Layman's Pulpit

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

AUGUST 11  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#24-06  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<  JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)

224 of 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

AUGUST 11  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#24-06  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<  JQ#24  “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 foretold in Zechariah 9:9 to the shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed in 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, that Jesus WAS the Coming King that would sit on the Throne of David forever and Jesus WAS “coming in the name of the Lord” and He 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” of Israel 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 simply because the “man-made 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 anyone 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 to 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 man-made “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 subjected once again to the “doctrines of men” — we have succumbed to letting a government of men determine that it is “legal” to kill our unborn if we find the acts of God inconvenient to our modern lifestyle. Jesus had one week left on earth 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?”