Listening to the Lord
by Pastor Tim Klein
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And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:17).
Over this week, we will hear a decent dollop of law and judgement as the Lord speaks out against his enemies and calls out his people.
However, among it all, there is hope. There are promises and assurances that despite how people behave, the Lord still wants them all – us all – to be saved. Some of it may resonate with your circumstances; some might not sit so well.
We start the week with this short but wonderful announcement from the Lord concerning Jesus: ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’
It may be interesting to note the exchange between John and Jesus before Jesus’ baptism occurred. It often happens this way. We have our expectations of how God should act, what he should do and how he should be. And so, John confronts Jesus with his idea of how things should go. John would have prevented him, saying in verse 14, ‘I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?’.
But Jesus gently reminds him of who he is in relationship to John by effectively saying, ‘this is how it has to be’ … Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now; for it is proper for us in this way to fulfil all righteousness’.
And so, Jesus is baptised and then revealed to all the world as the Son of God! God has great plans, and they are all being fulfilled in Jesus. If you are a baptised child of God, then some of these plans are being fulfilled in you – and that’s how it’s meant to be!
Perhaps take some time to reflect and pray on what you have experienced of the Lord’s purposes in your life.
‘Come, Lord Jesus, come; into this weary and tangled world. O, how we long for you to come, Lord, come!’
Dear Father, we thank you for revealing who Jesus is in all his fullness as your dearly loved Son. We know all he has done for us, and so we look forward with confidence to life with you into eternity. Amen.
Tim is the husband of the lovely Joylene, father of three and their spouses, and Pa to nine grandchildren. Tim loves family time. He also loves family time with his faith family at Faith Warradale, where he has served as the pastor for eight years. He has served as a pastor of the church in various capacities for more than 30 years. Tim also enjoys photography, pushbike riding and gardening and is a self-taught guitarist, Adelaide Conservatorium-trained singer, and writer of an occasional song. Tim says he looks forward to a couple more years as a full-time pastor and is open to where the Lord would use him beyond that.
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