MARCH 23 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

March 23 / Day 24

365 Prayers to JESUS

Jesus, — [Prayer from March 23, 2004] “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, the only name by which man can enter the narrow gate to heaven. Jesus is the name that all generations call out for salvation. Jesus, we bow humbly before You because You so richly deserve all praise and honor. There is no name other than Jesus that man can call on for hope, there is no other name but Jesus that brings so much hope to our hurting hearts. Lord, I realize that there is no good in me but only by Your name can I give something good to my generation. Jesus, Holy Spirit of God, I yield to Your will, I will wait for the Lord to see how You would have me serve You and Your kingdom. Forgive me of all sins, even the hidden sins, that I will be made Holy.” 

The Jesus Questions

JQ#5 - This passage in Matthew 7:7-14 starts out simple but Jesus has a way of reaching deep into us with these simple questions and revealing some of the deep mysteries of God. Let’s examine the 2 simple questions Jesus asks in this section, keeping in mind that Jesus came to teach us about the Father: (1) “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:9) (2) “Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?” (Matthew 7:10) When you answer these questions from the truth that Jesus came to reveal the Father to us, we can immediately see that if we ask of the Father that He will give us only good things. Jesus is saying that if we will stop and look at the things the Father has already given us that we should have supreme confidence that He has only good intentions for our future. Isaiah quotes God Himself: “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.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) There is another great Truth that is contained in these simple questions in Matthew 7:9-10 that is often overlooked and that is that Jesus being the Son of God is the most reliable source of Truth about the Father. We could read the entire New Testament with the single thought that Jesus is the Son of God and we would see all the characters of the Father who we seek to know being revealed by the Son! The fact that God chose to have a Son should thrill our hearts and souls because if God had chosen not to have a Son then we would not think of God as the “Father” nor would we have any confidence that we could possibly be considered for “adoption”! To think of God as merely a Supreme Being gives no “Hope” that an inferior being such as man could never aspire to inherit the kingdom unless that Supreme Being in all His Superiority reached down and says to us, “You are not inferior, I created You in my image and I have chosen to be a Family Man. I love you so much that I sent My Beloved Son to walk among you and bring you home, if you will only believe in Him, I will make you joint heirs to My kingdom.” These questions in Matthew 7:9-10 were answered when God sent His Son and made Him the Bread of Life for us and has provided for us in great abundance if we but look to the Son to see the Father. We will see further glimpses of our LOVING GOD  standing with open arms in the narrow gate as we finish Matthew 7:10-14!