REWARDS IN SERVING GOD 1

1 PRAISE THE LORD! HOW JOYFUL ARE THOSE WHO FEAR THE LORD AND DELIGHT IN OBEYING HIS COMMANDS.
2 THEIR CHILDREN WILL BE SUCCESSFUL EVERYWHERE; AN ENTIRE GENERATION OF GODLY PEOPLE WILL BE BLESSED.
3 THEY THEMSELVES WILL BE WEALTHY, AND THEIR GOOD DEEDS WILL LAST FOREVER.
4 Light shines in the darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.
5 GOOD COMES TO THOSE WHO LEND MONEY GENEROUSLY AND CONDUCT THEIR BUSINESS FAIRLY.
6 SUCH PEOPLE WILL NOT BE OVERCOME BY EVIL. Those who are righteous will be long remembered.
7 They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them.
8 THEY ARE CONFIDENT AND FEARLESS AND CAN FACE THEIR FOES TRIUMPHANTLY."
Psalm 112:1-8 (NLT)

• There is a Joy in doing God's Will or command. That is, there is a blessing in obeying whatever is commanded by God.

• Living for God is profitable, because covenant is established through obedience to God's instructions or commands.
• When you live by God's principles, as found in His Word, the Bible, you become His friend (John 15:14). The blessings of God on whoever lives by His principles would be extended to the descendants or generations of such a person:
  2 HIS DESCENDANTS WILL BE MIGHTY ON EARTH; THE GENERATION OF THE UPRIGHT WILL BE BLESSED. 3 WEALTH AND RICHES WILL BE IN HIS HOUSE, AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER" (Psalm 112:2,3 NKJV).
• Your obedience to the Word of God, that is, the good deeds of yours, is the foundation of an enviable future for your children (Psalm 112:2).
• The generation of the righteous shall be blessed. The reason being that, whatever you do today is a seed that would germinate and bear fruit and be harvested.

• Some have thought that there are no rewards or benefits in serving God (Malachi 3:17,18).

• They believe the lot of whoever is serving God should be poverty or lack, and sorrows; but the Bible does not say that.
• Such people usually talk about the narrow Way. Following a narrow Way does not mean you should be in abject poverty (Matthew 7:14). God is not unjust! He wants the best for His children:
  9 "OR WHAT MAN IS THERE AMONG YOU WHO, IF HIS SON ASKS FOR BREAD, WILL GIVE HIM A STONE? 10 "OR IF HE ASK FOR A FISH, WILL GIVE HIM A SERPENT? 11 "IF YOU THEN, BEING EVIL, KNOW HOW TO GIVE GOOD GIFTS TO YOUR CHILDREN, HOW MUCH MORE WILL YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN GIVE GOOD THINGS TO THOSE WHO ASK HIM" (Matthew 7:9-11 NKJV).
• If it is taught that God would bless whoever is serving Him and faithful in their walking with Him, they would not want to hear it. Such people or so-called believers say they are against the prosperity gospel.
• The gospel is about good news of Christ Jesus. And the good news simply means that Christ Jesus came to the world, suffered and died for the sins of mankind. And through Him, those who believe in His substitutionary sacrifice, death and resurrection, would be reconciled to God and be saved (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).
• Those who believe in Christ Jesus are made the righteousness of God: "FOR HE MADE HIM WHO KNEW NO SIN TO BE SIN FOR US, THAT WE MIGHT BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM" (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV).
• And the Scripture says, Jesus became poor that we might be rich: "FOR YOU KNOW THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, THAT THOUGH HE WAS RICH, YET FOR YOUR SAKES HE BECAME POOR, THAT YOU THROUGH HIS POVERTY MIGHT BE RICH" (2 Corinthians 8:9 NKJV).

• Those who are against prosperity in the church of Christ Today: Are they saying, It is not God's Will to bless His people? But the Scripture says, God has pleasure in the prosperity of His servants (Psalm 35:27).

• Every move of God is always abused or bastardized, but that does not mean the move is not of God. It is true that some have taken advantage of others, collecting money through gimmickry, but it does not mean God's principle of Giving which is found in the Bible is not true or genuine. The principle is real and it is biblical!
• A number of those who are coming to Christ now might not know the Genesis of this. In the early days of charismatic move in Africa, the gospel of hardship was prevalent, which some believe that one had to suffer and get to heaven through tribulations (Acts 14:22).
• The believers, the born-agains, were like outcasts in the society. They stigmatized them, gave them all manner of dirty names. In fact, being born-again then was synonymous with poverty or lack. The outlook or appearance of whoever becomes a Believer or born-again then was not comely At all.
• When the move of God on prosperity teaching started, If they saw any believer who is well dressed, they called them "social SU" those are the born-agains. They call them SU which is an abbreviation of the Scripture Union, a group that spearheaded the move then in the 70s and 80s in Nigeria and some other African nations. People started saying the born-agains are now socializing.

• Some preachers resisted it, and fought against the new move. But the truth is, being materially blessed is part of the redemption package. God wants His children to be blessed.

• And besides, without material prosperity, the gospel cannot be effectively propagated. In fact, the devil would prefer to have a poor church than a sick church. A poor church cannot send missionaries to foreign nations. A poor church cannot get enough money to reach out to different strata or classes of society. The professionals and those At the top echelons might not be reached with the gospel If the church remained poor.
• These and many other genuine reasons makes it necessary and Important for the church of Christ Jesus to be financially blessed and equipped. It takes money to do a lot of meaningful things in the Kingdom of God on earth. If the people of God are not blessed, How would they finance His work?
• There is a strong move now against prosperity gospel especially across the social media platforms. Some call it transactional gospel, but the Truth is, Prosperity is part of the redemption. Abundant life is not against abundant blessings! God wants His children, people, prosper materially: "LET THEM SHOUT FOR JOY AND BE GLAD, WHO FAVOUR MY RIGHTEOUS CAUSE; AND LET THEM SAY CONTINUALLY, "LET THE LORD BE MAGNIFIED, WHO HAS PLEASURE IN THE PROSPERITY OF HIS SERVANT" (Psalm 35:27 NKJV).

• You will not fail in Jesus' name.

• If you are sick in your body, I declare your healing now in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
• Healing is children's bread, and living in health is part of the redemption package, thus, ailments or sicknesses are not permitted in your body, receive your healing now in Jesus' name.
  Peace!
  TO BE CONTINUED

STEPS TO SALVATION
• Take notice of this:
IF you are yet to take the step of salvation, that is, yet to be born-again, do it now, tomorrow might be too late (2 Corinthians 6:1,2; Hebrews 3:7,8,15).
a. Acknowledge that you are a sinner and confess your Sins (1 John 1:9); And ask Jesus Christ to come into your life (Revelation 3:20).
b. Confess that you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that you confess it with your mouth, Thus, you accept Him As your Lord and Saviour (Romans 10:9,10).
c. As you took the steps A and B your name is written in the Book of Life (Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:8).

• If you took the steps As highlighted above, congratulations, It means you are saved—born-again. Join a Word based church in your area and Town or city, and be part of whatever they are doing there. Peace!