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Hear the devotional read here: https://bit.ly/3g2wepw
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesare'a Philip'pi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" 14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Eli'jah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. (Matthew 16:13-20 NRSV)
Happy Monday, dear Friend! May all that came against you since the last time we gathered here be gone! And may all the good God has intended for you come to you fourfold! I will share a couple of praise offerings! First, it was some years ago yesterday, that Nellie and I received our fourth baby girl into our hearts and homes. Caitlin re-wrote the Valverde Family Book on Discipline in a very short time! And not in a bad way, but in a delightful, amusing, and pleasant way. While our first three had the honor of sitting with Mom and Dad on Sunday mornings in church, Caty did not. She was born when I was senior pastor of her Mommy's home church for eleven years. She has been a blessing as well as her sisters to us, our home and ministry, and now she's almost going to be a mom for the second time, expecting her second son on the 16th of September (a very patriotic day in Mexico), but her son has grown quite a bit and trying to make his appearance on his time, not the doctor's. Please pray for Caty. Second, our nephew David Valverde of Georgia, who is a few months old, spent a couple of nights in an Atlanta hospital and was released yesterday (Sunday). He had a high fever and doctors were able to get that down and get to the cause of the problem, and all is well. Please keep him in your prayers as well! Thank you dear prayer servants.
Jesus had a startup. It was an itinerant ministry of signs and wonders. Jesus followed the lead of the Holy Spirit to wherever the need was; and most local authorities met his visits with some reluctance and even some almost violent opposition. Jesus personally recruited all twelve of His disciples and the mission statement of the organization was constantly being presented in demonstrative ways, some might say Matthew 5 is as good a place as any to visit and see what Jesus was up to. In a word, turning everything upside down. Or, maybe right side up. The emphasis by the Church of the day was on money, not ministry. Profit over prayer, and so Jesus had quite a task in confronting these matters and making something positive come of them. And Jesus never really had an in-depth interview with any of the disciples in which He would have said, "I am Jesus bar Joseph, of Nazareth; I was born in Bethlehem, spent some time abroad in Egypt, and finally my folks made their way back here to Galilee. My dad was a carpenter, as was I for a bit; but Dad died, left me to help Mother for a bit, especially with the kid brothers and sisters; but I sensed God's timing was ready for me to launch this ministry. Oh, by the way, I am the Messiah, the long-expected anointed one of God. Yep, that's me." It is in this passage that Jesus asks them, "Who do people say that I am?" Nice way to start; what are you hearing, what are people saying? They respond, "Well, Jesus, some believe You to be John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others Jeremiah, and others, that You must be one of the prophets." This was the ideal time for Him to ask, "What about you? Who do you say that I am?" Most of them wanted to say the title of today's devotional, "I dunno." They really were not sure! They were impressed and could not explain half of the actions or teachings that He shared with them. Only one, Simon Peter, who replied, "You are the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the living God." Bam! There it is! Jesus is pleased and says so, "Blessed are you, Simon bar-Jonah! Because flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but it was my Father who is in heaven, who has revealed this to you. And I'm telling you, Peter, on this rock (Peter's name was Rock, and a far cry behind is Dwayne Johnson) I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Here's where Peter got the job of Gate-Keeper in Heaven), and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." We need to remember that Peter was a fisherman. He probably had a fishing business, but he was one who liked to fish and get dirty in the day-to-day of the business; but he was invited by Jesus to join this spiritual startup because of his courage and his faith. When others ran and hid, Peter did not. When attackers came to arrest, Peter drew his sword. And yes, when challenged by others about his relationship with Jesus, he did, as Jesus had foretold, he denied Him. But, later he was elevated by Jesus to show that all was forgiven.
Peter got a bump. Up. Way up! And he may have realized it, but if he didn't, he soon would, that this job promotion would come with a huge requirement namely all that talk about "take up your cross and follow me," would literally involve a cross and he on it. But that's for another devotional. All it took on that day was for one voice to lift up the truth about Jesus. Others may not have been as sure about it as Peter, and some may have really said, under their breath, "I dunno," like some of us when we confront some major challenges in our life. Instead of an "I dunno" response, we are called to say, with boldness, courage, and conviction, "I know!" And sometimes we say, "I know Jesus! And Jesus is with us, and all will be well."
PRAYER: Loving Lord, in the midst of all that may come against us, fill us with that that goes against whatever or whoever would derail our intent to serve You. Give us boldness, courage, and conviction; and lift us into faithful and fruitful service. And this we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Find a time to say boldly, "I know Jesus!"
Receive my blessings of peace and joy,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
