St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 16, The Good Master.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The rich young man speaks to Jesus )
Part 1.

Our scripture journey skips and takes us to another time and place.  We left Christ where he laid hands on the children and prayed over them.  He departed from that place and moved on to another.  It is in this place where he encounters a young man that has heard of him through the word.  The word traveled.  The word was with the people.  The word was with the rulers, the wealthy, the soldiers, the merchants, the word was with everyone.  The people spoke it.  They heard it.  They marveled at it.  And it spread from one mouth to one ear to another mouth and so on.

It was the word that caught this young man.  He wanted his questions answered.  So he sought  Christ to pose the questions that that no one else could answer to his satisfaction.  He wanted an answer that would provide meaning  to his life.  He wanted to know.  He wanted to believe.  He wanted to do those things that would guarantee him success to the kingdom of heaven.  So he sought Christ  for the answer to his questions.  And behold, a certain man came to him and said, "Good Master, what good work shall I do to have eternal life?" 

What good work shall I do to have eternal life?  Is this not the question for each and every one of us?  Do we not want to have eternal life?  Do we not want to enjoy the life that we have forever?  Or, is this not a question that we concern ourselves with now.  Are we only concerned with the questions of the here and now:  Where will I work to make money?, How will I pay bills?, Where will my kids go to school to get the best education?, What can I do tonight to entertain myself?, What girlfriend shall I call tonight?, etc.  These and others are worldly questions that are upfront on our conscious mind on a daily basis.  They occupy our minds from the time we awake from the time we pass out to sleep.

Do we concern ourselves with what we must do to have eternal life?  Will compliance with Sunday worship be enough to secure our future eternal life?  Or is there more that we should do to be certain of that future?  Our lives are filled with worldly thoughts and demands that prevent us from concerning ourselves with eternity.  And it is those thoughts that we are given to have that stop us from being who we are.  We are eternal beings created in the image and likeness of our Father.  He gave us life and Christ came to renew that life after it was lost by Adam.  Yet in the world today we have no awareness of who we are. 

We are drowned by the demands of the world.  We are blinded by the desires and passions of this world.  We are lost and asleep in the world, as if we are the walking dead.  For it is death that leads us in this world.  It is death that drives us into oblivion.  It is death that stimulates our passions and desires.  And it is death that will lead us down the wide path of destruction. 

Christ came that we would have life.  He came that we would know the truth of who we are.  He gave us the instructions to discover ourselves.  He arose from the grips of death.  He left this world that we would know that he is truly the Christ.  He sits at the right hand of his father waiting for us to call to him as our savior.  The decision is up to us.  The path is before each of us to follow.  The door is open to those who decide to seek the path that will lead them to the knowledge of eternal life.  Know yourself.  Be yourself.  See yourself as you are seen.  For it is through the knowledge of yourself that you open the door to the truth of who you are now and forever.  Christ awaits you.  God the Father loves you.  And the Holy Spirit will lead you in this world and the next.  Open the door and ask 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.

St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 15, Christ touching the little ones.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus blesses the children) Part 5.

Christ instructed his disciples not to hinder the little ones from coming to him, for he wanted to touch them.  He wanted to be with them, to see them, to feel their presences up close.  They were the newly born, the new life, the light of life fresh from the tree of life.  Christ knew them before they were born into the physical world.  He knew them from the tree of life as he knows all.  He knew them in heaven as they were still on the tree of life.

So he instructed his disciples to let them be.  He told them to come close.  He told them to come see him that they may see with their eyes the savior of the world.  Though they were still just children, they would remember the day that they met the Savior.  They would remember the day they saw him, the time that they felt him, the time that they were near to him in the flesh.  For his time was short.  His mission was almost complete, his journey coming to an end.  And when he had laid his hands on them, he departed that place.

The little ones come into this world without any knowledge or understanding.  They depend upon those that came before for wisdom and truth.  They take what is given to them and incorporate into themselves the knowledge of those around them.  And when the time comes, they may question the validity of what has been given to them.  Or they may accept what the world has offered them and seek to conform to the norms of the day.  But they came unblemished into the world.  They came without malice.  They came clean, new, fresh from the tree of life.

And then we laid hands on them.  And then we loved them.  We gave them the best of what we had.  We influenced them and turned them out into the world.  And the world took hold of them and molded them into the people that they became.  Yet deep within them there was still life.  Deep within there was still the light of Christ.  Deep within was the spark that came from God our Father who loves them, calling them from the world that they may know the truth of who they are.  Did they hear?  Did they see?  Did they understand what they felt was a deep need that could not be filled from the world? 

Christ came to give his life for the children, that they might have new life.  He came that all would have the opportunity to know that they are spiritual and not physical beings.  He came that we would all have new life in him.  But it is up to us to know it.  It is up to us to see it.  It is up to us to grasp the true meaning of our spiritual being.  For our life is in him and not in the world.  Our hope is through him and not in the sky.  Our dreams are fulfilled from him and not in the dreams of death in the world.  He laid hands on the little ones just as he lays his hands on each and everyone of us.  Reach out and take his hand.  Reach out and hold it.  Reach out and feel him.  And then, you will know the joy of your Father who loves you.  You will know the peace of your Lord who believes in you.  You will know the excitement of the Holy Spirit who will live with you until you make the transition into the kingdom of heaven.

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.

St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 14b, The Children are the Kingdom of Heaven.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus blesses the children) Part 4.

Christ sat with the children.  He played with them and laid hands on them that they would be blessed.  His disciples did not want the children to disturb Christ.  They did not want them to be brought to Christ.  But Christ told them that they should not hinder the children from coming to him.  He told them that they should not stop the children from being with him.  For these were they whom he loved.  These were they whom he had passion.  The children were they who were the new life, fresh from the tree of life.

They knew not about the Christ.  They knew not about the miracles.  They knew not about the message that he came to bring to the world.  They only knew that Christ was special according to what their parents spoke.  But Christ knew them.  He loved them.  He saw them as they were, little ones.  And he had compassion for them, for they were the innocent ones whom he would sacrifice his life.  They were the innocent ones who had died without life before his coming.  They were the passion of his heart.  And he told his disciples:  "For of such is the kingdom of heaven ."

The little ones are of the kingdom.  The little ones belong to the kingdom.  The little ones are the innocent ones, they are the ones without corruption, without malice, without hatred, fear, anger, and evil.  For they are fresh from the tree of life, newly born into the world.  Long had time pasted with many of them without life.  Long had time pasted without the light of life within them.  Long had time pasted with them living in limbo until the coming of Christ.  He was the one who made the sacrifice.  He was the one who paid for the sin.  He was the one who redeemed all.  He was the one who gave new life to all, male, female, young and old, children and adults.

Save the children.  Do not allow them to be harmed.  Sad is the day when we loose the young before their time.  But many have been martyrs.  Many have been sacrificed.  Many have died before their time.  And yet joyous are they that enter into the kingdom.  Joyous are they that meet the Father.  For Christ told his disciples: "Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God."  Joyous are the ones who live in the presence of the Lord, because they are the innocent ones.  They are the ones who's life was given and taken away.  And yet they exist in God's presences in the kingdom of heaven.

We live in a world today where anything goes.  Our lives are filled with desires and passions that lead us astray.  We are given to be bad rather than good, to be wicked rather than pious, to be evil rather than filled with the light of life given us by our Father.  It becomes thrilling to us, it raises our blood pressure, it makes us feel good, feel alive, feel strong.  And yet it is just those feelings that lead us astray from who we are, spiritual beings created in the image and likeness of God our Father.

We are his children and he is our Father.  We are his little ones and he is our provider, our protector, our joy and our hope.  He is merciful and through his mercy we live and exist.  We are given to be strong, to seek power, to be wise and knowledgeable.  Yet it is through our own humility that we can come to understand true knowledge and true wisdom.  Acceptance is the key to who we are.  Denial of the world is what must happen.  And understanding of what fills our souls completely will open our hearts to the love that awaits us in him.  Such is the wisdom of the kingdom.  Such is the knowledge of our existence.  And such is the makeup of the children of the kingdom of heaven.

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.

St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 14a, Hinder not the children.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus blesses the children) Part 3.

So the children came.  They were brought to him that he might bless them and lay his hands on them.  This was a sight to see, the children in their playful nature around Christ, the savior.  They did not know him.  They heard their parents speaking of him.  They heard strangers and other people talking about him.  But now they had the opportunity to come close, to touch him, to be in his presence.  Oh, what a joy that must have been!

The disciples thought not.  They did not see him having time for little children.  He was the savior.  He was the Messiah.  He was the Lord of all, yet he had time to play with the little children.  They did not understand.  They did not know.  For the disciples and all the others considered that he had other things to do, other things to think about, other problems to solve.  Yet he had time for the little ones.  But Jesus said to them, "Let the little children be, and do not hinder them from coming to me."

Do not hinder them.  Let them be.  Do not disturb them.  Let them play, let them have fun, let them see the world through their eyes, fresh and anew.  For they are the little ones, precious in the eyes of God our Father.  They are the innocent ones, uncorrupted by the influences of the world and of evil.  Their light is bright, new and fresh from the tree of life.  Do not stop them from coming to the light of their creation.  Christ loved the little ones.  He knew them before they were conceived into the flesh and he adored them in their new spirit.

His love was the love of the Father.  His love is the love of a brother.  His love for the little ones is the love of all creation, an all-consuming love.  But the world does not love the little ones.  The world does not know their light.  The world wants to hinder them.  The world wants to turn them away from the light and turn them to the darkness.  For they are the precious ones in the eyes of God.  They are loved.  They are adored.  They are new.  Hinder not the little ones.  

When they are born into the world our hearts are filled with love for them.  When they are first conceived our lives are changed, at least for those who know and who understand God's plan and purpose.  For some it does not bring change.  For some they bring a feeling of a burden upon their lives, they not knowing the joy that will come.  So they turn away from the new life that is given them.  They turn away from the gift of life that is passed on to them.  They do not know the love, the protection, and the provision of the Father that awaits them through this new life.  And then there are those who would hinder the plans of the Father from coming forth, they destroy the new life.  All brought forth through the fear that comes from evil.

Do not hinder the little ones, Christ told his disciples.  Let them be.  Give them the freedom brought forth through God's plan and purpose.  Theirs is the gift of love.  Theirs is the promise of hope.  Theirs is the joy of innocence.  See the world through their eyes and rejoice in their passing back to the Father.  For the transition is a joyous time.  The transition is a time of happiness.  The transition is a time of love for those who have gone to be with the Father.  And the little ones will go without the taint of sin or corruption.  Hinder not the little ones and let them be with the one who gave them life.  For Christ rejoiced in seeing them that his sacrifice would have purpose, his sacrifice would have meaning, his sacrifice would mean love for these little ones who were new from the tree of live.  

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.