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15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 NIV)
May the Lord bless you and keep you, ConCafe Family; may you see how much Jesus loves us by what we hear in this passage from Saint Luke 3, dear Reader. May we pray for those in need. We have been asked to pray for Mr. Mike Barker, brother-in-law to Edith Lucas. Brother Mike is battling heart disease. May our prayers be healing balm for Mike and his family. Pray for one another; pray for yourselves. From a reader, Barbara Seger, " pray for our school secretary, Christina Hackney. She’s going back to MDAnderson another tumor has appeared that the family practice doc thought was tennis elbow. Our poor physicians are exhausted! At least it showed up in an xray." Prayers for The Rev. Virgilio Vasquez Garza, who was in ER last night at Stone Oak Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, TX.
There's a wonderful connection when you find you identify with someone you don't know. If I hear Seguin, I relate. I hear espanol spoken, I identify. You may have your own ways of relating and connecting, but imagine hearing that your life is in need of forgivness and you hear a traveling preacher is by the river offering a washing that he's calling baptism, and even though your church leaders don't recommend it, you know you need it, so you take it. And as a result you come to see the difference it has made in your life. And the preacher who baptized you begins talking about another preacher who is coming who he says, is the real deal. And you begin to hear your friends and neighbors wondering if perhaps, John, the first preacher, is that guy? Then, John himself, as if he could read minds, says, "I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." And then, He comes, the One whom John spoke about, and He gets baptized, too! Wait. What? You saw it, and then you heard it! Heaven was open and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a body like a dove, and you heard the voice from Heaven that declared, to the Son, "You are my Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased."
Since that moment, the discussions and studies and the ahem, "discussions," have not ended. Scholars, theologians, philosophers, busybodies, arm chair theologians, all have awed and wondered at what spiritual implications this action by Our Lord has had on humanity. We believe that Jesus was fully man and fully God, and as such was perfect, meaning without sin. This baptism was offered to wash away sin, as needed by the people at that time. John's invitation and message got to the heart of those who did present themselves for baptism. The main question asked, why would the Son of God present Himself for a washing of sins when He had none? The main answer is to identify and connect with humanity, with all people, you and me included. Jesus knows us through and through. There is not aspect of our lives with which Jesus is not 100% familiar. Our hurts, our pains, our fears, our frustrations, even our doubts, they are known by Jesus. And more importantly, these are already defeated and placed in their place by Him. All we have to do is to place our faith and hope in Him, and He will provide.
Dear friend, what a better way to start a New Year than to hear that God's only Son, Jesus Christ, is the One in whom we can place our lives. Whatever weakenss has kept you up at night, tell it that it is defeated! It has met its match in Jesus, never to defeat you again.
PRAYER: Loving God, we thank You for Your wisdom and plan, and for sharing Jesus as our role model and Savior. Fill us with faith and hope as we journey with You through this New Year. You know what I fear, what I'm facing, and what keeps me up at night; into Your hands I place them, knowing that You will bless me. I pray this in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Share a word of hope and peace with someone that God will lead you to.
Receive my blessings of joy and hope,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
