Today's Passage - Ephesians 6:5-7

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Ephesians 6:5-7   "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.  Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.  Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men..."   Jesus once said: "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them...  So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do...  And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men."  It's not that Lord doesn't want us to do anything visible to the public.  Sometimes we do need to do good deeds or pray in the public, but our intention shouldn't be to draw attention so that we are praised by people.  Our motive is important - Are we pleasing God or pleasing people?  Are we just trying to benefit ourselves?  The bottom line is, can we trust God in everything that we do?   Paul encouraged wives to obey the husbands and husbands to love their wives.  He also asked the children to obey the parents, parents not to exasperate the children, and servants to obey their masters.  The obedience shouldn't be superficial, but from the bottom of our heart.  That's why Paul said "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men..."  We should be doing everything from our heart because the Lord said in Matthew 5:4: "then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you," and He will reward us.  We need to understand that our Father in Heaven is watching us in secret, so that we know for sure He will reward us for the good deed we've done that were not rewarded by people.  When you step out with love and obedience, no matter how other people react, God will remember you.  When you give to the needy beyond your means, God will provide for your need, because He is watching us in secret.   Brothers and sisters, do you have such assurance?  When you have such assurance, you can step forward by faith in all relationships.                                                                                   Pray with Pastor Tong           Lord, may the Holy Spirit open our eyes and see that you are sitting on the throne of our life.  You are the Father in Heaven who's watching us.  Please give every brother and sister such assurance so that starting today, no matter what we do, we are not doing it for people, but we are only doing it for you out of our heart.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!