Sunday 14 July 2013

PRIVATE PREPARATION DETERMINES PUBLIC PERFORMANCE PT2

MEMORY VERSE: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. Matthew 6:4

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Lev 14, Ps 17, Prov 28,2 Thes 2

BIBLE STUDIES: Matthew 14:22-33

In Matthew 14:22-33 is a story we all know. It was late at night, there were no ship around and the disciples of Jesus were in a ship far away in the middle of the sea. Since there were no means of transportation, Jesus decided to walk on the sea towards them. Peter saw Jesus walking on water and requested to join Him. Jesus told him no problem and immediately Peter got on water and began to walks towards Jesus. After Peter had taken few steps he noticed the wind and began to panic. Before you know it Peter began to sink, he called on Jesus and was saved.

One very important lesson from this passage is that immediately you allow fear in your heart, you begin to sink and if you don’t take time the challenges might drown you so please do not entertain fear in your heart. Jesus and Peter walked on the same water, how come only Peter sank? Aside from the fact that Peter entertained fear, while Jesus was on the mountain praying, Peter was busy chatting away with his fellow disciples. Because Peter had not made any private preparation (spiritually), a little wind made him lost his composure and he began to sink.

Matthew 6:4 says that thine alms may be in secret: and thy father which seeth in secret Himself shall reward thee openly. What this literally means is everything we do in the secret will be rewarded in the open. If you are pretending that you are Christian in the open and you are committing secret sins like adultery and fornication e.t.c ,the reward is coming except you repent. If on the other hand you are serving God sincerely, laboring for the propagation of the gospel day and night, people might not see it or take notice of it but the Lord who sees your effort in the secret will reward it in the open. Just of recent a brother was sharing a big testimony with me. The brother won a scholarship and the university said they were going to pay his tuition and other expenses throughout the period of his study in the university i.e. for three years he wasn’t going to pay a dime! When he calculated the whole expenses, it was over fifty thousand pounds and the Lord paid it before he even started university. I know the Lord really loves this brother and this is a public show of affection by the Most High but do you know that this brother belongs to virtually all the groups in the church? Oh yes, he is part of the evangelism group, prayer warrior, drama, sanctuary cleaner, usher, church greeters e.t.c. Most people do not even know how much this brother labors for God in the secret but the Lord who saw his activities in the secret has rewarded him in the open. 

QUESTION: What are you doing for God in the secret that He can reward you in the open for?

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