The title of the past two week’s Sunday Morning Inspirations were “BE in the moment” and “BE Content.” These are two ways to honor God and people.

This week, …

Your keyword is HONOR.

Your key message is “Honor God”

Your key scripture is 1 Samuel 2:30 – “Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the LORD says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

See below for the amazing story of how the Holy Spirit birthed this week’s key word, key message, and key scripture.

How do you honor God?
1) Immersing yourself in the Word of God to know and obey Him (Psalm 1:1-3)
2) Putting Him first in all areas of your life, especially your TIME (daily routine) and Money (Exodus 20:3, Luke 12:34)
3) By loving (honoring) people as yourself (James 2:8)
4) BE in the moment (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
5) BE content (1 Timothy 6:6-8)
6) Caring for the poor and needy in this world (Matthew 25:33-40)
7) SHARING your God stories

How do you honor people?
1) With your TIME first of all. As Pastor Rick Warren says, “Love is spelled T.I.M.E.”
2) By honoring your spouse and parents first and foremost (1 Peter 3:7, Ephesians 5:22, Exodus 20:12)
3) With the words you speak (Proverbs 18:21)
4) By LISTENING with understanding (BE in the moment)
5) With acts of patience and kindness (1 Corinthians 13:4)
6) Keeping your commitments (James 5:12)
7) Being on time for appointments, meetings, events, etc.

1 Peter 3:7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

Exodus 20:12 “HONOR your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.”

If your willing, please share your feedback for more ways to honor God and people by posting your comments at the bottom of this YDB blog post.

More Blessings

• My favorite video this past week is the Opera Company of Philadelphia “Hallelujah!” Random Act of Culture. Powerful, inspiring and the truth. Watching this 5 minute video will be worth every minute you spend and more. The Opera Company of Philly, PA showed up at Macy’s on Oct 30, 2010 with 650 opera singers and sang the Hallelujah Chorus. Shoppers were taken by surprise, but many cheered, teared up and even raised their hands and started praising the Lord. They called it “a random act of culture”. You’ll be blessed.
• Archive of “Sunday Morning Inspirations”
• WFJ: Father’s Fall in! by Bertha Hinson
• Thank You, Holy Spirit for Your Eternal Presence! by Nancy Slocum
• What is your heart thinking? by Renato Amato

Prayer Power
Heavenly Father, it’s easy to say we love You with our thoughts and our words, but it’s another thing to live that out. The longer I live, the more I realize how important it is to have daily habits that make me SLOW DOWN. Help me to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from my life so I can truly honor You and people. Keep me from being a hypocrite. Glorify your name ! In Jesus name, I pray. Amen!

Blessings to honor God and people!

Joseph

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Story of how the Holy Spirit birthed this week’s key word, key message, and key scripture

On Nov 4 I received an email from my son Robbie sharing an update from our Breakthrough Life Coaching session two days earlier. On the morning of Sat Nov 6, I sent this email reply:

“Hi Robbie, Thank you for your update and congratulations on going to bed earlier and catching up on your Bible reading. Life always works best when we follow God’s plan and design. God’s promise to us is He will honor us when we honor Him (1 Samuel 2:30). Love, Dad”

I then pasted 1 Samuel 2:30 into my prayer journal. That was the only scripture I pasted in my journal that day.

Later that day around 3 pm as I was cleaning up the mess of papers on the floor near my computer, I found the letter from Pastor Paula Jones inviting me to come to the 10th anniversary celebration for New Beginnings Worship Center (NBWC) that began at 2 pm that day. I put aside everything else I was doing and was soon out the door to honor Paula.

Before leaving home, I told my daughter that Paula was the best TEACHER we ever had on my “A Life of Blessing” TV show. When I sat down in a chair at NBWC, I heard two words in my heart – PASSION and INTIMACY. Shortly after my arrival, Paula introduced me to the rest of the crowd and asked if I had anything to share. I told the people that Paula was the best PREACHER we ever had on A Life of Blessing,

A little while later I noticed a poster board with the Vision statement for NBWC. It said 1) Worship – passionately, 2) Preach, and 3) Teach – the same 3 words the Lord had just given me. Amazing! Well, it didn’t stop there.

While basking in the presence of God praising Him with others and listening to a variety of testimonies, the Holy Spirit brought to my mind several precious memories of how Paula blessed our community over the previous 10 years.

Around 6 pm, Paula had an open mic time for people to share their memories and I seized the opportunity. I told Paula that God promises to honor those who honor Him – and that she had honored Him abundantly over the previous 10 years and He will honor her in glorious ways.

After the celebration was over, I spoke to Paula privately. I told her God sent me there to bless her with the 1 Samuel 2:30 scripture.

Paula then shared her recent God story of visiting Branson, Missouri for the 2010 Autumn Assembly of Prayer (Oct 27 – Nov 1) sponsored by Billye Brim Ministries, where about 3,000 passionate worshippers of Jesus had assembled from all over the world for 5 days of passionate prayer and worship.

While in Branson, Paula was taken on a private tour of a large church, formerly a theater. When she stepped up on the stage, she looked up and saw in huge lettering “I will honor those who honor Me” on the ceiling. Paula prayed to God that He would bless her with a big church with that scripture on the ceiling or wall. He sent me to confirm the answer to that prayer is coming.

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