You may have been following Jody’s daily podcast in which she has been discussing walking in the Spirit. We’re excited to announce that we are adapting  that same material for a daily devotional, titled Come Follow Me to be published in the fall. We expect it to be a great gift idea for the coming year. We’ll keep you updated on her progress, as well as post random entries from the book so you can get a preview of what to expect from the book. Here’s one:

Living Blessed

“Behold, My servant Whom I have chosen; My Beloved in Whom My soul is well-pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, and He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.”  ~ Matthew 12:18

In the Old Testament, at the end of a Patriarch’s life, they would extend a blessing to their children. Wrapped up in the words uttered, was a promise of benefit, an inclusion in the inheritance, and proclamation of identity.  It was a time when resources and role were transferred from one generation to another, and if you were the first-born, a double portion.

We read, in these stories, how sons manipulated in order to receive a better blessing than was their due, and how others received lesser benefit because of previous behavior.  Blessing established future well-being and reward, and sons lived their lives in order to be blessed.

On the day Jesus was baptized, and His public ministry began, the Father gave voice from heaven, and blessed the Son. “ And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17)

Jesus lived from blessing rather than for it. The Father conferred His identity upon His Son, voiced His pleasure, and extended the Holy Spirit as a dove to rest upon Him.

He lived from that blessing into the darkest days of history….into the hours when He experienced the Father’s wrath against sin…right on into the Resurrection and Ascension.

Question: Do you consider it difficult to walk in a way that would be pleasing to the Lord?