SEPTEMBER 17 JQ#24-13 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

SEPTEMBER 17   JQ#24-13 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25) 

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Thank You Lord for being the Great Physician, the Great Healer, the Master Teacher, for Lord  Jesus  You have guided those that are our earthly physicians and  teachers and You Lord give us the abundant life as You take us safely through the Valley of Sickness and the Darkness of Spiritual Ignorance and bring our bodies and minds back to health. Jesus, I thank You for the infirmities that You allow in our lives and I pray that the Holy Spirit will keep our heart, eyes, and mind open during these times of doubt and trials that we will always see Your Healing hand and Teaching Spirit at work in our lives, both the physical and the spiritual. Lord Jesus, forgive me when I get too caught up in the world and fail to see that everything is to be used to glorify the Father instead of getting lost in self-pity — Lord Jesus, Praise, Glory, and Honor to the Son that was Obedient unto death to the Will of the Father, forgive me when I fail to honor the Father and the Son while enjoying the Abundant Life You have laid before all who will believe.   AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SEPTEMBER 17    JQ#24-13  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25)   Jesus is entering Jerusalem the day after His Triumphal Entry which was met with “mixed reviews” and the immediate “cleansing of the temple” which did not win Jesus any friends on the Jerusalem Chamber of Commerce! Jesus has just cursed a fig tree outside the Eastern Gate which can only be viewed in light of all the other actions Jesus has performed in the name of God as a curse on those that would defile the temple of God, His Holy City,  and those that were seeking to worship God “in Spirit and in Truth” (John 4:24) and therefore the curse was not on a single fig tree but on the Sanhedrin itself for defiling the command of God to further the “doctrines of men” of which the Sanhedrin was the most influential spiritual body in all Israel. Jesus had told His disciples that the “power and authority”  He had displayed in His cursing and the immediate destruction of the fig tree was a product of “Faith, Prayer, and Belief” and the lesson to learn from the cursing of the fig tree is that God and God Alone IS the SUPREME AUTHORITY and the SUPREME POWER!!! Jesus curses the fig tree, teaches the lesson on “Faith and Belief” and then enters Jerusalem through the Eastern Gate — keep in mind that this is the last week on earth that Jesus will spend in His earthly form and every action, breath, and word will be full and overflowing with the Truth of God so it is important to consider every move made by Jesus in this most important of weeks!!! “Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?’” (Matthew 21:23)  Jesus is the Master Teacher and He always takes our questions and uses the question to laser focus a Truth of God onto the problem at hand and at the same time Jesus will present a question to us that will reflect that Truth and illuminate the solution for us. Jesus has been demonstrating that everything He does is to Teach the Truth of the One True Living God and Jesus has made it clear that He is here on earth to do the “Will of His Father in Heaven” and in this case, Jesus answers the chief priests and elders of the people with what I consider to be, by virtue of where and when it was asked, the summation of all the Truths of God that Jesus has spent 33 years in the flesh teaching to all who would listen as Jesus asked (JQ#24) “The baptism of John —where was it from? From heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25) By asking this question in the temple of God in the city of Jerusalem and by directing the question at those that had been wielding power and authority over the multitudes, Jesus has set up the ultimate confrontation between the “command of God [from heaven]” and the “doctrines [originating from] men” — a confrontation between what God has clearly stated in His Holy Scriptures as “TRUTH” and what man in a self-assumed position of authority has defiled and manipulated and then has handed down as “doctrine [of men]”. Not only has Jesus set up the ultimate confrontation but this question points to the Ultimate Truth of God — God is the Living God and is still and forever will be involved in His Creation. The First Truth from JQ#24 is that the scriptures tell of a forerunner to the Coming Messiah and that prophecy was fulfilled by John the Baptist. When John came on the scene, the question was asked by the rulers and authorities, “Are you the Messiah?” John had answered “no” and said that he was there to “witness” and point to the Messiah when He arrived and then John kept preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” and John kept baptizing. John then declared as he saw Jesus coming to him to be baptized, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:15-29) When Jesus asked about the “baptism of John”, the chief priests and elders were really over a barrel for they had to recognize the fact that “baptism” is real and they knew that John had not come to them for “approval” to baptize so there was no way that they could claim “authority and power” over the actions of John the Baptist. Now what were they going to do with the “authority and power” that Jesus was demonstrating in the temple of God? The question Jesus asked sitting in the temple is still of utmost relevance today, what would be your response be if Jesus sat down with you and asked, “The baptism of John — is it from heaven or from men?” — what answer could you give?!?!?!?!    

SEPTEMBER 16 JQ#24-12 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

SEPTEMBER 16   JQ#24-12 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25) 

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, You Lord are forever the unchanging Faithful One, full of Mercy and Grace. We are nothing next to Your Glory, we are weak and we have no good in us if we have no God in us! Apart from You we find we live our lives selfishly and think we can do our own thing if we just build up enough “spiritual brownie” points — Lord I know better     and I beg Your forgiveness for even this slightest of touches against my total and unyielding faith in living a totally surrendered life for You in which I pray to completely abandon self, take up my cross daily, and live only a “life in Christ”. Lord Jesus, I pray for the day when I will know that I shall never look back or even think of looking back. There is no excuse for my ever turning from You or taking my eyes off You for even the slightest of seconds. Forgive me, for when I am not looking at You, I am looking at self and it is when I am “in self” that I sin, but when I am “in Christ” my true life begins again!!!  AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SEPTEMBER 16    JQ#24-12  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25)    Jesus has just made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem but was met with contention by the chief priests and elders so Jesus left Jerusalem and spent the night in Bethany and now as He returns to Jerusalem He curses a fig tree and “Immediately the fig tree withered away.” (Matthew 21:19) Instead of entering into a debate among ourselves as to “why” Jesus would “curse” a fig tree, we should instead consider the eyewitness accounts and then look at the other actions of Jesus to see if He “explains” the “why” for us. “And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, ‘How did the fig tree wither away so soon?’” (Matthew 21:20) The eyewitness were the disciples of Jesus and this is not the first “miracle” they had seen Jesus do, they had observed Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead, they had seen Jesus feed the multitudes with a small boy’s lunch, and they had witnessed demons being cast out and every infirmity brought to Jesus, He healed them all but yet when the fig tree withered and died “immediately” these disciples “marveled”. Perhaps not all of these disciples that were following Jesus in Jerusalem were with Jesus earlier in His ministry when He taught “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1) and then Jesus called those that lord themselves over others as “Hypocrites!” (Matthew 7:5) Then Jesus rebuked false teachers and He declared “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing …you will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit…Every bad tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”  (Matthew 7:15-20)  There is much correlation to be made from the circumstance in which this “fig tree” was cursed in the village of priests and judges in the walled village of Bethphage that stood as the Supreme Court over Israel and were supposed to be handing down decisions based on the Holy Scriptures and not the doctrines of men! It can easily be seen that since Bethphage means “house of unripe figs” that Jesus has passed the sentence of death onto the Sanhedrin for being a “bad tree” that has not produced good spiritual fruit and therefore this “Supreme Court” is now cut down and will be thrown into the fire! It makes sense that just yesterday Jesus executed the Office of Messiah and cleansed the temple of God in Jerusalem and today Jesus is addressing the source of the problem and is pronouncing sentence on those who have been found guilty of defiling the temple of God by abusing their “office” and “responsibility” of handing down Godly decisions but instead the ‘religious rulers’ had made the temple a center of commerce instead of a house of prayer!?!?!   Jesus said that you will know a tree by the fruit that it bears and He demonstrated by the cleansing of the temple that He had indeed “come in the name of the LORD” and we can see that the temple was defiled by the fruit of commerce and that unGodly fruit could only have been produced by an unGodly tree which we know  was planted and watered by the Sanhedrin that was responsible for the temple and the temple priests, and we know also that the Sanhedrin was not an office instituted by God, but was formed and maintained by men as they handed down judgments based on what they thought was “best” for Israel. Once the disciples saw the fig tree wither away immediately, Jesus made it clear that the lesson He intended for the disciples was about their “faith” because when they asked “How did the fig tree wither away so soon?” (Matthew 21:20) that “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea, it will be done. And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive'.” (Matthew 21:21-22) When one considers the context, one can quickly see Jesus Teaching and these last lessons on “Faith” and Obedience to God” should be studied and not doubted, our attention should not be on “why” we think Jesus did what He did with the fig tree, our attention should be firmly fixed on the fact that Jesus cursed a fig tree outside the eastern gate and at His command, the tree withered away immediately — where do you think the “power and authority” to accomplish this miracle came from, “from heaven or from men?” !?!?!?!?

SEPTEMBER 15 JQ#24-11 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

SEPTEMBER 15   JQ#24-11 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25) 

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, thank You Lord for Your daily “Manifest Presence” that You bless us with through the Filling of the Holy Spirit in the lives of all that keep a place prepared for You in our humble and contrite hearts. King David who was known as a man after God’s own heart who knew about Your Manifest Presence and prayed that You would create in him a clean heart and a steadfast spirit for it was through that preparation of  his heart by the Holy Spirit that David would again know the “joy of salvation” and David pleaded as I do, “And uphold me by Your generous Spirit” (Psalm 51) Daily Lord Jesus I stand in need of Your Mercies that are renewed each morning so I rise and give You Praise and lift up my offering of Thanksgiving for You have answered my prayer and You are leading me down paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake, the Name above all names, JESUS!      AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SEPTEMBER 15    JQ#24-11  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25)   Jesus left the conflict in Jerusalem and strolled through the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives to the humble town of Bethany where He “lodged” in a home where He obviously felt welcomed, He needed a good night’s rest in the company of loved ones for He is going to return in the morning and this is going to be a very intensive week for Him which will result in His death of a cross on the eve of the Passover Feast. (Matthew 21:17) Jesus spent the refreshing night in Bethany and rose early and headed back to the Eastern Gate: “Now in the morning as He returned to the city, He was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, ‘Let no fruit grow on you ever again.’ Immediately the fig tree withered away.” (Matthew 21:18) This “curse” on the fig tree has received a lot of questions and there has been much debate. This fig tree has been defended with excuses that it was “not the season for figs” — but those that defend the “fig tree” and suggest that  Jesus could have made a “mistake” here are probably doing so from inside the walls of Jerusalem and have never themselves considered what possible motive could Jesus have to “curse” a poor defenseless fig tree outside the Eastern Gate!?!?  I must admit that for years and years that I would feel uncomfortable reading this passage in Matthew 21:18-22 and the passage where Jesus said, “I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:23) but when the “curse” is looked at as part of a “statement” that Jesus makes about the “doctrines of men” and the religious leaders that were promoting “traditions” for their convenience, the context surrounding this passage of the fig tree curse makes sense. The context begins with Jesus and the disciples “when they drew near Jerusalem” (Matthew 21:1) and Jesus sent two disciples to collect a donkey and her colt from the village of Bethphage just outside the Eastern Gate. (Matthew 21:2-6) Jesus then made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday where He was greeted with mixed reviews; some asked “who is this?”, while others cried “Hosanna to the Son of David”, and others were wrongly explaining “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:7-11) However, once Jesus was inside the city “Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, ‘It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer’, but you have made it a den of thieves.” (Matthew 21:12-13) While in the temple Jesus began to use the temple for its intended purpose but even though Jesus was healing all that were brought to Him in the temple, the chief priests and scribes saw “the wonderful things that [Jesus] did” but the became “indignant”. Jesus rebuked the chief priests and scribes in the temple and then left the city to lodge in Bethany for the night. (Matthew 21:14-17) “Now in the morning, as [Jesus] returned to the city, He was hungry.” (Matthew 21:18) If we fail to understand the “context” of the “curse” on the fig tree, then we are left to be blown about by the winds of ignorance and apathy and all we can hope to do is to not be blown over a precipice or into a pit, however if we study “where and when” Jesus did what He did and “who” Jesus did it to, then we will have the Truth of God revealed to us. Clue: Bethphage is located just outside the eastern gate and it was a walled village built by the Sanhedrin (the Supreme Court of Israel) and was populated by priests. The name Bethphage means “house of unripe figs” and the Sanhedrin that was controlling the religious lives of Israel handed down their “doctrines” to the multitudes and claimed the authority that is reserved only for God Himself. Since Jesus was returning to Jerusalem from Bethany and was heading to the eastern gate, then it is most likely that Jesus is in Bethphage and possibly near some of the chief priests and scribes that Jesus had confronted on Palm Sunday! It makes more sense to think of the “curse” being on the Sanhedrin in Bethphage and not just this one poor defenseless fig tree because it happened between confrontations in the temple of God between Jesus and the chief priests and elders. This is a pretty important final week in the earthly ministry of Jesus and I am sure He would not waste His time on “petty curses” against a fig tree, or do you think there is some mistake here and it happened to get caught on tape?

SEPTEMBER 14 JQ#24-10 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

SEPTEMBER 14   JQ#24-10 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25) 

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Lord Jesus, thank You for letting me see who I really am, a sinner, a dirty unclean disobedient child of God! I say again Thank You for letting me know that everything I do is but filthy rags … everything but one … Obedience to the Father’s will — for now that I know that You KNOW who I am and You have called me HOME  even though it is You that I have sinned against!?!?!?   I can say again, “Thank You Lord”!!! Knowing that I am a sinner is a good thing because I know that You KNOW and so there is nothing to hide from the One that says to my soul, “I know you are a sinner, that’s why I died on the cross for you! I KNOW you are a sinner —BUT — You are a child of the KING, REPENT and come HOME to the FATHER who FORGIVES.” When I know I am a sinner and know how worthless I am, it gives me gives me Great Spiritual Strength to know that if I OBEY the Father, and REPENT of my sins, that He stands WITH OPEN ARMS REJOICING and I hear Him say, “For this [child] of mine was dead [in sin] and is ALIVE AGAIN” [Luke 15:24] — “kill the fatted cow and we will celebrate!”    Sin is good for one thing, when you REPENT from your sins, you have a Loving Father calling you HOME!!!   OBEY the Father that KNOWS you are a sinner, REPENT and COME HOME to the FEAST HE HAS PREPARED for you!!!!     AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SEPTEMBER 14    JQ#24-10  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25)    Jesus leaves Jerusalem and walks to Bethany to spend the night and we wonder why He would leave the temple of God that He had just cleaned and the city of God after being declared “King” by the multitudes?  But it is not a mystery when we consider that Jesus had declared that He “knows the hearts of all men” (John 2:24) and “destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up”! (John 2:19) Jesus knew the mood in Jerusalem in spite of what the “multitudes” were “saying” so Jesus is demonstrating that by His leaving the city and going to Bethany that our Spiritual Reality is not what we say with our lips but what we believe with our hearts! We know that the “houses” in Bethany were not like the grand houses in Jerusalem but then maybe Jesus wasn’t going to a “house” in Bethany but He was most likely going to a “home”. In fact, Bethany was the “home” of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus and also Simon the leper. There are no big houses in Bethany so why would Jesus choose to abandon the “big city” and go “lodge” in a humble dwelling? There can be only one explanation, Jesus was going where there were people whose hearts had previously “welcomed” Jesus and He knew that He would feel “at HOME” with them! Bethany was a special place to Jesus, not because of the real estate in Bethany but because of the “real state” of some special hearts that made their “home in Bethany, humble hearts, welcoming hearts in Bethany that Jesus simply could not find in Jerusalem!!! Therefore, Jesus shows us that He will “lodge” where there are warm hearts that welcome Him into their “home” because He is not concerned with the structure of the house! Jesus is showing us that what is on the outside is called the house but how we prepare the inside is what makes a “house” a “home”! Have you prepared a “grand house” for the admiration of the “multitudes” or have you prepared your “home” where Jesus would be comfortable “lodging” there?  God is demonstrating with every step Jesus takes that what is in our heart is of more value than what is in our bank accounts! Jesus was called the “Son of David” by the multitudes during His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and much of that could have been mass hysteria for the masses soon changed their rhetoric to “crucify Him”, but if they had read the scriptures they would have read where King David himself had written: “For You [LORD] do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart — these [sacrifices] O GOD, You will not despise.” (Psalm 51:16-17) The mystery is solved for me for I know that the hearts of Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Simon the leper were grateful hearts, open and welcoming to Jesus and in Jerusalem all Jesus had encountered were empty defiled temples and greedy, ungrateful hearts — so which would you choose? Would you rather “lodge” with friends and loved ones or stay in a fancy room filled only with rejection? Bethany is sounding like a pretty good place to spend the night don’t you think?  At least Jesus thought so ———

SEPTEMBER 13 JQ#24-9 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

SEPTEMBER 13   JQ#24-9 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25) 

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, I pray for Your Holy Spirit to direct my steps today and keep me focused on finishing well — Lord I know that even though they are “good intentions” on my part, far to often I let my “good intentions” draw my focus off the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and then before I know it I am blindsided with my own “good intentions” and find I have drifted from the “main thing” towards “self” again, it is slow, it is a subtle drift, but it is a drift “away” and Lord I pray that Your Spirit will warn me when I start drifting to “self” for the results are never good, regardless of my intentions — I have surrendered to Your will and pray to remain surrendered, completely!!!    AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SEPTEMBER 13    JQ#24-9  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25)   Jesus clearly never taught a lesson without first “living the answer” and with “Supreme” confidence can a follower of Christ step in His footprints and know the “Way” to the Father! When we read that Jesus cleansed the temple of God in Jerusalem, we can see the Messiah executing the will of the Father in the Father’s temple, and when Jesus is attacked after healing and forgiving sins in the midst of the temple that He had just cleaned, we can see the Son of God declaring “Have you not read [My Father’s words]?” (Matthew 21:16) so then we must know that there is a deep spiritual message when “[Jesus] left them and went out of [Jerusalem] to Bethany, and He lodged there.” (Matthew 21:17) Jesus had made a Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, He then cleansed the temple by driving out the moneychangers and after reclaiming the temple for its rightful purpose and establishing the temple as a “house of prayer” the temple filled with multitudes needing healing of various types “and [Jesus] healed them.” (Matthew 21:14) Then when Jesus, the very Son of God,  was attacked for doing the Father’s work, in the Father’s house, in the Father’s city, Jesus rebuked them and sent them away and one might expect that once Jesus got things in order there in Jerusalem that He would have “lodged” there but no, Jesus went out the Eastern Gate, walked through the Garden of Gethsemane and across the Kidron valley for about 30 minutes and int up the ridge at Olivet into the small village of Bethany on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives — and Jesus found lodging there instead of “downtown Jerusalem”!  Jesus was always letting His life show the “priorities” that He consistently used to guide His actions and in this particular case, the fact that Jesus preferred staying in a humble abode in Bethany instead of some lavish room in Jerusalem spoke volumes ——— for there were some circumstances existing in Bethany that caused Jesus to take the walk “out of the city”, across the Kidron  valley in Bethany and “lodge” there instead! There is much to be considered here if one is a follower of Jesus or if one is a defender of the “doctrines of men”. There was something or someone in Bethany that made the Savior, the Messiah, the King of the Jews, the Son of David want to “lodge there”. If we want Jesus to come “lodge” with us it would be good to know what it was in Bethany that was so appealing to our Lord. On the other hand, if you don’t want to open your house and home to Jesus then you might hang a sign out that says “There’s NO ROOM in the Inn” or flash a big “NO VACANCY” sign and point out to Jesus that His room in Jerusalem was already paid for out to the temple’s “expense account”!  Before we head back to Jerusalem, don’t you think it would be a good idea to find out what drew Jesus to “come to Bethany”?!?!?

SEPTEMBER 12 JQ#24-8 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

SEPTEMBER 12   JQ#24-8 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25) 

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, my Lord and my God, all my Praise and Glory is raised to You! You Lord are beyond any description and Your Greatness is more than can be compared! O Lord, words alone cannot express Your Glory, Lord it takes the Pure Holy Spirit to fully Praise You.  We are not yet what You have purposed us to become and I certainly have much work to done in my life to achieve Your Purpose for my poor wretched soul which is still growing in Your Spirit each day. I suspect that it will be a wretched soul until my wretched body decays into the wretched earth, but Lord Jesus, grant it Lord that I will die each day to my wretched self that Your Love, Peace, Joy, and Righteousness will increase in my life surrendered to You.     AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SEPTEMBER 12    JQ#24-8  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25)   Jesus addressed the “indignant” chief priests and scribes that were in the temple of God in Jerusalem watching Jesus do “wonderful things” (that could only be accomplished by the Messiah) by rebuking them with the very scripture they themselves were supposed to be teaching to the multitudes instead of endeavoring to make political and economic gain for themselves in God’s temple in Jerusalem! (Matthew 21:12-16) After Jesus rebuked the “indignant” chief priests and scribes that had seen Jesus executing the duties of the “Office of the Messiah” right before their eyes in the temple of God in Jerusalem, Jesus “left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.” (Matthew 21:17) The chief priests and scribes in the temple in Jerusalem had been executing the duties of their offices with rulings handed down to them from the Sanhedrin Supreme Court located just outside the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem in Bethphage on the Mount of Olives for hundreds of years. The curse that slowly but surely overcomes all men seeking “power and authority” overtakes the power seeker when he tries to assume the “power and authority of God” and even the strongest of men succumb to the “power curse”! Each man that “succumbs” then contributes to the decay of the “command of God” as they inject personal opinion and personal desire to what they would like to see as a “command” and thereby the “command of God” is defiled bit by bit and eventually what surfaces as “legal” becomes the “doctrines of men” and bears no resemblance to a “command of God”. The transition from the “command of God” to the “doctrine of men is slow and subtle and is most often shrouded in “entitlements and after successive (or more accurately in today’s terms, “progressive”) rulings of each “Supreme Court” are handed down, there eventually comes that time when in order to make room for more “personal” interpretation in the interest of “self-promotion” and “vote-buying entitlements”, the “command of God” must in some cases be eliminated altogether! If you think this has not happened in America, look at the Supreme Court decisions and plot them on a time line with the moral decay milestones our society has experienced from the time that we were the greatest country on earth to our present 3rd world status in 2016! What one must conclude when the Truth slaps you in the face is that Jesus knew something and that indeed each society and every generation must address His question: “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:32  JQ#24) because you cannot answer that question without realizing that each society is ruled by a “government” and the important question is not “Who the government rules?” but the really critical question is “Who rules the government?” At one time when our society was a majority Christian nation and took active part in the American government, there was a Godly meaning to “a government of the people, by the people and for the people” but now that we are “no longer just a Christian nation” and prayer has been removed from our public schools and the sacrifice of the unborn to the “commercial endeavors” is endorsed by our “supreme court” and is the “law of the land”, “We the People” no longer has any valid meaning before the eyes of the True and Only Supreme Judge.  It is truly important that we as a society, we as a family, we as the Church, and we as individuals give an honest answer to this question and admit to ourselves what we truly believe about “baptism”, “power and authority”, “heaven”, and how they all relate to “Jesus”, “Faith”, the “doctrines of men” and the “command of God”!?!?!?!?!?

SEPTEMBER 11 JQ#24-7 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

SEPTEMBER 11   JQ#24-7 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25) 

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, Precious is the Name above all names, Jesus, My Redeemer, my Savior. Lord I can Praise and Glorify the Name for You have delivered my soul, You have restored the Joy of my Salvation and I once again can see and feel Your Guiding Hand lifting me up and leading me on.  Jesus keep me on the paths of righteousness and keep me centered in Your will. I pray that my repentance be turned to true service to You and to the kingdom and will be an acceptable offering before the LORD.    AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SEPTEMBER 11    JQ#24-7  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25)  Jesus continues His confrontation with the “Supreme Court” that had been using their position with God to promote the “doctrines of men” and had become trapped themselves in those doctrines and  when they perceived that they were losing their power over “the multitudes” to Jesus (who was demonstrating the True Power and Authority of God) that they actually  conspired to dispose of Him. Jesus had been in the temple of God in Jerusalem where He had driven out the “moneychangers”, and those that were “buying and selling” in the temple, and “the seats of those that sold doves” (Matthew 21:12) and after declaring the temple a “house of prayer” Jesus healed the multitudes that were brought to Him in the temple, thus restoring the temple of God back to the Purpose for His Temple in Jerusalem— every problem, sickness, ailment, disease, or broken-heartedness that was brought before Jesus in the temple of God and spread before the Lord in His “house of prayer” had their prayers answered as Matthew records: “[all that] came to [Jesus] in the temple…He healed them…but when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did…[the chief priests and scribes] were indignant.” (Matthew 21:14-15) One must ask that if the chief priests and scribes “saw the wonderful things” that Jesus was doing  for the multitudes in the way of answered prayers lifted in the house of God to God Himself, then why on earth were the chief priests and scribes “indignant”?!?!? I cannot get past the fact that Jesus is exerting the True Power and Authority in the temple that bears God’s name, in the city that God declared as the “City of God”, and yet the self-appointed “rulers” can look upon the True Work of God and become “indignant” ??? — it can only be that the “rulers” feared losing their self-appointed “power and authority” more that they feared the source of “True Power and Authority” and that the “indignant”  will defend their little bit power and fame however temporary and fleeting it may be. This is a major problem Jesus encountered and it is a major problem that societies today are encountering and therefore we should look carefully at how Jesus reacted to those that defend the “doctrines and traditions” of men over the “commands” of God!!! Jesus addressed the indignation He encountered while doing “wonderful things” in the temple of Jerusalem by the same response He used when facing Satan and the Temptation in the wilderness —— “And Jesus said to [the indignant chief priests and scribes], ‘Have you never read’…” (Matthew 21:16) and Jesus quoted from the Holy Scriptures to the indignant chief priests what God had to say about the matter at hand. Matthew then records that after Jesus quoted from God’s word that “Then [Jesus] left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.” (Matthew 21:17) It is just as significant a point that Jesus leaves Jerusalem now and goes to “Bethany” and “lodged there” as it was  when He “drew near to Jerusalem” that He “came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives” (Matthew 21:1) !!! The significance of Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and being hailed by the multitudes as the “Son of David” cannot be overstated, especially when Jesus immediately went to the temple and drove out those that had been defiling the house of God by making it a commercial establishment instead of a house of prayer, and we know that it was the Sanhedrin Supreme Court located in Bethphage that had given permission (probably there were many “bribes” given to the Supreme Court) to the moneychangers, and those that bought and sold in the temple! Now that Jesus is exposing the “problem” we must read closely as to what Jesus does next, for He never leaves a problem exposed without presenting the resolution to that problem — and so now Jesus has cleaned the temple as His first order of business, then He retired to “Bethany” — do you suppose that when Jesus returns to Jerusalem in the morning that He will resolve the problem? Another good question that it is appropriate to address to those that see the “wonderful things” that Jesus does and then become “indignant” at the mention of His Holy Name, “Do you suppose that just because Jesus left and went to lodge outside the city for the night that He will ignore the problem inside the city tomorrow?” or to speak the language that our society listens to today I’ll ask the question in Hollywood language — “Just because [Jesus] walked away do you think you are safe? Did you not hear what He said as He was leaving ————— “”I’LL BE BACK”” ?!?!!?!? 

SEPTEMBER 10 JQ#24-6 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25) The Jesus Questions

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

SEPTEMBER 10   JQ#24-6 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25) 

365 Prayers to JESUS 

Jesus, I thank You  Lord for answered prayer as I am walking through my own “valley” of recovery and You give me assurance that You are walking with me and that You will take me “through the valley”. Satan attacks from the bushes saying that we have been abandoned and we run and hide in fear which takes us off the “paths of righteousness” — forgive me for my doubts and fears for there should be nothing in my walk but complete “faith” that You will “never leave me nor forsake me”. Lord Jesus, I move back to the “Light” and once again I can see Your Path and these words cover my soul — Blessed Assurance, Jesus IS mine!!     AMEN

The Jesus Questions

SEPTEMBER 10    JQ#24-6  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”  (Matthew 21:25)   Jesus entered Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey as recorded in Zechariah 9:9 to the shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” (Matthew 21:9 & Psalms 118:26)  which should have alerted everyone that knew enough  scripture to know who King David was, would  recognize that the Coming King that would sit on the Throne of David forever was making His Official entry into Jerusalem! So the Sanhedrin was making a “politically correct” ruling that even though Jesus could work miracles and was doing them in the name of the God, that it was the “opinion” of the Supreme Court that Jesus was just a “prophet from Nazareth of Galilee” (Matthew 21:11) and that was what the multitudes were being told by the “ruling powers” in Jerusalem — however, Jesus has not come to bow to the “doctrines of men” nor abandon His God given purpose because the “supreme court” of the land rules against the will of God! As soon as Jesus entered Jerusalem He went straight to the temple of God and did what one would expect the Chosen One, the Messiah to do! “Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those that sold doves. And [Jesus] said to them, ‘It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” (Matthew 21:12-13) The lesson that Jesus is teaching by what He is “doing” should be seen thusly as the “fulfillment” of prophecy — Jesus rides into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Zechariah 9:9) on the colt of a donkey and is met with praises from the daughter of Zion and declared the Son of David which refers to the Chosen One and coming Messiah. (Psalm 118:26) Once into Jerusalem, the “King” goes to the temple of God and “drove out” everything that was defiling the temple of God! (Matthew 21:12) All these things were written in the Holy Scriptures and pertained specifically to the Messiah, not a prophet. Only the Messiah had the “power and authority” to do what Jesus was doing to the temple of God in the City of God and to leave no doubt that He was the Messiah, the Son of David, the King of the daughter of Zion, Jesus continued doing what only the Messiah could do, “Then the blind and the lame come to [Jesus] in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes say the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’ they were indignant.” (Matthew 21:14-15) I cannot help but see the world that my generation in 2016 is living in today being played out exactly as it is written in these passages in Matthew. We have taken prayer out of our schools and God out of our government. We have allowed our rights and freedoms to know God for ourselves be ridiculed and overruled by decisions handed down by a group of judges that have been politically appointed to establish the “law of the land” without any consideration to the commandments of God but instead these decisions and laws promote the “doctrine of men” that happen to be in “power” and have the “authority” to appoint a “judge” to the Supreme Court of the land! Today our politicians have abandoned “executing the offices of government” as supported by the Commandments of God. Our society today can still see Jesus “…and all the wonderful things He did…” and there are multitudes in each generation that are still seeing Jesus do “wonderful things” in our daily lives and we shout “Hosanna to the Son of David”  and then we turn on the TV and hear that the Supreme Court has decided that it is “politically incorrect” to talk about God and we are subject to the “doctrines of men” — we have succumbed to letting the government of men determine that it is “legal” to kill our unborn if we find the acts of God inconvenient. Jesus had one week left and His question is simple but significant “Do you trust men with unlimited control of your lives and are you willing to give them all the authority and power over our legal system, which will be administered  without the consent or blessings of God?”