Are you aware that there was actually a time in our
nation's history when a man or woman's word was their bond? When an agreement was made, the parties involved
would simply shake hands and it was done.
I remember very clearly when I was around the age of seven watching my
great grandfather negotiate a price to build a house for a man.
My grandfather went back and forth with the man for
a while. Finally, they came to an
agreement. The two of them shook hands, and
off we went. There was no need for
lengthy and confusing contracts. The
transactions between people involved honest, because people simply lived their
lives based on the honor system which was based on integrity. When two people made an agreement, they took
to heart what the verse of Matthew 5:37 says, "But let your communication be, Yea, yea or Nay, nay: for whatsoever is
more than these cometh of evil."
Over the years I have had the privilege of spending
time with many wonderful Christian leaders, men and women who have modeled for
me and so many others just what it means to walk out a life of integrity in all
situations. They are passionate about
truth and have "in-deed" given their lives to seeing God's perfect
will and plan fulfilled in everything they do.
When they tell you they are going to do something, you can "take it
to the bank"!
On the other hand, I have met people who are not so
committed to living a life of integrity.
I have also heard heartbreaking stories of people who have been hurt by
the compromise of a person whose tendency is to prefer style over substance. Their practices, more often than not, include
using God's name for the purpose of manipulating people and situations in order
to have their own selfish wants and desires fulfilled.
Jesus warns us in Matthew 24:4-5 saying, "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many
shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ (anointed); and shall deceive many." Notice, Jesus didn't say these people would
actually claim to be himself come in the flesh, but he was warning us about
those who claim to be "anointed" but are not.
Paul also warns us of such impostors in 2 Timothy
3:1-7 saying, "This know also, that
in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves,
covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,
unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent,
fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers
of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying
the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep
into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers
lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
Another similar problem faces the church today:
immature believers that tend to use the name of Jesus Christ to justify doing
or saying something they feel strongly about. I don't say this to belittle the precious
young ones in Christ among us but to make the point that much is being done in
the name of our wonderful Lord that is wrong. In my thirty-five years of ministry, I have
never seen a time like now. I have personally witnessed even the so-called
"mature" among us compromise their integrity on the altar of selfish
convenience. Jesus warns, "Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk
in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the
synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts; which devour widows' houses, and for
a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation." (Luke 20:46) There you go, if you want to talk about style
over substance!
Jesus gives us a way to identify these folks in the
following verses. "These are wells without water, clouds that
are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever."
(2 Peter 2:17) "For every tree is known by his own fruit."
(Luke 6:44) Just because someone says they're a Christian,
it doesn't necessarily mean that it's true, and they are a Christian. However, seeing the fruit of a person's life -
where most of their personal time, talents, and treasures is spent - will stand
as the true evidence of their being committed to diligently pursuing God and
His ways, or still being committed to their old flesh nature instead.
If you have read or listened to even a few of the
messages God has provided through this ministry of Toward The Mark, Inc, you
have likely heard me say, with conviction and frequency, that, "Those who
truly w-a-n-t Christ, truly pursue Him."
When we begin to seek Christ with our whole hearts, we also become
committed to forsaking anything and anyone that comes to separate us from Him,
and become committed to following Jesus Christ in every area of our lives and
lifestyle. As we learn about, and
experience, Christ's Nature and see the love He has for us as His children, we will
become more like Him and will have a desire to be totally and wholeheartedly transformed
into His likeness. With that in mind, if
the extent of someone's commitment to Christ is simply attending a church
service or two each week, that just "won't cut it" for them for long if
they truly w-a-n-t to be transformed into Christ's image. An old country preacher once said, "Sittin'
in a church pew, for a Sunday or mid-week service, makes you a Christian, just
about as much as sittin' in a garage for a day makes you a car."
If what we say doesn't match up with what we do, what
people see that we do will always be more important than what we say. "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and
I have works: show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my
faith by my works." (James 2:18) As
long as we live, our actions will always speak louder than our words.
Paul hit the nail on the head when he said, "This know also, that in the last days
perilous times shall come." (2
Timothy 3:1) Perilous times have
arrived. It is clear that we are in the
last days and the "peril" has come. In the last seventy years alone, we have seen
our means of communication progress from archaic methods to the highly
technical and very sophisticated systems of today. Satellite, fiber optic cable, and world-wide
internet communication systems have come to be used by the devil and his
minions for dumping his deceptive agenda into our homes around the clock,
making it easy to continually flood our eyes and ears with what is working to
erode away our integrity. The assault on
everything that is good is raging around us and, if there has ever been a time
when we need to focus our wholehearted attention on God, it is NOW!
"And
take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with
surfeiting, (to indulge one's appetites excessively) and drunkenness, and cares
of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it
come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore,
and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things
that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." (Luke
21:34)
"But the
end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."
(1 Peter 4:7)
This time we are living in is NO time for
compromise! In fact, the evidence is
shows... Our Lord Jesus Christ's return is very soon.
THANK YOU for staying connected with us, and for following
our blog every month throughout the year!
We appreciate you and pray God's greatest blessing on you and your
family! In Christ Jesus,
Re-read and Pass it on to everyone you know who hasn't given their heart and life to Christ, or to those who just need encouraged: The_Crisis_of_Eroding_Integrity
To Show GOD BIG in a World that Sees
Him small… sums
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