JANUARY 30 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)

 JANUARY  30  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, the Eternal Unchanging God of my Salvation. Lord I praise You for Your Faithfulness and Unfailing Grace You extend to all who call upon Your Name, Jesus. Lord, I pray today the same prayer I prayed in 2004: “Jesus, praise Your Holy Precious Name for You are Worthy of our praise. All glory we give to Thee and to Thee alone. Lord may we do nothing in our lives that is not a praise to You and may all that we do bring Honor to Your Death on the Cross, that man may know that the Father God loved mankind enough that He would provide Salvation to a sinful world through the DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus, who for our sakes suffered greatly for our sins. He was Innocent before the Father, yet as He bore our sins on the cross, He also had to suffer the rejection of a Holy Father who cannot look on sin — all this suffering of the Innocent so that the guilty world can live the Victorious Forgiven-life through the Victor Himself, Jesus Christ!”     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS used JQ#01 to remind us that it is not about what we can take from the world but what we give to the world that gives us worth by stating very plainly that we “are salt” and that we “are light” and we must stop and think about the Truth of God contained in “salt” and “light” from God’s Viewpoint in order to grasp the Lesson Jesus Teaches and why He would start His 33 JESUS Questions by using “salt” and “light” and to State a Truth of God about who we “are” in God’s Plan — “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world…” (Matthew 5:13a & 5:14a) Jesus does not command us to become “salt” and “light” but Jesus makes His Divine Point by first stating that we “are” and then Jesus asks the Question JQ#01 “…but if salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13b) Jesus immediately gives us the Answer in the form of “Consequences” as He says, {about tasteless salt} “…it is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men” (Matthew 5:13c) and {about light} “A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket…” (Matthew 5:14, 15a). Jesus sums up the Truth of God using common logic but we must first focus on what is TRUE or we will miss the TRUTH of God. Jesus illustrates this by JQ#01 and lays out the “FORMAT for HIS TEACHING” — (1) We are to look for the OBVIOUS TRUTH that the Question will focus us on then (2) Jesus will give us the Answer if we will Listen. (3) Jesus uses God’s Law of Choice and Consequence to make His Divine Point. God’s Law of Choice and Consequence can be found throughout the Holy Bible and its importance is verified by the OBVIOUS TRUTH that it was applied to the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. To emphasize His Divine Point, God spoke everything but mankind into existence! However, after God had created everything else we read in Genesis that God made man with His own Hands and God used His own Breath to breathe life into man and then God again used His own Hands to remove a rib from Adam’s side which God used to make Eve, the woman which God presented to man to be a helpmate! God then “planted a garden”  and placed the man into the Garden of Eden to “tend {work} and to keep it {treasure it}” (Genesis 2:7-15) and God established the Law of Choice and Consequence — “And the LORD God commanded the man saying, {TRUTH — GOD PROVIDES} ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; {The LAW} but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, {of CHOICE} for in the day you eat of it, {and CONSEQUENCE} you shall surely die.’” (Genesis 2:16-17) The LORD God established with the 1st Law of Choice and Consequence that the “penalty for disobeying God {sin} is death” but the reward for obeying God is “eternal life”. God gave us a “CHOICE” in the form of FREEWILL and therefore we are under obligation to look at God’s Holy Word for the TRUTH OF GOD to guide us in making “Choices” but we should keep in mind that the “Rewards” and “Penalties” have already been laid out before the foundations of the world and God applies them fairly and equally to all mankind! Therefore with that TRUTH of GOD in mind, let us apply that to JQ#01 — Truth: God made us and expects us in our “natural” state to be “salt and light”. “Law”: Salt and Light are used to add taste to those that use salt which must be consumed to get the salt flavor out of it and Light makes things visible to those who use the light to find their way. Rewards for a Good “Choice”: Using salt adds flavor to our lives and being in the light, we can see to find our way. Consequence (penalty) of a Bad “Choice”: without salt, life is bland and tasteless and without light we will stumble and fall and get off the path and lose our way in life. These “Truths” are common to man and when common logic is applied to each situation it will reveal these “Truths” — but once we see the Truth, then we are faced with a “Choice” and our responsibility to God is to use our God-given intellect to use His Word to make good “Choices”! If we stop and think, we can see the rewards and penalties but we must look through “Spiritual” eyes because our worldly eyes are tied to the “physical” world which contains the “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life” (1 John 2:16) — the worldly temptations that are common to man! JQ#01 teaches us about God, Jesus, ourselves, and about our attitude toward others, and keep in mind that this is JQ#01 and God thought it important enough to make it the first Question/Lesson! So it will behoove us to consider that “salt” and “light” are worthless unless they are used to help others — my observation is that “salt” is a natural occurrence and can be considered of being “physical” but “light” is still an unknown quantity and one of the mysteries of God and in my opinion falls into the “spiritual realm” because the first “Words” that God spoke came when God looked at the world and saw darkness and chaos, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’ and there was light.” Genesis 1:3. God’s Holy Word is given to give us understanding and God has demonstrated that He Will Provide for ALL our NEEDS — the TRUTH OF GOD is the WORD OF GOD and since we are made in God’s image, He declares our likeness to Him when He states His Truth that we “ARE SALT” and we “ARE LIGHT” !!! With the Lessons of JQ#01 fresh in our mind, let us then look at 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) and consider both the Lesson Truth of JQ#01 and this general truth statement about God (that is “TRUE” because of His Great Love for us), and it goes like this: “There is nothing that we can do to deserve the Love of God but the Good News is that God’s love is not dependent on who we are or what we do. God Loves us because He chooses within Himself to Love us and His Love is totally dependent on who God IS, therefore, there is nothing we can do to lose His Love!” This idea of God choosing to love us in spite of our sins because of who He IS could possibly be (in my opinion) the Root Cause of Grace itself and makes a really good place to start looking at JQ#02 — (Context: Matthew 5:18 - 6:24) and the Question(s) contained in Matthew 5:45,46, & 47. For JQ#02 we will look at the context of the Questions and also consider “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) and the fact that we cannot be separated from the love of God! Then we should also consider why Jesus concludes JQ#02 (4 questions asking the same thing, I think) with a this command: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  (Matthew 5:48). If you have as much trouble being “perfect” as I do then JQ#02 is a great Lesson from the Master Teacher to help us improve!!! 

JANUARY 29 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)

 JANUARY  29  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, each day is a special day if we start that day with You! Lord my prayer as I awake and start planning my day is that I “seek first the kingdom of God” and allow  Your Holy Spirit to direct me down paths of righteousness and then teach me Your Ways as only the Holy Spirit can! Lord, what a privilege to sit under Your Teaching and open Your Holy Bible and let Your Holy Spirit guide us through Your Holy Word — Your Eternal, Matchless, Life-giving Word! Lord, I pray now for all parents to see the importance of living their day-to-day lives in Christ and the impact and influence that living for Christ has in the lives of their children. Parents themselves living for Christ will be the greatest step they can take as parents to bring their children to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ!  Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY!!!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS used JQ#01 to get us to thinking about our responsibility towards others by using “salt” which must give up its “essence” to be flavor to the world, and “salt” is also universally known to contain healing properties as well but regardless of its use, it must be applied to the circumstance and in each case, the “salt” is consumed. Jesus used “salt” to focus our attention not on ourselves but on our responsibility to others!  As we move from JQ#01 to JQ#02 please remember that “Context is king”. JQ#01 context for being “salt” & “light” is Matthew 5:1-16. The context for JQ#02 is Matthew 5:18 - 6:24 and Jesus continues His Lesson on looking first at ourselves to make sure that we are prepared to take care of others, this is what the airlines advise when they tell parents to first put on their oxygen mask in order to be able to assist others! It is imperative that we read the context around each question and in doing so it becomes obvious to even the most casual reader that Jesus is The Master Teacher and as such we must understand that when Jesus asks a Question He is not looking for knowledge for Himself but His Intent is to impart knowledge to the student. When Jesus asks His Question, He is making a common sense statement that if one really wants to learn the TRUTH of GOD then one must answer honestly within themselves the Questions that are asked to see if we are seeking the TRUTH of GOD and are willing to listen to the Answer! Jesus never spoke without Teaching, His every breath, every step, every moment of silence — every action Jesus made were Lessons Jesus uses to Teach us how we are to live our lives by following His Perfect Example! Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us for a Divine Reason, and He had a Divine Purpose for being born in a manger and growing up as “one of us” yet He lived His Life without sin! How did He do it? Jesus accomplished this Miraculous Feat because He knew the Father’s Will for His Life and was Obedient to do that which the Father had Taught Him. Jesus told this to His disciples just before going into the upper room for His final earthly Passover with His disciples, “For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.” (John 12:49-50). Our study of the Questions that Jesus asked should be studied from this specific viewpoint: “Therefore if Jesus asks a Question then He is engaging us to dig deeper to learn the TRUTH of GOD because He is trying to Teach us what the Father Taught Him, and the result of our efforts will be everlasting life!!!”  We should never take anything Jesus said lightly because in His own Words, Jesus is speaking only the Words that the Father God in Heaven spoke to Him and then sent Him to earth to speak God’s Words to us! We should be in AWE of these Words spoken by Jesus and exclaim as even His enemies did who heard Him: “The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” (John 7:46). Let us then consider the next Lesson/Question 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) The context in which Jesus asked JQ#02 is in Matthew 5:43-48 and we should dig deep because every Word spoken by Jesus is a Kingdom Treasure!!!

JANUARY 28 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#01 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13)

 JANUARY  28  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#01  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, what a joy it is to look back to the day that You first got my full attention and Your Holy Spirit first led me to write and to see the simple Divine Truth of God — we in our daily struggle with the world are in a constant state of change but Your Love is Eternal and Your Peace Everlasting— Your Holy Spirit reminded me today that as I awoke on that morning many years ago that the Spirit had led me write in my first Spiritual journal: “Jesus, Lord, my soul is joyful for Your Love is changing my life! I can see a good man at the end of the tunnel. Lord I will continue to pray for a repentant heart for that is the first step in my turning from the world and all its many lusts. Jesus, I pray again today many years later that I will abide completely in YOUR TRUTH. I accept my unworthiness as a a sinner and put my hope in Your Salvation through calling on Your Name, the Precious Name of JESUS! Lord, without the Cross and Your Shed Blood, my life would have no real meaning. I pray today to be immersed totally in Your Blood, I beg for Mercy for my many sins as only the God against Whom I have transgressed can Forgive my iniquities and cleanse my unrighteousness. Lord Jesus, today I praise You for You have answered my prayers and have led me through sin’s dark tunnel into the Light of Your Grace, I beg for Your continued Mercy on me a sinner.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS was shown to be the Messiah through circumstances beyond His control and now by His Teaching He is demonstrating that Jesus is both the Messiah and the Master Teacher. Jesus started His Teaching of the multitudes after He had allowed John to Baptize the Lamb of God in the Jordan River. John the Baptist had the attention of all Israel for he had been declaring the arrival of the Messiah and preaching in the wilderness, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2)  God declared from heaven when Jesus rose out of the baptismal waters, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) After Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan and a great multitude of witnesses heard God Speak from heaven giving His Approval to what Jesus was doing, we begin to read about the Lifestyle and Lessons that Jesus lived to establish beyond any reasonable doubt that JESUS IS the Son of God, God’s Anointed One, the Messiah! Matthew also documents that Jesus IS the Master Teacher and has the Authority of God because Jesus proved Himself to be the Master Student when the devil himself tempted Jesus immediately after Jesus had been fasting forty days and forty nights. Jesus used the Holy Scriptures to address the devil’s 3 temptations that is common to all mankind; lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life. With each temptation the devil presented to Jesus, Jesus declared, “It is written…” (Matthew 4:4,7,10) Matthew records that after Jesus demonstrated His Master Knowledge of God’s written Word that “Then the devil left Him…” (Matthew 4:11) thereby establishing Jesus as the Master Student of God and God’s Holy Scriptures which are the best credentials for Jesus being the Master Teacher. After Jesus established His Credentials as the Messiah and the Master Teacher, Matthew records that “…Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, AND healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.” (Matthew 4:23) By the time Jesus gave His “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5:3-12) His “fame” had already traveled throughout the land and people were coming from everywhere just to be in the presence of the Messiah for His “fame” was the result of the “Work of God”  that Jesus had be doing “among the people”. So when Jesus addresses the multitude that had heard Jesus Teach His “Sermon on the Mount” Lesson, they were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah and the Master Teacher because of His “Example” and the Lessons He had been Teaching God’s people on how to live their day-to-day lives. The fact that Jesus was not taking anything material from the people demonstrated that the Messiah had come to “Serve” the people for Jesus was preaching the same MESSAGE that had been preached by His forerunner John the Baptist, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) It is significant that after Jesus Taught the Divine Lessons in the “Sermon on the Mount” that JESUS immediately ASKED A QUESTION — which itself begs the question, “If Jesus is the Master Teacher why is He asking questions?” Secondly, “Why would Jesus in His first Question ask about salt?” As soon as these two questions are “honestly” asked, the Holy Spirit will give us an understanding that will lead to an “honest” answer if we will seek the Truth of God that Jesus is putting forth with His Question.  Jesus does not ask His Questions because of a lack of knowledge on His part, the Holy Spirit reveals to those who seek to give Jesus an “honest” answer that Jesus uses His Questions to focus our attention on the Truth of God and by giving Jesus an “honest” answer, we will be speaking a Truth of God!   — Therefore, let us consider: JQ#01  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13) and honestly answer the specific Question Jesus asked, “…if salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” — The “honest Spiritual” answer to JQ#01 is twofold: (1) First, salt gets its flavor from the Creator; there is nothing man can do to create the flavor of salt, the flavor of salt is proprietary with the Creator, and (2) the Question is rhetorical for Jesus immediately after asking the Question declares the Divine Truth that salt without flavor is “good for nothing”. The Holy Spirit leads us to this conclusion: Jesus says we “are salt” and we should always strive to attain to being like Jesus as stated in His Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12. Sharon Anderson sent in these “honest” comments on the Beatitudes which will post today as a summary for the conclusion to JQ#01. On February 29, 2016 Sharon posted: “(1) Jesus teaches that those who are poor in spirit are deeply humble. They recognize their own spiritual bankruptcy before God . They accept there is nothing in and of themselves to commend them to God to merit salvation.  (2) Those who mourn have a godly sorrow over their sin…a sorrow that produces repentance leading to salvation without regret. They are genuinely sorry for sin as they know they have offended a holy God. (3) Gentleness (or meekness) is the opposite of being out of control. Meekness is supreme self control that must be empowered by the Holy Spirit. (4) Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness seek God’s righteousness (through Jesus Christ) rather than attempting to establish a righteousness of their own. They have a deep craving to please God that produces a desire with all their entire being to live and walk the way God instructs us. (5) The merciful person is a person who exemplifies God’s characteristic of mercy…God is Mercy. (6) Purity of heart is a purity of thoughts, purity of actions, purity of desires and motivations, a purity of proper reasoning based on Scripture and God’s ways. This requires continual examination of our lives and a continuous going before God in confession seeking cleansing.” So the next time you see a salt shaker let it remind you that you are “the salt of the earth” and we should continuously strive to be the Christian flavor to a tasteless world.

JANUARY 27 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#01 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13)

 JANUARY  27  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#01  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord, Master, Lover of my soul, Giver of Life, start my day with Your Mercy, Your Grace and Your Love and then move me to share the overflow of Your Goodness with all those that I come into contact with today. Lord, I desire in the depths of my heart that when others see me that they do not see the old sinner I was but the forgiven sinner that I am and that they see the Source of my Salvation shining forth through my former darkness to illuminate the Truth that is Jesus Christ.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS has now been proven in Matthew’s Gospel of Jesus Christ in chapters 1-3 to be the Messiah by circumstances external to Himself and His disciples such as the location of His Birth, His Kingly Lineage (you cannot choose your parents but God can!), and the “Virgin Birth” — however; beginning at the end of chapter 3 Jesus is quoted as telling John the Baptist — the prophesied “forerunner” of the Messiah, who upon seeing Jesus declared “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) — to baptize Him in the Jordan in order to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 5:13) Jesus is then shown by His Actions to be the Messiah in chapter 4 by the way Jesus lived. Everything Jesus was accomplishing were all things that would be done ONLY by the True Messiah and His Actions established that Jesus was not paying “lip service” to the title “Messiah” but everything Jesus did and Taught and preached demonstrated that Jesus was indeed the Anointed One and that His Purpose was to “fulfill all righteousness” and to “take away the sin of the world” thereby proving by His Actions that these are the Actions of the Messiah! Jesus started His public ministry after His Baptism in the Jordan River by being led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, then at the end of fasting forty days and forty nights, Jesus successfully dealt with the devil who tempted a tired and hungry Jesus with the 3 temptations that everyone faces. (Matthew 4:1-11). Jesus then went about Teaching in the synagogues and healing everyone brought to Him and soon “great multitudes followed Him” (Matthew 4:25) Matthew started chapter 5 by stating “And seeing the multitudes, [Jesus] went up on a mountain…then He opened His mouth and taught them…” (Matthew 5:1-2)  There is little doubt about Jesus being the Messiah when the account of His Lifestyle is read because everything Jesus did and said was to advance the kingdom of God and to Glorify God in Heaven whom Jesus proclaimed proudly as “My Father”! Jesus gave His “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5:3-12) and then asked His first Teaching Question: JQ#01  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13a) This blog on “The JESUS Questions” challenge by the Holy Spirit is to consider the Questions that Jesus asked and study them until our “understanding” of the Holy Scriptures leads us to an “honest” answer. When we stop to consider the Question we must first try to understand the significance of why Jesus began by asking the JQ#01 Question about “salt”? Sharon Anderson commented on “salt” in this JESUS Question and stated: “Salt in Biblical times had varying degrees of purity… Inferior salt in those days was used to keep footpaths free of vegetation so people could walk on them.”  If one reads what Jesus says about “useless” salt in the same verse that He asked JQ#01 then Sharon’s comment gives us a modern understanding of what Jesus was saying to us in verse 13 about useless salt: “It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” (Matthew 5:13b) It was at this point of insight that I felt impressed by the Holy Spirit that it was Jesus that gives salt its flavor and it is Jesus that gives Christians our flavor. Applying that “logic” it is our “Christian” purpose in this world to season this tasteless world with the flavor of Jesus which is Mercy, Grace, Forgiveness and Love and if we lose our flavor then we become useless Christians and will be “trampled underfoot by men” and that is what I see happening today with the Church that professes to be “followers of Jesus”!?!?  We lose our flavor each time we deviate from the Truth of Jesus Christ and try to season the world with “compromise” instead of “conviction”. A Christian without the “conviction” that Jesus is the Messiah, the Only begotten Son of God and “the Lamb of God sent to take away the sin of the world”, is inferior salt that has lost its flavor and usefulness for the Kingdom of God which could explain why the Church today is being “trampled underfoot by men” !!! A Christian without Jesus Christ is a lamp under a basket! The question then is “How do we prevent losing our flavor?” As always — God provides. In this case He had told us how to keep our flavor in verses 5:3-12 in the Beatitudes. I encourage you to read the Beatitudes again as a type of map to keeping yourself committed to following Jesus. Consider that God has established His Laws governing the entire known universe. God always provides an understanding of the Law, then He gives us FREEWILL to apply His Laws or go the way of the doctrines of man — Jesus also established before the creation of the world a Consequence for each of His Laws, applied fairly and equally among all mankind, so that we can make an informed decision whether to follow God or to decide for ourselves and go our own way without God. Jesus said that He came to “fulfill” the “Law of the Prophets” (Matthew 5:17) so consider the Beatitudes as Spiritual Laws and that following them results in the “Consequences” as stated in the “Blessed are” statements. Not following the Law of God results in the Consequence of being “trampled underfoot by men” listed in Matthew 5:13b — for the way of the world is darkness and tasteless salt — but by following the “Way” of  Jesus,  You CAN Be Light and keep your Flavor.

JANUARY 26 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#01 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13)

 JANUARY  26  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#01  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer

JESUS, we are not deserving of such great Love but You have chosen to Love us anyway, not because of who we are but because of WHO YOU ARE! Lord Jesus, let us understand the magnitude of what You did by giving up Your Throne IN HEAVEN to become flesh and dwell among us on earth! Lord, help us understand that Your coming to earth was not just an event but that it was part of a MASTER PLAN to save all mankind from that which robs mankind of Eternal Fellowship with the Almighty God. Help us to see and understand that the Master Plan was executed at Great Cost to the Master. Let us understand Your Great Sacrifice of not only Dying for us but the Great Sacrifice of Your Living on this earth to provide an example of Living for God while facing earthly trials. Keep our attention focused on You for Your Attention is focused on “us” as You Selflessly Gave of Yourself for our sakes.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS started His earthly Ministry by allowing John the Baptist, the “forerunner of the Messiah”, to Baptize Him in the Jordan River. Jesus declared: “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 5:13) thereby laying aside any doubt as to “why” Jesus Himself would not only allow but encourage John to baptize God’s Chosen One — “…to fulfill all righteousness.” Matthew then records that after Jesus was baptized by John that God spoke from heaven, saying: “This is My Son in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) and after God had spoken, Matthew continues: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1) After using Scriptures to counter the devil’s “3-temptations” attack, Jesus demonstrated His Divine Power as Jesus rebuked Satan, “Away with you, Satan!” (Matthew 4:10)  Satan obeyed Jesus as Matthew records: “Then the devil left Him…” and Heaven confirmed again that  Jesus was the Son of God because as soon as Satan departed “…behold, angels came and ministered to Him.” (Matthew 4:11) Remember that when Jesus was baptized, God said He was “well pleased” yet Jesus was immediately led “by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness” where Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights and then had to face the 3 temptations by “the devil.”???  The Lesson here is that if we will keep God as our Top Priority that God will return our righteousness back to us in the form of provisions to address our daily needs! Matthew then made a quick list of “Actions” Jesus performed after being ministered to by the angels: (1) Jesus went to Capernaum to preach “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” {which fulfilled yet another prophecy by Isaiah} (Matthew 4:12-17) {See Isaiah 42:6-7} (2) Jesus started calling His disciples commanding them: “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:18-19) (3) Jesus taught in the synagogues, preached the gospel of the kingdom, healed all kinds of sickness, diseases, and torments, those demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics! (4) Jesus then gave His “Sermon on the Mount” and asked His first Question: JQ#01  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13) It is difficult to imagine what other “Actions” could be done to fit the True Resume of the Messiah!?!?!? It is at this point that the Holy Spirit leads us to consider “why?” we should consider The JESUS Questions and “why?” we should give Jesus an “honest answer” to His Questions??? The Holy Spirit has a two-fold Intent for studying the JESUS Questions, (1) to get everyone personally involved by studying not just the JESUS Questions for the TRUTH of GOD contained in every JESUS Question but (2) to dig deep into our personal relationship with Jesus to understand “Who our Father” really is! I am confident and believe that the motivation of the Holy Spirit is to encourage us to “action” and can be summed up in two “Action” quotes which we are all familiar with — I believe that the Holy Spirit chose these two quotes because they are “familiar” — but we often quote them without really understanding the deep Spiritual Truth contained in them thereby we miss the obvious deeper “Spiritual” meaning of God’s Plan and we fail to allow Scriptures to take us to that level where we exclaim, “I never saw that before!” Action Quote #1: “But God DEMONSTRATED His own love TOWARDS US, in that while we were still sinners, CHRIST DIED FOR US.” (Romans 5:8)  and Action Quote #2: “The FEAR of the Lord is the BEGINNING of WISDOM and KNOWLEDGE of the Holy One is UNDERSTANDING” (Proverbs 9:10) In the Romans 5:8 Action Quote #1 we often miss the “motivation” of why God would bother with us and the answer is that not only did He Love us, but He didn’t just write “I Love you” and leave it there, He performed a “Divine Action” to demonstrate “His OWN Love”! His Actions also demonstrates His motivation because He directs His Actions of His Personal Love “towards us”! His Actions demonstrates His commitment and the depth of His Love to a world of lost sinners! —  and even though we were “still sinners” that “Christ still died for us!” This one verse is an example that God wants a personal relationship with “us” and that He used His Actions to prove the Depth of His Love! Proverbs 9:10 shows us the result of why God encourages us to KNOW Him — He wants to give us His “Love” so that we can also have “understanding” and “wisdom”. Of all the things that I have possessed in this life, nothing has given me greater peace or joy than the best 3 things life has given me, (1) the Love of God (2) understanding that He Loves me not because of who I am but because of who He IS and (3) wisdom of knowing that this earth is not my home!!!  God appreciates you demonstrating your love towards Him!  There are many, many blessings to be gained by studying “The JESUS Questions” but the greatest is developing a Personal Relationship with God through the knowledge of His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ!  Once you commit yourself to giving Jesus an “honest” answer, the Holy Spirit will bring you to a depth of understanding of God’s Holy Word that will open your eyes and hearts to a “heavenly” viewpoint that exceeds even the emotion that made the song writer declare: “I Can Only Imagine!” 

JANUARY 25 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#1 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13)

 JANUARY  25  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#1  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer 

JESUS, praise the Name above all names, for You Jesus are the Only Door that opens into Eternal Life! Lord Jesus, guide us in Your Ways that we can with all confidence know that if we walk in Your Light that the “darkness of this world” will never overshadow us and make us lose the path to Your Kingdom. Lord we are caught up this year especially in trying to return our nation back to the greatness  we had as “One Nation Under God”. You have already proven that the nations that follow You will be led to the Only True Peace. Lord Jesus, forgive our nation for straying from the path of Righteousness You have laid out before us, and forgive me for hiding my Light for the darkness is great in America — here I am, Lord use me!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS was shown to be the Messiah by the fulfilling of prophecies through circumstance of His Lineage, His Birth from a “virgin” womb, and being identified as the Messiah by John the Baptist who was the prophesied “forerunner” of the Messiah. Jesus was further identified as the Messiah by the way King Herod reacted to the wise men when they asked, “Where is He that is born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2) — all these circumstances and historical facts are circumstances beyond the control of Jesus to manipulate or His disciples to manufacture after Jesus had been crucified by Roman authority at the request of the Jewish leaders! These external circumstances documented by St. Matthew in the first three chapters of his Gospel of Jesus Christ clearly point to the historical fact that Jesus fulfills all prophecies of the long-awaited Messiah but at the end of chapter 3 Jesus began demonstrating the importance of His Baptism by John in regards to fulfilling Messianic prophecy when Jesus allowed Himself to be baptized by John and by declaring to John the Baptist “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15)  Starting with Matthew Chapter 4 Jesus begins to demonstrate by His “Actions” that He IS the Messiah. A quick list of the first Actions by Jesus reveals His Lifestyle is the Perfect Example of living our day-to-day lives in such a way that every thing we do and say should “glorify God”. Here is a list of the First Actions of Jesus recorded by Matthew and how Jesus responded to His day-to-day circumstances (ACTION 1) — “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1) After being in the wilderness for 40 days of fasting and prayer Jesus was tempted by the three temptations that are most common to man and Jesus responded thusly: (Temptation 1) “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4)  (Temptation 2) “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’” (Matthew 4:7) (Temptation 3) “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Matthew 4:10) Matthew records that when Jesus avoided temptation by using the Word of God that “Then the devil left [Jesus] and behold angels came and ministered to Him.” (Matthew 4:11)  This first Messianic Action of Jesus was truly the Action of God’s Chosen One as Jesus demonstrated that He was well versed in the Holy Scriptures and relied completely on the Holy Scriptures to resist temptation. In responding to the devil’s temptations with scripture Jesus “Glorified God” and showed that He would do nothing without having a solid Scriptural background to justify His Actions — again Jesus from the very beginning was all about living in a way that Honors God! (ACTION 2) — Matthew records next: “Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naptali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet saying: ‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:12-16)  Matthew writes: “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”(Matthew 4:17) (ACTION 3) — Matthew records that Jesus then began to call His disciples and declared to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:18-22) (ACTION 4) — Matthew next records: “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of diseases among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.” (Matthew 4:23-25) With these actions Jesus showed by His life that He was the Messiah and that indeed Jesus had the AUTHORITY and POWER of God for Jesus did nothing that did not GLORIFY HIS FATHER! After these Messianic Actions Jesus gave His “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5:1-12) immediately after giving His Sermon on the Mount Jesus began using Questions to focus our attention to the TRUTH of GOD contained in every Lesson that Jesus Taught with such Great Authority! Immediately after delivering the “Sermon on the Mount” Jesus asked His first Question JQ#1  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13) Why should we study the Questions of Jesus? Why should we give Jesus an honest answer? Personally, this “JESUS Questions” blog began because the Holy Spirit made clear to me the need to dig deeper and to encourage more people to dig deeper into their personal relationship with Jesus — this blog is written to encourage all believers to consider the possibility that we are guilty of what was spoken by Jesus in Revelation to the angel of the church at Ephesus: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (Revelation 2:1-4) Jesus spoke these words in the book John the disciple of Jesus wrote while John “was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10) The Holy Spirit urges all “Born Again Believers” to return to our “first love” and TRUST that Jesus is the Only Way! This study of The JESUS Questions has been initiated by the Holy Spirit and is to be shared with everyone; therefore I will challenge everyone that reads this daily blog to dig deep into their relationship with Jesus and consider your current personal day-to-day relationship with Jesus — The Holy Spirit asks: “How’s your ‘Love’ life?”

JANUARY 24 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#01 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13)

 JANUARY  24  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   JQ#01  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer

JESUS, we seek to find Your Truth and to know the “Way” and we praise You that You did not just “tell” us how to live but You became flesh and “lived” a life on earth so that You could Teach by “example”. Lord Jesus, as I search the scriptures I always end up searching my heart, for it is the desires of my heart that lead me to my actions and it is in our hearts that Your truth speaks the loudest. Lord, my desire is to be more like You in everything I do, say, think, and live! Lord, You know that I fall short “short of the glory of God” and yet — You still love me — Teach me Lord to stand tall in my shortcomings and love others with the love You showed the world by both Your life and Your death.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS 

JESUS has the “Authority” from God to “Guide” all who will follow Him to Heaven and to God Himself. This “Authority from God” has been documented in the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the first three chapters where St. Matthew recorded how Jesus fulfilled the Messianic Prophecies and thereby is God’s Anointed One, God’s Only Begotten Son, the Son of Man who was born of Holy Seed from a “Virgin” womb! Those are the best credentials Jesus could have to prove His Authority to Teach us about God His Father.  This blog attempts to accept the challenge from the Holy Spirit to read through the Gospel of Jesus Christ written by St. Matthew and to answer the Questions that Jesus asked. It is under this premise that we will continue our study on the Questions that Jesus asked during His earthly ministry starting at the beginning with the first Jesus Question encountered in Matthew’s account JQ#01  “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?” (Matthew 5:13).  A comment received from Sharon Anderson who had accepted my invitation to comment on “The JESUS Questions” is filled with great insights that in reading and trying to answer these JESUS Questions we should keep in mind “3 things — …context, context, context…” which is great advice that I adopted immediately and advice that I pass on to the reader of this blog along with my open invitation for any and all comments the reader feels led to make on this blog — I still feel the urging of the Holy Spirit to get others involved in this deeper study of Jesus because He is “soon coming”!!!   JQ#01 is about us being the “the salt of the earth” and with His Question there is a declarative statement, Jesus said “you are”, and not “you will become” or “you have been” but He states from His point of Infinite Truth that we “ARE” and that is where everyone needs to start — what we think about ourselves is not nearly as important as what Jesus “knows” about us! Jesus said very clearly that “You are the salt of the earth…” therefore we must first think of ourselves as “salt” and then we must answer the Question Jesus asks with JQ#01 “…but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?”. Sharon Anderson in her comment responded with some very good notes on the context (“context is king”) and that is where any study or discussion should start as I agree completely with Sharon that we must study context to get to the TRUTH. The “context” for JQ#01 is Matthew 5:3-16 the “Beatitudes”.  In verses 5:3-11 Jesus uses the word “are” in each verse 5:3-11 and then again in verses 5:13 and 5:14 but in 5:3-11 Jesus says “Blessed are” and in 5:13 and 5:14 Jesus says “You are” . Sharon stated “I think it behooves us to examine our own lives and see if our character and conduct line up more closely with the description in Matthew 5:3-11 or with 2 Timothy 3:1-5.” I agree that these “Beatitudes” were given to us as a Moral Standard and that we should also recognize that Jesus states emphatically that we “ARE salt” and also that we “ARE light”. Jesus was also very clear that we must be careful not to lose our “flavor” nor hide our “light”!  The Life of Jesus was the most useful life ever lived and is without a doubt the brightest Light. Jesus stated that the “reason” we should live our lives as He lived His is so that the world will see our lives being lived for Christ and that “they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16).