“Who Do You Say I Am?”
“The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.” Psalms 46:7 NLT
On the day before our great adventure taking us half way around the world, I was jogging when suddenly the Lord said “upgrade”. Immediately I began trying to adjust my mindset repositioning my viewpoint to align as a child of the King.
Before retiring that evening the Lord revisited a recent encounter I had with a life long friend. I knew going in it would be difficult and uncomfortable. I even tried making up excuses to get out of it but then came the thought: “what if everyone prized their own comfort above building God’s Kingdom?” As I parked my car that day I asked for an anointing and immediately His warmth and empowerment blanketed me. We talked for the 3 hours. She raged vehemently about the current state of our country. Instead of falling into provocation I asked her to explain her side. By His Grace I listened with love. When it was my turn to speak wisdom came from Heaven. I told her the story of the day Joshua stood at Jericho seeing the angel of God!
“When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?” “Neither one,” he replied. “I am the commander of the Lord’s army.” At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?””
Joshua 5:13-14 NLT
With wisdom that can only come from Heaven I explained that I do not follow people I only follow Jesus. I’m on neither side but instead on the side of Heaven.
When the name of Jesus entered the conversation her spirit was instantly stilled in peace. His name came up several more times in our conversation. Each time I spoke His name I pointed to Heaven and the Kingdom came. Each time her spirit was stilled. The Lord later explained that during the great discomfort of that moment He was marking her with His presence.
On the night before my grand adventure I had an open vision of what actually happened in that moment. Until that time I could not see beyond my own discomfort. Suddenly I began to see the all encompassing light of the glory of God on that marking moment for her, knowing that in the days ahead she would wrestle with God. I began to perceive the grandeur of His glory overtaking the deep darkness which surrounds her. The darkness seemed to have a firm impenetrable hold on her life until this moment!
Today is the day of embarkation. I sat down with longing to seek His face in preparation for our voyage to Qatar and instantly I heard:
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
Matthew 16:13 NLT
“Who do you say I Am?”
This came as a shock to my spirit because God was not asking me to draw on my own personal experience of who He has been to me but to instead see the potential that lies ahead. The potential of who He could be for me!
Ask yourself: Who is He to me? Who has He been to me in days past? Who do I wish He could be for me today? Exactly what am I carrying now as Christ increases in me? What is He capable of doing in the places I enter and walk?
Consider the victory song of Deborah:
“Lord, when you set out from Seir and marched across the fields of Edom, the earth trembled, and the cloudy skies poured down rain. The mountains quaked in the presence of the Lord, the God of Mount Sinai— in the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel.”
Judges 5:4-5 NLT
There are many brothers and sisters in Christ representing His Kingdom today. You hear their perspectives of who He is. But you, can you look higher? How high can you see? Can you believe greater? How deep can your faith go?
Now, full of potential,
“who do you say I Am?”