St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 12b, Who can accept His teachings?

Our paragraph topic is:  (Continence preferred to marriage) Part 4.

Who can accept this teaching of marriage without divorce?  Christ told his disciples that not all can accept it.  But for those who would try he set the ground rules that they should follow.  Man and woman should stay together.  There should be no separation except in the case of immorality.  And marriage to one who has been put away by written notice, is considered adultery.  These were the ground rules that Christ gave his disciples that they would know the will of the Father as he created them from the beginning.

God our Father had a purpose when he created them male and female.  He had a plan that would allow man to participate in the creation of physical life and spiritual life.  But there was evil that also had a plan.  Evil wanted to change man.  Evil wanted to make man for itself.  Evil wanted to have man participate in the creation for the worship of evil.  So the examples were set.  The participants were allowed.  And the beginning of the change took place and has remained throughout time.  For who can accept this teaching.  Christ told his disciples:  "And there are eunuchs who were made so by men." 

Eunuch made so by men, these are they who can accept this teaching.  These are they who have been changed by man.  These are they who have no say in the creation of the physical and the spiritual.  But for the rest of mankind, what do they say?  Can they accept this teaching?  Can they believe in God's plan?  Can they come together, stay together, and become one flesh, become one spirit?  Is this the will of God that we abide by?  Can we agree to this teaching in a world that isolates us if we accept this teaching?

Eunuch can abide by this teaching.  Why can we not abide by it?  Acceptance is the key.  Obedience is the rule.  Knowledge is the foundation.  Love is the food that keeps us together and allows us to grow beyond the physical into the spiritual.  Physical love is love of death.  Physical love is love of passion.  Physical love is love of that which is decaying.  Yet we are given the physical each and every day.  Even though we live and abide in the physical we are spiritual in nature and it is the love of the spirit that will elevate us to a new where we can accept the teachings of Christ.  Are you ready, both male and female, to accept?

He came that we would have life.  He came that we would not die.  He came that we would have knowledge of the Father and have insight into the Father's will.  And it is through the will of the Father that we live, breathe, and exist.  He made them male and female and it is the choice of both male and female to know the will of the Father.  With this knowledge we can live.  With this knowledge we can survive.  With this knowledge we can succeed and accept the teachings that Christ has given us.  But it takes both male and female.  Both must know.  Both must believe.  Both must see the truth of who they are in Christ.  Both must open their hearts to the consolation of the Holy Spirit that they may have the knowledge of who they are in him.  For in Him and through Him and by Him we become one with the 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 19, verse: 11, To whom it has been given.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Continence preferred to marriage) Part 2. 

Why should we marry to simply end up in divorce or separation?  Do we believe in bonding?  Do we have faith that it will work?  Or is this just another modern day interpretation that allows us to do what we want with our partners.  Christ gave his disciples the principles upon which the Father created man and woman.  He created them male and female.  He created them so that they would cleave to one another for a purpose, for a cause.  But that cause, that purpose, was changed due to the hardened hearts of men and the influence of evil in the world.

For evil would seek to change what God created.  Evil seeks to turn man around.  Evil seeks to have man worship it and to have man do its will.  So evil influenced man to change the purpose of God, to have them cleave to one another.  Evil seeks to have man and woman cleave to one another simply for the passion, for the pleasure, and not for a cause.  And when the passion and the pleasure is over, evil seeks to tear them apart, to bring about hatred, fear, distrust, doubt, anger, and all manner of discord that turns man against the God  that created him.  Christ told his disciples:  And he said, "Not all can accept this teaching; but those to whom it has been given. 

To those to whom it has been given!  Are you one?  Are you one of the persons to whom this teaching of marriage has been given?  Do you believe in God's purpose?  Do you believe hat he created us male and female that we should cleave to one another for life?  For he has a purpose.  He has a goal.  He has a reason and he who created the universe has a better reason than any other person on earth.  But more than anything else do you and your partner have the faith to know that your example of togetherness will shine before the eyes of God and the world?

For he told us through the teachings of Christ that separation and remarriage for any other reason other than immorality, is adultery.  And marriage to another that has been put away is also adultery.  So who can accept this teaching?  Who is worthy to receive this teaching?  The acceptance is not one sided but requires the knowledge and belief of both parties, male and female.  Are you the one that it has been given?  Are you and your partner the chosen ones?

Will you follow the will of God and keep his purpose, keep his goal?  It is only through the knowledge of who we are in this world, that we can come to accept the will of God our Father.  For he gave us life through Christ Jesus.  He allowed us to be born again.  His mercy and his love for his children is overwhelming.  He forgives us our trespasses.  He protects us from evil.  He gives us our daily bread.  All this, if we let him.  If we open our hearts to his love he will come and demonstrate miracles before our eyes that will amaze us of his power and majesty.  For He is the power and the glory for ever and ever, amen.  Are you the chosen, the one to whom it has been given?

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: 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: 9a, Thou shalt not commit Adultery.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The question of divorce) Part 8. 

From the beginning it was given to Moses and the Jews, handed down from God: "Thou shalt not commit adultery."  Two persons, male or female, either one, bonded in marriage, shall not have intercourse outside of their marriage with another partner.  This was the law, handed down to the Jews from ancient times.  Yet Moses allowed them to put away their wives or husbands by written notice for any cause.  This was allowed because of the hardness of their hearts, because of the determination in their minds, because of the passion of their desires.

The practice still continues today, the putting away of the wives or husbands by written consent.  Christ had something different to say to his disciples about this practice. He wanted them to know the truth of this practice.  He wanted them to understand that even though Moses allowed it to happen, it was not permitted.  For God created them male and female that they would bond together for a purpose, for a cause.  He told them:  "And I say to you, that whoever puts away his wife, except for immorality, and marries another, commits adultery."

Thou shalt not commit adultery.  Why was it written?  Why was it given to us?  Why do we need to obey this law?  Does it apply to us, today?  These are some of the questions that we may ask ourselves about this commandment.  God, our father, gave us guidelines to follow.  He gave to man helpful instructions that would help to keep us from sin.  For he is not demanding.  He is not overbearing.  He is not standing ready to exact punishment at our every infraction.  God, our father, is a loving God and he wants that we do not cause ourselves harm.  He wants the same thing that we want for our own children, to warn them, that they do not cause themselves harm through the dangers of life.  He wants to give us knowledge, the same way we want to give our own children our knowledge of life that they may avoid the pain and suffering we experienced in life.

Yet we live in a world that downplays the spiritual dangers to ourselves and our children.  We exist in a world that does not want us to know of the those dangers, a world that encourages us to practice the same things that would cause us spiritual harm.  We are lulled to sleep about immorality, lust, deceit, anger, greed, and all the things in this world that would destroy our spiritual truths.  For we are spiritual beings living in a physical body.  And it is that spirit within us that is the prize of the world.  We sleep walk through life not knowing the truth of who we are.  We seek the trinkets that life offers in exchange for the most valuable prize of all, our spiritual soul.

Be not immoral.  Seek the repentance that Christ has given to us and come to know the truth of who you are in him.  Refrain from the world and seek the protection and provision that your heavenly father will provide.  For he is the creator of the universe and all that exists.  If he has done these things then surely he can provide for and protect us.  Practice the perfect patience spoken of by the apostles that you may know and see the miracles that your father will create in your life.  For he loves you more than you know.  He wants to provide for you more than you know.  He has a purpose for you.  And when you see what he offers, and know what he gives, you will understand that there is nothing on this earth that can compare with what your father has in store for you. 

Christ came that you would have life.  Christ gave of himself that you would have the freedom of choice.  Christ arose from death that you will know he lives and that he sits at the right hand of God.  Christ awaits you to receive him into your life, for the choice is yours.  Christ loves you and wants to demonstrate to you the passion of his love that you may see the truth of who you are in him.  We were created in his image and likeness.  Come and see the truth of who 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, verses: 20, Understanding: Awareness

Our paragraph topic is: (Christ explains what defiles a man) Part 4.   

Christ has revealed, to his disciples and the people, understanding of what defiles.  He has opened the minds and the hearts of the people so that they now know, so that they now see, so that they now understand truth.  For this is not the truth of the Pharisees that want the people to hear their truth.  This is not the truth of the world that wants the people to be confused, misled, and blind.  This is the truth that comes from the father of truth through Christ.  This is truth that comes from the creator of truth that knows no lie or falsehood or deceit.  This is the truth that comes to mankind from all eternity, the truth of God.

Christ spoke the words of truth and truth came to the people.  Christ explained the words of truth that there would be no doubt in the people.  Christ elaborated on the truth that all would understand.  And today we read and hear the truth and do not understand, do not comprehend.  He has said to us,   "These are the things that defile a man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man."

These, defile a man when they enter the hearts of men.  These, defile a man when they come forth from the mouth of men.  These, are the things that are evil,the things that occupy the hearts and men and allow darkness to enter the heart.  For from the heart comes evil thoughts.  For the heart thinks.  The heart believes.  The heart knows.  The heart is.  "I praise thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and prudent, and didst reveal them to little ones."  Become like a little ones and not like the wise and the prudent that profess the knowledge and the wisdom of the world.  Hear the words of the truth of eternity and know that it comes from the father of wisdom and truth.

Let not the heart be opened to evil.  Let not the heart become dark with passion.  Let not the heart know adulteries and immorality.  Let not the heart give false witness or blasphemies.  Let not the heart conceive of murder.  For these are the things of evil.  These are the things that lead down the path of destruction and death.  These are the things that defile, corrupt, and kill the life that Christ came and died that we might have.  And these are the things that the evil one brings to us that we may fall to him.  Yet we live in a world where these things are all around us.  We live in a world where these evils present themselves to us on a daily basis.  We live in a world where these things a accepted as common occurrences. 

But we know not how to protect ourselves.  We know not how to fight against these things.  We know not how to guard our hearts that we may not succumb to the temptations of these things.  For this is not a part of our world.  We are not taught how to avoid these things.  We do not see and hear and understand the truth of the advocate that was given to us.  For Christ came that we may have life and have it more abundantly. 

Receive the life of Christ and open the heart to the advocate that he may live within.  Christ has told us how we may know that we have the Holy Spirit.  He has give us the guide.  He has opened the door that the Holy Spirit may come in.  Yet few accept.  Few know.  Few receive the truth of eternal life that is ours for the asking.  Read the words of the good news.  Study the words of the gospel of the New Testament.  Read it like you read a book and not as a study guide.  Receive the truth of the light of Christ.  Then, you too will know that you have received the light of the Holy Spirit.  And your heart will rejoice in his presence and his consolation.

St Matthew, Chapter 15, verses: 19, Understanding: The Revelation

Our paragraph topic is: (Christ explains what defiles a man) Part 3.   

The things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and it is they that defile a man.  Christ spoke these words to his disciples and to the people that he had called to himself.  He is the teacher.   He is the instructor.  He is the author of Truth that proceeds from the Father, and Truth is with him.  Yet they did not understand.  They did not know.  They did not see the things that he spoke to them.  Truth reached out to them but their minds and hearts were blocked by the things that filled their hearts.  Christ is the truth that comes from the father and in him there is no lie, there is no deceit.

Yet do we find truth in his words today?  Do we believe that he can not lie and his words are living truth?  He speaks of things that do not make sense.  He speaks of things that are difficult to comprehend.  He stretches the imagination to the limits of understanding that perplex the mind.  Yet he does not lie.  He does not deceive.  His words are truth.  Then he spoke these words to his disciples:  "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, immorality, thefts, false witness, 
blasphemies."    

The Revelation: "Out of the heart come evil thoughts."  Is this truth?  How is it that thoughts come from the heart?  We think with our minds and not our hearts?  Or do we?  Christ, the author of Truth through his Father, tells us that the heart thinks.  Is this truth or is it symbolism?  Out of the heart come thoughts???   Christ praised his father in a previous verse for hiding the things of knowledge and wisdom.   " I praise thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and prudent, and didst reveal them to little ones."

Hear and understand!!  The heart thinks.  The heart believes.  The heart knows.  The heart is!  For we are the children of God and through our hearts we are.  Let not the heart think of evil.  Let not the heart know adultery.  Let not the heart seek murder.  Let not the heart give false witness or think of theft, or immorality.  For it is from these things that open the door of the heart to darkness and the good heart becomes evil. 

Hear the revelation, hear the lesson.  Hear and learn!  Hear and understand!  Truth seeks to know you.  Truth seek to find you.  Truth seeks to give you joy and peace.  For from it and with it and through it comes the blessings of the spirit within you.  Let it not be contaminated with evil.  Let it not be defiled.  Let it be cleansed with the living words of Christ.  Fill it with the knowledge and truth that comes from the father and his blessing will flow unto you.  His seed will be planted in you to grow and bring forth much fruit.