WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?
by Mercy Hope
Excerpt from Sacred Space: Cultivating Your Personal Eden in a Fallen World
Thirteen years ago, I was at a conference where Judy Jacobs was ministering. I have a special place in my heart for that woman of God! Through a prophetic word and personal prayer, she imparted something to me that day that changed my life and ministry forever. But while Judy was still on stage, the Holy Spirit said to me, “Many people want to come and be around her anointing, but very few will pay the price for the anointing themselves.”
It’s true. Looking around me, I could see that many people wanted to be near Judy—and it’s not just her. When someone has a close and powerful walk with God, others are drawn to them. In some cases, large crowds will gather. They may want to see a miracle, or hear a prophetic word, or simply experience the presence of God. They want to be around the anointing. But few seem to personally seek out this depth of relationship with Jesus.
What is truly astounding about this whole thing is that the price of having God’s presence in our lives is primarily surrender to His love and will. The price is our willingness to be available to our Creator. To sit at His feet with a heart attitude of worship and focused love (Luke 10:39).
I don’t want to chase His presence as it rests on someone else. I want to be a resting place for His presence.
Jesus has never sought out fans. He wants friends who know Him personally. You know, the kind of friends who are actually family. Look at this incredible interaction Jesus had with His disciples:
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But you,” He asked them, “who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God!”
And Jesus responded, “Simon son of Jonah, you are blessed because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father in heaven . . . And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the forces of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13–19)
On the rock of revelation that Yeshua was the Messiah (or to use the more familiar Greek-based wording, that Jesus was the Christ), the church was built.
Because of who Jesus is, and because of Peter’s personal knowledge of it, the kingdom of heaven would be released, and the kingdom of darkness would not win. But if Peter had prefaced his final statement of “You are the Christ” with “Some say,” I am sure it would not have elicited the same response from Jesus.
Jesus wasn’t asking what Peter and the others had heard about Him from other people. He wanted to know who they knew Him to be.
When I start thinking about who Jesus is to me, words immediately start flowing out of my heart. He is my:
Light who guides my way.
Rock when everything around me is shaking.
Shield when the enemy’s arrows are flying my way.
Defender when I’m accused.
Faithful One.
Anchor when the stormy winds are harsh.
Healer when I’m wounded.
Savior.
Rescuer.
Redeemer.
Jesus is kinder than we think.
He is more patient than we have ever dreamed.
He is more powerful than our imaginations can portray.
He is holier than we can fathom.
He loves at a depth that we have barely even begun to delve into.
Our mortal minds cannot grasp His essence.
We all need our minds renewed and expanded when it comes to seeing Jesus for who He truly is.
But at the end of the day, my happiest thought is that He truly knows me more than any human ever could. “I am my Beloved’s, and He is mine” (Song of Solomon 6:3).
In 1834, Edward Mote penned one of my favorite hymns, saying who he knew Jesus to be. His declaration was this:
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
To know my Creator and walk as closely to Him as is humanly possible is my ultimate pursuit. When I was younger, that pursuit often felt like a Fast and Furious car race. As I get older it feels more like continuing to put one foot in front of the other, refusing to give up even when I’m weary and the path is covered in dense fog. Pushing through the fatigue, pain, discouragement, warfare, wounds, exhaustion, and questions to clear a path and cultivate a garden for Him to establish Himself within me.
I regularly tell those I mentor that life is hard. So you can do hard life walking hand in hand with your Creator, or you can do hard life on your own, trying to figure it out yourself. I personally choose to walk with my Creator all the days of my life and beyond. He is everything to me. He is my safe place in a world that is sometimes terrifying.
How about you? If Jesus were standing in front of you right now, looking into your eyes, and He asked you, “Who do you say I am?” What would you say?
I encourage you to make this question personal and applicable. Write down what flows out of your heart as you meet with Him in your sacred space. Who do you know Him to be?
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This is an excerpt from Sacred Space: Cultivating Your Personal Eden in a Fallen World, the brand-new devotional release from Mercy Hope of 1:11 Ministries and FaithTalks.com. Buy it now for the special release e-book price of $2.99 — this week only!
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