MAY 28 Summary Review SRJQ#1-13 (Day 14) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  28   SUMMARY REVIEW OF THE JESUS QUESTIONS    JQ#1-13

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Lord of Life, You are greatly to be praised, Your Name is to be lifted up by all men and one glorious day every tongue will speak the Name above names, Jesus. Lord, there will be those that will regret not having called on that Name for salvation while still residing in these earthen vessels to transport us through the “physical” life, for without calling on the name Jesus, the “physical” cannot be transformed to the “Spiritual” for You are the Giver of All Life, both the “Physical” and the “Eternal”, and though it is as simple as “asking”, it is also the most difficult because the “asking” must be done from a “humble” heart. Lord I thank You that You have changed my heart and now I pray for those that do not know the earthly peace of the confidence of Heaven, through the knowledge of Jesus the Christ.     AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SRJQ#1-13 (Day14) — Summary Review of The Jesus Questions JQ#1 - JQ#13.

Lesson  12  JQ#12  “Who decides what is legal, God or man?”           Matthew 12:1-23

This JQ#12 question of “Who decides…?” really “cuts to the bone” but when we consider it is coming right after Jesus asked us what are our “Spiritual Expectations” of Him in JQ#11 that truly makes this very serious indeed! First of all Jesus states that He is who He is because of the Father’s Will and not because of any “expectations” on our part and then Jesus makes the most practical of applications to why our beliefs should be based on the “Truth of God” and not some “interpretation” of what we think we believe! A.W. Tozer told this “Truth of God” in his book “Knowledge of the Holy” when he begins his book with: “What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Tozer is pointing out the “Truth of God” that if we have the wrong idea of God then our “eternal soul” is in jeopardy. There is not enough “money” or “power” in the world to justify thinking wrongly about God for God alone determines the “Truth” and we have no power to change the “Truth of God”, no man ever has and no man never will!! Jesus tries to call our attention to the fact that we can know the “Truth” of God for it will be revealed to us but our obligation is to believe it when we see it. Jesus told the disciples of John who were looking for the “Coming Messiah” to look at what Jesus had actually been doing in His ministry and not what  other men were claiming what they “thought” He was doing and the same is True for God, all we have to do is look at what God has done and what He is still doing today and admit that only God can accomplish those things and we must then accept the Truth of God that He ALONE is in control of every thing that happens in His Creation and not what some men say they believe about God. Our personal belief does not change God, God is ‘Unchangeable” — our “belief” changes us and it is not just a matter of “life and death” at stake, our personal belief in God is a matter of “where will our soul spend its eternity”!! Jesus warns us that we must see Him as the True Messiah for it is the only path that leads to the Kingdom of God and that it is God alone that determines the final and eternal resting place for each man’s soul. The “evidence” for God sending His Son Jesus is overwhelming, however, God gives us “Free will” so the responsibility to examine the “evidence” is up to us ——— but regardless of the verdict we pass after reviewing the evidence, the “Truth of God” remains unaltered. Don’t you think that “accepting” the “Truth of God” carries greater reward than us trying to change that which cannot be changed? 

MAY 27 Summary Review SRJQ#1-13 (Day 13) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  27   SUMMARY REVIEW OF THE JESUS QUESTIONS    JQ#1-13

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, “sweetest Name I know, fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go” ———.  Lord Jesus, You deserve all praise because Your life makes our life have thoughts like those expressed in that song, “sweetest”, “fills…every longing”, “keeps me singing” are expressions not associated with any other name except the Holy Name of Jesus! There is a reason that it is Jesus and only Jesus that causes these responses and that reason is called “TRUTH”, for Jesus is the Son of the Living God, His Holy Spirit dwells within us, and our hearts are filled with song, and our  desires are satisfied, so Lord I simply speak the Name once more to start my day ——— JESUS!      AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SRJQ#1-13 (Day13) — Summary Review of The Jesus Questions JQ#1 - JQ#13.

Lesson  11  JQ#11 “What are your ‘Spiritual Expectations of Jesus?”   Matthew 11:1-30

Jesus has led us to a realization of the importance of our concept of the “spiritual” life that we are living through this earthen vessel we call the body. The concept of the “soul” is not foreign to us but the “eternal consequences” dictated by our stewardship of our souls usually is overlooked as we are blinded by the physical desires that are pushed on us by the world and its desires and lusts. Jesus has been gracious in His lessons for they make us aware that our bodies are not who we are but what we do with our bodies determines our character and character is “spiritual” but the body is only “physical”. The more we can focus on the “spiritual” aspect of our lives the more we are aware that “stewardship of our own soul” has eternal implications. Jesus always goes the extra mile in His teachings so in JQ#10 Jesus makes us aware of our “Spiritual Value” and then when He has our attention on the “Spiritual” He then asks a very serious question in JQ#11: “What are your ‘Spiritual Expectations’ of Jesus?” Jesus made it clear in His response to the disciples of John the Baptist that the Messiah is the One that does the Holy Work of the Messiah!  John the Baptist had been preaching in the wilderness about the “Coming Messiah” and the need to “Repent” so John’s followers were “expecting the Messiah” but they were not sure because their “spiritual expectations” of the “Messiah” had been shaped by the religious leaders whose “personal expectations” of the Messiah had evolved over several generations of leaders before them. Jesus is warning that our “expectations” cannot be what defines the True Messiah. What Jesus is teaching us is that if we try to make Jesus fit our “personal expectations” then we might miss seeing the True Jesus because He does not fit our “expectations” of Him! Many of the Jews had “expected” a Messiah that would be a powerful king and free them from the Roman government —they did not want a Messiah that made them aware of their spiritual shortcomings and was preaching the need to “Repent” and receive forgiveness of the sins which included thinking wrongly about what and who the True Messiah would be! Jesus taught that He was not going to “make any claims” but rather Jesus was confident that everyone that knew the scriptures would recognize the True Messiah because of the “Works” that would be accomplished by the Messiah. Jesus pointed to what His Ministry had accomplished and left it up to them to determine if anyone but the Messiah could perform these miracles as foretold by the scriptures when Jesus listed His accomplishments: “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go tell John the things which you hear and see: 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. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.’” (Matthew 11:4) Do you “expect” Jesus to be a “genie in a bottle that grants your wishes when you rub a magic lamp” or do you “expect” a Savior that has come to give you “forgiveness and eternal life”? What more could anyone do to demonstrate that the Messiah is the Messiah and not our “expectations” of Him?

MAY 26 Summary Review SRJQ#1-13 (Day 12) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  26   SUMMARY REVIEW OF THE JESUS QUESTIONS    JQ#1-13

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Praise be to the King of kings, the Eternal Light. Lord Jesus, Thy Word is TRUTH, Thy Way is PERFECT, only through You can we HOPE that our life can count for anything! Aside from our belief in You, we have nothing GOOD in us. Lord I pray for a RIGHT SPIRIT in my life so that it can be said that I do what is RIGHT in the eyes of the Lord — You are my strength and my very PRESENT HELP, I can do all things with You as my LIGHT leading me in PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.     AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SRJQ#1-13 (Day12) — Summary Review of The Jesus Questions JQ#1 - JQ#13.

Lesson  10  JQ#10  “What is your ‘Spiritual Value’?”                            Matthew 10:1-42

Jesus continually moves us forward in the kingdom as He first builds on His last lesson and during the present lesson He points us to where all His lesson/questions are leading next. Of course the “Final Destination” is Eternity in Heaven with God Himself but Jesus always keeps us equipped for handling the “Now” and He leaves Lesson 9 with three (3) miracles (1) a woman who had a “flow of blood” for 12 years was healed just by touching His garments and Jesus said; “Be of good cheer, daughter, your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22) and (2) Jesus raised a dead girl when “He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose (Matthew 9:25) and thirdly (3) two blind men we healed as they cried out “Son of David, have mercy on us!” (Matthew 9:27)  It was at this point that Jesus asked the question that reveals the TRUTH of JESUS and His healing powers as He queried the two blind men, “Do you BELIEVE that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28).  Jesus then confirms the source of His Power as He heals the blind men and then reveals the TRUTH: “According to you faith let it be to you.” Jesus used these miracles and tied them to “Personal Faith” that Jesus is who He says He is and then He moves to His next teaching question in JQ#10 “What is your ‘Spiritual Value’?”. Jesus has just demonstrated His “Spiritual Power” and plainly tells us that it was through “Faith” that Jesus is the Son of God sent to bestow Mercy and Grace on a lost and dying world that these 3 miracles were accomplished and then He effectively tells us that if we have “FAITH IN JESUS” that we also will have great “Spiritual Value”. Jesus started JQ#10 with the easy question to answer about “two sparrows” having value therefore we are of more value than two sparrows but He then turns our thinking towards some very serious reasons why we should believe that God is in control, Jesus is the Son of God, and why we have “Spiritual Value”! There are some very serious “consequences” if we do not “believe” as Jesus warns us … “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) So Jesus transitioned from a light-hearted question about sparrows to a very serious discussion about destruction of “both soul and body in hell.” Jesus uses the light-hearted and the very serious to create a contrast that really gets our attention and the lesson here is that we have “both soul and body” and while the “body” is “finite” and will die and be buried, our “soul” is “eternal” therefore we should give great consideration to what we are doing to recognize the grave importance of our “Spiritual Value”! Jesus teaches in JQ#9 that there is a great miracle working “Spiritual Power” at our disposal that is proportional to our “Faith in God” and then He teaches in JQ#10 that our “Faith in God” will have “Eternal Consequences” for our “Soul”, so where do you think Jesus is pointing for JQ#11?

MAY 25 Summary Review SRJQ#1-13 (Day 11) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  25   SUMMARY REVIEW OF THE JESUS QUESTIONS    JQ#1-13

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Thank You Lord for being our Savior, we never stop to think that You are our Savior because You chose to be that perfect Sacrifice and not because You were forced by some circumstance or to pay an obligation to some great work of man! You LORD can choose to do literally ANYTHING, You are the Creator of ALL THINGS and yet in Your Plan for mankind You made us in Your Image and then You planned that You would get intimately involved in our Salvation which meant You volunteered to give up Your Divinity, be born of flesh as we are born of flesh and then live a Perfect Life while being greatly persecuted by Your own people, and then the Plan called for the worst death imaginable on a Cross at Calvary so that all that believe in Your Plan can have the Best Life possible and to have that Best Life for all Eternity! Thank You just isn’t enough to repay You for Your Grace so my prayer is that every breath I take, every thought that I have will be used to LIVE the Life You have Planned for me.     AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SRJQ#1-13 (Day 11) — Summary Review of The Jesus Questions JQ#1 - JQ#13.

Lesson  9  JQ#9    “Are you a friend of the ‘Bridegroom’?”                   Matthew 9:14-26

If you have not been reading these posts in the order that they are written, you will be missing one of the “blessings” that the Holy Spirit has intended for “The Jesus Questions” Project because seeing how the Holy Spirit has built all these lessons in sequence (or as Holy Scripture says “precept upon precept”) with each new lesson tying into the previous lesson and then leading into the next lesson in such a Divine Way that the “sequence”  is a Divine Lesson in itself. The Holy Spirit then makes what seems like a deviation from the logical sequence of teaching us about our responsibility to the kingdom and how to live a life of “Love”, “Faith”, and “Obedience” because of our “Trust in God” and to “Walk-the-Walk” which will lead us to “Sharing-with-Others” the LOVE OF GOD then just after teaching us to put “Feet to our Faith” the Holy Spirit then throws in what on the surface seems like a light-hearted question in JQ#9 “Are you a friend of the ‘Bridegroom’?”. This question by itself can be taken light-hearted but taken in context of the previous questions which are themselves unified by their revelation of the Plan of God for the Salvation of mankind through the Life of the Father’s Only Begotten and Beloved Son, Jesus the Christ, we must stop and seriously consider what the term “Bridegroom” means in terms of God’s Divine Plan for mankind? On face value the term “Bridegroom” can be understood by all peoples, all languages, all cultures, every nation, all races … et. al.  The term “Bridegroom” implies that there is certainly a “Bride”  and also a “Marriage”. Let us stop and consider that the God of the Universe, the Creator of All Things who is the only “uncreated and self sustaining” being, who certainly does not need us to survive, why would this self-supported being chose to be bonded in “marriage” by a convention He Himself established and called “Holy Matrimony”. Further consider that God called everything “Good” in His Creation except for His statement about the new man He just created was without a mate: “And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” (Genesis 2:18) and then “… the LORD GOD …made…a woman, and He brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:22) and that became the first marriage. “And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh…” (Genesis 2:23) I personally get goose bumps when I think that Jesus Himself who is referred to as the Second Adam has been “put into a deep sleep” called death and from that sleep God the Father took part of the very “Spirit” of the Son and used that “Spirit” to create the Church like He used Adam’s rib to create the first wife, Eve! To think that God giving His Son in Marriage is mind bending at least — there could be volume upon volume written of the symbolism this “Marriage” of God’s only Son, Jesus! Who is the “bride” and “Are you a friend of the ‘Bridegroom’?”!!!???

MAY 24 Summary Review SRJQ#1-13 (Day 10) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  24   SUMMARY REVIEW OF THE JESUS QUESTIONS    JQ#1-13

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Praise be to the One! You LORD and You Alone are Worthy of all the Praise, Glory, and Honor that men utter, for there is no one that has done a single righteous thing to be worthy of any praise. Lord Jesus please accept this offering of Praise and Thanksgiving because of “who” You are and what You continue to do for a lost and dying world. Lord, I pray that Your Light will shine through my darkness so that all anyone sees when they look at me is You! Jesus, I know that daily I must die to self that I may be resurrected in You, so my prayer is that I may become “one” with You that I can reflect all that You are.     AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SRJQ#1-13 (Day10) — Summary Review of The Jesus Questions JQ#1 - JQ#13.

Lesson  8 JQ#8    “How do you put ‘Feet’ to your ‘Faith’?”                      Matthew 9:1-13

Jesus has in the first 7 Jesus questions taught us to see that we should follow His example as He teaches us how to be “salt and light” (JQ#1), the meaning of “True Love” (JQ#2), forget about “worrying” because God is worrying for us (JQ#3), then Jesus starts in on some characteristics we should develop as He tells us “not to judge” because that’s God’s responsibility (JQ#4), and that we should pursue the kingdom as we “Ask-Seek-Knock” (JQ#5), with our goal to be producing “good fruit” for ourselves and for others (JQ#6), so that our “Faith” will overcome our “Fears” (JQ#7), and then Jesus says that as His disciples we should follow His example of “walking the walk” and not just “talking the talk” as He teaches us by example in JQ#8 how to “put ‘feet’ to our ‘Faith’”. To learn these lessons and develop the characteristics of Jesus and not share them with others is a huge problem in doing kingdom work because Jesus says we should take what is “in here” to the problem that is “out there”! Jesus teaches us in JQ#8 the importance of “doing” for the “kingdom’s sake” instead of just talking about it. JQ#8 points to the importance of “going” as Matthew writes “So [Jesus] got into a boat, crossed over, came to His own city. Then behold, they brought to [Jesus] a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.’” (Matthew 9:1) In this one verse we see one “action” after another (1) Jesus got into a boat  (2) He crossed over  (3) [He] came to His own city  (4) they brought to Him a paralytic  (5) Jesus saw their faith … then as a result of all these actions Jesus (6) forgave the paralytic of his sins and (7) Jesus healed the paralytic and the paralytic (8) took up his bed and (9) walked. Jesus not only accomplished all these miracles but He taught us that our faith is to be used to help others and that we are to actually put “Feet to our Faith” for when Jesus sees us exercising our “Faith” to help others that Jesus will perform miracles in the lives of those that come into contact with our faith. Jesus confirmed He wanted us to “exercise” our “faith” as he commanded “Arise and walk” (Matthew 9:5) — Isn’t it obvious that if we “Arise” and “Walk” that we are going to accomplish more if we just “Sit” and “Talk”??

MAY 23 Summary Review SRJQ#1-13 (Day 9) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  23   SUMMARY REVIEW OF THE JESUS QUESTIONS    JQ#1-13

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, what a glorious feeling when I realize that I have spoken the Name of Jesus and that once the Name is spoken that You Lord are listening, listening to me! Just the concept of “prayer” is amazing but the reality of us being able, regardless of where we are or when it is, regardless of language or social status, when we call on the Name of Jesus that JESUS is right there, immediately, EVERY TIME HIS NAME IS SPOKEN! How that is possible cannot be explained because we think in finite, mortal terms and JESUS You exist on the Infinite, Divine plane ——— but explanation or not, Jesus, when I call on Your Name I know You are there and You hear my prayers! I KNOW because so many prayers have been answered, and though they were not answered like I thought they should be answered, You knew what was best and answered my prayers in the way that BEST provided for my needs — Lord Jesus, I call Your Name this morning with nothing but PRAISE on my lips and in my heart for the simple, plain fact that I can.      AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SRJQ#1-13 (Day 9) — Summary Review of The Jesus Questions JQ#1 - JQ#13.

Lesson 7  JQ#7    “What’s bigger, your ‘Fear’ or your ‘Faith’?              Matthew 8:23-27 

This lesson Jesus teaches us on the best weapon to use on “Fear” is our “Faith” and it fits very nicely after teaching us that when we plant the Word of God in our hearts and let the seeds of “faith” take root deep in our soul that we will soon start seeing fruit in our lives as God adds the miracle of life to the seed and the first “Fruit” that starts to grow is “FAITH” itself. “Faith in God” can only grow into a mature fruit if first we plant the seed in our hearts and nourish it with “Living Waters” ——— there is always the weeds that are nothing more than the “cares of this world” which we must constantly be “weeding out” of our lives so that the Word of God will grow strong in our hearts and we will be able to harvest the fruit which we can use for our personal nourishment. In God’s economy each plant will produce enough fruit to be able to “Share” with others! When we first start out on our Christian Journey of Faith, we are like young lambs and we all know that the “Wolves of this world” prey on the weak, the crippled, and the very young! To know that Jesus is the “Good Shepherd” and we are part of His flock should give us great comfort and the more we read in His Word the more we can build confidence in His Abilities and with each turn we can see that Jesus has never lost a lamb and every time He confronts us He is always teaching us to “Fear not”!  Jesus takes this passage in Matthew 8:23-27 and reassures us that “Fear” is a “Weed” and that “Faith” is a “sharp hoe” and if we want the Word of God to grow strong roots and produce good fruit in our lives that we will make “Faith in God” more important in our lives than the “Fear of the world” and that “Faith” in the One that even the “winds and the sea obey Him” is more important to our growth than the little weeds of fear that the world constantly attacks us with. Jesus was very pointed when He asked us about our fears in JQ#7 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” that we are “fearful” because we have not grown our “faith” to the point that we are producing the “Good fruit” which will nourish us in God’s Word to where we will laugh at the weeds of this world as we remove them with our “Faith” and sing “Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine!” Which would you rather do, let the weeds choke the “life” out of your “faith” or would you rather use your “faith” to choke the weeds out of your “life”? 

MAY 22 Summary Review SRJQ#1-13 (Day 8) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  22   SUMMARY REVIEW OF THE JESUS QUESTIONS    JQ#1-13

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, the Only Begotten of the Father, Prince of Peace, my Lord and Savior, whatever I do, it never changes who You are. Though I need to be chastened and corrected daily, Your Grace and Mercy abides forever! You spent Your time on earth in Perfect Obedience to the Father who is Eternally Pleased with the Son. Lord I again start today asking forgiveness for yesterday for all I do is but filthy rags compared to You, the Blessed One, that Loves me in spite of my imperfections. I once again ask Your Holy Spirit to take full control of my life and lead me so that I will let Christ live through me that I may die daily to self.     AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SRJQ#1-13 (Day 8) — Summary Review of The Jesus Questions JQ#1 - JQ#13.

Lesson 6  JQ#6    “What kind of fruit does your tree bear?”                Matthew 7:15-23

I am totally amazed at how the Holy Spirit confirms that you are on the right road! You know what I’m talking about if you have ever been on a trip and you were thinking you were on the right road and have taken all the right turns and then you look up and there is that great big road sign that confirms you have stayed on the right route to your destination! I’m sure you’ll agree that “being lost” is no fun!  This weekend our church held the 27th Annual Calvary Baptist Church Children’s Camp in Dayton, TN at Cumberland Springs Bible Camp and the theme this year was “Digging Deep for God’s Treasure”.  Pastor Steve told the kids the Parable of the sower and the soils (Luke 8) and the main phrase was “NO ROOT ——— NO FRUIT” and the kids had the seed of salvation sown into their tender hearts! I had suspended my Daily Blog which is in the middle of a Summary Review of The Jesus Questions 1-13 to post about the Holy Spirit moving at the camp in a huge way for my MAY 21 post and today I pick up my next review question for MAY 22 which is JQ#6  “What kind of fruit does your tree bear?” (Matthew 7:15-23)  I could easily rename it “What kind of fruit does your seed bear?” which would fit right in with the parable of the sower and the soils. Just imagine that if those kids were not at the Bible Camp this weekend there is no telling what “seeds” the world would have planted in their fertile young hearts! I felt like the Holy Spirit threw up a huge road sign  that confirms we had given the kids a great map to guide them through the detours and dead ends of this increasingly secular world when I saw that the review today was on “bearing fruit”. The camp is very exciting for the kids and for every excited kid you have the proportional amount of tired counselors but a refreshing message from the Holy Spirit confirming we were on the right road to keep us and the kids from getting lost in the world made us “Blessed” instead of “tired”! JQ#6 is a serious question that Jesus asked as He was giving us warning to be aware of “false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves…” (Matthew 7:15) when Jesus asked: “Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16b) Very quickly we can see that “false prophets” are as dangerous as thorn bushes and thistles and definitely “false prophets” will direct you down a dead end street. So if you plant thorn seeds you will grow thorns and Jesus made that clear when He said plainly, “You will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:16a) So the lesson on “preparing our (soil) hearts” is just as important as to make sure that the “seed” we let grow in our hearts is a “good seed” that will produce good fruit and not thorns or thistles! The lesson is that if you want good fruit you must plant good fruit seeds in your well prepared hearts! The Parable of the Sower and the Soils goes very well with Jesus teaching us that we must also be careful to make sure that not only is the soil prepared for the seed but we should equally be careful not to let the seeds of thorns and thistles take root in the inward parts of our soul. If we want to bear good fruit we have to plant the right seed in well prepared soil and it is a good idea to keep a hoe nearby to keep the worldly weeds out that are sure to sprout up s the seed sprouts and takes root. If Jesus goes to the trouble to teach us to prepare our hearts and plant good seeds, don’t you think it would be wise to follow the advice of The One that has produced such “heavenly” fruit?