JULY 25 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#22 “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?” (Matthew 20:15)

JULY 25  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#22  “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?” (Matthew 20:15)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer   

JESUS, may this day which You have blessed me with be used for a single purpose — to Glorify God. Lord I know that You have been leading me on my Journey to Truth for Your Light has illuminated my path and I pray that this day will be a day in which Your Love which You have poured into my life will be used to be a Light to dispel the darkness in someone else’s life, that this day will be a day that I give totally of myself for someone else that they will truly see You living in me and that they will start on their own journey to find the Peace, the Joy, and the Salvation that comes only from knowing Jesus.        AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus, being the Master Teacher and the Perfect Example for us to follow, covers all bases and nuances of each Truth of God that He Teaches. This Lesson from JQ#22 is about knowing the difference between “obeying the commands of God” and “following the doctrines of men”, Jesus Teaches us to also be aware of not only “traditions” that previous generations have mistakenly fallen into that is contrary to God’s Law but we should be aware that in this world in which we all live that there are certain “desires of men” that have become totally acceptable lifestyles for a society — but even though these “desires of men” are legal by man’s law they are still in conflict with the True Law which is derived from the Commands of God! Jesus Teaches in this next section that we sometimes live our lives trying to achieve a worldly goal that can actually keep us from entering the kingdom of heaven if we adhere to worldly standards that is socially acceptable to men, and sadly these worldly standards based on the desires of men are even considered “successful” behavior by the majority of men. Jesus had just used little children as an example and had Taught His disciples, “Let the little children come to Me…for such is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14) Matthew then records an encounter Jesus had with a rich young man who “had great possessions” approached Jesus “and said to Him, Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16) The answer Jesus gave the rich young man who was seeking to “do good things” to “[earn] eternal life” is an important “Wake Up!” call to everyone that is absorbed with “possessions” and “gaining wealth”! Jesus made it very clear that no one can “buy” their way into heaven, neither can anyone “work” their way into heaven by doing “good things”. The response Jesus gave the rich young man laid out the only path to “enter into life” so that there could be no mistake what is required by God if someone wished to have eternal life. Jesus laid out the Pathway as He spoke to the rich young ruler;  “[Jesus] said to [the rich young man], ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into [eternal] life, keep [God’s] commandments.’” (Matthew 19:17) The rich young man had fallen victim to the “doctrines of men” that are still prevalent in our society today as we are taught to believe that “success” is measured by our “possessions” and proportional to the size of our “bank accounts”. Jesus really burst the rich young man’s bubble when He complemented the young man when the young man said that he already was following the commandments of God but then Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow Me.” (Matthew 19:20-21) Wow ! Here the rich young man had to make a choice between having his “great possessions" here on earth or having “treasure in heaven” !!! The rich young man’s response was recorded by Matthew as we read, “But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” (Matthew 19:22) Jesus had completely exposed the “doctrine of men” that says that success lies in possessions and worldly treasures for with His answer to the rich young man Jesus is Teaching that the only requirement to having “treasure in heaven” and “eternal life” is to “obey the commands of God and follow Jesus” !!! The disciples were “astonished” when they saw a rich young man with great possessions who had kept all the commandments turn and walk away from Jesus and they asked Jesus, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25) Jesus now had their full attention and He drove home to His disciples another Truth of God — “But Jesus looked at them and said to them, ‘With [the doctrines of] men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’” (Matthew 19:26) It cannot be Taught any better that entry into the kingdom of heaven “cannot be bought nor can eternal life be earned by good works” ——— simply put; success with men is worthless in the sight of God — so now each of us is faced with the same deal, are you willing to trade all your worldly possessions and the praise of men to take up your “cross” and “follow Jesus” into the Promised Land and Life Everlasting?!?!?!