Bridget A. Thomas
Every day is a gift!
Luke 3
Read Luke 3 in your Bible. Or you can also read it here.
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 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 3:21-22 NIV
There is something that we tend to forget, as children of God. In our day to day lives, we forget that we are already loved. We forget that we are already redeemed. We forget that we are already forgiven. We tend to subconsciously work for our salvation. We work to please God. Yes, it is true that our actions should be done for God’s glory. But we do them out of love, not to gain His approval. We already have His approval. Once we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we cannot become move loved than we already are.
A couple of years ago, pastor Louie Giglio released an exceptional book called Not Forsaken. It is an eye opening book, that helps us to see our relationship with our Heavenly Father in a new light. Around the time when he released this book, the morning show on my local radio station had him on the air (The Morning Cruise on the Joy FM). You can hear one of the clips here. It was two years ago, but something that Louie Giglio said stuck with me:
I think so many people are living FOR something, instead of living FROM something. When Jesus was baptized the Father didn’t say, “This is my beloved Son and we’ll see how He does. This is my beloved Son, and you know what? We’re gonna give Him three years.” He said, “This is my Son, in Him I am well pleased.” He hadn’t walked on water, He hadn’t fed five thousand, He had not raised the dead, nor healed the sick, or died for our sins. What had He done? Oh, He was a Loved Son. That’s who He was. So Jesus moves out into this public ministry FROM acceptance and FROM the blessing, not FOR acceptance and FOR the blessing. And so many people are confused about who they are. And they’re floundering looking FOR the acceptance, looking FOR the blessing. When God wants them to know they already HAVE the acceptance and they already HAVE the blessing. And that’s where they live FROM now, as they move out to do and be the people he’s created them to be. – Louie Giglio
How amazing it is to know that we are fully loved and fully accepted. I pray we can keep this in mind today and everyday. Let our words and actions be for God’s honor and glory. But let us remember that we are not working for approval. We already have it. Thanks to Jesus. God loves us beyond measure. It is not something we earned. His love is a precious gift that we received, as His children.
If you are also participating in the Gratitude Challenge, today is day 74 of 100. We are getting close to the finish line!
© 2021 Bridget A. Thomas
Bridget A. Thomas 
I’m thankful that we are loved unconditionally and accepted in Jesus. We don’t have to work to earn that acceptance. We live in a works based society so that can be a difficult concept to grasp at times but it’s true. Thanks Bridget!
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You are right, it can be difficult to grasp. But if we can get into this mindset, we will have so much freedom from the chains that we have wrapped around ourselves. Thank you for stopping by, Dawn!
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Doing things From a place of acceptance and blessing – wow, that blew my mind a bit. I like how it was explained.
I think it is a fine line that can get misunderstood easily – doing things for God in response to His love and grace and doing it for his acceptance
Enjoyed todays study Bridget 🤗🌺
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You are absolutely right, it can be a very fine line. It might take a lot of intentional seeking to see what motives are in our hearts. When we find we are trying to gain approval, we can prayerfully hand it over to God. But that might mean doing so, many times over! Thanks, Manu! You always give me extra input to ponder, and I love that! ♥️
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the blind see
we got
blessed
as in third James
dig?
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“We tend to subconsciously work for our salvation.” This is so true! I especially liked the clip from the author and how he points out that Jesus steps from faith, acceptance, and blessing rather than for those things. This is such an important lesson for us to understand that we have the same authority and can move forward from that authority and acceptance, and not have to seek it, because we already have it. Additionally the lineage caught my attention as well, some amazing names who represent faith and righteousness!
A verse I have written in a journal, that I go to and speak out when I feel there is something preventing me or my family from something is Zechariah 4:7. In the verse Zerubbabel, who is in the lineage of Joseph, says “who are you o great mountain that stands before me? You shall become a mere molehill…”. I heard this in a sermon from Joel Osteen in 2010. He pointed out that too many times we talk to God or complain about how big the mountain is, but we should be talking to the mountain about how big God is. And that when we speak with the authority of the Son of the Most High God, all the armies of Heaven are behind us. Jesus clearly stepped into His role FROM that authority.
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You make a great point. Too often when we face a trial, we fret and worry and dread the outcome. But God goes before us and He has already sent victory into motion. What an amazing God we have! Thank you so much for sharing that!
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