St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 21c, The commandments: If thou wilt be perfect, come, follow me.

Our paragraph topic is:(The rich young man speaks to Jesus) Part 14.

Christ looks into the rich young man and sees something that is seeking fulfillment.  He see the heart of the young man.  He sees the soul of the young man.  He sees the desire of the young man to have something that he has not found before.  So Christ instructs the young man on how he can fulfill the longing desire that burns within.  He tells the young man to sell what he has to unburden that which possesses him.  He tells the young man to rid himself that which has a hold upon him.  Finally he tells the young man to give what he has sold to the poor that he himself may become poor in spirit.

Following these instructions will free the young man from the physical bonds that enslave the spirit within him and open his mind and heart to the truth of who he is.  For without an awakening one remains a slave to the flesh.  Christ tells the young man that if he completes these tasks he will have treasure in heaven.  He will have riches far beyond what this earth can offer.  Now to complete the journey to spiritual awakening he gave the young man one last instruction.  Jesus said to him,"And come, follow me."

What would you do if Christ came to you and said: "Come, follow me?"  If Christ told you to sell all that you had, give it all to the poor and follow him, what would you do, what would you think, what would you say?  For many of us, we see this as a hypothetical question because we believe that this would never happen.  We would believe that we would never see Christ in our lifetime, only after death will we have that opportunity.  Would we follow?  Would we go and do as was asked of us?  Would we hesitate and think about what we are being asked to do? 

Of course we would.  This is our nature.  We are two feet in the world and nothing in the spirit.  We believe that we have a father and that our God will protect us and provide for us.  We believe that if we follow the prescriptions that are given us, go to church, pray, give to the poor, do some services in our church, and act as Christians then we will be saved.  And this is the truth.  But there is more to be had.  There is more to be known.  There is more to understand.

Christ gave the young man the opportunity that is not offered to anyone in a lifetime.  He offered to teach the young man first hand the ways of the spirit, to instruct in the reality of the truth of the heavenly kingdom.  He offered to open the mind and the heart of the young man that he would know the wisdom of the kingdom of heaven that has not been revealed to ordinary people.  And this is the gift that is given to us today if we seek it.  For if we desire to know, desire to see, desire to be with the spirit, it will avail itself to us.  The spirit will come to us and be with us and provide for us like we can never provide for ourselves. 

For with his consolation we can know, within ourselves, the truth of the kingdom.  With the consolation of the spirit we can rejoice in the presence of the Advocate.  With the consolation of the spirit we can live a life without the fear and anxiety, disappointment and depression, hatred and lust.  With the consolation of the spirit we can live a life without succumbing to the temptations that will turn us against the commandments of our Father.  The Holy Spirit will reveal the wisdom and knowledge of ages as we practice perfect patience in the trust of our Father.  For we can now be certain of who we are and who we belong to.  And in that certainty comes the foundation of the faith and the hope and the knowledge of who we are, spiritual, not physical beings.

Can you follow?  Do you want to follow?  Do you seek the burning desire to know?  Have you tried all else and failed to succeed?  The desire for success in the world and the failure to achieve it, is the plan of the world that seeks to change who we are.  But the desire of the heart to know the truth of who you are is the plan of the Father to bring you back to his loving arms.  Come!  Follow me, is the cry!  Open the heart and seek the treasure that is within you and let not the world corrupt the treasure that is within.

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 Mathew, Chapter 18, verse: 19, The Power of Agreement.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The power of united prayer) Part 1.  

Christ has given his disciples specific instructions on how to win the battle with sin.  For the battle is with sin and the weapon is love.  So, he tells them to bind sin on earth.  Bind sin, that it will not enter into thy brother or sister.  Bind evil, from thy brother or sister.  Bind lust, bind false witness, bind hatred, bind anger, bind greed, bind wantonness, bind all evil that would possess thy brother or sister and take them away from thee.  For sin will come.  Sin will tempt.  And sin will seek to take away thy brother or sister.  But Christ has given them the tools that they need to do battle with sin. 

With all these tools he gives them even further instructions as to what they may do to combat sin.  Loose sin from thy brother.  For once sin takes hold it will not let go.  So Christ told his disciples that whatever they loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  Whatever evil they separate from thy brother or sister on earth will be carried out in heaven.  Evil will be separated by the powers in heaven.  And then he gives them another tool to use against sin.  He provides them with the ultimate tool that they can use against evil, the power of agreement.  "I say to you further, that if two of you shall agree on earth about anything at all for which they ask, it shall be done for them by my Father in heaven."

They will ask for help.  They will ask for forgiveness.  They will ask for mercy.  They who are in need, they who believe in the truth, they who awaken from the darkness, will seek thy help.  They will seek the help of thy brother.  They will seek the help of thy sister.  They will seek the help of the church to break the grip of sin from all the brothers and sisters .  And it is the duty and responsibility of the church to use all the powers given it by Christ to combat sin.  For sin will come.  Sin will tempt.  Sin will take hold.  And sin will not let go.

But Christ told his disciples that they must agree.  He told them that they must recognize that they have the power to combat sin.  For within them and through them sin will be defeated.  But it will take the combined efforts of the spirit of two or more.  It will call for the agreement of two or more spirits.  It will require the agreement of the life force, of the light within, of the spiritual soul, to break the hold of sin.  They will ask for thy help.  They will need thy assistance.  They who believe in the love of Christ, will look to the light of Christ from the depths of their darkness and ask for forgiveness to overcome the grip of sin.  And it is up to two or more of you to reach into their hearts and see the call of the light of Christ that pleads for help.

Christ has given us a new life.  He has restored us to the life that our Father in heaven gave to man before the fall.  And with this new life we are the light that shine forth into the darkness.  For the Advocate is with us.  The light of Christ is with us.  The spirit of awareness in the truth resides in us.  And it is with that truth that we go forth into the world to carry the message that Christ has given us of the new life that is within each of our brothers and sisters.  If two or more agree in the light of life within Christ then whatever they ask for will be done by the Father in heaven.  This is the tool that Christ gave to his disciples and to us today. 

Know the truth of who you are in Christ.  See the light of new life that is within you.  Welcome the light of the Holy Spirit that will come to you and you shall know the truth of who you are.  For the Advocate will come.  The Advocate will reside.  The Advocate will protect.  The Advocate will provide.  And the Advocate will counsel in all things.  For it is with the Advocate that we walk in the faith and truth of who we are.  All things are given to us on earth.  Yet we are not of the earth but are citizens of heaven, created by our heavenly Father in his image and likeness.

Come!  Seek the knowledge and truth of your salvation.  For in it and with it and through it you will see a new light.  You will know a new truth.  You will open a new door to path of your life.  And you will know a new peace that surpasses any fleeting peace held here on earth.  For the Father loves you.  And Christ is with you.  And the Holy Spirit will come to you.  And you will be set free.

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. 

St Matthew, Chapter 18, verse:18a, Fraternal Correction: Binding on earth and in heaven.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Fraternal correction) Part 6. 

If he refuses to listen, even to the church, then let him be.  This is what Christ told his disciples.  Let him/her be.  They have become to thee as heathens.  They have refused to hear.  They have refused to be open.  They are closed to the love of Christ that you have presented to them.  They have become consumed with sin and sin has taken complete control.  Sin has come.  Sin has infected.  Sin has possessed the mind and body and soul of thy brother/sister.  Even the appeal of the church has not opened the door to thy brother or sister.  They are lost.

But if he/she should listen.  But if he/she should be opened.  But if he or she should have some small desire to return to thee, then the church must battle with sin to open the door.  The church must battle with sin to expel it completely.  The church, the witnesses, and you must work to free thy brother/sister from the grip of sin.  For sin will not let go.  Sin will not give up.  Sin will fight to hold onto thy brother/sister.  But Christ told his disciples that they have a gift from heaven.  They have a promise from the Father.  He told them:  "Amen I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven."

The battle is against sin and the weapon is love.  And Christ gave to the disciples another weapon, to bind sin on earth.  He gave them a weapon that will be accepted and carried out in heaven also.  For whatever they bound on earth would be bound in heaven.  Bind the demons.  Bind sin.  Bind Lust.  Bind fear.  Bind false witness.  Bind anger.  Cast out the evil and bind it from returning.  Bind all types of spirits that come from sin.  Save thy brother.  Save thy sister.  For the battle is against sin and we have a weapon given to us by Christ.

Sin will come.  Sin will tempt.  Sin will enter those that do not have a defense.  Sin will occupy.  And sin will take over those that do not use the tools that have been given us.  But Christ has told us to win our brothers and sisters back.  He has given us the formula.  He has told us how to fight.  But the door belongs to each of us and it is our own responsibility to keep it closed to sin.  Yet we live in a world possessed of sin.  We live in a world where sin is all around us.  And it is up to each of us to walk by faith.  It is up to each of us to walk by the light that Christ has given us.

For the light of life will lead us.  The light of life will guide us.  The light of life will protect us and counsel us.  And the light of life will abide with us, to assist in the fight against sin.  But when sin comes, fight.  When sin comes, cast it out.  When sin comes, bind it that it may come no more.  These are the weapons that Christ has given us to defend and protect.  For he knows of sin.  He sees that sin will come.  And he has given to us the Advocate to help us, to strengthen us, to counsel us, to show us the way.  The choice is ours.  The decision is ours.  Do not be swayed by the tricks and traps of evil.  For evil will deceive.  Evil will dazzle.  Evil will seek to pull you in.  But if the eye is sound the body will be full of light and the light of life will endure.

Come!  Open thy heart to the love that Christ has given us from the Father.  Seek the love that is yours to know.  Know the truth of who you are in Christ and welcome the Holy Spirit into your life.  He waits for you.  He seeks you.  He is open to you.  He brings the love of the Father to you.  Follow the path before you and become the spirit that 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 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 15, verse: 14, The Lesson: Blind Guides

Our paragraph topic is:  (Disciples warned to shun the Pharisees) Part 4.  
    

Christ had spoken and the Pharisees heard and took offense.  Christ called the people to himself.  He called their attention to what he was to say.  He told them to hear and understand, and his words opened the eyes and the hearts of the people.  For he told them that what goes into the mouth does not defile a man as had been preached by the Pharisees.  He told the people that it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man.  It is what is spoken that indicates that a man is defiled and unclean.  And the Pharisees had taken offense for this was against their teachings.

And the disciples heard the murmurings of the Pharisees.  The disciples listened to the Pharisees and they were upset that the Pharisees were upset.  The disciples were concerned that the Pharisees had taken offense to the words of Christ for they did not know the evil that possessed the Pharisees.  And Christ calmed their minds.  Christ spoke to his disciples and reminded them of the power and majesty of his father who did not plant seeds in the Pharisees.  He reminded them of outcome of those seeds that were planted by evil and what will happen to them in the final days.  They would be rooted up and thrown into the fire to burn.  And finally he spoke to his disciples in a way to let them know that the Pharisees were blind.   Let them alone; they are blind guides of blind men.  But if a blind man guide a blind man, both fall into a pit."

And so it was spoken that the disciples could understand.  And so it is written that we, today, may understand.  Who is blind and who is sighted?  How do we know who we follow?  Are we being led by blind men, the blind guide?  Or are we being lead by the teacher, the Advocate, that Christ promised?  We go to church, we perform our religious duties, we pray, we fast, we do all the things that we are taught to do.  But who is teaching?  Who is leading?  Who is our guide?  Christ has given us instructions.  He has left us his words.  He has provided us a path to follow that we may not be misled.  Hear and understand, he commanded us, that we may know.  Every plant that the heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.

Will you continue to follow an uprooted plant?  Will you continue to believe in the words that come from the seed not planted by the Father?  Will you continue to follow the blind guide that will lead you into the pit?  Seek and you shall find the true guide that leads to the Father.  Knock and it shall be opened to you that you may have sight beyond your earthly vision.  Ask and it shall be given to you that you may have the wisdom of heaven to understand that which is given you.   For those who seek will find, those who knock will have doors opened to them.  And those who ask the Father, it will be given to them that they may see.  The true teacher seeks to teach you.  The true guide seeks to lead you.  The true spirit of Christ seeks to dwell within you that you may know your Father in heaven and yield fruit a hundred fold. 

St Matthew, Chapter 15, verses: 10 - 11, The Lesson: Hear and Understand.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Disciples warned to shun the Pharisees) Part 1. 
         
Christ was in the land of Genesar.  And the people heard of him through word of mouth.  There was no Internet.  There was no radio.  There was no television.  There were no anchor people giving the news hourly or live as it happened.  There were no reporters in the field.  There was only the local person who kept the latest news and spread it to the appropriate people like himself that would carry the message throughout the land.  They were paid for good news.  They were rewarded for keeping up with hot topics that the rulers wanted to know about.  And the Pharisees wanted to know about Jesus.

He was a miracle worker.  He healed the sick.  He made the lame walk.  He opened the eyes of the blind.  Some called him a prophet.  Some said he  was a great man of God.  And some knew that he was the Messiah.  So the Pharisees had to find out who this man was that performed miracles.  If all that was said about him was true then they had to win him over to their side that he might bring the people under their authority and their rule.  But Oh!, were they shocked when they heard the things that he preached and taught the people.  They were compelled to confront him.  They were moved to action.  They had to do something before the people were led astray.  For this man, this miracle worker, taught the people against the Pharisees.  This Christ allowed the people to go against the teachings of the forefathers.  This Rabbi was wrong in their eyes and they had to stop him.

For decades the Pharisees had taught that a man was defiled if he did not wash before eating.  For years they preached that one should wash before eating to prevent from becoming unclean.  All they had to do was to watch the gentiles who were unclean, defiled men, women, and children that eat without washing.  They, the gentiles, were below the chosen people because they did not follow the traditions set by the Pharisees.  And then Christ comes along, after years of traditions, and he teaches the people how not to be unclean.  He allows his disciples to eat without washing.  They, the disciples, set the example for all the followers of Christ.  And if this example was not corrected it would corrupt and defile all of Judea, according to the thinking of the Pharisees.  But Christ taught them differently.  Christ,  then he called the crowd to him, and said to them,'' Hear, and understand.   What goes into the mouth does not defile a man; but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man."

A new lesson!  A change in direction from the teachings of the past.  For it was taught that every man was unclean unless they washed.  Every man, according to the Pharisees, was unfit unless they followed the traditions handed down by them.  Every man did not have water to wash before eating.  Every man did not have flowing water into their homes as did the Pharisees.  Every man was not wealthy enough to be able to bath and clean up two to three times a day.  So only the wealthy and the well to do and the rich, and the politicians and the rulers and the Pharisees had access to this privilege.  So this tradition made all men who were not able to follow the teachings, unclean.  And all were made unclean and defiled.  But Christ came and changed all that.

He taught people that they were clean.  He taught the people that it was not the washing that made them clean but what came from the mouth that made them unclean.  For out of the mouth the heart speaks.  And if the heart is evil and possessed of evil, then from the heart comes all manner of evil.  For the heart is concealed from man and no one knows what is in the heart of men except Christ.  And it is from the heart that evil takes possession of men.  Christ  wiped away the teachings of the Pharisees and opened the eyes of men that they may see the truth of who they are.  The door to the soul is through the heart and the heart must be protected against the evil that wants to posses it. 

Hear and understand!  Christ told the people around him and he tells us today to understand that the mouth is the gateway through which evil comes.  The mouth is the archway from which man is defiled and made unclean.  For the mouth only speaks what is in the heart.  And if the mouth speaks defilement then the heart is unclean. 

Hear and understand!  Protect the heart.  Open the heart to the love of Christ and he will protect it.  Open the heart to Christ and he will send the Advocate to guide it.  For the Advocate will protect.  The Advocate reside in it.  The Advocate will counsel with it.  The Advocate will fill the heart with the spiritual love of God.  And it is this spiritual love that provides understanding and wisdom to the kingdom of heaven. 

Christ has given us a way to know that we have received.  He has told us what to look for.  He has provided a light that we may follow.  But it is our decision to follow.  It is our decision to seek.  It is our decision to wake up from the drug induced sleep of the world and become lamps unto the world.  Christ has opened the door.  He has provided a way.  He has set forth a path for us to follow.  Seek and ye shall find!  Knock and it shall be opened to you!  Ask and it shall be given to you!  Come!  Receive the Holy Spirit and all will be revealed to you.

St Matthew, Chapter 15, verses: 7- 8, The Transformation into Hypocrisy

Our paragraph topic is:   (Christ refutes the Scribes and Pharisees)
Part 5.  

Christ called them hypocrites.  The Pharisees were the keepers of the law.  The Pharisees were the educated of the people.  The Pharisees were the elite of the people.  They had money, they had power, they had influence, and they knew the Law, handed down by God to Moses.  But in their arrogance they opened the door to evil and allowed evil to come into their hearts.  And in the arrogance of evil they changed the Commandments of God and preached and practiced their own precepts.  Evil persuaded them.  Evil helped them.  Evil came to them little by little until they became evildoers, the agents of evil.  But justice prevailed.

Christ came with justice.  Christ came that the scales of justice would be balanced and all mankind would be justified before God.  He was the sacrifice.  He was the propitiation for the sins of man.  He was the lamb, the innocent one.  He was the gift to mankind that God gave that all would be saved.  But hypocrisy had come in.  Hypocrisy had taken over the minds and hearts of the Pharisees.  They were the givers of the Law.  They were the enforcers of the Law to the people.  But, they did not live by the Law nor did they believe in the Law, for their hearts were not in and of the Law.  And Christ came and told them who they were.  Christ said to them, Hypocrites, well did Isaias prophesy of you saying, 'This people honors me with their lips, but
their heart is far from me.'

They pretended to be religious.  They pretended to believe in the Law and the Commandments of God.  But inside, their hearts were of the world.  Inside, their hearts sought after the power, the influence, the wealth of the world.  Inside, their hearts did not belong to God but to the world.  The arrogance of evil had persuaded them to follow.  The arrogance of evil had moved them along the path of self deception and denial that made them believe in themselves.  And the Pharisees believed in their authority to rule the people according to their own precepts.  So they transformed themselves into hypocrites.  They became the face of religion for the people and the face of the world to themselves.

Where does your heart lie?  Are you of the world or of Christ?  Does the world draw you to watch football on Sunday or does Christ draw you to his supper on Sunday?  The world is subtle.  It entices you with all its charm and fun and activity that you may slip into darkness without knowing how difficult it becomes to return to the light.  For the battle is not in the mind.  The battle is not in the actions.  The battle is for the heart of men that they may follow good or follow evil.  For out of the mouth the heart speaks and the actions of men speak to where lies their hearts. 

Can you stop in the middle of a great football game, turn the TV off and pray?  Can you stop in the middle of a good mystery or romance, turn the TV off and pray?  The enticement of the world is subtle.  It captures the mind.  And through what we see and what we hear the door is opened so that control of the heart follows. 

We go to a movie and our hearts are moved by what we see and hear.  Yet the control is so subtle that we are not aware of the change that is taking place.  And we like the control that has taken place so we go back for more and more until now our hearts are addicted to the control.  We see violence.  We see murder.  We hear language that is accepted as normal.  And our hearts are controlled by the upbeat of the music that we hear.  The beat of the music is set to the beat of the heart and the control is subtle.  So we go in to the movies being mindful of the things of God and come out being mindful of the things of the world.  And the decent into hypocrisy is a slow decline that takes place and we become transformed, our hearts become addicted.  Sex and violence and murder become accepted in what we see and hear in our entertainment.  It's not real.  It's only make believe, we say to ourselves.  Is it?  It may be make believe but the battle for the control of the heart is real.  And we slide a little further along the path of hypocrisy.

Christ called the Pharisees hypocrites.  It was a wake up call for them, a slap in the face that they may look in the mirror and see who they had become.  What have we become today?  Can we look in the mirror and say with true confidence that we are for Christ?  If there is doubt then there is hope.  If there is denial then the heart is lost and the control of the world has taken over.  How can you know the difference?  It is a difficult task to continue to deceive and deny to oneself who or what we are day in and day out.  Evil will continue to persuade us that we are disciples of Christ when we live in the world.  Only those who know the Advocate will be able to withstand the tricks and traps of the devil.  Many want to know, many want to believe, many want to find, want to see, but are misled.  Seek the truth!  Ask Christ for guidance.  Believe that he will come!  Be delivered from hypocrisy and live the life that Christ gave us to live.  Christ said, "I am the light of the world.  I came that those who believe in me will no longer live in darkness."  Step out of the darkness and into the light and welcome the Holy Spirit into your life.  I did!!

St Matthew, Chapter 13, verses: 55 - 56, Jesus in his own Country: Astonishment captures his town.

Our paragraph topic is: (Jesus at Nazareth) Part 2. 

And they were astonished at the wisdom and knowledge of Christ.  They knew him when he was a child.  He did not have the formal education of a scholar.  He did not have the wealth of a rich family.  His father was a carpenter, they thought.  He was a man of common means.  He learned carpentry from his father.  And they were common people.  So how is it, they said, that he has come by these miracles and this wisdom to teach us in the synagogue.  He was just a common man and astonishment had taken over the thoughts and minds of the people.  It had turned them against him that they could not see.  It had closed their eyes and blocked their hearing that they could not receive the message of the kingdom of heaven.

For Christ, the Son of God, walked among them.  Christ, the Son of God, had come down from heaven.  Christ, the Son of God, took the form of a common man and they could not hear his words.  His own countrymen could not understand his teachings.  His own villagers could not listen to the words of freedom given man from the mouth of God through Christ.  Astonishment had taken them.  Astonishment had closed their hearts that they were so shocked at his presences that their hearts could not accept the love that he gave.  For he sought to plant the good seed of God.  He sought to nourish the good seed that it may grow and produce the fruit of the kingdom of heaven.  But the evil one had called astonishment to the scene to corrupt their hearts that they could not hear.

Astonishment had brought forth anger.  Astonishment had brought forth confusion.  Astonishment had brought forth jealousy.  Astonishment had brought forth hatred.  And the forces of evil blocked the message of the kingdom.  The forces of evil worked against the words of Christ.  For the seed was stolen when it was planted and the message lost.  The townspeople said amongst themselves, "Is not this the carpenter's son?   Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Jude?  And his sisters, are they not all with us?  Then where did he get all this?"  

Christ, the common man they saw, was transformed.  Christ was not the person that they knew.  He was new.  He was different.  He was in God and God was in him.  How often today, our own townspeople are astonished.  How often today are our own church members astonished.  How often today are our own family, our own co-workers, our own brothers and sisters, astonished and become jealous at the new person in Christ.  Who does he think that he is?  Who does she think that she is?  How does she come by doing the things that she does?  How does he get all of the promotions and positions that he does?  Astonishment takes over and brings forth seven more demons and spirits more evil than the first.  And our hearts become blocked.  And our minds become closed.  And we do not hear the message of the kingdom of heaven because astonishment has taken over and our hearts are filled with anger, and jealousy, and envy, and hatred, and all manner of evil.  And we become hypocrites even in the worship of God in our own churches. 

Christ brought us a message of love.  He brought us a message of hope.  He brought us a message of new life where we could be transformed from our old selves to new beings in Christ.  Love one another as I have loved you, was Christ's last commandment to his disciples before going to the cross and sacrificing his life for us.  Let us do the same.  Let us love one another so that all men will know that we are his disciples.  Let us open our hearts to the Advocate who will teach us.  Let us open our hearts to the love that is in Christ that we may rid ourselves of astonishment and the other spirits that contaminate us.  Christ offers us new life.  Are we ready to receive it?

St Matthew, Chapter 13, verses: 49-50, The Kingdom of Heaven: The coming Separation of the Wicked and the Just

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the net) Part 2. 

The net will gather all.  The kingdom of heaven is like a net that is cast into the sea and when it is full it is taken up and the fish are separated.  The good fish are kept and the bad fish are cast away.  All are captured in the net.  All are brought to shore.  All are separated.  This is the parable that Christ tells his disciples that they may understand the coming of the kingdom of heaven and the separation that will take place.  The wicked will be separated from the just.  The workers of iniquity will be separated from the those who do good.  The fruit will be separated from the weeds and all will be judged according to their works.

Christ tell his disciples that they may know and understand the truth of the kingdom.  He tells them stories and parables that they may have the wisdom of the kingdom.  He gives them knowledge that they may be able to past their knowledge upon those who will follow them.  For they will be the new shepherds.  They will be the new leaders.  They will be the messengers of Christ after his work is finished.  So, he wants them to have clear understanding and knowledge of the kingdom of heaven. 

He concludes his parable by telling the disciples of the end times.  He says, "So will it be at the end of the world. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from among the just, and will cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be the weeping, and the gnashing of teeth.

The prophecy has been spoken.  Time will reveal the truth of its making.  The angels will come and separate but the net will capture all.  Will you be among the just or will you be among the wicked?  The furnace of fire awaits the separation.  Our God is a loving God.  He wants all to be separated into the just.  He wants no one to be put into the furnace of fire.  This is the why of the prophecy that is given to us today that we may understand.  This is the why of the prophecy that is given to us today that we may know.  This is the why of the prophecy that is given to us today that we may have the wisdom of the kingdom of heaven.  Will you heed the message?  Will you take action today to receive the kingdom?  Find your treasure.  Find your pearl of great value.  Be the good seed that Christ has planted in you.  They all await your search.  They all await your finding.  They all await you receiving that you may have joy and peace here and now, today, on this earth.  For the advodcate waits at your door.  Open and let him in.