Our paragraph topic is:
(On the coming of Elias) Part 1.
They had been to the mountain top and back. They had seen a vision. The disciples had witnessed the transfiguration of Christ. They saw Moses and Elias, their great leaders. What were they to believe? What were they to do? What they to say? They were filled with excitement. They were filled with joy. And then they heard the voice of God the Father speaking to them about his son, Jesus Christ. Their minds and their bodies were filled with the good news that they were going to share with their fellow disciples and all of their brothers and sisters in Christ.
They were in a state of ecstasy. How would you feel? What would you think? What would you say if you had such a vision? Who would believe you? What would people say if you told such a thing? Would they believe you? Would they criticize you? Would they call you crazy? Would they stone you or behead you or put you in a cell and throw away the key? Would they believe that you have lost it and live in a fantasy world of make believe? But you are a disciple of Christ and the people need to know what happened to you. Christ warned his disciples not to speak of the vision until after the sacrifice. And as they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus cautioned them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one, till the Son of Man has risen from the dead."
People do not believe in visions today. You have to be crazy or out of touch with society when you talk about seeing things that are out of the ordinary, things that others have not seen. And when you tell someone the things that you have seen, you have to have some sort of proof for them to believe that you have witnessed these things. They will not believe without the proof. You will be laughed at, ridiculed, called names, isolated, and made to feel different from everyone else. And who wants to be different? Who wants to be alone and outside?
This is why Christ told his disciples to tell no one of the vision. He did not want them to face the ridicule and scorn of the enemy. For evil was lurking in the shadows, waiting for every opportunity to pounce upon the disciples and scatter them to the four winds. The enemy was waiting for the opportunity to belittle the disciples and to decrease their influence among the people so that the people would not follow Christ. So he told them not to talk of it. He told them to keep it among themselves until the sacrifice was made. He told them not to share it with anyone until they had proof of his resurrection from the dead.
If we had proof of the living God today, would all believe? Would all follow if God sent a sign to show all that he exists? Evil would not allow us to believe. Evil would convince our reasoning to come up with something that would explain what we witnessed or saw, or thought that we believed. And yet it is not for us to make people believe. It is not for us to convince people that there is a God who loves them. It is not for us to make people follow and believe in God. How do you convince a person who does not want to be convinced? How do you persuade a person who does not want to be persuaded? We each have to want to know, want to believe, want to find, want to accept God in order for him to come into our lives.
And so the visions, the miracles, the love, the protection, and all the blessings that come from our heavenly father are for those who seek to know. For evil would have us without knowledge. Evil would have us without belief. Evil would have us dead and unaware of the love that our heavenly father has for us. So, I can not persuade you to believe if you do not want to believe. I can not tell you of the miracles that have been worked in my life if you do not want to hear. I can not make you understand the love and protection and the provisions that God has provided me, if you do not want to understand. I can only write. For it has been given me to write. It has been given to me to write freely what I have read and what I understand from my bible experience. What was freely given to me from those readings I give to those who want to know. I give freely to those who seek, even as I have sought. I give what those readings have done for me.
God is love. He created man in his image and likeness. He gave us life that we may know the awe and the mystery of his love. I pray that you may know his love. I pray that you may experience his protection and his provisions. I pray that you may come to know his wisdom. For the love that he has shown me, I pray that you may come to know. And when you know his love, you will understand. Come! Follow the path. Read what has been laid out before you and you too will know 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!
Our paragraph topic is: (Passion and resurrection foretold) Part 1.
And so it was that the church was established in Christ Jesus. And Simon Peter became the first member of the church here on earth. For it was in him and through him and of him that the word was spread throughout the earth by the will of Christ Jesus and the love of God the Father. Two thousand years the church has withstood the wars and deaths and crimes and evil in the world and still stands today. It has been battered and beaten and torn from within and still survives as Christ willed it during his here mission on earth.
And now the final days were approaching. Christ continually spoke to his disciples about his mission and his purpose. He told them of the future. He described to them what was coming. He gave them the vision of what was to happen to him and how it would all end. Yet they did not understand. They did not know. They did not fully comprehend that these things must take place to save mankind. The disciples only saw the material. They only lived in the flesh and not in the spirit. For the time was approaching when the sacrifice must be given that man would be saved. So Christ taught them of the things to come. From that time
Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem
and suffer many things from the elders and Scribes and chief priests, and be put to
death, and on the third day rise again.
This was the future of one so meek and mild. This was the future of one so loving and understanding. This was the future of one so forgiving and one so passionate about what must be done for mankind. Death was waiting. Torture and pain were at his doorstep. Humiliation and dishonor, hatred and abuse, bloodshed and mutilation of such kind that no man could endure. Yet knowing all this he willingly submitted. Christ was the only begotten son of God, first, before all things were created. He knew not pain. He knew not suffering. He knew not death. And yet he gave up his heavenly crown, his kingly position, his place on the throne at the right hand of his father to become man that all mankind would not be condemned to death.
This was his mission. This was his passion. This was his purpose in becoming man and taking on human form. God, the ultimate judge, pronounced that if Adam eat of the forbidden fruit that he would surely die. That was the judgement. That was the decision made by Adam. And death came forth to rule over mankind until the judgement could be satisfied, placated, annulled. And it could only be satisfied with the blood from one so pure and without sin. And so Christ entered into his mission knowing the consequences of what was to take place.
He gave of his life so willingly because the price had to be paid that man could have life and have life eternally. So those who seek, those who desire, those who want to know, can find eternal life in Christ. For through him and in him and with him comes forth spiritual life in man. And those who do not seek, those who do not know, those who do not desire are of death and have not life eternal. Come! Follow the path set before you. Seek the knowledge that brings eternal life and know the truth of who you are in Christ. The spirit awaits your coming.
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: (Peter's confession) Part 3.
And now it came down to the disciples. They had heard what the people were saying about Christ. Who was this man? Was he the Messiah? Was he a Prophet? Was he John the Baptist come back to life? Was he Elias? Who was Christ? There were questions on the minds of the people and even questions on the minds of the disciples. They did not truly know. They had no answer, even though they walked with him and talked with him everyday. He had called them to be his disciples and they followed. They wanted to be disciples because something in them wanted to change their lives from the ordinary.
But they did not know who he was. They did not have an idea whose footsteps they walked in. They did not know the light that they followed was that of Christ and the God the father. They wanted to know. They wanted to believe. They wanted to see. But they did not know. He was a good man. Christ was a gentle man. Christ was a man different from any other man. For he made miracles. He walked on water. He made the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf here and cured the lepers. He was like no other man. Yet they still did not know who he was. So he asked them: He said to them, "But who do you say that I am? "
The moment of truth had arrived. What did the disciples think. What did the disciples believe. What did the disciples know. Who do you say that I am, Christ asked them? Who do we say that he is today, is his question to each and everyone of us? What do we believe? Do these words come from a relic, old book? Are these words relevant today? Why is it important what I believe or what I say that he is today? If asked, if a poll were taken on the streets, what would people say. Most church going people would say that Christ was the Son of God the father. Most others would say that he is the Savior. Some would even say that he was a prophet. And even others would say that he was a great man. But what do you say, I would ask, to those who are reading this post?
Does he have any meaning to you, today? What would you say? What do you believe? We live in a world that demands all of who we are, yet we do not know ourselves. Are we all flesh? Are we body and soul? Are we spirit. How do we know? Is this something that we are taught in church? But do we believe it? Do we know it? Or are we just who we are in this world? Christ wants to know who you say he is? For within that knowledge, within that awareness of him is the awareness of ourselves. We did not live and walk this earth when Christ came to this earth, to this planet, to this physical realm. We did not walk in his footsteps, hear his spoken words, see his miracles, touch him in his physical body. All we have today is his words passed down through the writings of the disciples with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Yet who do we say that he is?
Is he the Messiah? Is he the Savior? Is he the Son of the Father? Is he the Anointed One? Is he the Lamb? Is he the Light of the World? Is he our spirit and life, our body and blood? Is he the life within us? Christ came that may have life; for before him there was death. God decreed that if Adam eat of the forbidden fruit that he would surely die. And mankind died on that day. Christ came to give life to those who believed in him and the Father who sent him. Do you have life within you? Is he the life within you? Then, you are more than you know. You are spirit. You are life. You are love. Come know the truth of who you are. Follow the path before you and know the life that is within you. Christ awaits you. God the Father loves 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!
