Sunday Recap @ da Chapel
Dr. Wesley Proctor
John 12:26 (KJV)
"Where's the Honor?
When Jesus is talking you need to listen. In the city of Philadelphia with the gun violence, there isn’t a gun problem we have an honor problem.
*Honor: to show esteem or prefer to treat someone or another with respect because of who they are or what they have done. Honor is different from love. Love means no matter what you do I’m to feel what I feel about you, but I don’t have to like it. Honor means I still don’t have to like you but I’m going to respect you because of the position that you hold in my life. There is a lack of honor in today’s society, and that’s why the streets are in the condition that they are in, because you have strayed away from the biblical foundation of honor. You should prefer someone else over you. The problem today is you want to be preferred first not someone else being preferred over you. If you are going to be blessed and reap the benefits of being a Christian you have to prefer, lower yourself, sacrifice, you must give up some things to be honored.
*It’s not enough to serve, God doesn't care about your service, more than he cares about you following him. Jesus wants you to follow him and you will serve him. Following doesn’t mean do it your way, it means there is someone in front of you that you are taking orders from. But the problem is you don’t want anyone telling you what to do. You wonder why you’re not blessed, it’s because you’re not following. If you stick to the plan God will speak to you. You don’t have a direction problem you have a following problem. When you come into the church you should be about your father’s business, it’s about the kingdom. You don't move until God tells you to move, you don't speak. Stop putting other things before God. God can still bless you even when he’s not pleased with you. He’s blessing you to show you that he’s still with you and giving you an opportunity to get it together. Your blessing is tied to your following. You may think you are blessed now, but think how much more blessed you would be if you just followed, and preferred someone else over your selfish self.
*Prefer someone else over you, and you will feel so much better. Sometimes being kind makes you feel better. It’s not your job to judge others, and that’s why you aren’t blessed. If you're going to follow the teachings of the bible that means sometimes you have to deny yourself. Be careful how you close doors, because later in life that person may have to take care of you. Stop being snooty, in order to win the world you have to show the world that you have been in the world. The bible doesn’t say that person you prefer has to be perfect, you are to honor them. You don’t know how they got in the situation that they are in, that’s not your problem, it’s your job to just be there. One way you honor God is through your giving. Once you release it, that’s it, no questions. When you stray away from what the bible tells you that’s when you get into trouble. When you don’t give your tithe, your money is cursed. When you honor other people you are honoring God. The problem is you don't want to honor others because you don't want them to have more than you. You have to learn God’s ways, and if you don’t do the basic things you won’t know how he operates, that’s why you depend on the preacher to hear from God for you. You have to give people space to make mistakes, didn’t people give you space to make mistakes.
*God will honor you if you honor him. You honor God inward with your heart, a true reflection about how you feel about God outward. It’s not just how you love God inward, but how it manifests outward. When you get in trouble you want to add your own formula and do it when you get ready, but not when God told you. You need God to come through, but he was trying to come through when he told you to prefer someone else, but because you missed it you can’t get the direction you need.
*There are 3 ways to honor God. Firstly honor your parents. Honor your father and mother, not one or the other, and your days are cut short because there is a lack of honor. If you don't honor your parents it's a reflection of how you honor God. God put parents in your life for foundation. Secondly honor your pastor. Pastors represent spiritual authority and you should honor natural authority. Honor the people that are in authority. How you are raised at home will reflect how you treat others outside your house. Giving the pastor a card, or call to say you are praying for the him, will make you feel good to prefer someone else. You are struggling and you will continue to struggle if you don’t learn how to prefer someone else. Thirdly honor people. Don’t act like you are better than someone else, you have to remember where God has brought you from. You only look the way you do, because of the blood of Christ. You are a reflection of him and he won’t look bad, that’s why he makes you look good even though you are dirty.