St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 23b; Paying Tithes on nonessentials.

Our paragraph topic is:  (They overstress the nonessential part of religion) Part 2.  

They wanted to control everything the people did, every aspect of their lives, so they could collect taxes and tithes.  So they conceived of different ways they could create rules to control the people.  They stressed the nonessential parts of religion as being important in the lives of the people.  The more a person adhered to the nonessentials the more a person was made to believe they were special to God.  And yet this was not what God wanted from the people.

Where was their faith?  Where was their belief in the God who created them and gave them life?  Where was their trust in the one God who provided for them on a daily basis?  Why were they not grateful for the many graces that were given to them on a daily?  Instead it was:  "Because you pay tithes on mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the Law."

What is important to us today?  Are we taught to observe just the nonessentials of our religion, go to church on Sunday and holidays, give tithes if we can, send our children to Bible study?  Are these the essentials for us today?  Or is there more that we should do?  Do we really believe in what we hear in church?  Do we know that we have a God in heaven that loves us and provides for us?  What happens when we have a love one who is taken away and we have to suffer the pain of loss?  Do we blame God for our loss, our pain, our suffering?  

Our knowledge and belief is more than just words that we hear repeated in church.  It has to become a part of who we are, an understanding of the knowledge of our God and his love for us.  Our belief has to become us, who we are inside and out no matter what happens, life or death.  We are more than just flesh and blood.  We are more than just body.  We are soul, spirit, created in the image and likeness of our Father.  Our life is eternal if we choose to accept who we are.  And the life here on earth is only a spec in the cosmic time of eternity.  That is our belief.  That is our knowledge.  That is our truth, our faith in the trust given us from the promise of Christ Jesus.  He came to give us new life and now that new life is yours.

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, verses: 44a; The Broken pieces.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Application of the parable) Part 5. 

Christ continues to tell us about this parable of the vineyard and the vine dressers, how they decided to take control of the vineyard and claim it their own.  In comparison as we look back we can find similarities with mankind today.  God our Father created us in his likeness and image and called us his own.  He gave us life out of the love that was within him to share his existence with us. 

Today we claim our existence as our own, devising our life from the ooze that grew from time immemorial.  And so it is that the elders and the high priest of the Jews claim that they are the rulers of the people.  All that has been written of his coming was not recognized or understood.  Yet they are the ones who were most learned and most educated of the Torah.  They could not see.  They could not understand.  They could not comprehend the signs of the time.  So Christ told them:  "And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces." 

And this became their warning, their stop sign.  Do not stand against this corner stone else you will suffer.  And this is our warning today.  Split, broken, pieces, are the results of what we will suffer in our lives.  We are meant to live a life of peace and joy and not a life of pain and suffering.  We seek to reach the top, to be like the others that we see and hear about living a life of luxury.  But in many situations we find ourselves split by pressure and pain, suffering the consequences of our own desires and passions.  Broken we find ourselves.  Wasted, lying on the wayside, forgotten and lost in our pursuit of the pleasures that this life is supposed to give us.

We have forgotten who we are.  We have lost our way.  We are influenced by the consequences of our own minds that constantly change according to the thoughts that we are given on a daily, minute by minute basis.  We are no longer in control of who we are and of our actions.  We are  led by the influences of the world.  Our thoughts tell us that we are not real.  They tell us that the life that is within us is our imagination, it is not real.  Yet Christ Jesus sacrificed his life that we may have life everlasting.

Be not broken.  Be not split in indecision.  Know that you are loved and that your Father lives within you.  You are a child of the living God, a father who provides for you, who protects you, who loves you.  The elders of old had the opportunity.  You have the opportunity today.  Seek to know the truth of who you are and you will come to see, 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 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: 17c, Keep the commandments?

Our paragraph topic is:  (The rich young man speaks to Jesus) Part 3.

One there is who is good and he is God.  The Father created us.  The Father gave us life.  The Father protects us and guides us and provides for us.  And he is good.  He is great.  He is wonderful.  He is glorious.  He is above all and is all.  And he is good.  But we live in a world where our actions indicate that there is no belief in God.  Our actions demonstrate that we are our god.  We believe that we must do for ourselves.  We believe that we must provide for ourselves.  We believe that we must protect ourselves in any and all circumstances.  And when the world demonstrates that we are not in control, we do not know how to make sense of it.  We loose control rather than surrender the control to our Father.  We believe through our actions that we are the ones who are great and wonderful and glorious.

The young rich man questioned Christ to get an answer to his question.  He wanted to know what he must do.  And behold he came.  Of all the people who followed Christ and sought his teachings, this young man appeared and asked the question that could have set him on the right path as he stood at the crossroad seeking to know which direction to take.  He asked:  "What must I do to attain heaven?"  And Christ told him:  "But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." 

Keep the commandments.  Simple, easy, straight to the point: "Keep the commandments."  Is it just that simple.  Is it just that easy, to just keep the commandments.  As we are children our parents command us to follow their rules.  Looking out on the world and seeing what it has to offer, we rebel.  Our society commands us to follow the laws that are set before us, we do not.  We adapt them to fit our own needs as we see fit.  Our God gives us commandments to follow as a guide to life, but we create our own guide to follow as we choose.  There are those who would believe and would attempt to follow the commandments.  We are not perfect so we make some effort to obey.  Yet in the world we live in, we are compelled to disobey, to set aside, to rationalize our actions to fit the situations we face.  Our society motivates us to turn away from the commandments and to follow the norm of today.

Keep the commandments.  Keep the rules that are given to us and do not go astray from them.  They are the boundaries that separate us from the protection that our Father provides and the evil that wants to lead us away from our Father.  The choice is ours.  Choose to follow the commandments or choose to cross over and be led by that which will lead you astray.  What do we loose?  What do we gain?  If we only knew the peace, and the joy, and the happiness, and the glory that is ours, we would not make the choices that we make today.  We sacrifice our heritage simply for the glitz and glamour of the moment. 

Our Father does not dictate to us.  He merely sets guidelines to follow.  He is good and he knows what is best for us.  He sees the truth of the choices that we make.  He knows the path down which our decisions will lead us.  And he is compassionate and merciful to forgive us if we awake from the influences of evil and turn back to his protection.  But if we knew the truth of our decisions and the treasures we give up for the passion of the moment, we would not make the decisions that we make.  We would rejoice in the commandments, if we knew.  We would celebrate the gifts of the Father, if we knew.  We would be overwhelmed with the path that we walk, if we only knew the treasures we forsake.  We have a choice.  And the choice is ours to make. 

Let us not be led astray by the influences of the world.  Fear not the loss of the flesh, for the spirit is alive and cannot die.  Fear not the death of the body for the body is dust and must return to dust.  For worse than death is the one who can kill the body and kill the soul in hell.  We have the life that has been given us by Christ.  We have the life that is within us.  We are the children of our father, created in his image and likeness.  Yet we live in the flesh not knowing the truth of who we are in the spirit.  Keep the commandments!  Seek the truth of who you are in Christ and you will know and see the light of life that is within you.  The Holy One will come and abide with you.  The Holy One will teach you.  The Holy One will guide you, protect you and be with you at all times.  Then you too will know the truth of who you are.  And with that truth no one will be able to lead you astray.  For your light shines within, and that light is the life that Christ has given you that you will know where you are from.  Open your mind.  Open your heart.  See the truth that is within you.  For you too are a child of God, your Father.

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 11, verse: 28, The Call for Rest.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus draws men gently to himself) Part 3. 

And now we are given the call to rest.  Christ our Lord and Savior calls us to himself that we may rest.  He calls all who are burdened.  He calls all who labor.  He calls all who are worried.  He calls all.  Some will heed his call.  Others will hear but not follow.  Still others will turn away from his call and accept the ways of the world as their calling.  But Christ, in the name of the Father calls all his children to himself.  For he is one with the Father.  He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and ruler of the universe.  He calls all to rest.

Christ says to the disciples and the crowd,  "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."   For he is the origin of rest.  He satisfies all our needs.  He provides for all our wants.  He protects from all harm.  He guides our path through the tricks and traps of the world.  Yet we do not know him.  We do not seek him.  We do not live with him because we are blinded from his existence by the ways of the world.  Come to me, he says.  Yet, we go in the other direction, until we need something that we cannot provide.  We go in the other direction, until we run against a brick wall that causes us to see that we cannot proceed without his help.  We go in the other direction, because we are pulled by the tricks of the world that play on our passions.

We labor in this world thinking that we are in control.  We follow the instructions of the world believing that we will succeed and be eternally happy with the outcome, only to find out that we were deceived.  Our parents have been taught and therefore teach us to go to the right school, socialize with the right friends, marry the right woman, get the right job, have the right kids, make enough money, plan the right retirement and we will live a happy life.  These are the precepts that are passed down by the world we live in.  The world does not teach us to seek Christ.  The world does not teach us to live by his precepts.  The world does not teach us to build our treasures in heaven and not on earth.  The world does not teach us to seek the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to be our guide through life.  In fact the world teaches just the opposite.

Christ says come, and he will give us rest.  Do you seek rest or do you seek more money, more cars, more clothes, more fame, more glory, more lust, more action in the world?  When you get weary of the world, Christ awaits you.  When you wake up from the world, Christ calls to you.  When you hit your bottom in the world, Christ will reach down and lift you up.  But even more, when you want to know true peace in this world, go to him.  Go to him, remain with him and in him.  For He is one with the Father, as you will be, one with him.  For you in Him, there will be no desire for sin.  For you in Him there will be no need for this world.  For you in Him, there will be no anger, no fear, no doubt, no lust.  For you in Him, there will only be love. 

Will you become one with Christ?  He will rearrange all eternity to create a path just for you.  He will open a dream of possibilities you have never considered or imagined.  He will provide guidance through the Holy Spirit that will open the doors to his riches that will overwhelm you with joy.  And he will demonstrate to you his love for all eternity.  The world will scorn you.  The world will scoff you.  The world will isolate you.  The world will pressure you to forsake Him.  But once you know Him you can never for sake Him.  For He will do all for you, if you just open your heart to Him.  Come, all who are burdened and heavy ladened, He will give you rest. 

St Matthew, Chapter 11, verses: 18, This Generation.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The inconsistency of the Jews) Part 2. 

Christ continues to characterize this current generation because of their selfishness.  They want everyone to dance to their tune.  They want everyone to cry to their sorrows.  They want to be in control of everything.  They are selfish people who have had power to long and are unwilling to consider that the Messiah has come among them to change everything.  John preached about the coming.  The scriptures foretold about the coming of the Messiah.  Yet the Jews of this generation have their own plan and will not consider that the Messiah has come as a man in their midst to change all mankind.

They have no wisdom.  They have no knowledge.  They have no understanding, only that they want everyone else to dance to their tune and cry to their sorrows.  John was written about in the scripture.  John preached from the Jordan and thousands came to hear him.  John baptized many and preached repentance.  John paved the way for the coming of the Messiah and yet they did not believe.  Christ says that they characterized John as a lunatic.  He says,  "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a devil!" 

The people knew that John was anointed of God.  They heard him preach.  They believe that the Messiah had come.  But the rulers and the rich, and the educated, and the religious, and the Pharisees and the Sadducees did not believe.  They rationalized that John was possessed and out of his mind.  They said that John was insane and people should not follow him.  They had to turn the people least all believed in John and his teachings.   They had to do something before they lost control and the people no longer danced to their tune and cried to their sorrows.

What should I compare this generation to, Christ said?  Shall we compare them to the blind.  They live in an evil world and yet do not see.  They stumble through life leaning upon the one who lives in darkness.  They believe in their own capacity to live without knowing true life.  They cannot see the light.  This generation is like a moth drawn to a flame.  They are utterly attracted to the glitz and glamour of a world that is dying and has no life of its own.  Are you in the world?  Do you look out from your position in the world and wonder about those who do not follow your passions for the worldly life?  Do you hunger for something more than the world has offered you, having conquered the passions of this world?  Do not be lost with this generation.  Do not be blind.   Open your eyes and see the road that you are on before it is too late.  God is patient and yet your cup of wrath continues to fill.  Repent before the thief comes to steal your life.  God loves you and is merciful and forgiving.  Christ paid for your sins and will forgive all, if you just ask and believe that he will.  Come take his hand and be healed!!