“WHAT INTEGRITY IS”

So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands. (Psalm 78:72)
Recent headlines have taught us that many so called successes were built on a foundation devoid of integrity. As it is in government, corporations so it is in the church, all too often we find a moral laxity behind our pews and, even worse, behind the pulpit. What is integrity?
Integrity means “an unimpaired condition.” It means to be sound, complete and solid. You have integrity if you keep your word even when no one checks up on you. Integrity means the absence of duplicity and is the opposite of hypocrisy. If you are a person of integrity, you will do what you say.What you declare, you will do your best to be. Integrity also includes financial accountability, personal reliability, and private purity. A person with integrity does not manipulate others. He or she is not prone to arrogance or self-praise. Integrity even invites constructive and necessary criticism because it applauds accountability. It’s sound. It’s solid. It’s complete. Integrity is rock-like. It won’t crack when it has to stand alone, and it won’t crumble though the pressure mounts. Integrity keeps one from fearing the white light of examination or resisting the exacting demands of close scrutiny. It’s honesty at all costs.
But there are some things integrity is not. It is not sinless perfection. A person with integrity does not live a life absolutely free of sin. No one does. But one with integrity quickly acknowledges his failures and doesn’t hide the wrong. Integrity is essential in the church, in the marketplace, and especially in the home. When you walk in integrity, you leave it as a legacy for your children to follow (Proverbs 20:7). When you work with integrity, you honor the Lord. Regardless of your profession, your character and conduct are godly.
You want to stand out and alone? Start demonstrating integrity in all you do, in your relationships, doing what’s right when no one is looking. It takes real courage to stand strong with integrity in a culture weakened by pietism and pretence. Start today.

FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT

“FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT”
Fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience (1 Timothy 1:18b-19).
Paul’s word here to young Timothy, who is being left to do a very dangerous and demanding work in Ephesus is to “fight the good fight.” That saying to us that Christian life is fundamentally a lifelong warfare and there is no exit until the end. This is contrary to the misleading teachings of today that once you become a Christian, God will begin to work for you and things will be smooth all the way. If this prevailing school of thought is right, then Paul was out of God’s will most of his life. He was constantly in one battle or the other and he tells Timothy that he too is going to be in a battle.
Paul is talking about being a Christian, living a Christ-like life in the midst of dangerous pressures and countering forces. That is the battle we are called to fight, to remain standing unbowed and unconquered in spite of ceaseless contentions with our faith in a world of illusion, pleasure seeking and selfishness. It is a call to look at all things from heaven’s perspective, getting God’s point of view on every issue, seeing things the way they are and dealing honestly and openly in godly manner with everything that comes  ones way. That is the battle we are called to fight.
There must be a conflict with corruption, temptations, the powers of darkness and this we cannot avoid but we can overcome. We are not called to hide away in seclusion rather to be out there in the midst of life, in the marketplaces, the cities, among people, and under the pressures and dangers of everyday life and we should deal earnestly and honestly with life without compromising what He staid for. Joseph, Daniel, the three Hebrews and many patriarchs had their different kind of ‘faith battles’, making God their focus rather than rationalising their ways through the pressures of life (Genesis 39; Daniel 1:8; Daniel 6)
The battle Paul is talking about is to love God all the way, live in constant fear of Jehovah and be a loving person who has concern and compassion for people, not living in condemnation. The warfare is to live a life of purpose. 

“FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT”
 
Do you have questions regarding this week’s issue of “In His Presence” ? Please Contact me via the email address below.
pastor@rccggoldenarena.org
Paul is talking about being a Christian, living a Christ-like life in the midst of dangerous pressures and countering forces. That is the battle we are called to fight, to remain standing unbowed and unconquered in spite of ceaseless contentions with our faith in a world of illusion, pleasure seeking and selfishness.
Ranti Orioke

The OBEDIENCE, Key to the Miraculous

In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, Stand up on your feet! At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. Acts 14:8-10

Faith or obedience, which comes first and what is the significance of the order? Obedience to what? Faith in what or whom? The combination of the two describe our daily walk with God. 

The passage tells of Paul preaching in Lystra along with Barnabas, we are not told how long or the number of days this has been. There seated in the marketplace was a man who had been lame from his birth, who had never walked. He heard what Paul said, and believed what Paul declared about the power of Jesus, the mighty Son of God. Paul looked at him and saw in that man’s eyes the faith to believe. Suddenly he said to him, Stand up on your feet. And the lame man, though he had never walked in his life, made the effort to obey. He had faith enough to try, and the moment he began to obey, the power to obey was given.

I believe this is exactly the way the Christian life works. It does not make any difference whether the problem is physical, emotional, or spiritual; it does not matter who puts there and for how long, you are going to be held in its bondage until you begin to obey the Word of God about it. When you make the effort to obey, God will set you free. But he will never move until you obey. That is the way faith works. Most people are kept from seeing God at work in their lives because they keep waiting for God to do something, in order for them to believe. No, God has already done all that he is going to do in the realm of the spirit. When you believe what he says, then he will give you the power to be free.

Obedience is the fruit of once decisions. It makes way for the miraculous. When Joshua was faced with an impassible barrier, the floodwaters of the Jordan River receded only after the leaders stepped into the rushing current in obedience and faith. Obedience unlocks God’s power. The Bible says Jesus Christ learnt obedience by the things He went through, no wonder, everything answer unto Him. As you go through the Christian race, learn obedience. Once you learn obedience, your life becomes easier.