Dear Friends,
The subject of honour is one which is talked about a lot at the moment, and a number of books have been written on the subject. Like anything that God addresses, our ability to talk about something naturally precedes the changes we need to make to show that we have applied it.
That said, it is important that we do apply what God is speaking… On the subject of Honour, we are very good at talking about it but not so good at applying it.
I guess that is not hard to understand when we consider that Satan has been sowing dishonour and disrespect for centuries, so that it is now modelled in every culture on earth.
This week we fare-welled Moses and Ewan Lagardo from Singapore, who had graciously agreed to come to NZ to share the wisdom they have received on a number of subjects. This wisdom and insight has come as a result of working with teenagers and young adults in different parts of Asia, but probably more importantly from their own spiritual journeys of discovery.
In His word, God promises that if we will cry out for wisdom, and search for it, that it will be gifted to us…
“My Son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He holds victory in store for the upright, He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for He guards the course of the just and protects the way of the faithful ones.
Then you will understand what is right and just and fair – every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul…” Proverbs 2:1-10
One of the themes that kept surfacing as Moses and E-wan spoke was this theme of honour… in particular in regard to unlocking inheritance. Not just spiritual inheritance but also natural or material inheritance.
When we were in Pakistan two years ago we were about to start a meeting where there were 2-3 hundred people from different tribes… most first generation believers… all gathered to hear something about Jesus from the foreign visitors.
Just before we began one person in the team received a word from the Lord for the gathering… “Tell them that I see them”. In at least one culture in the earth, when people greet one another, this is the expression they use… “I see you!” What they are saying is, “I recognise you, I respect you, I value you, and I honour you.”
Jesus sees us! He recognises us, He respects us, He values us, and He honours us!
This is the default setting in His realm, in His Kingdom… but unfortunately it is the opposite on planet earth.
When Adam and Eve ate from the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”, the knowledge they received was immediately used to judge and condemn and criticise. This became the norm for successive generations and eventually the entire planet. Rather than sowing honour, man has learned to sow dishonour. In so doing we have disempowered our own lives, and the lives of others… and tragically we have broken the power of the inheritance which was to flow from generation to generation.
This is our inheritance which is His spiritual and material provision and blessing for us. It has never been God’s will for every generation to start from “ground zero”, but rather that there would be momentum which builds from generation to generation. By breaking this momentum Satan has prevented much of the building of God’s Kingdom in the earth. Rather than God’s Kingdom increasing exponentially, it has been forced to contract then expand then contract, without any real momentum developing… tragic…
In Malachi 4:5-6 we read;
“See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
These are the last two verses in the Old Testament and they hold a powerful truth. This truth is key to us unlocking our destiny… both individually and corporately. This key will unlock the momentum from generation to generation which is necessary if the world is to believe.
Be Blessed,
Alvin
