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

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

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 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42)

 OCTOBER 01  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 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

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 March 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

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

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

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”!!!

SEPTEMBER 28 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#29 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42)

 SEPTEMBER 28  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 You and the Holy Spirit are to be Praised for Your Holy work in our lives. Lord I prayed several days ago for You to “help” me with a “flesh” problem and You directed me immediately after my prayer to two verses that specifically told me to “walk in the Spirit” and the second said that God gave us the Holy Spirit as a “Helper” that would dwell within us “forever” — I read Your Words and I welcomed the Holy Spirit and I have been “walking” with Him since I received Your answered prayer and all I can say again is “Prayer Works” and GOD IS GOOD!! I had my first “missionary” dream last night and in the dream there was this “hard case” young man that came to know Jesus through a program offered at the church and to see the “change” that Jesus made in his life was amazing and even though it was a dream, I still could feel the “JOY” of sharing Jesus with others and as soon as I awoke I remembered the dream and KNEW that I was serving Jesus and that “serving” Him is now so deep in my soul that I am having dreams of “Serving the Lord” instead of fulfilling the “lust of the flesh” — only God can answer prayer like that and that comes from “walking daily with Him” —and I give Him ALL THE PRAISE, GLORY, and HONOR!!!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is pronouncing “Seven Woes” on the scribes and Pharisees because of their “hypocrisy” and He has just pronounced “Woe #3” where Jesus announces to the scribes and Pharisees that their “hypocrisy” makes those that follow the scribe’s and Pharisee’s defiled doctrines “twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” (Matthew 23:15)  and therefore all that follow the “doctrines of men” instead of the “Commands of God” condemn themselves to “hell”. “Woe #3” is a repeat of a previous lesson where the Pharisees had “plotted against [Jesus], [and] how they might destroy Him…”(Matthew 12:14) and Jesus answered the Pharisees accusations that He was “casting out demons…by Beelzebub” (Matthew 12:24) but  Jesus corrected them and stated that He was casting “out demons by the Spirit of God” and reminded them that because they could see the Spirit of God working that “surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Matthew 12:28) But Jesus wasn’t through with the Pharisees as He said, “if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out” which basically meant that Jesus called the Pharisees sons of Beelzebub! (Matthew 12:27) Jesus ended that Lesson with “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.” (Matthew 12:30) Jesus was still not through with the Pharisees for after Jesus pronounced “Woe # 3” He then tagged an additional “Woe” to “the sons of hell” as Jesus continued, “Woe to you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’” (Matthew 23:16) and Jesus immediately corrects their “defiled doctrines” as He continues “Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?” (Matthew 23:17) This Lesson is much like the Lesson God had Taught the Israelites as they were taking possession of the “Promised Land of Canaan” and had drifted from following God and started taking “pride” in their personal “victories” instead of giving credit to God. The Israelites went out in their own strength and misplaced pride to face the Philistines and God did not go with them ——— once the battle was joined the Israelites suffered great losses at the hand of the Philistines. Then one of the Israelites said that the problem was that they had not brought the Ark of God with them so they went back and got the Ark and returned to battle; however, God allowed the Philistines to not only defeat the nation Israel but God allowed the Philistines to capture the Ark, Teaching the Israelites that True Power is not in the Ark of God, but True Power is in the God of the Ark!!! (see 1 Samuel 4:1-11) So Jesus is again Teaching that same  Lesson to the scribes and Pharisees by showing them that they are blinded by their stolen power for True Power is not in their “doctrines or gold” even if they swear by the “temple” — the temple of God is not the True Power, True Power is the God of the temple!!!   We must continually remind ourselves that it is God HIMSELF that is the TRUE Source of all Power and without Him we can do nothing ——— but with Him, we can do anything!!!   

SEPTEMBER 27 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#29 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42)

 SEPTEMBER 27  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, Precious Jesus, Lord it is so wonderful a Privilege to be able to call on Your Holy Name. Our God is so Gracious that He says to call Him “ABBA Father” (Romans 8:15)  and then He sent His Only Begotten Son so that we might call the Son “friend” and “Brother”! Our Lord gives us the Rights and Privileges of Heirs therefore we are also called “children of God”! (Romans 8:14) Oh Precious Jesus, how great a Love that God, very God, can do these marvelous things for a lost and dying world of sinners living in rebellion against this Holy God! Praise be to God Most High and His Only Begotten Son that was Obedient unto a cruel death on the cross in order that sinners through “Repentance” shall inherit the Kingdom of God!!! Lord, we exalt Thee above all names for You ARE the ONE TRUE LIVING GOD — The HOLY TRINITY: The FATHER, the SON, and the HOLY SPIRIT!!!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is sending more than just one message when He pronounces these “Seven Woes” on the “scribes and Pharisees” addressing the major problem of their “hypocrisy”. Besides the obvious message that defiling a “Holy office” is not acceptable behavior for one called by God to represent Him and His Commands to the nation of Israel, the scribes and Pharisees were also familiar with the prophesy of Ezekiel 34 where God states clearly “And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them”, ‘Thus says the LORD God to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?”’…and “For thus says the LORD God: ‘Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out…I will establish on shepherd over them…’” (Ezekiel 34:1-2,11,23). Jesus also makes it clear that God is still active and paying attention to His world and that in His Sovereignty and Immutability that God will “reward obedience” and “punish disobedience”! A.W. Tozer in his book “Knowledge of the Holy” devoted a whole chapter on “The Immutability of God” to help us understand that God never changes nor does God after fourteen hundred years or so (the time between Moses and Jesus) decide that His Commandments are no longer viable. Tozer writes: “To say that God is immutable is to say that He never differs from Himself.” (Page 49, Knowledge of the Holy paperback Copyright 1961) and then Tozer elaborates as he quotes Anselm ({ref…}): “‘All that God is, He has always been, and all that He has been and is, He will ever be.’ Nothing that God has ever said about Himself will be modified; nothing the inspired prophets and apostles have said about Him will be rescinded. His immutability guarantees this.” (Page 50, Knowledge of the Holy paperback Copyright 1961) So Jesus is Teaching the nation Israel that God meant what He said 1400 years ago when He gave Moses the Commandments and Jesus is Teaching us that God is Eternal and He is Unchanging and that His commands will be applicable for ALL of time therefore everyone, regardless of the “time” or “generation” in which they are born, all souls are born into God’s creation and are subject to His Will, which as Tozer explains, God’s Will is “Immutable”! God was Sovereign BEFORE the creation existed and God will remain Sovereign AFTER the creation and time itself comes to an end (From Genesis to Revelation) — however; there is NO END to the ETERNAL GOD and HIS SUPREME AUTHORITY!!! Jesus makes a point of the “Consequence” of “hypocrisy” and “disobedience” as He pronounces “Woe #3”: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15) Jesus reminds us that “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.” (Matthew 12:30)  The scribes and Pharisees (the “shepherds of Israel”) were using their “Holy office” to make converts to “doctrines and traditions” that did not bring Israel to the Holy God that gave Moses the Commandments but instead of leading the converts to God, they placed the “burden” of the “Law” on Israel’s backs and enslaved them to following the “doctrines of men” which was exactly what Ezekiel had said about the “shepherds feeding themselves”! Jesus is clear that this kind of “hypocrisy” makes those participating in keeping others away from God are “sons of hell” — and it doesn’t take much explanation to understand that “sons of hell” are NOT “sons of God” — my advice is to consider how serious God is about “hypocrisy” and to pay attention to these “Seven Woes” and use them to evaluate  your answer to: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” (Matthew 22:42)