If you were going out to meet some person you had never met before you would like to have some clues to help you recognise him or her. In this story we find some clues Jesus has given to make it possible to recognise God's children. You might discover that people you thought were children of God don't pass Jesus' test!
Are you like someone in your family? Children often have some likeness to their parents. This is true about God's children!
What is God like? We all know He is gracious and kind because He still has not punished you and me as He should have for our many sins;
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instead He has given to us many good things to enjoy.
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His great kindness is meant to lead us to repent. "Repentance" means to really want to be turned away from those things that are wrong.
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Those who repent and trust in Jesus as their one and only Priest are accepted by God as His very own children.
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They are easy to recognise as they become more and more like their Heavenly Father. Jesus says to them, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you…Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."
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Jesus shows another way to recognise His children. Just as a teacher will consider the student who believes and does what he is taught to be a good student: so the true follower of Jesus is the one who believes and does all that Jesus teaches. "A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher,"
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Jesus said. So, the true child of God will not disagree with the teachings of God's Word.
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Some look very hard to try to find faults with the true Christian, and of course faults can be found. But Jesus said; "Why do you look for the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in you own eye? You hypocrite!…"
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Make sure you are agreeing with the teachings of Jesus yourself before trying to find fault with Jesus' true followers!
Jesus then used this illustration: "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognised by its fruit."
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So Jesus was saying the behaviour and language produced in one's life easily identifies whether he or she is God's true child.
If these illustrations of Jesus have shown up that you are not a true child of God there is something you can do about it right away. You can thank God for His great kindness and love towards you, especially in giving His own Son to die for your sins in order to be able to save you. If you are willing to be changed and to be made good by God ask Him to forgive you because of Jesus and make you to be His child - and He will!
Read over these ways to recognise God's children as told by Jesus in Luke's Gospel chapter 6, verses 27-45.
Bye for now,
John Nixon, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland. P31HD98. Contact: jnixonj@gmail.com
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Bible quotations from N.I.V.
1 Psalm 130:3-4.
2 Matthew 5:45.
3 Romans 2:4. 2nd Peter 3:9. Acts 26:17-20.
4 Hebrews 7:23-28. John 1:11-13. 3:16-19.
5 Luke 6:27-36 2nd Corinthians 5:17-18.
6 Luke 6:40.
7 Psalm 119:9-11.
8 Luke 6:41-42.
9Luke 6:43-45.
