Integrity And Our Confession!

    You know, I believe deeply in confessing the Word.  I know that with the mouth we bring treasures out of the heart.  I know we are to hold fast our confession of faith, speaking the Word.  No problem with that message, but, sometimes I wonder if we ought to broaden the message a little.  Is positive confession only about obtaining things from God?   Is that all there is to it?  I think not.   Our confession must also reflect integrity.  We should be good at our word.  There was a day when we actually described men of faith as those who were good at their word. Such men will keep their word and if they can't, they won't speak a word.  If they can't keep their word, they will humbly repent.  The Bible says of such men that they will "swear" to their own hurt.  They will keep their word, even it cost them something.  Integrity must be a governing factor in our lives if we have any intention of allowing our life to speak well of Him. We must not forget that the most important characteristic of the "God kind of faith" is that God is good at His Word. He has integrity!

      Integrity must also  influence what we call prophecy.  More than once in my life I have had someone who thought of themselves as a "prophet" give a word, supposedly from God, and then a short while later take it back. When we say "thus saith the Lord", we are putting His integrity on the line and we better be careful.  Those of us who listen, must judge, and not just the words of the prophet but also his integrity.  We don't stone those prophets who miss it in this covenant, but we should stop listening to them.  One simple reason we have false prophets is that we keep listening to them. When it comes to a prophecy that predicts certain things at a certain time, or manner, etc., and those things don't come to pass, there should be some visible humility. I have yet to hear very many so-called prophets say "Sorry... I missed it", but I think a real prophet should and would.  His, and God's, integrity is at stake.

      People who aren't prophecy types do the same, including leadership.  Leaders who say "God told me" and then a short time later, do the opposite of what they proclaimed God said to do, destroy trust. Or, how about people who say, "God told me to come here to church" and a month later leave the church and go somewhere else. Every pastor knows about those folks.  I once had a person tell me, that God told them, if oil was found on their property, they were to tithe to our ministry and we would have an abundance.  We prayed with and believed with them as asked and some time later, sure enough, they struck oil, gaining great wealth.  It was about fifteen years later before we heard from them again. No tithes, no abundance, no apology.  Such things leave you wondering if God has to do as we humans do on a occasion - say "Oops".  Really, do we think God changes His mind, or errs, so easily?  Did God really say one thing and then take it back? Is He that wishy-washy?  I don't think so.

   Some approach confessing the Word with no integrity.  They may say "I have every thing I say" but the fine print says "Unless I say something else".  They bring harm to this great message by their lack of integrity.  I know of those who seem to get everything they say, from God, but you can't believe a word they say to you.  That is not a good witness.  In some places the political way of speaking has made its way into the church - where we just say whatever we think listeners want to hear. There is not integrity in that!  Friend, it is better to keep the mouth shut then to speak carelessly.  Integrity matters!   ".. LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?  He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart...He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not..."  Ps.51