St Matthew, Chapter 20, verse: 6b, Standing Idle.

Our paragraph topic is: (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard) Part 7.

In the parable that Christ told his disciples, the house-holder has gone out early in the morning, mid morning, and several other times before noon to hire workers for his vineyard.  Five times he went out to the market place and found workers.  He was puzzled as to why they were standing about idle.  He hired all that were present when he went out to the market place only to come back later to find more workers standing about without something to do. 

Christ tells this story to his disciples because he wants them to understand that they are the same as the workers in the market place and the house-holder is the same as God seeking workers to tend his vineyard of souls.  He wanted them to understand that they should not stand about idle waiting for work to come when there is work to be had in the vineyard.  He tells them what the house-holder told the workers:   "And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here all day idle?' " 

This was the message that Christ wanted his disciples to understand.  He wanted them to know that they did not have to be idle.  They did not have to stand about everyday with nothing to do.  There was plenty of work to do for God.  The kingdom of heaven is in need of laborers to bring in the harvest.  The kingdom of heaven has fruit that is in need of harvest.  The kingdom of heaven is open that those who seek it can find it. 

Are you a laborer?  Do you work for the kingdom?  Some would say that this message is a battle cry for those who would carry the message to the ends of the earth and convert all to become Christians.  But this is not the will of the creator.  This is not the demand of our God.  It is not the desire of God our Father and that of Christ our savior that his message is forced upon all.  It is not the desire of God that all are forced to become believers.  Christ's passion is that of love.  Our Father is a God of love and compassion.  His will is not to force but to love.  His will is not to command but to show.  His will is not to demand but to be an example to those who do not know, to those who do not understand, to those in the dark.

Our labor is to live our life, according to the will of the Father, that Christ has given us.  Those who believe and know the truth of who they are in Christ are examples for the world to see.  Those who walk with the spirit have their work assigned to them.  Those who are filled with the light of life are the laborers in the vineyard and know what needs to be done.  They are the ones who have the skills.  They are the ones who have the knowledge.  They are the ones who are filled with the light of life that shines from within.  They are the ones who are not idle workers, standing around waiting for work.  

The house-holder needs laborers.  The vineyards needs workers.  The light of Christ and the love of the Holy Spirit seeks you.  Do not stand idle when there is work to be completed.  Do not wait for the harvest to spoil when it needs to be picked.  Christ calls.  The Holy Spirit seeks.  The love of God our Father fills those who want to know.  Your assignment awaits.  I have mine.  Come!  Receive your work assignment and end your idle stand. 

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: 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: 12a, Who can accept His teachings?

Our paragraph topic is:  (Continence preferred to marriage) Part 3.

His teachings were given that day that he told his disciples about marriage and adultery.  Through Christ the Father told the world of his plans, his purpose for man and woman.  For they were created with a purpose, a plan.  They were designed physically to bond together.  They were given from birth to cleave to one another and to become one flesh.  For through one flesh they would create.  Through one flesh they would provide the physical beings for the future.  Through one flesh they would open the door to all the others that would come after them.

The disciples did not understand.  They did not see the plan, the purpose.  They were still in the physical and not in the spirit.  They had not yet been reborn in the spirit of Christ and the justice the he would bring to the whole of mankind.  Through temptation man was disobedient.  Through deceit mankind died.  Through death mankind was doomed.  But Christ came and redeemed all.  He came and brought the teachings of his Father that all would know his will.  And he left with us the living words to open our hearts and give life to our souls that we could know the truth of who we are in him.  Who can accept his teachings on bonding and adultery? "For there are eunuchs who were born so from their mother's womb."

There are those who were born eunuchs from their mother's womb.  These are those who can accept his teaching.  They have no issue with bonding.  They have no issue with marriage.  They have no issue with becoming one flesh.  They are without the means to bond.  Yet they were created in the image and likeness of God our Father.  They are physical and spiritual.  They have a purpose.  They belong to the plan.  They are children of the father just as you and I are also.

He created us all.  He gives us life.  He protects and provides.  He guides us if we allow.  For the decision is ours to make.  The path is ours to walk.  The life is ours to lead if we choose.  Be not deceived.  Be not led astray.  Be not an evil doer.  For those are the unknowing.  Those are the ones who are of the flesh and not of the spirit.  Those are the ones that are led by the inclinations of evil.  Where are you?  What do you believe?  What do you know about who you are?  Or do you know who you are?

Many would think that they are physical in the body.  Many would believe that they are flesh and bone and nothing else.  Yet within the flesh is a spirit.  Within the flesh is the life.  Within the flesh is the likeness given us by the Father.  Can you believe?  Can you accept?  Can you truly know the spirit within?  Christ gave us the truth.  He told us who we are.  He spoke on many occasions of the life that is within.  Yet we do not believe.  We do not accept.  We do not know.  The world has not taught us so.  So we walk through life without the knowledge of who we are in Him. 

Come!  Seek the truth in who you are.  Search and find the knowledge that will awaken the flame of your spirit and you will see.  Do not be afraid.  For the world will tell you not.  The world will whisper to you falsely.  The world would have you ignorant.  Christ came to give life.  He died that we would be awaken.  He arose that there would be witnesses to the truth.  And he sits at the right hand of the Father that we may see his majesty and glory.  His advocate awaits your awakening.  His advocate calls to your heart.  The Holy Spirit sits at your door waiting to be invited in.  Open the door to your heart and you will know the peace and joy that this world cannot offer.  Come!  Know Christ! 

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: 9b, Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The question of divorce) Part 9. 

Christ told his disciples that they should not commit adultery.  He told them that anyone who puts away his wife and marries another commits adultery.  Moses allowed the Jews to give a written notice in order to divorce their wives or husbands.  Accordingly, anyone could give any reason, in written notice, and divorce their spouses.  Anyone could give any excuse to separate from their spouses so that they could marry another. 

Christ told his disciples that this is not the case.  God created them male and female for a purpose.  He created them that they should be together and not to separate.  This how he created them.  And Christ told them that the only reason for separation, the only reason for a divorce is, for immorality.  So if one decides to remarry to one who has been put away by written notice except for immorality, then one commits adultery.  And he told them:  "And he who marries a woman who has been put away commits adultery."

God created them male and female that they would bond together for a purpose.  He created them in his image and likeness.  What is it about this commandment that marks us?  What is it about this rule that prohibits us, that binds us, that creates a boundary that we must not cross and why?  Two people, male and female, come together for a reason, for a purpose, for love, for happiness.  For it is in the moment of commitment that we are most happy to be joined together.  So this commitment to stay together, has meaning, has purpose, has happiness?  Why is it that we find reasons to separate when there was such a cause to come together? 

We live in a society that brings male and female together.  We grow up, become adults, set out into the world to secure a place for ourselves, and then we have strong physical drives to mate, to bond, to become one.  We are driven physically, both male and female.  We are compelled, both male and female.  Our physical makeup, both male and female, drives us to come together.  And it is that internal drive, that physical compulsion, that hides, that overshadows, the spiritual being that we are.  For when we are fully engulfed in the physical, when we are fully experiencing the physical nature of bonding, we are consumed in the physical pleasure of our physical beings, like a drug that takes us to a height of pleasure that we have never known.   And it is that full experience of the physical that compels us to want more physical, to want more pleasure, to want more passion.  And it is that physical passion that turns us away from the spiritual beings that we are.

We are spiritual beings experiencing the physical realm through our physical bodies.  We live in the physical and we die in the physical and transition to the spiritual.  We leave the physical behind and become the spiritual beings that we are, transforming into butterflies from our cocoons.  Yet the physical holds us.  The physical binds us.  The physical wants to keep us, even though we are spiritual.  Thou shalt not commit adultery.  Thou shalt not transgress this rule least you commit to the physical and surrender the spirit.  For through this transgression one becomes engulfed in the physical.  Through this transgression one crosses the line into passion, to live in the physical experience of bonding.  Through this transgression one opens the door to the physical experience of the world and closes the door to the spirit, putting it in the closet away from the truth of the knowledge of who you are. 

We are created in his image and likeness.  But evil wants us to deny our spirit and accept our physical as reality.  We are created by God our Father who wants to love us and protect us.  But evil wants us to deny him.  He is a loving God.  He is a merciful God.  He is a forgiving God and Father.  Our hearts must be open to his love, to his mercy, to his forgiveness.  Come!  Find the truth of who you are in Christ.  He forgives those who have transgressed.  He is merciful to those who seek repentance.  He is loving to those who seek his love.  He is joyous to those who rejoice in his words.  And he is bountiful to those who know him and seek to do his will here on earth.  Seek the truth of who you are and you will know the light of the Holy Spirit that will be your guide.  Open the door to your heart and he will come and reside with you all the days of your life. 

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: 8b, From the Beginning.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The question of divorce) Part 7

From the beginning he created them male and female.  He created them for a purpose.  He created them with a plan.  He created them to grow, multiply, and to be fruitful.  But evil had a plan and evil did not want them to be fruitful for his plan but to be fruitful for evil.  For evil was deceitful.  Evil was cunning.  Evil was treacherous.  And evil wanted to stop the plan of the Creator.

So he created them male and female and evil knew of their weakness.  Evil wanted to exploit.  Evil wanted to separate and divide.  Evil wanted to rule even if it was from hell.  But God created them out of love.  God created them out of compassion.  God created them that they would know his love for them, that they should exist.  And he created them that they should be male and female to multiply and be fruitful.  And evil came in and hardened their hearts.  Evil came in and showed them that they should be separate.  Evil came in and divided them that they would not know the truth of who they are.  But it was not so from the beginning.  And this is what Christ told his disciples and the Pharisees that tested him: "But it was not so from the beginning. "

Today marriage is a joyous occasion.  We come together.  We love.  We laugh.  We are filled with happiness from the beginning.  But then time passes.  We open our eyes to see the other person that we are committed to and we open our eyes to the world.  We compare.  We see, we feel, we long, we desire that which is not within our reach, and we regret.  And it is in that regret that doubt comes in.  It is in that regret that passions are kindled.  It is in that regret that temptation follows, prodding us on, away from the commitment that we made to be one flesh. 

For we are raised in the world.  We breathe, eat, sleep, and become what is in the world.  And even with the strongest of foundations, we may find ourselves drawn into the temptations that the world has to offer.  What stops us?  What keeps us from temptation?  What pulls us back from the brink?  It is that deep sense of inner peace that comes with love.  It is that knowing that we have gone astray from what we believe is right and the wrong that we have done.  Is this enough to keep us?  Is this enough to commit us to a way of life that was given us from the beginning?  With all the things in the world that would pull us, all the things that would divide us,  all the things in the world that will take us away from that joyous commitment that we made, what can keeps us together?

We are male and female, given a purpose here on earth, here in the world.  Christ has told us that in heaven we are not given in marriage but are like angels.  Is this something that we can hold onto?  Is this something that we can believe in?  Is this something that can give each of us, both male and female, the foundation to overcome the trials and tribulations we face in the world that would separate us?  We were created male and female.  Yet we were created in his image and likeness.  We were created as spiritual beings.  We are spiritual beings living in a physical world.  Is this the truth or are we just physical beings seeking to know the truth of who we are in Christ?

Christ gave us new life.  He paid the penalty for our transgressions.  He came.  He preached.  He died.  He arose again and ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father.  He gave us something to believe in; he gave us something to be, to seek, to know.  And yet within the knowledge that he has given us, we know not.  For the Holy Spirit comes to those who seek him.  The Holy Spirit comes to those who want him.  The Holy Spirit comes to those who desire him.  And with his coming, into those who are male or female, eyes are opened.  With his coming, hearts are filled.  With his coming joy is given.  And with his coming the light of life comes to those who would know.  Do you know his plan?  Do you know his purpose?  Do you know, 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. 

St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 7, Moses written notice.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The question of divorce) Part 5. 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.  You gave us life.  You give us joy.  You give us happiness.  And yet we are today without understanding of your will for us.  For you created us male and female.  You created us two flesh to become one.  You gave us our purpose.  You gave us our plan.  You gave us the world we live in to multiply and prosper.  And yet today we do not know you.  Today we do not obey your commands.  Today we live according to our own will.

For we were lost.  We were deceived.  We were dead, without your spirit.  And Christ.  He came to take back what was lost.  He came to pay the price.  He came that we would have life and have it more abundantly.  The choice is ours.  Do we live with you, according to the laws that you have given us, or do we live according to the dictates of the world.  Christ gave us your command: "What God has joined together let no man put asunder."  And yet we do.  How have we come to changing your laws.  They said to him, "Why then did Moses command to give a written notice of dismissal, and to put her away?"

Why did Moses allow for dismissal of a wife?  Why was the practice of separation begun?  Why was it necessary to have a divorce?  God our Father put them together from the beginning.  God our Father gave them a purpose?  God our Father created them male and female so that they would come together for a cause.  And it was God our Father who gave them life that they may prosper.  Yet man has changed the rules of God.  Man has decided that it is better that they are separate.  Man has willed that they may divorce and remarry.  And thus we have man's plan in today's world.

The plan was changed and the purpose discarded.  And now we divorce, we separate, we remarry as many times as we see fit.  For the structure of the original plan has been changed.  Can we not accept the original plan?  Can we not abide by the original plan?  Are we not God's children living according to his will?  Do we not start with his understanding, his plan, his purpose?  Do we not accept that we are put together for a purpose?  Do we not believe that he knows what is best for us?  It is up to us male and female to come together with the knowledge and the will to live according to his plan and his purpose and not according to the will of the world. 

If we are Christians and live according to the life that is given us through Christ then we should know the truth of who we are.  We should accept the will of our Father when we make the commitment to live according to his purpose.  Yet the tricks and traps of the world weigh upon us, both male and female.  The wants and desires of the world lead us in a direction away from the knowledge of our protector.  The passions of the life we live and the life we experience, on a daily basis, wear upon our conscience like water wearing upon rock, eroding away at our ability to follow the will of our father.  Yet it is only with the truth of who we are and the consolation of the Holy Spirit that we find a stronghold away from the constant battering of the world we live in. 

Come!  Let us retire from the storm of the outside world.  Let us live according to the will of our Father.  Let us know the truth of who we are in Christ and thereby secure the protection of the Holy Spirit that will guide us through the darkness.  Christ is the light in the darkness.  He is the beacon to follow.  He gives us the strength to weather the storm of the world.  Stay strong.  Stay true to who you are in him.  Seek the solitude of his protection and you will know the peace and joy of his love.  For he is our fulfillment.  He is our purpose.  He is our love and our happiness.  For there is nothing in the world that can compare to what our father has prepared for us in heaven.  And it is our decision to turn from the ways of the world and turn our hearts to him who made us and sustains us.  For to know him is to love him and to love him is to be with him. 

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: 4, The Creator made them male and female.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The question of divorce) Part 2. 

The question of divorce, what does it mean.  By definition divorce means: a judicial declaration dissolving a marriage in whole or in part, especially one that releases the marriage partners from all matrimonial obligations.  Where did this idea of marriage come from?  Where did it originate?  Marriage by definition means: any of the diverse forms of interpersonal union established in various parts of the world to form a familial bond that is recognized legally, religiously, or socially, granting the participating partners mutual conjugal rights and responsibilities.

So now we have an established union for marriage and a judicial declaration for divorce.  Christ instructed the Pharisees on this question and it's origin.  He wanted them to understand its origin and why it came to be.  He said to them: ''Have you read , that the Creator from the beginning, made them male and female?" 

From the beginning they were made different.  From the beginning the Creator made us different.  We were conceived in the mind of God our Father as male and female.  For there was a purpose.  There was a cause.  There was a reason for the different vessels that we inhabit.  Our goal, our mission, our existence is based upon what God created us for.  Yet his creation was given free choice, free will, the freedom to change.  And with that freedom came disobedience.  And with disobedience came into the world right and wrong, good and bad, just and unjust, sin and death.

Our Father made it so, from the beginning.  We decided to make it otherwise through judicial declarations in our own eyes, disregarding the purpose of God.  And so it has been down through the ages.  Why do we marry?  Why do we live together?  What is the purpose of it all?  We are given to believe that this is the norm, this is natural, this is the accepted way.  This is how we are raised from birth.  We are given the thoughts of man, the thoughts of the world and not the thoughts of God, our Father.  We are given the world and all that is within it and not given the spirit and all that awaits us. 

We are spiritual beings living temporarily in the physical form.  Do we know?  Do we understand?  Do we believe who we are?  Science has not told us so.  Education has not taught us how to find the spirit or even, that we have one.  On the contrary our education denies that we are spiritual beings.  Our world teaches us that we are material, flesh and blood, and not of a spiritual nature.  Our world supports the belief of the physical realm and not that of the spiritual.  Yet we exist, we live, and we die  And then we are unsure of our spiritual transformation to the true state of who we are.

But with knowledge we can come to know who we are.  With insight we can understand the true nature of the spirit being of who we are.  With the gift from the Holy Spirit we can begin to awaken from the sleep of the world that has been given to us since our birth.  And with that awakening we see the truth of ourselves and the majesty and glory of God our Father.  For he has given us purpose.  He has given us life.  He has given us the word.  God's plan comes through the knowledge of who we are in Christ.  And with this knowledge can we begin to know the truth of why the Creator made us male and female.  It is not the divorce for any cause but the bonding for a cause.  It is the knowledge of the spirit that eliminates divorce completely and brings us back to the will of God Our Father.  Do you know?  Can you understand?  He made us male and female.  He put us together for a purpose and the spirit, not the world, will guide us according to the will of God.

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 18, verses: 23 - 27: Have patience with us!

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the unmerciful servant)  

Peter asked the question and Christ responded.  He asked: " But how often shall we forgive?"  How often shall we endure the hurt and the pain of our brother's and sister's sin and still forgive them of their transgressions?  How often shall we stand by and watch them play the game of seeking repentance only to turn around and sin again?  How often can we put up with their problems and not get angry?  Is seven times enough, he asked?  Christ wanted his disciples to know that seven times was not enough.  Even if their brothers and sisters continue to sin, to forgive them should not be limited by the disciples inability to forgive. 

He told them that they should forgive not seven times but seventy times seven.  Forgive as often as it is necessary and then some.  Forgive more than they can sin and then some.  Forgive that they will know that you are different and that there is something in you that will not allow you to judge, to be angry, to not love, or to not forgive.  Forgive that they will see that there is something inside that allows you to see them in a different light.  Forgive that they will see that there is something inside you that allows you to be merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful with you.  Forgive that they will see that there is no limit to your mercy as there is no limit to his mercy and there is no lack to his justice.

And then Christ told his disciples this parable to help them understand why they should not limit their forgiveness.   "This is why the kingdom of heaven is likened to a-king who desired to settle accounts with his servants.  And when he had begun the settlement, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.  And as he had no means of paying, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.  But the servant fell down and besought him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will pay thee all!'  And moved with compassion, the master of that servant released him, and forgave him the debt."

When the time comes for the settlement of accounts will we meet our debts?  At the judgment day when we are called upon to review our lives on the scale of justice will the scales tilt to good or will the scales tilt to evil?  When we are faced with eternal happiness in heaven or eternal damnation in hell, how will we plead, guilty or not?  Will we beseech justice to have mercy?  Will we ask for clemency?  Will we be sorrowful for our sins?  Will we seek compassion?  How will we plead?

It is the honesty in our hearts that will weigh upon justice.  It is the realization that flashes before our minds that will awaken us to the judgment before us.  And it is the absence of the worldly and the presence of the spiritual reality of who we are that will press upon us the justice that we face.  We had the words.  We had the teachings.  We had the built in presence of right and wrong.  And then we had the world that transformed us into physical beings that allowed us to hide behind the veil of untruth.  Yet the end comes when we are faced with the truth of justice.

Christ gave us all that we should know.  He came to us.  He walked among us.  He spoke to us.  He left us to return to God his Father.  And he sent us his presence in the Holy Spirit.  He established for us the written word and built for us his church.  The time for settlement comes.  And it will come for all without delay or postponement.  It cannot be stopped.  It cannot be changed.  It is the justice of God.  Will you be ready?  Will you be prepared?  Our Father is merciful.  Our Father is Loving.  Our Father is forgiving.  Have patience with us Father that we may come to know the truth of who we are in Christ!  For we are lost.  We are blind.  We are influenced by evil.  We pray that the day of settlement will not find us without your mercy, without your grace, without your love.  In Jesus Christ name we pray.  Amen.

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 18, verse: 22, How often to forgive? How often to love?

Our paragraph topic is:  (Peter asks how often to forgive) Part2.   

Christ was teaching his disciples about winning back the souls of their brothers and sisters.  He told them to meet with thy brother/sister face to face to help them understand their transgressions.  Help them overcome with love and not with anger, or hurt or pain.  For these emotions will cause them to strike out, to exact revenge, to cause pain and hurt as they, thy brothers/sisters, did to them.  Should they not be hurt!  Should they not feel the pain?  Should they not be angry, or vengeful?  These are the questions that the disciples were thinking about when instructed by Christ to win back their brothers/sisters.

Then Peter spoke out, asking the question, how often should we forgive.  How often should we accept their transgressions?  How often should they, the disciples, allow their brothers/sisters to betray them, to bear false witness against them, to lie against them, to cheat, to steal and then to seek forgiveness?  Is seven times enough before they should stop forgiving?  Is seven times enough before they should turn their backs on their brothers/sisters?  Is seven times enough before they should cast them out and never allow repentance again?  Christ answered Peter's question and told them what they should do.  Jesus said to him, "I donot say to thee seven times , but seventy times seven.”

Peter was a simple man, a fisherman.  Everything for him was black and white.  He felt strongly and deeply.  Yet he was a sensible man.  He wanted to know practical things, things that he could apply, things that he could grasp, things that he could know.  He knew forgiveness.  He knew how to accept that some people make mistakes.  He knew that we are all human, not perfect, so we would err.  Yet he wanted to know how long should we accept the errors of others.  How long should we allow sin to be committed against us and still forgive?  He wanted to know if there is an end to the ability to forgive.

At what point do we stop forgiving and start to hate?  At what point do we stop forgiving and start to take revenge?  At what point do we stop forgiving and ourselves turn to the sin that we seek to forgive.  For this is the pit that we open ourselves to fall into if we place a limit on that which is given to us from our Father .  Christ told them, his disciples, as he tells us today, that there is no limit on forgiveness.  He told them that there is no limit on the love that we should have for our brothers/sisters who sin against us. 

We have a merciful Father, a God who is love, a provider, a protector, a creator.  It is he who is all forgiving, all loving, all merciful and all just.  And it is through his love that we become love.  It is through his forgiveness that we are forgiven.  It is through his mercy that we become forgiving of others, our brothers/sister.  For if they truly knew who they are, if they truly knew where they come from, if they truly knew that their actions are not the actions of children of a loving God, they would not commit sin.  Sin comes to influence.  Sin comes to take over.  Sin comes to commit sin.  Sin comes to recruit others to sin. 

But Christ came that we would know who we are without sin.  Christ came that we would have life anew.  Christ came that the light of life would shine within us.  And Christ left that we may have the light of the Holy Spirit reside within us, to guide us through the influences of sin.  How often should we forgive?  He told us seventy times seven.  He told us they do not know what they do.  He told us to forgive without limits.  He told us to forgive with love.  He told us to forgive that they may see the goodness and the light that is within and know that their Father in heaven loves them.  For through you and with him and in him we are the light of the world.  So come!  Let your light shine for those who cannot see.  Let your light shine for those who know not.  Let your light shine for those who have not.  And you too will know the truth of who you are in Christ.

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 18, verse:18b, Fraternal Correction: Unbinding on earth and in heaven.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Fraternal correction) Part 7.  

The battle is against sin and the weapon is love.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that man would be saved from sin.  Man had sinned against the command of God.  But God was so loving that he was merciful.  God was so loving that he, through his mercy, allowed man to be saved.  He did not have to.  He was not compelled to.  But he wanted that mankind, his precious creation, would not be lost to condemnation. 

Christ came to take back.  Christ came to win back.  Christ came that man would have a chance to be born again in new life.  Man disobeyed the command of God and sin entered the world.  And sin ruled the world until Christ came.  And Christ restored what was lost.  Christ gave man life by paying the penalty for disobedience, the judgment for transgressing, the restitution needed to make whole again.  But sin does not give up.  Sin does not let go.  Sin does not release its captive until forced to do so. 

And Christ told his disciples that he gave them the power to separate.  He gave them the power to remove sin.  He gave them the power to loose sin from the soul of man by force.  He told them:  "And whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven."

Be gone sin!  Be gone lust!  Be gone addiction!  Be gone evil!  By the power of Christ Jesus I loose thee.  By the power of Christ Jesus I loose thee from me, from my brother, from my sister!  Be gone!  Separate thyself from this person and enter in no more.  I bind thee by the name of Christ Jesus to enter no more into this person.  These are the powers that Christ told his disciples.  Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.  Whatever you cast out on earth shall, by the power of heaven, be carried out by the angels in heaven. 

The battle is against sin and the weapon is love.  The weapon is the love of God the Father for his children here on earth.  Sin will come.  Sin will tempt.  Sin will enter.  And sin will seek to take over, to control, to occupy, to drown the light of life completely until there is nothing but darkness within.  But Christ came.  Christ conquered.  Christ rose again.  And Christ lives forever seated at the right hand of the father.  And he gave us the power to bind and loose that will be a command executed by the angels in heaven. 

Christ came.  But he did not leave us alone and lonely.  For he watches over us in heaven.  He sends us the Advocate for those who seek him.  He protects us for those who want protection.  He provides for us for those who want provision.  He is our fulfillment for those who want to be fulfilled.  For his love overwhelms.  His love is complete.  His love is all.  And the his counsel is our guide.  Come!  Know the truth of who you are in him.  Seek to find the light of life that is within you that you may know the Advocate.  For with him, and through him, and by him all will be revealed. 

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.