DCLM Daily Manna 24 November 2021 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Who Is Jesus To You?
TOPIC: Who Is Jesus To You?
TEXT: Mark 8:27-38
27 And Jesus went out, and his disciples, into the towns of Caesarea Philippi: and by the way he asked his disciples, saying unto them, Whom do men say that I am?
28 And they answered, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others, One of the prophets.
29 And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.
30 And he charged them that they should tell no man of him.
31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.
32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him.
33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.
34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
KEY VERSE: “And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the Christ.” – (Mark 8:29)
MESSAGE:
Decisions borne out of sound and strong convictions often result in a very strong and firm character. It is usually very difficult, if not near impossible, to get such a person to recount and rescind his stand. People with strong convictions are usually willing to seal their convictions and beliefs with their lives. These are the positions of martyrs.
Jesus, in our text today, tests the stand of His disciples. Do they personally have conviction of His person and mission or are they merely following popular opinion? So, He asked them, “Whom do men say that I am?” And, “whom say ye that I am?” Interestingly, the disciples knew what the popular opinions were about Christ; but their belief and conviction was different. They refused to join in the bandwagon belief of the people around them. They knew and were very sure of who Jesus was. This was why they staked their lives for Him and could be trusted with the truth of the gospel.
Nobody can run the Christian race successfully without a strong and personal conviction in the Lord. Many do not personally know Jesus and are not sure of their relationship with Him. They are Christians by default; that is, because they were born into the Christian religion and their parents are active members of a particular church. No wonder then that they have such a shallow relationship with the Lord. They cannot give up anything, let alone stake their lives for Him.
Who do you say Jesus is? Do you have a strong and personal conviction of Him as the only Lord and Saviour? Have you committed your life to Him, willing to stake all you have for Him including your life? Are you totally deaf to the changing opinions of men and willing to stand for Him? Your Christian character cannot be sound without a strong conviction.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
How strong is your conviction about Christ?
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Ezekiel 45-46
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
