travelling light (daily devotions for your elective)

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Day 22: Foundations of Faith I

Matthew 16: 13 - 20
Foundations of Faith I

Who is Jesus? This is the most important question we can ever answer. The disciples were challenged to face this by Jesus Himself. Is He an ordinary man or a brilliant religious teacher? Is He a prophet from God or is He something else entirely unexpected? Peter declared that Jesus is the Anointed One, the Son of the living God and Jesus completely approved of this answer. This man Jesus has a unique relationship with God the Father. Jesus told the crowd in Jerusalem:

‘You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world’ (John 8: 23). The uniqueness of Christ is divisive, for there are so many who want to believe that all religions lead to God. Not so, says Jesus, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through Me’ (John 14: 6). Like Peter we must make sure of our foundations. Is Jesus the very heart and soul of our Christian faith? Is Jesus the reason for our Christian service? Does our church membership hinder or enhance our faith in Christ?

We must not add things to our faith that get in the way of serving Christ. We must not dilute the message, for Jesus is the only hope for the world. Jesus not only approved of Peter’s answer, He declared that it was inspired by God the Father. In all our difficulties, trials and failures we must hold on tightly to the Lord Jesus. We must trust Him in all things and remember that He said:

My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no-one can snatch them out of My hand. (John 10: 27 - 28)