Dear Friends, 10-10 GOD REWARDS US FOR OBEDIENCE PART 4!
We tend to look at what God wants of us as restrictive and impossible for us to do. We ignore God’s promises with a blatant lack of faith. And God says this:
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is
We don’t need a lot of faith, just a mustard seed size faith is all we need.
Mt 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Lu 17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
Ever tried to prove this verse? I’m sure not. But that is not the point, what God is saying is that you only need to have a small amount of faith. God works with our weakness, but He wants you to believe that all things are possible.
Mr 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Faith is what God expects of you. But He also gives us that.
Ro 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the
2Co 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
God will not always say yes to your requests, but He will always answer and will do what is best. Sometimes He will prove our faith with testings. Sometimes He will discipline us. But He always promises to take care of us and meet all our need.
Php 4:19 But
Now I realize that that probably takes a large amount of faith, especially if you are a competent person. You tend to think you have supplied your needs by working. But God says this:
De 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
You have nothing but what God has given you. That’s why you should tithe. It’s not your money, it’s God’s. He has given it to you to share with those in need.
Eph 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
1Co 4:7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
That’s part of the requirement to give to those who don’t have. God has always been concerned about those in bad circumstances, whether it be poverty, or illness or even imprisonment. Jesus said this:
Mt 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mt 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
This is how we minister to God, to do these things. Look what the end of this passage tells us:
Mt.25: 41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
These are the ones that did not minister unto the above mentioned people. God takes this and forgiveness very seriously and wants us to obey these two things. Jesus said this:
Joh 14:15
Are these requirements too hard for you? Are you too busy to visit the sick, and the imprisoned? Are you too scared to take in strangers? Are you too selfish to feed and clothe and give drink to the poor? Are you unforgiving? Then you need to think about whether or not you really love God.
1Jo 3:10 In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
1Jo 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we
love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.1Jo 3:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his
brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?1Jo 4:20 If a man say, I
love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?1Jo 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God
love his brother also.God requires us to love one another. This is not something that we are to be commended for, but it is our duty. It is required of us. This is how we show that we love God, by loving one another.
Lu 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
Jesus told us that we are to love one another. It is sometimes hard to love someone who hurts you, or irritates you, or misunderstands your intentions, and who judges you. But we are commanded to do so. It’s not a request, but a commandment. God doesn’t want us to fret when people do wrong, either to us or to others. That’s God’s business, not ours.
Ps 37:1 <<A Psalm of David.>> Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
Pr 24:19
Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked;We are to do good to those who mistreat us. We are to bless our enemies, and pray for them. How much more so those who are our brethren in Christ?
Mt 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Ro 12: 19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
This is what God wants you to do. It’s easy to love those who love you, the real test of your faith is to love those who are not easy to love for whatever reason. But God’s love for you, and His forgiveness of you is reason enough to do that. He will empower you to do so. You only need to ask Him! We will speak more on the gains of being a child of God next time.