Reward, for God’s people

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God gives blessings to his people who serve him faithfully and who suffer for him. God himself is his people’s greatest reward. The fulness will be theirs at the coming of Jesus Christ.

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God promises to reward his people

For faithful service

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Isaiah 40:10 NRSV
See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
Mark 9:41 NRSV
For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.

In and through self-denial

Matthew 19:29 NRSV
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life.
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At the coming of Jesus Christ

Matthew 19:27–28 NRSV
Then Peter said in reply, “Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
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God himself is his people’s greatest reward

Genesis 15:1 NRSV
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
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The certainty of future reward is an incentive to holiness

Philippians 3:12–14 NRSV
Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
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Hebrews 11:6 NRSV
And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

How come praise is a sacrifice. When we bring the sacrifice of praise we are showing by our actions that we revere the Lord. We humbly seek his face, we want to please the Lord with our heart, our actions, our speech, our interactions. For some of us the word sacrifice is foreign. We can use the word almost as a threat. After all I did for you… this is how you repay me!

After everything we’ve been through, how can you treat me this way?
I sacrificed my time, my energy, my career, my family, whatever it is… for you, so
How dare you treat me like with such dismissive disdain? Unacknowledged hurt.
One thing that hurts us really badly is how we can be unappreciated, unnoticed, not appreciated. I know some people don’t like to be publically acknowledgement for the good they have done. But what about privately? To family members, to close friends.
But here is some really really good news. When we serve the Lord faithfully, God blesses us. When we suffer for God we acknowledge the greatest reward we can ever have.
We may not get appreciated by our friends, coworkers, fellow Christians, spouses, loved ones, children or parents, but God knows your heart. God knows all that you do, all that you are trying to do. Bring God the sacrifice of praise. Our God is the Lord, the Lord who made the heavens and the earth.
When we know that it is God who made us and not we ourselves, we bring the sacrifice of praise. Everything we have, is not ours. What? Everything we have belongs to God. When we give our time, we sacrifice it, we lay it on the altar. Yes some of us get paid. But what is it that makes you go above and beyond what your job description calls for.
What is it that makes you go all out? That makes you take your work home. Is it because it is a sacrifice? You Give Yourself Away to The Lord so the Lord can use you. No Conditions,
No only if, buts, when, whenever, a nonconditional giving. Why because Jesus God’s only Son our Lord, Gave Himself as a sacrifice for us UNCONDITIONALLY!
Therefore we who have been called by His name, We who call ourselves “Christian” must be aware that we are to bring the sacrifice of praise.
Praising the Lord, in season and out of season, in good times and in bad times,
When unacknowledged, when acknowledged, when appreciated and when totally neglected.
You are here, you have not been neglected by God. God has work for you to do. It could be a sacrifice, to do it. But do it. It could be that you are unappreciated, taken for granted, it could be you feel that nobody cares.
How does God feel. When we don’t even acknowledge God? When we don’t appreciate all that God does for us? When God protects us in the city and in the country. When God sustains us comforts us, heals us, loves us, answers our prayers, makes a way out of no way. And we turn around and take the name of the Lord in vain. When we doubt God’s very existence because we have intellectualized ourselves to the point of stupification!
For God so Loved the World…
Let us bring the sacrifice of praise!
The rewards are many.
Pastor Ross
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