Honouring My Parents . . .

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honour your Father and Mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth (Ephesians 6:1-3)

This is the fifth commandment, repeated here in the new Testament.

There have been many times over the years that I have resented many things that my parents either did, or did not do, in regards to my upbringing. I was a very emotionally charged teenager who was never given any purpose or direction in regard to my life. So I developed into a very emotionally charged adult who spent quite a few years blaming my parents for everything. That is, until one day God showed me that I was wrong to be blaming everything that had happened to me over the years on my parents and others.

Many of us do this, sometimes for our whole lives, without ever owning responsibility as adults for the fact that we can, if we really want to, make changes to our generational inheritances of all the things that went wrong. The bad things that happened, or the opportunities that I missed, cannot be rectified, but God can certainly help to turn my life around. It’s up to me to make the effort, with God’s help, to change.

What my parents did or did not do is determined pretty much by the fact that they were raised by imperfect parents also. When I became a parent, and particularly of teenagers, my whole perspective changed. My parents, I realised, did the best for me, and my sisters, with the education and resources that they had. Amazingly, in fact, when I really take time to think about it. I respect and honour my parents for their input into my life, and thank God for them.

Some scriptures pertaining to this article ~                                                                           Exodus 20:12 ~ Proverbs 1:8,9 ~ Proverbs 6:20,21 ~ Proverbs 20:20 ~ Proverbs 23:22,25 ~ Ephesians 6:1-3 ~ Colossians 3:20

There is however, the suffering experienced under abusive parents, which I can only imagine would deem respect pretty much impossible. All I can say is that forgiveness, and holding them up in prayer, and fighting in the spirit for their souls, would be the greatest honour that could be shown for them.

Matthew 5:43-48 ~ Matthew 6:14-15 ~ Matthew 7:7-8 ~ Matthew 7:12 ~ John 3:16 ~ Ephesians chapter 6

God Bless You ~ Check out joycemeyer.org

The Ten Commandments . . .

DAY 1

The Ten Commandments comprise barely 300 words, yet lie at the very core of Western civilization.

They also make up our legal system and parliamentary structures, but even as Christians many of us could not name all of them.

They were given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai, which can be found in Exodus 20:1-17, and also in Deuteronomy 5:6-21, where they are repeated in the introduction to the Jewish laws.

They are :

1. I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before Me ~

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol, you shall not worship them or serve them ~

3. You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain ~

4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy ~

5. Honour your father and your mother ~

6. You shall not murder

7. You shall not commit adultery ~

8. You shall not steal ~

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour ~

10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s goods or his or her spouse.

There is not one of the above commandments that the world honours anymore.

We idolize performers, sporting personalities, money and many other things. We use God’s Precious Name very lightly and in some cases along with other questionable phrases. We play sport, sleep in, go out for coffee, or go to work, on the one day set aside for us by God to come together and worship Him and rest. We no longer respect our parents for the fact that that’s who they are, that they make mistakes too. Every time we gossip and malign and hate someone, we commit the sin of murder in our hearts, and some actually carry it out. The same goes for lusting after someone other than our partner. We may not actually commit the offence but what is in our hearts defines us, therefore laying the foundation to perhaps act on those desires. We are always looking for the quickest way to make a fortune, and some justify theft and dishonestly thrive by it, and wallow in their riches. And as for our neighbours, Jesus called us to Love one another as He loved us.

That’s it in a nutshell. Jesus is coming back soon, and like a thief in the night He will snatch His bride away and we need to be ready. When that happens I want to be doing all God has asked of me.

Guilt and shame hold us back from becoming who God wants each of us to be. Repentance and forgiveness set us free to move on in God.

If we have any problem at all with any of God’s commandments, now is the time to seek help from Him if we are truly serious about seeking His Will for our lives.

DAY 2
Psalm 19:7-11 ~
“The instructions of the Lord are perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living.
Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true, each one is fair.
They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.
They are a warning for Your servant (that’s you and me), a great reward for those who obey them.”

DAY 3
Psalm 119:1-2 ~
“Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord.
Joyful are those who obey His laws and search for Him with all their hearts.”

DAY 4
Psalm 119:32 ~
“I will pursue Your commands, for You expand my understanding.”

DAY 5
John 14:15 ~
“If you love Me, obey My commandments.”

DAY 6
1 John 2:3-6 ~
“And we can be sure that we know Him if we obey His commandments.
If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.
But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him.
Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.”

DAY 7
Revelation 3:3 ~
“Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.”