OCTOBER 05 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#30-02 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#30 “Do you not see all these things?” (Matthew 24:02)

OCTOBER 05  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#30-02  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#30 “Do you not see all these things?”  (Matthew 24:02)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer to JESUS    

JESUS, Lord there is no circumstance in my life that is beyond what You can handle and I pray for forgiveness today for letting “worldly doubt” creep into my thoughts. I realize that I am effectively saying with my “doubt” that there is a circumstance that I am having to deal with myself because I do not have “faith” in God’s Ability to Provide and I fall back on the “lie” that “I’ll have to do it myself!” — Depending on "self" is the formula for "failure" and the “Truth” in my life is that God has ALWAYS Provided Abundantly for ALL my needs just like He Promised! For me to “doubt” God in any way, form, or fashion is bordering on “sin” at the least and is a full-blown “sin” at the worst! Lord, I repent of my “doubt” and turn to praying for others and looking for opportunities to “serve” You doing “kingdom work” — Lord keep me busy “serving You” instead of wallowing in self-pity and doubt so that my JOY may be made complete in You and my “doubt” will be destroyed!   AMEN

OCTOBER 05  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is spending His last couple of days on earth clearing up and cleaning up problems that are preventing many of God’s chosen people from “entering” the kingdom or as Jesus pronounced in Woe #1: “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” (Matthew 23:13) Once Jesus addressed the source of the “big” problem He now turns to His disciples and begins Teaching them what is about to happen to Israel because of their “hypocrisy” and for the nation following the “doctrines and traditions of men” instead of following the “Commands of God”. Jesus started the Lesson of what happens to a nation that “rejects” God with a Question that would focus our attention on the main point of the Lesson — Jesus began this Lesson with the Question: “Do you not see…” (Matthew 24:2) which introduced the scenario of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem that His disciples had just admired for its physical grandeur. When Jesus stated, “Assuredly, I say to you…” His disciples knew Jesus was going to say something very important and then Jesus continued, “not one stone [of this grand temple you are admiring] shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2) which indicated the total destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. This Question is similar to the Question Jesus asked His disciples while He was Teaching them about the “leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees” when Jesus had asked His disciples point blank, “Do you not yet understand…” and again, “How is it that you do not understand…?”. Jesus was always checking with His disciples to make sure that they truly “understood” what He was trying to Teach in each Lesson and Jesus always kept with it until He was sure that they “knew what HE was Teaching them” — Jesus kept asking until we read that after checking with them several times that — “Then [His disciples] understood…” (Matthew 16:6-12) Jesus also had asked the same Question of Peter when Jesus was Teaching that the Pharisees were “blind leaders of the blind…” and Peter had asked Jesus to “Explain this parable to us…” and Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand [My lesson on what defiles a man]?” Jesus is concerned about His disciples “understanding” because Jesus had started the parable on what defiles a man with this statement: “Hear and understand.” (Matthew 15:10-20) Therefore when Jesus starts this Lesson with the Question: “Do you not see all these things?” (Matthew 24:2) that He is clearly saying “Do you not yet understand [all these things I have been doing to clean the temple and turn Israel back to God]?” Maybe all of us should reflect on what we have seen Jesus do in our lives and know that He wants us to “understand” — I guess this would be a good time to take God’s advice when God said of Jesus, “This is My Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5)

OCTOBER 04 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#30 “Do you not see all these things?” (Matthew 24:02)

OCTOBER 04  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#30  “Do you not see all these things?”  (Matthew 24:02)

OCTOBER 04  LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord thank You for the answered prayer for the family and for the opportunity to “witness” to two of our granddaughters yesterday by “living Christ” — Lord I thank You for the moving of the Holy Spirit in our family and thank You for the vision of how You are going to bless the “parents” through the “faith” of their “children”! Lord Jesus, I pray that Your Holy Spirit will always keep me aware of how important it is that we live our daily lives for You — for yesterday I saw first hand the fruits of following You day-in-and-day-out with our daily lives because the grandkids are noticing Jesus in our home and are now wanting to come to You, all because of the blessing that You have given us with our weekly family night! Jesus, praise, glory, and honor to Your Holy Name and Your Holy Spirit!!!   AMEN

OCTOBER 04  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus uses every circumstance to take us to a new level of “understanding” the Truth of God. Jesus has just a couple of days left to Teach before He will be crucified as “The Lamb of God” and has just spent the last few days addressing the problem of “hypocrisy” in the nation of Israel. Jesus exposed the “source” and clearly identified the “fruit” of “hypocrisy” and then Jesus did not “pull any punches” as He announced that by “appearing” to worship God on the “outside” yet on the “inside” we are actually “rejecting” God and that were are guilty of “hypocrisy” which is the main problem with every generation! Jesus made it clear that “rejecting God” was “self condemnation” and the penalty for “rejecting God” was “eternal separation from God” and “eternal separation from God” is the True Definition of “HELL!”  (Be careful what you ask for - for you just may get exactly that!) Jesus never leaves one circumstance without tying it to the next circumstance and demonstrates that God has a PLAN and that nothing is happening or will happen “randomly” but everything is part of the PLAN of GOD!  Jesus has been spending His Last Week on earth in Jerusalem and so far Jesus has made His Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday and His first order of business as the Messiah upon entering Jerusalem was to “clean” the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus then spends the next couple of days addressing the problem of the nation Israel following the “doctrines and traditions of men” instead of following the “Commands of God”. Jesus summarized the main problem as “hypocrisy” among those in authority over the nation but the bigger problem was that the nation itself had embraced the “[defiled] doctrines of men” and as individuals they were themselves guilty of “hypocrisy” and were “condemning themselves”. Jesus made it clear that there was “no escape” from “self-condemnation” and the verdict (God’s predetermined and published “Consequence”) of being “Guilty” of the sin of “hypocrisy” will result in eternal separation from God and “condemnation of hell.” (Matthew 23:13-36) Now Jesus is using that context to Teach His disciples about what is going to happen to the nation and to the temple because of the collective  national sin of “hypocrisy” as we read, “Then Jesus went out and departed the temple…” (Matthew 24:1a) which was a “prophetic” gesture of the future of the nation of Israel. Jesus showed when He “went out and departed the temple”  that the verdict of “Guilty” had been passed by God and the previous Words of Jesus now made more sense to His disciples for Jesus had just Taught them in His Parable Lessons: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone…” and then because of the “rejection” of Jesus by those in “authority” Jesus pronounced, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you…” (Matthew 21:42-43) Jesus “departing” from the temple foreshadows Israel’s future and is the beginning of Jesus giving details and prophecy about the temple which history tells us was completely destroyed 70 years later and the nation Israel was taken into captivity by the Babylonians. Jesus always uses His “Questions” to focus our attention on His next Lesson and so we must look at the present context of Jesus “departing” from the temple and His disciples call His attention to the beautiful buildings that “men” have built and in my mind’s eye I can see Jesus shaking His head in disappointment because His disciples had not noticed that Jesus had “departed” the temple! Instead of seeing how God felt about the temple being defiled on the “inside”, His disciples only saw the “outside beauty” of the buildings. Jesus had just Taught about “whitewashed tombs” being full of “dead men’s bones” and the disciples could not see that this was a “whitewashed” temple and was full of “dead men’s bones”! Jesus then turned to His disciples as they were admiring the “works of men’s hands” and at that point Jesus asked: “Do you not see all these things?” (Matthew 24:2a) and to make sure they focused on His Lesson, Jesus immediately said, “Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:2b) If the disciples could not see the prophetic truth of Jesus as He “went out and departed from the temple” they surely could not miss the message Jesus gave them when He clearly drew a prophetic “Word” picture of the temple being completely destroyed and “not one stone shall be left here upon another…”?!?!? We should stop here at the start of a new Question Jesus is asking and ask ourselves, "What has Jesus been teaching and showing us about the sin in our lives that we are missing because of the blindness caused by us rejecting the LIGHT and walking in the darkness of the world?” His disciples had been with Jesus all week listening to Him pronouncing a guilty verdict on the hypocritical rulers of Israel and the temple in Jerusalem and then when His disciples looked at the temple from the “outside”, they could not see that God was no longer there and had left the “inside” empty which is a “Word” picture of our lives and our nation without God! Pray that the Holy Spirit will open our spiritual eyes so we “[can] see all these things”  that Jesus is painting in our lives and what Jesus is trying to show us about the kingdom of God!?!?!?!  

OCTOBER 03 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#29 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42)

OCTOBER 03  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#29  “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”  (Matthew 22:42)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, thank You Lord for the Love that You so freely gave to the world, the greater part of Your Love is that You gave it to a world that rejected You and that Your Love is always extended to everyone regardless of the magnitude or multitude of our sins! Lord to have Forgiveness is one thing but having Forgiveness always on the table  because of Your Great Love is having a Garden where HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL! Lord, I know that You have given us the HOPE that “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:19 KJV) but to extend that promise to include ALL sin and “all unrighteousness” is truly going the “extra mile”!   I know how many times You have kept that promise and yet I slip back into sin again??? — but if I “confess” my sin that You are “faithful and just to forgive” — You are FOREVER TRUE AND FAITHFUL!!! Lord Jesus, thank You for Loving us that much!!!   AMEN

OCTOBER 03  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has completed His “Seven Woes” which had been addressed to the “scribes and Pharisees” but Jesus also made it clear that it was not the fact that they were “scribes and Pharisees” that was the problem but that they were “hypocrites!”!!! A quick overview of the “Seven Woes” shows us the great concern God has over the attitude of our hearts toward following His Commands - it is significant that there were “Seven Woes” because in the study of the Holy Scriptures the number “7” is representative of “divine perfection” and the fact that Jesus spent so much time of His Last Week on earth addressing a problem that had its source from those in “authority” over the nation Israel, makes this obviously a very important concern God has for His chosen people!!! Add to those facts that Jesus summed up the problem with “Seven Woes” against “hypocrisy!" we can logically assume that God is going to address the issue which He felt was important enough to Sacrifice His Only Begotten Son to rectify the problem of “hypocrisy!” among His chosen people! Jesus concluded “Woe #7” stating that our sins “are witnesses against [ourselves]” (Matthew 23:31) and that the “Final Judgement” is inevitable and that we cannot “escape the condemnation of hell”!!! (Matthew 23:33) However after Jesus had pronounced the “Seven Woes” He then demonstrated His Compassion when He lamented: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed in He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” (Matthew 23:37-39) This “lament” over Jerusalem summarizes the heart of God and reveals a special Character and Truth of God to me: God is “compassionate” and is grieved when those He has “chosen” decide to “follow the doctrines of men” instead of following God and His Commandments which God has always intended that His Commands be a guide to living an abundant life among God’s Bountiful Provisions! However, God demonstrates True Justice by being a Fair Judge and administering JUSTICE EQUALLY, to everyone, including His Chosen People! The bottom line of the “Seven Woes” then could be stated as follows: If we refuse God and remain in our “spiritual blindness” that we will “see [God] no more…” until we finally recognize that God the Father has sent Jesus His Son with a Message of “Repentance” to the world!!! Jesus has made it clear that God is the Judge and the Son is the Messenger so why do we have such a problem with taking God at His Word??? If we “Choose” to continue rejecting God and His Messenger then the “Consequence” is that “[our] house [will] be left desolate” and that our rejection of God is a “witness against [ourself]” and we will not “escape” a verdict of “Guilty before God” and will receive the fruits of rejecting God which is “the condemnation of hell” — Jesus also makes it clear that “hell” is a eternity spent without God — it would be hard to imagine anything more “Woeful” than “eternal separation from God”, but of course that is my opinion and my “Choice” — you have to decide for yourself how to answer this Question that has “eternal implications”: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”!?!?!?!? (Matthew 23:42)

OCTOBER 02 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#29 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42)

OCTOBER 02  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#29  “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”  (Matthew 22:42)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer   

JESUS, Lord I praise You today as I read in Your “High Priestly Intercessory Prayer” found in the Seventeenth Chapter of the Gospel of John that You prayed to the Father on our behalf just before You were Sacrificed as the Lamb of God! In that Prayer You revealed Two Amazing Truths of God that jumped out and proved to me that God’s PLAN OF SALVATION  was  the TRUTH even BEFORE CREATION!!! First Lord You acknowledged to the Father that “the hour has come” (John 17:1) - which means that before the hour had come it must have first been planned in advance for this hour to come) and then “I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4) - which means the PLAN OF SALVATION came from the FATHER and that the SON has COMPLETED it!!!) but the real eye-opener was when You said, “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (John 17:5) LORD, to think that You and the Father had the PLAN OF SALVATION in place “before the world was” is indeed MIND BLOWING!!! Thank You Lord for (1) having a PLAN OF SALVATION in place BEFORE You CREATED the world and (2) that the PLAN OF SALVATION is now  “finished” — GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME — and now I can say with SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING — GOD WAS GOOD BEFORE TIME BEGAN!!!   AMEN

OCTOBER 02  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has been Teaching about the “Seven Woes” of falling into the world’s trap of “hypocrisy”.  Jesus has pointed out that “hypocrisy” will cause “spiritual blindness” which will prevent us from coming to the “Light” and we will live our lives in “darkness” and suffer the “condemnation” of not believing “in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18) Jesus is now going to wrap up His “Seven Woes” to the scribes and Pharisees which apply to everyone that chooses to “self-indulge” in the “doctrines of men” instead of the “self-discipline” of following the “Commands of God”.  Jesus has made a separate point with each of the previous 6 “Woes” and each “Woe” has contained a specific “Truth of God” but the “Seventh Woe” contains a detailed list of the fruits of “hypocrisy" and the dire “Consequences” of having made the “Choice” to follow the “doctrines and traditions of men” instead of allowing themselves to be “led by God Himself”! “Woe #7” contains very clear language from Jesus that shows that God is justified in sending His Only Begotten Son to address the “spiritual virus” that is “blinding” the entire nation of Israel and the entire world! Jesus makes two statements that summarizes “Woe #7” (1) “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves…” (Matthew 23:31) and (2) “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” (Matthew 23:33) These two statements point to the Truth of God that there will be a “Final Judgement” and that God will judge us according to our deeds. In “Woe #7” Jesus shows how “serious” that the sin of “hypocrisy” is in our lives because the “Consequence” of our “Choice” of “hypocrisy” is “the condemnation of hell”!!! Jesus could not make it any clearer and could not have said it any plainer — The “Consequence” of rejecting the Commands of God will result in our “self-condemnation” and our eternal souls will spend  eternity separated from the Goodness of God!!!  “Woe #7” is a wake up call that God knows everything we do and that there will be a “Final Judgement” where the Truth of our lives is revealed by the “Light of the Truth of God” and our own actions will either be rewarded by Eternal Fellowship with God Himself in Heaven or Eternal Condemnation in “Hell” separated from God with NO HOPE!?!?!?!? Surely no one would choose to be eternally separated from God ?? — however, Jesus did mention that  following  the “traditions and doctrines of men” would make you “Fools and blind!”!!! There will be ONE Question that God, the Supreme Judge, will ask you at the Final Judgement: “What do you think of the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 23:42) You now have “THE Question” so it would be wise for you to have an “answer” for God prepared before it is to late!?!?!?!? Heaven is a “Choice” that can only be made by the living, the dead will be judged on the “CHOICES” they made as they had lived the life that God had provided for them — and the “Consequence of their eternity” will be determined by whatever “CHOICES” they made with their “God-given Freewill” ——— a blessing of “Eternal” life with God or a curse of “Eternal” death separated from God, but the Truth of God is that you must make your “Choice” while alive ——— for when you are dead, you have to accept the “Consequence” that God had already assigned to our actions as part of GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION, and remember — the PLAN OF SALVATION was in place even before God created us in the first place!?!?!?!?!?!

OCTOBER 01 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#29-17 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#29 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42)

OCTOBER 01  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#29-17  >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#29  “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”  (Matthew 22:42)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer   

JESUS, Lord Jesus, King of kings, my Redeemer who died on a cross at Calvary that I could live an abundant life in Christ Jesus! Lord, each day that I awake and realize   that You have given me another day, my heart is filled immediately with praise for Your infinite Mercy and Grace. Lord, help us to know that Your Plan for our life has been carefully thought out by the Divine Trinity and therefore we can TRUST GOD that all things will work together for GOOD, for You have only GOOD THOUGHTS toward us and GOD’S PLAN is to give us all HOPE and a FUTURE! So Lord, I simply yield to the leading of Your Holy Spirit and TRUST You and the circumstances that You will place me in today — may I at the end of the day be found a “good and faithful servant”.   AMEN

OCTOBER 01  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus with the first 5 of His  “Seven Woes” has likened “hypocrisy” to “spiritual blindness” which prevents us from seeing the TRUTH  of GOD that JESUS is CHRIST  — Jesus continues with “Woe #6”:  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27-28) Jesus pointed out the connection between seeking to “indulge” ourselves and our “spiritual blindness” in “Woe #5” in which Jesus admonished the “hypocrite” to “first cleanse the inside of the cup and the dish” (Matthew 23:26) and now in “Woe #6” Jesus likens “hypocrisy" to “whitewashed tombs” as again Jesus makes reference to the “outside” appearing clean but the “inside” being “full of all uncleanness” — Jesus is Teaching a very specific Lesson when He Teaches the Truth of God that God sees what is on the “inside” and is not fooled like the world is fooled with our “outward" appearances! Jesus is not Teaching a new Lesson here but is proving that He is telling us what the “FATHER” has told the “SON” and in Jesus Teaching God and His Ways, Jesus  proves that He is the “SON” sent from God the “FATHER” for this Lesson of looking at the “inside” was first Taught by God to Samuel when God had commanded Samuel to find a “king” for Israel and God advised Samuel in his search not to look at the “outward appearance” when the LORD told Samuel, “…the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) and later God had told Jeremiah, “I, the LORD, search the heart and test the mind, to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17:10)  Jesus is Teaching that you can paint your walls white and appear clean and righteous to the world but God knows your “intent” and you cannot escape God’s judgement by painting over His Truth — Jesus makes the point that King David made to his son Solomon: “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” (1 Chronicles 28:9)  Jesus is Teaching the same Truth of God that King David had learned from God Himself over a thousand years earlier so maybe in trying to answer the JESUS Question: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”  (Matthew 22:42) that we should examine ourselves “inwardly” and pray like King David (described as a man after God’s own heart) when David prayed “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10) ——— It would not be the first time God has healed someone’s “spiritual blindness" !!! 

SEPTEMBER 30 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#29 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42)

SEPTEMBER 30  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#29  “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”  (Matthew 22:42)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

(Note: The following prayer was written in 2004 on the first day of my “unemployment” from my 24 year career that had started May 10, 1980. All through 2004 I had been praying for God to “fix” my career which had “gone south” with the “new management” — I prayed on 10/29/2004 at 6:15A for God to “give me a sign” about my career and at 4:00P that same day I was let go by the “new management” — so the following prayer is the first prayer I prayed on 10/30/2004 to start my dependence on God for my daily bread ——— I have been praying for my “daily bread” from God every morning since then and I daily proclaim loud and proud: “GOD IS GOOD!!!”)

“JESUS, we can only imagine what it will be like, Your Love, Your calling our name as You welcome those who have believed in You to Your Kingdom in Heaven where we will be eternally amazed that God has provided for us beyond that which we cannot even imagine! Lord, we will also know what great pain and Suffering that You endured to pay the Supreme Price to Redeem us from the death our iniquities deserved! To know of Your Great Sacrifice and to know the Great Joy of Your Grace will be enough to continually keep Your Praises on our lips for all eternity! O Lord, daily I struggle with self and sin, but my prayers are that the Holy Spirit turns me back to Your Light and remember that each sin is covered by Your Mercy and Grace!”    AMEN <<<Written 10/30/2004>>>

(Though I prayed that prayer on 10/30/2004, I can still “witness” today to God’s Faithfulness, His Grace and His Mercy, and His Bountiful Provisions because after losing my job in 2004 and depending fully on God for my “daily bread”, I have lived a better life in the years since I began depending solely on God than my entire 24 year career that depended on the world’s “paychecks” even with all its raises and bonuses —  God truly has blessed our family with “life more abundant”!!! Trust God, for God can be trusted!)   AMEN

SEPTEMBER 30  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

[POSTED BY LANNY LEWIS].           “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”  (Matthew 22:42) 

Jesus has already pronounced 4 of His “Seven Woes” directed at the scribes and Pharisees because of their “hypocrisy” but His Lessons are just as relevant and applicable today as they were when Jesus first SPOKE THE WORD. Jesus continues with “Woe #5”: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.” (Matthew 23:25-26) It is interesting to note that Jesus keeps referring to “blindness” as the “fruit” of “hypocrisy” for Jesus has used the terms “Fools and blind” twice and also “Blind guides” twice and now Jesus is specific and uses the term “Blind Pharisees” — if Jesus does something once we should take note but if He says the same thing 3 times then we will be “Blind fools” ourselves if we don’t pay attention — so the Holy Spirit is Teaching that “hypocrisy” will “blind” us to the Truth of God but that we should be able to diagnose our problems as “blindness” if we find ourselves seeking “self-indulgences” — (and especially if we are in any way “extorting” anyone or any thing!) Of course blindness turns one to looking at one’s self because we cannot “see” anything “spiritual” unless we try to look at the world through something other than our “physical” eyes — we can often see more clearly if we look at our circumstances with our heart and see the needs of others through the lens of compassion in our hearts instead of dwelling on our self-pity that we see reflected through the eyes of the world.  “Woe #5” teaches us to be aware that “hypocrisy” breeds “self-indulgences” and that, my friends, is why if you continue to “indulge” yourself in and on the world’s temptations that there is only “spiritual blindness” and “spiritual darkness” in your future! Unless you have the Right Spiritual Attitude you will not have True Spiritual Sight and you cannot correctly answer the question: “What do you think of the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42) The problem with spiritual blindness is that it is a “Choice” we make to remain in spiritual darkness and the “Consequence” of choosing spiritual darkness over the “Light of Truth” is “self-condemnation” — Jesus Taught about spiritual blindness in His “Born Again” Lesson to Nicodemus in John Chapter 3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3) and again, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19) As always when Jesus Teaches a Lesson He Teaches us the Truth of God and how to use our Spiritual Sight, “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:21) It is “logical” to assume that if at our “physical birth” that we receive our “physical eyes” to see the “world”, that at our “Spiritual Birth” when we are “Born Again” that we will receive our “Spiritual Eyes” to see the “Spiritual World of God’s Kingdom” and as Jesus told Nicodemus — it is the most important “Choice” you will make because the “Consequence” of choosing “Light” is “Eternal Life with God Himself”!!!!!!

SEPTEMBER 29 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#29 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42)

SEPTEMBER 29  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#29  “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”  (Matthew 22:42)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer   

JESUS, Thank You Lord for the Gift of the Holy Spirit and for Your Promise to “comfort” us with both Your Rod and Your Staff. Lord I admit that it “hurts” to be corrected by You but now I believe it is more selfish shame from getting “caught” than True Repentance but Lord at least I am now getting a vision of what it means to have the “indwelling” of Your Holy Spirit to “teach us all things” and for You to “chasten” those You Love. Lord Jesus, my prayer today is for Forgiveness of my failure and blindness to see Your Truth in my life and for always somehow trying to get “my way” with life instead of accepting and embracing “Your Plan” for me — Lord, wash me, create in me a “clean heart”, and let it never seek to satisfy self again so that I may walk in Your Joy and in Your Peace for I know now that it is my selfish desires welling up from my flesh that is breaking Fellowship with the Holy Spirit and I realize that I am robbing myself of Your Blessings!        AMEN

SEPTEMBER 29  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is always “Teaching” and giving us “Lessons-within-a-Lesson” as He has just done with Teaching in His “Woe #3” that True Power is not in the temple of God, but, TRUE POWER IS IN THE GOD OF THE TEMPLE!!! Jesus ended that additional Lesson revealing our blindness to the obvious Truth of God that God IS the True Source of All Power with this statement: “He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and Him who sits on it.” (Matthew 23:21-22)  Jesus continues Teaching His “Seven Woes” as He pronounces “Woe #4” — (though Jesus directs the “Seven Woes” at the scribes and Pharisees because of their “hypocrisy” His Lessons apply to everyone for His Teachings are the TRUTH of God!)  Jesus says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” (Matthew 23:23) Jesus is again pointing to the hypocrisy of giving “laws” to the nation that the lawmakers themselves do not follow and Jesus makes a specific accusation against them for burdening the nation with the “letter” of the “law” without truly following the “SPIRIT” of the Law which God originally intended when He gave the Law to Moses and later when God assigned EZRA the responsibility of using his “God-given wisdom” in appointing “magistrates and judges” to judge according to the “laws of God” (see Ezra 7:25) God Himself is “SPIRIT” so why is it that man ignores the “Spirit of the Law” and always “bends” the “letter of the law” to suit their selfish needs to maintain “power and authority” through the “doctrines of men”? — God’s Law has always been intended by God to be administered by those representatives of His that will “judge” using their “God-given wisdom” as they execute the law with “justice and mercy and faith” which are all the “weightier matters of the law” and are obviously the “Spirit of the Law” and not “letter of the law”! Jesus Teaches us with “Woe #4” that God is THE Eternal Spirit and God gave us “The  SPIRIT of the Law” to point us to His Infinite Grace and Mercy as we as individuals come to learn that God gave us the Law for our own good — we are not able to keep all the “letter” of the “Law” therefore we continually are aware how desperately we need the “Spirit of justice and mercy and faith” to overcome our inability to keep the “letter of the law”!!! Jesus adds an additional comment to “Woe #4” as He did with “Woe #3” when He said they were “Fools and blind!” for now at the end of “Woe #4” Jesus adds this description of those guilty of defiling the “Spirit of the Law” when He calls them “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23:24) Therefore remember the “weightier matters of the law [are] justice and mercy and faith” and know that according to God, “justice and mercy and faith” constitute the “Spirit of the Law” — Jesus had already earlier in His Ministry Taught about the “Spirit” and the “letter” of the “Law” — “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18)  and the Book of John reminds us also: “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17) which was said of Jesus just before Jesus was identified as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Small wonder Jesus calls the scribes and Pharisees “hypocrites!” for teaching the “letter of the law” and missing the “True Spirit of the Law” which is “mercy and faith”!?!?!? If we listen to Jesus as God the Father has instructed us, we will both “respect” the “letter of the law” and “revere” the “Spirit of the Law” — its your “Choice” but remember Who controls the “Consequence”!!!