APRIL 21 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 8) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 21  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 8) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, the Only Begotten of the Father, Prince of Peace, my Lord and Savior, whatever I do, it never changes who You are. Though I need to be chastened and corrected daily, Your Grace and Mercy abides forever! You spent Your time on earth in Perfect Obedience to the Father who is Eternally Pleased with the Son. Lord I again start today asking forgiveness for yesterday for all I do is but filthy rags compared to You, the Blessed One, that Loves me in spite of my imperfections. I once again ask Your Holy Spirit to take full control of my life and lead me so that I will let Christ live through me that I may die daily to self.       AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 21  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 8) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus has been Teaching us these Lessons in order to guide our “Way” to God the Father and I am totally amazed at how the Holy Spirit confirms that you are on the right road! You know what I’m talking about if you have ever been on a trip and you were thinking you were on the right road and have taken all the right turns but that “worldly doubt” creeps in and you are uncomfortable because the scenery is not familiar and then you look up and there is that great big road sign that confirms you have stayed on the right route to your destination! I’m sure you’ll agree that “being lost” is no fun! Jesus gets us on the right “Way” and then keeps giving us more directions and Lesson 6 is another of those “markers” along the “Way” to tell us we are going in the “Right” direction!

Lesson 6  JQ#6    “What kind of fruit does your tree bear?”       Matthew 7:15-23

The church that Deb and I attend holds an Annual Calvary Baptist Church Children’s Camp in Dayton, TN at Cumberland Springs Bible Camp and the theme for 2016 was “Digging Deep for God’s Treasure”.  Pastor Steve told the kids the Parable of the Sower and the Soils (Luke 8) and the main phrase was “NO ROOT ——— NO FRUIT” and the kids had the Seed of Salvation sown into their tender hearts!  The theme for the 27th Annual Calvary Children’s Camp at Cumberland Springs Bible Camp fits perfectly with JQ#06  “What kind of fruit does your tree bear?” (Matthew 7:15-23)  however, I could easily rename JQ#06 Lesson to  “What kind of fruit does your seed bear?” which would fit right in with the Parable of the Sower and the Soils. Just imagine that if those kids were not at the Bible Camp this weekend there is no telling what “seeds” the world would have planted in their fertile young hearts! I felt like the Holy Spirit threw up a huge road sign  that confirms we had given the kids a great map to guide them through the detours and dead ends of this increasingly secular world when I saw that the review today was on “bearing fruit”. The camp is very exciting for the kids and for every excited kid you have the proportional amount of tired counselors but a refreshing message from the Holy Spirit confirming we were on the right road to keep us and the kids from getting lost in the world made us “Blessed” instead of “tired”! JQ#06 is a serious Question that Jesus asked as He was giving us warning to be aware of “false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves…” (Matthew 7:15) when Jesus asked: “Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16b) Very quickly we can see that “false prophets” are as dangerous as “thorn bushes and thistles” and definitely “false prophets” will direct you down a dead end street. It is only logical to even the secular mind that if you plant thorn seeds you will grow thorns and Jesus made that clear when He said plainly, “You will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:16a) So the Lesson on “preparing our (soil) hearts” is just as important to us as is the Lesson that we make sure that the “seed” we let grow in our hearts is a “good seed” that will produce “good fruit” and not thorns or thistles! The Lesson Jesus is Teaching is that if you want good fruit you must plant good fruit seeds in your well prepared hearts! The Parable of the Sower and the Soils goes very well with Jesus Teaching us that we must also be careful to make sure that not only is the soil prepared for the seed but we should equally be careful not to let the worldly seeds of thorns and thistles take root in the inward parts of our soul. If we want to bear good fruit then we have to plant the right seed in well prepared soil and it is a good idea to keep a hoe nearby to keep the worldly weeds out that are sure to sprout up and try to choke out the good seeds as they sprout and start taking root in the carefully prepared soil. If Jesus goes to the trouble to Teach us to prepare the soil of our hearts and then plant good seeds, don’t you think it would be wise to follow the advice of The One that has produced such “heavenly” fruit?

APRIL 20 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 7) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 20  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 7) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Praise You Lord just for the simple fact that You are there every day so that we can awake to a new day that You have provided for us. Lord, we don’t stop to think about the fact that You are there listening to our prayers when we go to sleep, You are there to comfort us when we awake in the night and cannot sleep, and then when we awake in the morning You are right there to greet us with the best of “Good Mornings” !!! We never stop to consider that You never sleep but are always right by our side!! Regardless of our need, You are there to hold our hand, dry our tears, or simply nod Your head in calm reassurance that everything will be alright for You have taken care of everything, just like You promised! Lord Jesus, may I never lose sight of the Divine Truth that You never lose sight of me!       AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 20  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 7) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus Teaches us by introducing a “precept” and reveals a “Truth of God” from that “precept” and then Jesus asks us one of His “Introspective” Questions which in order to honestly answer His Question we must look inside ourselves and dig out our core beliefs and then challenge those core beliefs with this new “precept” and “Truth of God”.

Lesson 5  JQ#5    “Why should you Ask-Seek-Knock?”                Matthew 7:7-14

It is only by this sequence of “Precept” followed by “Truth of God” then applying them to our core beliefs “Introspectively” that we come to understand that God wants only good for us. The simple fact that God wants “Good” for us goes against the “Every-man-for-himself” secular philosophy that our society believes we have to accept. Just by making the statement: “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 introduces a concept foreign to our “dog-eat-dog” modern lifestyle. When Jesus then ties the “precept of Ask-Seek-Knock” to the “Truth of God” that “…everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened…” (Matthew 7:8) we gain an insight to God that we had not formerly considered, and that is that God Himself is making us a personal promise that if we follow His directions (Ask-Seek-Knock) that He promises us success! The “Truth of God” found in this Lesson is that to “guarantee our success” all we need to do is “follow God’s directions”! There are no strings attached and nothing for us to sacrifice to gain success except that we must learn to “Trust God” and “lean not on our own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Jesus gets us thinking about changing our internal values and core beliefs and that’s when He drives the point home to our souls with “Introspective Questions” like: (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) and concludes with (3) “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 this who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11) It is a win-win when you learn to give up your foolish pride and accept directions from the God of All Things who refers to Himself as our “Father in heaven” and promises to “give good things” to His [sons and daughters] that Trust Him enough to “ask” Him”!  Don’t you think that giving up your stubborn will to “do-it-myself” is a small price to pay for such Divine success, after all, if the God-that-Can-Do-All-Things can’t keep His Promise, what chance of success do you think you have in putting your “hope” in sinful man, or even worse, in your sinful self??? 

APRIL 19 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 6) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 19  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 6) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, as always, this time that I spend directly with You in the form of prayer is the most important part of my day. Lord Jesus, it is not always easy to look at the necessity to daily pick up “our” cross and follow you without a little apprehension but then it is Your Peace that makes me realize there is no other Name that we can call on for “Peace”.  Lord Jesus, only You have the Words of Eternal Life and we can say when we feel our cross is getting a little to heavy for us to bear — Lord Jesus I know I can do this if You will just help me — for You Lord carried Your Cross to the point of success that You could declare with Your dying breath “It is finished”! O Lord Jesus, give me the strength to endure to the end of these earthly trials to where I to can finish my race with confidence in the Only Begotten of the Father and proclaim as I enter into Your Rest — “It is finished” and I can hear You say “Well done thy good and faithful servant!”.       AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 20  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 6) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus so far in this Summary Review of His first 13 JESUS Questions has Taught us in JQ#01 to consider our own personal responsibility to the Kingdom of God then with JQ#02 Jesus Taught us that we need God’s GPS for our journey to Him because whenever we stray off the path we just need to remember that the “Love of God” will never steer us wrong and will keep us on the “Straight-and-Narrow” path to the “Kingdom of God”. JQ#03 opened our eyes to God’s great Provisions for us and because He cares so much for us that we should “Trust God” in “all things” and we should not “worry” about any earthly things because the Heavenly Father has promised that He will take care of us because He has chosen to “Love” us!

Lesson 4  JQ#4   “What gives you the right to judge?”                   Matthew 7:1-6 

To keep things personal Jesus then Teaches us that just as we “Trust God” for our “physical” needs that we should also realize that God wants to take care of our “Spiritual” needs as well. In this review so far we have found that Jesus not only makes it personal with JQ#04 “What gives you the right to judge?” He also makes it serious as He warns us that our own worst enemy is ourselves as He emphatically uses the term “Hypocrite!” (Matthew 7:5). The fact that this is a personal issue is established when Jesus first states the problem: “JUDGE not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1) and then Jesus makes us aware that if we take on the personal responsibility to “judge others” then we will be held personally responsible for having “judged ourselves” in a like manner! Jesus declares the “Consequence” of us choosing to be the “judge” when He states: “For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Matthew 7:2) When you think about the fact that God just told you that He was going to provide for you if you will “Trust Him” (in JQ#03) then why should we try to take God’s Job as “Judge of the Universe” away from Him? Indeed, why should we take all that responsibility of “judging others” on ourselves in JQ#04 — especially just after giving all our “worries” to Him in JQ#03? Jesus keeps us focused on the fact that if we are going to “Trust God” with “some things” that we should “Trust God in All things” for we are the created and He is the Creator; therefore, we should let Him “judge” others for He “knows-all-things” and can see everything from a Divine Perspective while we are sinners and at best our “judgement” will always have a degree of personal bias to it — so Jesus says the best way to prevent us “sinning” against God is to “not judge” others for we will be a “hypocrite” if we say we “Trust God” but do not let Him do His job. Jesus Teaches us with JQ#04 that we do not have the “right to judge others” because the “right to judge” belongs to God and God Alone! After all, why should we “Trust” a God that needs our help in deciding what is “Right or Wrong”?  Once we start down the path of assuming for ourselves the responsibility designated to the Divine Creator then we will quickly find that we are unable to navigate through the “Infinite” with our severely limited “finite” intellect! Don’t you think the safest path is to follow the route Jesus has already traveled and has Successfully reached His Divine Destination by following the True Way designated by God the Father?

APRIL 18 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 5) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 18  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 5) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, it is beyond my understanding “why” You and the Father would “Love” a world of lost sinners such as myself. Lord Jesus, I praise You for this “knowing” that the Holy Spirit has imparted to me that says to me that for my “spiritual” health I do not need to understand or explain  “why” You “Love” me but it is “enough to KNOW that You “Love” me and that You demonstrated that “Love” by Your death on the Cross and the Father demonstrated His “Love” towards us in that He RESURRECTED You from the grave! Lord Jesus, my prayer is simply to let my life reflect that Supreme Love with which I KNOW I AM LOVED!       AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 18  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 5) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus so far in His first 2 Lessons has taught us to be aware of our personal responsibility to our own eternity and to the Kingdom. Jesus then started us on our “Spiritual Journey” with the Primary  Tool to accomplish Kingdom Work and that necessary tool to get to God’s Kingdom is God’s GPS system which is the “LOVE OF GOD”.

Lesson 3  JQ#3    “What good is worry or ‘who cares’?”               Matthew 6:25-34

Jesus then asked His 3rd Question to get us to fully appreciate the first two Lessons when He bluntly asks us “What good is worry?” and to help us keep the proper spiritual perspective on “worry” Jesus illustrates  the best of all reasons not to worry — Jesus tells us that everything we could possibly worry about has already been or will be taken care of by “The Father” that knows our every need! Jesus is illustrating another “Truth of God” by showing us that if we will take the “negative” which is “worry” and learn that we can exercise our “spiritual” muscle and make a “positive” out of the “negative worrying” by turning our “worry” into “Trusting God” then we are well on our way to understanding “Faith” and how to “grow” our Faith by Trusting in God! This very important Spiritual Lesson of “Trusting God” is the perfect companion to “Love” — and with our knowing that we have a personal responsibility to the Kingdom — and that God will provide everything we need to complete our “Journey to Eternity” with Him — and that our obligation is to “Love” as the Father “Loves” and to “Trust God” that He will provide our every need — then we will not “worry” but move expectantly towards our Eternity as we walk by “Faith” — “Faith” not in ourselves but “Faith in our Heavenly Father” and His desire for our good! This journey of “Faith” becomes our life as we worry less and less as we see day by day that God has provided for the lilies of the field and clothes them so beautifully!  We grow our “Faith in God” as we recognize that if God does such amazing things with birds and flowers and the sun, moon, and stars that it becomes obvious to even the most casual observer that God cares so much more about us!!! God confirmed His Love for us because He made us in His image! So we can answer with confidence that we do not need to “worry” because “God cares” about our lives! Jesus ends the Lesson with another beautiful summary of this Lesson on the Truth of God’s Love with a simple but powerful thought: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) I know myself that when I realized that if God is going to add “all these things” to me simply because He desires to impart His Righteousness on me so that I can enter His Kingdom, then I am no longer “worried” about “all these things” and my “Faith in God” grows proportional to how successful I am in turning “worry about the world” into “trusting in the Goodness of God”! If you just stop and think about it in your own life, has the world or God provided for your daily bread? ***After all, if we know bread comes from a seed, then isn’t the One who imparts life to the seed more important to our daily bread than the one who gathers the grain?***

APRIL 17 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 4) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 4) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Glory and Honor to the Son of the Living God who “so loved the world” that the Father “willed” the Son to become “flesh and dwell among [the world the Father loved]” and the Son demonstrated  His Love for the Father with the Ultimate Obedience to the Father as the Son became the Sacrificial Lamb for all the sins of “the world”. It was through this Great Sacrifice on the Cross at Calvary that all Glory and Honor is due the Son who demonstrated such “Love”, even our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.            AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 4) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus Taught us in Lesson 1 about our personal responsibility to the kingdom of God and now in Lesson 2 He begins to Teach us the “tools” that the Father will equip us with in order that we may promote His Kingdom:

Lesson 2  JQ#2    “What do you really know about Love?”          Matthew 5:43-48

The first precept that Jesus introduces is the concept of “True Love” and not the “love of the world” but the “Love of the Father” that is to reside within those that choose to follow Him. The importance of “Loving as the Father Loves” and as “Christ Loved the Church” is confirmed for His followers as Jesus states: “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35) As Jesus Teaches Lesson 2 He also shows us glimpses of the Father and demonstrates that The Father and The Son are going to be The Perfect Examples of TRUE  LOVE and that before we are asked to “love others” we will first be loved by the Father and the Son. In the passage from John 13 we just read Jesus saying that we are to love “as I have loved you” and everyone knows John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” so it is no surprise that the first Lesson Jesus Teaches is our responsibility to the kingdom and in His 2nd Lesson Jesus Teaches us how to best represent the Kingdom of God by Teaching us about “The True Love of God”! Jesus confirms the importance of knowing how to “LOVE” when He states why we should emulate the Father’s Love “…that you may be sons [and daughters] of your Father in heaven…” (Matthew 5:45) Jesus further clarifies that we are to Love as the Father and the Son Love and not as the world loves because Jesus started the Lesson on Love with “You have heard it said…” and adds immediately, “But I say to you…” clearly warning us that the world will tell us wrongly how to love for the only True Love comes from the Father and the Son who “first loved us” (1 John 4:19) and by Their Perfect Example we are to “love one another”. Jesus demonstrates that He has come to live His life as an example and that before Jesus asks us as His disciples to do anything, we will have both the Father and the Son to look to as “Perfect Examples” of how we are to live our lives and when we determine to “Love one another as God first Loved us” we will best promote the Father, the Son, and Their Kingdom. Jesus continued throughout His ministry to Teach His disciples about “Love” and we see the disciples in turn teaching the “God’s Love” Lesson to others as we read the Apostle Paul writing to the Church in Corinth “And now abide faith, hope, and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13). It is only fitting that this Summary Review of Lesson 2 on God’s Love should end with a love statement from the disciple known as the “disciple that Jesus loved” and the disciple that wrote his entire Gospel on “Love” as John teaches some of his last lessons before his death on the island of Patmos in what is described as a “family letter” to “his little children” as John writes: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:11) Could the importance of “God’s Love” be made any more Sincere and True than for the Father and the Son to live as examples of “Perfect Love” and to hold “Love” in such High Regard in Heavenly Places?

APRIL 16 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 3) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 3) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Lord, may Thanksgiving and Praise always be on my lips for You Lord have blessed me beyond anything I could have imagined and certainly more than I deserve. Jesus, thank You for showing me that True Blessings are so much more valuable than anything money can buy! Lord, to know that we are held safe in the hands of the Father and that His Perfect Will is directed towards only “good” for us is the most comforting assurance life can provide, and we know that You, Lord Jesus are THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE — Praise God from Whom ALL BLESSINGS flow.           AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 3) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-1—JQ#13-7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus as The Master Teacher has asked each of “The JESUS Questions JQ#1-13” not to gain information from anyone but to impart wisdom to His listeners. Those that take the time to “listen” to Jesus and honestly “answer” His Questions will learn very valuable Spiritual Lessons — below is a Summary Review of the individual JESUS Questions JQ#1-13 that have been studied so far in Matthew, starting with JQ#01:

Lesson 1  JQ#01    “Are you salt and light?”                                      Matthew 5:1-16

JQ#01 started after Matthew had documented in Chapters 1-4 that Jesus had compassion on the multitudes and out of His Great Compassion for us Jesus had taught His famous “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5:1-13 and then after encouraging the multitudes with His Beatitudes which Teaches us what must be done with our earthly lives in order to obtain our inheritance in “the kingdom of heaven”, Jesus then asks His first personal JESUS Question JQ#01 by making us think about ourselves and to consider the Truth of God that what we are actually “doing” with our lives has a direct impact on our inheritance in the kingdom of heaven!!!  Jesus states emphatically: “You are the salt of the earth;…” (Matthew 5:12a) and then He promotes the concept of the necessity to get personally involved. Jesus introduces God’s Law of Choice and Consequence which illustrates our personal responsibility to exercise our “God-Given Free Will” to promote the kingdom of God. Jesus declares that we “are the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” then immediately Jesus asks us to consider the “consequence” of not using our personal talents and abilities to promote the kingdom when He asks us to consider the “consequence” resulting if “salt… loses its flavor” or if a “light” is “put under a basket”? Jesus then tells us very clearly that if we “lose [our] flavor” then we are “good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” (Matthew 5:13) and it is obvious that if a light is put under a basket it is useless! Thus with JQ#01 Jesus demonstrates that if we follow Him and take on the name Christian that our responsibility is to be “salt and light” for the kingdom’s sake but if we fail in that responsibility then we will have to suffer the “consequence” that is the “Truth of God” which states: “We are free to choose our actions but we are not free to choose the consequence of that action for God has already determined the consequence of our choices!” <<A. W. Tozer “Knowledge of The Holy”>> which implies personal responsibility to “listen and obey” all that God has prepared as “Spiritual Lessons” for our lives which are to be “lived” for “His Glory” and the Kingdom’s Sake! There is no denying that if we look at this first JESUS Question that we will learn several Lessons about our personal responsibility to the kingdom of God — but the greatest Lesson is that God has provided for us everything we need in order to personally know Him and He expects our personal involvement in accomplishing His Kingdom Work here on earth! Our first Spiritual Lesson to learn is that God wants us to understand that He has chosen to use His “followers” to “lead” others to the Kingdom of God by the way we “live” our lives and not by who we “say” we are! We “are” the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world” and our responsibility to the kingdom is laid out plain and clear as Jesus ends Lesson  1 with: “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) If Jesus starts His Lessons by Teaching us that we have a personal responsibility to the Kingdom of God, don’t you think that He will continue with His subsequent Lessons lay out the “Way” and make it clear what He requires of us as “followers of JESUS”?

APRIL 15 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 2) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 2) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, another day that You have “graced” us with and another day of praises for the King of kings and Lord of lords. Jesus, my prayer on this day is that Your Spirit will be upon all believers so powerfully that we will unite in one voice and one “Hope” as we pray for Your Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven! Lord Jesus, each day I pray for my eyes to be opened but today I pray for our hearts to be united in Your Love, the only True Love, given unconditionally to all that would believe that it was Love that put You on the Cross, Love that put You in a Grave, and Love that Conquered Death, and it was in Perfect Love that You were Resurrected — grant it Lord that we may share in Your Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection that we may KNOW LOVE!       AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 2) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus has been Teaching us through His Question/Lessons the Truth of God and by Jesus revealing these “TRUTHS OF GOD” to us through these Questions that we Learn to better see ourselves — not through the eyes of the world but through the eyes of God who is revealed to us “Precept-Upon-Precept” and “Line-Upon-Line”. Jesus proclaimed that He came to reveal the Father, “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” (Matthew 11:27)   However, before we Review the “JESUS Questions” themselves we should note the obvious that these are Questions being asked by Jesus, the Son of God, and before we consider answering His Questions we should answer the obvious question — “Why would Jesus, who is The All Knowing Master Teacher and Son of the Living God, ask Questions of mere mortals?” — The only logical answer is that Jesus is not asking these Questions to gain knowledge for Himself but Jesus is asking “rhetorical” questions to impart knowledge to those He is trying to Teach and introduce the “learner” to God Himself! These are all introspective Questions and deeply personal but if we honestly answer each one we will learn about ourselves that which Jesus Himself desires us to know about the Kingdom of God and our “inheritance” in it! In order to fully understand the Divine Objective let us list a few of the Divine Circumstances and Divine Context in which these “JESUS Questions” are being asked. 

The Divine Circumstance: 

Isaiah (whose name means ‘salvation of the LORD”) wrote in the 8th Century B.C. many prophecies covering “Divine Events” from “The Creation” to the “New Heavens and New Earth” to be formed during the “Millennial Reign” of Jesus Christ but the writings are mostly noted for “the great Messianic predictions in which are foretold Christ’s birth (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6), His Deity (9:6-7), His ministry (9:1-2; 42:1-7;61:1-2), His death (52:1-53:12), His future millennial reign (for example, chapters 2; 11; 65), etc.” {{pg. 910 The Scofield Study Bible Introduction to the Book of Isaiah, the 2002 Edition}}. So the Divine Circumstance had been prophesied over 800 years before Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem and all prophecies point to Jesus as being the long awaited Messiah!

The Divine Context:

The Gospel According to MATTHEW was written C. A.D. 50 and was written originally for the Jews and presents Jesus as the Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, and the place of His birth was the City of David, Bethlehem — all of which point to the Divinity of Christ and to Jesus being God made flesh (John 1:14) and walking among us. Matthew starts his documentation of the Life of Christ with a genealogy that traces the lineage of Jesus back to Abraham then covers the Divine Event of the birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary. Matthew then introduces John the Baptist who was preaching in the wilderness, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2) and proclaimed that John said that he was “The voice of one crying in the wilderness; ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’” (Matthew 3:3) Matthew then records that Jesus was baptized by John, and then was led into the wilderness where Jesus was “tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1) and then Matthew writes: “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 4:17)  then later in Chapter 4 Matthew continues; “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.” (Matthew 4:23)  These miracles of God by the hand of Jesus became widely known and great multitudes started following Jesus which leads us into the first of the JESUS Questions which immediately followed the famous “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5:1-12) This is where we start learning the Lessons of God’s TRUTH that Jesus Teaches by asking “The JESUS Questions”. 

Lesson 1: JQ#1    “Are you salt and light?”                                       Matthew 5:1-16