ABC's of Godly Character - J

J is for Joy! Joy is great delight caused by God who is exceptionally good or satisfying; pleasure, delight, something or someone greatly valued or appreciated; a constant state of happiness, regardless of the situation.

I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart! Down in my heart to stay! Joy and happiness are different. Happiness is based on our emotions and feelings; it is affected by what is happening in our life. Joy is only available from God and should always be present in our lives. It is from the Holy Spirit living in us. 1 Peter 1:8 says “Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (ESV). 

Jerry Bridges said “True joy comes only from God and He shares this joy with those who walk in fellowship with Him.” 

Psalm 35:9 says “my soul shall be joyful in the LORD; it shall rejoice in His salvation.” The jailer who watched over Paul & Silas in prison found/received joy. Acts 16:34 says the jailer was “filled with joy” because he and his whole family had come to believe in God! We should have joy, even if we are going through terrible times in our life. No matter how bad a situation is, we can have joy because Jesus has overcome the world and this is only our temporary home. Romans 15:13 says “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Psalm 30:5b says “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Claim these verses for your life and realize that joy does come in the morning. One day all our heartaches and grief will be over and we will experience perfect joy in our Eternal Home in Heaven.

Prayer starter: Dear Lord, please fill me with your Fruit of the Spirit and give me true Joy that is only available ONLY through You. Help me to have joy in all situations in my life and lean on You. Thank You, Lord, for Your Word. Amen. 

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to have joy today, no matter how bad of a day you may be experiencing. 

Josh Wilson sings it best: “My friend, you know how this all ends and you know where you're going, you just don't know how you get there so just say a prayer and hold on, cause there's good who love God, life is not a snapshot, it might take a little time, but you'll see the bigger picture. Would dare you, would you dare, to believe, that you still have a reason to sing, 'cause the pain you've been feeling, can't compare to the joy that's coming. So hold on, you got to wait for the light, press on, just fight the good fight because the pain you've been feeling, it's just the dark before the morning.

ABC's of Godly Character - I

I is for Integrity! Integrity is firm adherence to a code of moral values, incorruptibility, the quality or state of being complete or undivided. Did you catch that: Firm adherence..., Incorruptible..., Undivided... Integrity is what you do when no one else is looking.

It is the “why” we do something. People see WHAT we do, but God sees WHY we do it. Integrity comes from the heart. It’s a God thing. We cannot buy it, cannot we pretend to have it, and we cannot earn it. The “real” us will always show through. We can put on a fake appearance for a little while, but our real colors always come out. Integrity is within us and only God can create it. Proverbs 28:6 says “Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.” Integrity of heart is mentioned a lot in the Bible. Psalm 78:72 says “"And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them." David shepherded the Israelites "with integrity of heart". Although David had many shortcomings throughout his life, one thing was firm. He had “integrity of heart”. After the times that he sinned, he came back to the moral code that was steadfast in his heart. David was a “man after God’s own heart” and even when he messed up and sinned, deep within his heart he was convicted of his sins and repented. Integrity is in the heart. Look deep within and pull out what God has created in you. Cultivate this integrity through spending time in the Bible so that you will have a firm foundation of integrity—one that is created by God. All others are as shifting sand. 

C.S. Lewis said “integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching”. 

Integrity is not about what you do, it is not about who you know, it is not about what you say, it is how you live! 

Prayer starter: Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to develop a heart of integrity. Help me to live like You, even when no one is watching. Help my faith to be real and not just me going through the motions to “look good”. I want to live with integrity of the heart that shouts about my love for you. In Your Precious Name, Amen.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to strive to live for Jesus today and every day…even when no one is watching! How are you living in secret? Do you have integrity of the heart?

ABC's of Godly Character - H

H is for Honesty! Honesty is the quality, condition, or characteristic of being fair, truthful, and morally upright. It is being free of deceit and fraud, having the quality of being honorable and upright in character and actions. Satan is called the “father of lies.”

You cannot trust or believe anything that Satan says or does. God only speaks what is right and true and it is impossible for Him to lie (Hebrews 6:18). God can be trusted. Honest people can be trusted. Dishonest people cannot be trusted. You must decide for yourself whether or not you will be honest & trustworthy. There will be many times in your life where you will have to choose to be like your Heavenly Father who speaks only truth, or choose to honor Satan by lying.  Honesty isn’t easy, doing what is right is not natural in a sin-filled world. 2 Corinthians 8:21 says “providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.”  As a Christian, we should always strive to do what is honest.  Philippians 4:8 says “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” 

John Quincy Adams said "All men profess honesty as long as they can. To believe all men honest would be folly. To believe none so, is something worse."   

The Bible is full of examples of honesty or lack of it: look up these people if you don't remember who they were: Achan -Joshua 7, Ananias & Sapphira -Acts 5; Abraham -Genesis 20; Micaiah -1Kings 22; Gehazi - 2 Kings 5. Honesty is always the best policy! Remember that people will not always like it when you tell the truth, especially if you say things they don't want to hear, but it is important to speak the truth, no matter what others want you to say. God is pleased when we speak the truth!

        Prayer starter: Dear Lord, please help me to always be an honest person. Guide my thoughts and my speech so that I do not speak with intent to deceive. Convict me when I fail so that I may learn to be a more honest person and a better example to others. In Your Name, Amen. 

        Your mission should you choose to accept it, is to choose to be honest and speak the truth in love today. 

ABC's of Godly Character - G

G is for Growth! Spiritual Growth is the process of becoming more and more like Jesus. When we place our faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit begins the process of making us more like Him, changing us to His image.

By God's power we have everything we need to live Godly lives. The key to obtaining everything we need is to obtain knowledge about God. Our knowledge of Him comes from the Word, given to us to help us grow and mature into bold, witnessing Christians. We don’t obtain knowledge just by sitting in the pews at church, or in class, or by flying through Bible readings just to check off a list of the things we are supposed to do. You have to actually absorb what you hear and read. It has to soak into our hearts and change us. We have to gain understanding of His Word so much that it convicts us to change. Colossians 1:9-10 says “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (ESV). Does your spiritual growth show that you are gaining knowledge and wisdom about God? Do you live a life pleasing to God ALL the time? Does your life bear good fruit or rotten fruit? Knowledge doesn’t help us, unless it leads us to change and live right in the sight of God. We should strive to learn what God wants us to do and then pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to help us do it. God wants us to learn more about Him and to also help others do the same. We are always moving, the question is “what direction are we moving?”. Are we taking steps to get closer to God or is our daily choices leading us further away?

Prayer Starter: Dear Lord, please help me to grow more in my relationship with You. Help me to draw nearer and nearer to You. Give me a desire to spend more time reading and learning from Your Word. Help me to learn to talk and pray to You more often. In Your Name, Amen.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to make a commitment to spend time with God EVERY day. Add a timer to your phone, or mark it on your calendar. Are you willing to give God 5-10 minutes of your day to help your spiritual growth?

ABC's of Godly Character - F

F is for Forgiveness! Forgiveness is the ability to overlook another person’s weaknesses or mistakes by expressing Christ’s love. We are to forgive, let go of that wrong, and forget it! If we bring it back up every time we are upset then we haven’t truly forgiven them. If we can’t forgive another person, then why should Christ forgive us? Forgiveness is hard, and sometimes the last thing we want to do, but we must. Colossians 3:13 tells us to “Make allowance for each others faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” (ESV). Do we have to keep on forgiving others that do us wrong or can we just write them off and be done with them? Matthew 18:21-22 tells us that Peter asked the same thing: “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (ESV) This doesn’t mean we should forgive someone 77 times. It means that just like Christ gives us never-ending forgiveness we should offer the same to others. Forgive every time someone seeks our forgiveness. Colossians 3:12-14 says “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (ESV) In these verses, Paul gives us instructions to help us live for God every day. We should have Christ’s forgiving attitude. We should let love guide our thoughts and life. We should have peace in our hearts and with others. Every action, every word we speak, and every attitude we have either reflects a life for Christ or of Satan. Which one will you choose to represent today? 

Matthew West sings “Forgiveness”: It flies in the face of all your pride, It moves away the mad inside, It's always anger's own worst enemy, Even when the jury and the judge, Say you gotta right to hold a grudge, It's the whisper in your ear saying 'Set It Free', Forgiveness. Show me how to love the unlovable, Show me how to reach the unreachable, Help me now to do the impossible, Forgiveness, Forgiveness.” 

Prayer starter: Dear God, thank you for always forgiving me even though I don’t deserve it. Please give me a forgiving heart like yours. Help me to be more forgiving to others today. Amen.

          Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to be more forgiving today. Offer forgiveness to the people that have hurt you and more forward from there.