God Rewards You

Part I

Pastor Young Joon Park

September 7, 2008

 

We are living by faith daily.

You sit on a chair because you believe that the chair is safe to sit on.

You stay in this building because you believe that this building is safe to stay inside. 

I cannot make a list of what you believe in your daily lives because faith comes in so many ways. We cannot live without faith. We will live full of doubt if we do not have faith.

You will be afraid of everything all the time if you do not have faith.

 

Faith has a source to believe. In many cases the sources are not stable or unsafe.

For example, we live on a strong foundation of land and rock. We will find that this ground is not really stable and safe when the earthquake hits the ground.

We eat fruits and all kinds of food. We think that all food is safe to eat, but you will be shocked when you hear the report about processed food in the supermarkets.

Like the watermelon problem several years ago.

 

We have seen so many people up and down struggling with emotional problems and have unstable lives.

People have conflicts all the time and live with anxiety and depression.

We can even see this kind of life among Christians. The main reason is the lack of faith. I am not talking about the knowledge of faith, but we really need to live like what we believe.  If we do not live like what we believe, then we have to change our life and need to walk by faith from now on.

 

As Christians, we have a firm, safe, and strong foundation with unlimited resources from the Lord. This brings security and truth.

 

I. The Christian life is faith in God

 

Hebrews 11:6

And 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.

 

1. Jesus praised the person who had faith

 

  1) A Centurion – Matthew 8:5-13

9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ¡®Go,¡¯ and he goes; and that one, ¡®Come,¡¯ and he comes. I say to my servant, ¡®Do this,¡¯ and he does it.¡±

10 When Jesus heard this, He was astonished and said to those following Him, ¡°I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

 

  2) A woman who had been bleeding for 12 years – Matthew 9:18-20

20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and touched the edge of His cloak.

21 She said to herself, ¡°If I only touch His cloak, I will be healed.¡±

22 Jesus turned and saw her. ¡°Take heart, daughter,¡± He said, ¡°your faith has healed you.¡± And the woman was healed from that moment.

 

  3) A Canaanite woman – Matthew 15:22-28

28 Then Jesus answered, ¡°Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.¡± And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

 

  4) The friends¡¯ faith – Mark 2:1-12

2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ¡°Son, your sins are forgiven.¡±

 

 

2. Jesus rebuked the people who had no faith

 

  1) His Disciples – Mark 4:35-41

40 He said to his disciples, ¡°Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?¡±

 

2) Peter – Matthew 14:25-31

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.

¡°You of little faith,¡± he said, ¡°why did you doubt?¡±

 

3. Jesus tested people¡¯s faith

 

  1) His Disciples – John 6:5-6

5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, He said to Philip, ¡°Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?¡±

6 He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.

 

 

4. Jesus encouraged us to have faith

 

  1) The power - a mustard seed faith – Matthew 17:20

He replied, ¡°Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith

as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ¡®Move from here to there¡¯

and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.¡¯¡±

 

  2) Resurrection – no fear – Mark 5:36

¡°Don¡¯t be afraid; just believe.¡±

 

  3) Everything is possible – Mark 9:23-24

Mk 9:23 ¡° ¡®If you can¡¯?¡± said Jesus. ¡°Everything is possible for him who believes.¡±

Mk 9:24 Immediately the boy¡¯s father exclaimed, ¡°I do believe; help me overcome my

unbelief!¡±

      because nothing is impossible with God

Luke 18:27

But He said, ¡°The things that are impossible with people are possible with God.¡±

 

 

5. Two Pillars of our faith

Hebrews 11:6

And 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.

 

1) He who comes to God must believe that He is.

Hebrews 13:5-6

5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ¡°I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,¡±

6 so that we confidently say,

¡°The Lord is My Helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?¡±

2) He must believe that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

 

     a) We need to diligently seek Him

James 1:3-4

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 

     b) We need to know that our God is generous to us.

James 1:5

5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

 

     c) We have to have faith in Him and trust Him alone

James 1:6-8

6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

  3) The result of this kind of faith - We can please Him with our faith

Hebrews 11:6

And 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.

 

 

My testimony

Last night, when I was preparing this message I had severe pain in my stomach and around my kidney area.

I could not bear the pain, so I walked around my house for a while.

But it was not getting better. And I sat down and started to check where the pain might be coming from.

It might have come from a physical problem that I never noticed before, I might have felt someone else¡¯s pain from among our people, or Janet¡¯s pain because of the cancer. I did not recognize it anyway, but I started to pray. I began to pray for Janet, for someone who might be in pain among our One Glory Church members, or someone related to me in the Lord. I also began to pray for anyone in my family, and lastly for my own physical situation.

 

The message that God gave me is living by faith, and I thought about it.

I really needed to step out by faith and pray in this area.

I asked the Lord for this message to become my personal testimony before I deliver it to our congregation.

I prayed for a while and I felt the pain leaving, but I wanted to make sure it was really gone. Yes, it really was gone. I asked myself, ¡°where did this pain come from?¡±

 

We really need to live by faith and then we will have a testimony.

 

I will share many testimonies for this message, so you can apply it in your life in a detailed and practical way. I want to see all of you experience the Living God in your daily life.

 

 

II. Live by faith

 

Jim Williams – general paralysis - when he was in 11th grade

He could move his head a little, one arm up to ¨ù inch, only 2 fingers

His lung function – 1/8 – he used special equipment for his breathing.

His parents were divorced, and no one took care of him, so he was in the care center.

He encountered Jesus during this difficult time.

He hungered for the Lord, and he started to ask the Lord what he needs.

He wanted to become familiar with the Word of God, so he got to know the bible very well even though he could not open the Bible because of his physical condition.

He started giving to the Lord without any income.

He had a great desire to share the Gospel with the lost, but he could not go out to the streets, so he asked the Lord to send people to his place.

 

His life had no hope from a human¡¯s perspective.

 

God used him for His Kingdom in a miraculous way to impact so many young people to bring to the Kingdom of God.  But he was still not healed from the paralysis.

 

Finally God took him home.

Funeral – the church was filled with many young people who were impacted by him.

 

He walked by faith daily with the Lord, and this is why he could live victoriously regardless of his physical disability.

 

We do not have a problem like Jim¡¯s, but we all have different kinds of problems we are facing all the time.

 

How can the Lord work in our lives? We have to have the desire for God to use us for His Kingdom.

 

Hebrews 11:6

And 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.

                                       

 We need to seek the Lord and have faith in Him for this kind of desire.

 

1. God cares about your problems

I Peter 5:7

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

 

He is our solution for all our problems.

He healed the sick, raised the dead, brought the good news to the poor, fed the hungry, comforted people¡¯s sorrows, and helped people in every area.

Even today in the same way, He helps us in every area.

 

Testimony #1

Young couple with financial problems

They started to pray together for their need.

Same day – she visited her former work place where she worked only during the summer.

The manager called her and gave her some money that was deducted for her retirement from her salary. She did not expect the money.

That evening, her husband got a job paying $20 an hour.

 

Testimony #2

A soldier couple

Wife was pregnant 9 months, husband was assigned for the new tour, so he has to leave on a certain day, but he wanted to see his baby before his tour started.

Tomorrow he has to leave, and he does not have a chance to see his baby

 if his wife does not give birth today. They stepped forward by faith and prayed together. So they prayed for their baby¡¯s birth according to Hebrews 11:6 by faith, and they did not stop there. They decided to act on what they had prayed for and what they believed for.

So by faith they drove the car to the military hospital. She did not have any contractions at all.

They could not admit her into the hospital without any symptoms according to the military hospital rules.

They tried to find the right words to say for about 30 minutes in order to admit her into the hospital before they entered the building. So they just walked into the hospital and dealt with the situation in the best way they could.

As soon as they walked into the hospital, the contractions started and she had the baby within two hours. So the father got to see the baby. Also they found out that if the baby would have been born any later then it would be in a complicated situation because of the Rh blood type.

What is your problem now? Is this the same problem as last year¡¯s?

Then it is a good time to seek the Lord to solve the problem and practice your faith.

And Our God will take care of you.

 

2. God helps you to use your potential

John 15:16

You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.

 

 

Testimony #1

One couple Eddy and Judy

They evaluated their life, and they wanted to grow in faith.

They evaluated their financial area first.

They found that they were in debt  $1000 every month.

So they prayed together about this situation by faith according to Hebrews 11:6, and started to trust the Lord alone. That was their first step.

On the same day the husband got an extra job making $1500 more income each month.

This is not the end of their testimony.

Judy had a desire to open her house to start a Cell Group fellowship, so she can serve the Lord to help other people to grow in the Lord. At the same time she thought about quitting her job to use her time freely for other people¡¯s spiritual growth.

She discussed the resignation of her job with her husband, and after one week her husband let her quit her job. On one condition – get rid of all credit cards, and trust the Lord alone regarding their financial area.

After Sunday service – one lady talked to Judy thinking that Judy might start a Cell Group fellowship soon. So she started it with her. This group is getting bigger and bigger, and also she has invited a special guest speaker from another church. And then she had more invitations from different organizations, and she became a well-known speaker to the public.

And she resigned from her job. The reason stated on the resignation paper was ¡°for the Lord¡±

The personal office manager wondered about the reason – this was an opportunity to share the gospel.  Her husband was ready to follow the Lord wherever He leads him to.

 

We have a potential gift from the Lord, but we can not find it until we come out from it and walk by faith.

 

 Faith brings transformation continually to our daily lives.

Our faith is not just to solve our problems, but it is more than that.

When we learn how to rely on Him, then we are going to become the right person to the Lord.

 

3. Walk by faith

Mark 10:27

Looking at them, Jesus *said, ¡°With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.¡±

 

You might have thought that you have faith in the Lord, but why have you not shared the same kinds of experiences as those who gave the testimonies above. What is their secret?

 

The secret is simple.

We have to trust the Lord and rely on Him alone, and then God releases the miracles and wonders in your life.

 

You need only your faith in the Lord. That is what you need.

You can please the Lord with your faith, because it is impossible to please the Lord without faith.

 

Hebrews 11:

Abraham – he was a liar and fearful man.

David – he was an adulterer and murderer

 

They were all people of faith who trusted the Lord alone throughout their life.

They made some mistakes in certain areas of their life, but they did not live in sin continually because they had faith in God.

 

God¡¯s people can make mistakes, but they are not to continue with the same mistakes.

 

God does not give us the credit because it depends on how we keep all the laws and follow the rules with obligation.

 

Our Father God wants to give us the best things in our life as He promised in John 10:10.

The only key to open this promise is to trust the Lord.

 

Faith is to make a decision to act on what the Lord has promised in order to be fulfilled and to please Him.

 

We will go through difficult times and problems continually, so we have to walk by faith each and every day. Then your life will not be miserable, but it will become adventurous and full of experiences with God.

 

 

Challenge

 

Do you have a desire to receive a reward from the Lord? Also do you want your life to shift to a new level of transformation?

What areas do you want to change in order to go to the new level?

Find out what you need to do according to Hebrews 11:6.

Trust the Lord that He wants to reward you.