Who do YOU say I am?

This is the question that Jesus is asking every Christian. Who do YOU say I am? Check out this verse of scripture

Matthew 16:13-19 (Amplified Bible)

¹³Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is?

    ¹⁴And they answered, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

    ¹⁵He said to them, But who do you [yourselves] say that I am?

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

    ¹⁷Then Jesus answered him, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven.

    ¹⁸And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros--a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra--a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].

    ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful) on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be what is already loosed in heaven.

(Source: Bible Gateway)

Now, I want you to clearly examine this scripture. The disciples of Jesus had been with Him for a while and He threw a question at them. The first time He asks, who do people say I am. We can see from their answers that people actually had a very distorted view of who Jesus was. He had healed them, raised their dead even fed them but still they were clueless. They did not know who he was. 

Then he asks again, who do you say I am? Now, He wants to know who His disciples think He is and Simon Peter answers, You are the Christ, Son of the Living God. I am not really tripped by what Peter says but it is what Jesus says that made me go crazy. Jesus says flesh and blood (men) did not reveal this to you but My Father in Heaven. 

Now the question is Who do You say He is? I am not asking for your mother's opinion or for your pastor's opinion but who do you say Jesus is? Most of us wonder why things don't work for us. We go the whole nine yards, pay our tithes, holler the right Christian words, we pray, we fast, we speak in diverse tongues but our lives still seem static. Truth is, if you don't have a personal encounter with the Savior, if Jesus has not revealed himself to you personally, you cannot know Him. It is the simple truth. It is on this personal revelation that Jesus Christ will build His church... so the church Jesus is coming for is a church that has had a personal revelation with Him. That is why on that day, people will say, we did this or we did that in your name... and He will go... "I don't know you"... We need a personal revelation... because with that we get the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven...

And I know you want that.

#nowreading- The Slumber of Christianity by Ted Dekker (Review coming soon)

Trotcha!!

Max Lucado: Take Goliath Down!!!

Hey guys.

It feels so good to be here again giving you a daily dose of the Gospel. I got something for you today from Max Lucado. To most of you who don't know, Max is my mentor/Spiritual father and I love to share inspiring messages I get from him so here is an amazing message from him. Got it in my email today and I have decided to share it with you.

 

by Max Lucado

Goliaths still roam our world. Debt. Disaster. Dialysis. Danger. Deceit. Disease. Depression. Super-size challenges still swagger and strut, still pilfer sleep and embezzle peace and liposuction joy. But they can’t dominate you. You know how to deal with them. You face giants by facing God first.
Focus on giants—you stumble.
Focus on God—your giants tumble.
You know what David knew, and you do what David did. You pick up five stones, and you make five decisions. Ever wonder why David took five stones into battle? Why not two or twenty? Rereading his story reveals five answers. Use your five fingers to remind you of the five stones you need to face down your Goliath. Let your thumb remind you of …
1. THE STONE OF THE PAST
Goliath jogged David’s memory. Elah was a déjà vu. While everyone else quivered, David remembered. God had given him strength to wrestle a lion and strong-arm a bear. Wouldn’t he do the same with the giant? A good memory makes heroes.
“Remember His marvelous works which He has done” (1 Chron. 16:12). Catalog God’s successes. Keep a list of his world records. Has he not walked you through high waters? Proven to be faithful? Have you not known his provision? How many nights have you gone to bed hungry? Mornings awakened in the cold? He has made roadkill out of your enemies. Write today’s worries in sand. Chisel yesterday’s victories in stone. Pick up the stone of the past. Then select …
2. THE STONE OF PRAYER
Note the valley between your thumb and finger. To pass from one to the next you must go through it. Let it remind you of David’s descent. Before going high, David went low; before ascending to fight, David descended to prepare. Don’t face your giant without first doing the same. Dedicate time to prayer. Paul, the apostle, wrote, “Prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long” (Eph. 6:18 MSG).
Prayer spawned David’s successes. His Brook Besor wisdom grew out of the moment he “strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (1 Sam. 30:6). When Saul’s soldiers tried to capture him, David turned toward God: “You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble” (Ps. 59:16).
Invite God’s help. Pick up the stone of prayer. And don’t neglect …
3. THE STONE OF PRIORITY
Let your tallest finger remind you of your highest priority: God’s reputation. David jealously guarded it. No one was going to defame his Lord. David fought so that “all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s” (1 Sam. 17:46–47).
David saw Goliath as a chance for God to show off! Did David know he would exit the battle alive? No. But he was willing to give his life for the reputation of God.
What if you saw your giant in the same manner? Rather than begrudge him, welcome him. Your cancer is God’s chance to flex his healing muscles. Your sin is God’s opportunity to showcase grace. Your struggling marriage can billboard God’s power. See your struggle as God’s canvas. On it he will paint his multicolored supremacy. Announce God’s name and then reach for …
4. THE STONE OF PASSION
David ran, not away from, but toward his giant. On one side of the battlefield, Saul and his cowardly army gulped. On the other, Goliath and his skull-splitters scoffed. In the middle, the shepherd boy ran on his spindly legs. Who bet on David? Who put money on the kid from Bethlehem? Not the Philistines. Not the Hebrews. Not David’s siblings or David’s king. But God did.
And since God did, and since David knew God did, the skinny runt became a blur of pumping knees and a swirling sling. He ran toward his giant.
Do the same!
Let your ring finger remind you to take up the stone of passion.
One more stone, and finger, remains:
5. THE STONE OF PERSISTENCE
David didn’t think one rock would do. He knew Goliath had four behemoth relatives. For all David knew, they’d come running over the hill to defend their kin. David was ready to empty the chamber if that’s what it took.
Imitate him. Never give up. One prayer might not be enough. One apology might not do it. One day or month of resolve might not suffice. You may get knocked down a time or two … but don’t quit. Keep loading the rocks. Keep swinging the sling.
David took five stones. He made five decisions. Do likewise. Past. Prayer. Priority. Passion. And persistence.
Next time Goliath wakes you up, reach for a stone. Odds are, he’ll be out of the room before you can load your sling.

From Facing Your Giants
Copyright (Thomas Nelson, 2005) Max Lucado