FEBRUARY 24 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

FEBRUARY 24  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord Jesus, the Only Begotten of the Father, Son of the Living God, my Redeemer, Savior, You are the Christ! You Lord are the fulfillment of Prophecy, You lived the Perfect Life, You Suffered as the Perfect Sacrifice and Paid the Penalty that I could not pay, You died in my place, Your side was pierced as You were hanging Dead on the Cross, Your Body was Broken, Your Blood was Shed, You were laid in a grave! You Lord, being Loved by the Father was Obedient even unto death and the grave and on the Third Day You AROSE and the Greatest Testimony ever given was proclaimed: “HE IS ALIVE”!!!  As a follower of Jesus Christ there can be no greater TRUTH OF GOD in our life — Jesus is the Resurrection!!! Praise God!!!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS began JQ#06 with a simple Question about gathering “grapes from thornbushes” and “figs from thistles” that may seem totally out of context for a Truth of God Question but it makes perfect sense if you consider the warning Jesus gave us before asking the Question about “grapes” and “figs”: “Beware of false prophets…” and then telling us how to identify them, “…you will know them by their fruits…” (Matthew 7:15-16) On the surface this seems like a mundane Question but consider that first of all that it is Jesus who is asking and secondly Jesus never asked a Question that did not point us to a Truth of God  to help us live a successful life. Of course, we don’t get “grapes from thornbushes” nor do we get “figs from thistles” but if we are not careful and discerning about where we get the sustenance of our daily lives then we could end up prey to “ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing”! Jesus then applies simple logic: “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” (Matthew 7:17-18) Then Jesus gives us the “Divine Spiritual Caution”  when He tells us “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Matthew 7:19-20) Once Jesus gets us to thinking in terms of God’s Truth that we can know if a tree is “Good” or “Bad” just by observing the “fruit” produced by that tree, Jesus then proclaims that a tree that does not bear “good fruit” will be judged by God and the penalty for producing nothing but “bad fruit” is that the “bad” tree will be “cut down and thrown into fire”! Jesus is Teaching us with this simple Question that we will be judged by the fruit that our lives produce, not what we “say” we are going to do, but did our actions actually produce “good fruit” or “bad fruit”???  “Good fruit” gives nourishment and the bearer of good fruit will be rewarded with an abundant life,  but bad fruit produces no good results and simply consumes the nutrient from the soil without providing any benefit to others; therefore, the tree must be cut down and burned so that the life giving nutrients will be returned to the soil and will be used by the good tree to provide life to those that consume the good fruit from a good tree. Jesus has us focused on our producing “good fruit" for the benefit of others then He really gets “Real” when He then amplifies this Lesson about not just “saying” we will do good but by actually “doing” good when He says “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21) Wow, Jesus took us in a matter of minutes from thinking “of course we don’t get grapes from thistles” — to clearly telling us that the “will of [our] Father in heaven” is that we “produce good fruit” and join Him “in heaven” but if we don’t, we will be “cut down” and “thrown into the fire”. In simple terms — If we follow Jesus and His Teachings we will know the will of God and if we know the will of God we will produce “good fruit” but if we simply declare we are followers but do not produce any good fruit, our Father in heaven will judge us, not by what we “said” we would do, but what “fruit” did we produce with our actions in the way of “good fruit” for the kingdom. This Lesson sounds simple but how quickly Jesus, the Master Teacher,  transforms  the “simple” into the “Sublime” — That’s what Jesus does with our simple lives — but only if we do “the will of [our] Father in heaven”!!!