Monday
Reverence
Read Proverbs 22:4; 15:32, Isaiah 11:2-3
Seed Thought: The Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord brings honor. One of the Spiritual attributes of Jesus was the fear of the Lord. This is not being afraid of God but a living in awe of whom and what He is. If we don’t’ have a reverence for something we cannot honor it in our life. A Reverence of God should mark our life. If we don’t have reverence for God and His law then it is useless to us. We cannot benefit from it and they do not have a positive effect in our lives. If we don’t honor the awesomeness of God then everything becomes common and valueless to us. We need to honor God by being in awe of whom and what He is in our world and our life. It is the foundation of our walk with Him and the cornerstone of a society. We have lost our foundation in this nation. We need to come back to an awe of the creator of the universe. The Creator of the Universe is Almighty and awesome. Scripture says that Our Lord's blessings, goodness and even forgiveness are also reasons to "fear" Him! God's wonderful love and goodness should inspire awe and worship in our hearts. Such reverence does not conflict with an intimate communion with God, but it does conflict with flippancy, which is disrespectful. God is exalted above creation, yet "in Him we live and move and have our being". He knows us completely, loves us infinitely and is with us always. God's Majesty does not keep us from Him because He willingly humbles Himself to fellowship with us. His holiness does not bar us from His Presence because we have become the righteousness of God in Jesus. His attributes such as Power, Majesty, Justice, and Holiness should inspire awe and reverence in His creatures.
Action Plan: Ask yourself what type of fear do you have when you view God, is reverential fear, which acknowledges all of the awesome attributes of God or is it a fear of a frightful mean God, which is not Gods nature? If it is the latter ask the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart to the loving, gentle, merciful God that He is. Spend time today in worship.
Declaration: My God is a loving and gentle God, He wants the best for me.
Tuesday
Righteousness
Read Proverbs 21:21; Romans 12:9-10
Righteous is what God is, and all of His acts are righteous because they have their source in His continuous righteous character. That God is immutably holy is what assures us that His actions are always absolutely correct and upright. If God acts in a certain way, then we can know with certainty that this particular action is a righteous one simply because it is what God did, for any thought or action that come from our God comes from the one-and-only morally perfect being, which exists Himself as the perfect standard of righteousness. Honor comes when we have and live up to the standards of God in our life. If we have no code of honor then we can’t measure honor. We are considered honorable when we have a God standard and we walk in such a way so others recognize that standard in our life. Right living brings honor to God, honor to the church and honor to us.
Action Plan: Do you live by a code of honor? List the ways or things you do that exemplify honor and righteousness that is considered God Standard.
Declaration: With Jesus as my example I will live an honorable life that is pleasing to my Heavenly Father.
Wednesday
Respect
Read 1 Peter 2:17
Respect denotes both a positive feeling of esteem for a person or other entity (such as a nation or a religion), and also specific actions and conduct representative of that esteem. Respect can be a specific feeling of regard for the actual qualities of the one respected.
One of the foundational things missing in our society is respect. People don’t give it, receive it or value it but it is the one of the things we need most in our homes, churches, schools and government. If we don’t have respect for people or boundaries then we live in the mist of chaos. It used to be that respect is one of the things we believed in and taught but it has gone by the wayside of individual rights but without respect we lose our rights. Without respect we have no honor and without honor we can have no self-respect and without self-respect we have no honor or respect for others.
Action Plan: What does respect mean to you? How do you show respect to others? Remind someone that you esteem and respect today what they have meant to you.
Declaration: I will treat everyone I meet with dignity and respect, I will love my spiritual family, revere God, and pray for my country.
Thursday
Responsibility
Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Without being and expecting responsibility we have no measuring line for honor. When we take responsibility for our relationship with God and what is required of us in life we have no honor. We are called to give honor by being and taking responsibility. If you want to be honored then take responsibility. Responsibility starts with being responsible for us. Many times we want to do what we do with no concern for others or the effect that it has on our family, our friends, neighbors, even in our government our leaders are concerned for themselves. It is time that we realize that if we want things to change, the change begins with us! It begins with a heart change; it begins with our accepting responsibility for who we are and what we have done. We cannot expect others to be responsible when we are being irresponsible. Our country is plagued with children and teens that have no reverence, no respect, no righteousness, few healthy relationships and no responsibility, but the problem is not with them, but with adults. How do they know what each of these are if they are taught? In many, many regards the adults around children and teens show no reverence, no respect, no righteousness, no healthy relationships and no responsibilities. As parents, teachers, leaders, government leaders it is our responsibility to teach our children and teen’s responsibility. When we are responsible our children learn to be responsible.
Action Plan: Do you take responsibility for your actions? Are there some things you have hidden or even covered up that you need to take responsibility for? Ask God to show and to show you how to resolve the issue.
Declaration: Through God I have strength to be responsible for my actions and live an honorable life.
Friday
Relationship
Read 1 Corinthians 16:15-18; 1Timothy 5:17-19; John 5:41-44
We honor God with our living, giving and serving. We honor God by honoring those who serve God and by giving them proper recognition. One of the key ways God has shown me to look for those who are to be our leaders is by judging people in the light of (1 Corinthians 16:15-18) Paul says men like this deserve honor and to be recognized as our leaders. One of the things I see in the lives of people in the church when it comes to honoring Godly leaders is that they judge them by their own standards, knowledge, and expectations for those leaders. What happens is you are judging them from your test paper, but, it is not your test they are taking it is God’s. They have not been called to do what you want but what He wants. We have to realize we don’t know everything, it is not our requirements they are trying to meet and that they are not called to live up to our expectations but to His. We need to give honor to the men and women of God who serve God and us. If we do not honor them we can’t benefit from them. Some of the greatest men and women of God I have known have been misunderstood by those they have tried to serve. They did not receive honor from many that they served but they sought the honor of the one who really counts. Remember this when you are serving people and they don’t appreciate it. It’s God’s honor and the relationship that they have with Him that counts.
Action Plan: Are you living, giving and serving in the Kingdom? List some the ways that you are doing this. What are other ways that you can do this? Do you honor the men and women who serve God?
Declaration: I will honor the men and women of God and God will honor me!
The Weekender
Looking Back
Today is the day that we take time to look back on what we have learned this past week. To reflect on what the Holy Spirit has highlighted in our lives and how we can implement the changes needed in our lives to be fully all we can be.
Father, we ask that you bring back remembrance of changes and what we need to do to change in our life to be fully who and what you have purposed us to be in your kingdom, Father thank you for being at work in our lives, in Jesus’ name, Amen
Take a few moments and Journal what the Father is speaking to you:
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