Honor

Honor. This is a word that honestly has been lost to our society. However, it is a very common word in the Bible. What is honor? According to Websters dictionary: Honor is excellence of character, high moral worth, integrity, uprightness, trustworthiness. It also includes purity and chastity. A person of honor knows what is right, just and true and does it. He or she is aware of all duties imposed by his conscience, position and privilege and acts on these duties. How would you know what is honorable? Honorable things attract esteem, respect and consideration.

In this light, the story of Jabez is given a whole new light. The Bible says he was honorable meaning that he was of high moral worth, of excellent character, integrous, upright and worthy of trust. 1 Chron 4:9-10

⁹Jabez was honorable above his brothers; but his mother named him Jabez [sorrow maker], saying, Because I bore him in pain.

¹⁰Jabez cried to the God of Israel, saying, Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and You would keep me from evil so it might not hurt me! And God granted his request.

This story says that your honor has clout with God. If you are honorable and upright and ask God to bless you and enlarge your border, God can trust you with more and bless you indeed. But if you are without honor, how can God give you more than just sustenance?

So who is the man that God is pleased to Honor?

Over and over in the Bible God says that it is the man that honors him that he will in turn honor. With this he also directly links honor with humility. But what is humility? It is defined as freedom from pride and arrogance. A humbleness of mind, a modest estimation of your own worth, a sense of your own unworthiness in the sight of God, penitence for sin and even submission to divine will. The expression of humility is difficult for most people, myself included because we expect it to be an outward action.

In my own view, humility is knowing that without God I am nothing and can do nothing. Led by that knowledge, I accept him as my savior and Lord of my life. That done, I hand over my will to him and ask him to lead my every move. It means that I seek him often because I know that if he does not guide my steps I will make a false move. It is refusing to despise people in my heart but loving them with the love of God at all times. Humility is a condition of the heart and we all know that the heart, according to Jeremiah is deceptive and wicked above all things. It is therefore quite possible to think you are a humble person but you are not.

I am not sure if it was a book I was reading or a movie I was watching but this guy was brought to his knees by his oppressors. While on his knees before them, while they were shouting in triumph and looking down their noses at him on his knees, he made a very profound statement. He said "I may be on my knees, but on the inside I am standing up!" That was a tear jerking moment! But the opposite should be true for us believers. As God elevates us and promotes us to positions of honor we may be standing up on the outside, but on the inside we are on our knees in humility before God!

True humility is the road to honor and glory in God. The book of Esther talks about her uncle Mordecai who would not kneel before Haman. To all around him it looked like the height of pride and arrogance. However, all Mordecai was doing was honoring God above man. So Haman plans his demise and that of all his Jewish people. In Chapter 6 God decides to show Mordecai honor because he honored him and decides to use the King to do this. The King is in a dilemma about what to do and by God's genius Haman had just walked in. The King asks a question that blesses me. He says "What shall be done for the man the King wishes to Honor?" What shall be done for the man that King Jesus wishes to Honor? What shall be done for the man Jehovah wishes to honor? What shall be done?

Ours is not to know what shall be done, ours is to become the man that God would be pleased to honor. Are you that person? Can God sit in heaven and ask, "what shall be done for my daughter Cynthia whom I am pleased to honor?" Would God be pleased to Honor you?

HE WILL NEVER FORSAKE ME

The other day I sinned in such a way as to shock myself. I have read in books by Mahesh Chavda that fasting is like skimming milk. It causes that which is hidden within you to rise so God can skim it off you. Boy! Did it ever! I could not believe myself. Anyway, in the midst of all my guilt and shame God took that opportunity to teach me about his unmerited favor and what it means when he says I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Flash back to Calvary. Jesus is hanging on that cross for you and me and a great divine exchange is taking place. All our sins are being placed on him so that he is black with it. God the Father, who cannot stand sin backs away from Jesus turning his face away from him. Up till now Jesus has had the awesome presence of the Almighty giving him strength. He feels the Father withdraw from him and cries “Eloi, Eloi, lama Sabachthani?” which means “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” He is totally alone in the world. Utterly naked and abandoned because of the sin that now covers him. But guess what? He went through that so that you and I will never be forsaken even when we fall. What a divine exchange!

If you have accepted the covering of the cross of Jesus which is salvation, when God looks at you he sees you through the lens of what happened on Calvary. This means that when you sin, like I did, God looks at you, sees the blood of Calvary and stays by your side. He never, ever forsakes you because he already forsook Christ at Calvary. When you repent he is quick to forgive you and wash away that guilty stain.

Usually when I sin in a big way (in my human mind there are dimensions of sin) even though I repent I am racked with guilt. Then I go around worrying that God will leave me because of what I did and that he won’t help me anymore or show me the favor I have been enjoying in him up until the “great” sin. This time he told me that no matter what I do, he will not leave me nor forsake me. I must repent and turn away from the sin but his commitment to me, as long as I am in Christ is that he will always be by my side and with that, he will always give me his unmerited favor which is my help.

Christians tend to think that if we are spotless then God will favor us. In truth, there is nothing we can do to merit or deserve God’s favor. That is why it is unmerited favor. You can’t earn it. He just gives it to you. Got it!! The notion that when you sin God backs away from you, which is how many of us were taught about what happened at Calvary, is a half truth. When God sees me, he sees his son on Calvary, remembers that my sins past, present and future are already paid for and stays right by my side. What an awesome revelation! Therefore I can still approach the throne of God with boldness to repent of my sin and ask for the blood of Calvary to wash away that guilty stain so that I will still be presented on that day without spot or wrinkle.

Kairos - When Time Meets Destiny

This morning an angel woke me up with a tap on my arm. I woke up immediately but I was still groggy. Then I heard in my spirit to read Ecclesiastes 3. It talks about divinely appointed times. I must say that I am in an Kairos season of life. A door has been opened to me and God is requiring me to walk in the calling he has for me. He spoke to me through Acts 13:2 "Set apart for me Cynthia for the work to which I have called her" (my interpretation).

On the night of October 1st I went to bed at 9 exhausted. At 1:59 I woke up alert knowing that God had something to teach me. A friend and I had been talking about a vision I had in which I was taken up to heaven and the Spirit of the Lord had laid his hand on my forehead and imparted wisdom to me. As we were talking, the Spirit reminded me of the passage that says "Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you." (1 Tim 5:14) I realized that when I had that experience I had not known what to do with the gift but that it was still in me. Neglected and lying dormant.

When I woke up the Lord started showing me through his word what a valuable gift wisdom is and that man does not really understand its worth. As such, rarely are we taught about the more quiet gift of wisdom. Many people prefer the more vocal gifts, but this gem tends to lie neglected and yet the Bible says give everything up to attain wisdom if you must. It is more costly than Gold or silver. God speaks about it in his word over and over again. He gives us the root of it as "The fear of the Lord" and in Proverbs 4:7 he says

"Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.

Though it cost all you have, get understanding."

This morning God started to show me that by his wisdom he has set for us appointed times in our lives. Kairos times. Kairos is a greek word that means opportune time, right time or seasonal time. I am in my Kairos time. My doors have opened and I must seize the moment! According to Donna Kazenske, Kairos can be described as a God given moment of destiny. It is a time to be seized with decisiveness! It’s the alignment of natural and supernatural forces creating an environment for an opening to occur; a time when heaven and earth align with one another in a spiritual sense; a time when heaven touches earth in a way that will never be forgotten. Kairos is a particular moment, out of all the ordinary moments in time that has the capability to forever change the outcome of time itself. Kairos is the moment of decision, the moment of action, the moment of change. It can be a moment, or it can be an entire season of moments.

I am right smack in my Kairos season and I refuse to miss the day of my visitation. I refuse to be too afraid to make the necessary moves. I refuse to hesitate. I will move forward in boldness and confidence in God to seize my Kairos moments in the name of Jesus!!! Kairos, my moment to step into destiny. This is my hour and I must walk in my calling!!

Wholly Devoted To Him!

This God we serve, who can understand him? On the 15th of September I put up a blog with the heading "Would I?" talking about would I give it all up to follow him. This came out of the following passage:

Mark 10:29-31

²⁹"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel ³⁰will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

I have never understood this passage before. The other day I heard the Lord ask me, "Would you give up your hope for marriage and children to be wholly devoted and focussed on me?" Honestly that was one of those questions I had never thought the Lord would ask me. I have always thought I would get married. Anyone who has followed this blog for any length of time will testify that marriage is a big deal for me. So what is this now?

I heard the Lord refer me to Paul's discourse in 1 Corinthians 7. I did not have the courage to read it. Not until today. This passage is extremely difficult to read. Paul says that staying single is better than being married. I have never heard anyone, other than Paul make a case for staying single for life. I have never heard a sermon on it. It is always mentioned in passing. But what if this is what God requires of me?

The word 'devoted' keeps jumping up at me. Particularly when put as "wholly devoted." I'm hearing God saying to come out and be wholly devoted to the work for which he called me. And this passage says that staying single allows one to be wholly devoted to the Lord without distraction. Would it be so bad to remain single all my life? Jesus said that if I give it up I will, in this world, still get my reward. I believe him. This one is still up in the air. My answer is that I want to serve him in the way that he thinks is best for me.

Strangely enough I hear him asking me to make the choice. That if I choose to be married it is well and if I choose to stay unmarried it is well. There is no condemnation. But he would prefer that I focus wholly on him. There are things he can show me and use me to do only when I am single. Free will!! What to do with it?!!

2 Corinthians 8:12 says "For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have"

Lord, make me willing to devote myself wholly to you. I want to be used by you to the uttermost. I feel the loss of what I would be giving up if I choose to remain single forever. Yet I want your best for me and if that means being single till death then you help me to be willing to make the choice. Not grudgingly Lord, but with joy. I am yours. All yours. Make me willing O God and have your way in me.