JULY 05 JQ#19-1 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

JULY 05   JQ#19-1  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26) 

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Lord and Savior, Redeemer and Friend, Praise be to the Son, Glory to the Father, and Honor to the Holy Spirit of God that comforts us in times of trouble. Lord, we seek daily to know the will of the Father for our daily lives as we look to Him for our daily bread, Jesus, You have commanded that we love one another as You Love the Church so help us understand that in order to “LOVE AS CHRIST LOVES” that we must also daily take up our cross and follow Him, knowing that our Way is narrow but the destination is eternal. Help us realize that Jesus demonstrated His Love by suffering on His cross that was daily before Him. Help us Holy Spirit to “understand” that the Work of God the Father was accomplished by the Obedience of the Son      upon that Cross and to know that our cross can only be carried by the strength given to us by God through Jesus Christ!        AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JULY 05   JQ#19-1  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)  This question comes immediately after Jesus made us look inward at ourselves when He took us aside personally and asked us point blank in JQ#18, “Who do YOU say I am?” This juxtaposition of these two questions is very dramatic when one considers Jesus is first confronting us with what our inmost and most sincere belief about Him really is and then while we are dealing introspectively with “what” we truly believe about Jesus, He immediately throws in this question that brings our focus on “why” do we believe what we believe!?! Jesus had prefaced the “who-do-you” question with a “what-do-men” question which really made it serious and personal and took away the scapegoat-false-theology of “they say” which is and has been a curse upon our nation for the past several generations. Then immediately when Jesus has us on this personal level He goes for that “next level” of our “understanding” of God by making us not only consider “what” we believe but “why” we believe it?!?!   The big Hollywood phrase for actors when they try out for a part is the question, “What is your motivation?” (for this character to do the things that is written for that part) because the producers and directors want to know if the actor can convince the audience? The producers and directors know that if the actor can “sell” the part then the movie will be “profitable”! How easily does God get right to the point with each question and lesson that He has laid out with such Divine Precision ———  so we can quickly see in the question that God says that if we will stop and examine why we “act” the way we do, that we will gain an understanding  of who we we are in TRUTH and that Life is not a “play”. God desires us to know that our physical reality should be motivated by His Divine Spiritual Reality as we see His Great Wisdom in this question. I can hear God speaking in today’s language saying something like this, “Dude, is money all you think about? There is no amount of money that can buy your way into heaven, not all the money in the world, and besides, once you are dead your money goes to someone else. Can’t you see that history has proven without a doubt that your body and your money stay on the earth and will rot and decay because the law books are filled with laws that once your physical body is pronounced dead, your money first is taxed and taken by the government and what’s left goes to someone still alive and then your cold dead body must be either burned and your ashes scattered or you must be put into a cold dark grave. Either you believe you have a soul that is eternal or you are in hell already because your soul is spiritual and is a separate part of your physical existence! If you haven’t provided for you souls eternal existence then it must remain in the cold dark grave with your rotting body — not a good thought, huh? As the commercial says, your soul is “priceless” and if you sell your soul for any amount you have been cheated. Let me ask you this simple question, ‘If you could take all the wealth in the world with you when you die, then where do you think you can spend it and what do you think you can buy with it?’” Let us therefore, having brought our attention to “what” we believe about Jesus, let us then focus that attention on “why” we believe those things and what is our “motivation” for our actions as we consider the next Jesus Question: JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26) This would be a good time to consider taking inventory of  your “Spiritual Treasures” as you ponder “How much am I really worth?”