Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Today is my eldest Son’s birthday and that inspires me to write about God’s faithfulness to His children.

Today scripture, Matthew 3:13-17 (ERV) says…
[13] Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River. He came to John, wanting John to baptize him. [14] But John tried to stop him. John said, “Why do you come to me to be baptized? I should be baptized by you!” [15] Jesus answered, “Let it be this way for now. We should do whatever God says is right.” Then John agreed. [16] So Jesus was baptized. As soon as he came up out of the water, the sky opened, and he saw God’s Spirit coming down on him like a dove. [17] A voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the one I love. I am very pleased with him.”

Consider…
There are many things that I love and appreciate about my son William. Thinking back, he was an easy child to raise because he was respectful and obedient. I remember how he blessed my soul when he told me that he learned his moral compass from me, which is we’re blessed to be a blessing.

It makes me proud when I hear others testify of his kindness, and it makes my heart smile whenever I get to spend time with him.

William makes say with the Apostle Paul in Philippians 1:3-4, 6 (ERV)…
[3] I thank God every time I remember you. [4] And I always pray for all of you with joy.
[6] I am sure that the good work God began in you will continue until he completes it on the day when Jesus Christ comes again.

Yes indeed, my first begotten child is a true source of pride and joy for me, and I thank God for entrusting him to me.

When I witness the great things he’s doing, while remaining humble and respectful, I to say like our Heavenly Father in today’s scripture…

“This is my Son, the one I love. I am very pleased with him.”

Originally I was only going to use the last verse of today’s passage, however the Holy Spirit led me to provide the reason the Heavenly Father made His first public declaration of being pleased with His only begotten Son. It’s revealed in verse 15 where…
Jesus answered, “Let it be this way for now. We should do whatever God says is right.”

While the pride I had was in my son’s accomplishments, it was Jesus’ obedience that cause God to open Heaven’s Public Address system and announce in essence, “That’s My Boy!”.

We see a similar demonstration of obedience by Jesus and response from His Father in Philippians 2:7-11 (NLT), which shares…
[7] Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, [8] he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. [9] Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

God the Father let it be known that His obedient Son Jesus Christ is Lord, meaning He has all authority!

This immediately brings Matthew 28:18 (NLT) to mind…
[18] Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

And the Holy Spirit also reminded me that Jesus said in John 10:17-18 NLT
[17] “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. [18] No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

Jesus’ testimony makes me think of God’s admonition to Saul who try to appease God his way, rather than please God according to His way. 1 Samuel 15:22 (ERV) says…
[22] But Samuel answered, “Which pleases the Lord more: burnt offerings and sacrifices or obeying his commands? It is better to obey the Lord than to offer sacrifices to him. It is better to listen to him than to offer the fat from rams.

Jesus obediently humbled Himself for all according to God’s will, so the Heavenly Father responded by making Him Lord of all.

Our Lord and Savior’s example shows us that God’s Kingdom leaders must be humble and obedient servants.

That’s why the Apostle wrote in 1 Peter 5:5-6 (NLT)…
[5] In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [6] So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.

God lifts the bowed, not the braisen.

Some of you may say, that’s great but none of us are Jesus. Well a couple responded to that include…

• Genesis 22:15-18 (NLT) shares another example of God’s faithful response to obedience. It says…[15] Then the angel of the LORD called again to Abraham from heaven. [16] “This is what the LORD says: Because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your son, your only son, I swear by my own name that [17] I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. [18] And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed, all because you have obeyed me.”

I have always found it interesting that God made a promise to Abraham, yet His response to Abraham’s obedience was “I will certainly” do what I promised.

The Holy Spirit took that opportunity to clarify, we can miss out on God’s promises because of disobedience. He reference was Moses.

Numbers 20:12 (ERV) testifies…
[12] But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “You did not trust me enough to honor me and show the people that I am holy. You did not show the Israelites that the power to make the water came from me. So you will not lead the people into the land that I have given them.”

Although our eternal life has been secured by Jesus Christ’s atonement for our sin, the promises of God for our lives here on earth are tethered to humble obedience to Him.

Thus, Jesus explains in John 15:9-10 (ERV)…
[9] “I have loved you as the Father has loved me. Now continue in my love. [10] I have obeyed my Father’s commands, and he continues to love me. In the same way, if you obey my commands, I will continue to love you.

We must continually obey God to remain in His love/approval.

Which brings me to my second retort of not being like being like Jesus.

1 Peter 1:14-16 (NLT) commands…
[14] So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. [15] But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. [16] For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

Notice we’re unequivocally told that we must be holy because God is. That means we have to meet Him where is contrary to our obsession of Him meeting us where we are. Jesus makes us righteous to be able to be in the Father’s presence. That doesn’t mean we can track mud from our dirty lives all over God’s throne room.

It’s why John tells believers in 1 John 1:9 (ERV)…
[9] But if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done.

We need to be cleaned before we can enter God’s presence.

Read what James 4:8-10 (ERV) says…
[8] Come near to God and he will come near to you. You are sinners, so clean sin out of your lives. You are trying to follow God and the world at the same time. Make your thinking pure. [9] Be sad, be sorry, and cry! Change your laughter into crying. Change your joy into sadness. [10] Be humble before the Lord, and he will make you great.

The Holy Spirit is driving home the point that we must live to humbly and obediently please God, rather than proudly and disobediently trying to appease Him.

Our Heavenly Father only honors and declares His steadfast love for His obedient and humble children.

There’s one last thing the Holy Spirit wants us to know about being obedient children, and that is the fact that it’s learned and revealed through suffering.

Hebrews 5:7-9 (NLT) says…
[7] While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. [8] Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. [9] In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him.

This reminds me of a time when I punished my son for something he didn’t do. He didn’t let me know this until a few years ago. Even though he took the punishment for what he knew he didn’t do, it did not stop him from continuing to be an obedient son .

Of course this brings 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT) to mind…
[21] For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

You see obedience is about wanting to please, rather than appease, the Father.

So let’s make it our desire to please, not appease, God by humbly obeying Him no matter what!

Today’s song is…
My Desire

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)