Private Devotion - Public Rewards

Join BOLD Church in 21 Days of Transtraumational Prayer

A journey to healing, deliverance and freedom, by grace through faith, to manifest the good, pleasing and perfect will of God in our spirit, soul and body.

Day 2- Matthew 6

Transcript

Copy Transcript Copied

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Coming from Matthew chapter 6. And Matthew chapter 6, the intent was to highlight verse 5 through 18, and I was going to, you know, talk about that a little bit. But what jumped out to me, admittedly, more was verse 1 through 4. As I was bending a few different things and trying to make a lot of things happen out of nothing, what stood out to me a lot was the emphasis, particularly on this chapter with other chapters, private devotion, public rewards. Private devotion, public rewards. As I think about our brothers and sisters in the healthcare field, 12-hour shifts, first of all, I know in education, we think, you know, hey, we, you know, almost 24 hours on and no time off because you take the work home. I can't imagine having to be alert for 12 straight hours. And it's interesting because a lot of times, and this is a lesson for all of us, a lot of times our what we do in service to others goes unnoticed. The little things that we do is not even appreciated, not even thanks. But then you get to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6 in the middle of what's called the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7. So Jesus preached for three chapters. So Jesus preached for three chapters. We know Moses back in the day preached for a few chapters. So give your ministers days, give your ministers some grace. And today, you know, y'all make us preach in sound bites. They got to preach in chapters. Long story. Anyways, keep it kicking. Um, verse one, I'm reading real quick. Watch out. Do not do your good deeds publicly to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your heavenly father. Verse two, when you give to someone in need, don't do as the hypocrites do, which hypocrites is literally actors. Blowing trumpets in the synagogues in the streets to call attention to that charity. I tell you the truth, they have all the rewards that they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your heavenly father, who sees everything, reward you publicly. I know they're talking about giving charity. I know. But think about from this posture of service, even on our jobs. And what we do for others, you know. And honestly, sometimes while we do it, particularly once you climb up the ladder, it's almost like, okay, what task that you do, let's bring attention to this big task, and because I handle this big task, we can move up. But it's interesting that you see, like, hey, this private devotion, this, okay, this inside out approach. And I do believe, particularly for our people in healthcare, and all those of us who work continuously long hours, what keeps you going with here's an education like your why has to be your relationship, your connection with God. You are physically tired, emotionally drained. Every decision you make is questioned. It's called a second opinion. I believe that may have started, honestly, in healthcare. It's like you go out there, this is what I think, but get a second opinion. So, how if everything you do is question, your motives are questioned, your techniques are questioned by not only the people you're serving, but the people you're working alongside as well. It can be very, very easy to get territorial, to get prickly, to get you fill in the blank. But here we have a pattern. Your private devotion, your private connection, I believe, as believers should be with God, brings public rewards. I encourage you, if you find yourself spazzing out, falling out on the job, you find yourself what they're saying is starting to get to you. Check your private devotion. How are you? How is your tank with God? Is it being poured and is it being filled up? Because you cannot pour out from an empty cup. What does that mean? That means that as we have these taxing, these very demanding jobs, it is critical that you stay connected to the vine. Because there is grace available to you. What's this grace? We know grace has 20 different definitions. One of the ones I like the most is divine enablement. So God is inviting us as we step up in our various roles, we're emphasizing healthcare, but all of our roles. And we're gonna be asked to do the work of two and three other people. The question now, do we shy away from that ask, or do we trust that the one who's bringing us to it will bring us through it? Now, the way you go through stuff, I think you heard me say the way you go through things matters. Yea, do I walk through the valley of the shadow of death? What does that mean? Reggie feel like it's gonna kill me. It feels like I'm not gonna make it. It feels like it appears through the valley of the shadows. Things appear, not as they actually are. But your private devotion, you're insistent upon making the time. I know you your schedule, you got zero time to sleep, zero time to eat, zero time for anything, but you better prioritize your time in prayer. You better prioritize your time in praise, personal praise, personal things giving. Why private devotion being public rewards? How do I know? Let's keep reading. Go to verse 5, 6. When you pray, don't like the hypocrites, actors who love to pray in public. Only, public only, let me emphasize that. On the street corners in the synagogues, where everyone's seen, I tell you the truth, that's all the reward they ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, pray to your father in private. Then your father who sees everything will reward you. Private devotion, public rewards. I think about this on my job. Okay, all right, we need answers to solutions, to questions, to connection, blah blah blah. How do we get that? Private devotion. Because in our private place, God will download with divine secrets and divine solutions. But please, you believers, do not let yourself not be the one who goes to the great answer. The people around us have questions. He has answers. They ain't looking to him. We believe in him because we know some of these jobs have such pressure. I work with this one guy, his job was so pressurized. He was in a pretty high-ranking but niche position in finance. This guy, I mean, it was like, yeah, I'm gonna go buy a yacht type of guy. And I was talking to him, he was like, Yeah, Reggie, I mean, I'm in a pretty niche position, and the pressure caused him to get strung out on drugs. So we're meeting to overcome his habits. And he's looking like, but I was doing drugs with all these other people who move up the corporate line. So we know there's a way that seems right to move up. Gain a whole word, but lose the soul. But God wants to move you up in a way that you will not only do that, but it will be without thought. You don't have to lose your soul, you don't have to lose your connection with him. Why? Because he will exalt you, he will lift you up no matter what build you in. But if you do not stay connected to the vine, if you do not press in, if you do not allow the Holy Spirit to show you how to create, do not box my God in. If the whole world is God's, how much more does he want to show you? But the question is, will his people stay connected to him? Will we be the ones? Okay, yes, I understand. I'm working the same 12-hour shift. I'm working the same, I got the same supervisors you got. I got da-da-da-da. But I go through it like my heavenly father told me to. We need more Daniels. Daniel and his friends, hey, they were in a situation that was crazy because they had been kidnapped, you may say, drug prisoners of war to a completely different nation. And so they were being taught the ways of the world in that society. There were some things they were like, you know, I'm not gonna compromise my faith stance. I'm gonna compromise what my God has told me. Now I'm gonna go through the learnings, I'm gonna learn, don't get me wrong, please study show and approved, but I'm not gonna compromise my faith. It's what guide me, it's gonna kick me forward. So as a result, we know in that day they did certain foods they just didn't eat me. I'm not gonna eat that. I'm not gonna give up on my time of prayer. We know later in the book of Daniel, it got him in trouble. But Daniel did not give up on his faith devotions as he worked his way up. Too many believers, we compromise. We get busy. The first thing that goes is our time in prayer and time in personal praise. And then we want the blessing of Abraham with the devotion of Cain. Don't do that. My brothers in healthcare, I know you're tired. You 12-hour shift is insane. I know four or three, however that stuff works. That's crazy. But you do it. I ask you to do it as empowered by the Holy Spirit. Whatever field you're in. Look, don't give up your private devotion. Yes, you be active do a lot. It's a season that you're in. It's gonna pass. It's a season. It's a lot. I was in education. We look at our calendar right now. I know I'm gonna have some of my colleagues out. Two of them out. I know it's coming. We just lost some colleagues. She got a better opportunity. We know it's here. I got we got two responses. Yeah, do I walk through the valley of shadow of death? I would fear no even for Dara with me. Or we let what we see affect what we say and what we believe. To the extent that what we see becomes what we believe instead of what he says changing what we see. Private devotion to public rewards. I hope that makes sense. I'm gonna stop right there. Appreciate you all.