Our paragraph topic is: (Lamentation over Jerusalem) Part 7.
Christ ends his commentary to the Scribes and the Pharisees with a prophesy. He wants them to know that he has told them before hand what will happen and how it will happen. He has given them every opportunity to open their hearts and minds to the truth but they are unwilling to see the light. They are blind to the wisdom that comes forth from who they see and perceive as being a commoner, a charlatan attempting to mislead the people and disturb the peace.
They live in fear. They live in doubt. They live in disbelief of their own religion. They are the leaders responsible for leading the flock to God and they know him not. Christ told them that he was leaving, they would not see him any more. It would not be: "Until you shall say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!' "
This was the prophesy that was to come. This was the message that was to be spoken by those who would see the coming of the kingdom of heaven on the day of judgment. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord to save the people from damnation. On that day the people will know the truth of his name.
On that day all knees will bend and heads will bow to the Lord of all creation. For he will judge all, the living and the dead. All things hidden will be revealed. All things unknown will be known. All that we have feared will be open to understanding, for we all will be able to see the truth that has been hidden since the beginning of time.
We were not given the knowledge to understand, to comprehend all things. This is the nature of who we are, the essence of our being. Yet we have, as human beings, the capability to perceive and do great wonders within our realm of existence. God has given us the ability to love, to hate, to feel, to know, to see, to understand, to perceive, conceive, to believe beyond ourselves that which we do not know but can imagine. We are the lowly creations without full knowledge, but we have the ability to understand on a limited basis what we know. And it is that knowledge that allows us to conceive and believe in our God and his love for us.
We are the children of the Creator. He has life and has shared his life eternal with us that we may know him in our limited capacity. To grasp a small portion of his love for us is so powerful that it will fill to capacity every cell in our mind, body and soul. We can not contain the truth of it. But it is there for us to receive if we choose to seek it, if we choose to find it, if we choose to know a small portion of the passion of Christ in God. Seek him and ask to know his love.
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 nd 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: (Lamentation over Jerusalem) Part 6.
Christ felt a great passion for his city, for his people. He loved them in all their glory and in all their sin. His heart went out to them for he foresaw what he knew would happen to them without his protection, without his love. Evil was waiting in the wings to take over completely. Yet he was there to fulfill his destiny to pay for the sins of mankind and put a stop to evil.
Still he lamented over Jerusalem. All the years of work and pain and toil put into making the city as it was, would come to ruin. This was the city based on the kingdom of heaven, on the measurements of the city of God. Evil was coming. You could hear it in the hills. You could understand what was happening in the courtyards of the rich. They were selling their souls and Satan was coming to collect.
Christ knew. He came to put a stop to it. He came to end it all. His new covenant would provide protection and provisions for all mankind who chose to believe and follow him. So he wept for the city of Jerusalem. He lamented for the people therein. He knew that there would be some who would believe and some who disbelieve. He said: "For I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth."
The time was coming near for his sacrifice, for the payment to be made for the sins of the many. He would not be available to aid the people in their struggles to come. He would not heal the sick, cure the lame, open the eyes of the blind, raise the dead, perform all types of miracles as before. His time was coming to an end. Yet the people did not know or understand his meaning.
It is hard to believe that such a person walked the earth some two thousand years ago. Yet we have writings of witnesses of his life and history. Much is told of Christ over the years. We have much to read and study of his life, his works, his words, his miracles, interpretations of all that he said and did. Despite all this, in all that we know ourselves, in all we are taught from early childhood, it comes down to believing what we are given. We are not scholars. We have not spent a lifetime studying the books of old to gain the wisdom and knowledge of Christ's life and works. So we take what is given us in our schools and churches and from our Bibles and Christian readings to help us believe in him. And yet of this little knowledge the most basic understanding that we can come away with is belief.
Do you believe? Do I believe? Do I know? Yes! I know within myself, that I live within Christ. I know within myself that I have life within him. I know that he lives and therefore I have life because he has given me new life. Before I was lost in the world, seeking the treasures of the world, not knowing who I am. But now I seek the treasures of the kingdom of heaven because it is there that I want to be. It is there that I am from. It is there that my life originates and not from this world.
When I seek the treasures of this world I seek darkness. But when I seek the treasures of the kingdom I seek the light of life that comes from Christ because he has awaken me as to who I am and where I am from. I am spiritual and not physical and within this flesh lives me, the spiritual being that Christ has awaken and given new life. My flesh is but dust, but my spirit is alive in him. Open your heart and seek that which only he can give and you too will know the truth of who you are.
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 nd 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: (Lamentation over Jerusalem) Part 5.
God sent his messengers to warn them, but they would not listen. He sent prophets to prophesy but they would not hear. They were stubborn. They were arrogant. They were full of their own beliefs. They could not see the changing of the tides, the coming storm. God wanted to protect them. They refused to believe in the God of their fathers. It was so long ago that it was a distant memory and no one cared. The people had forgotten.
The signs were there for everyone to see. Some saw and believed. The faithful knew what was coming. They heard the messages and believed. They heard the warnings. They prepared themselves for the coming storm. But the leaders failed to warn the people. They failed to carry the message to the general public. They failed their responsibility to the people because they were to busy partying in their palaces. So: "Behold, your house is left to you desolate."
Torn down, destroyed, burned, years of architectural wonder desiccated for all eternity. They were warned but would not listen. They given signs but could not see. Over and over again opportunity was given them to heed the message but they refused to do so and now the house is gone, the beauty is destroyed, the joy of yesteryear is no more.
It is said that you don't miss your water until the well runs dry. All the signs are there telling you that the water is drying up but you do not see. The water is getting lower and lower but you believe that it will always be the same, today, tomorrow and forever. We are only as old as we think but our bodies say otherwise. This is the fact of life that we must recognize no matter how much science breakthroughs may want to change our minds about our health. Death is our inevitable end.
And yet death is only a transition from the physical to the spiritual. Christ came to demonstrate that fact to us. He overcame death. He rose from the grave. He ascended into heaven and he awaits for each and every one of us who chooses to receive him as our Lord and Savior. For he paid the price for each of us to have a new life. And that price is simply asking for forgiveness of our sins and accepting and believing in him. He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly. Thank you Christ Jesus for your great gift. Thank you for opening my heart and showing me the way to 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 nd 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: (Lamentation over Jerusalem) Part 4.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I loved thee. From the foundation of your beginnings to the finishing touches of your crowning, I watched you grow. I watched as you were planned and sketched out on the grounds to become the magnificent city that you are. Jerusalem, O Jerusalem, the crown jewel of the Jewish nation, how I loved thee. How I watched over thee making sure that nothing or no one would harm thee as you in your infancy were growing to become the jewel that you are today.
I wanted to protect thee. I wanted to provide for thee. I wanted to love thee as a mother hen loves her young. O Jerusalem: "But thou wouldst not!"
They were his chosen people, the Jews. From the beginning, he picked Abraham to be the father of a great nation of people as numerous as the stars in the sky, as great as the grains of sand on the beach. Yet when the time came for their glory to be recognized as the people of God they turned away. The kingdom of heaven was at hand and they did not accept it. The Prince of Peace came down from heaven and they crucified him.
The price had to be paid but why at their hands. Why did they have to be the ones who made the decision to betray the Messiah? Evil won the day. The price was paid and mankind was freed from sin. But the chosen family of God were left in darkness to walk the earth until the day of their reunion. For God has not forgotten his family. He has not given up on them. He is patiently waiting for their day to come when he can bring them back into his family to reunite all as one.
Christ paid the price. He overcame death. He rose from the grave and ascended into heaven to take his seat at the right hand of his father. There he sits waiting for that day when he will come to reign over all. Come. Let us rejoice that he is our savior, our king, our provider and our protector. It is he who has brought us out of the darkness into the light and given us eternal life 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 nd 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: (Lamentation over Jerusalem) Part 3.
For God so loved the world and yet the world loved him not. His heart yearned for the love that he gave to the world but the world would not give back. Even his own chosen children that he led from the Egyptian labor camps to freedom refused to show their appreciation for his love. Years went by and they forgot the mighty hand that he showed their parents and grandparents leading them to freedom.
Their God was a mighty God. Their God was a loving God. Their God was a God of mercy and forgiveness. Yet they were a children and a race that strayed from him and went their own way. He has said how often he would have gathered them together: "As a hen gathers her young under her wings."
How tender a sight to imagine and see such a protective moment that our God would provide for us such a gesture security, such a gesture of love, such a gesture of passion for his children. Can we not see this happening to us? Can we not feel his love for us that we would have such a moment of protection over us that nothing would happen to us at any time? He is our protector. He is our provider. He is our be all and end all if we just call upon him to be there for us.
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 nd 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: (Lamentation over Jerusalem) Part 2.
Christ cried out for the city on the hill, Jerusalem, Oh Jerusalem! He loved the city and the people within it. His passion for them was deeply held within him for he knew what was to happen. Yet with all the effort to stop the trials and tribulations nothing happened. Messengers were sent, prophets were delivered so that the people would hear the message but the city would not have it.
Christ knew. He saw the past and the future of the city. He knew what would happen and his heart wept for the people and especially for the children. He cried: "How often would I have gathered thy children together." The children that he so loved and cared for that he wanted to protect but could not. The little ones that were so precious to him who's hearts were so full of love who's lives were cut short. These were the ones that he wanted to protect, to provide for but could not because the city would not.
Jerusalem, Oh Jerusalem, why did it have to be this way. Sin City, Sin City, why do you call us to do the things that we do? Why do you corrupt? Why do you create greed? Why do you cause us to slander? Why do you cause us to loose all our morals just to seek the false glitze and glamour of the bright lights of your city? Sin City, even the children are brought here to be influenced at an early age.
We cry and we weep for we must have the life that is flashed before us daily, in our lives and in our dreams. These are our goals. This is what we live for and what we die for, to live the golden life. And yet we do not realize that we already have the golden life. It has already been given us. Christ came that we would have it and have it more abundantly. But we do not understand that it is already there for us. We are blinded by the glitz and glamour of the bright lights of the world and what it has to offer.
What thing of value can a man offer for his own soul? There is nothing more valuable in this world than a man's soul. Lose not your own!
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 nd 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: (Lamentation over Jerusalem) Part 1.
Love hurts. Those who have experienced deeply the pleasure of love know the pain that comes from rejection, separation, and breakup. The experience is one that all humans must go through at some point in their life. It is important to know it in order to know how to overcome the pain and the sorrow. It is important to know how to overcome that experience in order to know how to go on living.
We experience love in life and in death. We love in life and we love lost those that are taken away from us in death. It is a part of how we live, a part of how we learn to live, a part of how we must grow and accept who we are in this world. Living is pleasurable but it is also painful in many ways. Yet it is something that we must accept. We loose mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, love ones, children, relatives, and yet we must find some way to accept and go on living in this world.
Christ cried for those that he loved. He lamented for the many times that he sent love messages that were rejected, scorned, trashed, burned, and ignored. His passion for those that he loved burned deeply within his soul. He lamented deeply for the souls of the people knowing what they would do to the people that he sent. He cried out: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Thou who killest the prophets, and stonest those who are sent to thee!"
We were children together. We played in the same yard, ran on the same streets, grew up in the same schools, had the same friends, yet you know me not. Have you become so high and mighty, so proud, so famous, that you do not know from where you come? Jerusalem wherefore have thou come? Jerusalem, the high and mighty city on the hill. The one where kings and rulers live. Forget not from which from which you have come, for you are but the same as the man in the street or the village down the road. It is God's love that has brought you forth, that keeps you in the light of time. It is God's love that will leave you in the limelight and shine on another, least you forget who you are.
We are but children of God, our Father who created us and gave us life. For he has life within him and it is that life that he shares with us. We have a choice. We can choose life or we can choose to remain in death. The passion of Christ gave us that choice. Which do you choose?
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 nd 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: (Their persecution of religion) Part 14.
And the kingdom of heaven came upon them and they were not ready. The opportunity for repentance came before them and they did not repent. The day of judgment was there in their presences and they dismissed it as another hoax. They were blind and could not see, deaf and could not hear, dumb and could not understand the changing of events taking place around them.
Farmers could read the change in the weather. Politicians could read the change in the moods of the people. Priest can understand the spiritual needs of their parishioners. But the Scribes and the Pharisees were so engrained in their beliefs that they could not see the light of Christ that stood before them despite all the signs that were shown. And Christ told them: Amen, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."
Theirs was the endpoint of their time. Christ had come to offer redemption. They had rejected redemption and instead choose to fight it. So the time had come to close the books, to end the persecution, to write the names of all those who were persecuted and all the names of those who persecuted the just. Judgment day had come and their names were written in the judgment book along with all the others who had persecuted the just.
Thank you Father for the opportunity for redemption. Thank you for the mercy you have shown us in giving me the chance to repent of my sins. For I know not when or how or where I may be called upon to surrender my life and come before you for judgment. But that the life I have lived at least I have had the opportunity to change my ways and repent of my sins. I pray that if I may die tomorrow that you will have mercy upon my soul and not condemn me to hell.
My desire is to be with my savior Lord Jesus Christ in his kingdom that I may be fulfilled by his presence. For he is my be all and end all. There is nothing on this earth that can fill me more than his presence. Thank you Father each day for the love and the protection that you give me and my family. May we continue to walk the path that leads us to your kingdom.
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 nd 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: (Their persecution of religion) Part 13.
How could they escape the damnation of hell, the doers of evil who in cooperation with Satan's minions were the perpetrators of the murders of the prophets and the messengers of God. They refused to repent. They refused to believe. They refused to open their eyes and see the evil that was within them. Instead they agreed to go along with that which influenced them. They agreed to believe that they were right in what they were doing.
They continued to believe that they were right in persecuting the religion of God and suppressing the messengers and the prophets he sent. They were lost and could not see. They were blind and had no understanding of who they were, even though the opportunity was given them to change. They could not change. They continued to scourge and persecute from town to town, to pursue from village to village every messenger sent to proclaim the good news. They even pursued Zacharias: "Whom you killed between the temple and the altar."
They were blind in their sight. They had no understanding of what they were doing. Evil led they to commit murder in the most sacred of places. The evil within led their blind rage to commit sin in the Temple before the altar without thinking of what they were doing. And yet they will suffer the consequences of their actions and have the blood of all the just to pay. These words were spoken by Christ from his father God upon the Scribes and the Pharisees to the evil generation of spirits that influenced them.
What a heavy burden to bear to be a part of such a group that must carry such a sin to pay such a price. Adam and Eve made the ultimate sin that stained all mankind with mortal sin that no man could pay the price to lift. It took the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, to come down from heaven to save mankind from the stain of mortal sin. We now have an opportunity to become new. We can now have new life because before we were dead with mortal sin but Christ paid the price for our sin and gave us the chance to have new life.
To have new life all we have to do is believe in him. All we have to do is believe that he is the Son of God and that we have a Father in heaven who is our creator. Belief opens the door for us. Belief creates the spark of life. Belief gives us a new soul that allows us to have eternal life instead of continuing to be dead. Do you believe? Do you know? Do you understand who you are? The Bible says seek and you will find, knock and it shall be opened to you, ask and it shall be given. Believe! Ask for your new life and receive 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 nd 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: (Their persecution of religion) Part 12.
The pronouncement of judgment continues upon the Scribes and the Pharisees of the crimes they have committed against the just. The list of the blood they have spilt is long. Yet that list can only include those evils they have done during their lifetime. God speaks of the blood that was shed long before they were born and how that blood will be accounted to their list of crimes. How can this be? How is it that the Scribes and the Pharisees are responsible for those evils before they were born, before they were conceived, at the beginning of the history of mankind?
God speaks beyond the physical to the spiritual evil that is within them. He speaks to the evil that has taken over the Scribes and the Pharisees to posses them to do the murders. He speaks to Satan's minions. They are the ones who will suffer the wrath and the judgment for the blood that has been shed since the beginning of time. He tells them upon their heads will come all the just blood shed on the earth: "From the blood of Abel the just unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias."
What gives life to the body? Is it the blood that pumps through our veins? is it the heart that pumps the blood through the veins to all parts of the body such that if it stops life ceases to exists? Or is it the electrical impulses that comes from the brain that tells the heart to pump the blood, that tells our muscles to work, that causes our eyes to see, that allows us to feel sensations and taste food? What gives life to the body? In all of this is it the soul that comes from God that starts the entire process of life as we know it that allows us to experience reality.
We live through the experience of life. We have knowledge of the world around us. We explore it. We dissect it. We seek to know it and control it to make it our own. But this is life for us, this is how we come into this world and how we will leave it. We are given a history and a reality that tells us there is good and there is evil in our experience. We can choose either to know as our own. Where does that take us? We are led to search for a deeper knowledge of either experience which will reinforce our belief systems of who we are and who we will become. We will either have good experiences or evil experiences and produce lifestyles that result from those.
Christ came that we might know the truth of who we are in him. He came that we would see, that we would hear, that we would have real life experiences to follow. His was the way of enlightenment, the way of knowledge, the way of belief, the way of hope and faith, that opens the doors to a new way of life. He came to show us that we are not just the physical but also the spiritual. He also let us know that there is also the real evil that wants to posses and lead us astray.
God is ever-living. He is the God of the living and not of the dead and we have the opportunity to live beyond the flesh if we believe. Call upon Christ and he will come. Believe in Christ and he will hear. Open your heart to Christ and he will fill it with his love.
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 nd 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.
