Living in His Pleasure

"His [God's] voice of affirmation is not the least bit contingent on how we perform in any of our tasks, whether we are good at our jobs or even at spiritual practices. That's why it's so significant that God the Father spoke into His Son's identity before Jesus did any of the miracles or good works among the poor and marginalized. The Father's voice of love was the source from which the work of the Son would come - loving and accepting others as a natural extension of the love and blessing He had received. It could not work the other way around. He was the beloved Son in whom God was well pleased, not by whom He  was well please. That distinction is critical"

-Jonathan Martin, Prototype: What Happens When You Discover That You Are More Like Jesus Than You Think, page 49