DECEMBER 19 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-05 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 19  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#1-33 SUMMARY-05   The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, my prayer is to be totally dependent on Your Mercy and Grace to lead me where You will. Lord, I pray not to be free of worldly influences but rather my prayer is to have the discernment to see past the world and the deceit of this world to Your Truth and to Trust Your Holy Spirit to take whatever worldly circumstance that I find myself in and use it to witness to Your Great Love — for there is nothing nor no one that cannot benefit from Grace which You have provided so abundantly. Keep our hearts and eyes open to Your Grace and Mercy for in every situation we can take the circumstances of the world and use them to witness to the Glory of God and His Son Jesus Christ!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has already in the first two chapters of the Gospel of Matthew fulfilled more prophecies than any one before Him and certainly anyone after Him and since “His Birth, Life, Death by Crucifixion, Burial in a “borrowed” Tomb, and then His Glorious Resurrection on the Third Day were first prophesied and then documented by so many sources and written down and confirmed that there will NEVER be anyone but JESUS that can have the facts of His Life and Death be the PROOF that He is the SON OF GOD!!!” It is seldom stated some of the most obvious things that must have fallen in place for all the prophecies in the Old Testament to be fulfilled concerning the “Chosen One, God’s Messiah” and the odds of one man fulfilling even half a dozen of the prophecies has been proven mathematically impossible — therefore, if we look at just the “odds” from a numerical standpoint, then if one man fulfilling more than 6 prophecies is “impossible” then what is the phrase that would have to be invented for a second person to fulfill more prophesies than the first person?!?!? The “odds” are so great that even one man could fulfill ALL of the prophecies that many find it hard to believe it to be possible at all and choose themselves to be counted among the doubters that believe all of this “prophecy” stuff and “the Jesus story” is a “fairy tale” — which is still one of the major arguments in our modern world against Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit and prevents many people from believing ——— and many of these same “unbelievers” are the very ones that seek “proof” that Jesus is the Son of God and that God Himself exists — yet these are the very ones that refuse to look at “eyewitness” accounts such as each of the individual Gospels!?!?!? If we think of simple things like “facts that must be true” of the Messiah such as the Messiah must be a Jewish male born in Judea and that He would have to be “Sacrificed as the Lamb of God” to make “atonement for the sins of His people” and not just any “sacrifice” but a “unique sacrificial death at the hands of a foreign government!?!”  When we look at the simple facts and discover ancient records of one unique Jewish male born in Bethlehem who started teaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” then how can our eyes not be opened?!? Matthew did not know Jesus until after Jesus had started His Ministry and was called by Jesus to be an Apostle — Jesus called each of His Apostles individually and because Jesus IS the Son of God  He knew the “purpose” that each of the Apostles were called for; therefore, it is easy to imagine that Jesus “knew” that Matthew would naturally learn everything he could about Jesus and His life and Matthew would eventually write the Gospel that would be an eyewitness account to the fulfilling of Jewish prophecy by Jesus. Matthew was a studied and educated Jew himself and as such he would see the significance of the simple facts of the life of Jesus. I can just imagine what Matthew felt like when he started following Jesus and then hearing from the other apostles stories about the parents of Jesus and when from natural curiosity Matthew traced the genealogy of Jesus back to King David that Matthew knew that there was something special about this “first born Jewish male” that could trace His genealogy back to King David!  But can you imagine how Matthew felt when he learned the story that the mother of Jesus stated under penalty of death that her “firstborn Son Jesus” was “conceived by the Holy Spirt” and that she was a “virgin” when she gave birth to Jesus!?!  Add to the miracle the stories that both Mary and Joseph told of their visits from Gabriel and Gabriel telling them to “call Him Jesus for He will save His people from their sins”!!! I can also imagine that Matthew started taking notes and studying the prophecies of the MESSIAH even more fervently because already Jesus had fulfilled the three most basic but difficult prophecies; for no one can choose (1) where they are born nor (2) whom their parents are much less (3) who the parents of the parents are — and these 3 prophesies alone make Jesus, the Messiah unique : (1) the“virgin birth” and (2) being “born into the family of David “and (3) being “born in Bethlehem”!!!!   It is IMPOSSIBLE for one to “choose” that their mother would be a “virgin” and give birth to a Son!!! Those ARE IMPOSSIBLE things for man, but it makes the HOLY SCRIPTURE valid when it clearly states, “with man it is impossible but with God, all things are possible.” I am sure that Matthew started writing furiously when he heard Mary and Joseph tell the story of the “virgin birth” and I am sure that God fully intended for Matthew to be the one to write the Gospel and document this “impossibility” of Jesus — for the TRUTH is that it indeed is “impossible” for man to fulfill prophecy, only GOD can fulfill prophecy and only the Son of God could be “virgin born”!!! The first four chapters of Matthew then documents through eyewitness accounts all the simple facts that the Life of Jesus points to the Divine Truth that Jesus is the Son of God!!!   

DECEMBER 18 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SUMMARY 04: JQ#1-33 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 18  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SUMMARY 04: JQ#1-33  The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, You are Unchanging for Forever and Forever, for You are the Alpha and the Omega. Lord as I face another day in the world I praise You for the great and mighty work that You accomplish daily through the Holy Spirit in our lives and the extra blessing of YOUR Teaching us how to worship with our work and how to be a witness to Your Great Love. I pray that others will see us living our lives through You and witness to the Abundant Life that comes only from following You that they also will learn that it is following You that is the most important thing in each individual’s life — not what the owner’s of the business or our earthly bosses think about our worship at work but  of major importance is what You think of our worship! Jesus, You know our hearts and Lord, help us die to our worldly self and let Your Love show though in a mighty WAY!!!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus was established in the first chapter of Matthew as the rightful Heir to the Throne of David through His genealogy through David all the way back to Abraham and then Matthew documents the prophesied “virgin birth” of Jesus thus fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. Matthew then moves directly into the conflict that developed with the then earthly king of Israel, King Herod: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’” (Matthew 2:1-2) The fact that “wise men” from the East came seeking the “King of the Jews” and declaring that they had “seen His star in the East” and they traveled all the way to Judea to find Him is significant in the “universality” of the Jewish Prophecy that the “King of the Jews” would be born in “Bethlehem of Judea” for the prophets had written: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.” (Matthew 2:5-6 and Micah 5:2) Matthew has now demonstrated 3 major prophecies that have been fulfilled by Jesus in just the first chapter and part of the second.  That put the odds of any one person fulfilling these 3 major prophecies at an astronomical number and almost certainly by mathematical odds that Jesus and ONLY Jesus by (1) His genealogy through David, (2) His “Virgin Birth”, and (3) that  “Virgin Birth” occurring in the town of Bethlehem would be totally sufficient to declare Jesus the Heir to the throne of David and therefore by prophecy Jesus would have to be declared the “King of the Jews”!  So it is obvious why this news from the wise men declared in the presence of Herod and all the chief priests and scribes in the city of Jerusalem would cause Herod to be “troubled”.  What makes the odds of Jesus being the “King of the Jews” grow exponentially is the fact that even this “trouble” that King Herod felt was in prophecy as well for Matthew records that when the wise men departed after “they saw the young Child with Mary His mother” (Matthew 2:11) that “an angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.’ [Joseph] did as the angel had commanded that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet [Hosea], saying, ‘Out if Egypt I called My Son.’” (Matthew 2:12-15 and Hosea 11:1) When Herod “saw that he was deceived by the wise men…[Herod] sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which [Herod] had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet saying: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:16-17 and Jeremiah 31:15) Now Matthew in only two chapters, has Jesus fulfilling prophecies by Isaiah, Micah, Hosea, and Jeremiah and the miracle part of the prophecy is that in order for these prophecies to be fulfilled that the circumstances demanded that “wise men from the East” and the current king of Judea be complicit in the fulfilling of prophecy! To me it is significant that God was accomplishing His Plan and literally using Jesus as a Child to cause literally a Universal Response to His Arrival and that means that there will be required of the world a Universal Response when Jesus comes again! God’s complete Plan has been written down for us to read and comply with — all we have to do is accept the obvious, Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God!!! 

DECEMBER 17 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SUMMARY 03: JQ#1-33 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SUMMARY 03: JQ#1-33  The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, as each new day unfolds Lord we ask for Your Light to shine in our day-to-day world and we thank You that like the consistent sunrise that brings light to the physical world Your Light will rise each day in our spiritual lives and bring with it the blessing of Your renewed Mercies and Grace! Thank You Jesus for Your coming to the earth and taking on flesh and being tempted in all ways such as we but yet You were without sin, and Your Victory over the world is the foundation of our Hope!!! Lord forgive me of all my worldly shortcomings and my daily iniquities and give me the self discipline to forgive others as freely as You forgive us!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus spoke His first words in Matthew’s Gospel and stated that the event unfolding between Himself and John the Baptist (the forerunner to the Messiah), as “Fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15) which established Jesus as the “Chosen One” and that John was the “one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight’” (Matthew 3:3) thereby Matthew documents that the “Coming One” had arrived! Only the Jewish community that had been reading the Talmud would understand the significance of Matthew being able to trace the genealogy of Jesus back to Abraham through David so the Gospel of Jesus according to Matthew points to the fulfilling of God’s prophecies for the nation Israel and establishes through God’s Covenant Promises with Israel’s forefathers that Jesus was the rightful Heir to the throne of David. I believe that the nation was blinded to the Kingship of Jesus because of His Humble beginnings and the fact that Jesus was more like John the Baptist who had no earthly wealth or possessions therefore Jesus could not be the “soon coming King” like Israel’s previous great king, King David who possessed the entire kingdom of Israel and David had great warrior strength and all the possessions that King Solomon used to build the Great Temple of Solomon — John the Baptist had no strength except the Spirit of God and was calling Israel to “repent, for the kingdom of heaven was at hand”! The nation Israel and many people today simply cannot see how a cruel death on a cross at the hands of Israel’s religious rulers who had sentenced Jesus  to death as a criminal by the laws of the Jews could actually be the Messiah and that this “prophet” that did not possess any earthly treasures, and that this Jesus of Nazareth simply by His Death, Burial, and Resurrection would “fulfill all righteousness”!?!?!? Matthew started his documentation of Jesus fulfilling the Holy Scriptures by establishing in Chapter 1 that through His genealogy Jesus was the “rightful heir” to the throne of His father David! Any one of the events that Matthew records in his 28 Chapters about the life of Jesus could be considered significant but by recording all the events into a single Gospel we have a record of fulfilling of prophecies by a single man Jesus that defies all logic and odds and that if the odds of one man fulfilling all prophecies could be calculated that it would fit into the category of “counting [all] the stars if [we were] able” (Genesis 15:5) or imaging the number of descendants God promised a childless 90 year old man “I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of  the sky and as the sand which is on the seashore” {{have you ever tried counting stars or grains of sand??}} (Genesis 22:17) and these great numbers that are far beyond our counting or imaging the total sum of them point to God the Father for King David wrote: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand!” (Psalm 139:18). Therefore by collecting all the events of Jesus that point to His being the “Son of God, God’s Chosen One, the Messiah” Matthew establishes beyond a shadow of a doubt that it would be IMPOSSIBLE for any one person to fulfill EVERY Prophecy as Jesus did!!! Matthew established in the first part of Chapter 1 that Jesus is the rightful heir by birthright and in the last part of Chapter 1 Matthew records the fulfilling of early prophecies of the Messiah as Matthew writes: “the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows…Mary was betrothed to Joseph [and] before they came together, she was found with the child of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18) Matthew explains: “So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet {{Isaiah 7:14}}, saying, ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name ‘Immanuel’ which is translated, ‘God with us.’” (Matthew 1:22-23) Matthew started at “the beginning” which leaves no room for anyone other than Jesus to claim the title of “God’s Son” and as the Apostle John (whom Jesus loved) wrote about Jesus: “The WORD became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) The Jewish community had been reading the prophecies of the Coming Messiah therefore they would be the first ones to recognize that Jesus was the earthly embodiment of “Immanuel” and truly God had sent His only begotten Son and by observing the Life of Jesus, we observe GOD HIMSELF!!!  — and the really GOOD NEWS is that now that Jesus has come, the Promise of God to Joshua becomes  His Promise to us for God assures us “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6) and (Hebrews 13:5)  

DECEMBER 16 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SUMMARY 02: JQ#1-33 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SUMMARY 02: JQ#1-33  The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, as I start this “Summary” of Your “Lessons” that You Taught us in order to reveal the Ultimate Truth of God the Father and to bring the “Light” of understanding to the “Ways of God”. I pray for the Holy Spirit to guide these Words written in this “JESUS Questions Summary” that they will be a Glory and Honor to the Blessed Trinity. May the Holy Spirit Bless all who read the Word that it will Reveal the Father, Glorify the Son, and Honor the Trinity of God in such a Way that our lives will be transformed. Give us the wisdom to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) and Trust God for His Mighty Provisions, which God Freely Bestows on undeserving sinners not because of anything we have done, but simply because of God’s Holy Character and His Infinite Love for His Creation!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus started His earthly Ministry at a point where Jesus is leading us to — that “point” in each of our lives that is the “turning point” in our Spiritual Journey and that “point” is always when we arrive at that time in our life when we see the “spiritual” need to enter into God’s Purpose for our lives and to yield control of our desires for the world to His Desire for our life — and at that “point”, we will follow the example of Jesus. Jesus directs us to that “point” as He began His Teaching and the first thing He did was follow the Will of God which was recorded by Matthew in Chapter 3 in which Matthew set the scene for us: “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 3:1) and then Matthew tied John the Baptist to the Holy Scriptures and the prophet Isaiah as Matthew declares that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah who had written 800 years earlier that the “forerunner” of the expected Messiah would be one that was “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight’” (Isaiah 40:3 quoted in Matthew 3:3). When the people of Judea and the areas surrounding Jerusalem heard there was “one in the wilderness” that was preaching “Repentance for the kingdom of heaven was at hand” and that they should be “baptized”, it was at that point in their spiritual lives that the Holy Scriptures came alive for them and they could see the prophecies of old being fulfilled and “Then in Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to [John the Baptist] and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Matthew 3:5-6) Matthew also introduces the conflict Jesus would address regarding the religious rulers in Jerusalem, the Pharisees and Sadducees, as Matthew records that the Pharisees and Sadducees came out to John the Baptist at the Jordan where he was baptizing and John declared them to be a “Brood of vipers!” and warned them to change their ways and “flee from the wrath to come” and told them plainly “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:7-8) And when John had their attention John set the scene for Jesus to appear when John declared “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matthew 3:11) Therefore when “Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized” (Matthew 3:13) it was to fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah regarding the forerunner of the Messiah (Isaiah 40:3) and of the restoration of the Davidic kingdom by Christ (See Isaiah 11:1-10)  which was why Jesus allowed Himself to be baptized by John in the Jordan and why Matthew records Jesus as saying to John about His Baptism “Permit [My Baptism] to be so now, for thus it is fitting for [the forerunner and the Christ] to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15) and by doing so to start His earthly ministry in which Jesus would begin teaching “repentance” and to point us to the “path of the LORD” — Jesus clearly stated later that we are to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33) for our lives. Matthew also in this passage establishes that part of the mission of the Christ will be to address the problem of the religious rulers who have defiled the temple of God and have led the nation Israel away from following God and His Commandments!  John not only called them a “Brood of vipers!” but he warned them that Christ would “baptize [them] with the Holy Spirit and fire” and also Christ had “His winnowing fan in His hand, and He will throughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:7-12)  So Matthew uses John the Baptist and the prophet Isaiah to introduce the Christ and then Jesus steps on the scene and fulfills prophecy to begin His earthy ministry and sets the “Perfect Example” for all that would follow Jesus Christ to read the Holy Scriptures, repent, and to seek God and His Righteousness. 

DECEMBER 15 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SUMMARY 01: JQ#1-33 The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 DECEMBER 15  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SUMMARY 01: JQ#1-33  The Gospel of Matthew: A Study of the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, my LORD and my REDEEMER — that You would be Obedient to the Father’s Will to be Sacrificed as the Lamb of God, Innocent of All Sin yet bearing the Burden of All Sin, ONCE-for-ALL, YOU SHED EVERY DROP OF YOUR INNOCENT BLOOD for the REMISSION OF SIN, and that You and the Father HAD PLANNED OUR SALVATION while we were yet sinners — that is the greatest MIRACLE of all. Lord You KNEW that man’s heart was deceitful and evil yet You and the Father KNEW that through the Great LOVE OF GOD that man’s heart that was hardened by sin could be softened by  GRACE and we could then be sanctified by MERCY — Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has been present with us from BEFORE the CREATION and will be with BELIEVERS throughout all ETERNITY! Eternity itself is a concept that stretches our limited intellect for we are still bound by our physical limitations which God established with our mortality. But, God continually stretches our understanding with Spiritual Concepts that point us to Knowing God and it is through Knowing God that we will be able to move from this limited physical realm we call mortal life to the unlimited spiritual realm wherein lies Everlasting Life which is only possible through BELIEVING IN GOD! God summed up this ETERNAL TRUTH OF GOD as He spoke to the prophet Isaiah: “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the evil man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God for He will freely pardon. ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and snow comes down from heaven, and does not return to it without watering the earth, causing it to bud and flourish, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread for the eater, so shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to me void, but will accomplish My desire, and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.’” (Isaiah 55:6-11) For the complete TRUTH OF GOD that explains GOD from CREATION to REVELATION one need only read Isaiah 55 in full and then meditate on John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) These Isaiah and John passages explain what and why and then starting in Genesis and going through every book and chapter, Jesus and God’s Mercy and Grace are written in great detail. A good argument can be made from John 1 that Jesus “was with God in the beginning” (John 1:5) and that to resolve the problem of “darkness” in the world that God’s solution was recorded in Genesis 1:3 “Then God said,’Let there be light’…” The Bible teaches us that Jesus is the Light of the World and we should understand the importance of us being like Jesus when He teaches the Sermon on the Mount and then asked His first question: <JQ#1> “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13) Jesus then immediately states also “You are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16) ——— Jesus IS the LIGHT of the World and by JQ#1 we know that Jesus wants us to be like Him ——— and Jesus with JQ#1 foreshadows that He will TEACH us how to be like Him and by the way we live our life we should be a “Light” to others and thereby we will “glorify [our] Father in Heaven”. This first Lesson then is that Jesus is going to Teach us how to live like Him and in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus uses His Divine Teaching Method  to get our attention and focus us on different aspects that give us Knowledge of God and His Eternal Kingdom  and then once we KNOW THE TRUTH we are to SHARE THE GOSPEL with those that are in “darkness” and by doing so we will fulfill the command of Jesus “So let your light shine before men…” with the single purpose of glorifying God!! 

DECEMBER 14 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#33 “Eli, Eli lama sabachthani? that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)

 DECEMBER 14  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#33  “Eli, Eli lama sabachthani? that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  (Matthew 27:46)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS You are the LIGHT of the world, You are our HOPE and our SALVATION — O Blessed Day that You were sent by the Father in the form of a tiny baby boy — You      came into the darkness to lead us to the LIGHT of the Father by following the Star  of the Holy Spirit. Lord, our world has never been the same since you were born and through Your Life we have the Perfect Example how to Please God the Father. How does one say “Thank You” for a “Gift so Precious” as “Eternal Life” and the “Forgiveness of Sins”??? Lord Jesus, I pray for Your Spirit to fill me this day and everyday as I finish my days on earth and then “enter into Your Eternal Rest”!!!    AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus, has been born into the world to a virgin and from His Birth to His Death Jesus fulfilled the Holy Scriptures that speak of God’s Chosen One. Jesus began His Earthly Ministry after being baptized in the Jordan River by the “Forerunner of Christ” John the Baptist, who upon seeing Jesus enter the baptismal waters declared “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!”  Jesus had told John who had declared himself unworthy to baptize Jesus to “Permit it to be so now…” in order that the “Scriptures” would “be fulfilled” and then Jesus lived the Perfect Example of how to Live for God and then how to Die for God as Jesus was consistently Obedient to the will of the Father. The Death of Jesus on the Cross demonstrated God’s Great Love for the world and the great lengths to which God the Father and Jesus the Son were willing to go to in order to Provide Salvation for all mankind. Jesus willingly  went to the cross and Shed His Innocent Blood and now the Father has proved His Sovereignty by Resurrecting the Son on the Third Day!!! Jesus has Risen from the Grave and because HE IS RISEN — OUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN!!! The Plan of Salvation has been Perfectly Completed and with The Penalty for our Sin being PAID IN FULL by the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus, God now extends His Unlimited Favor in the form of GRACE  to all that Believe that Jesus is God’s Son!!! Matthew concludes his Gospel with a picture of what the world looks like today as Matthew records how the world reacted after Jesus showed Himself alive: “When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen (Matthew 28:17-20) The Gospel of Matthew ends with those Words from Jesus and the world is left with one choice to make in order to inherit “Eternal Life” — that choice is simply “Do you Believe that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)???

DECEMBER 13 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#33 “Eli, Eli lama sabachthani? that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)

 DECEMBER 13  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#33  “Eli, Eli lama sabachthani? that is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  (Matthew 27:46)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer   

JESUS, Lord You ARE the King of kings, the LORD of all lords, and all praise and glory are Yours and Yours Alone! Never has a leader sacrificed so much for His people  nor achieved so much for His people through sacrificing His own life — for there is NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN WHEREBY WE CAN BE SAVED FROM SIN!!!  You LORD have the WORDS of Eternal Life and You seek the souls of men to set them FREE — Lord forgive me my shortcomings and my transgressions — I pray that the Light you have placed in me will not be extinguished by my iniquities but will burn brighter as I Share Christ with others who are in darkness.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has suffered the cross and executed, by His Obedience to the Father’s Will, the Master Plan of Salvation which Jesus had announced was His Purpose as He started His Earthly Ministry — Matthew records the first words of Jesus as He allowed John the Baptist who had been preaching the Coming of the Messiah —“Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2) — for when John “tried to prevent” Jesus from being baptized by him, Jesus said, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15) When John, the “forerunner” of Jesus, baptized the Messiah that had taken on flesh and had just declared that His Purpose was “to fulfill all righteousness” surely John could not imagine that the “fulfilling of all righteousness” would be concluded with crucifixion and the death of the Messiah whom John had just baptized!?!? John had seen Jesus come up out of the water after being baptized by him and Matthew writes; “behold, the heavens were opened to [Jesus the Messiah] and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 3:16-17) So Jesus was “baptized” by the “forerunner of the Chosen One” declaring that it was “to fulfill all righteousness” and God’s Spirit descended upon Him as God declared, “This is My Son…” and that is the Perfect Picture of the Resurrection which is the symbol of Baptism in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as we through baptism identify ourselves with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, being raised to life eternal for “it pleased the Father that in [His Son Jesus] that all fulness should dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things…in the body of His flesh through death, to present [ourselves] holy and blameless, and above reproach in His sight.” (Colossians 1:19-22) After being baptized Jesus began His Earthly Ministry by rebuking the devil with the Scriptures when after 40 days of prayer and fasting He was tempted by Satan— Jesus’ first words as He then started His Earthly Ministry recorded by Matthew were “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) Now Jesus has undergone the baptism of the grave after His death on the cross and He has been Resurrected by the Father and the tomb where He was laid is EMPTY, and an “angel of the LORD” had declared to those who saw the EMPTY TOMB first,  “He is not here; for He is risen” (Matthew 28:6) and as the women were going to tell the GOOD NEWS to His disciples, Jesus appeared to them and His first words as He starts His Heavenly Ministry is “REJOICE” (Matthew 28:9) It is interesting to note that Jesus outlines the Entire Gospel with just two words “REPENT” and “REJOICE” — and that He then adds our commission as Believers with this encouragement: “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren…they will see Me.” (Matthew 28:10) GOD PROMISED to SEND HIS SON and HE DID — and now the SON PROMISES that all who BELIEVE the GOOD NEWS will SEE JESUS ——— and WE WILL!!!!!