FEBRUARY 06 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#02 “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you …and if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?” (Matthew 5:46-47)

 FEBRUARY 06  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#02  “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you …and if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others?” (Matthew 5:46-47)

LIVING FOR  JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Thank You Lord for closed doors and for those times when I stand and knock 

on the wrong door until my knuckles bleed and then Your Peace fills my soul and I know that I have drifted into the stormy waters on the Great Sea of “I-Want”. Lord Jesus, Your Grace is sufficient for me and I beg for Your Mercy as I take that deep calm breath and KNOW that YOU ARE GOD and that YOU KNOW ALL MY NEEDS and then YOUR PEACE will descend upon me! Lord, LORD — forgive me for I let the dark shadows take my attention away from the Bright Rays of Hope that break through all my clouds. You, Lord, control ALL circumstances and I trust You for the outcome and pray that I grow in Your Grace as I face each trial that You allow in my life. There is no circumstance greater than Your Love therefore I pray to keep focused on Your Solution and not the circumstance itself!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS takes us to the self-realization that we are “salt” and “light” and that the purpose God intended for “salt” is to add flavor to other’s lives and then we should use our “light to shine” in such a way as to help others avoid the dangers lurking in the darkness. Then Jesus shows us that we are made in the image of God and that the Greatest Gift ever Given mankind was God’s Giving of His Son at Great Cost and Sacrifice of Himself for the Good of all mankind thereby demonstrating His Great “LOVE” for all His Creation! Jesus continues the Lesson on the “giving-of-ourselves” to help others by giving us a Standard of Perfection to focus our attention on and then Jesus Teaches us to do “charitable deeds” but avoid seeking glory for ourselves  — for “charitable deeds”” done for the wrong reason is the sin of “hypocrisy” which completely nullifies our “charitable deeds” — all our “deeds” should be done with a single motivation which is to “glorify our Father in heaven” thereby making all our deeds “charitable”. God’s Logic in doing things for “His Glory” is that by doing our “good works” for Him we avoid the temptation of selfish vain-glory for our own petty selves, our selfishness being a convenient basket we have to put our “light” under in order that we can puff ourselves up before men! Jesus commanded “you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) then Jesus told us to perform “charitable deeds” but avoid the “hypocrisy” of desiring personal glory for “charitable deeds” but instead do the “charitable deeds” trusting God for any reward that He chooses to bestow on our efforts to achieve perfection. (Matthew 6:1-4) Jesus immediately commands us “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogue and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men.” (Matthew 6:5) It should jump out at us that Jesus says that in order to “be perfect” we must “do … charitable deeds” but severely warns us “do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them.”(Matthew 6:1) Those doing “charitable deeds” to receive honor from other men, Jesus called “hypocrites”!!  After doing “charitable deeds…in secret” we are to “pray” but Jesus gives the same warning about “praying” that He did about “charitable deeds” and that same warning came with the same condemnation for those doing their “praying” to gain attention for themselves as again Jesus labeled those motivated by “self-glorification” as “hypocrites”! Jesus has given us “charitable deeds” and “praying” as the first two steps to “perfection” but both steps come with a warning to avoid “hypocrisy”!!! — 2 out of 2 times is 100% — since Jesus preaches 100% against hypocrisy therefore we should realize that “why” we do anything is more important than “what” we do! Jesus has given us two Lessons on “Helping Others” and in both Lessons Jesus has listed in clear detail the “attitude” we should have as we live our life in order to show respect for others in order to give Honor to God! Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 5:13-14 we are “salt” and “light” and then for the rest of chapter 5 Matthew documents Jesus Teaching us to respect others to “glorify your Father in heaven”. Starting with Matthew 5:17 until Jesus stops and asks us His JQ#02 in Matthew 5:46-47 we are given “Spiritual Guidelines” to correcting ourselves to benefit others as the way we are to honor God as Jesus Teaches us to honor the Law, reconcile ourselves before God and then make our sacrifices to Him, avoid lust, adultery, and divorce in our private lives. Jesus continues with details on our life styles as He addresses our relationship with others by discussing perjury and retaliation and then Jesus sums up the Lesson on the “giving-of-ourselves” by telling us “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)   And then to add emphasis to His instructions He says not only does He expect us to accomplish all these “selfless deeds of charity” but we should strive to do them “perfectly” and that perfection can only be achieved by avoiding “hypocrisy” in our journey to “perfection” — it is a TALL SPIRITUAL ORDER  but the ONE giving the LESSONS has “BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT” and is giving us advice from “Personal Experience” that points us to “Heavenly Resources” to help us attain our “Goals” — the Truth of God is that He WILL PROVIDE for ALL OUR NEEDS so if you realize your NEED to “journey to perfection” then you can TRUST (that) GOD WILL PROVIDE the WAY and LIGHT YOUR PATH!!!