Matthew 6:1

Be (very) careful not to do your good deeds publicly, to be seen by men; otherwise you will have no reward (prepared and awaiting you) with your Father who is in heaven.

If we seek the praise of men for our good deeds, we will make sure the public knows what we have done. Our rewards for this kind of service will be better when we do our good deeds in private and no longer seek to do them for our glory but for the glory of God. It all depends on our heart and our focus on doing God’s will. 

Hebrews 4:9-10

So there remains a (full and complete) Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has once entered His rest has also rested from (the weariness and pain of) his (human) labors, just as God rested from (those labors uniquely) His own. 

There is a culture of busyness that never takes the time to rest. Rest is essential because it helps bring God back into our thoughts and lives. Overwork, stress, and busyness all wear the body and mind down, not build them up. God never intended for us to live a life of exhaustion. 

Hebrews 3:12

Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart (which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart) that turns away from the living God. 

We have to be careful not to give God lip service but to truly believe in Him in our hearts. Sometimes, we have to pause and examine our hearts and our relationship with God. It is necessary for every believer to guard what we hear, see, and spend time around. When we keep our faith stirred up and reassured with the word, our hearts will remain close to God. 

1 Corinthians 12:11

All these things (the gifts, the achievements, the abilities, the empowering) are brought about the one and the same Holy Spirit, distributing to each one individually just as He chooses. For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts, though many form (only) one body, so it is with Christ.  

We all have gifts and talents God gives us that are encouraged and developed by the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to be a Pastor to reach out to a lost soul. God wants us to pray for people and fellow believers. The Holy Spirit will give us the power to help and even teach others. We have to be open to the leading to be used by God. 

Ezra 1:2

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

God is all-powerful and can move the heart of man. Cyrus, at the moving of God, restored the Jews to Jerusalem after they were exiled. God is still working for His people on this earth today. We do not need to fear; we only need to believe in God and know that God can and will move on our behalf. God is still in control! Our lives are important to Him-Jew and Christians!

2 Chronicles 34:31

Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord-to walk after (obey) the Lord, and to keep His commandments, His testimonies, and His statues with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant written in this book.

We have a part to play in our relationship with God. We are to follow the commandments in the Bible. When believers maintain a connection to the Bible, it is harder to deceive them with teachings against the word. If the Bible isn’t the cornerstone of a person’s life, then a lack of knowledge of God’s commandments will be prevalent and lead them to sin.  

2 Chronicles 33:12-13

But when he (Manasseh) was in distress, he sought the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his pleading, and brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew the Lord is God.

Manasseh sinned greatly against God, but God still heard his cry for help. God doesn’t leave us, but we leave God through sin. God doesn’t stop loving us when we sin, but He wants us to repent and return to following Him. When we know God as our savior, we are to be on guard against the enticements to sin.  

Romans 2:21

Well then, you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal (in ways that are discrete, but just as sinful)?

Christians are supposed to be an example of the faith. If we go to Church on Sunday and do not follow the teachings after we walk out the door, no one will want to follow our example. If we do not adjust our hearts to believe in the Word, our actions will not line up. Sin is no friend to the Christian, and we should turn away from every opportunity to sin.  

Hebrews 11:1

Now Faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed) and the evidence of things not seen (the conviction of their reality-faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by physical senses).

Faith treats things that are hoped for like they are reality. Faith believes that God’s promises are true and that what cannot be seen will materialize. Faith trusts in God when the devil says it isn’t going to happen. Faith knows that God can provide for all our needs and is waiting for us to believe.  

Hebrews 11:5

By faith (that pleased God) Enoch was caught up and taken to heaven so that he would not have a glimpse of death; And he was not found because God had taken him; for even before he was taken (to heaven), he received the testimony (still on record) that he had walked with God and pleased Him.  

Enoch had a close relationship with God, and Enoch’s faith pleased God. The relationship was so close that the Bible says Enoch walked with God. What does it take to get the Enoch, Noah, Abraham kind of faith? Faith is what pleases God. They were convinced that God had the answer and solved all the tests and trials.