Notes: Honor God
A.T.F. references:
Psalms
(25:14) The LORD confides in those who fear him;
he makes his covenant known to them.
We love God…
Do we honor him? With our lives?
James
(4:8) Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (4:9) Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. (4:10) Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
“Get real with God, He will get real with you.”
Jeremiah
(17:7) “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose confidence is in him.
(17:8) He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
“We need to be that kind of tree.”
What kind of tree are you?
(Softwood trees are filled with a lot of air)Are you like that?
(Junkwood Trees have small trunks, they are bushy and look big, but are no good for wood)
(Thorny Trees)
Some ‘Christians’ are unwilling to submit to authority and claim their flaws to be their identity.
(Baby trees)
Some Christians are long overdue for growing up.
(Oak Trees)Deep strong roots, good for wood, solid and they can take abuse without being pushed over.
Strong trees grow.
Psalm
(1:1) Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
(1:2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Matthew
(22:37) Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’° (22:38) This is the first and greatest commandment. (22:39) And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Ephesians
(6:1) Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. (6:2) “Honor your father and mother”which is the first commandment with a promise (6:3) “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”°
“Whoever you honor will have influence on you.” “You will serve what you honor” “You will emulate what you honor” “More Christians today watch MTV than non-Christians” “What if we all honored our Mom & Dad and did our part in our homes, we just might change our families, and would earn respect and gain freedom from them along with their trust”
“We don’t gain freedom with rebellion- Are not all the prisoners in jail?”
Mark
(11:25) And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.°”
Luke
(12:54) He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. (12:55) And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. (12:56) Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?
“Look at some of the signs of our times”
“35 percent of adults in our generation claim to be evangelical christians.”
“33 million teens-4 percent will be serious active christians. With what is going on today with 35 percent, what will our America look like in the next generation, with only 4 percent?”
“As we have become secularized in our society, we have become sexualized along with it”
“Society is ripping the fiber out of our social structure with sexualization”
“This is the first generation with point-and-click pornography exposure”
“The pornography industry might as well be called the impotence industry, because it overstimulates with unreal images so that real-life sex in marriage no longer appeals to many minds damaged by it”
“We need to influence our churches to realize that the youth of our generation needs Jesus more than ever, and give them a plan for how they can help”
“Fill up the stadium with not just kids, but those who are concerned with the issues teens face and want to see them succeed, so they can celebrate with us when the youth of our generation is changed”
“Our youth are being attacked by virtue terrorists…we are shocked, we are concerned, but we need to act”
“Take a step of faith”
The latter message I heard and took these notes on was given by Ron Luce, and does not necessarily reflect the views of this Blog. I would appreciate any comments on the content of the message and the strategy of the speaker to influence the hearers. Do you think that the message of Christ was to form a mass revolution in large gatherings in arenas? Do you believe that this is the most effective method of changing lives for the better? What has made you rethink how you look at life and responsibilities? How have you been influenced?
Submitted by Ezra.