FEBRUARY 24 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#06-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 24  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#06-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Lord Jesus, the Only Begotten of the Father, Son of the Living God, my Redeemer, Savior, You are the Christ! You Lord are the fulfillment of Prophecy, You lived the Perfect Life, You Suffered as the Perfect Sacrifice and Paid the Penalty that I could not pay, You died in my place, Your side was pierced as You were hanging Dead on the Cross, Your Body was Broken, Your Blood was Shed, You were laid in a grave! You Lord, being Loved by the Father was Obedient even unto death and the grave and on the Third Day You AROSE and the Greatest Testimony ever given was proclaimed: “HE IS ALIVE”!!!  As a follower of Jesus Christ there can be no greater TRUTH OF GOD in our life — Jesus is the Resurrection!!! Praise God!!!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 24  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#06-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16) Jesus began JQ#06 with a simple Question about gathering “grapes from thornbushes” and “figs from thistles” that may seem totally out of context for a Truth of God Question but it makes perfect sense if you consider the warning Jesus gave us before asking the Question about “grapes” and “figs”: “Beware of false prophets…” and then telling us how to identify them, “…you will know them by their fruits…” (Matthew 7:15-16) On the surface this seems like a mundane question but consider that first of all it is Jesus asking it and secondly Jesus never asked a Question that did not point us to a Truth of God to help us live a successful life. Of course, we don’t get “grapes from thornbushes” nor do we get “figs from thistles” but if we are not careful and discerning about where we get the sustenance of our daily lives then we could end up prey to “ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing”! Jesus then applies simple logic: “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” (Matthew 7:17-18) Then Jesus gives us the “Divine Spiritual Caution”  when He tells us “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Matthew 7:19-20) Once Jesus gets us to thinking in terms of God’s Truth that we can know if a tree is “Good” or “Bad” just by observing the “fruit” produced by that tree, Jesus proclaims that a tree that does not bear “good fruit” will be judged by God and the penalty for producing nothing but “bad fruit” is that the “bad” tree will be “cut down and thrown into fire”! Jesus is Teaching us with this simple Question that we will be judged by the fruit that our lives produce, not what we “say” we are going to do, but did our actions actually produce “good fruit” or “bad fruit”???  “Good fruit” gives nourishment and the bearer of good fruit will be rewarded with an abundant life,  but bad fruit produces no good results and simply consumes the nutrient from the soil without providing any benefit to others; therefore, the tree must be cut down and burned so that the life giving nutrients will be returned to the soil and will be used by the good tree to provide life to those that consume the good fruit from a good tree. Jesus has us focused on our producing “good fruit" for the benefit of others then He really gets “Real” when He then amplifies this Lesson about not just “saying” we will do good but by actually “doing” good when He says “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21) Wow, Jesus took us in a matter of minutes from thinking “of course we don’t get grapes from thistles” — to clearly telling us that the “will of [our] Father in heaven” is that we “produce good fruit” and join Him “in heaven” but if we don’t, we will be “cut down” and “thrown into the fire”. In simple terms — If we follow Jesus and His Teachings we will know the will of God and if we know the will of God we will produce “good fruit” but if we simply declare we are followers but do not produce any good fruit, our Father in heaven will judge us, not by what we “said” we would do, but what “fruit” did we produce with our actions in the way of “good fruit” for the kingdom. This Lesson sounds simple but how quickly Jesus, the Master Teacher,  transforms  the “simple” into the “Sublime” — That’s what Jesus does with our simple lives — but only if we do “the will of [our] Father in heaven”!!!

FEBRUARY 23 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#06-02 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 23  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#06-02 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Precious Jesus, thank you for the visit from the Holy Spirit yesterday that reminded me that every day is a “Good Day” because of Your Sacrifice on the Cross and what that means to the world and its great impact on not only our eternity but in our everyday day-to-day lives — but mostly for the Great Sacrifice You Personally made and the Personal Suffering You endured for my sake! Lord Jesus, as I think about all You have done for me I am also reminded by the Spirit that part of that Suffering was for You to be in the grave and experience death for us so that at the end of our life we would look forward to sharing another experience that You so Graciously Share with believers! Just like You experienced “life” for us by being born of the flesh, You also have experience “death” for us, and not just “death” but the worst death imaginable so that You can Truly say “I know what you’re going through and Rejoice for I Am the Victorious Life and I am also Victorious in death! Praise be the Name Jesus the Christ.    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 23  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#06-02 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#6 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16) Jesus has now taken us through 5 Questions that have been woven together as only the Master Weaver can and now He is beginning a new section with a new Question but the object is the same, to Teach us the Truth of God! This new section for JQ#06 in Matthew 7:15-29 which actually contains two Questions, but if the section is studied in context, both Questions are essentially the same, just asked at different angles which Jesus always does to get us to think more completely about the Lesson and the Truth of God that He is trying to Teach us. As I studied this section I see that it is broken into 3 sections. Section 1 is verses 15-20 and deals with “false prophets”, Section 2 is verses 21-23 and deals with false profession of who our “Lord” really is, and Section 3 is verses 24-29 and is a parable of two builders and warns us to build our lives on the True Foundation that is the “solid rock” and not on a false foundation that is the ever-changing sands of humanism. There is one key phrase that the Holy Spirit pointed out that pulls this all together and that is where Jesus is Teaching the parable of the two builders and in the middle of His Teaching He says: “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand…” (Matthew 7:26) This verse spoke to me and said that if we “listen and hear what Jesus is saying” and “study His sayings” then we will not “fall for false prophets” nor profess anyone but “Jesus Himself as Lord” and we will not be guilty of having “prophesied in any name but the Name of Jesus”. And lastly the obvious: if we build our life on the “Rock” that we will have a True Shelter in time of storm. Read this passage again with these thoughts in mind and see if Matthew 7:15-29 is not 3 sides to the same issue of being a True Christian, for we can only truly be a Christian if we listen, live, and follow Jesus Christ, and Him Only! From this viewpoint we can give Jesus the obvious answer to His two Questions found in this section: (1) JQ#6a — “Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16) and (2) JQ#6b — “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’” (Matthew 7:22) To fully answer this Question we must also recall that during one Passover in Jerusalem and Jesus performed many signs and wonders and many believed in Him because the saw “signs” yet we read: “but Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.” (John 2:24-25) Therefore we should be very careful to build our Spiritual Life on the solid “Rock”!  

FEBRUARY 22 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#06-01 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 22  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#06-01 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, today Lord as I awake with the “Joyful” thought that it’s going to be a “Good” day I stop and remind myself where that “joy and confidence” comes from — JESUS!!! — and my heart rejoices because You are the “Good Good Father” and you have “Good Plans” for us! Help me LORD to share with everyone that they may know that every day with God is a “Good Day”! My prayer is that our  “Good Father” will be revealed today to those that do not understand why the Cross is “Good News”!! Nothing but the Precious Blood of the Son of the “Good Father” could purchase such “Joy” — “Joy” everlasting because of Your Eternal Victory over Sin, Death, and the Grave! There is no thought so dynamic as God-Very-God choosing out of Love for the unloveable to be the Sacrificial Lamb for the Sins of the world, and the Son of the “Good Father” willingly and in Pure Innocence Suffering for all our sins on the Cross at Calvary! Then, in His Grave He defeated Death, and on the Third Day was Risen by the “Good Father” to Eternal Victory over sin, death and the grave! Praise God, the “Good Father”, Jesus the “Good Son”, and the Holy “Good Spirit” of God from whom ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 22  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#06-01 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16) Jesus with His unique JESUS Questions/Lessons proves that He IS the Master Teacher — for only the Master can Teach such Deep Truths of God just by getting His students to answer simple day-to-day questions. Jesus never Taught just one Lesson with only a single moral implication but with each Lesson Jesus revealed a Deeper Truth of God so that we could begin to glimpse God’s Bigger Truth picture for the world. Jesus is also revealing the Father and the Father’s Heart to us that we may come to know the Greatness of God’s Love. This next section was originally two JESUS Questions but after studying this section (Matthew 7:15-29) of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit made it clear that both Questions (Matthew 7:16 and Matthew 7:22) are in essence the same. These “JESUS Questions” should be studied for God’s Truth and to glimpse God’s Glory as we learn about the Magnificent Characteristics of Almighty God! As I stated before, when I first started reading this section it seemed like several small sections thrown in at the end of Chapter 7 but then as I read and studied, it now seems like Jesus is actually bringing up these questions to get our attention and then He teaches one of His many parables using our curiosity generated by these simple Questions. Matthew 7:21 has always caused me discomfort but after applying the parable to my personal uneasiness I have come to another of those places where Jesus shines His Light on my discomfort and illuminates another “Peace” that can only come through a study of Holy Scripture. So not only is Jesus Teaching us God’s Truths, He is also confirming where we are to obtain the seeds of God’s Truths, where and how to plant God’s Truths, and how to know that through God’s Truths He is blessing our lives — which is the only True Peace we will ever find in our day-to-day lives. Read through the sections in Matthew 7:15-29 and see if they are all Teaching Divine Truth as only the True Master Teacher can! This section starts with a warning: “Beware of false prophets…” (Matthew 7:15) then gives us a test to apply to false teachers: “Therefore by their fruits you will know them…” (Matthew 7:20) but then Jesus points out that only God’s Truths will stand as the “Witness” at our “judgment” when He declares: “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you…” (Matthew 7:23) Jesus then Teaches us the parable of two builders which illustrates that we should choose wisely where we build our “house” and what we should use as the “foundation” of our “spiritual life”! See Matthew 7:24-27  for the parable but consider Matthew 7:15-23 as Questions to get us thinking along certain terms that adds Godly Truth to the Teaching of the parable of the two builders. I would also ask you to consider these as additional revelations from God on His “Law of Choice and Consequence” as there are several “choices” presented in this section and as always God is perfectly clear as to what He has already declared before the foundations of the earth as the “consequence” of our actions. Tomorrow we will begin deciding on materials to use to build our “foundation” as we look at what Jesus Teaches about  “false prophets”.

FEBRUARY 21 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#05-04 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#05 “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 21  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#05-04 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<  JQ#05  “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Praise You Lord Jesus for the work that You have given us to do in Your Name. We know that You can do all things and that in reality You do not need us but You chose to let us participate in the Kingdom Work with You! O Blessed thought that Your Spirit empowers us and we can proclaim because of Your Grace that we “can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” (Philippians 4:13) Lord I praise You because I know I have no value to the Kingdom unless I do my deeds in Your Holy Name — I praise You also because You value me because that is what You have chosen to do — therefore I can quote Your Holy Scripture with great joy, “I have chosen you, to be My own precious possession.” (Deuteronomy 7:60) Lord Jesus, I pray daily to be crucified that daily I may be raised with You for I pray as did John, “[Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 21  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#05-04 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<  JQ#05  “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8) Jesus in Matthew 7:9-10 Jesus asks Questions with obvious answers and I believe that Jesus does this to make us realize that we overlook the obvious about “our Father in Heaven” (Matthew 6:9). The most Obvious fact from Matthew 7:9-10 is that if an Almighty God that can do anything His heart desires, choses to send His Only Begotten Son to become one of us, that “our Father in Heaven” has only “good” intentions for us on earth!!! God would not give His Only Begotten Son a “stone” if the Son “asks for bread” and the Loving Father would not give His Beloved Son a “serpent” if He asked for a “fish”!!! This should make it obvious to us that the Father desires good things for us. Jesus almost reprimands us for not understanding the “obvious” because Jesus immediately scolds us with the answer to His two “obvious” Questions in Matthew 7:9-10 by stating the “obvious” answer to us: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11) The fact is that God desires good for all men and is Teaching us that to be like Him that we also should desire good for others as Jesus immediately follows with another Truth of God: “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12) If we study the teachings of the “Law” and the “Prophets” the main theme God Teaches us over and over through them is that we are to desire good for others and not evil. All ten of His commandments God gave as the “Law” through Moses are “God’s Laws” intended for our good and each “Law” deals with how to prevent being “evil” to God and to others! The “Prophets” deal with the history of man and the cycle of man choosing evil, the judgment of God that follows man’s choice, but then God providing a “Way” back to the Father through His Redemption and Grace — (more examples of the “Law of Choice and Consequences”) — Then we have Jesus stating emphatically that He came “to fulfill the Law” (Matthew 5:17”) and later Jesus connects “God’s Law” to “God’s Love” as Jesus proclaims: “A new commandment I give you; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34) One cannot read the Bible as a whole without seeing a Loving Father who wants only good for His Family! For God, through His Holy Word, has provided a “Way” for us to be heirs with Him! God came to the world of fallen man and offered us Grace and Kinship for He Promises that “…as many as [receives] Him, to them He [gives] the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who [are] born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:11-13) It should be obvious that “our Father in heaven” Loves us and desires only good for His children—all we need to do is to “ask” the “Way” and “seek” the narrow gate, knowing with all “Faith in God” and confidence in His Goodness that our loving Father will “open” whenever we “knock”!!! (Matthew 7:13-14).  

FEBRUARY 20 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#05-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#05 “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 20  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#05-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<  JQ#05  “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, the only Name by which man can enter the narrow gate to heaven. Jesus is the Name that all generations call out to for salvation. Jesus, we bow humbly before You because You so richly deserve all praise and honor. There is no Name other than Jesus that man can call upon for Hope, there is no other Name but Jesus that brings so much Hope to our hurting hearts. Lord, I realize that there is no good in me but only through Your Name can I give anything good to my generation. Jesus, Holy Spirit of God, I yield to Your Will, I will “wait for the Lord” to see how You would have me serve You and Your kingdom. Forgive me of all sins, even the hidden sins, that I will be made Holy.    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 20  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#05-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<  JQ#05  “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8) Jesus starts this passage in Matthew 7:7-14 out pretty simple with “ASK-SEEK-KNOCK” but Jesus has a way of reaching deep into us with these simple questions and revealing some of the deeper Mysteries of God. Let’s examine the 2 simple Questions Jesus asks in this section, keeping in mind that Jesus came to Teach us about the Father: (1) “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:9) (2) “Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?” (Matthew 7:10) When you answer these two identical Questions from the viewpoint of the Truth that Jesus came to reveal the Father to us, we can immediately see that if we “ask” of “our Father in heaven” that He will give us only “good” things. Jesus is saying that if we will stop and look at the things the Father has already given us that we should have supreme confidence that He has only “good” intentions for our future. Isaiah quotes God Himself: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9) There is another great Truth of God that is contained in these simple Questions in Matthew 7:9-10 that is often overlooked ——— simply, Jesus, being the Son of God, is the most reliable source of Truth about the Father that we could possibly have!  We could read the entire New Testament with the single thought that Jesus is the Son of God and we would see all the characteristics of the Father whom we seek to know being revealed by the Son! The fact that God chose to have a Son should thrill our hearts and souls because if God had chosen not to have a Son then how could we think of God as the “Father”? And if God really chose to be “childless” then we would not have any confidence that we could possibly be considered for “adoption”! To think of God as merely a Supremely Powerful Being gives no “Hope” that an inferior being such as man could ever aspire to inherit the kingdom — however, our HOPE comes from the Biblical Fact that The Supreme Being in all His Superiority has reached down as a “Loving Father” and says to us, “You are not inferior, I created You in My image and I have chosen to be part of My Family! I love you so much that I sent My Beloved Son to walk among you and bring you home — if you will only believe in Him, I will make you joint heirs to My kingdom.” These Questions in Matthew 7:9-10 were answered when God sent His Son and made Him the Bread of Life for us and “our Father in heaven” has provided for us in great abundance, if we but look to the Son to see the Father. We will see further glimpses of our LOVING GOD and HEAVENLY FATHER  standing with open arms in the narrow gate as we finish Matthew 7:10-14!

FEBRUARY 19 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#05-02 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#05 “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 19  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#05-02 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#05  “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Thank You Lord for the new day You give us each morning and the Hope that comes with knowing that You are in control of our lives for an eternity of sunrises! Lord, I thank You for the bright sunlight that greets me each day and for the warmth and Light of Your Holy Word. Lord Jesus, You came to earth to seek and to save that which is lost and Your Words were designed that in our lostness we might find the Way so Lord as I open Your Word this morning I look to Your Light to guide my Way.    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 19  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#05-02 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#05  “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8) Jesus starts this Lesson on knowing where to find success in life by going to the “Source of Life” who is God Himself. There is a huge blessing found in this opening statement by Jesus that we so often just read over without stopping to understand the implications of what Jesus is saying!? Let us read it again but this time think of the “Divine Implications” coming from the Son of God — “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you, for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8) The most obvious and most important question to ask is “Who can make this kind of promise and keep it for ‘everyone’?” Jesus is telling us that God is in control of everything in the universe and God is “our heavenly Father” so if we go to Him and “ask” for His Advice, “seek” His Truth, and “knock” on the door of His Understanding, that God Promises to Give us His Good Advice based on His Eternal Truth and the Door to His Infinite Knowledge will be opened wide for us to enter into His kingdom! The “Law of Choice and Consequence” was introduced yesterday in order to take a stab at why Jesus would end His JQ#04 Lesson on “judging others” with a warning to “…do not give what is holy to the dogs…” (Matthew 7:6) ? — the Holy Spirit has been Teaching me the “Law of Choice and Consequence” for several years now in my morning studies and it is brings to “light” the problem of our society abandoning the Holy Moral Standard given to us by the Eternal Holy God. The “Law of Choice and Consequence” was established by the Holy God before the foundations of the earth and supersedes any “laws” that may be passed by any society — in other words, according to God’s Law of Choice and Consequence you are free to choose to take someone else’s life but that action has a predetermined “Consequence” which will apply to every individual that faces that “Choice” — if you “choose” to let the person “live” the “Consequence” of that “Choice” is to be given God’s Mercy and Grace but if you “choose” to take that person’s “life” the “Consequence” of that “Choice” is to suffer God’s Wrath for the “Consequence” of “taking someone’s life is called murder” and God has declared that “murder” deserves “punishment” — and the issue here is simply that the “Law of Choice and Consequence” is “Eternal” and cannot be changed by any society that decides that it is “legal” to “take the life of someone else”! God has declared “taking the life of someone else is murder” and it will remain “murder” in the eyes of the “Moral Law Giver” for eternity! Only by making a “law” that is applied equally to every human being  is that “law” fair for every individual of every generation, regardless of race, nationality, religion, or social status!!! God has already “judged” that “murder” is “Wrong” and God Himself has declared the penalty — it is our responsibility as “stewards” of the “Holy Moral Law” to make sure that it is applied equally to every living soul! That is why Jesus told to us to “judge not” because when we use our definition of “Right and Wrong” we are usurping the Power of God and it is pointless to “judge” because God has established already what the penalties and rewards for our actions will be! It is our responsibility to learn and to know what God declares is “Right and Wrong”!!! When I answer truthfully this Jesus Question in both verses Matthew 7:9 & 7:10 there is a deeper burning Lesson that Jesus always Teaches with His simple but powerful Truths about the Father that the Son reveals to us through His Question/Lessons. The Bible cannot be read without a great curiosity about God being generated in our souls and I personally believe that God inspired the Bible to be written in such a way that we would want to solve the “Mystery of God”. Once the curiosity has been sufficiently stirred by the Old Testament and the Prophecies of the “End Times”, the New Testament and the Teachings of Jesus flood us with special visions of God. The Son of the Living God Himself became flesh and dwelt among us to reveal the Father God to us. I personally started my “Journey to Truth” not knowing much about God but I did have a great curiosity to “really know the Creator God”. My personal journey has been “documented” by journals that I have kept since 2001 and God has revealed Himself through those journals to me through my day-to-day living. The Holy Spirit blessed me to have that initial curiosity to want to know God and I was further blessed with the desire to “take notes” as I made my “Journey to Truth” by seeking God. This curiosity was tempered with advice from the first Pastor that got me to thinking about actually “knowing” God. Pastor Brian Walls told me to study “World Views” and that advice fixed firmly in me the thought that the Word of God is the “inerrant Word of God” and the foundation to our Christian World View. This passage in Matthew 7:7-14 is a great place to start and even though I didn’t know much scripture when I started my early journals, I did know “…seek and you will find…knock and it will be opened…” —so it was this section that started me down my journey and through my study of the WORD.  Jesus Teaches us these simple Truths of God with His Lessons, all of which clearly shows us who the Father is! This passage Teaches us that in order to find the answer to “who is God” and “what is Truth” that we only need to “ask”, “seek”, and “knock” and when the door opens we will see God standing there with open arms saying “Welcome Home!!!”. The “Truth” is that if we are to get to a destination we cannot just think about it being there, we actually need to perform a physical action towards achieving our destination and God is gracious enough to bless our actions with positive dependable results and moves us forward one step at a time. God can be found for God Himself has promised to reveal Himself to us but we must be actively involved in “asking, seeking, and knocking” about Him — {Word of Caution} — the action should be done with the desire to know God, and He will reveal Himself! Jesus reveals some wonderful characteristics of God the Father by passages like Matthew 7:9-14 and our study of these Lessons is a great “first step” for us to take on our “Journey to Truth”. It is these characteristics of God that teach us the “faith” we should have in God’s Holy Laws and the confidence that if we follow His Laws the results of our choice to follow Him will have “Divine” Consequences.

FEBRUARY 18 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#05-01 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#05 “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 18  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#05-01 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#05  “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Praise You Lord for Your Great Love. Lord, as we seek to be more like You in every thing we do or try to accomplish with our lives that have been “crucified with Christ”, may all our actions reflect the Love for mankind by which You both lived and died, and then the Glory by which You were risen from the grave! Lord, please let us be aware that death is nothing but a gateway to eternity because You Lord defeated both death and the grave, and Your Victory came through Love and Obedience, which is my prayer today, that I may Love as You loved and be Obedient to the Father’s Will as You were Obedient, that the Father’s Mercy and Grace will flow freely in my life!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

FEBRUARY 18  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#05-01 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<<   JQ#05  “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8) Jesus warned us at the end of His Lesson on JQ#04 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine…” (Matthew 7:6) as He concluded His Lesson on “do not judge”. I mentioned that this verse always makes me uncomfortable — I also mentioned that this “do not judge” Lesson Jesus Taught has been “hijacked” by those seeking political power to advance their personal agenda, a humanistic agenda that has “re-defined” certain commandments of God by re-defining the meaning of words associated with those commandments and one of those words is “tolerance”. I grew up understanding the meaning of “tolerance” as adults “putting up” with some unacceptable childish behavior publicly until it could be “corrected” privately so that the unacceptable behavior would not be repeated in public again! That was how the “community” viewed “tolerance” and it was based on a common acceptance of God’s Moral Standard taken from God’s Holy Word and with the acceptance of God’s definition of “tolerance” there was “unity” throughout the community. No one had to “judge” others because they clearly understood behaviors that were “Right” and behaviors that were “Wrong” because those behaviors were already established by God’s Moral Standard given to us by a Holy Eternal God who does not change, nor will He ever change therefore the “Right” and “Wrong” behaviors according to God’s Moral Standard will eternally be “Right and Wrong”!  Only by all men living under the same Eternal Moral Standard given to society for the “Good” or “Right Thing” by a Holy Eternal God for society will our society truly “not judge others” by any standard other than that Eternal Moral Standard given by God Himself and has already proven itself to be beneficial to society when incorporated into our culture. The Holy Scriptures states emphatically that God Himself has “put eternity in our heart” and we will forever know “Right” and “Wrong” and it is this Eternal Moral Standard within each heart that tells us that bashing babies against a wall is “morally” wrong, regardless of any “law” passed by “human” government!!! Our legal system no longer recognizes the Holy God as the Moral Standard Giver therefore the legal system defines through “human legislation” what is “best” for society, not based on an Immortal Holy Eternal God but by mortal men seeking to be like God and these self seekers establish through “human” government an “un-holy legal system of doctrines of men “ that redefine terms like “tolerance” and legislates (from the bench) a woman’s “right” to take the life of an unborn child. The problem is that these doctrines are determined by the “ruling” political party which is in a continual state of flux as each party seeks to remain in power! “Abortion” used to be considered to be illegal because it did not align with God’s Moral Standard and abortion involved taking the “life” of an “human fetus” that had not reached the stage of development where it could survive outside the womb — in this un-holy humanistic re-definition of words, today’s definition of the term  “fetus” has be changed to the “products of conception” because it is easier to discard “products” than it is to discard a “human fetus” ——— but regardless of the definition of terms associated with “abortion”, it is still a “human mother” that with the contribution of a “human father” has conceived a “human fetus” in her womb and if God’s “miracle of life” is left unaltered the “human fetus” which from the moment of conception has its “God-given life” in it, the “human fetus” will continue its journey as an individual “human being” to the point where it will exit the womb. This “human fetus” does not become a “human baby” at the point of birth, it is “human” before it is born!!! In fact, the moment that the sperm fertilizes the egg and God has blessed that union with “life” it is “human”. Consider that when the “human baby” is born, if it is left on its own, it will die without that help of other “humans” until it reaches an age that it can provide for itself, which is several years old — so if “abortion” is “OK/Legal” because the “human mother” that is providing protection and assistance to the “human fetus” in her “human womb” decides she is “inconvenienced by the pregnancy”, then why can’t the court declare it “OK/Legal” for  “human adults” who can take care of themselves decide it is inconvenient for society to take care of “human children” who can’t take care of themselves? If it is legal for the “human mother” to determine that the “human child” in her “human womb” is “unwanted” then why shouldn’t it be “legal” for her to decide the same once the “human fetus” has exited the womb but is still “not wanted”?!?!? That is what happens when a society lets men seeking power “re-define” certain terms and justify by those “re-defined terms” what is “legal” without using God’s Holy Moral Standard to make their decisions. Abortion is only accepted today because God and His Holy Moral Standards have been removed from the decision making process in our courts and legal systems and our ideal of “Right” and “Wrong” are determined not by a Holy Eternal Unchanging God but by the vacillating “opinion” of 4 or 5 people that have been appointed by a political administration with the “good” of the political party in mind — in other words the Holy Moral Standard has been “thrown to the dogs” and the Holy Sanctity of Life is a “pearl of great worth” that has been consumed by swine and the results for our society is a new definition of a “woman’s right” to the “life” of her unborn child. Jesus moves us straight into the solution by His next statement leading up to His next Question by introducing some “success” principals: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) Jesus made a simple plain statement of “Spiritual Truth” and He immediately adds: “For everyone who asks receives and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:8) This is clearly an inclusive statement Jesus makes: “For everyone…”. Please note that Jesus is not telling us to take our requests to the Supreme Court of the United States but Jesus is telling us to refer our case to The Supreme Judge of the Universe — God in Heaven!!! The whole intent of the Gospel is that all will be included into the kingdom. But, in order to be “included” we must learn the simple rules which God has chosen and God always makes it perfectly clear that if we perform the actions God asks of us, we will get the predetermined results that He has established in His Eternal Moral Law through His Holy Eternal Word. This is called the Law of Choice and Consequence established by the Creator and all laws apply to everyone, just like we all experience “gravity”… “…the rain falls on the just and the unjust…”. We all can enjoy and depend on the sun coming up each morning, all because God has said that is the way He has determined that it will be. God in His Mercy has been Gracious in letting us know that He has given us Freewill in our lives and we are free to make our own “choices” but we are not free to determine the “consequence” of our actions because the result of our choices has already been determined by God so that “everyone” will have the confidence that God has determined “consequences” for the “True Good” of mankind and we should use His Consistency of results to make an “informed decision” based upon on “constant” and “irrevocable consequence”. The Law of Choice and Consequence is simple and applies to “everyone” and God makes it perfectly clear that we are free to “chose” our actions but He reserves the right to dictate the “consequence” of the action we chose to perform. This section is a simple set of “Actions=Results” as we read “Seek=Find, Ask=Given, & Knock=Open”. God shows His Goodness by telling us the results of our choice and then He gives us some “Blessed Assurance” when He asks JQ#05: “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:9)  Apply the Law of Choice and Consequence to this section in Matthew 7:7-14 and you’ll easily answer the LORD’s Teaching Questions. God is the “Giver of Life” and has established the Laws governing the entire universe, should we not listen to how the Holy God whom Jesus calls “our heavenly Father” defines such terms as “Life”, “Death”, “Abortion” and “Tolerance”?!?!?!?