|
|
|
Let's start off this year by being true representatives of
God. God is love; those who follow
Him must show love just as He did.
"A new commandment I give unto you.
That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one
another. By this shall all men know
that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another." (John 13:34, 35) In doing so, respect will be shown.
For our Devotional, I have included nuggets pertaining to "RESPECT",
called ...
21 Avenues of Respect, Responsibility and
Results
(Topical Review with emphasize on continued RESPECT in all areas – from "A" to
"Z"!)
Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul in the 70’s
and 80’s penned the song,
“RESPECT”. She said “All
I’m asking for is a little RESPECT when you come home.”
Respect:
willingness to show consideration or appreciation; polite expressions of
consideration or deference. Respect is like a 'hinge' that connects the door to the rest
of the house. We want to look at 21
Avenues of Respect that will lead us into a sweeter walk with God.
1.
Respect yourself.
·
“Beloved,
I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy
soul prospereth.” (3 John 2)
·
“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he
called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
(Romans 8:29, 30)
*** You can’t expect anyone to respect you if you don’t respect yourself.
2.
Respect your individuality.
·
“I will praise thee, for I am fearfully, and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy
works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
(Psalm 139:14)
·
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work,
nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whiter thou goest.
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor
the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men
of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth
to them all.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10, 11)
*** God has uniquely designed you to fulfill a divine purpose in His great plan
that only you can fulfill.
3.
Respect your gifts and talents that God gave you, and use them to the best of
your ability.
·
“A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before
great men.” Proverbs 18:16)
·
“So, we being many, are one in Christ, and every one members one of another.
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us,
whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or
ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth on teaching; or he
that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity;
he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”
(Romans 12:5-8)
Also consider Mt 25:14-30
·
But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the
work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:5)
*** If you don’t use what you have been given, you will lose it and it will be
no one’s fault but your own.
*** If you are able to work, then get a job and go to work.
Appreciate the God-given abilities that God has placed inside of you and
use them. Do not have the tendency
of wanting others to take care of you.
Work …grow, then when it comes time for you to retire, you will
appreciate the work-effort that you have done down through the years.
4.
Respect your body.
·
Flee fornication. Every sin that a
man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth
against his own body. What?
Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and
in your spirit, which are God’s.” (I
Corinthians 6:18-20)
*** Be choosy about what goes in and
what comes out. You don’t own
yourself any more.
“Respect your body”
is not only a concern of the young, but it is also a concern of the old.
The thrill might be gone, but if your eyes rest on the ‘it’ for too long,
it could turn into ‘old-folks’ lust.
“ Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit
adultery: But I say unto you, That
whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her
already in his heart. And if thy
right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee:
for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and
not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee:
for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and
not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” (Matthew 5:27-30)
In other words, don’t be a ‘flirt’. You must not
advertise if you know
it’s not expedient for you to
produce in that particular situation!
Be found dressing modestly.
What does this mean? "Take a
veil and cover yourself!" Skin
really is not in!
Last Point:
Appreciate the fact that you are growing old.
You can even commit a sin by ‘lusting’ after a younger person’s
body and age because you
don’t want to grow old gracefully.
You can become frustrated because of the limitations you now have.
5.
Respect one another.
·
“Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ephesians
4:3)
·
“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to
another.” (John 13:35)
( ) The Golden Rule.
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do
ye even so to them: for this is the
law and the prophets.” (Matthew 7:12) “For all the law is fulfilled
in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Galatians
5:14)
“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto
them who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:10)
6.
Respect your mates. For those single
individuals, respect your associates (to include classmates) who seek to do what
is right.
·
“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. … Husbands,
love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.”
(Ephesians 5:22, 25)
·
Do not take your mate for granted!
·
“And withal they learn to be idle wandering about from house to house; and not
only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought
not.” (I Timothy 5:13)
***
Important:
home matters should remain at home.
Everyone should not know about everything that goes on in your home.
Stay at home and mind your own business. Also, you should know
what cools your husband's scorching brow and what gets his dandruff stirred up –
if you know what I mean!
7.
To the children, Respect your parents.
·
Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right.
Honour thy father and mother; for this is the first commandment with
promise. That it may be well with
thee and thou mayest live long on
the earth.” (Ephesians 6:1-3)
·
Other References: I Peter 5:5; I
Tim. 5:4; Eccl. 12:1; Heb. 12:9
*** Children must remember that if
you disrespect your parents, you are setting the pattern for a generation curse
to be placed on the children that you will have one day.
Your children might act worse than you are acting right now.
Power Point:
Children should be taught to respect the rules of their household and not
compare those rules with those of their fellow classmates and/or associates.
They should, also, be taught that family matters should not become a
source of gossip. What is said
within the walls of their home should remain at home.
Children can become gossipers and busybodies if they are not taught the
damage that such practice can do.
8.
Respect your children, especially through both understanding and discipline.
If you really love them, you
will do what the Bible says do toward them.
·
And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the
nurture and admonitions of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4)
·
“Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not
depart from it. … Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of
correction shall drive it far from him.” (Proverbs 22:12, 15)
·
“Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his
crying.” (Proverbs 19:18)
·
“Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod,
and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt delvier his soul from hell.”
(Proverbs 23: 13, 14)
·
“He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him
betimes.” Proverbs 13:24 Other Reference:
I Samuel 2:12-36; I Samuel 3
(Extremely Important) Spare the rod and you will certainly spoil the
child.
*** If you don’t spank (and discipline) them, later on, they might whip you.
You are a parent. They must
know that you are the parent and not another sibling in the family.
You can demand respect!
9.
Respect your present church home and the foundation for which it is built,
including its doctrine.
Reference: 2Ch 34:14-33; Nehemiah
5:14-19
*** It just makes sense to obey the rules of the church that you presently
attend. Why would anyone go to one
church and obey the rules of another church?
It works the same as in your natural job.
10. Respect
those in authority, who are followers of Jesus Christ - who are obedient to the
Word of God. * “Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and
powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work.”
(Titus 3:1)
Reference:
Ro 13:1- 14
*** You should not be under anyone you don’t trust and cannot follow.
11.
Respect your leaders. Do not commit
spiritual ‘leader’ adultery. If they
are wrong, then find yourself praying for them.
“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit
yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account that
they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
(Heb. 13:17) “And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which
the Lord said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand,
that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee.
Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.
And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he
had cut off Saul’s skirt. And he
said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master,
the Lord’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is
anointed of the Lord. So David
stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against
Saul. But Saul rose up out of the
cave and went on his way.” (I Samuel 24:4-7)
12.
Respect people who are different than you are.
Everyone is not beautiful, educated, equipped with 'everything',
and financially sound.
a.
“Let brotherly love continue. Be not
forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels
unawares. Remember them that are in
bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity as being yourselves
also in the body.” (Hebrews 13:1-3)
b.
“So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the
brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.
But David pursued, he and four hundred men:
for two hundred abode behind which were so faint that they could not go
over the brook Besor. And they found
an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he
did eat; and they made him drink water; And they gave him a piece of a cake of
figs, and two clusters of raisins; and when he had eaten, his spirit came again
to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three
night. And David said unto him, To
whom belongest thou? And whence art
thou? And he said, I am a young man
of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago
I fell sick.” (Reference:
I Samuel 30th chapter)
13.
Respect your own home.
- “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you
this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that
were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land
ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)
*** A house without rules is no home.
The rules at your home should be obeyed and not even compared to another
family's rules. How does it look if
you are eating, sleeping, being clothed and cared for at one home, but yet you
abide by the household rules of your neighbors or someone use in your community
just because you like their lifestyle?
14.
Respect the elderly. Reference: 2
Kings 2nd chapter
And Bathsheba went in unto the king into the chamber; and the
king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king.” (I
Kings 1:15) “A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the
person of the old, nor shew favour to the young.” (Deut. 28:50) “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the
face of the old man, and fear thy God:
I am the Lord.” (Lev. 19:32)
*** You will one day get old or you will die young.
How will you want to be treated if you are, indeed, blessed to get old?
Then, you must watch how you treat the elderly right now.
15.
Respect (and treasure) your
relationship with the Lord. "Hear, O Israel:
the Lord our God is one Lord: And
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy might. And these
words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of
them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and
when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a
sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets
between thine eyes.
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”
(Deut. 6:4-9) “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the
land.” (Isaiah 1:19)
16.
Respect your past, as well as your future. “And we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans
8:28) “And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought
thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to
Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildest not, And houses
full of all good things which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou
diggedst not, vineyards and olvie trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou
shalt have eaten and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which
brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, form the house of bondage.
Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his
name. Ye shall not go after other
gods, of the gods of the people which are roundabout you; (for the Lord thy God
is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled
against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.” (Deut. 6: 10-15) *** There is a learning experience involved in both - your
past and your future.
17.
Respect repercussion, especially when you have sown bad seeds.
For every negative {disobedient/bad} action is a consequence that must be
faced. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap. For
he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that
soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap,
if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:7-9)
*** God is no respecter of persons.
Although God is merciful, there are reaping days and they can be either good or
bad.
18.
Respect the privacy of others. Reference: Daniel
1st chapter
“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went
into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he
kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his
God, as he did aforetime.” (Daniel 6:10)
19.
Respect your ministry (and the ministry of others), the Word God has
entrusted you with, and the method of presentation God has shown you to use.
·
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
·
“Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak
unto them all that I command thee:
be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron
pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah,
against the princes thereof, against the
priests thereof, and against the people of the land.
And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against
thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.” (Jeremiah 1:17-19)
·
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and
he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.
What is the chaff to the wheat? Saith the Lord.
Is not my word like a fire?
Saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah
23:28, 29)
·
“For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those
things have been, saith the Lord:
but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit,
and trembleth at my word. … I also
will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when
I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear:
but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in, which I delighted
not. Hear the word of the Lord, ye
that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out of my
name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified:
but he shall appear to your joy and they shall be ashamed.” (Isaiah 66:2,
4, 5)
·
“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast
ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn
again and rend you.” (Matthew 7:6)
·
“For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy
words thou shalt be condemned.” (Matthew 12:37)
·
“And he gave some, apostles, and some prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ: That we henceforth be no
more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to
deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ: From
whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every
joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every
part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”
(Ephesians 4:11-16)
20.
Respect each individual’s personal
level in God (where they are right now). Reference: 1
Corinthians 12:12-31 “And
they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in
breaking of bread, and in prayers.
And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the
apostles. And all that believed were
together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and
parted them to all men, as every man had need.
And they continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking
bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of
heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people.
And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” (Acts
2:42-47) 21. Respect
the position you are in right now (especially financially – your immediate
household status); then seek the Lord for a brighter day.
·
But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last
your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye
lacked opportunity. Not that I speak
in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to
be content.” (Phil 4:10, 11)
·
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he
that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)
·
“The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he added no
sorrow with it.” Proverbs 10:22)
·
“Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither
poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and
deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the
name of my God in vain.” (Proverbs 30:8, 9)
·
Reference: Malachi 3rd Chapter
As you learn RESPECT, know that there will be many times when you will have to
shake it off – shake off anything that causes you depression, discouragement and
oppression. Read the following story
and learn a lesson from this donkey:
Powerful Power Point:
The level of respect that you give is equal to the level of respect that you
will receive.
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked:
for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7)
________________________
|
|
|
~DEVOTION~
Some of our favorites devotions to start the day with.
"Put On The Whole Armor of God"
|
