Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Dear LORD God Almighty, please give me courage to truly follow Jesus as Messiah, all the way to the Cross! In Jesus' name. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

One time Jesus was praying alone. His followers came together there. Jesus asked them, "Who do the people say I am?" The followers answered, "Some people say you are John the Baptizer. Other people say you are Elijah. And some people say you are one of the prophets from long ago that has come back to life." Then Jesus said to his followers, "And who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ from God." Jesus warned them not to tell anyone. Then Jesus said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the older Jewish leaders, the leading priests, and teachers of the law. The Son of Man will be killed. But after three days he will be raised from death." Jesus continued to say to all of them, "If any person wants to follow me, he must say 'No' to the things he wants. That person must accept the cross (suffering) that is given to him every day, and he must follow me. The person that wants to save his life will lose it. And every person that gives his life for me will save it. It is worth nothing for a person to have the whole world, if he himself is destroyed or lost. If any person is ashamed of me and my teaching, then I will be ashamed of that person. I will be ashamed of that person at the time I come with my glory and with the glory of the Father and the holy angels. I tell you the truth. Some of you people standing here will see the kingdom of God before you die."

Related Scripture Readings

Jesus said to them, "Remember when I was with you before? I said that everything written about me must happen—everything written in the law of Moses, the books of the prophets, and the Psalms." Then Jesus helped the followers understand these Scriptures written {about him}. Jesus said to them, "It is written that the Christ would be killed and rise from death on the third day. You saw these things happen—you are witnesses. You must go and tell people that their sins can be forgiven. Tell them that they must change their hearts and be sorry for their sins. If they will do this, then God will forgive them. You must start from Jerusalem and tell people these things in my name. This Good News must be told to all people in the world.

The Spirit said to Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." So Philip went toward the chariot, and he heard the man reading. He was reading from Isaiah, the prophet. Philip said to him, "Do you understand what you are reading?" The man said, "How can I understand? I need some person to explain it to me!" Then he invited Philip to climb in and sit with him. The part of Scripture that he was reading was this: "He was like a sheep when it is taken to be killed. He was like a lamb that makes no sound when someone cuts off its wool. He said nothing. He was shamed, and all his rights were taken away. His life on earth was ended. There will be no story about his family (descendants)." The officer said to Philip, "Please, tell me, who is the prophet talking about? Is he talking about himself or about someone else?" Philip began to speak. He started with this same Scripture and told the man the Good News about Jesus. While they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The officer said, "Look! Here is water! What is stopping me from being baptized ?" Then the officer commanded the chariot to stop. Both Philip and the officer went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

The Lord {Jesus} is the "stone " that lives. The people {of the world} decided they did not want that stone (Jesus). But he was the stone God chose. To God he was worth much. So come to him.