JANUARY 18 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-18: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

 

JANUARY  18  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-18: 

Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  

(Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer

JESUS, today my first thoughts towards You are thoughts of “Thankfulness” 

that You have done those things the Father asked You to do so that sinners

 such as I would have a way to Eternally Fellowship with the TRINITY

 through the Miracle of Grace — a Miracle that was bought with a 

Heavenly Price and yet given with an Unconditional Love that can 

never be reproduced! It is Your Divine Love that is freely poured out

 on everyone that calls on the Precious Name of Jesus. 

Lord, there is no way for us with our limited intellect to understand

 the Heavenly Dynamics that provides Grace to wretched souls because

 of the Holy Blood You Shed on the Cross on our behalf, nor why a 

Sacrificial Lamb could be slain before the foundation of the world —

 nor how the Shed Blood of the Lamb of God once applied to our Repentant

 hearts brings about the Miracle of Salvation —

 or why God Almighty The Great I AM would even consider the possibility

 of Forgiveness of the guilty and Offer His Only Begotten Son —

 O the Mystery of God to make such a Great Sacrifice of the Divine Innocent 

for the sake of sinful man!?!?!?!? 

LORD JESUS, HEAVENLY FATHER, HOLY SPIRIT 

our hearts overflow with three words: “THANK YOU LORD” 

for being the Great God You ARE!!!      

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus comes on the scene in the 3rd Chapter of His Gospel according

 to St. Matthew after Jesus is announced as the “Lamb of God” by the 

Star Witness sent by God for One specific purpose:

 “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man

 came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him

 might believe…that [JESUS] was the true Light which gives light to 

every man coming into the world.” (John 1:6-9)   

Matthew documents the fact that before Jesus came to be baptized

 by John that John the Baptist was already 

“preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying,

 ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’” (Matthew 3:2) 

Matthew was Jewish and was a well educated Jewish scholar and very

 familiar with the Jewish Holy Scriptures (known today as the “Tanakh”—

 the Hebrew Bible consisting of three sets of books: Torah, 

Nevi’im <prophets and histories> and Ketuvim <writings>) and knew the

 significance of John’s message to the nation Israel for there had been

 400 years of silence since Malachi the last prophet had written God’s declaration

 of the coming of the forerunner of the Messiah, 

“BEHOLD, I send My messenger, 

and he will prepare the way before Me.” (Malachi 3:1a)  

Matthew sensed through that same Holy Spirit that the LORD was once

 again speaking to Israel through His messenger, John the Baptist. This

 John who started declaring the need for repentance of sin because 

the “kingdom of heaven” was “at hand” is the “messenger” who was

 foretold by the prophet Isaiah whom Matthew quoted when he wrote about John the

 Baptist, “For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, 

saying, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way 

of the LORD…’” (Matthew 3:3 and Isaiah 40:3)  

The impact of John the Baptizer on the nation Israel can be seen by

 the simple statement of Matthew: “Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and 

all the region around the Jordan went out to [John the Baptist]” (Matthew 3:5)

 and the reason they were going out into the wilderness was to hear John

 preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” and Matthew

 finishes his report on John the Baptist by stating that those going out

 into the wilderness to hear John preach about the kingdom of heaven

 “were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Matthew 3:6)

 Matthew with these simple statements makes it clear that John the Baptist

 is not trying to build a church or establish a congregation for his 

personal benefit because of the remote location in the desert wilderness

 where John the Baptist was preaching therefore one must concentrate

 on the message that John the Baptist was preaching and that message

 was clearly “Repent”. The results of the Spirit filled message was that 

people who listened to God’s Spirit filled Message  to “Repent”  

were  “confessing their sins”! The success of John’s message from God

 to Israel was also noted by Matthew for John became so well known

 in the wilderness that he caught the attention of even the Pharisees

 and Sadducees who themselves were “coming to” John 

to be baptized in the Jordan. (Matthew 3:7a) 

John’s reaction to the Pharisees and Sadducees must be viewed from the context

 that the Holy Spirit was leading John and speaking through John so when

 John calls the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood of vipers” (Matthew 3:7b)

 we can anticipate that when the Messiah comes upon the scene that 

the Messiah, being led also by the Holy Spirit, will address the problem

 of having a “brood of vipers” ruling the temple and leading temple worship

 in Jerusalem! This “brood of vipers” were also responsible to God for

 teaching God’s religious doctrines to the nation of Israel, doctrines from God

 intended by God to promote Israel’s worship of

 The Great “I AM”, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 

that had delivered them out of their bondage in Egypt 

and into the Promised Land. 

So Matthew has now established that Jesus has fulfilled prophecy by

 His Birth, and now John who has fulfilled the prophecy that there 

would be a “forerunner” to the Messiah is about to see Jesus face-to-face

 for the first time! Have you ever stopped in your Spiritual Journey and 

considered that even though you believe and know who Jesus is,

 that there will come that

 first moment when you will stand in His Presence —

 face to Face — for the first time!?!?!?!?!?! “

Now” is a good time to stop and think about that “moment” for it is a

 “moment” in your “future” that was prophesied about you 

by the same Holy Spirit that prophesied about the 

Coming of the Anointed One 

and your reaction will uncover what you believe about Jesus in the secret

 parts of your heart and soul — and “Now” is the only time available for you

 to get that “moment” settled between you 

and your future with Jesus Christ Himself!!! 

The TRUTH of GOD is that one day your “moment” in His Presence 

will arrive and what you truly believe will be revealed as you 

stand face-to-Face with God at that very “moment” ——

 

BUT once the “moment” arrives it is already to late —— 

you must be prepared BEFORE the “Moment” arrives ——

 and the time to think about that “Moment” 

and who Jesus really IS,

 

is “Now”!!!

JANUARY 17 THE JESUS QUESTIONS Introduction-17: Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33 (Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

 

JANUARY 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS   Introduction-17:

 Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus: JQ#1-JQ#33  

(Matthew 1:1 thru 3:17)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, oh how blessed are we among men that we can call on the Name of Jesus

 so openly and so freely. Praise You Lord for the freedom that exists in our

 lifetime and our generation that we have a country founded on the belief 

in The One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  

Lord, I pray for the strength and courage to help in any small way to maintain

 this extraordinary privilege that we have to worship You freely in our churches

 and to have unfettered access to Your Word through Your Holy Bible.

 Forgive me Lord when I take this great blessing of free access to Your Word

 as just another freedom that abounds in plenty — for in our abundance

 we have become lazy and in our laziness we are losing our freedoms 

bit-by-bit, so Lord let me daily recognize the “Peace” and “Joy” of starting 

my day with the Name of Jesus and walk in freedom

 guided safely by the “Light” of Your Holy Word.      

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus, by external circumstances surrounding Him and not of His own

 volition has already fulfilled enough prophecy documented in the first three

 chapters of His Gospel written by Matthew that were He to do nothing else, 

Jesus could be shown to be the Messiah with the single event of His being

 a first born Jewish male in the town of Bethlehem from the lineage of 

King David but His Messiahship was completely sealed by the fact that His

 mother was a “virgin” when she gave Birth to Jesus,

 thus making her Seed Pure, for her

 Seed came from God Himself making Jesus the Son of God! 

To be sure, common logic demonstrates that if a bird gives birth,

 the offspring of that bird will be a bird and as that bird grows it will have feathers

 like its parents and will eventually exhibit all the characteristics of a bird 

and will someday take off and fly — and anyone observing that bird in flight

 will not have to ask, “I wonder if that bird’s parents are birds?” 

This simple logic is God’s way of teaching us His TRUTH!!!  

In His Creation account found in Genesis, God made it clear that every 

living thing would reproduce 

“according to its kind” and “whose seed is in itself” (Genesis 1:11) 

so the fact that God would put 

His Seed into a “virgin womb” in order that His Seed 

would reproduce “after its kind” 

should be simple common logic— for with the “Virgin Birth” event 

it must “logically” be assumed that the mother’s womb was “undefiled” by man

 and her “Seed” was “Holy” therefore the “Offspring” of the “Virgin Birth” 

would grow in

 “Grace and Truth” and exhibit every characteristic of the “Holy Father”,

 thereby confirming that 

Jesus indeed IS THE MESSIAH, the Son of the LIVING GOD. 

John wrote in his Gospel of Jesus Christ 

“For the law was given through Moses, 

but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)

 Therefore (logically), Jesus being the offspring of an undefiled woman,

 is “logically” proven to be the Son of Man and coming forth from her 

“Virgin Womb” from the Holy Seed of the Father, 

Jesus is also “logically” proven to be the Only Begotten Son of God 

— so it is “natural” that just like the offspring of a bird will grow feathers and fly,

 so likewise will the Offspring of the Holy God 

grow in “Grace” and will speak “Truth”.

 If Jesus were not the Son of God, then He would not be able to “fly” 

with such natural ease that everyone who observed His Life would declare 

as did the Roman centurion who saw how Jesus died at His Crucifixion, 

“Truly this Man was the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39) 

So the object of the Gospels are to demonstrate the cliche’

 “Like Father like Son” and that Jesus being the Holy Seed 

proves Himself to be the Messiah, the Offspring of  His Holy Father

 both by the “Way” that He lived His Life 

and the manner in which He faced His Own Death

 at the hands of those His Father had sent Him to Redeem — 

and His Resurrection from a “borrowed” grave fulfills God’s Promise

 to His Only Begotten Son — 

this Promise of God to His Son was another prophecy written by King David

 that the Resurrection of Jesus fulfilled, 

“For You [My Father] will not leave [Your Son’s] soul in Sheol, 

nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption!” (Psalm 16:10) 

Jesus is shown to be the Son of God because of prophecy, 

His “Virgin Birth”, His Holy Life, and His Perfect 

Sacrificial Death as the Lamb of God, 

and His Glorious Resurrection by His Father on the 3rd Day! 

We, as offspring of our parents, will quite naturally exhibit the nature of our parents

 and that was true of the Baby, born to a virgin in Bethlehem from the 

HOLY SEED OF GOD HIMSELF — 

and we still today call out the NAME OF JESUS, Immanuel — 

God with us!!!!!!!! 

Once we see how naturally Jesus shares the Grace of God, we know

 He is from God, and we should strive to be “born again” that when we

 are observed living our life before men that we live our life in such a manner

 that they will know we have been born of heaven, “according to Our Kind” —

 Praise God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit 

who so graciously decided “in the beginning…” to 

“Let Us make man in Our Image, according to Our likeness…” 

(Genesis 1:26) 

It’s time to step into the “Light” and spread our “spiritual" wings 

and “mount up on [those spiritual] wings like eagles” 

and soar up to heaven itself — 

for freedom from the world is our Divine Heritage

 freely given to all that will receive 

Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!