St. Matthew, Chapter 22, verses: 25-26; His Seven Brothers and the Widow Issue.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The Sadducees question Christ) Part 3.  

They came with what they considered a true concern or at least they thought that it was true enough to question Christ.  They had a foundation, handed down from Moses.  They built their premise upon this concern so that it would seem legitimate.  But their whole concern was with resurrection because they did not believe.

They started with a man and his wife with no heir.  The husband dies leaving a widow with no son to carry the family name.  That leaves, according to custom, the wife to be handed over to the brother to take the wife and have a son.  Here is the premise:  "Now there were among us seven brothers.  And the first after having married a wife, died, and having no issue, left his wife to his brother.  In like manner the second, and the third down to the seventh."  

This is the kind of question that was brought to Christ by the leadership of the Jews.  They concerned themselves with the minutia of the Law to confuse and constrain the people to keep them under their control.  And they used the same tactics with Christ.  But they did not know.  They did not understand.  They did not see nor did they hear his words.  Their eyes were blinded and they could not hear the truth of the words of the Son of Man.

God gave us eyes to see and ears to hear but he gave us hearts to know the truth of who we are. We believe with that which he has given us and it is with the heart that we know the truth.  Sometimes the heart can be deceived but with an open mind the truth will be known to those who seek it.  For the heart knows the voice of the one who calls us.  We hear his words when they are spoken to us.  We see the truth when it is given to us in plain sight.  And the light of the world will be revealed to those who seek to know who they are in his sight.

My heart compels me to write because much has been given me.  A new life, a new sight, a new me I now see.  No longer am I just flesh alone.  No longer am I without form or fashion.  My God has given me newness of life.  Christ Jesus has saved me from damnation and it is through his passion and his love that I am here today.  The infinite mercy of God forgives me of my sins for I am but a sinner.  And I write that I might be a witness to others who are lost in the darkness.  I have found the light and you can too.  Come!  Follow the path.  The truth is there waiting for you to see, waiting for you to know, waiting for you to become 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 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 16, verse: 18, The Rock: The Church.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Peter's confession) Part 6.   

And to Simon was given the truth from heaven.  For not by his own understanding did he come to know the truth.  By the revelation of God the Father himself, did Simon come to know, did Simon come to speak, did Simon come to believe with certainty that Jesus was the Christ, Son of the Living God.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that mankind would be saved from destruction and damnation.  For Christ came to redeem man from the sin of Adam and to do something more.  He came to establish his kingdom here on earth, on this rock.

The disciples did not know.  They followed Jesus because they felt that there was something different about him.  They followed him because they saw the miracles that he performed.  They followed him because they believed that they would be a part of something greater than themselves and their own accomplishments.  They followed him because they saw for themselves what the crowds felt as he preached and taught a new way of life, different from that which was taught by the Pharisees and the Saducees.  They followed and the crowds followed because Christ was the light of the world.  But there was more. 

This was not just a one time thing; Christ came, he overcame, and he left.  Christ came to do more than just preach and teach.  He came to train and to establish.  He came to build and to create.  He came to dominate that no one and nothing would destroy what he was creating and building, the church.  And so he spoke, that his church would be created.  He commanded that it would be done.  He willed that the evil of hell would not overcome what he was creating.  And so it was and is today.   "And I say to thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

And so it began some two thousand years ago that Christ established his church here on this rock.  Nowhere else did he come except to this rock the earth to build his church that would last down through the ages and for eternity.  He will come again to judge, to separate the goats and the sheep, the wheat from the tare, the good from the evil.  Only the father knows the date and the time.  Only the father will be the judge.  Only the father will call an end to all things as we know it.  We all have heard the predictions.  We all have been warned as to the final outcome.  Are we prepared to meet our maker?  Are we ready to meet death, right now?

The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church.  The gates of hell shall not overcome the power of what Christ began.  The gates of hell shall not destroy what Christ created for you and for me.  He gave us a place to grow.  He gave us a place to thrive.  He gave us fertile soil to be nurtured in, a place to be fruitful.  He gave us the seed that is planted within us.  He gave us new life that we may live.  He gives us joy, the knowledge that he is with us.  He gives us protection from the dangers of the world and the evil that awaits us.  He gives us love that guides us and fills us with the knowledge that he is the one sent down from heaven by our Father and our God.  We have a living God who is alive and not dead.  We have a living God that will come to our aid if we open our hearts to him.  We have a living God in the church that is with us, in the church that is in us, in the church that is a part of us.   

Come!  Open your hearts to the love of Christ and accept the church that you are a part of.  Receive the Holy Spirit that you may know the truth of who you are in Christ.  I have and I know who I am in Christ.  I see me everyday in him.  I know me everyday in him.  And the Holy Spirit abides with me.  Follow the path set before you and you too will know 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 16, verse: 15, The Rock: What do the Disciples say?

Our Paragraph topic is:  (Peter's confession) Part 3.  

And now it came down to the disciples.  They had heard what the people were saying about Christ.  Who was this man?  Was he the Messiah?  Was he a Prophet?  Was he John the Baptist come back to life?  Was he Elias?  Who was Christ?  There were questions on the minds of the people and even questions on the minds of the disciples.  They did not truly know.  They had no answer, even though they walked with him and talked with him everyday.  He had called them to be his disciples and they followed.  They wanted to be disciples because something in them wanted to change their lives from the ordinary.

But they did not know who he was.  They did not have an idea whose footsteps they walked in.  They did not know the light that they followed was that of Christ and the God the father.  They wanted to know.  They wanted to believe.  They wanted to see.  But they did not know.  He was a good man.  Christ was a gentle man.  Christ was a man different from any other man.  For he made miracles.  He walked on water.  He made the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf here and cured the lepers.  He was like no other man.  Yet they still did not know who he was.  So he asked them:   He said to them, "But who do you say that I am? "

The moment of truth had arrived.  What did the disciples think.  What did the disciples believe.  What did the disciples know.  Who do you say that I am, Christ asked them?  Who do we say that he is today, is his question to each and everyone of us?  What do we believe?  Do these words come from a relic, old book?  Are these words relevant today?  Why is it important what I believe or what I say that he is today?  If asked, if a poll were taken on the streets, what would people say.  Most church going people would say that Christ was the Son of God the father.  Most others would say that he is the Savior.  Some would even say that he was a prophet.  And even others would say that he was a great man.  But what do you say, I would ask, to those who are reading this post? 

Does he have any meaning to you, today?  What would you say?  What do you believe?  We live in a world that demands all of who we are, yet we do not know ourselves.  Are we all flesh?  Are we body and soul?  Are we spirit.  How do we know?  Is this something that we are taught in church?  But do we believe it?  Do we know it?  Or are we just who we are in this world?  Christ wants to know who you say he is?  For within that knowledge, within that awareness of him is the awareness of ourselves.  We did not live and walk this earth when Christ came to this earth, to this planet, to this physical realm.  We did not walk in his footsteps,  hear his spoken words, see his miracles, touch him in his physical body.  All we have today is his words passed down through the writings of the disciples with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Yet who do we say that he is?

Is he the Messiah?  Is he the Savior?  Is he the Son of the Father?  Is he the Anointed One?  Is he the Lamb?  Is he the Light of the World?  Is he our spirit and life, our body and blood?  Is he the life within us?  Christ came that may have life; for before him there was death.  God decreed that if Adam eat of the forbidden fruit that he would surely die.  And mankind died on that day.  Christ came to give life to those who believed in him and the Father who sent him.  Do you have life within you?  Is he the life within you?  Then, you are more than you know.  You are spirit.  You are life.  You are love.  Come know the truth of who you are.  Follow the path before you and know the life that is within you.  Christ awaits you.  God the Father loves 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!