Walk in Jesus

May 26

Who do men say that I am? Who do you say that I am? Jesus

The bottom line of Jesus' question to Peter (Mark 8:29) is that it matters very little who others perceive Him to be. What matters to each of us is who we (I, you) perceive Him to be. Faith in the Lord is a very individual, very personal matter. Until I, until you, own Him as Savior and Lord, He can be nothing more than an interesting historical figure to us. It is when we recognize Him as God and Savior and claim Him as my/your God and Savior that His impact on our lives takes great effect.

I think there is another point He would have us to ask ourselves, changing the wording just a bit. He wants us to settle the question within ourselves, "Who do men say that you are? Who do you say that you are?" Just as it is irrelevant who others believe Jesus to be, so it is irrelevant who others believe you to be. The only one whose perception of you is important is your own! Who you are is established within your own perception of yourself.

No matter who others think you to be, it is your belief in who you are that will govern your life. Your choices, your actions, your hopes, your expectations, your outcomes will be determined by who you believe yourself to be. That is why you must allow yourself to have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5). That is why you must appropriate to yourself the wondrous joy of owning yourself to be a beloved child of the King of kings and Lord of lords. The reality of who you really are exceeds anything men think about you, for as Proverbs 23:7 says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Equipped with the assurance of who you are in Christ, you may go forward into each day in the confident expectation that your Jesus is with you. You may go into each encounter with each individual you meet with the knowledge that you project not just yourself to that person but divine royalty. When a person faces you, he is face-to-face with an esteemed child of the Lord of Heaven and Earth! Hold you head up high! Carry yourself with the dignity of royalty because that is who you are!

You are loved by Jesus! You are His unique treasure. When you answer the question, "Who do I say that I am?" answer it as HE answers it—"You are My own beloved, you are My precious one, redeemed by My sacrifice of love for you. You are Heaven's treasure. You are My blood-bought child." Walk in the dignity, in the joy, in the truth, in the power in the love of the One who wraps you in Himself, in the majesty of the One who guards and guides and loves you—walk in JESUS!