Psalm 8:1; add 31:1-3a, and  20:1-4

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in Luke 3. A few verses in the passage, addressed as Luke 3:1-22, caught my attention, and the Spirit drew me into communion with Him.

Luke 3:14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

Luke 3:22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.*

The public ministry of John the Baptist began when he was 30 years of age (Numbers 4:3).

John’s message was a call to repentance and righteousness (Luke 3:10-14), declaring that he was not the Christ, but pointed to Jesus as the Messiah, the Lamb of God come to take away the sin of the world (Luke 3:15-18; see John 1:29, 36), and rebuking kings for their sins (Luke 3:18-20). John also prophesied that Jesus would fell the trees: He would lay the axe to the root of the trees, where trees represent men and their deeds their fruit (Mark 8:24; Luke 6:44; Matthew 12:33).

Along the still waters, I pondered John’s message of repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ and remembered this was also the message of Christ and of His servant Paul (Matthew 4:17; Acts 20:21). The people, publicans and soldiers were pricked in their conscience and instructed in righteousness relevant to specific areas of their lives: the people were exhorted to be mindful of the poor (Luke 3:10-11), the publicans to be honest in their business (Luke 3:12-13), and the Roman (Gentile) soldiers, those who weilded the power of the State, “demanded” to know what instruction he had for them: “do violence to no man,”** accuse none falsely, and “be content with [their] wages” (Luke 3:14-15).

One insight I pondered was John’s message of repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

At Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit appeared in the “bodily shape” of a dove (Luke 3:22). Jesus said “a spirit hath not flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39). The Holy Spirit took on a “bodily shape.” I thought about this in light of the fact that we do sometimes entertain (encounter, engage with) angels unawares (Hebrews 13:2). I don’t think the Holy Spirit possessed a dove but rather that He took on the bodily shape of a dove. However, Jesus distinguished spirit from flesh and bone by eating food with them (Luke 24:41-43). All of this adds to the wonder of Abraham’s encounter when the LORD visited him at his tent and ate the meal he set before them (Genesis 18:1-8). Selah!

Wow! We know Christ is eternally the express image of God’s Person (Hebrews 1:3; 2 Corinthians 4:4). Did He manifest in the flesh before the incarnation? Did He appear in His glorified body? Is the incarnation yet a greater mystery than before contemplated? What, exactly, did Moses see when given a glimpse of GOD (Exodus 33:23)?

One thing I know! God desires His Son to manifest today in this world through our “mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:11). And that won’t happen unless we are filled with His Spirit (Ephesians 5:18-21). And to be filled with the Spirit …

In the valley, shadowed by His cross, the Spirit spoke Christ’s words to my heart: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). It’s our daily reckoning: “Reckon …yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11).

At the table, He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup to overflowing, mixed with sufficient grace for my day.

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live asap:

https://rumble.com/v7d1r0s-shepherds-pasture.html

[*John’s ministry was very short, probably not much over one year. Jesus and John were born six months apart (Luke 1:36), John being, in the flesh, the elder (John 1:27; see 1:1, 14; see also 8:58). Jesus was “about thirty years of age” when He was baptized (Luke 3:23). John, being the son of Zacchaias the priest, likely began his public ministry at thirty years of age (Numbers 4:3; see Joseph-Genesis 41:46, and David-2 Samuel 5:4). When Jesus was “about thirty years of age” He was baptized by John, who had been baptizing in the Jordan about six months earlier. He might have been baptized a little before or after He attained that age. “Everyone” was going to the Jordan to be baptized by John (Luke 3:21). If Jesus was baptized a little before He was thirty, then He was baptized only a few months after John began preaching in the wilderness, repentance for the remission of sins (Matthew 3:1; Luke 3:7-9). If Jesus was baptized a little after he turned 30, it’s possible He was a little over thirty. Most students of chronology put John in prison within six months of Jesus’ public ministry.]

[**John was not saying the soldiers were forbidden from executing wrath upon evil doers, for that is the ordained purpose of “the sword” (Romans 13:1-6). The word violate is in the word violence. The soldiers were forbidden to use their power in violation of righteousness.]