RHEMA 10/18/10  TO GIVE HONOR TO WHOM IT IS DUE

heard:  Fellowship.  The joy of having you here.  To see you laugh brings Me delight.  It lights up my whole world.

HEARD:  The key ingredient.  There is Honor for each individual. 

Rom 13:7 NKJV

Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

QUICKENED MEMORY:  About a week ago I heard, "We honor you."  And I remembered the following scripture:

Heb 2:6-8 NKJV

What is man that You are mindful of him, Or the son of man that You take care of him?  You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands.  You have put all things in subjection under his feet.

PIX:  I saw our 2 year old granddaughter and her precious smile lit up across her face as we were praising her for her good behavior. 

At our family dinner this weekend, I shared how she had done something at our home last time she was here, that showed remarkable self discipline. I was so proud of her. 

PIX:  Then I saw our grandson's smiling face and I saw a list of things on a piece of paper that he was being honored for.

QUICKENED DOCUMENTARY:  Last night I watched a Nature show on PBS, "Echo, an Elephant to Remember."  The documentary honored Echo, the matriarch elephant who guided and protected her family and taught them how to survive 3 years of famine and carry on without her. 

She was the leader of a family herd in Africa, that had been studied and watched for 36 years.  Echo was considered Africa's most famous elephant.  She died in 2009, at the age of 65 years.

QUOTES FROM THE SHOW:  "This is the story of a family matriarch, who in life and death remains the key in a family's survival..." 

"...Will the immense experience gained by her forerunners of the centuries be lost to her family?"   "The final test of a matriarch is how well she passes on that knowledge. What gifts has she given her children?  Will they remember her lessons?"   

I could see how Echo was faithful, loyal and a fierce advocate.  When her baby son Ely was born, he had been too big for her womb.  Thus his feet had been tucked underneath him, when growing inside.  When he was born he could get his hind legs to stand, but his front knees would buckle and not straighten.  He crawled around on his knees trying to keep up with the herd.  If his knees had become raw, he would have quickly died of infection.  Echo walked very slowly, in allowance for his pace.  When he collapsed from his efforts to stand fully upright, Echo would wrap her truck around him and coax him to stand once again.  This went on for 3 long days.  When the herd moved a small distance for water, Echo remained by her son's side.  Finally on the 3rd day he gained enough strength to stand straight up and he was able to nurse and get his sustenance and survive.  

I thought how faithful my own mother, Grandma Anna has been to me during my difficult times.  She has always been there, fiercely loyal - a protective, praying advocate, with similar coaxing to continue to "stand!" 

When another herd of elephants kidnapped Ebony, Echo's little daughter, they charged Echo and ran her off.  Echo gathered her sisters and they stood packed, side by side and pressing forward into the other herd. They kept pressing until Ebony was released and safely under her legs once again.  Then Echo's family moved away, closely packed around Ebony until they had fully separated from the other herd. 

Isa 59:19  NKJV

When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

Echo and her family lived in Kenya's Amboseli National Park.  It appeared to be lush and green and filled with watery land.  Then came 3 years of drought and famine where everything turned brown and there was little water.  The ground was dust with nothing growing for miles.  Echo found places for them to survive and taught them how to move the herd along paths.  I was reminded of how our Godly patriarchs have led us along paths of righteousness and that is what keeps a family safe is in walking in God's ways. After Echo died, they followed the paths where she had led them.

Once again I thought of my beloved Anna and how she has strongly adhered to God's path of righteousness, avoiding the world and all its lure.  She is truly to be honored for her strong stand and loving prayers for a righteous family.

Prov 22:6 NKJV

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.