JULY 06 JQ#19-2 “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 06   JQ#19-2  “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 of all creation, Giver of Life, You Lord are Victorious over “death and the grave” and Your expressed “Purpose” was “not to condemn the world”, but through Your Sacrifice the world would be saved from our sins, sins which of our own volition curse our eternity resulting in our eternal separation from God but because the Son was Obedient to the Will of the Father and endured the Cross for the sake of the sins of the world, we now have the HOPE and ASSURANCE based on the Promise of God that turning from our sin and seeking God’s Forgiveness that because of the Great Sacrifice of Jesus we are FORGIVEN! Thank You, Praise You, and Glory to God for we have heard the Words of Victory shouted out from that Cross, “It is FINISHED!!!”     AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JULY 06   JQ#19-2  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)  Jesus is always using His last question and our current circumstances to take us “deeper still” into the knowledge and understanding of God and His Kingdom and along the “Way” He “motivates” us to look expectantly with Great Hope to our “Future” with Him in the Kingdom. JQ#18 was asked to get us thinking about “who” Jesus is “in Spirit and in Truth” for Jesus wants us to have the correct answer so that we can give the “correct answer” to God when we face Him in the “Final Judgement”. Jesus very clearly stated this as He was discussing this “Final Judgement” and making sure we know what to say and do when we find ourselves in God’s Presence and how to prepare with our day-to-day existence to “meet our maker” when Jesus said to the woman seeking Truth about God: “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24) Now in JQ#19 Jesus asks the next question which moves us from the “spiritual” realm into the the “physical” world and Jesus locks His Divine Laser beam on the main problem man faces on a day-to-day basis and that issue is “profit”! Let us stop and consider the world we live in and see if there is any basis to this “theory” that everything is “profit driven” — the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about “profit” is the Super Bowl! Now before you get off on a tangent about your favorite team, please consider this in terms of the phrase “…what profit is to man…”. I will submit these facts from Super Bowl 50 in 2016 : A “30 second advertising spot” sold for $4,600,000.00 to 5,000,000.00 and the 50 year total on advertising alone is officially at $5,900,000,000.00. This is for “advertising” only and is the “reported” numbers used for “tax” purposes. To make the point clear we must consider that the $5,900,000,000.00 (unreported expenses could easily be the same amount) represents an “investment” by the business and can you guess why so much money was “invested”? Business must make a “profit” from their”investments” or they cannot remain in business so it is safe to say that if a business is willing to invest such large sums of money, and they do it for 50 years, it is because there is a “lucrative” reward from their financial “investment” in the form of “profit” and in order to remain in business the “profit” must exceed the “investment”. So if Jesus asks about “profit” over 2000 years before the first Super Bowl then we must admit that Jesus obviously knows something about the future “ways” of the world and so it would be wise for us to listen to Him and consider how much time we spend in our day-to-day lives seeking “profit” and how much time we spend in our day-to-day lives seeking “divine purpose”. If Jesus “invested” His time into us, we should be seeking to understand what kind of “profit” Jesus is telling us is appropriate for our “soul”! Jesus keeps asking questions and we should keep thinking not only about answering His Questions honestly, but we should also consider what He is trying to accomplish and for JQ#18 and JQ#19 the comparison between the “physical” (our body) and the “spiritual” keeps coming to my mind. In Psalm 139, King David who God described as a “man after My own heart…” wrote: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)  This verse seems to me to be a prayer that Jesus is answering by making us search our own heart to see if any wicked way such as “seeking physical profit instead of spiritual purpose”  exists in us and the reward for our effort is that if we follow Jesus we will find the “way everlasting”! One other verse was placed before me as a thought to consider about the upcoming “Final Judgement” for those that seek “spiritual purpose” ——— “There is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8) When was the last time you went to take a “final exam” and didn’t study the material you knew would be on the test? I can tell you from experience that the results of such “foolish” behavior is “Failure” with a Capitol “F” !?!?!?! Jesus is preparing us to meet God and God has already spoken: “This is My Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” (Luke 9:35)