Skip to main content

Jesus Baptized

“For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah”

God sent John the Baptist to pave the way for Christ. John warned the people to “Repent! He is coming!” And, he cried out from the wilderness; “Pave the way for the Lord; make His paths straight.” Christ then came to the people from Galilee walking down into the waters of the Jordan asking John to baptize Him. John tried to prevent it, but Jesus said to John:” Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).

Jesus understood He was the promised messiah sent to identify with the people whom He had come to deliver. His baptism, as He had asked John to give Him, expressed His wholehearted identity with the people whom He came to save. His baptism was also Jesus’ public expression of His dedication to God’s will and to His ministry which began with this event.

Jesus provided us His example even though He was sinless so we could see what our Father’s expectation of us was and still is. Even today, and until His coming again, He remains our perfect teacher. Not long ago a popular marketing campaign for many products was using the initials “WWJD.” Perhaps you remember, maybe you even bought a tee-shirt or a bracelet with these initials on them. I did. The question the initials represented was “What Would Jesus Do?” They reminded us to check our actions against this perfect example we have in Jesus. Our lives are full of choices. Every day we are challenged to make the right decisions in life, in business, in play, in our daily routines. Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him as a dove. And after His death on the cross, and His reappearing, He left us His Holy Spirit to guide us and convict us of Satan’s attempts to take us away from God. He is our hope for righteousness and even for our salvation.

Consider your own baptism.

Popular posts from this blog

Our Walk With God

“Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered, when you run, you will not stumble” (Proverbs 4:10-12). Our lives are built upon our first step, and   then proceed step after step after step thereafter. As infants we learn to crawl, then stand and eventually to walk to the waiting hands of our proud fathers and mothers. Our walking skills can develop into running skills; some of us will go on to run races, some will even run long distance marathons, but it all begins first with our desire to walk. The Lord tells us to listen to what He says to us through His Holy Spirit and the years of our lives will be many; as we go through life, our steps will not be hampered; when we hurry through our impossible daily schedules and race through our lives, we will not stumble.   All successful runners have a professional trainer, our trainer is ...
Day before yesterday, I cooked up a pot of "killer" chili. Yeah, I know it's not winter and chili is better in the winter. I like chili all-year long. Well, my chili fixin' was killer alright, it tore our stomachs up something terrible. Yesterday, I was miserable all day. I was so wanting my day to be over - I wanted a new day without stomach problems. Every day, God allows us a "do-over" and we get a new chance at living. Today, thankfully, I am feeling over my chili malady and I (am) starting over. I have a new opportunity today to seek more of Jesus. First, I will pray for my family and friends that they see more of Jesus and that their lives and their today is better than yesterday. And then, I am praying our nation stops this political division and hatred that is sickening our people. God help us to love you more and realize without You we are lost. You are our new day and we praise You for it.

Confused By False Prophets

Paul, an apostle – sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father – “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:6-10). Matthew; the first book of the Gospels warns in (Chapter 7:1-5) “Watch out for false prophets.” Accurately, these are those who in our present time, like in the time of th...