Our paragraph topic is: (Fraternal correction) Part 4.
The battle is with sin and the weapon is love. We love our brothers and sisters. We would have them saved. We would have them share in the riches of heaven. We would have them experience the love of Christ and the protection of God the Father. But the ways of sin are deceiving. The ways of sin will blind. The ways of sin will overpower and contaminate the mind and the soul. And the soul will lose the light of life when it turns away from light into darkness.
Christ tells his disciples if the face to face talk fails, and the meeting with two or more fails, then appeal to the church. For we are at war with sin. We need reinforcements to overcome the black grip of sin. Sin will enter the soul. Sin will take hold. And sin will overpower the mind and the soul until one is unable to recognize the deep dark hole that sin has taken us to. Light become darkness. Good becomes evil and our sister or brother may be lost to the ways of sin. Christ tells his disciples: "And if he refuse to hear them, appeal to the Church."
Seek the counsel of the church. Seek the wisdom of the elders. Seek the prayers and supplications of the body of Christ that thy brother or sister may be saved from sin. For if there is any hope, if there is any good left in them, if there is any spark of life left within, then every effort must be made to save them. Who would want to see thy brother condemned? Who would want to see thy brother or sister cast into the fire of eternal damnation? They know not what they do. They have no understanding of the consequences of their actions. They are blinded by the appeal of sin. They are asleep in the world of sin and do not know that they are asleep.
Try to awaken them and they resist. Try to appeal to them and they deny. Try to show them and they refuse to see. For they see the world in a different light than we do. They see the world through rose colored glasses and everything is fine to them. Yet to take off the glasses is unwanted in their eyes. The battle is with sin and the weapon is love. For God's love fulfills all. God's love completes all. God's love is all that our life and our light needs for fulfillment. And without his love we are nothing. Without his love we are void. Without his love we wither and die and become darkness.
So take the light of love with thee and shine it into the darkness that they may see the truth. Love thy brother. Love thy sister. Not with a physical love but with a spiritual love that comes from the heart, should we love one another. For we are spirits. We are aliens. We are the light that Christ gave us when he became our sacrifice. Through him we have been given life anew. And with this new life one can find the peace and love and charity that comes from God.
With the realization of the truth of who we are comes the separation of the mind and the spirit. And with this separation comes the open door that brings forth the light of the Holy Spirit. For he will provide. He will protect. He will counsel. He will show forth the love that God our Father has for each and every man, woman, and child. Come! Follow the path that leads to understanding. Follow the path that will enlighten. Follow the path that will open the door to the light of life that is within you. Christ awaits you. The Holy Spirit seeks to know you. And the Father seeks to love you as his child.
Read the sign 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.
Our paragraph topic is: (Fraternal correction) Part 3.
And if thy brother listens then you have won him back. For it is the battle with sin that we wage. It is the temptations that sin brings that causes us to stray. It is the sway of those who have accepted sin in their lives that causes us to run with the crowd. But Christ says to his disciples, win thy brother back. Speak to him face to face. Love him face to face. Offer to him the love and protection that the father gives that he may know the truth. For sin will blind. Sin will corrupt. Sin will turn the soul away from the father and bring judgment.
And if he does not listen to thee, bring others to confirm. Bring others to persuade. Bring others with thee that they may be witnesses to thy brother's/sister's sin. Bring others that they may assist in the fight against sin. The goal is to win back. The fight is with the sin that has taken our brothers and sisters. The battle is not to defame, not to belittle, not to cast out the baby and the bath water. For we love our brothers and our sisters just as we love ourselves. And Christ and the Father loves them more. This is why he spoke to his disciples instructing them to take one or two others with them to speak with thy brother that they may help in the fight against sin. He told them: "But if he do not listen to
thee, take with thee one or two more so that on the word of two or three
witnesses every word may be confirmed.
Sin corrupts the mind and the body. Sin takes hold like an octopus and will not let go. And yet it is the love of Christ that we seek to pass to our beloved brothers and sisters that they may know the truth of who they are in Christ. If they only knew what they do. If they only knew what they for sake. If they only knew what they will receive. It is this knowledge that we seek to give, seek to convey to those that have turned away. For without it we are easily persuaded by sin. Without the truth of who we are in Christ we do not see the light of life that is within us. Without it we do not know the truth of who we are in Christ and we then are easily persuaded by the tricks of sin and the traps of evil.
Evil seeks to turn us away from the light of life. Evil seeks to kill the light of life that is within us and turn us into darkness. For darkness can live within us just as the light of life is who we are. God created us in his image and likeness and gave us the light of life that we may know who we are. The Holy Spirit will come and reside with those who seek him. The Holy Spirit will come and protect those who want to know him. The Holy Spirit will come and provide for those who love him. For Christ has told us that he will not leave us as orphans but will send the Advocate to be with us.
Fight the good fight. Seek the truth of who you are in Christ and you will know the light of life. For you are an alien in this world. You are a resident of heaven and are only here to carry the message that Christ lives and Christ loves and Christ provides. Be the light that shines upon the hill that everyone can see. Turn away from the temptations of sin and turn to the light of life that is within you. Seek to know the truth that is within your heart. God loves you. Christ sacrificed for you. The Holy Spirit will come to you and then you will know the truth of who you are in Christ. Come! Follow the path before you. Life has been given to me and I seek to show you the path that has been given me to follow. Great is the way of the Lord.
Read the sign 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.
Our paragraph topic is: (Fraternal correction) Part 2.
Christ continues to instruct his disciples on the importance of correction. He wants them to understand how to approach one in sin. He wants to teach them how to help each other when sin comes into the relationship. For sin will come. And sin will cause one to fall, sin will cause one to fail, sin will cause one to stray. But it is with the help of their brothers and sisters that they can overcome sin, they will cast out sin, they can be brought back to Christ.
For he told them that one must approach thy brother alone and show him/her their faults. Do not talk behind their backs. Do not talk with others about their sin. Do not write about it, text about it, discuss it with your friends. For Christ has given them the blueprint of how to overcome sin. Go and speak with thy brother/sister face to face about their sin. For the purpose is to confront sin. The purpose is to win back. The purpose is to show love to thy brother/sister that will allow them the opportunity to come back to you. The purpose is to win thy brother/sister back from sin. Christ told them: "If he listen to thee, thou hast won thy brother."
Love thy brother. Win thy brother. Show thy brother the fault, face to face, that they may have the opportunity to turn back from sin. For sin will come. Sin will tempt. Sin will try to take away thy brother/sister. But it is up to you, it is your responsibility to confront sin. It is your duty to win back. It is your love of the Father that seeks to show the truth of the circumstances. Christ has given to us the light of the Holy Spirit to guide us in our daily lives here on earth. For we are aliens, not of this world. We are citizens of heaven belonging to our Holy Father who created us. And it is that knowledge that will guide us, protect us, show us the way when sin comes to tempt us.
Some may understand. Some may know. Some may see the truth of the light of who they are. It is up to those who know the truth to show the ways of sin. Not preaching. Not teaching. But through the love that is within does one demonstrate. Through the love that comes from God does one enlighten. Through the love that is our nature as citizens of heaven that empower us to shine forth through the darkness, through the deceit, through the lies, the lust, through all the tricks and traps of sin. It is through love that comes from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit that empowers us to overcome.
From that spirit of love we were created. It is through love that we conquer sin. It is through love that we seek to share the truth of who we are. It is through love that we hope to win our brothers and sisters. For they are lost. They are asleep. They walk the wide path to destruction without the knowledge of who they are within. Come! Seek the knowledge that is promised to you. Know the truth that Christ has given you. Receive the love that the Father showers upon you, simply by asking to know him. The desires that the world has to offer cannot compare to the satisfaction that awaits you in Christ. The desires of the world cannot compare to the all fulfilling love of the Father. The Holy Spirit awaits your beckon. Open the door and let him in.
Read the sign 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.
Our paragraph topic is: (Fraternal correction) Part 1.
Christ has given his disciples the joy and glory that will be celebrated in heaven over the return of a single little one. He told them that it is not the will of the Father that a single little one should perish. For God loves all his children and desires that they, will love him when they know him. But that is the will of the Father. Man has his own will. So Christ has given them the opportunity to understand the happiness and love that awaits them in heaven. He has set the framework around which they can begin to understand what God has prepared for all in heaven. And the mystery will be revealed.
Christ goes further in teaching his disciples how to love one another. If thy brother sins against thee, what does one do? Accuse him/her! Speak foul of him/her! Talk with others about their sin when they are not present? What should one do? Christ gives his disciples the answer to what they should do. "But if thy brother sin against thee, go and show him his fault, between thee and him alone."
Consult thy brother face to face, alone. Seek his/her understanding of the sin without malice or accusation. Express love for thy brother that he/she may turn away from sin. These are the ideas and principles that Christ seeks for his disciples to understand. He spoke these words that they may know how to approach each other when sin comes into a relationship whether it be a relationship between men or our relationship with God. When we sin, God comes to us quietly seeking to have us recognize the sin that is within us. He does not shout it out. He does not bash us over the head or punish us immediately because of our sin. He continues to love us until we can recognize the sin that is within us. For it is his children that he seeks to save, just as it is our brother that we should seek to save. It is the sin within us that we should seek to expel through the love that is within us for one another. Satan seeks to divide. Satan seeks to separate. Satan seeks to control. Satan seeks to turn us away from God our Father and to turn us to himself. And he will seek to do this in any way that he can.
Does thy brother know that he has sinned against thee? Does thy brother have any conscience of his error? Does thy brother understand the consequences of his actions? Does thy brother know that he has opened the door to Satan? Has Satan taken control and turned him/her completely away from thee? Love is the key. Love thy brother/sister, for they do not know what they do. And if they do know what they do then they do not understand the consequences of what they do. For no one desires to jump into the fire. No one seeks to live eternity in damnation, if they truly understand what they do. Yet many are blinded. Many are without understanding. Many have not been made fully aware of what they do. And yet we all have the capacity to understand. We all have the ability to make sense of our world. Yet, in that sense, we choose what path we walk. We choose what road we travel. We choose the outcome of what we are.
God has given us a spirit of love. For he is love. He is light. He is life and he has given us life through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. His love is so fulfilling that it overwhelms the mind, the body and fills the soul. And we cannot fully comprehend the complete meaning of his love for to do so would be too much for our being. Yet he loves us. He completes us. He provides for us. He fills us with a peace that nothing on earth can provide. Our desires, our passions, our wants, cannot begin to compare to that which he can provide. No amount of gold, diamonds, jewels or paper money can come close to the wealth that the Father has prepared for each of us. The choice is ours, provided we understand, provided we can make sense of it all, provided we can believe and receive the spirit that he will send to show us his ways.
Seek thy brother alone and reconcile thy difference. Love thy brother as God has loved thee. When we were in sin, he did not let go. When we were in sin, he did not turn away. When we were in sin, he walked with us. When we were wrong, when we were in the darkness, when we were tempted by Satan, he was still there. He still loved us. He still cared for us. He still allowed us to sin. By his grace we awoke from our worldly sleep and turned away from sin. By his grace we were forgiven. By his love we were cleansed. By his mercy we will be restored. By his love we will rejoice at his glory and power and majesty. Seek to express the love of the Father to thy brother that he may understand. For one does not desire to jump into the fire if one understands. Christ loves us. The Father provides for us. The Holy Spirit will teach us the ways of truth and light. Come! Follow the path before you.
Read the sign 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.
