JULY 18 JQ#19-14 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

JULY 18   JQ#19-14  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) 

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, what Blessed Thought that before the Creation that our future was planned even before our lives began — and to think that our future is a product of the Mind of God because His Heart was so filled with Compassion for His Creation that His Plan for all mankind included a Path of Light back to the Creator for those He Loved yet His own would not “receive” His gift!?!? Lord Jesus, forgive me for the many times I have chosen to reside in the darkness of my sin and shun the “Light” of Your Salvation — Lord I have strayed so many times and I admit that I have used Your Gift of Free Will to purposefully get “lost” and I am among those that “loved darkness” and did not want to find Your Path of Light but walked in the shadows to self-destruction. Lord Jesus, keep my eyes always on Your Light, Keep my feet always on Your Path, that I may know Your Joy in my heart ——— as  I pray right now in the depths of my desires that my soul will always be humble and repentant before the Just and Righteous God !!!       AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JULY 18   JQ#19-14  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)   Jesus wraps up the lesson here just as He began this “soul-searching” question that brings our attention to the eventuality of our “physical” death and the “spiritual” judgment. Jesus began the lesson by announcing to His disciples that He must “be killed and be raised the third day” and when He gets their undivided attention Jesus then directs His disciples to consider that each individual has a “soul” and that there will come a judgment of that “soul” by the Creator of all souls. Until we as individuals recognize that there is nothing of earthly value that can be exchanged for our “souls” which are by the design of the Creator “eternal”, then we can never know the Great Price paid for our Redemption. The Creator designed “eternity” into our existence but the Creator also designed our physical bodies with an expiration date and at the time of our “physical” death our “soul” is immediately in the Presence of the Creator of our “soul” who as the Creator of our “soul” will know if we used the Gift of Free Will to become one of His children or not!?!?! Jesus made this clear when He asked “…what will man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) and then immediately said that the “Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father” and “will reward each according to his works” (Matthew 16:27). Jesus illustrated this six days later as Peter, James, and John his brother saw Jesus “transfigured before them” as Jesus was transformed instantly and “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as the light.” (Matthew 17:1-2) This was a visual example of what Jesus had just taught about the “soul” being eternal and would leave our “physical” body and enter our “spiritual” form and be in the “glory [presence] of the [Creator] Father” and the fact that the disciples recognized both Moses and Elijah that all souls are eternal and we will have knowledge of all things because how could the disciples recognize men that had been dead for thousands of years and we know there were no photos taken of Moses and Elijah so how on “earth” could the disciples know Moses and Elijah without God imparting this knowledge to their “spiritual” eyes? After Peter suggested that “three tabernacles” be erected to honor Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, the voice of God spoke to them: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him.” (Matthew 17:5) The disciples were “greatly afraid” for they knew they were wrong about erecting temples to anyone other than God Almighty “But Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.” (Matthew 17:7) Jesus then instructed the disciples to wait to share the vision after “the Son of Man is risen from the dead” (Matthew 17:9) and Jesus concluded this lesson by correcting wrong doctrine that had been taught the disciples by the tradition of their elders through the scribes and then just as Jesus had began the lesson talking about His upcoming death, Jesus ended the lesson by identifying those that would cry “crucify Him” as Jesus told the disciples that “the Son of Man is also about to suffer ant their hands.” thereby revealing to the disciples that God’s Plan for His Son would culminate in the Death of the Son but God would demonstrate to all His Supreme Power for God would raise the Son on the Third Day and then all mankind would have the Gospel — the Truth of God of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ!!!! Can you think of a more important lesson and Truth for God to impart on “all who believe”?