God Was a Proud Papa

Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. But John tried to talk him out of it. "I am the one who needs to be baptized by you," he said, "so why are you coming to me?" But Jesus said, "It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires." So John agreed to baptize him. After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy." Matthew 3:13-17

The Spirit of God descended like a dove.

God was a proud Papa. The Abba Father that continually advised His obedient Son. Jesus was just that—obedient. He created the Heavens and the Earth…in the beginning just as God wanted. When Adam and Eve messed up—God the Father set forth His plan for salvation. He was going to send His one and only Son to rescue humanity. That happened. Jesus came down from Heaven as a baby born in Bethlehem—whom we celebrate at Christmas. Now in this scripture we see the beginning of Jesus ministry—His baptism—and the proud Papa is witnessing Jesus’ obedience—carrying out “all that God requires.” Are we obedient as children of that same Abba Father? If you believe in Jesus as your Savior, then you are a child of God.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father." For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Romans 8:14-17

Sharing Christ’s suffering may seem like the hard part—but consider that no matter who you are in the world…everyone suffers. Being part of God’s family assures us that we don’t suffer alone. We have Christ coming alongside of us—yoked, so to speak—helping us with anything that we are willing to share with Him.

Jesus said…"My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light." Matthew 11:27-30

How will you handle your life problems—yoked to Christ or struggling by yourself?

Prayer ~ Jesus, please continue to reveal more and more of Yourself to me, to my family, friends and neighbors…and everyone reading this that we would become more like You. Obedient to our Abba Father and yoked to You so that our struggles are Your struggles. May all that we think, say and do bring glory to You and to our Heavenly Father—so that the great Papa would be proud of us, too.

Daily Bible Reading: Matthew 4; Luke 4-5

© 2017 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted

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