THE ROAD TO INTEGRITY

THE ROAD TO INTEGRITY
Proverbs 28:6
Proverbs 2:7-10

Only God’s Spirit can create integrity within us, but everything in the world can rob us of it. People and situations will intentionally and unintentionally corrupt and compromise our integrity. We aren’t born with a heart of integrity, and if we want it, we have to fight for it.
If we want to fight for deep-rooted integrity, it means that we must intimately know, understand, and love God’s truth. It’s this truth that develops wisdom in our lives and helps us discern and put into practice the standards and boundaries that form a heart of integrity.
To fight also means to surround ourselves with people who are always watching and holding us accountable. Sins multiply in silence and seem smaller with a lack of accountability. We are much more likely to continue to compromise when no one cares that we are doing it or will not find out. Accountability is hard, but is a key ingredient to taking responsibility for our actions and words.
Fighting for integrity will grow our capacity to face and change the obstacles that continually force us to compromise God’s truth. It makes it a little easier to not over-promise things, change jobs or find a different circle of friends.
Fighting doesn’t mean we will ever be perfect. We all fall down. We all make mistakes. No matter how much integrity we have, we will never be perfect. This is especially true in times of fear, disaster, and chaos when the temptation is even greater to make a wrong choice. The key is to take responsibility for your actions and own up to our mistakes. Having a heart of integrity helps us recognize mistakes and reach out for God’s grace and forgiveness.
Integrity is not something that you either have or don’t have; it’s a lifestyle that we must intentionally strive for. Be intentional about striving for God’s truth and wisdom. Fight against everything that tries to distract and rob us of integrity. Determine to run hard after the things that matter.


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INTEGRITY

"What Is Integrity"
Integrity is hard to define. In the dictionary, it’s defined as “sticking to moral and ethical principles.” In everyday life, integrity is defined as being honest and trustworthy. If we base integrity off of these 2 definitions, we end up living our lives based on a moral truth of our choosing and hoping others see us as trustworthy and right. Both of these definitions are right, yet, at the same time, incomplete. Integrity is also so much more.
True integrity is simply this- living and speaking based on what God says is right. Integrity means basing our words and actions off of His principles and truth. Why is it based on God’s set of principles? He is the author of everything right and true. When we live our lives claiming that God is our creator, we have to understand that He created us to live based on His standards of truth.
He created us to receive our moral and ethical principles from Him. Any other place we find our values or truth is a man-made opinion, and therefore not true integrity. His truth is the only thing that will lead us to a life of integrity. So, living with integrity means saying yes to what God says is right and good, no matter the consequences.
Integrity is more precious than riches and more important than our comfort. Identifying and believing that God’s Word is the only standard by which to evaluate and develop our core values is the first step in developing integrity. Determine today to start opening your heart to a lifestyle of knowing what integrity is and where it comes from.

Scripture Reading: Psalms 15:1-5, Psalms 25:1-10

DISCOVER GOD'S VISION: Managing God's Vision

Managing God’s Vision

- Matthew 25:21, Matthew 25:23, Hebrews 10:36

By Michael Youssef, Ph.D.
God gives His vision to those who are good stewards. God is looking for stewards who will manage His plans well, even in the face of opposition, frustration, impatience, or even spiritual attack.

As we follow God’s timeline, we may experience anxious moments and frustration while we wait for God’s plan to unfold. Satan will tempt us to bypass God’s timeline and question God’s direction. Yet God entrusts His vision to those He knows will persevere through criticism, seasons of waiting, and spiritual warfare.

God also gives His vision to those who are faithful in small things. He will give greater vision to those who are being faithful with what is already in their charge. The Bible teaches us that this is how God rewards His faithful servants. “You have been faithful with a few things: I will put you in charge of many things” (Matthew 25:21, 23).

The good news is that it is never too late to start seeking God’s vision. We are always at the right point in our lives to decide to honor God and to delight in Him.

Prayer: God, I pray that I will be a good steward of the vision You give me and that I will persevere no matter what challenges I face. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (Hebrews 10:36).

DISCOVER GOD'S VISION: Asking for God's Vision

Asking for God’s Vision

- Jeremiah 33:3 Psalms 138:3

By Michael Youssef, Ph.D.
To understand and embrace God’s vision, we must ask Him for it. The Bible tells us we have not because we ask not—and sometimes when we do ask, we ask with selfish motives rather than God-honoring motives. But God promises us, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know” (Jeremiah 33:3). God wishes to reveal Himself to us, but we must first ask with pure motives and persistence.

The word for “call” in this verse means to do so continuously. We are commanded to ask continuously until God reveals His vision to us. Persistence teaches us to rely on God while He is shaping our hearts to delight in Him.

God does a wonderful work in us when we seek His will. As we seek Him for His will, we learn who He is and we begin to delight in Him and His will rather than our own. As He becomes the desire of our hearts, we are aligned and ready to receive His will and vision for our lives.

Prayer: God, I pray that You would reveal Your vision to me today. Show me where You would have me go and what You would have me do. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted” (Psalm 138:3).

HOW DO I STUDY GOD'S WORD

How do I study God’s Word?

- Hebrews 5:11-14, 6:1-3, 4:12

The Bible is unlike any other narrative. It is God’s story chock-full of amazing depth and application for our lives. Jesus reminds us that the condition of our heart is important when we hear or read God’s Word. If we are open and receptive to God’s words, they will take root in our lives and transform us.
But how does our heart open up to God in order to be receptive to his words? Jesus told his disciples that after he returned to heaven, the Holy Spirit would come to reside in them and to remind them of everything he had said. This same Spirit lives in all believers today.
The desired outcome of studying God’s truth is transformation. It guides us along a path of maturity in Christ. We get into the Bible and the Bible turns around and gets into us and changes us for the good. (See Hebrews 5:11-6:3).

KEY VERSE

For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

KEY IDEA

I study the Bible to know God and his truth and to find direction for my daily life.

KEY APPLICATION: What difference does this make in the way I live?

We regularly read and study God’s Word. We come to see that studying God’s Word in community with other believers is of great value. We align our lives to the Bible because we believe it is from God.
Consider this: What if for one week you exchanged your mobile phone for your Bible? Anywhere you normally take your phone, you take your Bible instead. Anytime you normally look at your phone, you look at God’s Word instead. The time you spend calling, texting, and browsing online with your phone is traded for time reading Scripture. If you normally place your phone next to you at a business meeting or by your plate at dinnertime, you now put your Bible there. What difference would this exchange make in your life in just one week? Whose life would be impacted? This line of questions is not intended to trigger guilt, but rather to inspire us to increase our engagement with the one instrument that can truly change not only our lives but the lives of those around us.

HOW DO I GROW BY COMMUNICATING WITH GOD?

How do I grow by communicating with God?

- Genesis 18:20-31, Psalms 66:18-20

Our God is a personal God who desires a real relationship with us. He is not a distant, cosmic being, but a good father who longs to interact with his children. Prayer is a conversation between God and his people. We serve a God who is not threatened by our questions and doubts. We don’t have to put on a false persona to please him. He permits us to be honest about our fears, our feelings of isolation and our disappointments. When we rehearse our story before him, we see his good involvement in our lives.
Because we are God’s most prized creation, he wants to know the desires of our hearts. Scripture encourages us to, without hesitation, lay our requests before him. For example, see Gen. 18:20-31 for a conversation between Abraham and God that displays the freedom we have to talk honestly with him.

KEY VERSE

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me! (Psalm 66:18–20)

KEY IDEA

I pray to God to know him, to find direction for my life and to lay my requests before him.

KEY APPLICATION: What difference does this make in the way I live?

We pray to align our lives with God’s will and story. We pray to lay our burdens before God to find peace. We pray to avoid making any major decision without seeking God. We pray for others.
Let me share a story with you. Our son David was born without a left hand. Prayer was a key spiritual practice to not only help me process this difficult event in our lives but also to move the reality of my identity, and my son’s identity, in Christ from my head to my heart.
During this time, I began by praying psalms of lament to the Lord: Why, Lord, did you let this happen to me? I serve you as a pastor of a church — not perfectly, but wholeheartedly. Why could you not pass this burden on to someone who doesn’t even believe in you? Have I done something wrong to deserve this?
I never sensed God was angry with me for speaking to him with such honesty. Actually, I felt as though he were whispering to me, Go ahead, I can handle this. I love you. Keep talking honestly to me, and we will get to the bottom of this. I will show you something I have wanted you to see for a long time.
In many extended moments of silence, when I didn’t know what else to say or how to pray, God began speaking back to me — not in an audible voice, but directly to my spirit. “Randy, my son, I have nothing in my being that seeks to harm you. The darkness and pain of the world are caused by sin, not by me. I have come to redeem the pain caused by sin. Randy, my son, I will use this situation to show you — and your son — who I really am. If you capture this, it will be more valuable than having three hands. Randy, my son, I have given your son everything he needs to be and do everything I am calling him to be and do. Randy, my son, it is time to shift your sense of worth from your performance to your position. You are my son. You do not have to perform to be a somebody; you already are a somebody in my eyes.
“Randy, my son, you need to teach this to your son. He will learn this from how you live, not by your words alone. You have four years before he realizes he is missing a hand. This gives you four years to learn to place your identity in your position as my son. Randy, my son, if you get this truth embedded into your heart, you will be free — free from the exhausting life of trying to gain and sustain status in the world. This is a great gift to give to all your children.”
Prayer is a conversation with God. We lay our honest requests before God, our need for daily bread. Yet, we clarify, as Jesus did, that we want God’s will to be done over our will, trusting his way to be good and right. As we rest in the presence of God, he will speak and show us his will in his perfect timing.

365 DAYS DEVOTIONAL READING PLAN - Day 83

Inward Assurance

- Isaiah 32:17

In the Old Testament, the words confidence and assurance are different forms of the same Hebrew word. Isaiah adds the concept of quietness, “In quietness and trust” (Isa 30:15) we find our strength. Isaiah also tells us that “quietness and confidence” are the effect of righteousness (Isa 32:17). In the New Testament, the Greek words translated “full riches of complete understanding” (Col 2:2) and “convinced” (Ro 8:38) convey the same idea as similar words in the Old Testament.

Assurance is not based on optimism about your own abilities. Rather it is an inward peace based on God’s righteous work in you. Such confidence is not self-confidence, for that would be false security and reliance on something unreliable (Pr 14:16; Jer 9:23–24). Scripture states that those who have confidence in their own strength (Isa 30:12), beauty (Eze 16:15) or righteousness (Eze 33:12) are to be considered fools (Pr 28:26).

True confidence—rooted in the Lord’s capabilities and his relationship with his children—is a quiet strength that brings rich reward (Heb 10:35–36), a lasting security that is fully satisfying.

Taken from The Woman’s Study Bible