From Knowing to Honoring God

[S] Romans 1:21 --
For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 

[O] Knowing about God alone is not sufficient to sustain the true relationship God desires with us because we will only end up speculating Him rather than being faithful to His promises and honor Him with gratitude.  Without a proper attitude toward God with the deepest knowledge of Him our hearts will only be darkened with our futile efforts.

[A] I've known God for many years now but truths like this passage convicts my heart every time because I find myself coasting along with that knowledge of God rather than my honoring attitude toward Him which gets deeper each day to the point of His thoughts and ways consuming my mind completely during my waking hours.  This is a great moment for me to examine my heart for deepest honor and gratitude for God's grace and love for me.

[P] Dear Father, may my heart's deepest honor grow deeper and deeper each day and may that be the driving force behind my faith to gain more wisdom and knowledge of Your ways for my life.  In Jesus' name. Amen.

My Last Prayer

[S] 1 Chronicles 29:11-13 --
11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.  12 Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. 13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.

[O] This prayer comes from David near his death, after announcing his Solomon as the next king.  He has prepared a ton of materials enough for Solomon to build the temple and yet he gives all the glory to God here and that's really amazing.  I wonder how I would be after living my life to the full -- would I be so satisfied with my own achievements or would I be like David here to recognize the hand of God in and through my life and then to pass that on to my children's generation?

[A] Everything comes from God -- wealth and honor and he rules over all things.  This is a refreshing and powerful truth quenching my dried up soul especially as I struggle with a tough work situation.  I need not question but to acknowledge Him as my soul provider of all my needs.  I claim that my wealth (not that I need to be rich) and honor (from my workplace) come from You!

[P] Dear God, I honor You and You alone who owns everything in this world and in heaven.  You deserve my praise despite all my (unfavorable) circumstances.  Please take joy with my praising You in Your Son's name.  Amen.

Honor from God

[S] Hebrews 5:4 --
4 And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was.

[O] I once read a book titled, Disciples are Make, Not Born because of the catchy title and this passage reminded me of that book because just like how disciples are made through a process of character building, honor is also something that takes time to earn and given by others.  At times, honor is confused with popularity because both is recognized by others, however, the honor begins with God's calling.

[A] Aaron was called by God into the position of leading His people and they honored him as God's priest.  In my life's purpose, I need to take a moment and think about where I stand before God; where He has called me into His service in honor of His name.  This does not mean I have to be like Aaron, but more of a conviction of knowing where God has called me to serve Him.

[P] Dear Father, show me the way for me to serve You with the maximum output from my life You instilled in me.  May it be with honor for Your name's sake as I ask in Jesus' name.  Amen.

Restoring Honor and Dignity

[S] Romans 12:10 --
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;

[O] Brotherly love is so critical in this society in or out of Christian community because that is the glue which holds us together.  When we lack the brotherly love, then it will lead to everyone looking out for themselves only and the community cannot be established.  Brotherly love begins by giving each other preference in honor.  I feel that the honor and dignity is a lost art these days and hope that the believers would set good examples of restoring that art.

[A] In 2012, prayerfully work towards having more and more Brothers and Sisters in Christ in our small groups to give preference to one another in honor.

[P] Dear Father, please let our church community overflow with brotherly love for one another as we continue to devote ourselves to Your word in 2012.  May Your Spirit shower upon us and lead us into restoring honor and dignity in the midst of us.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Respecting God's Anointed

[S] 1 Samuel 24:6-7 --
 ⁶So he said to his men, "Far be it from me because of the LORD that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the LORD'S anointed."
 ⁷David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way.

[O] David did not overruled God's higher precedence of His anointing Saul even though he was filled with the desire of killing Saul in this opportune moment.  David seemed to struggle but he successfully separated his own desires from God's desires and submitted to God's leadership by acknowledging that Saul was God's anointed one and he was not going to touch him.  If it were me, I would have told myself -- this is God's provision for me to relieve myself from my enemies by arranging this perfect situation so I will certainly get rid of Saul.  In a nutshell I would've injected God's anointing right into my own desires for full justification of my actions.  However, David trusted God even in that "perfect" situation for him to take matters into his own hands because even though it did not make sense to him then, he trusted God knew what He was doing and He is eventually for David's best well being.

In verse 7, not only David submitted to God's leadership over his own desires, he also persuaded his men to do likewise.  I'm not sure which would be more difficult:  Yielding to God's leadership over mine, or to persuade a bunch of angry soldiers wanting to take advantage of the situation to kill King Saul.

[A] Honoring God's anointed is not led by emotions or feelings.  It's carried out by recognition of His covenant and first submitting to it regardless of how I feel at the moment.  Following spiritual leadership at home and church requires this type of submission if I trust that God had placed anointed leaders over my life through these two channels.  Hopefully I won't have to deal with with "Sauls" in my life as David did but even if I do my prayer is for me to be equipped to display such submission to follow God's ways.

[P] Dear God, in order to honor Your leadership in my life, I need to let go of my own desires and interpretations of circumstances I find myself in.  Please keep ingraining Your wisdom deep into my heart such that I will have discernments to see Your anointing vs. my own desires to take things into my own hands.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Pride vs. Humility = Dishonor vs. Wisdom

[S] Proverbs 11:2 --
²When pride comes, then comes dishonor,
But with the humble is wisdom.

[O] Person of honor is a concept we don't get to hear often these days. If you read the news these days you are bombarded with stories about how people are trying to cheat, beat, or kill others. Perhaps I may be listening to the wrong news channels but it's definitely rare to hear about the honors people are exchanging with one another. Why? Today's passage seems to shed some light on this question. Instead of humility, we are almost taught and encouraged to be proud over other people. The problem with pride is that it demands others around to be lowered (so you can stand out). So as a result, it will definitely bring dishonor. On the other hand, humility will beg wisdom to make a visit because it requires wisdom to be humble.

[A] Wonders why it's so easier to be proud than humble. I'm going to ask from God for humility by way of asking for more wisdom.

[P] Heavenly Father, grant me a humble heart and spirit. I realize this isn't gonna come naturally and will need to work on it. I wanna work on it, Lord. In Your name. Amen.