Children of God - 1 John 3:1-10

"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2)

This verse is comforting and disturbing at the same time.  Comforting because it says we are 'children of God', disturbing because we are still in this world and sin surrounds us.  Disturbing because we have free will and are still susceptible to falling short of what a child of God should act like. There is expectation on my part that I will change and will remember my family name is Christian.

1 John is instructing me to love and cast a good example to the world.  To do this I must stay close to Him who is my strength.  "Come near to God and He will come near to you." (James 4:8)  I cannot be sinless in this world, but "what we will be has not yet been made known."  More comfort here, for the junk I am dragging around daily, the baggage I can't seem to unload, will disappear.

I am a work in progress and as long as I draw near to God, he will bless me and refine me and prepare me for the day he appears for the final time.



Read the 1 John 3:1-10 text here.

Acts 2:14-41

Many times during our life, we find we are living with regret.  We always seem to do things we wish we hadn't; or we wish we had thought through a decision more thoroughly before we charged forward with our plans.  The saying, "hind sight is 20/20" rings true.  When I find myself in this situation I know I have to regroup, think through the situation, examine it from all angles and then decide how to correct the mistake.

Acts 2 finds Peter reminding the people of David's words and the promise God made him. “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.  But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne." (Acts 2:29-30)

As Peter taught them, the people came to realize they had crucified the one who came to save them.  Some of the people began to feel regret and then fear, wondering how they could make things right again. As Christ followers now, they wanted to undo the injustice.  We often find ourselves in the same situation of regretting yesterday's actions. 


"With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day." (Acts 2:40-41)

The truth is we will always have regrets until the day Jesus comes to free us from "this corrupt generation."  The Good News is Jesus will return and there will be no more regrets.

Read Acts 2:14-41 here.