The Abundance of Integrity

Hi friends!

I dearly love Sundays. Today is no exception. My church causes delight to well up out of me; and I always leave feeling soul-fed. In this week's sermon, my pastor said that integrity equals wholeness. I was quite blown away. I've always thought of integrity as honesty, but it's so much more. I made a note to look it up in my concordance (of course), and came up with this...

Tom (tome)- completeness; figuratively prosperity... full, perfection.

The truth is - that because our brokenness - there are dead places in us. And if we don't fill them with the Lord, we end up filling them with things that are less good for us - like tv shows, choice gossip, pornography or masturbation, romance books, shopping, video games, binge eating, alcohol, cleaning, even service or acclaimation. I mean... no one wants to feel dead. (I think the movie Warm Bodies illustrates this point well... hehe). Often preachers tell us we need to try harder. "God is good. You're bad. Try harder" But trying harder doesn't make one alive... only the Holy Spirit can bring about new life-breath-spirit. The only way we can receive true life, joy, and adventure, is to receive it from God. When we have the sense that God is with us and that He is enough - then the other things become less enticing. We are to be holy as God is holy - not in the sense of perfection - but in wholeness - completely full with truly meaningful things that diminsh these material things.

I've had the image of a sunflower with its head raised to the sun. The Lord says that He wants me to raise my face to him likewise and receive his energy and life. All I need to do is face Him. I don't need to try harder, to accomplish more, to be the most beautiful sunflower - I simply need to look upon his brightness and be filled to the fullness. Truly glorious.