MAY 19 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#16-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#16 “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY 19  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#16-03  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#16 “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?”  (Matthew 15:3)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Lord and Savior, again today as I read previous prayers to start my day, I am simply amazed at how Faithful You have been to teach me in ways that I could not imagine would teach me how to grow my faith in Your Faithfulness! Here is a prayer written in 2004 that is as timeless as is Your Glory — “Jesus, you alone have the right to claim a kingdom over man and You alone will be the Great LORD and Master over ALL living things. All but Thee have sinned and all but Thee have fallen short of the Glory of God. Lord forgive us in our weakness of the flesh ——— I pray and praise Thee and I acknowledge as did the Apostle Paul that I do the things I shouldn’t and then I don’t do the things I should?!?! O Lord, I will keep turning to Thee and praying for forgiveness and will continue to start each day looking to walk in Your Ways as I come humbly to You in Spirit and in Truth.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

MAY 19  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#16-03  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#16 “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?”  (Matthew 15:3)  Jesus will continue to Teach us in ways that we often miss in the first reading of a particular Lesson but Jesus moves our focus always to the Truth of God so if we but look again at His Lesson for the Truth of God that is always at the Heart of every Jesus Lesson, we will have our “spiritual” eyes opened and we will “see by Faith” the Goodness and Truth of God!  The Holy Spirit has again led me to “extend” the context of this JQ#16 to include the next several verses through Matthew 15:20 as I had missed the “Truth of God” when I read the text the first time through. The context from Matthew 15:1 through Matthew 15:20 should be carefully studied to gain “spiritual” insight for the JESUS Question of why do we as a society give “man-made traditions” so much authority while we fail to give God His Rightful Authority over ALL things! The Truth of God is that in our daily lives that when we stop to consider our “traditions” we miss the obvious Truth of God that we never give proper consideration as to where our “traditions” originate — from God or from man? This is very similar to the Question Jesus asked the Pharisees when they accused Jesus of breaking the “traditional law of the Sabbath” of the Pharisees regarding Jesus and His disciples when they were plucking heads of grain and eating them on the Sabbath and of Jesus healing a man’s withered hand on the Sabbath also. Jesus answered their question by telling them the Truth of God that “Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:12) and the Pharisees saw that their “traditional/man-made law” has no argument against the “Truth of God”. Now once again we see the Pharisees questioning Jesus as to another “tradition” that the Pharisees were using against Jesus and that was the tradition of the washing of hands before the eating of bread ——— if Jesus would stop and correct the Pharisees about “traditions established by man”, then we too should stop and learn the Lesson Jesus found important enough to stop and Teach, especially when it concerns the “traditions” that we tend to live by in our daily lives. Matthew records this Teaching of the Truth of God “Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, ‘Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they [the disciples] do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” (Matthew 15:1) Jesus at this point exposes the problem with their “traditions” when compared to the “Truth of God” as Jesus turned their question around and posed to the Pharisees regarding “their traditions”  JQ#16: “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your traditions?”  (Matthew 15:3) By taking their accusation against Him and using it to question their “traditions”, Jesus had once again drawn our attention to one of our daily weaknesses we live with and that is that we have been taught and are being taught on a daily basis what is packaged as “accepted traditions” that do not glorify God! I know that in growing up, many, many things I was taught was because that was the way everyone in my immediate family was taught — I now look back and see that many of my friends were doing what they were taught by their families so I have to ask the question, if we both do what is taught as “tradition” and there is a conflict in our “traditions” then who is right? I can now from my studying of the Word of God see why God has been spending so much energy in Teaching us to “know” the “Truth of God” and to evaluate our “traditions” as to their origination. I am grateful that my family was a Bible-believing family and our “traditions” were based on God’s Word and I am convinced that today’s world needs to evaluate if the “traditions” they are using to live their lives come from the True and Living God or from the “traditions of men”? There can be only One Truth and that One Truth is the Truth of God, and if every one lived by God’s commandments there would never be any conflict in our beliefs? Don’t you agree that if we continue to disagree that there will never be any hope for peace? It is a Truth of God that a house (or nation) divided against itself can not stand and that is certainly true if we consider trying to follow everyone’s personal preferences! Somewhere, somehow we must unite under one single TRUTH and I prefer a tradition that teaches “Eternal Life and Forgiveness” — what “tradition of men” do you think would be better than the commandments of the “Life-Giving God offering Forgiveness of sin” to bring world peace? 

MAY 18 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#16-02 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#16 “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY 18  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#16-02  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#16 “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?”  (Matthew 15:3)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, You Lord are worthy to be Praised even if not a single person did so. Your Mercy and Grace are extended to All, believers and non-believers receive Your Blessings and one gives Praise and Thanksgiving and the other rejects the gifts of God, yet acceptance and rejection are no reflection on Your Glory but merely a reflection of who we are. Lord forgive me when I think that my thoughts have anything to do with who You really are! What we believe about God is as A. W. Tozer writes to open his book “Knowledge of the Holy”, the “…most important thing about us…” but our “belief” about who God is has no bearing on who God IS nor on God’s Holy Character ——— God IS God because He IS God and His Character is solely determined by what God chooses to reveal about Himself to us and the TRUTH of who He IS, is in no way associated with what we believe about Him!!! Lord Jesus, I Praise You because You are Worthy of our Praise.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

MAY 18  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#16-02  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#16 “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?”  (Matthew 15:3)  Jesus has been Teaching the “multitudes” with one style and His disciples with another and I believe Jesus Taught according to each ones need because Jesus can use the same event but Teach different Lessons at the same time accordingly to the needs of the one that Jesus is Teaching to ——— Jesus is just that good! Jesus proves His consistency and His “Fairness” by always Teaching the Truth of God and Jesus makes His Lesson personal and intimate or global in nature depending on the needs of His followers. JQ#16 is the second time that Jesus has used the term “Hypocrite!” in His Teachings as we see in Matthew 7 that Jesus was Teaching the multitudes that we should not judge others (JQ#4) for if we “say to your brother ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye…” and miss the “plank” in our own eyes then Jesus used the term “Hypocrite!” to describe us judging others and overlooking our own faults which in reality are worse in God’s eyes. (see Matthew 7:2-5) and now in JQ#16 we see that the “scribes and the Pharisees” are questioning Him again as to His Lordship which is very similar to JQ#7 when the Pharisees had questioned Jesus about “lawful” things for the Sabbath and Jesus had answered, “…the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath’.” (Matthew  12:1-8)  In the first instance the Pharisees asked Jesus if it was “lawful” for Him and His disciples to pick heads of grain and to eat them on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-8) and Jesus answered their question with a definitive Statement about His Lordship and in this instance Jesus does the Pharisees just like He did Peter and turns their question into an indictment on themselves as the Pharisees asked  “Why do you transgress the tradition of the elders?” (Matthew 15:2) and Jesus turns that back on them and asks  JQ#16   “Why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3)  When we look at the context of this question we see it is directed strictly to the “legalists” (lawyers and politicians of that age) and was not addressing His Question to the “multitudes” in general, so Jesus has directed His Teaching at a specific group, a powerful group that thought that man’s opinion of the law was greater somehow than God’s own written Law! Jesus pointed out that the commandment of “Honor thy father and thy mother…” had been re-written by the Pharisees so that they could “justify” getting around that commandment for the purpose of personal gain! Jesus quickly lets His contenders know that changing the commandments of God even though it be declared “legal” by a governing body of men is a sin in itself! Matthew records for the second time in this type of accusation against His Authority that Jesus using the word “Hypocrite!” to describe His accusers!  (see Matthew 7:5) Jesus is in this instance talking about the Pharisees practice of changing God’s Law to suit themselves and again Jesus uses the term “Hypocrites!”. (Matthew 15:7) Each time the Pharisees try to trap Jesus using their man-made law (the Pharisees interpretation of God’s Law) Jesus points out that God’s Law cannot be changed nor interpreted any way but the way God said it! Jesus makes it perfectly clear with His Question that “your tradition” is wrong if it transgresses “the commandment of God”! Jesus again quotes the Prophet Isaiah to describe the Pharisees: “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me, and in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:8-9 taken from Isaiah 29:13) Jesus has once again taught the specific Lesson needed to what a specific group needed to help them see that there is the SINGLE TRUTH set forth by God and no amount of “legislation” or “popular outcry” from a majority of voters can alter or change in any way the Commandments of God!!! I have to stop and ask a question of our world today, “Why does the world today fight over who has the ‘right’ to establish law when the Law has already been established by the One that first established The Law and has the only True Power to enforce it?”

MAY 17 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#16-01 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#16 “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#16-01  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#16 “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?”  (Matthew 15:3)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, there are so many things to thank You for and to praise You for just from the good hard days work You gave me yesterday. When I think of “work” from a “physical” viewpoint it doesn’t make sense how to get a blessing from being in the hot sun sweating and fighting off yellow jackets that sting and hurt so bad but when I think of the “physical” from a “spiritual” viewpoint I see that my blessings are overflowing as I was able to have the physical strength to do the physical labor and that I get to do it in Your beautiful Creation! Lord, I come before You again today seeking Your guidance in all that You lay before me and Trust You to give me the “physical” strength to accomplish Your tasks and the “spiritual” strength to give You Praise for Your Provisions!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

MAY 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#16-01  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#16 “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?”  (Matthew 15:3)  Jesus has just walked on the water and demonstrated to His disciples that He will transfer His Power to those willing to get out of the boat and walk on the water with Him and He also Taught them the Truth of God that indeed we “can do all things through Christ Jesus” but without Him we will drown in the world! That great Lesson was summarized by the writer Matthew as he wrote about the Jesus/Peter encounter where both were walking on the water and Matthew documented that when Peter took note of the world around him instead of keeping his focus on Jesus that Peter began to sink beneath the waves, Matthew records how Jesus reacted: “and [Peter] beginning to sink … cried out, saying, ‘Lord save me!’ and immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught Peter…and when they got back into the boat, the wind ceased.” (Matthew 14:30-32) Matthew then recorded what our response should be when Jesus stretches out His Hand of Salvation from Heaven to all of us that are drowning in a world of sin: “Then those who were in the boat came and worshipped Him, saying, ‘Truly You {Jesus} are the Son of God’” (Matthew 14:33) Matthew continues his summary as he concludes this section “When they had crossed over… [and] the men of that place recognized Him, they sent out …[and] brought to [Jesus] all who were sick…[and all who were brought to Him] were made perfectly well.” (Matthew 14:34-36) So here is Jesus healing the multitudes, demonstrating that by His actions and the “Fruit of His Kingdom Labors” that Jesus IS “Truly…the Son of God” and yet there are those with a different agenda that refuse to believe the “Witness” of the “Good Works of Jesus”. Those that believed that Jesus IS the “Son of God” were all “made perfectly well” and we know that all those people could not have been in the boat with Jesus so their healing “Faith” had to come from “hearing” about the Mighty Works, “Works” that could only be accomplished by the Very Son of God Himself and the cloud of witnesses was so great that the multitudes “believed” and by their “Faith in Jesus” they were “healed”! So why do we see another group of people who have heard the same thing about Jesus want to attack Him? We read in Matthew 15:1-2 that once again it is the “scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem” that came to Jesus but instead of walking on water they were stirring up waves as they questioned Jesus: “Why do Your  disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?” (Matthew 15:2) which set the scene for another great “Truth of God” and demonstrates why Jesus is “Truly…the Son of God” ——— or do you believe that just because you don’t believe that somehow your belief will have any affect on the Power of God? Jesus answered the challenge to His Lordship from the Pharisees just like He addressed the challenge from Peter but with completely different results ——— as soon as His Lordship was challenged with a question from the Pharisees, Jesus immediately answered their question with a Question of His own that made the Pharisees look at the Truth of God that Jesus Teaches and not the “lie” that men try to convince each other is “best for the common good?” ——— once again Jesus is making us answer that most important Question that every individual must answer in their individual lives: “Are you going to Trust God and His Truth or are you going to listen to men that tell you a “lie”  that they mistakenly believe is the truth?”  

MAY 16 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#15-09 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY 16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#15-09  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”  (Matthew 14:31)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Praise, Glory, and Honor to the Son of God who gave Himself for the sins of the world even though men reject the “Gift”.  God in spite of all the worldly rejection still is Gracious in extending His Invitation to “whosoever” and is Faithful in His Character and encourages ALL to accept His Offer of Eternal Life! It will forever be a mystery why God went through so much trouble to prove His Love to us and why we so easily seek the world and reject His Gift of Eternal Life! Lord give me the self discipline to see past my daily physical life on earth and to focus on my eternal spiritual life in heaven and that by knowing Your Mercy and Grace  I will focus on helping others and contribute to Kingdom Work and quit contradicting the “King” Himself. Praise God from whom ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

MAY 16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#15-09  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”  (Matthew 14:31)  JQ#15 to JQ#16 Transition: “Also…add to your faith…” (2 Peter 1:5)  The Jesus Questions have been a blessing in themselves and today God added one of His “unexpected” extras that He does when we are following Him. JQ#15 gave me a “personal” insight into many of my “faith” shortcomings in that I know from my “personal experiences” that Jesus is the Son of God and He has done miracle after miracle in my life and yet there are times that I let my “faith” falter and I fall prey to my “demon of doubt” and end up questioning the Lordship of Jesus in my life. I had read with amazement that the children of Israel had experienced God’s Grace in freeing them from their slavery in Egypt as God miraculously delivered them from Pharaoh’s army by parting the Red Sea but once they were safely on the “other side” they rebelled against God and whined to go back to slavery!?!?! Then in JQ#15 I see Peter actually challenge Jesus while Jesus is walking on water in a storm at sea and is speaking “Peace” to him!?!?! So today as I was considering my own “faith” and how I often “challenge” the Lordship of Jesus in my life, the Holy Spirit recalled to my mind my reading of a devotional in Oswald Chamber’s Daily Journal “My Utmost for His Highest” on day “JUNE 15”. I retrieved the journal and turned to June 15 and as I read my prayer for that day, God spoke to me through my own words in that prayer written in 2004. How God spoke to me was that just after reading the devotional for 2004 in “Utmost” I then read my prayer written on the opposite page in 2016 and I was amazed at how God manages to Teach us “True Faith” by using our own life to address our fears and doubts about Him, which is what I think Jesus did for Peter in JQ#15 when Jesus simply extended the invitation to Peter to “Come” and Peter actually walked on water!?!?! I have been experiencing some great works of God lately in my personal life but the “joy” was not there and then today as I read my own prayers written 12 years apart I could see that God has been working daily in those twelve years to get me to this point to learn about His Love, even though I have occasionally been “looking back” at my former life in slavery to sin and I had been missing “rejoicing” in my “personal freedom from sin” that God has provided to me through His Son Jesus Christ! I have been in effect “challenging” the very character of God by wanting to return to my slavery from which God has performed many miracles that provides “deliverance” from them and once again God proved Himself and He has exposed my “lack of faith” which is a terrible character flaw for someone that is following Jesus!  God has already done all that must be done for our salvation, why do we still seek for more “signs” for God to prove that He IS GOD? I leave The JESUS Questions today with this Oswald Chambers quote from his JUNE 15 “Utmost” commentary and will let you see if it applies to you also ?!?!?!  

“In the matter of drudgery. Peter said in this passage that we have become partakers ‘of the divine nature’  and that we should now be ‘giving all diligence’, concentrating on forming godly habits (2 Peter 1:4-5) We are to ‘add’ to our lives all that character means. No one is born either naturally or supernaturally with character; it must be developed. (2 Peter 1:5)”

When I read that passage and realized it was written by the same Peter that had “challenged” Jesus to prove Himself and had actually had a very personal Lesson Taught to him after he got out of the boat, I wondered if I would have stepped out of the boat and if I did step out for Jesus, how many steps would I have taken before I fell back into my old character and sank beneath the waves of “doubt” only to have Jesus “prove Himself once again” and extend His Hand in Love in the midst of my doubt and build my character as only Jesus can? Each Lesson Jesus Teaches is to “build our character” which I am learning that in my personal life that my “character” is proportional to my “Faith in Jesus” ——— have you been struggling with your character lately?   z

MAY 15 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#15-08 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY 15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#15-08  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”  (Matthew 14:31)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Lord thank You for Your Mercy and Grace that regardless of our circumstances You Lord are Faithful and True to Your Holy Character. Lord I pray that as I finish my journey here on this earth that I will grow my character to be like Your Character in that how I treat others is based entirely on how I choose to demonstrate God in me and not how I let the circumstance and the actions of others dictate my reactions. Lord, I know that if I ask in Your Name and for the Kingdom’s Sake that it will be done according to my faith so therefore Lord I pray to be more like You and to treat others as You so graciously treat me! Forgive me of my selfishness and how I have reacted in a “worldly” manner to my circumstances, fill me with Your Holy Spirit and grant that when I am tested that I will hear Your voice saying “Come”.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

MAY 15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#15-08  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”  (Matthew 14:31)  Jesus takes us to a very personal level with this 2nd Question where He refers to His followers as “you of little faith”. We know that it is personal because when Jesus was walking on the water to meet up with His disciples in the middle of the sea, we read, “And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, ‘It is a ghost!” and they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.’” (Matthew 14:26-27) Clearly the disciples were not afraid of the “physical” dangers of the wind and the waves for Jesus had already demonstrated His Power over the “physical” in their previous boating experience in a storm but here His disciples are addressing the “spiritual” as they declared: “It is a ghost” (and “ghosts” are “spirits” and do not appear in “physical” form). The disciples could not process the sight of a “physical” being “walking on the sea” so they succumbed to their fear of the “spiritual”. Jesus reacted to their fear “immediately” and assured them that they were seeing Jesus Himself and He commanded them “It is I; do not be afraid.” (Matthew 14:28). The circumstance then takes a personal turn because when Jesus spoke to the group, Peter then tested Jesus with a personal question “Lord, if it is You…” but Jesus turned the Lesson personal and private with His one-word response to Peter “Come”. In Matthew 14:27 Jesus was talking to His disciples collectively as “them” and then in verse 28 we read “And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” [So Jesus said to Peter personally] ‘Come’…” (Matthew 14:28-29) So the lesson went from the disciples as a group in verse 27 to Peter individually in verse 28 and also Jesus moved from calming the group fears to addressing a Teaching a personal Lesson to Peter with a one-word command addressed directly at Peter. It should be noted here that it was Peter that challenged Jesus but Jesus proved who He was by Teaching a very personal Lesson to Peter to be used as an example for all that would be so bold as to challenge Jesus as Jesus announces “It is I” while “walking on the sea” during a storm! I personally think that Peter is being used by God to Teach us that our “Faith” will grow as we put it to the “test”.  Jesus used the challenge to “prove” that indeed He IS Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and that there is no circumstance nor challenge Jesus cannot immediately control and turn into a Lesson that will promote us “spiritually” and protect us “physically”! The “personal” aspect can be seen as Jesus listened to Peter and commanded Peter in the perfect way to answer the personal question Peter had just asked directly to Jesus and the personal response directed to Peter in reference to the personal challenge by Peter to the LORDSHIP of Jesus. This circumstance is totally personal because Jesus commanded Peter to do something personal ——— Jesus did not direct His response to the other disciples. It was Jesus talking to Peter and addressing the personal challenge to His Lordship with a challenge of His own to Peter’s personal “faith” in the Lordship of Christ as Jesus simply commanded Peter to “Come” to Him. The Lesson we need to learn here is that Jesus is able to “save” us in any circumstance and that Jesus will personally make Himself available to us and will address every challenge we personally face for Jesus !The “Truth of God” and our “Faith in Him” will ALWAYS be proven to be well placed for JESUS is the Christ and can control every circumstance and will do so personally if necessary. We know the outcome will be good because Jesus “stretched out His hand and caught” Peter as he was sinking. JQ#15 takes on a different tone when we know it was asked as Jesus was “saving” Peter for Jesus addressed the Question to Peter personally: JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”  (Matthew 14:31) which in the personal context Jesus is reassuring Peter that Jesus will never fail us and should never be “doubted”.  If we will simply have “Faith in Jesus” we can boldly and confidently proclaim “JESUS SAVES”. It isn’t easy to explain why God would send Jesus to “save us” even though we continually “doubt” Him but aren’t You glad that God is God regardless of how many times we challenge Him?

MAY 14 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#15-07 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY 14  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#15-07  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”  (Matthew 14:31)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, You Lord are the Giver of Life and my Praise is to thank You for this wonderful life that You have provided for us as we pass through this valley of the shadow of death. Lord help me to always know that it is only “shadows” that are cast when I let the world come between me and Your Holy Light and when I move into Your Presence and let Your Love illuminate my life then the “shadows of doubt” are dispelled and my fears caused by the “shadows” all cease and I enter into Your Peace and Your Rest. Thank You Lord for Your Sacrifice of Yourself for my sins that I might be bathed in Your Righteousness so that I may have fellowship with the Father.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

MAY 14  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#15-07  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”  (Matthew 14:31)  Jesus has used a boat and a storm twice now to teach us about “Faith in God” — JQ#7 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26) and now Jesus again turns our thoughts to “Faith in God” as He asks JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31) The common “spiritual” elements to go along with the physical elements “boat & storms” are “faith & fear” and Jesus Teaches us that it is a “fear” caused by the lack of “faith” which grows from the seeds of doubt sowed by the storms of this earthly world. 

{{Part 2 Jesus and Peter walks on the water}}  

In Part 1 a comparison was made between the first time the disciples encountered storm troubles while out in a boat and this second time the disciples found themselves again in a boat in a storm on the sea. The first event occurred after the disciples had witnessed a series of miracles that in essence proved that Jesus IS the Son of God for only God’s Power could have accomplished the miracles that Jesus had performed. The disciples had witnessed the miracles and then followed Jesus into the boat and the storm came when Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat. The second Lesson on  “Faith & Storms” was different in a major way because just before going out to sea the second time, the disciples themselves were actively involved in doing kingdom work and though it was still the Power of God that accomplished the miracle, the disciples themselves were used as a vessel through which God had accomplished His Work in the lives of the “multitudes”. This second event is also markedly different in that when Jesus had “compassion on the multitudes” that He “commanded” His disciples “you give them something…”(Matthew 14:16) which in essence was the “passing of the mantle” to His disciples to address the needs of the multitudes. Then as they moved from the miracle of feeding “five thousand, besides women and children” that “Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him”. We can look at the first event at sea and those miracles that the disciples witnessed Jesus doing in the Power of God as a “Teaching” experience and this second event has the focus shifted so that it is a “Learning” experience and a “Test” to see what the disciples have learned about kingdom work and the “Power of God” used to address the “needs” of the multitudes. Of great importance to note with the second event is that Jesus is foreshadowing the fact that He is making “disciples get into the boat” with the intended purpose that through His disciples that the kingdom work will continue as Jesus commands each of His followers to follow His example and then to go out on our own “in the Name and Power of Jesus” and do kingdom work that God intends each of us to do. When Jesus commanded His disciples to get into the boat and “go before Him” there is no doubt that we are called as “disciples” to “learn” that God desires to work His Power through us and then we are to “Go before Him”. To me this says that Jesus wants us to “introduce” Him to others but Jesus promises that He will show up when He is needed and the “timing” is such that God will receive the glory. If Jesus commands us to “go before Him” then it means that He is going to meet up with us again! The second great Lesson from the second encounter is that Peter demonstrated that God is “transferring” His power to those that are willing to do His Work and step out of the boat on “Faith”!!! We see that when Peter listened to Jesus when Jesus had commanded “Come” that Peter was able to walk on water just like Jesus was doing and it was only when Peter saw himself as part of the world did he start sinking. As long as Peter was “in the Spirit” following the command of Jesus and had total “Faith in the Power of God” Peter had the “Power of God” to walk on water! We as disciples must get beyond our limited “physical power” and tap into the limitless “Spiritual Power” that God has already demonstrated that He is willing to share with those who are willing to “Go” and do kingdom work. God will NEVER ask us to do anything that He hasn’t already provided us with the ability and “Power” to do. Each Lesson is designed to equip us with a little more experience in “how” God has chosen to accomplish “His Desires” for His “chosen ones”! As soon as Jesus calls us individually to “Follow Him” we should understand that from that point  when we respond to His command to “Come [to Jesus]” that we become by “Faith in Jesus His chosen ones”!!!   As His disciples, Jesus for all eternity will be continually “Teaching” us how to “Go” and once we have “Faith” enough to “get into the boat and go before Him to the other side”  we can have Supreme Confidence that He will protect us from the storms if we are following Jesus and doing kingdom work! Can you purchase a better retirement plan or invest your time in a more profitable endeavor than having the Power of God provided for you for all eternity? Or I must ask you the same question I asked myself —  “Are you having trouble accepting yourself as “God’s chosen ones”? If we are to “Be like Jesus” then we must be willing to accept being called “God’s chosen” for who but Jesus is “The Chosen One” and has He not commanded us to “Come Follow Me”?

MAY 13 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#15-06 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

MAY 13  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#15-06  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”  (Matthew 14:31)

Daily Prayer to JESUS    

Jesus, Lord Jesus, today there is nothing but Praise in my heart for You and the moving of Your Spirit that we have seen this week through Your Church. Lord we know that Your Church is not made of bricks and mortar but of flesh and blood and hearts that have been given to helping others ——— so Lord let us be more like You each day of our life and remember that how we treat others is a direct reflection on how we feel about You, thank You Lord for letting our vessels pour out Your Love on those around us that they too may drink of THE LIVING WATER!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

MAY 13  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#15-06  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#15 “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?”  (Matthew 14:31)  Jesus used the Example of His Daily Life as the Greatest Witness to the Power of God that the world has ever seen! In this event of another boat filled with His disciples and in another great storm where the wind and the waves of the world were “contrary”, Jesus walking on the stormy seas towards His followers demonstrates that the Creator God is in control of all circumstances and even if we encounter multiple bad storms in our life that God is in control of His Creation and the souls that He has placed in the world — and God is very much in control of our personal circumstances — but to see God working in the “storm” we must focus on God and not the storm!!! In other words, if we are to see God working in our “problems [storms]” we must focus on the “solution [God]” and not the “problems [storms]!!! 

 {{Part 1 Jesus and Peter walks on the water}} 

When the context surrounding this event in which Jesus asked “Why do you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31) is looked at from a “spiritual” perspective and the reader takes into consideration that this is the second event in which the disciples were out to sea during a storm, we can then make a comparison between the two events which appear at first reading to be the same event. Jesus always has a Reason and this event, though similar, has some distinct differences that Jesus uses to move us forward in our understanding of God and His will for our lives so let us look at not only what is similar with these two “boating-in-a-storm experiences” but what is different about them so that we can understand what Kingdom Lesson Jesus intends for His followers. The first event is introduced with “Now when [Jesus] got into a boat, His disciples followed Him…suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea…but Jesus was asleep…His disciples awoke Him, saying Lord, save us! We are perishing! …Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm.” (Matthew 8:23-26) Jesus had just before the first boat ride Taught the parable of the two builders, cleansed a leper, healed both the Centurion’s servant and Peter’s mother-in-law, and had made this statement about “faith” ——— “Go your way, and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” (Matthew 7:24 - 8:22) These were the events leading up to the first boat trip so let’s compare those with this second boating experience. The second boating experience starts with “Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.” (Matthew 14:22) The event preceding this statement of “immediately Jesus made His disciples” was the feeding of the five thousand where instead of Jesus doing lone acts of healing, His disciples had been active in the miracle feeding of the multitudes as Jesus had commanded His disciples “You give them something to eat” and commanded His disciples: “[You] Bring [the multitudes] here to Me” then Jesus broke and blessed the bread and made His  disciples “serve” the “multitudes”. So the first difference is that the events leading up to the first boating experience was Jesus performing miracles and His disciples were observing but the events leading up to the second boating experience had His disciples actively involved in the public ministry of Jesus and doing “kingdom work”. The second difference is that in the first event Jesus got into the boat and His disciples had followed Him into the boat but in the second event, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat without Him and had commanded them to “go before Him to the other side”. (Matthew 14:22) The third difference that stands out is that in the first event Jesus is with them in the boat when the storm arises and His disciples were fearful of losing their lives so they awoke Jesus but in the second event His disciples are alone in the “middle of the sea, tossed by the waves…”  and  “in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.”(Matthew 14:25) In the first event His disciples were panicked and thought they were “perishing” but in this event His disciples are only “troubled” and in this second “storm” His disciples began to “fear” when they thought they were seeing a ghost, “…they were troubled, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear.” (Matthew 14:26) In the first event Jesus woke up and rebuked His disciples and the waves. Then after controlling the elements Jesus went back to sleep, but in this second event when the disciples cry out Jesus does not rebuke them but instead He reassures them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27) The second event marks a milestone in faith for His disciples because even though the waves are “contrary” Peter “answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’”(Matthew 14:28) and we read the one-word command Jesus gives to all of His followers — “Come”. (Matthew 14:29) It is at this point where Peter fixes his eyes firmly on Jesus and steps out of the boat on “Faith” that Peter actually starts walking on water himself! What a Lesson to learn here because when Peter “had come down out of the boat, [and] walked on the water to go to Jesus” that Peter had demonstrated that Peter had within himself all the “Power of Jesus” when his “Faith” was focused entirely on Jesus (Matthew 14:29) because it was only when Peter came out of the “Spirit of God [FAITH IN GOD] within him” and became aware of the “physical world [storm] around him” that he began to sink — “But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord save me!’” (Matthew 14:30) I am sure that Peter’s faith was bolstered when “…immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him…” (Matthew 14:31) “and when [Peter and Jesus] got into the boat the wind ceased.” (Matthew 14:32) If we keep our focus on Jesus we would learn as His disciples did that “Truly [Jesus is] the Son of God” (Matthew 14 :33) and if we will reach out to Him and declare our need of a Savior that the Savior will draw us into His Salvation and Shelter us from the “storm” ——— or do you believe that you will never encounter any “storms” in your life?