According to the Bible, what are the characteristics of a person that is truly worthy of receiving “honor” from others?

1.) It is a person that does not demand respect from others.

Proverbs 31:25-26 (ESV) – ²⁵ Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. ²⁶ She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

Luke 14:10-25 (NIV) -10But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Mark 9:33-35 (NIV) – 33They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. 35Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

2.) It is a person that does not expect to be served but desires to serve.

Proverbs 31:16-20 (ESV) – ¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. ¹⁷ She dresses herself
with strength and makes her arms strong.¹⁸ She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.¹⁹ She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. ²⁰ She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.

Mark 10:45 (NIV) – ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Hebrews 6:10-11 (NLT) – ¹⁰ For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. ¹¹ Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true.

2 Thess. 3:11-12 (NIV)- Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business (and not become busybodies) and to work with your hands… so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

3.) It is the person who chooses to uniquely love others like that of our Father God .

Proverbs 31: 28-31(ESV) – ²⁸ Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ²⁹ “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”³⁰ Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.³¹ Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.

Top of FormBottom of FormDeuteronomy 10:12 (NIV) – And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul

1 John 4:15-17 (NLT) – ¹⁵ All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. ¹⁶ We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. ¹⁷ And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

1 John 3:1 (NIV) – How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

August 2011 (Week 4)

THE BEAUTY OF GROWING OLD

According to the Bible, what exactly is so “beautiful” about growing old?

1.  If you believe in Him, He will keep your “spiritual” battery going!

Isaiah 46:4 (New International Version) - ⁴ Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

Joshua 14:9-12 (New Living Translation) – ⁹ So that day Moses solemnly promised me, ‘The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever, because you wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’ ¹⁰ “Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise—even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. ¹¹ I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. ¹² So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me. You will remember that as scouts we found the descendants of Anak living there in great, walled towns. But if the Lord is with me, I will drive them out of the land, just as the Lord said.”

2. Simply put, the older you are, the more you “know.”

Job 12:12-13 (Today’s New International Version) ^{– 12} Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? ¹³ “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.

Proverbs 20:29 (New Living Translation) ^{– 29} The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old.

3. God’s Word promises that you will “enjoy” long life as long as you follow His ways.

Deuteronomy 6:2  (New International Version) ^{– 2} so that you, your children and their children after them may fear (giving Him respect, reverence and honor) the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.

DeDeuteronomy 5:33 (New International Version) – ³³ Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

Bottom Line Verse:

Psalm 39:4-5  (New Living Translation) ^{– 4} “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. ⁵ You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.”

Psalm 91:14-16 (MSG) – ^14-16 “If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God, “I’ll get you out of any trouble. I’ll give you the best of care if you’ll only get to know and trust me. Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times; I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party. I’ll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!”

August 2011 (Week 3)

UNDER PRESSURE!!

So how can we resist the pressure to do what is wrong among our peers?

1. Be willing to experience embarrassment.

Matt. 14:3-12 (NIV) – ³For Herod had arrested and imprisoned John as a favor to his wife Herodias (the former wife of Herod’s brother Philip). ⁴John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry her.” ⁵Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of a riot, because all the people believed John was a prophet. ⁶But at a birthday party for Herod, Herodias’s daughter performed a dance that greatly pleased him, ⁷so he promised with a vow to give her anything she wanted. ⁸At her mother’s urging, the girl said, “I want the head of John the Baptist on a tray!” ⁹Then the king regretted what he had said; but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders. ¹⁰So John was beheaded in the prison, ¹¹and his head was brought on a tray and given to the girl, who took it to her mother. ¹²Later, John’s disciples came for his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus what had happened.

2. Refuse to rationalize (find reason for the sin) and RUN when necessary.

Genesis 39:9-10 (NLT) – ⁹No one here has more authority than I do. He has held back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How could I do such a wicked thing? It would be a great sin against God.” ¹⁰She kept putting pressure on Joseph day after day, but he refused to sleep with her, and he kept out of her way as much as possible.

3.  Don’t give in to the crowd, no matter how much noise they make.

Luke 23:20-25 (NLT) - ²⁰Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus. ²¹But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” ²²For the third time he demanded, “Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.”

²³But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed. ²⁴So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. ²⁵As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he turned Jesus over to them to do as they wished.

4. Seek God’s help.

Mark 14:38 (TLB)- ( Jesus Prays in Gethsemane) “Watch and pray lest the Tempter overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak.”

Jesus’ example:

A.) Pray to Father God.

Mark 14:35 – He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by.

B.) Seek support of friends and loved ones.

Mark 14:33 – He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed.

C.) Focus on the purpose God has given you.

Mark 14:36 – “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Bottom Line Verse:

2 Corinthians 6:8(TLB)- We stand true to the Lord whether others honor us or despise us, whether they criticize or commend us. We are honest, but hey call us liars.

August  2011 (Week 1)

ONE STRIKE AND YOU’RE OUT!

So how can we start over with God?

1. In order to start all over, we must realize the quality of God’s mercy and grace.

Ezekiel 33:11 (NIV) – “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.”

Ephesians 2:4 (NKJV) – ⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us…

1 Peter 1:3 (NLT) –  ³ All praise to God, the Father of our Lord  Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because  God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation…

 2.  In order to start all over, we must understand that God is willing to give us another chance.

Jonah 3:1-3 (NIV)- “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”  Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.”

Phil. 3:13-14 (NIV) –  “But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Bottom Line Verse:

Psalm 34:17- The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.