Those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed. 1 Samuel 2:30.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
My Word is true and it pertains to how you respond to Me and treat Me just as much as it does to how you respond to and treat other people. Listen and understand:
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” Luke 6:37-38.
“Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:1-2.
I loved the world so much and found each of you so precious to Me that I sent forth My Son to take away the judgment for sin and offered that to you. How you respond to Me determines your eternity. If you reject that, I do not judge you, you have judged yourself as unworthy of salvation. I gave you Salvation and you refused it. Do not reject so great a salvation.
The next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul and were blaspheming. Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. Acts 13:44-46.
How YOU respond to and judge My Word determines how you are judging yourself and that determines how I must judge. The way you judge, you will be judged, and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return. Jesus explained that:
He who rejects Me and does not receive My Words, has one who judges him; the Word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.” John 12:48-50.
Those who honor Me, I honor. Those who acknowledge Jesus before men, He acknowledges before Me. And He is the only way to Me. You deny Him, He must deny you. I am not determining your judgment, you are. It all has to do with how you respond to My Word. When Jesus sent out His disciples to proclaim the good news of salvation, what did He tell them? And remember, He only speaks My Words, I speak to you through My Son.
Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. Matthew 10:14-15.
Individuals, people, cities and nations are all under the same standard. A nation that throws Me out and forbids the entrance of My Word is ready to go down.
But the Jews incited the devout women of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. But they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were continually filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:50-52.
And as Paul found out, those who persecute My church, the body of Christ, are persecuting Me. I take it personally. Why? When you receive My Son, you become one with Him, and I receive you into My everlasting Covenant of love and I will protect and deliver those who are Mine.
I choose you, and if you respond by choosing Me, it is sealed. If you reject Me by despising My Word and treating it as no account, I must reject you and treat your words as of no account. You lightly esteem Me, I must lightly esteem you. You value Me as precious and of great importance to you, then you are precious and of great importance to Me. You delight to be with Me, I delight to be with you. You are busy about My affairs, I am busy about your affairs. You give Me time, I give you time. You draw close to Me, I draw close to you. I knock at the door of your heart, and if you hear My voice and open the door, I come in to abide with you and you abide with Me forever. You take Me into your house, I take you into My house. You love My promises and gifts and receive them by faith, I shower them on you. You say I never give anything to you, I cannot force it on you but must take it back. You talk to Me, I talk with you. You call on Me, I answer you.
“Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ If a son of peace is there, your peace will abide with him; but if not, it will return to you.” Luke 10:5-6.
Most people do not understand this. They say that everyone is good and that I treat everyone the same, and being under grace they can do anything they please, sin as much as they want, and just confess it and it is no big deal. But to Me it is a very big deal. That is not honoring Me, and you are setting the standard of how you value My Word and My gift to you of My Son to take away your sins and give you My righteousness. I will never sin against you, never be unfaithful to My Word, and never reject anyone who falls out of weakness and comes to Me in repentance. But there is a limit to how much you can knowingly disobey and continue in perfect protection. It is not that I will destroy or harm you, I will not, but the destroyer is in the world and once you reject Me, I must withdraw from you and that lifts the protection that surrounds you when you are in Me.
When Delilah saw that he had told her all in his heart, she sent and called the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all in his heart.” . . She said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. Judges16:18;20.
“If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our bread. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.” Numbers 14:8-9.
Why had My protection been removed from them? They were wicked and despised Me and did not repent.
“And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.” Leviticus 18:28.
My Will is that all be saved and come to know the truth. I do not desire that any should perish but that all repent. I give everyone every opportunity, not just one, to come to Me and be under perfect protection and eternal salvation.
God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.” Genesis 15:13-16.
They had not filled up the cup yet that would justify lifting their protection.
When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also. Revelation 6:9-11.
Even if you have been despising and judging Me and My Word, just one turn to Me in genuine repentance and you are under My protection. Consider the king and people of Nineveh, Jonah announced they would be destroyed in three days’ time and the king took it to heart, turned to Me and repented, but not only him, he directed everyone in his kingdom to do the same and not only talk about it but let go of any evil in their hands. One leader that opens his heart to Me in genuine repentance can save a nation. They heard My voice in the prophet I sent them and it changed their future. Today when you hear My voice, harden not your heart. I long to gather you under My wings and protect you, but if you will not come, I cannot.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’”” Matthew 23:37-39.
One adjustment in what they were saying, blessing Me instead of cursing Me, and they would have come under My perfect protection. Even though I longed to gather them to My heart and keep them safe with Me forever, they would not. Your response to Me determines My response to you. It is a spiritual law called sowing and reaping.
The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. Galatians 6:6-10.
Do not despise blessings and holy things. The Israelites decided they despised the manna and complained against the Bread from Heaven. Their protection lifted and the snakes present in the desert all the time suddenly were able to come into the camp and strike. They treated holy things not with honor but with dishonor.
The people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread and no water, and we loathe this miserable (qeloqel (קְלֹקֵל): worthless, trivial, insignificant) bread.” Numbers 21:5.
The noun קְלֹקֵל (qĕloqēl) conveys the idea of something vile, contemptible, or of no value. It is the only time this word is used in the entire Bible. It captures Israel’s disdain for the manna, but this was a divine substance never known on earth before or after. It kept the nation alive and healthy throughout forty years in the wilderness. By labeling My provision “this wretched food,” they held this gift that came down on the dewfall each day in contempt. It was their scornful verdict that My gift was worthless.
The house of Israel named it manna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and its taste was like wafers with honey. Exodus 16:31
May I ask you, do you honor the true Bread that came down from Heaven for a man to eat and never die? Do you recognize the body that saved you and by whose stripes you were healed? Do you remember Him as you partake? Or is it just an ordinary wafer to you? And the cup you bless is the blood that cleanses you of all sin, redeems, and saves you from the wrath to come, do you drink it in holy reverence and gratitude?
For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. 1 Corinthians 11:29-30.
Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. 1 Corinthians 10:9-11.
Unless you repent you shall all likewise perish. What is the answer? Return I have redeemed you: repent, return, rejoice, and I will refresh and restore better than you were before. Like the prodigal son.
I love you, but the bottom line is that how you treat Me, I must treat you. And I am My Word. You cannot love Me and cast out My Words. Faith without works is dead.
Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. John 14:23-24.
“You let your mouth loose in evil and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done and I kept silence; you thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes. Psalm 50:19-21.