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 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 upon it, 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 and His Lifestyle, Jesus is demonstrating that He 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 Questions.  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)

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). 

JANUARY 23 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  23  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, Savior, Redeemer, Master, Teacher — what joy it is to know that the One holding our Eternity in His Hands deserves such Divine and eloquent titles. Lord I wake to the thought that You have given me yet another day and through the strength that Your Grace has imparted to me the possibilities of my future are limitless. Jesus, You Teach and Guide us in Your Ways and we know that through the knowledge that You give we can know the Father and we are assured that if we walk in Your Way that the path leads us to Eternal, Unbroken Fellowship with God Himself! What glorious thought that time and death will not hold sway over us as we enter into Your Kingdom and have all of Eternity ahead of us, a Blessed Eternity  free from the bondage of sin … Forgive me, a sinner in the flesh — I am longing for the day I can stand before You in Spirit and in Truth at the Final Judgement and be judged not on my righteousness but on the Righteousness of the Son of the Living God, even my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS 

JESUS began His Ministry by going on a “field trip” which firmly established His “Purpose and Credentials” of being God’s Messiah by experiencing first hand the main problem Jesus was sent to earth to resolve — mainly the big issue in everyone’s life is having to learn how to be “in the world” but resist the temptation to be “of the world”! Matthew writes about this “field trip” Jesus took at the start of His Earthly Ministry thusly: “Then [immediately after being baptized by John in the Jordan] Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” (Matthew 4:1-3) This is a Divinely inspired passage by Matthew because it completely exposes the Main Truth of God needed by every individual and gives us an “example” of what to look for and how to handle it once we find ourselves in this circumstance — it is guaranteed that each one of us will encounter such a circumstance somewhere along the way on our Spiritual Journey! I say this because the first statement is, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit” so it is obvious that if Jesus came to be an “example” for us and to teach us how to react to certain circumstances in our daily life, then it is logical to assume that if the Spirit led Jesus “into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” that it would be prudent for us to prepare for that “experience” on our own “Spiritual” journey by expecting to find ourselves in “the wilderness” and to encounter “temptation”! The best way to prepare for any circumstance, and especially if we know with certainty that we will be “tempted by the devil” is to listen to the ONE that has gone before us and has successfully resolved every circumstance that we will find ourselves in at some point on our personal “Spiritual Journey”! We would not be so foolish as to go on a great journey into a wild and unknown land without making necessary preparations and to use an “experienced guide” to show us how to avoid the pitfalls and dangers that we are sure to encounter on our way — so why do we foolishly think we can make it through life without “The Guide” that has experienced VICTORY over Life, Temptation, and Death? It is written of Jesus: “For we do not have a [Guide] who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet He did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) If I am going to have to face “the devil” and I have “to be tempted” by the one that seeks to “devour my soul”, then I want to have as my guide the One that is “The Guide” and has VICTORY over the world, sin, temptation, the devil, and death itself to lead me on my Spiritual Journey!   We are very fortunate to have “The Guide” for our Spiritual Journey and we also have the “Ultimate Guide Book” (the Holy Bible) to read for ourselves the “experiences” of “failures” and “pitfalls” of all those that refused to follow “The Guide” and the “successes” of those that listened to Him!!! On my embarking on my Spiritual Journey I obtained a copy of the “Ultimate Guide to Life” and in reading it through and through I have been very aware of certain passages that are written in “Red Letters” in my (Guide Book) copy of the Scofield Study Bible and those “Red Letter” passages are the ones that contains Statements and Advice that Jesus the Master Life-Guide spoke to help us on our Spiritual Journey. Jesus uses “Questions” to point us to special “points of interest” along our journey. The Spirit led me to a thought one day while reading in my Bible — I was to go through the New Testament Gospel of Jesus Christ written by Matthew and read through all the times Jesus is quoted (designated by the “Red Letters”) and to study each Question that Jesus asked as I came to it. There are not that many “Red Letter” passages so when the Master Teacher who has Infinite Knowledge and Understanding asks a “Question” then we should pay attention! The plan for the rest of this blog then is to identify those “Questions” that Jesus asked, study the context surrounding the circumstance, and let the Holy Spirit enlighten our consciousness to that “Lesson” that JESUS the Master Teacher is trying to Teach us by making us stop and think about what He has asked, then meditate on each “JESUS Question” until we can give Him an “honest” answer. This exercise will not be a quick read and it will take months (the rest of the year in fact) to answer each of the 33 JESUS Questions the Holy Spirit challenged me to answer in this blog and share them with others seeking TRUTH on their personal SPIRITUAL JOURNEY— but I encourage you to take the time and accept the challenge because Jesus had a reason for asking these Questions and I know He has a very good reason for letting the Holy Spirit challenge each reader to give their own answer for each of “The JESUS Questions” — and your own “honest” answer must be given directly to Jesus Himself!! This blog is designed by the Holy Spirit to be a One-on-one between the reader and JESUS CHRIST! The Plan then is to start by reading again from the beginning of Matthew and his introduction of Jesus Christ as Messiah and firmly establish in our minds that Jesus IS the Master Guide having the Authority and the Power of God to successfully lead us on our Spiritual Journey and to take us safely through all the pitfalls of life. Once we know that Jesus IS the Master Teacher and with what Authority He Teaches we can then with supreme confidence continue our Spiritual Journey. Let us begin our “RED LETTER SPIRITUAL JOURNEY with JESUS” by introducing the first JESUS 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) The first thought that struck me when I read this first JESUS Question is that Jesus is talking to all those that call themselves “Christians”, and the second thought that followed was an emotion of guilt and shame as I read the next statement Jesus made about salt: “… [tasteless salt] is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” (Matthew 5:13b) The JESUS Question JQ#01 about Christians being “the salt of the earth” and the immediate statement Jesus made about “salt” provoked an emotion that made me ask, “Is this what is happening in my spiritual life and I am being trampled emotionally underfoot by the world” and then I immediately prayed “Jesus, how do I fix it?”?!?! — my prayer was answered as soon as I continued reading the next few verses in my Guide Book where I found “encouragement and guidance” — for with the “Question” still lingering in my mind, the Master Teacher’s WORDS opened my understanding to the Answer that followed immediately after His Question! It is my prayer that this blog will do the same for you and that you will find these Eternal Life Answers from the Master’s Questions, asked by JESUS HIMSELF for each of our sakes! 

Why should we study The JESUS Questions???:

II Timothy 2:15 admonishes, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

JANUARY 22 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  22  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 and Savior, Redeemer, Lover of my soul, all praise and honor to You and Your Holy Name, the Only Name by which ALL SOULS are ETERNALLY SAVED - JESUS! Lord let us always be mindful that You are unchanging and as we rise to face each new day let us start with Your Name on our lips and Your Grace in our hearts. Lord Jesus, my prayer is that every day will be lived in a way that honors You and advances the Father’s Kingdom. Lord Jesus, open our hearts and our minds that we can see the Father God as You reveal Him through Your Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables as You “TEACH” us the TRUTH OF GOD through Your Questions — You have asked The JESUS Questions for our benefit that we might dwell on the TRUTH OF GOD and my prayer is that we will listen with our hearts and apply Your TRUTH OF GOD to our day-to-day lives so that we may accept Your Gifts of Mercy and Grace with which You WILL Bless us daily — so give us the Self-Discipline to HONESTLY answer Your “Questions” for YOU KNOW OUR HEARTS!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS has been introduced by St. Matthew as “Messiah” who was prophesied from the Jewish Holy Scriptures. St. Matthew started with the “genealogy of Jesus Christ” and established that Jesus is “the Son of David” and “the Son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:17) Matthew then moved to the “Virgin Birth” and demonstrated that Mary the mother of Jesus bore Him in a “Virgin Womb” for she had known NO man and the “Seed” she carried was the “Holy Seed of God Himself” which made Jesus both the “Son of Man”, born to a “virgin”, and the “Son of God” , born from the “Holy Seed”!!! (Matthew 1:18-25) Matthew then documents the significance of where and when Jesus was born and establishes that John the Baptist had fulfilled the prophecy of the “forerunner” of Messiah by preaching in the wilderness, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” and was baptizing by water in the Jordan River and those that were being baptized by John were “confessing their sins”. When John saw Jesus coming to be baptized in the Jordan, John, the prophesied forerunner of “Messiah”, acknowledged that Jesus was Messiah and at this point and felt unworthy to baptize “The Lamb of God”  but Jesus said to John, “Permit it to be so now, for it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:1-15) Matthew then documents God’s Recognition that Jesus was the Messiah for as “Jesus came up immediately from the [baptismal] water; … behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 3:16-17) Matthew has now shown that Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecy through circumstances that Jesus had no control over such as (1) His parents (lineage), (2) His Birth from a “Virgin Womb”, and (3) the place of His Birth in the City of David — Bethlehem — and (4) His Baptism by God’s “forerunner” of the Messiah, John the Baptist was done to “fulfill all righteousness”. (5) Upon Jesus being “Obedient” to the Father’s Will by being baptized by God’s “forerunner”, God Himself spoke from heaven and called Jesus “My Son” which was heard by a crowd of many witnesses! (Matthew 1:1 thru Matthew 3:17) Starting with Matthew 4:1 Jesus Himself is going to show He is the Messiah by His Lessons, His Lifestyle, and His “Teaching” the TRUTH OF GOD !!! Jesus used circumstances to get His followers to meditate on the TRUTH OF GOD. Jesus demonstrated His Messiahship as He addressed each circumstance and instead of His Messiahship being “compromised” by the circumstance, Jesus demonstrated that His Messiahship was from God as He turned each circumstance into a “Lesson” and “Taught” the “Truth of the Lesson” which “Confirmed” Jesus Messiah, the Christ! Jesus included in His “Lessons” a Method to get our attention and to focus us on the “issue” at hand, and that “Method” was to ASK a QUESTION for us to “think about” and then He would wait for the TRUTH OF GOD to soak in as we thought about His Question.  Sometimes Jesus would immediately tell us the TRUTH OF GOD so that there would be no mistake or misunderstanding of the TRUTH OF GOD that Jesus Taught with every Lesson.  It is this Method of Jesus “asking” us “Questions” to make us focus on the TRUTH OF GOD that is the basis for this blog “The JESUS Questions”.  JANUARY 1 introduced “how and why” The JESUS Questions  came about by the Holy Spirit who issued a Question/Answer challenge  to read the Gospel of Jesus Christ as written by St. Matthew ——— here is that “JESUS Question/Answer Challenge”: “Read through the complete Gospel of Jesus Christ written by St. Matthew (the first book in the New Testament) starting with Matthew 1:1 read through the entire Gospel of Matthew and every time you come to a ‘Question’ that Jesus asks, your challenge is to give Jesus a ‘Truthful answer’.” Think about that “challenge” and your “mission” <<< should you choose to accept it >>> is to read the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Matthew and “each time you come to a JESUS Question, give Jesus a TRUTHFUL answer” and I personally will give you a double-your-money back lifetime guarantee that it will change you from the inside out and that you will see that person in the mirror in a different “Light” — remember that TRUTH is FREE so what have you got to lose??? The Holy Spirit left me with these words of wisdom:

“No one but GOD OWNS the TRUTH and GOD gives it FREELY to all who search for TRUTH, so if someone tries to charge you for TRUTH, don’t buy The Lie   -   no matter how pretty the package!!!

Once you accept the challenge to let Jesus show you the TRUTH OF GOD then continue in the Gospel of Jesus Christ written by Matthew starting with Chapter 4:1 and read for yourself and observe how Jesus lived His day-to-day life to witness to the TRUTH OF GOD!!! Just like Matthew used Chapters 1-3 to introduce Jesus as the Messiah by circumstances controlled by God then Matthew uses Chapter 4 through the end of Matthew’s Gospel of Jesus Christ to let Jesus introduce Himself by how Jesus reacted to the “circumstances” that confronted Him in His day-to-day life on this earth. Matthew begins his account of the Ministry of Jesus Christ as follows: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1) It “is fitting for us” then to know that Jesus started His ministry with a most difficult circumstance and the “Divine Example” that Jesus gives us with His response to being confronted by the devil should be a “Lesson” that we apply to our daily lives to make it through our living in the flesh day-to-day life on earth and having to face difficult circumstances, after all, Jesus has changed the course of History for ALL ETERNITY so He certainly can do the same for our lives — FOREVER FOR ALL!!!