I wanted to talk about favor today and getting supernatural favor from the Lord.
But as I thought more and more about it, it kind of shifted and it went into something
I think even deeper.
Today I'm going to talk about honoring the Lord and honoring your parents.
My name is Leanne Friesman and this is Restoring Word.
Have you ever been asked to do something that maybe you just didn't want to do or just it
felt too hard to do so you kind of wanted to give up on it?
Well, I watched my husband walk through this years ago.
He was raised in an alcoholic abusive home and let's just say it wasn't leave it to beaver.
It wasn't your classic, you know, family.
In fact, it was a pretty rough situation and he didn't understand everything that was involved.
He didn't know the story.
You know, you don't know everything that your parents have gone through unless they tell
you.
And so it's helpful if you at times, especially when you get older as an adult, if you take
the time to just sit and listen and find out the reasons why, well, there were some
real reasons why my father-in-law maybe wasn't such a great guy.
And then when you communicate about that, then what happens is there's understanding
and with understanding comes compassion.
And then with compassion, it's pleasing to the Lord.
I love Dennis Prager and I heard him say something this morning on one of his broadcasts and
that was, you don't have to like your parents.
You don't have to love your parents, but you do have to honor them.
And I thought, ooh, that's true.
And it reminded me of a scripture that I had heard my husband quote to me over the years
and it was from Ephesians 6, 1 through 3.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Honor your father and mother.
This is the first commandment, going back to the Ten Commandments, right?
With a promise that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.
That's a beautiful promise.
You know, things were rough for my husband and I can't tell you how many times he told
me I probably won't live to be 30 or 35.
It was just that bad.
But he made a decision early out that biblically, scripturally, theologically, what he saw in
the word, he had to obey the word and he had to honor his parents.
Well, in following his example, because you know, sometimes when you're married, it's
really easy to kind of, you know, kind of chime in there and not necessarily like your
in-laws either, so to speak, because you know what your spouse has been through.
But you know, I watched his example of honor and then I watched favor come all over his
life.
I saw doors open.
There was always this tangible anointing that was on him when it came to really, really
rough people.
My husband isn't like your normal minister.
He's not religious.
He goes to high security prisons and he works in an auto body shops with very, very difficult
characters.
Let's just say that if you were a very shallow Christian, you wouldn't survive in an environment
like that.
But even in those bad environments, he had compassion.
You know, he's always said to me, Leanne, somebody out there has got it worse than me.
I'm like, yeah, but you had it pretty bad, you know, I mean, aren't you going to feel
sorry for yourself?
And he made a decision not to.
And he decided to honor the Lord.
And you know, it's interesting, because when you do it, it truly does bring the favor of
the Lord with you.
Leviticus 19, 32, stand up in the presence of the elderly and show respect for the aged.
Fear your God, for I am the Lord.
When you honor the elderly, when you honor older people, it blesses him.
There is something very holy about elderly people, and we are to honor them and protect
them and esteem them and their wisdom.
Proverbs 13.1, a wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer doesn't listen
to rebuke.
You know, right now, in America, we need the role of the father.
We need the role of the husband and of the man, and husbands and fathers are pivotal
in our society.
And a wise father will, at times, hold his son accountable.
Why?
Because in the long run, you're really trying to develop character.
You're trying to build them into strong men, and we need strong men now more than ever.
Exodus 20, verse 12, honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in
the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Do you want to live a long, healthy life?
Honor the elderly.
Honor those that have gone before you.
I will tell you, probably the most holy and sacred thing I've done is I kept my dad alive
during COVID, and I was honored to do it.
And God, I had a husband that was patient, that enabled me to do it.
Let me tell you, it wasn't easy, but it was pleasing to the Lord.
Even though it was hard, even though I wanted to lose my temper, and I did.
It's hard, but you know what?
It made my heart happy, and I had some amazing seasons with my dad, and God saw it.
Job 12, 12, this is wonderful.
Wisdom is with the aged and understanding in the length of days.
There is so much wisdom that comes from your parents, and you do go through a time in your
teenage years, and maybe even into your 20s, where really, like, you're not sure you want
to listen to mom and dad, but then as you get older and things get crazier, it's like
you want to listen to them more than ever.
I know that I would just, you know, ask my dad advice about everything, cars and insurance
and business and banking and politics.
He was just a wealth of knowledge.
My father was really a gem, and in many ways, my husband was closer to my dad than his own
dad because there had been so many wounds there, and they had grown very close because
my husband brought Jesus into our family, and Jesus changed our family for good, I mean
really for good.
We had gone through a lot of things, but we needed the Lord, and I'm thankful every day.
You know, just some quick tips for working with the elderly, because Grant and I actually
went into assisted living complexes and ministered to the elderly on Sundays for over 11 years,
and we took our kids with us, and we taught our children that you share the Lord with
people regardless of how you feel, regardless of whether you're going to get an offering,
and you do it consistently because you're committed to sharing Jesus with others.
My kids got really good at speaking.
They learned to have compassion with the elderly.
They learned to love older people regardless of how they looked or what they smelled like
or what they said, because sometimes you never know what they're going to say.
They learned to love older people, and I think it's been one of the most valuable things
we did for them.
Number one, give elderly people your time and your assistance.
They need someone to talk to.
They are often the most lonely.
My dad was very lonely living in his home alone, and he loved coming here because there
was a lot to talk about here.
Dad and I were always here, and there was movies and food, and they just want to talk
to you.
Visit the nursing home.
Spend time with them.
Use manners when you're speaking to them.
You teach your children, by example, how to honor and respect others.
You teach them, by example, how to honor the elderly.
Kids aren't moved by what you say.
They're moved by what you do.
Is that the truth or what?
You esteem them, and they, in return, have so much love and wisdom to give you.
I think of all the amazing people we ministered to at the Assisted Living over the years.
People who are now in heaven on the other side, and when we get to glory and we're in
heaven.
People are waiting there for us. They are part of our reward. You know, you don't get to take your
your degrees and your bank account to heaven with you. Heaven doesn't care. You know what you take
to heaven? You take people with you and God sees your heart for others and He remembers that.
And then the other thing is, listen to their stories about their life and be patient. Be like
their friend because they have so much to share. They have so much love and compassion. Thank you
for listening today. I want to continue talking about honoring others, honoring those in authority,
honoring those in leadership, and today we're talking about honoring our parents in the Lord.
Have a great day.