JUNE 12 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#19 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

 JUNE 12  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Your [Word] is Truth and we know “In the beginning was the [Word], and the [Word] was with God, and the [Word] was God…” (John 1:1) and we also know that it was the Spirit of God that was the Creative Power displayed as God used only His Spoken Words to accomplish His Creation and the first words God spoke were “Let there be light.” (Genesis 1:3)  So Lord, let us be led by “The Light” which is Jesus, the Truth which is Jesus, and the Way to the Father  which is Jesus — Jesus we need You and Your Mercy, Compassion, and Grace to fall daily on our “thirsty” souls which we now and forever commend to Your Spirit.             AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus and the Holy Spirit is leading me today to add the second part of this most enlightening Jesus Question so that JQ#19 reads: “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26) and to consider in an effort to an “understanding” of this “Deeper Still Teaching” of what Jesus is asking as we consider the “words” Jesus used to rebut Satan immediately after Jesus was “baptized” and then “led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil…” (Matthew 4:1) We read the words that the Spirit had led Matthew to write of this confrontation between Jesus and Satan: “Now when the tempter came to [Jesus], he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” (Matthew 4:3) Matthew noted that Jesus has been without food and was hungry after fasting forty days and forty nights when Satan approached Him and Matthew then records these words Jesus used to rebuke Satan: “But [Jesus answered Satan] and said, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4) This exchange of words between Satan and Jesus Teaches us where Jesus is going with JQ#19 and brings our attention to the most serious problem we will face in all eternity, “How do we prevent losing our ‘soul’ and what is the price that we must pay to gain eternal possession of our own ‘soul’?”  First of all it was Satan that tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and the temptation was in the form of “words” Satan spoke that put doubt in the mind of Eve about God’s instructions to her and Adam. The “power of words” surface in this encounter for Satan tempted Jesus to doubt the will of God when Satan challenged Jesus to prove Himself to be the Son of God by turning stones into bread and Jesus rebuked Satan’s attack by quoting scripture thereby giving us an example of the power of reading the “written word of God” and also the power of “speaking the word of God” when we face trials and temptations. When Jesus asks us to consider our “soul” and its “value” to God, we must go to the scripture to “understand the infinite magnitude” of the problem, and once we “understand” the “eternal consequences” of our answer, we can more fully appreciate the “compassion” that Jesus demonstrates by making us face the sin issue head on with His Question that brings into sharp focus the TRUTH of God that our “soul” is a “gift of God” and all things of God are “eternal” so our “souls are eternal”!!! God has written over and over again in His Word that Satan admits that he goes “to and fro on the earth” and Peter reminds us that Satan makes his rounds on the earth “seeking those he can destroy” (1 Peter 5:8). Jesus had warned us previously that we shouldn’t worry about those that can “kill the body” but we should be very concerned about those that are “able to destroy both soul and body in hell…” (Matthew 10:28) God has provided us with the scriptures and the scriptures are about God’s love for His Creation and the great extent that He has gone to in order to demonstrate that Love by sending His Son to “redeem” us… (and this “redemption” sounds exactly like “exchange”)! God is making it clear that nothing on earth can be used to “exchange” for our “soul” even if we possessed the “whole world” but there will be a day coming when He will ask us “who owns your soul?” In other words, God and Satan both are interested in our “eternal soul” which has “infinite” value to God who has proved over and over that He wants to give us “Eternal Life” and the only thing Satan has demonstrated is that he wants to “destroy” our soul and doom us to “Eternal Death” in hell where we will spend our eternity separated from the Father who Loves us so much that He sent His Only Begotten Son to die on a cross and “exchange” His death for our life! Jesus is therefore asking us to take inventory of our lives and decide whose words are we listening to ——— the lies of Satan or the Truth of God?