Deed is an action that is performed intentionally or consciously e.g. ‘doing good deeds’
Reward is a thing given in recognition of service, effort or achievement.
Honour is to have high respect, to hold in great esteem
Revelations 22:12 ‘And behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
My prayer for us is that God will find every of our deeds good and acceptable in Jesus name.
Hebrews 11: 6 says, ‘But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he/she that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarded of them that diligently seek him.
Brethren our 1st duty is to God Almighty, Our Creator, Our Saviour, Our Deliverer, Our Provider, Our Healer our everything, without Him, you and I are nothing and we can do absolutely nothing.
The Bible says in Matthew 22:37-38 ‘Jesus said unto Him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with thy soul and with all thy mind’.
Brethren our first Deed of Honour is to our God:
In the Book of Genesis 4:3-5 The Bible tells a very interesting and sad story of two Brothers Cain & Abel born of the same Father & Mother (Adam & Eve), so this tells us they came from the same background, it means they must have been taught the ways of Jehovah The God of heaven & earth. I want to believe they knew what God expected of them.
The Bible tells us from the book of Genesis 4:3-5 that in the process of time (when Cain & Abel had come of age) they brought an offering unto the Lord, Cain a tiller of the ground brought of the fruit of the ground, an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.
In other words Cain brought what he taught he had (even though that was not what God required of him). He must have thought to himself, He (God) has to accept it, after all that is what I have. The Bible says as a man thinketh in his heart so he is (Proverbs 23:7 Cain had a wrong attitude).
But his Brother Abel brought to God his very best (the first fruits of all that God had blessed him with and he also presented it with the whole of his heart and with gladness too) He gave God what He required of him.
If we remember vividly from the story of their parents (Adam & Eve) in Genesis 3 when they disobeyed God and fell short of His glory, God had to kill a sheep, (the Bible says in Hebrews 9:22 that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin) and then God used the skin of the animal to cover their nakedness. I believe their parents must have lectured them on this but Cain refused to learn, he came across as being very proud, pompous, hot headed, because when he saw that his Brothers offering had been accepted, his countenance fell and he became wrath(angry), so much so that God saw it and warned him, He asked him, why are you angry, if you did well, will I not have accepted you, you need to be very careful sin is at your door, don’t let it rule over you. God was offering him a second chance to amend his ways but because he was so full of himself he took the long rope of God’s mercy for granted, sin eventually became his Master when he allowed his anger & rage move him to take his own Brother’s life.
The Bible makes us to understand from Genesis 4:4b-5a that God had respect unto Abel and his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect.
Brethren our God is a God that does not take Bribe (Deuteronomy 10:17 ‘For the Lord our God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes, the New International version)
Brethren before we can come to Him to offer anything, we must first offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, He needs to know us and call us His own.
You cannot rob God of His tithe and say to yourself, He will understand, I will give Him a wholesome offering, that will make up.
Brethren it does not work that way, we need to seek and serve Him diligently by obeying Him totally not partially.
The Bible again brings to our attention the story of a great woman, who lived in a city called Shunem in the Book of 2Kings 4:8-36 we will not be reading for time.
Some people called her The Shunammite woman, the Bible said she watched Prophet Elisha from afar, coming and going as he went about God’s business and she perceived in her spirit that this man was a holy man of God and she pleaded with her husband, Please My husband let us set for this man of God, a bed, a table, a stool and a candlestick, so that anytime he comes to town for God’s business, he will have a comfortable place to stay and her husband agreed with her.
And the Bible says and it fell on a day, a day of remembrance, some people might call it pay day.
For someone here today under the sound of my voice, I declare to you today that your day of remembrance has come, God Almighty will remember you for good today in the name of Jesus.
So because this woman allowed the ark of God to rest in her house, a challenge the she had long forgotten, a challenge that she felt had no solution was re-visited and God Almighty remembered her for good and it did not stop there, later on when the devil reared his ugly head in an attempt to steal, to kill and to destroy, God Almighty yet again remembered her good deed of honour by delivering her son from the clutches of death.
The Bible says in Proverbs 10:22 ‘The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich and added no sorrow to it.
Matthew 10:41 says ‘He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophets reward.
In the Book of Acts 9: 36:41
The Bible introduced us to a woman called Tabitha (which by interpretation was called Dorcas) she was a woman who was full of good works and alms deeds which she did.
The Bible makes us to understand that her good works and alms deeds was not done in vain, because on the day her good works were to speak for her, it did not keep silent, her good works moved God to raise her back to life.
Galatians 6:10 says ‘As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto those who are of the household of faith’.
Galatians 6:7-9 ‘Do not be deceived, God cannot be mocked, a man reaps whatever he sows.
Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction, whoever sows to please the Spirt, from the Spirit will reap eternal life’. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up’.
Brethren God cannot be mocked indeed, as long as the earth remaineth seed time and harvest time will not cease, life is about sowing and reaping, the harvest we reap is dependent on what we sow. If we sow good seeds, we will definitely reap a good harvest.
Most times the seeds we sow, we might not be the ones to reap, but our children and generation unborn will be the ones to reap of the harvest we have sowed.
Gehazi in the Book of 2 Kings 5 sowed greediness and selfishness and he reaped leprosy for himself and his generation (even the ones yet unborn) this will not be our portion in Jesus name.
He was supposed to follow in the footsteps of his Master Elisha by seeking to inherit the anointing upon his Master. His Master died without bequeathing the anointing of God upon his life to a faithful servant. His bones in a grave raised a dead man back to life.
Our Father in heaven is reminding us in this season that para-adventure we have been doing Deeds of Honour and we feel He has forgotten our deeds of honour, He says He will remember us for good, He will visit us with His Divine Favour and reward us in Jesus name.
He is also encouraging someone here today that if you have not been engaging in Deeds of Honour, today is your day of salvation, you can start today and He will definitely reward you in Jesus name.
Prayers
Father answer me in the day of my trouble; send me help from your sanctuary in Jesus name.
Father may your name defend and protect me and my household in Jesus name.
Father remember me and have respect upon me and upon my offering in Jesus name.
Father as I delight myself in you grant me my hearts desires and make all my plans succeed in Jesus name.
The sermon, May The God of Heaven Remember All Your Offerings, by Pastor Anthonia Obafaiye, was delivered on April 3rd, 2016