"INTEGRITY"

Job 1:1

“There once was a man named Job who lived in the LAND OF Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.”

Praise God! We thank God for carrying us into the month of May! I am excited to see what the Lord has in store, for truly the harvest is ripe. We are the laborers that the Lord wants to equip to see souls saved in such a time as this. Are you ready? Let us continue to stay in the Word of God, pray without ceasing, and maintain our “INTEGRITY”. May everyday of this month be full of joy, peace, and love, in Jesus' name!

A few days ago, I was driving in an area that I was familiar with for many years. I looked up and the Holy Spirit brought to my attention a street sign called “Love” rd. As I continued to drive to my destination, I heard the Spirit say, “Maintain your “INTERGRITY”! Don’t you know you are a child of God? Initially I didn’t know why the Lord said this, but I continued to mediate on what was said.  The Lord brought back to my remembrance the story of Job, in which the Bible said, he was a man of complete “INTEGRITY”. The word Integrity means “The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles that you refuse to change” (https://dictionary.cambrige.org).  How can we as God’s children maintain our “INTEGRITY” as kingdom Citizens? This only can be done, through living a life completely sold out to Jesus.

A brief story of Job: He was a righteous, God- fearing man, who experienced severe afflictions and trials. Job’s children died, he lost all his property and suffered physical agony. In addition, his wife tempted him in suggesting that he forsake God and his friends that came to comfort him accused him of transgression. The Lord gave satan permission to afflict job but “in all this, Job did not sin by blaming God” (Job 1:22, NLT).

(Please take time to read the book of Job and scripture throughout).

As human beings, we have no power to overcome sin without God. The Lord knows we are imperfect without Him. John 2:24-25 says, “But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart” (NLT). The human nature will fail us, but with Christ our strength is made perfect in Him. Proverbs 24:16 also tells us, “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity” (NKJV). In this fallen world, the difference between the righteous and unrighteous man is not whether they fall or not but what their response is when they fall.

There are many brilliant, intelligent and well-off men and women in the world that can boast about all the success they possess. Job was a perfect example of one who possessed great wealth and was called the greatest of men in his time. He was in our modern time called a millionaire. However, job knew the value of maintaining his “INTEGRITY”- refusing to change who he was in Christ Jesus. We can easily loose our way, due to the cares and riches of this world. What really matters is maintaining our Integrity (standing firm on our faith and obeying the Word of God).  The beginning of Job’s life starts off by telling us about who Job was and what he stood for.  Job had a special love for the Lord, that despite his affliction and trials, he remained loyal to God. People of God, the beginning of our life story may not have started off like Job. However, God desires for our ending to be a woman or man of God with complete 'INTEGRITY".

Let’s take a moment to go back to the road sign: “LOVE Rd”. As I meditated on what the Lord spoken into my spirit, the street sign immediately came back to me “LOVE”. In the book of Matthew 22:34-39, the Pharisees and Sadducees tried to trap him with this question: "Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses? Jesus replied, "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'(NLT). Love will conquer all things! The Bible tells us “The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and discipline in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:7-8, NLT).

In our devotion last week, I mentioned the seven dimension I learned in Bible College that we must have in order to fulfill God’s assignment. The sixth dimension highlights the importance of love (1 Corinthians 13). We all have imperfection and flaws, but love overlooks for a higher call. When the church gets absolutely intoxicated with the Love of God, we will experience a revival that cannot be contained. I believe, it was only because of job intoxicated love deep in his soul, that allowed him to ride out his afflictions and trials. People of God, let us stay on the road of LOVE! We will see the hand of God in our lives in spite of our trials. We will face persecutions, afflictions and trials, but what will be our response?  Paul the apostle, made a remarkable statement, “Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:11-13).

The Bible tells us at the end of the story of Job: "When Job prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his fortunes. In fact, the LORD gave him twice as much as before! (Job 42:10, NLT).

Job love for the Lord was revealed through his actions of repentance and praying for his friends.

My prayer is that as we seek to maintain our INTEGRITY, that our response will be pleasing unto the Lord. Let us stand on His Word, “buy the truth, and sell it not…, Proverbs 23:23, KJV). Be encouraged knowing that if we pursue to stay on the Love Road, through Christ Jesus, we will maintain our “INTERGRITY”, in Jesus’ name!

Job 27:5

“I will never concede that you are right. I will defend my integrity until I die.”