Our paragraph topic is: (The Pharisees and Sadducees ask a sign) Part 2
The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to Christ to ask for a sign. They had devised a test for him. They said they wanted to believe. They said they wanted to know. They said that they wanted to see for themselves that Christ was the Messiah and a sign from heaven would convince them that he was the one. Yet evil had conspired with them. Evil had devised a plan with them. Evil had conferred with them to test Christ. And the evildoers were in agreement that they would come to Christ and ask for a sign.
And Christ saw through them. Christ saw their evil. Christ knew of their test but the evildoers were blind. They did not know. They could not see who was before them for they could not see the evil that was within them. But they claimed that they wanted a sign from heaven that they might believe. Yet they knew how to read. They knew how to interpret. They knew how to explain the changes that were taking place but evil was with them and they were blind. Christ gave them their explanation. But answering them he said , ''When it is evening you say, 'The weather will be fair, for the sky is red.' And in the morning you say, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and lowering.' You know then how to read the face of the sky, but cannot read the signs of the times!
Christ gave them an example. He showed them how to use their senses. He told them that they could read, they could see, they could know if they only use their natural senses. But the Pharisees and the Sadducees were blind. They could see but did not want to believe. They were filled with the darkness that would not allow them to know the truth of Christ. But he gave them an example that they would know. He gave them a riddle that would open their minds. He gave them natural knowledge that they could use to open their hearts and see the truth of the signs that were being worked before their eyes. But evil consumed them, darkness was within them, and it covered their knowledge of who they were in Christ.
Where are we today? Are we consumed with darkness? Are we blinded by the world? Can we not see the signs that are before us. Can we not know the truth of who we are and let Christ open our eyes that we may see, and open our hearts that we may know and heal us. He came to suffer for our wrongs. He came to die for our sins. He came that we may have life eternal for without him we are dead. And through him we have life if we only believe and turn from our evil ways. The world does not want us to change. The world would keep us in chains and dead to the life that Christ gives us. The world would have us not believe. The world have us partially believe so that we may sit on the fence, living in the world and thinking that we believe in Christ.
The Father asks us to turn from the evil in the world and to obey his commandments. The commandments are not meant to harm us, to block us from living. If you tell a child not to touch the flame because it will burn and cause harm, that child does not know the truth of your words. But it accepts that truth and does not touch the flame. Our Father tells us to follow his commandments because to do otherwise would bring harm to us. And yet we do not obey.
I did not obey. I followed the ways of the world, because everyone else followed. Everyone else was in the world. Everyone else was consumed with the world and I followed. I tried to live in the world. I tried to do as the world said. I tried to make it work in the world, to have the riches and the desires of the world. It only led to my destruction. It only led to my downfall. It only led me to be tested, to cross over to the darkness.
Thank you Father for holding my hand. Thank you Father for not letting go of me for not even sparrow falls to the ground except by the Father's leave. Thank you Father for giving me your peace when I was a child that I would know how to find you. Read the signs of the times. Know the truth of who you are. Follow the example that is given you as Christ gave to the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Read the signs of the times! Christ awaits you. Christ is holding your hand. Come back to him and know the joy and the peace that his love gives to all those who know him. I did and I know the peace and the love that he gives me daily.
Read the signs of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in!
The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to Christ to ask for a sign. They had devised a test for him. They said they wanted to believe. They said they wanted to know. They said that they wanted to see for themselves that Christ was the Messiah and a sign from heaven would convince them that he was the one. Yet evil had conspired with them. Evil had devised a plan with them. Evil had conferred with them to test Christ. And the evildoers were in agreement that they would come to Christ and ask for a sign.
And Christ saw through them. Christ saw their evil. Christ knew of their test but the evildoers were blind. They did not know. They could not see who was before them for they could not see the evil that was within them. But they claimed that they wanted a sign from heaven that they might believe. Yet they knew how to read. They knew how to interpret. They knew how to explain the changes that were taking place but evil was with them and they were blind. Christ gave them their explanation. But answering them he said , ''When it is evening you say, 'The weather will be fair, for the sky is red.' And in the morning you say, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and lowering.' You know then how to read the face of the sky, but cannot read the signs of the times!
Christ gave them an example. He showed them how to use their senses. He told them that they could read, they could see, they could know if they only use their natural senses. But the Pharisees and the Sadducees were blind. They could see but did not want to believe. They were filled with the darkness that would not allow them to know the truth of Christ. But he gave them an example that they would know. He gave them a riddle that would open their minds. He gave them natural knowledge that they could use to open their hearts and see the truth of the signs that were being worked before their eyes. But evil consumed them, darkness was within them, and it covered their knowledge of who they were in Christ.
Where are we today? Are we consumed with darkness? Are we blinded by the world? Can we not see the signs that are before us. Can we not know the truth of who we are and let Christ open our eyes that we may see, and open our hearts that we may know and heal us. He came to suffer for our wrongs. He came to die for our sins. He came that we may have life eternal for without him we are dead. And through him we have life if we only believe and turn from our evil ways. The world does not want us to change. The world would keep us in chains and dead to the life that Christ gives us. The world would have us not believe. The world have us partially believe so that we may sit on the fence, living in the world and thinking that we believe in Christ.
The Father asks us to turn from the evil in the world and to obey his commandments. The commandments are not meant to harm us, to block us from living. If you tell a child not to touch the flame because it will burn and cause harm, that child does not know the truth of your words. But it accepts that truth and does not touch the flame. Our Father tells us to follow his commandments because to do otherwise would bring harm to us. And yet we do not obey.
I did not obey. I followed the ways of the world, because everyone else followed. Everyone else was in the world. Everyone else was consumed with the world and I followed. I tried to live in the world. I tried to do as the world said. I tried to make it work in the world, to have the riches and the desires of the world. It only led to my destruction. It only led to my downfall. It only led me to be tested, to cross over to the darkness.
Thank you Father for holding my hand. Thank you Father for not letting go of me for not even sparrow falls to the ground except by the Father's leave. Thank you Father for giving me your peace when I was a child that I would know how to find you. Read the signs of the times. Know the truth of who you are. Follow the example that is given you as Christ gave to the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Read the signs of the times! Christ awaits you. Christ is holding your hand. Come back to him and know the joy and the peace that his love gives to all those who know him. I did and I know the peace and the love that he gives me daily.
Read the signs of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in!
