Our Great Reward

Revelation 22:12
Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me...

We so often think in terms of reward or punishment - heaven is the reward, hell is the punishment, and so forth. We hear so much about obedience receiving a great reward, and how we will be blessed. Suddenly our mind bursts forth with all the possible blessings God could have on His platter for us - fame, wealth, power, great children, a great job, etc. However, I don’t think that is our great reward, even the unrighteous have those things.

As Christians, we need to remember that our great reward is in Christ alone. He is our blessing. A relationship with Him - personal, intimate, passionate - is the greatest blessing we could ever receive! That is why we obey, to see Christ revealed. That is why we study, and fast, and pray, and give, and serve, and love, and suffer for His name, and worship - it is not for some tinker-toy prize at the end of the race. No, it is to see God face-to-face, in all His beauty, in all His glory, in all His love. There is nothing more, and who cares about all things less?

We must keep Him as our focus - to see Him, to know Him more than we ever thought possible. That is why we do everything that we do - that is why we wake, that is why we eat, that is why we are Christians, that is why we do all things! If we keep our lives in that perspective, everything falls into its proper and appropriate place, pride and self-focus will fall away, and He will shine before us like never before.

Thank Offerings

Psalm 50:23
"He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."

"Thank offerings," what exactly is a thank offering? Well, I would imagine that the Old Testament definition is quite different than one we would use now. So let’s look at some conjecture on this and see where it leads us.

To "sacrifice thank offerings" to me sounds like it must be difficult - it is a sacrifice, after-all, and we are offering it up to God. Perhaps a thank offering is simply being thankful, all the time. Many times in life it is so easy to be thankful, shouting our praises to God Most High. But we all have times in our lives when thankfulness is the last thing from our minds - we are angry, hurt, confused, so many things, but not thankful. Times when offering our thanks to the Lord, in the midst of life, truly is a sacrifice.

The Bible tells us in many places that we need to be thankful at all times, in all things. That’s a difficult task, isn’t it? One that not many can do on a consistent basis. I’m most definitely still learning this one. So, why would God ask that we be thankful at all times? Well, this verse tells us that it honors Him. When we are thankful in all things, we honor Him with our hearts, with our minds, and with our lives. People take note of such behavior in others, because it’s rare and quite beautiful. They take note, and they begin to wonder what it is that we have that they don’t. People, longing for the salvation that only Christ can provide, will see a glimmer of that in us, when we live lives of thanksgiving.

What else does this verse tell us about offering our thanks to God? It says that when we do so, we prepare the way so that God may show us His salvation. Now, in the Old Testament, every sacrifice was representative of the future sacrifice of Christ, so in a literal way, all sacrifices pointed to Christ, our help and salvation. But I think this verse can even apply to those of us who have already received the salvation of Christ. The Hebrew root word for "salvation" in this verse is yesha (which is, consequently, related closely to the Hebrew for Jesus). Yesha is defined as "deliverance, salvation, rescue, safety, welfare, victory." Wow! When we are facing difficult times, isn’t this what we all want? We want to see the deliverance of God, His rescue of us, providing us with safety, welfare, and victory.

When we live lives of thankfulness, even in the darkest of times, we open the way for God to show us exactly this. How? Might I suggest, that our idea of deliverance, salvation, rescue, safety, welfare, and victory could be greatly different than God’s idea of those things? So, when we are giving thanks to God, we are preparing our hearts and minds in such a way that He can show us His salvation, and we can see it for what it is. Also, we stop trying so hard to fix the situation, fighting against God and all that He is trying to accomplish in and around us, and we simply bow our knee to Him, giving Him thanks, and submitting to whatever it is that He is preparing for us in the situation. He has something for us to learn, something for us to experience of Him. See, it is to our benefit that we would offer thanks in all situations. God is not some egotistical deity that needs our constant reassurance! Far from it. He cares deeply for us, and He sees that in these things, we benefit greatly, opening ourselves up for His care and His salvation.

So, let’s start with today, shall we? Regardless of where we are, or what situation we face, let’s all get on our knees and sacrifice to our glorious God a thank offering. Let’s do our best to live our day thanking Him for all things, big and small, and then let’s see what the result is. Tonight, when we crawl into bed, let’s reflect on the day, and see what God was able to show us and do in and through us as a result of our simple offerings of thanksgiving.

Soaking In The Rain

Hebrews 6:7-8
Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

So, which land are you? Seems a little silly doesn’t it, to be asking such a question, but the question is quite valid.

Are you the "land" that is soaking in the rain? Are you soaking in the Word of God, and letting it produce "crops" worthy of the blessing of God? 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 tells us:
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Scary? Yeah, it can be, I suppose. But, if we have the important part - a foundation of Christ - it’s time to move on and look at what we are building on that foundation, what kind of crops we are producing.

We need to be a people that soak up the "rain" that God sends us, learning what He teaches, and putting what we learn to use - allowing our lives to produce good crops. Our lives should reflect that which God is pouring into us. Thorns and thistles on the other hand, represent sin in our lives, and not just the nasty, ugly sins, but we must remember that "everything that does not come from faith is sin." (Romans 14:23b) Yikes!

God wants us walking lives of faith, from the moment we wake to the moment our heads hit the pillow. Difficult? Yep! But the only way that our lives can produce "crops" worthy of the blessings of God is to walk by faith. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." (Hebrews 11:6) The only way that we can build on our foundation anything of worth, the only way that we can produce useful crops, is to walk by faith.

How do we build our faith? "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17) We need to be in the Word, allowing it to build our faith. We need to take in all that God is pouring out into our lives, and, by faith, let it produce in us all that is glorious and good and from God! Then, on that day when God judges our deeds (not as unto salvation - the foundation of Christ takes care of that), He will find gold and silver and costly stones built upon His foundation in our lives. He will find useful crops, rather than thorns and thistles that need to be burned and destroyed. And we will have all that was produced to lay at His feet, worshiping Him for all that He produced in us.

Through Faith and Patience

Hebrews 6:12
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

It can be so easy to be lazy in our faith, can’t it? I know I am guilty of it more often than I would like to admit. Life happens, and so many other things draw our attention. And in this day of immediate gratification, we begin to allow ourselves to think that God works in the same way. But, alas, He does not. God has His own time-table, and generally it involves patience.

I love that this verse reminds us that we receive the promises of God through faith and patience. We must believe they will come and then wait patiently for them. Look at Abraham - he had to wait 15 years for his promised son from God. "Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised." (Romans 4:20-21) We must be the same, holding fast to the promise of God - for what He has promised He will do - giving Him glory and praise.

So, let’s persevere in our faith, being patient for the promises of God. Let us hold fast to His Word, where we find His precious promises, and seek Him daily, so that this adventure we call life would be full and complete!

Milk and Solid Food

Hebrews 5:12-14
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

Milk and solid food - a pretty clear distinction in and of themselves, and yet when we begin to try and put them in a spiritual tense, it gets a little more confusing. How do I know that I have been weaned? Where is the distinction here? And how do I get myself off of the milk and onto the solid food?

Well, the verse tells us that the "infant is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness." So, let’s start there. Many of us are walking, talking infants without even knowing it, according to this verse. Righteousness, being given and attributed to us through Christ, needs to become the habit of our lives. In fact, when Christ enters our lives, sin becomes a choice, on our part, and no longer a way of life (check out Romans 6 & 8). But righteousness lived out can still be difficult - we still fall into those old habits, and ways of thinking. And since we still live in these bodies of flesh, Satan will still throw temptation our way every chance he gets.

The thing to remember is that it’s a step-by-step process. Just as an infant starts out with pureed food, working his way up to eating what we call "real-people-food," so we must build up to the real meat and potatoes of the spiritual world. How? "By constant use," we can "train ourselves to distinguish good from evil," and live a life of righteousness through the power and strength of the Holy Spirit.

I love that it says "constant use." This Christian life we live is a life lived in practice. We need to be in the Word, allowing it to become a part of us and strengthen us. But if we are not, then, putting that head knowledge to use, it will do us no good, and we will remain spiritual infants. We will make mistakes, no doubt about it, but I think we can all agree that the more we "walk in the Spirit," really allowing Him to guide and strengthen us, following His directives, then the easier it becomes to continue in that walk.

The journey, however, begins with the first step. If we are not in the Word on a consistent basis, then that is the first step - we cannot travel a path that we cannot identify. And if we are in the Word, learning and soaking it up, then the next thing to do is to begin living what we learn. It’s tough, I know, that’s why we have been given the Holy Spirit - we are not expected to go at this alone. However, we must still put to "constant use" that which we are learning, becoming mature in the faith and a great pleasure to God!

Successful Plans

Proverbs 16:3
Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Many times when we read this verse we think of all the grandiose plans we have in our heads - starting up our own business, writing that book that we’ve been thinking about, etc. While those things must be committed to the Lord, we need to stop and see that this verse covers a much broader range.

Each and every thing we do must be committed to the Lord - notice the verse says, "whatever you do." (Emphasis mine) Any and every little thing we plan to do must be given to Him, so that He can guide and direct it, even change it, if necessary. The reason our plans succeed in this way is because we’ve given them to Him, allowing Him to do with them what He pleases, how He pleases. This can be difficult, because many times He changes our plans, doesn’t He? Or even just over-rides them completely, writing His own. But when we truly commit our plans to God, we’ve given Him the right to do that, and I think we will find that the new plan is so much better anyway - better than any plan we could have come up with.

So, let’s live our lives according to the Master’s plan, letting Him guide and direct our every step. This is really the only way to live if we desire true success!

Growth From the Spirit

Galatians 3:2-5
I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing--if it really was for nothing? Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

We are a foolish breed, aren’t we? It seems that life is a series of lessons learned over and over again. This verse touches on one of the most foundational lessons we learn, and yet we seem to fall down its slippery-slope all too often.

Why is it that we so easily fall prey to the idea that if we can just do this or that, we will suddenly become a better Christian, as though the weight of our growth and maturity is fully upon our shoulders? Legalism can be a deadly game that Satan tries to play with us. He tries to convince us that it’s all in what we do, as Christians – observing the law, as Paul puts it – rather than allowing the emphasis to remain on God, and simply walking in faith.

Of course, walking in faith means that we will obey, and do what God asks us to do, but the focus is very different. Legalism focuses on us and what we do or don’t do. It’s very complicated, really, because the line can be so fuzzy that divides the one side from the other. While faith is simple – difficult, but simple – we must simply keep our focus on God. As we hang out with Him in the many ways afforded us, we will be changed. It’s not about following the rules, it’s about spending time with the Creator of the universe. If we believe Him and all that He tells us, and we allow His Spirit to work in us, then we will be changed. We will begin to behave, and react to situations differently. Not because we’ve done something right, but because our new Best Friend has begun to rub off on us.

So, let’s each make a concerted effort to hang out with God today, all day, and begin to let Him rub off on us. Let’s also remember that change is the job of the Spirit within us, and He can use our mistakes as much as our right choices – God wastes nothing. So let’s stop beating ourselves up over the past, and just start fresh and new today, focusing on the Lover of our souls.