Like a parent, God delights to reward His children for what they have done. Randy Alcorn asserts that to want reward is not a selfish thing. He clarifies that selfishness is wanting something at the expense of another, but God's rewards are not limited, so for one person to receive ongoing rewards does not diminish the rewards available to another person. In God's system, everyone gains and no one loses. This video clip was excerpted from Randy's Eternity 101 DVD class.

Missionary Bert Elliot (brother of martyred missionary Jim Elliot) went home to be with Jesus last Friday. Nanci and I met Bert and his wife Colleen in January 2006, which marked the fiftieth anniversary of the martyrdom of the five missionaries in Ecuador.

A person can enjoy the material benefits of his work. I just think God has different reasons for entrusting wealth to us than we sometimes assume (e.g. health and wealth gospel vs. enabling us to give more).

Randy Alcorn talks about the possibility for differing capacities for joy for believers in Heaven.

Randy Alcorn teaches from the book of Deuteronomy.

While we may never seem to see any results from serving the Lord here on Earth, Malachi 3:16-18 is a remarkable passage that tells us God is watching and is documenting the faithful deeds of his children on Earth.  

I read this question and answer, from Paul Tripp on the Desiring God blog. For those of you not familiar with Paul, he's the president of Paul Tripp Ministries, whose purpose is "to place the truths of the Gospel—the person and work of Jesus Christ—in the middle of the messy and confusing situations and relationships in which every person lives."

Five years ago I received an e-mail from our friends Pat and Rakel Thurman, who had been corresponding with a tour group that was going to Egypt. This group had a special request: they hoped to find the humble grave of missionary William Borden, which was mentioned in my book The Treasure Principle.

Readers of my books often question whether the doctrine of eternal rewards is biblical. They say, It seems self-centered to do good works so I will be rewarded.