St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 10, Expediency of Marriage.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Continence preferred to marriage) Part 1.

Christ raised the question of adultery and immorality to his disciples and they were puzzled.  They did not understand this teaching.  According to their backgrounds and their teachings from the community, a man was given to a woman and a woman given to a man.  They were bound together by law.  And the law had allowed for separation, the law had allowed for putting away of a wife or husband.  But Christ told them that this is not the case from the Father.

For the Father created them male and female that they would cleave to one another.  The Father created them that they would leave their fathers and mothers and bind with one another, male and female.  He did not intend that they would separate.  He did not intend that they would divorce.  Christ told his disciples that divorce for any cause and marriage to another is adultery.  He told them that the only way that a divorce could take place is through the
immorality of one of the partners.  And also to marry one who has been put away is committing adultery.  They found this unbelievable.  They questioned that if this is the case then why should one even marry.  His disciples said to him, "If the case of a man with his wife is so, it is not expedient to marry."

They saw this teaching as extreme.  They saw this as harsh.  They did not understand what they were to do if this is the teaching, the commandment, the rule by which they were to live.  Only through immorality is one able to put away his wife or husband.  Otherwise they are bound together as one, not to separate or not to divorce.  One has to ask why then should one marry?  One has to ask why then: "Why then should one fall in love?"  One has to ask why then: "Why should one consider bonding for life, if there is no opening for separation, no relief for mistakes, no escape from the commitment of marriage?"

Why is it that we are compelled to bond, compelled to desire the company of that other person, compelled to want to spend our every waking hour with the person that makes us complete in some way?  We come together with a desire to love.  We are drawn to one another out of a physical and emotional passion.  We have a need to belong, a need to not be alone in the world.  And marriage gives us that bonding opportunity which says that I am committing myself to this one person and no other.  Yet we are different people.  We are different personalities, with different desires, different beliefs, different habits, mannerisms, quirks, patterns, and every sort of unique behavior that distinguishes us from everyone else.   

We have been given that what is unique about ourselves is withheld and not revealed.  For one does not truly know another until one has lived with another.  It is only through the intimate living experience that one comes to know another person.  And it is through that same living experience that the eyes are open to all that is the other person we have chosen to spend our lives with.  So in that transition from the point where we have a complete desire to spend every waking hour with our partners, to that point where we have a complete understanding of our partners, we obtain a conscientious awareness of the truth of our relationship.  And one day we wake up and see the person next to us as they truly are.  It is in that day that we come to understand the true meaning of the commitment we have made.

But is it the commitment we have made to ourselves or the commitment we have made to our Father.  For he made us this way.  He made us to come together.  He made us that we would cleave to one another, becoming one flesh.  And he made us that we would not be the perfect relationship.  Can we find perfection in that imperfect relationship?  Can we find commitment in that imperfect relationship?  Can we find the true meaning of love in that imperfect relationship?  The world does not want us to understand commitment, to understand perfection, to understand love.  The world tells us that all is lost and we should abandon that relationship.  The world tells us that we are hurt and we should strike back.  The world tells us that we cannot stay together, that we should seek another partner, that we should separate.  The world gives us all manner of external relationships that will solve our commitment problems.  And it is the world outside that will tell us what we are on the inside.  It is the world that seeks to define us as physical and not spiritual beings.

If we are committed to the cause, we can succeed.  If we are bound by His love, we can know love.  If we are understanding of His truths, we can know the truth of who we are.  If we seek to know him in His goodness and His mercy then we can come to know true commitment.  If we open our hearts and understand the truth of who we are, both male and female, our commitment can become a blessing and not a burden.  For through Him and with Him and in Him we become one with Him.  And He, who is one with the Father, becomes one with us.  It is through that oneness that we come to know the cause, the purpose and the mission of our physical lives here on earth.  Christ came that we: past, present, and future, would have life.  And it is our cause, in the present, that brings forth the life of the future that is to come.  Let us then, come to know our purpose, our true spiritual passion, and our cause that we may continue to be one with Him who created us. 

Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage 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, Chpater 16, verse: 12, The Leaven: The Enlightenment

Our Paragraph topic is:  (The leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees) Part 5.

Understanding was not with the disciples.  Wisdom was lost.  Knowledge was foreign.  And they themselves were without sight.  The disciples did not see.  They did not understand.  They did not know what was happening among themselves.  All they knew was that they forgot to bring leaven to make bread and this caused great strife.  They had forgotten who made the bread.  They had not understood the miracle maker and his power.  They were without the wisdom that comes from spiritual insight.  And they were being filled with the leaven that spread from the Pharisees and the Saducees.

But Christ was in their midst.  Christ was there to guide them.  Christ was there to give them sight, to instruct them in the ways of the world.  So, he had to bring them back to the reality of the spirit.  He had to warn them of the plague that was taking over.  He had to instruct them in the wisdom of past events so they would have understanding and love.   The disciples were so filled with what they considered the needs of the now that they forgot that their needs were already given to them.  And Christ had to call forth understanding that they would come back to spiritual reality.  Then they understood that he bade them beware not of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

There is a famous experiment used in psychology where several cards in a deck are altered.  A black spade becomes a red spade, a red heart becomes a black heart, etc.  The deck of cards are then flashed before a patient in shot intervals, asking the patient to identify each card before going to the next.  At short intervals the altered cards are not identified properly.  However, after each round of exposure, the interval of exposure is increased to allow more time to identify the altered cards.  As the exposure time increases most patients are able to identify the altered cards.  But there were some who, even at increased exposure times, still did not identify the altered cards.  Most people can and do understand with increased time to contemplate the internal change.  Others simply will not make the adjustments necessary to understand.  This is explained as an unwillingness to make the necessary internal adjustments to identify change.  Change requires a willingness to let go of the internal reality created by the mind and an acceptance of a new reality. 

We live in a world today that is our reality.  It is given to us at birth and we live within it throughout our lives.  It is our reality.  Yet there is another reality that is before us that we are unable to accept or unwilling to accept.  Most of us accept a reality that there is a God, a higher being that created the world we live in.  Yet our acceptance is only partial, only minimal,  without complete commitment.  We live in a physical world that we see, feel, smell, and hear.  Our acceptance of this world is real, complete, total.  And it is the acceptance of this world that prevents us, denies us, holds us back from accepting completely the reality of the world of God.  Understanding is our vehicle.  More exposure is our tool.  And internal change is the purpose which allows us to know who we are.  Some will accept.  Some will not.  Some will believe partially, partially in the world and partially in the spirit.  And then there are those who will let go of all that is in the world and connect with all that is in the spirit.  Can you make the internal change to let go?  Can you believe, totally, that God lives and the spirit is alive?  Can you make the change that will turn you inside out?  Can you become the spirit that you are?  The change is simple.  Follow the path that is laid out before you and search for the light that is within 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 10, verses: 39, Who is worthy to fight?

Our paragraph topic is:  (We must give up all for Christ) Part 5.  

Christ told his disciples that they must take up their cross or they will not be worthy of him.  He also told them that neither the love of father or mother or sister or brother or any relative should separate them from him otherwise they are not worthy of him.  For one must sacrifice all for Christ to show that one is worthy of him.  The disciples are in a war.  They are battling the dark forces of evil and Christ tells them that they have to be fully committed to him.  Otherwise they are not worthy of him.

Likewise he is instructing them concerning the people they will meet and how they will show their acceptance of the message of the kingdom and their commitment to Christ.  One who allows family to separate them from the love of Christ is not worthy.  One who does not take up the cross of the message of Christ and wear it before men is not worthy.  These are signs that the people have not accepted Christ and the message they bring.  They may say that they do but their actions prove otherwise.  They may want to accept but their hearts are still bound to the evil that they say they want to divorce themselves from.  Christ requires total commitment to show 
worthiness of him.  

Now he goes a step further and tells his disciples,  "He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake, will find it."   Life is lost and must be found.  The disciples must know this.  They must understand that one's life is not given but must be discovered, it must be found.  Once found, it becomes the driving force that directs a person.  It is the reason we live, the purpose of living, and the guide by which we live.  The disciples will preach to the lost sheep of Israel.  They will help them discover their life and show them the way to the kingdom.  They will open the eyes and the ears of the lost sheep and help them discover their light so that they can become lights to others.  But if their life is not committed to Christ they will lose it.  The devil will come and steal it away with his tricks and traps.  They have no defenses without those that are given by Christ. 

When their life is given to Christ for his sake then they will find that they have more life and have it through him.  For Christ is the light of the world.  He is the source of life that was given to him by his father in heaven.  The disciples must understand this important concept so that they can teach it to others.  We will loose our life if it is for ourselves.  But if we lose our life for Christ we find it preserved with  more abundance in Christ.  Even today for those who accept Christ as their Lord and Savior, complete commitment is the requirement.  Complete acceptance is the key.  Surrender of ones life will bring life alive again in Christ.  Will you lose your life for Christ?  Will you show yourself worthy of him?  Christ has a more abundant life waiting for you in Him.  Surrender your life for his name's sake and receive a new life in him.  Faith is the belief in the desire to be in Christ.  Are you in him or standing on the sidelines looking in?