Sunday, May 2, 2021

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!

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