Honor the LORD Always and Forever

This morning I was reminded that I am to honor the LORD always and forever. I know, how is it that I even need the reminder. Well, it isn’t so much that I need it to get back to doing so, it is the reminder that honoring the LORD is to never stop.

“⁸And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

who was and is and is to come!’

⁹And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

‘¹¹Worthy are you, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they existed and were created.’”

— Revelation 4:8-11 (ESV)

I was led to this passage in my study of the word “honor”. It is titled “The Throne in Heaven”. Where I see the glory of the throne, I also see the honor of the LORD. Reading the passage I was really taken to the creatures and elders continually praising and honoring the LORD. And as written, the LORD lives forever and ever and to go along with that the honor of Him does as well.

I have to take the same look at my worship and honor of the LORD here in this world even before I arrive in heaven at the time appointed by God. Everyday and continually, I am to honor the LORD as the creatures and elders do in the above verses.

The LORD is not He just in my times of grave need. He is there always for me, in times of grave need and in times of joy and celebration. As He is with me always and forever, I will be there to honor Him always and forever. I have to remember to honor Him in the mornings as I do here and all throughout the day. I have to take the moments to praise the LORD in the midday and afternoon and night.

Those who practice the Muslim religion take five times each day to pray. They are dedicated to it and rarely allow the world to get in the way of those prayers. Should I not as a Christian take a similar approach in the honor of the LORD. I should be honoring Him multiple times daily. Maybe to start, I should get on a schedule. I should make it a priority and rarely allow the world to get in the way.

The idea here is not to honor and praise the LORD out of fulfilling some task on a list for the day. I have to get in the habit of honoring and praising the LORD continually, always and forever. When I do, I will find myself in deeper connection with Him and as a result will find more direct answers to my questions and requests. Honor the LORD always and forever.

When are you honoring the LORD? Are you doing so once and moving on? What if you were to take the always and forever approach to honoring the LORD?

Honor Everyone

How divided we are and for what reasons, we don’t “like” everyone? Well, we have to get over it. We have to get back to the place where we find that there is disagreement, yet those disagreements do not mean that one side is deserving of evil treatment. Even in disagreement, there is good in most, if not all people. This is where there is the opportunity to come together for the common and agree that the people should be viewed as just that, people and are deserving of love.

“¹³Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, ¹⁴or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. ¹⁵For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. ¹⁷Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” – 1 Peter 2:13-17 (ESV)

In the above verses, Peter is speaking to the people about their relationship with authority. I see this as another extension into our relationship with others. I see that we are in the act of vilification of others, just because they do not think or do things like we do. And this is from all sides of everything. We find ourselves interacting with others that are on the other side of whatever and immediately take the position of opposition and the belief that they are wrong and should be taken down for being so.

Well, this opposition thinking is such a short-sighted approach. I have to remember that those who I interact with are indeed my brothers and sisters. Maybe not in Christ, but in this world that we live in and that brings them to deserving of love and, as Peter mentions above, honor.

Verse 17 is where I was led this morning as I was studying God’s Word. What I found is that honor is to be provided to everyone, regardless of their station in this world. They may be the “emperor” or just someone in the “brotherhood”, everyone is deserving, even those with which we may not agree.

Recently I was presented a situation where I was not being given the information needed in order to understand the situation. We, Lori and I, had been dealing with something over the course of about 11 hours and along the way, felt like we were being set up for resolution, only to be continually in the dark on the plan. I became very stern and matter-of-fact with someone who did not understand my position and procured someone else to speak with me/us. On the surface, it may have seemed that I was being mean and lacking understanding or compassion with the other person. However, what was missing was the understanding from their side. The other person started making excuses as to why the information may not have been shared as opposed to apologizing and just working to get the information. To the outside observer, it may have been thought I did not respect the person, when in fact, I did and that is the reason I was asking for information from them and not someone else. I did not let their position lord over me although I am sure that the reason for stepping away was that the person could not truly understand my frustration.

Even in the situation above, the honor was not missing for the other individual. The person was deserving of honor, it was the lack of information that was being questioned, not the person. Regardless of someone’s position, the person is deserving of honor even when the situation may be a bit contentious.

I have to remember that not all situations will be to my liking and that there will be opposition I have to work through. In those situations as with all, the person is due honor and not to be the opposition. I have the duty to love all people and provide for them that which they deserve.

What do your interactions look like? Are you finding yourself in contention with others and possibly looking at the person as the opposition? What if you were to provide for the person the honor they deserve, understanding the position they hold and working to resolve the situation?

Honor Marriage

I certainly did not expect to read up on marriage this morning and especially in the realm of sex and marriage.

“⁴Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” – Hebrews 13:4 (ESV)

Lori and I have been married for over 27 years. I love her dearly and only want to please her. Has our marriage been all sunshine and rainbows, that would be a resounding NO. There have been some really difficult times to deal with in our household and our relationship, as I expected and know is the same for all marriages. But, we made a promise to each other and to God, in front of a good number of witnesses that we would be in it for the long haul, and through the good and the bad. We are devoted to one another and to the sanctity of our marriage and that promise made years ago.

I believe that our relationship has lasted as long as it has and will continue to last is due to promises made. Not just the one made for our marriage, but the promise made to follow God in our marriage. The promise made to God in our individual life. The promise God made of salvation. All of these and many more are the reasons for our relationship success.

As I have mentioned before, my study of God’s Word is just following the topic led to from the concordance. I am currently in a study of the word “honor” and allow God to lead my learning for the day on that topic. This morning I was led to Hebrews 13 and the passage titled “Sacrifices Pleasing to God”. The verse above is where the word “honor” is, and I am led this morning to dive into this verse.

The title of the passage in Hebrews is a window into where I am going this morning. One of the things that are challenging with promises, is the keeping of them. There are sacrifices that may be required. And sometimes those sacrifices may not be easy to make.

I want to be clear here. I am not a proponent of sexual promiscuity. I will not promote the societal way of thinking that multiple partners is okay. What I will say is that it is clear in God’s Word that the promise of marriage is one that includes devotion to one another in the bedroom as well as everywhere else.

In reference to verse 4 above, it is the promise of sexual dedication to one another where there is sacrifice. I know, there is sacrifice in being dedicated sexually to your spouse? Yes, especially when you think of the openness of today’s societal thinking. It is acceptable in today’s world to see sex as a carnal instinct and that devotion to one other person as counter to that instinct. Well, it may be acceptable in this world, but it is not acceptable in God’s world. A promise was made and in order to uphold that promise, there needs to be sacrifice in this world.

Marriage is to be honored by all. Those outside of the relationship should hold marriage in high regard and pay the honor that is due to those in that relationship. Those who are married should honor the marriage with their sacrifice to give up those things of the societal world and devote to one another. All should sacrifice to ensure that they are doing those things that are pleasing to God as those promises are to be kept most of all.

What promises were made in your marriage? Are you still looking for ways to have it all without sacrifice? What if you took your marriage and honored it as you would honor your relationship with God?

Follow Instructions of the LORD

This morning I was led to 1 Timothy for my study in God’s Word. I am continuing to study the word “honor” and chapter six leads with instructions to the church that largely are related to that subject.

I am again reminded that God’s Word is constant. It is the same today as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow. He gave instructions to honor in the Ten Commandments (in Exodus) and then again we see His instruction to those who would lead the church (1 Timothy). He does not waver and is as true today as He was in those times.

“³Honor widows who are truly widows.” And, “¹⁷Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.” – 1 Timothy 5:3&17 (ESV)

Notice here that Paul reiterates the honor that is to be payed to those in the church. There are a lot of details in the instructions between and after these verses, and we should all take a look at them, study them, and work to understand them, but the verses themselves tell us where to begin. We are to honor those owed the payment as noted.

Instructions are there to be followed. When we make a purchase of something that needs to be put together, we follow the instructions to do so. We have become dependent on instructions from our GPS to get somewhere and we follow them almost without question. What better instructions to follow than those given by God. He is instructing us to honor and that is what we should do, almost without question.

I know, “almost without question”. That seems a bit vague and needs some clarification. Yes, “almost”. God’s Word is final and we can rely on the instructions that we are given. We should trust that what He is telling us is true. As Ronald Reagan used often, “Trust but verify”. It is good for us to ask questions to understand and clarify the instructions to ensure that we get it right. Carpenters are taught to measure twice and cut once to ensure that they get it right (something that I have learned the hard way a number of times). My role here as relates to God’s instruction is to follow. I can and should question to understand, but ultimately I am to follow.

God has given us instruction to honor those owed. It is my duty to do so. I am here to spread His gospel. I am here to obey. I am here to follow the instructions of the LORD.

What is your approach to instructions? Are you just throwing them aside as you go and look for things to turn out well? What if you took the instruction of the LORD as the constant that it is?

Honor for Your Parents for the Promise

As I study God’s Word, it seems as though I am coming back to the same passages again and again. God has new things for me to learn as I do. Now I know that over a lifetime, there are many days and the odds of coming back to the same passages are really good, it is just that I have been doing a dive into God’s Word over the past number of years and I have really noticed the guidance through His Word. This morning I am led back to Ephesians as I study the word “honor”.

“‘²Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise),’³that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.’” – Ephesians 6:2-3 (ESV)

Familiar passage indeed. Yet, I still learned something this morning. The parenthetical statement above, “this is the first commandment with a promise”. I had not thought of it from that perspective before. God not only gave us a commandment, but told us the outcome of keeping it. It will “go well”. God has told us that doing that which we are commanded to do will result in good things to come.

I know, well bring on the good things. It is simple, yet difficult at the same time. Saying that I honor my parents in public and even in private is one thing, but really putting it into practice is another thing all together. Honoring them is an action and not just words. I have to remember to show them that I honor them and not just tell them that I love them.

Recently, my family traveled and my mother went along with us. My mother is into her 70s and where she is relatively healthy, she is not able to keep up with us young kids (we are in our 50s, LOL) like she used to. At one point my wife and our boys went on a hike to see a site and mom and I were tagging along. We got about half way to the destination and I realized that my mother was likely not to make it. Where seeing the site would have been nice, I elected to turn back with my mother to wait on everyone to return. Mom was more important to me than seeing something that was not going anywhere. I honored her by being there with and for her.

Now, honoring our parents is not to be done for some reward. I did not think about the reward when I stayed with mom. I did not want something out of it. But thinking back to the time spent with her, I see that I may have received the reward. Things for me did “go well” as I was able to have some good private conversation with mom and connect with her away from the formal setting of most conversations. It was all, in the moment and was very real and lovely.

Our role with our parents is to honor them through our action. We are to demonstrate to them that they are indeed important and when it comes down to it, they were the first to love us and for that, they deserve our honor.

What is your approach to your parents? Are you seeing them as just another person in your life? What if you were to honor them for the position they hold or held in your life?

Pay What is Owed

As I read and think, I cannot help but reflect on the state of our world today and the total lack of payment to what is owed. This morning I am studying the word “honor”. I was led to the passage in Romans directing me to “submission to the authorities”.

“⁷Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” – Romans 13:7 (ESV)

Above are Paul’s words as to paying what is owed. All of those items are sorely missing in society today. How many are not paying their taxes? How many are not paying respect? How many are not paying honor?

When I look at the words from Paul, I have to remember that paying what is owed does not mean that I am agreeing with it. It means that I am fulfilling an obligation. I have incurred the taxes and therefor must pay them. Those in positions of authority have earned the position and should be respected. Those who have given of themselves must be honored for their sacrifices. I may not like to pay taxes, and I may not like the person in authority, and I may not agree with the area where the sacrifice was given. But, all of those things are things that are to be payed out of the it is right to do so.

My youngest son Aarron volunteered to serve in the Navy. He has given of himself for something greater than himself. I could not be more proud of his decision to do so. Am I afraid for him, yes. Would I do the same, I am not sure. The one thing I can say is that I will honor him for the sacrifice that he is making that others may or would not make. I do not look down on others, as they are following their path, and I may be with them as well. But honor is given to Aarron for he has earned it, even if others do not agree with his decision.

Our authorities in the world are in those positions as God has allowed it. It does not mean that they are the “best” for the role, but they are there and deserve the respect of the position. We do not have to “like” the person, but the position is instituted by God and is deserving of respect as a result. Paul points out that authority is from God, and deserving of respect.

“¹Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” – Romans 13:1 (ESV)

As for the paying of taxes as they are owed. Even if we do not agree with them, we are to pay them. Paul is simply restating that which Jesus Himself stated, that we are to respect the authority and pay that which is owed.

“¹⁴And they came and said to him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?’ ¹⁵But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, ‘Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.’ ¹⁶And they brought one. And he said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ They said to him, ‘Caesar’s.’ ¹⁷Jesus said to them, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ And they marveled at him.” – Mark 12:14-17 (ESV)

We are obligated to pay that which is owed. There is nothing in what Jesus says or Paul reiterates that indicates we are to pay more, and there it is not referenced as to what is fair or right, it is in reference to simply what is owed.

I am obligated to pay what is owed. I may not like it, but I am obligated to pay. That pay is not just in the form of monetary compensation, but in the currency of the situation, money, respect, honor, etc.

I am reminded this morning to remove the emotion from transaction and do as the LORD has directed and Paul has restated. I am obligated to pay that which is owed.

What are your thoughts as relate to paying what is owed? Are you fighting and resisting? Think about it, what if you listened to the LORD in the area of your obligations to pay that which I owed?