FEBRUARY 17 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#04-04 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#04 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#04-04 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#04  “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, each day as I start my day with the thought of “Jesus”, there is a Peace that cannot be explained but LORD I need no explanation and that amplifies my Peace. There is no name like the Name of Jesus and there are no thoughts like thinking about Jesus! Each morning as I rise and go to Your Holy Word there is an eternal Hope for my life and then I write the Name “JESUS” and my soul knows that You are the Light of men and that Your Light is THE  LIFE. Jesus forgive me of my daily shortcomings and carry me until I finally become One with You, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#04-04 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#04  “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3) Jesus is the Master Teacher and He has been Teaching these first four Lessons in a specific order therefore He has a specific overall objective because each Lesson builds upon the last Lesson and points us to the next Lesson while keeping us focused in the direction of “Light” that He is leading us into. This section on “Judging” has been a struggle for me and my spirit feels violated by the world. Jesus was always Teaching Lessons that are “universal” in that every soul of every generation can apply His Teaching to their daily lives! In other words — “Each Lesson Jesus Taught was relevant when Jesus first spoke His Words and they are just as relevant today as we read His Words for the first time in our lives!!!”  I know that every thing that I read about in God’s Holy Word points to Jesus and when we focus on Jesus we can see God’s Love being poured out on all generations through the Great Sacrifice and Obedience of the Only Begotten Son yet when I read this command from Jesus as written in Matthew 7:6 I struggle, not because I struggle with following Jesus but because I struggle with the fear that I am not understanding the True Lesson Jesus is trying to Teach when He says: “Do not give what is holy to the dogs…” (Matthew 7:6)!! Yesterday the Holy Spirit led me consider that this new age of unbelievers are in the process of “re-defining God’s Moral Standard” by which God has commanded us that “we should judge our own actions and let God Himself judge others”, and it is through that process of “re-defining God’s Moral Standard” that the new unbelievers have removed all that is “Holy” from the “judgment process established by God” thereby making the New Age Moral Standard “relative” to the reigning political thought of what is best for the political beast to retain power! I gave two instances: (1) Abortion and (2) Same Sex Marriage. If we look at “Abortion” from its “re-definition perspective” then we see that the “politics” of abortion is what is driving the “re-definition” of abortion which is now defined, not from God’s Moral Standard but from the political viewpoint which our modern society is told is “the woman’s right to choose”. There is a great conflict with God’s word with this modern re-definition of “abortion” as the “woman’s right”??  God grants each individual life and God does not give the “right” to take that “life” from the individual God gave life to. Only by taking the “Holy” aspect away from life can they “re-define” abortion! You cannot show a single abortion that has not deprived an individual of that individual’s “God given right to life”!! The same is true with “Same Sex Marriage” — Two people of the same sex have been given by those seeking “political power” the “?legal?” right to marriage but there is no “Biblical Justification by God’s Moral Standard” that same sex couples can enter into “Holy Matrimony”. The political “re-definition” of marriage has removed the “Holy” element of marriage therefore “Holy Matrimony” is impossible when “Holy” has been “politically” removed from marriage!  Again this has been done to “politically re-define” those terms that have always kept our common moral compass pointing to the “Truth of God”. Jesus is Teaching us on “judging” in Matthew 7:6 that we must not abandon God’s Laws and we should always “judge” as led by the Holy Spirit of God and not by some “politically motivated re-definition” of men seeking to remove that which is “Holy” from “God’s Moral Standard” as determined by God to be the True Definition of “Right and Wrong”. Each society must come to the TRUTH that God is Eternal and His Holiness is UNCHANGING — God Himself and His Holiness must NOT be removed from the laws of our society — for without God’s Holy Moral Standards we are left with man’s standard which has demonstrated that we are  “fallen” from God’s Holiness and we are left living in an un-Holy Godless Society without a Moral Compass for our Guiding Light — and where there is no “Light” to guide us, we always end up in darkness!   Tomorrow we will start looking at JQ#05 in Matthew 7:7-12 which will return “Holy” to our judgments.

FEBRUARY 16 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#04-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#04 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#04-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#04  “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Lord this is my prayer of thanksgiving — of all the things that I could be doing and all the places that I could go, I have chosen to start each and every day by writing the Name above all names — JESUS! Lord, over the years as I have tried virtually every thing under the sun, nothing has ever given me peace nor made me a better person than calling on  the Name of Jesus! There is Truth and there is Hope, and there is the Assurance that what God says He Will Do, He Does — Lord, Your Word is Holy and Your Way is the True Path of Righteousness so I pray for Your Guidance and Your Presence to lead me forward keeping my eyes on Your Glory.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#04-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#04  “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3) Jesus started this section by giving us a command to “Judge not…” (Matthew 7:1a) and there is a gnawing in my spirit that is linking this command to today’s new age definition of “tolerance”. Like so many other words used to control our thought process (by whoever it is that thinks that the average man cannot think for himself) the new meaning of “tolerance” does not carry the same meaning that I grew up with. These verses from the Holy Bible are being used against Christians in this new age of “tolerance” as we are accused of being “intolerant” if we don’t accept people that have made different life choices than we as Christians have made under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and living a life as commanded by God Himself. When we look at “tolerating” people, the new age definition has rewritten the definition to mean that we completely accept them without passing “judgment” on them and we have been led to believe that “total acceptance” is the “right thing” to do and they are using this command from Jesus “not to judge others” as proof that Jesus would have accepted them. The problem I have with that thinking is that if we “tolerate” the ungodly as defined by God Himself then we are putting man’s definition of “tolerance” above the Godly Moral Standard!?!?!  By accepting the worlds definitions generated by men then we have effectively made “Tolerance” our new god as we substitute God’s Moral Standard of “do not judge” with new age “total acceptance” of every type of behavior in the name of “new age tolerance”! What is being overlooked in this passage God is not saying that the sinner will “not be judged”, God is saying that we are to leave the “judging to the fair and all knowing Righteous JUDGE”!!! The new age definition of tolerance would leave us to believe that God has changed His mind about what behaviors are “abominations” — while in reality God is saying that we are “to leave judging others to Him and we should accept His judgement as our standard”!! So if God writes in His Holy Word that homosexual behavior is an “abomination” then we should take God at His Word.  We have allowed our society to climb out on a very slippery slope by “accepting” without question the new definitions that are being imposed on our social philosophy. Two instances: (1) Abortion and (2) Same sex marriages. When did we as a society drop our Moral Standards based on God’s Holy Word and allow a government appointed representative body of 9 people (all lawyers) to decide what is “morally acceptable” by a simple majority of as little as 5 people and to declare what is “legal” behavior for millions of people? We as a society have allowed the establishment of a new godhead in the government that is “appointed” by the sitting administration and we are letting them use whatever political standard they chose to establish what is “morally acceptable” for our entire society?! “The LORD is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth…” (Isaiah 40:28) and yet the government in their thirst for “power and control” will soon be passing legislation to outlaw the use of God’s Moral Standard and new laws will be written to support this new age moral standard based on this new definition of “Tolerance”! Talk about a “double standard” —they will outlaw the Bible first but then use it to justify their new “Tolerance” law because Jesus said “Judge not…” !?!?! This discourse on letting the world establish the Moral Standard is in my opinion the result of Christians “… giving what is holy to the dogs…” and “casting our pearls before swine” because I see the future of Christians (if we stay on this slippery slope) “trampled under [the government’s feet]” as they “turn and tear [Christians] to pieces…” (Matthew 7:6) Surely we must “educate” our government that “judge not” is to be applied to “everyone that is not God”, and that includes the entire government for the government is NOT God, the government is elected and appointed! If we abandon God’s Moral Standard and replace it with an “opinion” from the “supreme court” comprised of “appointed” justices that cannot use God’s Moral Standard to make a decision, then there is no justice!!! 

FEBRUARY 15 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#04-02 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#04 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#04-02 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#04  “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, I pray today that Your Spirit will move among all the families that all hurt and separations will be dissolved so that a Great Healing will begin in each and every family. Lord, there is no hope for mankind if mankind remains removed from the family unit established by God and those institutions set up for the good of the family by the Creator God and Everlasting Father. Jesus, You said that You and the Father are One and You prayed that we could be One with You and the Father, so Lord that is my prayer today, that Your Spirit will unite all families that we can be One with You, and the Father, and the Holy Spirit of God!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#04-02 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#04  “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3) Jesus is the Great Physician and the only One qualified to do “I Surgery” (see February 14) and successfully remove the “speck” in our brother’s eye and the “plank” from our own! As we examined ourselves on the aspect of “judging” as we began looking at JQ#04, Jesus points out to us that we are in danger of becoming worse off ourselves than the one we have tried to “judge” when He asks JQ#04 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3) Jesus immediately followed that Question with an identical Question just in case we didn’t get it the first time: “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:4)  Two Questions back to back (JQ#4a & JQ#4b) from Jesus and both demand we stop and consider what is happening in our life BEFORE we stop and try to “judge” what is going on in someone else’s life! The language Jesus uses always makes it clear what His meaning is and in this case Jesus immediately asks the Questions and then before waiting for an answer He uses the word “Hypocrite!” He makes it clear that He is calling the one that “judges others” without first looking at himself IS the “Hypocrite!” Jesus makes this evident when He states: “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye…” (Matthew 7:5a) leaving no doubt that the “Hypocrite!” is the one that fails to see that we should seek to be righteous before God before we try to judge the righteousness of others. Jesus gives us a reward for doing things as He commands for He states that if we will first examine ourselves and resolve our own issues “…then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:5b) Jesus is saying if we do not judge others then He will give us discernment to actually help others instead of judging them! Doing things from the Jesus Perspective keeps our attention on Proper Priorities and it is only Proper Perspective when we keep a right-relationship with God as the first order of business! We are to continually examine ourselves and our motives and when we are sure that we have taken care of spiritual business in the order and manner which God commands, then and only then can we be useful in doing God’s work and help others instead of judging others. God always holds those that want to serve Him to a higher standard so we must be aware of the responsibility of being called Christians! Each JESUS Question points to a Spiritual Standard: JQ#01 - “…glorify your Father in Heaven…” JQ#02 - “…therefore you shall be perfect…” JQ#03 - “…seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” and now in JQ#04 - “do not judge…” but [remove our own unrighteous] “plank” from our lives before we try to [remove the unrighteous] “speck” from theirs.” The next verse I still struggle with and I pray for God to direct my heart on Matthew 7:6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs…” ——— does it somehow tie in with Matthew 7:1-5??

FEBRUARY 14 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#04-01 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#04 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 14  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#04-01 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#04  “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Praise Your Holy Name for You Lord have given up more than anyone will ever give up and You did it out of Pure Obedience to the Father’s Will and Master Plan of Salvation for all mankind. Praise be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for the Plan of Salvation. Let us not question why God chose Jesus as the Only Way to enter into Holy Fellowship with the Father, but let us instead be joyful and rejoice that God has prepared The Way for a sinner to be saved! Jesus is the Name and the Way to Eternal Life with the Father and the Way to live more abundantly on this earth. Lord, I choose to live with You in heaven and pray to be always focused on the Way to get there.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 14  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#04-01 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#04  “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3) Jesus has so far asked us with His first three Questions: (JQ#01) to consider that we have been made in the image of God and therefore in God’s Plan for mankind He has decided that we, through our daily lives are to represent Him as the “salt” and the “light” of the earth and (JQ#02) our attention is directed towards separating ourselves from the world, not to isolate ourselves but to let our “light” shine through the darkness in the world — our “light” is to be Powered by God’s Greatest Gift to mankind, His “Love” which He desires to bestow on the world. In order to make our “light” shine brightly we have to “Love others” like God “Loves” us. Then (JQ#03) Jesus asked us to look around at how God has taken care of His world and has provided so abundantly for His Creation and answer honestly, “Is not life more than bread, and the body more than clothing?” which if we do answer honestly we will see that the world is “physical” and in a “fallen” state but through God we can see the “Spiritual” world and the possibilities of “Hope” that exist through following God’s Plan for the “Spiritual” life which He offers freely to all that will “believe” and have “Faith in God and His Plan for Man”. That brings us to the next Question (JQ#04) Jesus places before us, and Jesus with (JQ#04) does in the same manner with this 4th Question what He did in Teaching us about “Worry” in (JQ#03) by starting out with an imperative statement of the Truth of God: “Judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1) Jesus is very clear on how He feels about us judging others, and it only takes Jesus 2 well placed words to say all that needs to be said about “Judging” in this verse as He states “Judge not…” and then He uses 5 more words — “…that you be not judged…” for a total of just 7 words to teach us all we need to know to pass a spiritual test on “Should we as Christians judge others?” If we stop and listen to what Jesus is Teaching on “judging” then we can confidently answer “Why” we should refrain from “judging others”. Jesus continues this important section on “judging others” which boils down to adjusting our attitudes spiritually to promote a positive attitude from others in the next verse: “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Matthew 7:2) What may seem obvious on the “physical” surface to our worldly eyes may need to have the surface scratched “Spiritually” a little for that “digging deeper study” on “judging others” by our worldly viewpoint.  Jesus does make it clear what our initial action should be when He asks JQ#04: “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3) Every time I read this section I get the impression that the Holy Spirit is telling me that if I observe something in someone else that makes me want to “judge them” then I should immediately run to a mirror and look to see what I am doing in my own life that generated that erroneous feeling? I always call this section “I”surgery” because I believe that Jesus is telling us that we should operate on ourself to correct our “Spiritual Blindness” and to be acceptable in God’s eyes before we should operate on someone else so they are acceptable to us. Jesus is telling us that there may indeed be a “speck” in my brother’s eye but if I try to take God’s place and pass “judgment on” the “speck” in my brother’s eye that in “Reality” from God’s perspective I have effectively blinded myself by inserting a “plank” in my own “I” and just as we cannot save someone else from their sins (because only Jesus has that Power to Save) it is our responsibility to share the Gospel of Jesus with them — I apply the principal of letting the “I” Surgeon do “I” Surgery” in this “speck removal operation” — we are not to perform the “I” Surgery operation on our brother, but we should refer them to Jesus and let the Great Physician do what only He can. This is a difficult Question/Lesson so we should look closely at what Lesson the Master Surgeon has to Teach us in this section on the subject of “I” surgery.  

FEBRUARY 13 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#03-05 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#03 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life…Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 13  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#03-05 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#03  “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life…Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Praise, Glory, Honor to the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the Only Name by which man can be freed of his natural sin. Lord Jesus, every time we see a cross, our first thought should be of the Great Sacrifice of the Divine Innocence, and the second thought should be that the cross is empty!! The empty cross should remind us that God loved us enough to put His Only Begotten Son on the cross but also that God loved His Son so much that He did not leave Him there! The empty cross and the empty grave express the full measure of God’s Love for us and the Resurrection is God’s Eternal Covenant with sinful man. Praise you Lord, for “It is Finished!” (John 19:30)     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 13  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#03-05 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#03  “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life…Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25) Jesus concludes His Lesson on “worry” (JQ#03 - Matthew 6:24-34) with His Advice that we should not seek “things” of this world “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things [God knows everything that we have need of] shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:33-34)   The answer to the  (8) “Why worry?” Jesus Questions in the JQ#03 section is simply to accept the fact that depending on “self” is useless but if we trust Jesus and follow His commands then we will quit worrying about useless things of this world and use all our mental facilities to grow our “Faith in Jesus” and accept what God has in store for our day-to-day lives and our eternal future. The Holy Spirit started me out on my personal Spiritual Journey to God in 2004 with Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” and whenever I feel I am being deprived of some worldly possession, the Holy Spirit uses Matthew 6:33 to turn my focus away from self and back onto the Savior and my physical worries melt away — it worked in 2004 and has worked every year since and remains TRUE today! There simply is no room in “Faith” for “worry” as the foundation of “Faith in God” is built upon “Trust in God” — “Worry” is simply wrong in the spiritual realm because “Worry” is constructed wholly on “Distrust” and there are NO reasons not to “Trust God” , therefore we should accept with full Faith in God what Jesus commands us: “Therefore, DO NOT WORRY…” (Matthew 6:34) The great thing about the Teachings of Jesus is that He always takes some worldly action or attitude and shows us how to put it into the “proper Spiritual perspective” and use the new perspective to grow in Jesus Himself! Jesus is the original author of “Do as I do” because everything He Taught, He Lived, and just like when at the Last Supper Jesus Himself “Broke the Bread” with His own hands and stated “With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer…” (Luke 22:15)  Jesus not only was stating by His actions that He was willing to “Suffer” for us, He was being our “Living Example” — “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14) If Jesus had not lived the Perfect Sinless Life there would have been plenty of people that would have pointed out to everyone that this Man claiming to “be God” was just a sinner like everyone else because one sin would have disqualified Jesus from being God! If Jesus had sinned even the smallest sin or been imperfect in even the slightest that there would have been no way could Jesus have commanded us: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) This command can also be used as a “prophecy” as Jesus teaches us that if we will become like Him, then we will be made perfect like Him, “just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” The point in learning from Jesus is to be like Jesus, and to abide forever with Jesus and our “Father in heaven” where finally, after all our earthly mistakes, we will at last achieve our “Spiritual” goal and be given the heavenly prize of eternal “Worry Free” life. It is “Good News” to know that God knows all our sins and has provided a way that all our sins will be forgiven — it is in the knowledge that Jesus has Redeemed us from all our iniquities that we should listen to JESUS when He Lovingly Teaches us “Do Not Worry” for our “heavenly Father” God Himself has “Good Plans for all our tomorrows”!!!  We all should take great comfort in knowing that God knows ALL for God is willing to FORGIVE all our sin for His Only Begotten Son died on a cross, was buried in a grave, but was RAISED TO ETERNAL GLORY on the 3rd Day thereby completing God’s Plan of SALVATION for a lost and dying sin-filled world — we can never hide anything from God but remember GOD KNOWS ALL and if we simply ask for FORGIVENESS in the NAME OF JESUS that GOD FORGIVES us ALL our iniquities!!!

FEBRUARY 12 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#03-04 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#03 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life…Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 12  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#03-04 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#03  “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life…Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25)

0Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, I’m feeling pretty “rough” with this “cold” but I thank You for strengthening me enough spiritually for me to get out and finish my physical jobs. Lord, I trust You in all things and certainly in physical sickness because You are the Great Physician! Lord, I place my “health” (both spiritual and physical) into Your Healing Hands, give me the courage to accept whatever TRUTH You have in store for me!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 12  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#03-04 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#03  “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life…Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25) Jesus not only teaches us the “obvious” and “immediate” Truth of God with each Question/Lesson, yet, if we are observant and trusting enough, Jesus will reveal simple everyday Truths of God associated with each Lesson — but we must slow down and meditate on the Question to see the Big Picture of the Truth of God that Jesus by His Lifestyle and choice of Questions and the order in which He asks them, Teaches us that Deeper Truth of God that is not seen by just rolling down your window as you drive by the Truth while you are hurrying to get to the next “physical” thing in our day-to-day world. For instance, while writing this blog installment on JQ#03 I am experiencing one of the worst colds I can remember and it struck me as very apropos that as I am “enduring” the worst cold I can ever remember having in my life that I would be studying a section on “worry”!?! Jesus makes it perfectly clear that all our needs will be supplied by Jehovah-jireh the Great Provider with everything we need to eat and to wear but also we will be supplied with every “need” we have in our day-to-day lives to endure the physical world and this is done through God adjusting our “perception” of the world which is a “Deeper Truth of God” that we often miss — by God adjusting our “perception” (spiritual) and leaving the physical world as is, God proves the superiority of the “Spiritual” over the “physical”!!! Jesus uses His “Teaching Questions” in this section to make us understand that God didn’t just make us and toss us out on our own but that He is able to feed all His Creation and if God provides for “the birds of the air” then God Almighty will take care of Mankind whom God Created after His Own Image!! Jesus asks three Questions in a row that leads to His fourth and all these Questions work together to place our “Faith in God” center stage. Follow these (3) Questions: (1) JQ#3b “Are you not of more value than [a bird]” (Matthew 6:26b) — (2) JQ#3c “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? (Matthew 6:27) — (3) JQ#3d “So why do you worry about clothing? (Matthew 6:28a) — Then Jesus wraps up the obvious by making us compare ourselves to the “wisest” man that ever lived, Solomon, who was given everything there was that could be possessed in the physical world and yet for all his wisdom and resources not even Solomon could array himself like God clothes the grass in the field! The scorching thing for me is that Jesus ends this section with JQ#3e “…will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:30) Jesus wraps up with stating simply “do not worry” and especially “do not worry” over JQ#3 f, g, & h “what to eat”, “what to drink” or “what to wear” which are all physical things. Jesus then makes His Main Point for the Truth of God contained in this section with two statements: (1) “… the Heavenly Father KNOWS you need these things” (Matthew 6:32) and (2) “But SEEK FIRST the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and ALL these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow…” (Matthew 6:33-34a) So when I read this passage and answer the simple Questions I find myself worrying less about my physical needs and concentrate on growing my “Spiritual muscle” — which can only be strengthened by exercising our “Faith in Jesus”! 

FEBRUARY 11 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#03-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#03 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life…Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 11  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#03-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#03  “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life…Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Praise You for the Eternal Loving God You are! Lord help us to see how very short a time we have on earth and keep us from wasting these precious few opportunities to draw close to the Creator and author of Forever! It is hard to grasp the concept of eternity because we are so bound by “time” and cannot imagine life without time, but time itself is bounded by a “beginning” which in turn shall have its “ending”. We think in terms of birth and death as markers in our earthly existence but help us O Lord to see in terms of the Eternal Life which never ends! Lord, there is so much more to life and living than death and the grave, teach us about your Unending Love and Abundant Life Eternal.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 11  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#03-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#03  “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life…Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25) Jesus went through great lengths to Teach us Lessons and we should observe not only the Divine Effort invested in our Spiritual Education but we should also pay close attention to the subjects that He is Teaching. All Lessons Jesus is Teaching us starts out by Jesus Questioning us about our “physical” perception of the world and then Christ guides us to a “spiritual” perception of our life eternal. Far to many of us, and I certainly count myself as the leading contender for the prize of being a slave to my earthly viewpoint, cannot make the transition from the “physical” to the “spiritual” without a special push from the Master and that “push” is in the form of engaging our mental capacities by asking questions about our physical viewpoint. In this section of Matthew 6:24-33 where Jesus is teaching us about “worry”, we should note the obvious that ““worry” is a “spiritual” entity and “food” and “clothing” are physical entities. Jesus weaves these two viewpoints (spiritual and physical) together in a special Question in Matthew 6:25b that teaches us the deeper Truth that we view our lives simply as the physical entities we have been programmed by our society to pay attention to like “food” and “clothing” but from a spiritual viewpoint “life IS more that food” and the “body IS more than clothing” — but the only way we can get to that reality is that we have to see our “life” and “body” from a “spiritual” viewpoint. As long as we stay enslaved to the “physical” world we are bound by “death” but when we transition into the freedom from time afforded the believer, we will see that there is “more” to life and that “more” is not bounded by time. Once we behold the “spiritual” realm we shift from our “physical” body bounded by time into our “spiritual soul” which exists in the “eternal life” given to us as a “Gift” as an expression of God’s Love: “For God so loved the world that He gave” … and when we accept the gift of “…His only begotten Son…” by exercising our spiritual muscle then “…whosoever believes (belief is totally spiritual) in [JESUS] shall not perish (perish is totally physical) but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) So it is through “belief” which is “spiritual” that frees us from the “physical” — Jesus is Teaching us how to be free from our physical bonds but we must look at our life through the “spiritual lens” Jesus is pointing us to — “Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36) When reading this passage in Matthew on “worry” it helps to develop your answer by reading John 8:30-36 and John 3:3-6 and you will see Jesus is always Teaching freedom from the physical world and the “spiritual” path always leads through the “Spiritual Door” that is JESUS and He is Leading Believers into the “[Spiritual] kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33)!!!  Indeed, “…Is not [spiritual] life more than [physical] food and the [spiritual] body more than [physical] clothing?” (Matthew 6:25).  Jesus was always Teaching everyone who would listen that this physical world is temporary, “But He said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about.” (John 4:32) and that He was sent from heaven by God to show the way to God’s Spiritual Kingdom and Jesus demonstrated by His Lifestyle that He was willing to do whatever it takes!!! “For our sake [God] made [Jesus] to be sin [though Jesus] knew no sin, so that in [Jesus] we might become the [spiritual] righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Revelation states clearly that those that believe in Jesus will be given “robes of righteousness” and Jesus Himself proclaimed “I AM the bread of life (manna from heaven) and he who believes in Me shall never hunger and he who believes in Me shall never thirst!” (John 6:35)  “Never” equates to “Spiritual Eternity” and “hunger” and “thirst” are “physical” entities that enslave the “physical body” to death and time — and only by belief in Jesus can we transition from “physical death” to “spiritual life” — as Jesus Taught 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)