where will you get your reward?...

a pure in heart person is content with GOD's praise. they say, i want the reward of GOD, not the reward of man.

now i’ll be honest, I used to have some real battles when i would stand before the arizona/southern nevada district of the church of the nazarene to give a report on how our year at the church I pastored had been. they would look at those numbers, attendance, giving, budgets and if they didn’t exceed the year before i could have problems in my self worth. but what we do here is not for the rewards of man but for the rewards of GOD.

JESUS talked about this in matthew 6.2 (ms), when you do something for someone else, don't call attention to yourself. you've seen them in action, i'm sure—'playactors' I call them— treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. they get applause, true, but that's all they get.

the niv says in verses 2-4, ...I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. but when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. then your FATHER, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

the word reward in those verses are different words. the word reward for when you're showing off means a temporary reward. the word reward for when GOD rewards you means a permanent investment. you won't get the reward immediately but it's coming. you don't sell out the future for the present

just a thought from the front porch…