GIFT OR REWARD?

 

These two words mean the same thing but a thin line separates them and qualifies each one for what it really is. Gift is a noun, Reward is a verb; circumstances makes what is given either a reward or a gift or both.

A gift may be defined as something given to someone on a special occasion which may not necessarily be given because of a deed done. Gift bestowed is not determined by you but by the magnanimity and the prosperous leverage of the giver; and this comes in different levels. Now because of this sometimes a gift may seem undeserving; but the clincher here is that though the gift may seem undeserving to you, the recipient; but to the giver it may be deserving; or such may be found needful for you to have to enable you do something. Grace (charisma); and the innate latent gifts you were born with falls under this category.

Reward is defined as something given in appreciation for a deed done. Reward is earned, it is something deserving for faithful service or obedience. This means there is a doing, a conscious effort exerted at something. This may sometimes be given not because you have done something but because someone whom you’re connected to had done something in the past which the giver may now use a special occasion as an opportunity to pay back. To the giver it is both a gift and a reward, while to the recipient it is a gift.

This explains John 4:38; “I sent you to reap that for which you have not laboured, others have laboured and you have entered into their rest.” And also explains Isaiah 55:1; “Ho everyone who thirsts come to the waters, and you who have no money, come buy and eat, yes come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”  And also Deuteronomy 6:10-11; “So it shall be when the LORD your God……which you did not build….which you did not fill….which you did not dig….which you did not plant…”

Isn’t this the case of a good man leaving an inheritance for his children’s children? Please know this today, to God no good thing comes free and no good deed goes unrewarded; there’s always a price to pay, a cost to bear. God will never deny anyone his reward; He has not called you to serve Him in vain. What make God’s reward seem undeserving is the miraculous way and the quantum which such comes; then you begin to think in your mind that it is a gift, not a reward.

There is remuneration for service and a time of harvest for seeds planted. The intriguing thing about God‘s reward is its timing, the manner, and the magnitude. It may take its time in coming, but the moment it comes, it’s always mind-boggling.  When it comes, receive it with thanksgiving, enjoy it, show-off with it, but don’t get lost in it. “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth…” Mind you, His mind-boggling gift is not for frivolities, which is tantamount to waste, it is another bountiful seed for the extension of your service field and for the extension of His kingdom; His investment for the further establishment of the Kingdom.

Thot 4u:

Would God give man a gift or reward he doesn’t deserve?

Is His reward or gift given to man because of who He is and not because of what man has done?

Is man deserving of a gift or reward from God just because he is man made in the image of God?

The Short Message

For every office God calls a man into He has substitutes to replace him if he fails to perform and remain obedient to the injunctions of the calling. May be this is the reason so many people say that nobody is indispensable that a man and his service can be dispensed with at anytime.  We also always say it's only God who we cannot find a replacement for, but for man there are several, you only need to look deeper and wider.  But I've found out that somehow there’s an exception to the rule; though it may be rare, but there is.

There are two kinds of indispensability; Absolute indispensability and Relative indispensability. Absolute indispensability belongs only to God, no being or any created thing on earth or in the sea, or wherever can do without God. God needs nobody to survive; He’s ‘Omni’, All. Yet in His plans God finds man useful in bringing into reality His plans on earth; thus man is indispensable to God. That’s why He searches for who to use, because He would seldom do anything on earth without using man; Amos 3:7.

By man, I mean Mankind. Mankind is indispensable to God, but you as an individual may not be indispensable. God is Omni, omnipotent, wholly sovereign; while man is ‘Mini’, mini-potent, partially sovereign; for the scope of man’s operations come from God; Genesis 1:26, 2:15-17. Your indispensability to God and your publics rests entirely on you. Relative indispensability is your being relevant and significant to the people in that particular area of service you have been gifted by the omnipotent God. Your mini-potent power can still be felt throughout the world; you can be classified as second to none.

Your being indispensable does not mean there are no alternatives; it means knowing there are, yet you're still preferred above the rest. People would rather wait for you than call another man to do the job. Responsibility, integrity, quality and value added service makes a man indispensable. If this be so it makes you to be in demand at all times. This is not just talking about service in general, but what you bring to bear on service. Now, this is where foresight and confidence in self worth comes in; quality craftsmanship, constantly adapting to meet the current needs of a changing culture.

People talk a lot that it is nations and institutions that are indispensable, not so much the individual.  But is it not individuals that build nations and institutions and also build other individuals that continue the work of building and maintenance? These ones build through extraordinary and supernatural display of craftsmanship, skill and dexterity, and through the formation of ideologies that shape the lives of men.

In the kingdom where God reigns and calls people to work for Him, God can replace any man by His sovereign power, but He won't if the man works in His perfect will, remains humble, loves Him with all His heart, soul, and body, and is very effective in his service field. The realm of the supernatural also operates in the area of service, even in the market place.

Though Elijah felt tired and thought he was the only one left of the loyal prophets, God told him to anoint Elisha to succeed him, not to replace him.  Elijah still served God for so many years more before he was translated, and Elisha succeeded him. Elisha served God so well that none was found capable enough to succeed him, and he went to the grave with the anointing of God upon him.

God called David “a man after His heart”; despite his sins. His testimony of Job is ‘there's none like him in the earth.’  A man can also be so sure of himself in God that he knows he is indispensable in that particular area of his calling.  “Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and the Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope.”  This is an affirmation of his authority; not a boast or pride, but a surety and guaranteed acceptance of his service.  Paul opened all his epistles in this manner.

There's nobody like you, you are unique, nobody else can do that which you are doing, the same way you are doing it, even if you are involved in the same kind of service. It doesn't matter what you write, and how you write, you can't write like me. Every servant of God must be sure of himself and his calling whereby he can devote his attention and time and be diligent in his field.  “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men.” ²² This kind of man also stands before God, he is irreplaceable and his service indispensable.

Enjoying Christianity?

THE SINLESS MAN:

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” 2Corinthians 5:21.

Any Christian that says he has no sin in his life is a liar and a boastful one who internally will be puffed up with pride. This kind of Christian talks as if it is done by works and no man is justified before God by works of the flesh, but by faith in Christ Jesus. The best a Christian can say when asked about his life in Christ is that he does not stand condemned of sin in his heart before God.

By this study, you are not being given an excuse to sin but you’re being given a deeper understanding of sin to know how indebted you are to Jesus Christ.  And also to counsel and empower you to discern in knowing when you are in right standing with God and when you’re not.  Not to leave yourself to the dictates and judgment of the people or unnecessary conformity to certain denominational norms and creeds whereby you either wallow in self-pity or self-righteousness.  Jesus Christ is your righteousness. By the time the Christian aligns himself to Jesus daily; he can have heaven on earth and be sure of eternal life after death.

When talking of a sinless Christian, one who is not condemned of sin, the Lord reminded me of a scene I witnessed some years ago:

There was a van conveying some pigs that had been cleaned, disinfected, and made fit for human consumption or for a better living environment. But suddenly the van fell into a ditch and the back doors flung open and the cleaned pigs slid into the dirty water.

The pigs were so happy that they joyously played inside the dirty water. It was as if they were celebrating their freedom from the bondage of cleanliness which their owners had subjected them to. They relished their momentary freedom in the dirt which they were accustomed to before their deliverance into cleanliness. It was by force that they were put back into the van.

Then the Lord told me: “If one of the pigs on its own will jumped out of the dirty water and stayed aloof hating the water and feeling unhappy of its present dirty body that pig would have been adjudged clean. Though its body is dirty but its heart is clean.” The dirt (sin) on it was by mistake and not its own doing, but on realization such dirt was displeasing.  This simply means that if by choice an opportunity to be dirty is presented to them all, this particular pig will not indulge itself in dirtiness.

“Thus says the Lord of Hosts; consider your ways” Haggai 1:7.  

Christianity is to be enjoyed, not endured.  What you endure you do half-heartedly and with stiffness, but what you enjoy, you do with freedom of the heart and love.  Christianity should bring such affective joy that radiates and touch the people around you which makes them want to associate with you, and partake of what you have.  When all things became new and old things passed away that newness must be seen in you, no matter the circumstances.   He who has made things new in your life must be made known.  Walking with Jesus though hard at times is not misery, but fulfilment unlimited, joy unequalled, happiness unimagined and peace exemplified.

When He is holding your hand, you may trip and stumble but you will not fall because He’s holding firmly to you; Isaiah 43:1-2.  The pain of the stumble may be sharp, He has promised you rest. When He said “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest for your souls” Matthew 11:29.  His yoke and learning process may be hard and tough at times, but He has promised you rest.

I hope to see you when we get there.  I won’t search heaven for you and you won’t search heaven for me either in the name of Jesus.

(Excerpt: Pg 20. The Christian and Victory Over Sin – POWER PURITY AND PERFECTION)

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APPREHEND GOD?

Apprehending God:

“...the Lord had sought Him a man after His heart”; 1Samuel 13:14.

You apprehend God when you accept His will for your life. In this way you meet His need. His most important and urgent need is for man to dominate the earth and to reconcile lost souls back to Him; and in achieving this end He uses different methods and partners with individuals differently and respectively. The moment God talks to your heart and you agree to His proposals fully you have apprehended Him; Acts 13:22.  He becomes interested in you, you become His responsibility and He gives you a listening ear at anytime.  You become a man after God's heart.  You command heaven's attention upon your life. 

ARE YOU BORN AGAIN?

Men show God gratitude,

When great things they give,

Their financial substance,

The fatlings of their calves,

The bounties of their field,

But lo! He has shown greater gratitude,

He, who first gives back to God his life.

If you’ve not met Christ personally, you’ve not started spiritually.

Answering the altar call isn’t the main issue, seeing the altar in you is.