Render Honor Where Honor Is Due!
Welcome readers to the latest edition of my Blog!
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
A friend of mine was in the military service and he had the privilege of attending many social functions. Some were to honor someone and some were to present him an award. When he was receiving an award, he noticed three types of participants in the ceremony. One type was the one that will clap only and then leave. Second type approached him and shook his hand quickly, then left, as if in a rush. The third type, shook his hand firmly and stayed around him to ask him questions about how he had accomplished that honor. This last type respected what my friend had accomplished and honored him by wanting to know more about him.
According to DifferenceBetween.com here is what Honor and Respect means:
Respect is when we provide an ethical value to the person in such a degree that they are highly esteemed in terms of personal perspective. This can be broken down to the fact that respect is a subjective perception of one person to the other, based on their personal beliefs and principle.
Honor is more on the assessment of a person’s social status and degree. For one, it is regarded that honor is higher than respect, in such a way that everyone that you give honor to is already respected, while you may not necessarily honor all the people that you respect.
So, we as mankind show respect and honor to each other. Sometimes we do the opposite and dishonor those that deserve honor. Disrespect many that are due respect. Often times because of selfish ambitions or aspirations. Sometimes it takes us to deny ourselves in order to respect and honor others, but it is the right thing to do.
Respecting and Honoring is not only a horizontal action, it also is a vertical action.
Do we honor and respect God?
Do we honor and respect His Word?
Do we honor and respect our Creator, The Lord Jesus Christ?
The Apostle Peter wrote the following about honor, and reverence:
Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
1 Peter 2:11-17 NKJV
My friend said he used to speed when driving on the highway. He felt that speed limits were mandated to us by old people in the government that did not want us to have fun and enjoy the road. He felt that if he had three lanes and little traffic, he should be able to fly on the road. As he got older, he slowed down but maintained 10 miles over the speed limit. Today, he constantly pays attention to speed limits and obeys them to a fault.
What changed in him?
He explained to me he realized that he was not only dishonoring the law, but also the government, the country, the officials, and ultimately God! He realized that as a son of light, he must walk in the light and be obedient as an example to others as the above scripture stated. Your actions, as seen by others, will dishonor God or Glorify Him.
King David was an example in the Old Testament on how to rely on God for guidance, protection, and holy living. But, there is a black mark on his record. He committed adultery and then had the woman’s husband killed to hide his sin. When he was confronted by God through the prophet Nathan he prayed to God like this:
Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.Psalm 51:1-4 NKJV
Notice he said, “Against you, you only, have I sinned.”
Here we see David talking about SIN, TRANSGRESSIONS, and INIQUITY. He was guilty of all three. Sin is the general term meaning we fall short of God’s standard and miss the mark, inherited from Adam. Transgressions are sins that crosses a line in God’s laws and can be conscious or subconscious but sometimes we err and do not mean to transgress. Iniquities are sins we are conscious of but commit them anyway (sometimes referred as presumptuous sin.) Many of us believers commit countless presumptuous sins when we take the grace of God lightly, not knowing we are dishonoring God and grieving the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:25-32 NKJV
Joseph was also an example that honored God by the way he lived. His master’s wife made an advance to him and he refused her advances as he proclaimed:
And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
Genesis 39:7-9 NKJV
Joseph did not say, “How can I do this and sin against my master.” Joseph held God above all honor and respect. So much he knew ALL SIN is against God and God alone. Joseph experienced countless years of hardship but through it all he honored God and he was rewarded and appointed second in command of Egypt.
My friends, if we profess to know Jesus, if we profess to be saved and in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit, then we MUST honor and respect God and His Holy Word to the best of our abilities. If we are in a habit of committing presumptuous sin then we need to ask ourselves, are we really saved?
Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
2 Corinthians 13:5
Can you imagine how much society will change if every one that calls themselves Christians will honor God and His Word? Not only on Sundays but every waking hour. When they go to work, when they go to vote, when they raise a family, when they meet in the community, etc. Imagine how much your prayer life will change when you honor God and seek Him first for a hug, for communion with Him. Then you can make your requests.
Jesus loves us with a love we cannot match. Yet, He is still a Holy God that expects obedience.
“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
Luke 6:46-49 NKJV
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
Matthew 15:8 NKJV
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
John 15:9-10
My friends, salvation is only by GRACE through faith. But the real power of a Christian, to will and to do, is in the heart of the Christian. If we Honor God’s Word, if we Respect His laws, we will be, by our actions, showing who really is our God.
I present this to you for examination:
As my friend in the service experienced respect and honor, how do we present ourselves as a participant when we approach God’s Throne in our life.
Do we just clap hands on Sunday and then go on our business, forgetting Him until next Sunday?
Do we kneel at His Throne of Grace, ask for miracles, then go on our business?
Or,
Do we kneel at His Throne of Grace, give Him thanks for been such a great God. For His works of old in creation, for all that He has prepared for those that love Him. Approach him in AWE and Reverence, acknowledge His Holiness. Confess your sins. Make your requests believing it will be done according to His will.
Abba, Father!
Helps us to understand that You are a Holy God that loves us with a love we cannot match. But You also require and demand our obedience. Remind us daily that we cannot obey you working through the power of our flesh but require Your Holy Spirit in order to be obedient to you. We want to Honor and Respect You Lord because You are worthy of our honor and respect.
We pray in the name Jesus our Lord and Savior!
Amen
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Other Verses about honoring God
1 Samuel 2:30
Malachi 1:6
Hebrews 3:1-6
1 Timothy 1:17
Revelation 5:13
By Him, For Him!
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
2 Corinthians 13:14
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