August 3rd
There is no bigger thrill than to bring a child into the world and then a few years later watch as the pastor baptizes him into the kingdom. The Lord has blessed me with two handsome sons and two beautiful daughters.

When I stood over my first born Son, I couldn’t help but notice how he looked like me and the wife combined. The eyes looked like hers but the rest looked like me. As a father, it was a proud moment when I looked down at him and reality hit, a part of him came from me. This was my son and I was quite pleased with the infant that lay before me [1].

When we are born again we become a child of God. We pass from death into life. The sin nature no longer separates us from God. We can thank Christ and what He did on the Cross for our new life. When Christ died on the Cross, an exchange took place. Christ took our sins and He gave us His righteousness. We became His. Since we baptized into His death when we became believers, we also baptized into His resurrection [2]. Just as I was proud of my son (children), God the Father was proud of His Son as well, as seen in Matthew 3:16, 17.

v16 And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water:
v17 and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased [Matthew 3:16-17 KJV].

When God the Father is pleased with Christ, He is also pleased with each and every one of us who believe on Him because we are sons and daughters of the Father. This should have us jumping with joy and shouting from the roof tops. Think about this for a minute: The Creator of the universe looks at each of us and says, “This is my beloved son/daughter, in whom I am well pleased.”

Lord, thank you that you love us enough to call us your own and that you have made a way to become part of your family. I rededicate myself to you Lord and thank you that you are pleased with me. I am not deserving of your love but I am worthy to be loved because of who lives in me. I personally thank you Lord that when you look at me you see Christ and His righteousness and not my sinfulness. I am just beside myself with love for you Lord, and I thank you daily for the Cross. I want to focus on you Lord, because you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I thank you Lord for reaching down from heaven and touching my life with your presence. In your precious name I give you thanks and pray, amen.
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[1]. The reason I use my first son as an example is not because of favoritism but because it resembles the story of Christ’s baptism. I love each of my children equally. They are a stupendous group of people and I am a proud dad.
[2]. Romans 6:1-14 Christ’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection is a type of baptism. When we ask the Lord into our heart and then baptize with water through dunking, it is analogous of what Christ did on the Cross. Dunking represents death and the crucifixion, and coming back out of the water represents the resurrection and a new life. We are in Christ’s family and are sons and daughters of God.