Matthew 23:11-12 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Yeshua (Jesus) began His earthly ministry by being baptized in the Jordan river. The word Jordan in Hebrew is "Yarden" and its root is "yarad". It literally means to descend, which would make sense being that the Jordan descends from over 8,000 feet from Mount Hermon to the Dead Sea which sits more than 1,000 feet below sea level.
If we truly want to walk in the fullness of the Lord, we have to follow the example that Yeshua set before us. Yeshua descended from Heaven, He descended from glory, was baptized in the Jordan and fulfilled the calling that the Father bestowed upon Him by being our perfect sacrifice on Calvary. Yeshua totally and completely surrendered Himself to do His Father's will.
We too, must descend and surrender all that we are and all we have been given. We must truly give our lives, not for our own glory, but for His. Until we do that, we'll never be able to see all the blessings and opportunities the Lord has prepared for us since the foundation of the world.
Let's learn a lesson from the Yarden today. When we descend, we'll be lifted up! We'll see the blessings freely flow from a Heavenly source which will never run dry!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Let me tell you a funny little story. An old mountaineer and his wife were sitting by the fireplace one evening, passing the time in silence. After a while, the wife broke the stillness and said, “Jed, I think it’s raining. Go outside and check, will ya?”
During his reign, King Frederick William III of Prussia found himself in a bind. Wars had been costly, and in trying to build the nation, he was seriously short of finances. After careful reflection, he decided to ask the women of Prussia if they would bring their jewelry of gold and silver to be melted down for their country. Each piece of jewelry he received, he would exchange for a decoration of bronze or iron as a symbol of his gratitude. These decorations would be inscribed, ‘I gave gold for iron, 18l3’.
In connection with the Hebrew Word “Amen”, meaning “faith”, “truth”, “belief”, and “trust”, consider this revealing passage in Isaiah which further amplifies the dimensions of the word in the most wonderful and comforting promise:
“He who blesses himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth [“Amen” in Hebrew]. …
After spending forty years in the wilderness, the children of Israel crossed into the Promised Land arriving to immediately face what seemed an impregnable fortress and an impossible task. Imagine receiving the instruction to march around the fortified city seven times, then finally be commanded to shout with all your might and sound shofars!
What is it about salt? And how do I season speech with it? Gracious speech is sweet, yet Paul says to season it with salt.
Sometimes, the more significant, powerful, or influential someone is, the less you know about him or her. There are some people of influence whose names most of us have never heard, and about whom we know almost nothing, yet they make decisions which affect millions of lives.
Charles Spurgeon wrote “Prayer pulls the rope below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly. Others give but an occasional pluck at the rope. But he who wins with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously, with all his might.”