St Matthew, Chapter 17, verses: 6, The Son of God: The Disciples are affraid.

Our paragraph topic is: (Jesus transfigured) Part 5. 
  
And the voice of God spoke from the bright cloud.  The voice spoke to the disciples telling them to hear Christ.  God spoke to them telling them that Christ was his beloved son and that he was well pleased with him.  They did not know where the voice came from.  They did not know how it spoke to them.  They did not know how they were hearing this voice.  All they knew was that it spoke to them telling them to hear him. 

Did they not hear him before?  Were they not listening to him all this time?  They walked with him everyday.  They talked with him everyday.  They slept with him, eat with him, listened to him preach, saw him work miracles, everyday.  So why did they not hear him?  Why did they not listen to him?  Why did they not know him in their hearts that God the father had to tell them to hear him?  God spoke directly to them, and them only, that they should know the truth of who Christ was.  And they heard the voice of God speak to them.  But it was this voice that made them tremble.  It was this voice that caused them to fear.  It was this voice that brought them to their knees and made them fall to their faces with fear.  And on hearing it the disciples fell on their faces and were exceedingly afraid.

Christ loved his disciples.  He watched over them.  He fed them, made sure that they had food to eat and wine to drink.  He protected them from the evil that sought to destroy them.  And he nurtured them for they would become the future leaders of the church here on earth and would bear witness to his life, death, and resurrection.  But they did not hear him.  They were not listening to him.  They did not understand him with the knowledge and certainty of a truth taken from the world we live in.  It was only after the coming of the Holy Spirit that they knew him with certainty, only after his death and resurrection. 

We know with certainty that the wind blows.  We know with certainty that the seasons change.  It gets cold in the winter and hot in the summer.  We know that there is gravity that will cause us to fall from high places.  These things and more, we know with certainty because we have experienced them with our bodies.  But then there are those things that we do not know with the certainty that we know worldly truths.  We believe that Christ lives.  We believe that we will come to live with him after we die.  We believe that there is a heaven where all God's children will go to, to live for eternity.  We know that there is evil in the world because we see it and experience it everyday in our lives.  Most of us do not know it directly but hear of it and see it on the news and in the media.  We believe that Satan does exist but we do not know it the way we know the things of this world. 

The disciples heard God speak of his son.  The disciples were told to hear him.  The disciples were listening but were not hearing.  Why do we not hear today?  What stops us from knowing?  Can we not know the truth of Christ as we know the things of the world?  Is it not possible for us to have the certainty in our beliefs as we have about worldly things.  You see, we have our inner beliefs and we have our inner counter beliefs.  Evil is in the world and evil influences us from within.  We believe the truths that God has given us through Christ Jesus and then we are given doubts.  We know within ourselves that Christ lives but evil would have us doubt.  Evil would have us disbelieve.  Evil would have us not know with certainty Christ Jesus. 

With the certainty of the spiritual knowledge of Christ and the life that he has given us, we know no doubt.  With the certainty of the truth that comes from the Holy Spirit we know who we are.  But evil will plague us.  Evil will continue to throw darts.  Evil will continue to talk to us and set traps to catch us off guard.  For evil wants us to doubt.  Evil wants us to question.  Evil wants us to ask what if.  Evil wants us to not know with certainty who we are in Christ.  For with certainty comes power.  With certainty comes wisdom.  With certainty the light within us is born and we know who we are without doubt, without uncertainty. 

Christ knew who he was.  Evil knew who he was also and sought to announce to it the world.  But Christ would not have his name proclaimed for fame and fortune.  He was not of this world and sought not the false riches of this realm.  Christ was from the Father and so are we.  Yet we do not know who we are or where we are from.  And evil would not have us know.  God , our father, proclaimed to the disciples to hear his son for they heard so much more.  They heard Christ.  They heard the people.  They heard evil speak to them from within themselves.  Just as we do today, they did then.  Defend yourself!  Stand up to the doubts of evil!  Know with certainty that Christ is within you and you are within him.  Seek the light given to you, for it is the key that opens the door of the certainty of who you are.  Christ told us: "The eye is the lamp of the body and if the eye is sound then the body is full of light."  Find your light within and know the truth of who you are in Christ.  For certainty is the key to the power that Christ has given you in this 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 12, verse: 34, The Vipers appear.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Blasphemy against the Spirit not forgiven)
Part 4. 

Christ has called the Pharisees evil trees with bad fruit.  He has spoken to their core value.  He has proclaimed their evil nature because they have been taken by the demons that possess them.  The Pharisees are not aware of their evil.  In their eyes they are seeking to maintain their control over the people that they are loosing face with.  For Christ has spoken to them as though they were men of little value.  He has spoken to them without honor.  He has spoken to them without the respect that they were accustomed to receiving from the public.  So they sought to destroy him.  They sought to trick him.  They sought to bring Scandal to him in the face of the public.  

Their plans were unsuccessful.  Their plans failed.  There plans were conceived in the dark corners of evil who counseled them.  And now it was time for Christ to speak to the evil that possessed them.  It was time for him to call them by their name.  And he said to them, "You brood of vipers, how can you speak good things, when you are evil?"   For vipers they were, hissing in the background in the ears and minds of the Pharisees.  Suggesting all sorts of evil that they may commit against him.  They were telling the Pharisees all the things that they can do to this man who calls himself the Son of God.  They hated Christ.  They loathed his presence.  They needed to remove him from the earth so that they could continue their reign over the house of the lost sheep of Israel. 

So they spoke their evil to the Pharisees.  They whispered evil into their minds.  They brought darkness into their hearts and filled it with evil.  Christ said to  them,  "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."   And their hearts were dark.  Their hearts were empty.  Their hearts were filled with the passions of destruction for Christ.  There was no love in their hearts.  There was no faith in their hearts.  There was no hope in their hearts.  There was only the darkness of evil fully possessing their being with the desire to destroy Christ.  Their abundance was evil.

Where is your heart today?  Is it filled with darkness?  Is it filled with evil?  Is it filled with the passions of the world that keep you from recognizing that you are a child of God?  Do you know what is in your heart?  Can you see the darkness?  If there is no light then there is darkness.  If there is no light then there is evil present.  If there is not light within you then the world possesses you and the darkness lives within you. 

Do you not know that Christ came to give you light in your heart?  Do you not know that the Holy Spirit came to live within you, in your heart?  Do you not know that the eye is the lamp of the body and if the eye is sound then the body is full of light?  Christ has told us in these passages that we are the children of God.  Christ has told us in the sermon on the mount to let our light shine before men that they may see the good that we do and give glory to God.  Where is your light?  Do you not know how to find it?  Can you see it?  It is there within you to see.  It is there within you to feel.  It is there within you to know that the Holy Spirit dwells within you.  Come, receive the light of the Holy Spirit that he may be your guide in this world!

St Matthew, Chapter 6, verses: 22 - 24, The Sermon on the Mount: The Lamp of the Body and the fullness of its light.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS and MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Today's paragraph is split to cover two parts.  The topic is:  (True riches) Part 2. 

We continue or discussion with the second part of this paragraph topic.  Christ is still talking to us about true riches.  He tells us, "The lamp of the body is the eye."  Taking his words at face value and as truth, the eye gives light to the body since that is the purpose of a lamp, to give light.  He then goes on further to tell us the two kinds of light that will be present in the body.  He says that if the eye is sound then the whole body will be full of light, but if the eye is evil then the whole body will be full of darkness.  How can the body be full of light?  How can we see the light that is in our body?  Christ tells us that if we have a sound eye then we will have light in our body.  If the eye be evil then we will have darkness in our bodies. 

When I close my eyes, I see darkness, and not light.  Does this mean that I am full of darkness and my eye is evil?  How can I find the light that is in me, if I believe that I have a sound eye?  What must I do?  Christ has given us the key to having light in our bodies and not darkness.  Can I find this light?  Is it available to me?  I do not want to be full of darkness.  What must I do to have light within me?

I must search for the light that is within me.  I must look day and night until I find it.  I must desire with all my heart to see the true light that is within me.  I will meditate upon what is within me that I may find the light.  I will close my eyes and see the light for I know that I have a sound eye that is not evil. 

Christ has given us this revelation under the topic of true riches.  He is telling us that true riches lies within us.  True riches lies within the light that we can see.  Looking for it through our sound eyes will allow us to know for certain that it is there.  Searching for it and praying that we find it will lead us to the source.  It will open our eyes so that we may see. 

Christ tells us that our whole body will be full of light.  He lets us know with all certainty that we have light within us.  We just have to open our eyes and see it.  We have to be aware that it is there.  We have to look beyond the darkness and see the light.  We have to pull back the curtain,  push out the darkness, expect to see the light and rejoice at the sight of what we have within ourselves.  Unless we have evil eyes, the light is present for us to see.  At first a small flash.  Then and awareness of the source.  Later the ever present light is there.  And finally it lives within us.

Christ concludes by saying that if the light within us is darkness, then how great is the darkness itself.  Seek not the darkness.  Find the light.  Search for it.  Seek it out.  Know that it is within you.  Feel the need to see the light for without it we have nothing but darkness.  

Christ concludes this paragraph also by telling us that we cannot serve two masters.  We will love the one, money, and hate the other, God, or we will stand by the one, God, and despise the other, the devil.  Love God.  Seek him out.  Know within yourself that he is seeking you.  Let not the devil trick you.  Know that he also is seeking you.  He wants to deprive you of the treasures that await you in heaven.  He wants to separate you from your heavenly Father.  The devil wants to cast you into the dungeons of hell and prevent you from finding the light that is within you.  Go to the light.  Seek it out.  Find it and you will have the knowledge that God is within you and that God loves you.