God Is "Reward"

The subject of reward can be best understood in scriptures when we begin by looking at the life of Abram. The very first time the word reward is mentioned in scripture is in

Genesis 15:1(NKJV)

“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 exceedingly great reward.”

Emphasis Mine

God says to Abram, I am…your exceedingly great reward. Meaning God is the reward. He did not say I will give you something as a reward. It suffices to say that the reward to Abram was not a “what” but rather a “who”. Amen

Other scriptures make this clear.

Isaiah 62:11 (NKJV)

Indeed the Lord has proclaimed, To the end of the world: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.’ ”

Emphasis Mine

Revelation 22:12 (NKJV)

 “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.

Emphasis Mine

Here is the point we are emphasizing. In your relationship with Him, understand that He is your reward. In Abram’s relationship with God, God established with Him that He (God) is his reward. However, we can see that Abram did not really understand the depth of that statement from God because right after the statement was made Abram said to God “What can you give me since I remain childless…? (Genesis 15:2 NKJV).

Even Jesus, when He first talked about reward in Matthew 5:12 (NKJV), He referred to the location of reward saying rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven.

Abram’s approach is not an uncommon approach because even in our relationship with Him today, we relate with Him based on “what” we can get not for “who’ He is. Amen. So our goal today is to cause a shift in our thought pattern as concerns reward and relationship with the Father.

Please do not forget “His reward is with Him” Isaiah 62:11 (NKJV) and in Revelation 22:12 (NKJV) He says, “My reward is with Me”. So, please do not look for reward out of Him. Amen.

Back to

 Hebrews 11:6 (KJV)

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Emphasis Mine

Your knowledge of His existence precedes His reward and that is so because, if you do not believe He exists, He cannot be your reward because He is the reward. Amen.

God Is "Faithful"

When we talk about the faithfulness of God, we are talking about his steadfastness, firmness, his ability to do as promised. Amen. His faithfulness is seen throughout scripture and I believe everyone listening does have a personal testimony or two of His faithfulness.

Faithfulness is an attribute that is required and needed in kingdom relationships. The beauty of this truth is that our God “is” faithful and His character is that of faithfulness. So when you come to Him in the context of relationship, you can expect this aspect of His nature and character.

Throughout scriptures, we see the expression of His faithfulness in the lives of people. Abraham, for example, is one who received many promises from God and yet, no promise received from God by Abraham went unfulfilled. Let’s take a look at a few promises and how they have been fulfilled.

i)                In Genesis 12:2a God promises Abram saying “ I will make you a great nation; I will bless you. In verse 7a, the Lord appears to Abram and says “To your descendants, I will give this land”. Amen. These were a few promises from God to Abram as concerns his descendants. These descendants the Lord was referring to were not just close relatives of Abram but biological children. Prior to these promise, the bible tells us in Genesis 11:30 that Sarai was barren; she had no children. The question is “When and how will these promises come to manifestation? It wasn’t until 25years later that Abraham had Isaac (the son of the promise).

This is just an example to show God’s faithfulness in a relationship setting. In this case, His relationship with Abraham.

ii)              God’s faithfulness is also seen in His relationship with Moses. After Moses received instructions from God on how to go and deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. He ran with the instruction and implemented as instructed. It was a very challenging journey for Moses because he encountered a series of road blocks with Pharaoh. However, in the end, Moses prevailed. The Israelites were delivered as promised.

These are just a few examples illustrating the faithfulness of God. I will say this, the relational attribute of the faithfulness of the Father can be best appreciated in the context of relationship. Without a personal relationship with Him, there is a possibility that it will not be appreciated. I say so because as we identify the different relational attributes of the Father, we become both beneficiaries and benefactors at the same time.

Beneficiaries in that we receive from Him the benefits of faithfulness and at the same time, we learn what it means to be faithful. As benefactors, we can now bring the same quality to other relationships and be a blessing to them as well. Amen.