Children of the King

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. 1 John 3: 1-10


Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.  Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:11- 16

We are children of the King. I was fortunate enough to be raised by loving parents who know who their creator is and made sure I knew too. I sincerely apologize if this was not your experience, but know this- your heavenly Father never left your side. Like I said I have amazing supportive parents that never missed a game, recital, or competition, and it took me a long time to realize that not everyone had this kind of parents. God has called us to go forth make disciples. This for me means children. What I can't quite wrap my head around is those who have made disciples, but aren't nurturing their young disciples. It absolutely blows me away that our youth is not being pour into from the home front. I repeat we ARE children of the King in 1 John we are called to be like Christ. Christ made disciples not when it was convenient or when he felt like it, but constantly. God doesn't give up on us because we had a bad day or because we fell short, so why do we do it?  

I fear we've taken God's word and apply it when it is convenient. Someone I look up to and is deeply rooted in his faith said in regards to his children, "They can be trashmen if that's what they want, but Jesus loving trashmen. They can be college scholars, but Jesus loving college scholars. Whatever they choose to be I will support, but they know who comes first, God." I absolutely love it! This is how God feels about us! We don't have to be CEO or MVP on the team for God to love us more. He loves us no matter our occupation or social status. Now don't get me wrong I'm not encouraging our youth to be drop outs, but I'm saying we can encourage them in all their endeavors as well as lead them to live for Christ. We can pray for our children as well as pray for our parents. The truth is God knew what he was doing when he gave you to your parents. He had a plan. Maybe that plan was for you to be a 1 Timothy child and lead your family to Christ. Whatever God's plan for you it absolutely involved making disciples.

Here's my prayer for you, Lord I pray that you help us to make disciples and that we start at home and then I ask that you give us all an opportunity to disciple someone in our lives each day. Open our eyes to the people you want us to reach. Take over our hearts allow us to reflect your love with encouragement to those around us. Help us to make you known. We ask these things in your name, Amen.