JUNE 04 JQ#14-5: “Have you understood all these things?” The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

JUNE 04    JQ#14-5: “Have you understood all these things?”

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, thank You Lord for the strength You give me each day to “arise and walk”, thank You for just being able to get out of bed and get out of the house and most of all, the ability to “enjoy” this wonderful world You have Created but man has defiled. Lord, I pray that You will grant it in my life that as I go through the day that my “spiritual” eyes will be open to the beauty and mystery of Your world that I may have the “Joy” and “Peace” that comes from “knowing” the Father -- and above all desires, I desire to “understand with my heart” the Love of God and that with my “understanding” will come “Sharing” of the blessings You have showered on us.       AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#14-5: “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus is teaching us the importance of “understanding” His lessons and Jesus emphasizes the point that the Truth of God is the main purpose of His Teaching. If we do not “understand” the lesson then we will miss the Truth of God and the lesson will be useless. Jesus illustrates this point when after asking the lead-in question JQ#14A “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” Jesus immediately gives the answer that those who listen and learn His Teaching and  “does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:50)  Jesus taught the multitudes that had gathered to hear Him teach about the kingdom of God (Matthew 13:1-3) the parable of the sower which sowed seed and the different results of that “sowing”, depending on the soil in which the seed was sown. Jesus was asked by His disciples why He was teaching the multitude in parables (Matthew 13:10) and Jesus answered, (1) “…it has been given to you [My disciples that listen] to ‘know’ the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven…” (Matthew 13:11) and (2) “Therefore I speak to them [those that are following the crowd] in parables, because “seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they ‘understand’.” (Matthew 13:13) When we look at His answer to why Jesus spoke in parables we see that the “Truth of God” has to do with “understanding” which is the key to “knowing the mysteries of God” ——— without “understanding” we are blind and deaf to the “kingdom of heaven”. Jesus is teaching that even though the same seed is planted that the success of the sown seed is determined by our “understanding” ——— “But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and ‘understands’ it, who indeed bears fruit and produces…” (Matthew 13:23) The Law of Choice and Consequence also applies as Jesus teaches that the different levels of understanding are compared to different types of soil: (1) soil that has been walked on and packed down by the way of the world Jesus called “the wayside” and when the seed was sown on “the wayside” that “the birds came and devoured them.” (Matthew 13:4) ——— (2) The 2nd “soil” was “stony places” and this was soil that the stones were not removed and the soil not properly prepared that  there will not be enough good soil to hold water and nutrients in it that the seed may sprout but without enough water and nourishment the seed “sprang up” and “they withered away”. (Matthew 13:5-6) ——— (3) The 3rd type of soil was good soil but the water and nutrients were being used by the thick roots of thorns and weeds which represent the sin and iniquities of our worldly habits we let take over our lives and when the seed of faith is sown among thorns that the good seed can not take root because the teachings of the world “choked them.” (Matthew 13:6-7) ——— (4) The 4th type of soil was soil Jesus said was soil that would produce fruit because the soil had not been trampled by the world and the rocks and weeds of the world had been removed so the seed made deep  roots and the word of God produced much “fruit”, and Jesus said specifically that good soil is the soul that “…hears the word and ‘understands’ it…” (Matthew 13:23) Jesus went the extra mile with His disciples and taught them to use their “spiritual eyes and ears” to see and “understand” the “Truth of God”. Jesus made sure we “understood” by first teaching the parable of the sower and then immediately Jesus taught the true meaning of the parable so that there would be no “misunderstanding” of the directions Jesus gives His disciples as He points out the hazards of the world at certain points of our lives. Jesus says “Follow Me” and I will “lead you in paths of righteousness…and deliver you from evil…” and you will by your “understanding” be able to confidently proclaim “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the LORD FOREVER”! (Psalm 23) Don’t you want to follow the map and find the narrow gate where you can enter into His Rest and hear Him say “Welcome Home”????

JUNE 03 JQ#14-4: “Have you understood all these things?” The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

JUNE 03    JQ#14-4: “Have you understood all these things?”

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ——— All Praise, All Glory, and All Honor to the Only Begotten and to the Father and the Holy Spirit for the Divine Plan of Salvation and when our limited intellect finally understands that the only “motivation” of the Blessed Trinity was Godly Love and the Divine Desire of God for His Creation. It certainly is a mystery yet to be revealed why the All Powerful God of All things would want a Personal and Intimate Relationship with man ——— our best clue to solving this mystery is the fact that God created man in His Own Image — O Blessed Thought, that God Loves Me and went to such Great Lengths to PROVE HIS LOVE that the Father would Sacrifice the Son so that the Holy Spirit could mend the “broken fellowship” and we could through the “Spirit” know the Father!  Therefore let us worship in “Spirit and in Truth”!!     AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#14-4: “Have you understood all these things?” When Jesus asked “Have you understood…?” we should stop and consider why Jesus would stop at this point in His teaching and ask if we “understand”? When we consider the dynamics of answering questions and the motivation of asking them, we can glimpse a deep “Truth of God” and that is simply that God cares enough to go the extra mile in His Teaching to make sure that we truly “understand” the Truth of God. The necessity of “understanding” is really simple logic, if we are given directions on a map but do not “understand” those directions, we will get lost and most likely miss the destination, even though we were given detailed instructions, if we don’t listen and truly “understand”, then the directions are basically useless. So in our example, let’s say that it is God giving directions to the mansion that He promised to prepare for us and as He is giving directions to our Heavenly Home but while He is telling us where we need to “turn” to avoid disaster, we are distracted by the “cares of this world” and we miss the detail of the directions that says for instance to “turn” at a certain point. Then while on our journey we arrive at that certain point in our journey and we take the “obvious” path as we see in Genesis 13:5-18 the story describing Abraham giving Lot the choice of directions to chose. Lot made the “obvious” choice and ended up in Sodom while Abraham depended on God’s guidance and God blessed Abraham because Abraham followed God’s directions instead of choosing the “obvious” according to the standards of the world. Following God’s directions, Abraham ended up in the promised land.  So it is easy to see that choosing the “obvious way of the world” instead of the “way” God instructed us we will find ourselves “lost” and on the “wrong path” because we did not “understand” the directions of God! We need to consider in JQ#14 that Jesus is asking us if we “understand” because He does not want us to get “lost” and it is because He is drawing us a “map” and giving us detailed instructions to keep us going on the “right way” because He desires greatly for us to arrive safely in the “promised land” so that we can enter into fellowship with Him! Therefore when we truly “understand” that God cares for us and desires good for us, and that He wants to give us a “hope and a future” (See Jeremiah 29:11) we will listen carefully and study the map because God cares enough to make sure not only that we have a map, and good instructions, but that we truly “understand” the directions being given. Put simply, God is going to great lengths to “teach” so we should exert equal effort to “learn” for the “kingdom’s sake” — we should use all our God-given faculties to “understand” all the lessons and directions, because a map is useless if we don’t use it. That we take the “right turn”  is important enough to God that He spoke through the prophet Isaiah that “they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.” (Matthew 13:15b) Now that Jesus has made it clear that it is our “understanding” that will lead us to “belief” in the Truth of God, we can better understand why we should listen to His detailed instructions or are you confident enough in “knowing” how to take care of yourself that you can find your way to a place you have never been without a guide or a map? 

JUNE 02 JQ#14-3 "Have you understood these things?" The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

JUNE 02    JQ#14-3: “Have you understood all these things?”

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, another day to praise You and to seek Your face, Lord to do Your Will and to  share Your Love with those that You put in our path. Lord I thank You for those that You have put into my life that have drawn me closer to You and to the Kingdom of God, I thank You that these souls have shared “Jesus” with me that I could walk in the light. So LORD, let me now return to the world Your Grace and Your Mercy which You have so abundantly bestowed on me and may I be a Light as You are Light, may I Love as You are Love, and may others see You when they look at me. Lord Jesus help to to be  a good steward of Your “Gifts”, especially the Gift of Free Will which I now “dedicate” to Your “Way”.       AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#14-3: “Have you understood all these things?”  Jesus started this particular section/lesson by addressing those unbelievers that were “seeking a sign” insisting that Jesus “proves” Himself to them. Instead of trying to prove Himself, Jesus lives the proof and lets His life speak for Itself — and here Jesus teaches that the Truth of God is eternal and unchanging and regardless of what we “believe”, the Truth of God will remain true to the Will of God the Creator. The Father has “Willed” that His Only Begotten Son would become “flesh” and dwell among us, live the perfect life thereby becoming the perfect acceptable “sacrifice” for the sins of the world, that Jesus would be “innocent” yet He would willingly shed His Precious “Blood” for our iniquities and die for our sins. The “Will of the Father” is that the Son will be raised in Victory over death after Three Days in the Grave, the “Resurrection of Jesus” is the Truth of God and Jesus said in Matthew 12:39 that the only sign an “evil and adulterous generation” would get would be the “Resurrection”. Jesus has been teaching that our “physical” lives will bear the fruit of our worldly lusts and sins but Jesus demonstrated that He came to “seek and to save that which is lost” and to “heal” us of our infirmities and everything Jesus did He did in the Name and the Power of God which is the Power of the Holy Spirit. In the beginning we read that “The earth was without form, and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) Then in the next verse God “heals” the “void” by speaking the solution —“Then God said, ‘Let there be light” and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3) So by the first 3 verses in God’s Bible we learn that before the creation there was the Truth of God, and the greatest problem the world had was emptiness, no purpose, and darkness and it was the “Spirit of God” that “spoke” the solution and the “solution” was to send a great “Spiritual Light” to give understanding to fill the emptiness and to give purpose to our lives. The “physical” lights were created on the fourth day: “Then God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the starts also…so the evening and the morning were the fourth day. (Genesis 1:14-19) but the first solution to the world’s problem was to address the “Spiritual” nature of our world and therefore the solution itself was “Spiritual Light” or as we are learning in Matthew, that Jesus is is the “Spiritual Light of the world” and He is healing “physical” problems but is pointing us to the “Spiritual” solution! Here Jesus first introduces the “Resurrection” which is the ultimate transition from a “physical death” to an “eternal Spiritual life” with God, and then Jesus introduces the “Spiritual Family of God” as he points to His disciples who have been following Him and answers JQ#14A “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” (Matthew 12:48) and says, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother, and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:49-50) There is a great Truth of God in this answer and that is when we Trust God as our “Father” and know that Jesus is the “Son” then we through our “Spiritual Belief” in the Kingdom of God become ”mothers, sisters, and brothers” of Jesus Christ Himself! God is our “Father” and we know that “God so loved the world” so it should be no surprise that Jesus came to save His Family, or would you prefer to remain an orphan?  

JUNE 01 JQ#14-2 "Have you understood these things?" The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

JUNE 01    JQ#14-2: “Have you understood all these things?”

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, indeed Lord we seek to know You and the Father as we seek to know the will of the Father for our lives. We can see from Your life that we are to “live” the “Truth of God” in our lives so that those who observe our “Gospel” will have the Father revealed to them as You revealed the Father by both the way You lived and the way You died. Lord Jesus, may the Holy Spirit indwell us so extensively that all that others can see in us is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that we are all One. Lord Jesus I beg again for mercy and grace and my daily bread and pray that each day I again die to self that I may be resurrected with the newness of Christ and can claim boldly that  my life is not mine but Thine!       AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#14-2: “Have you understood all these things?” (Matthew 13:51) The context for this question begins with Matthew 12:38 and runs through Matthew 13:52. In the previous verses Jesus had just asked us to consider our “Spiritual Expectations” of the Kingdom of God and had pointedly asked us if our lives are making a contribution to the uplifting of God and His kingdom or are we tearing down the kingdom by our unbelief. Jesus has been teaching us that it is how we live that is going to be the “Truth of God” in our lives and Jesus has been living the perfect example of what He has been teaching about “The Father”. Here in this section of scripture running from Matthew 12:38 through Matthew 12:51 Jesus ties several concepts together for us using parables and using the “precept upon precept” method we are given insights on the Kingdom of God that can only come from a special understanding that can only be revealed by the Power of the Holy Spirit. By looking at the lessons Jesus has already taught we can glimpse where Jesus is taking us next by realizing that He has established the foundation for the next big Truth of God which Jesus introduces with His next question JQ#14A “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?”. All along Jesus has been referring to God as “the Father” and Jesus has proven Himself to be the “Son of God” and Jesus has been teaching that we are to borns into a physical life but we also by the decision of the Creator have been given an “eternal soul” which will ascend to God upon the death of the “physical” body. Now Jesus continues teaching us on this “spiritual” plane as He transitions to the next revelation of the kingdom by teaching about “the sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matthew 12:39) where Jesus introduces His resurrection to the Pharisees who had demanded Jesus give them a “sign”. Jesus answers that the only sign the “evil and adulterous generation” will get is the “sign of the prophet Jonah” as Jesus tells them point blank, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40) The “sign of the prophet Jonah” taken literally can only mean that God’s plan for the kingdom is that Jesus will have to die and be in the “grave” for three days but then God Himself will resurrect Jesus as He did Jonah for only the Power of God can accomplish such things. Jesus then says that the fruit of Jonah’s resurrection was the men of Nineveh “repented” and now Jesus is saying that this “evil and adulterous generation” will be given a chance to repent when God resurrects Jesus on the third day. Jesus then adds that the sign of the queen of the South was to understand the wisdom of Solomon and now “indeed a greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42) Then Jesus ties these “Spiritual signs” together as He confirms the spiritual connection as He teaches about the “unclean spirit” that gets “seven other spirits” and they “enter and dwell” in those that do not accept the Truth of God and therefore are known as “this wicked generation” which is a generation that does not believe in God, they reject God, and they refuse to accept the gift of God which is His Only Begotten Son, Jesus the Christ. God is teaching that in order for us to enter the kingdom of God we must realize it is a “spiritual realm” and we must align ourselves “spiritually” with the “Father”. Jesus now introduces the concept of the “Family of God” as He asks JQ#14A “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” We all know that our “physical life” begins with our biological mother and father so aren’t you curious now to “understand these things” and how our  “spiritual life” will begin and how exactly do we become a member of this “spiritual family”? 

MAY 31 JQ#14-1 "Have you understood these things?" The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  31    JQ#14: “Have you understood all these things?”

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Kings of all kings, Lord of all lords, Prince of Peace, let every tongue confess and every knee bow before You! Lord make me nothing of myself so that all that I am will be You living through me. Lord, so many times I have failed You as all the good Your Spirit has accomplished in me comes under attack from “Self”!?!? Jesus, in Your Precious Name I pray that the Holy Spirit will anoint me anew with the passion to obey as I have desired in my heart to follow You and to Love others as You have Loved me. I call on You as a Friend to have someone to confide in … my walk has not been perfect for I have strayed, but You always have and always will turn me back to the straight and narrow.        AMEN

The Jesus Questions

JQ#14: “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus has been teaching in the  first thirteen chapters of the Gospel of Matthew by example and by asking questions that can be labeled as “rhetorical” in order to teach us how to live not only in this world as we must deal with our fellow man but also how to live “eternally” in the Kingdom of God and dealing with God Himself! These have been some very serious question/lessons and Jesus has not only “asked” us questions that we might focus on the relevant kingdom issues but Jesus has “lived” the answers as the perfect example! So far the Holy Spirit has guided us through 13 “Spiritual” questions that Jesus has both asked and explained to us by using easily understood parables as well as demonstrating with His own life how to apply these kingdom lessons. The importance of “learning” from Jesus carries “eternal consequences” which we must understand that Jesus is being very plain, yet very serious as He teaches us that how we live BEFORE death is going to determine how we live AFTER death! To many people are still struggling with the question every generation has had to answer:  “Is there life after death?”  Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father have gone to extreme limits to demonstrate the “Truth of God” that man is made up of “body and soul”.  The body comes from our “physical birth” which will someday “die” but the “soul” comes from our “Spiritual birth” which is “eternal” and our soul will separate from the body at death and the soul will return to its Creator. The Creator  knows all things the soul has done and the Creator will pass judgement on the soul and make the “fair judgement” where the “soul will spend eternity” based upon the “Truth of God” (and not on man’s interpretation of “God’s Truth”!) Since our eternity is based on God’s Judgement of how each soul deals with the “Truth of God”, Jesus and the Holy Spirit has been teaching us the “Truth of God” and how to apply the “Truth of God” to living our daily lives so that when our soul  stands before God on the Judgement Day of God that God will say to our soul, “Well done, enter into My Rest” and we will forever be with God in Heaven!!! Pretty serious stuff don’t you think?  It IS SERIOUS — therefore let us consider JQ#14 “Have you understood all these things?” and let us consider JQ#14 with all the seriousness we can muster, or do you think like so many in the world today that learning about God and His requirements for eternal life is just wasting your “Time”?!?!?!

MAY 30 Transition to JQ#14 "What do our enemies tell us about ourselves?" The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  30   Transition to JQ#14: “What do our enemies tell us about ourselves?”

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, again we pray “Give us this day our daily bread…” with all the confidence that the “good works” you have begun in us will be completed and that we will proclaim like King David “The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want!” Lord Jesus, each time I feel time and circumstance start to cloud up my “Joy” I stop and remember that You Lord are eternal and that everything You have done is because You chose to “love” me even though I am a sinner and that You have a “plan” for me to have a “hope and a future” and that this time on earth is but a “vapor” that is but here today and gone tomorrow while Your Mercies Endure Forever! Lord Jesus, I trust that Your Rod and Your Staff will provide me with all my needs so that I will proclaim also “surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”        AMEN

The Jesus Questions

Transition to JQ#14: “What do our enemies tell us about ourselves?” There are many ways to look at each situation that life confronts us with that on the surface may appear to be “damaging” but when we have learned to “Trust in God” we will look at these circumstances with “spiritual” eyes and see the “Truth of God”. One such instance happened as I was reading the introduction to JQ#13 that Jesus addressed to a group of Pharisees that had come to bring accusations against Jesus for they had been plotting “against Him, how that they might destroy Him.” (Matthew 12:14) It was at this point that the Holy Spirit directed me on 5/8/16 to make a note that after writing the “Summary Review” for The Jesus Questions 1-13 that I was to come back to this scripture and write a separate article on what we learn about ourselves by who our  enemies are and what they accuse us of! This seems like a strange question until it is studied in the context of what kind of witness that was given about Jesus by His enemies. The thought was placed in my spirit to consider that Jesus could have built a very impressive resume just from the statements that His enemies had made trying to find fault in Him and I thought to myself “What kind of enemies do I have and what kind of witness would they have about my Christian character?” For example we read in Matthew 12:24 “Now when the Pharisees heard [Jesus was casting out demons and healing the blind and the mute, and often Jesus did these miracles on the Jewish Sabbath] they said, ‘This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.’” The reason that the Pharisees we out to get Him was because Jesus had healed a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath in response to being asked if it was “lawful” to heal on the Sabbath. Jesus did not answer with words to be disputed by the “law makers” in a legal debate — Jesus answered the question by performing a miracle on the Sabbath and then gave His questioners an “in-you-face-Truth-of-God” answer as He said “Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:12) and then Jesus turned and healed the man. The Pharisees then started building up Jesus’ resume as they exposed themselves like they did in Matthew 12:24 by accusing Jesus of casting out demons by Beelzebub. By making the accusation the Pharisees were acknowledging that Jesus had been casting out demons, in fact the Pharisees were admitting that Jesus had been doing many miracles which could not be denied and each time they accused Him, they added to His resume because the said the things He was “doing” were illegal by their laws — in other words, they did not claim that Jesus was NOT doing miracles, the Pharisees claimed that the miracles that He WAS DOING we either against the “Law” of the Pharisees or that the “Power” Jesus used to DO the Miracles was some power other than God. So the enemies of Jesus actually were being a witness to the miracles of Jesus because if He hadn’t done them then the Pharisees could not accuse Him of anything. If we had to let our enemies take the stand and accuse of us “living for Jesus”, what kind of evidence could they present to a jury that we might be found guilty?

MAY 29 Summary Review SRJQ#1-13 (Day 15) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY  29   SUMMARY REVIEW OF THE JESUS QUESTIONS    JQ#1-13

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, aside from Your Mercy and Grace, there is no good thing in me, all I have accomplished in my life is worthless for as much worldly success as I have had, it is of no consequence to that which is eternal. Lord Jesus, thank You for Your marvelous gifts of Grace, Mercy, Salvation, Forgiveness, and Peace and Lord for the reminder that the “Gifts of God” are priceless for they cannot be earned by works nor is there any earthly thing that can be valued enough to purchase these “Gifts”. Only the Blood of the Only Begotten of the Father Himself can be found worthy enough to purchase this Gift of Righteousness and therefore let us forsake the “hay and stubble” upon which we have formerly established this earthly house and build our heavenly foundation on the “Rock” ——— “This Rock is Jesus”!!!     AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SRJQ#1-13 (Day15) — Summary Review of The Jesus Questions JQ#1 - JQ#13.

Lesson 13  JQ#13  “Is your life a plus or minus in God’s kingdom?”   Matthew 12:24-45

Our life cannot count for anything that has earthly  value or is prized in the eyes of sinful man. Jesus asks us to evaluate our life in terms of God’s kingdom for Jesus knows that we cannot earn enough money or collect enough things on this earth to justify our entrance into God’s kingdom, thereby making our physical accomplishments as worthless as they are finite! Jesus has brought our understanding of God to the point that we are aware that our Faith in God and our relationship with God will have the only bearing on our eternity and Jesus is revealing to us that the physical things of this earth are going to pass into nothingness while the spiritual aspects of our soul are going to be carried with us as we enter into eternity through the doorway of death that all souls must use as we exit the mortal physical life and enter into the eternal spiritual existence God intends for each soul He creates. If we spend our earthly time collecting earthly treasures then when the finite of our physical life is terminated we will find that everything finite is terminated as well and the only thing that passes through the doorway of death are those things that have “spiritual value” —Jesus had taught this to Nicodemus when He discussed the kingdom of God with the most learned religious man of his day : “Jesus answered and said …’Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3) and to clarify that it is a “spiritual vs. physical” conflict Jesus tells Nicodemus “…Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5-6) So Jesus makes it clear that we are first born of flesh and in the flesh we must seek to understand the mysteries of God and by the knowledge of God we will be born of “Spirit”, for as our earthly father gives us physical life of the flesh, our Heavenly Father will give us eternal life of the Spirit, for flesh cannot enter into the kingdom of God, only Spirit. Our total value can be summed up as either a plus or a minus in God’s Kingdom, so each of us must ask ourselves, “Does our Spiritual life add up to anything?”