Matthew 16:13-16 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
This groundbreaking conversation took place at Caesarea Phillipi, which lies today in the modern-day reserve of the Banias in the Golan Heights region of Israel. The city was established by Ptolemaic Greeks, a Hellenistic community where the worship of the god Pan was centered. Reviled by the Jews of Yeshua’s time and considered by them the most idolatrous place in the entire Galilee, to this day it remains a place of nature worship and deep paganism.
Why did Yeshua (Jesus) deliberately take his disciples to the most sinful, pagan place to reveal who He was? Why not in the temple courts, or the tomb of Jeremiah or one of the prophets, where He might feel more at home and welcomed? No, Yeshua revealed who He really was… in the darkest corner of Israel.
Now that tells me that the Lord is not shy about shining His light in dark places, and that includes the ones inside me. Psalm 139 tells me that He is intimately acquainted with all of them –that I can forget about keeping secrets from Him. It seems He rather delights in walking into enemy territory and taking ground. Those areas of my life that I don’t want anyone else to see, (and usually can hide from them) – He wants to visit, speak His word, illuminate and cleanse the place! The places where I’m darkest and weakest are His greatest opportunities to be glorified through repentance, transformation, and healing.
Take time to open before God the dark areas of your life, trusting in His perfect and patient love for you. He wants to reveal His forgiveness and beauty right where you are most ashamed and miserable. The gates of Hell shall not prevail against a saint whose faith and courage invite Yeshua deep into the hidden areas of his soul, to be cleansed and given over to Him.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.
[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]We often celebrate beginnings—new chapters, breakthroughs, divine appointments. But in God’s economy, every true beginning requires a holy crossing. Before the Hebrews could enter the Promised Land, they had to leave Egypt. Before they entered the Promised Land, they had to cross over the Red Sea. And before Abraham could receive God’s promises, he had to obey a single command: “Leave.”
When the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years, they traversed a rugged, unpredictable landscape — mile after mile of mountains, valleys, rocks, and desert sands — as they journeyed from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land.
For many, God remains a theory—an idea borrowed from tradition, deduced from the cosmos, or tucked quietly into the corners of a creed. He is believed in from afar, but is rarely encountered. Even among believers, it’s not uncommon to live with a distant reverence for God while lacking a vibrant, personal communion with Him.
God has always longed for intimacy with us. He formed us for Himself–to walk with Him, to know Him, to delight in His Presence. This is the very heartbeat of creation: relationship, not religion. Yet sin drove a wedge between us. A veil was drawn, shutting out the light of His face and placing distance where there was once communion.
A beachhead is the first critical objective in a military invasion–the spot where a force lands on enemy territory and secures a position for greater advancement. It’s the place of breakthrough. And it’s also the place of fiercest resistance.
David wrote Psalm 3 while running for his life — betrayed, heartbroken, and hunted by his own son, Absalom. The weight of rebellion wasn’t just political; it was personal. His household had turned against him. Friends became foes. Loyal hearts grew cold. The throne he once held was now surrounded by enemies, and the whispers grew louder: “There is no salvation for him in God.”
Psalm 2 is a divine announcement — a heavenly decree that demands the world’s attention. It begins with a question: “Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain?” (Ps. 2:1). The nations rise up, not against injustice or tyranny, but against the rule of God’s Meshiach (Messiah). That Anointed is Yeshua — the Son whom the Father has set on His holy hill in Zion (Ps. 2:6). The psalm strips away all pretense and exposes the heart of human rebellion: it is a refusal to be ruled by His Messiah.