The Rewards of Faith

UV 3459/10000 The Rewards of Faith
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward (for obedience) shall be very great.
Genesis 15 v 1

God does not say, “ I will give you a shield and and a reward..” He says, “I am your shield, your reward..” Today, the Servant Leader is our shield and reward for obedience by faith. The ultimate obedience is believing God and His word, the ultimate disobedience is disbelieving God and His word. The serpent leader induces and rewards people for disbelieving God and His word while the Servant Leader rewards those who believe Him and His word. The Lord manifests Himself in what we need and expect. He celebrates our faith by doing so. Abram receives the reward for his faith and obedience by being recipient of the great promise that he would be the father of a son and through him become the father of countless descendants. Today, that promise has been fulfilled as many nations attribute their faith to Abraham and his obedience.
The Lord also gave Abram the promise that he would inherit the land of Canaan. He gave him the promise of long life. Abram also experienced a horror of great darkness in the form of a nightmare as he fell into a deep sleep during this encounter with Jehovah. The great darkness was a symbol of the 400 years of slavery, the descendants of Abraham experienced in Egypt till they were led to freedom and the promised land by Moses and Joshua. The Servant Leader keeps His trysts with us on our life’s journey while the serpent leader flatters to deceive us.

Abraham believed God and His word, His promises and his faith was counted as righteousness. More than the promises Abraham received, the important blessing we all receive through his encounter with God is that our faith is reckoned in God’s sight as righteousness. Like Abraham, our faith is greatly rewarded. He is our shield and our great reward as we yield to Him in wholehearted trust and obedience. The serpent leader tries to shake our faith and our relationship with God and the Servant Leader Jesus by sowing doubts, by tempting us, by afflicting us in a variety of ways. We fall short in our words and actions in many ways. Hence, a perfect sacrifice was needed. When Abram asks for proof of the promises of God, God asks him to sacrifice a three year old heifer, a three year old female goat, a three year old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon. These sacrifices are symbolic of the three year public ministry of the Servant Leader Jesus. Thought He is ruler and Crown Prince of heaven, Jesus came in the humble form of a servant and became further, a sacrifice for us at the end of the three years of public teaching and ministry. The Crown Prince was sacrificed for the crown of God's creation- humanity so that instead of one heir, God has as many heirs as humans would believe in Him.