Integrity- People of God

Many people want to make it big; they want to make their mark in life, or in history or with their family. This media driven culture feeds into the crazy rich, obsessiveness and preoccupation some people have with getting more. No matter how much a person may have, there can be an insatiable appetite and desire to have more, if left unrestrained or unrestricted.

Some people will look down upon those who do not have the big or the grand, or the latest and the greatest. We are instructed not to despise small beginnings; the smallest seed can grow into a great tree. God has given us all the ability to grow and fulfill purpose because we were created in His image. 

Zechariah 4:10 For who has despised the day of small things?For these seven rejoice to see
The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”NKJ

In order to line up with God’s word we must change our mindset, the words we say and the way we think and how we view success in life. We have natural tendencies that have been developed since birth. But our spiritual and Christ centered perspectives must be established and cultivated through the understanding and grasping of the spiritual principles of God’s word, His ways and His kingdom on earth. 

Romans 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

To be consumed with the desire to have more money, more fame or more stuff has caused many people to lose focus on what is most important. They lose sight of quality family time,a healthy work/play balance and a good relationship withfriends and God.   Because they feed their eyes, emotions and flesh more than the time they spend to cultivate a loving heartand God like spirit. 

To be concerned with fulfilling one’s needs is one of the first and most basic acts we develop when we first enter this world. Whether it is craving and crying for milk or affection we all have the natural yearning and desire to have our needs met.  We are to develop and mature in God’s spiritual principles in order to have a greater understanding of God and to have a close relationship with the Father and Jesus our Lord.  We must choose to take our minds off the things of our former selfishness and refocus our minds on God’s principle and purpose for our lives. 

Ephesians 4:22-23 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, andthat you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

It is not wrong to want more or to do more because God gives us the ability to get wealth so that we may establish His covenant on the earth. When we look at those who were in a close relationship with God in the Old Testament, we see that they had wealth and were able to provide for themselves, their families and others. This is the purpose of God’s wealth, so that we may show His love and generosity to a world that is lacking. Through our lovingkindness, compassion, abundant charity and big-heartedness, we can give to those who do not have.  

Deuteronomy 8:18 And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Some people think it is a sin to be rich. This is just another deception of Satan to keep those created in God’s image from living up to their full potential and abilities. Or to hinder the spread of the good news of Christ, His love and salvation for the world. God created this whole world and all the riches in it for mankind to enjoy its wealth and beauty. Though it was corrupted by the enemy, Jesus came to restore what the enemy had taken and has given us the ability to grow and understand His principles. 

Mark 4:11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,

It is the motive and the intent of the heart that concerns God.Many people’s eye gateway is focused on things of this world, they are lifted up in pride and self-conceit. Their attention is on how these things can bring them fame and recognition. God does not expect us to be content with nothingness, or to be without aspirations and goals. We are not to live without hope of increase, because we were created in His image with greatness in us. It is for this purpose we were created and it is our God given destiny to achieve increase for His glory. 

Our problem comes when we start comparing our life with those around us and our assignment in comparison with that of others. When we begin to despise our God given gift because it appears small in our own eyes then we become ungrateful and disheartened.  This is a trap of Satan that he has laid at the door of people to entice them to sin and to ignore God’s word and His ways and to give in to their own desires.   

Cain had the choice to bring God’s offering according to His word, a lamb without blemish, but he wanted to bring anoffering that was created by him, engulfed with pride. When God rejected Cain’s prideful offering his spirit fell and he descended into self-obsession, fixation and preoccupation of self. This led to Cain killing his brother because he refused to receive the correction of God’s word and was consumed with jealousy and self-importance. Self-pride will always lead to destruction, be it self or others. 

Genesis 4:6  So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?  If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

Our God given life is about us living a God like life of growth, it is about living a fruitful life which is based on the principle of seed time and harvest time. All that God created in the earth has the seed of reproduction within itself, so that it may produce after its own kind. It is a principle that will remain as long as the earth remains, a small seed will produce much fruit when it is planted and cultivated according to its life cycle.  

Genesis 1:11-12  Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.  And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 

Genesis 8:22 While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest,Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”

In the parable of the man who was given the one talent and did nothing with it, God called him wicked and lazy. He wasconsumed with fear, which is another trap of the enemy. Instead, He should have transacted business with the one talenthe was given and not worry about what he did not have or how much other people may have had.

Matthew 25:24-27 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.  And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.  So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.

Every person will be responsible for the seed they were given, whither many or a few, we all will give an account for our time on this earth and how we spent His gift of life. If we are given a few things, let us do them well with a grateful heart knowing that God has given to us according to our abilities. And if we were given much, let us transact business well with a generous heart that we may show the lovingkindness and compassion of God to a world full of despair, lack and hopelessness. 

Luke 12:47-48 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.  But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

To those who are given much, much more is required of them. To the person who was given five talents, he earned five more. To the person who received one talent an increase was expected. Whatever state we are in, God requires growth and improvement. So, we are not to look down on those with little or despise those with small beginnings but we are to rejoice with hope and great expectation that God’s word is true. When we cultivate seed according to His will, we will have increase according to His word.

Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

As long as the earth remains there will be seed time and harvest time!