JUNE 10 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#19 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

 

JUNE 10  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  

JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, 

and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord as I start another day seeking to know God and You “deeper still”,

 I pray that the Holy Spirit will open my “spiritual eyes” that I may know

 that Your efforts to give me “understanding” is so that I will become “One” 

with the Holy Trinity and that I will not only know You better 

but I will know better who I am. 

Lord Jesus, it is a comfort to know that You are the Good Shepherd 

and that You came to earth to lead “lost sheep” in the paths of righteousness,

 that You died on the cross as the Lamb of God, the Perfect Sacrifice

 for sinners like me — that You have completely resolved the “sin problem”,

 so let me fully accept Your Grace 

and 

Share Your Unconditional Love 

with others.     

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus not only “Taught” His disciples by “Words”, 

His most powerful Lessons were Lessons that His disciples saw Him 

“living out” 

before them and then Jesus would sit down and explain to them the

 “purpose” 

of His actions that they had just seen Jesus doing 

as He went about His day-to-day living. 

Jesus always approached every circumstance from the point of view 

that He had a “purpose” to fulfill — 

Jesus was on a “mission” to “do the Father’s will”.   

To accomplish what Jesus knew fully well He was sent from the Father

 to accomplish — Jesus also always worked to accomplish those tasks

 in a manner that He knew would be pleasing to the Father. 

Jesus was always aware that everything He did was to 

“honor”

 the Father and that His actions were to be done 

“in the name of the Father” 

and 

for the sake of the kingdom (of God).  

Jesus lived every moment to fulfill 

His Purpose

 therefore everything He did and say was Teaching about the kingdom

 and bringing His disciples into a closer relationship

 with both Himself and the Father. 

Now Jesus has put forth JQ#18 in which He Teaches that it is all-important

 that we personally know the Truth about “who” Jesus is 

and then He immediately asks us to consider “who” we are in relation to the

 Truth of God

 and the upcoming

 “Judgement by God”. 

Our 

“eternal guilt or innocence” 

will be solely determined by how well we answer 

JQ#18 & JQ#19 for God knows our inward thoughts 

and He will determine if we have 

accepted Jesus as the Son of God whom the Father sent 

to rectify the world’s sin problem 

and thereby God will know if we have truly recognized our

 “lostness” 

and acknowledged that the only correct answer to give God  

when we stand before Him at the 

“Final Judgement”

 is that we are a sinner 

and Jesus is 

“the (only) way, the (only) truth, and the (only) life”. 

(John 14:6) 

Our best “hope” in this life is to study Jesus and to learn to 

“live” the way He lived and to make His Purpose our purpose 

and to simply believe God’s declaration 

that Jesus is God’s Beloved Son 

and then to take God’s advice to “Listen to Him.” 

The only way to know who we are is to know who Jesus is

 for in the history of the world, no other person or god

 has done so much to Teach us the 

Truth 

about who we really are in our day-to-day lives

 and no other person or god has done everything required of the 

One True God 

so that 

we can rise above our day-to-day existence 

and have “fellowship” with the Living God. 

Jesus has asked us in JQ#19 now to consider “profit”,

 “gain”, and our own unique “soul” —

 then Jesus specifically asks us to consider what we might

 “exchange”

 for our unique “soul”? 

We really should reflect on “why” should we consider that we will be required to

 “exchange” something “acceptable to God” for our “souls”? 

Also, when we consider the 

“exchange”

 we must seriously consider “who” requires the

 “exchange” (who is making the “rule”) 

and what will we use for the

 “exchange”

 that is considered of any 

“value” (to the Living God) 

when the “Exchange” is required? 

This is a dilemma considering that God has declared 

that “gaining the whole world” 

(the entirety of all earthly material possessions) 

is not of enough value to present to God 

as an “Acceptable Exchange” 

in the eyes of God the Father and Creator 

to keep us from “losing [our] own soul”!!! 

The “whole world” pretty much covers everything “physical” 

therefore the logical place to start looking at this point for an

 “Acceptable Exchange” 

is in the 

“spiritual” arena 

and to 

listen to the “Spirit of God”(Genesis 1:2)  

who is trying to secure our eternal salvation ——— 

Don’t you think that if we need to consider the 

“eternal spirit God Himself Created” 

as being 

“valuable enough” 

to God that He would consider an 

“exchange for [our] soul” 

that we might want to “listen” 

to the One True Living God 

who has always been declared as 

“God is Spirit”?? 

(John 4:24)  

JUNE 09 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#19 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

 

JUNE 09  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  

JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man 

if he gains the whole world, 

and loses his own soul?” 

(Matthew 16:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord and Savior, the Lamb of God that was slain before 

the foundation of the earth, God very God who became flesh 

and dwelt among us so that You could Teach us by example 

how to live in this world that has been defiled and filled 

with the sin of disobedience. 

Jesus I pray that my life will no longer be wasted on self 

but will grow daily in Your Grace, Compassion, and Wisdom — 

Lord Jesus may I live like You  and Love others 

as You demonstrated “compassion” and commanded us

 to “Love one another”. 

Lord, I know that to live like You means to “serve” others 

and to sacrifice “self” in obedience to the Father’s Will, 

keep me centered in Your Will and walking in Your Light

 that I may know Your Way.     

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus uses JQ#19 to draw our attention inwardly to our 

“spiritual existence” 

and when He gets us to consider that we have an

 “eternal soul” 

He brings our awareness to focus on considering the 

eternal battle being waged in the world between

 “good” and “evil” to gain control of each individual “soul”!   

The “soul” is eternal and the “soul” 

is who we really are ——— 

this can be easily proved by simply asking ourselves 

simple “physical” questions like “will I die if I lose an arm or a leg” 

or at each birthday we celebrate (or curse) 

we must ask “am I  who I am because of my age” 

or do we believe that it is our “body weight” that defines us, 

or our “bank account”, or the “car we drive” or is it any other “physical entity” 

that makes us who we are? 

No ——— as soon as one reflects on that universal question

 “Who am I and what am I doing here?” 

we are aware that life is more than the body, or our age,

 or any other “physical” characteristic and that is why we embrace 

the concept of “spirits” for we readily notice spiritual concepts

 in others like “attitudes” ——— and upon the realization 

that we are NOT our finite physical attributes, 

we recognize that our bodies are just a vessel that is transporting

 “who we really are as defined by our eternal souls” 

that we declare cliches like,

 “Don’t judge a book by its cover” 

and we use “spiritual reality” terms like “True beauty is on the inside”.

 The main thing “spiritual” that we often overlook is our “emotions” ——— 

Our body is a “physical” entity that “emotionally” expresses 

what we feel in our “spirit” 

as we see the same body cry, laugh, jump for joy, 

and also in the same physical body we can mourn 

or we can rejoice and celebrate — 

all our emotions are “inward” and are “spiritual”

 and are displayed “outwardly” by our “physical” body 

and this “physical expression of spiritual emotion” 

has been declared as our “body language”, 

so the same body is not defined so much by our “physical” 

characteristics as much as we are really defined by 

our “inward” or “spiritual characteristics” 

that are expressed by our “body language” 

and therefore 

Jesus has been Teaching His disciples how to “live” 

their daily lives considering the “Spiritual” 

and His Lessons all deal with our “spiritual response” 

to our “physical circumstances”. 

The fact that there is a battle for our “soul” 

can be seen in both “what” Jesus Teaches 

and “how” He has lived His life

 while existing on earth in the flesh 

and living the Perfect Example of using the 

“spiritual” to overcome the “physical”. 

Jesus had previously Taught His disciples by casting out “unclean spirits” 

and gave His disciples “power” to do the same: 

“And when [Jesus] had called His twelve disciples to Him, 

He gave them power over unclean spirits, 

to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness

 and all kinds of disease.” 

(Matthew 10:1)  

So we must consider that there were twelve different physical bodies

 for the disciples so it was not the disciples physical characteristics

 that were going to accomplish 

“casting out…unclean spirits” 

or “to heal all kinds of sickness…” 

 which we recognize as “spiritual issues” 

being exhibited in different “physical forms” 

and we should also recognize that to accomplish healing 

of the physical and the removal of unclean spirits that 

Jesus “gave them power” and that “power” 

was not in the form of any “physical” characteristic, 

it was not in any “physical” form whatsoever, 

but the “power” existed in “spiritual” form only 

and regardless of the disciples physical description, 

they all had the same “power” which had to exist as “spirit”. 

Therefore we must acknowledge that each of us possess a

 “spirit” 

within us that is recognizable by others and in this scripture 

the writer Matthew uses the term specifically calling the problem 

“unclean spirits” so it is reasonable that to “cast out unclean spirits” 

that the “power” over them must be a 

“greater spiritual power”!

 There is precedence in God’s creation to let us know that this

 “Supreme Power” is of God 

because we read in Genesis 1:1-5 two verses that draw our attention

 to the ultimate “Power” and they are: 

“The earth was without form and void; and darkness 

was on the face of the deep. And the 

Spirit of God 

was hovering over the face of the waters.” 

(Genesis 1:2) 

The next verse is how God used 

His Spirit 

to fix the darkness, the emptiness, and the lack of purpose as we read 

“Then God said, ‘Let there be light’, 

and there was light.” 

(Genesis 1:3)  

So at the very start of everything “physical” we see All of Creation 

being accomplished by the 

“Spiritual Power of God” 

and that the solution to physical issues God brought forth 

“light” 

and please note that this was accomplished 

not by any “physical” feat but by 

God “speaking” 

and immediately it was so!!!  

Before the “sun worshippers” start giving themselves high fives

 we must ask, what was this 

“light” that God just “spoke” and it happened?

 If we read the Creation account we find that it was on the fourth day 

of creation that God made the sun and the moon so what was the

 “light” God spoke “Let there be” on Day 1 

that dispelled the darkness and brought order to the chaos? 

If the sun and moon are “physical” lights 

put into place on Day 4 (Genesis 1:14-19) 

then it must be reasoned that the “light” in Genesis 1:3 

was created by the “Spirit of God” therefore it could be 

considered as “The True Spiritual Light” 

and could this “Light” on Day 1 of Creation be

 “Understanding” and the “True Power of God” ? 

 Consider John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word …

and the light shines in the darkness…” 

——— sounds just like Genesis 1:1-5 and the beginning 

of Creation and the 

SOURCE of all “TRUE POWER” 

to me!