Our Lighted Path

What is integrity? Integrity means holding together firmly in all the good, honest, virtuous values that are dear to your hopes. Integrity often also means that other people can see that you are a worthy, useful, sincere person who has worth and who should be able to live in peace, not being hurt, harassed, or disrespected. Integrity can mean sincerely living according to your faith, not being mistreated your whole life. When we have made the decision to be Christian, part of our integrity is honestly believing that Jesus suffered in place of us, long ago on a hill called Calvary, so that we today can walk unashamedly under the covering of His wings. Under the covering of our faith in Jesus, part of our integrity is believing that faith in our Good Shepherd is sufficient to shield us from making terrible mistakes — and is believing His sacrificing Himself is enough in our lives to cover the cost of any good that we are doing together in Him. ... Amen. ... Christian integrity means beli

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Doesn't it seem as if Jesus is so much smaller today, in our hearts? The simplest lessons we learned as children seem to be crushed under social edicts and politically driven demands. When I was a child, I heard from Matthew 20; and that seed of a lesson began to grow in my heart as an adult. In Matthew 20, there's the parable of workers for Jesus: not extortioners, thieves, and hateful neighbors, but sincere workers for the Lord. The lesson I was taught as a child is that Jesus said all His workers were due the same reward. That reward is life everlasting in Him. Life everlasting in Him is the payment that Jesus says is "right" for those who trust and work in Him. Because I was a child when I received that seed of a lesson, I never questioned whether or not Jesus meant to say anything about money in His talk. I accepted that He was saying "right" payment is eternal life for every Christian. He said that, no matter how much or how little work we've done,