DATE: THURSDAY 7TH DECEMBER 2017
THEME: ERODING GOD’S HONOUR?
MEMORISE:
A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Malachi 1:6
READ: Malachi 1:6-8
1:6 A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
1:7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.
1:8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts.
MESSAGE:
For your prayer to be a sweet savour before the Almighty God, you must be prepared not only to praise Him but also to honour His Name. You cannot truly claim to belong to God without reverencing or honouring His Name. This is why the Lord posed this crucial question to us in Malachi 1:6:
“A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?”
If you look at the two types of relationships referenced in the above Scripture passage, you will agree with me that the lower member of each relationship owes a type of honour to the higher member. A son owes his father a higher degree of honour and respect borne out of love. Also, a servant owes his master some degree of fear, honour and regard, as the master is the source of the servant’s livelihood. As a result of these, a father can demand honour of his son, just as a master can demand honour of his servant. However, when it comes to our relationship with God, many people who claim to be God’s children, prefer to relate with God without giving Him the honour due to His Name. Unsurprisingly, this is unacceptable to the One to whom all honour is due.
Today, the Lord is asking, “where is my honour?” In other words, there are many honour-thieves in the Christian fold. Are you an honour-thief? If you call on God’s Name without giving it the high regards it deserves, you are an honour-thief. If you fail the materials test, by offering to God a defective gift or a gift that does not befit His status as the King of kings, nor reflect the levels of blessings on your life, you are an honour-thief. If you treat His assignments or handle His work with anything less than the honour due to Him, you are an honour-thief. If your lifestyle makes people look down on your God, you are an honour-thief. If you offer torn currency notes to God, when you know you cannot even use such to pay for things, you are an honour-thief. Do you honour God in all you do?
ACTION POINT:
Carefully come up with 5-10 ways of honouring God. Go ahead and implement them.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Psalm 113-118
Zephaniah 1
AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE
HYMN 9: ON THE HILL FAR AWAY
1. On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suff’ring and shame;
And I love that old cross where the Dearest and Best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.
Refrain:
So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it someday for a crown.
2. Oh, that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.
Refrain:
3. In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.
Refrain:
4. To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me someday to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.
Refrain:
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR PASSAGES
Psalm 113: 1. Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. 2. Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. 3. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD's name is to be praised. 4. The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. 5. Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, 6. Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth! 7. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; 8. That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. 9. He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD. -
Psalm 114: 1. When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; 2. Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion. 3. The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back. 4. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs. 5. What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back? 6. Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs? 7. Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob; 8. Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters. -
Psalm 115: 1. Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. 2. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? 3. But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. 4. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 5. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: 6. They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: 7. They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. 8. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them. 9. O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. 10. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. 11. Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. 12. The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron. 13. He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great. 14. The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children. 15. Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth. 16. The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men. 17. The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence. 18. But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD. -
Psalm 116: 1. I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. 2. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. 3. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. 4. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. 5. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. 6. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. 7. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. 8. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 9. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. 10. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: 11. I said in my haste, All men are liars. 12. What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? 13. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. 14. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. 15. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. 16. O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. 17. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. 18. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people, 19. In the courts of the LORD's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD. -
Psalm 117: 1. O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. 2. For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD. -
Psalm 118: 1. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. 2. Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. 3. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. 4. Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever. 5. I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place. 6. The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? 7. The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. 8. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. 9. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes. 10. All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them. 11. They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. 12. They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. 13. Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me. 14. The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. 15. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. 16. The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. 17. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. 18. The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death. 19. Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD: 20. This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter. 21. I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. 22. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. 23. This is the LORD's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. 24. This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. 25. Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. 26. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD. 27. God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. 28. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee. 29. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Zephaniah 1: 1. The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. 2. I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD. 3. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD. 4. I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests; 5. And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham; 6. And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor inquired for him. 7. Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. 8. And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD's sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. 9. In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit. 10. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills. 11. Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off. 12. And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil. 13. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof. 14. The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16. A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 17. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. 18. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
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