St. Matthew, Chapter 23, verses: 14c; Greater Judgment.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees) Part 7.  

We are crying for the Scribes and the Pharisees.  Woe to them.  They are being called out to the public for their wrongs.  The spotlight of the kingdom of heaven shines upon them and they are being called out for their wrong doings to the people.  The kingdom of heaven is at hand and Christ is passing out mercy tickets to those who are willing to repent.  But the Scribes and the Pharisees are angry and will not relent in their desires to seek revenge upon Christ.

He calls them hypocrites to their face in public.  He tells them that they do not go into the kingdom of heaven but they close the door to the kingdom for those who want to go in.  They devour the houses of widows who have no means after their husbands die by praying long prayers.  And he gives them their judgment by telling them: "For this you shall receive a greater judgment."

He walked the earth and he talked to the earth.  He spoke to the wind and the rain, the sea and the sky, the trees and the fish and the grain.  He was here on this planet and yet we knew him not.  Even today we not know him.  For he is that which is within us, that which is without.  He is around us each and every day.  He has given us the means of being, the being of seeing and the reasoning to know him.  Yet we have not fully known that which we are.

Each waking day is an opportunity to discover.  What are we here for?  Why do we exist?  Is it just to be a part of the collective, to work, play, to love, to create, to procreate, to unify a family, to be a part of a community, a part of a church, a part of an organization?  Or are we given what we consider a greater purpose, to create something that will move humanity along the time line of knowledge and understanding?  Where are we going?  Why are we here?

We walk the time line of death knowing what the future holds for us.  Christ did the same knowing that this was why he was born, why he came, why he died.  Yet he conquered death.  He rose and ascended above the grave.  He tells us that we will do the same that we will have life eternal. Is this why we are here?  Is this our ultimate goal, to die, to rise again?  Should we not rejoice then!  Should we not be happy!  Should we not seek to know the how and the wherefore of him who made this promise to 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 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, verse:19a; The Tree of Nothing.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus curses a fig tree) Part 2. 

The Earth Made Fruitful:  Genesis: Chapter1, verse: 9-12.

Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear."  And so it was.  God called the dry land earth and the assembled waters Seas.  And God saw that it was good.  Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and all kinds of fruit trees that bear fruit containing their seed."  And so it was.  The earth brought forth vegetation, every kind of seed-bearing plant and all kinds of trees that bear fruit containing seed.  God saw that it was good.

And that was how it was in the beginning.  Everything had a purpose and there was a purpose for everything.  The earth brought forth vegetation with fruit and the fruit had seeds that bore fruit.  And there was nothing that was without a purpose.  For God said it was good.  And yet there were trees of a different kind that came to be.  Trees that did not bear fruit but only leaves.  And seeing a tree by the wayside, he came up to it, and found nothing on it but leaves.

Was this tree not according to the purpose of God?  Did it not serve a purpose in his plan?  How did it come to be that this tree did not have fruit and seeds in fruit?  Christ came upon it.  He felt hungry and a need to feed himself.  But the tree of nothing had no fruit.  It had nothing to give to the Son of God, the Lord of the universe.  What purpose did it serve?  Of what good was it to be in existence? 

All creation has a purpose, be it good or bad.  We acknowledge the good that is within us and we accept the evil that can come from us.  Yet there is more than that.  We are spiritual beings held within a clay shell.  We have a purpose, to recognize that which has given us life, to rejoice in the knowledge of who we are, and to know that there is one above that gave us the life that we own.

The choice is ours to see, ours to believe, ours to know, ours to accept.  Some will and some will not.  Some will accept their human reasoning as a hindrance to allowing themselves to believe.  It is that step beyond reasoning that allows those who believe to see, to know, and to understand that they are more than just the physical.  It is that step beyond reasoning that allows us to open the door of the physical and see the spiritual that is within us, the light of life.  And with that giant step beyond reasoning one begins to transform into the living spirit.

It is the light within that transforms.  It is the light within that grows.  It is the light within that shines through the physical and transforms the world.  Death cannot hold it.  Time cannot define it.  Chaos cannot move it.  Love is the force that gives it life.  For within the spirit is the love of God our Father and the passion of Jesus Christ our savior and nothing can separate us from that love.  We have a purpose.  We belong.  We are loved.  We are at peace.

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.