But You Don't Know My Parents

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I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire.  (Luke 24:32)

Honor your father and mother…but what if your parents aren’t worthy of honor?

It’s pretty clear in the Bible that we are to honor our parents.  

It’s even in the Ten Commandments.  Exodus 20:12 says, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

But here is a question I have heard many times.  “How can I honor my parents when they are such dishonorable people?”

Here’s my answer.  You don’t honor them because they are honorable.  You honor them because YOU are honorable.

We are called to be people of honor.  I like First Thessalonians 4:4 which says possess your vessel in honor.

Here’s a fun example, and this goes back to 1922, to a book by Emily Post about etiquette in society.  She wrote, “If a lady drops her glove, a gentleman should pick it up... offer the glove to her and say: 'I think you dropped this!' The lady replies: 'Thank you.' The gentleman should then lift his hat and turn away."

This is telling a man how to behave like a gentleman.  One thing a gentleman doesn’t do is stop to figure out if the woman has a track record of being lady-like.  Her lady-likeness has nothing to do with it.  He behaves like a gentleman, not because she is a lady, but because he is a gentleman.

We honor people, not because they are honorable, but because WE are honorable.

We possess our vessel in honor.  In other words, we get ourselves under control in order to live an honorable life, a life of honoring others because we are honorable.

First Peter 2:17 says, “Honor all people.”  How can we possibly do that when so many people are not worthy of honor?

First of all, everyone is worthy of honor or the Bible wouldn’t say that.  They are worthy of honor as people made in the image of God.  They are worthy of honor because Jesus died for them.  They are worthy of honor because God loves them.

So the question isn’t “are they honorable?”

The question is, are WE honorable?

If we are, then honor flows through us to others.

Back to the Ten Commandments.  We are told to honor our father and mother.  Sure, they were imperfect.  Or you may say, “No Doug, my parents actually were perfect…a perfect mess.”  The command remains the same, to honor them.

And if you can’t motivate yourself to honor them, get this into your head.  We don’t honor them because they are so honorable.  

We honor them because WE are honorable.

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.

The Lord Is Nigh Unto All Them That Call Upon Him

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I’m Doug Apple...and my heart is on fire.  (Luke 24:32)

Psalm 145:18 says, “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him…”

Well…I’M calling upon Him!  Are you?

I am calling upon the Lord every day and this is great news!  When I call upon Him, He is near to me.

I want the Lord to ALWAYS be near to me because I need Him.  I need His presence, His love, His light, His direction, His guidance.  I want Him to lead me, to teach me, to mentor me.  I want to hear Him say, “This is the way, walk ye in it.”

I want Him near to me for more reasons than I can count, so with this in mind, I call upon Him, almost continuously.

Looking back at Psalm 145:18, I didn’t give you the whole verse.  Here is what the whole things says, “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.”

So that’s an extra layer, “in truth.”  What does it mean to call upon the Lord “in truth”?

Well…just be honest.  Come to Him as you are.  Tell Him all the truth.  Don’t try to hide anything, and certainly don’t try to control your image when talking to God.  This is calling upon Him in truth.

It also means having true ideas about God.  Often, we want to fashion God in our image, but if we want to call upon Him in truth, we have to have true thoughts about Him.

He is the King.  He is the Creator.  He is Father God.  He is the Lord of all.  He is just and holy and righteous.  He is also merciful and loving and kind.

So, to call upon the Lord in truth, we have to have clear, true ideas about who we are, and about who He is.

And the good news is, in spite of the giant gulf between us and Him, He invites us to call upon Him, and He says that when we do, He will be near to us.

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

Hebrews 11:6 says that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Psalm 63:1 says, “O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land…”

Psalm 42 says as the deer pants for the water so my soul longs after Thee.

That’s me.  

Yes, as one of God’s redeemed, His Holy Spirit lives inside of me.  I don’t need to cry out to heaven to get Him to come down.  He is already here.  He is already as near as He can be.

The problem is me.  As the old song says, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.”

So, when I call upon the Lord, I’m wanting to connect more closely with Him.  I want to fully live out what He has already promised, which is Him abiding in me, and me abiding in Him.  

I do that by daily calling upon the Lord, and I’m so glad for this promise in Psalm 145:18, “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth.”

May God bless you today.

I’m Doug Apple.