On one special occasion, Queen Elizabeth, decided to honor a nobleman for his service by giving him a ring. As she presented him the ring she said, “If you are ever in trouble, send the ring to me and I will help you.”

But there is one who is much more powerful than a king or a queen, a president or a premier who is available to us: “The Mighty One, God, the Lord,” declared the Psalmist. “Call upon Me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you and you will honor Me,” is His enduring promise.

The language of The Mighty One is very significant. He did not say, “Don’t call me – I’ll call you when I have time.” Nor did He say, “That problem’s insignificant” or “Your concern does not matter to me,” or “I’ll refer that to someone else later.” Our God, who is richer than the richest and stronger than the strongest and the greatest friend we can have, says to each of us, “Call me when you are facing troubles and need help. I’m always available.” Is that not exciting? If you are facing a difficult problem as you are reading this “Seed” you can put it aside – right now – and He’s waiting for You to call on Him in prayer.

Not only is He available, but He gives us the assurance that He will deliver us. What good is His availability if He is too powerless to protect us, too weak to fight for us, too poor to meet our needs? Whatever trouble we are facing – large or small, ours or someone we love – He guarantees a timely, effective and positive solution. He will deliver us when we call!

But He does make one simple request of us: “You will honor me.” The goal of our prayer must not be to bring attention to ourselves for what He has done or will do for us, it must always be to bring honor to His name in all we do!

Prayer: Thank You, Father, for the hope we have in You and Your willingness to hear our prayer and Your ability to deliver us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture for Today: Psalm 50:15b  I will deliver you, and you will honor me.

Honor gives recognition to the work of someone other than ourselves. It is placing significance, importance or value on what they have done or accomplished. It places them above us in a position that commands respect for what they have done or who they are.

To honor someone requires us, first and foremost, to be humble. We literally bow before them in recognition for what they have done for us or what they have contributed to our lives and to our well-being. What they have done has cost them something. Perhaps they have had to make a sacrifice and the price is more than we can or are able to pay them for what they have done for us.

Honoring someone is not always easy. Pride gets in the way. Self-importance or not wanting to stand aside while others move to the front of the line often complicates things. It is not easy to give credit to someone when I am obligated to them for what they have done. When we honor someone, we make them look good – often at our expense – and that at times is not easy. Who wants to admit their shortcomings or inadequacies?

The Psalmist wrote, “Honor Him for He is your Lord!” Not a very complicated statement. The problem is not understanding the statement that gives so many Christians a problem. It is in applying it. Honoring or bowing down before God is difficult. Pride gets in the way and becomes a problem for many.

Pride is what keeps us from serving Him and loving others as Jesus loved them. Pride is what keeps us from being submissive to Him when we refuse to serve Him in our churches and witness His saving grace to others who are lost and dying.

Prayer: Lord, give us a desire to become humble and honor You. Remove pride from our hearts and replace it with humility. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture for Today: Psalm 45:11 Let the king be enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.

In the Middle Ages there was a group of men who called themselves The Gamblers. Wherever there was sickness or suffering, plagues or pestilence they would take their lives into their own hands - gamble against all odds – that they could help others. They willingly gambled with their lives for the good of others.

But they were not the first to do this. The Apostle Paul talks about one of his co-workers: Epaphroditus. In speaking of him, he wrote, “He risked his life for the work of Christ and he was at the point of death while trying to do for me the things you couldn’t do because you were far away.”

We do not know very much about Epaphroditus. But these things we do know that he delivered money to Paul while he was in prison. We do know that he helped Paul during a time of great physical and financial need. We do know that he became sick while he was staying with Paul. And we do know that Paul trusted him to deliver a most important “thank-you” letter to the church at Philippi.

The world honors those who are recognized for being rich, athletic, wealthy, entertaining, and intelligent. But here we see God recognizing and honoring a servant. And Paul also said, “Welcome him with Christian love, great joy, and be sure to honor people like him.” A simple servant, honored eternally, for taking a risk for God.

Prayer: We are reminded, Lord, of those who do for You what few are willing to do. Thank You for the missionaries who serve You quietly. Honor them greatly. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Scripture for Today: Philippians 2:25-30 …Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.