JULY 26 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#22 “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things?” (Matthew 20:15)

JULY 26  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, thank You for the moving of Your Spirit in so many lives and forgive us when we have been so bountifully blessed but don’t share the Joy of Jesus with others that are lost in darkness. Lord there is so much pain and sorrow and just plain lostness and there is Inexhaustible Light that is being kept under a bushel and I pray for forgiveness and the boldness to share You and the Love of God. Lord I will wait on You and trust that Your Spirit will renew my strength and that when You call, I will answer:  “Here I am, send me”.   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has addressed the problem we all have of following the doctrines of men by demonstrating the Truth of God that heaven is “Not For Sale” and eternal life cannot be earned by any amount of “good works”. Mankind has from the beginning been deceived into thinking we can “be like God” and our lustful eyes fall victim to the forbidden fruit and our lustful flesh quickly follows suit and we partake in the great lie because of our own volition — we are all sinners by nature and the problem is that the “doctrines of men” always turn us towards our inner prideful self which always focuses our attention on our lusts. The “doctrines of men” never attain the promise of eternal life but result only in our separation from the Love of God which has been poured out in a Crimson Flood for our Atonement which is the Gateway to Eternal Life in the Presence of the Great I Am!  Jesus Taught about “Sin” then He followed that Lesson with this one about living our daily lives following Him {{which is the only Pathway to God}} instead of following the “doctrines of men” which is the broad highway leading to destruction.  Jesus started this section illustrating that our traditions are established by man’s interpretation of God’s Divine Intent for mankind ——— note that there is a “spiritual problem” with filtering Divine Doctrine through a multitude of “defiled middle men” who must deal with their own selfish desires, thereby defiling the Divine Intent of the Holy God and His commandments which result in “traditions of men” being based more on our personal wants for our worldly self gratification than on God’s personal Words intended for our eternal self preservation. Jesus first demonstrated that our daily lives should be lived to glorify God and not self, then Jesus again used “little children” to demonstrate what the kingdom of heaven is made of. Jesus then showed through His encounter with the rich young man that was unwilling to part with his “great worldly possessions” that heaven could not be purchased nor could eternal life be earned by any amount of good works and the only way to have “treasure in heaven” is to respond personally to Jesus when He calls us individually to: “come, follow Me”. Jesus summarized these into this Truth of God: “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:1-26) The disciples were amazed at this and Peter said to Jesus, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” (Matthew 19:27) Jesus responded to His disciples question with a promise that our “earthly actions” will result in “heavenly rewards”, in essence Teaching that this world is not our home, it is only a temporary dwelling place and whatever we sacrifice in this life on earth that in heaven we will “receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:30) Jesus has one more lesson in this section and it is another parable of a landowner hiring laborers for his vineyard which summarizes God’s position on the problem of “legalism” which is a by-product of the “defiled doctrines of men seeking worldly power”. If Jesus spends all this energy and effort to get our attention on this particular problem then doesn’t it make sense that we should give some thought to how much time we spend on the “doctrines of men” verses the “Word of God”?!?!?! The Truth is that only the Supreme Judge in Heaven can declare what is “legal” in the Kingdom of the King of kings!!!