MAY 07 JQ#13.1. The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  07    JQ#13 - Is your life a plus or a minus in God’s kingdom?

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Lord and Master, my Redeemer and the Lover of my soul, Praise be the Lamb of God, the Light of the world. Lord we cannot begin with our limited words to express or give You the Glory due to the Son of God in whom the Father is well pleased. For how can man’s mortal words express from our defiled heart words to compare with expressions from the Divine Holy God who has entrusted all that the Father has to the Beloved Son? No words can express Your Glory but let these three be spoken, JESUS IS WORTHY!!     AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#13.1 — “Is your life a plus or a minus in God’s kingdom?” (Matthew 12:24-37). Just as soon as Jesus teaches one question/lesson He immediately ties all the previous lessons together and introduces the next “precept” and draws the next “line” in the sands of our life and we begin to understand that this Infinite Knowledge being shared by the Master Teacher will never be exhausted! Therefore let us “Stay the course” and continue to “Run the race and fight the good fight” as we look at the Foundation built on the Rock and know that we are building a “house” that the storms of life will not prevail against if we but continue to build our wall of Faith “line upon line” and  “precept upon precept” as taught by the Master Teacher, Jesus the Christ! In  the last few Jesus Questions/lessons we can see Jesus moving our consciousness in a controlled and specific direction and it becomes obvious we could not have arrived at the answers without this Divine Guidance. In JQ#10 Jesus made us stop and consider “What is your Spiritual value?” and in JQ#11 He next asked us “What are your Spiritual expectations?” and to keep us headed in the right direction towards the kingdom, Jesus asked us in JQ#12 “Who decides what is legal, God or man?”. When we can finally declare to Jesus, our Spiritual value is proportional to our Spiritual life and we can also declare with honesty that our Spiritual expectations were formerly directed towards “Self” and we mostly saw Jesus as an historical figure who went about doing good and never as  “The Living God” interested in teaching us how to go about doing good with our own lives — but when we truly concede that God is the One, the Only, and the Final Authority and Judge, Jesus then makes us see that we are not just supposed to “talk the talk” but we must for the kingdom’s sake “walk the walk” as He asks JQ#13 “Is your life a plus or a minus in God’s kingdom?”  The context for JQ#13 is all of Matthew up to JQ#13 which specifically starts at Matthew 12:24 and runs through Matthew 12:37. Just as in previous lessons Jesus always makes an opening statement that shifts our focus to a new topic and Jesus again grabs our “Spiritual” attention as He addresses the Pharisee’s new accusation that Jesus  “cast out demons…by Beelzebub” (Matthew 12:24) when Jesus replies to this devilish accusation that: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand…” (Matthew 12:25) The relevancy of these lessons and topics to our world today should be proof to us that Jesus is the All-Knowing Living God, for I cannot read these two verses without thinking about the great division in our nation and in our world today and the news is full of ongoing desolation and wars and there is no denying that our nation has turned from God.  There  clearly is no “unity” of “Spirit” anywhere to be seen!  Don’t you think that maybe Jesus has “Struck another nerve in o`1234ASDFGHZXCur spiritual consciousness“ and we should see what Jesus has to teach us about “a kingdom divided”? 

MAY 06 JQ#12.9 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  06  JQ#12 - Who decides what is legal, God or man?

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, O the Precious Name —No other name can calm doubt and fears like the Name of Jesus, what unspeakable privilege to call on the Son of God and know that the Father is listening. Jesus, may every thought of self be buried in my desire to serve You honorably.  May my prayer be as I awaken each morning to face another new day that You have made that I will start the day with “give us this day our daily bread” and end it with “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”    AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#12.9 — “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” (Matthew 12:4,5,10,11,12).  Our society today needs to address this issue not only in our personal lives but in our national lives as well because not only is society demanding God be removed from public places but we also are allowing Him to be “over-ruled” in our personal lives. The incident with the Pharisees documented in Matthew 12:1-23 was not the only time that Jesus addressed the fact that the “legalist” did not know “the Spirit of God’s law” as Jesus repeatedly entered synagogues and temples on the Sabbath and performed miracles to prove the deep Truth of God that the Sabbath should be honored by acts of mercy and not condemning the “guiltless” (Matthew 12:7). Jesus was confronted by “legalism” in verse 9-10 with the specific question “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” and Jesus made it clear what the “True Spirit” of “keeping the Sabbath Holy” really is when He gave this reply to their “legalist question of the Sabbath”: “Then [Jesus] said to them, ‘What man is there among you who has one sheep and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’ Then [Jesus] said to the man [with the withered hand], ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And [the man with the withered hand] stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.” (Matthew 11-13) Jesus could not have done any more to illustrate that the “Spirit” of the commandment “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8) is to do “good” on the Sabbath and to demonstrate “mercy” to others. The legalists have taken the “letter of the law” and have misinterpreted God’s instructions in Exodus 20:8-11 and have confused “you shall do no work” and “keep it holy” — in other words, the legalist consider it “work” to be “holy” and their interpretation of Exodus 20:8-11 is that the definition of “holy” really means “doing nothing” and have completely missed the “Spirit” of the Sabbath which God intended as a day of honoring Him and demonstrating “mercy” to others which is more pleasing to God on the Sabbath than “forced sacrifices” (see Matthew 12:7 again). Jesus continued illustrating this Truth of the Spirit of the Sabbath as He time and time again healed and cast out demons and forgave men of their sins on the Sabbath and Jesus did these acts of God’s Mercy openly in the synagogue on the Sabbath for all to see the Son of God honoring the Father on the Sabbath by doing acts of mercy in strict defiance to the legalist of His day, the Pharisees. We are seeing among the legalist today the same reaction of the  of the Pharisees to Jesus honoring God because there are many anti-God laws on the books today that are the same as what Matthew documented about the Pharisees reaction to Jesus and Him confronting their “legalism” as we read: “Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.” (Matthew 12:14) Jesus made it clear that God has the Only Authority and His law is perfect so can we not cease “plotting against God” and now declare the only correct answer to this very important question, “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” as a resounding and confident declaration “GOD!!!!” I rest my case at the cross.

MAY 05 JQ#12.8 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  05  JQ#12 - Who decides what is legal, God or man?

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, let the Praise from my heart be acceptable in Your ear, Lord You have overwhelmed me again with Your Grace, overwhelmed because even in the worldly pain we must endure, if we endure it “for Your sake” then there is a Peace and Joy that cannot be explained. In the “healing” from this “physical” injury I am experiencing my Faith growing and the scales are falling off slowly from my eyes of “little faith” and I am aware of the improvement of my “spiritual” sight. Lord Jesus, forgive me of those days when I allow the trials of this world to fog my vision of Your Truth.  AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#12.8 — “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” (Matthew 12:4,5,10,11,12). The fact that Jesus asked the root Who-decides-question of the “legalist” that had accused Him of “what is not lawful on the Sabbath” should leave us with no doubt that Jesus had a major point to prove about the “law” and those that had assumed the “authority” to “interpret” God’s Law for Him! Jesus is making the main point that God knows exactly what He’s doing at all times and God does not need anyone to “interpret God’s intent”, nor does there need to be any clarification to God’s instructions because God Himself had already directed the Holy Spirit to instruct chosen men called prophets to write down what God wanted His people to know! We know this is true as we read statements from one of those “chosen ones” in Psalms 19 as King David who Jesus had referred to in His initial response (see Matthew 12:3) to the Pharisees accusation that what Jesus was doing in the grainfields was “not lawful”, David writes in this Psalm: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.” (Psalm 19:1-3) David continues: “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making the wise simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.” (Psalm 19:7-9) One cannot but ask anyone who “thinks” they “know” what God “meant” the same implied question Jesus asked the Pharisees: “Do you expect any reasoning person to accept your ‘interpretation” of what God said or accept God’s Own Words which are ‘clean’, ‘pure’, ‘true’, ‘righteous’ and ‘endures forever’ and have been declared as ‘perfect’?” There are numerous testimonies from those that God spoke directly to that say God knows what He’s doing so why should we put any faith in some third party second-hand opinion from a socially or politically motivated source wishing to gain control over a group of individuals? The point Jesus is plainly making is that everyone, everywhere, has access to God and God’s revealed Word and it is our responsibility to listen not to man’s interpretation but to God Himself who is completely capable of making Himself understood! Jesus continues to prove this “deep Truth of God” and that we should concede that God is the Only Authority when after teaching this lesson verbally that Jesus “walked the walk” as He entered a synagogue on the Sabbath and healed a man with a withered hand which was His answer to the “officials” in the synagogue when they asked Jesus: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” — talk about “In-Your-Face!” (see Matthew 12:9-13) How can we doubt both Jesus and God and have the audacity to think God needs our help in explaining what God “really meant”? 

MAY 04 JQ#12.7 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  04  JQ#12 - Who decides what is legal, God or man?

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Praise Glory and Honor to the One that is Worthy. Lord Jesus, without Your unselfishness, mankind would not know what unselfishness means for we are a truly selfish people, without your Patience with us we would not know what Unconditional Love looks like! Jesus, thank You for the Way that You have placed before me in this season, may I walk before You in a manner that Glorifies the Father and brings Honor to Your Name, the Name Jesus. Forgive us daily as we seek to walk blameless before Thee!    AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#12.7 — “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” (Matthew 12:4,5,10,11,12). When Jesus called out the Pharisees on the issue of “legality” in Matthew 12:4-5 He was not only calling out the Pharisees for quoting blindly the Jewish law but Jesus was illustrating the deep “Truth of God” that all men tend to think God needs our help in explaining what He “really” meant to say! As soon as Jesus pointed to this Truth when He asked the questions by the words He used  to ask the questions in verses 4 and 5, Jesus immediately ties those words in the question to specific words in the answer that leave no room for doubt the lesson Jesus was teaching not just to the Pharisees but the bigger issue of “legalism” in general and “God vs man” in specific. In the questions Jesus used the words “read”, “David”, “entered the house of God”, “ate the showbread”, “not lawful for him”, and “only for the priests?”, (Matthew 12:4  JQ#12a) and Jesus continued in His second question, “read in the law”, “Sabbath”, “priests in the temple profane the Sabbath”, and ends with the tongue in check question   “and are blameless?” (Matthew 12:4  JQ#12b)— then Jesus teaches the lesson with His answers in the next two verses, “Yet I say to you that in this place there is One greater than the temple. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” (Matthew 12:6-7) By asking the legalist to compare what they have “read in the law” which places “blame” on  breakers of laws written by man’s interpretation of the “True Authority” of the “One” who is greater than the manmade temple and thus greater than the manmade laws, Jesus is telling the legalists that they should be looking at “the spirit of the law” or the “intent of the law” instead of the “wording of the law”.  The fact that this problem still exists today is evident as one can pick up any modern dictionary and read a similar definition to this: “The letter of the law verses the spirit of the law is an idiomatic antithesis. When one obeys the letter of the law but not the spirit, one is obeying the literal interpretation of the words (the “letter”) of the law, but not necessarily the intent of those who wrote the law.” —Wikipedia. Jesus makes it clear that God is the Supreme Authority and that His Spirit should be followed over man’s “interpretation” of what God “meant to say” when in the very next statement Jesus summarizes clearly that God is the “First and Final Word” as Jesus proclaims: “For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:8) No one can deny that today’s modern world is still dealing with this “God vs man” issue and since government is full of lawyers and is all about “control” it comes as no surprise that all the problems we see in our modern society stems from the government imposing their interpretation of the law and are making it clear that they believe the government alone can declare what is “legal”. They declare their belief in the same breath that they declare their “authority” that there should be “separation” between God and government! Perhaps you would agree that this modern day  “spirit of separation” sets the groundwork for a Godless government? Do you want to be ruled by a set of laws written by legalists seeking control of you or a God that desires mercy for you?

MAY 03 JQ#12.6 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  03  JQ#12 - Who decides what is legal, God or man?

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Lord I thank You for this ongoing “physical trial” for it is making me more aware of just how much we depend on things we take for granted when we are “healthy”.  Jesus, I thank you mostly today for the immediate answer to my prayer for “spiritual healing” as Deb and I woke to our usual “honeymoon” attitude and Lord You know I have never taken that blessing for granted and I know it was Your Spirit that quickly resolved the issue. Lord I do not pray for You to take my pain away but I do pray that You will grant me healing and keep me aware of these wonderful blessings that I see already as a result of my situation, like being able to “share Jesus” with the Nurse practitioner Patty whom I lift up to You in prayer today and ask Your blessings as she  is Your healing hands for those You place in her path.   AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#12.6 — “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” (Matthew 12:4,5,10,11,12).  Jesus, being All-Knowing and the Master Teacher asked this most important question because one can easily see that it is the most important question that any society can ask of the government the society chooses to rule them. History reveals that government always rises from or eventually becomes the “ruling” class in any society. It is either kings and queens or presidents or governors but there are very, very few large societies that are not ruled by a set of officials normally called the “government”. We all know that the single purpose of “government” is to “govern” and we all know “who” they govern. In the United States of America our “government” was established with three main branches, each having a specific responsibility but all all three deal with laws and legality as the three branches are known as the Judicial, Legislative, and the Executive. The fact that Jesus confronts the Pharisees on issues of “legality” should get our attention and we should pay close attention because Jesus addressed “government” and “legalism” several times. Jesus, as always, is consistent in His teaching of lessons that are universal and timeless so that all societies, all races, all nations, and all peoples of the world can benefit from studying the lessons Jesus puts forth, especially when He teaches on such an important issue such as is addressed in Matthew Chapter 12 where Jesus calls out the “ruling judicial class” of the Jewish community that called themselves Pharisees. We can easily demonstrate that Jesus was asking the specific root question “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” because  the Pharisees were declaring that actions were “lawful or unlawful” according to the Jewish religious law called the Halakha and referring specifically to the Jewish Sabbath called the Shabbat laws. First of all the Jewish nation is a nation founded on a man named Abraham, who had a son named Isaac, who had a son named Jacob who had 12 sons. We know of this man named Abraham because God of the Bible called out Abraham to “go to a land that I [God Himself] will show you” and later God promised Abraham that He would give the land to Abraham’s descendants as a “possession”. Further evidence that proves the point of the “legality” question asked of the Jewish law by Jesus is that (1) God called Abraham (2) God gave Abraham sons whom God said would inherit the land God gave them (3) God changed the name of Abraham’s grandson Jacob to “Israel” and Jacob’s twelve sons became known as “the twelve tribes of Israel” thus firmly establishing the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the God of the land and nation of Israel and the Jewish people, and (4) The "Sabbath" was given to the Jewish people and the Halakha is their response to the 4th of God's 10 commandments that states "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy". Add to the fact that the Halakha is called Jewish law and all the laws in the Halakha are “man’s” interpretation of “God’s Laws” and the it becomes obvious that Jesus is asking the Pharisees, “What takes precedent, what ‘God’ says is ‘Right’ or what ‘man’ says is ‘legal’?” The question Jesus asked the Pharisees over 2000 years ago should be asked today, or do you think the US government can legally take God out of our schools?

MAY 02 JQ#12.5 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  02  JQ#12 - Who decides what is legal, God or man?

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, You said we have not because we ask not — Lord I ask for physical healing for my sore ribs but Lord I pray for spiritual healing and forgiveness for my weakness displayed during my physical pain, Lord I know that I should have been mentally prepared for the “attack” but I wasn’t — so now as I seek forgiveness that I KNOW you will give me, I pray firstly that Your Grace will extend to my Precious Deb for the angry words spoken during my physical pain. Lord, this is just a very small “bump in the road” and keep me always focused on “getting home” and not the “bumpy road” that I must travel to get there!  AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#12.5 — “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” (Matthew 12:4,5,10,11,12). When the “accusation” of the Pharisees was made against Jesus and His disciples: “And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, ‘Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!” (Matthew 12:2) we must consider the “source of authority” that the Pharisees were using to declare the “legality” of the actions of Jesus and His disciples who were walking through the grainfields eating grain because they were hungry. When the Pharisees stated “Your disciples are doing what is not lawful” they were referring to the Halakha which is the Jewish religious law and specifically to the part of Halakha referring to the Jewish Sabbath called the Shabbat laws which contains 39 prohibited activities. “The Hebrew word shabbat comes from the Hebrew verb shabbat, which literally means ‘to cease’’’ {{quoted from http://www.thenazareneway.com/sabbath/39_prohib_sabbath.htm The Nazarene Way internet article: “The 39 Prohibited Sabbath Activities}} . “The Pharisees were at various times a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought in the Holy Land during the time of Second Temple Judaism.” {{quoted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharisees}} The question of “legality” of the Shabbat was immediately addressed by Jesus Himself as he addressed the Pharisees: “But He said to them, ‘Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests?’”  (Matthew 12:3-4  JQ#12A) Jesus was referring to King David when King David had gone into the house of God and asked  Ahimelech the priest  for bread for him and his men because they were hungry and the Bible states in 1 Samuel 21:6 “… so [Ahimelech] gave [David] hallowed bread…” which according to the Jewish Halakha that it was also unlawful for anyone but the priests to eat the showbread. So Jesus is answering the “not lawful” charges of the Pharisees with references to King David, Jewish History, and the Jewish Halakha. Jesus continues to question using Hebrew law to establish “legality” over God’s Law as Jesus immediately follows the first question with a similar second question, “Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless?” (Matthew 12:5   JQ#12B). Jesus is making His point of “determining legality” with the Pharisees by essentially asking the implied question,”Who decides what is legal, God or man?” (JQ#12). You might ask what a little Jewish Law has to do with your daily life so I’ll remind you that it was a Jewish Law that was the reason for the Crucifixion of Jesus! It is up to you to decide if the Crucifixion is important enough to put on your “daily concerns” list. 

MAY 01 JQ#12.4 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  01  JQ#12 - Who decides what is legal, God or man?

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Precious is the Name above all names — Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.  Lord just the simple fact that we have the Name Jesus to call upon should make everyone stop and ponder why we even have the Name Jesus and what it has meant to generation after generation. We call on You “in season and out of season”,  we call on You with both Praise and Prayer, we moan the name in utter desperation, and we shout from our hearts the Name Jesus in adoration for Your Unconditional Love that You have showered so Graciously on a lost and dying world —  with the Name Jesus there is Eternal Hope!  Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow.  AMEN

The Jesus Question

JQ#12.4 — “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” (Matthew 12:4,5,10,11,12). This question is very serious and we have decided to treat this Jesus Question soberly and give the question the weight it is due. In JQ#12.3 the “circumstantial evidence” and “direct testimonial evidence” were compared and according to the U. S. Supreme Court they are “intrinsically no different” and for the record it was also established that “much Scientific Evidence is circumstantial”.  Since the accusation occurred over 2000 years ago we must make our “judgement” from circumstantial evidence for obvious reasons. The issue of “legality” always has been and always will be the greatest issue that every society must face! It is through the legal system of a society that the society either prospers or is stifled altogether! Indeed, when the question “Who decides?” is asked it must be answered proportionally to the gravity of the question, as a society can destroy itself with a corrupt legal system that like a vicious cancer will bring death upon the body, legalism will bring death to the organism it is allow to grow in! Let us start with establishing the “scene of the crime”, examine the evidence, and then each individual will be their own “judge and jury” and in full honesty must come to the “verdict” that their conscious allows them. Before any trial starts in the United States or any witness is called to testify, the “court” is brought to “order” and witnesses are required to take an “oath” on a Bible. Because the oath itself is going to be part of the evidence for answering the question, the traditional oath used by U. S. presidents and U. S. military personnel will be quoted at this time: “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God!” We will begin our trial of “legality” by establishing the accusation brought against the “Accused” and the circumstances that caused the accusation to be made. I submit the previous eyewitness account from the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 12 beginning with verse 1 and concluding with the accusation itself in verse 2: “At that time Jesus [the Accused] went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees [the accusers] saw it, they said to Him, ‘Look, Your disciples are doing what is not LAWFUL to do on the Sabbath!’” Therefore we can establish the “scene of the alleged crime” to be in “the grain fields” and at the scene of the crime we can establish (from the eyewitness account written C. A.D. 50 which could have been less than 20 years after the original charges were brought against the accused) that in the grain fields were at least two disciples of Jesus and Jesus Himself plus a least two observers from the Pharisees for a minimum of at least 5 persons. The charge itself was from the Pharisees that had seen the disciples consuming “heads of grain” in the “grainfields”.  I don’t know about you, but to me the evidence looks pretty thin don’t you think? How can this incident get blown up to the original question: JQ#12 — “Who decides what is legal, God or man?”