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Daily Devotion #9
Breakthrough series
Pastor T. Brown
We didn't scream. We didn't shout. We didn't even have a prayer line after the sermon. I just stood flat footed and taught on honor. I pray that the clear teaching of God's word reached your heart and the heart of your children, Sunday. One indication that perhaps it did was when King, my now 6 year old grandson, said to me today (out of the blue), "Jesus was dying on the cross and gave his mother to his best friend to take care of. That was honor!". That's when I knew that the message resonated with little children, as well.
So lets talk about honor. The Bible says that Jesus could do not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Did you know that their unbelief was really a lack of honor?
The story is found in Matthew 13 beginning at verse 54. And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence has this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? They stumbled over the fact that such wisdom and miracles were coming from someone they had known all their lives. They asked, Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brothers James, Joses, Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? From where does he get these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house. Isn’t it interesting that they saw the mighty works he did elsewhere, but did not esteem him enough to bring those mighty works home? The next verse says, And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
Unbelief is the spirit of the age we live in. Adam Clark said we are “refined Athiests”. The interesting thing is that unbelief happens for one of two reasons: 1. Inability to believe or 2. Refusal to believe. That’s it! Just two reasons. Every other reason can fit into one of these categories. What is the reason for your unbelief? Inability or refusal? Being unable to believe means the devil has blind folded you. 2 Corinthians 4:4 says, In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. The god of this world is Satan. He is fighting big time to keep you from believing God. Unbelief shows itself in a myriad of ways. It is demonstrated in a lack of fervor and a luke- warm attitude toward God and toward his house. Lack of worship, lack of commitment, lack of prayer and more shows how little we really believe in God.
Refusal to believe means that you have hardened your heart against God. Matthew 13:15-16 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Refusal to believe means that pride and stubbornness are in operation. Could it be that a person who refuses to believe thinks he or she knows better in any given situation and therefore doesn’t have to believe what God’s word says we should do?
The first step to breaking through unbelief is to honor the Lord by exercising daily in your relationship with Him. When we consistently work out physically, we see progress in weight loss and muscle building. Reading the word of God and praying daily throughout the day constitute a spiritual workout. You cannot say you want to be strong in the Lord and refuse spiritual workouts. It's exhausting to try to live the Christian life without faith in God.
Whether children or adults, when people slide away from the Lord it is because of lack of honor. They do not take the steps required to honor God. They are either unable or unwilling to do so. Whichever is the case it can be remedied with spiritual exercises such as prayer, fasting, and reading the Word to combat unbelief, to combat lack of honor toward God. The prophet Samuel even as a child understood the value of honoring God. He honored God by serving in the house of the Lord. He opened the doors and prepared the house of God for worship. He served the priest of the temple and being faithful in those things God entrusted him to do.
In these 28 days of consecration these spiritual exercises are designed to create a habit of putting God first in your daily routine, in the things you say and do. Honor means to show him respect, to esteem him as important in your life. Honor his with your tithe, times of prayer, reading the scriptures, and referring to his word to solve problems in your home and in your every day lives. Honor God among your friends and family by putting him first, by saying,' Let's pray about it." By saying grace over your meals, by loving the things he loves and hating the things he hates. Honor him by being an example of a worshipper in his house. Honor him by being willing and ready to testify about what he has done and is doing in your life. Honor him by telling others of his goodness, by unashamedly speaking positive about the church and what He is doing among us. You may think it doesn’t matter, but the church is the place on earth that represents him. If we want Jesus to do mighty works among us, to breakthrough among us we must honor him. To honor him is to obey his word, to love his people and to serve willingly. Let’s lay aside every weight that keeps us from honoring the Lord. And let us break-through in praise, in the dance, in giving, in serving, in fellowshipping, and in being all He has called us to become. The more we honor him, the more we will break the chains of unbelief. The more we break the chains of unbelief the more the power of God will break-through in our lives,
Let’s repent over areas in our lives where we have not honored him. And let us resolve to honor Him in word and in deed. For he is worthy, and He wants to Breakthrough upon you! Give him praise!!
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