Pastor Franklin led the singing of this song on Resurrection Sunday. Concurrently twenty five
believers were being baptized on stage.” When faith meets water,” we celebrate! The Midnight Hour prayer service from 8:00pm to midnight occurred on Friday night, and Sunday the joy continued!
Our vision is Jesus. Our mission is to culture like Christ. Pastor Josiah posed the question,
”What do you believe about Jesus?” In Mark 8, the passage recounted the time Jesus and
His disciples left Galilee. As they walked, Jesus asked who people said that He was.
“Then he asked them,’But who do you say that I am?’
Peter replied,’You are the Messiah.’” Mark 8:29 (NLT)
What you believe about Jesus is monumental! It changes what you think about God, the world and yourself. It changes what you say and do. “What you believe is the source of all that comes out of you.” “For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45
(NKJV)
However, “Your preference does not dictate Kingdom reality.” Three times Jesus told His
disciples about His suffering. In Mark 8:31-21,
“Then Jesus began to tell them that the son of Man must
suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders,
the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He
would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the
dead. As he talked about this openly with his disciples,
Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for
saying such things.” (NLT)
Did Peter forget to whom he was speaking? He was talking to the Son of God. He was talking to the Messiah, but he was reprimanding Him. Sometimes in our narrow mindedness, we forget who we are and who He is. Forgive us, LORD!
There are times we do not want to hear what the LORD says. He might be commenting on a sin habit or an attitude that needs changing. We may not be ready to hear these words, but those preferences do not mean much. Pastor Josiah said,”My flesh does not want to be holy. But who is my LORD-the flesh or my King? The flesh is not in control anymore.” The only way to receive His blessings is through obedience.
Jesus responded to Peter,”’Get away from me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You are seeing things
merely from a human point of view, not from God’s’” Mark 8:33 (NLT) How easy it is to
comment from our perspective instead of waiting for the LORD’s direction. We are so like Peter. “If we never gain His perspective and only see things through the human point of view, the devil will influence what we say-not God.” Forgive us, LORD. We want to be more like you.
The next time Jesus shared with His disciples about His future was when they were passing
through Galilee.
“For He taught His disciples and said to them, ’The Son of Man
is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.
And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.’
But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask
Him.” Mark 9:31-31 (NLT)
Sometimes we will not understand what He is saying. We need to ask the hard question. “Trust that everything He has for you is good.” Even if the answer is challenging, we need to hear the truth. For example, Pastor Josiah and his family have been living in a house infested with mold. Would it have been better if the people just said,”Oh everything is good.”? No, they needed to know the truth about their home and the mold growing there. It is better to discover the issue to solve the problem.
Don’t be afraid of God. He is our Abba Father and wants to do the best for us. One of my
landmark verses is John 10:10. “Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come to
give you life, life abundantly.” If He wants us to have abundant lives, then He will have to
expose the “mold” (the sin) in our lives. That is the transforming process that we experience
when we encounter Jesus. When we have that quiet time to study His Word and Him, we can
be changed. I do not want to be like I was ten, five or two years ago. I want to keep shedding the old thought patterns about God, the world and me and remember that I am His beloved. Thank you, LORD, for changing me.
The third time Jesus prophesied about His death and resurrection was in Mark 10.
“‘Listen,’ he said, we’re going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man
will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law
will sentence him to die and hand him over to the Romans. They will mock
him, spit on him, flog him with a whip and kill him, but after three days he
will rise again.’” Mark 10:33-34 (NLT)
That news was hard to hear, but James and John had other matters on their minds. They
wanted to sit on His right and left when He was in His glory. Did they not hear the LORD and
what He was predicting would soon happen to Him? No they were preoccupied. How often we are distracted and do not comprehend what the LORD is saying to us. Forgive us, Jesus.
The result of the prophecy was recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices to treat His body, but the stone was
rolled away, and they saw an angel who told them that Jesus had risen! (Mark 16) The prophecy came true. One example was when the LORD appeared to His disciples eight days later in a locked room. Jesus said,”Peace be with you.” He told Thomas,’Put your finger here, and look at my hands.’” John 20:26b-27A The crucified Jesus rose from the dead and confirmed who He was and is on several occasions. Happy Resurrection Day!
The Paramount Point is “Are you a believer or an unbeliever?” Jesus was all He said He was.
Because He was all He said He was, may we be salt and light in this troubled world.