JULY 18 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#21 “What do you think about fish, taxes, lost sheep, forgiveness, and your fellow servants?” (Matthew 17:25, 18:12,33)

JULY 18  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#21  “What do you think about fish, taxes, lost sheep, forgiveness, and your fellow servants?” (Matthew 17:25, 18:12,33)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, thank You for one more day, may it be a day where everything I do and say will be to Your Glory, for You alone are worthy of ALL Praise! Lord Jesus, when You tell us to Love others as You have Loved the church, help me to see what is involved in Loving the church because the only way we can be free from sin is to believe in all that You did for the church that You Loved enough to give Your Life for!  Lord I know that You did not intend for anyone to perish but You died that we would have eternal life through Your Sacrifice on that cross. Lord Jesus, I truly believe You ARE the Son of the Living God, born of a virgin, lived a Perfect Life, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, but on the third day You were Resurrected and that You are LIVING TODAY, that You are still working miracles and saving souls. Glory, Praise, and Honor to the Son who Sacrificed Himself for my sins!!!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus throughout His Ministry while He was walking this earth did not gather anything to Himself. When we read about any other person in history or hear the oral traditions passed down about that person, we can always associate some possession that person had — except Jesus. Jesus came down from heaven on a “mission from God” and Jesus collected no possessions while living the “Perfect and Acceptable” life for the Father! We can easily deduce that if Jesus and His Work pleased the Father without gathering even a single possession unto Himself that we do not need a single possession ourselves in order to please the Father! Personally I find it a great comfort to know that I do not need a single possession in order to find favor with God! If “possessions” do not get us into heaven, then what does get us in? The answer to entry into heaven was stated by Jesus many times in a single word:

 ——— R E P E N T ———  In our passages for JQ#21 Jesus declared: “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost [in sin].” (Matthew 18:11) Jesus had started His discourse on sin and the rewards and punishment for sin at the beginning of this section of scriptures dedicated to recognizing sin as the biggest problem we will face. Jesus started this section by using the word “Assuredly” which is in effect a “promise” and then Jesus continued “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3) Jesus said clearly that the ONLY way to enter the kingdom of heaven is for a “conversion” to take place in our lives. This conversion though is sort of unusual from a “growth” viewpoint for we are to be “converted” back to being “as little children”?!?!? Our first response is very much like Nicodemus when he asked Jesus “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” (John 3:4) These questions from Nicodemus (a ruler of the Jews), was in response to Jesus telling Nicodemus “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) So when the wisest teacher of the Jewish Law asks Jesus about a “Second Birth” and Jesus responds with the phrase “Most assuredly” and then Jesus states that in order to “see the kingdom of heaven” that we “must be born again”, then we must take Jesus at His Word for His whole mission is to bring lost sheep home to the Father. So Jesus has now twice said the same thing using different words — (1) we must be “converted and become as little children” and “we must be born again” then (2) if we are “converted” we will “enter the kingdom of heaven” and if we are “born again” that we will “see the kingdom of heaven”. These two passages in scripture confirm each other because this section in Matthew started with “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up.” (Matthew 17:22-23) and the scriptures in John reads: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) The really important thing to notice about both passages is that God’s Plan for mankind to “enter” into heaven is through His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ — God’s Divine Plan includes a Divine Sacrifice on the part of Jesus. The Good News is that Jesus died on the Cross as part of the Plan of Salvation and John 3:17 confirms Jesus came to be the Sacrificial Lamb of God for Jesus states: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3:17) The scripture is clear, only our sin can separate us from the Love of God so that is why Jesus Teaches us so often to understand that “sin” is a personal “choice”!  Jesus is Teaching us that God has already determined the consequences of our “choice” and being a “fair” and “just” God, everyone will be judged according to our Free Will choices that we make —doesn’t it make good sense to “choose” to live guilt free in a life everlasting with the Father that Loves us rather than to reject Him and live alone in our guilt while burning in the everlasting fire of hell?