JUNE 13 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#19 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

JUNE 13  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, thank You Lord for the years that You have given us to know You and the prayers that the Holy Spirit has guided us in praying that gives us glimpses of the True and Living God, for only the True God could answer so many prayers in so many unexplained ways and all proclaim the Glory of God. I pray again one of the timeless prayers You gave to me in 2004 as the Holy Spirit was showing me the “Path” to the “Narrow Gate”: “Jesus, the Creator of life and the author of our Salvation, who gave up the Glories of Heaven to come to earth and dwell among us, not as a God among men but as a man among sinners and yet lived a “Perfect” life in obedience to the will of the Father. Then after a humble life of serving all around Him, He then became a Sacrifice and an Atonement for the sins of the world that we might have True Forgiveness of our sins and appear Righteous before the Father, and being blameless before the Father because of Your Sacrifice we become heirs to the Kingdom of God. All God asks in return for His Grace is that we ‘love one another’”.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has such a Powerful Message because He not only used the “Words of God” to give us “understanding of the Truth of God” but Jesus “Lived” out the “Words of God” by His Actions. Many times His Actions spoke louder that His Words, which is a Bonus Lesson that the Master Teacher includes in His “life saving” Lessons that He was continually Teaching. As we consider JQ#19 and the myriad of Lessons contained in these very serious soul-searching back-to-back Questions Jesus asks us in His efforts to bring Divine Aid for the purpose of “saving” our “soul” from “eternal lostness”, we must look not only at the “His Words” but we must observe “His Actions” which are a visual demonstration of what the Master Teacher is “Teaching” for what Lesson is of any value if the Teacher does not “walk the walk”?  Jesus takes us deeper into the Truth of God as He builds our “understanding of God’s Truth” by building on the previous Lesson “precept upon precept” and for this very serious “soul-searching” JQ#19 we see a shift in the Lessons that Jesus was Teaching His disciples as we read in the account written in Matthew, “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised the third day.” (Matthew 16:21) Once Jesus “began to show” His disciples this very, very serious side of His Purpose on earth, we see a shift in how the disciples reacted to these advanced Teachings of Jesus. Remember Peter stepping out of the boat on faith and actually walking on water to Jesus — well we read that when Jesus started Teaching that He must “suffer” and “be killed” that Peter demonstrated that if we are not careful that we will default back to the teaching of the world and miss the Truth of God that is presented to us by the Word of God. Matthew records that Peter reacted to this new precept Jesus was Teaching them in a way that led Jesus to “get serious” and these are the circumstances leading to the “soul searching” Question JQ#19. Peter reacted to this new revelation from Jesus that He must suffer, die, and “be raised the third day” thusly:”Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” (Matthew 16:22) Peter is reacting to Jesus as all of us react when we fail to see the Glory of God in the Will of God in our lives — All Peter could understand was from a worldly viewpoint because he overlooked the Glory of God and only saw the “suffering” and “death” of Jesus as a victory for the world and not  the “Ultimate Victory” of Jesus over death and the grave! Peter could only see “suffering and death” and the world had blinded him to the Truth of God that Jesus would by the Glory of God “be raised the third day”! How many times do we look upon hardship, suffering, and deaths of our loved ones and question God as Peter did? Jesus is following the Will of God and we must look beyond that which the world has taught us about “physical death” and see the Truth of God that Jesus Teaches us about “Eternal Spiritual Life”! This “soul” question JQ#19 must be answered not from a worldly “physical” viewpoint but we must look through “spiritual eyes” and focus on the Glory of God — don’t you agree that we can see very little with our physical eyes except the world’s “darkness” but how clear things become when we look through our “spiritual eyes” aided by the Light of God’s Glory?

JUNE 12 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#19 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

JUNE 12  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Your [Word] is Truth and we know “In the beginning was the [Word], and the [Word] was with God, and the [Word] was God…” (John 1:1) and we also know that it was the Spirit of God that was the Creative Power displayed as God used only words to accomplish His Creation and the first words God spoke were “Let there be light.” (Genesis 1:3)  So Lord, let us be led by “The Light” which is Jesus, the Truth which is Jesus, and the Way to the Father  which is Jesus — Jesus we need You and Your Mercy, Compassion, and Grace to fall daily on our “thirsty” souls which we now and forever commend to Your Spirit.             AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus and the Holy Spirit is leading me today to add the second part of this most enlightening Jesus Question so that JQ#19 reads: “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) and to consider in an effort to an “understanding” of this “Deeper Still Teaching” of what Jesus is asking as we consider the “words” Jesus used to rebut Satan immediately after Jesus was “baptized” and then “led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil…” (Matthew 4:1) We read the words that the Spirit had led Matthew to write of this confrontation between Jesus and Satan: “Now when the tempter came to [Jesus], he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” (Matthew 4:3) Matthew noted that Jesus has been without food and was hungry after fasting forty days and forty nights when Satan approached Him and Matthew then records these words Jesus used to rebuke Satan: “But [Jesus answered Satan] and said, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4) This exchange of words between Satan and Jesus Teaches us where Jesus is going with JQ#19 and brings our attention to the most serious problem we will face in all eternity, “How do we prevent losing our ‘soul’ and what is the price that we must pay to gain eternal possession of our own ‘soul’?”  First of all it was Satan that tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and the temptation was in the form of “words” Satan spoke that put doubt in the mind of Eve about God’s instructions to her and Adam. The “power of words” surface in this encounter for Satan tempted Jesus to doubt the will of God when Satan challenged Jesus to prove Himself to be the Son of God by turning stones into bread and Jesus rebuked Satan’s attack by quoting scripture thereby giving us an example of the power of reading the “written word of God” and also the power of “speaking the word of God” when we face trials and temptations. When Jesus asks us to consider our “soul” and its “value” to God, we must go to the scripture to “understand the infinite magnitude” of the problem, and once we “understand” the “eternal consequences” of our answer, we can more fully appreciate the “compassion” that Jesus demonstrates by making us face the sin issue head on with His Question that brings into sharp focus the TRUTH of God that our “soul” is a “gift of God” and all things of God are “eternal” so our “souls are eternal”!!! God has written over and over again in His Word that Satan admits that he goes “to and fro on the earth” and Peter reminds us that Satan makes his rounds on the earth “seeking those he can destroy” (1 Peter 5:8). Jesus had warned us previously that we shouldn’t worry about those that can “kill the body” but we should be very concerned about those that are “able to destroy both soul and body in hell…” (Matthew 10:28) God has provided us with the scriptures and the scriptures are about God’s love for His Creation and the great extent that He has gone to in order to demonstrate that Love by sending His Son to “redeem” us… (and this “redemption” sounds exactly like “exchange”)! God is making it clear that nothing on earth can be used to “exchange” for our “soul” even if we possessed the “whole world” but there will be a day coming when He will ask us “who owns your soul?” In other words, God and Satan both are interested in our “eternal soul” which has “infinite” value to God who has proved over and over that He wants to give us “Eternal Life” and the only thing Satan has demonstrated is that he wants to “destroy” our soul and doom us to “Eternal Death” in hell where we will spend our eternity separated from the Father who Loves us so much that He sent His Only Begotten Son to die on a cross and “exchange” His death for our life! Jesus is therefore asking us to take inventory of our lives and decide whose words are we listening to ——— the lies of Satan or the Truth of God?

JUNE 11 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#19 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

JUNE 11  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, thank You Lord for the outpouring of Your Spirit as we witnessed Your Salvation in the lives of Malachi and Mariah and their “obedience” to Your command to be “spiritually baptized” as our confession before men that we have accepted You as the Son of God and have placed our lives and desires into Your Capable and Loving Hands. Lord Jesus, it amazes me at how You have loved me and how You are leading me “through” this “valley of the shadow of death” and how many years ago I prayed and now today those prayers that the Holy Spirit gave me when I first lifted up those prayers still witness today to Your Great, Eternal, Unchanging Love and Your Divine Purpose — so today I pray again a prayer lifted up in 2004 that shows that Your Message and Your Purpose are the TRUE WAY, YEAH YOU ARE TRUTH ITSELF: (from 2004 I pray again —) “Jesus, praise be the Holy and matchless Name of Jesus, the Lamb that was slain for the sins of the world, an acceptable Sacrifice because the Lamb of God was without blemish and was the First Born Only Begotten Son of our Father in heaven!! Lord, Your life was a perfect example of Humility, Service, and Sacrifice for the Glory of God! Lord Jesus, we are sinners and God KNEW we were sinners when He sent You, and You KNEW were were sinners when You took the form of the Sacrificial Lamb, and both You and the Father KNEW that man would continue sinning after the cross and yet You Loved the Father enough to Obey His Will and die at Calvary for our sins!?! Lord, may my heart be wholly Thine, and that for the number of my remaining days that You grant me in this life, let my remaining days be driven by the “purpose of my heart” to do the Will of the Father and as You showed by Your Perfect Example of being Obedient to the Father’s Will that I too will simply “TRUST AND OBEY”, for there is no other “WAY”.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has really put a challenge to our “Spiritual awareness” by asking the JQ#19 Question of “profit” and “gain” in the same breath Jesus reminds us of our “physical frailty” and the ultimate disaster of our worldly journey wrought by the reality that if we walk the wrong path that we could not only “lose our way” but get so lost that we can “lose our own soul” (Matthew 16:26a). Then to exacerbate the already serious issue of the losing of our eternal “soul”, Jesus ties our earthly hands as He asks in the same breath, “Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26b) which is in essence saying that we have fallen into a deep pit and the walls have caved in on us and we are required to dig ourselves out without the use of our hands or a shovel!?!?! There is no greater fear in my life now than to imagine having to live without God because I know that the world and my sins not only have tied my hands and left me to die in a pit, but before I was thrown into the pit the enemy bound me in shackles and chains and like the really dumb person I was, I actually asked the enemy to abuse me!?!?! Jesus knows that sin in our lives is really that serious therefore Jesus is making us face the ultimate reality by asking this very tough Question and potentially the most dangerous issue we will face. Our honest answer to Jesus will impact our eternal destiny in which there are only two options for our eternal souls: (1) we will lose our “soul” which is our connection to God and if we lose our connection to God we will spend our “eternity” separated from God or (2) we do not lose our “soul” which is our only connection to God and if we stay “connected” to God then we will be under His Guidance and Perfect Love Forever (and Forever, AMEN)  We need look no further than the Words Jesus spoke just prior to asking us this eternally important question about “losing” our “soul” as we hear Jesus preface JQ#19 with this Teaching: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25) Once again, Jesus gives us the answer first and then asks the Question, demonstrating that GOD HAS A PLAN FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL SOUL HE CREATED AND IMPARTED ETERNAL LIFE TO and God will Provide everything we need to KNOW HIM and to have ACCESS TO HIM and that “Questions” are never asked without first giving us the answer so that we can give the “correct Spiritual response to please the Father” to the JESUS Questions that are asked on behalf of our “eternal souls” and by giving the correct Spiritual response to please the Father” that we will not have to be judged as we read this Promise from Jesus: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My WORD and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment but has passed from death into life.” (John 5:24) Aren’t you seeing a pattern emerging from these Questions that demonstrates that God will give us the answer first but He insists that we “understand” what He is Teaching with His Questions??? His Questions are not for His benefit but for ours!  

JUNE 10 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#19 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

JUNE 10  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord as I start another day seeking to know God and You “deeper still”, I pray that the Holy Spirit will open my “spiritual eyes” that I may know that Your efforts to give me “understanding” is so that I will become “One” with the Holy Trinity and that I will not only know You better but I will know better who I am. Lord Jesus, it is a comfort to know that You are the Good Shepherd and that You came to earth to lead “lost sheep” in the paths of righteousness, that You died on the cross as the Lamb of God, the Perfect Sacrifice for sinners like me — that You have completely resolved the “sin problem”, so let me fully accept Your Grace and Share Your Unconditional Love with others.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus not only “Taught” His disciples by “Words”, His most powerful Lessons were Lessons that His disciples saw Him “living out” before them and then Jesus would sit down and explain to them the “purpose” of His actions that they had just seen Jesus doing as He went about His day-to-day living. Jesus always approached every circumstance from the point of view that He had a “purpose” to fulfill — Jesus was on a “mission” to “do the Father’s will”.   To accomplish what Jesus knew fully well He was sent from the Father to accomplish — Jesus also always worked to accomplish those tasks in a manner that He kew would be pleasing to the Father. Jesus was always aware that everything He did was to “honor” the Father and that His actions were to be done “in the name of the Father” and for the sake of the kingdom (of God).  Jesus lived every moment to fulfill His Purpose therefore everything He did and say was Teaching about the kingdom and bringing His disciples into a closer relationship with both Himself and the Father. Now Jesus has put forth JQ#18 in which He Teaches that it is all-important that we personally know the Truth about “who” Jesus is and then He immediately asks us to consider “who” we are in relation to the Truth of God and the upcoming “Judgement by God”. Our “eternal guilt or innocence” will be solely determined by how well we answer JQ#18 & 19 for God knows our inward thoughts and He will determine if we have accepted Jesus as the Son of God whom the Father sent to rectify the world’s sin problem and thereby God will know if we have truly recognized our “lostness” and acknowledged that the only correct answer to give God  when we stand before Him at the “Final Judgement” is that we are a sinner and Jesus is “the (only) way, the (only) truth, and the (only) life”. (John 14:6) Our best “hope” in this life is to study Jesus and to learn to “live” the way He lived and to make His Purpose our purpose and to simply believe God’s declaration that Jesus is God’s Beloved Son and then to take God’s advice to “Listen to Him.” The only way to know who we are is to know who Jesus is for in the history of the world, no other person or god has done so much to Teach us the Truth about who we really are in our day-to-day lives and no other person or god has done everything required of the One True God so that we can rise above our day-to-day existence and have “fellowship” with the Living God. Jesus has asked us in JQ#19 now to consider “profit”, “gain”, and our own unique “soul” — then Jesus specifically asks us to consider what we might “exchange” for our unique “soul”? We really should reflect on “why” should we consider that we will be required to “exchange” something “acceptable to God” for our “souls”? Also, when we consider the “exchange” we must seriously consider “who” requires the “exchange” (who is making the “rule”) and what will we use for the “exchange” that is considered of any “value” (to the Living God) when the “Exchange” is required? This is a dilemma considering that God has declared that “gaining the whole world” (the entirety of all earthly material possessions) is not of enough value to present to God as an “Acceptable Exchange” in the eyes of God the Father and Creator to keep us from “losing [our] own soul”!!! The “whole world” pretty much covers everything “physical” therefore the logical place to start looking at this point for an “Acceptable Exchange” is in the “spiritual” arena and to listen to the “Spirit of God”(Genesis 1:2)  who is trying to secure our eternal salvation ——— Don’t you think that if we need to consider the “eternal spirit God Himself Created” as being “valuable enough” to God that He would consider an “exchange for [our] soul” that we might want to “listen” to the One True Living God who has always been declared as “God is Spirit”?? (John 4:24)  

JUNE 09 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#19 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

JUNE 09  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord and Savior, the Lamb of God that was slain before the foundation of the earth, God very God who became flesh and dwelt among us so that You could Teach us by example how to live in this world that has been defiled and filled with the sin of disobedience. Jesus I pray that my life will no longer be wasted on self but will grow daily in Your Grace, Compassion, and Wisdom — Lord Jesus may I live like You  and Love others as You demonstrated “compassion” and commanded us to “Love one another”. Lord, I know that to live like You means to “serve” others and to sacrifice “self” in obedience to the Father’s Will, keep me centered in Your Will and walking in Your Light that I may know Your Way.     AMEN

JUNE 09  THE JESUS QUESTIONS

[POSTED BY LANNY LEWIS]

JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

Jesus uses JQ#19 to draw our attention inwardly to our “spiritual existence” and when He gets us to consider that we have an “eternal soul” He brings our awareness to focus on considering the eternal battle being waged in the world between “good” and “evil” to gain control of each individual “soul”!   The “soul” is eternal and the “soul” is who we really are ——— this can be easily proved by simply asking ourselves simple “physical” questions like “will I die if I lose an arm or a leg” or at each birthday we celebrate (or curse) we must ask “am I  who I am because of my age” or do we believe that it is our “body weight” that defines us, or our “bank account”, or the “car we drive” or is it any other “physical entity” that makes us who we are? No ——— as soon as one reflects on that universal question “Who am I and what am I doing here?” we are aware that life is more than the body, or our age, or any other “physical” characteristic and that is why we embrace the concept of “spirits” for we readily notice spiritual concepts in others like “attitudes” ——— and upon the realization that we are not our finite physical attributes, we recognize that our bodies are just a vessel that is transporting “who we really are as defined by our eternal souls” that we declare cliches like, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” and we use “spiritual reality” terms like “True beauty is on the inside”. The main thing “spiritual” that we often overlook is our “emotions” ——— Our body is a “physical” entity that “emotionally” expresses what we feel in our “spirit” as we see the same body cry, laugh, jump for joy, and also in the same physical body we can mourn or we can rejoice and celebrate — all our emotions are “inward” and are “spiritual” and are displayed “outwardly” by our “physical” body and this “physical expression of spiritual emotion” has been declared as our “body language”, so the same body is not defined so much by our “physical” characteristics as much as we are really defined by our “inward” or “spiritual characteristics” that are expressed by our “body language” and therefore Jesus has been Teaching His disciples how to “live” their daily lives considering the “Spiritual” and His Lessons all deal with our “spiritual response” to our “physical circumstances”. The fact that there is a battle for our “soul” can be seen in both “what” Jesus Teaches and “how” He has lived His life while existing on earth in the flesh and living the Perfect Example of using the “spiritual” to overcome the “physical”. Jesus had previously Taught His disciples by casting out “unclean spirits” and gave His disciples “power” to do the same: “And when [Jesus] had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.” (Matthew 10:1)  So we must consider that there were twelve different physical bodies for the disciples so it was not the disciples physical characteristics that were going to accomplish “casting out…unclean spirits” or “to heal all kinds of sickness…”  which we recognize as “spiritual issues” being exhibited in different “physical forms” and we should also recognize that to accomplish healing of the physical and the removal of unclean spirits that Jesus “gave them power” and that “power” was not in the form of any “physical” characteristic, it was not in any “physical” form whatsoever, but the “power” existed in “spiritual” form only and regardless of the disciples physical description, they all had the same “power” which had to exist as “spirit”. Therefore we must acknowledge that each of us possess a “spirit” within us that is recognizable by others and in this scripture the writer Matthew uses the term specifically calling the problem “unclean spirits” so it is reasonable that to “cast out unclean spirits” that the “power” over them must be a “greater spiritual power”! There is precedence in God’s creation to let us know that this “Supreme Power” is of God because we read in Genesis 1:1-5 two verses that draw our attention to the ultimate “Power” and they are: “The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) The next verse is how God used His Spirit to fix the darkness, the emptiness, and the lack of purpose as we read “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3)  So at the very start of everything “physical” we see All of Creation being accomplished by the “Spiritual Power of God” and that the solution to physical issues God brought forth “light” and please note that this was accomplished not by any “physical” feat but by God “speaking” and immediately it was so!!!  Before the “sun worshippers” start giving themselves high fives we must ask, what was this “light” that God just “spoke” and it happened? If we read the Creation account we find that it was on the fourth day of creation that God made the sun and the moon so what was the “light” God spoke “Let there be” on Day 1 that dispelled the darkness and brought order to the chaos? If the sun and moon are “physical” lights put into place on Day 4 (Genesis 1:14-19) then it must be reasoned that the “light” in Genesis 1:3 was created by the “Spirit of God” therefore it could be considered as “The True Spiritual Light” and could this “Light” on Day 1 of Creation be “Understanding” and the “True Power of God” ?  Consider John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word …and the light shines in the darkness…” ——— sounds just like Genesis 1:1-5 and the beginning of Creation and the SOURCE of all “TRUE POWER” to me!

JUNE 08 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#19 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

JUNE 08  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer   

JESUS, You are forever “Teaching” us of the Kingdom and leading us in paths of righteousness but Lord also keep us aware that these are done for “His name’s sake” and all that we do should be directed toward pleasing God by our obedience as You were Obedient, even unto death. Lord Jesus, the world is always pulling us into temptation by drawing our attention to ourselves so Lord keep reminding us to turn our eyes to You for You Lord always point us to the Father. Remind us daily that only God has created “eternal souls” and that it is God alone that will “judge” all souls and determine where that soul will dwell in eternity. Thank you Jesus for keeping the kingdom ever before us to open our spiritual eyes to the Truth of God and blind us to the lies of the world.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has “lived” each Lesson that He has Taught His disciples and Jesus uses Questions to reveal the “Truth of God” by introducing terms and phrases that are “universal” in our understanding of things we EXPERIENCE in our day-to-day existence. Jesus knows all things so His Questions are His Way to get us to turn our attention to things we know from the “physical” world and relate them to things Jesus is Teaching about the “Spiritual” world —Jesus asks Questions but the reason they make so much sense is that Jesus has lived out the Truth of each Lesson and now He is opening our “spiritual” eyes to Kingdom Truth by drawing our attention to the “Way” He lived His Life before men. With JQ#19 Jesus uses the term “soul” and He has set the term “soul” against the term “profit” and the phrase “gain the whole world” as He Masterfully gets our mind to consider something our hearts have desired from the world — “profit” — and as we are considering that with which we are familiar, Jesus hits us with a reality Question like “OK, let’s say you ‘gain’ the ‘whole world’, but once you ‘possess’ all the wealth in the world you still don’t have ‘enough’ to keep from losing your soul?” One always thinks about what we could buy if we won the lottery and Jesus is saying here that instead of thinking about “physical” things that we can “buy with money” that we should think about the “spiritual” things that money cannot buy! The Truth of God is that everything was created by God, including money and wealth, but what we miss is that God has also created “Value” and that is why Jesus has warned us repeatedly against accumulating “worldly treasures” (Matthew 6:19) and encourages us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).  Jesus Teaches that in God’s eyes we have “Spiritual value” and since God is Spirit (John 4:23-24) that Jesus is Teaching us to consider our “value” from the “spiritual” viewpoint (see Matt 6:25-26 and 10:31) and therefore we should consider why Jesus keeps directing our thoughts to our “soul”? Jesus has previously taught; {1} “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. (Matthew 10:25) {2} “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) {3} “Then [His disciples] understood [Jesus was teaching] … beware the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees [men]” (Matthew 16:12) Therefore in order to really “understand” the “value” of the “soul” to God we should not only listen to what Jesus Teaches about the “soul” but we should look at the “Way” Jesus lived to understand “Spiritual Truth”, ——— or do you have a better “retirement” plan or insurance policy for the afterlife than the one being presented by God’s Only Begotten Son?   

JUNE 07 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#19 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

JUNE 07  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord Your Mercy is given new to us every morning and Your Grace is sufficient to take us through everything that we will encounter on our daily journey to the Kingdom. Lord Jesus, I do not know what trials, what tribulations, what temptations, or what mountain top victories that You have planned for us today but I do know that You have promised to never leave us nor forsake us and that You will take us “through” every valley, trial, and temptation safely so that we may have confidence that every thing works to our good if we but Love the Lord. Jesus, to You be the Glory and all Honor for Worthy is the Lamb of God that was slain, that we could be called the children of God!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus knows how to get our attention and I am sure that the “attention-getter” word above is “profit” ——— and everyone must deal with “profit” in our daily world and the necessity of “earning a living” in what “profiteers” call a “dog-eat-dog” world. These are the “ways” of the world and it is because that we have been taught for generations that “mammon is king” that we now look at this term “profit” as “money” and that as we read the verse, we think only in terms of how big our bank account is. There is a reason that Jesus used the term “profit” and even in my limited intellect I can see the advantage of Jesus using a “universal” term to gain “universal” attention to Teach a “universal” lesson. The lessons that we miss though are the really important ones that are overlooked when we lazily settle for the “low hanging fruit” for we have also been taught by the world that “instant gratification” is the Holy Grail of getting “more” so we grab that which is most easily reached and can quickly be consumed so that we, like locust,  can consume as much as our voracious appetites for “more” demands. Jesus, being the Master Teacher therefore puts a “universally” known term into the Question along with terms lesser known by the world in order to get our attention away from the “physical world” to focus on the “spiritual world” and in the comparison Jesus shows us the “True Value” of what we desire to possess. To make His point, Jesus uses the term “profit” at the beginning of the Question but the way the Question is asked we must start comparing the term “profit” with the term “soul”! In our daily lives we are always thinking about how we are going to “pay” for things like food, clothing, shelter, and the “really” important things like vacations, TVs, cell phones, data plans, and computers but very seldom do we think of using anything but “money” to pay for all our worldly stuff — in fact, we are so consumed by “making a living” that we fail to understand the term “profit” correctly or to consider the “true value” of our possessions! Our attention on the world and money is by the enemy’s design, and Jesus knows that He must open our eyes or we will be blind to the TRUTH that the “world and money” can NOT buy anything “Everlasting” — therefore Jesus grabs our attention with the word “profit” and immediately Teaches with the phrase “if he gains the whole world” which defines the true meaning of “profit” as “gain”. So in the JQ#19 Question is the start of the Lesson of “What is it in our life that we must address to make ‘true gains’ in our life that have ‘everlasting’ or ‘eternal consequences’”??? — Jesus Taught His disciples this Lesson several different ways and we read the advice of “the disciple that Jesus loved“ and also the disciple that wrote the final Jesus Lesson: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” as John teaches what He learned from Jesus about the world: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world ———the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life ——— is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)  That pretty much sums up where Jesus is going with this “profit of the world” verses our “eternal soul” Lesson. We see by the followup question Jesus asks “Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul” (Matthew 16:26b — second part of JQ#19) that Jesus has Masterfully brought out the true meaning of “profit” to get us thinking straight about our “eternal reality”. And now Jesus debunks the “money” myth by asking us what we think we have that is of any “spiritual value” that we can “exchange” for our “soul”??? — certainly it becomes obvious that Jesus is Teaching that all the money in the world is worthless when it comes to purchasing “eternity” and that our “soul” is “not for sale” at any worldly price! This is a very important Question for us to consider — “If ‘money’ is worthless in the Kingdom, what will we use to ‘purchase’ our ‘ticket to eternity’”? Surely Jesus has given us a clue in the Question and don’t you think that it may have something to do with our “soul” since He has used the terms “profit” and “exchange” and followed them both with the term “soul”? Jesus always gives the answer for every Question so let’s look at the context in the verses Matthew 16:21 to Matthew 17:13 and see what Jesus was Teaching when He asked this question about “…what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world?” Do you believe, like me, that Jesus gives us the answer by the way HE LIVED?