JULY 11 JQ#19-7 “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 11   JQ#19-7  “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, thank You Lord for the outpouring of Your Spirit as we witnessed Your Salvation in the lives of Malachi and Mariah and their “obedience” to Your command to be “spiritually baptized” as our confession before men that we have accepted You as the Son of God and have placed our lives and desires into Your Capable and Loving Hands. Lord Jesus, it amazes me at how You have loved me and how You are leading me “through” this “valley of the shadow of death” and how over twelve years ago now that the prayers that the Holy Spirit gave me still witness to Your Great Love and Your Divine Purpose so today I pray again a prayer lifted up on July 11, 2004 that shows that Your Message and Your Purpose are the TRUE WAY, YEAH YOU ARE TRUTH ITSELF: (from 7/11/04 I pray again —) “Jesus, praise be the Holy and matchless Name of Jesus, the Lamb that was slain for the sins of the world, an acceptable Sacrifice because the Lamb of God was without blemish and was the First Born Begotten Son of our Father in heaven!! Lord, Your life was a perfect example of Humility, Service, and Sacrifice for the Glory of God! Lord Jesus, we are sinners and God KNEW we were sinners when He sent You, and You KNEW were were sinners when You took the form of the Sacrificial Lamb, and both You and the Father KNEW that man would continue sinning after the cross and yet You Loved the Father enough to Obey His Will and die at Calvary for our sins!?! Lord, may my heart be wholly Thine, and that for the number of my days that You grant I may have left in this life, let those days be driven by my “purpose” to do the Will of the Father and as You showed by example that I will simply “TRUST AND OBEY”, for there is no other “WAY”.        AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JULY 11   JQ#19-7  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)  Jesus has really put a challenge to our “Spiritual awareness” by asking the question of “profit” and “gain” in the same breath as He reminds us of our “physical frailty” and the ultimate disaster of our worldly journey of the reality that if we walk the wrong path that we could not only “lose our way” but get so lost that we can “lose our own soul” (Matthew 16:26a). Then to exacerbate the already serious issue of the losing of our eternal “soul”, Jesus ties our earthly hands as He asks in the same breath, “Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26b) which is in essence saying that we fallen into a deep pit and the walls have caved in on us and we are required to dig ourselves out without the use of our hands or a shovel!?!?! There is no greater fear in my life now that to have to live without God because I know that the world and sins not only have tied my hands and left me to die in a pit, but before I was thrown into the pit the enemy bound me in shackles and chains and then like the really dumb person I was, I actually asked the enemy to abuse me!?!?! Jesus knows that sin in our lives is really that serious therefore Jesus is making us face the ultimate reality by asking this very tough and potentially the most dangerous issue we will face that our honest answer to Him will impact our eternal destiny in which there are only two options for our eternal souls: (1) we will lose our “soul” which is our connection to God and if we lose our connection to God we will spend our “eternity” separated from God or (2) we do not lose our “soul” which is our only connection to God and if we stay “connected” to God then we will be under His Guidance and Perfect Love Forever (and Forever, AMEN)  We need look no further that the Words spoke just prior to asking us this eternally important question about “losing” our “soul” as we hear Jesus preface JQ#19 with this Teaching: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25) Once again, Jesus gives us the answer first and then asks the question, demonstrating that God will Provide everything we need to KNOW HIM and to have ACCESS TO HIM and that “Questions” are never asked without first giving us the answer so that we can give the “correct response” to questions that are asked on behalf of our “eternal souls” and by giving the “correct response” then we in effect will not have to be judged as we read this Promise from Jesus: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24) Aren’t you seeing a pattern emerging from these questions that demonstrates that God will give us the answer first but He insists that we “understand” what He is Teaching with His Questions??? His Questions are not for His benefit but for ours!