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”.
{{{Author’s NOTE 1/25/24: This “JANUARY 25 JESUS QUESTION”
was originally written in 2016 and then modified in 2017 and today
in 2024 this “daily prayer” is even more relevant as our prayer for AMERICA
is to return to being “One Nation Under God” and restore peace
and prosperity to our GREAT NATION!!!}}}
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 His own circumstances or His
disciples to manufacture “false witness” 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 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 further 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 SPIRITUAL ‘Love’ life?”
