Blessing & Reward

Matthew 10:22 (NLT®)
“All nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved.”

Have you ever planted a vegetable garden and found yourself growing things you didn't intend to grow? The same conditions that are ideal for growing the vegetables you planted are ideal for growing the weeds that came in uninvited. When it comes to gardening, it takes vigilance and hard work to get the outcomes you want. The same is true spiritually. As we approach the end of the age, the same conditions that will allow God’s Spirit to move in ways we’ve never seen will also allow for an unholy spiritual explosion. Jesus said His people will experience hatred like we’ve never known before. He wants us to know this and be prepared. He also wants us to know His faithful followers will have nothing to fear because our judgment will not be one of condemnation—but of blessing and reward.

THINK ABOUT IT
Remember, even though we will face challenges, whatever we endure in this life will be more than rewarded in the next!

PRAYER
Heavenly Father, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35, 38–39, NIV84®).