MARCH 02 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#07 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26)

 MARCH 02  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#07 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord I pray that Your Spirit will continue to consume me, Lord I proclaim as Paul did, I know that I have not yet attained the goal but I press on to the finish which is a race that I cannot run on my own strength, Lord I need You, I need Your daily Mercy and Grace and I do TRUST You to finish the good work You have begun in me. 

There is nothing in me besides YOU that can move my soul towards the prize of the high calling of service to the Kingdom so therefore refresh and renew in me a “Right Spirit” and “create in me a clean heart O God”!    

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

JESUS is asking a most revealing Kingdom Question with JQ#07 - “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26a) and so far we haven’t even really considered the context in which this personal Question was asked. We looked at the immediate circumstance of Jesus and His disciples being in a “great tempest” after they had followed Jesus onto a boat and then when the tempest beset them His disciples panicked — but Jesus was sleeping. Of course, we like the disciples, see the waves and the tempest and we consider the physical consequences of drowning in our storms but we miss the spiritual consequences of (1) following Jesus through the storm and (2) trusting Him to “calm” even the worst “tempest” in our lives and (3) to know that our “faith” in JESUS is the only thing in our earthly lives 

that has “Sublime Eternal” consequences. 

The larger context of the circumstances of the “Teachings” of Jesus to His disciples should also be observed in terms of what the disciples had seen Jesus doing immediately prior to them getting on the boat and then ask ourselves if those actions of Jesus should have built their “faith” in His Power and Divine Nature???  

After Jesus Taught the disciples the parable of the “two builders” (Matthew 7:24-27) which introduced the concept that we should build the “foundation” of our “faith” on “solid rock”, (see 1 Samuel 2:2b “Nor is there any ROCK like our God.) Jesus then laid the “ground floor” of our “faith in Jesus” by (1) healing the servant of a centurion as Jesus connected His Healing Power to our Faith Building when Jesus told the centurion (A) “I will come and heal him.” (Matthew 8:7) and (B) “Then Jesus said to the centurion, ‘Go your way; as you have believed, so let it be done for you.’ And his servant was healed that same hour.” (Matthew 8:13). Jesus continued His Lesson on His Healing Power when next He came to Peter’s house “ … [Jesus] saw [Peter’s] wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.” (Matthew 8:14-15) That very same evening the disciples had witnessed the villagers where Peter lived bringing “to [JESUS] many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick…” (Matthew 8:16) So Jesus gives the parable of the “two builders” to encourage the disciples to “build their faith” on Him and then He immediately demonstrates His Divine Power and Compassion for all people by “healing” both their “physical” and their “spiritual” ailments! 

When the tempest arose, the disciples acted like they hadn’t seen these Divine Attributes of Jesus — all the disciples could see was the “physical world” as they got into a boat, and then the boat gets in a great storm, and the wind and the waves of the tempest makes the disciples go into full panic mode — and the first thing Jesus says upon awakening and seeing their panic is,

 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26) ???  

JQ#07 should awaken us to the “obvious” that Jesus is in control of both the “physical” and the “spiritual” worlds and that He also has control over the natural world in which we live our day-to-day lives. 

If we also look at His Resurrection  we will see that He has control over our eternity as well so “Why are we fearful of the world and death” when all we have to do is to have FAITH in the ONE who died for our sins, rose the third day, sits at the right hand of God and makes intercession for us?    

Jesus gave us all the resources we need to build our

 “Faith in God” 

but He wants us to hammer a nail or two ourselves!!!

MARCH 01 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#07 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26)

 MARCH 01  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#07 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer

JESUS, Lord I come before You this morning renewed and refreshed in Your Spirit and I praise You for Your Love. Lord, we deserve punishment 

but You Lord bore our sins and iniquities on 

THE CROSS AT CALVARY WHERE YOU DIED AND BECAME THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE SACRIFICE FOR ALL SIN. 

Through Your Great Sacrifice our sins have been paid in full. Lord I know that I am not worthy of Your Love and that my unworthiness has been substituted by Your Righteousness and in the Father’s eyes I am an heir to the Kingdom because of what was accomplished by You, God, and the Holy Spirit on Resurrection Sunday — I pray that every day I will awake and arise to face the world and that I will keep full in my mind that You ARE RISEN victorious over the world and that You will walk with me every step of my Journey to Truth!    

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS 

JESUS in JQ#07 has begun Teaching the Importance of “Faith in God” in our daily lives and the Ultimate Importance of “Faith in God” for our Eternal lives!!! Our “Faith in God” cannot  become “sight” unless we understand that without the “Light of Jesus” we will remain blind and in darkness — for until we are “born again into the light” that the world is “without form, and void; and darkness” (Genesis 1:2) covers our daily lives.

 When Jesus asks a Question, He is challenging us to use our God-given intellect to open our spiritual eyes and exercise our “trust” in God’s Infinite Knowledge. In JQ#07 Jesus ties together two terms “fearful” and “faith” and His use of these two terms in such close proximity should get our attention. When I stopped and re-read the Question trying to see the “Sublime Obvious”, I was rewarded by seeing that Jesus asked the “Question” but He also gave the “Answer” while asking the “Question”!  The “Divine Obvious” that came to me was to look at JQ#07 in two parts but keeping them tied together like this:

 Part A (the Question) “Why are you fearful” and Part B (the Answer) “O you of little faith”. (Matthew 8:26a)  The Question is about being “fearful” and He answers His Question by directing our attention to our “faith”. Jesus puts the Question and the Answer together because He does not want us to over-think ourselves and therefore He makes it clear that we must grow our “Faith in God” 

if we desire NOT to be “fearful”. 

There is no other way to grow our “faith” without “Trusting God” and if we do not see God’s “Divine Obvious” world with our “spiritual” eyes we will not Trust God — and if there is no “Trust in God” then our lives will be lived in “fear” of the world that we see with our “physical” eyes! I believe it is of great importance in our “Spiritual Growth” that we acknowledge the “Divine Obvious” thing God did to address the problem of darkness in His Creative process — for in Genesis 1:3 the first SOLUTION spoken BY GOD in the new Creation was “Light” which God introduced into His newly created earth TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM that the earth was “without form and void” and was immersed in “darkness”. (Genesis 1:2a) 

The only source of power God employed was “the Spirit of God” (Genesis 1:2b) and He demonstrated the Spiritual Power of God when in the next verse we read: “Then [after recognizing the emptiness and darkness] God said, ‘Let there be light’ and there was light [problem solved by the Spirit of God!].” (Genesis 1:3)  

From these first three verses we see that God assessed the negative aspect of creation which is “lack of purpose” and “darkness” and solved the problem with  “the Spirit of God” speaking the solution with “let there be light.  — then — {through the Miracle of God’s Holy Spirit} “And there was light” . Just as God saw “darkness” as the problem and “light” as the solution, Jesus saw “fear” as a problem and “Faith in God” as the solution and the answer to all our questions and fears should be to focus our “spiritual eyes” on Jesus. 

Jesus told the most intellectual “Pharisee” of his generation named Nicodemus (who admitted Jesus was from God but Nicodemus wanted to know what Jesus had come to teach?)  Jesus told Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3) and then Jesus made it perfectly clear that just as we have a “physical” birth into the world that we must have a “spiritual birth” to enter “the kingdom of God” when He tells Nicodemus:

 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6) 

and in JQ#07 Jesus tells us to grow our “Faith in God” to calm our “fears” —

 therefore we should open our 

“Spiritual Eyes” 

to see the growth potential in what God accomplished in His Crowning Glory 

of Resurrection Sunday if we just “BELIEVE” in God’s Only Begotten Son Jesus who defeated death and the grave and offers Eternal Life through

 “FAITH IN GOD THE FATHER”! 

FEBRUARY 29 [LEAP YEAR 2024] THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#07-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#7 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26)

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FEBRUARY 29, 2024   LEAP YEAR  

FEBRUARY 29  [LEAP YEAR 2024] THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#07-03 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#7 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, in 2004 when You first started me on the narrow path You awoke in me the Holy Spirit to teach me how to pray and what to pray for and for that “spiritual awakening” I give You “Praise and Glory” for without those guidances from the Holy Spirit I know that I would not have been able to “know the Way” — Lord Jesus, I submit 2004 prayer today FEBRUARY 29 because Your Truth is Eternal: “…Lord remember me when You come into Your Kingdom. For men there is no hope without Your Sacrifice, for there is no man that could keep all the points of “The Law” or live a perfect sinless life before Almighty God, we are all weak and have been born into a sin nature. Lord, I make no pretense anymore that there is any “Good” in me 

except for the faith that I have in the things You have done,

 Lord Jesus. 

Grant it Lord that I might grow in that “faith in Jesus Christ” day-by-day and that my “self” will fade into nothingness as You come into Your Kingdom in my very soul.”    

AMEN

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, in 2004 when You first started me on the narrow path You awoke in me the Holy Spirit to teach me how to pray and what to pray for and for that “spiritual awakening” I give You “Praise and Glory” for without those guidances from the Holy Spirit I know that I would not have been able to “know the Way” — Lord Jesus, I submit 2004 prayer today FEBRUARY 29 because Your Truth is Eternal: “…Lord remember me when You come into Your Kingdom. For men there is no hope without Your Sacrifice, for there is no man that could keep all the points of “The Law” or live a perfect sinless life before Almighty God, we are all weak and have been born into a sin nature. Lord, I make no pretense anymore that there is any “Good” in me except for the faith that I have in the things You have done, Lord Jesus. Grant it Lord that I might grow in that “faith in Jesus Christ” day-by-day and that my “self” will fade into nothingness as You come into Your Kingdom in my very soul.”    

AMEN

FEBRUARY 29, 2020   LEAP YEAR THE JESUS QUESTIONS

[POSTED BY LANNY LEWIS]       JQ#07>>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#7 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26)

Jesus always ties His Lessons together in an order that if we follow His Teachings we will be building our “Foundation of Faith in God” on “The Solid Rock” and today the Holy Spirit makes the connection between Resurrection Sunday, the Creation, and JQ#7: “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26a) will they will all be tied together by pointing out these similarities: (1) The Creation of All things “Physical” in Genesis (2) The Creation of All things “Spiritual” in Jesus on Resurrection Sunday (3) The lack of “faith” in those who overlook the “Obvious God” and (4) The growing of “faith in God” by belief in the things God has Already Done until that “faith in God” becomes “Spiritual Sight”. 

A thorough reading of the first 5 verses in the first Chapter of the first Book in God’s Bible will reveal things about God and the Creation of both the Physical World (Genesis 1:1) and His laying down the foundation upon which the Spiritual World (Genesis 1:3) is built.  These two worlds could only be built by an All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Almighty Creator God that can never be explained by man’s finite intellect which is bounded by man’s obsession with “self”. 

A thorough study of Resurrection Sunday will reveal the Creation of the Narrow Gate  whereby the believer that has grown their “faith” to the point that they can spiritually discern the will of God can see that the “Key” to finding the “Narrow Gate” is growing their “faith in Jesus”, the Only Begotten of the Father, to the point that their “faith in Jesus” has become “Spiritual Sight” to locate the “Narrow Gate” and once the “Narrow Gate” is located they will be able to use the “Key” to boldly “Enter by the Narrow Gate” into the Spiritual Creation realized by the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ! If one cannot accept that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) then their “faith” will not be able to accept that God planned Salvation from before creation and He accomplished His Master Plan through Resurrection Sunday. 

But if one is desirable of growing their “faith in God” until it becomes “Spiritual Sight” then the “Obvious God” will reveal how God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are One with the expressed purpose of “drawing all men” to the kingdom of God to be “One with Them”, and this “Spiritual Sight” comes from “Believing” the things that have already been accomplished by God so that we may enjoy the “miracle of being alive”. Further, we will see that God went through great lengths to accomplish so much good for our “life” that excitedly we will proclaim as did the disciples when they saw Jesus as He calmed the wind and the waves (that He had created):

 “So the men marveled, saying ‘Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’” (Matthew 8:27) 

and then we can exclaim with our newfound “Spiritual Sight” — 

“We have seen the “Obvious” that this IS God, the Creator, who can do whatever He desires for His Creation, and He has chosen to give us Peace and Eternal Life through Jesus Christ!!!” 

God really is that “Obvious” and He really is that “Powerful” —

 just open your spiritual eyes!!!

Jesus always ties His Lessons together in an order that if we follow His Teachings we will be building our “Foundation of Faith in God” on “The Solid Rock” and today the Holy Spirit makes the connection between Resurrection Sunday, the Creation, and JQ#7: “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26a) will they will all be tied together by pointing out these similarities: (1) The Creation of All things “Physical” in Genesis (2) The Creation of All things “Spiritual” in Jesus on Resurrection Sunday (3) The lack of “faith” in those who overlook the “Obvious God” and (4) The growing of “faith in God” by belief in the things God has Already Done until that “faith in God” becomes “Spiritual Sight”. 

A thorough reading of the first 5 verses in the first Chapter of the first Book in God’s Bible will reveal things about God and the Creation of both the Physical World (Genesis 1:1) and His laying down the foundation upon which the Spiritual World (Genesis 1:3) is built.  These two worlds could only be built by an All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Almighty Creator God that can never be explained by man’s finite intellect which is bounded by man’s obsession with “self”. 

A thorough study of Resurrection Sunday will reveal the Creation of the Narrow Gate  whereby the believer that has grown their “faith” to the point that they can spiritually discern the will of God can see that the “Key” to finding the “Narrow Gate” is growing their “faith in Jesus”, the Only Begotten of the Father, to the point that their “faith in Jesus” has become “Spiritual Sight” to locate the “Narrow Gate” and once the “Narrow Gate” is located they will be able to use the “Key” to boldly “Enter by the Narrow Gate” into the Spiritual Creation realized by the Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ! If one cannot accept that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1) then their “faith” will not be able to accept that God planned Salvation from before creation and He accomplished His Master Plan through Resurrection Sunday. 

But if one is desirable of growing their “faith in God” until it becomes “Spiritual Sight” then the “Obvious God” will reveal how God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are One with the expressed purpose of “drawing all men” to the kingdom of God to be “One with Them”, and this “Spiritual Sight” comes from “Believing” the things that have already been accomplished by God so that we may enjoy the “miracle of being alive”. Further, we will see that God went through great lengths to accomplish so much good for our “life” that excitedly we will proclaim as did the disciples when they saw Jesus as He calmed the wind and the waves (that He had created):

 “So the men marveled, saying ‘Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?’” (Matthew 8:27) 

and then we can exclaim with our newfound “Spiritual Sight” — 

“We have seen the “Obvious” that this IS God, the Creator, who can do whatever He desires for His Creation, and He has chosen to give us Peace and Eternal Life through Jesus Christ!!!” 

God really is that “Obvious” and He really is that “Powerful” —

 just open your spiritual eyes!!!

FEBRUARY 28 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#07 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#07 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26)

 FEBRUARY 28  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  JQ#07 >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< JQ#07 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, All Glory and All Honor ARE Yours and Yours alone, for the best of men with the greatest of intentions ALWAYS fall short of Your Glory. Yes, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that You are the LORD of lords and the KING of all kings. 

There is no one like JESUS, the Only Begotten of our Father in Heaven, who from the beginning of time had an appointment with suffering and death and this same Jesus gave up His Glory in Heaven, descended to earth, became flesh, met His Divine appointment at the exact moment in history God had predestined before the foundation of the earth to Raise His Only Begotten Son Victorious over death and the grave on the Third Day, never will another time in all eternity match the Matchless Moment of the Salvation for ALL  mankind as Jesus bore our iniquities on His Shoulders and died for our sins, the Perfect Sacrificial Offering of God the Father for the sins and iniquities of the world!   

 And NEVER will 3 words mean so much to so many as Jesus declared that GOD’S WORK of SALVATION IS COMPLETE — JESUS SPOKE THESE 3 WORDS FROM THE CROSS — 

“IT IS FINISHED” !!!     

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus has raised two important topics for our consideration with JQ#07 and yesterday the Spirit led these writings to tie JQ#07 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26a) into Lessons from the Resurrection because how can one be fearful of our lives when “God has demonstrated His Love towards us that while we were yet sinners God sent His Son to be the propitiation of those sins” (Romans 5:8)  which should also give us “great faith in God”!  

Today that example of “faith in God” will be expanded to give some specific details that teach us that God has done so many things to reveal His Greatness to us that we should never be fearful of neither life nor death — yet we overlook the obvious things God has done for us in providing for daily needs in our day-to-day lives and we still stand fearful of the world?!? Every chapter and verse in all 66 books of our Bible Teach us a Lesson on who God is and what is His intention for the world. 

Mankind however, from the Beginning has been deceived by the world and each one of us has had to face the reality that God proves Himself to be a Loving-Forgiving God that Demands Justice, and is Jealous of His Glory. But each and everyone of us that faces that reality is given the most valuable gift anyone could receive and that “pearl of great worth” is that we are all free to choose God and Trust Him or we can also choose not to believe that God is who He says He is — 

The “Pearl of Freewill” is that we are free to choose our own “God/god” - but we must accept the responsibility of taking care of ourselves if we choose to believe in a false god of our own imagination - which if we choose to not believe in God, then we are “casting our pearls before swine”!  

“Freedom of Choice” is the single greatest “test of faith” 

the ENTIRE HUMAN RACE will face!

 Let me give the most obvious reason that we should believe that God is who He says He is:  Our “little faith” is related back to Resurrection Sunday but has roots all the way back to Genesis 1:1-5. The first concept we can derive of God from His Word is from the very first verse in Genesis “In the beginning God created the heaven’s and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)     

<<<<<<< The first characteristic of God is that He is the Creator (Provider) of everything that we have consciousness of, both in “heaven” and on the “earth”. What is overlooked about this passage is the obvious that if God “created” every thing “in the beginning” of all things, then God Himself was before the “beginning” and is Himself Uncreated. This is referred to by scholars as the “self-existence” of God. >>>>>>>    

Mr. A.W. Tozer wrote in his book “The Knowledge of the Holy” that “Aside from God, nothing is self-caused.” (Chapter 5 “The Self-Existence of God” pg.25) — Only the Creator of all things can establish the laws governing all things and has control of all things and therefore we should recognize the obvious that He who controls all things is “in control of all things”!!! 

 It is a simple concept, but JQ#07 exposes that fact that we overlook

 the obvious as we read in the Book of Matthew

“…Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm.” (Matthew 8:26b). 

The significance of the fact that the disciples were in a storm yet Jesus Himself was asleep, and that when He awoke He immediately reprimanded His disciples in the boat with Him by asking them: “why are you fearful” (Matthew 8:26a) is, that after rebuking them about their “fear” of the world’s circumstances and their lack of “faith”,  Jesus turned immediately and addressed the source of their “fear” as “[Jesus] rebuked the winds and the sea” (Matthew 8:26b) !!! 

Only the Creator of all things controls all things and can take a “”storm” and produce “a great calm”. 

Think about all that God has done and documented in His Holy Word 

commanding us to “be anxious for nothing” 

and then answer the JQ#07 Question: 

“Why are you fearful?”  

Fear is of the world and worldly circumstances but PEACE comes only from the “Creator of the heavens and the earth” and He-Who-Controls-All-Things!! It is a “CHOICE” to “fear the world controlled by doctrines of men” or  to “have PEACE from the Creator of the Universe” — “Choose this day whom you will serve”!!!! (Joshua 24:15)