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“For Reward” is NOT “For God”

http://bible.com/116/mat.6.3-4.nlt
But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.  Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Life Application
It’s easier to do what’s right when we gain recognition and praise. To be sure our motives are not selfish, we should do our good deeds quietly or in secret, with no thought of reward. Jesus says we should check our motives in three areas: generosity (Matt 6:4), prayer (Matt 6:6), and fasting (Matt 6:18). Those acts should not be self-centered, but God-centered, done not to make us look good but to make God look good. The reward God promises is not material, and it is never given to those who seek it. Doing something only for ourselves is not a loving sacrifice. With your next good deed, ask, “Would I still do this if no one would ever know I did it?”

Personal Observation
Sometimes it is hard for me to gauge the true intentions behind what I say and do. I look at things like sharing my journal publicly and being involved in various other witnessing/evangelistic efforts, and I begin to question myself. What are my true motives? Am I just wanting others to see me and recognize and acknowledge me? Or am I wanting others to know a closer walk with God themselves?

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God type blessings

http://bible.com/116/mat.5.11-12.nlt God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.  Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
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Observation
I see people twist this message so horribly that it is no wonder that people are confused by all of the false teaching out there. I hear people twist the beattitudes into a “if you do this,  you will receive blessings” – as if God provided a magical recipe book for worldly prosperity. How deep into the darkness will the wolves lead the goats to slaughter?

It does not say “if you suffer, then you will receive blessing as compensation for your sufferings”. No, it says that God bless you WHEN these things happen to you. The sufferings are the blessing.

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Why I don’t solicit for money, I solicit for your testimony

http://bible.com/116/1co.9.14-18.nlt
In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it. Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I want to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my right to boast about preaching without charge. Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News!
If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust. What then is my pay? It is the opportunity to preach the Good News without charging anyone. That’s why I never demand my rights when I preach the Good News.
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Observation
There is a danger in becoming a hired hand to the religious machine. Once we’ve chained ourselves to funding budgets for great buildings and programs and salaries, and we rely upon the support of people in the way of tithes,  offerings,  collections,  or solicitations – there is opportunity for the message to be compromised because we consider the possible consequences of sharing a truthful message that won’t be well received by a rebellious group of supporters that might in turn adversity effect our ability to “pay the bills”.

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My Wife, My Blessing

Eight years ago today, I woke my wife up at 3AM to propose to her.

That moment together,  in the quietness of the night, seeing the ring on her finger for the first time, knowing that she was going to be my wife, knowing that we would start a family together and spend our time together until our time was over. It was a different time in our lives. So much has changed. We’ve been shuffled and rearranged.

As I watch a family member lose his wife this past week, I am reminded how precious and short our time together can be. I’m so thankful for my amazing,  beautiful,  loving, and strong wife. If I were to go first,  I know that she would maintain her faith and lead our daughter down the path of a life seeking and honoring God. I hope that she might know that same trust in me.

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Be patient, the future is not so far away

Today’s Manna – Our Daily Bread
http://bible.com/116/hab.2.3-5.nlt
This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.
“Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked. But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God. Wealth is treacherous, and the arrogant are never at rest. They open their mouths as wide as the grave, and like death, they are never satisfied. In their greed they have gathered up many nations and swallowed many peoples.”

Observation
If we read the Word of God, if we say,  “Look at the proud!” And we do not set our eyes upon ourselves,  but we think of and point our fingers at others – don’t our deceitful hearts betray that we are the proud? Doesn’t it become very clear that we ate the ones that need to be humbled and laid low?

When we trust in ourselves instead of trusting in the Lord, our crookedness, our twisted natures are revealed. Because faith is not walking by sight,  but stepping out on a limb. It is working without a safety net of self or wealth or the approval of others – but instead trusting in the Lord to catch us.

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Belief & Obedience. This is Faith.

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Only he who believes is obedient,  and only he who is obedient believes.

The truth is that so long as we hold both sides of the proposition together they contain nothing inconsistent with right belief,  but as soon as one is divorced from the other,  it is bound to prove a stumbling-block. “Only those who believe obey” is what we say to that part of a believer’s soul which obeys,  and “only those who obey believe” is what we say to that part of the soul of the obedient which believes. If the first half of the proposition stabs alone, the believer is exposed to the danger of cheap grace, which is another word for damnation. If the second half stands alone, the believer is exposed to the dangers of salvation through works, which is another word for damnation.

– Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Are you ready to be lifted up? By whom?

http://bible.com/116/amo.5.12.nlt
For I know the vast number of your sins
and the depth of your rebellions.
You oppress good people by taking bribes
and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

It is an evil time. A time when we run from a lion,  into the hands of a bear, when we escape from the near and are bitten by a snake. Even those who are good at heart fail to follow the Lord’s will because they do not value His advice enough to earnestly seek it.

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Forget WWJD, what IS He doing in YOU

Shared in love and truth and Hope and Love, with Faith that His perfect message might shine through, even in the middle of my imperfect delivery.

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Which way you turnt? Up? Or down?

http://bible.com/116/jol.2.12-13.nlt
That is why the Lord says,
“Turn to me now,
while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
Come with fasting,
weeping, and mourning.
Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for He is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He is eager to relent and not punish.

Yes, there is judgement and separation and punishment for many. But the Lord isn’t eager to punish, He doesn’t delight in the deaths of the wicked, He is not controlled by anger or retribution. He is just and fair and righteous. He is merciful and compassionate towards those who seek Him.

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Confusion

Ignorance and misunderstanding create sufficiently enough confusion within this world – that trickery and malice are found far less commonly to be the root cause behind the the pain and suffering imposed by men upon each other.

There is little need for an active supernatural enemy of man, when man has turned so far from God and is so hardened in heart that he becomes a great enemy to his own kind.

We are children of one or the other. We either serve to bring truth and love and mercy and forgiveness to the world, giving of ourselves to build up others. Or we serve the purpose of tearing down others to build up the image of ourselves. We are either seeking to honor God and honor others, or we are expecting honor for ourselves.

Who’s your daddy?