JULY 08 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)

 

JULY 08  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, as we go through our daily routines let us not miss 

the INFINITE, ETERNAL, UNCHANGING Truth of God 

that You have Promised to all believers 

(P1) to Personally lead us in “paths of righteousness” as You Provide

 for our “daily bread” and 

(P2) TEACH US that we should treat others as You treat us, 

(P3) that we forgive others as You forgive us, and

 (P4) that we should understand that our lives should reflect You 

and the Father in everything that we do ——

— thereby we will be “dwelling in the house of the Lord forever”!   

Lord Jesus, instead of praying for You to forgive me today, 

I pray instead that You will give me the “spiritual discernment” 

to forgive others and “settle accounts” with all that have transgressed

 against me and I them so that I shall have the confidence

 that all my transgressions against You will be forgiven 

and I will learn that to be “one with the Father” 

that I must “Live and Forgive”

 for the Father has taught us 

“Love and Compassion for others”  through the Son!    

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus always Teaches us a Truth of God and then

 Jesus “tests our understanding” of the Lesson 

just Taught so that we are sure to get the

 Truth of God 

that Jesus intends for us from that Lesson. 

Jesus knows that we have a tendency to “hear” what the world

 has conditioned us to “hear” and we often miss the

 Truth of God

 that Jesus Speaks to us in His Lessons. 

Here in JQ#21 Jesus started this Lesson on how 

to live our daily lives by asking Peter, 

“What do you think, Simon?” (Matthew 17:25) 

and then Jesus Taught about the Father’s Provision of our daily needs

 while at the same time Jesus showed us that the 

Father is Omniscient (all knowing). 

Jesus then Taught about building our 

“Faith in God” 

by correcting an error the disciples made when 

they assumed “greatness” was a “reward” to be earned

 because of “good works” but Jesus showed them an innocent child 

and said that being “humble” and innocent as a child

 was the pre-requisite for 

“greatness in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:4). 

Jesus continued His “Faith-building” Lesson by Teaching 

that we are all sinners and that to return to our childhood innocence

 that we should identify the source of our “offenses” to God 

and “cast it from us” (Matthew 18:7) 

— it is interesting to note that the only things that have been 

“cast out” by Jesus so far have been personal demons 

as this section started with Jesus casting out a demon 

from a possessed boy then Jesus declared that the disciples inability to 

“cast out” the boy’s demon was because they were not motivated to

 do God’s work His Way !

 Jesus immediately told the disciples to work on their 

“prayers and fasting”

 which was to be the foundation on which they were to build their 

Faith in God. 

Jesus now continues demonstrating how the Father expects

 us to live and to grow in our Faith by asking another “thinking” Question:

 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, 

and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine

 and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?”

 (Matthew 18:12)

 Note that this Question starts with Jesus advising us to use our

 “God-given intellect” 

and make a decision on what we observe about our daily lives

 and it is not just a coincidence that Jesus states His Mission 

is that He has 

“come to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11) 

and then uses 

“lost sheep” to illustrated that a “Good Shepherd” will 

“seek the one that is straying” and “rejoices” 

when the lost sheep is found. (Matthew 18:12-13)

 Jesus then makes it clear that

 the Father has sent the Son to be the “Good Shepherd” 

and to seek the “lost sheep” and bring them back 

to the “Father’s Kingdom” as Jesus declares 

“why” that “lost sheep” are important to God 

when Jesus tells His disciples: 

“Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven 

that one of these little ones should perish.” (Matthew 18:14) 

Jesus continues to insist that to build our 

“Faith in God” that we must “think about God” 

in our daily lives and how if we look at our world from a 

“Divine Spiritual Perspective” 

that we will see the Hand of God working in our daily lives 

to draw us back to an age of innocence and that 

by humbling ourselves before God we will be able 

to see God 

and in doing so we will want to become more like God

 in the way that we treat others. 

I would challenge you to “think” about what you “thought” 

about “fish, taxes, and lost sheep” before you 

were under the Teaching of the Holy Spirit?!? 

Then compare your “before” with your “after” 

and then ask yourself, 

“Do I now look at others in the 

same “Way” that God looks at me?”  

———  Think about it…

JULY 07 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)

 

JULY 07  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, how did mankind make it before You came 

and sacrificed Yourself for our sins? 

We all have sinned and fallen short of Your Glory 

and yet there is always the “HOPE” 

that Your Sacrifice brings into our world.

 There is no night so dark that Your Light 

cannot shine through that darkness

 nor is there a pit so deep that Your Love 

cannot reach down and pull us up. 

Lord Jesus we have the Blessed Assurance that not only are you here

 for us in our time of need but that You have Promised

 to NEVER leave us nor forsake us, and that Promise is Eternal!!!  

Lord, Savior, Redeemer, take my life and make it wholly Thine 

and lead me in Your Paths of Righteousness for Your Name’s Sake.           

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus always Teaches in steps that lead us closer to God, 

but just like steps which must be taken one at a time, 

we should take care to obtain our “footing” on the new step 

and stand firm in our faith before trying to attain the next, 

lest we lose our “footing” and instead of drawing closer to God

 we stumble and fall away from God as we try to keep our own balance

 instead of relying on the 

Truth of God 

to keep our equilibrium on our Journey to find God Himself.

 It always helps my understanding of what Jesus is trying to Teach me

 if I stop and look at where Jesus had my attention focused

 in the previous Lesson and use that understanding to see 

the direction that the new Lesson is taking me. 

Jesus ended His last lesson by declaring in this order:

 (Step 1) The disciples could not cast a demon out of a man’s son 

(Step 2) Jesus pointed out their inability to “heal” the boy 

was linked to the fact that they were “faithless and perverse” 

because they were depending on their ability 

and not the Power of God. 

(Step 3) “And Jesus rebuked the demon [in the boy], 

and it came out of him; 

and the child was cured from that very hour.” (Matthew 17:18) 

(Step 4) Jesus then turned to His disciples and explained

 it was their “unbelief” that caused their weakness 

and they needed to work on their “faith’” [

in God’s Power to work through us] 

(Step 5) Jesus then referred to Himself as the “Son of Man” 

and reminded them that as part of His Mission on earth that He was to

 “be betrayed into the hands of men” 

(Matthew 17:22) and 

(Step 6) He would be killed but that

 “the third day [Jesus would be] raised up” (Matthew 17:23) 

(Step 7) Jesus performed the miracle of paying the temple tax 

with a fish Peter caught and demonstrated that God 

knows our needs without us asking 

(see also Matthew 6:8 “Therefore do not be like them. 

For your Father knows the things 

you have need of before you ask Him”) 

(Step 8) Then Jesus ties the Lesson of working on our faith

 with Him casting the demon out of the boy with His Lesson on

 “Who’s the greatest…” by calling a child to Himself and saying that

 “whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest…” 

and to me that tied together JQ#20 lesson 

where Jesus cast the demon out of the boy and now here in JQ#21

 Jesus is saying that if we will allow Him to cast out our demons

 we will become as innocent children in the kingdom of heaven

 and will be among the “greatest”. (Matthew 18:1-6) 

Step upon step we learn of God’s Truth just by taking those steps 

under the Guiding Power of the Teachings of Jesus! 

Jesus then continues the theme of us daily repenting of our sins

 caused by our worldly desires as He then reminds us that

 “offenses [to God by our worldly sins] must come” (Matthew 18:7) 

but that if we will repent and turn to God that we will 

“enter into life” 

— but if we don’t remove the source of sin and repent then we will

 “be cast into the everlasting fire” (Matthew 18:8) 

Jesus then continues His Lesson and says a second time 

that we should do whatever it takes to get rid of our sin for

 “it is better for you to enter into life” 

than to 

“be cast into hell fire”!!! (Matthew 18:9) 

Jesus then reminds us that we must become as innocent children

 and announces that when we are 

“converted and become as little children” 

that “in heaven [that the angels of God’s children] 

always see the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10) 

Jesus then confirms His Mission and our path to heaven 

and the Father when He clearly states: 

“For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.” 

(Matthew 18:11) 

Step by step Jesus has Taught us that we are lost in our sin 

and that we must repent of those sins 

for they are an offense to God and 

if we repent then Jesus will cast out our worldly demons 

and we will be converted to children of God 

and will have angels in heaven watching over us 

and we will have direct access to our Father in heaven! 

Can you “think” [there’s that command again]

 of a better future than to return to your childlike innocence

 and have a “Loving Father” take care of your every need?