Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

Encouragement for the Family of God by Kenton Cheek

Reading From I Thessalonians 2

“For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”—I Thessalonians 2:11-13

God will not share His glory with just anyone. He only shares it with His children; sons and daughters called by His Name who have chosen to believe, repent, confess and receive Him as Savior and Lord. He’s calling every human, but only those who listen and seek His will for their lives are rewarded by His Presence.

Isaiah 42:8 tells us, “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.” From this passage we learn that His glory will not be shared with false gods, but in John 17:20-23 Jesus prays to the Father, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

For every born again believer, the glory of God is within them, whatever they look like on the outside or what their lives on Earth are like, sons and daughters of the Most High God carry His glory within them. The new birth experience is the beginning of a lifelong process of becoming more like Jesus, being transformed from glory to glory. Romans 8:29 reveals, “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

As we as Christians choose to do things that show others what the heart of God is like, the light of His glory shines through us. It is our hope that the Holy Spirit working in us and through us guides them to connection with God and His eternal family by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

“Lord, we thank You for Your goodness and mercy to us. Help us to share Your love and message with others in compassionate ways. Show us creative opportunities to shine the light and warmth of Your glory in this cold, dark world. May Your glory be revealed in us and through us. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray these things, Amen.”

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ—Ephesians 4:15