“Let integrity and uprightness preserve me” (Psalm 25:21; AMPC). Some other words conveying all or part of the meaning of integrity would be: strong moral standards, honesty, innocence, blameless, righteousness, incorruptible and honorable. The scripture quotation above was written by King David and we know that for the most part he was a man of integrity because he had the opportunity to kill King Saul but chose not to because Saul was God’s anointed king (1 Sam 24:10). (However, when it came to his relationship with Bathsheba and Uriah he was not operating in integrity; 2 Sam 11-12) We are told by Solomon that the book of Proverbs was written so that we could learn integrity (Prov 11:3)., along with many other things (Prov 1:3). So, if we want to live lives of integrity we should pay close attention to the whole book of Proverbs.

In Ephesians 6, in the Amplified Bible Classic translation (AMPC), we read about putting on the armour of God and verse 14 says, “Having put on the breastplate of integrity and moral rectitude”. We have to put it on, in other words be intentional about it. This means no white lies, no cheating; it means obeying the laws of the land, showing respect, being an honest citizen and doing what we know is right even when no one is watching.

When Paul wrote to Titus, he asked him to appoint elders for the churches and said that they should be men of “unquestionable integrity” (Titus 1:6; AMPC). That should describe anyone who calls himself a Christian. So, lets make integrity a priority in our lives and set a good example in the body of Christ.

“Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30; NKJV). This is one of my favourite passages in the Bible! To the people of Jesus’ time, He offered a rest from the toil of trying to live by the law and traditions of the time. This passage speaks powerfully to us as well. As we labour and toil to the point of exhaustion in life trying to find peace, integrity, fulfillment, satisfaction, abundance and success Jesus says, why not live life My way and you will experience all you seek and true rest. True rest is refreshment, when we can stop labouring in our own strength and look to Jesus. We read in our passage that Jesus is humble and a man of meekness, meekness is power under control. Jesus’ way for us to have the abundant God kind of life (John 10:10) is easy, pleasant and good. Becoming yoked to Jesus means to be linked with and submitted to Him; to become humble and teachable so we can learn His ways and do them. We men often buy a product and get frustrated trying to assemble and use it because we rely only on our own ability and knowledge. Then our wives suggest we read the instructions and we finally have success. In our passage, God tells us to do life His way and then we will experience rest, peace and fulfillment. His instruction manual we need to consult is the word, our Bible!

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 tells us that if we do good things but without love, those good things are worthless. Thus, we need to make sure that everything we do is prompted by love. 1 Cor 16:14 says, “Let everything you do be done in love (true love to God and man as inspired by God’s love in us)” (AMPC). That’s talking about agape love which means that if we do something motivated by this kind of love, we won’t be expecting anything back in return. In other words, we won’t be thinking of ourselves (1 Cor 13:5). This reminds me of the “Good Samaritan” in Luke 10:25-37. This man was motivated by love to care for a wounded man and even pay for his hotel stay out of his own pocket. It must have been a great inconvenience to him but this was agape love.

1 Cor 14:1 tells us, “Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire (this) love (make it your aim, your great quest)” (AMPC). That’s how serious we need to be about operating in love. The apostle John gives us some great advice about how to mature in this love in 1 John chapter 4. He says that because God is love, if we abide in God and He in us then that love will develop in us (verse 16). Then in verse 17 he tells us that, “in this (union and communion with Him) love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us” (AMPC). That’s how we develop agape love – a life-long process but so worth it!

The prophet Elijah was discouraged; Israel had rebelled against God and the wicked queen, Jezebel, threatened to kill him. Elijah ran a very long way. However, God provided for Elijah, encouraged him and sent him on a new assignment (1 Kings 19:1-18). At some time or another we have all had to deal with discouragement. Discouragement can involve anxiety, fear, worry and depression. It can be triggered by so many issues such as job loss, marriage difficulties, financial challenges, busyness, stress and unfulfilled dreams. Discouragement originates with satan whose aim is to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). How do we deal with discouragement? First of all, we need to remind ourselves that as Christians we are God’s children (1 John 3:1-2), that satan is a defeated foe (Col 2:15) and that Jesus came to give us life in abundance (John 10:10). We need to forget the past with all its issues, look forward to all God has for us (Phil 3:13-14) and cast our cares on Him (1 Peter 5:7). We need to forgive those who have hurt us, receive God’s forgiveness of us (Col 3:13) and walk in love (Col 3:14). In the Bible we read, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col 3:2; NKJV). We need to focus on Jesus and how he suffered and died for us so we could be saved (Heb 12:2-3). As we focus on Jesus and the word, we will experience God’s perfect peace (Isa 26:3). Let’s pray, ask God to help us, praise Him and thank Him for His peace. As we praise God His presence and peace will envelop us (Psalm 22:3).

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do and He will show you which path to take” (Prov 3:5,6; NLT). Today, I want to look at some of the benefits that come from trusting God. We see from the above verse that one of those benefits is guidance. According to Psalm 91 we receive all kinds of protection when we put our trust in Him, “This I declare about the Lord. He alone is my refuge, my place of safety, He is my God and I trust Him” (Ps 91:2; NLT). Trusting the Lord also brings strength (Isa 40:31;), prosperity and blessing (Ps 28:25), help (Ps 28:7) and unfailing love (Ps 32:10). In Ephesians 3:17 we are told that Christ will make His home in our hearts if we trust in Him. Jeremiah 17:7 is a favourite of mine, it tells us, “Most blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is” (AMPC). It goes on to say that that person will be strong and sturdy like a tree; they won’t be anxious but will prosper and bear fruit.

These are all wonderful benefits but how exactly do we trust the Lord? Psalm 37:5 in the AMPC gives us a clue, it says, “Commit your way to the Lord (roll and repose each care of your load on Him); trust (lean on, rely on and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.” When we are trusting God, we can’t do things in our own ability; we need to get ourselves out of the way and make God our priority and seek Him in prayer and the word. “Nothing is impossible for God” (Luke 1:37).