A Hundredfold

A Hundredfold
Words of Faith 2-9-2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2024
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Mark 10
[28] Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"
[29] "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel [30] will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields‑‑and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. [31] But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

It is true. I will testify personally that there is nothing I have ever left behind for the Lord that stayed away for very long. When I started in the ministry, I realized that I was leaving the typical dream of home ownership and community life that most people have. While we never took a vow of poverty, we realized that life in ministry would make us wealthy in the Spirit but not in the things of earth. We also knew that we would leave some connections to family and friends because of the demands of pastoral ministry. All these were gladly left behind for the Gospel of Jesus.
But I can testify that you cannot out-give God. While we gave up the typical dream of owning a home we have lived in four beautiful homes that were not our own. Then, after a number of years in parsonage life, God led us into a ministry that allowed us to purchase our own home. God made all the arrangements! God is so good.
We left behind brothers and sisters only to have brothers and sisters delivered back to us as Christian brothers and sisters! The truth is that we have received a hundredfold, no, a thousandfold, the blessing of brothers and sisters in Jesus who are closer than blood!
We left behind our mothers, with whom we are very close, but over the years we have had no shortage of mothers! Spiritual mothers have rocked our babies and cared for us, prayed for us and cried with us. And for every field of ministry we have been called to give up, we have been blessed abundantly with another larger and richer and more blessed by the miracles and work of God.
And yes, with these blessings have come persecutions. But the persecutions are what make us strong, and help purify our vision. So how much more can He bless us? In eternal life to come, He will bless us even more! Here is the truth: You cannot ever give up anything that God will not bless you abundantly.

Has God called you to leave something behind for Him? Be faithful in your walk. I tell you the truth no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields‑‑and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.

Lord, give me the vision and courage to let go of what I have in my hand so that You might bless me with what You have for me in Yours. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2024 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.