Believing in God and His promises and His Love...

Believing in God and His promises and that He loves you, cares for you and has only the best for you is difficult work for some people. They may not have come to faith yet… that’s the first step and then believing is the work that follows… Not only believing in the truth of God’s Word for yourself but for others as well.

There is no greater work that to believe in the One God Sent… John 6:29. Why is that and why is such work so difficult for some people? Because, of the miraculous sings Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him… But Jesus didn’t trust them because he knew human nature… No one needed to tell Him what mankind is really like ~ John 2: 23-25.

Yes, miraculous signs should make it easy to believe in Jesus but even when He walked on the earth and such things were happening… not all people believed. Why? Because, they knew what they were and could not imagine that Jesus was there to change them … radically!

John 3:18-21 ~ “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works (believing, thanking and praising God in all things) and glorify your Father in heaven ~ Matthew 5:16.

Who is wise and understanding among you? let him show it by his good life, his works in meekness of wisdom ~ James 3:13. That means you should never be wise in your own eyes (including the world’s eyes). Seek the Kingdom of God first, thank and praise God… show others that you are devoted to God first and foremost. That you do trust in Him because you believe in Him.

SO, Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works (believing, thanking and praising God in all things) ~ Hebrews 10:24.

Indeed, may we find ways to motivate one another in these times… Help someone in their unbelief… by thanking and praising God in such times and displaying your belief outwardly in your love of God and what He did for you… because Its really A Call to Persevere…

So…Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.…Hebrews 10:23-25

Why encourage one another? Because of God's Mercy to Us…
He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life.…Titus 3:5-7.

We need to pour out this mercy to others, God’s love, the love shown to the Samaritan woman, the love shown to the man in the ditch by the good Samaritan. The love shown to the prodigal son…

Pour out to your neighbors, family, and your children so that they too can see God’s love in you and in their lives.  It truly is a call to preserve… we can find this call throughout the Bible, in the Old Testament in 1 Kings 17 when Elijah came to the woman and her son who thought they had nothing left… and in 2nd Kings 4 another woman who thought she had nothing left until Elisha came encouraging her to preserve and then she filled oil jar after oil jar…

Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens… Job 38:37.

“So tell them, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: May all your jars be filled with wine.’ And they will reply, ‘Of course! Jars are made to be filled with wine!’ Jeremiah 13:12.

We now have this light shining in our hearts, we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves…2 COR 4:7.

 

Rejoice in the Lord For Great is Your Reward...

 

The God of All Comfort ~ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God… 2 COR 1:4.

Think about the Samaritan woman at the well… she was comforted by Jesus and yet she pretty sin laden as we all are in this fallen world... When Jesus told her all about herself and who He was… She ran to comfort others with the same joyous news.

Indeed, Jesus comforted her and what did she say she would do? Go and tell others of the Messiah and that He knows everything about her and that He comforted her… She ran to tell the work of the Lord in her… that He knew her in spite of what she was… this is the Good news.   

We all struggle in this fallen world and God knows this… That’s why He sent His Son! “Lord what works must we do to perform the work of God”? Believe in the One He sent ~ John 6:29. 

Yes, this is our work and often the hardest work ever to be done in this yet fallen world. Believing that God is for us is work. Believing that He has the con is work. Believing in Him rather than the world with its worldly way of doing things/getting things done… believing in Him is work.

And, our work is thanking and praising God and getting others to believe in Him, to thank Him and praise Him. This is the work that we have been called to do and that is very hard work indeed. But it has great rewards.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you. You are the salt of the earth…Matthew 5:11-12.

The Reward of Service
He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”…Matthew 10:40-42.

Who are the ‘little ones’? (mikros) often refers to children, but here in Matthew it is used to refer to Jesus’ disciples; especially, those who are young in faith (which could be someone of any age) or particularly vulnerable (someone who is sin laden yet yearns to be free in Christ).

Our work is to get others believing in God's promises… this is what Jesus is saying here in Matthew 10… offering and giving a cup of cold water to those in need is our task to help them in their believing. 

They may have come to faith in Christ but next comes believing that He is who He says He is (as we read in the Word) and believing that He came to save us and that He is coming back for us and for all mankind who believe it.

Believing like this does not mean you have to go on a mission trip, or even start regular attendance at an organized church… but you would benefit from both in terms of being able to help others in their believing like you do…

It’s enough that you are thanking and praising God publicly … Indeed, our daily work is to thank God for everything we have, a house, a car, a job, a wife, a husband, a family, money in the bank or pocket and our health. We need to show others that we believe in our prayers... believe that they are answered though we may not yet see the answer… that’s the faith of the believer.

That is living to declare the work of the Lord… Because, great is your Reward… Rejoice and be Glad for it!