APRIL 29 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 15) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 29  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 15) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

120 of 365 - Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, aside from Your Mercy and Grace, there is no good thing in me, all I have accomplished in my life is worthless for as much worldly success as I have had, it is of no consequence to that which is eternal. Lord Jesus, thank You for Your marvelous gifts of Grace, Mercy, Salvation, Forgiveness, and Peace! Lord, thank You for the reminder that the “Gifts of God” are priceless and that they cannot be earned by works nor is there any earthly thing that can be valued enough to purchase these “Gifts”. Only the Blood of the Only Begotten of the Father Himself can be found worthy enough to purchase this Gift of Righteousness and therefore let us forsake the “hay and stubble” upon which we have formerly established this earthly house and build our heavenly foundation on the “Rock” ——— “This Rock is Jesus”!!!       AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 29  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 15) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus continues His line of “serious” Questions about our relationship to the Father with JQ#13:

Lesson 13  JQ#13  “Is your life a plus or minus in God’s kingdom?”     Matthew 12:24-45

Our life cannot count for anything that has earthly value or is prized in the eyes of sinful man. Jesus asks us to evaluate our life in terms of God’s Kingdom for Jesus knows that we cannot earn enough money or collect enough things on this earth to justify our entrance into God’s Kingdom, thereby making our physical accomplishments as worthless as they are finite! Jesus has brought our understanding of God to the point that we are aware that our Faith in God and our relationship with God will have the only bearing on our eternity and Jesus is revealing to us that the physical things of this earth are going to pass into nothingness while the spiritual aspects of our soul are going to be carried with us as we enter into eternity through the doorway of death that all souls must use as we exit the mortal physical life and enter into the eternal spiritual existence God has intended for each soul He creates. If we spend our earthly time collecting earthly treasures then when our physical life is terminated we will find that everything finite is terminated as well and the only thing that passes through the doorway of death are those things that have “eternal spiritual value” —Jesus had taught this to Nicodemus when He discussed the kingdom of God with the most learned religious man of his day: “Jesus answered and said …’Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3) and to clarify that it is a “spiritual vs. physical” conflict Jesus tells Nicodemus “…Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:5-6) So Jesus makes it clear that we are first born of flesh and while in the flesh we must seek to understand the mysteries of God and by gaining the knowledge of God we will be born of “His Spirit”, for as our earthly fathers gives us physical life of the flesh, our Heavenly Father will give us the eternal life of His Spirit, for flesh cannot enter into the kingdom of God, only Spirit. The total value of our physical life therefore can be summed up as either a “spiritual” plus or a minus in God’s Kingdom, so each of us must ask ourselves, “Does our Spiritual life add up to anything good in God’s eyes?”

APRIL 28 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 14) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 28  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 14) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

119 of 365 - Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, Lord of Life, You are greatly to be praised, Your Name is to be lifted up by all men and one glorious day every tongue will speak the Name above names, Jesus. Lord, there will be those that will regret not having called on that Name for salvation while still residing in these earthen vessels that transport us through the “physical” life, for without calling on the name Jesus, the “physical” cannot be transformed to the “Spiritual” for You are the Giver of All Life, both the “Physical” and the “Eternal”, and though it is as simple as “asking”, it is also the most difficult because the “asking” must be done from a “humble” heart. Lord I thank You that You have changed my heart and now I pray for those that do not know the earthly peace of the confidence of Heaven, through the knowledge of Jesus Christ.      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 28  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 14) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus gives us Divine Guidance for our “Spiritual health” through His Subject and Order of His Teaching Questions and through the first 11 JESUS Questions Jesus has outlined the plan for our discipleship by developing the proper perspective of both the Kingdom and the King of Heaven but starting with JQ#12 Jesus “gets real” with our perspective of our “relationship” with God during our life on earth! 

Lesson  12  JQ#12  “Who decides what is legal, God or man?”       Matthew 12:1-23

This JQ#12 question of “Who decides…?” really “cuts to the bone” but when we consider this Question comes  immediately after Jesus asked us what are our “Spiritual Expectations” of Him in JQ#11 this JESUS Question is very serious indeed! First of all Jesus states that He is who He is because of the Father’s Will and not because of any “personal expectations” on our part and then Jesus makes the most practical application to why our beliefs should be based on the “Truth of God” and not some “interpretation” of what we think we believe! A.W. Tozer told this “Truth of God” in his book “Knowledge of the Holy” when he begins his book with: “What comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” Tozer is pointing out the “Truth of God” that if we have the wrong idea of God then our “eternal soul” is in jeopardy. There is not enough “money” or “power” in the world to justify thinking wrongly about God for God alone determines the “Truth” and we have no power to change the “Truth of God”, no man ever has and no man never will!! Jesus tries to call our attention to the fact that we can know the “Truth of God” for it will be revealed to us but our obligation is to believe it when we see it. Jesus told the disciples of John who were looking for the “Coming Messiah” to look at what Jesus had actually been doing in His ministry and not what  other men were claiming what “they thought” He was doing and the same is True for God, all we have to do is look at what God has done and what He is still doing today and admit that only God can accomplish those things and we must then accept the Truth of God that He ALONE is in control of every thing that happens in His Creation and not what some men say “they believe” about God. Our personal belief does not change God, God is ‘Unchangeable” — our “belief” changes us and it is not just a matter of “life and death” at stake, our personal belief in God is a matter of “where will our soul spend its eternity”!! Jesus warns us that we must see Him as the True Messiah for it is the only path that leads to the Kingdom of God and that it is God that is the Creator of our souls and it is God alone that determines the final and eternal resting place for each man’s soul. The “evidence” for God sending His Son Jesus is overwhelming, however, God gives us “Free will” so the responsibility to examine the “evidence” is up to us ——— but regardless of the “verdict” we pass after reviewing the evidence, the “Truth of God” remains unaltered. Don’t you think that “accepting” the “Truth of God” carries greater reward than us trying to change that which cannot be changed? 

APRIL 27 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 13) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 27  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 13) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

118 of 365 - Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, “sweetest Name I know, fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go” ———.  Lord Jesus, You deserve all praise because Your Life makes our life have thoughts like those expressed in song as we sing about Your Name, “the sweetest Name I know”, “fills…every longing”, “and keeps me singing” are expressions not associated with any other name except the Holy Name of Jesus! There is a reason that it is Jesus and only Jesus that causes these responses and that reason is called “TRUTH”, for Jesus IS the Son of the Living God, His Holy Spirit dwells within us, and our hearts are filled with His song, and our desires are satisfied, so Lord I simply speak Your Precious Name once more to start my day ——— JESUS!      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 27  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 13) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus has led us to a realization of the importance of our concept of the “spiritual” life that we are living through this earthen vessel we call the body. The concept of the “soul” is not foreign to us but the “eternal consequences” dictated by our stewardship of our souls usually is overlooked as we are blinded by the physical desires that are pushed on us by the world and its desires and lusts.

Lesson 11 JQ#11 “What are your ‘Spiritual Expectations of Jesus?”   Matthew 11:1-30

Jesus has been gracious in His Lessons for they make us aware that our individual bodies define who we are “physically” but our physical bodies are “temporary” and  do not define who we are “spiritually”! Jesus Teaches that it is what we do with our bodies that determines our “character” and “our character” is “purely spiritual” — but the body and the daily aging process is God’s reminder that our time on earth and this earthly body is only “physical” and is “temporary” but our “HOPE” resides in knowing that there is something beyond the “physical” and Jesus Teaches us to be aware that the “physical” is finite but the “spiritual” is “eternal”. The more we can focus on the “spiritual” aspect of our lives, the more we are aware that “stewardship of our own soul” has “eternal” implications. Jesus always goes the extra mile in His Teachings so in JQ#10 Jesus makes us aware of our “Spiritual Value” and then when He has our attention on the “Spiritual” He then asks a very serious Question in JQ#11: “What are your ‘Spiritual Expectations’ of Jesus?” Jesus made it clear in His response to the disciples of John the Baptist that the Messiah is the One that does the Holy Work of the Messiah!  John the Baptist had been preaching in the wilderness about the “Coming Messiah” and the need to “Repent” so John’s followers were “expecting the Messiah” but they were not sure because their “spiritual expectations” of the “Messiah” had been shaped by the religious leaders whose “personal expectations” of the Messiah had evolved over several generations of leaders of the nation Israel. Jesus is warning that our “personal expectations” cannot be what defines the True Messiah. What Jesus is Teaching us is that if we try to make Jesus fit our “personal expectations” then we might miss seeing the True Jesus because He does not fit our “personal expectations” of Him! Many of the Jews had “expected” a Messiah that would be a powerful king and free them from the Roman government —they did not want a Messiah that made them aware of their spiritual shortcomings and was preaching the need to “Repent” and receive forgiveness of the sins which included thinking wrongly about what and who the True Messiah would be! Jesus Taught that He was not going to “make any claims” but rather Jesus was confident that everyone that knew the scriptures would recognize the True Messiah because of the “Works” that would be accomplished by the Messiah. Jesus pointed to what His Ministry had accomplished and left it up to them to determine if anyone but the Messiah could perform these miracles as foretold by the scriptures when Jesus listed His accomplishments: “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.’” (Matthew 11:4) Do you “expect” Jesus to be a “genie in a bottle that grants your wishes when you rub a magic lamp” or do you “expect” a Savior that has come to give you “forgiveness and eternal life”? What more could anyone do to demonstrate that the Messiah is God’s Messiah and not our “personal expectations” of Him?

APRIL 26 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 12) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 26  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 12) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

117 of 365 - Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, Praise be to the King of kings, the Eternal Light. Lord Jesus, Thy Word is TRUTH, Thy Way is PERFECT, only through You can we HOPE that our life can count for anything! Aside from our belief in You, we have nothing GOOD in us. Lord I pray for a RIGHT SPIRIT in my life so that it can be said that I do what is RIGHT in the eyes of the Lord — You are my strength and my very PRESENT HELP, I can do all things with You as my LIGHT leading me in PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 26  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 12) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus continually moves us forward in the kingdom as He first builds on His last Lesson and during the present Lesson He points us to where all His Lesson/Questions are leading next. Of course the “Final Destination” is Eternity in Heaven with God Himself but Jesus always keeps us equipped for handling the “Now” (while we are still in our physical earthly bodies and “in the world”. Jesus  leaves Lesson 9 with three earthly miracles (1) a woman who had a “flow of blood” for 12 years was healed just by touching His garments and Jesus said; “Be of good cheer, daughter, your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22) and (2) Jesus raised a dead girl when “He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose (Matthew 9:25) and thirdly (3) two blind men we healed as they cried out “Son of David, have mercy on us!” (Matthew 9:27)  It was at this point that Jesus asked the Question that reveals the TRUTH of JESUS and His Healing Powers as He queried the two blind men, “Do you BELIEVE that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28).  Jesus then confirms the source of His Power as He heals the blind men and then reveals the TRUTH of GOD: “According to you faith let it be to you.” (Matthew 9:29) Jesus used these (3) miracles and tied them to “Personal Faith” and Teaches us that if we “believe” that Jesus is who He says He is and and can do all things through the Power of God that the Son of David WILL HAVE MERCY ON US!!!— Jesus then confirms our “belief” with these three miracles then He moves to His next Teaching Question:

Lesson  10  JQ#10  “What is your ‘Spiritual Value’?”                        Matthew 10:1-42

Jesus has just demonstrated His “Spiritual Power” and plainly tells us that it was through “Faith” that Jesus IS the Son of God sent to bestow Mercy and Grace on a lost and dying world that these 3 miracles were accomplished and then He effectively tells us that if we have “FAITH IN JESUS” that we also will have great “Spiritual Value”. Jesus started JQ#10 with the easy question to answer about “two sparrows” having “value” therefore we are of more value than two sparrows in God’s Eyes but He then turns our thinking towards some very serious reasons why we should “believe” that God IS “in Control”,  that Jesus IS the Son of God, and why we have “Spiritual Value”! There are some very serious “consequences” if we do not “believe” as Jesus warns us “… And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) So Jesus transitioned from a light-hearted question about sparrows to a very serious discussion about destruction of “both soul and body in hell.” Jesus uses the light-hearted and the very serious to create a contrast that really gets our attention and the Lesson here is that we have “both soul and body” and while the “body” is “finite” and will die and be buried, our “soul” is “eternal” therefore we should give great consideration to what we are doing with our “Personal Faith” to recognize the grave importance of our “Spiritual Value”! Jesus teaches in JQ#9 that there is a great miracle-working “Spiritual Power” at our disposal that is proportional to our “Faith in God” and then He teaches in JQ#10 that our “Faith in God” will have “Eternal Consequences” for our “Soul”, so where do you think Jesus is pointing for JQ#11?

APRIL 25 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 11) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 25  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 11) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

116 of 365 - Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, Thank You Lord for being our Savior, we never stop to think that You are our Savior because You chose to be that Perfect Sacrifice and not because You were forced by some circumstance or to repay an obligation to some great work of man! You LORD can choose to do literally ANYTHING, You are the Creator of ALL THINGS and yet in Your Plan for mankind You made us in Your Image and then You planned that You would get intimately involved in our Salvation which meant You volunteered to give up Your Divinity, be born of flesh as we are born of flesh and then live a Perfect Life while being greatly persecuted by Your own people, and then the Plan called for the worst death imaginable on a Cross at Calvary so that all who believe in Your Plan can have the Best Life possible and to have that Best Life for all Eternity! Thank You just isn’t enough to repay You for Your Grace so my prayer is that every breath I take, every thought that I have will be used to LIVE the Life You have Planned for me.      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 25  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 11) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus is not only “Asking Questions” He is Teaching in a Specific Spiritual Sequence and if you have not been reading these posts in the order that they are written, you will be missing one of the “blessings” that the Holy Spirit has intended for “The JESUS Questions” Project. The Holy Spirit has built all these Lessons in sequence (or as Holy Scripture says “precept upon precept”) with each new Lesson tying into the previous Lesson and then leading into the next Lesson in such a Divine Way that the “sequence”  is a Divine Lesson in itself. This Divine Sequence of Lessons and Revelations of the Truth of God by the Holy Spirit is a logical sequence of Teaching us about our responsibility to the kingdom and how to live a life of “Love”, “Faith”, and “Obedience” which then leads us to “Trust in God” and to “Walk-the-Walk” and logically as a result of those Kingdom Tools and Attributes we are logically led to “Sharing-with-Others” the LOVE OF GOD — and then the Holy Spirit seems at first glance to inject a “deviation” from the logical sequence of Lessons with a Question about being “a friend of the Bridegroom?”. 

Lesson  9  JQ#9    “Are you a friend of the ‘Bridegroom’?”              Matthew 9:14-26

The Holy Spirit, just after Teaching us to put “Feet to our Faith”, then throws in what on the surface seems like a light-hearted Question in JQ#9 “Are you a friend of the ‘Bridegroom’?”. This Question by itself can be taken light-hearted but taken in context of the previous Questions which are themselves unified by their Revelation of the Plan of God for the Salvation of mankind through the Life of the Father’s Only Begotten and Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, we must stop and seriously consider what the term “Bridegroom” means in terms of God’s Divine Plan for mankind? On face value, the term “Bridegroom” can be understood by all peoples, all languages, all cultures, every nation, all races … et. al. and therefore the Holy Spirit has introduced a “universal” concept that exceeds all national, social, economic, and racial boundaries! The term “Bridegroom” implies that there is certainly a “Bride” and also a “Marriage” and therefore is the most logically all-inclusive concept that could be introduced!!! Let us stop and consider that the God of the Universe, the Creator of All Things who is the only  Eternal “uncreated and self sustaining” being, who certainly does not need His Creation to survive, why would this self-supported, self-sustaining Being chose to be bonded in “marriage” by a convention He Himself established as “Holy Matrimony”??? Further, consider that God called everything “Good” in His Creation except for His statement about the new man He had just created that was without a mate: “And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” (Genesis 2:18) and then “… the LORD GOD … put the man in a deep sleep … and made…a woman (from a rib taken from the man’s side), and He brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:22) and that became the first marriage. “And Adam said: ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh…” (Genesis 2:23) I personally get goose bumps when I think that Jesus Himself who is referred to as the Second Adam has been “put into a deep sleep” called death and from that sleep of death God the Father took part of the very “Spirit” of the Son and used that “Spirit” to create the Church just like He used Adam’s rib to create the first wife, Eve! To think about God giving His Son in Marriage is mind bending at least — there could be volume upon volume written of the symbolism this “Marriage” of God’s only Son, Jesus!  ——— The Holy Spirit then introduces a Divine Concept with this “Marriage” concept and we are left to consider the next JESUS Question: “Who is the ‘bride’ and ‘Are you a friend of the ‘Bridegroom?’”!!!???

APRIL 24 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 10) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 24  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 10) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

115 of 365 - Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, Praise be to the One! You LORD and You Alone are Worthy of all the Praise, Glory, and Honor that men utter, for there is no one that has ever lived besides Jesus Christ that has done a single righteous thing to be worthy of any praise. Lord Jesus please accept this offering of Praise and Thanksgiving because of “Who” You ARE and what You continue to do for a lost and dying world! Lord, I pray that Your Light will shine through my darkness so that all anyone sees when they look at me is You! Jesus, I know that daily I must die to self that I may be resurrected in You, so my prayer is that I may become “One” with You that I can reflect all that You are.      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 24  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 10) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus has been progressively Teaching us with His JESUS Questions how to reflect, evaluate, and grow “Spiritually” and now Jesus is giving us specific Spiritual advice on how to develop the necessary tools for “Kingdom Work”. 

Lesson  8   JQ#8      “How do you put ‘Feet’ to your ‘Faith’?”             Matthew 9:1-13

Jesus has in the first 7 Jesus Questions Taught us to see that we should follow His Example as He teaches us how to be “salt and light” (JQ#1), to know the meaning of “True Love” (JQ#2), to forget about “worrying” because God is worrying for us and promised to provide for all our needs (JQ#3), then Jesus starts in on some characteristics we should develop as He tells us “not to judge” because that’s God’s responsibility (JQ#4), and that we should pursue the Kingdom as we “Ask-Seek-Knock” (JQ#5), with our goal to be producing “good fruit” for ourselves and for others (JQ#6), so that our “Faith” will overcome our “Fears” (JQ#7), and then Jesus says that as His disciples we should follow His Example of “walking the walk” and not just “talking the talk” as He Teaches us by example in JQ#8 how to “put ‘feet’ to our ‘Faith’”. To learn these Lessons and develop the characteristics of Jesus and not share them with others is a huge problem in doing “Kingdom Work” because Jesus says we should take and apply the Lessons that are “in here” to the problem that is “out there”! Jesus Teaches us in JQ#8 the importance of “doing” for the “Kingdom’s Sake” instead of just talking about it. JQ#8 points to the importance of “going” as Matthew writes “So [Jesus] got into a boat, crossed over, came to His own city. Then behold, they brought to [Jesus] a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.’” (Matthew 9:1) In this one verse we see one “action” after another (1) Jesus got into a boat  (2) He crossed over  (3) [He] came to His own city  (4) they brought to Him a paralytic  (5) Jesus saw their faith … then as a result of all these “actions” Jesus (6) forgave the paralytic of his sins and (7) Jesus healed the paralytic and the paralytic (8) took up his bed and (9) walked. Jesus not only accomplished all these miracles but He Taught us that our “Faith” is to be used to “help others” and that we are to actually put “Feet to our Faith” for when Jesus sees us exercising our “Faith” to help others then Jesus will recognize our efforts for the “Kingdom” and then Jesus will perform miracles in the lives of those that come into contact with our “Faith”. Jesus confirmed He wanted us to “exercise” our “Faith” as he commanded “Arise and walk” (Matthew 9:5) — Isn’t it obvious that if we “Arise” and “Walk” in the Name of Jesus and do “Kingdom Work” that we are going to accomplish more than if we just selfishly “Sit” and “Talk” about helping others??

APRIL 23 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 9) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 23  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 9) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

114 of 365 - Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, what a glorious feeling when I realize that I have spoken the Name of Jesus and that once the Name is spoken that You Lord are listening, listening to me! Just the concept of “prayer” is amazing but the reality of us being able, regardless of where we are or when it is, regardless of language or social status, when we call on the Name of Jesus that JESUS is right there, immediately, EVERY TIME HIS NAME IS SPOKEN! How that is possible cannot be explained because we think in finite, mortal terms and JESUS You exist on the Infinite, Divine plane ——— but explanation or not, Jesus, when I call on Your Name I know You are there and You hear my prayers! I KNOW because so many prayers have been answered, and though they were not answered like I thought they should be answered, You knew what was best and answered my prayers in the way that BEST provided for my needs — Lord Jesus, I call Your Name this morning with nothing but PRAISE on my lips and in my heart for the simple, plain fact that I can.      AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 23  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 9) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus Teaches us with JQ#7 how to understand “Faith” and to be aware that the enemy will tempt us to view our circumstances through “Fear” instead of “Faith”.

Lesson 7  JQ#7    “What’s bigger, your ‘Fear’ or your ‘Faith’?              Matthew 8:23-27 

Jesus Teaches us with this Lesson that the best weapon to use on “Fear” is our “Faith” and it fits very nicely in the sequence of Question/Lessons  because after Teaching us that when we plant the Word of God in our hearts and let the seeds of “faith” take root deep in our soul that we will soon start seeing fruit in our lives as God adds the miracle of life to the seed! The first “Fruit” that starts to grow from the Spiritual Seeds that Jesus plants in our hearts that we have prepared by being open to the Teachings of Jesus  is “FAITH” itself. “Faith in God” can only grow into a mature fruit if we first plant the seed in our hearts and nourish it with “Living Waters” ——— there are always the weeds of sin taking root in our hearts that are nothing more than the “cares of this world” which we must constantly be “weeding out” of our lives so that the Word of God will grow strong in our hearts and we will be able to harvest the fruit of the Spirit which we can use for our personal nourishment. In God’s economy each plant will produce enough fruit to be able to “Share” with others! When we first start out on our Christian Journey of Faith, we are like young lambs and we all know that the “Wolves of this world” prey on the weak, the crippled, and the very young! To know that Jesus is the “Good Shepherd” and we are part of His flock should give us great comfort — and the more we read in His Word the more we can build confidence in His Abilities! With each page we turn we can see that Jesus has never lost a lamb and every time He confronts us He is always teaching us to “Fear not”!  Jesus takes this passage in Matthew 8:23-27 and reassures us that “Fear” is a “weed” and that “Faith” is a “sharp hoe” and if we want the Word of God to grow strong roots and produce good fruit in our lives that we will make “Faith in God” more important in our lives than the “Fear of the world” and that “Faith” in the One that even the “winds and the sea obey Him” is more important to our growth than the little weeds of fear that the world constantly attacks us with. Jesus was very pointed when He asked us about our fears in JQ#7 “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 8:26) and Jesus immediately points out that we are “fearful” because we have not grown our “faith” to the point that we are producing the “Good fruit” from planting the seeds of God’s Word in our hearts which will nourish our “Spirit” and give us the inner strength to laugh at the weeds of this world as we remove them with our “Faith” and sing “Blessed Assurance Jesus is Mine!” Which would you rather do, let the weeds choke the “life” out of your “Faith” or would you rather use your “Faith” to choke the weeds out of your “life”?

APRIL 22 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 8) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 22  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 8) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

113 of 365 - Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, the Only Begotten of the Father, Prince of Peace, my Lord and Savior, whatever I do, it never changes who You are. Though I need to be chastened and corrected daily, Your Grace and Mercy abides forever! You spent Your time on earth in Perfect Obedience to the Father who is Eternally Pleased with the Son. Lord I again start today asking forgiveness for yesterday for all I do is but filthy rags compared to You, the Blessed One, that Loves me in spite of my imperfections. I once again ask Your Holy Spirit to take full control of my life and lead me so that I will let Christ live through me that I may die daily to self.       AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 22  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 8) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus has been Teaching us these Lessons in order to guide our “Way” to God the Father and I am totally amazed at how the Holy Spirit confirms that you are on the right road! You know what I’m talking about if you have ever been on a trip and you were thinking you were on the right road and have taken all the right turns but that “worldly doubt” creeps in and you are uncomfortable because the scenery is not familiar and then you look up and there is that great big road sign that confirms you have stayed on the right route to your destination! I’m sure you’ll agree that “being lost” is no fun! Jesus gets us on the right “Way” and then keeps giving us more directions and Lesson 6 is another of those “markers” along the “Way” to tell us we are going in the “Right” direction!

Lesson 6  JQ#6    “What kind of fruit does your tree bear?”             Matthew 7:15-23

The church that Deb and I attend holds an Annual Calvary Baptist Church Children’s Camp in Dayton, TN at Cumberland Springs Bible Camp and the theme for 2016 was “Digging Deep for God’s Treasure”.  Pastor Steve told the kids the Parable of the Sower and the Soils (Luke 8) and the main phrase was “NO ROOT ——— NO FRUIT” and the kids had the Seed of Salvation sown into their tender hearts!  The theme for the 27th Annual Calvary Children’s Camp at Cumberland Springs Bible Camp fits perfectly with JQ#6  “What kind of fruit does your tree bear?” (Matthew 7:15-23)  however, I could easily rename JQ#6 Lesson to  “What kind of fruit does your seed bear?” which would fit right in with the Parable of the Sower and the Soils. Just imagine that if those kids were not at the Bible Camp this weekend there is no telling what “seeds” the world would have planted in their fertile young hearts! I felt like the Holy Spirit threw up a huge road sign  that confirms we had given the kids a great map to guide them through the detours and dead ends of this increasingly secular world when I saw that the review today was on “bearing fruit”. The camp is very exciting for the kids and for every excited kid you have the proportional amount of tired counselors but a refreshing message from the Holy Spirit confirming we were on the right road to keep us and the kids from getting lost in the world made us “Blessed” instead of “tired”! JQ#6 is a serious question that Jesus asked as He was giving us warning to be aware of “false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves…” (Matthew 7:15) when Jesus asked: “Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?” (Matthew 7:16b) Very quickly we can see that “false prophets” are as dangerous as “thorn bushes and thistles” and definitely “false prophets” will direct you down a dead end street. It is only logical to even the secular mind that if you plant thorn seeds you will grow thorns and Jesus made that clear when He said plainly, “You will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:16a) So the Lesson on “preparing our (soil) hearts” is just as important to us as is the Lesson that we make sure that the “seed” we let grow in our hearts is a “good seed” that will produce “good fruit” and not thorns or thistles! The Lesson Jesus is Teaching is that if you want good fruit you must plant good fruit seeds in your well prepared hearts! The Parable of the Sower and the Soils goes very well with Jesus Teaching us that we must also be careful to make sure that not only is the soil prepared for the seed but we should equally be careful not to let the seeds of thorns and thistles take root in the inward parts of our soul. If we want to bear good fruit then we have to plant the right seed in well prepared soil and it is a good idea to keep a hoe nearby to keep the worldly weeds out that are sure to sprout up and try to choke out the good seeds as they sprout and start taking root in the carefully prepared soil. If Jesus goes to the trouble to Teach us to prepare the soil of our hearts and then plant good seeds, don’t you think it would be wise to follow the advice of The One that has produced such “heavenly” fruit?

APRIL 21 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 7) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 21  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 7) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

112 of 365 - Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, Praise You Lord just for the simple fact that You are there every day so that we can awake to a new day that You have provided for us. Lord, we don’t stop to think about the fact that You are there listening to our prayers when we go to sleep, You are there to comfort us when we awake in the night and cannot sleep, and then when we awake in the morning You are right there to greet us with the best of “Good Mornings”!!! We never stop to consider that You never sleep but are always right by our side!! Regardless of our need, You are there to hold our hand, dry our tears, or simply nod Your head in calm reassurance that everything will be alright for You have taken care of everything, just like You promised! Lord Jesus, may I never lose sight of the Divine Truth that You never lose sight of me!       AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 21  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 7) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus teaches us by introducing a “precept” and reveals a “Truth of God” from that “precept” and then Jesus asks us one of His “Introspective” Questions which in order to honestly answer His Question we must look inside ourselves and dig out our core beliefs and then challenge those core beliefs with this new “precept” and “Truth of God”.

Lesson 5  JQ#5    “Why should you Ask-Seek-Knock?”                     Matthew 7:7-14

It is only by this sequence of “Precept” followed by “Truth of God” then applying them to our core beliefs “Introspectively” that we come to understand that God wants only good for us. The simple fact that God wants “Good” for us goes against the “Every-man-for-himself” secular philosophy that our society believes we have to accept. Just by making the statement: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7) Jesus introduces a concept foreign to our “dog-eat-dog” modern lifestyle. When Jesus then ties the “precept of Ask-Seek-Knock” to the “Truth of God” that “…everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened…” (Matthew 7:8) we gain an insight to God that we had not formerly considered, and that is that God Himself is making us a personal promise that if we follow His directions (Ask-Seek-Knock) that He promises us success! The “Truth of God” found in this lesson is that to “guarantee our success” all we need to do is “follow God’s directions”! There are no strings attached and nothing for us to sacrifice to gain success except that we must learn to “Trust God” and “lean not on our own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Jesus gets us thinking about changing our internal values and core beliefs and that’s when He drives the point home to our souls with “Introspective Questions” like: (1) “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:9)  (2) “Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?” (Matthew 7:10) and concludes with (3) “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to this who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11) It is a win-win when you learn to give up your foolish pride and accept directions from the God of All Things who refers to Himself as your “Father in heaven” and promises to “give good things” to His [sons and daughters] that Trust Him enough to “ask” Him”!  Don’t you think that giving up your stubborn will to “do-it-myself” is a small price to pay for such Divine success, after all, if the God-that-Can-Do-All-Things can’t keep His Promise, what chance of success do you think you have in putting your “hope” in sinful man, or even worse, in your sinful self? 

APRIL 20 THE JESUS QUESTIONS SRJQ#1-13 (Day 6) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 * Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)

LIVING FOR JESUS --- Daily Devotional

APRIL 20  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 6) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34) 

111 of 365 - Prayers to JESUS    

Jesus, as always, this time that I spend directly with You in the form of prayer is the most important part of my day. Lord Jesus, it is not always easy to look at the necessity to daily pick up “our” cross and follow you without a little apprehension but then it is Your Peace that makes me realize there is no other Name that we can call on for “Peace” for Jesus, only You have the Words of Eternal Life and we can say when we feel our cross is getting a little to heavy for us to bear, Lord Jesus I know I can do this if You will just help me — for You Lord carried Your Cross to the point of success that You could declare with Your dying breath “It is finished”! O Lord Jesus, give me the strength to endure to the end of these earthly trials to where I to can finish my race with confidence in the Only Begotten of the Father and proclaim as I enter into Your Rest — “It is finished” and I can hear You say “Well done thy good and faithful servant!”.       AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

APRIL 20  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  SRJQ#1-13 (Day 6) >>> Lessons, Lifestyle, and Parables of Jesus <<< SRJQ#1-13 *  Summary Review of JESUS Questions JQ#1.1—JQ#13.7 (Matthew 5:1 thru Matthew 12:34)  Jesus so far in this Summary Review of His first 13 JESUS Questions has Taught us in JQ#1 to consider our own personal responsibility to the Kingdom of God then with JQ#2 Jesus Taught us that we need God’s GPS for our journey to Him because whenever we stray off the path we just need to remember that the “Love of God” will never steer us wrong and will keep us on the “Straight-and-Narrow” path to the “Kingdom of God”. JQ#3 opened our eyes to God’s great Provisions for us and because He cares so much for us that we should “Trust God” in “all things” and we should not “worry” about any earthly things because the Heavenly Father has promised that He will take care of us because He has chosen to “Love” us!

Lesson 4  JQ#4   “What gives you the right to judge?”                       Matthew 7:1-6 

To keep things personal Jesus then teaches us that just as we “Trust God” for our “physical” needs that we should also realize that God wants to take care of our “Spiritual” needs as well. In this review so far we have found that Jesus not only makes it personal with JQ#4 “What gives you the right to judge?” He also makes it serious as He warns us that our own worst enemy is ourselves as He emphatically uses the term “Hypocrite!” (Matthew 7:5). The fact that this is a personal issue is established when Jesus first states the problem: “JUDGE not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1) and then Jesus makes us aware that if we take on the personal responsibility to “judge others” then we will be held personally responsible for having “judged ourselves” in a like manner! Jesus declares the “consequence” of us choosing to be the “judge” when He states: “For with what judgement you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Matthew 7:2) When you think about the fact that God just told you that He was going to provide for you if you will “Trust Him” (in JQ#3) then why should we try to take His job as “Judge of the Universe” away from Him? Indeed, why should we take all that responsibility of “judging others” on ourselves in JQ#4 — especially just after giving all our “worries” to Him in JQ#3? Jesus keeps us focused on the fact that if we are going to “Trust God” with “some things” that we should “Trust God in All things” for we are the created and He is the Creator; therefore, we should let Him “judge” others for He “knows-all-things” and can see everything from a Divine Perspective while we are sinners and at best our “judgement” will always have a degree of personal bias to it — so Jesus says the best way to prevent us “sinning” against God is to “not judge” others for we will be a “hypocrite” if we say we “Trust God” but do not let Him do His job. Jesus teaches us with JQ#4 that we do not have the “right to judge others” because the “right to judge” belongs to God and God Alone! After all, why should we “Trust” a God that needs our help in deciding what is “Right or Wrong”?  Once we start down the path of assuming for ourselves the responsibility designated to the Divine Creator then we will quickly find that we are unable to navigate through the “Infinite” with our severely limited “finite” intellect! Don’t you think the safest path is to follow the route Jesus has already traveled and has Successfully reached His Divine Destination by following the True Way designated by God the Father?