AUGUST 15 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#24 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”” (Matthew 21:25)

AUGUST 15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord Jesus, thank You for letting me see who I really am, a sinner, a dirty unclean disobedient child of God! I say again Thank You for letting me know that everything I do is but filthy rags … everything but one … Obedience to the Father’s will — for now that I know that You KNOW who I am and You have called me HOME  even though it is You that I have sinned against!?!?!?   I can say again, “Thank You Lord”!!! Knowing that I am a sinner is a good thing because I know that You KNOW and so there is nothing to hide from the One that says to my soul, “I know you are a sinner, that’s why I died on the cross for you! I KNOW you are a sinner —BUT — You are a child of the KING, REPENT and come HOME to the FATHER who FORGIVES.” When I know I am a sinner and know how worthless I am, it gives me gives me Great Spiritual Strength to know that if I OBEY the Father, and REPENT of my sins, that He stands WITH OPEN ARMS REJOICING and I hear Him say, “For this [child] of mine was dead [in sin] and is ALIVE AGAIN” [Luke 15:24] — “kill the fatted calf and we will celebrate!”    Sin is good for one thing, when you REPENT from your sins, you have a Loving Father calling you HOME!!!   OBEY the Father that KNOWS you are a sinner, REPENT and COME HOME to the FEAST HE HAS PREPARED for you!!!!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus leaves Jerusalem and walks to Bethany to spend the night and we wonder why He would leave the temple of God that He had just cleaned out and the city of God where He had just been declared “King” by the multitudes?  But it is not a mystery when we consider that Jesus had declared that He “knows the hearts of all men” (John 2:24) and “destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up”! (John 2:19) Jesus knew the mood in Jerusalem in spite of what the “multitudes” were “saying” so Jesus is demonstrating that by His leaving the city of Jerusalem and going to the little village of Bethany that our Spiritual Reality is not what we say with our lips but what we believe with our hearts! We know that the “houses” in Bethany were not like the grand houses in Jerusalem but then maybe Jesus wasn’t going to a “house” in Bethany but He was most likely going to a “home”. In fact, Bethany was the “home” of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus and also Simon the leper. There are no big houses in Bethany so why would Jesus choose to abandon the “big city” and go “lodge” in a humble dwelling? There can be only one explanation, Jesus was going where there were people whose hearts had previously “welcomed” Jesus and He knew that He would feel “at HOME” with them! Bethany was a special place to Jesus, not because of the real estate in Bethany but because of the “real state” of some special hearts that made their “home” in Bethany, humble hearts, welcoming hearts in Bethany that Jesus simply could not find in Jerusalem!!! Therefore, Jesus shows us that He will “lodge” where there are warm hearts that welcome Him into their “home” because He is not concerned with the structure of the house! Jesus is showing us that what is on the outside is called the house but how we prepare the inside is what makes a “house” a “home”! Have you prepared a “grand house” for the admiration of the “multitudes” or have you prepared your “home” where Jesus would be comfortable “lodging” there?  God is demonstrating with every step Jesus takes toward Bethany that what is in our heart is of more value than what is in our bank accounts! Jesus was called the “Son of David” by the multitudes during the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem; however, much of that could have been mass hysteria for the masses soon changed their rhetoric to “crucify Him”, but if they had read the scriptures they would have read where King David himself had written: “For You [LORD] do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart — these [sacrifices] O GOD, You will not despise.” (Psalm 51:16-17) The mystery is solved for me for I know that the hearts of Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and Simon the leper were grateful hearts, open and welcoming to Jesus but in Jerusalem all Jesus had encountered were empty defiled temples and greedy, ungrateful hearts — so which would you choose? Would you rather “lodge” with friends and loved ones or stay in a fancy room filled only with rejection? Bethany is sounding like a pretty good place to spend the night don’t you think?  At least Jesus thought so ———

AUGUST 14 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#24 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”” (Matthew 21:25)

AUGUST 14  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, I pray for Your Holy Spirit to direct my steps today and keep me focused on finishing well — Lord I know that even though they are “good intentions” on my part, far to often do I let my “good intentions” draw my focus off the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and then before I know it, I am blindsided with my own “good intentions” and find I have drifted from the “main thing” towards “self” again, it is slow, it is a subtle drift, but it is a drift “away” and Lord I pray that Your Spirit will warn me when I start drifting to “self” for the results are never good, regardless of my intentions — I have surrendered to Your Way and pray to remain surrendered to Your Will, completely!!!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus clearly never Taught a Lesson without first “living the answer” ——— with “Supreme” confidence can a “follower” step in THE FOOTPRINTS OF CHRIST and KNOW THEY LEAD THE “WAY” TO THE FATHER! When we read that Jesus cleansed the temple of God in Jerusalem, we can see the Messiah executing the will of the Father in the Father’s temple, and when Jesus is attacked after healing and forgiving sins in the midst of the temple that He had just cleaned, we can see the Son of God declaring “Have you not read [My Father’s words]?” (Matthew 21:16) so then we must know that there is a deep spiritual message when “[Jesus] left them and went out of [Jerusalem] to Bethany, and He lodged there.” (Matthew 21:17) Jesus had made a Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, He then cleansed the temple by driving out the moneychangers and after reclaiming the temple for its rightful purpose and establishing the temple as a “house of prayer”, the temple filled with multitudes needing healing of various types “and [Jesus] healed them.” (Matthew 21:14) Then when Jesus, the very Son of God, was attacked for doing the Father’s work, in the Father’s house, in the Father’s city, Jesus rebuked them and sent them away and one might expect that once Jesus got things in order there in Jerusalem that He would have “lodged” there but no, Jesus went out the Eastern Gate, walked through the Garden of Gethsemane and across the Kidron Valley for about 30 minutes and then up the ridge at Olivet into the small village of Bethany on the southeastern slope of the Mount of Olives — and Jesus found lodging there instead of “downtown Jerusalem”!  Jesus was always letting His life show the “priorities” that He consistently used to guide His actions and in this particular case, the fact that Jesus preferred staying in a humble abode in Bethany instead of some lavish room in Jerusalem spoke volumes ——— for there were some circumstances existing in Bethany that caused Jesus to take the walk “out of the city”, across the Kidron Valley into Bethany and “lodge” there instead! There is much to be considered here if one is a follower of Jesus or if one is a defender of the “doctrines of men”. There was something or someone in Bethany that made the Savior, the Messiah, the King of the Jews, the Son of David want to “lodge there”. If we want Jesus to come “lodge” with us it would be good to know what it was in Bethany that was so appealing to our Lord. On the other hand, if you don’t want to open your house and home to Jesus then you might hang a sign out that says “There’s NO ROOM in the Inn” or flash a big “NO VACANCY” sign and point out to Jesus that His room in Jerusalem was already “rented out”!  Before we head back to Jerusalem, don’t you think it would be a good idea to find out what drew Jesus to “lodge in Bethany”?!?!?

AUGUST 13 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#24 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”” (Matthew 21:25)

AUGUST 13  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer    

JESUS, my Lord and my God, all my Praise and Glory is raised to You! You Lord are beyond any description and Your Greatness is more than can be compared! O Lord, words alone cannot express Your Glory, Lord it takes the Pure Holy Spirit to fully Praise You.  We are not yet what You have purposed us to become and I certainly have much work to be done in my life to achieve Your Purpose for my poor wretched soul which is still growing in Your Spirit each day. I suspect that it will be a wretched soul until my wretched body decays into the wretched earth, but Lord Jesus, grant it Lord that I will die each day to my wretched self that Your Love, Peace, Joy, and Righteousness will increase in my life that is now wholly surrendered unto You.   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus addressed the “indignant” accusations of the chief priests and scribes (that were in the temple of God in Jerusalem watching Jesus do “wonderful things” which could only be accomplished by the Messiah) by rebuking them with the very scripture they themselves were supposed to be teaching. Instead of teaching “God’s Commands” to the multitudes the scribes and chief priests were endeavoring to make political and economic gain for themselves in God’s temple in God’s Holy City, Jerusalem! (Matthew 21:12-16) After Jesus rebuked the “indignant” chief priests and scribes that had seen Jesus executing the duties of the “Office of the Messiah” right before their very eyes in the temple of God in Jerusalem, Jesus “left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.” (Matthew 21:17) The chief priests and scribes in the temple in Jerusalem had been executing the duties of their offices with rulings that had been handed down to them from the Sanhedrin Supreme Court located just outside the Eastern Gate of Jerusalem in Bethphage on the Mount of Olives for hundreds of years. The curse that slowly but surely overcomes all men seeking “power and authority” overtakes the power seeker when he tries to assume the “power and authority of God” and even the strongest of men succumb to the “power curse”! Each man that “succumbs” then contributes to the decay of the “command of God” as they inject personal opinion and personal desire into what they would like to see as a “command” and thereby the “command of God” is defiled bit by bit by the defiled selfish desires of the doctrines of men——— and eventually what surfaces as “legal” as declared by the Sanhedrin becomes the “doctrines of men” taught to the multitudes by the chief priests and scribes but bears only a slight resemblance to a “command of God”. The transition from the “command of God” to the “doctrine of men” is a slow and subtle “cancer” infecting all “power usurpers” and is most often shrouded in “entitlements” and after successive (or more accurately in today’s terms, “progressive”) rulings of each “Supreme Court” are handed down, and there eventually comes that time when in order to make room for more “personal” interpretation in the interest of “self-promotion” and “vote-buying entitlements”, the “command of God” must in some cases be eliminated altogether! If you think this has not happened in America, look at the United States Supreme Court decisions and plot them on a time line against the moral decay milestones our society has experienced from the time that we were the greatest country on earth to our present 3rd world status!  Notice particularly on the moral decay timeline the correlation between moral decay and the removal of God from our government and prayer from our schools! What one must conclude (when the Truth  of God slaps you in the face) is that Jesus knew something and that indeed each society and every generation must address His Question: “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven [God the Father] or from men?” (Matthew 21:32  JQ#24) because you cannot answer that Question without realizing that each society is ruled by a “government” and the important question in any society is not “Who the government rules?” but the really critical question is “Who rules the government?” For Example: At one time when our society was a majority Christian nation and the people took active part in the American government, there was a Godly meaning to “a government of the people, by the people and for the people” but now that America is described as “whatever we once were, we’re no longer just a Christian nation…” (former President Barak Obama Email to CBN News 2007) and Christian prayer has been removed from our public schools, the sacrifice of the unborn to “commercial endeavors {death for profit}” is endorsed by the United States Supreme Court and is the “law of the land”! Least our society forgets,  “We the People” must stand in Holy Judgement before the eyes of the True and Only Supreme Judge, regardless of what “earthly laws” are passed by a “earthly Supreme Court”!!!  It is truly important that we as a society, we as a family, we as the Church, and we as individuals give an honest answer to this Question and admit to ourselves what we truly believe about “baptism”, “power and authority”, “heaven”, and how they all relate to “Jesus”, “Faith”, the “doctrines of men” and the “commands of God”!?!?!?!?!?

AUGUST 12 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#24 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”” (Matthew 21:25)

AUGUST 12  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Precious is the Name above all names, Jesus, My Redeemer, my Savior. Lord I can Praise and Glorify Your Holy Name for You have delivered my soul, You have restored the Joy of my Salvation and I once again can see and feel Your Guiding Hand lifting me up and leading me on.  Jesus keep me on the paths of righteousness and keep me centered in Your will. I pray that my repentance be turned to true service to You and to the Kingdom and that my repentance will be an acceptable offering before the LORD-Whose-Name-Is-Great!!!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus continues His confrontation with the “Supreme Court” that had been abusing their position with God to promote the “doctrines of men” and had become trapped themselves in those doctrines. When they perceived that they were losing their power over “the multitudes” to Jesus (who was demonstrating the True Power and Authority of God) that they actually conspired to dispose of Him. Jesus had been in the temple of God in Jerusalem where He had driven out the “moneychangers”, and those that were “buying and selling” in the temple, and “the seats of those that sold doves” (Matthew 21:12). Jesus then declared the temple a “house of prayer” and healed the multitudes that were brought to Him in the temple, thus restoring the Temple of God back to the Purpose for God establishing His Holy Temple in Jerusalem {See Psalm 147:2-6} — every problem, sickness, ailment, disease, or broken-heartedness that was brought before Jesus in the temple of God and spread before the Lord in His “house of prayer” had their prayers answered as Matthew records: “[all that] came to [Jesus] in the temple…He healed them…but when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did…[the chief priests and scribes] were indignant.” (Matthew 21:14-15) One must ask that if the chief priests and scribes “saw the wonderful things” that Jesus was doing for the multitudes in the way of answered prayers that had been lifted to God in the house of God, then why on earth were the chief priests and scribes “indignant”?!?!? I cannot get past the fact that Jesus is exerting the True Power and Authority in the temple that bears God’s name, in Jerusalem, the city that God declared as the “City of God”, and yet the self-appointed “rulers” can look upon the True Work of God and become “indignant” ??? — it can only be that the “rulers” feared losing their self-appointed “power and authority” more that they feared the source of “True Power and Authority” and that the “indignant” will defend their little bit of power and fame however temporary and fleeting it may be. This is a major problem Jesus encountered and it is a major problem that society today is encountering and therefore we should look carefully at how Jesus reacted to those that defend the “doctrines and traditions of men” over the “commands of God”!!! Jesus addressed the indignation of the “power mongers” that He encountered while doing “wonderful things” in the temple of Jerusalem with the same type of response that He had used when facing Satan and the Temptation in the wilderness —— “And Jesus said to [the indignant chief priests and scribes], ‘Have you never read’…” (Matthew 21:16) and then Jesus quoted the Holy Scriptures to the “indignant” chief priests what God had to say about the matter at hand. Matthew then records that after Jesus quoted from God’s word that “Then [Jesus] left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and He lodged there.” (Matthew 21:17) It is just as significant a point that Jesus leaves Jerusalem after His confrontation with the “chief priests and elders” (Matthew 21:23) and goes to “Bethany” and “lodged there” as it was when He “drew near to Jerusalem” that He “came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives” (Matthew 21:1)!!! The significance of Jesus entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and being hailed by the multitudes as the “Son of David” cannot be overstated, especially when Jesus immediately went to the temple and drove out those that had been defiling the house of God by making it a commercial establishment instead of a house of prayer, and we know that it was the Sanhedrin Supreme Court that was located in Bethphage that had given permission (probably there were many “bribes” given to the Supreme Court) to the moneychangers and those that bought and sold in the temple to use the temple for commercial gain! Now that Jesus is exposing the “problem” we must read closely as to what Jesus does next, for He never leaves a problem exposed without presenting the resolution to that problem — and so now Jesus has cleaned the temple of “money changers” as His first order of business upon entering Jerusalem, then after the confrontation He retired to “Bethany” — do you suppose that when Jesus returns to Jerusalem in the morning that He will resolve the problem? Another good question that it is appropriate to address to those that see the “wonderful things” that Jesus does and then they become “indignant” at the mention of His Holy Name, “Do you suppose that just because Jesus left and went to lodge outside the city for the night that He will ignore the problem in the city?” ——— or to speak the language that our society listens to today I’ll ask the question in Hollywood language — “Just because [Jesus] walked away do you think you are safe? Did you not hear what He said as He was leaving ————— “”I’LL BE BACK”” ?!?!!?!?  

AUGUST 11 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#24 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”” (Matthew 21:25)

AUGUST 11  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer   

JESUS, I thank You Lord for answered prayer as I am walking through my own “valley” of recovery and You give me assurance that You are walking with me and that You will take me “through the valley”. Satan attacks from the bushes saying that we have been abandoned and we run and hide in fear which takes us off the “paths of righteousness” — forgive me for my doubts and fears for there should be nothing in my walk but complete “faith” that You will “never leave me nor forsake me”. Lord Jesus, I move back to the “Light” and once again I can see Your Path and these words cover my soul — Blessed Assurance, Jesus IS mine!!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus entered Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey as foretold in Zechariah 9:9 to the shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed in He who comes in the name of the LORD!” (Matthew 21:9 & Psalms 118:26)  which should have alerted everyone that knew enough  scripture to know who King David was, that Jesus WAS the Coming King that would sit on the Throne of David forever and Jesus WAS “coming in the name of the Lord” and He WAS making His Official entry into Jerusalem! So the Sanhedrin was making a “politically correct” ruling that even though Jesus could work miracles and was doing them in the name of the God, that it was the “opinion” of the “Supreme Court” of Israel (the Sanhedrin) that Jesus was just a “prophet from Nazareth of Galilee” (Matthew 21:11) and that was what the multitudes were being told by the “ruling powers” in Jerusalem — however, Jesus has not come to bow to the “doctrines of men” nor abandon His God-given Purpose simply because the “man-made supreme court” of the land rules against the will of God! As soon as Jesus entered Jerusalem He went straight to the temple of God and did what anyone would expect the Chosen One, the Messiah to do! “Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those that sold doves. And [Jesus] said to them, ‘It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” (Matthew 21:12-13) The Lesson that Jesus is Teaching by what He is “doing” should be seen thusly as the “fulfillment” of prophecy — Jesus rides into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Zechariah 9:9) on the colt of a donkey and is met with praises from the daughter of Zion and declared the Son of David which refers to the Chosen One and coming Messiah. (Psalm 118:26) Once into Jerusalem, the “King” goes to the temple of God and “drove out” everything that was defiling the temple of God! (Matthew 21:12) All these things were written in the Holy Scriptures and pertained specifically to the Messiah, not a prophet! Only the Messiah had the “power and authority” to do what Jesus was doing to the temple of God in the City of God and to leave no doubt that He was the Messiah, the Son of David, the King of the daughter of Zion, Jesus continued doing what only the Messiah could do, “Then the blind and the lame come to [Jesus] in the temple, and He healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes say the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying ‘Hosanna to the Son of David’, [the legalists] were indignant.” (Matthew 21:14-15) I cannot help but see the world that my generation is living in today being played out exactly as it is written in these passages in Matthew. We have taken prayer out of our schools and God out of our government. We have allowed our rights and freedoms to know God for ourselves to be ridiculed and overruled by decisions handed down by a group of judges that have been politically appointed to establish the “law of the land” without any consideration to the commandments of God but instead these decisions and laws promote the “doctrine of men” that happen to be in “power” and have the man-made “authority” to appoint a “judge” to the Supreme Court of the land! Today our politicians have abandoned “executing the offices of government” as supported by the Commandments of God. Our society today can still see Jesus “…and all the wonderful things He did…” and there are multitudes in each generation that are still seeing Jesus do “wonderful things” in our daily lives and we shout “Hosanna to the Son of David”  and then we turn on the TV and hear that the Supreme Court has decided that it is “politically incorrect” to talk about God and we are subjected once again to the “doctrines of men” — we have succumbed to letting a government of men determine that it is “legal” to kill our unborn if we find the acts of God inconvenient to our modern lifestyle. Jesus had one week left on earth and His Question is simple but significant: “Do you trust men with unlimited control of your lives and are you willing to give them all the authority and power over our legal system, which will be administered without the consent or blessings of God?”

AUGUST 10 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#24 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”” (Matthew 21:25)

AUGUST 10  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer    

JESUS, my Lord and my Shepherd, my Redeemer and my Passover Lamb, You Lord are all things Good! Lord, even when I find myself going through one of the valleys  that my earthen vessel and its aging process takes me into, my mind is stayed with a single verse, “Be still and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10) for to “be still” in the valley of shadow is a statement our spirit makes saying “Yeah though I walk through the valley, I will fear no evil for You are with me…” and then the Peace-that-passes-all understanding surfaces and I give praise to God that even though my circumstances change that my God never changes, You are the God of heaven and earth, the God of the mountains and the God of the valleys, the God who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. Lord I know that my faith only fails because I have not yet learned to surrender completely to Your Unchanging Will so Lord keep me centered in Your Will, Your Mercy, and Your Grace.   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus really “walks the walk” in this section and all one has to do is look at the actions of the Sanhedrin and the actions of Jesus to determine who is following the Will of God and who is following the will of men. Jesus came to Bethphage, sent two disciples to retrieve a donkey reserved for the “LORD” and Matthew records: “All this was done that if might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet (Zechariah 9:9)…So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set [Jesus] on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road . Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out saying: ‘HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD! HOSANNA IN THE HIGHEST!’ And when [Jesus] had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved…” (Matthew 21:4-10) This event is known as the Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the week before His Crucifixion! It is reasonable to pause at this point and take note that as Jesus “drew near to Jerusalem” that He was hailed by the multitudes that had been observing Him as “King” and “Son of David”. The multitudes proclaimed as Jesus made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” —but the scene changes after Jesus enters Jerusalem and starts executing the duties of His God-given office of Messiah for when those in Jerusalem asked “Who is this?” (Matthew 21:10) that the “authorities” gave the “politically correct” answer, “This is the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.” (Matthew 21:11)  Not because of the miracles the multitudes had observed Jesus doing was Jesus demoted from Messiah to just another prophet, but it was at the hands of the “ruling powers” in Jerusalem and specifically the “power authorities” such as the Sanhedrin, the scribes, and the Pharisees who were continually handing down their rules to “control” the multitudes ——— this “rule changing” becomes the crux of the problem Jesus addresses with  JQ#24 ——— Jesus asks these ruling authorities: where does “power and authority” really come from, “from heaven or from men”? (Matthew 21:25) Of significance here is the fact that regardless of what people said about Him or who He was, Jesus kept doing those things that only the Messiah would and could do, therefore it is not what men say about God that is important to our Eternal Security, it is what God Himself has done to secure our Eternal Security that has any bearing on our souls as they enter into Eternity!  But we must pray that we do not get trapped into “political correctness” that teaches that it is “political correctness” and the “Supreme” court of men that has “power and authority” and that whatever “politically correct men” say is “legal”. Therefore, the desires of men become the  “law of the land” which then becomes the “doctrines of men”. These “doctrines of men” is that which Jesus referred to in JQ#12 “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” (Matthew 12:1-21) Jesus had already warned us “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) Now Jesus is asking in essence “Who has the true power and authority to destroy both soul and body in hell, men or God?”  With less than a week left in His earthly ministry, Jesus is getting right to the point of the Passover and fulfilling all the prophecies concerning the Messiah. “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says…” (Revelation 2:7) Maybe its time that we “Listen To” and “Stand Up” for Jesus?!?!?!?

AUGUST 09 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#24 “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?”” (Matthew 21:25)

AUGUST 09  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#24  “Is the power and authority of baptism from heaven or from men?””  (Matthew 21:25)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord and Savior, You know my heart and today I will let the Holy Spirit utter worthy praise to You. Jesus it is about You, it is about Your Love, it is about Forgiveness, it is about Repentance. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God and Satan prowls the earth looking for ways to deceive and when a saint gets close to truly serving God in a pure and acceptable way, then Satan increases his attacks — Lord You have victory over the world and You have promised that You would “keep us” so Lord I call on that promise!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was fulfilling prophecy when He got the donkey for it was from their location outside of Jerusalem in Bethphage that the Sanhedrin (the supreme Court of the nation) handed down decisions. In an article by Ernest I. Martin: “The Significance of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives”, Mr. Martin explains: “The reason that these types of decisions were to be made at this special village [Bethphage] on the east side of Jerusalem proper is because it was necessary that these decisions be made ‘at the entrance’ to Jerusalem. There were biblical reasons for this. Note Proverbs 31:23 which says ‘Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders’ also ‘Execute the judgement of truth and peace in your gates’ (Zechariah 8:16) In the case of Jerusalem, which was the capital city of the nation, the principle gate was on the eastern side just beyond the camp (that is, ‘outside the camp’) Thus the Sanhedrin had the village of Bethphage built just to the east of the city limits of Jerusalem proper. This village of priests was located just to the east of the summit of the Mount of Olives.” Mr. Martin continues on the significance of Bethphage, “The word ‘Bethphage’ means the ‘House of Unripe Figs.’” Mr. Martin says the village of priests was called Bethphage because tradition teaches that the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil was a fig tree so the Sanhedrin “were supposed to act as JEHOVAH’s judges and thereby were to be rendered free of sin in their judgements. This is why they named the village ‘House of Unripe Figs’… But there was a second reason for naming the village ‘Bethphage’.  Figs are always unripe at the start of the growing season. This place of Bethphage was the site where the Sanhedrin determined legal measurements for the nation. It was where they set the limits on sacred things (the size of the city, the Temple, the day to start the scared calendar, when to observe the festival day, starting the census, etc.) … In a word, it was from Bethphage where the measurements of the nation were enacted and legalized. It was also the place where the most rebellious of the elders in Israel were sentenced to die… There is even further New Testament significance to these matters. It was no accident that the Messiah told His disciples to go into Bethphage and obtain a donkey for him to ride into Jerusalem to fulfill the prophecy of Zechariah about the Judahites adoring their king riding on a donkey. By getting this donkey at Bethphage was like saying that the Messiah went to the central Supreme Court area of the land in order to get his royal position for legal sovereignty approved.” Jesus knew what He was doing and Jesus knew what He was saying by getting the donkey at Bethphage and we read: “And all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, behold your King is coming to you, lowly and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Matthew 21:4-5) Jesus did fulfill all the prophecies of the Messiah so one has to ask, why would the Sanhedrin turn the people against Jesus, do you think it was because they knew that they would lose the “power and authority” that the traditions of men had given them? I see a major problem with this line of thinking because the Sanhedrin would not exist if it were not for God so they are making a major mistake going against God Himself to retain their position of power and authority that they had only because God had given His Commandments to men in the first place!?!?!?!?