THRIVE Devotional Week 3 Lesson 1 Honor God?

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1 Week 3 Lesson 1 Honor God? Scripture reading Psalm 66:1-7 Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the Honour of his name: make his praise glorious Over and over we are encouraged by the writers of Scripture to honor God. What does it mean to honor God? The dictionary definition of honor is: 1. To regard or treat (someone) with admiration and respect, to regard or treat with honor b: to give special recognition to, to confer honor upon. 2. To live up to or fulfill the terms of; as in honor a commitment. 3. To accept as payment. We are to honor God. That is, we are to give Him special recognition for all that He does in our lives. There are others in our lives that God tells us to honor. As we continue through this week, we will look at some of those people that God tells us to honor. First and foremost, we should honor God. That simply means that we should recognize, both privately and publicly that all we have and any good thing that we accomplish, we have and have accomplished because of our God. When people leave our presence, they should know more about our God than they do about us. We need to be careful about ever complaining about our circumstance, our station? in life, or the condition of things around us. Instead, we should give God the credit for the good things He has done. Proverbs 16:4 tells us, The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. We should give the Devil credit for nothing. We want to be careful to not honor him in any way. This is why the Apostle Paul wrote, in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. You can honor God today by thanking Him, by praising Him for who He is, by blessing His name, by telling others about His goodness and His grace, and by sharing with somebody else how they can know this wonderful gracious God that we serve. When we begin to honor God, we will thrive as Christians.

2 Week 3 Lesson 2 What Has God Done for You? Scripture reading Psalm 145 I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. I will speak of the glorious HONOUR of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works. In Psalm 145, the Psalmist declares that all he has and everything that he is, is a result of his relationship with the God of the universe our Lord Jesus Christ. Here are some questions to ponder: 1) Were you born in a Christian home? 2) Do you have Christian relatives or friends? 3) Did you have an opportunity to go to school: public, private, Christian? 4) Do you have a church to attend on a regular basis? 5) Did someone you know say I love you to you today? 6) Do you have a job through which you are able to make a living? 7) Are you going to Heaven? If your answer to any one of these questions is yes, you are more fortunate than the vast majority of the world population. All of these gifts undeserved are given to you by the God of the universe. We honor God when we recognize privately and before others that all of the good things in our lives come from Him. If you live in America, you live in a nation filled with people who whine and complain about what they don t have instead of taking time to thank God for what they do have. Honoring God simply means giving Him the credit for what has taken place in your life. When we complain about circumstances or lack of material possessions, we dishonor God rather than honor Him. Let me encourage you today to think of all that God has given you. Determine to honor Him with what you say and what you do. When you do, you will thrive as His child.

3 Week 3 Lesson 3 Honoring God by Honoring Others Scripture reading Exodus 20:2-17 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Our Scripture reading today is the Ten Commandments given to the nation of Israel by Moses directly from the mouth of God. In the dead center of the Commandments, God makes it clear that children are to honor thy father and thy mother. God not only wants us to speak well of Him and to guard His reputation, but also to speak well of others. When we speak well of others, we honor Him. The Christian is told to honor several individuals. Let me list them: 1. Father and mother Exodus 20:12 2. The face of the old man Leviticus 19:32 3. Your brothers and sisters in Christ Romans 12:10 4. Widows indeed 1 Timothy 5:3 5. Double honor is to be given to those who teach the Word of God faithfully 1 Timothy 5:17 6. Employees are to honor Employers 1 Timothy 6:1 When we obey God and show honor (which means admiration and respect) for those He has told us to honor, God will bless us. As a Christian, I must learn that life is not all about me, but it s all about honoring God by honoring others. May you honor God this week and thrive.

4 Week 3 Lesson 4 Honor Your Spouse and THRIVE! Scripture reading 1 Peter 3:1-7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving Honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. This is a great passage, dealing with the husband and wife relationship. Six of these verses deal with the responsibility of the wife. However, verse seven seems to lay the success of the marriage relationship squarely on the shoulders of the husband. In fact, God says to the husband if he does not honor his wife, then his prayer will be hindered. As a Christian husband, I am not able to honor God if I dishonor my wife. How can I honor my wife? This verse is very clear. I need to dwell with her according to knowledge. This means I need to communicate with her about the desires of my heart and listen to her, finding out her needs and her desires. I need to honor her which simply means to regard or treat with admiration and respect. Does your wife feel like she is respected and admired? Does she know that you love her? You are supposed to regard her as a precious vessel to be protected. The word weaker simply means precious one to be protected. Your wife should feel as if she is protected. You are to remember that your wife is an heir together with you in grace of life. That means that you are both children of God almighty. God wants you to honor her as one of His children. Then He says, if you don t, your prayers be not hindered. God loves and honors your wife and wants you to honor her. When you honor your wife as a Christian husband, you will honor God. When wives submit themselves to their husbands, they honor God. In order for your marriage to honor God, you must honor your spouse. When you do, you will thrive, your marriage will thrive; and God will get the glory.

5 Week 3 Lesson 5 Honor God with Your Possessions Scripture reading Proverbs 3:1-10 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. The first ten chapters of the book of Proverbs are written from Solomon to his son, Rehoboam, whom Solomon knows will inherit his throne and reign over his kingdom. He wants the blessing of God on Rehoboam s life. Solomon wants him to experience the good things from the hand of God and avoid the negative things. So, he gives very practical instruction to his son about how to be successful. In verse seven, Solomon encourages his son to not be wise in his own eyes, to fear the Lord, and to depart from evil. Then, in verse nine, he tells Rehoboam to honor God in a specific way. He instructs Rehoboam to honor Him with thy substance, with the first fruits of thy increase. Solomon is reminding him, even as king, that he has responsibility to tithe, to give back to God what God has given to him. He gives his son a promise that if he will do this, God will fill his barns. That promise is valid for us today. If we are faithful, in giving back to God the first fruits of our income, God will fill our lives with all we need to do His will. My wife and I started tithing when we got married. In forty-four years of ministry, we have watched God bless us over and over again. Not too long after we started our ministry, we began not only to tithe, but to give to missions and to other special needs in the church. We are personally seeing God fulfill His promise that if we honor Him with our substance, He will fill our barns with plenty. Let me encourage you to honor God with your substance so that you too can thrive.

6 Week 3 Lesson 6 Honor God and He Will Honor You Scripture reading Philippians 2:5-11 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, Obedience is the key to receiving honor from God. The greatest way that we can honor God is obeying His Word. Jesus, the Son of God did exactly what God the Father told Him to do. Because of that, God the Father honored Him, highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. We bow before the Lord Jesus Christ and will throughout eternity because Jesus was obedient to the Father. Jesus came to honor the Father. Jesus spoke well of the Father. Jesus blessed the Father. Jesus praised the Father. Jesus was here to represent the Father in everything that He did and said. Know that He honored God in every way. Romans 13:7 says, Render therefore to all their dues: honour to whom honour. The Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father deserve our honor and our praise. As we honor Him, His Word tells us He will honor us. 1 Peter 5:6, Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time Honor God and you will thrive. If you are in Las Vegas, I hope to see you in church tomorrow as we continue through the sermon series THRIVE. Trust God Honor God R I V E