In the last session, I spoke about the work of imparting.  We prayed that God will help us impart his spirit.

In this final session, I want to look at a fundamental work in our spirits that is imparted, and that is honour.

If you think about it, doing everything as unto the Lord, is honouring God. At the same time, it is very liberating to man.

We just have to focus on God, while we work, and we will have the peace of Christ. This is as our joy will no longer depend on human reactions, responses and attitudes to us, as we derive our joy solely from God.

That is so wonderful! However, in our human weakness, we usually find that hard to do. Instead, we even end up serving the Lord without honour and love for him in our hearts. The warning to the church in Ephesus, found in Rev 2:1-7 illustrates this point, and is a great wake-up call for all of us.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”

Can you imagine that, the church was praised for so many things, yet what mattered to God then, was that they had lost their love for Him, the kind they had at first.  Going about serving without that love for God, is dishonouring God. Are we able to love God more than all else?

Dear friends, our Lord Jesus is very clear here. He reveals to John in visions recorded in the book of revelation, that our relationship with God is covenantal. Even if God has promised before, we are expected to continue honouring him. God is the same, he is everlasting and unchanging, throughout time, as shown in his word.

Let's look at 1 Samuel 2:30.

“Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that members of your family would minister before me forever.’ But now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honour me I will honour, but those who despise me will be disdained.”
 

What a warning and reminder for us to remember to love and honour God.
 

How can we honour God?  We have a clue in Proverbs 3:9-12.

Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. My son, do not despise the Lord ’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

God loves us like a father loves his children.  That is why he commanded us to honour our parents in the Ten Commandments, in Exodus 20:12.

“Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

God shows us the true meaning of a father's love for his son, through Jesus Christ. Honour is relationship of trust.

Dear friends, let us see what the outcome was, when Jesus was able to honour God the Father, all the way in his life on earth. This can be seen in Philippians 2:5-11.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Wow! Our Father God loves us and all these things on earth are placed in our lives to shape us to become wonderful co-heirs with Christ in the future. Likewise, the people around us have also been placed there for us!

The above was taught by Paul to the followers of Christ, to have that saw mindset as Christ Jesus, in their relationship with one another. Dear friends, it is obvious that where there are people, there will be people problems, even in a community of believers.  Paul was evidently teaching them how to love one another with clear and specific actions. Earlier in Philippians 2:1-4, we see:

Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Dear friends, for many of us, when we are born again, it is not an immediate change that will happen in our lives.  In fact, for most of us, God wants us to struggle through areas of our lives, sacrifice them for him, and work at growing in holiness. We have to persevere.

But we are motivated by Jesus' love for us...

We are drawn by the love of God our heavenly Father...

We are helped by His Holy Spirit...

We are pulled by the Kingdom of God that we will be worth far more than anything we can give up…

Dear friends, let us persevere. Remember to honour God, and to honour one another as members of the same family.

Dear friends, this moment, let me just share with you about marriages. God designed marriages to show the wonders of a life-long relationship. But many today, are giving it up for short-term passionate affairs. Marriage is like a vintage wine that will give you reward according to its age. Our Father God uses the initial passion between a man and a woman, to teach us commitment, and to reveal to us his patient covenantal love.

Let me share with you, a friend's testimony about honouring her husband.

This sister had a husband who was kind and generous.  He was able to earn money quickly and easily in a certain season, just by looking out for accidents and getting the victims to certain workshops to be repaired, where he will get a fat commission from the victim’s auto insurance.  Later, when the government stopped this from happening, he lost his source of an easy and good income, and instead turned to gambling.  Instead of being a source of income, the gambling was a drain on the family’s savings and resources, and sadly, he became addicted and the family was close to losing everything they had.

This sister came to know Christ and chose to honour her husband.  Despite all the debts, she will always bless her husband and tell him that she is praying for him.
The husband felt more and more hopeless as he kept losing and that big break in gambling that he was hoping for never came. He was push to desperation and depression and thought that his family will be better off without him. He was about to jump off a tall building to kill himself, when his phone rang. His wife had at that moment, texted him in love to ask how he was and that she was praying for him.

That timely and divine intervention stopped him from his foolish plan and he returned to his family, and signed up at a gambling rehabilitation centre.

After receiving much support from his family, friends and counsellors who were gamblers before, he received Jesus as his personal Lord and Saviour, and started leading a new life as a taxi-driver.  Earning slowly but steadily, working off his debts gradually, and becoming a testimony and a counsellor to others who struggle with gambling.

My friend, this brother was saved by a love that honours.  Because his wife chose to honour him, and not to give up on him. Today, in Christ, they can lead a renewed life as a family again.

My friend, if you chose to honour God, and honour others, you can build up a life rather than destroy it; find a life for Jesus, rather than lose it.

Let us pray...

God you are an honourable God, and that is why you want us as your children to be honourable. Help us honour those who deserve honour. Teach us to honour our government, the elderly, our parents, and even one another. In humility, enable us to value others above ourselves. We pray these in the highest name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

I hope you have been blessed by this session, and the whole series.

Dear friend, I am praying for you to be truly born again, to live the abundant life in God.
 

God bless you!

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