Compassion and Reward

“Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven…But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1, 3-4)

Be careful not to perform supposed godly acts with manufactured and false compassion so that people will perceive you as righteous. If you act with false godliness, you will have no spiritual reward from your Heavenly Father. Your reward will be people's praise.

What did Jesus mean when He said, “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing?” Your left hand, in some Jewish teachings, denotes weaknesses. The right had, in some Jewish teachings, denote strengths. Jesus’ phrase here means do not let your baser intentions and emotions attach themselves to your intention of giving to help someone in need. Instead, let honorable intentions and emotions be your motivator. When honest intentions to motivate people occur, the glory and honor go to God. When baser intentions motivate giving charity, the desire of the person is to take the honor and glory for himself, not God. Do charity secretly, to avoid people putting you on a pedestal and not to become prideful. Instead, give honor to God, who told you to help the person and gave you the means to help him.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned against seeking greatness and receiving adoration. People should focus on God. Instead of seeking personal adoration, Jesus taught people to give secretly. Help a person discreetly. The heavenly Father, who sees what someone does in secret, will reward him. God’s rewards are heavenly and eternal.

Jesus taught how to give:

·       In secret, privately

·       With righteous intentions, to help the person and not highlight oneself.

·       Not to grow one’s reputation or receive honor.

Why should you give this way?

·       If you act intending to make yourself known as great, then earthly honor is all you will receive.

·       If you act in compassion, which comes from God and is good, and you shine the resultant thanks towards God, the One who gives all good things, then other people see God more than oneself and God receives the honor.

What will occur if you act godly?

·       God will reward you. Jesus doesn’t say in verses one through four what the reward will be. Verses thirty-three and thirty-four do. People, God’s creation made in His image, who revere and follow Him, can be certain that their good God will provide for their needs. Remember, God is always faithful to His word.

·       The reward for God’s people is His care now and forever. This promise is for everyone who believes in Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

Jesus concludes Matthew 6 with a promise. This promise tells of the reward for those who “do not let their left hand know what their right hand is doing.” He said,

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (your needs) will be provided to you. So do not worry about tomorrow” (Matthew 6:33-34a).

Do godly acts of charity to help a person and honor God. God gives you the motivation in your new heart. He gives you the resources to help the person. Understand that God will provide all your needs, so follow as He leads you to love others, just as He loved and loves you.

 

Humble Expectation

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28 [NASB])

It’s Christmas morning. Children run through the house with excitement emanating from their eyes, hands, voices, and feet. They can’t sit still. They can’t stop talking. They wonder what present they will receive this year. The family sits in the Christmas room. As established by family custom, the youngest gives the presents to each person. She is so excited to see what everyone receives that she almost drops the boxes because of her jittering hands. With great anticipation and eyes alight, little sister opens her boxed present to find an envelope. Gleefully, she finds an envelope in the box. The envelope holds $10. Big sister, with great excitement, rips open her box. With expectation of what she might find, she notices an envelope, too. Her envelope crinkles and crackles as she rips it open and pulls out ten one-dollar bills. She looks up with joy and tears. Mom opens her boxed present careful not to tear the paper. Once she removes the tape on the box, she, too, finds an envelope. Yes, she has money! She counts it with surprise, gasps, and realizes she has $10. Dad, with wonder about these gifts, opens his box and finds the expected envelope. He hopes for greater things than what he has seen come from his family’s envelopes. Dad takes a deep breath of anticipation then carefully pulls the edges of the envelope flap from the back of the envelope and peeks inside. He exhales and looks down sadly. Dad, too, received $10.

So often, each of us compares our own self to another person. We try to do better than that person so we can have a greater reward-more money, bigger bonus, elevated title, bigger house, etc. These things Jesus did not teach or live out as an example for us. Jesus did not choose to live in a mansion as a king or leader. He did not choose to exist with only the washed and wealthy. Jesus did not choose His friends from among the elite in society. He did not die from old age and receive praise at His funeral service. Jesus was born to a carpenter’s family and lived in the northern kingdom of Israel. He chose not to have a house to call home. Jesus chose to be around fishermen and their odor, lepers and their decaying smell, prostitutes and their obvious sin, tax collectors and the hatred they received, the poor and their shortage, and the sick with their infirmity. He lived among the people who had no influence and called to every person hoping they would to listen to Him. Finally, though as a man who would want to die from old-age causes and receive praise for His good deeds, Jesus died a torturous death of hanging by nails on a wooden cross and suffocating.

God could have sent Jesus to live a gracious lifestyle of affluence, but He didn’t. He could have had mercy on His Son and not let Him be crushed by the hatred of His own people and their leaders, but He didn’t. God could have lifted Him above the earth physically, so Jesus didn’t have to die a crucifixion, but He didn’t. God’s plan was greater than we could think or imagine. It included love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace for all people. His reward for believers in Jesus Christ is the same for all sinners, not just the obvious ones, but also the hypocritical ones, the ones with “hidden” sins. His reward is the same for the person who had been a Christian for 60 years or for just the last breath on earth.  Jesus came for all people so that every person could have forgiveness of sin, receive salvation, and be given eternal life. Those are the rewards, the only ones with eternal value.

The mother of James and John asked Jesus for an honor for her sons (Matthew 20:20-23). She asked for them to sit on each side of Jesus when His kingdom came. Jesus explained this reward is not for Him to give. Did that mean He did not love James and John enough to give them this blessing? No, she was thinking in worldly terms. She was trying to advance her sons to CEO or COO or President, when, in God’s kingdom, no titles, bonuses, bigger houses, or higher statuses exist. God gives reward, eternal rewards.

Jesus told about a land owner who hired day workers for his vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). This land owner paid the ones who worked an eight-hour day the same as he paid the one who worked one hour. The vineyard owner is fair. He pays-rewards-the same for the same work. James and John were disciples of Jesus just as were Peter, Andrew, and countless other believers over the last almost 2000 years. God decides each person’s reward. As believers in Jesus Christ, we know the reward, just like the denarius the land owner agreed to give his day workers. The reward is forgiveness of sins, mercy, grace, love, and eternal life.

Jesus explained in Matthew 20:24-28 for what each person alive on earth should strive. He explained the Gentiles (non-believers) lord their position, title, power, and money over their constituents. It should not be this way among Jesus believers. Instead, Jesus’ followers should serve others. Instead of seeking a greater reward for being a leader among Christians or for being a Christian longer or doing more work for the Lord, these believers, all believers, should imitate Christ. He did not come to live in a mansion, rule over people, associate only with the wealthy and influencers, and wear fine clothes. He came to heal the sick, give sight to the blind, live as a common man, have no house to call home, live among the lowly, sick, unclean, and outcasts. Jesus explained in Matthew 20:26-28 what the standard is for the Christian. He said, “Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Now consider this. Are we like the daughters and mother on Christmas morning? Does the anticipation meet or surpass our expectations? Do we realize our gain is better and greater than we could have imagined? They did not expect money. The girls and mother did not know what to expect, but what they received was more than what they had. They were not downcast or disappointed. Alternatively, are we like the girl’s father? Did we expect something great after a hard year of working to provide and then, upon seeing what each person received, expect something greater? That tells of a person’s estimation of him or herself in relation to others. We should not be comparing ourselves to others, but to the Author of creation and each of us.

Seek to serve and not be served.

Consider yourself less than others.

Then, when you receive a blessing, a reward, be excited!

Be elated! Be thankful!

Jesus stopped and called them (two blind men), and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes, and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him. (Matthew 20:32-34 [NASB])

Lord, forgive me. I expect things-praise, rewards, prestige-for doing things. I seek to be noticed and considered better than others. That is not why You created me. That is not the purpose You had for each of us. Forgive me for thinking better of myself than I am. Help me to seek to bring You glory, not myself. Lord, touch the eyes of my heart and make me see You and follow You. Help me to choose Your will, not mine. Help me to be humble and willing to empty myself as Jesus did for me. I am not worthy to be called Your child, but You call me that anyway. You are worthy to be called Master, Lord, and King and I often forget. Lead me in Your paths. Use me for Your will. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Thank you, Lord. Amen.

Zeal Anyway

¹⁷“His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for Your house will consume me’…²³Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing the signs which He was doing. ²⁴But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, ²⁵and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.” John 2:17 & 23-35 [NASB]

In John 2, Jesus made water into wine in Cana of Galilee. His first sign had His disciples believing in Him. Next Jesus cleansed the temple of the sellers of ox, sheep, and doves, and the money changers. From this, people believed in His name. Jesus knew the hearts of the people. They followed the wonder and awe-factor, first one wonder-maker then another. They were fickle, yet Jesus loved His Father and them enough to cleanse and purify the temple with His overturning the tables and His death on the cross.

Jesus did not do these things to impress and gain followers who were looking for the fantastic, but to draw people to God, save them from their sins and death, and give God the glory. Jesus did these signs and wonders even when He people would persecute Him. Even though people called Him names, turned their backs on Him, judged Him, and would crucify Him, His zeal for the Father and His house, and the salvation of people overcame any human self-preservation instinct.

Is my zeal for the Lord this strong?

In Psalm 69, David begged God to save him from his enemies. He explained he bore the reproach for God’s sake. David then explained why he willingly bore reproach for God with verse nine. He said, “For zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.” David endured reproaching from people for God’s sake. He was zealous for God’s house (God’s house is a metaphor for heaven) so that God’s servants could live there and possess it, and so their children and descendants could inherit it.

Am I zealous for God when I know people will persecute,

despise, and reject me?

Am I zealous so I can have a home with God, and so others and their descendants can have a home with God?

Jesus knew the stakes. He willingly endured them all so all people would be saved.

Being zealous benefits more people than me.

When I am not zealous, it affects the salvation of other people.

Knowing the hearts of people, will I be zealous anyway so that people will be saved?

Phineas, son of Aaron, was zealous for the Lord despite the Israelites’ sinning and God wanting to avenge His wrath on them (Numbers 25:10:13). Because of Phineas’ zealousness, God turned back His wrath against the Israelites. For Phineas’ zealousness, God rewarded him.

There is a reward for being zealous!

What reward did God give Phineas? God gave His covenant of peace to Him. He said, “It shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.” (Numbers 25:12-13 [NASB])

For Christians who stand for the Lord, fears arise from the animosity and evil coming from people. Yet, the benefit is great.

·         Christians zealous for the Lord will affect the salvation of people and their descendants.

·         God rewards zealous Christians by giving a covenant of peace, a home in His presence for the zealous Christian and his or her descendants.

Lord, forgive me for the times I was too afraid to be bold and courageous to stand for You. Please help me remember You are all-powerful God and You will make me strong, bold, and courageous when I call on and rest in You. Lord, You alone deserve all honor, glory, and praise, for You alone are God. Help me to stand for You despite my fear.

Stricter Judgment and Greater Reward: A James 3:1-6 Devotional

James had a lot to say about Christian teachers/pastors/leaders in James chapter 3. This chapter should challenge all Christian workers to make sure they lead according to God's pattern and will. These leaders (teachers and pastors) will be judged with a stricter justice.

It is time for each Christian worker to stop, take stock of what you are saying, ensure it is a word from the Lord, and is theologically sound. If you lead just to receive fame and increase your following, and do not prepare the day's teaching strictly from God's Word, your judgment will be greater and more strict.

God's Christian worker is like the bit in the horse's mouth or the rudder on a ship. Be careful how you lead the people (the horse and ship) so that the winds of the thoughts of the time do not slant your teaching to be even slightly skewed from the Word of God. Be strong in the face of persuasion not to fall victim to the teachings of secular society and embrace what they say and water down the truth of God. Even though you are just a small part of the body of Christ, like the tongue, your words and teachings can cause a raging fire that destroys God’s people and Christ’s church. You will be held accountable to a stricter judgment.

Be warned of God’s stricter judgment. Be faithful to God and His Word. Carefully teach and guide His children, His church. Your reward will be great in heaven. "Press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14 [NASB])

True Wisdom, Eternal Growth and God’s Glorification

1 Corinthians 3

In looking at 1 Corinthians 1-3 these last three days and skimming more chapters in the book to remember what Paul says to the people of Corinth, we can see over and over again that Paul is showing them God’s great wisdom, strength, and power. At this time in history, Corinth was a gateway for many cultures. Greek influence was strong there and they prided themselves in their philosophy and wisdom. Roman influence was very strong there as it was the time of the great Roman Empire; Corinth was in the middle of the empire, also, they had easy access to Rome via boats. Jewish influence was also strong in Corinth; the Jews from the Holy Land had been venturing beyond the Promised Land, being dispersed by persecution, a search for more religious freedom, and a desire for more wealth and power. Other smaller influences were known in Corinth, but these three were the cultures that most profoundly affected the Corinth at that time.

Paul addresses the people of Corinth, people from the surrounding countries and cultures and others as well. He addresses them about their envy, slander, hate, debauchery, and depravity. Corinth was known so much so for its debauchery that a term was coined, “Corinthianize,” which meant to make one or another so wanton in their morals. Paul was writing to the people to whom he had preached before about Jesus Christ and His salvation. He spoke mainly to the body of Christ, the church in Corinth. As an aside, he was also speaking generally to all others who were watching and knew that what was going on was wrong. He stood strong for God and proclaimed in this letter that this was not the way of God and they were not building upon the foundation Paul had laid before them on his previous visit to Corinth.

If you remember, in chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians, you read and hear Paul telling them that the wisdom of God came through the foolish things of the world. Even the most intelligent, learned, powerful, and strong were not as wise, powerful, and strong as God’s weakest vessel. God proved this by using the unwise, the weak, and the ignoble to show His wisdom, power, and might. If you read any of the Gospels, you will find that those who considered themselves learned, strong, and powerful were the ones who were most likely not able to believe and follow Jesus. Paul reiterates that here for the Corinthians. He adds a sting though. He tells them that whatever they have cherished and used to build upon the foundation of what he preached to them, the foundation of Jesus Christ being the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, would be tested with fire. Each person’s reward from the God would be determined by how well upon the foundation of Christ each person built. Was what the person built on the foundation burned up in the fire of testing? Then the reward from God would not come because they had received their reward on earth, an earthly gratification. Was a person more inclined to seek glory for him or herself? That is usurping God’s glory in their own lives; their reward would not be as great as if they gave all the glory to God. Was a person more inclined to follow the desires of addiction to food, alcohol, drugs, and clothes? That person’s priorities would not survive a fire. Those are not more important than God and cannot get them into heaven. Was a person more inclined to seek education to be able to break down another in argument? That person’s reward is also only for this earthly life. The choice to be mightier with word or sword or power will not grow a person to be more Christ like. Each of these things, wealth, acquirements, education, power, prestige, and strength, remove the focus and glory from God and place the glory upon ourselves now in our mortal lives. We receive the reward we desire in this age and will lose reward when God judges us. Our reward from God will be less. When God is the one whom you are trying to imitate, into whose likeness you are striving to become more like, this growth will stand the trial of fire because it is God who is glorified in your body, actions, and spirit as you walk each day in life now. You will get your reward from God upon judgment, Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 3:14.

Paul speaks throughout this letter to the Corinthians reminding them of the wisdom of God as opposed to the smallness of the wisdom of man. Consider what Paul said in chapter 1:19-21, 25 (Amplified version),

¹⁹ For it is written, I will baffle and render useless and destroy the learning of the learned and the philosophy of the philosophers and the cleverness of the clever and the discernment of the discerning; I will frustrate and nullify them and bring them to nothing. ²⁰ Where is the wise man (the philosopher)? Where is the scribe (the scholar)? Where is the investigator (the logician, the debater) of this present time and age? Has not God shown up the nonsense and the folly of this world’s wisdom?  ²¹For when the world with all its earthly wisdom failed to perceive and recognize and know God by means of its own philosophy, God in His wisdom was pleased through the foolishness of preaching salvation, procured by Christ and to be had through Him, to save those who believed..²⁵ This is because the foolish thing that has its source in God is wiser than men, and the weak thing that springs from God is stronger than men.

You will notice that Paul captures each of the main cultures of people in Corinth at the time within this chapter, the philosophical and learned, the powerful and strong. He addresses the Greeks and Jewish scribes who are proud of their education. Later in verses 27-28, Paul also includes the Jews who think they are wise in their faith and culture, but who are blinded by their pride so they cannot see that God’s wisdom surpasses all understanding. In verse 28 Paul addresses the noble Romans and the Jews in power within the circles of the children of Israel. He tells them that God chose the lowly, the insignificant, and those treated with contempt as well as those things and people considered as nothing to “depose and bring to nothing the things that are” or consider themselves/are considered great. God did this so that “no mortal man should have any reason to take the glory for himself or boast about what he has done, but so that God may receive all the glory” (vs. 29). Paul speaks directly to those who consider themselves too highly, be they ones who accepted Christ’s salvation offered to them previously or not. He is showing them that even in the greatest of the clever, strong, and mighty of humans, they are not so wise, strong, or mighty after all when compared to the surpassing greatness of God or of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord (Philippians 3:8).

One of Paul’s themes in 1 Corinthians is the greatness of God, even compared to the greatest of the most wise, strong, and powerful man. In chapter three, Paul begins to get down to “brass tacks” unlike in chapters 1 and 2. He chastises them while at the same time reminding them in love that the foundation that was laid down in these baby Christians’ lives was based on the preaching of Christ crucified for all people. He tells them clearly that by now they should be partaking of heartier food than the milk of babes. Their growth in faith should have been at the point where they are taking in solid food; yet, Paul finds that they have turned to building upon the foundation of Christ with self-glorification, vanity, and deceit, not growth in their faith and knowledge of God and His ways. He hears from others that they are fighting and there are factions among them, that there is envy and jealousy (3:3). He states that this is an unspiritual and worldly way to act instead of a godly way. He tells them to safeguard what is built upon the foundation of Christ that he preached to them. Based upon what they are fed and watered, by what they allow themselves to consume,  will determine their growth. God will grow you, he says, but you must choose the right food with which to nourish yourself. He tells them in 3:16 that they, individually and corporately, are God’s temple; they are holy and consecrated to the Lord. With what they choose to nourish themselves will determine their growth in God. Paul gets quite to the point here. “If anyone does hurt to God’s temple (you individually or corporately as a church) or corrupts it with false doctrine or destroys it, God will do hurt to him and bring him to the corruption of death, for the temple of God is holy” (3:17 AMP).

Finally, Paul comes back to a main premise of this letter; he tells them to “become fools according to worldly standards so that they can become really wise, for this world’s wisdom is foolishness with God and He lays hold of the wise in their own craftiness” (3:18-19). Paul beseeches them to seek after God and His wisdom so they can have true wisdom, not that which the world considers wisdom which is mere folly. Lastly, Paul reminds them, most of all, “You are Christ’s and Christ is God’s” (3:23). You gave your lives to Christ so you are God’s; build upon the foundation of which you allowed to be laid and which you accepted as truth. Choose God’s wisdom, glory, and reward as your desire and reward so that you may grow to be more like Christ and wiser than the wisest man.

The question remains for us, have we tried to acquire understanding and wisdom to determine how to venture on the paths of our lives? Has it brought meaning and purpose to our lives? Subsequently, have we found the navigator Who does know all the routes and whose way is straight and sure and leads to everlasting life? It is not hard. What seems foolish in the eyes of the learned is actually the wisdom of God made understandable and believable so that all may come to know the surpassing greatness, love, and power of God as shown and given through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus the Christ. This letter from Paul to the Corinthians as well as the occurrences in Corinth were attested to by Clement of Rome in his “First Epistle to the Corinthians,” by Polycarp in his “Epistle to the Philippians,” and by Irenaus in his writing “Against Heresies.” These men attest to these occurrences, as well as the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is true. He is the way, the truth, and the life. It is truly simple, believe on Jesus, accept the gift of salvation He gave for your wrong doings, and keep on seeking Him and His knowledge and wisdom. His ways are higher than our ways; His ways are always best. Seek first the kingdom of God. What will you choose self-glorification with no true growth and no reward from God upon judgment, or glorification of God with true, everlasting, and continued growth into Christ-likeness and rewards from God upon judgment? Is it that hard to choose?