Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:1-3 NKJV

When Abram was seventy-five years old God took him out of his own land, separating him from his family and his people, and made him a promise. Abram had no children at that point, but God promised to make a great nation of him and to bless him and those who blessed him.

Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:

4 “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.

5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.

6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. Genesis 17:3-6 NKJV

Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.

16 And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”

17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”

18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”

19 Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.

20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.

21 But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”

22 Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham. Genesis 17:15-22 NKJV

When Abram was ninety-nine, God changed his name to Abraham – “father of many nations.” God changed his wife’s name too, from Sarai to Sarah. God began to call her “mother of many nations.” Because Sarah and Abraham had tried to take things into their own hands, they produced Ishmael, whose mother’s name was Hagar, Sarah’s maid. Sarah was Abraham’s wife. God planned for Sarah to bear the son He had promised to Abraham. If God makes a promise – He keeps it. We should not try to make it happen – we should keep our eyes on the promise and let God bring it to pass. There is an appointed time for the promise to be fulfilled and it will happen without your “help”!

And the LORD visited Sarah as He had said, and the LORD did for Sarah as He had spoken.

2 For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

3 And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him–whom Sarah bore to him–Isaac. Genesis 21:1-3 NKJV

It took twenty-five years from the first promise to the fulfillment of that promise, but God did exactly as He said He would. Rodney Howard Browne teaches that if God has spoken a word to us – then He will not let us down. He will fulfill the promise exactly as promised! Stay in faith. Continue to rejoice. Thank Him for the promise fulfilled.

I will cry to God Most High, Who performs on my behalf and rewards me [Who brings to pass His purposes for me and surely completes them]!

Psalms 57:2 AMP

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.

1 Corinthians 3:7-8 NIV

God told Noah that for every seedtime there would be a harvest (Genesis 8:22). God is also a rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him out (Hebrews 11:6). We plant, we water, but God gives the increase. He rewards us according to our labor. It is God’s garden. He knows what He wants and where He wants it. We are responsible to find out what our job description is and to do it. God is the One who will pay us our wages at the end of the day.

One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person

according to what he has done.Psalms 62:11-12 NIV

“I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.”

Jeremiah 17:10 NIV

Nothing you do for God is forgotten or overlooked. God is watching us. He is searching our heart and examining our mind. There is a reward and He rewards us according to what we have done. We choose the reward we receive according to our deeds, our works and our acts of service.

A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself. The wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward. The truly righteous man attains life, but he who pursues evil goes to his death. Proverbs 11:17-19 NIV

Misfortune pursues the sinner, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous. Proverbs 13:21 NIV

There are no shortcuts in God’s kingdom, no get-rich-quick schemes and no manipulation of the system. You cannot step on other people or abuse them, neither can you lie to God or fool Him. He sees, He knows and He rewards you justly according to your deeds. You must follow His plan and His directions. You must accept His way and follow His path. Then you will be blessed and you will reap the harvest you deserve.

Hebrews 13:16 says, “Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” and Titus 2:14 says that Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

Jesus redeemed us from all wickedness and purified us so that we would have a heart change and be eager to do good. God is pleased when we do good and He rewards our good deeds.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 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.Hebrews 11:24-26 NIV

Moses, one of God’s great leaders, chose to step down from his exalted and privileged position as Pharaoh’s daughter, to obey and serve God. He took his place with his brothers, choosing to suffer mistreatment and disgrace rather than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking forward to God’s reward. The highest reward you can receive in heaven and on earth is God’s reward.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.Matthew 16:24-27 NIV

You could own the whole world with a gold fence around it, but it could not compare with God’s reward for those who have laid down every thing for Him and given Him their every thing. If you want God’s reward, you must lay down your life and you must place it in His hands. God is your rewarder!