Related to Jesus

Photo courtesy of:  dpower (www.morguefile.com)



Greetings! Spring is in the air (at least in North America), and people are looking forward to pleasant outdoor activities. Good times are ahead with friends and relatives. Speaking of relatives, here’s what Jesus said about His relatives:


For whosoever shall DO the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. (Matthew 12:50 KJV – emphasis added – see also, Mk. 3:35)

Jesus enlarges the circle of His family to include spiritual relationships. Those spiritual relationships become evident to all by the characteristic of DOING THE WILL OF GOD.

And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1 John 2:17 KJV) The person who carries out and obeys the will of God has eternal life! Praise God!

Obedience to His will may mean many different things throughout the course of a lifetime. It means obeying what we read in the Bible and also obeying what the Holy Spirit prompts us to do in our hearts.

It means that we align our lifestyle with the Word of God. For example, Mark 16:17, 18 says: And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Are we allowing this Word to dwell in us richly and produce the fruit of which it speaks?

Obedience can mean forgiving someone who has hurt and abused us; it may mean submitting to the authority that God has placed above us in our jobs, our churches, or our families. Obedience to God is lived out in every area of our lives, and it’s a day-to-day and moment-by-moment choice that we each must make.

As we choose to obey and DO the will of God, we are giving evidence that we are related to Jesus. He is our brother!