Matthew 12:46–50

"As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. Someone told Jesus, 'Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to you.'

"Jesus asked, 'Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?' Then he pointed to his disciples and said, 'Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!'"

 

 

Jesus knew who had a greater claim on him than his biological family. His spiritual family, consisting of those who do the will of his Father—these are his true family, he said. These are the ones who have a claim on Jesus' attention. That includes you! And, it means we belong to the family of Jesus, which is made up of other believers. They have an important claim on our lives as well. How committed are you to a community of other believers?

Genesis 39:2, 19-22

"The LORD was with Joseph, so he succeeded in everything he did as he served in the home of his Egyptian master. … Potiphar was furious when he heard his wife's story about how Joseph had treated her. So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king's prisoners were held, and there he remained. But the LORD was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the LORD made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden. Before long, the warden put Joseph in charge of all the other prisoners and over everything that happened in the prison."

 

 

The Lord was with Joseph and gave him great administrative gifts which were noticed and utilized. God caused Joseph to succeed wherever he went, but that did not protect him from the effects of other people's sin. Potiphar's wife tempted him, and when he refused to give in, she lied about what happened and got Joseph punished for something he never did. God is with us, but we do still suffer from living in a sin-ridden world, even when we do what is right. We should expect that and trust God to still be with us and to bless us.

Psalm 17:3-5

"You have tested my thoughts and examined my heart in the night.
You have scrutinized me and found nothing wrong.
I am determined not to sin in what I say.
I have followed your commands,
which keep me from following cruel and evil people.
My steps have stayed on your path;
I have not wavered from following you."

 

 

Again we see the connection between our hearts and our words. Here it's both the heart and the mind. David determined not to sin with his words, and he felt completely okay with God examining his thoughts and his heart, even as he slept. (We sleep, but God never does.) The thoughts and beliefs and images we hold in our hearts are what God cares about, what he looks at. These plus our words and actions are what make up who we are. We are what we think, feel, say, and do. This is what God evaluates.