FRIENDS

This week, I was wondering if you would take a little journey with me?  It will be a journey of personal discovery and it may very well change some things in your life.  It could even change everything, and not just for this moment but for all the rest of your life.

Imagine with me that we are living our lives and Jesus is real and alive at this time, too.  Imagine you are going about your daily routines, living your daily life, when suddenly you are confronted by Jesus personally, and called to go along with Him.  He wants you, specifically you, to simply hang out with Him.  As far as you know He’s the most interesting character of the century, popular in every venue, voted “MOST” in every category, the celebrity of all celebrities – and He has invited you to become a close personal friend.

You accept and for the next three years you are privy to every moment of every day.  You watch and observe and are part of every circumstance.  You and Jesus have shared meals, shared laughter, shared stories, shared sadness, shared joy, shared triumphs and shared failures; your own and those of Jesus’ other comrades.  In all of it, Jesus has taught you, strengthened you, encouraged you and given you every reason to hope.  You have been witness to extraordinary miracles you would never have imagined possible!

You have been witness to the most incredible of situations and watched the everyday ordinary become the means to the marvelous bordering on unbelievable.  But you saw it with your eyes, you heard it with your own ears and you know that you know that you know it has all actually occurred.  By now, you think you know Jesus really well, and you have become good buddies, great friends who always have each others backs.

After all of that, Jesus comes to you with a question.

Matthew 16:13-15; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi He asked His disciples “ Who men say that I, the Son of Man is?”  So they said “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

He said to them “BUT WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?”

The moment of truth has arrived.  It cannot be taken for granted, but must be answered.  This is the question each of us must answer for ourselves.  This is the question that leads, not to just knowing who Jesus is, but to our understanding who we are.  In my own years of learning to walk with the Lord and in working in ministry sharing about the Lord with others, I have found that how someone defines Jesus, defines who they really are. 

How you honestly define Jesus within the context of who He is TO YOU, I've discovered, says more about defining yourself than defining Him.

I say that because He is who He is no matter what you think or feel or believe about Him.  But who Jesus is to you will influence and dictate your every action, belief, your heart and ultimately define who you are!

A concern in this area is when we say with our mouths that he is Lord but live as if no opinion but our own will be considered in deciding our actions.  In this case our very actions loudly declare that we ourselves are Lord of our life and not Jesus at all! 

If we believe He is just a nice prophet who said some useful, honorable things, then we may walk with some integrity, yet still choosing for ourselves which teachings we will follow and which we will disregard.

When truly we understand, accept and live with Him as the Lord and Savior of our life, then and only then will our choices, decisions, words and actions reflect the truth of His Lordship.  There will be times of stumbling and falls in our lives, but they will not define the majority of our actions.  Each day that passes will see us growing, changing and more perfectly reflecting the light of Christ through our actions and words.  We may get this thing wrong today, but the Holy Spirit guiding us as we submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus will be reflected as we get it right tomorrow.

Though we may call ourselves Christians and attend church regularly, this question confronts us, just as Jesus confronted His disciples with it those many years ago.

“WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?” Jesus asks us today.

Have you never considered this question before?  Have you in the past given lip service only but never truly submitted your heart to the Lord of all creation?  Who do you say Jesus is, to you?

We would consider it an unequaled privilege to pray with you and help you discover answers to that question Jesus asks of all who would be His disciples. “Who do YOU say that I am?”