Our Greatest Motivation…

I have a large collection of daily devotionals that I like to read from; This one was impressed upon my Spirit to share with you today. It is taken from Daily in Christ, by Neil Anderson with Joanne Anderson.

To worship God is to acknowledge His divine attributes. He doesn’t need us to tell Him who He is. We need to keep our minds renewed to the reality of His presence. Notice how this is brought out in 2 Corinthians 5: 9 – 11: “Therefore also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.”

Realizing that God knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts, we should be motivated to live our lives to please Him. Someday we’re going to stand before Him and give an account. The judgement that Paul is talking about in this passage is not for punishment but for rewards. WE don’t fear God because of the possibility of punishment: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the ones who fears is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18). We have already been judged as to where we will spend eternity. But how we spend eternity depends on how we respond to God in this lifetime.

I personally don’t want to limp into heaven and have Him say, “Well, okay, come on in.” I want to stand before God someday and hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” That’s the greatest motivation in my life. As a child I didn’t fear the spanking of my father nearly as much as I feared being accountable to him and facing his disappointment.

I’m not disappointed with God, and I sure don’t want Him disappointed with me.

As a “born again” believer in Jesus Christ, I can’t impress upon you just how my life has changed, since I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. The “fleshly desires” that once dominated all my decisions and actions, have been replaced with “spiritual desires” that always want to please Him. These desires are accomplished through my obedience of reading and studying His word.

There is therefore now no condemnation to those are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8: 1 – 2).

And…For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God or indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8: 6 – 8).

God so longs and desires to have a personal relationship with all His children. Please don’t delay this important decision to serve Him and love Him any longer. Run to Him today and make Him your Lord and Savior! This truly was the BEST decision that I ever made!

Lord, may the reality of my eternal salvation motivate me to wholehearted, grateful obedience today.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

(John 14: 16)

Thank you, Jesus!