Layman's Pulpit

APRIL 28  THE JESUS QUESTIONS (Day 14) Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#01-01—JQ#13-07 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, aside from Your Mercy and Grace, there is no good thing in me, all I have accomplished in my life is worthless for as much worldly success as I have had, it is only temporary and of no consequence to that which is eternal. Lord Jesus, thank You for Your marvelous gifts of Grace, Mercy, Salvation, Forgiveness, and Peace! Lord, thank You for the reminder that the “Gifts of God” are priceless and that they cannot be earned by works nor is there any earthly thing that can be valued enough to purchase these “Gifts”. Only the Blood of the Only Begotten of the Father Himself can be found worthy enough to purchase this Gift of Righteousness and therefore let us forsake the “hay and stubble” upon which we have formerly established this earthly house and build our heavenly foundation on the “Rock” ——— “This Rock is Jesus”!!!       AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus continues His line of “serious” Questions about our relationship to the Father with JQ#13:

Lesson 13  JQ#13  “Is your life a plus or minus in God’s kingdom?”     

Matthew 12:24-45

Our life cannot count for anything that has earthly value or is prized in the eyes of sinful man. Jesus asks us to evaluate our life in terms of God’s Kingdom for Jesus knows that we cannot earn enough money or collect enough things on this earth to justify our entrance into God’s Kingdom, thereby making our physical accomplishments as worthless as they are finite! Jesus has brought our understanding of God to the point that we are aware that our Faith in God and our relationship with God will have the only bearing on our eternity and Jesus is revealing to us that the physical things of this earth are going to pass into nothingness while the spiritual aspects of our soul are going to be carried with us as we enter into eternity through the doorway of death that all souls must use as we exit this present mortal physical life and enter into the eternal spiritual existence God has intended for each soul He creates. If we spend our earthly time collecting earthly treasures then when our physical life is terminated we will find that everything finite is terminated as well and the only thing that passes through the doorway of death are those things that have “eternal spiritual value” —Jesus had taught this to Nicodemus when He discussed the kingdom of God with the most learned religious man of his day: “Jesus answered and said …’Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3) and to clarify that it is a “spiritual vs. physical” conflict Jesus tells Nicodemus “…Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5-6) So Jesus makes it clear that we are first born of flesh and while in the flesh we must seek to understand the mysteries of God and by gaining the knowledge of God we will be born of “His Spirit”, for as our earthly fathers gives us physical life of the flesh, our Heavenly Father will give us the eternal life of His Spirit, for flesh cannot enter into the kingdom of God, only Spirit. The total value of our physical life therefore can be summed up as either a “spiritual” plus or a minus in God’s Kingdom, so each of us must ask ourselves, “Does our Spiritual life add up to anything good in God’s eyes?”