FEBRUARY 24 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

 FEBRUARY 24  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord Jesus, the Only Begotten of the Father, Son of the Living God, my Redeemer, Savior, You are the Christ! You Lord are the fulfillment of Prophecy, You lived the Perfect Life, You Suffered as the Perfect Sacrifice and Paid the Penalty that I could not pay, You died in my place, Your side was pierced as You were hanging Dead on the Cross, Your Body was Broken, Your Blood was Shed, You were laid in a grave! 

You Lord, being Loved by the Father was Obedient even unto death and the grave 

and on the Third Day You AROSE 

and the Greatest Testimony ever given was proclaimed: 

“HE IS ALIVE”!!!  

As a follower of Jesus Christ there can be no greater TRUTH OF GOD in our life — Jesus is the Resurrection!!! Praise God!!!    

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS began JQ#06 with a simple Question about gathering “grapes from thornbushes” and “figs from thistles” that may seem totally out of context for a Truth of God Question but it makes perfect sense if you consider the warning Jesus gave us before asking the Question about “grapes” and “figs”:

 “Beware of false prophets…” and then telling us how to identify them,

 “…you will know them by their fruits…” (Matthew 7:15-16) 

On the surface this seems like a mundane Question but consider that first of all that it is Jesus who is asking and secondly Jesus never asked a Question that did not point us to a Truth of God  to help us live a successful life. Of course, we don’t get “grapes from thornbushes” nor do we get “figs from thistles” but if we are not careful and discerning about where we get the sustenance of our daily lives then we could end up prey to “ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing”! 

Jesus then applies simple logic: 

“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.”

 (Matthew 7:17-18)

 Then Jesus gives us the “Divine Spiritual Caution”  when He tells us,

 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Matthew 7:19-20) 

Once Jesus gets us to thinking in terms of God’s Truth that we can know if a tree is “Good” or “Bad” just by observing the “fruit” produced by that tree, Jesus then proclaims that a tree that does not bear “good fruit” will be judged by God and the penalty for producing nothing but “bad fruit” is that the “bad” tree will be “cut down and thrown into fire”! Jesus is Teaching us with this simple Question that we will be judged by the fruit that our lives produce, not what we “say” we are going to do, but did our actions actually produce “good fruit” or “bad fruit”??? 

 “Good fruit” gives nourishment and the bearer of good fruit will be rewarded with an abundant life,  but bad fruit produces no good results and simply consumes the nutrient from the soil without providing any benefit to others; therefore, the tree must be cut down and burned so that the life giving nutrients will be returned to the soil and will be used by the good tree to provide life to those that consume the good fruit from a good tree. 

Jesus has us focused on our producing “good fruit" for the benefit of others then He really gets “Real” when He then amplifies this Lesson about not just “saying” we will do good but by actually “doing” good when He says,

 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21) 

Wow, Jesus took us in a matter of minutes from thinking “of course we don’t get grapes from thistles” — to clearly telling us that “it is the Will of [our] Father in heaven” that we “produce good fruit” and join Him “in heaven” but if we don’t produce good fruit and suck up the nourishment for ourselves only then we will be “cut down” and “thrown into the fire”. 

In simple terms — If we follow Jesus and His Teachings we will know the will of God and if we know the will of God we will produce “good fruit” but if we simply declare we are followers but do not produce any good fruit, our Father in heaven will judge us, not by what we “said” we would do, but what “fruit” we produced with our actions in the way of “good fruit” for the kingdom and for the sake of others. 

This Lesson sounds simple but how quickly Jesus, the Master Teacher,  transforms  the “simple” into the “Sublime” — That’s what Jesus does with our simple lives — but only if we do “the will of [our] Father in heaven”!!!

FEBRUARY 23 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

 FEBRUARY 23  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer

JESUS, Precious Jesus, thank you for the visit from the Holy Spirit yesterday that reminded me that every day is a “Good Day” because of Your Sacrifice on the Cross and what that means to the world and its great impact on not only our eternity but in our everyday lives — but mostly for the Great Sacrifice You Personally made and the Personal Suffering You endured for my sake! 

Lord Jesus, as I think about all You have done for me I am also reminded by the Spirit that part of that Suffering was for You to be in the grave and experience death for us so that at the end of our life we would look forward to sharing another experience that You so Graciously Share with believers! Just like You experienced “life” for us by being born of the flesh, You also have experience “death” for us, and not just “death” but the worst death imaginable so that You can Truly say “I know what you’re going through and Rejoice for I Am the Victorious Life and I am also Victorious in death! Praise be the Name Jesus Christ. 

 AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS has now taken us through 5 Questions that have been woven together as only the Master Weaver can and now He is beginning a new section with a new Question but the object is the same, to Teach us the Truth of God! This new section for JQ#06 in Matthew 7:15-29 which actually contains two Questions, but if the section is studied in context, both Questions are essentially the same, just asked at different angles which Jesus always does to get us to think more completely about the Lesson and the Truth of God that He is trying to Teach us. 

As I studied this section I see that it is broken into 3 sub-sections. Sub-section 1 is verses 15-20 and deals with “false prophets”, Sub-section 2 is verses 21-23 and deals with false profession of who our “Lord” really is, and Sub-section 3 is verses 24-29 and is a parable of two builders and warns us to build our lives on the True Foundation that is the “solid rock” and not on a false foundation that is the ever-changing sands of humanism. 

There is one key phrase that the Holy Spirit pointed out that pulls this all together and that is where Jesus is Teaching the parable of the two builders and in the middle of His Teaching He says:

 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand…” (Matthew 7:26) 

This verse spoke to me and said that if we “listen and hear what Jesus is saying” and “study His sayings” then we will not “fall for false prophets” nor profess anyone but “Jesus Himself as Lord” and we will not be guilty of having 

“prophesied in any name but the Name of Jesus”. 

And lastly the obvious: if we build our life on the “Rock” that we will have 

a True Shelter in time of storm. 

Read this passage again with these thoughts in mind and see if Matthew 7:15-29 is not 3 insights to the same issue of being a True Christian, for we can only truly be a Christian if we listen, live, and follow Jesus Christ, and Him Only! From this viewpoint we can give Jesus the obvious answer to His two Questions found in this section:

JQ#6a — “Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16) and  

JQ#6b — “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’” (Matthew 7:22) 

To fully answer this Question we must also recall that during one Passover in Jerusalem that Jesus performed many signs and wonders and many believed in Him because they had seen His Miraculous “signs” yet we read:

 “but Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,

 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, 

for He knew what was in man.” (John 2:24-25) 

Therefore we should be very careful to build our Spiritual Life on the solid “Rock”!  

FEBRUARY 22 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

 FEBRUARY 22  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#06 “Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, today Lord as I awake with the “Joyful” thought that it’s going to be a “Good” day I stop and remind myself where that “joy and confidence” comes from — JESUS!!! — and my heart rejoices because You are the “Good Good Father” and you have “Good Plans” for us! Help me LORD to share with everyone that they may know that every day with God is a “Good Day”! My prayer is that our  “Good Father” will be revealed today to those that do not understand why the Cross is “Good News”!! Nothing but the Precious Blood of the Son of the “Good Father” could purchase such “Joy” — “Joy” everlasting because of Your Eternal Victory over Sin, Death, and the Grave! 

There is no thought so dynamic as God-Very-God 

choosing out of Love for the unloveable 

to be the Sacrificial Lamb for the Sins of the world, 

and the Son of the “Good Father”, willingly and in Pure Innocence, 

Suffering for all our sins on the Cross at Calvary! 

Then, in His Grave, He defeated Death, 

and on the Third Day was Risen by the “Good Father” 

to Eternal Victory over sin, death and the grave! 

Praise God, the “Good Father”, 

Jesus the “Good Son”, 

and the Holy “Good Spirit” of God 

from whom ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!    

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS with His unique JESUS Questions/Lessons proves that He IS the Master Teacher — for only the Master can Teach such Deep Truths of God just by getting His students to answer simple day-to-day questions. Jesus never Taught just one Lesson with only a single moral implication but with each Lesson Jesus revealed a Deeper Truth of God so that we could begin to glimpse God’s Bigger Truth picture for the world. Jesus is also revealing the Father and the Father’s Heart to us that we may come to know the Greatness of God’s Love. 

This next section was originally two JESUS Questions but after studying this section (Matthew 7:15-29) of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit made it clear that both Questions (Matthew 7:16 and Matthew 7:22) are in essence the same. These “JESUS Questions” should be studied for God’s Truth and to glimpse God’s Glory as we learn about the Magnificent Characteristics of Almighty God! 

As I stated before, when I first started reading this section it seemed like several small sections thrown in at the end of Chapter 7 but then as I read and studied, it now seems like Jesus is actually bringing up these questions to get our attention and then He Teaches one of His many parables using our curiosity generated by these simple Questions. Matthew 7:21 has always caused me discomfort but after applying the parable to my personal uneasiness I have come to another of those places where Jesus shines His Light on my discomfort and illuminates another “Peace” that can only come through a study of Holy Scripture. 

So not only is Jesus Teaching us God’s Truths, He is also confirming where we are to obtain the seeds of God’s Truths, where and how to plant God’s Truths, and how to know that through God’s Truths He is blessing our lives — which is the only True Peace we will ever find in our day-to-day lives. 

Read through the sections in Matthew 7:15-29 and UNDERSTAND THAT they are all Teaching Divine Truth as only the True Master Teacher can! This section starts with a warning: “Beware of false prophets…” (Matthew 7:15) then gives us a test to apply to false teachers: “Therefore by their fruits you will know them…” (Matthew 7:20) but then Jesus points out that only God’s Truths will stand as the “Witness” at our “judgment” when He declares: “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you…” (Matthew 7:23) 

Jesus then Teaches us the parable of two builders which illustrates that we should choose wisely where we build our “house” and what we should use as the “foundation” of our “spiritual life”! See Matthew 7:24-27  for the parable but consider Matthew 7:15-23 as Questions to get us thinking along certain terms that adds Godly Truth to the Teaching of the parable of the two builders. I would also ask you to consider these as additional revelations from God on His “Law of Choice and Consequence” as there are several “choices” presented in this section and as always God is perfectly clear as to what He has already declared before the foundations of the earth as the “consequence” of our actions. Tomorrow we will begin deciding on materials to use to build our “foundation” as we look at what Jesus Teaches us about  “false prophets”.

FEBRUARY 21 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#05 “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8)

 FEBRUARY 21  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#05  “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:8)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Praise You Lord Jesus for the work that You have given us to do in Your Name. We know that You can do all things and that in reality You do not need us but You chose to let us participate in the Kingdom Work with You! O Blessed thought that Your Spirit empowers us and we can proclaim because of Your Grace that we “can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!” (Philippians 4:13) 

Lord I praise You because I know I have no value to the Kingdom unless I do my deeds in Your Holy Name — I praise You also because You value me because that is what You have chosen to do — therefore I can quote Your Holy Scripture with great joy, 

“I have chosen you, to be My own precious possession.” 

(Deuteronomy 7:60) 

Lord Jesus, I pray daily to be crucified that daily I may be raised with You for I pray as did John, “[Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30)   

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS in Matthew 7:9-10 Jesus asks Questions with obvious answers and I believe that Jesus does this to make us realize that we overlook the obvious about “our Father in Heaven” (Matthew 6:9). The most Obvious fact from Matthew 7:9-10 is that if an Almighty God that can do anything His heart desires, choses to send His Only Begotten Son to become one of us, that “our Father in Heaven” has only “good” intentions for us on earth!!! 

God would not give His Only Begotten Son a “stone” if the Son “asks for bread”

 and the Loving Father would not give His Beloved Son a “serpent” if He asked for a “fish”!!! This should make it obvious to us that the Father desires good things for us. 

Jesus almost reprimands us for not understanding the “obvious” because Jesus immediately scolds us with the answer to His two “obvious” Questions in Matthew 7:9-10 by stating the “obvious” answer to us: 

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11) 

The fact is that God desires good for all men and is Teaching us that to be like Him that we also should desire good for others as Jesus immediately follows with another Truth of God: 

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12) 

If we study the teachings of the “Law” and the “Prophets” the main theme God Teaches us over and over through them is that we are to desire good for others and not evil. All ten of His commandments God gave as the “Law” through Moses are “God’s Laws” intended for our good and each “Law” deals with how to prevent being “evil” to God and to others! 

The “Prophets” deal with the history of man and the cycle of man choosing evil, the judgment of God that follows man’s choice, but then God providing a “Way” back to the Father through His Redemption and Grace — (more examples of the “Law of Choice and Consequences”) — Then we have Jesus stating emphatically that He came “to fulfill the Law” (Matthew 5:17”) and later Jesus connects “God’s Law” to “God’s Love” as Jesus proclaims: 

“A new commandment I give you; as I have loved you, 

that you also love one another.” (John 13:34) 

One cannot read the Bible as a whole without seeing a Loving Father who wants only good for His Family! For God, through His Holy Word, has provided a “Way” for us to be heirs with Him! 

God came to the world of fallen man and offered us Grace and Kinship for He Promises that 

“…as many as [receives] Him, to them He [gives] the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name; who [are] born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:11-13) 

It should be obvious that “our Father in heaven” Loves us and desires only good for His children—all we need to do is to “ask” the “Way” and “seek” the narrow gate, knowing with all “Faith in God” and confidence in His Goodness that our loving Father will “open” whenever we “knock”!!! (Matthew 7:13-14).