St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 11a; False Prophets.

 Our paragraph topic is: (He tells them of trials and hard times to come) Part 7.  

I am trying to imagine the stories that Christ is telling his disciples about the hardships and trials they will face in the coming months and years.  What would I think if I were there in his presence listening to the words coming from God himself through Christ to me.  After all Christ was the Word of God, the two were one being.  Would I become fearful?  Would I be afraid?  Would I not want to be a disciple anymore?  Yet this was my creator, my savior, my Lord, the one who has all the answers to my needs, the one who gives life eternal.  Why should I not believe in him and his protection if he is telling me all these things in advance so that I will know what will happen?

He is my rock, the foundation of all my faith.  I am blessed that I have been chosen to be here in his presence listening to his words.  I should have no fear, no doubt, no anxiety.  He has given me the tools I need to overcome the trials and tribulations I will face.  He has promised that he will be with me always.  He has assured me that he will send another to help and guide me along the path of life to overcome any and all obstacles.  This is why he is telling his disciples: "And many false prophets will arise." 

How will we know them when they come?  How will we be able to determine who is false and who is real?  Will there be miracles to show the difference?  Or will there be fake magic to confuse and mislead?  What tools do we have to help us make the decision who to follow or who not to follow?

Today we have many churches of many different denominations.  It seems that everyone wants to have a church or to preach the gospel to the people.  Christ told his disciples that when persecutions begin that many will fall away and hatred will abound.  Some will see opportunity to take up the mantel and proclaim themselves as prophets of God.  And today we must be careful to discern in our hearts who are the real prophets and who are the false prophets.  Beware of what you hear and what you see.  Do not allow yourself to become involved with that which is not a part of the good that is within you.  For that which is good will be turned to evil.

Christ came to show us the way to the truth and the light.  He came to open the door so that all who desire to know the truth have a way to find it through faith if they desire within their hearts to seek it.  There is an advocate that will come and be with you to guide you along the way to the truth of who you are within.  Open the door and let the light shine in.  Do not let the false prophets of today confuse or mislead you.  You have an advocate.  You have a connection to someone who loves and knows you.  Seek him and he will find you.  Ask for him and he will answer.  Knock at his door and he will open and greet you with open arms of love.  God is your father and your God of love. 

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself.  Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 6b; Do not be alarmed.

Our paragraph topic is: (Christ warns them not to be led astray) Part 5.  

Many will be led astray by false prophets proclaiming themselves as the Christ.  This is what he told his disciples so that they would know when they heard someone proclaiming to be the Christ  that it was not he.  They would hear many things to come.  Many would get excited by what they would hear but he warned his disciples not to listen to all they would hear or see.  He warned them not to believe all they would hear others talking about because many would speak on what they would hear others saying and repeat the scandal of others.

Christ warned them not to be alarmed, not to be swayed by what they would hear.  The words would spread like wildfire over the grassland causing many to panic.  But the disciples were fore warned not to panic, not to be afraid.  Christ told them: "Take care that you do not be alarmed."

They must become the foundations during the storm that others can turn to for support.  For many will be blown away by the rumors and the panic of what they hear and see others doing.  Those that know the disciples and follow the teachings of Christ will know that the disciples have the foundation of his knowledge and his teachings and that nothing will harm them until it is their time.  They are his pillars here on earth for the church that he established and nothing or no one shall come between him and his church.

So there may be rumors and false prophets and teachers proclaiming themselves to be the Christ but he left instructions as to the how and the wherefore of his coming.

Let no one deceive as to the end of time.  It is written for all to see and believe when the end of time will take place.  Pray that you are not here to see or experience it. 

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself.  Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 34b; Scourge and persecute.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their persecution of religion) Part 10.  

In the previous part God speaks to the Scribes and the Pharisees through Christ Jesus to let them know his judgment upon them.  God and Christ are one.  But we know that God speaks simply through the use of the pronoun I.  He says " I send you."  Christ does not speak this but God speaks this through Christ to the Scribes and the Pharisees.

Christ has offered them opportunities to repent of their ways.  He has opened the door for them to repent of their persecution of their religion but they are not open to the idea of repentance.  They are set in their ways, completely possessed of the evil within them.  This is why Christ calls them a brood of vipers.  They cannot change.  God tells them that the prophets and the wise men he will send them:  "And some you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from town to town."

How did he know what they would do?  How did he foresee their actions?  Would they fight and continue to persecute the spread of God's religion from town to town?  Were they that zealous in their beliefs against the spread of God's love for his people?  

Christ came to establish a new covenant with man.  He came to build his church on earth, to teach his disciples how to love, how to live, how to spread the words of the kingdom of heaven.  In order to do that he had to suffer the sacrifice for our sins and pay the price for our deliverance.  The Lamb of God shed his blood for us.  He died, was buried, and rose again on the third day declaring his deliverance over death and the grave.  And God took him into his arms up into heaven where he sits at his right hand waiting for the coming of judgment day.

Do not be afraid Christ told his disciples many times.  His last words were that he will be with us always, even until the end of the world.  Let us remember that we have a Father in heaven who is the creator of all things who is in control.  When things do not go the way that we expect or would like and we get disappointed, always remember that God is in control and it is he who has the ultimate say.  It is his plan that will work out and not ours.  We must be thankful that he is in control and not us.  Thank you Father for the blessings that you have given us this day.  Keep us in your grace. 

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 21, verse:15; Praise and Indignance.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Anger of the Jewish leaders) Part 2. 

He cleansed the temple of the money changers and the buying and selling.  He brought prayer and worship back to the temple.  Christ taught the poor and downtrodden in the temple and he cured all that were brought to him.  He was kind.  He was compassionate.  He was loving to all.  He was the Messiah.

He knew what his actions would bring.  He knew that the scribes and the chief priest would not like that he was swaying the people.  He knew that they would fear that someone else was taking control of the people away from them.  Yet his actions brought praise even down to the children.  But the chief priests and the Scribes, seeing the wonderful deeds that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David," were indignant. 

He came into Jerusalem with praise from the people that caused an uproar to all who did not know him.  He went to the temple and caused an uproar with the money changers and the buying and selling in that place of worship.  He taught the people of a new way, a way of faith, a way of peace, a way of love.  He taught them of the Father and the Father's love for all.  For he came to bring about a change.  He came to renew.  He came that all would know the truth of who he was and that the Father in heaven would forgive all of sin.  He came, to be the perfect sacrifice.

We live today with the knowledge and the words that he left for us.  We live today in the belief that there is more to this life than just what we have today.  We live in this world today with the hope that if we follow his life we will be saved for all eternity.  We live today because he gave to us a church, a temple, a place to worship, a place to belong, a membership in his body in the family of God. 

We are blessed, those who know the truth of who we are in the spirit.  Those of this world do not have the same truths.  Their truth is death.  Christ came and gave us a new life.  He came and gave us a new beginning.  He came and paid for our sins that we would no longer live under the cloud of death.  We are new beings in him.  We are spiritual in him.  We are eternal in him.  We are loved and protected in him.  The world does not know.  The world does not believe.  The world wants to take away that knowledge and change us into the living dead.  The world hates those who know and believe because the world is indignant.

Praise be to the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end.  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 nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St. Matthew, Chapter 21, verse: 12a, The selling and buying.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Cleansing of the Temple) Part 1. 

We continue our walk with Christ as he enters Jerusalem.  The people of Jerusalem did not know him but the people who came from far away places knew him and had heard the word.  They praised him as he entered the city.  They worshipped him as he came.  They shouted Hosanna in the highest.  They were the ones who gave honor and glory to him and not the citizens of Jerusalem.

He walked through the city and the crowds followed.  They wanted to know what he would do.  They wanted to know what he would say.  They wanted to see him, to touch him, to be a part of the history that was being made.  So Christ went to the temple to pray.  He went to the temple to teach.  He went to the temple, to his father's house.   And Jesus entered the temple of God, and cast out all those who were selling and buying in the temple. 

He was appalled.  He was astonished.  He was angry that this sacred place was being used as a market place for con artists and thieves.  Evil had invaded the house of the Lord.  It had taken over the most sacred place where the people came to worship, praise, and thank their heavenly father.  This was wrong.  This was blasphemous.  This was not the place for those who practiced the ways of the world to do their business.

So he entered with anger.  He entered with righteousness.  He entered and cast out the evil that had taken over the temple.  What would you have do if this was your house and it was being used as a drug house, a house of prostitution, a den for robbers and murders to gather?  Would you have called them out?  Would you have called the law enforcement to clear them out?  What would you do?

Christ came that we would know the truth.  He came to be our sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.  He came that we would have new life and have it more abundantly.  He came to establish his presences here on earth through the legacy of his church.  And he said that the forces of hell shall not prevail against it.  So today we have a place to go when we are in need of peace.  We have a place to go when we need to communicate with our Father.  We have a place to go away from the world outside.  We have a place to go where we can find love, and understanding, and forgiveness.  For this is what he left us throughout the world.  No matter where we go or what city we find ourselves in, somewhere we can always find a place of worship, a place of peace.

Long did I wait before I entered the church.  Ashamed was I of the experiences I had in my life away from the church.  Guilty was I of the sins that I committed.  Desire did I to have peace, forgiveness, hope, and faith in my life.  I knew, but rationalize did I what I was doing.  I did not care of the consequences.  But he held my hand despite my disobedience.  He loved me despite my uncaring.  He forgave me despite my guilt and my shame.  He loves me today and I love him for all that he has done for me.  Turn back I will not.  With the help of the Advocate I will fight to continue to walk the path he has given me and I will fight to open the door to any and all who seek the truth of him who loves all.     

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage nd then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ .   The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.

St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 13a, Bring the Children.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus blesses the children) Part 1. 

He gave his disciples lessons to live by: lessons on adultery, immorality, and marriage, lessons on bonding, acceptance, and love.  They were powerful lessons for them.  But as with all things from Christ they took it in until they could understand.  They accepted his teachings because he had demonstrated to them that he was special, he was the chosen one, he was the Messiah.  There were many strange things that he said and did.  They knew that he loved them and wanted them to understand.  While all the time in the back of their minds, in the darkest corner of their being there was always that lurking voice speaking to their doubts and their fears.

So they took a rest and all the children came to play.  The children had heard their parents talking about him.  They had heard about all the miracles.  They knew that this man was special because of the way that the others treated him.  And they played near him, in his sight, in his presence, not knowing who he was.  They wanted to know.  They wanted to see up close.  They wanted to be with him.  So they got closer until they were within his reach.  "Little children were brought to him then that he might lay his hands on them and pray."

They brought the children to him that he might bless them.  Parents brought them that he might impart some spiritual healing upon them, that they might grow up knowing that this man affected their lives.  Lay hands on them.  Pray for them.  Teach them that they might know the true meaning of God.  We are fortunate, those who grow up in a Christian environments.  We are brought to church.  We are taught the history of our religion.  We are given the essentials of our beliefs that we might have a foundation to grow upon as we encounter the world. 

For too many of us, our religion, our beliefs, our faith is based upon what was forced upon us in early childhood.  We did not want to go to church.  We did not know what we were being given through the many lessons and teachings and preachings.  All we knew was that it was required of us.  And if we did not obey then we were taught about the wrath of God.  We would burn in hell.  We would be eternally damned.  We would not go to heaven.  All of this was given to us at an early age.  We would carry these teachings, these thoughts, these beliefs, with us throughout the rest of our lives and pass them on to our children and their children's children.

And yet love was within us, as children.  Love was a part of us as little ones.  For we loved life.  We loved our parents.  We loved our brothers and sisters, most of the times.  We had the seeds of God's love within us but no one cultivated those seeds that they would bring forth fruit.  Are children able to become fruitful?  The seed within us was buried deeper.  Instead a new seed was planted within us as children, a seed that would set our beliefs on a vengeful Father, a Father of wrath, a God of punishment if we did not obey.  Our Father is a God of love.  No matter what we do he will still love us. 

With understanding,  true understanding of who we are in his love, our eyes can be opened, our hearts can beat with a different beat, and we can become aware of the spirit within us.  With that awakening we can know the truth of who we are in Christ.  With that awakening we are able to receive his love.  And the knowledge of his love makes us keenly aware of our sins, our wrongs, our transgressions.  Repentance, sorrow, regret comes with knowledge of his love.  And like little children we are able to free ourselves from the grips of evil and become once again his children.  For He is forgiving.  He is merciful.  He is loving.  He is protective.  He is our provider.  He is Our Father above all.  Open the door and let him lay hands on you that you may become a child again.

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.