Our paragraph topic is: (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 20.
We come to this part of the parable where the house-holder speaks to the laborers directly concerning their anger and their frustration about their pay. They have come to believe that they were cheated. Their minds were influenced by a belief that they deserved more than they agreed to from the beginning. They saw others come in and work. They believed that they would receive less. But when the time came for payment they received the same as those who came before them and worked less.
They saw themselves deserving more. They saw themselves as being cheated. They saw themselves as being underpaid even though they agreed to do the labor for a denarius. Who was at fault? Who committed a wrong? Did they deserve more? Was that the issue or did they compare themselves to others to determine that they deserved more? The house-holder spoke to them and told them: "Take what is thine and go."
What was theirs? What belonged to them? What did they own? They agreed to a denarius when they were hired in the market place and that was what was theirs. They believed that it was a fair wage for a days work. So the contract for labor was agreed upon and signed when they went to work. It was only after they were in the fields, saw others come in after them, and watched as they were paid the same amount that they became dissatisfied and disgruntled. What would you do? If you agreed to do a specific task for a fixed amount, would you be disgruntled if you saw others come and do less work and get paid the same amount? Most would say yes!
Christ tells this parable to his disciples to warn them of the dangers of making comparisons. He wanted them to know that they would be challenged to compare what they were being offered to what they would receive. He wanted them to be aware of how evil would challenge them, to weaken them, and to open them up to being influenced. Knowledge of oneself in the eyes of Christ defends against the outside influence. Knowing the life that Christ has given to us and the value of that life cannot compare to anything that this world has to offer.
Evil tempted Christ in the desert and offered him the kingdoms of this world if he would only bow down in worship. Evil will do the same to us if we do not know who we are in Christ. It will come and influence. It will come and tempt. It will come in and bring anger, and mistrust and disbelief and finally open the door to being controlled. And when that control takes over one will do what is suggested to get what is being offered by it.
Christ came and opened the door to the kingdom that all could enter. He gave us a path. He showed us the way. He left a message, a book, a light, so that we could find our way home. And when we come to realize and understand who we are and the path to our destiny, nothing can stand in our way to receive our peace and happiness. The Advocate will lead the way. The Advocate will be our guide. The Advocate will be our council everyday to help us make good decisions as we walk by faith along the path to the kingdom. Your path is before you. You can find the way. Look within and see the light of life given you by Christ. Seek to know him and you will see. His love will come and touch you to let you know that he is there waiting for you. Open your heart and let him in. Come! See the true you that is within and let no one or nothing separate you from the love that the Father has for 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.
Our paragraph topic is:
(Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 19.
We have been talking about the laborers in the vineyard and how their minds and their hearts were changed when it came time for payment for the services rendered. Christ told this parable to his disciples in comparing this tale to the kingdom of heaven. He said that the kingdom of heaven is like a house-holder who went out to the market place seeking workers for his vineyard.
Christ was seeking workers here on earth to do the work for his father, the house-holder. The labor was needed here on earth to carry the message to the people. Christ would not be here and he needed someone to carryon his work to lead the people and to speak with them about the Father. He needed followers. But he wanted those followers to know what he was asking them to do. And he needed them to understand the reward that was being offered them. For once the agreement was made then outside influences would enter and seek to change the minds of the laborers just as it did in the parable. In the parable the question becomes: "Didst thou not agree with me for a denarius?"
Agree with me. Let us have an understanding. Let us come to know each other and then we will have an agreement. The laborers agreed to the compensation but later wanted to change the contract. They became angered, and bitter and disgruntled about what they had agreed to and this was the central issue. They saw that others got more for less work. They saw that others who came after them received the same amount as they for less work. They agreed to the amount from the beginning but later wanted more than what they had agreed.
Christ wants his disciples to understand that they needed to have an understanding. They needed to agree with him on what was needed, what had to be done. For the work was plentiful but the laborers were few. And then came the outside influences that would seek to change them, seek to turn them around, seek to change the agreement, change the understanding that they have. And by influencing the change in the understanding then the door is open to bring forth another mind different from the mind that made the agreement.
The agreement is a symbol of who we are in Christ. Know thyself. We are in him and not apart from him. He is with us and we are not alone. His love transforms and brings us to the knowledge of who we are. For we were created in the image and likeness of God our Father. And Christ is his only begotten son. And through the passion and the sacrifice of Christ our Lord and Savior we have been restored to life. Yet the life that we have is not known. The life we have is not seen. The life we have is not believed by many and that allows the influence of the outside to come in and seek to change that which is given to us.
Seek to know thyself. In that knowledge you will find the truth of who you are in Christ. We are more than the physical and yet it is the physical that binds us, that holds us, that limits us to not comprehend who we are. Death has been conquered. It does not hold us. It only frees us from the physical and transforms us to our true selves in Christ. Close the door to the outside. Open the door to the inside. And within what is within you will see the truth of who you are in Christ. For Christ came as a light to the world. And he left that you may become his light. Open your heart and see the light that is within you and Christ will send the Advocate to be with you forever.
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: (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 18.
The last laborers who were first to be hired felt that they were not treated fairly. They felt that they deserved more. They felt that they had worked the whole day and deserved more than what the others received. They saw the others come into the vineyard. They saw how little work that completed. They saw the amount that they received for the work that was completed. And they believed that they did more work than the others. This is why they believed that they deserved more.
Yet they agreed to work for a denarius. They thought that to work for that amount was fair. They believed that a denarius was a fair wage for a days work, so they agreed to do the work. Yet when others came and when others did less work and when others received the same amount, they were dissatisfied, they grumbled, they murmured, they were angry. And when they spoke to the house-holder about this perceived injustice, the house-holder did not agree with their perception. "But answering one of them, he said, 'Friend, I do thee no injustice."
Where did it all start? Where did the concept of injustice begin? Who brought up the thought? Who spoke of the idea? How did it enter the minds of the laborers as they worked in the vineyard? Was there some outside influence that they did not know about? Was there some outside idea that came to them as they worked that made them think that they should receive more than they agreed to?
Here we are today living in the world seeking to be who we are. What are we? Who are we? What do we believe? Our thoughts and ideas come to us from outside ourselves fed by the electronic media that we live by today. Who decides what that media will say? Who decides what that media will do? Who makes the decisions as to what is sent through that media and what is not sent, what we see and what we do not see, what we perceive and what we do not perceive? We accept what is given us. Some is discarded and some is retained. Some is stored for future use and some is used immediately. Do we filter? Do we reject? Do we block out all that comes in? Yet the media continues to come and we continue to perceive.
Even when the media is off we continue to perceive. We continue to think about what is given us as we seek to utilize the functions of our brains to sort through all that is given us. What was given the laborers? They did not have the media of today. They did not have others making decisions and sending out thoughts and ideas and facts, and all kinds of information for them to take in. Where did their thoughts come from that they would consider themselves done an injustice. Did it come from the air? Did it come from space? Did it come from the netherworld?
We are imperfect beings trying to live in a world not our own. How do we live, how do we survive, how do we protect ourselves in such an environment. Christ said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." His saying is contradictory to what we live by today. We are given to be rich. Our every being our every desire is influenced by the thought that we want to be rich and not poor. And yet the riches of this world that we seek do not satisfy, they do not complete, they do not fulfill. What is there that will complete us? What is there that will fulfill us? What is it that our hearts desire that will gives us lasting joy, lasting happiness, lasting peace? Knock and it shall be opened to you, seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given to you.
These are the words that come from our heavenly Father through Christ Jesus. If you seek peace then ask. If you seek joy then look. If you want happiness then open the door to your heart and it will come to you who want to know eternal happiness in him who completes all. Be satisfied. Be content. Be knowledgeable in who you are through the spirit that is within you. All you have to do is look within. The path has been prepared for you. All you have to do is walk it.
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: (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 17.
They grumbled. They complained. They murmured amongst themselves. They were not satisfied. They were not happy that they received the same as the others who had only worked an hour. They thought that they would receive more because they had worked longer than the other laborers. This is the parable that Christ told his disciples. He compared this parable to the kingdom of heaven.
There was a message. There is a lesion to learn. There is information in the parable that will enlighten those who understand. Laborers are needed to bring in the harvest. The harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few. There is a reward for those who work in the vineyard. There is pay for those who work. What will the agreement be for those who do the labor? Christ wants his disciples to understand that the householder is just and fair in his rewards. He wants them to know that as laborers in the vineyard that they will be compensated for their work. But he also wants them to know that just as the laborers in the parable, they should not be like them, they should not compare. For they told the house-holder:
"Thou hast put them on a level with us, who have borne the burden of the day's heat."
And then comes the central point of the parable, on the same level. I am better than they. I worked harder and longer and better than they. I deserve more than they. It is this feeling that comes from within that makes us compare ourselves and determine that we are different, we are better, we are more than they. Where does it come from? Where does it originate? Adam and Eve had everything their hearts desired. They lived in the garden. They did not have to toil. They had all provisions given to them, yet they were tempted. The snake told them that if they ate the forbidden fruit that they would be like God. And with that information came the thought that they were not like God. but wanted to be him. The comparison overwhelmed them so much that they were compelled to transgress.
Are we not the same? Are we not created in the same image and likeness as our Father? Are we not made of the same spirit and life given us by our heavenly Father? Yet we consider ourselves more, we consider ourselves better than, smarter than, prettier than, faster than anyone else. We consider. We allow ourselves to be influenced by the thoughts of the day and the influences of what we perceive from the world. We do not consider that which is within us, that which is our spirit, that which is the light of life restored to us by Christ Jesus.
We walk in the darkness of the physical world not knowing the life that is within us. We see not the beauty of the light of life within each of us. We see only the physical, only the appearance, only the focused view that is given us by the world we live in. What is beauty? What is intelligence? What is wealth? What is life? And what is death?
To see beyond the physical and see within the physical is the opportunity to truly know who we are. To see the light within our own selves opens our eyes to the life that is in others. We are the same. We have the same spirit, if we have life. We all are children of our Father. And it is that one fact that makes us equal, the same, not different. Our Father opens the door to all who would ask of his forgiveness and of his love, whether we do this everyday for the rest of our lives or whether we ask in the last minute of our life here on earth. He is fair. He is merciful. He is loving. He is forgiving. He is our Father and we are his children. Let no evil separate us from his compassion and his love. We are all on the same level.
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: (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 16.
The last of the laborers came to the steward to receive their pay. They are paid a denarius, as agreed, but they murmur against the householder. They believed that they were deceived. They believed that they were mistreated. They believed that the pay that they received was unfair because they worked all day.
They were the first to come to the vineyard and the last to leave. They sought work in the market place and agreed to work for a denarius. They did not know that others would be hired. They did not know that others would be paid the same amount. The only knew that they agreed to work for a denarius and believed that they were receiving a fair amount for their labor. But when it came time for payment, they saw that others who came after them received the same amount. They were dissatisfied: saying, "These last have worked a single hour."
Such is the way of comparison. We compare ourselves to others and loose the sense of our own self, the sense of our own self worth, the sense of who we are. What makes us happy? What makes us satisfied? What will fulfill our needs? What will make us content within ourselves? Who are we that we do not know who we are? For it is the nature of discovery that allows us to understand. And it is in that understanding that we come to know who we are.
Are you satisfied with who you are or are you continuously in search of the things that others have to satisfy yourself? The laborers were not satisfied when they compared their labor to the labors of others. They worked the day long. They agreed to a fair amount but when compared with others who worked less for the same amount, they were dissatisfied. It was in the comparison that they decided they were unhappy. It was in the comparison that they saw others who were paid the same. It was in the comparison that they felt hurt and pained that they did not get more. What does it take to make us happy? What does it take to give us satisfaction? Are we continuously reviewing and revising what will make us happy so that we never know what will give us joy?
Just like the laborers in the parable, we grumble and murmur against the house-holder. We want what we see others having and believe what we see that others have, will make us happy. Yet there are always others. There is always dissatisfaction with what we have in comparison to what others have. There is always that which we see in others that we want for ourselves. Our happiness, our joy, our completeness is in others. And yet there is nothing on this earth that we see that will fill us with the joy and happiness that comes from the knowledge of who we are in Christ. For it is in the knowledge of being the children of God our Father and his love for us, that we can come to know who we are. And it is in that knowledge that we are fulfilled.
No gift or thing or object can substitute for the complete and fulfilling love that comes from God our Father. Nothing else can compare. And when you know his love nothing else is needed. In this life, nothing else can compare, nothing else will satisfy. If you yearn, if you seek, if you desire, with your whole heart, to know who you are, seek him and he will come. Know him and he will provide. Embrace him and you will be filled with his love. And in that moment you will know that there is nothing else that can compare to the love that the Father has for you, thanks to the passion of Christ Jesus.
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.
