Ref. Luke 3:22
And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My Son; in You I am well pleased.”
*Insight*
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. The 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 reminds me in this life how much love and encouragement do children receive, when their father claims publicly, “This is my son/daughter and I’m so proud of them!” This comes into a deeper meaning when we remember that right after this scene, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Matt. 4:1) to be tempted by Satan for forty days. He does not eat or drink anything, and the Adversary comes to tempt Him to give up His kingdom.
There is nothing to make us believe the timing is coincidental. We can imagine Jesus in the desert repeating the blessing that His Father in heaven had given Him: I am His beloved Son, and He is pleased with Me. Imagine what strength those words might have given Jesus has He endured the temptations. He uses the Word of His Father to fight off Satan’s attacks. Jesus’s ministry had barely begun, and the cross was still ahead of Him, but the Lord was already pleased with Him. He wasn’t looking for anything 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 accepted His Father’s affirming words, how much more do we need to receive then give forward these types of words to others? We are God’s elect who face many temptations and trials of testing, if we are rooted and grounded on the foundational truth of the Word of God, and His love for us; that God is pleased with us because we are in His Son, these temptations and trials will not overcome us. How are you using your words? Are you remembering the heart of God is already pleased with you. All your iniquities were washed away by the blood of Jesus when you called out to Him in the moment of your salvation. Rest in the fact that Jesus loves you and uses your words to bless others, begin today to learn and know how powerful our words are when they are Spirit filtered, and Spirit led. Those we love and even had disappointments with, will notice the difference.
Dear Lord, we thank You so much for words that give life and offer hope adding to others well-being. Thank You Jesus, that Your work on the cross made it possible for Your redeemed children to be pleasing to You. Let our words give life to others especially those who are searching for answers for why their lives are the way they are, void of hearing the truth that You love them, and want them to know that they are pleasing to You, by their acknowledgment of Your Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Help us to remember that we are loved by You and share that love with others.
In Jesus name, Amen
