Beloved

So I know it has been ages since I posted, but I found myself thinking about some neat stuff after this weekends message and I wanted to share it. We talked a lot this weekend about being the "beloved" of God. God has continued to show me some amazing stuff about how powerful it is for his children to understand that we are his beloved. This is what he showed me today at Morning prayer at FLC.

When Jesus went into the desert and fasted for 40 days, the devil tempted him several ways. One of the ways that Satan temped Jesus was by addressing his obvious hunger. But when Satan told Jesus to turn stones into bread, look at how Jesus responded, "Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4 italics added for emphasis).

Well, what was the last recorded word that Jesus heard from God before entering the desert. To find that out we have to go back a chapter to the baptism of Jesus. Just before being led to the desert to fast for 40 days before launching his public ministry, we see in Matthew 3 the story of Jesus' baptism. As Jesus comes out of the water, God announces to everyone listening his word concerning his opinion of Jesus. And look at what He says, "This is my BELOVED Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17 KJV).

And with those words Jesus heads off to spend the next forty days without food in the desert! Wow, what a powerful example of what can happen in our lives when we understand that we are God's beloved! This "word of God" is what sustained Jesus for forty days in the desert. Imagine how many calories he was burning in that desert heat sweating all day. Image how good a loaf of bread would have sounded to someone who was starving. But Jesus wasn't starving. His body might have been hungry but His soul was satisfied with the knowledge that he was the beloved of God. This is why Jesus could look at the devil and laugh at his feeble attempt to get Jesus to sin.

When we understand that we are God's beloved, there is no desert that we cannot overcome. There is no temptation that can lead us astray. When we grab hold of that word, we realize what satisfaction in life really is. If you are reading this, I want to remind you that YOU ARE GOD'S BELOVED. YOU ARE HIS FAVORITE! Be full and satisfied resting in His love for you!