Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Daily Encouragement for the Family of God

12 November 2024

Reading From Matthew 28, Mark 16

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” —Matthew 28:16-20

So many in our society struggle with spiritual and emotional confusion regarding their purpose in life. What better source for discovering a sense of our identity and purpose than to research what our Creator has communicated to us concerning these matters. These answers are found within the pages of Scripture, particularly from the lips of Jesus.

For sons and daughters of God, two directives give us tremendous purpose. The Great Commandment found in Matthew 22:37-40 tells us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^[a]38 This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[b]40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Love God, love people, love yourself. To love God is to glorify Him by obeying His Word. We know that we truly love God by how we love others. We are also to see ourselves and love ourselves in a healthy, balanced way as Jesus does. How does He see you? Uniquely created, dearly loved and while we have a predisposition for self-centered indulgence, He also knows we have a capacity for good which can only be activated to eternal effect by Him if we will but allow Him.

From this godly heart of love found in the Great Commandment, we are called to live out the Great Commission. As we live our lives in the world but not of it, we are to make disciples. I believe that as we seek the whole counsel of the Word of God, we will realize that this means healthy, balanced, well-rounded, well-equipped disciples.

The Commandment and Commission are to be lived out and loved out in our local communities, regions, to those who are not like us, and around the world. The Lord’s Work is an all the above approach and we need the power and presence of Holy Spirit to be and do what He has called us to. What a different world we would live in if all who bear His Name were actively empowered and equipped and fully alive.

“Lord Jesus, bring us back to who and what You have called us to. Baptize us afresh in Your Holy Spirit. Fill us to overflowing with Your love, wisdom and power. Change our world through us, we pray. Amen!”

To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. —Ephesians 4:22-24