When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:13-19)
Today's Morsel: I think that at one time or another most of us have gotten locked outside of our house, car, office, or our church. If you are like me, you get that punch in the gut feeling as soon as you realize what you've done. You can see the keys in the ignition and yet you can't get in because the door is locked. You can pull, yank the handle, and nothing happens. But as soon as someone comes with another key and unlocks it, we can see just how easily accessible it is when the door is unlocked. Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven and told him that whatsoever he locked on earth would be locked in heaven; and whatsoever he unlocked on earth would be unlocked in heaven (my wording). If Peter has the keys from Jesus to heaven, and we read in scriptures of things he said in relationship to salvation and eternal life, do we think he may have unlocked a door with those keys and it is now easily accessible for us to enter heaven? And if he wrote things that we should not do, do you think he may have locked the door because he knows that they could lead us to hell. I don't know about you, but I've found that places are so much easier to access if they aren't locked. And I am not pulling and tugging on the doors that Jesus has locked. But I am joyfully walking through the doors He has unlocked and opened in my life.
Sing: Open the flood gates of heaven let it rain, let it rain; Open the flood gates of heaven let it rain, let it rain.
Thought for Today: All doors are hard to unlock until you have the key (O'Brien)
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