Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Saturday, February 7, Matthew 5:12

"Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." (KJV)

Christ promises rewards for faithfulness. As a matter of fact, the "judgment seat of Christ in Corinthians 3 is all about that.

Now there are some who say, I don't care about rewards! All I care about is pleasing Jesus. Well, of course! And that's the point of the rewards! If you are pleasing Jesus, what you are doing is obeying Him by walking in the path He has led you. And we see that in heaven in Revelation 4 with the "elders", who many of us believe represent the saints, who:

"cast their crowns before the throne saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." (Revelation 5:10b-11)

Remember in Ephesians 2, verse 10, we find that "we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."?

Do you remember John 6:29, where Jesus says: "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."?

Have you ever been a coach of a team, or a teacher of a student who has toiled for months perfecting the teaching that you have given them? And what "pleasure" you receive when they've accomplished their goal, and receive their reward?

And a good team knows where they stand, and where they would have been without the training of their wise "masterbuilder" who has brought them to this point.

One who has mastered something knows that they took what was taught them by others wiser than them and perfected it. And an honest one, when they receive their reward always credits those who shaped them.

The wisest give the ultimate glory to God, even in this life. They "cast their crowns" before Him above all, for it is He that bestowed upon them any gift or talent they have. And when I see one of those athletes or musicians give glory to God, it shows me that they understand this.

And the coach or teacher is filled with pleasure when they see their student full of joy, not only with the award, but knowing that it is little about them, and "but by the grace of God" teaching them, guiding them, training them, they would be like the man burying the talent God has given them into the ground.

Study the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. What did they do with what the master gave them? They gave it back, and increased the talent in the fullness of their ability. And their master rewarded them and blessed them.

Why do I desire the rewards Jesus will give me? BECAUSE JESUS WILL GIVE ME THEM! To see His face, His smile, His words of "well done" makes all the difference. And those rewards are working rewards. They will put me into a position to work greater things according to His design. Training is complete, diploma given. Time to "reign with Him".

And just as the Son will give the fulfilled Millennial Kingdom before the Father, with all prophesies accomplished, so we give to Him all that we accomplish through His will and the guidance and training of the Holy Spirit before Him.

And we will cast our crowns before Him. I want that crown to cast before Him, don't you?

Then train, train, train! Press on, and "follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of in Christ Jesus." We've already been "apprehended". Let's, in our exceeding gladness "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:12b, 14)

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

Memory Helps

"Rejoice, and be exceeding glad:
for great is your reward in heaven:
for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you." (KJV)

One thing that always made the first line easy for me in the KJV is that I always wanted to add "ly" to exceeding, which made it something that stuck with me. Also, the to g-g's on exceeding-glad helped.

Transfer the "g's" to "for great" and it links to line two's "great", and note the "great" and heaven are "ea" words.

Line three has a good beat with "p" words "Persecuted" the "Prophets", and line for has a "be" word to make two "P"s and a "B" to think about that are key in remembering those two lines.

A word picture is on my website if you're interested.

The "TiN" man from the Wizard of Oz has been my "memory character" for verses 12. (T=1, N=2, vowels fillers). It fits well here, since his ultimate goal was to reach the ruler of Oz to receive his "reward". We can imagine him taken by the large hand to heaven (sitting on an "emerald green" mat, of course), and handed a "cute purse" that contains his "heart" "before" all of the "prophets". That strange picture links the verse uniquely to Matthew 5:12.