Daily Devotional for Friday, December 9

Jesus Builds His Church

This writer has stood at the place in Caesarea Philippi, at the headwaters of the Jordan River, where Jesus spoke these words to Peter. Across from where the two possibly stood, you can see Pan’s Cave, often thought to be the portal to the underworld. Is not that something to think about? That Jesus chose this spot seems to be making a statement for sure! Further, it is easy to imagine Jesus tapping His chest as he said the words, “Upon this rock.” Why is it easy to imagine? Because we believe Jesus is the Rock upon which He built His church. Jesus formed His first church during His personal ministry, and it is Jesus who provided the strength and stability to this church and all subsequent churches.
Many so-called religious movements have been formed by men and women through the centuries. They have all been false movements, because the true church was formed by Jesus personally, and He was the head of that one and all others to follow. Any other is false.
There have even been times when it seemed the true churches were gone, having been swallowed up by the state sanctioned church formed by the Emperor Constantine in AD 323. Many believe true churches then arose again from this apostasy in the Reformation. This is not so. The true churches never disappeared, nor can they. Jesus said so!
What does this mean to us? It means we have the power of Jesus Christ, God Himself, to perform the mission we are given here on this earth. We do not need to worry about outside forces against us, because they are meaningless. Do we believe this, or do we waste our time worrying about these forces?

JUST A THOUGHT: We need to concentrate more on evangelizing the world instead of fighting the world. Jesus will take care of that.

Wally Fry