Having Our Rewards Now

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 2002
(Matthew 6:2, Psalms 49:17, 1 Peter 1:24, Matthew 20:26, Matthew 23:11)

"When you give a gift to a beggar, don't shout about it as the hypocrites do--blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you in all earnestness, they have received all the reward they will ever get."

For when they die they carry nothing with them! Their honors will not follow them.

Yes, our natural lives will fade as grass does when it becomes all brown and dry. All our greatness is like a flower that droops and falls.

"But among you it is quite different. Anyone wanting to be a leader among you must be your servant."

"The more lowly your service to others, the greater you are. To be the greatest, be a servant."

Having our rewards now. One of the biggest traps that there is in serving the Lord in this sinful world that we live in, is buying into the lie of satan that the Kingdom of God depends on what we do each day. I will never forget soon after answering the call God had on my life to go into full-time service, I learned this valuable lesson. One evening I was feeling very "important" about serving God. That evening in my quiet time, I was reading the last few chapters of Revelation, and the Holy Spirit asked me a simple question, "where is your name?"

That question stopped me in my tracks. The fact is, as I read at the end of the book how our God wins, NOWHERE did it say that God wins because of Bill Keller! MY NAME IS NOT THERE! As a matter of fact, the Bible clearly says that God wins IN SPITE OF Bill Keller, or anyone else!

The point that I want to make today is that YES, we have ALL been called to allow God to use our lives to further His Kingdom. YES, God is pleased when we are faithful to serve Him as He leads us in our daily lives. YES, God will use our service to Him to bless many people and our faithfulness to fulfill His perfect plan. The point is, this is what God EXPECTS us to do.

We are not doing something so great when we serve God, we are only doing what we have been called to do when we accept Jesus as our Savior. SERVING GOD IS A COMMANDMENT! Never forget that God's plan will be fulfilled with, or without us!

If you really think about it, what an HONOR it is to have the God of the Universe, the Creator of all things to give us the opportunity to serve Him! There is NO GREATER HONOR in this life. To serve God is not only our duty, but a privilege that He gives us that we should never take for granted.

While there are many things that we can do in our life that can have a profound effect on this world, it is ONLY the things that we do for God that will have a profound effect on eternity! Let me repeat this statement, because it is very deep. While there are many things that we can do in our life that can have a profound effect on this world, it is ONLY the things that we do for God that will have a profound effect on eternity!

That leads me to the subject of rewards. The Bible clearly speaks of "rewards" for our faithful service to God. What these "rewards" are, I have no idea. However, here is what I do know. God is the giver of all good and perfect things. God loves us so much, that He gave us His very best when He gave us Jesus to die for our sins so that we might be reconciled back to Him. Whatever comes from God is just not great, it is the BEST! GOD IS THE AUTHOR OF THE BLESSING! The Bible does not spell out what these "rewards" for our faithful service are, but since they come from God, they must be beyond our wildest imagination!

Sadly however, many in service to God, decide not to wait for their Heavenly rewards, and instead settle for whatever little this temporary world that we live in can offer. That is like going through the McDonalds drive through for dinner, instead of waiting to sit down to a 7 course feast. ANY TIME THAT WE SETTLE FOR THE THINGS OF THIS TEMPORARY WORLD OVER WHAT GOD OFFERS, WE HAVE SETTLED FOR THE WORST, WHILE WE COULD HAVE HAD THE BEST!

This is not a condemnation on having nice things, or having a comfortable life while we are on this journey. However, many, some of God's choice servants have decided that they would rather have the "little" that they can see now, instead of waiting for the "much" that God has promised.

I love you and care about you so much. I want you to never forget each day how much GOD loves you! The only way that we can truly return that love is how we choose to live our day to day lives. Each day, we choose to love Him, or reject Him through the choices that we make in what we do with those 24 hours He blesses us with.

As a child of God, it is not a choice, but a commandment to serve Him. We show our love to God through our obedience, through our service to Him. For most, that is simply by being His "light" where He has planted us for this season. In our schools. In our jobs. Where we shop. Where we recreate. Simply by letting the love of Jesus flow from us to those that we meet in the course of our day to day lives.

For our faithfulness, God has promised us "rewards" when our work here is over. Satan will tempt us from time to time to "sell out" and accept the temporary rewards that this life can offer, sacrificing the eternal rewards that God has promised us. Let me encourage you today. While I can not tell you what exactly those heavenly rewards will be, I can tell you that there is NOTHING that this world could offer to match what God has for us!

The WORD today is to serve God with your very lives each day, to never sell Him out for the short term benefits that this world may offer, and to know when this brief journey is over... we will not only be forever with our Lord... but enjoy the "rewards" that He has promised us for our faithfulness!

In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at bkeller@liveprayer.com.

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