Reward is experienced maximum when we have lost all hope .
There is a connection between Reward & disgrace or insult or pain for the sake of Christ. -Heb 11:26 - :"He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward"
IT'S about Moses. He had set a mind frame where he decided all insults and disgrace is nothing before his reward. Today if we are suffering or bearing any insults for the Lord- be assured there is a reward.The reward is already promised, be rest assured.
Every one likes to be rewarded. Behind every reward there is a suffering and insult. If you are ready to regard insult and pain then be also ready to receive the reward.
When insults and pain come our way we need to learn how to overcome it.-Isaiah 51:7- "Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have taken my instruction to heart: Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals or be terrified by their insults."
GOD'S instruction needs to be filled in our hearts to receive any insult or reproach. If we use our own thoughts to discern those insults or reproaches – perhaps our mind may not bear it. Use God's word as the insight for the heart.
God hears the insults or revilings hurled at you by others even before you get to know them-Zep2:8- “I have heard the insults of Moab and the taunts of the Ammonites, who insulted my people and made threats against their land."
Even Christ did not ever try to please himself. The insults which fall upon us is actually falling upon Christ - Rom15:3- ":For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”
When insults have fallen upon you -pls note assuredly , it's actually fallen upon Christ
How could Christ do this?
He always instructed his heart and entrusted to God b'coz He knew at the end GOD will judge justly-1Pet 2:23-" :When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."
GOD'S word or instructions give us a blessing called HOPE. Rom15:4-" :For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope."
Rom5:3-5 " :Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4:and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,5:and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
So above it says that HOPE does not put us to shame or any insults. Eph1:18 says-" :I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,"
IN Job14:7 - he says-" At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail."
Even a tree has Hope, how much hope do we have?
Psalms 25:3-" No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause."
So where there is hope in the Lord, there is no shame.The Lord monitors over those who have Hope-Psa 33:18" Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love,"
How can we get Hope?
Thru Gods wisdom.Prov24:14-"Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.
When we pray, we need to have hope. Hope is something we should have when there is no hope.Abraham is a good eg. Rom 4:18-" In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”
There is a mystery about this Hope - Colossians 1 : 27 -" To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Christ in you is the mystery of Hope. We need to hope about others that Christ is in them. In Eph4:4 it says there is only one christ, one baptism & one HOPE. That is to see every other person has Christ in them . We can communicate with any person if we discern that Christ is also in them . If we realise that they too have a hope in them & no matter however atrocious that person is- we can effectively interact with that person. If that person has Hope, it means christ is in him.
1 Thess2:19 " For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?"
Our hope should be about others , that they too have Christ .Hope is a reward .The biggest hope is salvation which we receive thru Christ in us, for which we need to bear and regard disgrace for Christ, endure & fill our hearts with God's wisdom. As an Eg.,we can see this in John 8:1-11 about the woman caught in adultery, she was facing death her last and only Hope came alive when eventually Christ was born in her.
1 Thess5:8" But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation."
HOPE is a reward that is Christ in us. Do we consider Hope as a reward.?
Hope is a precious reward Christ gives us. A person going thru depression and pain can understand the value of Hope as a huge reward.
If we have Christ in us, there is hope for every situation in our life. AMEN