JULY 2026

​Dear Church,

Jesus Calls Us His Own!

"For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." (Matthew 12:50)

Jesus' biological mother and brothers arrived to see Him. He used this opportunity to reveal a deeper spiritual truth. Looking at His disciples, He asked, "Who are my mother and my brothers?" He then answered His own question by pointing to His disciples and telling the crowd that they were His mother and brothers. This would have puzzled His listeners, so He immediately explained: "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother" (Matt. 12:50). In other words, the relationships that matter most in the eternal perspective are those founded on a right relationship with God. 

Human family relationships are beautiful and necessary blessings, and God Himself is the author of them. Jesus was not dismissing the importance of family relationships. Rather, He was emphasizing that the most important relationship anyone can have is a right relationship with God, expressed through obedience to His will.

How do we know God's will? The better we know a person, the more familiar we become with that person's desires and intentions. For example, a child may see a ball bounce across a busy street, but he does not run after it because he knows, "My father would not want me to do that." He does not need to ask his father for advice in every situation because he already knows his father's heart. The same is true in our relationship with God. As we walk with the Lord, obey His Word, and rely on His Spirit, we grow in our understanding of Him. We begin to think more like Christ and discern His will more clearly.

How, then, do we obey God's will? Jesus explained to Nicodemus in John 3 that God's will is for people to believe in His Son, Jesus Christ. Later, Jesus taught His disciples to place their faith in Him, declaring that He is "the way, the truth, and the life" and that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Obedience begins with faith in Christ and continues as we follow Him daily.

May we rejoice that through faith in Christ we are welcomed into God's family and are called brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus.

God Bless,
Amutha