St Matthew, Chapter 20, verse: 12b, On the same level.

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.  

St Matthew, Chapter 17, verse: 11, The Vision: Elias and the Restoration.

Our paragraph topic is:  (On the coming of Elias) Part 3.  

The disciples posed a question to Christ about the teachings of the Pharisees. They were taught that Elias must come first before the end. They believed that when Elias comes then the end is near.  There was conflict in their minds.  There was an understanding that needed to be had that was not forthcoming.  There was a sense of things that needed to be made sense of and they did not have that sense of knowing.   After seeing the vision of Christ with Moses and Elias they needed to have a sense of understanding.  As they came down from the mountain it all began to hit them as to what they had seen and heard.

It was a puzzling experience.  The voice of God the Father said to them that they should hear Christ.  In their efforts to hear him, they had to make sense of what they had heard and seen and experienced.  For this reason they believed that the great and dreadful day of the Lord was upon them.  They were taught that the Lord would bring fire upon the proud and the wicked upon that day.  On that day fire would be set to the wicked and there would be no root or branch but only dust.  And those who fear the Lord shall tread down the wicked and leap like calves of the heard.  These were the thoughts of the disciples as they tried to make sense of what they had experienced.  And they were in fear of the coming of that day and the coming of Elias.  So they asked Jesus, if that day was upon them, where was Elias.  But he answered and said, "Elias" indeed is to come and will restore all things."   

People today would describe fear and False Evidence Appearing Real.  In other words, our emotional reaction is based upon false evidence that is not real but only appears real.  And our reaction to that evidence is not justified.  We live in a world where our fears are minimized.  We are led to believe that we should not be afraid, that we should not fear being robbed, or raped, or shot by a stranger or bombed by a terrorist.  We are led to believe that we should live free of fear and terror and danger and unexpected events that would cause us harm.  We believe in a free society, protected from the danger.  In other parts of the world freedom is not so espoused as in the USA. 

We go about our lives without the fear of the Lord and the coming judgment.  God is love and his love fulfills all our needs.  We search, in this world, for those things that would fulfill us and make us happy but we discover that, that fulfillment is only temporary.  Even love, as we know it, is temporary.  Because our love is based in the physical realm it is only temporary.  Spiritual love is everlasting and comes from God, for he is love.  He fulfills all and completes the need and desire for love.  Yet we live in a society, in a world, that would have us believe that we can have the desires of our hearts.  We live in a world that would have us believe that we are protected and provided for through our own efforts.  We have nothing to fear.  We should live and love and enjoy and have fun to satisfy our hearts desires and pleasures.  And there is nothing to fear, there is no fear of the Lord's judgment.

Our God is a God of love and he loves us because he created us in his image and likeness, an image of love.  To protect us and to provide for us he gave us the commandments to keep us from harm.  For he is the ultimate judge.  Before Adam and Eve sinned God proclaimed that they should not eat of the forbidden fruit.  And if they did then they would die.  Satan tempted them, based upon the logic of the physical mind, into believing that they would not die even though he knew that they would lose their souls and die spiritually.  And the judgment was final.  Only a propitiation would annul the punishment and bring back the spiritual life that was lost.  God is love and he loves mankind.  But there is evil in the world that would have man die spiritually and loose his soul forever.

Christ became the sacrifice in order to annul the sin and give back spiritual life eternal.  Do you know the truth of who you are in Christ?  Do you know the truth of who you are spiritually?  There is a gift waiting for you.  Come, you can discover who you really are, only if you look.  Christ wants you to know who you are.  The Holy Spirit wants to live with you, guide you, protect you, provide for you.  Come!  Seek the truth of who you are in Christ.  Christ loves you and so do I.

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!