Tag Archives: honor

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Go Out Fighting

Ephesians 6:10-18 (HCSB), “Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by His vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the tactics of the Devil. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens. This is why you must take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take the shield of faith, and with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word. Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints.”

We are in a war. Sure maybe not with other people, but that doesn’t make it less evident. In fact it is even more important that we understand what we are fighting and who our enemy really is. Satan loses. God is very clear in His word. And he knows that his ultimate dwelling place will be hell. However, he won’t give up and if he has to go to hell, he wants to take as many of us with him as he can. Why? Because God loves us and he hates God. He wants to hurt Him by hurting us. If the old serpent can’t get us to hell, due to the applied blood of Jesus, then he will do everything he can to delay, distract, and discourage us. He wants us to think that we have to wait until we die to see heaven. He wants us to live sick, worn out, lives filled with anxiety and poverty. Or he wants things to look so good in the world that we choose to walk away from God and His path and plans for us.

Pretty simple. God is good and He is for us. He knows and wants what’s best for us. He already did everything needful to give us a blessed life. Satan is evil and is against us. He wants our lives to get smaller and smaller. He will try anything to get us to lose heart.

So what do we do? We find out who God is, who we are, what He says about us, how He wants us to live from heaven right now, and we STAND. We can’t just stand there in our undies. We have to put some things on.

Isaiah 61:3, 10 (NIV), “and provide for those who grieve in Zion– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor…I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

Ephesians 4:24 (NLT), “Put on your new nature, created to be like God–truly righteous and holy.”

Romans 13:14 (NASB), “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”

We need to clothe ourselves with garments of salvation, robes of righteousness (clothing He made), and we “put on” the new nature (the nature of God), and we have to “put on” Christ! We are in Him, and He is in us. And finally over all of those glorious garments, we put on the armor of God from Ephesians 6.

Clearly we are living in the last days. It’s the final round. Let’s go out fighting! “Occupy until he comes.” Occupy means to work, gain ground, keep what you have, dig in, etc. Jesus already won the victory. We just have to keep fighting and STAND against everything the enemy throws our way and we don’t fight alone! We have mighty warring angels fighting for us, and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. Pretty encouraging, yes?

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Don’t Toot Your Own Horn

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Proverbs 16:18 (Holman Christian Standard Bible), “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.”

We all love accolades. It’s part of our society. It is nice to receive honor, and the Bible clearly tells us to give honor where honor is due. However, we are never the best person to judge whether we should be honored. We are biased to say the least. We will either think we deserve nothing, or worse yet we think we deserve the most. Growing up there was a pretty common saying, “Don’t toot your own horn.” It was a reminder to not brag on yourself.

Most of us ignore a braggart. We shy away from those arrogant, know-it-all types. We don’t want them on our team. They simply aren’t good team players. How about at Church, those shooting stars that give glowing reports of all their good deeds? The common denominator in all of their “testimonies” isn’t the goodness of God, it’s their so-called spirituality. They begin their sentences with “I”, not “God”. In trying to honor themselves they end up looking fake-y and flaky. Those types of people have very little true impact on the Body of Christ, unless it is in a negative way. Any motivation other than love doesn’t accomplish anything for the Kingdom. Self aggrandizement isn’t a fruit of the Spirit, and Proverbs 16 clearly tells us that pride comes before a fall. That doesn’t sound like honor.

Luke 14:11 (NASB), “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Even Jesus said that if He bore witness of Himself that His witness wouldn’t be true. He let His works speak for themselves.

John 5:31, 36 (NIV), “If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true… I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish–the very works that I am doing–testify that the Father has sent me.”

We don’t have to tell everyone all the “good things” we do. Just do it! If you have a true testimony of what God did share it, but those testimonies never include “God used me to bless so and so.” I am sorry if this steps on some toes, but that isn’t a true testimony. Why not just testify, “so and so had a need and God met that need.” No need to bring ourselves into the picture at all. This glorifies the One who deserves it. We can’t love the praise of men. It keeps us from serving God rightly.

John 12:43 (NLT), “For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.”

Myself, I want to hear Him say, “well done,” not another person who is just like me.

John 7:18 (NET Bible), “The person who speaks on his own authority desires to receive honor for himself; the one who desires the honor of the one who sent him is a man of integrity, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

Been “tooting your own horn”? Check your heart.

Let love motivate you, and give all praise to God.

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Want Honor?

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It is nice to be honored, isn’t it? In America we like to watch awards shows where they honor actors, singers, athletes and more. We have honorary college degrees, employee of the month, customer of the day, and much more. When we get a good review at work and a raise, it feels nice. As a whole we tend to think of recognition as honor, but they are two different things. Recognition means just that, you have been recognized, identified, or remembered. Picture yourself walking down the street and you hear someone call your name, you were recognized by someone. Honor includes respect, esteem, and recognition. Bonnie and Clyde received recognition, Mother Theresa received honor. So why does it seem that some receive honor and others do not. Two people can do the same job at work, with the same production, yet not receive the same reward? The Biblical answer to that is that only the humble can receive honor.

Proverbs 29:23 (NASB), “A man’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.”

Matthew 23:12 (NIV), “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Proverbs 18:12 (Holman Christian Standard Bible), “Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.”

Any one of us can go around “tooting our own horn” and bragging about all of our accomplishments. We could corner our bosses and demand recognition and a raise for our hard work. We could take out a front page ad to display our talents and gifts to gain fame. However, true honor, honor that hasn’t been forced or manipulated, only comes to those who are humble.

If your work, your effort, and the application of your God given gifts and talents are all used just so that you can gain recognition, then that is your reward. So, you better be happy with the recognition of men. If you want honor, which is so different than simple recognition, you better be operating out of a completely different motivation. The man who works hard on his job because he knows that his boss expects it, because he acknowledges that he is on the time clock and being paid for his time, and because he wants to represent the Kingdom well, will receive true honor. The person who uses their artistic talent to glorify God and to support their family will receive honor. The artist, who uses their talent to glorify themselves, or a certain lifestyle, may win awards, and gain recognition, but they will never have honor. It’s so easy to see the motivation in other people, sometimes harder to see it in ourselves.

We tend to want to point the finger at others and say their effort isn’t good enough, or their motivation is not right, but we want them to honor us for every little thing that we do.
Jonathan Edwards said it this way, “Some persons are always ready to level those above them down to themselves, while they are never willing to level those below them up to their own position. But he that is under the influence of true humility will avoid both these extremes. On the one hand, he will be willing that all should rise just so far as their diligence and worth of character entitle them to; and on the other hand, he will be willing that his superiors should be known and acknowledged in their place, and have rendered to them all the honors that are their due.”

Honor should never be sought after. It is earned by being humbly obedient to those in authority over us, and doing whatever our hands find to do as unto the Lord. We do our best because it is the right thing to do, because this honors God, and God will make sure that we are honored. If you feel cheated of honor, examine your heart! That is pride speaking. God will never bypass the chance to honor those who deserve it. He said in Romans 13:7, to give honor where honor is due. He doesn’t ask us to do something that He won’t do. He honors those who have a contrite spirit, a repentant heart. Pride is sin and clearly indicates a heart that has not humbled itself.

Isaiah 66:2 (NKJB), “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the LORD.“But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.”

James 4:6,10 (NIV), “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble…Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

So, this all may go against our flesh, but most good things do! We have to humble ourselves. It doesn’t matter if you ever get recognized for your hard work at your job, at Church, or at home, just work hard. Do your job cheerfully and with a good attitude. Use your talents and gifts to help others, and not just yourself, to glorify God. Don’t worry if anyone is watching or takes notice. God sees. His rewards will be so much better than the recognition of man.

Matthew 6:1 (Message Bible), “Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.”

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Prayer To My Father

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Dear Father (Father of my heart, love, life, peace, salvation, hope, dreams, provision, health, and family),
I love God! My heart is full of love for you. I am thankful and grateful that you adopted me! You’ve cleansed me from all my unrighteous acts, delivered me from every curse and every yoke of bondage, those of my own making and those that came with my family ties. You have set me free from the law. You have made me an heir and a joint heir with Christ. I am seated with Him in heavenly places, because of my acceptance in the beloved. Because you are a loving Father, Faithful and Trustworthy, because Your Word is true, You watch over it to perform it in my life. you have sent your angels, your ministering spirits, to minister according to your perfect will, the plans and the purposes, you have for my life. You have placed a hedge of protection around me, your angels guard round about me, day and night. Because I am your child, no weapon formed against me will prosper, and every tongue raised against me, to accuse me or curse me, is already condemned! Even what the devil has planned and prepared for my harm you, in your grace and mercy, have turned it around for my good. Who is like you, Oh God? There is none other. Only you have creative power. Only you can save. Only you can change our hearts and minds and conform us into the image of Christ. You alone are worthy of all praise, honor and glory… and you are my Father. You call me your child. Let my life glorify you.
In Jesus Name I pray. Amen.

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If you read my last blog about an attitude adjustment, you may have noticed some things that need changing. It occurred to me that I left you hanging… So, let’s say we need some adjusting, how do we go about it? First, repent. Ask God, and anyone else who may have been a witness to your bad attitude, to forgive you. That is always the first step to change. Next, you have to choose to change the way you think and speak. Before church, thank God for your Church Family, your Pastors, leaders and those who serve. Be honored and thankful that you get to serve yourself, (if you aren’t ask if you can, volunteer.) Ask God to help you serve with His Joy. Choose to go to church because you love Him and look at your service as an extension of that love instead of a duty or obligation.

We also need to change the way we look at others. When a negative thought comes in, before you blurt it out, cast it down and replace it with something positive. It may be hard at first, but even if all you can think of is “they have nice shoes”, then so be it. It’s a start. Never despise small beginnings. At work, be thankful for a job! Choose to see your employer as a vessel that God chose to use to bless you financially. Remember, your boss didn’t start that business to provide for you- he started it to provide for himself and his family. He has just accepted your request to work in exchange for an agreed upon amount of money. You can’t get mad because he drives a jag and you a pinto. He has all the headaches that come with owning a business and the responsibility. He also made all the investments to get the business up and running. Respect and honor your bosses and supervisors at work. Refuse to participate in the grumbling and complaining. Pray for those in authority over you. Not a “change them” prayer but a “change me” prayer.

Ephesians 6:5-8 “Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of eye service, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.”

When you adjust your attitude, with God’s help, you will see great changes. You will have more joy, have more patience, less worry and stress. You will love people more, hear God clearer and you will definitely be more fun to be around!

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Today’s Prayer of Thanksgiving

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Lord, I love you. I thank you for loving me first. For seeing something in me that I couldn’t see. For creating me as the pearl of great price. Thank you for buying me back from your enemy and my enemy, from the one who hurt me, and used me cruelly. You brought me to Your Kingdom and clothed me, fed me and bound up my wounds. By your love you healed my heart and by your word you healed my mind. You placed mighty warrior angels around me for my protection and ministering spirits to help and sustain me. You gave me your Spirit as a constant companion to lead and guide me, and ever present help in times of confusion and trouble. You have taken away my nightmares and given me sweet sleep. My heart is at peace and my spirit is at rest. You have accepted me into the family of your loved ones. Given me a seat of honor at your banqueting table, in the presence of our enemies. Proving my worth and your love for me. I lake nothing that I need. You hold nothing back from me. There is not an enemies weapon that can touch me, no harm no illness, no evil thing. You have shut the mouths of the lions and you walk with me through the fire- not allowing it to burn, or even touch me. You raise your banner of love over me as a sign that I belong to you. You have given me a new name. Your name. I am yours and you are mine. Lord, I love you.

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Consider Solomon

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Solomon was given the royal title of King. He wasn’t his father, King David’s, firstborn son. He was the son of Bathsheba. David and Bathsheba committed adultery while she was married to Uriah the Hittite. David had him murdered in battle and married Solomon’s mother. David and Bathsheba conceived a son in their sin. After the man of God corrects David and he repents, the child dies. Then along comes Solomon.

David’s desire was to build a house for God. But due to his “bloody hands” and because he was a “man of war”, God couldn’t allow it. In his place, Solomon spent seven years with literally hundreds of thousands of men to build the temple, using the finest stones, lumber and precious metals. If you read I Kings and II Chronicles you can see the splendor. David designed it. Solomon built it.

When Solomon was to become King, God asked him to ask for whatever he wanted. As a new young King, with big shoes to fill, he asked for wisdom to rule the people. God was so pleased that He gave him the wisdom as well as riches and honor. In all time, Solomon was the wisest and richest man ever to live. A great beginning.
So what happened after his coronation and the building of the temple that takes us to Ecclesiastes 1:1-11, Where he exclaims “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the teacher. “Utterly Meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

I believe chapter 11 of I Kings explains the heart of the matter.”Solomon loved many foreign women.” It’s not just that he married them, when it was forbidden by God, “You must not intermarry with them, because they surly will turn your hearts after their Gods.” No, the real issue was his heart. He “held fast to them in love.” And sure enough, “as Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to God, as the heart of David, his father had been” (verses 1-5). He ended up following other gods, including Molech who demanded they sacrifice their children by fire.

It’s pretty simple, really. God knows what is best for us. When we listen, things are good. When we don’t things aren’t so good. Sure bad things happen to all of us; after all we live in a fallen world that is under Satan’s control. But do you want to face them alone, or go through them with God on your side. It’s kind of a no-brainer.

What do you love more than God? Who do you love more than God? You might not have 700 wives and 300 mistresses but what takes your attention away from Him? What comes first? Whatever it is, you better get your priorities straightened out. Otherwise you’ll end up like Solomon screaming, “Meaningless! Meaningless!” We’ve all been there, hind-sight and all of that, thinking “that was a waste”. Solomon went from dedicating the temple where God showed up in such a way, physically, that the priests couldn’t even stand in his presence, to building places of worship for false gods, and he was the wisest man ever…

I like to think that I am pretty smart. I like to think that I have a pretty good relationship with God. But if Solomon in all of his wisdom and glory could fall so far…

Priorities. We all love our families, our Churches, our hobbies, interests, some of us our jobs, etc. But we need to love God best, or as my granddaughter used to say “the most-est”. Now, we don’t do that by “working” ourselves up like an actress getting ready to film the big love scene. Instead it’s something we work at, and work towards. Build a relationship that nothing else can replace or compare to. Choose God, first and foremost.

By the way, Solomon recognized his error and set his priorities straight, but how much time was wasted? What kind of example did he set for his son’s who were destined to rule? Read the rest of Kings and Chronicles. Things didn’t work out too well for his descendants, most of whom “did evil in the sight of the Lord”. What example do you want to leave?