HONOURING CHRIST ...........When there is Fear on Every side!



KNOWING JESUS BRING PEACE

1. When you know Him, you will be bold and courageous
2. You will watch your words and action
3. You will focus on eternity - The glory


Introduction

The initial teachings after salvation are very important for the growth and spiritual development of a Christian.  If you know from the very beginning that you have become an Ambassador of Christ, perhaps you will be careful the way you carry yourself in the public and at home.

Some believers forget that people are watching them and that people, their friends and relatives will be looking to see the difference in their life, after salvation.  Because of how people perceive salvation, they see going to church and fellowship as avenues for socializing with people, making new friends and business contacts.

Others see salvation for the immediate gains of healing, breakthrough and physical prosperity that Jesus gives to His followers, so we have multitudes in the church, who have not taken time to know the purpose of salvation and what is expected of them. I don't have a problem with unbelievers coming to meet the Lord as they are, with the hope that, they will receive the Lord and embrace the Christian way of life.

Some people are in church because they see a lot of crowd in the church and so for them, something must be happening there. So, they can visit two to three different churches in a month and continue that way without committing themselves to any of the churches.

Believers Lifestyle
Believers are called to a life of honesty, truth, and service to God and man, but the life of righteousness often attracts persecution and hardship, arising from the difference in the believer's new lifestyle of godliness.

Believers are strangers on earth, this earth is not our home, heaven is. So, believers focus is on righteous and holy living, to please the Lord and be reputable.  The Word from the Lord says no one knows the time or day when the Lord will return, so the duty of a believer is to walk by faith and in acceptable ways day and night.

How to Honour the Lord

Honour the Lord is one area, I think we have not focused enough in our teachings, and I personally ask the Lord for forgiveness. In a way, I can liken the way we treat honouring the Lord, to the way some people resond to blessings from the Lord.  Some peole get familiar with blessings and miracles, that they no longer celebrate them, when God answers our prayers, and this is wrong.  It was wrong when Christ was on earth, and its still wrong today.

The Lord healed 10 people of Leper and only one person returned to give thanks. To tell you how important the matter of gratitude is to God, Jesus asked whether they were not 10 people that got healed, then why is it only person that came back to give thanks, and to make matters clear, the only person that came back was a foreigner.  The other 9 were Jews, beloved of God, and they took the miracle and their cleansing for granted.  They were familiar.  In their mind, that what our God should do to us.  This is a terribleway to act, when one receives a blessing from God.

Begin every prayer, conversation with Honour

God deserves our worship and honour 24/7, for who He is and every born again child of God is expected to honour Him as King of the universe, and the most powerful God.  Without honoring and acknowledging Him as God, all other acts to Him are in vain.  

Many people praise and worship God don’t know how to honor God. Many think that they do it the to enter His presence, which is good.  But even before the praise worship, we should bow in honour, and respecting his authority.  Many people may ask, just how should they do this honour?  My answer is simple.  If you know how to honor your earthly leaders and kings in the ways they deserve, then double the honour for the Lord.  If you bow 7 times for your local King, m,ake it 14 bows for the Lord each time.  He is the creator of heaven and earth, our maker, heavenly King of Kings.

Ways to honor God
1. With your body 
At the moment, many believers know how to honour the Lord with their mouth.  They can praise and worship Him marvelously, but apart from their mouth, other part of their body are projected and exposed in a way that does not honour Him.  Honoring God completely with your body means that all parts of your body honor Him.  Let the whole body honour the Lord.  Christians do not put Tattoo on their body, we don't do surgery to inflate any part of our body for show or to seduce other into error.  Believers do not expose their body in the public and Christians do not take naked picture or expose their nakedness for anyone to see.  Your body is the temple, where the Holy Ghost lives.

2. With your Heart
God wants to be the sole proprietor of your heart. Matthew 6:24 makes it clear when it says, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Remember the greatest commandment is that you should  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” - Mark 12:30

3. Bow down to pray
This is one sweet way to pray, though it is hard to use in the early morning praying time, because of sleep.  Bowing down is one way to honor God with your whole body. Bow down means to bend or kneel especially in submission.  I don't know about others, but many ministers of God that have to grace to do miracles, heal and cause deliverance to happen to others, will always praise and honour the Lord, before they begin their prayers for healing and deliverance.

Please see the Lord standing by your side always, you will have no choice than to bow down and worship Him.
Other ways to honour the Lord include:

4. Honour God with your time – Use your time to praise Him - Psalms 144:4
5. Honour God with your talents – These are your God-given gifts and abilities - Matthew 25:14-30.
6. Honour God with your treasure – Remember that “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” - Matthew 6:21

How people Dishonour the Lord

1. Not Acknowledging Jesus Before Others
“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my father who is in Heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in Heaven.”  Matthew 10:32-33

2. Hypocrisy
“They profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works.”  Titus 1:16
It is always painful to see a believer do things that a Christian should never do.  Misconduct is one of the easiest ways that people deny Christ.  Many times, those believers are still struggling with some issues, known to them and God.  They are Christians and they study the bible and pray, but they are still struggling to be new creatures in the physical.  So maybe we do confess that Jesus is Lord in our hearts. But we can still deny Him by being ashamed of Him before others, or do things we should not do to others.  

Many years ago, a man highly regarded in my office as a Christian, received money meant for me and him and spent the money without telling me.  This man never told me and he spent the money, I was shocked that he was said to be a Christian and almost a Pastor in his church.  When I confronted him, he said he had a problem at the time...Okay.  But why did you not even tell me about the money? He had no answer to that.  It's always shameful!

What to do

We need to do a continuous self-examination of our ways, and the things we think, talk and do, whether they fall in line with the word of God or not.  To our wife and husband, children, neighbours, and friends, do we represent the light of Christ before men, or are we just like them...God forbid.


You may be feeling like you’re doing pretty good. You confess Jesus as Christ, and you are proud to say that you are a Christian. My next question for you is, “What does your life say?” It is possible for us to shout from the rooftops “Jesus is Lord and I am His disciple!” yet have such messy lives that our words are drowned out.

Will you honour Christ in your life, home, and office.  No matter the position you occupy and condition, let His praise be continually in your lips. Many tell lies because of the consequences of the truth, but that is not for a believer in Christ.  You are the light yourself, you cannot be darkness.  You are the light of the world, whenever the truth is needed, they should come to you to hear the truth and nothing but the whole truth. 

Until you carry your cross with joy, God may not be able to manifest His glory in your life.  People who are ashamed or fearful will hardly carry the glory of God.  Think about this today.

FIRE...

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