Dr. Annamma Abraham and (late) Dr. Abraham were veteran doctors in Malaysia (originally from Kerela, India) and also serving the Lord in many capacities. Those early years were very busy with their working schedule and taking care of their very energetic and lively three sons. In that very busy schedule of work along with parenthood, they grew stronger in their faith and walk with God. Today, as Dr. Annamma Abraham delves into the Word in deep study, she shares jewels of wisdom from the Word!
Dr. Annamma Abraham
Integrity
Integrity
means keeping our word, moral uprightness, honesty, wholeness,
soundness.
Psalm
100:2 Serve the Lord with gladness.
Christians
with integrity serve the Lord with gladness; strive to teach God’s word with
integrity.
Let us pray-Dear Jesus help me to live
out the joy and peace you have given to me. May I always stand for the truth
and righteousness.
For the joy that will last, always
put Christ first. Let us always think of the excellence.
Philippians
4:8-9
8.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true,
whatever is honorable , , whatever is right ,whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy
of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.
9.
The things you have learned and received
and heard and seen in me practice these things; and the God of peace shall be
with you.
Integrity manifested in keeping our word.
The psalmist describes
a person of integrity as one who swears to his own hurt.
Psalm 15:4 who
may dwell in your holy hill? He who swears to his own hurt and does not charge.
That
means we keep our word even if it costs us dearly to do so. If we agree to a
task, we must do it. If promise to pray for someone, we must do it. If we
pledge to “love, honour, and cherish until death separates us” we must keep our
promise. Keeping our word is a mark of integrity. There is one thing the
Christian gives and still must keep- His word.
Integrity
manifested in moral uprightness.
Abraham and king Abimelech
Genesis
20: 2-10
2.
And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She
is my sister”; so Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
3.
But God came to Abimelech in a dream of
night, and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom
you have taken, for she is married.”
4.
Now Abimelech had not come near her; and
he said “Lord, wilt Thou slay a nation, even though blameless?
5.
Did he not himself say to me, she is my
sister? And she herself said he is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and
the innocence of my hands I have done this.”
6.
Then God said to him in the dream, “yes
I know that in the integrity of your heart, you have done this, and I also kept
you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her,
7.
“Now therefore, restore the man’s wife,
for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. But if you do
not restore her, know that you shall surely die you and all who are yours.”
8.
So Abimelech arose early in the morning
and called all his servants and told all these things in their hearing; and the
men were greatly frightened.
9.
Then Abimelech called Abraham and said
to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you that you
have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that
ought not to be done.”
10.
And Abimelech said to Abraham, “what
have you encountered, that you have done this thing?”
Moral uprightness in Joseph’s life.
There
should be a passion for integrity. To be honest with another’s money but
dishonest with another’s spouse isn’t being consistent. Moral soundness in
one’s character is called integrity. This character quality was clearly evident
in the life of Joseph. Potiphar had entrusted all he owned to Joseph. When
Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him, Joseph maintained his integrity by
refusing her advances. It cost him dearly but ultimately it yielded great
rewards.
Genesis
39: 8-12 Read
41: 37-50:26 Read
Integrity
manifested in unselfish services
Integrity manifested in unselfish
services of Moses and Aaron
Korah is rebellious against Moses and
Aaron.
Numbers
16:15. Moses became very angry and said to the
Lord “Do not regard their offering! I have not taken a single donkey from them,
nor have I done harm to any of them.
Integrity manifested in Nehemiah’s
unselfish services
Nehemiah
5: 14-19.
14.
Moreover from the time I was appointed
to be their governor, in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year until the
thirty-second year of king Artaxerxes, twelve years neither I nor my brothers ate the governor’s
provisions.
15.
But the former governors who had been before me laid burdens on the
people and took from them bread and wine , besides forty shekels of silver; Yes
even their servants bore rule over the people, but I did not do so, because of
the fear of God.
16.
Indeed, I also continued the work on
this wall, and we did not buy any land. All my servants were gathered there for
the work.
17.
Moreover there were at my table one hundred
and fifty Jews and rulers, besides those came to us from the nations around us.
18.
Now that which was prepared for me daily
was one ox and six choice sheep; also fowl were prepared, and once every ten
days an abundance of all kinds of wine; yet in spite of this I did not demand
the governor’s provisions, because the bondage was heavy on this people.
19.
Remember me, O my God for good,
according to all that I have done for this people.
Integrity
manifested in preforming vows.
Jeremiah
35: 13, 14, 19.
13.
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel. Go and say to the men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, “will you
not receive instruction by listening to my words? Declares the Lord.
14.
“The words of Jonadab, the son of
Rechab, which he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are observed. So they do
not drink wine to this day, for they have obeyed their father’s command. But I
have spoken to you again and again; yet you have not listened to Me.
19.
Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Jonadab the son of
Rachab shall not lack a man to stand before Me always.”
Integrity
manifested in rejecting bribes
Acts
8: 18-23.
18. Now when Simon saw that the spirit was
bestowed through the laying of the apostle’s hands, he offered them money.
19.
Saying, “Give this authority to me as
well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20.
But peter said to him, “May your silver
perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with
money!
21.
You have no part or portion in this
matter, for your heart is not right before God.
22.
Therefore repent of this wickedness of
yours, and pray the Lord that if possible, the intention of your heart may be
forgiven you.
23.
“For I see that you are in the gall of
bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”
Integrity
manifested in honest behaviour
Paul reveals his heart
2
Corinthians 7: 2 Make room for us in
your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no
one.
Paul‘s ministry
2Corinthians
4:2-5. 2 But we have renounced the things hidden
because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but
by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in
the sight of God.
3.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is
veiled to those who are perishing.
4.
In whose case the god of this world has
blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the
gospel of the glory Christ, who is the image of God.
5.
For we do not preach ourselves but Christ
Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus ‘sake.
The
road that leads to misery is caused by a tongue that wags. Beware of lying
lips, and a mouth that boasts and brags. To avoid lying, do nothing that
needs to be covered up.
Acts
5: 3-4.
3.
Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan
filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price
of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? Why is it
that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but
to God.”
Truth
is an attribute to God. When we lie, we offend Him. And sooner or later He will
uncover every falsehood- if not in this life, then at the judgement.
Romans
14: 10-12.
10
.But you, why do you judge your brother?
Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all
stand before the judgement seat of God.
11.
For it is written
“As
I live , says the Lord,
Every
knee shall bow to me,
And
every tongue shall give praise to God.”
12.
So then each one of us shall give
account of himself to God.
We
live in a highly competitive world, and sometimes we may be strongly tempted to
shade the truth to get ahead. But short-term gains from lying are worth little
compared with the long term benefits of telling the truth. If you have deceived
someone, confess it to that person and to the Lord. It may be humbling, but
it is the first step to restore integrity in your life.
Integrity
Illustrated in Job’s life
Job
2: 3,9,10
3.
And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you
considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a
blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still
holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to ruin him
without cause.
9.
Then his wife said to him, “Do you still
hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10.
But he said to her, “You speak as one of
the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept
adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Integrity
illustrated in David’s kingship
Psalm
7:8 The Lord judges the people; vindicate
me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
Integrity
illustrated in Daniel’s rule.
Daniel.
6: 1-4.
1.
It seemed good to Darius to appoint 120 satraps
over the kingdom that they should be in charge of the whole kingdom.
2.
And over them three commissioners (of
whom Daniel was one) that these satraps might be accountable to them and that
the king might not suffer loss.
3.
Then Daniel began distinguishing himself
among the commissioners and the satraps because he possessed an extraordinary
spirit and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom.
4.
Then the commissioners and the satraps
began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to
government affairs, but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of
corruption in as much as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was
to be found in him.
Walk
your Talk
D.
L Moody commented “Most people talk cream and live skimmed milk.” If our hearts
are spiritually underfed, we will produce
Skim- milk Christianity. Our lips may
utter spiritual sounding words in prayer, worship, and conversation, giving the
impression of “top grade cream.” But the reality is revealed by what is
consistently produced in our lives.
How
can we live cream and not just talk it?
Psalm
19: 12-14.
12.
Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of
hidden faults.
13.
Also keep back Thy servant from
presumptuous sins. Let them not rule over me; then I shall be blameless, and I
shall be acquitted of great transgression.
14.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy
sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.
David
was honest with himself and with God when he asked to be cleansed from secret
faults and presumptuous sins. Beyond forgiveness, David knew he needed God’s
continuing strength and help to harmonize his walk with his talk. Our words and
our deeds should speak the same language.
“Fools
mock at making amends for sin, but good will is found among the upright”. To a
foolish person, a wrong done is no big deal, but a person of integrity and
character, is burdened to put it right. If you have helped make a wrong, act
quickly and courageously to make it right.
Proverbs
14:9.Fools mock at sin, but among the right
there is good will.
We commit two wrongs when we fail to
right a wrong.
There
is no legacy as integrity
Psalm
26: 11. As for me, I will walk in my integrity.
Harry
worked as a narrator and actor in radio and TV. There was no conflict between
his walk and his talk. When you hired Harry, you got all of him- virtue,
kindness, and principle. One side of Harry Elders Business card a photo of his
smiling face, on the other side was his motto:
“Integrity can be communicated. After
Harry died, a local newspaper Voice of integrity is silenced, but its message
will live on.
Psalm
26. It begins and ends with Integrity.
V1. “I have walked in my integrity.”
V11. “I will walk in my integrity”
In between these statements he wrote
“Examine me, O Lord and prove me; try my mind and my heart (V2). David’s desire
was to be pure before the Lord; so that he could worship and tell of his
wondrous works. (V6-V7)
Integrity
can be communicated, when we are true to the Lord, everywhere, all the time.
It
certainly looks as if honesty is becoming less and less popular. As Christians
we need to be committed to being honest. Peter said our honorable conduct is
one way to glorify God.
1 Peter 2: 12 keep your behavior excellent among
the Gentiles, so that in the thing in
which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as
they observe them, glorify God in the day of salvation.
If
honesty is indeed on decline, that gives us greater opportunity to set the
example “for the Lord’s sake”.
1 Peter
2: 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake
to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority.
The
conduct of your daily life speaks more than pen or voice. That is why to have
integrity is such a crucial choice. Integrity is Christ like character in work
clothes.
