Attracting God’s reward demands doing more than others

Matthew 19:27-29, “Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? 28: And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

29: And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.”

There is no promotion or reward without a sacrifice or serious commitment. Our relationship with God, our creator, is replete with the activities of sowing and reaping. Promotion, although comes from God, is, however, the result of consistent sacrifice.

The road to success, especially when it is from God, is always under construction and one must be prepared to go the extra mile in it to attract God’s blessings and rewards. One should put in more effort to populate God’s Kingdom and execute other kingdom-driven projects.

In the lead scripture, Apostle Peter asked our Lord Jesus Christ their reward for abandoning their possessions to follow Him. The answer was both emphatic and encouraging. Our Lord Jesus Christ replied that whosoever follows Him in the work of regeneration will receive 100 times whatever he/she had lost, have everlasting life, and will also sit on the throne judging over the 12 tribes of Israel.

The term regeneration translated from the Greek word, “palingenesia” implies the new birth of Christians in Jesus, a re-creation of the social order and the renewal of the earth when the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ comes.

Again, the people who followed Him will be judges in the new kingdom. Our Lord Jesus Christ’s prediction discloses how the promise made in Isaiah 1:26 will be fulfilled when the new kingdom will be set up.

The kingdom will be administered over Israel through the apostles according to the ancient theocratic judgeship (Judges 2:18). These are the reward of their sacrifices in following Jesus Christ.

Most times the level of sacrifice determines the degree of reward expected. There are people who give out of necessity or out of their abundance. There are also those who wholeheartedly give all they have to evangelise the world.

Our Lord Jesus Christ in Mark 12:41-44 said: “And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42: And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

43: And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they, which have cast into the treasury. 44: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”

According to Jesus Christ, the level of sacrifice made by the woman who put a farthing in the offering box was much more than that of the wealthy men who offered millions. The poor widow gave all she had, while others had much but gave a token. In the reward package, the woman will get more even though she offered a farthing.

A farthing translated from Greek currency, courantes, was worth about a quarter of one American cent. Four farthings were equal to one Cassius, which is about one American cent today. The mite, the smallest coin of the Greek currency, lepton, was half of a farthing and worth about one-eighth of the American cent.

In the days of our Lord Jesus Christ, Roman, Greek, Syrian, and Egyptian currencies were circulating freely in Israel. From these explanations, one should know that it is not necessarily the amount one gives that matters, but the motive and the financial worth of the giver to what he or she has given that matters.

By all standards, farthing was an insignificant amount; it could not buy anything, yet that was all the widow had and she gave it out. It was her level of sacrifice that attracted the attention of our Lord Jesus Christ. The reward of the widow will, indeed, be enormous both here on earth and in heaven.

At the age of 115, Abraham wanted to sacrifice his only 15-year-old son as a burnt offering to God. In His divine calculation, God’s consideration of the great sacrifice meant a higher reward, hence His reaction in Genesis 22:15-18: “And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16: And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son.

17: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18: And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”

As a result of this singular attempted sacrifice, Abraham was blessed in all areas of life to the extent that he was called the father of all faithful. Isaac was a promised child who came to manifestation 25 years after the promise was made. Both Abraham and Sarah, his wife, had passed childbearing age, yet on God’s instruction, Abraham wanted to sacrifice their only son. God saw it as a great sacrifice.

On her own part, Queen Esther put her life on the line to stop the extermination of the Jews, her people. Harman had bribed his way through and concluded plans to exterminate all the Jews in Shushan. It was only through the intervention of the king that this wicked plan could be averted. The Jews needed to meet King Ahasuerus to explain their innocence and for his intervention.

According to the law of Mede-Persian, nobody goes to the king without invitation, including the Queen, other wives and his concubines. Whosoever went to the king uninvited must be killed unless the king stretched out the golden sceptre.

To save the Jews, Queen Esther had to defy this law, saying in Esther 4:15-16: “Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, 16: Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.” Saving her people was uppermost in her mind; her life notwithstanding.

Fortunately, the king extended the hand of invitation by holding out the golden sceptre and Queen Esther and the entire Jewish race in Shushan were saved. The table later turned around when the man who hatched the plan to exterminate the Jews was hanged in the gallows he prepared for Mordecai, one of the Jews.

The three Hebrew young men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship the golden image of King Nebuchadnezzar. The king had decreed that any defaulter would be thrown into the burning fiery furnace.

He made this declaration in Daniel 3:5-7: “That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: 6: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.

7: Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of musick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.”

This order must be obeyed in his kingdom and all the provinces under him. The fear of death forced the people to adhere to the decree, but the three Hebrew young men told him to his face that they will not obey the order. They made themselves clear in Daniel 3:16-18, saying: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.

17: If it is so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.18: But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” These young men were ready to be thrown into the fiery furnace than to bow for the image.

As they answered the king, he grew angrier and ordered that the furnace be made hotter. When the young men were eventually thrown into the furnace, the heat from the fire killed the soldiers that threw them into the fire, but nothing happened to the three men thrown into it. Hearing of this, the king went to see things by himself and instead of seeing three people in the fire he saw four men walking around in it. He then directed that the three men be brought out from the fire and promoted them. The king ordered that everybody in his kingdom should from then on begin to worship the Supreme God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

King Nebuchadnezzar believed that it was the Almighty God that delivered the three young men. They put their lives on the line to prove that only God can save and thereby caused a revival in Babylon.

You too can cause revival in your town, in your street, in the market or in your workplace by devoting time to preach the gospel at all times and also not compromising with evil people to promote the devil. This demands strong faith in God and dedication to duty. Whosoever does more than others will attract God’s blessings, promotions and eternal life in heaven.

Testimony Of The Lord’s Doing: God Of Chosen Answers Prayers
My name is Sister Eucheria Charles. I joined The Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Movement in 2017 and I thank God for making my family and me members of the Church. I appreciate God for granting us a safe journey from Kaduna to Lagos for this programme.

My first testimony is on behalf of my brother’s wife. After delivering her baby last year, she began to experience a series of attacks. My younger brother, who is also a pastor, prayed all manner of prayers for her, yet there was no solution. My brother then called me to call the God of my pastor to save his wife. Immediately, after I heard of this, I left the Northern region for the East region, where they reside. I went to the hospital where she was admitted with my apron and when the medical doctor saw me, he asked why do I have to come to the hospital with my apron. I told him that the apron is fire, naked wire and that he should not touch it. At this stage, my brother’s wife could not talk or make any move; she was on oxygen with all parts of her body swollen.

Seeing her in that critical state, I removed my apron and placed it on her and called upon the God of Chosen to intervene. In no time, her life was restored and she was discharged on the same day from the hospital. Praise God!

Also, one of my twin babies was always bedwetting, even at the age of 17. Some people advised me I should take them to the hospital for a checkup, but I refused and instead told them that I know the God I serve. I then brought the twins to the Mgbidi Crusade, Lagos experience and after the programme – they received their healing. No more bedwetting. Praise the Lord, God of Chosen is great!