JUNE 09 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#19 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

JUNE 09  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord and Savior, the Lamb of God that was slain before the foundation of the earth, God very God who became flesh and dwelt among us so that You could Teach us by example how to live in this world that has been defiled and filled with the sin of disobedience. Jesus I pray that my life will no longer be wasted on self but will grow daily in Your Grace, Compassion, and Wisdom — Lord Jesus may I live like You  and Love others as You demonstrated “compassion” and commanded us to “Love one another”. Lord, I know that to live like You means to “serve” others and to sacrifice “self” in obedience to the Father’s Will, keep me centered in Your Will and walking in Your Light that I may know Your Way.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus uses JQ#19 to draw our attention inwardly to our “spiritual existence” and when He gets us to consider that we have an “eternal soul” He brings our awareness to focus on considering the eternal battle being waged in the world between “good” and “evil” to gain control of each individual “soul”!   The “soul” is eternal and the “soul” is who we really are ——— this can be easily proved by simply asking ourselves simple “physical” questions like “will I die if I lose an arm or a leg” or at each birthday we celebrate (or curse) we must ask “am I  who I am because of my age” or do we believe that it is our “body weight” that defines us, or our “bank account”, or the “car we drive” or is it any other “physical entity” that makes us who we are? No ——— as soon as one reflects on that universal question “Who am I and what am I doing here?” we are aware that life is more than the body, or our age, or any other “physical” characteristic and that is why we embrace the concept of “spirits” for we readily notice spiritual concepts in others like “attitudes” ——— and upon the realization that we are not our finite physical attributes, we recognize that our bodies are just a vessel that is transporting “who we really are as defined by our eternal souls” that we declare cliches like, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” and we use “spiritual reality” terms like “True beauty is on the inside”. The main thing “spiritual” that we often overlook is our “emotions” ——— Our body is a “physical” entity that “emotionally” expresses what we feel in our “spirit” as we see the same body cry, laugh, jump for joy, and also in the same physical body we can mourn or we can rejoice and celebrate — all our emotions are “inward” and are “spiritual” and are displayed “outwardly” by our “physical” body and this “physical expression of spiritual emotion” has been declared as our “body language”, so the same body is not defined so much by our “physical” characteristics as much as we are really defined by our “inward” or “spiritual characteristics” that are expressed by our “body language” and therefore Jesus has been Teaching His disciples how to “live” their daily lives considering the “Spiritual” and His Lessons all deal with our “spiritual response” to our “physical circumstances”. The fact that there is a battle for our “soul” can be seen in both “what” Jesus Teaches and “how” He has lived His life while existing on earth in the flesh and living the Perfect Example of using the “spiritual” to overcome the “physical”. Jesus had previously Taught His disciples by casting out “unclean spirits” and gave His disciples “power” to do the same: “And when [Jesus] had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.” (Matthew 10:1)  So we must consider that there were twelve different physical bodies for the disciples so it was not the disciples physical characteristics that were going to accomplish “casting out…unclean spirits” or “to heal all kinds of sickness…”  which we recognize as “spiritual issues” being exhibited in different “physical forms” and we should also recognize that to accomplish healing of the physical and the removal of unclean spirits that Jesus “gave them power” and that “power” was not in the form of any “physical” characteristic, it was not in any “physical” form whatsoever, but the “power” existed in “spiritual” form only and regardless of the disciples physical description, they all had the same “power” which had to exist as “spirit”. Therefore we must acknowledge that each of us possess a “spirit” within us that is recognizable by others and in this scripture the writer Matthew uses the term specifically calling the problem “unclean spirits” so it is reasonable that to “cast out unclean spirits” that the “power” over them must be a “greater spiritual power”! There is precedence in God’s creation to let us know that this “Supreme Power” is of God because we read in Genesis 1:1-5 two verses that draw our attention to the ultimate “Power” and they are: “The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) The next verse is how God used His Spirit to fix the darkness, the emptiness, and the lack of purpose as we read “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3)  So at the very start of everything “physical” we see All of Creation being accomplished by the “Spiritual Power of God” and that the solution to physical issues God brought forth “light” and please note that this was accomplished not by any “physical” feat but by God “speaking” and immediately it was so!!!  Before the “sun worshippers” start giving themselves high fives we must ask, what was this “light” that God just “spoke” and it happened? If we read the Creation account we find that it was on the fourth day of creation that God made the sun and the moon so what was the “light” God spoke “Let there be” on Day 1 that dispelled the darkness and brought order to the chaos? If the sun and moon are “physical” lights put into place on Day 4 (Genesis 1:14-19) then it must be reasoned that the “light” in Genesis 1:3 was created by the “Spirit of God” therefore it could be considered as “The True Spiritual Light” and could this “Light” on Day 1 of Creation be “Understanding” and the “True Power of God” ?  Consider John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word …and the light shines in the darkness…” ——— sounds just like Genesis 1:1-5 and the beginning of Creation and the SOURCE of all “TRUE POWER” to me!