stewardship high five from God

Stewardship: How to Get a High Five From God in Heaven

Peter Guirguis Evangelism 8 Comments

[alert type=”success”]Free Download:  Get a free download of 5 great evangelism resources to help you share your faith.  Download now.[/alert]I have a confession to make. I have a nightmare about heaven.

It’s not an actual nightmare like as in a dream, but more like an actual fear about heaven, and it has to do with stewardship.

My fear is that when I get to heaven, God will have two Blu-Ray video’s about my life.

Of course it’s not a regular DVD because everything in heaven is in HD 🙂

In my nightmare, I sit down to watch the first Blu-Ray with God.  It’s a review of what I did with my life during my time on earth.

It includes all the things that I did for the Lord, and it highlights all that I did with my stewardship opportunities, including my time, talents, and resources.

Then after watching it, God pulls out a second Blu-Ray.

This is the Blu-Ray that I’m afraid of.

I start watching it, and it’s a video of how my life could have been if I had bestaucasinosonline.com/nz/ been more faithful, a better steward, and a wiser manager of the things that God had entrusted to me.

The Blu-Ray video shows me all the missed opportunities that I had while I was on earth, and it reveals how much more I could have done for the Lord.

Kind of a crazy fear, right?

Is this fear completely non-biblical?

Absolutely! After all, God is far too gracious to ever do such a thing to us in heaven.

Plus, watching our own Blu-Ray would cause us all to cry, and we know that there are no tears in heaven. (Revelation 21:4)

I think the reason I have this fear is because I’m afraid that I’m not achieving all that I can with what God has entrusted to me in terms of talents, time, and resources.

And maybe you can relate.

For example, how would you answer these questions about your current stewardship:

  • Are you able to give more of your time serving God, and the body of Christ?
  • Can you give more money to things that matter to God?
  • Could you be sharing your faith more often with friends, coworkers, and even strangers?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you’re just like me.

There’s room for improvement in your stewardship.

What God Says About Stewardship

Romans 14:12 is clear, “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”

And Jesus in Mathew 16:27 said, “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”

One day, you will stand before the throne of God, and give an account for everything that you’ve done for Him.

You won’t be judged for your sins, because that’s already been taken care of when you put your faith in Christ, and repented of your sins.

But you will be judged for the works that you’ve done here on earth.

God will use fire to reveal the kind of work that you’ve done for Him.

If your work survives the fire, then you’ll receive a reward.

And if it doesn’t, then you’re still saved but you’ll suffer a loss for that work that you’ve done in vain. You can read 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 for the supporting scriptures.

Being a Better Steward Through Evangelism

I believe that one of the best decisions that you can make in becoming a better steward is to invest in evangelism related activities, events, and ministries.

stewardship and eternal dividends

When I refer to investing, I’m referring to not just investing money, but also your time and your talents.

I’d like to encourage you to be more intentional about:

  • Your personal evangelism outreaches to friends, coworkers, and strangers
  • Investing your money in ministries that win souls for Christ
  • Using the Internet and social media to spread the gospel

And here are the reasons why.

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5 Reasons Why You Should Invest More of Your Time, Talents, and Resources into Evangelism

1. Reason #1 – To Be Obedient to God

Jesus’ instructions to the disciples after the resurrection was:

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

-Mark:16:15

Obviously, God cares deeply about the lost.

If you want to be obedient to God, then you should preach the gospel.

There’s no doubt that good stewardship includes preaching the gospel to the people who are in your circle of influence.

2. Reason #2 – To Love the Lost

One of the most loving things you can ever do is share the gospel with a lost person.

Without God, we look for meaning and purpose in life in all the wrong places.

I lost eight valuable years of my life when I chose to walk away from God, and become an atheist.

But the Lord was faithful to bring me back.

Those years were filled with depression, confusion, and lots of soul-searching.

Many people are going through the same thing right now.

But if you tell them about Jesus, then God will turn their misery and sorrow into joy and purpose.

stewardship key and meaning of life

 

3. Reason #3 – To Keep People out of Hell

Imagine that you’re standing in the street at a traffic light, and you’re waiting to cross the street.

Standing to your right is a young man who’s also waiting to cross the street.

He’s listening to his iPod, and he has headphones in his ears turned up loud.

Since he’s distracted with listening to his music, he’s accidentally stepped off the pavement, and into the street.

As you look to your left-hand side, to your horror you see a 16-wheel truck coming towards the young man.

Do you ignore the oncoming danger, or do you warn him that he’s in harm’s way?

I hope you’d choose to warn the young man, and to save His life.

Many people are distracted with life, and are too busy to realize that they are on their way to hell.

Warning them that they’re going to get hit by the 16-wheel hell-truck is such a loving thing to do.

It’s such a loving act, that Penn Jillette, one of the most famous atheists and magicians, was touched when a Christian witnessed to him after one of his shows.

4. Reason 4 – To give Others the Benefits of Having a Relationship with God

David wrote in Psalm 103:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, & forget not all His benefits.”

There are so many benefits to being a son or a daughter of God.

Just a few of the benefits are things like:

  • Forgiveness of sins
  • Healing
  • A custom-made plan for your life
  • Protection from many evil things

I’m not saying that God heals in every situation, or that He protects in every situation, but in many cases, He does.

The list of benefits of walking with God is a long one, and it’s one that undoubtedly enriches every follower of Christ.

5. Soul-Winners Are Wise

Proverbs 11:30 says, “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.”

Why does the Bible say that winning souls is so wise?

Because it’s like hitting three birds with one stone.

When you win souls for Christ, you are:

  1. Loving God with all your heart, soul, and strength.
  2. You’re loving your neighbor as you love yourself.
  3. You have amazing rewards waiting for you in heaven for your labor.

Are You a Good Investor?

There’s no doubt that if you want to have good stewardship skills, then you should be investing in evangelism.

I’m not saying that you should be just investing your money, but your time and talents too.

If you make sharing the gospel a top priority in life, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you get to heaven one day.

I hope this blog post made you think of how you’re investing your time, talents, and resources.

If there’s room for improvement in your stewardship, then go ahead and make the necessary changes.

 

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Comments 8

  1. Amen, Amen, and Amen! Great article Peter, your concern for serving God to the fullest comes through loud and clear. The ones I worry about are those who think they have “arrived” and consider not that they may well be able to do more. None of us has arrived, we can all do more. I know I certainly can, evangelism is something I honestly struggle with. I have spoken to most all I work with and a few others as well, but I could do so much more!

    Blessings to you my friend for all you do, we need more like you in the trenches serving God.

    1. Thanks so much Greg for your very kind words, coming from you, they really do mean a lot 🙂

      I agree with you, the ones that we should worry about are those who think that they have “arrived.” Humility is definitely something that’s lacking in Christian circles today, and more people need to ask God to search their hearts. I tried to incorporate that request every day in my prayers because I don’t want to be a hypocrite, or to become prideful.

      I’m glad that you wrote me a comment today Greg because I have a question for you. Does the Olive branch website belong to you? The reason I’m asking is because I want to start sharing stuff that belongs to you on twitter and I like some of the things that are posted on that website.

      I know that Neil Anderson posts regularly on Inspirational Christians for today.

      1. Hi Peter,
        Yes The Olive Branch Report is owned by me. It is a multi-author blog and I am blessed with some very talented authors. These folks make the site what it is. 🙂 Check out the new article there by Lyle Rapacki – The Coming Remnant.

        ICB is also owned by me, and to be honest it is me posting what Neil Anderson writes. I am blessed with talented individuals here on ICB as well! 🙂

        Thanks for asking Peter, Blessings to you my brother.

  2. Peter, another gr8 post. It’s only been in the last couple of years that I have actually contributed to the support of missionaries on a regular basis. Not only am I supporting them financially, but I also pray for them daily. That coupled with Dick Eastman’s “A Watchman’s Guide to Praying God’s Promises” (free at http://www.ehc.org) I’m getting a much better “world vision” for evangelism.
    Thanx also for the lead on Neil Anderson. I’ve had the pleasure of attending one of his seminars in the past, have read several of his books and am a big fan.

    1. That is so wonderful Don! There are so many wonderful missionary and evangelism ministries out there that are so worthy of our support and prayers.

      Have you ever given it any thought of what it would be like in heaven when the Lord gives out rewards? I try to envision it sometimes but it’s just so hard.

      Oh by the way, what’s your Twitter handle one more time please?

      1. Peter – yes, I have given some thought to the rewards system in heaven, but quickly give up when I realize that my finite mind can’t begin to comprehend the awesomeness of just being in His presence moment by moment.
        My Twitter handle is @dnorris99.

  3. Pingback: The Jerry Seinfeld Method to Evangelism

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