In The Word
Read: Mark 8:27-38
Peter’s Confession of Christ
27 Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And He continued questioning them: “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and *said to Him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And He warned them to tell no one about Him.
31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise from the dead. 32 And He was stating the matter plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s purposes, but on man’s.”
34 And He summoned the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 For what could a person give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Oftentimes in our lives, situations may arise that make us wonder, “Why is this happening?” or “What good is this?” Just like Peter in this passage, we may look at these situations with our own eyes and think there is no good that will ever come out of the issues, or that there has to be another way. I would like us to pay attention to the eternal perspective that is shown in this scripture.
We see that Jesus is talking about losing your life to save it and denying yourself to take up a cross to follow Him. There is a purpose for everything we go through, whether it be to mature us or to witness to the people around us. In Romans 8:28 we read, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God…” We will always be put through tests and trials. The key thing to remember is that if we love God and are in His will, then whatever the situation may be, it will all come together and work for the good. Even though we may not see the outcome or purpose, we must have faith that God will not forsake us.
So I challenge you today, no matter what the circumstance, to remind yourself that God is in control and will be faithful to work on your behalf. Just obey Him and watch Him do great things.