors had a bright son who, after graduation, attended a very reputable, conservative seminary, one I certainly would have recommended. But to my surprise and chagrin, before graduating, he became very cynical about God, and after graduation ended up turning away from God instead of growing closer to him.

While pastoring, a promising teenage couple committed to serving Christ were very careful to have their obvious devotions in the church parking lot. They married and both went to a very reputable Bible college in a nearby state to pursue ministry. After 3 years, they became antagonistic to the Christian faith and walked away from serving God. How can this be??

I recently volunteered to serve as a pastor-at-large in an international seminary. With a faculty of PhD-holding missionaries, the seminary focused on the selfless love and service of students aiming for careers in ministry unto God. The seminary’s student-body president publicly asked me, how can a student with the high stress of studying theology and writing papers also maintain a passionate heart for God? That was a legitimate question!! Could a person get so lost in studying the Bible he or she overlooks its intended message? Jesus said that had happened to the Pharisees. (John 5.39) It all depends upon the motive for searching it.

Solomon wrote an interesting verse. “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; she will bring you honor when you embrace her. She will place on your head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory she will deliver to you.” Prov. 4:7-9 ESV. Could it be Solomon had actually put wisdom above his love for God? The way he writes in the following verses, it certainly would appear so. If so, this could have been a major contributor to him turning away from God’s laws and bringing demise on himself and Israel.

It appears that the overwhelming power of our sinful nature creates a significant mental split between wisdom and God. This is a deep and meaningful concept that deserves consideration.  Unless a person is diligent to maintain prayerful meditation on the Word, seeking to find out how it reveals more of who God is and how we must respond to that revelation, the sin nature will distort wisdom and God, just as appears to have happened to Solomon. The moment we put priority of whatever sort—Bible study, ministry to others, family, finances, and the like—above intimacy with God, it is only a matter of time before our relationship with Him begins the fossilizing process.

We need to consider if anything has diverted us from giving God our full devotion. It’s possible we won’t be able to eliminate that ‘something’. Let’s re-evaluate our diminishing values and focus on seeking His kingdom instead of those well-intentioned “little foxes” that are harming our close relationship with our King. “Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are blossoming!” (Song of Solomon 2:15 NLT)

It prompts me to ask if my participation in righteous actions might be inadvertently consuming the precious time I dedicate to spiritual wrestling and discerning God’s word. I’ve noticed that these grappling times are the times I most clearly perceive His whispers to my spirit.

In the last several years, I have fallen deeper in love with God than I ever have been. I don’t have the capacity to make that happen, so it has not been due to my creativity! It has only been because of God’s rich mercy. All I have done was to watch in amazement what God has been doing within me.

After 74 years of excellent health, Connie, my wonderful wife of nearly 57 years, was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) with isolated del (5q), a fatal blood disease. We were told her death could occur within a few months or maybe up to 3 years. It would be mild to say this put us in shock. This launched us on a spiritual learning curve.

Since we both strongly believed in divine healing, after much prayer, we both sensed we should not try to be God’s advisor. While we continued to tell God our preferences, we trusted in His love and wisdom more than our own. When she graduated into her reward slightly over two years ago, I confess, the grieving process was very difficult. However, I grew in my understanding of who God is and who I am, which resulted in greater intimacy with Him.

During this time, I increasingly surrendered more and more of my rights to Him. As I did so, my sense of freedom and inner peace increased. Solomon’s words “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” Proverbs 3:5 ESV became much more real to me. Paul’s statement, “You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you. You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is beneficial. Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.” 1 Cor. 10:23-24 NLT, took on new meaning to me. I have found that the more I yield to Christ, the more I will be a “conqueror”. It is one of heaven’s strange laws that if I resign all rights of possession to Jesus Christ, I begin that very moment to possess all that I have surrendered.

Oswald Chambers said, “The passion of Christianity is that I deliberately sign away my own rights and become a bond-slave of Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I do not begin to be a saint.” Paul explained Jesus died so “that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them” (2Co 5:15, NIV). The cross of Christ—and its power—is fulfilled in me the moment I say yes to the sovereignty of Jesus Christ over me.

I was invited to volunteer as a pastor-at-large at a seminary in the Philippines. That step would be a significant one for a 79-year-old widower in less-than-perfect health. With no other motivation than sensing it was the right thing to do, I made it happen, leaving it up to God to bail me out if I was wrong. If I were to die there, I would die.

After arriving, I experienced an uncanny level of the peace of God that I had never experienced. He gave me such grace in the eyes of faculty and students that despite being among people from 36 different nations with all their dialects, I was precisely where God wanted me for that time in my life. It literally left me in awe for my three-month stint. Our rights are not as important as they first appear. What new challenge has God presented for you to take on?

I’m slowly working through Isaiah, reflecting deeply as I go. Today, I wept as I was able to empathize with God’s feelings toward the Jews, His children.

Isaiah 48:12-13 suggests that God had a felt-need to reintroduce Himself to His chosen. They had been committing spiritual adultery with Him through idol worship, despite their professed worship of Him. That deplorable way of thinking had been perpetuated consistently for ages, some seasons worse than others. Thus, in this scenario, God allowed them to be taken to Babylon. He then told them he was going to use Cyrus to deliver them from Babylon. They were offended that God would use a heathen to deliver them, so they essentially ignored Him to the point He had to talk to them as He did here.

My mind and heart pondered this question. Is it possible that God has provided a blessing or protection for my family and/or me through an avenue I didn’t appreciate, so I unknowingly withdrew from Him? Is it possible that God permitted the death of my spouse, a financial setback, or a debilitating illness (like Paul’s “thorn in the flesh”) or even a physical ailment such as Jacob’s hip injury to bring good into my life? Is it possible He lets a couple encounter marital strife to jolt them awake or detach them from a life path that’s gone astray? Should I retract my love and devotion to Him because I was offended by the way He chose to affect a change in my life or in someone else?

It is unfortunate that we so often forget God is sovereign and can choose to do things we can’t imagine Him doing. The God we serve must not be constrained by the distorted ‘god’ we’ve sculpted in our image.

It was through the same prophet who recorded the said passage above, who also was inspired to write, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8–9 ESV.

When this reaction occurs, I don’t intentionally distance myself from Him, though I believe it happens subconsciously. How might our holy, sovereign God feel about my resentful reactions to His life decisions? Only God knows how this has happened in my life. But I can say that after my wife and I stopped wanting our own way and let Him work according to His wisdom and love for everyone’s good, I underwent a remarkable change. I’ve never known such profound inner peace and boundless joy as I do now. I’m completely certain this experience wasn’t created by anything I could do.

I am not so foolish as to think a person must endure the loss of something so precious as a spouse of nearly 57 years in order to receive God’s special grace. I am at ease in saying that when you permit God to be the supreme ruler in your life, He will delight in you with His love. I hope you won’t have to live 79 years to grasp that understanding of God. My suggestion is that you stand on my shoulders, surrender the box containing your limited god to His sovereign hands, and thereby enjoy a more intimate knowledge of God.

One of Jesus’ parables has bothered me for decades. It suggests God values status over freedom, which is inconsistent with how the rest of the Bible depicts Him. This parable reads, “Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’?  Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” Luke 17:7-10 (ESV).

Yes, the culture when Jesus told the parable was different from ours. However, we must also remember that the ‘incidental props’ or characters in a parable are not the message; they are only used to communicate the spiritual intent of the message. Could it be that this parable was about the intangible yet deplorable attitude of entitlement?

In our culture, the servant/slavery motif first grabs our attention because we are so repulsed by that ideology. Interestingly, the Apostle Paul made it clear He considered himself a “slave” of Jesus Christ. This should make us think twice before jumping to a conclusion.

What is deeply embedded in our culture that we overlook is an entitlement mindset. Could it be that we misinterpret what God plans or does by thinking all of it is done for ‘me’—something very self-centered, even egotistic. In reality, entitlement is repulsive and deplorable in God’s eyes. It is what destroyed King David. He thought as such a strong king, he was entitled to get whatever he wanted. This led to his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband.

When we interpret Christ’s crucifixion as being just about us, it leads to us having an entitlement attitude towards all the rest God provides for us. Isn’t it noteworthy that Jesus said nothing specific in His prayer in the garden about our sins? He only references His Father’s will. Indeed, His death and resurrection paid for our sins, but could it be we were only beneficiaries of God’s much greater purpose of glorifying Himself? (note Ephesians 2:7,) It is when we think or feel ourselves to be the center of attention, our sin nature quickly adopts an entitlement attitude.

What is remarkable about Jesus’ parable is the absence of entitlement in the servants. They didn’t even hint at their rights or what they deserved. Is this the attitude that everyone in God’s kingdom increasingly takes on? Are all our endeavors undertaken exclusively to glorify our King, making His glory our foremost concern?

Have you experienced the sense of offense that someone else was elevated above you for a position of authority? Have you sensed that your ‘rights’ are being abused or ignored, and it put you in a funk? Or perhaps you’ve felt your acts of service went unnoticed. Are those feelings a subtle sign of entitlement instead of gratitude for just being a part of the accomplishment? Isn’t just being a lowly servant in God’s kingdom work privilege enough to bring you joy and fulfillment?

God performs astonishing miracles, like creating the world, unleashing plagues on Egypt through Moses, dividing the Red Sea, and providing manna and quail for the Israelites. In Jesus’ day, the humanity of Jesus was empowered to work extremely amazing works, including raising the dead. The stereotype of Him being a sensationalist seems plausible, but is it correct?

Is it possible that the Spirit, not the Father, is the sensational one of the Trinity because of His role in performing miracles? However, the Holy Trinity operates as a single entity. The Spirit acts in alignment with the Father and Son’s plan, not as a defector.

To put Him in the box of being a sensationalist would be a very serious mistake. I am reminded of Elijah, who, by the Spirit, performed striking miracles such as drenching a sacrifice with water and then summoning heavenly fire to consume it. Following that, he annihilated 450 prophets of Baal and outran the king’s chariot to Jezreel, a stunning display that would profoundly affect anyone.

After those recent sensational experiences, while standing on the mount of the Lord, God sent multiple sensational signs of God, yet God was silent in them all. Finally, in a non-sensational moment, God whispers to him a prophetic word. I find God’s ways with Elijah made a profound statement we all can learn from. The fact is, God certainly will work through sensational things, but never should we stereotype God’s ways. We must also understand God also works and speaks to the unsensational. If we limit God’s voice or actions to the sensational, we will miss important messages He wants to say to us.

I find it interesting when Jesus ministered; yes, He certainly performed sensational miracles. He also repeatedly told those He healed not to tell anyone. When a crowd began to gather, He would quickly heal to avoid the publicity—the very opposite of how we work with the miraculous today. Sadly, too often we confuse God’s presence with our emotions and desires for the supernational.

In Mark 4:26-29, Jesus points out there is no sensational action when grain grows. The Almighty’s knowledge dictates when He will use noticeable means and when He will operate with great subtlety to achieve His objectives. It is utterly foolish to think we can limit God to only the sensational acts. Too often we attempt to fabricate God’s sensational acts with our loud, pulsing musical style, construction design of buildings, etc., when He will do whatever He needs to do without our fabrications, no matter how well-intended they may be. Truth is, He may interpret our fabrication efforts of His presence as “unauthorized fire” and bring His judgement instead of blessings.  We must not presume that the latest fads, however attractive or unusual, are righteous in His eyes, no matter how we defend our choices. It’s important to recall that God focuses on our hearts, not our outward accomplishments or social standing. He stands as the sole leader for our families, churches, and national movements. We should humbly follow His tender direction.

Tragedies can manifest in countless ways, affecting both physical and non-physical entities. They are capable of causing suffering, destruction, and distress. One particularly sad event that recently grabbed my attention took place at a very influential church in Northern California. To sensationalize the supernatural, they highlighted an individual who appeared to have the divine gifts of prophecy and word of knowledge. He achieved international recognition following their promotion. The gravity of this tragedy was immense, as it both slandered God’s reputation and devastated thousands.

The most upsetting part is that the Holy Spirit offered protection that would have prevented this tragedy. Peter encountered a sorcerer (false spiritual performer) named Simon in Acts 8:9-23. Simon had built an extended reputation for astonishing all levels of people in Samaria with his practice of ‘black’ magic.

The God’s Spirit used Philip to stir up a spiritual revival among the Samaritans. “Even Simon (the sorcerer) himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.” Acts 8:13 ESV.

Because this revival was so profound, church leaders in Jerusalem sent Peter and John to help disciple the new believers. When Simon (the sorcerer) realized the Spirit of God was transferred by the laying on of hands, he asked Peter if he could buy that ability so he too could lay hands on people and they would receive the Spirit. Peter discerned Simon’s evil spirit and sternly rebuked him. Simon was silenced.

When Barnabas and Saul (later named Paul) launched their first missionary trip, they too encountered a sorcerer with an evil spirit. He too quickly discerned the evil spirit in the man and cast out the demon. Again, he was silenced. I point these illustrations out so you can clearly see that among Paul’s list of spiritual gifts, he lists “…to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits …” 1 Corinthians 12:10 KJV. This divine gift allows leaders to identify authentic prophets and those with genuine words of knowledge. The leaders, for reasons unknown, neglected that gift and instead elevated a man who mined social media for personal data, leading people to believe the information came from the Holy Spirit. Severe damage to thousands of lives occurred.

It’s a tragedy when church leaders neglect a gift freely given by God to safeguard believers. They instead promoted a false prophet to advance their cause. After discovering his actions, they failed to alert the unsuspecting faithful about the charlatan. Be sure to ask God for wisdom and the ability to discern before believing someone who claims to receive messages from Him. Please know, God does truly give incredible spiritual gifts to help us.

Isaiah wrote in chapter 11, a prophecy about the coming Messiah’s millennial reign. I am repeatedly amazed at God’s patience and promise to Israel, considering their perpetual rebellion against Him. It was in the foggy certainty of prophesy God inspired Isaiah to write these words in chapter 12.  “In that day: I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for you were angry with me, that you might comfort me. 2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation”. Isaiah 12:1-2 ESV.

Those words most of us quickly identify with, yet what exactly do they mean? They are very easy to repeat when all is well in our daily life. But are they as easy to proclaim when we are facing serious adversity? When the apostle Paul pleaded with God to remove his “thorn in the flesh”, he felt the need to ask God three times, which shows some uncertainty. Finally, God responded, saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor.12:9 ESV. What was He actually saying to Paul with those words?

If I correctly understand God’s response, He was telling His most dynamic servant, ‘Sorry, Paul, you are going to have to live with your ‘thorn in the flesh’. He certainly wasn’t saying He was going to remove it! So, what might that have meant about Paul’s trust in God comforting Him? God told Paul the thorn he was frustrated with had a specific purpose, a good purpose which gave that frustrating thorn great value to him. This appears to be how Paul understood God’s words. “To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited” — very interesting.

Through his interpretation, Isaiah’s verse, “… I will trust, and will not be afraid,” gains new significance. Paul’s perspective gives Isaiah’s words an interesting twist, especially since Paul was facing challenges then. This now signifies a trust that not only reduces fear but also empowers him, even to the point of singing, to overcome his hardships. I can so identify with the strength Paul reports it gave him. Though I’ve faced trials since God took my wife to be with Him, I’ve discovered His strength is sufficient, and it has offered me fresh perspectives on His nature and my response to His will. I can say I’ve continued to learn to know Him better as well as to better know the weakness of my flesh. Now, I honestly can’t say ‘thank you’ enough for His decision! I have repeatedly stated that we must trust Him based on who He is, not just on what He may or may not do in our situation. Joseph wasn’t jumping for joy after he pleaded with Pharaoh’s cupbearer to get him out of prison, and it didn’t happen. We can rely on God’s character and wisdom to possess more than just healing or comfort to shape us into His likeness.

Do you know enough about God to declare that He would never hurt you or anyone else? It is quite common to look upon Him as a mender of broken hearts and one who binds up our wounds.  Indeed, He certainly is that, and we certainly want to thank and praise Him for that. But whoever thinks that is all He comprises is selectively cherry-picking verses in the Bible. If that is you, you have a lot to look forward to discovering the God of the Bible.

The patriarch, Jacob, encountered God, was blessed, yet left that experience walking with a limp where God had touched him. (Gen. 32:30-31) Do you limp where God touched you?

Some would retort by saying Jesus stood in for us and was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. We certainly can praise and worship Him for that. But if you noticed, transgressions and iniquities both refer to sins or failures. Salvation doesn’t erase our innate characteristics such as independence, pride, greed, selfishness, and abusive tendencies.  How does He work with those things to help us grow into the fullness of Christ?

Does God only have forgiveness, miracles, and untold blessings in His toolbox when chiseling unhealthy human habits or wrong ideas off His children as He makes them into the likeness of His Son?  The Bible teaches He uses pain and hurts to chisel off all the characteristics that make us look and behave more like the culture of the world. He has untold tools in His toolbox to lay bare the innermost secrets of our hearts, to challenge us to be stronger and have a love for Him like Jesus’ humanity had for his Heavenly Father.

When Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” (John 21:15-17), do you think that question made his emotions jump for joy? No, they grieved for him. It even stimulated self-defense. Has the Lord ever grieved you? In my own life, if I had never experienced His grieving, correcting, rebuking, or discipline, I would know very little of Him.

We hear so much more about God’s tender love that we have been lulled to sleep on easy believism and cheap grace. We hear much more about accepting Jesus’ payment of salvation than surrendering the control of our daily lives to Him. Just getting in the door of the kingdom of God requires each person to surrender their own kingdom to God’s kingdom. God desires individuals who will embrace hardship and follow His path, mirroring Jesus’s thoughts, actions, and reactions. He looks for those whose hearts say to Him, I love you, God, and want to be your love slave as Paul and others saw themselves. The Christian life is not all about us; it is about glorifying our God. Remember, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” Hebrews 12:6 ESV.

Ironically, the better you know Him, the greater faith, love, and trust in Him you will have.  He is no longer a god made in your likeness. He is majestic, yet desires to share Himself with you.