OUR LORD WHO REWARDS OUR PARTICIPATION BEYOND EXPECTED DUTY IN THE WORK OF HIS KINGDOM

1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 14 says this;

In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

Those who preach the gospel are permitted by the Lord to receive a wage from the church body as they work to broadcast the good news of salvation to those who are to be saved.

However, the Apostle Paul, who preached the gospel over a wide area, relinquished the right to earn a living as a preacher but rather supported himself financially by working a regular job as a tent-maker while working as a preacher of the gospel.

Because the duty assigned to him was preaching, it was his expected sevice before God to preach and so by preaching, he had no reward. He was merely discharging the trust committed to him.

Paul explains further in the chapter that to get a reward for preaching, he preached for free so that his efforts of presenting the gospel to people far and wide at his own expense would be rewarded in heaven.

Let us serve the Lord beyond our expected level of service for it is from this that our reward in heaven is given.

Jesus taught his disciples this principle just after his encounter with the Samaritan woman in John chapter 9 verses 34 - 38. The passage goes like this;

 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 

Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 

I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Here, the Lord calls us to voluntarily join in the work of the harvest and it is a time of gladness because as we participate willingly, we share in the crops for eternal life with our co-labourers. 

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO MADE THE ONLY WAY OF SALVATION

Acts chapter 4 verse 3 says this;

They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.

The apostle Peter and the apostle John had been teaching people at the temple about the ressurection of Jesus after they had performed the notable healing miracle upon a well- known lame man who had sat begging for money at the gate of the temple for many years.

When the elders and priests heard what Peter and John were saying, they were so disturbed that they arrested the two men and held them in custody overnight in order to keep people from hearing the message being taught but nevertheless, the number of people who believed in the Lord Jesus continued to grow rapidly.

The next day, the council brought the apostles before them and questioned them asking where they got the authority to perform miracles like healing the lame man. 

Peter, filled with boldness by the Spirit of God, told the  Sanhedrin that they had been given the authority by the Lord Jesus whom the religious leaders had crucified and whom, thereafter,  God raised from the dead.

Peter said that Jesus was described in the scriptures as the  stone that the builders rejected but became the chief cornerstone.

The exclusivity of the gospel is also expressed when Peter said;

 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Bless our Lord who made the only way by which we might be saved. Our Lord filled His servants with boldness so that they would unequivocally declare that Jesus is the only way of salvation.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO IS AWESOME IN GLORY AND POWER

Habakkuk chapter 3 verses 1 - 4 says this;

A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.

Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.

Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.

His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth. His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden.

Habakkuk recorded this prayer of deep reverence for the Lord and astonishment at the deeds that the Lord had done.

Habakkuk asked the Lord to display His great power in his day so that the Lord's fame would recur in his time.

God is described as coming from Teman and from Mount Paran which is an expression that means that the Lord had the appearance of a sunrise in the east because Teman and Paran are east of Israel.

With great glory in the heavens and praise in the earth, God approaches like a splendid sunrise with ray's of light flashing from His hand which conceals His immense power.

The Lord is awesome in glory and might.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO RESPONDS TO HUMBLE REPENTANCE

Jonah chapter 4 verse 11 says this;

And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

This last verse of the book of Jonah is a question that the Lord God asked Jonah.

At the start, the Lord had directed the reluctant prophet Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh to warn them that God's judgement was going to visit them because of the evil being done in their city.

At first, Jonah tried to evade the directive by fleeing the opposite way but famously, a vicious storm overtook his getaway ship and the sailors were forced to throw Jonah overboard to save their own lives. 

A large fish swallowed Jonah and when he cried out to the Lord, he was vomited out after three days and given his  instructions again.

Upon delivering the news of the coming judgement to the people of Nineveh, Jonah found a lofty spot where he could watch what was about to happen to the city but the people of Nineveh from every strata of their society including the king,  caught the Lord's attention by humbling themselves in sack-cloth and dust.

Jonah, perched on a viewpoint above the city, was granted a shady plant by the Lord to protect him from the heat of the sun. Jonah was very happy to have the plant. As the day passed, the plant was eaten by a worm and it wilted thus exposing Jonah to the heat of the blazing sun as well as the heat of a scorching east wind. Jonah was deeply vexed by that.

Meanwhile, the Lord responded to Nineveh's wholehearted repentance and relented from bringing judgement on the city.

Jonah, while being tormented by the heat of the sun and the hot winds on his prime viewing spot, was greatly angered and said that he knew that coming to Nineveh was unnecessary because he knew that God would relent from destroying its citizens.

The Lord responded to Jonah's anger by pointing out to Jonah that the city contained more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who were unlearned in even the basic things of life. 

The Lord also pointed out to Jonah that he had been concerned about a mere plant that had shaded him from the sun and wind.  The Lord then asked Jonah that if he had been concerned about the life of a plant, should he not also  be  concerned for all the human beings along with all the animals who lived in the city?

Bless our Lord who is moved by humble repentance and shows mercy on those who ask it of Him.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO PREPARES THE WAY TO FULFILL THE PRAYERS OF HIS SERVANTS

Genesis chapter 24 verses 3 - 4 records Abraham speaking to his trusted servant regarding finding a wife for Isaac, Abraham's son. The passage says this;

I want you to swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living, but will go to my country and my own relatives and get a wife for my son Isaac.”

As Abraham gave his  servant instructions regarding finding a wife for Isaac, he was emphatic that Isaac's wife not be taken from the Canaanites  among whom Abraham lived.

He told his servant to swear by the Lord God tq

At he would go to the land of Abraham's own relatives and get a wife for Isaac there.

Abraham felt so strongly that Isaac's wife should come from his land of origin, he was willing to accept a potential spouse for his son without knowing anything about her.

Abraham knew that God would send an angel to accompany his servant to make the journey to find Isaac's wife a success.

When Abraham's servant reached the town of Nahor, he, while at a water well, prayed for a sign that would point to the  wife the Lord had chosen for Isaac. While he was still praying,  the sign was confirmed when Rebekah came to well and offered to draw water for all his camels.

Rebekah and her family accepted the proposal and Rebekah went back to Canaan with Abraham's servant and married Isaac.

Bless the Lord who prepared the way and fulfilled the prayers of His servants.

Amen.

OUR LORD WHO GRACIOUSLY GAVE HIS LIFE FOR US

Galatians chapter 1 verse 3 - 5 says this;

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Our God and Father willed that the Lord Jesus Christ give himself  to die for our sins  so that we might be rescued from the evil age that enmeshed us in our sins.

This very costly gift  of being rescued out of darkness comes from the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ with grace and peace.

Glory be to our God forever and ever.

Amen.

 OUR LORD WHO ALERTS US 

Genesis chapter 20 verses 3 - 4 says this;

 But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”

Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.”

This passage records a dream that the Lord used to warn Abimelek  (the king of Gerar).

Abraham had temporarily settled in Gerar and while he was there, he let it be known that Sarah and himself were brother and sister. This was true because Sarah was Abraham's half sister. They did not reveal that they were also married.

Abimelek called for Sarah and intended to take her as his wife but before he could go near her, the Lord intervened with a dream that warned him to back away from Sarah because she was a prophet's wife.

Abimelek pleaded his case before the Lord claiming that he was operating with a clean conscience because he truly did not know that Sarah was Abraham's wife.

The Lord exonerated Abimelek and instructed him to return Sarah to Abraham so that he and his nation would be restored by Abraham's prayer.

Bless the Lord who alerts us to keep us from irreversible actions.

Amen.