HONOR

What we are afraid to do before men, we should be afraid to think before God. –Anonymous

Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. Isaiah 8:13

What we say, we have already thought! What is sad is many professing Christians don’t care. They don’t care the Lord knows what they have thought! They don’t care they will stand before God and give an account of their life! They don’t care others are watching them and their actions will be parroted. Living a double minded life isn’t Christ honoring and produces a life that is unstable! A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:8

I praise the Lord we don’t have to remain being double minded! The Lord tells us in James 4:8, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” The way to a consistent, Christ honoring life is, confessing and repenting of sin! It is keeping Him on the throne of our heart! It is honoring Him with our life—ALL OF IT!

BE HONORABLE

                 My honor is dearer to me than my life. –Cervantes

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold. Proverbs 22:1

                       “On my honor I will do my best, to do my duty to God and my Country and to obey the Scout Law…” That is the first part of the Boy Scout oath that I learned over 30 years ago. It’s amazing the impact those years have had on my life. I can honestly say, for the most part, my time in the Scouts was good. It helped develop part of the man I am today.

            While the Boy Scouts has changed for the worse in the past 30 years, my understanding of what honor is has not. Is has only gotten deeper and richer. Honor is remaining true to godly core values. It’s doing our best even when no one is watching. It’s doing our duty to our fellow man. Being honorable is still doing our best and doing our duty to God and country!

EVER WONDER WHAT’S GOING ON IN OUR NATION?

So goes the church, so goes the nation.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Exodus 20:12

We have lost this art of “Honoring thy father and thy mother”. We have replaced it with disrespect and dishonor. We have swallowed the lie that mom and dad are dumb and we don’t need old, out dated thoughts and ideas. The truth is there is a lot of wisdom behind those wrinkles and gray hair.

Each one of us would do good to sit at our parent’s feet for a while and just listen. Parents already passed? Find a nursing home and sit a listen to the wisdom those Senior Saints have. Bring back the honoring of the gray headed, wrinkled faced old man or woman. As we begin to honor our fathers and mothers, our children will begin to bring honor to us and more importantly—Our Saviour!

We use to teach in our schools the theory of evolution, now it is taught as fact. We use to teach in our schools absolutes, now it is situation ethics. We use to teach in our schools there is a God, now we teach we cannot know whether there is a God or not. We use to preach Jesus from the pulpit, now we put on a play. We use to preach Jesus in Sunday School, now we tell social stories. We use to preach Jesus on Wednesday nights, now we go to ball games.

WHOM DO YOU RESPECT?

One should hold those Christians with gray hair in much respect for they have paved the road before us!

Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:32

Sometimes, I sit back thinking about what our senior citizens have seen come to pass in their lifetime; Microwave ovens, Telephone Answering Machines, Super Glue, Liquid Paper, and Mr. Potato Head. Yes, Mr. Potato Head! Boy they have seen a lot come to pass. Now we have the internet, cell phones, and remotes for our ceiling fans! But boy there is are more reasons to honor them than that!

Our Christian Seniors have been in this spiritual fight longer than we and have stood by the stuff! They have sent out missionaries, built churches, and have seen lives changed for the glory of God more than once! They have stayed true to the Lord when churches split, pastors fell, and members fought! Our seniors have a lot to be honored for. Let us give them a little respect while we can. Move over and let them have a seat. Help them inside the church house. Give them hugs and honor them for their service! Why? Because the Lord said so…”…and honour the face of the old man.”

SITTING OR STANDING

Sitting is for a person when their work has been accomplished. A person standing has their hands busy doing something for the lord.

Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. Philippians 4:1

To stand fast Matthew Henry says is, “To stand fast in his strength and by His grace; not trusting in ourselves, and disclaiming any sufficiency of our own.”

Are we living by His grace? Are we truly thankful for getting what we do not deserve? I believe when we disrespect others, whether on a field or not, we are in turn being unthankful for the grace God gives.

Do we trust in ourselves? Do you believe you live in your own strength? Do you take for granted the strength God gives you to breathe, get out of bed, to walk, or to talk? It is only by His mercy we are not consumed!

Friend, if you think there is any good in you, you need to read the Bible one more time. We have no sufficiency of our own. If we are not standing in the Lord; standing in His strength, by His grace, not trusting in self, or claiming any sufficiency of your own, we may as well be sitting with satan.

You want to make a difference in this life? Quit sitting around and trust Jesus as Saviour! Get busy serving Him!