JANUARY 18 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-18: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

JANUARY  18  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-18: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer

JESUS, today my first thoughts towards You are thoughts of “Thankfulness” that You have done those things the Father asked You to do that sinners such as I would have a way to Eternally Fellowship with the TRINITY through the Miracle of Grace — a Miracle that was bought with a Heavenly Price and yet given with an Unconditional Love that can never be reproduced! It is Your Divine Love that is freely poured out on everyone that calls on the Precious Name of Jesus. Lord, there is no way for us with our limited intellect to understand the Heavenly Dynamics that provides Grace to wretched souls because of the Holy Blood You Shed on the Cross on our behalf, nor why a Sacrificial Lamb could be slain before the foundation of the world — nor how the Shed Blood of the Lamb of God once applied to our Repentant hearts brings about the Miracle of Salvation — or why God Almighty The Great I AM would even consider the possibility of Forgiveness of the guilty and Offer His Only Begotten Son — O the Mystery of God to make such a Great Sacrifice of the Divine Innocent for the sake of sinful man!?!?!?!? LORD JESUS, HEAVENLY FATHER, HOLY SPIRIT our hearts overflow with three words: “THANK YOU LORD” for being the Great God You ARE!!!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus comes on the scene in the 3rd Chapter of His Gospel according to St. Matthew after Jesus is announced as the “Lamb of God” by the Star Witness sent by God for One specific purpose: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe…that [JESUS] was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” (John 1:6-9) Matthew documents the fact that before Jesus came to be baptized by John that John the Baptist was already “preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’” (Matthew 3:2) Matthew was Jewish and was a well educated Jewish scholar and very familiar with the Jewish Holy Scriptures (known today as the “Tanakh”— the Hebrew Bible consisting of three sets of books: Torah, Nevi’im <prophets and histories> and Ketuvim <writings>) and knew the significance of John’s message to the nation Israel for there had been 400 years of silence since Malachi the last prophet had written God’s declaration of the coming of the forerunner of the Messiah, “BEHOLD, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me.” (Malachi 3:1a) Matthew sensed through that same Holy Spirit that the LORD was once again speaking to Israel through His messenger, John the Baptist is the “messenger” who was foretold by the prophet Isaiah whom Matthew quoted when he wrote about John the Baptist, “For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the LORD…’” (Matthew 3:3 and Isaiah 40:3)  The impact of John on the nation Israel can be seen by the simple statement of Matthew: “Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to [John the Baptist]” (Matthew 3:5) and the reason they were going out into the wilderness was to hear John preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” and Matthew finishes his report on John the Baptist by stating that those going out into the wilderness to hear John preach about the kingdom of heaven “were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Matthew 3:6) Matthew with these simple statements makes it clear that John the Baptist is not trying to build a church or establish a congregation for his personal benefit because of the remote location in the desert wilderness where John the Baptist was preaching therefore one must concentrate on the message that John the Baptist was preaching and that message was clearly “Repent”. The results of the Spirit filled message was that people who listened to God’s Spirit filled Message to “Repent” were “confessing their sins”! The success of John’s message from God to Israel was also noted by Matthew for John became so well known in the wilderness that he caught the attention of even the Pharisees and Sadducees who themselves were “coming to” John to be baptized in the Jordan. (Matthew 3:7a) John’s reaction to the Pharisees and Sadducees must be viewed from the context that the Holy Spirit was leading John and speaking through John so when John calls the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 3:7b) we can anticipate that when the Messiah comes upon the scene that the Messiah, being led also by the Holy Spirit, will address the problem of having a “brood of vipers” ruling the temple and leading temple worship in Jerusalem! This “brood of vipers” were also responsible to God for teaching God’s religious doctrines to the nation of Israel, doctrines from God intended by God to promote Israel’s worship of The Great “I AM”, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that had delivered them out of their bondage in Egypt and into the Promised Land. So Matthew has now established that Jesus has fulfilled prophecy by His Birth, and now John who has fulfilled the prophecy that there would be a “forerunner” to the Messiah is about to see Jesus face-to-face for the first time! Have you ever stopped in your Spiritual Journey and considered that even though you believe and know who Jesus is, that there will come that first moment when you will stand in His Presence — face to Face — for the first time!?!?!?!?!?! “Now” is a good time to stop and think about that “moment” for it is a “moment” in your “future” that was prophesied about you by the same Holy Spirit that prophesied about the Coming of the Anointed One and your reaction will uncover what you believe about Jesus in the secret parts of your heart and soul — and “Now” is the only time available for you to get that “moment” settled between you and your future with Jesus Christ Himself!!! The TRUTH of GOD is that one day your “moment” in His Presence will arrive and what you truly believe will be revealed as you stand face-to-Face with God at that very “moment” —— BUT once the “moment” arrives it is already to late —— you must be prepared BEFORE the “Moment” arrives —— and the time to think about that “Moment” and who Jesus really IS, is “Now”!!!

JANUARY 17 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-17: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

JANUARY 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-17: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, oh how blessed are we among men that we can call on the Name of Jesus so openly and so freely. Praise You Lord for the freedom that exists in our lifetime and our generation that we have a country founded on the belief in The One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Lord, I pray for the strength and courage to help in any small way to maintain this extraordinary privilege that we have to worship You freely in our churches and to have unfettered access to Your Word through Your Holy Bible. Forgive me Lord when I take this great blessing of free access to Your Word as just another freedom that abounds in plenty — for in our abundance we have become lazy and in our laziness we are losing our freedoms bit-by-bit, so Lord let me daily recognize the “Peace” and “Joy” of starting my day with the Name of Jesus and walk in freedom guided safely by the “Light” of Your Holy Word.      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus, by external circumstances surrounding Him and not of His own volition has already fulfilled enough prophecy documented in the first three chapters of His Gospel written by Matthew that were He to do nothing else, Jesus could be shown to be the Messiah with the single event of His being a first born Jewish male in the town of Bethlehem from the lineage of King David but His Messiahship was completely sealed by the fact that His mother was a “virgin” when she gave Birth to Jesus, thus making her Seed Pure, for her Seed came from God Himself making Jesus the Son of God! To be sure, common logic demonstrates that if a bird gives birth, the offspring of that bird will be a bird and as that bird grows it will have feathers like its parents and will eventually exhibit all the characteristics of a bird and will someday take off and fly — and anyone observing that bird in flight will not have to ask, “I wonder if that bird’s parents are birds?” This simple logic is God’s way of teaching us His TRUTH!!!  In His Creation account found in Genesis, God made it clear that every living thing would reproduce “according to its kind” and “whose seed is in itself” (Genesis 1:11) so the fact that God would put His Seed into a “virgin womb” in order that His Seed would reproduce “after its kind” should be simple common logic— for with the “Virgin Birth” event it must “logically” be assumed that the mother’s womb was “undefiled” by man and her “Seed” was “Holy” therefore the “Offspring” of the “Virgin Birth” would grow in “Grace and Truth” and exhibit every characteristic of the “Holy Father”, thereby confirming that Jesus indeed IS THE MESSIAH, the Son of the LIVING GOD. John wrote in his Gospel of Jesus Christ “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17) Therefore (logically), Jesus being the offspring of an undefiled woman, is “logically” proven to be the Son of Man and coming forth from her “Virgin Womb” from the Holy Seed of the Father, Jesus is also “logically” proven to be the Only Begotten Son of God — so it is “natural” that just like the offspring of a bird will grow feathers and fly, so likewise will the Offspring of the Holy God grow in “Grace” and will speak “Truth”. If Jesus were not the Son of God, then He would not be able to “fly” with such natural ease that everyone who observed His Life would declare as did the Roman centurion who saw how Jesus died at His Crucifixion, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39) So the object of the Gospels are to demonstrate the cliche’ “Like Father like Son” and that Jesus being the Holy Seed proves Himself to be the Messiah, the Offspring of  His Holy Father both by the “Way” that He lived His Life and the manner in which He faced His Own Death at the hands of those His Father had sent Him to Redeem — and His Resurrection from a “borrowed” grave fulfills God’s Promise to His Only Begotten Son — this Promise of God to His Son was another prophecy written by King David that the Resurrection of Jesus fulfilled, “For You [My Father] will not leave [Your Son’s] soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption!” (Psalm 16:10) Jesus is shown to be the Son of God because of prophecy, His “Virgin Birth”, His Holy Life, and His Perfect Sacrificial Death as the Lamb of God, and His Glorious Resurrection by His Father on the 3rd Day! We, as offspring of our parents, will quite naturally exhibit the nature of our parents and that was true of the Baby, born to a virgin in Bethlehem from the HOLY SEED OF GOD HIMSELF — and we still today call out the NAME OF JESUS, Immanuel — God with us!!!!!!!! Once we see how naturally Jesus shares the Grace of God, we know He is from God, and we should strive to be “born again” that when we are observed living our life before men that we live our life in such a manner that they will know we have been born of heaven, “according to Our Kind” — Praise God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit who so graciously decided “in the beginning…” to “Let Us make man in Our Image, according to Our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26) It’s time to step into the “Light” and spread our “spiritual" wings and “mount up on [those spiritual] wings like eagles” and soar up to heaven itself — for freedom from the world is our Divine Heritage freely given to all that will receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!

JANUARY 16 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-16: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

JANUARY  16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-16: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer 

JESUS, JESUS, JESUS — there will be a time when “every tongue” will confess that You are LORD! “Every tongue” takes in a lot of territory and is all inclusive of “every” one that has a “tongue” will use it to confess that Jesus is Lord — Mohammed will confess it, Buddha will confess it, and more importantly, each individual personally will confess it  as EACH WILL stand before God!!! It doesn’t get any closer to home than when we see prophesy being fulfilled in our own lives — but there is one small caveat; this confession comes at the “Judgement” and confessing the Name of Jesus is not a “ticket-to-get-into-heaven” phrase — the Bible states that everyone must stand before God and make an account of our actions and thoughts toward God! Our thoughts and actions while living on earth and not our defense during our “Judgment” are what will “condemn us” to either a burning hell separated from God or will “commend us” to God, to live with God in heaven for eternity!!!  After “every tongue” has stood trial for the lives we lived while on earth and we are standing before God, KNOWING HE IS GOD, we will accept our reward or punishment (earned for what we did with the Name of Jesus while we were on earth and breathing God’s air) — and before we leave His Presence we will all stand before God in heaven and receive our rewards/punishments that were established by our actions on earth that declared “JESUS IS THE LORD OF MY LIFE”!!!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus so far has been shown to be the Messiah by circumstances of His “Virgin Birth” and through His lineage back to King David and then upon the announcement of His Birth to King Herod, Herod tried to thwart God’s Plan by killing all children two and under in the City of David, Bethlehem where Jesus was born and Herod while trying to protect his throne, unwittingly fulfilled yet more prophecies of the Messiah. In the 3rd Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel of Jesus Christ, Jesus Himself begins to demonstrate by His Own Actions that He is the Messiah! Matthew starts Chapter 3 by introducing the “Star Witness” of Jesus Christ — John the Baptist — who himself was the fulfillment of yet another prophecy: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness; prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3) Matthew writes of John: “In those days [when Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod] John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” (Matthew 3:1-2) Matthew covered enough material about the “Virgin Birth” of Jesus and circumstances that could not have been orchestrated or controlled by Jesus and His disciples that proved that it could not have been a “fabricated” story or any form of “conspiracy” for the “facts” surrounding Jesus were a matter of public record and the “Virgin Birth” was announced by His earthly parents (facing the penalty of death for blasphemy) before He was born, remember also that Mary and Joseph made their confession while Mary was pregnant even though it could have meant their death — Mary and Joseph had nothing to “gain” from declaring the “Virgin Birth” account and risked being made complete “outcasts” from the Synagogue and their community which was the worst thing that could happen to young Jewish couple so why would they insist that Jesus was the Messiah by virtue of His “Virgin Birth”, and they claimed this truth not according to any less authority than God Himself through the angel Gabriel!!! When John the Baptist comes upon the scene he was “preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” but again this historical fact was part of Jewish history BEFORE Jesus began His earthly ministry — therefore John the Baptist and his “history” is still another “fact” that Jesus and His disciples could not fabricate and is yet another “fact” that can be directly related to prophesy written hundreds of years before Jesus began His public ministry! Of Divine Significance is that the prophecy of Isaiah about the forerunner of the Messiah was written in the 8th Century B.C. and specifically states “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” and “make straight in the desert” and the voice in the desert wilderness was to “prepare the way of the LORD” (Isaiah 40:3) so one must answer some obvious questions such as why would God choose a desert wilderness and not the public square in Jerusalem to announce the arrival of the “Anointed One” and also why would any person randomly or purposefully chose to cloth himself in camel hair, go into the desert wilderness, eat locust and honey, and then preach “repentance” and to declare “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” !?!?!? You can’t make up things like these and present them as facts and not get blown out of the water by the existing authorities, especially if the story includes facts that fly in the face of all tradition and existing laws which could result in that person’s life imprisonment and/or their death?? Matthew’s accounts leave us with two  obvious questions (1) why would a young couple risk death just to claim a “virgin” birth and (2) why would one man go out into the desert and risk his life for some locusts and honey — it makes no sense unless they were driven by a “force” or a power greater than their fear of death!?!? The “obvious” answer is that they are driven by God’s Master Plan and that the Plan itself is more important than “life and death” — God’s Master Plan is about “Eternal Life” in the presence of God Himself and is the only reasonable explanation for all that appears in the Holy Scriptures that establish through prophecy and innocent lives the validity of Jesus being the Messiah!!! Just think on why and when these things occurred to fulfill prophecies in the Scriptures that were written hundreds of year before the events occurred and you will not find a better explanation than prophecy (its giving and fulfillment) is part of God’s Master Plan!!!  The really Good News is that THERE IS A MASTER PLAN for “MANKIND’S SALVATION” and that the ONE that AUTHORED the MASTER PLAN is the CREATOR of ALL and is in CONTROL OF EVERYTHING!!!  When one reads the Bible from the viewpoint that EVERY WORD is DIVINELY INSPIRED and the Holy Bible is GOD’S MASTER PLAN OF REDEMPTION that was already in place “before the foundation of the earth”, then one can see how important it is that we read God’s Word — for indeed His Word is Truth — that’s why His Words are called The Holy Scriptures for only TRUTH IS HOLY!!!

JANUARY 15 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-15: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

JANUARY 15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-15: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer   

JESUS, today is another day of abundant life that You have provided for us and we know that we deserve death and would still be dead in our sins today were it not for Your Mercy and Grace and Your Great Sacrifice on the cross at Calvary to purchase our Redemption from the punishment of our many iniquities — Lord let us “lean not” on our own understanding but 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 and that simple offering my Lord is 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 I have failed You, El Shaddai and keep me centered in Your Will!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was not only proven to be the Messiah by the evidence of His Birth to a virgin who had nothing to gain but death by stoning from the Jewish community to which she belonged by claiming God was the Father of her unborn child, Jesus was also linked to the “purpose” of the Messiah by several outside forces that He could not have possibly manipulated as a young Child and certainly Jesus could not have arranged these events while still in His mother’s womb! The purpose of the “Messiah” in both Jewish tradition and today’s Christian viewpoint, 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” from prophecies of old and had traveled a great distance because they had seen a “sign” in the heavens, came to Jerusalem for they knew that the event had happened in Judea. Again we must note that these are all outside agencies and events that neither Jesus nor His followers could possibly arrange. Matthew recorded and made a note that when “wise men” stood before Herod that they said to King Herod that the child “has been born” which really caught the attention of the then seated king of Judea! Matthew documented Herod’s reaction when the sitting King of Judea heard the wise men declare that the “King of the Jews” had already been born: “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 still 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 not God Himself becoming flesh but “mashiach” is a human that will become a powerful king and 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 about his own kingdom in Judea that the sitting King of Judea tried to enlist the services of the wise men in finding the already born “King of the Jews”. But when the wise men were warned by God not to return to Herod, Herod “sent forth 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) This act of Herod reacting to prophecy about “one who has been born King of the Jews” was also prophetic in its execution for the prophet Jeremiah had written beforehand in Jewish Scriptures 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 also 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, 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 that 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, the “conspiracy” and false claims would have been quickly refuted by the Jewish rulers and the chief priests and scribes living at the time of the death of Jesus — but historical documents do not contain any such records that dispute what Matthew wrote about Jesus — the only records that exist support Jesus as having fulfilled the prophecy of the Messiah 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 had already by the young age of 2 or 3 years old had already fulfilled 4 major “Messianic Prophecies” written hundreds of years earlier by God’s own prophets and these critical prophecies and their fulfillment could not have been “fabricated” without receiving great criticism from the chief priests and scribes and further, if it were the apostles and disciples of Jesus that had “fabricated” the stories after the death of Jesus, their fabrications would have been exposed by the religious authorities and their fabrications would have resulted in their own deaths! If the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Divine Truth was simply a fabrication by a few radical followers then the fulfilling of prophecy by Jesus would not be documented so well in the New Testament writings — writings that have been Divinely Protected for thousands of years, all these circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus only adds credence to the TRUTH that Jesus IS CHRIST!!!  

JANUARY 14 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-14: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

JANUARY  14  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-14: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Creator of all things, by whose Hand and Will all things are held together, You are worthy of all Praise, all Glory, all Honor! Lord, to You and You alone will every nation bow and every tongue in every language confess that Jesus is CHRIST! — the Savior of mankind, the King of kings. Lord, I praise You this day, let not the world interfere with our worship of Thee — You Lord, are the Guiding Path, I pray that You part the “Sea of Doubt” and give us the strength and courage to lift up Your Name as we cross on dry land between the walls of worldly distractions built up on every side on our journey to Your Promised Land, especially in this circumstance and at this time of “testing” in America — for it is in these types of circumstances that there is special strength coming from the Throne of Grace, let us receive Your Divine Strength into our lives and into our homes, and Lord Jesus, give everyone someone in their life that they will share Your Love with today.      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is being revealed through circumstance and simple fact to be the Messiah and in any court of law there would be enough evidence to sentence Him to a LIFE sentence for being the “Chosen One”. If we could look at His “Birth” certificate we would see that He was born a Jew to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem in Judea and it could be demonstrated that Jesus was of the lineage of David the former King of Israel therefore making Jesus a Jew that can trace His ancestry all the way back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the most compelling evidence was given by His own mother Mary who swore under oath that she had never been with a man and had conceived Her baby boy while still a “virgin” and that she further testified that she was informed by God Himself through His angel Gabriel, that she would carry the “Son of God” in her virgin womb thereby confirming that her “Son” was “The Son of God”! Not needed to convict her but required by law that there be two witnesses, Mary’s husband to which she was betrothed when she became pregnant through “Immaculate Conception” with this “Holy Child”, Joseph took the witness stand and confirmed Mary’s confession that she was carrying the “Son of God” in her virgin womb!!! Joseph testified that he too had been visited by the Angel Gabriel and was informed by God that his betrothed was “with a Child” that had been “conceived by the Holy Spirit”. Jewish law is very strict and had not Joseph withheld his public accusation of worldly infidelity, Mary could have been stoned to death as per Jewish law, so neither she nor Joseph had anything worldly to gain by this outrageous claim of her “Virgin Birth” which declared the “Child” to be born to Mary was indeed the “Son of God” ——— and all this transpired BEFORE the actual “Virgin Birth” so this piece of historical evidence of Christ’s identity was established BEFORE Jesus was even born! To think that all the prophets and the Jewish Holy Scriptures was simply a clever “conspiracy” organized by Jesus and His followers goes against all logic for why in the world would those that wanted Jesus dead be compliant with a plot to make Jesus “God Incarnate” via the “Virgin Birth”?!?!?!?!? There is simply no way that anyone could put together one man’s life to remotely complete more than two or three of the prophecies {{See January 11 this blog}} and certainly not two prophecies of this Divine Significance of a Jewish male born in Bethlehem to a “virgin” — Matthew therefore using Jewish law and Jewish tradition along with confirmation from the Jewish Scriptures documents that this Jesus, born of Mary in Bethlehem must be declared as “The Messiah” and is the Christ, for if their claims were not true, then by Jewish law and tradition the Jewish religious leaders could have killed Mary and Joseph, and Jesus would not have been born — — — BUT, we have a 2000 year old Bible and you know the rest of the story!!! In God’s Great Plan for mankind, each individual must deal with this “Revelation of Jesus Christ” and “work out your own salvation” through the exercise of Your God-given Freewill and decide if your “Faith in God the Father” (though it be a small as a “mustard seed”) can be planted into this fertile soil of God’s GRACE and TRUTH and grow to reach “Heaven” itself!!! God’s simple promise is “I WILL PROVIDE” — and regardless of the “evidence” it still boils down to “FAITH IN GOD THE FATHER” — it is time for everyone by “FAITH IN GOD THE FATHER” to “Repent from sin against HIM” and to reclaim THROUGH BELIEF IN THE SON OF GOD our “Heavenly Inheritance”— “IN GOD WE TRUST”!!!

JANUARY 13 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-13: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

JANUARY 13  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-13: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS   Daily Prayer    

JESUS, each sunrise starts a new day in our spiritual journey through life and I pray that You through the Holy Spirit will make my life in each of my new days of walking with the Holy Spirit to be a great witness unto God. Lord, I pray for forgiveness of all my sin, sins known and those that are unknown to me, but known or not, if they grieve the Holy Spirit they dishonor the Father and the Son, so I beg forgiveness for the sake of Holiness. Lord, I desire in my heart to dedicate this temple to the Holy Spirit, to You, and Father God — O Lord Jesus, I am so close to being separated from the world that if it be Thy will, Lord lead me to be totally dependent on You and that I live only to serve You. Take now this prayer as a sacrifice and an offering to You, use my life for the glory of Your Kingdom. Lord I yield to Your will, You are my Lord, my God, my Savior, my Redeemer, and the Prince of Peace.      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has been shown by Matthew’s Gospel to be in the line of David and is the One in prophecy known as the Messiah, the Son of David! Matthew drew the lineage from the traditional Jewish doctrine of tracing the family line through the father and listing the birth mother of the offspring. It is Jewish tradition because of the teachings of God found written in Deuteronomy 21:15-17 that the first born male that was also the first issue of his mother’s womb would be granted a special portion of the father’s estate, therefore when Matthew, being a well educated Jew and knowing the prophecies of the Messiah contained in the Holy Scriptures, learned that Jesus was the first born from His mother’s womb and that she swore by the Holy Scriptures that the Child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, thereby making God Himself the Father, then Matthew immediately recognized the prophecy of the “virgin birth” found in Isaiah — “Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14) Matthew put the “virgin birth” prophecy along with the fact that the mother of Jesus gave birth to Him in “Bethlehem” which also fulfilled the prophecy by the prophet Micah “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting”  (Micah 5:2) and Matthew had two prophecies that pointed to Jesus being the “Chosen One” that was written by God’s prophets about God’s Messiah! Granted, there had been a lot of Jewish males in the line of Judah that had been the “first born” of their mother’s womb and had received the special inheritance from their earthly father but Jesus was the first Jewish male that could claim that His Father was God Himself and He had been “born of a virgin” and that His birth occurred in the “City of David, Bethlehem Ephrathah” !!! — and least we forget, the story of the “virgin birth” of Mary began before she had given birth and in those days she could not have known that she was carrying a male child; therefore her claim that she was told by an angel that she would conceive a child in her virgin womb and give birth to the “Son of God” could have been easily disproved if she had given birth to a daughter!?!? So from a “Spiritual Truth” standpoint, the only way that Mary could “know” that she was giving “virgin birth” to a “Son” was that it had been revealed to her by God Himself!!! Since Matthew was well versed on prophecy he could see the significance of Joseph having to return to Bethlehem to pay his taxes and Mary actually giving birth to her first born in the town of Bethlehem and those two facts alone were enough to raise expectations of the Messiah in the Jewish community but when the story that during her pregnancy Mary rightfully claimed (at the risk of being stoned to death) that God had chosen her to be the mother of the “Son of God”  became known to Matthew he connected the two prophecies (1) the “virgin birth” and (2) the location being “Bethlehem” to the simple fact that Jesus was a firstborn male from Mary’s womb ——— Matthew then simply stated the documented facts surrounding the “birth” of Jesus thereby documenting for everyone that knew prophecy that Jesus had fulfilled two Major Prophecies of the Messiah!!! Matthew then writes first in his Gospel of Jesus Christ that Jesus is the “Son of David” (Matthew 1:1) and follows that historic fact with the “virgin birth” prophecy, thereby the combination of these two longstanding and well-known prophecies establish beyond any doubt that Jesus IS the MESSIAH!!!  The first claims made by Matthew in his Gospel of Jesus Christ should be enough “evidence” for all of us to recognize Jesus as the Messiah but God still wants each individual to search the Scriptures so that we too can through “Faith in God” know the “Joy” of discovering God’s “Messiah” for ourselves!!! There is NO “Evidence” without “Faith in God” that is “proof of God” — however “Faith in God” is all the “proof” a “Believer” needs to know God personally and once we “Believe” then worldly “evidence” is simply used to confirm what the “Believer” through “Faith in God” already KNOWS about Him!!! Once you “Believe” you may claim this Truth of God for yourself: “And [you having] believed in [Me] the LORD, [I WILL] account it [unto you] for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6) The Scofield Study Bible says: “ God must reckon His own righteousness to man’s account through man’s trust [FAITH] in Him — for mankind is without righteousness of his own.” {{Scofield Study Bible notes on Genesis 15:6}}  The “Good News” keeps getting Better and Better!!!

JANUARY 12 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-12: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

JANUARY  12  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-12: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS   Daily Prayer    

JESUS, You are Unchanging for ever 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 in our lives through the Holy Spirit and the extra blessing of the Holy Spirit teaching us how to worship You with our work which is a good witness to Your Great Love. I pray that others will see us living our lives through You Lord Jesus Christ and our daily walk with You will witness to the Abundant Life that comes only from following You and also that they will learn that following You is the most important thing in each individual’s life — not what the owners of the business or our earthly bosses think about our “worship at work” but of major importance is what God Most High thinks of our worship! Jesus, You know our hearts and Lord Jesus help us die daily to our worldly self and let Your Love show though in a mighty WAY!!!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was established in the first chapter of Matthew as the rightful Heir to the Throne of David by His genealogy through King David as spoken by God Himself to Nathan the prophet about David: “I will set up [David’s] seed…I will establish his kingdom…I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever…I will be his Father, and he shall be My son…My mercy shall not depart from him…and [David’s] throne and kingdom will be established forever!” (2 Samuel 7: 12-16) The title “Son of David” to the Jews meant more than human genealogy, it is a MESSIANIC title — therefore when Israel referred to Jesus as the Son of David, they were making reference to the long-awaited Deliverer, the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies. (Matthew 1:1-17) Next, after establishing the “genealogy of Jesus Christ”, Matthew documents the prophesied “virgin birth” of Jesus (Matthew 1:18-25) thus fulfilling the prophecy: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” (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” is significant in the “universality” of the Jewish Prophecy that the the King of the Jews would be born in Bethlehem of Judea for the prophet Micah had written: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” (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 by (1) His genealogy through David, (2) His “Virgin Birth”, and (3) that  “Virgin Birth” occurring in the town of “Bethlehem” would be sufficient to declare Jesus the Heir to the throne of David and by Jesus fulfilling just these three prophecies that He would have to be declared the “King of the Jews”!!! 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 itself also in prophecy as Matthew records that when the wise men departed  [from Herod] after “they [had seen] 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 yet another prophecy might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet [Hosea], saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” (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) Matthew now in only two chapters, has Jesus fulfilling prophecies by Isaiah, Micah, Hosea, and Jeremiah! The miracle part of the prophecies is that in order for these prophecies to be fulfilled that the circumstances demanded that (1) “wise men from the East” and (2) 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 a Universal Response to His arrival and that speaks plainly to the TRUTH OF GOD that there will be required of every one, in all nations and every generation and every tongue, a Universal Response when Jesus comes again! God’s complete Plan has been written down in His Holy Bible for us to read and comply with — all we have to do is accept the obvious ——— Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God!!!