Integrity- People of God

Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. He gave them a pattern to show them how to approach the Father in prayer and what to ask. Jesus taught us that God is our Abba Father, our Daddy God. He is not a faraway deity that has no relationship with his children and He is the Father of us all. God is our Creator not the Father of one race, one culture group or nationality but He is the God of all creation. His children are from every tribe and nation. God has a personal relationship with those who are born into His kingdom.

Matthew 6: 9-13 “This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  

Our Father in heaven, hallowed is your name, Jesus is saying God you are our Father in Spirit and You are Holy and we are asking God to bring His Holy kingdom on earth, in our lives as He reigns in the heavens. We can now come to God as our Abba Father; as a Daddy God, He is someone we have a personal and close relationship with. He lives in heaven above all situations and circumstances.

We are to give respect and reverence to God’s Holy Name. He is the Almighty God, the high and lofty the One who inhabits eternity. To be Holy means He is one with Himself, He is consistent in all He does and He is set apart from everything. There is nothing and no one greater than God. We are called to be like God, holy, one with ourselves, and live differently from the world system. We are set apart for God’s purpose, for His pleasure, His plans and His glory.

The root word of holy in the Hebrew, Kaw-dash, to be wholly, one self or to say to be the same person at all times. We are not to be a person who acts one way with this set of friends and do or say something totally different when we are with another set of friends. We are to be consistent in what we say, what we do and what we promise. Character and integrity is when we choose to be one person at all times. We decide to hold true to our values and stand firm in our commitments even if it causes us hurt, even at the cost of losing money, fame or loss of relationships.

We are not to be several different people living in this one body. A person, who says one thing, does another thing and promises something totally opposite. A schizophrenic is a person with multiple mindsets and personalities and we would never know which personality would show up when we are talking with them. They are undependable and completely without integrity because they are not consistent in their words, thoughts and actions. These are the ways of Satan, who is a liar and the father of lies. He is so subtle with his tactics that sometimes we do not even realize we are reflecting his character.

God is unlike anyone we know in the earth and He cannot be compared with any person. He lives in eternity. He is One God, the same yesterday, today and forever. He is not like fallen humanity, which may display multiple personalities. It is our rebellion against God and our fallen state that has us acting one way today, and another way tomorrow. We never know how to act or respond to someone who is always changing and we never know what to expect from them. This is why we are told to be like our Heavenly Father. God is Faithful and true, He does not change and He will do what He said. God is true to Himself and His word.

Romans 8: 15-16 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to son ship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 

Jesus understood God’s original purpose was for man to rule His Kingdom on earth. God had given Adam authority and dominion to rule the earth as God rules in heaven. Jesus came, paid the debt man owed for his rebellion, and gave us the ability to be back in right standing with God. Mankind fell from being the highest of God’s creation to being ruled by Satan.

Jesus came and not only restored our life with God but Jesus gave us a greater and new position as sons of the Most High God. Now we come to God as His Children, adopted into the family of God. We as sons of God are to talk and communion with God so that His kingdom will come in our lives and His will is done in us while we are on earth. This will bring glory to God when His kingdom reigns in our lives, our homes, our families and communities.

Matthew 10:7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’

Colossians 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.

Give us today our daily bread.

Jesus told us to rely on our Heavenly Father for our daily provisions. Though we may or may not have money in the bank, food, clothing or shelter we are to trust in God to provide these things. It is God who daily loads us up with benefits. We have seen people who have had wealth and riches and they put their trust in their wealth then lose it all in a moment’s time. People who trust in things are the ones who will lose all hope if their wealth is gone and then want to give up on life. Jesus tells us we can trust our Father to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus and we must look to Him for our daily provisions. A life that is barely getting by and begging for scraps is not promises of the kingdom life of God according to the riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Jesus told us to ask for today’s daily bread, not next week, next month or next year. That is how the adversary would have us to think and stay in anxiety, focusing on what might happen in the future. Jesus told us not go after what you should eat or wear, our Heavenly Father knows we have need of them and He will supply them. We are to seek first the kingdom of God and His Righteousness, that is our position in Jesus, and all these things will be given to us.

We do not have God’s abundance because we are not seeking His kingdom which is the knowledge of His word. So many people who call themselves Christians are going after the very thing Jesus tells us not to go after. We are working long hours or two jobs just to buy food, clothing and shelter. If we took that same effort, we used to go after money, and instead sought the word of God which teaches us how to operate in the kingdom of God.

God says His people perish for lack of knowledge, not lack of effort. If we sought God’s work and His kingdom knowledge we would learn His principles and kingdom laws and would be able to operate successfully in the things of God and receive all His benefits. We can trust God, His word is true but our minds and eyes are blind to how to operate in God’s word because we are not seeking His kingdom ways.

Many people operate in what we have been taught, the tradition of men. The world’s way, go after and try to get as much money as we can even if we have to step on people as we go. In the kingdom of God we serve one another and we put others first. Those who want to be great in God’s kingdom become servants to the people. This is a different mindset from the world’s way of doing things.

The adversary will try and trip us up by telling us we cannot seek the kingdom because we cannot be righteousness like God and no one can be like God. We were made the righteousness of God through the completed work of Jesus. What a lie from the pit.

Jesus was made unrighteous so we who accept His atonement and payment for sin will have His righteousness. Just as Jesus was made to be sin for us, though He never sinned, we are made righteous, though we have sinned. It is not by our works of righteous acts; it is a faith, trust and belief in the completed work Jesus did on the cross that makes us righteous. When we accept what Jesus did on the cross we are transformed in our spirit into a righteous spirit, we are now in right standing with God.

Hearing and reading God’s Word is how we begin to change our thought life and then our actions will change into living right. Salvation is a costly gift from God, it is the simple act of our will, to confess and trust Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and we are saved for eternity. However, our thoughts, speech and behavior are transformed by getting a new mindset and a new understanding of the kingdom we have been born into. Renewing of our minds is the process that allows us to die to old habits and ways and begin living according to God’s kingdom principles.

Knowing God and understanding His word is how God transform, conform us into the image of His Son. It is a process as with anything, that is of value takes time to grow and cultivate. God will give us the strength and ability to be transformed but we must choose to do so by the acts of our will. It is a gift of righteousness that cannot be purchased. But it is a process of transformation by renewing or changing the way we used to think and to begin thinking and operating in the kingdom ways of God.

Matthew 6:31-34 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

2 Corinthians 5:21     God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Romans 5:17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!