Dec 05 2024

And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

At the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist. Afterwards, the Holy Spirit comes down like a dove, and God speaks from Heaven that Jesus is His Son and that He is pleased with Him. This verse, along with being a beautiful depiction of the trinity, gives us an image of the importance of blessing each other. God blessed Jesus by saying He was pleased with Him.

This comes into sharper focus when we remember that right after this scene, Jesus goes into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan for forty days. He does not eat or drink anything, and the Adversary comes to torment Him and to get Him to give up His kingdom.

I do not believe the timing is coincidental. I can imagine Jesus in the desert repeating the blessing that the Lord had given Him: I am His beloved Son, and He is pleased with me. Imagine the strength that those words might have given Jesus as He endured the temptation. Jesus's ministry had barely begun, but the Lord was already pleased with Him. He wasn't looking at anything that Jesus had done, but who Jesus was: His Son.

Today, we should remember that our words have the same life-giving ability that God's words did for Jesus. If Jesus needed to hear that God was pleased with Him, how much more do we need to know the same thing? We, like Jesus, face many temptations, but if we are not anchored in the fact that God is pleased with us (He is!), these temptations threaten to overcome us.

Think about using your words to bless other people and remember in your heart that the Lord is pleased with you. All your iniquities were washed away by the blood of Jesus when you called out to Him in the moment of salvation. Rest in that fact, and bless others. God may use your words to help them overcome temptations in their own lives.

Dear Lord, I thank you so much for words that give life. I thank you for Jesus, whose work on the cross made it possible for you to be pleased with me. Give me words of life that I can share with other people today. Help me to remember that I am loved in you, and help me to share that love with others. In Jesus' name, amen.

Dec 04 2024

For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. :

Just before this verse was spoken, Jesus told a parable about a dinner party. He said that when choosing seats, you should pick the lowest place of honor instead of the highest. That way, you will never be asked to move down but only to move up. He concludes by saying that if you exalted yourself, you will be humbled, but if you humble yourself, you will be exalted.

There are so many modern-day applications for this verse. In today's world, it can be really easy—and tempting—to exalt ourselves. When having a conversation with a superior at work, for instance, we can casually slip in our more impressive credentials in an effort to get affirmation. But Jesus has told us to be different: to humble ourselves and rest knowing that He will be the one to exalt us.

Think about it: Would you rather be the one putting yourself on a pedestal, or would you rather Jesus did it for you? Personally, I'd choose Jesus. However, we have to accept that the Lord often has different timing than we do. While we want to be exalted in the moment, He might exalt us in a week, or a year, or a decade. His timing is perfect, but it is often different from what we would prefer.

Yet, it is important to remember that the point is not ultimately our own exaltation. Instead, we should be secure even if we really are the least honorable or least qualified guest at a dinner party or anywhere else. Our identity will never be in our qualifications, but instead in who Jesus is. We can bow out of the race for significance because we already know that the greatest claim we have to our own worthiness happened 2,000 years ago on a cross.

When we keep this in mind, we will realize, as the British writer and theologian C. S. Lewis once stated, that Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less. We will be thinking so much of the Lord that we will not even pay attention to where we are sitting at a dinner party. Instead, we will rest in Him, completely assured of His love that has declared all of us worthy.

Dear Lord, help me to walk in humility. I know that I am nothing without Christ and that with Christ I have everything. Help me to think less of myself and so much more of Jesus, who has given me life and freedom. Help me to stop exalting myself as if I need recognition, and instead rest in the fact that I am called to exalt the name of Jesus in my own life. In Jesus' name, amen.