Who do You Honor? Isaiah 40:215-25-2008

Who do You Honor 5-25-08

Let him that stands, take heed, lest he fall. 1 Cor. 10:12

Isaiah 40:21 Do you not know? Uncle Bob 956-971-0810 - Julie Thurs daily limit 630
Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? 22He sits enthroned above the circle of earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

This is God

23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing
24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

Even princes, even the well off, especially the powerful

25 "To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. 27 Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God"?
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.

He care for you...how big is god, how big and wide his vast domain to try and tell these lips can only start, he's big enough to rule this mighty universe, yet he's small enough to live within my heart.

29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint

Do you hope in God? Or do you hope in yourself?

Who do you honor?
God or self......everything you and I do, either honors God or myself....
It's ok to get lost in life....we can't think about God every minute
Need to pay attention when pulling a tooth, a hook, go to the doctor...
Can't think of him every minute
But we sure can think about him more than we do

In order to do this, we must stop thinking about ourselves.

Who are we?---We are grass....we are animals.

If you have a beagle, you may have heard that beagles are the dog, most run over by cars...
If you see something in the road, and you don't know what it is, it may just be a beagle.

Sometimes bad things happen to us
We are animals, we are like grass

We think we are so smart--- We forget that we are vulnerable
arrogance is the last sacrament of the human species

In a moment your life can change
Cruising along the suddenly.....Fav dog dies, wife's highschool sweetheart moves to town, lose your job, hospital...surgery

Such things always surprise us and sometimes make us mad, because nothing like this is supposed to happen to me.... I am invincible

James 4-13 Now listen, you who say, "today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." 14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

Why do things like this happen
Mad at God....hey I am a preacher, why are you doing this to me

May because I was bad, sinful....No if God gave us what we deserved,

Maybe God wants to teach me a lesson...God didn't do this to teach you a lesson.
There may be a lesson here for you, but God did not do this to teach you a lesson

Is our life about waiting for God to do something to us or for us,
Or do we have choices that matter
Is God the cause of this or do things just happen sometimes....

The glory of the love, the glory of the relationships is in our choices and responses, not in God causing every single little thing that happens to you

God didn't push the button,,,, things happen - we are dependent
We are animals, we are grass

Who do you honor by the way that you live?
By the choices that you make God, or yourself

Gladiator.....the time for honoring yourself will soon be at an end your highness

Luke 14:7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, "Give this man your seat." then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, "Friend, move up to a better place," then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

Now catch this....

12 then Jesus said to his host, "when you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Do you hear Jesus asking us to care for the poor?
Wow
Are we listening??? Who is my life about?
I invite my friends over, have I ever invited the poor over? How much time do I spend thinking about the poor?

In a moment your life can change
Let me talk to you about another way that your life can change

In a moment, God can reach you
Do you understand that you are grass?

If this is making sense to you, then you may be ready, you may be close
Sometimes, in the worst moments of your week, when you have nothing left, you call out to the Lord and he reaches you

If you are broken, if you are weak, if you know you are grass
Today may be your day

Wind...high pressure to low pressure
So also the Holy Spirit moves from high pressure to low pressure
When you are full of yourself, there is no place for him to go

But Life is beating you down, call on the Lord....
The Holy Spirit rushes in
Sometimes he hears your prayers and rescues you
Sometimes, he is just with you thru the fire
But his presence will change your life---
in a moment your life can change, for the better

29He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be fain.

Let us pray.