OCTOBER 29 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 OCTOBER 29  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS -Daily Prayer   

JESUS, who is worthy but You? We are lost sheep in need of a Good Shepherd, we stray from the Way and find ourself lost in darkness and You are the LIGHT. We continually take all our blessings and contemptuously pour them out while crying selfishly for more — truly we are guilty of taking all the Good that You Provide and defile Your Mercy with our disobedience, but You Lord were Obedient unto even death as You took every circumstance in Your Life and Lived a Perfect Life that Glorified the Father, You alone Lord are worthy of our praise, You are worthy  to be followed, Your Way is the Only Way to Truth and Light, and You are Worthy for Your Faithfulness to Forgive us our iniquities and Provide us with the Abundant Life that is only possible because of Your Abundant Grace! Forgive me of all my unworthiness and lead me to know how to  serve others as You have served us!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus uses parables as only the Master Teacher can and we must not read His Parables lightly because Jesus never wastes His Precious Time on earth with frivolous Lessons. The section which contains this Parable of the Ten Virgins contains a wealth of God’s Truth and for us to grow rich in the knowledge of the kingdom we must take possession of the kingdom gems that Jesus is laying before us. This is such an important Lesson that we should take it line-by-line ——— it would not be a waste of time to take it word-by-word ——— because these Words spoken by Jesus and documented in Holy Scriptures in the Gospel according to Matthew are the God-breathed Words intended to reveal God Himself to us!!! Jesus starts this Lesson/Parable by announcing “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.” (Matthew 25:1) The first word to consider is “Then” for Jesus has just been Teaching about His “coming” and the “end of the age”. Jesus had pronounced a “blessing” on the “servant whom the master, when he comes, finds [the servant doing the will of the master]!” (Matthew 24:46)  and immediately pronounced a “curse” on the “evil servant” that rejected the Master’s rule and was unprepared for the Master’s Return. (Matthew 24:50-51). Jesus immediately went from the “Blessing” (for the servants being ready for the “Master’s Return”) and the “Curse” (those unprepared for the “Master’s Return”)to this Parable of the Ten Virgins and says “Then” which takes our attention to a detail of “heaven” for Jesus is now Teaching very specifically about His Return and asking pointedly what will be our level of “preparedness” — will we be ready for the Master’s Return and the “melodious joy and rewards” of “heaven” or will we be caught “unprepared” and find ourselves in darkness and left to our own selfishness which will result in our “weeping” and moans of regret for not being ready?!?!?!!? If we are not ready for His Return “Then” we will not hear the music of celebration for those that are prepared! The unprepared will hear the discordant symphony of despair played by the “gnashing of teeth”!!! Jesus, by using the word “Then” makes it clear that He IS “Coming Again” and we should ask ourselves “NOW” are we going to be ready “THEN” ?!?!?!? Jesus is indeed the Master Teacher and He is teaching us to be “ready” for His Return for He will be bringing the blessings of heaven for those who are watching and waiting and for those that are not ready, they will be left to their own selfish desires and will not enter into the “Master’s Celebration” — again, all the “Blessings” and “Curses” of God have been laid out plainly for each individual to make an “informed decision” and we must learn to make our decisions based on what will please the “Master” and not on what we think we can selfishly get away with and “choose” to gratify self instead of “choosing” to stay prepared for the Master’s Return — we know it “Will Happen” we just don’t know “When” — the best “choice” “Then” is to stay prepared for the “rewards of preparedness” are truly “Heavenly”!!!

OCTOBER 28 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 OCTOBER 28  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, let us this day do nothing but Praise the One that is the Giver of Life and the One that created the day and then fills it with both abundant daily life and daily bread sufficient to cover all our daily needs. Lord Jesus, we know that of our own we can only plant but You Lord make the seed grow, we can only pray for the rain but You can produce living waters to sustain our existence — and if we have no water we perish so let us see the TRUTH that without You there is no life and no hope and without hope, we perish, for our souls which You water with Your Spirit daily cannot exist without Hope and Hope only comes from You, Jesus the Son of God, the Giver of Hope. Lord Jesus, therefore let this life that You have given me and blessed me so abundantly with Hope always have this prayer of Thanksgiving on my lips and in my heart for my Savior and Redeemer from whom all blessings and life itself flows—Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.        AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus after giving signs of the “end of the age” and His “coming again” to pronounce the verdict of the “Final Judgement” on the world and take His Rightful Place as King of His Creation, Jesus has laid out plainly for all who will open their “spiritual eyes” what is expected of each individual prior to that “Final Judgement”. Jesus announces both the “rewards” for those who are “faithful and wise” in their “service” to the MASTER and the “penalty” that awaits those that reject God and insist that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are “fairy tales”. The Truth of God is that God has been rejected by seekers of self and they therefore follow the selfish “doctrines of men” that have defiled the Commands of God and promote “self gratification” over “serving others”! Jesus goes into detail of the reward of “the kingdom of heaven” when He again uses a parable to describe what “heaven shall be likened to” and this time Jesus uses “ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.” (Matthew 25:1) My first thought when I read this verse was to ask, “What does being a virgin have to do with heaven?” — this “question” on my part was “of the world” and my spiritual understanding was blinded to the Truth of God that Jesus  reveals to us through the “Parable of the Ten Virgins”. Jesus had just been discussing being a “faithful and wise servant” and my secular mind related more to being “made ruler of [my] household” and missed the fact that the True Master of all households that places whomever He chooses to be “rulers” over each household and once a “ruler” is placed in a ruling position by the “master”, then the “master” places additional responsibilities on the “ruler” to provide for those under his “rule” — when being a “ruler” is viewed as having “responsibility to provide for others” then it is understood that even “rulers” are “servants” therefore we learn a Truth of God that there is only ONE MASTER and everyone else either falls into one of two types of servants: Servant Type 1 — a servant that is “faithful and wise” and does that which is required by the MASTER is “ready” at all times for the Master’s Return  — or Servant Type 2 - is an “evil servant” that takes advantage of the Master being gone and the “evil servant” does not do that which the Master requires of their position, regardless if the Master is present or not, and the Master makes it clear that He will Return and hold everyone accountable for their “reasonable service”. Thinking like an “evil servant” therefore would make one “unfaithful and unwise”. Jesus is using the Parable of the Ten Virgins (also known as the Parable of the Wise and Unwise Virgins) to confirm an earlier Truth of God when He said about Servant Type 1: “Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find [the “faithful and wise servant” providing for others]” (Matthew 24:46) and then about Servant Type 2: “the master of that [“evil  servant”] will come on a day when [the “evil servant”] is not looking for [the master] at an hour that [the “evil servant”] is not aware of, and [the master] will cut [the “evil servant”] in two and appoint [the “evil servant”] his portion with the hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 24:50-51) Jesus is using the Parable of the Ten Virgins then to tie together all the Truths of God that Jesus has been demonstrating His whole earthly life and now is Masterfully Teaching with His Last Week before becoming the “Lamb of God” as the culmination of the Passover Week. Jesus cleansed the temple, cursed a fig tree and pronounced seven times, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” and now Jesus is describing to His disciples what the sign of the end times and His “coming” again will be like as Jesus warns that “the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” and that we should “watch therefore” ——— the Parable of the Ten Virgins ties all this together making it obvious that the main point of this Parable is not about being a “virgin” but about being “wise” and being “ready and prepared” for the Master’s Return!!!

OCTOBER 27 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 OCTOBER 27  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Praise to the One that Suffered and was Sacrificed for my sin, O Great Mystery that God would become a Baby and live a Perfect Life, without spot or blemish, and then to LOVE the unloveable enough to Offer that Sinless Life and Shed God’s Innocent Blood for the Redemption of the guilty and shameful. We deserve death as the “just rewards” for our iniquities but because of the LOVE OF GOD, the LAMB OF GOD was Slain and through GOD’S SACRIFICIAL GIFT OF GRACE we can be clothed not in our shame but in the Blood-Bought Robes of Righteousness of Jesus Christ. Lord I slip daily into the sin of self and daily I pray for Mercy and Grace for there is nothing I can do to cover my sin but Repentance — so Lord, create in me a clean and Repentant heart anew with each new dawning of another day You have blessed me with.   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus gave His disciples “signs” of the end of the age and His “coming” again because they had asked Him specifically for “signs” but Jesus being God went the extra mile and not only gave them a list of “signs” but He also focused them on the main problem and how to correct it as Jesus asked another simple question with Profoundly Divine Meaning — — what other kind of “meaning” could be in the Divine Knowledge of the Son of the Living God except Profoundly Divine? Jesus tells us to “be ready” because “the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44) and then immediately Jesus gives us directions how to be prepared for His Return “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45) which will be when God decides that mankind has drifted to far from the Grace and Mercy of a Just and Loving God  and have rejected God and His Commandments which carries with that “Chosen Action” a “Divinely Predetermined Consequence” that God is Faithful and Just to Execute, which is always after an extended period of time where God has issued warnings and provided the opportunity of “Repentance” to all that would Return-to-God. God has been patient with this “age” even though mankind, and especially the modern church, has drifted back into the darkness of self-gratification and are once again following the “doctrines of men” and rejecting the Moral Standards established by God through His Commands. Jesus says that we should give up our self-established “thrones” and instead of “striving for “superiority” over others with our “personal doctrines” that we should “seek to serve” others for the “kingdom’s sake”! For indeed God has made us “rulers” but we must never forget that GOD IS THE MASTER and that He will provide for us if we produce fruit for His Master Plan, which is to bring as many as we can into the Presence of God. Jesus makes it clear that “faithful and wise servants” will be “rewarded” but that “evil servants” will receive “judgement and penalty” but nowhere is there an “option” to “not serve”!!! All our lives are built around family, from our birth until our death, life itself is in the control of the “Life Giver” and that is God Almighty, and God has established how we are to live and because He is a Fair and Just God, He makes it clear what His Expectations are for our lives and gives us clear directions to follow to avoid getting “lost” on our way to His Eternal Kingdom in Heaven. God reveals to each individual what must be done to find the Only Entrance to His Kingdom, and God reveals to each individual the “Consequence” of choosing not to accept God’s Gift of Grace and insist on remaining in the darkness and lostness of self where there is no LIGHT. God makes it simple and has made the LIGHT the GATE and reveals to each individual that to find our “Way” to the Kingdom of God, we must simply “follow the LIGHT” which has been given SUPREME POWER over darkness! To free the Hebrew slaves from their bondage in Egypt God brought on 10 plagues, then God established the Passover to begin on the 10th day of their 1st month, God then took them into the wilderness and gave them 10 Commandments to help them on their way to the Promised Land and now that Jesus is describing the “end of the age” and the beginning of our lives in the Promised Land, Jesus tells us what to expect when we get there as Jesus gives us the “parable of the Ten virgins” to describe what “the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to” (Matthew 25:1a) For many, being a “servant” is very difficult to imagine, but for even more it is a form of “blindness” to “understanding” or to “seeing” the Lesson in considering “ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.” (Matthew 25:1b) But let me encourage you, God has gone through great lengths to get you to “see” and to “understand” why we should desire to use our freedom of “Choice” to “spend our eternity in His kingdom” and here is God in the flesh, about to be sacrificed for our sins, who is giving us yet another Lesson on what the “kingdom of heaven” is like and if we refuse to listen then we are well on our way to refusing “heaven”, but just like we have to “serve” someone or something in living life on earth, we will have to spend our eternity in the place we “Choose” — the Good News is that you can “Choose” to enter Heaven but the Bad News is that if you don’t “Choose” to go to “Heaven” then by “default” you have “Chosen” to spend eternity in “Hell” — and more than once Jesus has Taught us about the “Joys of Heaven” but each time Jesus talks about “hell” He uses the phrase “there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” — just something to think about while you read the “Parable of the Ten Virgins” !!!

OCTOBER 26 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 OCTOBER 26  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS -Daily Prayer   

JESUS, Savior, Redeemer, Creator of all things, Blessed Son of the Living God, King of kings and LORD of lords, Name after Glorious Name and to think that the ONE to whom ALL PRAISE is due would HUMBLE HIMSELF, take on the form of man to be tempted in the flesh in all ways that man is tempted, and yet, being PERFECTLY INNOCENT AND WITHOUT SIN, would WILLINGLY suffer and die for the sins of the world in OBEDIENCE to the FATHER’S WILL, because of HIS GREAT LOVE for mankind and the FATHER, and Who after suffering as no man ever has nor ever will suffer, endured death and the grave??? O Great Mystery of God that the FATHER GAVE THE SON TO SUFFER, and in seeing the SON SUFFER, one cannot imagine the AGONIZING SUFFERING OF THE FATHER HAVING TO WATCH THE SON WHOM THE FATHER WILLED TO SUFFER!?!?!?!?! — and all this for the sake of each and every unloveable sinner and all their hateful sins???? Lord forgive me when I fail to see how much “agony” my redemption cost You, how much Your Son “suffered”, and how much it must have “grieved” the Holy Spirit!?!?!?!?   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has now made it clear that “heaven and earth will pass away” and invoking “the days of Noah” it is obvious that “the coming [again] of the Son of Man” at the end of the age will be to execute the “Consequence” of mankind’s “Choice” to reject God, who had demonstrated with Noah and the flood that God is patient but there is a limit to how far God will let mankind stray into darkness before GOD is Faithful to HIS PLAN and TRUE TO HIS WORD!!! Jesus also made it clear that the “JUDGEMENT” event will happen but only God knows when so Jesus warns us to “be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44) and Jesus followed that warning with His Question: “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45) We should all then “listen” to Jesus and consider that we are made “rulers” on this earth and in this lifetime which is passing away by the ETERNAL GOD and HIS WORD which “will by no means pass away”!!!! In His question Jesus draws our attention to the concept of “servitude” but let us not miss that though God makes us “rulers” that He also holds us responsible for being “faithful and wise [servants]” to the MASTER.  Jesus then gives us the assurance of a great reward for our “faithfulness” and our “service” to GOD THE FATHER when He immediately states this TRUTH OF GOD after His Question on being “servants”: “Blessed is that servant  whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.  Assuredly, I say to you that [the master] will make the [servant] ruler over all [the master’s] goods.” (Matthew 24:46-47) Being the “servant” of God will be “blessed” by having access to all that God has — sounds like a good deal to me and all I have to do is “Love God” and “Love Others”??? — sign me up!!!!  Jesus does remain “True” to His “mission” as He assures us also that although there is great reward for the “faithful and wise servant” that there is severe “judgement and penalty” for the “evil servant” that is not prepared for the return of the MASTER as Jesus describes the penalty: “…the [MASTER] of [the unprepared] servant will come on a day when [the evil servant] is not looking and [the MASTER] will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 24:48-51) Jesus had pronounced earlier after cleansing the temple that the “unfaithful and unwise” leaders of the house of God that God had made “rulers” over His temple had been judged because they had chosen to follow “traditions and doctrines” of man’s evil desires instead of being led by God! The “judgement and penalty” of those “hypocrites” were “Seven Woes” (Matthew 23:1-33) and the kingdom of God was taken from them! (Matthew 21:43) Therefore if God judged everything that breathed on the earth in the days of Noah, and if God will remove His kingdom from His “Chosen” people and destroy His temple in His “chosen city Jerusalem” that has been defiled by man, then it is obvious that God will judge the “evil servant” that is not prepared for the “the coming [again] of the Son of Man” and I can only imagine how much “agony” the “evil servant” will have to suffer to cause the “weeping and gnashing of teeth”!?!?!? God is consistent in both HIS REWARDS (behind DOOR #1) and in HIS JUDGEMENTS (behind DOOR #2) and GOD IS FAIR because HE GIVES US A CHOICE ——— the GOOD NEWS: God GIVES us a CHOICE but the BAD NEWS: We have to make our own CHOICE ——— my prayer is that YOUR CHOICE will be to be a “faithful and wise servant” of the MASTER OF ALL CREATION and realize that being an “evil servant” is a personal “CHOICE” [the Free Will gift of God] and not your personal destiny as taught by the traditions of men seeking personal power at the expense of the people!?!?!?!? 

OCTOBER 25 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 OCTOBER 25  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, the Name that gives Hope to the hopeless, Rest to the weary, and Peace to the troubled. Jesus is the only Name that can bring us into fellowship with God the Father and bring us Forgiveness of our worldly sins, thereby giving LIGHT to our darkness, Sight to our spiritual blindness, and Salvation to our lostness! Praise God who GAVE His Only Begotten to Suffer and Die for a lost and dying world. Lord Jesus, I thank You that You have heard the prayers of Your servants and have granted to us Your Protection and Your Provisions through Mercy and Grace. May Your Name be lifted up and Glorified with the Father and the Holy Spirit throughout all Eternity!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus Teaches us many Lessons within each Lesson therefore we should stop and look at ALL that Jesus is both Teaching and “confirming” with His Lessons least we take God and His Great Plan for granted. Jesus has been giving us signs of the “end of the age” and His “coming again” therefore we should immediately learn that (1) this age IS coming to an end and (2) Jesus, the Son of God Will Return to earth from heaven at a later date. Jesus turned and asked this question to the disciples who had just asked Jesus to give them a “sign” of the the end of the age and His Return, “Do you not see all these things?” (Matthew 24:2) The obvious questions for us to ask now is (1) “Why” is this “Age” going to “end”, (2) “What” is the purpose of Jesus having to come down to earth from heaven “again” and (3) “Where” do we look to “see all these things”??? Jesus gives us the answer if we will but look at His Lesson a little closer — Jesus had just said that “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” (Matthew 24:35) and He immediately continues speaking, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:36:37) There is a wealth of knowledge and confirmation in these “words” from the Master Teacher and even as slow as I am, I can come up with a quick list: (1) Heaven and earth both “will pass away” (2) Only the “Power” great enough to “Create” heaven and earth is sufficient enough to make it “pass away” (3) when Jesus Speaks, His Words are TRUTH and TRUTH is Eternal for even though the heaven and earth “will pass” that the Words of Jesus “will by no means pass away” (4) “These things” are part of God’s Plan: which include (a) the creation of the original heaven and earth, (b) the living of this age, (c) God leading His “Chosen People”, (d) His “Chosen People” rejecting Him, (e) God judging His “Chosen People”, (f) God sending His Son to Redeem the world, (g) Resurrecting His Son on “the third day” and then (h) there will be an “end of the age” when the Son returns from Heaven and brings the “end of the age” to a “close” — “but of that day and hour no one knows…” but there is a Plan that has a specific “day and hour” already designated by God. (5) The Plan includes a “Final Judgement” indicated by the mention of “the days of Noah” which was God’s original Judgement on the whole earth which is documented in the earliest of writings as God plainly gives His reason and justification for destroying every breathing thing on earth: “And the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh…’ Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually…So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air…’” (Genesis 6:3-7) (6) God judged the earth in Noah’s day, which confirms that (a) Noah and the flood are real (b) and God will destroy the earth and all living things because of the “wickedness” of mankind. This one reference to Noah by Jesus proves the consistency of God and the fairness of God because if God judged the earth once because of “wickedness" then He must make a “Final Judgment” and if the reason God destroyed the earth the first time was because man’s thoughts were continuously evil, then the main reason for “Final Judgement” and the complete destruction of “heaven and the earth” will be because man has rejected God in his heart and that mankind’s “thoughts are continuously evil” and (7) Jesus will be sent to close out the end of the age and execute the judgement of the Father!!! We read an important explanation of this in the Gospel of John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:1-3) It seems reasonable that the Father would say to the Son — “Go down and wrap this thing up and create a completely new heaven and earth, they have completely rejected Us and therefore We will be completely justified in executing judgement on all mankind for the world has once again condemned themselves with their selfishness and wickedness.” “These things” will happen when the Father decides it will happen and my reasoning tells me that after the “TRUMPET BLOWS” to announce the “coming again” of Jesus the King that Jesus will “SPEAK THE WORD” and “IT WILL BE DONE!” ——— Just like God had it PLANNED all along!!!!!!!

OCTOBER 24 THE JESUS QUESTIONS “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 OCTOBER 24  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord sometimes Your Blessings are poured out on our Family Night in such a marvelous way that it is hard to imagine greater blessings yet You have promised us Heaven that is even beyond what we can imagine! Lord You are GOOD and I praise You that You have opened my eyes that I can see that You are GOOD ALL THE TIME!!! Lord, I thank You for the answered prayers for our family and the marvelous work You have accomplished in each of our lives and my prayer is that You continue to draw each and every family member to You for You have proven that there is no family unity outside of God but that if we all come to You then we will all be ONE WITH THE FATHER and Lord we saw that this week at our Family Night as the Fellowship with the entire family was so extraordinarily sweet that we knew that You were Present and everyone was aware that God was in our home and in our hearts — there is nothing better to be THANKFUL for than than being in the Will of the Father!   AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus started His details of the “signs” of the “end of the age” to be marked by His “Second Coming” with the parable of the fig tree putting forth leaves so that we would know that the “season of His coming” was at hand and then He gives us some facts about the “end of the age” as He first states: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” (Matthew 24:35) It is hard to imagine someone reading that “Heaven and earth will pass away” and not be a little concerned about the “POWER” that could make both “Heaven and earth” and everything contained in them go “COMPLETELY AWAY”!!! There is a clue to the “source” of the power to destroy both heaven and earth when you read the Words of Jesus that say, “heaven and earth” can be destroyed but that “My Words” cannot be destroyed — which in my simple mind is like the “AXE” telling the log about to be split, “This is going to hurt you more than it will me!” I know that my mind cannot comprehend the “POWER” to “CREATE SOMETHING FROM NOTHING” (which GOD DID by “SPEAKING EVERYTHING INTO EXISTENCE” ) so when I read this statement by Jesus that “Heaven and earth will pass away” that I believe that JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD therefore it is easy for me to believe: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) It is not hard for me then to hear God saying “I brought you into this world and I can take you out!”   In other words, some day we will see it written about the closing out of the history of mankind as we know it: “At the end of the age God destroyed the old creation that He had made in the beginning then God  decided to demolish the originals and create a new heaven and a new earth!” It was the POWER of GOD’S WORDS that brought everything into existence and when Jesus says “My words will by no means pass away” (Matthew 24:35) that He is giving us the “TRUE SOURCE OF POWER” that has the ability to “destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28) and compared to destroying the “Heaven and the earth”, destroying “soul and body” should be easy don’t you think? Or are you one of those that still believe there is no God, therefore there is no sin and no heaven or earth so you don’t have to worry about these “fairy tales and fables”?!?!?!?  Personally I am convinced that the body of evidence and the great number of eye-witnesses is sufficient enough for me to make an “informed decision” ——— and I take solace in the fact that Jesus said earlier, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” (Matthew 11:25-27) And now Jesus is revealing God the Father and God’s Plan to all “believers” for in the end times it has been revealed that indeed there will be a “Final Judgement” by the Father in which “Heaven and earth will pass away” but the GOOD NEWS is that “[the WORDS OF JESUS HIS SON] will by NO MEANS pass away.” And as all good fairy tales end ——— “And they lived happily FOREVER after!!!” (Sounds like John 3:16 to me!)

OCTOBER 23 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?” (Matthew 24:45)

 OCTOBER 23  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#31 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45)

LIVING FOR JESUS - Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord each day I wake up and read Your Word and I pray for “daily bread” and then at the end of the day I find my heart overflowing with gratitude for the marvelous things you have done during that day. After giving me a great day, You also grant me a good night’s sleep after which I awake to a new morning and again realize there is yet another day in which I can observe Your Glory and marvel at Your Provisions for our daily lives!!! Provisions such as the air we breath and the circumstances You lay out daily before us as opportunities to “serve” the kingdom — Lord, thank You for revealing the enormous blessing of “serving” You and for giving us the privilege of “serving others” in Your Holy Name. Lord I praise You for the daily “infilling” (to overflowing) of Your Holy Spirit, and my prayer is simply to be a good steward of Your Abundant Provisions, both physical and Spiritual!!!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus admonished us to “learn this parable from the fig tree” and we miss on first reading that Jesus is telling us that there will be “signs” from our daily day-to-day existence that God will use to communicate to those that will “listen”. All Israel saw fig trees everyday in their day-to-day existence and we today can use our own eyes to see fig trees and know if they are bearing fruit or not. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist who had come to be a “witness” of the coming Messiah and to “make straight the way of the Lord” John the Baptist explained about “signs” when he said: “I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit’. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”  (John 1:33-34) John proved that he was the “Witness” sent by God and his testimony was simple and to the point — John had “seen” what the Holy Spirit had told him to observe and then John told the “TRUTH” of his observation and gave this “testimony” of Jesus, the One that John had just baptized — “this is the Son of God.” John had been told to look for a “sign” and when John saw the “sign” with his own eyes while doing what John had been doing on a daily basis, the fact that the Holy Spirit had told John to watch for a “sign” BEFORE it happened, that when it did happen and John could see with his own eyes and recognize it as a “sign” from God Himself, John was able to say confidently about Jesus “this IS the Son of God.”!!!  So we also if we “learn the parable from the fig tree” like Jesus has told us BEFORE it happens, that when it does come to pass that we can “see” with our own eyes the “sign” and we also can proclaim as John did, “this IS the Son of God.”!!! God has always told us BEFOREHAND what HIS PLAN is and our advantage today in our modern age is that it is all written down for us in the Holy Bible to use as a list of “signs” that have been fulfilled already and then there are those “signs” that are yet to be completed. God has made it simple and has given us the ability to “see” Him in our daily day-to-day existence - that’s why Jesus tells us the parables about “watching” for the “signs” and then Jesus says, “Therefore you also be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:44) and to really make us focus on what God expects of us Jesus asks, “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?”  (Matthew 24:45) ——— after all, let us not forget Jesus did not come to receive tribute, He came to receive thorns, to suffer and to die for others, and was rewarded with victory over the world, death, and the grave ——— what more could we ask for? We cannot be greater than our “Master” and it was Jesus who said, “…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many…” (Matthew 20:28) then we should understand that to be “great” in the kingdom of God that we are not on this earth to be “served” but to be a “faithful and wise servant… to serve and to give [to others]” and in our selflessly giving as Jesus did to others, we thereby will Glorify our Father in Heaven and we will hear God proclaim, “These are My [children] in whom I am well pleased.”!!! (Matthew 17:5)