APRIL 30 JQ#12.3 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL  30  JQ#12 - Who decides what is legal, God or man?

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, today I start my prayer to You with a desire do honor to Your Name by doing all that my limited abilities will allow to share “God’s Truth” with those that desire to know and love God on a higher plane than ever before!  Lord, as I started my day today by reading my prayer to You on April 30, 2004 I am impressed by how wonderful You have been to me all these years as I have been seeking You and Your Truth and so Lord I pray back to You 12 years later a portion of that prayer for “Your Truth” is timeless: “Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, there is none but Thee. We in our unworthiness only magnify Thy Grace. Our filthy sin only makes Your Love shine brighter than can be described -- our worthless lives become priceless with but a drop of Your Grace. Let Your Light, Your Truth, and Your Love be our Way and our Life!   AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#12.3 — “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” (Matthew 12:4,5,10,11,12).  In order to establish the “facts” in this “trial” we must (1) establish, as best we can, all the circumstances of the accused, (2) establish “motivation” and then (3) “examine” all the “evidence” that remains. We must refer to writings and historical documents for there are no living eyewitness and the event in question which can be established as having taken place over 2000 years ago! Let us begin with the original charges and produce what circumstantial evidence available to us by using trustworthy historical documents and recorded facts. Let us start with a modern definition from a current legal dictionary.  In an internet article titled: “Circumstantial Evidence: Legal Definition of Circumstantial Evidence” we read: “Information and testimony presented by a party in a civil or criminal action that permit conclusions that indirectly establish the existence of a fact or event that the party seeks to prove.” The article also cites the U. S. Supreme Court from Holland v. United States, 348 U. S. 121, 75 S. Ct. 127, 99 L. Ed. 150 [1954] as the court stated: “circumstantial evidence is intrinsically no different from testimonial [direct] evidence.” and the article concludes: “Thus, the distinction between direct and circumstantial evidence has little practical effect in the presentation or admissibility of evidence in trials.” Contained in the article is a reference to “Scientific Evidence” and states: “In addition, much Scientific Evidence is circumstantial, because it requires a jury to make a connection between the circumstance and the fact in issue.” The first Circumstantial Evidence that should be established is that circumstantial evidence is also known as indirect evidence and in its own definition states: “[Circumstantial evidence] is distinguished from direct evidence, which, if believed, proves the existence of a particular fact without any inference or presumption required.” Two things to note as we present circumstantial evidence is (1) “Proof” is established by “belief” for both circumstantial evidence (“…because it requires a jury to make a connection…”) and indirect evidence (“…which, if believed, proves…”). (2) “Circumstantial evidence"  known as “indirect” evidence has the legal standing as “direct evidence” as declared by the U. S. Supreme Court and is also equivalent to “Scientific Evidence”. Therefore  the first circumstantial evidence presented in  order to establish “proof” is  Exhibit 1 CE — To establish “proof”, “belief” must be involved, regardless of the type of evidence used. Exhibit 2 CE —The Holy Bible is a collection of 44 identified eye witnesses that have been used thousands of years and has been considered trustworthy for that same period of time.   The Bible: John 20:31 states “…these [eye witness accounts] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God…” . Therefore if “proof” is established by “belief” in “circumstantial evidence” that the U. S. Supreme Court declares as “legal” then we need to ask ourselves why we don’t “believe” the Bible “since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…” (Hebrews 12:1)???

APRIL 29 JQ#12.2 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL  29  JQ#12 - Who decides what is legal, God or man?

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, I am overwhelmed again by Your Grace and Endless Mercy! Lord, the more I try to get rid of self and decrease You seem to pour out blessings so rich that I pray for the humbleness to know that it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with You! Lord keep me knowing that all that I do for the kingdom is nothing more than my “reasonable service” and that all the good that has come my way is just “crumbs” from the King’s Table. Lord, as I walk for this season on Your Holy Ground that I will keep my focus on Glorifying God and know that after the mountain top there is a valley where my “reasonable service to others” will be used for the uplifting of Your Kingdom! Amen  

The Jesus Questions

JQ#12.2 — “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” (Matthew 12:4,5,10,11,12). That Jesus walked among us is an historical fact. The Holy Bible is the most published book, ever, and that is just another fact. The Holy Bible contains a consistent dialog throughout its 66 books even though the books were penned by various writers of which 44 have been identified over a period of over 1500 years. That single fact that there is a unity throughout the writings contained in the Holy Bible sets the Holy Bible apart from every other writing of any language or any nation or any people in the recorded history of mankind! Add to the unity exhibited in the Holy Bible the additional fact that the writers were from different cultures, different eras in history, and different social and economic strata yet could maintain this remarkable unity of thought can not be matched by any writing previous nor will any writing in the future be able to supplant the Holy Bible as “The Book”! The Holy Bible has been printed in 2,454 languages and is “The Best Seller” with over 5 billion copies having been printed! These “facts” can be found from more accepted scholarly sources than any other document ever printed and that also is a “fact” that makes the Holy Bible a completely unique entity. Not to get off track here, let me point out that the topic of JQ#12 deals with “legality” and if “legality” itself does not rest solidly on “facts” then legality itself does not have a “leg to stand on”! Jesus not only teaches us God’s Truth with each lesson but Jesus does so in a logical sequence that is the secret to the “Unity” discovered and documented in the Holy Bible and that secret is that God is in control of every thing in His Creation and only because He IS the Creator can He accomplish the Divine Unity that is a “fact” easily established by the Holy Bible. This “fact” is unique to the Holy Bible and the Creator God of the Holy Bible. It is important to establish as an historical fact that Jesus walked the earth and just like court records of any legal proceedings the Holy Bible has recorded the statements of eyewitness accounts of the events recorded in the Holy Bible. The “fact” that recorded statements of so many different people over such an extended period of time documenting what they have observed the same exact “Truth” should establish “precedent” that cannot be questioned in any court anywhere in the world, in any and every legal system established.  It is with this “legal” establishment of the “facts” of these eyewitness accounts that we begin our “trial” of JQ#12 Jesus Question “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” by taking a statement from Jesus Himself that as after he had asked the question on legality to the “lawmakers” of His time on earth, the Pharisees, that Jesus said to the lawmakers: “But if you had known [God’s Law] … you would not have condemned the guiltless.” The beginning of American Jurisprudence was established by men using God’s Law as the moral basis for making decisions and I question how man has gained enough “wisdom” in 200 years  that we can now “legally” abandon God and excommunicate Him from our legal system? 

APRIL 28 JQ#12.1 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL  28  JQ#12 - Who decides what is legal, God or man?

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, all Praise, Glory, and Honor to the King of kings, my Lord, my Shepherd. Lord my God, Your ways are so wonderful that my lips cannot speak nor my words express how in the midst of a storm that just the thought of “JESUS” can calm my fears. You work things out for our good in ways we cannot imagine and therefore we sing “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!” Lord, keep my heart, mind, and soul all on You and You alone, for “Thou art worthy, worthy is the Lamb!”   Amen  

The Jesus Questions

JQ#12.1 — “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” (Matthew 12:4,5,10,11,12). When I embarked on this project “Living For Jesus —Daily Devotional” I did not know what road the Lord would lead me down, what doors He would open, and what doors He would close, but I did know one thing for sure, I desire desperately in my heart of hearts to be His faithful servant and disciple! I have the benefit of having a lot of water go under my bridge and I have been in some terrible storms, I have stumbled and despaired but every time I get down to my last hope I find once again that the only “True Hope” is the One Eternal Hope that is always there, JESUS! When the Holy Spirit directed me to start “journaling” back in 2001 with a verse from Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” I could not fully comprehend the significance of “seeking God” but the verse has been a Guiding Light to my life and 15 years later as I sit and start the “Jesus Question  JQ#12” I can still hear the Holy Spirit encouraging me to “stay the course” for ALL  ANWERS are found in God. The Jesus Questions have made this writer appreciate the “Divine Teaching” attribute of Jesus and I can appreciate why He was called the Master! JQ#11 was a 6 part lesson on “What are our spiritual expectations of Jesus” which had followed JQ#10 “What is your spiritual value?” and now that Jesus has us thinking in terms of the “spiritual” vs. the “physical” Jesus now introduces His next concept and that is “God vs. man”! When this was revealed to me from the Holy Spirit while reading to find the “next question” I was immediately struck with the obvious answer that “God vs. man” is a “NOLO CONTENDERE” — NO CONTEST! Just the thought that man could even begin to contend with God now seems totally ludicrous to me but then the Holy Spirit called my attention to the fall of man, the fall of Satan, the Israelites after walking through the Red Sea, and example after example of those that knew God yet rejected Him?  Let’s begin JQ#12 “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” by reading the questions  Jesus asked (JQ#12a-e) in Matthew 12:4-12. The context for JQ#12 starts at Matthew 12:1 and runs through Matthew 12:23 — Jesus brings our attention to the “question” in order to “teach” us the answer, Jesus NEVER asks us a question without giving us the obvious answer! To get a “feel” for the “gravity” of the situation take a “leap of Faith” into God’s Word and read this passage and ponder JQ#12 “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” with the “expectation" of learning yet another “Truth of God” — and if that doesn’t motivate you enough then imagine yourself putting on some “boxing gloves” and getting “into the ring” with God Himself. When the bell rings, are you going to throw a punch or duck?!?! 

APRIL 27 JQ#11.6 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL  27  JQ#11 - What are your spiritual expectations?

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Lord, another morning I awake and it is overwhelming to thank that You Lord are right here to answer my prayers and concerns and provide for my daily bread. Lord, how did I live all the years trying to make it through this valley of the shadow of death without You? Jesus, I will continue to lift up my praises to You for what You’ve already done which is more than I deserve and give You honor for the Grace You have given to me. Lord, forgive me of all my shortcomings and strengthen me as I daily try to Glorify God.  

The Jesus Questions

JQ#11.6 — “What are your spiritual expectations of Jesus?” Matthew 11:7. The previous lesson the Master taught using the sparrows and copper coin question was to make us aware of our “Spiritual value” to the kingdom and now Jesus is asking a question to make us aware of another kingdom Truth that our expectations of the Messiah affects our spiritual vision. A. W. Tozer in his book “The Knowledge of the Holy” addresses JQ#11 in the most powerful way as Tozer names the first chapter “Why We Must Think Rightly About God” and in his opening prayer to start Chapter 1 Tozer prays: “O Lord God Almighty, not the God of the philosophers and the wise but the God of the prophets and apostles…[those that do not know the True God] worship Thee as a creature of their own fancy…[but] enlighten our minds that we may know Thee as Thou art, so that we may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen”.  Tozer’s first sentence in his insightful book is the most powerful and answers JQ#11 perfectly when Tozer writes: “What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Tozer is most likely answering the Jesus question about our “spiritual expectations” of God with that opening prayer and first sentence and if we look at the context in Matthew 11 immediately following JQ#11 found in Matthew 11:7-9 Jesus encourages our personal discipleship and prays to the Father: “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.” (Matthew 11:25) Tozer, if he intended it or not, is giving all the right answers to JQ#11 as he writes an entire book about who God really is and states in an opening prayer that we should know God as he reveals Himself to us and not the God conjured up by “philosophers”. Tozer says that we should “think rightly about God” and then makes it clear that the “most important thing about us” is what we “expect” from God”. Just after Jesus had asked the multitudes “What did you ‘expect’ to see?” He then draws our attention to great cities that would come under future judgement because they had different “expectations” for the Messiah therefore they saw the Divine work of the Messiah but rejected “His mighty works…and did not repent!” (see Matthew 11:11-24) Then after Jesus announces the judgement on those that have false expectations of the Son of God, the Father God, and the Holy Spirit, Jesus assures us that if we will accept Jesus as the Son of God sent by the Father as the True Messiah then Jesus will reveal Himself and the Father to us. Jesus concludes that if we “Come to [Him],” then He will give us rest. Jesus concludes with this promise: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:30) Be honest, were your “Expectations of Jesus”  to find rest for your troubled souls? Our “expectations” can be linked to our “faith” and how often did Jesus say, “Your faith has made your well.”?

APRIL 26 JQ#11.5 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL  26  JQ#11 - What are your spiritual expectations?

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Lord, I come before You this morning with so much  “thanksgiving” in my heart that I fear my words will once again fall short of glorifying You, for my words are from a finite intellect trying to glorify the Infinite Knowledge of Jesus, Lord indeed Your ways are higher than my ways and Your thoughts than my thoughts but Lord look again into my heart and may the Holy Spirit speak my thanksgiving in words of praise worthy of the Honor due You. Lord Jesus, I pray again these words first prayed 12 years ago: “Lord, strengthen my resolve to make every choice with the desire to glorify God!” Amen.

The Jesus Questions

JQ#11.5 — “What are your spiritual expectations of Jesus?” Matthew 11:7. This is a very significant question as is each of the Master’s questions. The fact that Jesus asked this question “to the multitudes” (Matthew 11:7a) just after declaring Himself to be the Messiah to the disciples of John the Baptist, alerts us to where our “focus” should be as we try to answer His teaching question. Jesus began His teaching of the multitudes with this question: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” (Matthew 11:7b). We know that it is a teaching question because Matthew states in verse 1 of Chapter 11 that Jesus had “finished commanding His twelve disciples” and that Jesus had “departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities” (Matthew 11:1) hence we can know that Jesus intends to “teach and to preach” and through our study of the previous Jesus Questions we know that many of His questions are rhetorical so we can come to an understanding that Jesus, being all-knowing, does not ask questions to gain knowledge but rather, Jesus asks questions to get us focused on a specific topic. With JQ#11 Jesus is asking us to stop and consider our “expectations” and specifically our “spiritual expectations of the Messiah”. We can easily paraphrase JQ#11 from “what did you go out…to see?” to “what are your expectations?” and since Jesus had just listed His list of accomplishments one should be able to make a direct correlation from how the prophets had described the Messiah,

plus John the Baptist declaring himself to be a “messenger” declaring that the Messiah is soon coming, and what Jesus Himself had accomplished in His ministry so far that had been witnessed by the multitudes for the Messiah and only the Messiah could accomplish what Jesus had been doing! There had never been anyone before Jesus that fulfilled the requirements of the Messiah and there has been no one after Jesus that has fulfilled those Divine Attributes belonging Uniquely to the Messiah! Jesus by His accomplishments proved He is the Messiah so why didn’t those that saw Him performing miracle after miracle including healing, casting out demons, and resurrecting the dead, and many, many, more signs believe that He was the Messiah without Him having to “lay it out” for them?? My pastor Steve McDonald uses the phrase: “lay the cookies on the bottom shelf so everyone can reach them” and Jesus had been performing divine acts so why couldn’t the multitudes who had seen, heard, and experienced Jesus in the flesh understand by their own observation that Jesus IS the Son of God, the Messiah? The same is true today as each generation has God revealed to them, and today we have the Holy Bible that lays the cookies on the bottom shelf for us, so why don’t we reach out and listen to Jesus and give Him a serious personal answer to this serious personal question Jesus asks each of us as individuals, “What are your spiritual expectations of Jesus?” Why don’t you take a bite of the cookie being offered and understand Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good…”?  

APRIL 25 JQ#11.4 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL  25

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Lord I give You and the Holy Spirit Praise for the wonderful lesson on evangelism that You taught in our 3rd Grade Sunday School class using John 3:16. Lord it is so exciting to see You move and as the teacher of these really bright young Christians I feel blessed to be learning with them. Lord, may I never lose sight that You and the Holy Spirit are the Master Teachers and always keep me aware when You take over so that I will not get in the way of Your Lessons, especially one that taught 3rd Graders both “how” and “why” they should “share” the Good News! Lord, how my heart leaped as each one took their turn being an “evangelist” and shared so powerfully, all Praise, Glory, and Honor to the Holy Spirit for empowering them! 

The Jesus Questions

JQ#11 — “What are your spiritual expectations of Jesus?” Matthew 11:7.  The actual question Jesus asked was a series of questions asking the same thing as we read these questions in Matthew 11:7-9. The important context of the question was that the disciples of John the Baptist had come to question Jesus with the intent on determining if Jesus was the “Coming One” that John the Baptist had been preaching about. The multitudes had been traveling out into the wilderness to hear John the Baptist teach “Repentance” and the soon coming “Christ”. John was considered a prophet and even the Jewish priests and leaders acknowledged that John was preaching in the Power of God!  We read in John 1:19-20 “Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ [John] confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ’” From this we can determine that John had been preaching that the kingdom of heaven was at hand and that the long awaited Christ was “coming” and John’s message was so powerful that everyone was talking again about the “Coming Messiah”. God’s prophets had been silent now for about 400 years so John appears on the scene and now everyone is “expectant” that the Messiah has come as the prophecies had promised! After John had “confessed” that he was not the Christ, John then quoted the prophet Isaiah: “[John] said: ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘make straight the way of the Lord’” (John 1:23 & Isaiah 40:3) So when Jesus lists His earthly accomplishments to the disciples of John, Jesus was in effect telling everyone that He was the “Messiah” that they had been expecting. The important thing to note here is that Jesus lists the events that proved He was indeed the Messiah but immediately asked the question to the multitudes “What did you expect?” As we read the Gospels and throughout the entire New Testament Jesus is doing everything the prophecies said the Messiah would do and yet it took His death, burial, and Resurrection before even Jesus’ own disciples believed that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah. The same problem today exists in the Church as we declare like a modern day Thomas : “…unless I see in His hands the print of the nails…I will not believe…” (John 20:25) Jesus knew there would be doubt and He is teaching in JQ#11 that our expectations of Him will be guiding our belief about “who” Jesus really is! There is nothing more Jesus needs to do to prove He is the Messiah so the problem is “us and our unbelief” and Jesus is teaching “us” here that if we are “expecting” a knight in white armor  we may actually miss the “real deal” — and the fault does not rest with God, the fault rests entirely on our “expectations of Jesus” — Jesus IS the Son of God - what are your “expectations”? 

APRIL 24 JQ#11.3 The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL  24

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Lord I pray for the Holy Spirit to consume all my desires, that daily I will take up my cross and follow hard after Jesus. Lord, there is nothing good in me except for Your Spirit so Lord I pray as did John, let me decrease that You may increase. Jesus as You lead I will follow, as You command I will obey, and as You live, so will I live that others may see You in me and come to know You as Savior. Forgive me when I fall short of Your Glory for it is the flesh failing in me and I pray to be strengthened by Your Spirit that I may endure to the end and my spirit will join Your and the Father’s Spirit that we may be One as You have declared! 

The Jesus Questions

JQ#11 — “What are your spiritual expectations?” Matthew 11:7.  The actual question Jesus asked was to the multitudes that had heard Jesus answer John’s disciples question inquiring if Jesus was the “Coming One”? John the Baptist had been preaching about the Messiah in the wilderness probably to this same multitude that was now following Jesus because the things Jesus had been doing could only have been done by the “Anointing Power of God”. Jesus answered their question with: “Go tell John the things you see and hear.” (Matthew 11:4) Then Jesus listed the things that He had been doing in the Father’s Name for the kingdom’s sake, preaching, healing, and forgiving sins as Jesus listed things they had seen Him do and the message He had been preaching to them: “The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Only the Son of God, the Messiah could  do these things that Jesus had been doing so Jesus is saying, I am the Son of God, the Messiah, the Anointed One. The things Jesus had been doing proved He was the Messiah! Jesus gave the disciples of John a very serious answer because they had asked a serious question to Him that revealed that they were “expecting” the Messiah when they asked Jesus pointedly: “Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3) As soon as Jesus gave the proof that He was indeed the Messiah we read that He sent them with an affirmative message to give John the Baptist and “As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John…” (Matthew 11:7a) which the reader today can paraphrase as “As they left to give John the Baptist the message that Jesus was the Messiah, that Jesus turned to the multitudes and started teaching them.”  Jesus always is teaching. Jesus is God and knows all things so when He wants to teach a specific lesson Jesus often introduces the subject and then asks a simple question that focuses our attention on a specific “Truth of God”. In this case Jesus states without a doubt that He is the Messiah and then Jesus asks the multitudes to consider their own “spiritual expectations” of Him with a series of questions in quick succession: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those wearing soft clothing are in king’s houses. But what did you go out to see?” (Matthew 11:7-9) Jesus was definitely referring to John the Baptist who had been preaching about out in the wilderness, not in the synagogues, about the coming Messiah and the need for the people to “repent” and now Jesus immediately questions the multitudes about their “spiritual expectations” of the Messiah and questions what they expect to see the Messiah do in their personal lives? That is a good question for us to ask ourselves, what are our “spiritual expectations” of Jesus and His Church?