“Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ." (Mark 8:27-29, NIV)

Observations:
I asked myself, what do people say about Jesus?
Some say He is John the Baptist
Others say He is Elijah
Still others say He is one of the prophets

Observations:
Jesus finds out from the disciples what others are saying about Him. Now Jesus asks the disciples, “what about you?” What is the outcome?
Peter is the one that answered, “You are the Christ.”

Interpretation:
Why is it significant that Peter answered this way?
Any disciple could have answered but Peter took the initiative to tell Jesus what He believed about Jesus. Peter was not afraid to speak his mind. Peter knew Jesus is the Messiah and let Jesus know when He addressed Jesus as “You are the Christ”

Implications:
I saw important implications for my own life. What I think about Jesus will influence how I live my life. If I think Jesus is just a prophet and prophet alone then that will not make a major impact in my life. But, as Peter thought if I think Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah it will make a huge impact in my life. My decisions and whatever I do will be influenced because of who I believe Jesus is.

I ask you now dear friend, who is Jesus to you?
Dear friend, Jesus is many things to many people! Many people see Jesus as a god among many gods, as a prophet, as teacher, as a Rabbi, as a healer, as an eloquent speaker, as a Jew, etc. There are others who see Jesus as the Son of God, as God-incarnate, as the Christ, the Messiah, as their Lord and Personal Savior, etc. What your view of Jesus is will determine how you live your life. Peter knew who Jesus was and made it clear to Jesus. What will you tell Jesus who He is to you?

Friend, I was born into a Hindu background and learned about Jesus after my mom became a born-again Christian. Learning about Jesus is not the same as coming to know Jesus personally. I came to know Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life! When I gave my life to Jesus Christ on a Valentine’s Day morning, I gave myself to Jesus because I knew He could heal me of my asthma which He did and because I believed Him to be my Lord and Personal Savior. From that day onward, I wanted to live my life for Jesus. Ministry became a priority as the years went by. To this day, I love to minister to students with the love of Christ. Lord puts a segment of a population in different people’s hearts to reach out to. My heart has been to reach out to all students with the love of Christ as best as I can by depending on the Lord. This does not mean I agree with everything every student does. You can reach out to someone in love and not agree with what they are doing. You can even reach out to students with the love of Christ without supporting their actions.

My mission started out as counseling broken hearts with the love of Christ as I specialized in Psychology. I went into the ministry for couple of years. Now as I work on the management team of food services, I love my job and the opportunities it gives me to interact with the student body. As long as the Lord keeps me here I want to use opportunities to show the love of Christ.

You can too friend! For me life is worth nothing unless I use it to do the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus, the work of telling others about God’s mighty goodness and love. My work is a means to tent-making ministry, the paper I publish is a means to ministry, and the classes I take are a means to ministry.

This is all because of who Jesus is to me. He is my Anchor, my Bright Morning Star, my Counselor, my Deliverer, my Everlasting Father, my Faithful One, my Great Physician, my Healer, my Immanuel, my Jesus, my King of kings, my Lord of lords, my Messiah, my Nurture, my Omnipotent One, my Prince of Peace, my Redeemer, my Savior, my Truth, my Understanding, my Valor, my Way, my Xcitement, my Yeshua, my Zeal.

What about you friend?
Who is Jesus to you?
Will you allow Jesus to govern and rule your life?
Will you let me be in control of the decisions of your life?

People worry when they come to the Lord, He will send them to some distant place to do missions work and all their dreams will be forgotten. That is so untrue! Jesus will work with you and your dreams. What you do with and for Jesus will give you joy and happiness.

People ask me with my Psychology degree (3.12), Criminal Justice degree (3.85), Legal Studies major (4.0), Computer Science minor (3.0), Math minor (3.0), and Business minor (3.85), what I am doing working in food services when I can have such a better job.

The answer is Christ! Even after I left full-time ministry with an organization, I still love being involved in ministry and that’s the reason why I am where I am for those who have wondered. I still get involved in games etc to show others that Christians can have fun too without hurting themselves or others. It is a choice I have made and want to be here as long as the Lord will have me here.

If the Lord wants to send me to a place where I make hundreds of thousands of dollars, I know He will and He can! Right now I am so happy to be where I am. Thank you Jesus!

May you come to know Jesus as your Lord and Personal Savior!

Knowing Jesus as my Lord and Personal Savior does not stop me from pursuing my dreams. Our Lord can use us where we are. One of my dreams is making the Pittsburgh Standard a viable paper and it is slowly becoming that.

Won’t you come into the Holy of Holies and give your life to the One who gave His life literally for you! You can do that right now friend! Now is the time of Salvation. Don’t wait any longer. Let this be the day that you acknowledge Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Savior. You don’t have to have all the answers. You don’t need to be perfect to come to Jesus. No one is and that is why Jesus came. He came for you and me friend. Let this be the hour. May the Lord Jesus come into your life and change you and transform you! May His love engulf you mightily! Amen!

“Jesus Emphasizes Salvation Under Scripture!” (J.E.S.U.S)/”Who is J.E.S.U.S to you?”

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, I heard you can be my Anchor, my Bright Morning Star, my Counselor, my Deliverer, my Everlasting Father, my Faithful One, my Great Physician, my Healer, my Immanuel, my Jesus, my King of kings, my Lord of lords, my Messiah, my Nurture, my Omnipotent One, my Prince of Peace, my Redeemer, my Savior, my Truth, my Understanding, my Valor, my Way, my Xcitement, my Yeshua, my Zeal. I need you in my life Jesus. You know everything about me. Thank you Jesus! I give my life to you as I pray the prayer below. Help me Jesus. Thank you Jesus! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

If you want Jesus in your life, make this your prayer. Don’t let the enemy deceive you into thinking you need all the answers before coming to Christ. Let me just assure you though you may not have all the answers right now before coming to Jesus, He will answer them slowly. Yes, He will for I know our Redeemer will! Amen!

PRAYER:
Father God thank you, you love us so much that you sent your only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. I love you Lord. Thank you Father God for your Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus thank you for loving me so much. Thank you Jesus, you will take care of my problems. Nothing is too hard for you. For many of us Lord, we face many obstacles in life whether it be Spiritual, financial, marital, emotional, physical, or educational problems. We turn these problems and the prayer requests to you. Thank you Lord you never fail to answer our prayers. Just because we don't understand does not mean you didn't answer our prayers. Thanks Lord for cleansing us by your precious Blood. Please come into my heart Jesus. Please forgive my sins. Wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Thank you Jesus for coming into my heart. Thank you Jesus for making my heart, your home. Thank you Jesus for living in me. I will live for you Jesus and serve you the rest of the days of my life. I pray right now for the one who is so troubled that only your presence and love can meet them where they are at. Come Lord Jesus and please intervene in their life. Cover them with your awesome presence and help them through what they are going. Thank you Jesus as you saw the disciples in trouble and came to their rescue, you can come to our rescue too. We entrust our lives in your care. Thank you for the answer and you will carry us! IN YOUR NAME, I PRAY JESUS THANKING YOU FOR EVERYTHING. AMEN.

Friend you may feel something or may not feeling anything but do not go by your feelings. When you ask Jesus to come into your life, He will and does. He will take over from here as you depend on the Lord and let Him work in you and through you! This is exciting friend! May each one that came to know Jesus be filled with His Holy Spirit forever more and those that know Jesus come to know Him more and more! Amen!

Get yourself involved in a campus Bible study, fellowship, and most of all find a Bible believing church and be involved to grow in your Christian walk with the Lord. They all need to be supplements for your own precious time with the Lord in prayer and meditating on His Word. If you need a Bible, please let me know!

As the movie DaVinci Code was shown which speaks against the church and most importantly degrades the Name of Jesus Christ, we need to make ourselves available to speak the truth to the falsity presented in the movie and the novel. If you watched the movie, plan to watch the movie or have read the book and have questions or your faith seems to be shaken, please email me or give me a call at 412-720-4579 so we can discuss the false claims in the book that are presented as fact even though the book itself and the movie is presented as fiction. May the Lord bless you and guide you!

If you need anyone to talk to, pray with, or study the Bible with this Fall of 2006, you can email me at reddy4hisglory2004@yahoo.com or call me at 412-720-4579. Please do not hesitate. One-one Bible studies can be so powerful too because the Holy Spirit is still in the midst.

"This is my work and I can do it only because Christ's mighty energy is at work within me." (Colossians 1:29, TLB)

Express Your View

SEPTEMBER 2005

MARK: CHAPTER 1

How seriously do you T.E.S.T.I.F.Y to prophecy? (Sept 01, 05)

Who do you P.O.I.N.T to? (Sept 02, 05)

"Will you take a S.T.A.N.D?" (Sept 03, 05)

How is your loving P.R.A.I.S.E? (Sept 06, 05)

"How do you handle T.E.M.P.T.A.T.I.O.N?" (Sept 07, 05)

"Who controls your T.I.M.E?" (Sept 08, 05)

"What kind of P.R.O.F.E.S.S.I.O.N are you in?" (Sept 09, 05)

"Whose T.E.A.C.H.I.N.G.S do you listen to?" (Sept 12, 05)