FURTHER

 I have been contemplating this word furtherance, since Joy brought it up at the end of our prayer time on Tuesday.

  To go deeper, to go further. When talking about going further with God, with Godly things, what does that mean.

  Then I read in a devotional book that I am reading this year (2019), called Jesus & Coffee, he said this... "If you want God's best for you, you will have to: Let go of the old & who you used to be, so that you can embrace the new & who God wants you to be." 

  So in order to go further, we (I) have to let go of the past & embrace what God has for me/us. Leave the past behind. Don't get trapped in it. Be willing to say to God, it is Yours. I give it to you, free me from it so I can embrace the new that You have for me. So that I can have a furtherance with You, going deeper. Trusting Him. 

   He is strong & able & faithful & good. He has blessings for us.   Abundance for us. Deeper things for us. We have to trust HIM & honor HIM with our faith. Have faith to go further. So the whole honor thing from last week is a building block onto this weeks word, furtherance. Synonymous to furtherance is: promotion, advancement, improvement, development, betterment, acceleration, encouragement,  endorsement. The meaning of furtherance is an advancement of..." But I love that one of it's synonyms is encouragement! We don't have to fear furtherance. GOD will encourage us as we go, as we advance, HE will not leave us alone, HE will encourage us 

along the way! That is comforting good news. 

  Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things that are above, not on things   that  are on this Earth.

  Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,   because he trusts in You.

  Romans 12:1-2 Renew your mind. The Message version says it this   way: So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.  Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God.   You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

  Have faith, trust God, go further. 

Honor

HONOR


What is it? What does it look like? I was asked by my prayer group leader to do a word study on honor and this is what I found.


1Peter 2:17 NIV Show proper respect to everyone. Love the brotherhood of believers, fear GOD honor the king.

The Message says it this way “Exercise your freedom by serving GOD, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere GOD. Respect the government.”

So what is honor? High respect, great esteem, to regard with respect, or to fulfill an obligation.

Synonyms are: distinction, privilege. Glory, tribute, prestige, fame, renown, credit, importance, nobility.

Integrity, uprightness, righteousness, rectitude, noble.

In the Greek language honor is synonymous with kabod and the root of kabod literally means heavy or weighty. The figurative meaning however is far more common: “To give weight to someone” To honor someone then is to give weight or to grant a person a position of respect and even authority in one’s life. A person grants honor most frequently on the basis of position, status or wealth, but it can, and should also be granted on the basis of character.

Honor is an attitude of respect, courtesy, and reverence, it should be accompanied by appropriate attention or even obedience. Honor without such action is incomplete; it is lip service only. Isaiah 29:13 GOD the Father, is honored when people do the things that please Him. 1 Corinthians 6:20, parents are honored through the obedience of their children.

According to the Army code of conduct (March 8, 2013) Honor is a matter of carrying out, acting, and living the values of respect, duty, loyalty, selfless service, integrity, and personal courage in everything you do.

The Law Enforcement (Police) oath of honor means-giving one’s word as a bond and guarantee. Trust.

For military members honor means respect, to turn toward, give reverence and attention. To come to attention or stand at attention.

The commandment to honor our parents is the only one with a promise attached to it. That promise is, that we will live well when we honor our mother and father. So why show honor? Because, it pleases GOD when we show honor to those in authority.

We honor someone when we use their proper title, their proper name. You say yes sir and yes ma'am to police officers, and those in authority. We address our doctor by the title Dr., we don't just say hey Joe. As young people we say Mr or Mrs Smith, we don't use their first name. We honor them.

For us as believers we give GOD our attention, our respect, we focus on HIM and turn away from sin and darkness. As we turn away from the distractions of the world, we turn fully toward GOD giving HIM our respect, our focus, our attention and honor. Giving GOD the honor that is due HIM. HE deserves it.