Where Is My Honor?

By Dr. Josef A. Howard

Many books have been written about our relationship with God. Some of them give us distorted images of ourselves, life as a whole, or how our relationship ought to be with God. This book is an exception to the rule.

In writing this book, my goal was not to point out our flaws and God’s disdain for us. On the contrary, it was to show how, in and of ourselves, we disappoint God continuously, like the children of Israel, and that God has made a way for us to honor him through Christ Jesus. I therefore had six goals in mind each time I sat to pen this book, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. First and foremost, Where Is My Honor? is intended to help us reflect on how we are personally honoring God in our lives and not necessarily looking at how others are honoring him. Second, it is intended to be a “mirror” through which we see the “dirt” in our lives. Third, it is a tool to help us do a reality check in terms of our relationship with God. Do we truly love him? Are we honoring him in ways that he deserves? If he were to ask us “Where is my honor?” what would we say to him? In other words, this masterpiece should help us to stop sleepwalking spiritually. Fourth, this book is provocative to us. After recognizing and acknowledging the dirt we see through this mirror, it calls on us to seek the help of the Holy Spirit to remove the dirt. Fifth, this book helps us to see how fine (beautiful or handsome) we are after we have been cleansed by the blood of the lamb. Finally, Where Is My Honor? helps us see, understand, and fully appreciate how good, big, and truly awesome God is.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Nov 17, 2018
• ISBN: 9781546268246

Dr. Josef A. Howard

Dr. Josef A. Howard has authored several books including, “Ushers God’s Frontline Commanders”, “Turning your Mess into a Message,” and “Soaring as an Eagle Over Life’s Challenges”. He is also an excellent teacher, preacher, chaplain, musician, motivational conference speaker, marriage counselor, mediator, businessman, and trainer on church leadership, church ushering, multiculturalism, church growth, spiritual caregiving and spiritual warfare.

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© 2018 Dr. Josef A. Howard. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 11/15/2018

ISBN: 978-1-5462-6825-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5462-6824-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018913541

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Website

A son honors his father and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me? says the LORD Almighty. It is you priests who show contempt for my name. But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?" (Malachi 1:6 NIV)

CONTENTS

Endorsements

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter 1     Understanding God’s Disappointment

Chapter 2     Understanding The If Question

Chapter 3     Understanding God’s Love

I. Personal

II Proven

III. Perfecting

IV. Preserving

Chapter 4     Understanding What It Means To Honor

I. The Almighty God Himself

II. His Son, Jesus Christ our Savior

III. His Life-transforming Word

IV. His Gospel, the Good News

V. His Spirit, our Helper

VI His Cause

Chapter 5     Understanding How To Honor God?

I. Honoring God With Our Wealth

Principle 1: Godliness with contentment is great gain

Principle 2: Our earthly wealth is all temporary and

transient.

Principle 3: There is great danger in wealth for selfish

motive.

II. Honoring God With Our Work

A. Work As Unto The Lord

B. Cultivate Productivity

C. Work For Pay

D. Pay For Work

E. See Your Job as a Gospel Platform

III. Honoring God With Our Worship

IV. Honoring God In Your Weariness

Conclusion

A. Remember

B. Evaluate

C. Accept

D. Change

E. Trust

About the Author

ENDORSEMENTS

We live in a convoluted world that keeps us preoccupied with everything else but God, His Word and His Work. We therefore sometimes struggle with finding the time needed to build or even maintain our personal relationship with Him. Sadly, He takes the back seat in our lives and becomes an afterthought for most Christians. Additionally, this modern society in which we live constantly bombards us with anti-religious sentiments, anti-Semitic rhetoric, secular ideologies, and progressive liberal ideas on television and in the print media. The effect has been apathy, tepidity, intimidation, indifference and fear of rejection or reprisal for being expressive of one’s faith and belief in God. Resultantly, most Christians have become fraidy-cats who have settled with church attendance on Sundays and nothing else. We are therefore losing focus on what God requires of us and what it means to honor Him. This book therefore is a wake-up call for all of us. It calls on us to realize what is happening in our lives, communities, societies and nations.

I have had the opportunity to read most of Dr. Howard’s spirit-filled, life-transforming and uplifting books and these books have had a significant impact on my spiritual growth and development as a Christian. This book entitled, Where is My Honor was an eye-opener for me and will be the same for every believer who takes the time to read it. It redirects our attention to the Creator (God). Where is My Honor is a book that was written out of a humble and soul-searching heart. Its goal is to help us ask ourselves as Christians if we are honoring God the way He deserves to be honored. If not, we are admonished to reflect on what needs to be done in light of how GOOD, BIG, and AWESOME God has been to us.

Dr. Howard in this book wrestles with how much God loves us, his children. Yet, he points out how much we disappoint God continuously in our thoughts, words and actions. He elaborates on God’s response when man chooses to stray away from HIM and how our decisions, though disappointing to God, never stops Him from loving us. This book compels us as Christians to reflect on our relationship with God and to ask ourselves the hard question, How are we personally prioritizing or honoring God in lives. Where is My Honor provides an opportunity to recommit to God and develop a stronger bond with HIM. It is a great book that can be used for self-reflection, gathering materials for sermon preparation and delivery, bible study, and teaching a discipleship class. It can also be used as a devotional material by the entire family given that it contains scripture references on the end of each chapter on what is considered in Journalism as the five Ws and How (who, what, where, when, why and how) of honoring YAHWEH.

Honoring God is not simply identifying ourselves as Christians or performing rituals or ceremonies when required. It is about our attitudes, affections, and actions and how they reflect who God is to us. Like Dr. Howard indicated in chapter five of this book, To honor God is to give Him the regards, respect, reverence, admiration, adoration, awe, praise, submission and obedience which are due him. Moreover, the Bible requires that we love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37-38).

As I read this book, I could not help but reflect on my own life as a believer. It allowed me to think of where God took me from and where I am right now. The only question that came to mind was, Am I really honoring God in all that I do? I am glad that this book created an opportunity for me to assess my own life in order to begin making the necessary adjustments where needed. I can only hope and pray it will have the same effect on you as it has had on me. My honest desire after reading this book is to honor God in ways that are appropriate based on all that He has done and continues to do for me. He deserves all glory and honor from me and my household!

I believe this book will give you deeper insights into the mind of God as it reveals in anthropomorphic terms the disappointing, throbbing, anguish, and excruciating pain He experiences when He reaches out to us and we turn our backs on Him. In distress He cries out, Why am I not being honored after all I have done. Where is My Honor? This book is non-judgmental and doesn’t belittle anyone. Rather, the author calls on himself in particular and readers in general to return to their first love. He explains that God is calling His people to dine with him, give him the first place in their lives and submit to Him as He continues to do exploits on their behalf.

In your hands is an excellent book that will guide you back to God, remind you of what it means to honor God, and how He can be honored by you. I am strongly convicted that after reading this book, your mind will be illuminated with new ways in which you can give God the honor He deserves. This book is a must-read for each and every Christian. It will transform your life as it did with mine.

Rachel Sumo, MSN, APRN, AGNP-C

Ministry Leader, Bethel Citadel of Mission

There is a tendency for us to take God for granted having been serving Him for years. In this book Where is My Honor? Dr. Josef Howard brings us into the conscious necessity of honoring God, and provides paradigms for how we can go about giving to God what God justly deserves. You will find your minds illumined and your heart peaked into a new desire and dimension of honoring God. I find it to be a useful tool for all believers to read.

Rev. Dr. Francis O.S. Tabla, Pastor

Ebenezer Community Church Brooklyn Park, MN

FOREWORD

In this book entitled, WHERE IS MY HONOR?, Dr. Josef Howard has in a comprehensive way laid out for the BODY OF CHRIST the true essence of how to appropriately honor God. If you have barely read the book of Malachi in the Bible, you may assume that the title of this book is all about, or at least primarily about the giving of our finances. Malachi 3:8-10, may be the only passage that you may know something about from the entire book of Malachi. It reads, "Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse - your whole Nation-because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into my storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, "And see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be enough room to store it. This book is not about the giving of tithes and offerings and certainly was not written to condemn anyone who doesn’t give them. On the contrary, it was written to stir, challenge and inspire believers to come up higher" in their devotion and dedication to God. Its purpose is to motivate saints of God to reexamine their commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to God our Father. When you start to delve into this book, you will quickly discover the loving, caring, and nurturing heart of God for you and all of His Covenant people. Through the reenactment of the story of Hosea, Dr. Howard shares about God’s passionate love, plead, heart-break, and pursuit for you, His bride. I firmly believe this book was inspired by the Holy Spirit to help bring us back to the very heart of a loving and caring God. It has created within my heart and mind a fresh sense of awe, and a quest to begin appropriately honoring God as my Father. Undeniably, He loves me dearly!

Dr. Howard does an amazing job in laying out for his reader, just what it means to honor God. He helps us see through the pages of scriptures that such honor flows from a heart that loves and cherishes God for all He is, has done and continues to do. Dr. Howard brings us into the realization that our heavenly Father is the source of every good and perfect gift. He calls upon believers therefore to honor God with the very essence of their being. After all, It is in Him that we live and move and have our beings.

Taking a masterful approach in how we should honor God, Dr. Howard skillfully brings out clear and practical ways to honor God that will serve as a blessing to us all, if they are incorporated into our lives. He captures throughout the book the imperatives of honoring God in ways that may be unique to us and our family. He also breaks down for us how to honor God in every area of our life. There are four practical ways spelled out in this book that show us how to honor God. It can be found in Chapter V: Understanding How We Can Honor God. The four points are:

1. Honoring God with our Wealth

2. Honoring God with our Work

3. Honoring God with our Worship

4. Honoring God in our Weariness

Our Author reminds us that we are but stewards of the manifold graces of God. He spells out plainly that we are caretakers and managers of God’s resources. We entered the earth’s realm from our mother’s wombs naked, and it is most certain that we will depart when we breathe our last breath, naked. However, we will all be answerable someday to God for how we managed the time, talents and treasures He entrusted to each of us. Dr. Howard in his writings notes that while it is true we can take nothing out of this life it is possible to lay up treasures in heaven. He takes the time to walk us through how that can be done. He explains that in our current world riddled with catastrophic events namely; war, famine, earthquakes, hunger, hatred, corruption, etc., glorious opportunities exist for believers in Christ to make meaningful impact upon different people groups around the world. He insinuates that while it is true we bless and take care of our family, investing in the kingdom of God should always be high on our list; giving to the spreading of the gospel, helping to feed the poor, clothing the naked, advocating for the disadvantaged, healing the sick and so forth. When we do these things, he explains, we honor God and acknowledge that all we have comes directly from Him.

Dr. Howard brings out Honoring God with our work, like none other. It has revealed and challenged me to become even more dedicated to my everyday tasks, no matter how great or small. This book forces us to take seriously our duties and responsibilities. Approaching and executing our work with a spirit of excellence, says the Author, is indeed God-honoring. Like Daniel in the scriptures, we too are admonished to possess and distinguish exceptional qualities in the 21 century market place. Such display of excellence honors our heavenly Father. Daniel stood out in the quality of his work. He was truly gifted and anointed, but beyond that, he was also trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. WHERE IS MY HONOR? challenges us to do likewise.

When it comes to Honoring God with your Worship, the book reaches its high water mark. For all of life should be lived out before God as Worship. Everything should be done to the praise and glory of God. Honoring God with your Worship encourages the reader to employ his or her entire being in the process. Dr. Howard captures his readers’ imagination and brings them to the realization that God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Such honor and worship makes God the focal point or center of the readers’ existence. You will discover that a huge part of honoring God with your worship involves the use of your time, treasure, and talent. True God-honoring-worship is costly. King David stated it so beautifully when he said, I will not sacrifice to the Lord that which does not cost me anything.

Even as I’m writing the FOREWORD for this life impacting material, I must confess that a shift has occurred in the realm of my spirit regarding Weariness. A new and profound revelation has been downloaded