More Vertical Motivators

The two vertical motivators for today: The Fear of the Lord and Rewards. Fear is a negative and a positive when we live in fear our bodies respond in very unhealthy ways. It causes sleeplessness and anxiety which can cause loss of focus and so many other things. I used to live with anxiety and have even been to the emergency room with it in the past. I thought I was having a heart attack. But a fear of God is a healthy thing. We have to live in relationship. We are designed to live in one with Him. It’s a lot like marriage people do things in our marriage sometimes in fear that if they don’t the marriage is less than it was meant to be. [I have watched many couple strive to have children thinking it would solve some issue in the marriage. The truth is what is missing is a relationship with Jesus that both individuals have and then one that they share together. When we understand that God is the only one who is ever going to meet all our needs it removes burdens our spouses are never meant to carry. I also understand that the desire to have a child is natural but I also know my God he will gives gifts accordingly and in His own time. Even Hannah’s prayers for Samuel were not answered immediately she had been to the temple many other times. God gave her Samuel when she was willing to give Him to God.]  Scripture tells us to, “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.”  (Philippians 2:12) God has given us a plan for salvation it can be scary to put all of our lives in the hand of someone we cannot see and in some instances cannot feel. But the desire to serve the Creator is built into each of us fear of not having relationship draws us to him.

The second motivator is rewards; Scripture is very adamant about the potential rewards that await those who faithfully serve God. But the rewards are not based on what you have done they are based on your faithfulness to Jesus Christ and your service to The Kingdom of God. When you read Matthew 25:14-30, “¹⁴ “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. ¹⁵ To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. ¹⁶ The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. ¹⁷ So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. ¹⁸ But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹ “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ ²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ ²² “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ ²³ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ ²⁴ “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ ²⁶ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? ²⁷ Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. ²⁸ “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. ²⁹ For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. ³⁰ And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ we see that the individuals who were faithful to the master are rewarded well. That is what we need to consider in our work for God are we doing just to do or are we following his leadership. Have a Blessed day in the Lord.

Vertical Motivators for Serving God

 There are several reasons to biblically serve God and I cannot give you all of them you will need to study your bible and learn of more. Here a seven that I have come to understand and hopefully they will start you wanting to learn more through your own studying of the word. Love and Gratitude, rewards, our identity in Christ, purpose and hope, longing for God, fear and no other option now some of these are pretty self-evident if you are already walking with God and have a relationship with his Son Jesus. Beginning there helps us to understand some of these. I want to focus on just two of them today.

                Longing for God; each person in the world longs to have a personal relationship and feel love. I have never met anyone who did not have that desire. I believe that desire to Love and be loved comes from the relationship God had in place with Adam and Eve and when they were removed from Eden every person born longs for that same relationship they lost. Psalms 42:1-5 makes this clear, “¹As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. ² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” ³ My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” ⁴ These things I remember as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.” Our desire to know God more intimately leads us to prayer and study. I read somewhere recently that each of us has a God shaped hole in our being. Now we may try to fill that hole with a number of things drugs, alcohol and all sorts of immoral behavior but only God really fits there.  You know on a scientific level this concept is how our bodies really work. I may be off on the terms but we have receptors in our nervous system that are designed only to receive certain chemical combinations. Nicotine found in cigarettes and tobacco is a good example of this; it mimics dopamine or acetylcholine depending on what you read. But nicotine blocks the receptor that is designed for the other chemical. The other chemical is designed to release or be used up; nicotine does not it holds on to the receptor and clogs it so it can no longer be used. I think I remember that right. Basically it corrupts the receptor. Sounds a lot like how we fill our lives with stuff that really is not God and wonder why nothing works and the longing for relationship continues.

Why do We serve God?

There are many reasons why we may be motivated to serve God. They come in two major forms horizontal and vertical. The Horizontal are the ones that are down here and around us each day the vertical ones come from our experiences with God what he has done in our lives. Every person on Earth has to deal with the horizontal issues the range from issues like the fear of lose, guilt, pride, hope of personal gain, reputation, prestige and pleasure just to name a few. Being carnal in nature it is easy to find ourselves right I the middle of any or all of these motivators.  Jesus gives us insight about this in the parable of the sower found in Mark 4:18-19 here is part of the explanation he gave the disciples, “Now these are the ones sown among the thorns; They are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.” I don’t know about you but that is where I live some days. Those are the motivators that keep us from truly serving God. Instead we bend to the flesh and serve our own desires. I am in this same boat and sometimes I fail just like you. Thankfully I serve a forgiving and loving God who because of my belief in His son Jesus allows me to make mistakes if I will just repent and ask for forgiveness.  I’ll share about vertical motivators later. I pray God Bless you and every person you come in contact with today and everyday. Remember you might be the only Jesus someone every sees.