The first time I walked into the brick ranch on Smith Street I knew it was the one.

My kids busted through the door behind me and boldly ran down the hall, laughing and claiming bedrooms. I followed them, dashing from room to room, crying out with joy at each new discovery, “So many windows! So much counter space! Built-in bookshelves! A fireplace! The yard!”

This house was going to be our home. It needed work and was slightly out of our budget, but I knew it would be ours. And when my husband saw my reaction, he knew it too.

I believe the confidence I felt about that home was straight from the Holy Spirit. That obvious, convicting certainty hasn’t come often in my life, but it has come when I need it most. I wonder if it is what Saint Peter felt the day when Jesus asked him, “But who do you say I am?”

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Peter responded right in Matthew 16:16.

His confidence was solid. He knew. That kind of clarity is a gift from the Lord (see Matthew 16:17). Life is not always easy, but the goodness of that gift is that when our situation is hard, we can cling to that God-given knowledge.

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and we can stand firm on that.

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Take time to ponder today or even to journal about this question, Who do I say Jesus is?