Then Peter said to him, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get?” (Matthew 19:27, NLT)
Peter, like many of us, asked Jesus “Master, what is our reward for investing everything we have in promoting Your business? (in my own words). Peter considered the opportunity cost for following Jesus and wanted to know how profitable his sacrifice would be in the end. In the same way, we are (sometimes) tempted to rethink about some sacrifices we make in our churches or individually to support God’s work.
Jesus’ response to Peter’s question was remarkable. He replied “everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:29, NLT).
Jesus told Peter (in my own words) “don’t worry Peter because whatever you have given up for my sake, you will receive a hundred times as much in return on earth, and you will also inherit eternal life.”
In the same way friends, whatever we are giving (or have given up) for Jesus’ sake, we will receive a hundred times as much on earth, and we will inherit eternal life. In other words, there are bountiful rewards for us in this life. I don’t know how He is going to do it but one thing is certain; God’s Word can be trusted.
Peter’s new job was to fish for people according to Luke 5. And he saw the first part of the promise come to pass on the day of Pentecost. The Scripture says those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day – about 3000 in all.
My question for you is;
What are you willing to sacrifice for Jesus?
Be encouraged that nothing is wasted and God will continually bless you for promoting His Kingdom business. Don’t give up!
Then Peter said to him, “We’ve given up everything to follow you. What will we get?” (Matthew 19:27, NLT)
Peter, like many of us, asked Jesus “Master, what is our reward for investing everything we have in promoting the Good News? (in my own words). Peter considered the opportunity cost for following Jesus and wanted to know how profitable his sacrifice would be in the end. In the same way, we are (sometimes) attempted to rethink about some sacrifices we make in our churches or individually to support God’s work.
Jesus’ response to Peter’s question was remarkable. He replied “everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:29, NLT).
Jesus told Peter (in my own words) “don’t worry Peter because whatever you have given up for my sake, you will receive a hundred times as much in return on earth, and you will also inherit eternal life.”
In the same way friends, whatever we have given up for Jesus’ sake, we will receive a hundred times as much on earth, and we will inherit eternal life. In other words, there are bountiful rewards for us in this life. I don’t know how He is going to do it but one thing is certain; God’s Word can be trusted.
Peter’s new job was to fish for people according to Luke 5. And he saw the first part of the promise come to pass on the day of Pentecost. The Scripture says those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day – about 3000 in all.
My question for you is;
What have you given up for Jesus’ sake?
Be encouraged that nothing is wasted and God will continually bless you for promoting His Kingdom business. Don’t give up!
“Just Do It” encourages people to step beyond their boundaries and helps us curb our everyday excuses for doing nothing.
Today I want to talk about Just Do It because it’s an important topic that can’t be skipped in our walk with God.
Just Do It, from the Christian’s viewpoint, has two components;
Faith
Obedience (Obey)
Faith in the Word
The scripture says in Hebrews 11: 1 (NLT) that Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. From the Amplified translation, “Faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of thing [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]”.
And in Roman 10:17 (KJV) “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing the word of God” The word of God isn’t limited to the written words in the Bible but it’s also what God, through the Holy Spirit, speaks to you which is consistent with His standards in the Bible. For instance God will never tell you to steal in order to be prosperous, or sleep with a person in order for that person to marry you. These two contradict what the Bible says. Instead, God will tell you the business to do and steps to take in order to be prosperous. Therefore in order to have confidence that what you hope for will actually happen, you need to hear more of God’s word and believe in the Word.
Give yourself some few minutes to answer the following questions:
What word have you heard directly from the Lord, or what word have you heard from the Lord through His ministers or servants, or what word has He spoken to you through the Scriptures?
Do you have the confidence that what you hope for, or what God has revealed to your spirit will actually happen?
Obeying the Word or Acting on the Word is the most challenging task in our walk with God. Often we hear the word; we believe in them and yet remain passive while expecting miracles to happen. Those who received miracles in Jesus’ days acted on the spoken word. That is when He told them to stand, they stood. When he told them to open their eyes, they did.
The miracle you seek is in Obedience to the Word. You’ve got to obey His word or do what He says. Just Do It.
In John 2:5, Mary told the servants to do whatever He tells them to do. When the servants obeyed without applying human reasoning to test the possibility of filling water pots with water for it to turn into wine, the miracle happened. There were legitimate questions those servants could have asked. They could have asked “why don’t we serve the water without pouring them into the jars?” or “what if we take it to the master of ceremonies and nothing happens? They could have asked these questions and many more but they chose to obey what Mary had said by doing whatever Jesus told them to do.
Another story that should prompt us to do whatever God tells us to do is in Luke 5. Peter had toiled for the whole night, caught nothing, and thought it was over for the day. The scripture says they were washing their nets when Jesus approached with his request. Jesus taught the crowd who had come to listen to the Word of God and Peter had the opportunity to hear what Jesus taught as he was within the circumference. When Jesus finished teaching, He gave a word to Peter, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your net to catch some fish” v4.
Toiling doesn’t guarantee success as the scripture has said that “No one will succeed by strength alone” I Samuel 2:9. You need divine direction(s) from God.
Peter couldn’t hide his frustration and replied “Master, we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing.” He told Jesus what he had been through and his strategies that didn’t work. However, He said something more which is “But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again”. In other words (my own words), Peter said “If I have my way, I wouldn’t do it because we had done this throughout the night yet caught nothing But because of what you have just said, I will do it again.” In v6, the scripture says “When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break”
This reminds me of what a song writer said that “When His message comes to you, there is but one thing to do, Just obey, Just obey”
Friend, God has many blessings concerning your life. He set your course before you were born and He has equipped you for the task ahead. One thing that remains is bringing your spiritual blessings into the physical. I will liken this to having your money with your banker. The money belongs to you but it’s with your banker. Until you take steps to withdraw with your check book or visa card you will not receive physical cash.
In the same way, when God blesses you He doesn’t take it back. As such every spiritual blessings he has assigned to you is yours But you need to Act on your Faith to bring them to physical. God thought about the Universe and it came to pass. He created you to function like Him therefore when He gives you a word, or an idea, or a thought, Just Do It. Stop applying human reasoning and giving yourself excuses as to how impossible that would be. Someone thought about Computer, another thought about Internet, another thought about Email, another thought about text message, another thought about mobile phone, another thought about Facebook, another thought about WordPress, another thought about Whatsapp. What are you thinking about? What is God’s spoken word about your situation? What idea do you have? Whatever it is, JUST DO IT.
Peter, like many of us, asked Jesus “Master, what is our reward for investing everything we have in promoting Your business? (in my own words). Peter considered the opportunity cost for following Jesus and wanted to know how profitable his sacrifice would be in the end. In the same way, we are (sometimes) tempted to rethink about some sacrifices we make in our churches or individually to support God’s work.
And in Roman 10:17 (KJV) “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing the word of God” The word of God isn’t limited to the written words in the Bible but it’s also what God, through the Holy Spirit, speaks to you which is consistent with His standards in the Bible. For instance God will never tell you to steal in order to be prosperous, or sleep with a person in order for that person to marry you. These two contradict what the Bible says. Instead, God will tell you the business to do and steps to take in order to be prosperous. Therefore in order to have confidence that what you hope for will actually happen, you need to hear more of God’s word and believe in the Word.
Uplifting Christ 