“WHO
DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?”
BREAD
15 He is
the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were
created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones
or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
17 He is
before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the
body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so
that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have
all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood,
shed on the cross. Colossians 1:15-20
(NIV)
2 My
purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that
they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may
know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. Colossians 2:2-3 (NIV)
9 For in
Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given
fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. Colossians 2:9-10 (NIV)
1 In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the
beginning. 3 Through
him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life
was the light of men. 5 The
light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. John 1:1-5 (NIV)
10 He was
in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not
recognize him. 11 He
came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him,
to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of
God-- 13 children
born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but
born of God. John 1:10-13 (NIV)
6 Jesus
answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No
one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you
really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him
and have seen him.” John 14:6-7
(NIV)
24 The
Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If
you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered, “I did tell
you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for
me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep
listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give
them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of
my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no
one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and
the Father are one.” John
10:24-30 (NIV)
7 Look,
he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who
pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So
shall it be! Amen. 8 “I am
the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:7-8 (NIV)
14 Multitudes,
multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and moon will be
darkened, and the stars no longer shine. 16 The Lord
will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will
tremble. But the Lord will be a
refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. Joel 3:14-16 (NIV)
6 Whoever
claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 1 John 2:6 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Upon
the authority of God’s Word, I declare that Christ is the answer to every
baffling perplexity which plagues mankind.
In Him is found the cure for care, a balm for bereavement, a healing for
our hurts, and a sufficiency for our insufficiency.” Billy Graham
“Jesus is the One who shows us the
paradoxical route to meaning in a chaotic and hostile world. It’s the paradox of the gospel: Strength is
found in weakness. Control is found in dependency. Power is found in surrender….God
uses the frustrations of this life and the hurt of relationships to compel us
to look beyond what we can control to the God who controls all things in order
to woo us to himself. As we move from control to surrender, we move from
chasing the wind under the sun to embracing God above it.” Dan
Allender
“Can
the elder son in me come home? Can I be found as the younger son was found? How
can I return when I am lost in resentment, when I am caught in jealousy, when I
am imprisoned in obedience and duty lived out as slavery? It is clear that
alone, by myself, I cannot find myself. More daunting than healing myself as
the younger son, is healing myself as the elder son. Confronted here with the
impossibility of self-redemption, I now understand Jesus’ words to Nicodemus:
‘Do not be surprised when I say; ‘You must be born from above.’’ Indeed,
something has to happen that I myself cannot cause to happen. I cannot be
reborn from below; that is, with my own strength, with my own mind with my own
psychological insights…I can only be healed from above, from where God reaches
down. What is impossible for me is possible for God. ‘With God, everything is
possible’.” Henri Nouwen
“Do
you know who you are? Do you know who you were designed to be? Do you know the
Father’s intent for your life? You are meant to hear in your spirit the same
thing Jesus heard when he came out of the waters of baptism at the beginning of
his ministry: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased’….J I
Packer puts it simply. ‘What is a Christian? The question can be answered in
many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God
for his Father’…Our highest privilege and deepest need is to experience the
holy God as our loving Father, to approach him without fear and to be assured
of his fatherly care and concern.” Greg Ogden
“The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die
for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep
confidence at the same time.” Tim
Keller
“Character
in a saint means the disposition of Jesus Christ persistently manifested.” Oswald
Chambers
“If
Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me
to make for Him.” C. T.
Studd
“Barbara,
the world needs to see Jesus…As long as all they can see is you, they will
never see Me.” Barbara
Barker
“The popular image of Christ as ‘gentle
Jesus meek and mild’ simply will not do.
To be sure, He was full of love, compassion and tenderness. But He was also uninhibited in exposing error
and denouncing hypocrisy. Christ was a
controversialist.” John Stott
"Jesus, Thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love
Thou art.” Charles
Wesley
“Tomorrow’s history has already been written
– at the name of Jesus, every knee must bow.”
Paul Kauffman
“There’s not a
thumb’s breadth of this universe about which Jesus Christ does not say, ‘It is
mine.’” Abraham Kuyper
"Our Christian testimony, as Peter reminded his
readers, is that, ‘we have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of the dead’.
Who else has the answer to the frailty of life, the reality of death and the
certainty of judgment than Jesus, who by His death destroyed him who holds the
power of death and frees those whose lives are enslaved by the fear of death?”
Alistair Begg
“I’m
seeing how robust and cogent, how versatile, sweeping and effective is the
message and life of our Jesus. He fits. He is not ‘foreign’ to any person no
matter their origins. His teachings work in ANY culture. His Being and Life
resonates to all who hear of Him, to all who hear Him. He infuses and changes us forever.” Paula
Kirby
“Jesus has forced open a door that had been locked since the death
of the first man….Everything is different because He has done so.” C.S. Lewis
“We
shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our
feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the
soul. If we would at once overcome Satan
and have peace with God, it must be by ‘looking unto Jesus’. Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death,
His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy
mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at
night look to Him. Oh! Let not thy hopes or fears come between thee
and Jesus; follow
hard after Him, and He will never fail thee.”
C. H. Spurgeon
“We are changed by beholding.”
Hudson Taylor
HEART SAVOR
- · In Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
- · He is my Savior, my Sufficiency, my Sanctifier and my soul’s Friend.
- · I am changed by looking unto Jesus keeping the eyes of my heart solely upon Him – the Author and Perfecter of my faith. 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV)
