JUNE 17 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#19 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

 

JUNE 17  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  

JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, 

and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

Jesus, thank You Lord for Your Word which is the Word of Life 

and only Your Words are of “life” to sustain our physical body 

and of “eternal life” to sustain our soul.

 Lord, Your Words speak volumes but Your Life and Perfect Example

 Teach us so much more and I Praise You for the Perfect Example 

of “actions-speak-louder-than-words” TRUTH!!! 

 Lord Jesus, my prayer is that everything I both do and say 

will be a Glory and Honor to Your Life which You lived 

to the Glory of God Almighty, our Father who abides forever in Heaven

 and wills that all men would be drawn to the Father through the Son,

 the Only Begotten Son, 

who paid the Ultimate Price 

for our Freedom from the slavery of sin!     

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus is the Master Teacher not only because He possesses

 Unlimited Knowledge that cannot be fathomed by the finite mind of mankind

 but aside from His Divine Knowledge

 the Lord Jesus Taught by the Perfect Example

 of Living His Life to Honor the Father and then pointing us to His Life 

and Teaching what He Lived in the form of Life Lessons

 which He Taught by asking us Questions that could always be answered

 by observing the way He Lived His Life while in the flesh! 

There is no Greater Sacrifice than Jesus giving up His Heavenly Glory to

 “become flesh and to dwell among us” (John 1:14) 

with the expressed purpose of coming into the world to fulfill the Father’s Will,

 “for God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,

 but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17) 

and we often miss the Divine Fact that Jesus lived the example

 of Abraham and Isaac being obedient to God 

as both Abraham and Isaac prepared the altar together

 for the Sacrifice Commanded of God and 

JESUS

 fulfilled the scripture that said

 “God Himself will provide the Lamb…” 

(Genesis 22:8) !  

We know that it was the Life of Jesus that the Scripture was foretelling because

 John the Baptist, who was the “witness” sent from God to testify 

that it was Jesus that is the “Light” and it is that “Light” 

that is the “life of all mankind” 

(John 1:6-9) 

that was proclaimed loudly by John when he saw 

Jesus, “Behold the Lamb of God 

that takes away the sins of the world…” 

(John 1:29) 

The overlooked Truth of God is 

that God promised the Messiah, 

God declared what the Messiah was to accomplish, 

and then “God so loved world” that God 

fulfilled His Holy Scripture with the 

Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of His Only Begotten Son, 

Jesus Christ, the Messiah made flesh!!! 

That is the Gospel and the greatest part of the Gospel is that

 “God so loved the world” 

that He gave us JESUS and that Jesus so Loved the Father

 that Jesus was Obedient unto the Fulfillment of all Scripture

 by willingly accepting that He MUST DIE ON THE CROSS, 

then Jesus “Lived” the Perfect Example 

and Jesus “Died” the Perfect Example 

and through His “Life” and “Death” Jesus gave us the Perfect Example

 of the “WAY” to the Father and Eternal Life 

demonstrated by His Burial and Resurrection!!! 

Jesus with His Question about considering our “soul” 

and what we may “exchange” for it was saying in effect,

 “If you follow MY EXAMPLE 

then you will know the way to the Father and Eternal Life”

 and the Question and the Answer Produce the Results of Eternal Life 

for ALL who believe in the 

Life, Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ 

living and dying the Perfect Example, just as God has proclaimed 

through the prophets. Jesus introduced JQ#19 with the announcement that

 “He [The Messiah] must suffer…

be killed…

and be raised the third day…” in Matthew 16:21 

and then He asks the Question in Matthew 16:26

 but as soon as He asked the Question, as always Jesus explains the answer:

 “For the Son of Man [The Messiah] 

will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, 

and then He will reward 

each according to his works.” 

(Matthew 16:27)  

Then Jesus continued this most important 

Lesson of Teaching-by-Example as He takes

 “Peter, James, and John his brother…

and led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 

and He was transfigured before them. 

His face shone like the sun, 

and His clothes became as white as the light. 

And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, 

talking with [Jesus].” 

(Matthew 17:1-3) 

Surely no words could express to the disciples and to all of His followers

 what they saw that day in the “life” of Jesus 

that proved that Jesus is

 

“[The Messiah] the Beloved of the Father” 

and that the eternal future of all mankind 

rests with the belief or rejection of Jesus!  

There is no “WAY” to the Father

 except through the Son ——— 

are you on the Path

 that leads to the Narrow Gate?

JUNE 16 THE JESUS QUESTIONS JQ#19 “For what profit is it to man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26)

 

JUNE 16  THE JESUS QUESTIONS  

JQ#19  “For what profit is it to man 

if he gains the whole world, 

and loses his own soul?” 

(Matthew 16:26)

LIVING FOR JESUS  Daily Prayer    

JESUS, Your Glory is Forever, 

but Lord I pray that You open my

 “spiritual” eyes and burn the Truth into my heart 

that Your Glory is also “NOW”, 

Your Glory has always been 

so I pray as did the thief on the cross 

that You “remember me” (Luke 23:42) 

for You have come into Your Kingdom 

and are in it “NOW” 

sitting at the Right Hand of God

 making intercession for me! 

Lord, You have paid the “ultimate price” to purchase back that

 which I sold so cheaply to sin — forgive me, Lord Jesus 

and “return to me the joy of Thy salvation” (Psalm 51:12). 

Lord, as I seek Your Truth let me go forth with confidence 

that You will both show me the “Way” to Your Truth 

and that You will “equip” me with Your Strength

 that I will “share” Your Truth with others that need

 to be bathed in Your Spiritual Light,

 “the life of men” (John 1:4,9) 

that only comes from the True Light!              

AMEN

THE JESUS QUESTIONS

Jesus, my “soul” is stirred today with the thought of the “Great Price” 

that You have already “paid” for my sin and I can answer 

the Jesus Question JQ#19,

 “Or what will man give in exchange for his soul?”

(Matthew 16:26b)  

by truthfully declaring that I possess nothing of any value to God 

except my soul which I had sold to the world, therefore I can only turn to the 

“One” that Suffered and Died for my sin that 

my “soul” could be Redeemed,

 my “Pardon” is not “Purchased” by anything of earthly value 

but by Heaven’s Priceless Grace! 

The Holy Spirit reminds us occasionally that the Final Destination 

holds “joys unimaginable” so therefore we must “Stay-the-Course” — 

“He who has an ear, let him hear 

what the Spirit says to the churches.

 To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, 

which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”

 (Revelation 2:7)

 This “tree of life” is the same as the one that 

“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, 

and there He put the man whom He had formed. 

And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow 

that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. 

The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden…” 

(Genesis 2:8-9) 

So we see what is meant from the Psalmist 

“… even from Everlasting to Everlasting, 

You are God!”

 (Psalm 90:2) 

for 

“In the beginning” God Created us, 

God placed us in a garden that He Himself planted, 

God placed us in this “Paradise of God” along with the “tree of life”, 

then when we forfeited the “Paradise of God” for our selfish desires, 

God provided an Atonement for our sin 

and sent His Only Begotten Son to become flesh, 

to suffer and die, and to “Purchase” our ticket back to “Paradise” 

so that at the “end times” we can again

 partake of the “tree of life”.  

In JQ#19 Jesus asks us to consider what we can give in

 “Exchange for our soul” (Matthew 16:26b)

 and we are so caught up in ourselves that we are blinded to the 

“Truth” 

that Jesus has already given us the answer before asking the Question —

 just prior to asking JQ#19: 

 “Jesus said to His disciples,

 ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, 

let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” 

(Matthew  16:24)

 then Jesus continued with more details about the price we must pay for this

 “exchange” 

as He tells the disciples,

 “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, 

but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” 

(Matthew 16:25) 

So once again, Jesus gives us the answer and then asks the question 

which makes more sense why God said,

 “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. 

Listen to Him.” (Luke 9:35) 

for here Jesus is telling us what to do to “overcome” 

that we may partake of the “tree of life” 

that awaits us in the “Paradise of God”! 

The real question now is

 “What ‘life’ is it that we must ‘lose for His sake’ 

and what ‘life’ will we ‘find’?” 

Could it be that Jesus is Teaching us another detail of the 

Truth of God 

that our body contains “physical” life which we defile, but

 

our “spiritual” life is of God 

who offers “Eternal Life” 

which is undefiled 

because it is from God Himself?