JUNE 28 THE JESUS QUESTIONS
JQ#21 “What do you think about fish, taxes, lost sheep,
forgiveness, and your fellow servants?” (Matthew 17:25, 18:12,33)
LIVING FOR JESUS Daily Prayer
JESUS, Forgive me for not doing more with the provisions
and the “understandings” that You have given me.
Lord, Your Teachings give all who read Your Word
“Spiritual Insight” to the world that we live in
as well as the issues that “our generation” is facing ——
— and yet I have done so little with those precious resources
to make the world a better place — forgive me.
Lord may I truly take this “second chance” to do that which will honor
and glorify our Father in heaven as Your Spirit has shown me
that “His Purpose” is the process itself.
Give me Grace then to be a good steward of the Understanding
imparted by the Holy Spirit and the Wisdom
to use whatever circumstance is presented to us in our
day-to-day lives to bring Glory to God.
{{Once again, the Holy Spirit has brought to my attention
a prayer written in 2004 that shows
the timelessness of God’s Understanding!!!
Once there is an issue, it will remain an issue until we use
every resource available to bring the issue before God
and enter into His Work with Him for He has chosen to do
HIS WORK through those that choose to
ENTER INTO HIS LABORS WITH HIM!!!}}
Please read the following prayer written years ago but still is current
and see if there is something you personally could do today to honor God,
pray about it, and then let the Lord lead you in doing His will
for your life so that others will be helped by your obedience.
Prayer from 2004: “Jesus, Lord how I seek to live my life in a way
that is pleasing to You, and not for my sake and all my old selfish
reasons but for Your sake and for reaching this world
with Your Message of Repentance. Lord Jesus, as a nation
and as a people, and as individuals we have turned from God,
and we have “leaned on our own understanding”
and that also is a sin against God. We have sat silently by
and let abominations against Your Holiness gain popular acceptance.
Lord, we have not fought the battle of freedom for our rights
as Christians and our nation is losing the God-given right
to worship You freely, we have not fought for the sanctity of marriage
and we are losing our families, and worst of all,
we are killing our own babies and are losing our future and our hope --
and we let the courts legislate the sins of our generation
into the “law” of our nation!?!?!?!?
O Forgive us Lord and drive us to true repentance
and the path that will bring us back to serving
the One True Light and the Living God”!!!
AMEN
THE JESUS QUESTIONS
Jesus, in this next ‘section’ of scripture, addresses several issues
that seem lighthearted at first but we must keep in mind while reading
this passage that this is God in the flesh asking us to “think”
about issues and while “thinking” on these issues we should keep
in our mind that Jesus has just previously warned us that there are
those that seek to “destroy” our souls —
therefore let us try and understand the
Truth of God
that is always uncovered whenever we seek it.
The first such Lesson is found in Matthew 17:24-27 and that Lesson
starts with a question from
“those who received the temple tax” (the “tax” collectors)
when they asked Peter,
“Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?” (Matthew 17:24)
My first thought when I read this verse is,
“Wow, Jesus had to deal with tax collectors (the ROMAN IRS) too”
so I was very interested in how Jesus would handle the situation.
Peter handled the situation like we should handle circumstances
where we find ourselves having to “defend”
following Jesus
— Peter responded “Yes” to the “tax collectors” and then
he went to ask Jesus Himself
about what had just transpired. As Peter entered the house we read that
“Jesus anticipated him, saying,
‘What do you think, Simon?’” (Matthew 17:25)
This is the beginning of a very valuable Lesson and the revelation of another
Truth of God
because before Simon Peter had a chance to ask Jesus the next question
about paying the temple tax,
“Jesus anticipated him…”
and then to make it a one-on-one personal relationship Jesus called Simon
by name and then God Himself looked a mortal in the eye and asked
“What do you think?” !?!?!?
Wow again!!!
God KNOWS EVERYTHING
and can
“anticipate”
our questions yet He stops and asks us what we “think” about the “question”
which He knows even if we have not asked Him the question yet?!?!?
Before you continue, it is a good time and stop to ask yourself this
very same simple question but answer it only after you fully
realize that it is God Almighty Himself
asking the question directly and personally to you!!! —
“What do you think, _{add your name here}?”
(Matthew 17:25)
