We Are God’s Children

1 John 3:2 “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.”

This first line is something I think a lot of us forget and it’s something the enemy definitely tries to make us forget.  We are God’s children.  You are a child of God.  It is super important that you remember this?  It is important because the enemy is going to try to make your forget.  He is going to try to make you feel alone.  He is going to try to make you feel like you have no one.  This is one of his specialties.  He takes whatever it is you are going through and he tells you that you are alone, no one can understand what you are going through, so don’t bother talking about it to anyone.  He makes you feel as though if you spoke up to your friends then you would be bothering them.  He whispers things in your ear that no one cares, that they are better off without you, that you are a burden.  The enemy is a liar.

You are a child of God.  You are a part of something bigger than you could even imagine.  I thought I had a large family since I am 1 of 11 children.  That is nothing compared to the family of God.  We are all God’s children.  That makes us all brothers and sisters.  Are you showing love to our brothers and sisters?  Are we treating each other like we are children of God?  God made us as social creatures.  We are not meant to go through life a lone.  We are meant to be in community.  If you are feeling alone right now, that is what the enemy wants.  Fight back.  Find a community.  There are many churches our there.  Find one that feels right for you.  You may attend one church and if you don’t feel at home there, try another one.  I would also suggest that you get involved in the church.  Volunteer to help out with something.  Even if you just pick one things.  You could volunteer to be a reader, or a eucharistic minister, a greeter, or the person that passes the basket around.  Whatever your interests are, there is probably a way to use them to help out your church.  This is a great way to not only help others, but find more of a sense of belonging.

The next part of this verse is something that I think we can struggle with sometimes.  The verse says, “what we will be has not yet been revealed.”  We can struggle with this because we want to know everything up front.  We want all the details, we don’t particularly like all the twists and turns in the road.  If we really think about it though, this could be exciting.  What we will be has not net been revealed.  This means we could be anything.  What do you want to be?  What do you envision your future to hold? Matthew 19:26 says, “With God all things are possible.”  What would you want to do with your life if nothing was impossible?  If all restraints and obstacles were removed, what is your heart’s desire?  It says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  Do you see God telling us over and over again that if we rely on Him, nothing is impossible.

Sometimes we get frustrated with where we are in life.  We are not where we want to be.  This could be in all areas, we are not as rich as we would like, we are not as successful as we would like, we are not as happy as we would like.  We get frustrated because we know we could do more, have more and yet we don’t.  If this is the case, we could take comfort in this verse.  “What we will be has not yet be revealed.”  We are still growing.  We are constantly growing and changing until the end of time.  If you are not happy with where you are at then that means that God is not done with you yet.  You are a work in progress and His plan is still in motion.  God has amazing plans for each one of us and those plans are revealed at all different times.  Some people know when they are young what God’s plan for their life is, and some of us it takes a really long time.  Either way, we need to trust that there is a plan and if we haven’t found our purpose, or our calling yet, then God will reveal it to us in His time, not ours.

The verse ends with, “What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.” From what I have read, this part of the verse is referring to the second coming of Jesus.  When Jesus comes back to judge the living and the dead, then we will see Him as He is and we will be like Him.  Wouldn’t that be great if we could be like Jesus?  I had a friend tell me this weekend that she feels like it is more possible for her to be like John the Baptist, living in the wilderness than it would be to be like Jesus.  Jesus was perfect, He was without sin.  How do try to emulate that?  Even if we strive for perfection we will never be in the same league as Jesus.  I totally get what she is saying.  The bar is set pretty high if we are to be like Jesus.  John the Baptist was living in the wilderness.  He was living separate from the world, other than those that came to see him, get baptized by him and to listen to him talk.

Living apart from the world seems so appealing at times.  I think when we are alone in nature, we have the tendency to sin a lot less.  When we are apart from the world that doesn’t understand Christianity and questions all we do, then we find it easier to follow the Lord.  I am sure it wasn’t easy living in the wilderness. I have no idea if he had a bed to sleep on or if he slept on the ground.  I do know he ate locusts and wild honey.  I can imagine that was a difficult diet to live off of.  Even with all of that, I wonder if that life, as unglamorous and probably uncomfortable as it was, is better than a life lived among those in the world.  It is so hard to find quite time to pray in this busy world.  It is hard to do what the Lord tells us is right when there are so many others telling us it is wrong.  We have so many outside voices coming into our homes and into phones.  The steady stream of information can feel overwhelming and much of what we are hearing and seeing is contrary to what we believe.  I could see how being more like John the Baptist could be easier and more attainable.

Here’s a secret though, God isn’t expecting perfection from us.  He just wants us to keep trying.  He created us, He has known us since before we were born, He knows we are not perfect.  Jesus is love and that is what the world needs to see.  Our goal is to reflect Jesus’ love back to the world. Some of us were called to live apart from the world, and yet most of us are called to live among the world and yet remember that we are set apart. We are challenged to live our faith in this broken world.  This is difficult if we keep our eyes on all those around us. However, if we keep our eyes fixed on the Lord and we remember to put Him first, then He will help us.  He will make all things possible for us.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we love you and we know that you have good plans for us.  We thank you for those plans.  Lord, we ask you to give us the grace to have patience while we wait for your plans to be revealed.  We ask for the grace to see that all things are possible through you.  We ask you to help us love our brothers and sisters.  Help us to love those that are hard to love.  Help us to feel as though we are not alone.  Lord, there are so many that feel alone, even with 7 billion people on this planet.  Please fill all those that are lonely with your love.  Help them to ignore the enemy and realize that he is a liar.  Help them to see that the world is a better place because they are here.  Lord, you are so amazing and we love you so very much.  We are grateful for all you do for us and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow.  Have a blessed day!