“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Matt. 6:1

living in an area that is very, well, works based, it’s hard to help people understand this one. to clear up some of the questions, i don’t believe that this means that you shouldn’t get any credit when you do something to help out the church. especially in todays society! however, what i do thing it means is that you should do acts based soley on getting recognition.

on a personal example is this site. once upon a time i got alot of praise, and people liked it alot. thus, i started writing for people and those that visited my site, boy was that a mistake. a several year break insued after that little incident, and then again for similar reasons. it’s the same reason why at times there’s nothing here for an entire month. but, when i just let it all go and do it for the benefit of my walk with God, good things seems to happen.

my encouragement would be to do things without the thought of humanly praise. remember that God sees everything that you do, and if you need to be rewarded He’ll make sure you are. as well, don’t go extremist and refuse any and all praise that your peers and leaders would give you, it’s still valid. just don’t do it just for them, do it for Him.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Gen. 1:1

the first words of the Bible are about how it all started. not much suspence there eh?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
John 1:1-2

how about before time and the beginning? well, God was there, too!

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Rev. 22:13

and in the end, God was there when it started.

everyonce in a while something just hits me pretty hard, and this is one of those subjects. the ever present and time ignoring God. He was there in the beginning, and will be there in the end. however, what people seem to miss emphasizing is the fact that He was around before the beginning. why do i say that? He created what we know as the beginning. He created everything we have around us. sobbering to me, but in a good way.

we have the greatest ally in all the universe (and beyond), the one who created it. there isn’t anything He can’t do, nor is there anything we can’t do when we walk with Him. the trick is to talk and walk with the Lord. not talk at and walk near the Alpha and Omega. with, not near. and for special emphesis, with. it’s not an easy thing to do, but just imagine how much harder it would be to not do it.

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
James 4:4

strong words for an important subject. hatred is such a diluted word in todays vocabulary, and yet it’s still un-nervingly strong. lets back up to the word adultry then: having one thing and desiring another. when you’re already a follower of Christ and then decide to go after the things of this world (which, incedentaly, belong to satan), you’re commiting adultry. the question that comes to my mind is about where to draw the line. where is the living in and befriending line drawn?

it’s one thing to know the world around you, to reach out to people you need to know what a little about them. it’s similar to the cold war, and any other covert war. you need to learn your enemy to combat him, without becoming the enemy. sounds easy don’t it? we can read books and watch movies and not become the bad guy right? because we are just getting to know who the enemy is, but we’re still on the side of good, and not delving too much into the other side. keeping with the movie theme, ever see a movie where an agent turns to the other side? ever hear of say, oh, spys? double agents? traitors? it happens, for whatever reason. they start on one side and for whatever reason go to the other. so can it happen with ones walk with Christ.