Jan 26, 2022
We often think we know the future. We forecast the weather. We
imagine we will follow the same path as the people before us . But
some things we just don't know.
Welcome back to the Follower of One Podcast. I'm your host, Mike
Henry Sr. Thanks for joining us again today. I was recently struck
anew by a verse: first John three, verse two.
"Dear friends, we are God's children now. And what we will be has
not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears we will be like
him because we will see him as he is."
That's from the Christian Standard Bible. And once again, that's
first John chapter three, verse two. John's reminding us that we're
uncertain about the future with Jesus.
We often try to avoid uncertainty. But if we consider what we're
certain about, we find something else. We don't know what he will
be like, but we've been told that we will be like him. In
Philippians three we were told that.
If we focus on what we don't know, we might become paralyzed or we
might jump to conclusions. I can fall into a trap for both of
those. But if I focus on what I do know, things change. We will be
like, Jesus. We don't have to worry about the future. We can focus
on today. We will be like him and we will see him as he is. Are you
confident in the grace of God? Are you able to live with the
uncertainty and trust Jesus? Trust is my word for the year 2022.
Today, I want to be fully present. I want to be right where I am. I
want to live my life at the moment, trusting Jesus. He has my
future.
Now I'm not telling us to disregard, save, or to be responsible
family people, or to make a positive difference in the world.
That's not it at all. This is not live for a moment type of stuff.
The Holy Spirit may warn us about the future. He may tell us to
consider our retirement, tell us to save more and to be more
healthy. I believe he's often telling me those things. But in
everything, I want to focus on what I can control.
I need to avoid worrying about things outside of my control, like
what eternity will look like and what will happen to me. I want to
trust Jesus and do what he has for me to do today. I don't even
have to speculate about what eternity will be like. I can trust
that Jesus has that covered too.
The context of this passage is that we're to love others. We can
actively make a difference in someone else's life today. Look for
that opportunity. Your circumstances, your fears about the future,
or any concerns about what's going on in your life, don't
necessarily preempt the opportunities that we have to serve others
and to love others. So let's look for an opportunity.
Let's ask Jesus. He will put us to work in the lives of someone
other than ourselves. We can step into his calling in the moment
and look for ways to help every one else that we meet today, move
one notch closer to Jesus.
So today on the Marketplace Mission Trip, we're also talking about
knowing what we believe.
Let's remind ourselves that Jesus has a job for us to do today. And
that job is to love God and to love others. Thanks for being a
marketplace minister. If you've never been on one of our
Marketplace Mission Trips, there's one going on right now, as
you're hearing this. And there will be another one going on
sometime in the next few weeks. You can check it out
at https://marketplacemissiontrip.com and
request an invitation to join the next Marketplace Mission
Trip.
Thanks very much for being a minister in your marketplace. And
thanks for letting God use you in the world to make a difference.
Your life can make an eternal difference. Thanks for trusting Jesus
and following him at work. Thanks very much.