Know Your Christ
Our Lord and Savior speaks,
he covers,
he protects,
he loves,
but he does not answer to us.
That reality can be difficult to embrace in the face of change because more often than not, we want answers before we move, don't we?
For with us, the need for change has to be justified.
Proven, then validated.
But that's not how God works.
Knowledge versus Knowing
One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: “Power belongs to you, God, and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;.. ~Psalms 62:11, New International Version
The uncertainty of outcome and a loss of control. Two things that fuel our fear of the unknown, and yet God requires still that in Him we trust.
Why? Because the power belongs to God. Not us.
For me, this revelation makes the battle royal between Jesus and the Pharisees and Sadducees finally make sense. The Pharisees were the leaders, the educated ones, the teachers of the faith and the subject matter experts on the coming of the Messiah.
But they did not know Christ.
Knowledge and knowing are two very different things.
The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. Matthew 16:1 NIV
Imagine... demanding the Savior of the world validate his authority.
Are we so different?
Their fear of the unknown and how it would affect their standing provoked them to seek signs from Jesus without end. And these were the experts on Christ, the teachers of the very prophecies that proclaimed his coming. But when they could not trace what was believed to be sufficient validation in their eyes, they would not trust.
Fear of change will do that to you.
Are we so different?
When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ~Matthew 16:5 NIV
By not remembering to take with them the remnants of miracles past like the feeding of thousands with two fish and five loaves of bread, the disciples themselves were operating under an expectation of Jesus to always prove himself.
Know Your Christ
Remember...
Our Lord and Savior speaks,
he covers,
he protects,
he loves,
but he does not answer to us.
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” ~Matthew 16:13-16 NIV
Our willingness to change, to be open to accepting our Savior as he is creates within us a knowing of Christ that knowledge never will.
God is a Safe Place to Be
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. ~Matthew 16:17-18 NIV
In my sactified imagination, I can hear Jesus saying:
It is upon this knowing,
this capacity to learn of me
and the one who sent me
that I will build my legacy.
So, in the words of Helen Keller:
Keep your face to the sun and you cannot see a shadow.
My help and glory are in God —granite-strength and safe-harbor-God—So trust him absolutely, people; lay your lives on the line for him. God is a safe place to be. ~Psalms 62:7-8, the Message Bible
God is a safe place to be. All power belongs to Him.
I pray that today you begin to unpack the baggage of your expectations for your Savior. Find the courage to conquer the fear of change that keeps you from knowing your Christ.
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