This morning as I sat down to read my bible I had one of those moments that I will never forget. A moment with God that words will never completely be able to do justice to but of course I am going to try.
I grabbed my old bible off the shelf to read this morning. It was just one of those mornings that “Big Bertha” needed to be picked up. It’s the tattered bible that my parents bought for me for my 18th birthday, the one that sat on my shelf unread until I turned 19 and gave my life to Jesus and then I couldn’t put it down. It’s my favorite bible, the one with all the notes, underlines and stained pages from spills whilst reading it. I didn’t really know where to begin in all honesty this morning… I had my Iced 4 shot mocha and raspberry bran muffin at my bedside table so I was ready to go… but where to begin? It literally fell open in Matthew where I had a few cards and notes stuck in it… and when I looked down to read I knew grabbing Big Bertha off the shelf to read was no mistake, nor were the cards that fell out and brought me to the verse before my eyes…
Highlighted was this verse…. “And I tell you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:18-19
The above scripture is one that always stands out to me because its just so powerful. The fact that God is going to do whatever it takes to build His church and come hell or high water (literally); nothing is going to overcome it. It’s the greatest thing you can put your hand to and build on this earth because it won’t fade away like money, the times or social trends. But this morning God “smashed me” in the few verses prior to that well know passage. It was here in Matthew 16:13-15 that my day was flipped upside down for the better.
When I read this I could just imagine Jesus and the disciples sitting around a crackling fire and Jesus striking up a conversation: “Hey guys, so what are the rumors? Who do people say that I am???” and the disciples banter a bit and say in casual conversation “Oh you know, some say John the baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets” And then the whole conversation switches from popular opinion to a personal conversation and this is where I got stuck (aka smashed)…
Jesus throws this question out there to see what they will say:
“But what about you??”
I didn’t even get to the next part of the sentence… I was overwhelmed with this question… It made me take a good look at myself and stop looking around at what everyone else is saying about Jesus, or doing for Him, and ask myself… but what about you?
So often our world is filled with noise, opinions, plans, thoughts that need to be taken captive, comparisons, old mindsets that are stuck in deep ruts that are hard to get out of but we desperately need to change… We get caught up in what everyone else is saying or doing and God is crying out to us….
“Focus! But what about you? Who do you say that I am”
Who we say Christ is in our lives (what we proclaim, stand on, and believe) is the personal bedrock on which our identity stands. And when we know who Christ is, we know who we are. Then when we know who we are we can build His Kingdom with strength and authority.
But what about you? Who do you say that He is through trials, tests, highs, lows, mountains, valleys, pressures, hard times, good times… What about you???
Now I know that this may come across as Christianity 101: Step 1 - Know who Christ is. Step 2 - Know who you are in Him. Step 3 - Put your hand to building the Church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out. But let’s be honest, this is the type of Christianity 101 that we never graduate from, but need to apply to life on a daily basis… and if we all live this, just watch what Christ’s Church as a body on this earth can do…
The lifestyle you live screams what you say about who He is to you, and in you.
So… What about you???
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I just came accross your website today as i surfed the web looking to see what local churches are out there in close proximity to where i live and fellowship in hopes of making connections with other believers of like kind faith, not because i’m looking for another church but networking in the body is good. I’m the head of the womens ministry at my church and on occasion look for guest speakers to come and and share and so I happen to read your blog. How true are these words. Who we say Jesus is is what really matters to our walk. This walk is individual, I have to work out my own salvation and I have to know Christ for myself, not who my parents think he is or my friends but who do I say he is. Me knowing him is all i need. My faith, my confession is who i will trust ultimately. so thank you for that insightful piece of wisdom you shared. God Bless
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