Would you like people to know you belong to Jesus? We all know He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Whether in His earthly days or in the days after, He’s always with those who believe Him. It is because of this reason that men come to know we are with Him. Everyone loves to affirm themselves to someone or something so they find recognition. They love the pat on the shoulder they get or the handshake they quickly get. To be known as belonging to Jesus is a wonderful thing. It has all the benefits and grace to it. If people realize we are with Him, there is no better recognition; for we belong to the most powerful and awesome God.
Jesus induces confidence into us that is heavenly or of the Spirit. Thus, we become known as belonging to Him. One does not have to be a reputable person to receive it. All it takes is to trust and follow Him – trust that He takes care of us; follow to obey Him in whatever He requires of us. This the disciples did and men began to recognize them as belonging to Him. Luke records saying, “Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). There are many advantages to belonging to the Savior. And, there are many effects to it too.
- When unforeseen things come upon us, the confidence the Lord induced in us helps us. It keeps us unharmed. At one time the apostle Paul had to be on the island of Malta. As he gathered wood for fire, a poisonous snake fastened itself to his hand. The people of the island assumed he would die concluding that his sin has finally caught up with him. “However he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm” (Acts 28:5). The effect was surreal. People began calling him a god. This beginning brought forth a greater effect. He began healing the sick in the name of Jesus. And many were saved that day. It wasn’t the greater education of Paul that made him known as Jesus’ servant; it was the confidence of the Spirit and the things he was able to do thereafter. The confidence we receive makes us realize the time God granted us on earth. It keeps us for the purpose God appointed to us.
- We constantly realize how vast the grace of God is upon us. The works we do for Him are a result of the grace that pours into our hearts the desires of God. Each time we perform His wish we come to know the immense work ethic of grace. And because of the work of grace, there appears the effect God desires for that moment. It is for this reason that Peter, John, Paul and many others became known as belonging to Jesus. When Paul in the Spirit said, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8), he not only says that grace gifts salvation, but also that faith allows one to perform appropriately the desires of God. The confidence the Lord pours into us helps enlarge our faith so that there is more grace available to be known as belonging to Him.
- Because confidence and grace are both from the Lord, we perform the purpose of receiving salvation. “Instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age” (Tit. 2:12). What we do in the present age has a massive effect for the following days. To live sensibly, righteously and godly is what amasses in us the heavenly confidence. Therefore, the Lord is more than willing to use us for His kingdom. He chooses us for specific tasks and appoints His grace for them. Eventually that which He appointed us grows to become a medium for many to know Him. He said, “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth” (Rev. 11:3). The two witnesses are His bond-servants, prophets, saints and the small and the great that revere His name. He has included all to receive His authority according to His measure so that those who believe Him are known as belonging to Him. It is a constant battle denying ungodliness and worldly desires. But when we are doing it by the confidence and grace He gives, we inevitably lay a platform for many to possess a life full of grace and truth.
- There will be prosperity in every area of our life. In other words, every endeavor of ours will not fail. It produces something for the Lord as well as something from the Lord to us. And the reason for it is in the following. “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things” (1 Tim. 6:13). God pours out His strength into all our efforts. Whether they are the love for others, mercy, patience, kindness, goodness, works that magnify the gospel or works that affect our lifestyle, we reap success.
- We would be more prudent and less foolish. The works of the flesh cease from us. Our pleasing the Lord will not be of the flesh, but of the Spirit. The main reason for becoming known as belonging to Him is that our life changes for good. And Paul’s conclusion in the Spirit voices it. “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom. 10:4). Everything that is worthless and insignificant, but is believed to be worthwhile to those in the flesh will no longer have place in us. Therefore, wisdom is manifested through us that Christ is reflected in our wisdom.