pastor cash lunaI Kings 9:1-5 “And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the king’s house, and all Solomon’s desire which he wanted to do, that the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. And the LORD said to him:”I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. Now if you walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

Integrity, honesty and humility are powerful values we can all possess. Everyone that practices these, will literally draw God’s blessings upon their lives. Humility, according to the Bible, is something that provokes God to bless us, both spiritually and materially. Humility ushers in riches, honor and life.

Integrity is one of the most powerful elements in existence. In days past, I spoke on Abimelech’s integrity when God told him that Sarah was married. I also spoke on Job’s integrity that inspite of all he went through, he still maintained it. We also spoke on how when we are integral or when we do acts of integrity, we need to measure the results. If you truly live in integrity, you run the risk at certain times in your life, for things to not go so well, but rest assured that God’s in control and He’ll bring you out ahead.

Now, here we see Solomon’s case. The day he took office, Solomon declares that he’s there due to his father’s loyalty. Loyalty, integrity and honor are things you can inherit to your children. We leave tracks in our walk, and our children can follow them. Your children will learn to do and act as you do. So, it’s your choice what you want to inherit them. Why not choose integrity as part of that inheritance.

Something else that draws my attention from this passage, is how it speaks about David’s integrity of heart. David sinned and made mistakes, notwhithstanding it still allots integrity to him. Why? Because his heart never had the intention of acting wickedly. Your mistakes, don’t automatically make you a person of no integrity. Lack of integrity is when you do so on purpose.

Proverbs 20:6-7 “Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man? The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.”

If you walk in integrity, your children will be blessed by it. Let’s work for our children to enjoy honest parents full of integrity. One time I made a mistake. I’ve been married to Sonia now for 19 years and we’ve hardly ever yelled or fought with each other. One day we were walking outside, both of us upset, and I turned and said something ugly to Sonia. My oldest son, then who was still little, grabbed my hand and said, “Daddy, you shouldn’t say that.” I felt like a tub of cold water had just been poured all over me. So, I called Sonia and apologized to her. I did it in front of my son and I also asked his forgiveness. I could have justified my action, but I wasn’t going to trick my son for he had noticed that my statements were totally out of place. Ofcourse, he had a bad example of a father that spoke wrongfully to his mother, but then he had a good example of a father that asked forgiveness. Don’t stop from asking forgiveness of those people you have offended. Don’t let time pass you by.

As a pastor, I made up my mind to not have any Bible devotionals at home, but rather to live out my life to such a degree that the gospel is clearly seen. As a result, I’ve found nice and wonderful surprises. A couple of weeks ago, a saturday night, I went to bed late, getting ready for the Sunday service. Around 1:30 in the morning, I opened the door to my bedroom, which also connects to the family room, and I found one of my kids with worship music playing and the Bible open on the table. He was preparing an outline for a message, just like I do. When I saw it, I literally felt the fear of God come over me, because just like the immitate the good, they’ll also do the bad.

There are many children that curse people out, because that’s what they learned from their parents. If any of your kids every use foul or obscene language, let it never be a result of hearing you. Perhaps, they picked it up on the street, or something, but values such as honesty and integrity will always prevail in them, and sooner or later they’ll shine forth because they’re seeing your role-model.

Proverbs 19:1-3 “Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one who is perverse in his lips, and is a fool. Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge, and he sins who hastens with his feet. The foolishness of a man twists his way, and his heart frets against the LORD.”

Do you know of people, that are always blaming others for things that happen to them? Normally, the people who do, are those that think they’re right. If you’re one of these people and you never let others be right, before you know it you’re going to develop a blaming-attitude towards others.

The sooner we face our own irresponsibility and mistakes, the sooner we can correct them. You must understand that the rest of the world isn’t to blame for what happens to you. On the contrary, will you even end up blaming God? That’s not integrity. It’s vital that we safeguard the integrity God’s wanting us to have.

If you’re going to do business, make sure you do so with honesty and integrity. If you’re not a university graduate already, with everything completed, stop saying so in your business cards. If you don’t have it, stop putting it, then. Get your degree, then start using it. I recall on one occassion, providing an estimate for an information system, for a coffee exporter. I was interviewed by the general manager, and one of the questions he asked me was if I had graduated from university. I answered: “No, and frankly, I’m not even attending at the current time, due to strenuous circumstances.”

I was really tempted to say, I had, but I didn’t. After that the manager told me he’d call me in a week, to let me know if I had the job. He called me back and I got the job. He told me it was mine, because he neither had finished getting his degree. He had been in the same situation as I and had answered the same thing. What if I had boasted of something I didn’t have and had lied about it? He might have given me the job based on a lie which sooner or later would have come to light, thereby causing me to miss out on many other possible contracts.
Always tell the truth. Integrity is a powerful thing. Use it, act on it and you’ll see how God can greatly bless you by it. Don’t be afraid. Yes, there are times in life when things don’t go well, for doing the right thing, but they will in the future. But if you act wrongly, you’ll probably also end up that way.

Psalms 78:70-72 “He also chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes that had young He brought him, to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.”

Both skilfulness and integrity are necessary. David was a skillful king. There have been skillful people on earth, that have failed because of lack of integrity. There have been athletes with the skill, but that also used illegal elements to achieve success. They were skillful, but they substituted a little discipline with drugs. Now-a-days, thought they were great sportsmen, they exercised poor judgment and now their careers are over. Why? Because they had an ability, but they lacked the integrity. Think of how many giant corporations worldwide were skillful but still faced problems and went under because of shady and illicite business dealings. Those that have remained, repeatedly claim that integrity is the #1 value to achieve success.

People spoke wrongfully of one of the greatest preachers there is in the United States, with an incredible ministerial track record. They might speak wrongfully of him, but he had a spotless life that cancels any person’s defaming intents. It’s not what they say about you, but what you do that counts. And that’s only between you and God.

As king of the nation, David led his people with skillfulness, however he also did it with heartfelt integrity. When we speak of Solomon and David’s integrity, it refers to the governmental integrity, he exercised. David never seeked his self-promotion. It was God alone that took him to the throne. It was because of this integrity that God set Solomon on the throne.

The Bible says here that to be the best, one must be skillful at doing things. Tiger Woods, once wrote, “In the world of golf, people say that there are good days and bad ones. I say there are only those that study and those that practice. You must not only guard you heart, but you must also develop your ability.

Psalms 19:9-13 “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.”

God says that David was a man of integrity, nonetheless, here David says: “Lord, cleanse me from secret faults.” Many times we don’t see ourselves, the way God sees us. God had already said David was integral, however David always prayed that God keep him in integrity. No matter how much integrity you have, you must take care to guard your heart. Your prayer should always be like David’s: that God keep and preserve you. Your values and virtues might be fragile at times, therefore it’s vital that we continually ask God to keep them and guard them in us.
Ask God to keep you in integrity, to bless your life and to grow His values and principles in you, for His Glory and Honor.

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