Showing posts with label Little Pieces of Clay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Little Pieces of Clay. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Little Pieces of Clay~Making a Christian~9. Integrity of Worship

     Before I share the qualities of each Bible Study, I make sure that I am either living the passage of Scripture or working my way there. This one took a little longer than the rest.

Micah 6:6-8
With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with ten thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgressions, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed us, O people, what is good; and what does the LORD require of us, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your GOD?
Psalm 51:15-17
O LORD, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You desire not sacrifice; else would I give it: You delight not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of GOD are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O GOD, You will not despise.
Isaiah 33:15
He that walks righteously, and speaks uprightly; he that despises the gain of oppressions (deceit), that shakes his hands from holding of bribes (refuse to take bribes), that stops his ears from hearing of blood (does not listen to gossip, backbiting, backstabbing, hateful speaking), and shuts his eyes from seeing evil (does not look on wickedness or evil acts being done).
Job 2:9
Then said his wife to him, "Do you still retain your integrity? curse GOD and die."
Job 27:4-6, 8
My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit. GOD forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove my integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live....For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained, when GOD takes away his soul?
Job 31:6
Let me be weighed in an even balance, that GOD may know my integrity.

     We can memorize all the worship songs and sing them loudly and on key; that doesn't make us a worshiper. We are just noise, static, and the only one who really hears us is us. Our heart needs to be right with GOD before GOD will acknowledge our worship. For worship comes from the heart.
     The Book of Micah says that GOD requires of us to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with GOD. To do justly is to deal fairly with everyone, regardless of stature or class. What you charge one person for a commodity, you are to charge another the same. What I require for a real friendship from one person, I am to require the same from another. We are to treat each other with fairness. John 15:12 "This is My commandment, That you love one another as I have loved you."
     To love mercy is to be merciful to all. Generally speaking, we tend to render mercy to those we think need it; and people we think don't need it, we seldom, if ever, render mercy to. But GOD says to love mercy is to give mercy to all; with a loving heart. As Christians, we should have the love of GOD in us because we have CHRIST in us. If we are not sharing mercy with all, it is because there is more of us present in our hearts, than there is JESUS in our hearts. John 3:30  "He must increase, but I must decrease."
     To walk humble with your GOD is to submit our will, our "I wants", to His will. Not forcefully, but surrendering with humility and love.  The Book of Proverbs tells us how to walk humble with our GOD. The positive part of the verse applies to the Christian. The negative part of the verse tells us how we should not behave. Matthew 22:37 "You shall love the LORD your GOD with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."


     That's Integrity. It's not something you and I are born with. Integrity grows in us as CHRIST grows in us. Knowing what is right and doing what is right is integrity. Knowing what is evil and doing what is evil is a lack of integrity. Personal ethics should line up with the Word of GOD. Our standard of living must match GOD's standard of living in order for us to be able to acknowledge that GOD is our GOD.
     Integrity is personal, spiritual growth in the things of GOD. It is personal because the outward showing of our integrity is visible to everyone. It is spiritual because GOD sees the heart and knows our thoughts before our thoughts become actions. As David says, in Psalm 51, GOD requires the sacrifice of a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. To walk be able to walk uprightly in heart is to first have that heart of ours be broken. A contrite heart is a repentant heart.
     When our heart is broken, it is because we are no longer able to hold back our stubbornness, our refusal to submit to authority, especially the authority of GOD. And the cries of our heart to be healed finally break the dam of self-centeredness; the tears begin the healing process of repentance and forgiveness. Most of us don't like to cry. We have been taught from a child that tears and crying are a sign of weakness, especially in men and boys. This is a lie. Crying is a call for help. Infants cry because they cannot ask for help verbally. When the baby cries, we answer that cry.  When our hearts cry, GOD answers that cry.
     Tears are a release. The waters overflow the dam and the dam breaks because of the powerful waters. The tears overflow the hardened heart and the heart breaks. A broken and contrite heart is the first item GOD requires. Without repentance, one cannot get into the presence of GOD. John 14:6 "...I am The Way, The Truth and The Life: no man comes to the Father by by Me."
     The verses spoken of in the beginning of this session are the Scriptures on which I have based my studies; yet, there are many more which describe what Integrity is. Most of these are located in the Book of Psalms. A few in Proverbs. These speak of what it means to walk uprightly:

Psalm 7:8  Lead me, O LORD, in Thy righteousness because of my enemies; make Thy Way straight before my face.
Psalm 25:21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on Thee.
Psalm 26:1, 11 Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in my integrity: for I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.
Psalm 41:12 And as for me, You uphold me in my integrity, and set me before Your face forever.
Psalm 78:72 So He fed them according to the integrity of His heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of His hands.
Proverbs 11:3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.
Proverbs 19:1 Better is the poor that walks in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
Proverbs 20:7 The just man walks in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.

     The person who is upright of heart is sincere, undefiled, whole, morally entire, without spot. Integrity is completeness, prosperity, morally innocent, upright; gentle, dear, coupled together. When we walk with our GOD, we walk in our integrity, humbly acknowledging that HE IS GOD and we are His people. We walk with Him; we are together. 3 John 2-4 "Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came together and testified of The Truth that is in you, even as you walk in The Truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in Truth."
     When we walk with GOD, we walk in The Truth. And Who is Truth? JESUS CHRIST. See? When we walk with GOD, we walk in JESUS. When we walk in The Word, we walk in JESUS. John 1:1, 14 "In the beginning was The Word, and The Word was with GOD, and The Word was GOD...And The Word was made flesh, and lived among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of Grace and Truth." ~~ Psalm 119:105 "Thy WORD is a Lamp to my feet,a nd a Light to my path."  ~~ Psalm 119:10, 11 "With my whole heart have I sought You: O let me not wander from Your commandments. Thy WORD have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You."



     John 4:23, 24 "But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship th Father in Spirit and in Truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth."

     Integrity requires knowledge of GOD's direction, GOD's will, for a worshipper. Even in the church, many question what GOD's will is for them. But some of these same people refuse to not only open their Bible and study for themselves, but refuse to believe the Word of GOD when GOD's will is revealed within it. Refusing to believe GOD is wickedness, it's sin. That's not me making a judgment call: that's GOD. I can only share GOD's WORD with you: it's up to you whether or not you accept it.  Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." You can serve the god of the land in which you live or you can serve the GOD of the Bible.
     GOD has more than one will to impart to us, but there is only one way we can do it. Ephesians 6:6 "...but as the servants of CHRIST,
 doing the will of GOD from the heart."

>SALVATION is the number one priority to worshiping with Integrity of Heart.
I Timothy 2:3-6 For this is good and acceptable  in the sight of GOD our SAVIOUR; Who will have all men be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of The Truth.
John 6:38-40 "For I came down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the Father's will which has sent Me, that of all which He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which sees the Son, and believes on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."
John 3:16-18 "For GOD so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For GOD sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of GOD." GOD's Will is that ALL be SAVED.

>SURRENDER  Romans 12:1 I beseech(beg) you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of GOD, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto GOD, which is your reasonable(logical) service.
     The subject of this series is this verse. Why does GOD consider our service reasonable, logical? Because JESUS CHRIST served GOD with His whole being: His will was not important in accomplishing GOD's mission for Him, through Him. Therefore, it is only logical, reasonable that we surrender ourselves, our will to GOD that His mission be accomplished through us. Because CHRIST was totally committed to serving GOD with everything He had within Him, we are to serve GOD also in this manner. All to Jesus I Surrender.

>SANCTIFICATION  2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in CHRIST, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with CHRIST: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but CHRIST lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of GOD, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. Hebrews 10:10, 14 By which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of JESUS CHRIST once for all. .. For by one offering He has perfected forever them that are sanctified.
     So much more could be said here; I would that you read Hebrews 10 for yourselves. In fact, every verse I share with you, you should verify in your own Bibles. Never take anyone's word for anything you hear; always verify.
     Sanctified means to be made holy, to be purified, to be consecrated, to be venerated mentally. God ordained the seventh day of the week as holy. That day is set apart from the rest of the weekdays to be spent honoring GOD, resting in GOD. That which we do on the other six days of the week is not to be done on the seventh day of the week. When GOD ordains something to be holy, He sets it apart from the other. When we believe in JESUS CHRIST, we become sanctified through Him; we are now set apart from the others.
     You know this to be so. People we do not know come up to us and say, "You're a Christian, aren't you?" How do they know? What is it about us that draws strangers to us who declare such things? It is JESUS. He is the evidence that people see in us. It is our actions: compassion is revealed when we help others, even strangers. "You're a Christian, aren't you?" Yes. I am. May I share JESUS with you today?

>SUFFERING  Philippians 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of CHRIST, not only to believe on Him, but to suffer for His sake. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it(faith) is the gift of GOD.
     I have to suffer? GOD's will is that I suffer? I can hear indignation and confusion. Mind-boggling, isn't it? And it's a gift! "..it is GIVEN..." With belief comes suffering on His behalf. To suffer for CHRIST's sake is to be persecuted by those who choose not to believe in CHRIST. Matthew 5:10-12 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. After the gift of suffering is the gift of heaven.
     GOD's will is that you and I must suffer for CHRIST's sake. When we share JESUS with anyone, only some will receive Him; most will mock us, make fun of us, refuse to be friends with us, some will forbid us to preach or even say His name; some will imprison us; some will kill us. But remember: it is not we who are being rejected: it is JESUS being rejected. And for His sake, we will endure the persecutions, the suffering that GOD wills us to go through.

     And there you have it. This is Integrity. Salvation. Surrender. Sanctification. Suffering. This is what it means to worship GOD in Spirit and in Truth. The Holy Spirit draws us to CHRIST. And once we have the Holy Spirit of GOD in us, we willingly surrender ourselves to GOD's will. Thus, allowing GOD to sanctify our souls, to set us apart from the rest of the world, just for Himself. Which will cause us to suffer for CHRIST's sake.

Do you have what it takes to worship GOD with Integrity? If you want to sing GOD's praises, you have to obey GOD's will. Otherwise, you are just singing to yourself.


     Hebrews 12:1-3
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed (surrounded) wtih so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith;
Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of GOD.
For conside Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself,
lest you be wearied and faint in your minds.