Father's Honour-2 - 16 Jun 13

 God’s Honour-2

Introduction:

John12:26 “If any man serves me, let him follow me: and where I am, there shall also be my servant be; if any man serve me, him will my father honour”. We see Our God is a God who carefully observes each and everything that we do to his name. God honours us when our works/deeds please him. God does not honour everyone simply; we need to serve him with all our heart and mind to get God’s honour. Today God expects certain aspects to be present in the manner of following that we have towards God. What are those? We are going to meditate upon that as we proceed.

I. Following Faithfully                                      

Numbers 14:24 “But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring to the land whereinto he went: and his seed shall possess it”

                How did Caleb follow God? He followed Our Lord God fully (i.e.) Faithfully. The way God blesses Caleb for his True following is very much interesting! As Caleb followed Our God faithfully the blessing is not only poured on him but also on his generations. Caleb’s generations might not have followed God like unto Caleb but because of his Faithfulness they get the blessings from above.

                When we take our life for instance, How is our following found? Is it like unto Caleb’s? Would God express his testimony concerning us as he did in Caleb’s case? We should clearly understand the fact that our following towards God not only influences us but it also influences our generations. Even tiny mistakes that we do will have an impact over our generations. When we read The Book of Numbers 32:11,12, we can witness that God prohibits certain people to enter into the land of Canaan as they were not faithful enough in their following. Today, we should ask ourselves, whether we are Faithfull in following our God. Our pursuits, morale, etiquette each and every activities are running in front of our Lord God. We must earn a good report not only from God but also from the people around us. Therefore, its high time that we seek for God’s grace which will enable us to lead a faithful following towards God.

II. Following without Hindrance

 Joshua :14:8 “Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the Lord my God”.

                Here Caleb admits that, despite following God wholly, his brethren made the peoples heart to melt down. This can be compared to our lives, where even if we lead a good life, people who surround us will distract and deviate us from our following towards God. Our following should be the one which is not hindering anyone who come in our way. At the same time, we should not be a hurdle to others efforts. Our words should be soothing not aggressive.

                If we follow God creating an hindrance to others we will be surely liable for damnation. We should not tumble down others hopes and beliefs. Our words needs to be motivating and optimistic in nature as such is the sign of a true Christian life. When we read The Book of Joshua 14:10, we can see that Caleb is receiving the blessing of fullness of his life, as a reward for his following which is free from all sort of hindrances. Henceforth, we have to beseech God to make us to follow him without any hindrances.

III. Following Wholly

I Kings 11:6,9 “And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.” “And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice”

                In the beginning, Solomon was God’s favourite person as he was leading an intimate life with our Lord God. But sadly, as the days rolled away Solomon spoiled his own life by giving himself to whoredoms and idolatry. Though he was doing evil in the sight of the lord yet he followed God somehow. But we ought to understand that Solomon followed God, but not Whole-heartedly. If we are found like unto Solomon, blessings will never come in search of us.

                In the above situation, God cautions Solomon couple of times but he never mends his ways and he kept taking God’s alerts for granted. Our Lord God is very slow to anger, as he does not punish Solomon the moment, as God kept on warning him to get him back. As Solomon fails to lend his ears to God, his entire reign collapses and he loses his blessings. Today if you are hearing God’s cautions, it is very clear that God wants help you and guide you to follow him wholly.

IV. Follow Rightly

II Peter 2:15 “Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness:”

                Balaam, a Prophet mentioned in the Book of Numbers Chapter 23,  we see that Balaam gets diverted in his way from God. The interesting part is, God alerts him by using a Donkey. Our God somehow wanted to get Balaam into the right track. Today, God wants us to follow him in a right way. In today’s world, there is an immense existence of false existence of false prophets who makes us to go astray. The doctrines of grace by these prophets will lead us into the deep pit which prevents us to follow him rightly. Today all of us have to make an oath to run in a right path that ties us closely with the will of God.

V. Follow Closely

Luke 22:33 “And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.”

Luke 22:54 “…..And Peter followed afar off.”

Peter admits that he will follow Jesus both into gaol and Death, this statement he utters from his flesh. At the later part we see he backslides from his pursuit towards God. Peter fails to follow God closely. We should not find a backseat when it comes to God’s presence. The more closer we get, the more will our blessings. We will be soaked into problems when we follow him closely. Our prayer life is the predominant factor which will be seriously affected by this experience. Unless and until we follow him closely, we can never expect all the heavenly blessings to prosper in our life. We should make it a point to pray at least half an hour a day, no matter how hectic our schedule turns out to be. Therefore, make a resolution to follow God closely and spend time with God. If we make a change today, we will witness a difference. Let the almighty God be with us always to guide us and guard us.  Amen. God Bless You!!