My Beloved

Scripture_Matthew 3:17

And lo a voice from heaven, saying This my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 

Meditation:

I love this scripture. This is the first time we see beloved in the New Testament which God the Father declares over Jesus at His baptism. Beloved means esteemed, dear, favorite, worthy of love.

God loves everyone He created and desires us to be reconciled to have a relationship with Him. All we have to do ask Jesus to come into our heart, forgive us of our sins that he died a horrible death to forgive, and receive His peace. When we do this and live to please God, we become God's beloved.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are loved just as much as God loves Jesus! Do you know that you are beloved of God?? I mean really? This is so wonderful...I will spend the rest of my life searching the height, the depth of His love which is eternal. We will never get to the bottom of His perfect love which cast away our fears.

In the meditation scripture, the voice of God declared to all who surrounded Jesus at his baptism that Jesus is beloved and well pleasing unto him. When we make the choice to be fully immersed in the life of God, He speaks the same words over us--that we are His children, we are beloved, and well pleasing. This declaration is not a one-time thing, but this is the song the Lord sings over us. 

Zephaniah 3:17 says, "The Lord in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing."

Up to this point in Matthew, what did Jesus do to please the Father? After all, don't we have to do a lot of good things to make God love us more and more? Jesus had not performed any miracles. He simply lived in obedience to God.

As a baby, Jesus' parents brought Him to the temple and dedicated Him to God as was the custom. But when Jesus matured as an adult and consciously made the decision to live a consecrated life unto His Father, as an example to us, He was baptized which means to be immersed as if by water. This baptism was a sign to everyone around that he is set-apart to fulfill the will of God. He died to His own will, and came out of the waters of baptism dedicated to God.

This is what pleased the Father, and at this time, the Spirit of God descended upon Him as if by a dove. 

We do not obey the Bible perfectly, but we can live blamelessly before God which means honestly. We come to Him when we blow it. We seek His counsel from His word, and we get up and walk with God again. When we have the desire to live whole-heartedly before God, he takes our desire, and our very desire, not fully realized, pleases Him! It moves His heart. We can be sure that God declares over us, "This my beloved son, my beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased." Further, He says that we are worthy of love.

Prayer:

Abba Father, I thank you for loving me and calling me your own. I desire to live wholly for you. Please help me to live knowing that you are well pleased with me, and that I am worthy of love simply because I am yours. You make me worthy because you are worthy. Then Lord, I can share the joy and peace with others who do believe that you love them. May your love cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. 

Eternally yours,

Amen.