JUNE 10 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 10  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, Lord as I start another day seeking to know God and You “deeper still”, I pray that the Holy Spirit will open my “spiritual eyes” that I may know that Your efforts to give me “understanding” is so that I will become “One” with the Holy Trinity and that I will not only know You better but I will know better who I am. Lord Jesus, it is a comfort to know that You are the Good Shepherd and that You came to earth to lead “lost sheep” in the paths of righteousness, that You died on the cross as the Lamb of God, the Perfect Sacrifice for sinners like me — that You have completely resolved the “sin problem”, so let me fully accept Your Grace and Share Your Unconditional Love with others.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus not only “Taught” His disciples by “Words”, His most powerful Lessons were Lessons that His disciples saw Him “living out” before them and then Jesus would sit down and explain to them the “purpose” of His actions that they had just seen Jesus doing as He went about His day-to-day living. Jesus always approached every circumstance from the point of view that He had a “purpose” to fulfill — Jesus was on a “mission” to “do the Father’s will”.   To accomplish what Jesus knew fully well He was sent from the Father to accomplish — Jesus also always worked to accomplish those tasks in a manner that He knew would be pleasing to the Father. Jesus was always aware that everything He did was to “honor” the Father and that His actions were to be done “in the name of the Father” and for the sake of the kingdom (of God).  Jesus lived every moment to fulfill His Purpose therefore everything He did and say was Teaching about the kingdom and bringing His disciples into a closer relationship with both Himself and the Father. Now Jesus has put forth JQ#18 in which He Teaches that it is all-important that we personally know the Truth about “who” Jesus is and then He immediately asks us to consider “who” we are in relation to the Truth of God and the upcoming “Judgement by God”. Our “eternal guilt or innocence” will be solely determined by how well we answer JQ#18 & JQ#19 for God knows our inward thoughts and He will determine if we have accepted Jesus as the Son of God whom the Father sent to rectify the world’s sin problem and thereby God will know if we have truly recognized our “lostness” and acknowledged that the only correct answer to give God  when we stand before Him at the “Final Judgement” is that we are a sinner and Jesus is “the (only) way, the (only) truth, and the (only) life”. (John 14:6) Our best “hope” in this life is to study Jesus and to learn to “live” the way He lived and to make His Purpose our purpose and to simply believe God’s declaration that Jesus is God’s Beloved Son and then to take God’s advice to “Listen to Him.” The only way to know who we are is to know who Jesus is for in the history of the world, no other person or god has done so much to Teach us the Truth about who we really are in our day-to-day lives and no other person or god has done everything required of the One True God so that we can rise above our day-to-day existence and have “fellowship” with the Living God. Jesus has asked us in JQ#19 now to consider “profit”, “gain”, and our own unique “soul” — then Jesus specifically asks us to consider what we might “exchange” for our unique “soul”? We really should reflect on “why” should we consider that we will be required to “exchange” something “acceptable to God” for our “souls”? Also, when we consider the “exchange” we must seriously consider “who” requires the “exchange” (who is making the “rule”) and what will we use for the “exchange” that is considered of any “value” (to the Living God) when the “Exchange” is required? This is a dilemma considering that God has declared that “gaining the whole world” (the entirety of all earthly material possessions) is not of enough value to present to God as an “Acceptable Exchange” in the eyes of God the Father and Creator to keep us from “losing [our] own soul”!!! The “whole world” pretty much covers everything “physical” therefore the logical place to start looking at this point for an “Acceptable Exchange” is in the “spiritual” arena and to listen to the “Spirit of God”(Genesis 1:2)  who is trying to secure our eternal salvation ——— Don’t you think that if we need to consider the “eternal spirit God Himself Created” as being “valuable enough” to God that He would consider an “exchange for [our] soul” that we might want to “listen” to the One True Living God who has always been declared as “God is Spirit”?? (John 4:24)  

JUNE 09 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 09  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, Lord and Savior, the Lamb of God that was slain before the foundation of the earth, God very God who became flesh and dwelt among us so that You could Teach us by example how to live in this world that has been defiled and filled with the sin of disobedience. Jesus I pray that my life will no longer be wasted on self but will grow daily in Your Grace, Compassion, and Wisdom — Lord Jesus may I live like You  and Love others as You demonstrated “compassion” and commanded us to “Love one another”. Lord, I know that to live like You means to “serve” others and to sacrifice “self” in obedience to the Father’s Will, keep me centered in Your Will and walking in Your Light that I may know Your Way.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus uses JQ#19 to draw our attention inwardly to our “spiritual existence” and when He gets us to consider that we have an “eternal soul” He brings our awareness to focus on considering the eternal battle being waged in the world between “good” and “evil” to gain control of each individual “soul”!   The “soul” is eternal and the “soul” is who we really are ——— this can be easily proved by simply asking ourselves simple “physical” questions like “will I die if I lose an arm or a leg” or at each birthday we celebrate (or curse) we must ask “am I  who I am because of my age” or do we believe that it is our “body weight” that defines us, or our “bank account”, or the “car we drive” or is it any other “physical entity” that makes us who we are? No ——— as soon as one reflects on that universal question “Who am I and what am I doing here?” we are aware that life is more than the body, or our age, or any other “physical” characteristic and that is why we embrace the concept of “spirits” for we readily notice spiritual concepts in others like “attitudes” ——— and upon the realization that we are not our finite physical attributes, we recognize that our bodies are just a vessel that is transporting “who we really are as defined by our eternal souls” that we declare cliches like, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” and we use “spiritual reality” terms like “True beauty is on the inside”. The main thing “spiritual” that we often overlook is our “emotions” ——— Our body is a “physical” entity that “emotionally” expresses what we feel in our “spirit” as we see the same body cry, laugh, jump for joy, and also in the same physical body we can mourn or we can rejoice and celebrate — all our emotions are “inward” and are “spiritual” and are displayed “outwardly” by our “physical” body and this “physical expression of spiritual emotion” has been declared as our “body language”, so the same body is not defined so much by our “physical” characteristics as much as we are really defined by our “inward” or “spiritual characteristics” that are expressed by our “body language” and therefore Jesus has been Teaching His disciples how to “live” their daily lives considering the “Spiritual” and His Lessons all deal with our “spiritual response” to our “physical circumstances”. The fact that there is a battle for our “soul” can be seen in both “what” Jesus Teaches and “how” He has lived His life while existing on earth in the flesh and living the Perfect Example of using the “spiritual” to overcome the “physical”. Jesus had previously Taught His disciples by casting out “unclean spirits” and gave His disciples “power” to do the same: “And when [Jesus] had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.” (Matthew 10:1)  So we must consider that there were twelve different physical bodies for the disciples so it was not the disciples physical characteristics that were going to accomplish “casting out…unclean spirits” or “to heal all kinds of sickness…”  which we recognize as “spiritual issues” being exhibited in different “physical forms” and we should also recognize that to accomplish healing of the physical and the removal of unclean spirits that Jesus “gave them power” and that “power” was not in the form of any “physical” characteristic, it was not in any “physical” form whatsoever, but the “power” existed in “spiritual” form only and regardless of the disciples physical description, they all had the same “power” which had to exist as “spirit”. Therefore we must acknowledge that each of us possess a “spirit” within us that is recognizable by others and in this scripture the writer Matthew uses the term specifically calling the problem “unclean spirits” so it is reasonable that to “cast out unclean spirits” that the “power” over them must be a “greater spiritual power”! There is precedence in God’s creation to let us know that this “Supreme Power” is of God because we read in Genesis 1:1-5 two verses that draw our attention to the ultimate “Power” and they are: “The earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) The next verse is how God used His Spirit to fix the darkness, the emptiness, and the lack of purpose as we read “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light.” (Genesis 1:3)  So at the very start of everything “physical” we see All of Creation being accomplished by the “Spiritual Power of God” and that the solution to physical issues God brought forth “light” and please note that this was accomplished not by any “physical” feat but by God “speaking” and immediately it was so!!!  Before the “sun worshippers” start giving themselves high fives we must ask, what was this “light” that God just “spoke” and it happened? If we read the Creation account we find that it was on the fourth day of creation that God made the sun and the moon so what was the “light” God spoke “Let there be” on Day 1 that dispelled the darkness and brought order to the chaos? If the sun and moon are “physical” lights put into place on Day 4 (Genesis 1:14-19) then it must be reasoned that the “light” in Genesis 1:3 was created by the “Spirit of God” therefore it could be considered as “The True Spiritual Light” and could this “Light” on Day 1 of Creation be “Understanding” and the “True Power of God” ?  Consider John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word …and the light shines in the darkness…” ——— sounds just like Genesis 1:1-5 and the beginning of Creation and the SOURCE of all “TRUE POWER” to me!

JUNE 08 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 08  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, You are forever “Teaching” us of the Kingdom and leading us in paths of righteousness but Lord also keep us aware that these are done for “His name’s sake” and all that we do should be directed toward pleasing God by our obedience as You were Obedient, even unto death. Lord Jesus, the world is always pulling us into temptation by drawing our attention to ourselves so Lord keep reminding us to turn our eyes to You for You Lord always point us to the Father. Remind us daily that only God has created “eternal souls” and that it is God alone that will “judge” all souls and determine where that soul will dwell in eternity. Thank you Jesus for keeping the kingdom ever before us to open our spiritual eyes to the Truth of God and blind us to the lies of the world.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has “lived” each Lesson that He has Taught His disciples and Jesus uses Questions to reveal the “Truth of God” by introducing terms and phrases that are “universal” in our understanding of things we EXPERIENCE in our day-to-day existence. Jesus knows all things so His Questions are His Way to get us to turn our attention to things we know from the “physical” world and relate them to things Jesus is Teaching about the “Spiritual” world —Jesus asks Questions but the reason they make so much sense is that Jesus has lived out the Truth of each Lesson and now He is opening our “spiritual” eyes to Kingdom Truth by drawing our attention to the “Way” He lived His Life before men. With JQ#19 Jesus uses the term “soul” and He has set the term “soul” against the term “profit” and the phrase “gain the whole world” as He Masterfully gets our mind to consider something our hearts have desired from the world — “profit” — and as we are considering that with which we are familiar, Jesus hits us with a reality Question like “OK, let’s say you ‘gain’ the ‘whole world’, but once you ‘possess’ all the wealth in the world you still don’t have ‘enough’ to keep from losing your soul?” One always thinks about what we could buy if we won the lottery and Jesus is saying here that instead of thinking about “physical” things that we can “buy with money” that we should think about the “spiritual” things that money cannot buy! The Truth of God is that everything was created by God, including money and wealth, but what we miss is that God has also created “Value” and that is why Jesus has warned us repeatedly against accumulating “worldly treasures” (Matthew 6:19) and encourages us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).  Jesus Teaches that in God’s eyes we have “Spiritual value” and since God is Spirit (John 4:23-24) that Jesus is Teaching us to consider our “value” from the “spiritual” viewpoint (see Matt 6:25-26 and 10:31) and therefore we should consider why Jesus keeps directing our thoughts to our “soul”? Jesus has previously taught; {1} “It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. (Matthew 10:25) {2} “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) {3} “Then [His disciples] understood [Jesus was teaching] … beware the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees [men]” (Matthew 16:12) Therefore in order to really “understand” the “value” of the “soul” to God we should not only listen to what Jesus Teaches about the “soul” but we should look at the “Way” Jesus lived to understand “Spiritual Truth”, ——— or do you have a better “retirement” plan or insurance policy for the afterlife than the one being presented by God’s Only Begotten Son?     

JUNE 07 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 07  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, Lord Your Mercy is given new to us every morning and Your Grace is sufficient to take us through everything that we will encounter on our daily journey to the Kingdom. Lord Jesus, I do not know what trials, what tribulations, what temptations, or what mountain top victories that You have planned for us today but I do know that You have promised to never leave us nor forsake us and that You will take us “through” every valley, trial, and temptation safely so that we may have confidence that every thing works to our good if we but Love the Lord. Jesus, to You be the Glory and all Honor for Worthy is the Lamb of God that was slain, that we could be called the children of God!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus knows how to get our attention and I am sure that the “attention-getter” word above is “profit” ——— and everyone must deal with “profit” in our daily world and the necessity of “earning a living” in what “profiteers” call a “dog-eat-dog” world. These are the “ways” of the world and it is because that we have been taught for generations that “mammon is king” that we now look at this term “profit” as “money” and that as we read the verse, we think only in terms of how big our bank account is. There is a reason that Jesus used the term “profit” and even in my limited intellect I can see the advantage of Jesus using a “universal” term to gain “universal” attention to Teach a “universal” lesson. The lessons that we miss though are the really important ones that are overlooked when we lazily settle for the “low hanging fruit” for we have also been taught by the world that “instant gratification” is the Holy Grail of getting “more” so we grab that which is most easily reached and can quickly be consumed so that we, like locust,  can consume as much as our voracious appetites for “more” demands. Jesus, being the Master Teacher therefore puts a “universally” known term into the Question along with terms lesser known by the world in order to get our attention away from the “physical world” to focus on the “spiritual world” and in the comparison Jesus shows us the “True Value” of what we desire to possess. To make His point, Jesus uses the term “profit” at the beginning of the Question but the way the Question is asked we must start comparing the term “profit” with the term “soul”! In our daily lives we are always thinking about how we are going to “pay” for things like food, clothing, shelter, and the “really” important things like vacations, TVs, cell phones, data plans, and computers but very seldom do we think of using anything but “money” to pay for all our worldly stuff — in fact, we are so consumed by “making a living” that we fail to understand the term “profit” correctly or to consider the “true value” of our possessions! Our attention on the world and money is by the enemy’s design, and Jesus knows that He must open our eyes or we will be blind to the TRUTH that the “world and money” can NOT buy anything “Everlasting” — therefore Jesus grabs our attention with the word “profit” and immediately Teaches with the phrase “if he gains the whole world” which defines the true meaning of “profit” as “gain”. So in the JQ#19 Question is the start of the Lesson of “What is it in our life that we must address to make ‘true gains’ in our life that have ‘everlasting’ or ‘eternal consequences’”??? — Jesus Taught His disciples this Lesson several different ways and we read the advice of “the disciple that Jesus loved“ and also the disciple that wrote the final Jesus Lesson: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” as John teaches what He learned from Jesus about the world: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world ———the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life ——— is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)  That pretty much sums up where Jesus is going with this “profit of the world” verses our “eternal soul” Lesson. We see by the followup question Jesus asks “Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul” (Matthew 16:26b — second part of JQ#19) that Jesus has Masterfully brought out the true meaning of “profit” to get us thinking straight about our “eternal reality”. And now Jesus debunks the “money” myth by asking us what we think we have that is of any “spiritual value” that we can “exchange” for our “soul”??? — certainly it becomes obvious that Jesus is Teaching that all the money in the world is worthless when it comes to purchasing “eternity” and that our “soul” is “not for sale” at any worldly price! This is a very important Question for us to consider — “If ‘money’ is worthless in the Kingdom, what will we use to ‘purchase’ our ‘ticket to eternity’”? Surely Jesus has given us a clue in the Question and don’t you think that it may have something to do with our “soul” since He has used the terms “profit” and “exchange” and followed them both with the term “soul”? Jesus always gives the answer for every Question so let’s look at the context in the verses Matthew 16:21 to Matthew 17:13 and see what Jesus was Teaching when He asked this question about “…what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world?” Do you believe, like me, that Jesus gives us the answer by the way HE LIVED? 

JUNE 06 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 06  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,  Lord of all creation, Giver of Life, You Lord are Victorious over “death and the grave” and Your expressed “Purpose” was “not to condemn the world”, but through Your Sacrifice the world would be saved from our sins, sins which of our own volition curse our eternity resulting in our eternal separation from God ——— but because the Son was Obedient to the Will of the Father and endured the Cross for the sake of the sins of the world, we now have the HOPE and ASSURANCE based on the Promise of God that turning from our sin and seeking God’s Forgiveness, we are FORGIVEN because of the Great Sacrifice of Jesus! Thank You, Praise You, and Glory to God for we have heard the Words of Victory shouted out from that Cross, “It is FINISHED!!!”          AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is always using His last Question and our current circumstances to take us “deeper still” into the knowledge and understanding of God and His Kingdom and along the “Way” Jesus “motivates” us to look expectantly with Great Hope to our “Future” with Him in the Kingdom. JQ#18 was asked to get us thinking about “who” Jesus is “in Spirit and in Truth” for Jesus wants us to be assured that when we face God at the “Final Judgement” we will have the “correct answer” to give to God. Jesus very clearly stated this as He was discussing this “Final Judgement” and making sure we know what to say and do when we find ourselves in God’s Presence and how to prepare with our day-to-day existence to “meet our Maker” when Jesus said to the woman seeking Truth about God: “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24) Now in JQ#19 Jesus asks the next Question which moves us from the “spiritual” realm into the the “physical” world and Jesus locks His Divine Laser beam on the main problem man faces on a day-to-day basis — and that issue is “profit”! Let us stop and consider the world we live in and see if there is any basis to this “theory” that everything is “profit driven” — the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about “profit” is the Super Bowl! Now before you get off on a tangent about your favorite team, please consider this in terms of the phrase “…what profit is it to man…” and I will submit these facts from Super Bowl 50 in 2016 : A “30 second advertising spot” sold between $4,600,000.00 to 5,000,000.00 and the 50 year total on advertising alone is officially at $5,900,000,000.00. This is for “advertising” only and is only the “reported” numbers used for “tax” purposes. To make the point clear we must consider that the $5,900,000,000.00 (unreported expenses could easily be the same amount) represents an “investment” by the business and can you guess why so much money was “invested”? Business must make a “profit” from their “investments” or they cannot remain in business so it is safe to say that if a business is willing to invest such large sums of money, and they do it for 50 years, it is because there is a “lucrative” reward from their financial “investment” in the form of “profit” and in order to remain in business the “profit” must exceed the “investment”. 

So if Jesus asks about “profit” well over 2000 years before the first Super Bowl then we must admit that Jesus obviously knows something about the future “ways” of the world and so it would be wise for us to listen to Him and consider how much time we spend in our day-to-day lives seeking “profit” and how much time we spend in our day-to-day lives seeking “divine purpose”?  

If Jesus “invested” His time into us, we should be seeking to understand what kind of “profit” Jesus is telling us is appropriate for our “soul”! Jesus keeps asking Questions and we should keep thinking not only about answering His Questions honestly, but we should also consider what He is trying to accomplish and for JQ#18 and JQ#19 the comparison between the “physical” (our body) and the “spiritual” (our soul) keeps coming to my mind. In Psalm 139, King David whom God described as a “man after My own heart…” wrote: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)  This verse seems to me to be a prayer that Jesus is answering in our daily lives by making us search our own heart to see if any wicked way such as “seeking physical profit instead of spiritual purpose”  exists in us and that the reward for our effort is that if we follow Jesus we will find the “way everlasting”! 

One other verse was placed before me as a thought to consider about the upcoming “Final Judgement” for those that seek “spiritual purpose” ——— “There is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8) 

When was the last time you went to take a “final exam” and didn’t study the material you knew would be on the test? I can tell you from experience that the results of such “foolish” behavior is “Failure” with a Capitol “F” !?!?!?! Jesus is preparing us to meet God and God has already spoken: “This is My Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” (Luke 9:35) 

JUNE 05 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 05  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, Lord and Savior, Redeemer and Friend, Praise be to the Son, Glory to the Father, and Honor to the Holy Spirit of God that comforts us in times of trouble. Lord, we seek daily to know the will of the Father for our lives as we look to Him for our daily bread. Jesus, You have commanded that we love one another as You Love the Church so help us understand that in order to “LOVE AS CHRIST LOVES” that we must also daily take up our cross and follow Him, knowing that our Way is narrow but the destination is eternal. Help us realize that Jesus demonstrated His Love by suffering on His cross that was daily before Him. Help us Holy Spirit to “understand” that the Work of God the Father was accomplished by the Obedience of the Son upon that Cross and to know that our cross can only be carried by the strength given to us by God through Jesus Christ!     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus had just asked “who” we believe Him to be and made us look inward at ourselves when He took us aside personally and asked us point blank in JQ#18, “Who do YOU say I am?” (Matthew 16:15) This juxtaposition of these JQ#18 and JQ#19 is very dramatic when one considers Jesus is first confronting us with what our inmost and most sincere belief about Him really is and then while we are dealing introspectively with “what” we truly believe about Jesus, He immediately throws in this JQ#19 Question that brings our focus on “why” do we believe what we believe!?! Jesus had prefaced the “who-do-you” Question with a “what-do-men” Question which really made it serious and personal and took away the scapegoat-false-theology of “they say” ——— (“they say” has been a curse upon our nation for the past several generations). Then immediately when Jesus has us on this personal level He goes for that “next level” of our “understanding” of God by making us not only consider “what” do we believe about Him but Jesus makes us consider “why” do we believe it?!?!   The big Hollywood phrase for actors when they try out for a part is the question, “What is your motivation?” (for this character to do the things that is written for that part) because the producers and directors want to know if the actor can convince the audience that their “actions” are “real”? The producers and directors know that if the actor can “sell” the part then the movie will be “profitable”! How easily does God get right to the point with each Question and Lesson that He has laid out with such Divine Precision ———  so we can quickly see in the JQ#19 Question that God says that if we will stop and examine “why” we “act” the way we do, that we will gain an “understanding”  of who we we are in TRUTH and that Life is not a “play”. God desires us to know that our physical reality should be motivated by His Divine Spiritual Reality as we see His Great Wisdom in this Question. I can hear God speaking in today’s language saying something like this, “Dude, is money all you think about?” There is no amount of money that can buy your way into heaven, not all the money in the world, and besides, once you are dead your money goes to someone else. Can’t you see that history has proven without a doubt that your body and your money stay on the earth and will rot and decay? Our law books are filled with laws that once your physical body is pronounced dead, your money first is taxed and taken by the government and what’s left goes to someone still alive and then your cold dead body must be either burned and your ashes scattered or you must be put into a cold dark grave! Either you believe you have a soul that is eternal or you are in hell already because your soul is spiritual and is a separate part of your physical existence! If you haven’t provided for your soul’s eternal existence then it must remain in the cold dark grave with your rotting body — not a good thought, huh? 

As the commercial says, your soul is “priceless”, therefore, if you sell your soul for any amount you have been cheated! Let me ask you this simple question, “If you could take all the wealth in the world with you when you die, then where do you think you can spend it and what do you think you can buy with it?” 

Let us therefore, having brought our attention to “what” we believe about Jesus, let us then focus that attention on “why” we believe those things and what is our “motivation” for our actions as we consider the next Jesus Question: JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26) This would be a good time to consider taking inventory of  your “Spiritual Treasures” as you ponder “How much is my “soul” spiritually worth in God’s eyes?”  

JUNE 04 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#18 “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)

 JUNE 04  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#18  “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, I come before You today with a thankful heart that I can come before You today — Lord, I know that I take it for granted that any time I decide to pray to You that You will hear my prayer but Lord today it is evident to me that You being there any time I pray is another reason that we should give You Praise and Glory and Honor. In God’s Great Plan for the world He has ordained that Salvation and Prayer will be as free and abundant as air and water and through Jesus we will have our “daily bread” and “living water” and the “blessed assurance” of eternal life! Praise the Father who has Promised to NEVER leave us nor forsake us and who gave us PRAYER that we may confidently approach the throne of Grace. Thank You Father that we can know that Jesus has finished the work You gave Him to do so that we have “Blessed Assurance” that You will hear our prayers as soon as they are lifted. Also we give thanks that Your Spirit  inhabits our Praise — So Lord Jesus, I lift my Prayer of Thanksgiving and give You Praise that You have chosen to be our God — may we never lose sight of the great Freedom that Your Grace imparts to all men.     AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus never leaves us hanging once He asks a Question. Jesus asked His disciples “who do men say…I am” (Matthew 16:13) and then made His Lesson clear as He immediately responded to their answer of who men were saying that Jesus was by asking the really important Question “…but who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15) thereby Teaching the disciples that what they have witnessed Jesus doing and have heard Him declaring about Himself IS TRUTH and that we should Trust what God Himself reveals to us and not depend on the doctrines of men. Jesus then responded to Peter when Peter answered the “who-do-you-say-I-am-Question” by declaring that Jesus is “…the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus then acknowledged that our understanding of God comes directly from God Himself! Jesus confirmed TWELVE TRUTHS OF GOD through these Questions and His immediate explanations — here are TWELVE TRUTHS OF GOD as they were revealed through these two “simple” Questions found in Matthew 16:13,15: 

(Truth 1) What men say about God does not change the Truth of who God is. 

(Truth 2) God expects us to form our own personal opinion of who He is. 

(Truth 3) Jesus is the Christ. 

(Truth 4) Jesus is the Son of the living God. 

(Truth 5) God is not dead, He is living and is concerned about our eternal Salvation. 

(Truth 6) God will reveal His Truth to us. 

(Truth 7) God desires to be our “Father” which reveals His desire that we be His Sons and Daughters and 

(Truth 8) He has Promised to Provide for us if we but Trust Him, and believe in the “the Work of God” Jesus was sent to accomplish — the atonement of our sin that we may be clothed in the “Righteousness” of Jesus and can approach the Throne of Grace with great confidence that our “Father” desires us to come to Him with our every need and concern. 

(Truth 9) Jesus declared that on the revealed Truth from God He will build His Church. 

(Truth 10) Flesh and blood cannot reveal Truth but Truth will come by the Spirit of God to those that seek Him. 

(Truth 11) The foundation of the Church is the “rock” that is Jesus and the Truth that Jesus is the Christ and the TRUTH that

(Truth 12) Jesus IS the Son of the living God and has been given “authority” by the “Father” and therefore, we should believe that Father God sent His Son Jesus as God’s Plan for our Salvation, as Jesus has declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Only JESUS, the Master Teacher and the Son of the Living God who has chosen to reveal Himself to us could Teach us so much Truth with two simple Questions — perhaps we should stop one last time and look at  these two Questions back to back and see what additional “Truths” God will reveal: (1) “Who do men say…[Jesus is]?” (Matthew 16:13) and (2) “Who do [we ourselves] say … [Jesus is]?” (Matthew 16:15)  It’s worth a couple of extra minutes here at this point to know the TRUTH of GOD or are you really to busy in your daily life to “wait on the Lord” who has promised that “He will give you rest” and reveal His TRUTH to you while you’re waiting?!?!?