MARCH 29 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#12 “What man is there among you who has one sheep and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?” (Matthew 12:11-12a). <<< *???Who decides what is legal, God or man???* >>>

 

MARCH 29  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  

JQ#12  “What man is there among you who has one sheep

 and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it

 and lift it out? 

Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?” 

(Matthew 12:11-12a).    

 <<< *???Who decides what is legal, God or man???* >>>

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer   

JESUS, all Praise, Glory, and Honor to the King of kings, my Lord, my Shepherd.

 Lord my God, Your ways are so wonderful that my lips cannot speak nor

 my words express how in the midst of a storm that just the thought of “JESUS”

 can calm my fears. 

You work things out for our good in ways we cannot imagine and therefore

 we sing “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!” 

Lord, keep my heart, mind, and soul all on You and You alone, for 

“Thou art worthy, worthy is the Lamb!”    

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is always Teaching us a Truth of God with every word and action 

that has been recorded in the Holy Scriptures and in this section in

 Matthew Chapter 12 that starts,

 “At that time Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. 

And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain to eat…” 

(Matthew 12:1) 

Jesus is going to introduce and address a problem among Israel which could

 very well be at the top of all the problems that Jesus was sent TO EARTH

 to address as Matthew records, 

“And when the Pharisees saw (…Jesus and His disciples 

plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath…), they said to [Jesus], 

‘Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!’” (Matthew 12:2)  

Do you see the problem that has surfaced and where the source of the problem is

 with this section of scripture? Jesus has Taught with His previous Questions: 

(Q1) “What is your Spiritual Value?” 

(Q2) “What are your Spiritual Expectations?” 

and now Jesus is going to be direct and ask bluntly 

(Q3) “Who decides what is legal, God or man?”  

When I embarked on this project “Living For Jesus —Daily Devotional” I did

 not know what road the Lord would lead me down, what doors He would open,

 and what doors He would close, but I did know one thing for sure, 

I desired desperately in my heart of hearts to be His faithful servant and disciple!

 I have the benefit of having a lot of water go under my bridge and I have been 

in some terrible storms, I have stumbled and despaired but every time I get

 down to my last hope I find once again that the only

 “True Hope” is the One Eternal Hope that is always there, JESUS! 

When the Holy Spirit directed me to start “journaling” back in 2001 with a verse from

 Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” 

I could not fully comprehend the significance of “seeking God” but the verse

 has been a Guiding Light to my life and all these years later as I sit and start 

this JESUS Question  JQ#12 

 I can still hear the Holy Spirit encouraging me to

 “stay the course” for ALL  ANWERS are found in God. 

The JESUS Questions have made this writer appreciate the “Divine Teaching” 

attribute of Jesus and I can appreciate why He was called the Master Teacher!

 JQ#11 was a 6 part lesson on 

“What are our spiritual expectations of Jesus” 

which had followed 

JQ#10 “What is your spiritual value?” 

and now that Jesus has us thinking in terms of the “spiritual” vs. the “physical”,

 Jesus now introduces His next concept and that is “God vs. man”!  

(I would add here that God is Spirit and man is flesh 

so appropriately this Jesus Lesson is also about the one great battle in life

 that we ALL must fight:

 “The Spiritual against the Physical”!!!). 

 When this was revealed to me from the Holy Spirit while reading to find

 the “next question” I was immediately struck with the obvious answer that

 “God vs. man” is a “NOLO CONTENDERE” — NO CONTEST! 

Just the thought that man could even begin to contend with God now 

seems totally ludicrous to me but then the Holy Spirit called my attention

 to the fall of man, the fall of Satan, the Israelites forgetting God right 

after walking through the Red Sea, and example after example of 

those who knew God yet rejected Him?  

Let’s begin JQ#12 “Who decides what is legal, God or man?” 

by reading the Questions that Jesus asked (JQ#12a-e) in Matthew 12:4-12. 

The context for JQ#12 starts at Matthew 12:1 and runs through Matthew 12:23 —

 Jesus brings our attention to the “Question” in order 

to “Teach” us the answer, Jesus NEVER asks us a question without 

giving us the obvious answer!   

To get a “feel” for the “gravity” of the situation take a 

“leap of Faith” into God’s Word  

and read this passage and ponder JQ#12 

“Who decides what is legal, God or man?” 

 with the “expectation" of learning yet another 

“Truth of God” —

 and if that doesn’t motivate you enough 

then imagine yourself 

putting on some “boxing gloves” 

and getting “into the ring” 

with God Himself. 

When the bell rings,

 are you going to throw a punch or duck?!?!

MARCH 28 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#11 “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” (Matthew 11:7)

 

MARCH 28  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  

JQ#11 “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?” 

(Matthew 11:7)

LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Lord, another morning I awake and it is overwhelming to think

 that You ARE Lord and that You ARE right here to answer my prayers

 and concerns and provide for my daily bread. Lord, how did I live all 

those anxious years trying to make it through this

 valley of the shadow of death without You? 

Jesus, I will continue to lift up my praises to You for what You’ve already done,

 which is much more than I deserve, and I will give You Honor for the Grace

 You have given to me and the Mercy that You renew daily each morning. 

Lord, forgive me of all my shortcomings and strengthen me

 as I daily try to Glorify God.    

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is the Master Teacher and the previous Lesson the Master Taught 

using the sparrows and copper coin Question

 was Taught by the Son of God to make us aware 

of our “Spiritual value” to the kingdom and “our Father in heaven” —

 now Jesus is asking us another simple Question to make us aware of another

 

Kingdom Truth that our “Spiritual expectations” of the Messiah

 affects our “spiritual vision”.  

A.W. Tozer in his book “The Knowledge of the Holy” addresses JQ#11

 in a powerful way as Tozer titled the first chapter 

“Why We Must Think Rightly About God” 

and in his opening prayer to start Chapter 1 Tozer prays: 

“O Lord God Almighty, not the God of the philosophers and the wise 

but the God of the prophets and apostles…[those that do not know 

the True God] worship Thee as a creature of their own fancy…[but] 

enlighten our minds that we may know Thee as Thou art, 

so that we may perfectly love Thee and worthily praise Thee. 

In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen”.  

Tozer’s first sentence in his insightful book is a most powerful thought

 about how important our “thinking” about who God really is and

 answers JQ#11 perfectly when Tozer writes:

 “What comes to our minds when we think about God 

is the most important thing about us.”  

Tozer in my mind is most likely answering the Jesus Question about our

 “spiritual expectations” of God with that opening prayer and his first

 sentence to open that first chapter; and if we look at the context in 

Matthew 11 immediately following JQ#11 found in Matthew 11:7-9 

Jesus encourages our personal discipleship and prays to the Father: 

“I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You

 have hidden these things from the wise and prudent

 and have revealed them to babes.” 

(Matthew 11:25)  

Tozer, if he intended it or not, is giving all the right answers to JQ#11 as he

 writes an entire book about who God really is and states in an opening prayer

 that we should know God as He reveals Himself to us and not the God

 conjured up by “[wise and prudent] philosophers”. Tozer says that 

we ourselves should “think rightly about God” 

and then Tozer makes it clear that the

 “most important thing about us” is what we “expect” from “God”.  

Just after Jesus had asked the multitudes, “What did you ‘expect’ to see?”

 He immediately draws our attention to great cities that would come 

under future judgement because they had different “Spiritual expectations” 

for the Messiah therefore they “saw” the Divine work of the Messiah but

 rejected “His mighty works…and did not repent!” 

(see Matthew 11:11-24) 

Then after Jesus announces the judgement on those that 

have “false expectations” of the Son of God, Father God, and

 the Holy Spirit, Jesus assures us that if we will accept Jesus as 

the Son of God sent by the Father as the True Messiah 

then Jesus will reveal Himself and the Father 

to us through the Holy Spirit of Truth! 

Jesus concludes that if we “Come to [Him],” then He will “give [us] rest”. 

Jesus concludes with this promise:

 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle

 and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” 

(Matthew 11:30) 

Be honest, were your “Expectations of Jesus”  to find “rest” for 

your troubled soul? Our “expectations” ARE directly linked to our “faith” 

and how often did Jesus say TO THOSE HE HEALED, 

“Your FAITH has made your well.”?