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Volume 33   Number 03 Jan 18, 2009

        At the beginning of each year, we often wait with anticipation for the Word of the Lord for the coming year—words of direction, words of encouragement, and words of promise. We hope for more of His wisdom, a deeper knowledge of Him, and a greater flow in His gifts and anointing, and this is good. Jeremiah 33:3 says: "Call to Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know." At the same time, we cannot properly walk in new revelation if we are not walking in what has already been revealed. Deuteronomy 29:29 NLT says: "The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that He has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions."
        In seeking for more of God, we must be aware of that which has already been revealed and remain faithful to that, for that is what we are accountable for. In the year 2008, there was a sense that the Lord was calling His church into a greater level of holiness. This year of 2009 continues that emphasis. 2009 is a year of alignment with the Word of God.
        There have been hard times coming upon this country, and there have been increasing manifestations of the kingdom of darkness in realms of the earth. In these times of uncertainty and darkness, the Word of God is the sword and the standard that will defeat that which would otherwise defeat us. But this sword is not just a sword to be used in spiritual warfare. This is also a sword that changes us–that conforms us to the image of Christ.
        There has been much said about the sins of the world and the need for righteousness in the nation. But before righteousness can come to a nation, the church must walk in righteousness. If the church is to be the standard she is called to be, each member must look for areas where they have strayed and re-align with God's Word.
        During the New Year's Eve service, Pastor Phil shared that the Holy Spirit directed him to change one of his prayer topics from Spiritual Warfare to Spiritual Integrity. Integrity, according to Wikipedia is "Consistency between one's actions and one's principles...personal honesty: acting according to one's beliefs and values at all times." People judge others as having integrity when "...they behave according to the values, beliefs, and principles they claim to hold." Hypocrisy is the opposite of integrity. It is "when one part of a value system becomes demonstrably at odds with another." When we are aligned with the Word of God, we have integrity.
        David's incident with Bathsheba is an example of a serious integrity problem. We see in 2 Samuel 11:1-17, in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, David remained in Jerusalem. One evening he saw a beautiful woman bathing, and he sent for her, lay with her, and she conceived. When this woman, Bathsheba, told David she was with child, David had her husband Uriah brought back from battle to lay with his wife so it would appear that Uriah was the father of this child.
        Uriah, however, was a man of integrity. In 2 Samuel 11, ...Uriah said to David, "The ark and Israel and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open fields. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing." Since David could not convince Uriah to lie with Bathsheba, he sent Uriah back to the battle with orders to his commander to "set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him that he may be struck down and die."
        David was a worshiper—a man after God's own heart. How did this worshiper, this lover of God, sin so blatantly? How did he fall so far? When it was time for kings to be in battle, he was home in comfort. This indicates that he was not where he was called to be, and that might have been part of the problem, but there was more to it than that.
        If we look earlier in David's life, at his attempt to transport the Ark of God from Abinadab's house to the City of David (2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13), we see that David and the people were praising God with all their might. Yet when Uzzah stretched out his hand to steady the ark being carried on a cart, God's anger struck Uzzah and he died. Even in the midst of worship, God's anger broke out. David tells us why in 1 Chronicles 15:13 NIV: "It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of Him about how to do it in the prescribed way."
        Not only did David not inquire, he also did not know the word. The Book of Numbers gives instruction on how the ark is to be carried (Numbers 4:15, 7:9). He and the people were worshiping God, and they were carrying the presence of God, but they were walking in disobedience. Disobedience affects the way we carry the presence of God, and it has consequences.
        We begin to see from this account that David was strong in worship and warfare. He loved the presence of God, but he was weak in the word. Concerning the event with Bathsheba, the law was clear. You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not lie, you shall not steal, and you shall not covet your neighbor's property. David broke them all. How did that happen? This was the man who refused to harm Saul because he was the Lord's anointed, even when that anointed one was trying to kill him. Yet he, already with several wives and concubines, coveted and stole this man's wife, committed adultery, schemed deception to cover it up, and then conspired murder. David had strayed so far from obedience to God's word that the Lord referred to this act as "You have despised Me."
        God looks for those who worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Did David fall because he began to separate Spirit from Truth in his worship? Was he enjoying the Spirit while drifting away from the word? Had he separated himself from his source of conviction and sanctification and began basing his relationship on songs of worship alone? Regardless of how it happened, David, this awesome worshiper, developed an integrity problem. He was forgiven, but he still dealt with severe exposure and consequences which Nathan the prophet laid out to him in 2 Samuel 12:7-15.
        I sense that the Lord is saying that the time we are now in is a time of exposure for those in the church who are not walking as the church. It is a time when judgment begins at the house of the Lord, and before these things of righteousness come to a nation, the church must be made righteous. The call of alignment to God's Word is a call for strength and a call of warning to those who say they love the Word but still do not walk by the Word. There is a valley of decision for the righteous as well as the unrighteous. For while there is a righteousness in Christ to all who call upon Him, there are consequences for unrighteous actions which will be seen by many in the year ahead.
        In those places where we align with darkness, darkness can defeat us, even from success in those areas of light we seek. But if we put away those places of darkness, the light will be bright, and the effects of our light will be seen by those around us. We will be a beacon on a hill for all to see. We will be the standard for others seeking the light. Yet this requires not only moving in an anointing and the workings of gifts but also in the character of Christ, manifesting itself in love and service.
        1 John 1:6-9 tells us: If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
        James 1:22-25 tell us to ...be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. (This is an integrity problem.) But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
        We learn in Mark 7:13 that tradition makes void the Word of God. Disobedience can become like a tradition. It deceives us. We hear the Word, but it does not convict. Our disobedience has become our tradition, blinding us to truth. Then we become covenant breakers, claiming and expecting covenant promises while not walking in covenant faithfulness. In this hour, we need to be covenant keepers, and we have what we need to walk in spiritual integrity.
        It is a good time to ask ourselves in what ways our ears have dulled to the Word and purpose to re-align to those truths that we have departed from in years past. It is a time to return to those hard sayings and wrestle with them until there is victory. It is a time to ask the Holy Spirit to show us where we have departed from the words of life and purpose to come back into the fullness of the walk we have chosen. It is time to conform to the Word of Life, that we will walk in the fullness of that life.
        Jude 24 tells us that He is able to keep us from falling and present us faultless before His presence with exceeding joy. Hebrews 4:14-16 tells us we have what we need to hold fast. Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession (our truth/belief system). For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
        Because of the cross, we can go to the mercy seat. Because of the mercy seat, we can find grace in time of need. Because of God's grace, we can live on the cross, aligned with His Word, walking in His covenant, bearing His light and likeness, and well pleasing to the Father, as He looks at His Son in us. Amen.

Barbara Martin