Answers To Questions

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional Message Title: Answers To Questions Date: Thursday October 06, 2011 Chapters: Matthew 13-14, Proverbs 6, Psalm 111 Click Here to Read Them or Go to: http://imfollowingjesus.com/bible-october-6 Hello My Friend/Guest, “And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” - Matthew 13:10-15. The answers to our questions in life no matter what we are going through are found in God's Word, of course, sometimes we have to do some research to understand what the meaning of something is, but once we understand what we are looking for we get our answers. For instance, What is a parable? A parable is a short story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principal, or moral lesson. Jesus often spoke to people in short story form, the short stories relating to the things of God were designed for those willing to be taught to understand, and at the same time unwilling to be taught more difficult to understand. Sometimes the Gospel is received quickly, sometimes it must be presented to a person several times before they understand it, but some never understand it, regardless, only those who understand it and receive it will be converted or saved. Jesus did not come here in the flesh to prove Himself as God, He came here to warn, convict, and teach all that unless they receive Him, who was about to die for them, they will not be saved from the coming judgment. When we die we all must stand before Jesus, not once, but twice. Through a parable Jesus explains this further. “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” - Matthew 13:24-30. Christ tries all ways and methods to do good to the souls of the people and to make impressions upon them; if people will not be instructed and influenced by plain preaching, He will try to reach them with parables. Jesus never tells a story without an explanation. Here is the explanation to the above parable. “He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” - Matthew 13:37-43. Jesus is the living Word of God, He came into the world in the flesh to save those who believe in the Living Word. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” - John 1:1,14. Jesus will return and when He does only those who have believed and received Him before the first death will be saved from the second death. “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” - Revelation 21:7,8. The second you receive Christ as your Savior He snatches you up out of the pit of hell and places you in His watchful eyes. Knowing this, we should all be more aware of what we are doing, right? Nevertheless, Jesus never takes His eyes off us, oh, it may feel as though He is not near, but He never leaves us out of His sight. As the disciples got into a boat, Jesus stayed behind to pray, yet He never took His eyes off them. “And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.” - Matthew 14:25-32. This is an illustration of just how fast Jesus is there to catch us when we fall. Are you going to mess us again? Of course you are, until we remove this flesh from us we will all mess up time and time again. Does Jesus cast us out? No, we may feel as though we are cast offs, but that is our own thinking. Jesus might not approve of what we are doing, but He will never cast us out of His sight. Of course, we can expect some storms, of course, we can expect some affliction, and of course, we can expect some chastening, but when we endure it all we can expect something much more than trials and afflictions, we can expect the Kingdom of God. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” - I Corinthians 6:9-11. Today's Prayer: Dear God, Lord, we don’t always know where our present steps will take us on life’s journey, but we do know they lead us to heaven as we walk with You. Our steps here may lead to cold, dark mountains or deep valleys. Or perhaps crooked paths and rough terrain may be part of the journey, but ultimately we will rest where the steps of Jesus ends at heaven’s throne. We will no longer have questions about You or our future, for we know that we will spend eternity forever worshiping You as we give You glory, honor, praise, and thanksgiving. Give us peace and joy for our journey here below and heavenward anticipation for our future inheritance. In Jesus' name. Amen. God Bless You, I am praying for you, Christina