Think of how often you communicate with people during the course of your day, and that will give you a glimpse into understanding why the word “prayer” is so often mentioned in what I share and write. Prayer is an example of the on going communication that takes place between God and me all day long. If I want lasting relationships in my life, and I do, I need to know how to communicate with others. My relationship with God is dependent upon that same communication skill so that He and I can share thoughts and feelings, ask questions, and listen to one another.
This Wednesday’s theme is about the word “authority.” The theme came out of the first Wednesday when I no longer had Rituxan treatments, and I met with my two friends Jack and Marsha, to pray. Our prayer was a pretty specific request, to gain insight into the spiritual root or cause of this cancer in my bone marrow.
I love how “marrow” is defined as being the innermost, essential, or choicest part. Those words are so descriptive of how I see God in my life. He is the marrow of my heart, and it is my heart that seeks to understand this cancer from God’s perspective.
Here is what I have learned over the past 8 weeks, I need to AVOID what has the potential to be spiritually infectious to me, and I have come to realize that what is most infectious to me is disrespect. I know there are people who I have allowed to treat me with disrespect, but here is the clincher – in my allowing it, I have been disrespectful to myself!
So what is the cure? I need to take authority over that disrespectful spirit and make the decision to replace it with an attitude of respect. What does that respect look like? Look up the word “respect,” and you may be as surprised as I was, to discover that it means to feel or show honor. Honor! Are you kidding? I have never even considered the thought of honoring myself, but that is what respect means. For me, that respect translates into my relationships where I am to honor God, myself, and others. It means that I honor God for who He is – GOD. And that I honor myself for who He created me to be – Colleen. And I honor others for who He created them to be – my family, my friends, my neighbors, and even the stranger that I have been inconsiderate and rude to - in traffic, a grocery line, waiting on the telephone, or not getting my order right! That disrespectful spirit has affected the very marrow of my life!
Look at the word “AUTHORITY.” What else do you see when you look at it? Until I wrote the word down, I never realized that it contains the word AUTHOR. Here is why I LOVE God’s Word, the day after I came to the realization that the word “author” was in the word “authority,” I was leafing through my Bible and my eye was caught by a title in Romans. The title of the chapter just blew me away, it says, “Respect for Authority!” “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.” (Romans 13:1) In other words, God was literally showing me in His Word that He is the Author of authority!!! How great is it when we are in communication with God Himself! As I reflected on just these two sentences from Romans 13, I was reminded of how I can even be disrespectful to the stranger who is my own President. And on a more personal level, I know there have been disrespectful moments directed to the people I love the most, my family. Please forgive me. Romans13 is full of wisdom, and I would encourage you to read it in its entirety.
No sooner did I get through Romans 13 when there was yet another scripture that came up for me on authority in 1 Peter 2:13. Talk about making sure that I got the reinforced message!!! The title of the chapter is “Respecting People in Authority.” I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried! 1 Peter 2:13 says, “For the Lord’s sake, respect all human authority – whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed.”
As I reflected on these two scripture references, I was taken back to the one Scripture that I read all last year when I prayed for our nation. That scripture has routinely come back to me as I have dealt with this cancer diagnosis and its spiritual root of disrespect. The Scripture that I prayed in 2010, and that has now resurfaced for me, comes from 2 Chronicles 7:14, “Then, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”
Here is the bottom line. God is the Author of all authority and He wants me to respect those in authority. In other words, He wants me to honor them and be considerate of them. He also wants me to take the authority he has given me to care for myself, honor myself, and be considerate of myself. This is not selfishness but learning to care and love myself in God’s way!
As I personally deal with my own issues of cancer and it spiritual root of disrespect, I recognize how I am just a small reflection of the bigger picture that is filled with disrespect for God, the country that He has blessed us to live in, and the people who are its citizens. The marrow of who we are has been infiltrated with disrespect. I appreciate the words my Aunt Millie sent to me in an email that expressed a similar evaluation to the one I have just made in regards to our country. Her e-mail also included the scripture from 2 Chronicles 7:14. Here is how her e-mail ended in a quote from Ronald Reagan: “If we ever forget that we are a nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."
Lord, I ask Your forgiveness for the disrespect I have had regarding authority, especially, toward You, myself, others, and our country. Jesus, thank You that I can ask for forgiveness because of what You did for me on the cross, and may I continue to learn from You and be more like You in humility, gentleness and love.
This Wednesday’s theme is about the word “authority.” The theme came out of the first Wednesday when I no longer had Rituxan treatments, and I met with my two friends Jack and Marsha, to pray. Our prayer was a pretty specific request, to gain insight into the spiritual root or cause of this cancer in my bone marrow.
I love how “marrow” is defined as being the innermost, essential, or choicest part. Those words are so descriptive of how I see God in my life. He is the marrow of my heart, and it is my heart that seeks to understand this cancer from God’s perspective.
Here is what I have learned over the past 8 weeks, I need to AVOID what has the potential to be spiritually infectious to me, and I have come to realize that what is most infectious to me is disrespect. I know there are people who I have allowed to treat me with disrespect, but here is the clincher – in my allowing it, I have been disrespectful to myself!
So what is the cure? I need to take authority over that disrespectful spirit and make the decision to replace it with an attitude of respect. What does that respect look like? Look up the word “respect,” and you may be as surprised as I was, to discover that it means to feel or show honor. Honor! Are you kidding? I have never even considered the thought of honoring myself, but that is what respect means. For me, that respect translates into my relationships where I am to honor God, myself, and others. It means that I honor God for who He is – GOD. And that I honor myself for who He created me to be – Colleen. And I honor others for who He created them to be – my family, my friends, my neighbors, and even the stranger that I have been inconsiderate and rude to - in traffic, a grocery line, waiting on the telephone, or not getting my order right! That disrespectful spirit has affected the very marrow of my life!
Look at the word “AUTHORITY.” What else do you see when you look at it? Until I wrote the word down, I never realized that it contains the word AUTHOR. Here is why I LOVE God’s Word, the day after I came to the realization that the word “author” was in the word “authority,” I was leafing through my Bible and my eye was caught by a title in Romans. The title of the chapter just blew me away, it says, “Respect for Authority!” “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.” (Romans 13:1) In other words, God was literally showing me in His Word that He is the Author of authority!!! How great is it when we are in communication with God Himself! As I reflected on just these two sentences from Romans 13, I was reminded of how I can even be disrespectful to the stranger who is my own President. And on a more personal level, I know there have been disrespectful moments directed to the people I love the most, my family. Please forgive me. Romans13 is full of wisdom, and I would encourage you to read it in its entirety.
No sooner did I get through Romans 13 when there was yet another scripture that came up for me on authority in 1 Peter 2:13. Talk about making sure that I got the reinforced message!!! The title of the chapter is “Respecting People in Authority.” I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried! 1 Peter 2:13 says, “For the Lord’s sake, respect all human authority – whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed.”
As I reflected on these two scripture references, I was taken back to the one Scripture that I read all last year when I prayed for our nation. That scripture has routinely come back to me as I have dealt with this cancer diagnosis and its spiritual root of disrespect. The Scripture that I prayed in 2010, and that has now resurfaced for me, comes from 2 Chronicles 7:14, “Then, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”
Here is the bottom line. God is the Author of all authority and He wants me to respect those in authority. In other words, He wants me to honor them and be considerate of them. He also wants me to take the authority he has given me to care for myself, honor myself, and be considerate of myself. This is not selfishness but learning to care and love myself in God’s way!
As I personally deal with my own issues of cancer and it spiritual root of disrespect, I recognize how I am just a small reflection of the bigger picture that is filled with disrespect for God, the country that He has blessed us to live in, and the people who are its citizens. The marrow of who we are has been infiltrated with disrespect. I appreciate the words my Aunt Millie sent to me in an email that expressed a similar evaluation to the one I have just made in regards to our country. Her e-mail also included the scripture from 2 Chronicles 7:14. Here is how her e-mail ended in a quote from Ronald Reagan: “If we ever forget that we are a nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under."
Lord, I ask Your forgiveness for the disrespect I have had regarding authority, especially, toward You, myself, others, and our country. Jesus, thank You that I can ask for forgiveness because of what You did for me on the cross, and may I continue to learn from You and be more like You in humility, gentleness and love.
"Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12)
"May you live to enjoy your grandchildren. May Israel have peace!" (Psalm 128:6)
My heart always seeks to honor my parents, despite those "missed the mark" opportunities . And when I see the honor and respect that my own daughter demonstrates towards her family and me, I feel deep gratitude. I love the promise that speaks to us about a LONG and FULL life when we are willing to respect the authority of what God tells us in honoring our family. When I see that I am still alive, still living in the greatest country, and enjoying my grandchildren, I know that God is fulfilling His promise in my life! The authority of God always blesses me and grants me peace!
1 comment:
That was a great message pertaining to respect and authority and mom!
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