5 p.m. Monday November 28, 2022. 48F/9C.
Stir. Fog fell in layers on the hollow in the early hours of the day. It allowed predatory birds of all sorts to fly stealthfully over the creek without casting a shadow. The blue kingfisher seemed best at just skimming the water and still catching a treat. Cold fell down. Underfoot, the ground was warm, but cold sent a shiver over the shoulders. It was a bitter cold, and not pleasant for deep breathing. Wood smoke and fog mixed out at the dirt road. It would be noon before both lifted.
The Gospel of Matthew, chapter three
Abba Father, grant us your revelation and your wisdom as we read your word. In the name of your word, Yeshua, I pray. Amen.
Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
Yeshua made the trip from Nazareth, probably eastward, toward the Sea of Galilee, then south along the Jordan, until he found John. For a man in his late twenties, that might have been a week long hike and search. He was driven by a spirit that no other man would have understood.
Where our KJV Bible says “to be baptized of him”, it means “to be baptized under him”. That was an act that might have placed Yeshua under John’s leadership. John was recognized as a prophet. He wore the standard garment of a prophet – a camel hide robe and a leather belt. He would have had disciples whom he taught and passed on the anointing that he kept.
John knew who he was in God’s plan and he recognized who Yeshua was in God’s plan. He prevented Yeshua from becoming a follower. John told Yeshua, “I hold the office of a baptizer. My office is under the office that you hold! And you came to me?” John had to have reassurance from the Holy One of Israel before he changed his mind.
John must have struggled with a pestering notion (or a harassing demon?) that he made up his own calling, that he made up his life of purity and prophecy and following God’s Spirit. After all, none of the sects of Judaean religion were quite like John’s. He was on his own. What Yeshua told him must have boosted his confidence that the Spirit directing him was indeed God.
Yeshua answered with his authority, “Yield, for this time. By doing this, all will be right and acceptable to God.”
And John baptized Yeshua, just as he would have baptized one of his own disciples.
Life in the hollow, Monday
This image of Yeshua that has come to spend time here in the cabin occasionally lets me see him involved in other tasks. On Saturday, a spiritual child ran up to him, eager to be with Yeshua. “I want to be like you!” the boy was saying.
Yeshua agreed with him and told him, “You will do what I do, and say what I tell you to say, just as I do what my Father does, and just as I say what my heavenly Father says.” The spiritual boy cheerfully agreed and ran off. Then another spiritual child. And another.
Later that evening, Yeshua gave me instructions to release my spirit while my body rested. He instructed angels to care for my body while my spirit was gone.
I flat told him that I had no clue what he was talking about. “You can’t just reach into me and grab my spirit and send it where you want it to go?”
He instructed me to praise in my spirit, giving honor to God. I did so. Whether it was reality or imagination, I could not tell, but the ceiling opened up, a circular opening, as it did a couple days before. It was hazy or misty, hard to see well. There sat the man-like being with the glowing head. My spirit, acting like a child of seven or eight, took off running out of my body. She raced up some stairs and stood directly in front of the man-like being. She did a little dance and then stood still. My body was not moving or reacting, but it was seeing.
The man-like being said, “I have an assignment for you. I have written a letter to my people.” He had a very kind voice. He held a stiff document in his hand. It was a brownish color, and was thicker than a sheet of paper. There were markings on it, none that I could read. “And I want you to take it to them. Release it to all the world.” He handed the one page to my spirit. She accepted, and here, she became me. He was our heavenly Father. He prompted me to hold it next to my heart. It dissolved into me. I ran down the steps and back into my body.
And suddenly I knew that all those children seeking out Yeshua were not children at all. They were the spirits of adults who were seeking him in praise and worship.
He desires such worship.
Enter My Peace 