Today’s New Covenant nugget comes from Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Another way of translating this powerful scripture directly from the Greek is, “God is blessed and pleased when we place faith in Him and fully trust Him. Those who worship Him must be fully persuaded that He is a good God and that He stands ready to bless and to reward those who worship Him with total, wholehearted devotion and trust.”
IT PLEASES THE LORD WHEN WE ARE FULLY PERSUADED THAT HE IS A REWARDER OF THOSE WHO WORSHIP HIM AND HAVE FAITH IN HIM AND HIS WORD!
When we think about God, He wants us to think of Him as a good God, a faithful God, a loving, gracious God, and as a rewarder, not a harsh, angry judgmental God who is poised to punish and reject those who slip up in the smallest detail!
Many Christians, sadly do not know who God is, or what He is like… dead religions filled with people who do not have a relationship with God and who do not know the Word have taught error and have presented God as a legalistic, harsh, controlling, condemning religious being that is sitting on the edge of His throne , eagerly waiting to send people to hell for eternity. This is why many will not serve Him.
Daniel 11:32 says, “The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” When you ‘KNOW’ God and you know that He is LOVE personified, GRACE personified and GOODNESS personified… when you KNOW that He is eagerly waiting to love on you, to bless you, to make you whole and to reward you with the rewards that belong to Jesus as His child in Christ… when you KNOW Him, you shall do mighty exploits!
We need a daily revelation of Who God is… we need to know beyond any shadow of doubt that God is good, that He is for us and that He is a rewarder.
Many people criticize believers that associate the Lord with blessings and rewards, but they do not really know God – our God wants us to know that He delights in our prosperity, that He delights in rewarding us and that He loves it when we get excited and expect to receive something every time that we get into His presence!
Unmerited favor, unmerited blessings and unmerited rewards are a reality for New Covenant believers who know their God and have faith in Him. In the Old Covenant every reward had to be earned – people were rewarded for good works of obedience and punished for wrong works of disobedience. People that do not understand the difference between the two covenants still believe the Old Covenant way. Jesus was one hundred percent obedient and totally fulfilled the Law… He was punished on the cross for our disobedience, now we, being in Christ are rewarded… our reward is unmerited!
PRESENT GOD TO OTHERS AS A REWARDER…
1 Peter 2:9 (AMP) - “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
The Passion Translation says, “You are God’s chosen treasure—priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones. He called you out of darkness to experience His marvelous light, and now He claims you as His very own. He did this so that you would broadcast His glorious wonders throughout the world.”
GOD WANTS YOU TO EXPERIENCE HIS GOODNESS AND THEN TO BROADCAST IT!
Jesus called us out of darkness and blessed us - He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good and then broadcast His glorious wonders! Tell the world that He is a rewarder! Broadcast God’s true identity to everybody around the world!
ASK THE LORD TO SHOW YOU HIS GOODNESS…
Ask Him to give you a revelation of His goodness – ask the Lord to open your eyes, so that you can see His heart! Ask Him to show you how much He loves you… ask Him to open up the scriptures and REVEAL to you who He really is… and then receive His goodness, receive His grace, receive His mercy and receive His love – Receive a revelation and a renewal of the mind that will cause you to get excited every time you think about the Lord!
When you ‘KNOW’ – when you are ‘fully persuaded’ and fully convinced that He is a rewarder, it pleases the Lord! When you KNOW who He is, you will have GREAT faith and you will do mighty exploits in His Name… Selah!
In His amazing love, Nick
