Daily Encouragement

Monday, July 10, 2023

Our neighbor Doug took this photo of the two Columbia bridges from a point on the Susquehanna River off the Northwest Lancaster County rail trail near Marietta. The Turkey Hill windmills are in the background.

"The Ultimate Reward Card"

Message summary: I’m convinced that whatever rewards we experience on this side is but a glimpse of our ultimate reward. By far the best is yet to come! "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded" (Hebrews 10:35).

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“After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward’” (Genesis 15:1). “Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; in keeping them [the Scriptures] there is great reward” (Psalm 119:11). “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded” (Hebrews 10:35). "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6). “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me” (Revelation 22:12).

Most of us carry several reward cards for local supermarkets, gas stations, etc. Retailers use these reward cards to promote brand loyalty by offering small rewards when using their product. For instance Sheetz is a gas station which offers a card and when I use it I get a discount of 3 cents per gallon. They also have rewards in food but I never use these.

Credit cards also offer rewards based on how much we use them (which can also lead to careless spending!). Our Discover Card reward for some time mostly goes to get "Bath and Body Works" gift cards which I present to Brooksyne (just to see her big smile)! These rewards are appealing because they are very specific and immediate.

But today we consider spiritual rewards which are so often neglected. Sadly, for so many the attitude is, "Why wait or place my hope in some unknown, future pie in the sky reward"?

The concept of reward is found in the Scriptures as seen in our daily texts from early in Genesis to the final chapter of Revelation. Most Bible teaching about rewards presents them as future and having very little specific detail as to what they involve. They are presented as being great and certain, but just what they will be and when we receive them is not fully disclosed. This is at the heart of the faith walk we are called to live.

The first reference in the Bible is a promise to Abraham where God assures him, "I am your shield, your very great reward”. The Psalmist wrote regarding the laws of God, “Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; in keeping them [the Scriptures] there is great reward” (Psalm 119:11).

But our main focus today is a reminder from one of the key verses in the Bible, about the necessity and reward for faith: "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him". This verse goes well on the ultimate reward card I carry in my wallet which reminds me when I deal with earthly mammon what my ultimate reward will be.

Ask ye what great thing I know,
That delights and stirs me so?
What the high reward I win?
Whose the Name I glory in?
Jesus Christ, the Crucified!

Abraham never physically saw his descendants as “numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore". However by faith Abraham “considered Him faithful who had made the promise” (Hebrews 11:11).

Moses died on the east side of the Jordan after 40 extremely difficult years of leading an ungrateful and stubborn people. He never physically entered Canaan, the land promised to Abraham’s descendants. His future reward in heaven motivated him in the midst of leading a rebellious people and harsh conditions. “He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward” (Hebrews 11:26).

Stephen, the great expositor of Scripture had a promising ministry but faced a deadly hail of rocks. He would have been a very good pastor to the early church or an evangelist yet he died with confidence, looking for a future reward.

People of faith, understand this reward is coming in God’s time. It is a most certain reward. So hold on to His promises today. Some of these rewards are experienced in this life, but I’m convinced that whatever rewards we experience on this side is but a glimpse of our ultimate reward. By far the best is yet to come! "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded" (Hebrews 10:35).

This is that great thing I know;
this delights and stirs me so:
faith in Him who died to save,
His who triumphed o’er the grave:
Jesus Christ, the crucified!

Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Daily prayer: Father, we hold onto the confidence we have in You, knowing that in Your appointed time we will receive the full range of rewards that comes to those who remain steadfast in their walk with You. We have already received the reward of peace that comes from knowing our sins are forgiven. We are rewarded with Your daily presence that guides us into all truth. But we only see in part the rewards in this life that You grant to the believer, for we know You have much stored up for us to enjoy in the future eternal setting of heaven. Help us to hold on, not give up, and to greatly anticipate our future reward of eternity with You, for the half has not yet been told. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Brooksyne’s Note: As we write about the great men of faith who believed and yet did not see the promise of God come to pass in their lifetime I consider those who pray and do not see their prayers answered before they die. My parents, Brooklyn and Ruth, had a strong faith while I was a child growing up in Oklahoma. But we had a bad experience in the church when I was in high school (early 70’s) which involved my family. My parents grew bitter and "threw away their confidence" which included their fellowship with God.

Many times over the next few years when I’d visit my grandparents in Arkansas during devotions Grandpa always lifted Brooklyn and Ruth up to God in prayer asking Him to bring them back to the faith they once held. Grandma and Grandpa died in the late seventies and never saw that prayer answered on this side.

But, by the grace of God, their prayers (and mine) were answered though it took twenty four years and many, many prayers before they walked the aisles of the church again. I had the privilege of going forward with them to the altar in Sand Springs, OK on Easter Sunday in 1996, as they restored their faith in God and renewed their commitment to follow Him. Four years later Daddy, at 66 years of age, died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. One year after that Mom, at age 67, died from ovarian cancer.

The sweetest memory I recall from Dad’s last six weeks at St. Frances Hospital in Tulsa (February 2000) was the night I stayed in his room overnight (two days before his death). In the middle of the night he called out, “Mama? Mama?” He had been in a coma like state for several days. Though Mom rushed to his side we both quickly recognized it wasn’t the mother of his children that he was calling out for. He was calling his own mother’s name. He must seen her from a distance and wasn’t sure that it was her so he called out her name in a questioning sort of way. Or perhaps he saw her new radiant youthful body rather than the elderly dementia body she died in, and he wasn’t sure it was her. I also wonder.... when he met up with his dad, if Grandpa didn’t shake his finger at Daddy, and say, “Why on earth did it take you so long to get your heart right with God?”

Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources

"How Deep the Father's Love For Us" Click to listen on YouTube Phillips, Craig, & Dean

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

"Reward" Click to listen on YouTube Josh Jeoh Outstanding song out of Singapore. What a blessing that God's moving all around the world! Behind The Song Interview with Josh Yeoh "Reward"

"Ask Ye What Great Thing I Know" Click to listen on YouTube The London Fox Singers This is the hymn we quoted from today It was written in the 1700's and can be sung to the tune of "Take My Life and Let It Be".

Saturday morning several members from our ABF class went for a bike ride on the Northwest Lancaster County river trail along the Susquehanna River beginning in Columbia, PA. We posed for a photo in front of this long abandoned railroad tunnel. For many years this tunnel and many of the sites along the trail were inaccessible. For many years I recall seeing the tunnel off the Rt 30 bridge and thinking that would be a neat place explore. Now the rail trail goes right through it! I rode the entire paved portion of the trail to Falmouth PA which made for a 28 mile round trip. Brooksyne rode 23 miles round trip.

Along the trail I saw a lady standing over a turtle concerned that it would get run over but afraid to pick it up to move it. Well, I've picked up lots of turtles so I moved it to the treeline off the trail after introducing it to Falcon who had joined us for the ride. What does a turtle normally do when you pick it up?

The White Cliffs of Conoy is a huge pile of limestone waste piled along the river from a long defunct industrial site. As one site notes, "It’s entirely possible that the White Cliffs of Conoy are the first great industrial waste tourist attraction in the world."

I caught Stephen and Falcon coming around the bend after passing under the Shocks Mills railroad bridge. Falcon enjoyed the fresh moving air much like a dog that likes to stick his head out the window of a car. I suppose someday dog-lovers will insist on dog helmets, but if so we'll just have to look the other way:)

Kayaks on Susquehanna River

Wheat harvest on Susquehanna River bike trail

We passed this combine harvesting the wheat.

This trail is a very high traffic one, appreciated by many bikers and walkers, including dogs.

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