"Father, hide us behind the cross so the Holy Spirit can speak through the blood of Jesus, in humility! We beat our chest daily, no matter how much they use us and take advantage of us. Father, help us not to fall into any temptation of lifting ourselves above others. Help me to deliver this message in the spirit of humility, with fire but humility. Open our eyes to see, and open our ears to hear what the Spirit is saying!
The Spirit is saying, "When you think you know everything, that is when you stop learning." Pride is unteachable! Let's be hungry for the Spirit of the Lord because the Spirit only feeds those who are hungry! He receives the humble! Grace is everything! Every good and perfect gift comes from above (James 1:17), but He resists the proud! The only blessing, true blessing, comes only from Him. Come out from among them! Separate yourself from those with a corrupt heart. Promotion is in Him. You have the wrong eyes; you can't see what you really should be seeing!
Let's read Matthew 6:1-4. Don't sound the trumpet on the streets or in the church so people can see what you do for God (verse 2)! You already got your reward: the praise from man! There is a difference between testimony, pure honor, and man-pleasing. If you don't know the difference, you will never be able to give anything or receive anything with purity.
The most important thing is to know for whom you are doing what you are doing. People only want to do things with excellence when people are watching and supervising them. What you do for men, only that person will see, but God sees it all. People don't do things with all their hearts; they are hypocrites. But when we do something in secret, that is really who we are! We need to observe the reasons why we do what we do! Always for the eyes of one, for His eyes to see! For the audience of one: Him!
Today's message is a warning so you can start being concerned about what God thinks when He sees: our hearts, our motives, and our doings. It is not about what we give. It is about to whom we give and why! Everything you do, you better do it for Christ! There is a war because of your character. God is very much concerned about our character, about things that are seen only through the eyes of God and through the eyes of men that see things with the eyes of God. Why are you not blessed by God? Because you are not doing anything for HIM! It is only then that you will get pure honor!
You can't be waiting for people to say to you all the time, "Good job, guys!" Because you are not doing it for them, for men, but for God, are you not?
Even the disciples had different reasons why they followed Jesus. But He was looking for clean hands and a pure heart, genuine reasons why!
There are many times we will do our alms in public (verse 3,4)! But Jesus was not talking about it in this case. He is talking about blowing your trumpet so that all eyes can be on you. Religious people will say, "Oh, you have videos of your work." Nope! The intention is different and pure: to give people a chance to be delivered, to be transformed, and to inspire the giant Church to be awakened for the works of the Lord. If giving alms in public is prohibited even when your heart is pure, that means that Jesus sinned when He fed 5 thousand people (Mark 6:30-43)! Now, as a Body of Christ, see much deeper about these hands that do the works. True generosity comes from a selfless heart, not from a desire for public accolades or personal glory. God will keep you where you are until you learn to be humble.
People are shouting, "Lo here! Lo there!" No. In Luke 17, verses 20 and 21, it says the Kingdom is not by observation but is within! So, everything we do, we have to do from within. It does not matter how good you do it or how many things you do. God is saying, "I don't want you to do it because you are not doing it for Me."
Look at this passage in Psalm 75:4-7. Don't lift your own horn! You want to anoint you! You want to reward your own self! Don't speak with a stiff neck! Promotion does not come from your family, from your boss, from your leader, this person, or that person! In the religious system, the higher you get up the ladder of man, the harder the fall when they kick you out of that place. Worse damage it does to you! You will get hurt the most! Bruises and wounds will be great! Don't be Humpty Dumpty! God puts one down and exalts the other! Be careful!
Regarding spiritual parenting, as mentioned in Ephesians 6:1-7, we must consider it a spiritual thing! We always must obey our parents in the natural, not only when they are in town. Honor is not something you do in front of people, but even in their absence! Honor is what fulfilled all of the promises from God to us! It has nothing to do with us honoring people only when they are doing everything right. It has nothing to do with what you do in front of them, but also behind closed doors! We must change our mindsets: "I know my father and mother love us, and because of that, I will respect what they tell me." Honor means that you defend what they say and what they want, and you will even defend them during an ocean of accusations. Peter did not honor Jesus and did not defend Him! He ran for his life! But no. We must stand up for people we honor. You are not a coward! If I start living for His face, I will do everything that pleases Him, and honor really pleases Him! What a promise He has for those who honor! "That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." Verse 3
Have we ever preached to bring honor to our own self? No. We are always pointing to Jesus. God promotes us openly! When you are looking for your reward in man, you have already gotten your reward! That is why it is a holy calling to bring God's children up in the stature and admonition of the Lord (verse 4).
Servants, serve with the fear of the Lord, with singleness of your heart (verse 5). It does not matter how your boss treats you. But you say, "Oh, he treats me badly, so I will not serve him." NO. You should do whatever they are telling you to do and let the Lord bring the reward! All we do must be done unto Christ! Not unto man. "Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men" Verse 6. For the audience of one! We must do everything for the audience of one! Period. Or it won't be acceptable to God!
Here is the story of two servants, two sons, or however you want to see them (Genesis 4:1-8 ): Cain and Abel! The problem with Cain is that he was always looking at his brother Abel's job. In his mind, Abel was just petting the sheep. He was caring for them and for all the flocks, putting names on them. Surely in Cain's heart, he was thinking on things like these.
Cain was doing a harder job. Something was bothering him. He was getting dirty working the ground. Jealous thoughts may have begun a long time ago. We are only told a little bit. But these kind of thoughts must have crossed his mind: "I hate him", "I can't stand him", "He is always smiling", "He got the easier job!" Do you think God put this story in the Bible without a reason? Cain started being jealous and was not happy with what Abel was doing unto the Lord. We know, according to this passage, that it says, “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.” Verse 3. So, one day we will lay our life down before God because of our death or because of His coming! All of our works will be set before Him. All that you do for yourself will be burnt hay, wood, and stubble! To Cain and Abel, it looked like they were both bringing their offering unto the Lord. Nobody knew if it was their best! It looked great! People would look at the basket, big fruits in it, but it was not acceptable because of the condition of Cain's heart! Moses brought the law, but before the law was brought by him, there was a covenant being made. Cain and Abel were not following the law but following a covenant with God. They brought the first fruits, or let's say their offering unto the Lord. This was the first establishment of the covenant of the first fruit, just as Abraham did unto God (Genesis 14:18 -20). We know that the first fruits had been established way before Moses even wrote the law. This is something to think about when we think about how God is. “All well and good”, we think, but God says, "You have not given me your heart, your trust, or your whole life."
We can see that everything we do unto the Lord, that sacrificial seed, that sacrificial lifestyle, that obedience as an offering unto the Lord, He pays attention to it. He pays attention to all we do. His desire for us is to choose Him, then Jesus puts in clear motion!
Jesus was saying, "You worry about the littlest things, yah…I am looking at your heart! Some do their daily prayer. They give their tithes. But this is what I desire in this covenant: what you do and how you do it really matters to Me. The intentions of the heart! You know you have not given me all of your heart, but you think you are better than others, but it is all still filthy rags without My blood!" Bring the fruits of your garden, of your heart, of your labor. Now, we need to produce the fruits worthy of repentance (Matthew 3:8 ), not the fruits of what man says is good or not! God wants to promote everybody, but we have to deal with our hearts! Because Cain was thinking, "I do all of my duties!" Cain began to be very jealous of his brother because he had a great relationship with God, and that was something noticeable!
I can guarantee Abel brought his best! That was his offering unto the Lord. There are so many revelations in this passage. The leaves that their parents – Adam and Eve - were covering themselves with were from the same tree that Jesus cursed! Think about the first thing they grabbed to cover their nakedness was fig leaves (Genesis 3:7). What was the tree Jesus cursed? The fig tree (Mark 11:12-25). The craziest thing is that it was not even time for figs. God ended up covering Adam and Eve with the skin of an animal. This was the first representation of killing an animal as a form of sacrifice. One covering was done by them: they sewed and made fig leaf garments. The other covering God did! And He is still doing it today through Jesus Christ, not through our own works!
The same spirit that killed Abel killed Jesus: the religious spirit. THE AGENDA, the motive, and the heart were all wrong! Imagine Cain bringing 4 barrels with his offering. Abel comes skipping, bringing his little sheep or whatever livestock! That is the pure heart of Abel, "Wow, when God sees the one that I picked for Him, He will be so happy!"…In Cain's heart, thoughts like these: "I worked so hard, can we switch duties?" "I hate this job, but I still need to bring it to God." Which offering was accepted by God? Verse 7…God had no respect for Cain's offering! Cain was angry! His works meant nothing to God! He killed his brother!
The blood of Jesus speaks louder than Abel's blood (Hebrews 12:24). Now, we are free from the temptation of doing anything unto men. God is saying, "I cannot be pleased with you because you are not doing it full-heartedly unto Me."
"Father, help me to do everything unto you. I can try to do my best with a jealous, heavy heart, but I want to be like Abel's heart. Do you know the day they brought the offering? So, the process of time is every day! God rewarded Abel publicly; then Cain thought, "Now God is going to bless me, I am the hardest worker. I am the one who needs to be recognized. I am the one! I am the one! Me! Me! Me! I do so much for God. Abel is so lazy."
But no. We are all working in the field of our lives. In this world, we all have something we are doing. Let all be done unto the Lord. He is always looking to see who He can promote, who He can bless. It is all about the heart. Always it has been this way and it always will be! If… serving, cooking food, fixing cars, cleaning, raking leaves, waiting on tables… all we do is unto Him, or you will be doing and doing and doing and will have nothing. But the little that you do, let it be because it is about TO WHOM YOU ARE DOING IT FOR. Let it be this day that all you do is FOR THE GLORY OF THE LORD. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31
Let all be done for the Glory of God! If you don't do it for this one reason, you will be jealous, tired, and angry because you are always having your eyes on your own things, your kingdom, and your covetousness. I don't think about what I do, I don't measure my sacrifice, I don't weigh it out…No, I don't show my fist to God, saying, "God, where is my reward?" If your eye is single, your whole body will be filled with light! Let this word be in us just as it is in Christ: All I do is because I see MY FATHER doing it.
Bring your offering: YOUR HEART! You think you can give something with your hands, but no. It is about your heart! The Lord delights in prospering his children! He has pleasure in doing it. There is nothing wrong with God, but there is something in our hearts that needs to be removed! Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Do all for the eyes of ONE! This is the only way for Him to accept anything that comes from you. It has to be pure and unto Him only! Or He won't take it, and it will be burned!
Shane W Roessiger
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