DECEMBER 21 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-07 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

DECEMBER 21  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-07  The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, today I pray, “I am Yours, save me” as was prayed by Martin Luther, a prayer that must have been a great glory to Your Name and a great time of “coming out of darkness” into the LIGHT of YOUR WORD! O Lord, there is a new ‘Spiritual Dark Ages’ for our nation as America continues down this disastrous course of “separation of church and state” and if America continues to drift from our faith in God, we will lose the religious freedom established by our Creator and acknowledged by our Christian forefathers. Lord we simply cannot allow Christ to be taken out of Christmas and let “Happy-Holidays-Gift-Buying” replace “Merry-Christmas-Gift-Giving” in our lives, especially in our schools and public places. Lord, I pray for the Holy Spirit to lead “believers in Christ” to do something about this evil and vile situation that is removing Your Name from so many things that have made our nation great.”  Like many Americans who have felt the the need for unity in Christ, my prayer is that Christ will be allowed back into our schools and public places and that as a nation that we will once again proclaim “IN GOD WE TRUST” and from a Joyous heart proclaim, “Peace on Earth — Merry Christmas to ALL”!!!!    AMEN

DECEMBER 21   THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has now been connected to 4 prophecies that point to Him as the Messiah and yet it is our “faith” that will actually seat Him on the “throne” of our heart!!! It is a simple truth of this world that all the evidence in the world will not be sufficient to enlighten those worldly ones that want to trust in the “doctrines and traditions of man” and not the “commands of God”! Jesus adamantly demonstrated against the hypocrisy of abandoning God’s Light for man’s darkness throughout His earthly ministry and especially after making His “Triumphal Entry” into Jerusalem. During the Passover Week Jesus was very specific as He is quoted as saying: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15) With statements like that from Jesus that attacked power hungry religious leaders of Israel and called them out with such great condemnation (and especially being called out like that in Jerusalem during the Passover Week) that they as “national leaders” would certainly not want Jesus to be confirmed as the Messiah for that expose their greed for control of the people and would be Divine confirmation of them being “sons of hell” — that particular problem still exists today among people greedy for power that still refute the claim that Jesus is not the “Messiah” and they still today go so far as to say that the word “Messiah” has been defiled by translation ——— those believing that the “mashiach” (which means “the anointed one”) has not yet come argue that the “mashiach” (according to the traditions of men) is not “God” but that the “mashiach” is a “human” that will be a warrior king like David. Those dedicated to this “Messianic Idea in Judaism” base their arguments on arguments put forth in such writings as “Rambam’s 13 Principals of Faith” which are in their own words “the minimum requirements of Jewish belief” and when they refer to God’s Holy Scriptures these so dedicated to “Judaism” use the same prophets that declared the coming of the “Messiah” and “signs” of His Coming through their interpretation of the Scriptures to claim to “prove” that Jesus is not the “mashiach”;  therefore Jesus rightfully called them “hypocrites” for these misguided leaders claim to know the Scriptures better than God Himself!  This is the exact same problem that Jesus questioned the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem who had sought out Jesus because of His “Works” (the “Works” that Jesus had done were “miraculous” by any definition) and when He answered their question with a Question of His own, “Why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3) and called them “hypocrites” by referring to the prophet Isaiah: “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me, and in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’” (Matthew 15:7-9) So if those that claim Jesus is not the Messiah do so by quoting “commandments of men” such as “Rambam’s 13 Principals of Faith” then I will let each of you make your own decision and review the “evidence” yourself, but each individual must still come to the same point of decision put forth by Joshua — “Choose this day whom you will serve!” (Joshua 24:15)

DECEMBER 20 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-06 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

DECEMBER 20  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-06   The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, today is another day with the Light that You have provided for all. All deserve death and were it not for Your Mercy, Your Grace, and Your Great Sacrifice on the Cross at Calvary to purchase our Redemption from the punishment of our many iniquities, we would still be lost in darkness — Lord let us “lean not” on our own understanding but give us the wisdom to let You Guide our steps and Light our path! Jesus we are so undeserving of the Mercies that You Renew each morning because of who You ARE, You shower us with blessings, so Lord Jesus I offer up that which I have — my praise and prayers; praise for You and prayers for others — keeping neither for myself for Your Grace is Sufficient for me! Forgive me for all the ways that I have failed You and keep me centered in Your Will!    AMEN

DECEMBER 20  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was not only proven to be the Messiah by the evidence of His Birth to a “virgin” (a young Jewish girl who had nothing to gain but death from stoning by claiming her Child was the Son of the Most High God) Jesus was also linked to the “purpose” of the Messiah by outside forces that He could not have manipulated as a Child. The purpose of the “Messiah” in both Jewish tradition and today’s Christian denominations is one of “Kingship” which became an issue that pointed to Jesus as the “Anointed One” when the then King of Israel, King Herod met with the “wise men from the East” that had traveled to Jerusalem and were asking, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” (Matthew 2:1-2) This inquiry from credible “wise men” that knew of the “birth” of the “King of the Jews” that had seen a “sign” in the heavens and knew that the event had happened in Judea as noted by their statement “has been born” caught the attention of the then seated king of Judea, King Herod. “When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when [Herod] had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, [Herod] inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. So they said to him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea…’ and then the chief priests and scribes quoted the prophet Micah who wrote ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler who will shepherd My people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:3-6 and Micah 5:2) Modern Jews do not accept that Jesus is the “Messiah” and their main argument is that the “mashiach” is a human and not God and will be a human leader like King David  who will win great battles for Israel and not a “savior” who will save “His people from their sins”. The Judaism concept of “mashiach” is of a human that will rebuild the temple, re-establish traditional Jewish worship in the re-built temple, and also “mashiach” will establish a government in Jerusalem making it the center of all world government.  Herod however was not concerned about these concepts of the “one born King of the Jews” but Herod was concerned about the “kingship” of one that had fulfilled prophecy! Herod was concerned enough to enlist the services of the wise men in finding the “King of the Jews” and when the wise men did not return to Herod, Herod “sent forth [Herod’s soldiers] and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under…” (Matthew 2:7-16) But this act of Herod reacting to prophecy about “one who has been born King of the Jews” was also prophetic in its execution as the prophet Jeremiah had noted that there would be “A voice heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”  (Jeremiah 31:15)  Matthew documented that “Divine Intervention” on behalf of Jesus came as an “angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream” after the wise men had bestowed gifts on the “young Child” Jesus and the angel said, “Arise take the young Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt” … thus fulfilling the prophecy by Hosea stating “Out of Egypt I called My Son” (Hosea 11:1) The simple fact that all these events came about while Jesus was still a “young Child” are events that are historical facts and had they been fabricated after the crucifixion of Jesus they would have been quickly refuted by the Jewish rulers and the chief priests and scribes that had called for the Crucifixion of Jesus; however, the only records that exist support Jesus as having fulfilled the prophecy of the “Messiah/mashiach” according to the prophets of old. So Matthew in the first 3 chapters of his Gospel of Jesus Christ has established as historical fact that Jesus has already, at the young age of 2 or 3 years old, fulfilled 4 prophecies written hundreds of years earlier by God’s own prophets and these 4 critical prophecies and their fulfillment could not have been “fabricated” without receiving great criticism from the chief priests and scribes! If it were the apostles and disciples of Jesus that had “fabricated” the stories after the death of Jesus, their fabrication would have resulted in their own deaths and the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Divine Truth would not be documented so well in the New Testament which has been Divinely Protected for thousand of years, which only adds credence to the claim that Jesus IS CHRIST!!!

DECEMBER 19 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-05 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

DECEMBER 19  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-05   The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, my prayer is to be totally dependent on Your Mercy and Grace to lead me where You will. Lord, I pray not to be free of worldly influences but rather my prayer is to have the discernment to see past the world and the deceit of this world to Your Truth and to Trust Your Holy Spirit to take whatever worldly circumstance that I find myself in and use it to witness to Your Great Love — for there is nothing nor no one that cannot benefit from Grace which You have provided so abundantly. Keep our hearts and eyes open to Your Grace and Mercy for in every situation we can take the circumstances of the world and use them to witness to the Glory of God and His Son Jesus Christ!    AMEN

DECEMBER 19  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has already in the first two chapters of the Gospel of Matthew fulfilled more prophecies than any one before Him and certainly anyone after Him and since “His Birth, Life, Death by Crucifixion, Burial in a “borrowed” Tomb, and then His Glorious Resurrection on the Third Day were first prophesied and then documented by so many sources and written down and confirmed that there will NEVER be anyone but JESUS that can have the facts of His Life and Death be the PROOF that He is the SON OF GOD!!!” It is seldom stated some of the most obvious things that must have fallen in place for all the prophecies in the Old Testament to be fulfilled concerning the “Chosen One, God’s Messiah” and the odds of one man fulfilling even half a dozen of the prophecies has been proven mathematically impossible — therefore, if we look at just the “odds” from a numerical standpoint, then if one man fulfilling more than 6 prophecies is “impossible” then what is the phrase that would have to be invented for a second person to fulfill more prophesies than the first person?!?!? The “odds” are so great that even one man could fulfill ALL of the prophecies that many find it hard to believe it to be possible at all and choose themselves to be counted among the doubters that believe all of this “prophecy” stuff and “the Jesus story” is a “fairy tale” — which is still one of the major arguments in our modern world against Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit and prevents many people from believing ——— and many of these same “unbelievers” are the very ones that seek “proof” that Jesus is the Son of God and that God Himself exists — yet these are the very ones that refuse to look at “eyewitness” accounts such as each of the individual Gospels!?!?!? If we think of simple things like “facts that must be true” of the Messiah such as the Messiah must be a Jewish male born in Judea and that He would have to be “Sacrificed as the Lamb of God” to make “atonement for the sins of His people” and not just any “sacrifice” but a “unique sacrificial death at the hands of a foreign government!?!”  When we look at the simple facts and discover ancient records of one unique Jewish male born in Bethlehem who started teaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” then how can our eyes not be opened?!? Matthew did not know Jesus until after Jesus had started His Ministry and was called by Jesus to be an Apostle — Jesus called each of His Apostles individually and because Jesus IS the Son of God  He knew the “purpose” that each of the Apostles were called for; therefore, it is easy to imagine that Jesus “knew” that Matthew would naturally learn everything he could about Jesus and His life and Matthew would eventually write the Gospel that would be an eyewitness account to the fulfilling of Jewish prophecy by Jesus. Matthew was a studied and educated Jew himself and as such he would see the significance of the simple facts of the life of Jesus. I can just imagine what Matthew felt like when he started following Jesus and then hearing from the other apostles stories about the parents of Jesus and when from natural curiosity Matthew traced the genealogy of Jesus back to King David that Matthew knew that there was something special about this “first born Jewish male” that could trace His genealogy back to King David!  But can you imagine how Matthew felt when he learned the story that the mother of Jesus stated under penalty of death that her “firstborn Son Jesus” was “conceived by the Holy Spirt” and that she was a “virgin” when she gave birth to Jesus!?!  Add to the miracle the stories that both Mary and Joseph told of their visits from Gabriel and Gabriel telling them to “call Him Jesus for He will save His people from their sins”!!! I can also imagine that Matthew started taking notes and studying the prophecies of the MESSIAH even more fervently because already Jesus had fulfilled the three most basic but difficult prophecies; for no one can choose (1) where they are born nor (2) whom their parents are much less (3) who the parents of the parents are — and these 3 prophesies alone make Jesus, the Messiah unique : (1) the“virgin birth” and (2) being “born into the family of David “and (3) being “born in Bethlehem”!!!!   It is IMPOSSIBLE for one to “choose” that their mother would be a “virgin” and give birth to a Son!!! Those ARE IMPOSSIBLE things for man, but it makes the HOLY SCRIPTURE valid when it clearly states, “with man it is impossible but with God, all things are possible.” I am sure that Matthew started writing furiously when he heard Mary and Joseph tell the story of the “virgin birth” and I am sure that God fully intended for Matthew to be the one to write the Gospel and document this “impossibility” of Jesus — for the TRUTH is that it indeed is “impossible” for man to fulfill prophecy, only GOD can fulfill prophecy and only the Son of God could be “virgin born”!!! The first four chapters of Matthew then documents through eyewitness accounts all the simple facts that the Life of Jesus points to the Divine Truth that Jesus is the Son of God!!!    

DECEMBER 18 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SUMMARY 04: JQ#1-33 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

DECEMBER 18  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SUMMARY 04: JQ#1-33  The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, You are Unchanging for Forever and Forever, for You are the Alpha and the Omega. Lord as I face another day in the world I praise You for the great and mighty work that You accomplish daily through the Holy Spirit in our lives and the extra blessing of YOUR Teaching us how to worship with our work and how to be a witness to Your Great Love. I pray that others will see us living our lives through You and witness to the Abundant Life that comes only from following You that they also will learn that it is following You that is the most important thing in each individual’s life — not what the owner’s of the business or our earthly bosses think about our worship at work but  of major importance is what You think of our worship! Jesus, You know our hearts and Lord, help us die to our worldly self and let Your Love show though in a mighty WAY!!!    AMEN

DECEMBER 18  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was established in the first chapter of Matthew as the rightful Heir to the Throne of David through His genealogy through David all the way back to Abraham and then Matthew documents the prophesied “virgin birth” of Jesus thus fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. Matthew then moves directly into the conflict that developed with the then earthly king of Israel, King Herod: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’” (Matthew 2:1-2) The fact that “wise men” from the East came seeking the “King of the Jews” and declaring that they had “seen His star in the East” and they traveled all the way to Judea to find Him is significant in the “universality” of the Jewish Prophecy that the “King of the Jews” would be born in “Bethlehem of Judea” for the prophets had written: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.” (Matthew 2:5-6 and Micah 5:2) Matthew has now demonstrated 3 major prophecies that have been fulfilled by Jesus in just the first chapter and part of the second.  That put the odds of any one person fulfilling these 3 major prophecies at an astronomical number and almost certainly by mathematical odds that Jesus and ONLY Jesus by (1) His genealogy through David, (2) His “Virgin Birth”, and (3) that  “Virgin Birth” occurring in the town of Bethlehem  would be totally sufficient to declare Jesus the Heir to the throne of David and therefore by prophecy Jesus would have to be declared the “King of the Jews”!  So it is obvious why this news from the wise men declared in the presence of Herod and all the chief priests and scribes in the city of Jerusalem would cause Herod to be “troubled”.  What makes the odds of Jesus being the “King of the Jews” grow exponentially is the fact that even this “trouble” that King Herod felt was in prophecy as well for Matthew records that when the wise men departed after “they saw the young Child with Mary His mother” (Matthew 2:11) that “an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.’ [Joseph] did as the angel had commanded that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet [Hosea], saying, ‘Out if Egypt I called My Son.’” (Matthew 2:12-15 and Hosea 11:1) When Herod “saw that he was deceived by the wise men…[Herod] sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which [Herod] had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet saying: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:16-17 and Jeremiah 31:15) Now Matthew in only two chapters, has Jesus fulfilling prophecies by Isaiah, Micah, Hosea, and Jeremiah and the miracle part of the prophecy is that in order for these prophecies to be fulfilled that the circumstances demanded that “wise men from the East” and the current king of Judea be complicit in the fulfilling of prophecy! To me it is significant that God was accomplishing His Plan and literally using Jesus as a Child to cause literally a Universal Response to His Arrival and that means that there will be required of the world a Universal Response when Jesus comes again! God’s complete Plan has been written down for us to read and comply with — all we have to do is accept the obvious, Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God!!! 

DECEMBER 17 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

DECEMBER 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33  The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, as each new day unfolds Lord we ask for Your Light to shine in our day-to-day world and we thank You that like the consistent sunrise that brings light to the physical world Your Light will rise each day in our spiritual lives and bring with it the blessing of Your renewed Mercies and Grace! Thank You Jesus for Your coming to the earth and taking on flesh and being tempted in all ways such as we but yet You were without sin, and Your Victory over the world is the foundation of our Hope!!! Lord forgive me of all my worldly shortcomings and my daily iniquities and give me the self discipline to forgive others as freely as You forgive us!    AMEN

DECEMBER 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus spoke His first words in Matthew’s Gospel and stated that the event unfolding between Himself and John the Baptist (the forerunner to the Messiah), as “Fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15) which established Jesus as the “Chosen One” and that John was the “one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight’” (Matthew 3:3) thereby Matthew documents that the “Coming One” had arrived! Only the Jewish community that had been reading the Talmud would understand the significance of Matthew being able to trace the genealogy of Jesus back to Abraham through David so the Gospel of Jesus according to Matthew points to the fulfilling of God’s prophecies for the nation Israel and establishes through God’s Covenant Promises with Israel’s forefathers that Jesus was the rightful Heir to the throne of David. I believe that the nation was blinded to the Kingship of Jesus because of His Humble beginnings and the fact that Jesus was more like John the Baptist who had no earthly wealth or possessions therefore Jesus could not be the “soon coming King” like Israel’s previous great king, King David who possessed the entire kingdom of Israel and David had great warrior strength and all the possessions that King Solomon used to build the Great Temple of Solomon — John the Baptist had no strength except the Spirit of God and was calling Israel to “repent, for the kingdom of heaven was at hand”! The nation Israel and many people today simply cannot see how a cruel death on a cross at the hands of Israel’s religious rulers who had sentenced Jesus  to death as a criminal by the laws of the Jews could actually be the Messiah and that this “prophet” that did not possess any earthly treasures, and that this Jesus of Nazareth simply by His Death, Burial, and Resurrection would “fulfill all righteousness”!?!?!? Matthew started his documentation of Jesus fulfilling the Holy Scriptures by establishing in Chapter 1 that through His genealogy Jesus was the “rightful heir” to the throne of His father David! Any one of the events that Matthew records in his 28 Chapters about the life of Jesus could be considered significant but by recording all the events into a single Gospel we have a record of fulfilling of prophecies by a single man Jesus that defies all logic and odds and that if the odds of one man fulfilling all prophecies could be calculated that it would fit into the category of “counting [all] the stars if [we were] able” (Genesis 15:5) or imaging the number of descendants God promised a fatherless 90 year old man “I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of  the sky and as the sand which is on the seashore” {{have you ever tried counting stars or grains of sand??}} (Genesis 22:17) and these great numbers that are far beyond our counting or imaging the total sum of them point to God the Father for King David wrote: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand!” (Psalm 139:18). Therefore by collecting all the events of Jesus that point to His being the “Son of God, God’s Chosen One, the Messiah” Matthew establishes beyond a shadow of a doubt that it would be IMPOSSIBLE for anyone person to fulfill EVERY Prophecy as Jesus did!!! Matthew established in the first part of Chapter 1 that Jesus is the rightful heir by birthright and in the last part of Chapter 1 Matthew records the fulfilling of early prophecies of the Messiah as Matthew writes: “the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows…Mary was betrothed to Joseph [and] before they came together, she was found with the child of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18) Matthew explains: “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet {{Isaiah 7:14}}, saying, ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name ‘Immanuel’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’” (Matthew 1:22-23) Matthew started at “the beginning” which leaves no room for anyone other than Jesus to claim the title of “God’s Son” and as the Apostle John (whom Jesus loved) wrote about Jesus: “The WORD became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) The Jewish community had been reading the prophecies of the Coming Messiah therefore they would be the first ones to recognize that Jesus was the earthly embodiment of “Immanuel” and truly God had sent His only begotten Son and by observing the Life of Jesus, we observe GOD HIMSELF!!!  — and the really GOOD NEWS is that now that Jesus has come, the Promise of God to Joshua becomes  His Promise to us for God assures us “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6) and (Hebrews 13:5)  

DECEMBER 16 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

DECEMBER 16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33  The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, as I start this “Summary” of Your “Lessons” that You Taught us in order to reveal the Ultimate Truth of God the Father and to bring the “Light” of understanding to the “Ways of God”. I pray for the Holy Spirit to guide these Words written in this “JESUS Questions Summary” that they will be a Glory and Honor to the Blessed Trinity. May the Holy Spirit Bless all who read the Word that it will Reveal the Father, Glorify the Son, and Honor the Trinity of God in such a Way that our lives will be transformed. Give us the wisdom to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) and Trust God for His Mighty Provisions, which God Freely Bestows on undeserving sinners not because of anything we have done, but simply because of God’s Holy Character and His Infinite Love for His Creation!     AMEN

DECEMBER 16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus started His earthly Ministry at a point where Jesus is leading us to — that “point” in each of our lives that is the “turning point” in our Spiritual Journey and that “point” is always when we arrive at that time in our life when we see the “spiritual” need to enter into God’s Purpose for our lives and to yield control of our desires for the world to His Desire for our life — and at that “point”, we will follow the example of Jesus. Jesus directs us to that “point” as He began His Teaching and the first thing He did was follow the Will of God which was recorded by Matthew in Chapter 3 in which Matthew set the scene for us: “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 3:1) and then Matthew tied John the Baptist to the Holy Scriptures and the prophet Isaiah as Matthew declares that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah who had written 800 years earlier that the “forerunner” of the expected Messiah would be one that was “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight’” (Isaiah 40:3 quoted in Matthew 3:3). When the people of Judea and the areas surrounding Jerusalem heard there was “one in the wilderness” that was preaching “Repentance for the kingdom of heaven was at hand” and that they should be “baptized”, it was at that point in their spiritual lives that the Holy Scriptures came alive for them and they could see the prophecies of old being fulfilled and “Then in Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to [John the Baptist] and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Matthew 3:5-6) Matthew also introduces the conflict Jesus would address regarding the religious rulers in Jerusalem, the Pharisees and Sadducees, as Matthew records that the Pharisees and Sadducees came out to John the Baptist at the Jordan where he was baptizing and John declared them to be a “Brood of vipers!” and warned them to change their ways and “flee from the wrath to come” and told them plainly “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:7-8) And when John had their attention John set the scene for Jesus to appear when John declared “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11) Therefore when “Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized” (Matthew 3:13) it was to fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah regarding the forerunner of the Messiah (Isaiah 40:3) and of the restoration of the Davidic kingdom by Christ (See Isaiah 11:1-10)  which was why Jesus allowed Himself to be baptized by John in the Jordan and why Matthew records Jesus as saying to John about His Baptism “Permit [My Baptism] to be so now, for thus it is fitting for [the forerunner and the Christ] to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15) and by doing so to start His earthly ministry in which Jesus would begin teaching “repentance” and to point us to the “path of the LORD” — Jesus clearly stated later that we are to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) for our lives. Matthew also in this passage establishes that part of the mission of the Christ will be to address the problem of the religious rulers who have defiled the temple of God and have led the nation Israel away from following God and His Commandments!  John not only called them a “Brood of vipers!” but he warned them that Christ would “baptize [them] with the Holy Spirit and fire” and also Christ had “His winnowing fan in His hand, and He will throughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:7-12)  So Matthew uses John the Baptist and the prophet Isaiah to introduce the Christ and then Jesus steps on the scene and fulfills prophecy to begin His earthy ministry and sets the “Perfect Example” for all that would follow Jesus Christ to read the Holy Scriptures, repent, and to seek God and His Righteousness. 

DECEMBER 15 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

DECEMBER 15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33  The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, my LORD and my REDEEMER — that You would be Obedient to the Father’s Will to be Sacrificed as the Lamb of God, Innocent of All Sin yet bearing the Burden of All Sin, ONCE-for-ALL, YOU SHED EVERY DROP OF YOUR INNOCENT BLOOD for the REMISSION OF SIN, and that You and the Father HAD PLANNED OUR SALVATION while we were yet sinners — that is the greatest MIRACLE of all. Lord You KNEW that man’s heart was deceitful and evil yet You and the Father KNEW that through the Great LOVE OF GOD that man’s heart that was hardened by sin could be softened by  GRACE and we could then be sanctified by MERCY — Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!    AMEN

DECEMBER 15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has been present with us from BEFORE the CREATION and will be with BELIEVERS throughout all ETERNITY! Eternity itself is a concept that stretches our limited intellect for we are still bound by our physical limitations which God established with our mortality. But, God continually stretches our understanding with Spiritual Concepts that point us to Knowing God and it is through Knowing God that we will be able to move from this limited physical realm we call mortal life to the unlimited spiritual realm wherein lies Everlasting Life which is only possible through BELIEVING IN GOD! God summed up this ETERNAL TRUTH OF GOD as He spoke to the prophet Isaiah: “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the evil man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God for He will freely pardon. ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and snow comes down from heaven, and does not return to it without watering the earth, causing it to bud and flourish, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread for the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to me void, but will accomplish My desire, and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.’” (Isaiah 55:6-11) For the complete TRUTH OF GOD that explains GOD from CREATION to REVELATION one need only read Isaiah 55 in full and then meditate on John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) These Isaiah and John passages explain what and why and then starting in Genesis and going through every book and chapter, Jesus and God’s Mercy and Grace are written in great detail. A good argument can be made from John 1 that Jesus “was with God in the beginning” (John 1:5) and that to resolve the problem of “darkness” in the world that God’s solution was recorded in Genesis 1:3 “Then God said,’Let there be light’…” The Bible teaches us that Jesus is the Light of the World and we should understand the importance of us being like Jesus when He teaches the Sermon on the Mount and then asked His first question: <JQ#1> “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13) Jesus then immediately states also “You are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16) ——— Jesus IS the LIGHT of the World and by JQ#1 we know that Jesus wants us to be like Him ——— and Jesus with JQ#1 foreshadows that He will TEACH us how to be like Him and by the way we live our life we should be a “Light” to others and thereby we will “glorify [our] Father in Heaven”. This first Lesson then is that Jesus is going to Teach us how to live like Him and in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus uses His Divine Teaching Method  to get our attention and focus us on different aspects that give us Knowledge of God and His Eternal Kingdom  and then once we KNOW THE TRUTH we are to SHARE THE GOSPEL with those that are in “darkness” and by doing so we will fulfill the command of Jesus “So let your light shine before men…” with the single purpose of glorifying God!!