Promises for the Battle
Integrity
I Was Just Thinking … About Walking in His Ways
One of the helpful metaphors the biblical authors use characterizes our lives as a journey or a walk. For example, when Abraham turned ninety-nine, God said to him, “Walk about before me with integrity” (Genesis 17:1). After Solomon finished building the temple, Yahweh reminded him to “walk before me as your father David walked, in … Continue reading
Grace #1—Unrestrained Grace
Grace is a function of joy and intends to produce joy. So, when Paul says we are “saved by grace through faith,” this means God so delights in his own goodness that he established faith (trusting him to provide us a good future) as the means by which we can experience the joys of fellowship … Continue reading
Forgiven #2—Justly Forgiven
If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, … the blood of God’s Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin. … If we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:7–9 The one thing that we can … Continue reading
Team #7—Able to Admonish
I myself have become persuaded about you, my brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness, in that you have been filled with all knowledge so you are able to admonish one another. Romans 15:14 Imagine that! We who follow Jesus in the obedience of faith are full of goodness. Not just any goodness, … Continue reading
Refined Integrity
The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Eternal tests hearts. Proverbs 17:3 During the holidays, broken airplanes, cancellations because of weather, miscommunications about rides to the hotel, and snoring roommates are not just annoying incidents in our daily lives. They are opportunities for us to inventory the stock of … Continue reading
Peace #6—Intentional Peace
Do you want a lifetime of good times? Then don’t speak evil or treacherous words! Turn away from evil and do what is good! Seek peace and pursue it! Psalm 34:12–15 “Accidental peace,” if not exactly an oxymoron, is such an incongruous pairing that Scripture never suggests its existence. Instead, peace occurs as we intentionally … Continue reading
Peace #2—Imitative Peace
Take note of the one who has integrity! Observe the upright! For the person characterized by peace has a future. Sinful rebels will be totally destroyed; evil people have no future. Psalm 37:37–38 See one, do one, teach one. Or, as my four year old nephew said to his two year old brother, “Watch this … Continue reading
Peace #1—Peace With God
The Bible indicates that peace is a function of integrity: Peace is what we experience when we are at one with God: when we, as regents of his reign over creation, align our lives with his good purpose. Peace is what we enjoy when we are at one with our neighbors: when none of us … Continue reading
Integrity #8—Praises of Integrity
God built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he has founded forever. He also chose David his servant … to shepherd Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them with his skillful hands. Psalm 78:69–72 Father, you created in … Continue reading
Integrity #7—Enlightened Integrity
If we say that we have fellowship with God and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. … Continue reading
Promises for the Battle 