Episode 451

TODAY’S READING:

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment, heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased.”

Matthew 3:13-17

 

Yesterday my boyfriend got baptized, and it was such an emotional day. I am so proud of him for stepping out boldly in His faith. So proud of him for choosing to publicly confess his love for Jesus. Truly an honor to see him grow in his faith over the last four years.

 

Earlier this month, our church announced baptisms were on the 20th, and he said that was going to be the day he would get baptized. So we circled the date in our calendars.

 

I can tell you that there were so many little things that came up. Little few reasons why this might not be the best weekend. Other events were going on. Different moments could have distracted Manny from getting baptized. I even asked him at one point, do you still want to get baptized this weekend? And Manny turned to me and said, yes, the enemy is trying his hardest to pull me away from being baptized because he is scared of who will come out of the water.

 

That was probably the greatest sentence I have ever heard him say because it is so true. The enemy tries hard to keep us away from doing the will of God. He doesn’t want us operating at our most righteous potential. He doesn’t want us to publicly declare our love for Christ. He is scared people will listen.

 

I was reading this passage, and if you keep reading that comes right after Jesus getting baptized, was the temptation of Jesus. The enemy tempted Jesus right after he was baptized. Why? Because this was right before Jesus started his ministry work.

 

We have some takeaways today. We need to remember that when we mark dates in our calendar for God, we can’t be surprised when we are attacked. It comes with it. Rather than avoiding the attack, let’s learn to recognize his tactics. Who and what does he use in our individual lives to try and knock us down? Because what tempts me might not be the same for you.

 

The second thing is we must remember the enemy is scared of who we are on the other side of the water. When we publicly declare our faith, he shakes. He knows that is one more person he lost, which makes him one step closer to losing.

 

We are so fortunate to be able to have our faith. We are so fortunate that we are better on the other side of the water, and every day we get to reaffirm our faith. Every day we can declare our love for Christ in the ways we act, in the things we say, in the things we do. May it always be an extension of the love he has shown us.

 

PRAYER

Lord, we love you. Today and every day, we chose you. Lord, we know that makes the enemy scared. Scared to know that he can’t have us. So lord, every day, we pray for the strength to walk away from temptation, and we pray for the strength to continue to walk in righteousness. To continue to walk in your direction. To continue to be an extension of your love. We pray for this week; may it bring us each a blessing. We love you so much, AMEN!