Honor is a missing commodity, not only in the world, but in the church of Jesus Christ. Honor recognizes God has a plan to bring someone into your life to change you. I have spent my life praying and discerning the people that God has planned to bring into my life that will help facilitate the changes I need to be all that God has called me to be.
Throughout scripture, we have been promised many rewards for being honorable. In the first promise, “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee” Exodus 20:12, we see two promises, long life, which will require good health, and land, which represents possessions. Honor is much more than a gift or the shaking of one’s hand, it is a state of mind. I call it an honor mentality. It is the way we think, the way we act, the way we talk, the way we live and the way in which we serve.
“As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honor is not seemly for a fool” Proverbs 26:1. We know it does not snow in the summer, and in Israel, there is no rain at harvest time, therefore, it does not exist, so likewise, honor does not belong to fools, it only belongs to the wise. If you meet a person of honor, you have met a person of great wisdom. We are told by Solomon that wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, the degree of a man’s honor determines the degree of a man’s wisdom. I have learned by experience to make honor a way of life. The more I release honor to the people in my world, the more Heaven’s wisdom is channeled into my life. With an honor mentality, you create a flow of blessing or you cut off the flow of blessing within your sphere.
Over the years, I have travelled to the state of Kerala in India, where I oversee a network of Pastors. I am always amazed how the Indian men and women bow to dignitaries that visit their land. Upon arriving several years ago at the airport in Cochin, several pastors greeted me with fresh flowers and a lei, which they placed around my neck. The men and women present, one at a time, came up to me and began to bow. In a quick response, not wanting any man to worship me, I opened my mouth to correct them, but in an instant, the Holy Spirit rebuked me and said, “They have come to honor the Christ in you.” Many signs and wonders took place over those 10 days. The Lord showed me it was a direct result of them honoring the anointing I carry. We are familiar with the story of how Jesus came to His hometown but could not do many mighty miracles because of their lack of honor. Dishonor stifles and suppresses the supernatural from flooding our world. Our liberal, democratic, western culture has become very dishonorable over the years, and I relate the lack of the supernatural in North America to this fact. The lack of the supernatural in North America is a direct result of a dishonorable society. Jesus said, “if you receive me, you receive the one who sent me”. When God sends a gift into our life, if we receive that gift then we have received Him and have crafted an open heaven for God to pour out miracles into our lives. I have said for years that how you respond to God is how God responds to you. If we honor God with our time, our talent and our treasure, He in return will see to it that men honor us. It will flow in unprecedented measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, men shall give unto you from their bosom. This is a law that works in any culture, any continent and any family. I have learned from experience when I honor people, the Lord honors me. I also recognize that when people honor me they are setting themselves up for abundant blessings. Jesus stated, “if a man honors me, my Father will honor him”. When people honor the Christ in you, the Father in return will find ways to bless and prosper what pertains to them.
The definition of honor is to manifest the highest veneration to another in words and action. It is respect mingled with awe for the dignity and character of another. In 1988, I gave my life back to the Lord after running from Him for 15 years. At that time, I was working in a large flower shop with four owners and multiple employees. The Lord told me to honor my employers despite their actions or reactions toward me. As I honored them, even through some of the most difficult times, the Lord rewarded me by raising me up and giving me the opportunity to now be the owner and CEO of that flower shop! I know this is a direct result of honor. Honor is a catalyst of favor that releases heaven’s best into your life. I have made it a policy when I go out to minister to find ways to serve and honor the local pastor and his people without looking to be served or honored in return. I have seen over the years how many travelling ministers expect the hosting pastors in ministry to roll out the red carpet to them and lavish them with gifts and honorariums, but this is not the how Jesus did it. As the pattern Apostle, Prophet, Pastor, Evangelist, and Teacher He said, “I have not come to be ministered to, but to minister and I have not come to be served, but to serve.” When we minister at this level, no matter where God sends us, we are creating an atmosphere of honor for God to show up and show off His dunamis power in the lives of all those in attendance.
Honor will release to you what education can’t do for you, what money can’t buy and what charismatic giftings will not open for you. Honor has great power and authority. It is a force that demands change. When honor enters a room it is the dominate force that rules the spirit. So cultivate a spirit of honor. You were born to rule and have dominion in the sphere that God has called you to. Honor will always give you preeminence and governance wherever the Lord sends you! In KCIA we are developing, cultivating, nurturing and modeling a culture of honor.
