St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 38; A Desolate House.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Lamentation over Jerusalem) Part 5.  

God sent his messengers to warn them, but they would not listen.  He sent prophets to prophesy but they would not hear.  They were stubborn.  They were arrogant.  They were full of their own beliefs.  They could not see the changing of the tides, the coming storm.  God wanted to protect them.  They refused to believe in the God of their fathers.  It was so long ago that it was a distant memory and no one cared.  The people had forgotten.

The signs were there for everyone to see.  Some saw and believed.  The faithful knew what was coming.  They heard the messages and believed.  They heard the warnings.  They prepared themselves for the coming storm.  But the leaders failed to warn the people.  They failed to carry the message to the general public.  They failed their responsibility to the people because they were to busy partying in their palaces.  So:  "Behold, your house is left to you desolate."

Torn down, destroyed, burned, years of architectural wonder desiccated for all eternity.  They were warned but would not listen.  They given signs but could not see.  Over and over again opportunity was given them to heed the message but they refused to do so and now the house is gone, the beauty is destroyed, the joy of yesteryear is no more.

It is said that you don't miss your water until the well runs dry.  All the signs are there telling you that the water is drying up but you do not see.  The water is getting lower and lower but you believe that it will always be the same, today, tomorrow and forever.  We are only as old as we think but our bodies say otherwise.  This is the fact of life that we must recognize no matter how much science breakthroughs may want to change our minds about our health.  Death is our inevitable end.

And yet death is only a transition from the physical to the spiritual.  Christ came to demonstrate that fact to us.  He overcame death.  He rose from the grave.  He ascended into heaven and he awaits for each and every one of us who chooses to receive him as our Lord and Savior.  For he paid the price for each of us to have a new life.  And that price is simply asking for forgiveness of our sins and accepting and believing in him.  He came that we may have life and have it more abundantly.  Thank you Christ Jesus for your great gift.  Thank you for opening my heart and showing me the way to 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 20, verse: 7a, No Man to hire.

Our paragraph topic is: (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard) Part 8. 

We continue with the parable of the laborers.  Christ relates this story to his disciples that they may have a better understanding of the kingdom of heaven.  Many times telling directly does not register but relating in a parable or a story goes into memory without having to be understood and later the meaning reveals itself.  This is how Christ taught his disciples and he teaches us today.

We are the sheep and he is the shepherd.  But there is a wolf that wants to scatter.  There is a wolf that wants to separate so that he may devour those that go astray.  Christ is here to protect, to provide, to love that which belongs to him and not to the wolf.  So he tells his disciples this simple story that they may have insight, that they may have understanding, that they may have truth of who they are in him.  In the story the house-holder asked the men in the market place why they stood about idle.  "They said to him, 'Because no man has hired us.' "  

Why do we stand about idle?  Why do we wait on man to give us something to do?  Why do we depend on that which can not as opposed to that which can?  We are independent of man and dependent on God our Father.  He will provide.  He will protect.  He will give all that is needed to survive in this world.  And yet we have not recollection of that fact.  We are not given that understanding.  We are not raised with the knowledge that God will provide.  We are given that we must strive and work and be our best that we may succeed.

And yet all that is needed is already given to us.  All that is required is provided if we only knew.  We go out into the world believing that we can have all that we see and desire.  We see the glitz and glamour of the world and we forget that we are children of God our Father.  He it is that gave us life.  He it is that provides for us.  He it is that loves us so much that he sacrificed his most precious son that we may have life.

We were dead.  We lost our life.  We transgressed and were punished by the judge.  But the judge was lenient.  The judge was merciful.  The judge was loving and he sought to give us another chance to have life again.  We wait idly for the world to provide for us but the world can only provide death.  We wait idly for the world to save us but the world can only condemn us.  We wait idly for the world to protect us but the world will only destroy us.  And we miss the opportunity to receive the grace of God our Father who loves us.  Do not get caught by the thief unaware.  Do not slip away without asking for forgiveness.  Do not let the temptation of man's knowledge block faith and hope from entering. 

We are not physical.  We live in a physical world but we are spiritual beings living in a physical shell.  We are created in the image and likeness of a spiritual God.  We are spirits within.  The light of life is within us if we only seek to know it.  The light of life is within us if we only believe.  The light of life is upon us if we only open ourselves to what has been given us.  Christ came that we would know.  Christ  died that we would have.  Christ  arose and ascended that we would believe in him and in the Father.  Lean not upon man but upon that which is real, that which will provide, that which loves eternally.  Lean upon God and know that he will hire.

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.