Saturday, November 20, 2010

thinkingoutloud

PROMISES AND INTEGRITY...

Many years ago, in the midst of one of the most troubling times of my life, I came across a very lovely verse, a verse that would sustain me many, many times over the years to come. It comes from Psalm 41:12, "Thou Lord upholds me in my integrity" The time period in my personal life way very stressful, especially financially, and I was a new Christian. I didn't know the Word very well, nor did I have any idea what the character of God was like. All I knew was that I was truly hurting and had no place to turn...I literally threw myself into God's arms, looking for mercy and leading. I realized I hadnothing financially, but integrity was something important to me.
I began to search the Word for promises, mainly because my Pastor told me God always keeps His promises because He cannot deny Himself. As I read, I journaled constantly, and wrote promises in red. I frequently memorized them, carrying a small notebook with me where I wrote them down to keep them with me. When God says HE upholds our integrity...that's it...it's like salvation, He gives and no one can take it away. Truth, right living, learning to control my thoughts and my tongue in order to interact with people in a godly way, all became very important to me. I found verses like: "Peace I give to you, My peace I give you..."John 14:27 and in the same area of Scripture He said, "I have told you these things that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete, John 15:11. I realized that if He could have that sense of peace and joy 24 hours from the cross...how could I not lean on Him for the same experience. Reality...the promise is there, it's up to me to hold onto it for myself, and believe He does what He says. That time in my life was very hard, but I really learned WHO He was, and how much He loved me, for no reason but that He chose to. Incredible, true, precious and available to you.

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