DECEMBER 17 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SUMMARY-04 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31 (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

DECEMBER  17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   SUMMARY-04 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31  (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16) 

365 Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, as each new day unfolds Lord we ask for Your Light to shine in our day-to-day world and we thank You that like the consistent sunrise that brings light to the physical world Your Light will rise each day in our spiritual lives and bring with it the blessing of Your renewed Mercies and Grace! Thank You Jesus for Your coming to the earth and taking on flesh and being tempted in all ways such as we but yet You were without sin, and Your Victory over the world is the foundation of our Hope and the expectation of our inheritance in Your kingdom, for surely this world is not our home, but our dwelling will be in the kingdom of God where You have prepared an eternal permanent place for those that would call upon Your name and Repent and turn from our worldly sins — Lord forgive me of all my worldly shortcomings and my daily iniquities and give me the self discipline to forgive others as freely as You forgive us!       AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

DECEMBER  17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   SUMMARY-04 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31  (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16)  Jesus spoke His first words in Matthew’s Gospel and stated that the event unfolding between Him and the forerunner to the Messiah, God’s Chosen One, as “Fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15) which established Jesus as the “Chosen One” and that John was the “one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight’” (Matthew 3:3) thereby Matthew documents that the “Coming One” had arrived! Only the Jewish community that had been reading the Talmud would understand the significance of Matthew being able to trace the genealogy of Jesus back to Abraham through David so the Gospel of Jesus according to Matthew points to the fulfilling of God’s prophecies for the nation Israel and establishes through God’s Covenant Promises with Israel’s forefathers that Jesus was the rightful Heir to the throne of David. I believe that the nation was blinded to the Kingship of Jesus because of His Humble beginnings and the fact that Jesus was more like John the Baptist who had no earthly wealth or possessions except the Spirit of God than Jesus the “soon coming King” was like Israel’s previous great king, King David who possessed the entire kingdom of Israel and had great warrior strength and all the possessions that King Solomon used to build the Great Temple of Solomon! The nation Israel and many people today simply cannot see how a cruel death on a cross at the hands of Israel’s religious rulers that sentenced Jesus  to death as a criminal by the laws of the Roman government could actually be the Messiah and that this “prophet” that did not possess any earthly treasures, that by His Death, Burial, and Resurrection would “fulfill all righteousness”!?!?!? Matthew started his documentation of Jesus fulfilling the Holy Scriptures by establishing in Chapter 1 that Jesus was the “rightful heir”! Any one of the events that Matthew records in his 28 Chapters about the life of Jesus could be considered significant but by recording all the events into a single Gospel we have a record of fulfilling of prophecies by a single man Jesus that defies all logic and odds and that if the odds of one man fulfilling all prophecies could be calculated that it would fit into the category of “counting [all] the stars if [we were] able” (Genesis 15:5) or imaging the number of descendants God promised a fatherless 90 year old man “I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of  the sky and as the sand which is on the seashore” {{have you ever tried counting stars or grains of sand??}} (Genesis 22:17) and these great numbers that are far beyond our counting or imaging the total sum of them point to God the Father for King David wrote: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand!” (Psalm 139:18). Therefore by collecting all the events of Jesus that point to His being the “Son of God, God’s Chosen One, the Messiah” Matthew establishes beyond a shadow of a doubt that it would be IMPOSSIBLE for anyone person to fulfill EVERY Prophecy as Jesus did!!! Matthew established in the first part of Chapter 1 that Jesus is the rightful heir by birthright and in the last part of Chapter 1 Matthew records the fulfilling of early prophecies of the Messiah as Matthew writes: “the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows…Mary was betrothed to Joseph [and] before they came together, she was found with the child of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18) Matthew explains: “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet {{Isaiah 7:14}}, saying, ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name ‘Immanuel’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’” (Matthew 1:22-23) Matthew started at “the beginning” which leaves no room for anyone other than Jesus to claim the title of “God’s Son” and as the Apostle John (whom Jesus loved) wrote about Jesus: “The WORD became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) The Jewish community had been reading the prophecies of the Coming Messiah therefore they would be the first ones to recognize that Jesus was the earthly embodiment of “Immanuel” and truly God had sent His only begotten Son and by observing the life of Jesus, we observe GOD HIMSELF!!!  — and the really GOOD NEWS is that now that Jesus has come that the Promise of God to Joshua becomes  His Promise to us for God assures us “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6) and (Hebrews 13:5)  

DECEMBER 16 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SUMMARY-03 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31 (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

DECEMBER  16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   SUMMARY-03 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31  (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16) 

365 Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, ever will I praise Your Name, for You are ever-Faithful and Your Glory will endure forever! Lord I praise You for Loving me and dying for me while I was lost in my sin — Your LIGHT has lead me into a new day where I pray my new song will be to “work until Jesus comes!” Lord, You have directed my paths to this point and I pray that my eyes and heart will be kept firmly fixed on You and the kingdom’s work and that I will be a good witness to Your Love. Lord Jesus, again and yet anew do I yield my life to serving You and to telling Your “Good News” to those You send my way.       AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

DECEMBER  16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   SUMMARY-03 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31  (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16)  Jesus told His disciples and even the Pharisees and Sadducees that the Holy Spirit would be a “witness” to who He really was and Matthew, being an eyewitness led by the Holy Spirit and Divinely inspired by the Spirit of God, wrote for a permanent record the events that point clearly to Jesus being the Divine Son of God sent to earth with a specific Purpose. Matthew was primarily writing for the Jews because it is the Jewish Holy Scriptures known as the Talmud that the Jews had been reading for thousands of years and had been waiting expectantly for the Messiah, God’s Chosen One! The prophets of old were led by the Holy Spirit to write down the “signs” that would point Jews to their Messiah, just like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were led by the Holy Spirit to write down the fulfillment of those prophecies. You cannot read the Holy Scriptures without seeing God, His Plan, and the fulfillment of all the Spirit led prophecies that God used to “lead His people to the Promised Land” which was true for the Jewish people in the Old Testament of our modern Bible and is true for all that will “seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness” as Jesus directed and is fully documented in the New Testament. God has a Plan and a Purpose for each individual person that breathes the breath of life imparted to us by God as He demonstrated with the first man that God brought into existence. For six days God spoke everything into existence and God declared all His Work to be “good” and when everything was in place, God then deviated from His Creative Process of speaking everything into existence when God decided it was time for mankind — “This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, before any plant of the field was in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed…Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and to keep it.” (Genesis 2:4-15) God spoke everything into existence except man and woman — for with mankind God used His own Hands to form man and then God “breathed” life into the man, and again God used His own Hands to form the woman out of the rib of man, an operation which again was accomplished by God demonstrating His “Hands On” commitment to mankind — and to “seal the deal” and to show that God had all His Creation planned out before “the beginning” that we read of God’s intent for mankind to be special: “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He crated him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27) So let us approach this “Summary” of God’s Plan for the world as documented in the Gospel of Matthew in this way: The Old Testament is a written record of God revealing His Plan and “how” He intends to “execute” His Plan and then the New Testament is a written record of eyewitness accounts of the fulfillment of prophecies in Jesus Christ as well as prophecies  regarding the “completion” of God’s Plan for all Mankind. Again, the fact that Matthew writes primarily for the Jews is because it is through the Jews and the nation Israel that God has intended from BEFORE the beginning of mankind to fulfill God’s Plan for the world! The main point is that BEFORE man came into existence God “had a Plan” — and the obvious Truth of God in that statement is that God had made His Plan without man so mankind must accept that God is in control and is the Master Plan Maker — and life for mankind must fit God’s Purpose for He alone is the giver of life, the Creator — and everything that is not God is His Creation — get that part straight and the rest is a piece of cake! 

DECEMBER 15 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SUMMARY-02 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31 (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

DECEMBER  15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   SUMMARY-02 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31  (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16) 

365 Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, as I start this “Summary” of Your “Lessons” that You taught us in order to reveal God the Father and His Ultimate Truth to us and to bring the “Light” of understanding to the “Ways of God”, I pray for the Holy Spirit to guide the Words written in this “Summary” that they will be a Glory and Honor to the Blessed Trinity that when we read the Word that it will Reveal the Father, Glorify the Son, and Honor the Holy Spirit in such a Way that our lives will be transformed and that we will “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) and Trust God and His Mighty Provisions, which God Freely Bestows on undeserving sinners not because of anything we have done, but simply because of  God’s Holy Character and His Infinite Love for His Creation!       AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

DECEMBER  15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   SUMMARY-02 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31  (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16)  Jesus started His earthly Ministry at a point where Jesus is leading us to — that “point” in each of our lives that is the “turning point” in our Spiritual Journey and that “point” is always when we arrive at that time in our life when we see the “spiritual” need to enter into God’s Purpose for our lives and to yield control of our desires for the world to His Desire for our life — and at that “point”, we will follow the example of Jesus. Jesus directs us to that “point” as He began His Teaching and the first thing He did was follow the Will of God which was recorded by Matthew in Chapter 3 in which Matthew set the scene for us: “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 3:1) and then Matthew tied John the Baptist to the Holy Scriptures and the prophet Isaiah as Matthew had declared that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah who had written 800 years earlier that the forerunner of the expected Messiah would be one that was “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight’” (Isaiah 40:3 quoted in Matthew 3:3). When the people of Judea and the areas surrounding Jerusalem heard there was “one in the wilderness” that was preaching “Repentance for the kingdom of heaven was at hand” and that they should be “baptized” it was at that point in their spiritual lives that the Holy Scriptures came alive for them and they could see the prophecies of old being fulfilled and “Then in Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to [John the Baptist] and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Matthew 3:5-6) Matthew also introduces the conflict Jesus would address regarding the religious rulers in Jerusalem, the Pharisees and Sadducees, as Matthew records that the Pharisees and Sadducees came out to John the Baptist at the Jordan where he was baptizing and John declared them to be a “Brood of vipers!” and warned them to change their ways and “flee from the wrath to come” and told them plainly “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:7-8) And when John had their attention John set the scene for Jesus to appear when John declared “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11) Therefore when “Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized” (Matthew 3:13) it was to fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah regarding the forerunner of the Messiah (Isaiah 40:3) and of the restoration of the Davidic kingdom by Christ (See Isaiah 11:1-10)  which was why Jesus allowed Himself to be baptized by John in the Jordan and why Matthew records Jesus as saying to John about His Baptism “Permit [My Baptism] to be so now, for thus it is fitting for [the forerunner and the Christ] to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15) and by doing so to start His earthly ministry in which Jesus would begin teaching “repentance” and to point us to the “path of the LORD” — Jesus clearly stated later that we are to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) for our lives. Matthew also in this passage establishes that part of the mission of the Christ will be to address the problem of the religious rulers who have defiled the temple of God and have led the nation Israel away from following God and His Commandments for John not only called them a “Brood of vipers!” but he warned them that Christ would “baptize [them] with the Holy Spirit and fire” and also Christ had “His winnowing fan in His hand, and He will throughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:7-12)  So Matthew uses John the Baptist and the prophet Isaiah to introduce the Christ and then Jesus steps on the scene and fulfills prophecy to begin His earthy ministry and sets the “Perfect Example” for all that would follow Jesus Christ to read the Holy Scriptures, repent, and to seek God and His Righteousness. 

DECEMBER 14 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SUMMARY-01 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31 (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

DECEMBER  14  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   SUMMARY-01  of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31  (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16) 

365 Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, Lord, LORD, El Elyon, Creator, Prince of Peace, Glory, Honor and Praise to the Lamb of God, Conceived By the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, the WORD became flesh and dwelt among us, yet You Lord Jesus Christ were without sin, living a Perfect Life in Obedience to the Will of the Father, becoming the Perfect Sacrifice for ALL sin, that Your Righteousness could be imparted to mankind as the Atonement for our transgressions, that through the Shed Blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross at Calvary, we as Repentant sinners could through Forgiveness by the Father enter into Eternal Fellowship with God the Father! Praise be the Matchless Name of JESUS CHRIST!!!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

DECEMBER  14  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   SUMMARY-01 of the Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#31  (Matthew 1:1 thru 26:16)  Jesus always lived a Lifestyle every minute in a manner that any inspection, from any viewpoint, ALWAYS revealed Jesus was  ALWAYS OBEDIENT to His Father! The Questions, Lessons and Parables that Jesus used to Teach the TRUTH OF GOD were always presented in such a way that to Gain Understanding of the Truth, all we have to do is look at how Jesus lived His own Life in the flesh through the SPIRIT OF GOD. “The first of the four Gospels was written by Matthew, also called Levi, who was an Apostle of Jesus and this Gospel  by Matthew was originally written for the Jews and presents Christ as the Son of David and the Son of Abraham. Because He is portrayed as King, His genealogy is traced to King David. Only in Matthew does Christ speak of ‘the throne of His glory’. In this Gospel according to Matthew, Jerusalem is referred to as ‘the Holy City’ and ‘the city of the great King’…since Matthew is the Gospel of the King, it is also the Gospel of the ‘kingdom’  and in this Gospel written by Matthew, the word ‘kingdom’ appears more than fifty times and the expression ‘the kingdom of heaven’ which is found nowhere else in the New Testament, appears about thirty times.” {{See The Scofield Study Bible, New King James version. Copyright ** 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. pg.1299}} It is safe to say that the main theme in this Gospel according to Matthew is that Jesus Christ is the King and Matthew does an excellent job of documenting the Life and Teachings of Jesus that clearly demonstrates that only Jesus Christ and His Birth, Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection fulfills all the prophecies written about the Messiah and the “Soon Coming King”. This section of The Jesus Questions then is going to take The Jesus Questions JQ#1 thru JQ#31 and summarize them in an order to confirm and demonstrate that every step Jesus took and every lesson that Jesus taught was to illuminate the WAY to the “Truth of God His Father” and to “the kingdom of heaven” where Jesus Christ will Rule as King for all Eternity! Matthew begins his Gospel “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:” (Matthew 1:1) and for the next four chapters Matthew is setting the stage for the ministry and the teachings of Jesus. Matthew at the end of Chapter 3 quotes Jesus for the first time in the Gospel, “But Jesus answered and said to [John the Baptist], ‘Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’” (Matthew 3:15) Matthew, in Chapter 1, lists the Genealogy of Jesus Christ starting with “Abraham begot Isaac …and Jesse begot David the king…and Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.” (Matthew 1:1-17) Thus Matthew, in the Jewish tradition lists the genealogy of Jesus through the “husband” and declares the birth mother of Jesus Christ and in deep Jewish tradition, the Jewish genealogy is always given through the “Family” line! Thus Matthew establishes that Jesus can trace His Genealogy back to Abraham through Isaac and Jacob and can claim the fulfillment of the “Promise of God” to Abraham that “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3) and the Promise of God to King David through the prophet Isaiah, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David, and over His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7). Thus Matthew tied Jesus to prophecy and establishes Jesus as the True Heir to the Throne of Thrones as King of Kings! 

DECEMBER 13 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31-29 Conclusion: “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

DECEMBER  13  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#31-29 Conclusion: “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45) 

365 Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, my Lord and my Savior, my Redeemer, You are the Prince of Peace, and it is Your Sacrifice that I owe my Eternal Life to — for it was the Shedding of Your Blood, the Blood of the Only Begotten of the Father God in Heaven that Bought my Salvation and is the Propitiation of all my iniquities — and because of those things that my Gracious and Merciful God Gave freely to undeserving sinners such as me that I can now look forward with Hope to my future and no longer fear death — for God Almighty through the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God has freed us from the condemnation of sin and we can enter into His Kingdom and the Joy of the LORD!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

DECEMBER  13  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#31-29 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)  Jesus uses the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) to remind us that regardless of our situation in life that God has bestowed on our individual lives everything that we need to live an abundant life — but least we forget where all blessings come from, the parables and lessons that Jesus has been teaching in this Passover Week in the final days before His Crucifixion is that (1) He is Coming Again!!! (2) When He RETURNS there will be the “settling of accounts” (3) and depending on the “Choices” we have made with our God-given Gift of Freewill, we will either suffer the “great tribulation” or we will enter into “the joy of the Lord”. (4) God will not “judge” us for by our own choices and actions we are “witnesses against ourselves” and God at the “end of the age” will administer our just rewards and penalties that were foreordained before the foundation of the world. Jesus has taught again and again that there will be a “Judgement Day” and God Himself has shown from generation to generation that He has a Plan and God reveals Himself to everyone that seeks knowledge of Him. God has given us His Holy Word through the lives of individuals, God has through inspiration of the Holy Spirit documented His Plan for all to read in the Holy Scriptures, God has sent His Only Begotten Son to be born of a virgin in order that Jesus could be made flesh and live the Perfect Life that as the Lamb of God Jesus could through His Death be the only Acceptable Sacrifice in the Eyes of The Holy and Just God for the sins of the world, a world of sinners that God loved enough to send the Messiah to save! When we read the parables we must read the “bottom line” and understand that it is our actions that will gain us the “reward” of hearing God Himself say to us “Well done, good and faithful servant…Enter into the joy of your lord.”(Matthew 25:23) or “Cast the unprofitable servant {who was not a faithful, wise, and watchful servant} into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:30) If we only read the lessons that Jesus taught in His Last Week on Earth, there would be enough knowledge of God and the Kingdom of Heaven to know that God’s Plan of Salvation includes the Blood Sacrifice of the Lamb of God which God Himself had promised that He Himself would “provide the sacrifice” which was fulfilled with the Life, Death, Burial, and RESURRECTION of Jesus Christ!!! Jesus came and obeyed the Father’s Will, suffered at the hands of His own and died on a Cross, was buried in the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and as Jesus had stated clearly several times before His Death, that on the Third Day He would be Resurrected by God and then Ascend into Heaven and sit at the Right Hand of God until that time when God sends the Bridegroom to get His Bride and THEN THE FINAL JUDGEMENT!!! There is no confusion to any that study the Holy Scriptures, that no one can stay the hand of God and if God declares it, it will be done! There is no excuse, we have been given every opportunity to know God for He has “Revealed Himself” to us, and at the “end of the age” when Jesus “Returns” God will “settle accounts” God has provided each with a menu, but we must choose what meal we will eat — will you eat at the table prepared by the King of Heaven and Earth and hear the joyful sounds of the wedding feast and “enter into the joy of the Lord” or will you choose to eat of the bitterness of selfishness which we must partake of as a result of providing for ourselves, a meal served in darkness and the only sound we hear is “weeping and the gnashing of teeth”!?!?!?!?!?!?  

DECEMBER 12 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31-28 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

DECEMBER  12  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#31-28 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45) 

365 Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus You alone are greatly to be praised for You are the Only Begotten of the Father        who Obeyed the Father’s Will and was the Only Acceptable Sacrifice for the sin of the world. Lord Jesus, where would we be without You becoming the Lamb of God, yeah our Passover Lamb to deliver us from the bondage of slavery to sin? Lord, You said plainly on the Cross as You were Suffering in Agony for our transgressions — “IT IS FINISHED” — O Blessed thought that everything that needed to be done to remove the shackles of sin from us has been accomplished and all we have to do is to choose to remove our shackles of sin by using the “key” of Jesus Christ and letting Him remove our sin and toss it into the depths of the sea and remove our sin from us as far as the East is from the West! Thank You Lord Jesus, forgive me my daily iniquities and then grant unto me the daily Bread of Life that is Your Word!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

DECEMBER  12  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#31-28 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)  Jesus makes it clear in the Parable of the Talents that everything we have in the way of “provisions” come from God but we must choose how to use them, either to satisfy self or to glorify Him and those that choose to use the provisions they receive from God for the Glory of God are rewarded! Jesus had just said that the [Master] had given to each of “his own servants” talents “according to [their] own ability” and then “Immediately the [Master] went on a journey.” (Matthew 25:14-15) Jesus next lists in the Parable of the Talents what each “servant” did with what the [Master] had given each “servant” (Matthew 25:15-18) and then Jesus comes to the main point of the parable: “After a long time the lord [the Master] of those servants came and settled accounts with them.” (Matthew 25:19)  This is a very HUGE statement by Jesus about God’s Plan of Salvation for all of mankind that we should stop and look at very carefully. This HUGE statement has been told in many other ways by Jesus therefore the “statement” is not new, but this “statement” made at this time (just before His “Last Supper”) and the fact that Jesus makes the “statement” and then goes into very graphic detail of the “Consequence” of the “Actions” we choose for ourselves relative to the “talents” God has given us and His “expectations” as expressed in God’s Law of Choice and Consequence which clearly states the we are free to “Choose” what “Action” we desire to make for ourselves but God has already established the “Consequence” of our “Actions” therefore, our “Actions” either “Commend” or “Condemn” us to God the Judge. To be Fair and Equitable to all generations God has declared the “Consequences” to be Firm and Fixed for all time! Jesus states “the facts”: “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord [the Master] said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord [the Master].” (Matthew 25:20-21) Here is where I always stop and desire greatly to live my life according to these principles of the Parable of the Talents (1) God gives us what is necessary to live an abundant life (2) We have also been given Freewill and can choose for ourselves what we will do with His Gifts (3) God will require an “accounting” of our Actions (4) God will reward the “faithful and wise servant” and (5) if we prove ourselves “faithful” to God with the little things He gives us, then we will be made “rulers” over many things. (6) Faithful and Wise Servants who elect to be “His own servants” and serve Him Faithfully will be Commended by God and can enter into “THE MASTER’S JOY” which I am certain beyond any shadow of doubt that “THE MASTER’S JOY” will be a GREATER JOY than I can possibly imagine! This would be a good time to reflect over these simple facts and let them become your HOPE as they have become mine, for I strive to be found “serving Him faithfully” so that WHEN HE RETURNS I will be found doing those things that HONOR GOD and God will Commend me and I will hear God [the Master] Himself say as He puts His Own Hand on my shoulder, “WELL DONE, THY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT”!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

DECEMBER 11 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31-27 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

DECEMBER  11  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#31-27 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45) 

365 Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, You are Gracious and Merciful to all that will accept Your Grace and Mercy — Lord why do we refuse the Gift God has Sacrificed so much to give?!?! Lord, I believe that there is no other Way but the WAY that You declare as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Lord when we think we are to strong individually to believe in Your Great Sacrifice    then I pray for Divine weakness to humble us before the LORD — Lord there is none like Thee and Lord we are foolish to think that we do not need to follow the Creator of Life in order to know how to live life as You have designed us to live! Lord I humbly bow before You admitting my shortcomings and pray that Your Mercy and Your Grace be showered upon me and if it be Thy Permissive Will, that I will be a faithful and wise servant of THE MASTER!!!!!!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

DECEMBER  11  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#31-27 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)  Jesus shows us in the Parable of the Talents that all our “talents” are gifts bestowed on us by the “Master” but let us not miss the fact that the “Master” knows each of us personally and the gifts that the “Master” bestows on us are “according to [our] own abilities” — Only an All-Knowing, All-Powerful, and All-Loving Master could know each of us personally and our individual abilities enough to give us exactly what we need. The Parable of the Talents then amplifies God’s knowledge of each of our lives as the parable lists the details of each servant and what that servant did with what the “Master” had given them: “Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.” (Matthew 25:16-18) A side note here is not to get distracted by the “amount” of “money” that was given to each because the important detail is that all “money” was not the servant’s “money” that they were “entitled” to because of their “service” but all that they “received” was “given” to them by the “Master” and was “his lord’s money”!!! When we get distracted by “money” we lose focus on “where” the “money” comes from and what we have actually “done” to deserve it. Jesus continues immediately in the Parable of the Talents and brings us to the Truth of God and the “point” of the parable with: “After a long time the lord [the Master] of those servants came and settled accounts with them.” (Matthew 25:19) This Truth of God then is one that we often miss when we get ourselves caught up in “trading” and trying to “make more money” and we miss the truth that there is coming a “time” even though it may be “After a long time”, but the TRUTH is that the “Master” will RETURN and there will be an “accounting” of what we have done with the life the “Master” has given us! Jesus has been teaching that at the “end of the age” that “heaven and earth will pass away” and there will be a “judgement/accounting” of our actions and Jesus has clearly stated that “you are witnesses against yourselves” and that we cannot “escape [our] condemnation” which is a result of what we have done individually with the life the “Master” gave us and then left us for “a long time”!?!?!? Each and every parable that Jesus teaches us is full of promise but with each “promise” that the “Master” gives us, we must accept the responsibility to the “Master” that comes with the “promise” and we must understand that it is God that is making both the promise and establishes the “Terms and Conditions” of the promise and since God’s “promise” is a “gift” then we either accept God’s “Terms and Conditions” that go with the “Gift” or we do not accept the “Gift” if we will not accept His “Terms and Conditions”!!! Our digital world cannot be navigated without us first accepting the “Terms and Conditions” of whatever it is we have chosen to add to our “possessions” and there simply is “no negotiations” in the “Terms and Conditions” and we check the box “I Accept” and go to the “Next” button on our way to getting “more” possessions and we make the mistake of thinking we have “earned” or are “entitled” to these temporary possessions — and yet we want to negotiate “Terms and Conditions” with God’s “Gift” of “Eternal” life which is the greatest possession that we could possibly have! The only “Eternal Life” being offered by the world is the Gift of Salvation that God gives to those that accept His “Terms and Conditions” for the “GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE” and those “Terms and Conditions” are that we “Believe” that God “So loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son [Jesus].” (John 3:16) To receive “Eternal Life” all you have to do is “believe God’s Word” and check the box:  

                                                          TERMS AND CONDITIONS

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting  life.”(John 3:16) 

____  I ACCEPT