SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/16/2020 10:21 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-2 “The
Posture”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:12
Message of the verses: “12 “Rejoice and be
glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.”
We
want to begin this SD by looking at two reasons that Jesus gives for our
rejoicing and being glad when we are persecuted for His sake.
1.
Jesus
says, “Your reward in heaven is great.”
Think for a moment of what our present life is in comparison to our eternal
life will be. “You are just a
vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14b). It is surely reasonable then that Jesus tells
us not to lay up treasures for ourselves here on earth as seen in Matthew 6:19-20
“19 ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 “But store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do
not break in or steal.” MacArthur adds “Whatever
we do for the Lord now, including suffering for Him—in fact, especially suffering
for Him—reaps eternal dividends.” Now as we think about God’s dividends they are
not ordinary dividends as they are not only eternal, but they are also great as
seen in our verse for today. We read in
Ephesians 3:20 a verse that is near and dear to my heart that God “is able to
do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.” The question is “How much more abundantly is
He able to grant what He Himself promises to us?”
Now I have
heard from different sources that it is not a good thing to serve God just so
that I can get rewards from Him. However
that is one of the motives that God himself gives in serving Him. The first reason that we serve Christ ought
to be that we love Him, and why would we not love Him after what He has done
for us as He gave His life so that we may live.
Our example for loving Christ is seen in His life on earth as He was
always desired to do the will of His Father, and that is exactly what He always
did. We see in Hebrews 12 that another
reason He served the Father and that is “for the joy set before Him” that Christ Himself “endured the cross,
despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus was certainly rewarded by the Father
for obeying His will. John MacArthur
adds that “It is neither selfish nor unspiritual to do the Lord’s work for a
motive that He Himself gives and has followed.”
2.
The
second reason, and I don’t think that we will get through this one today is
that we are to rejoice because the world persecuted the prophets who were
before us in the same way that it persecutes us. We must remember that when we suffer for the sake
of Christ that we are in great company, actually the best possible
company. Whenever we are afflicted for
righteousness’s sake it is to sand in the ranks of the prophets. MacArthur adds “Persecution is a mark of our
faithfulness just as it was a mark of the prophets’ faithfulness. When we suffer for Christ’s sake we know
beyond a doubt that we belong to God, because we are experiencing the same
reaction from the world that the prophets experienced.” Lord willing we will conclude our study of
the Beatitudes in our next SD.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I realize that in and of myself that I cannot
handle suffering for Christ’s sake, as I believe that I certainly have to be
filled with His Spirit to do that.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to give me the grace to serve
the Lord in Spirit and in truth each day that I may do the things that He has
planned for me to do in eternity past as seen in Ephesians 2:10.
6/16/2020 10:52 AM
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