Good morning my dear ones. Well, have you given much thought to this question? What causes tides? Is it volcanoes; The earth's core; The tectonic plates; Or is it the moon? Make your guess.

Thursday 3/2

Prov. 28:18 "Whoever walks blamelessly will be saved, But he who is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall."

When we determine that we will take the Godly paths in our lives, not only are we secure, but we also are leaving a heritage behind in our ways. In an upside down, inside out world these patterns of integrity are difficult to fathom. Unless we are daily delving into the Bible & asking our Heavenly Father we will find our self lost, or worse at a dead end, with no way to return. Along with a tremendous amount of wasted resources.

However, as we walk in the lighted paths and do life focused on the scriptures, we will find protection & life with sure footing.

The Hebrew word for "blamelessly" is a surgical term for purity, without harm, innocence. In 2 Sam. 22 David spoke these words. Vs. 1 "David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all of his enemies and from Saul. He sang: The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior: my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield. The power that saves me, and my place of safety." He continued on this frame of reasoning and then culminated his song in these words in Verse 24 "I am blameless before God; I have kept myself from sin. The Lord rewared me for doing right. He has seen my innocence."

You see walking in integrity involves doing right both inwardly & outwardly. In those actions witnessed by ourselves & others, as well as, those attitudes only known in our inner thinking processes. In God's economy integrity is preferred above all the riches in our world. (Prov. 19:1; 28:6) In fact Prov. 2:7 promises that for those who make integrity their focus in life Yahweh God will protect them from "all evil".

Now don't get this wrong, He doesn't mean that they won't ever experience trouble, hardship, or suffering, but that these experiences will not be focused on hurt or harm, but rather on bettering our lives & those that we love. In fact look at Prov. 3:1,2 promise "My child never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying." Verse 4 goes on to say, "Then you will find favor with both God and man, and you will earn a good reputation."

So walking in harmony with God & His ways will spare us from the common snares in life, 1 John 2:16 the trickery of the world around us; the lust of our fleshly interests; the lust of what our eyes can see; and the pride of life, success, wealth, fame, power. We must be careful to place value on the eternal issues of life, even though they are at this time, seemingly far far away.

I remember my Uncle Ray's plaque placed above his bathroom mirror. "The man who vacillates from one form of crookedness to another will go down in one fell swoop." He told me he had this saying placed in this location in his room, because it was his last glance before entering the greatest location of temptation in our world it was in his preparation before entering his place of vocation.

Here a great profit can be experienced by crooked behavior or seemingly the opposite by right activity, however, it can also plant a rich eternal reward. As I watched his endeavors in the work place, and my dad in his work place, in fact the great men who planted these grains of truth, in my childhood. My grandfather Markley, my Uncle Leonard, Uncle Perry. Mr Crenshaw, all of these men & more I enjoyed witnessing their lives of integrity. Especially when the temptations of success we available to them, if only they slightly bent the truth in one small way or another.

As I have said before, I have had the privilege of walking in the foot steps of giants. We're they perfect, no not quite, but their heart & mind was centered on Him our mighty creator.

So God with God for His ways go far beyond what any person, place or thing, can contribute in our lives.