"Who do you say I am?"

Matthew 16:13-20

Peter's Confession of Christ

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

¹⁴They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

¹⁵"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

¹⁶Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

¹⁷Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And 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. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." ²⁰Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

I have always taken this scripture to mean that Christ is revealing his true self to his desciples. I still believe that is the case but, I have learned something new about this familiar scripture. Remember, His word is alive, it breathes life into any situation or circumstance that you are in. Jesus is calling, challenging, on Peter to declare who he believes that he is. Peter knew exactly who Jesus was, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.". This scripture is for you, right now, where you are at. Who do you say that Jesus is? Is He truly the Son of the living God in your life? Is he the key to the kingdom of heaven in your life? Perhaps he is somebody you meet with on Sunday morning at "Club Church" and forget about after brunch at Elmer's with the family. Jesus can only meet you where you are at, where your faith is at. If your faith only allows him to bless your food then that is all you will get. If your faith in Him is strong enough to move mountains in your life, then that is what you get. What I am trying to say is, Jesus will meet you at whatever level your faith is at. He will not go too far past it, because you wouldn't believe it anyway. This is the manifestation of reaping and sowing at it's pinnacle. You sow faith, he increases the reaping of that fruit in your life. When you rely on your faith in him, you are giving up "self" in order for God to work in your life. He can't work in your life if you are in the way all the time mucking up the process with "self". You are a tool for God to use, not the other way around. Exercise your faith in Him and just like a muscle, that exercise will cause it to grow into a more powerful force in your life.

I pray that you've gained something for your life by reading this, I know I did by writing it. I also pray that only the true word of God would shine from all that I write and the rest would be washed away, that only the truth would remain.