St. Matthew, Chapter 22, verse: 8; They were not worthy.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The king's anger) Part 3.  


Christ continues to compare the kingdom of heaven to the king and his wedding feast.  The king had made all the preparations to have a great feast in honor of his son.  Yet the people that were invited did not come.  They did not show up.  And further, in order to stop the talk by king's messengers, they beat and killed them.  They did not want to hear about this wedding feast any more.  They did not care what would happen.  They just wanted to stop the message from being spread throughout the kingdom.

This angered the king so much that he sent his soldiers out to those villages and towns and burnt them to the ground and killed all the inhabitants.  Then the king set another date, after all this had happened, and prepared to celebrate a great event.  "Then he said to his servants, 'The marriage feast indeed is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.' "  

What meaning, what understanding can we gather from this today?  Did we get the invitation to come to the party?  Did we ignore the message and beat the messengers?  Are we worthy to attend this great celebration?  The call is out.  The tables are set.  What is our hesitation?  Why do we tarry?  What holds us, what prevents us, what turns us away from the event of a life time?  Are we on the fence of life considering the possibilities, or are we walking on the green grass that's on the other side having second thoughts about what we may miss?

We are given a choice.  We have the opportunity to decide what we want to do with our lives.  But there is also the influence of the world that weighs upon our everyday decisions.  We can think about it for a minute and then  forget it because we are back in the realm of the world going about our daily lives.  And our daily lives are governed and guided by the world.  For it is the world that we live in.  And it is the world that decides for us who and what we are going to do each and every day.  

The struggle is ours.  We can go along with the rest and do as the world dictates.  Or we can make a choice and go against the flow, swimming up stream.  What does it benefit us?  What do we profit going against the flow?  Will we get tired and allow the current of the world to carry us in whatever way the stream flows?  We need help.  We need guidance.  We need protection.  It would be easier if we had a boat to take us upstream.  It would be easier if we had a motor to drive the boat that would take us upstream.  If we had to row of our own energy we would eventually tire and be swept away by the current.

Everything is prepared and the feast is about to begin.  Are you worthy of the invitation?  Are you thankful of the invitation?  Are you grateful that you were invited?  Do not be angry that you continue to hear the message.  Do not turn away when you hear the calling.  For the king wants all to come.  He wants all to be invited.  He wants all to enjoy the happiness that he affords.  He is a happy king.  He is a joyous king.  He is a loving king and he will provide all with the means to make the journey for those who want to come .  All we need to do is to decide to come!

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 19, verse: 18e, The commandments: Thou shalt not bear false witness.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The rich young man speaks to Jesus) Part 8.

The rich young man had come to Christ with a question on his mind.  He wanted to know what to do to enter into the kingdom.  He was serious.  He had come a long way to hear the truth for he believed that Christ would tell him the truth and not falsehood.  So he found Christ and asked the question of what he must do.  Christ told him in simple terms what he must do.  He must keep the commandments.  The young man knew the commandments as anyone who was a member of Israel knew. 

The commandments were the rules by which the Jews lived and thrived and believed.  Some of the people kept the commandments completely, some partially, some knew them but did not keep them at all.  This was what the young man saw and knew but was puzzled about.  So Christ told him the commandments to keep: Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, and Thou shalt not steal.  And Jesus said:"Thou shalt not bear false witness." 

This is another commandment given to the young man seeking the kingdom.  Why did Christ tell him this commandment?  Why did Christ tell him the any of the commandments that he already knew?  Why did the young man want to know what to do?  Why do we want to know what to do?  Do we believe in what we must do to gain the kingdom?  In our day and time, it seems as if we live in a world where there is no knowledge of the kingdom, no knowledge of a God, no knowledge of the commandments he has given us to live by.  We go to church on Sundays, fulfill our religious obligations, and return to the world and live by the norms of the world and not by those given us by Christ.

We are the sheep that he left behind and they are the shepherds left behind to guide us in our daily lives.  Do we have guidance?  Are we led in the right direction?  There is the world and then there is the church.  There are our jobs, our homes, our children, our rest, our play, our hopes and our dreams.  Then there is our beliefs, our practices, our thoughts, our knowledge, and our beings, which define who we are.  The two are separate.  The two are not one.  Should they be one and the same?  Should we be one person, one being, one love, one knowledge, one spirit, one job, one home, one parent, one rest, one play?  Or should we be true in one area and false in another? 

We are witnesses to our beliefs.  We are spirits in our lives.  We are truth in our thoughts and our beings.  But are we true or are we false?  Do we bear witness truly to who we are or do we bear witness falsely?  To live separately bears witness to who we are.  To live as two contradicts what we believe.  To bear falsely in one area and truly in another shows the split in the person that we claim to be.  The world drives us to be false.  The world reinforces us each and every day to be separate, to not be one.  The world would divide us, create conflict, lead us away from who we are.  The world would have us bear false witness even to ourselves. 

We are children of God our Father who created us in his image.  We are spirits housed in the flesh, eternal beings given new life through the sacrifice of Christ our Lord.  Live true to the nature that is within you and falsely according to the world.  Be the spirit that is within you and seek to know who you are in Christ.  For he came that we would know.  He is that we will see.  He loves that we will love with the love that is given to us.  And he guides us that we will not be lost in the world.  To know is to seek.  To find is to understand.  To understand is to see the truth of who you are.  Be the truth that is within you and the Holy Spirit will come and be with you always.

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: 12c, Who can accept His teachings?

Our paragraph topic is:  (Continence preferred to marriage) Part 5.

Not all can accept this teaching except those to whom it has been given.  Has it been given to you?  Are you one of the ones to whom this teaching is meant for?  Christ gave his disciples this teaching concerning the bonding of male and female as created by God.  He wanted them to know and to understand the history of this teaching.  So he told them that from the beginning God had a plan for them to come together and for them to stay together.  And yet that has not been the case.

For man was so bitter that Moses gave them a rule by which they were able to put away their wives and marry again.  They were captives.  They were slaves under another master.  They had lived under the house of Egypt for over four hundred years.  So the customs and the habits of the Egyptians had become theirs by proxy, even though they were Jews with laws handed down by God.  Yet they wanted to do as they saw the Egyptians do.  They wanted to divorce their wives as the Egyptians did.  Who can follow this teaching?  Only those to whom it has been given and to those who wish to follow the teachings of Christ.  For he told them:  "And there are eunuchs who have made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of heaven."

Are you a eunuch?  Have you made yourself one for the kingdom of heaven?  Can you follow this teaching?  It is only meant for those who have been chosen.  Have you been chosen?  It is only through belief and knowledge that one is able to understand.  We were created male and female.  We were created separate, not one without the other.  Our goal is to bond.  Our purpose is to create.  Our mission was set from eternity that we would create the physical beings that would come after us.

But evil has other designs.  Evil would have us not create.  Evil would have us lust.  Evil would have us desire.  Evil would have us live in the pleasure of the physical flesh and discard the plans of God.  We were created separate, male and female.  But to bond we must come together and become one.  Our bonding is physical in nature but spiritual in purpose.  Each male and female must decide.  Each male and female must understand the purpose.  Each male and female must know the truth of who they are in Christ and resist the temptations of the world. 

Christ came that we would know.  He came that we would understand.  He came that we would have life.  For we were dead until he came.  We were without spirit.  We were devoid of spiritual life according to God's judgment.  But that judgment was set aside.  That judgment was delayed in its execution until the coming of Christ.  And when he came, he paid for our sins, he died on the cross, and we were given new life.  The life of Christ shines within us, if we seek to know.  The life of Christ shines in our souls.  The life of Christ that is within us brings us back to the Father.  Do you know who you are?  Can you see the life that is within you?  Can you accept this teaching, man?  Can you accept this teaching, woman?  Become one with each other, one with Christ and 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: 12a, Who can accept His teachings?

Our paragraph topic is:  (Continence preferred to marriage) Part 3.

His teachings were given that day that he told his disciples about marriage and adultery.  Through Christ the Father told the world of his plans, his purpose for man and woman.  For they were created with a purpose, a plan.  They were designed physically to bond together.  They were given from birth to cleave to one another and to become one flesh.  For through one flesh they would create.  Through one flesh they would provide the physical beings for the future.  Through one flesh they would open the door to all the others that would come after them.

The disciples did not understand.  They did not see the plan, the purpose.  They were still in the physical and not in the spirit.  They had not yet been reborn in the spirit of Christ and the justice the he would bring to the whole of mankind.  Through temptation man was disobedient.  Through deceit mankind died.  Through death mankind was doomed.  But Christ came and redeemed all.  He came and brought the teachings of his Father that all would know his will.  And he left with us the living words to open our hearts and give life to our souls that we could know the truth of who we are in him.  Who can accept his teachings on bonding and adultery? "For there are eunuchs who were born so from their mother's womb."

There are those who were born eunuchs from their mother's womb.  These are those who can accept his teaching.  They have no issue with bonding.  They have no issue with marriage.  They have no issue with becoming one flesh.  They are without the means to bond.  Yet they were created in the image and likeness of God our Father.  They are physical and spiritual.  They have a purpose.  They belong to the plan.  They are children of the father just as you and I are also.

He created us all.  He gives us life.  He protects and provides.  He guides us if we allow.  For the decision is ours to make.  The path is ours to walk.  The life is ours to lead if we choose.  Be not deceived.  Be not led astray.  Be not an evil doer.  For those are the unknowing.  Those are the ones who are of the flesh and not of the spirit.  Those are the ones that are led by the inclinations of evil.  Where are you?  What do you believe?  What do you know about who you are?  Or do you know who you are?

Many would think that they are physical in the body.  Many would believe that they are flesh and bone and nothing else.  Yet within the flesh is a spirit.  Within the flesh is the life.  Within the flesh is the likeness given us by the Father.  Can you believe?  Can you accept?  Can you truly know the spirit within?  Christ gave us the truth.  He told us who we are.  He spoke on many occasions of the life that is within.  Yet we do not believe.  We do not accept.  We do not know.  The world has not taught us so.  So we walk through life without the knowledge of who we are in Him. 

Come!  Seek the truth in who you are.  Search and find the knowledge that will awaken the flame of your spirit and you will see.  Do not be afraid.  For the world will tell you not.  The world will whisper to you falsely.  The world would have you ignorant.  Christ came to give life.  He died that we would be awaken.  He arose that there would be witnesses to the truth.  And he sits at the right hand of the Father that we may see his majesty and glory.  His advocate awaits your awakening.  His advocate calls to your heart.  The Holy Spirit sits at your door waiting to be invited in.  Open the door to your heart and you will know the peace and joy that this world cannot offer.  Come!  Know Christ! 

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, verses: 1-2, Great crowds followed.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Christ travels to Judea). 

Christ finished his sermon to his disciples and to the people and moved on.  He left Capharnaum and entered the district of Judea.  He was on a mission, the mission of his father, to preach the coming of the kingdom of heaven.  For the kingdom of heaven was open to all.  It was open to those who heard the word.  It was open to those near and to those far away.  For they heard of the miracles.  They heard of the teachings.  They heard and they came to see for themselves.  They came to know.  They came to believe.

There was a hunger in the land.  There was a yearning.  There was a void that was not being fulfilled in the people.  And Christ came.  He came to save.  He came to take back.  He came to give new life.  He came to be the sacrifice, the propitiation for the sins of man.  And the people came to hear, to see, to know, to believe.  AND it came to pass when Jesus had brought these words to a close, that he departed from Galilee and came to the district of Judea beyond the Jordan.  And great crowds followed him, and he cured them there. 

It was a time for new beginnings.  It was an exciting time.  It was a time for joy, a time for happiness, even though there was much pain and torment in the land.  John the Baptist opened the door and spoke of the coming of the Messiah.  Some believed.  Some did not believe.  Some were excited.  Some were fearful.  Many were worried that the change would mean destruction for them.  And yet it was time.  It was the place.  It was the now that took over the land.  And there was news in the air.

Many had read about the coming.  Many believed that it was upon them.  Many saw the miracles.  And many eyes were opened, ears heard, and many believed.  He cured them all.  He made them whole.  He brought forth the light into the darkness and opened a door for those who had waited for so long for his coming.  Christ was the beginning and he was the end of what had taken place in the past.  He was a slice in time that denoted a break.  Will we have the same?  Will we have a break?  Will we be able to see, to hear the word, to know the truth, to believe?

The time is upon us.  The thief is lurking in the dark, surveying your house, to see when he may enter and take.  For he wants your most precious possession.  He wants to take away your light.  He wants to take away your life.  He wants to leave you in darkness and despair.  Be aware.  Awake from your sleep and be on your guard.  Sleep not.  Put on your armor and be on guard.  It is easy to be on the fence, half believing and just going through the motions.  The truth opens the heart and allows one to see, to know without doubt.  And with the truth one can live truly in Christ, without conflict.

Come!  Follow what is in your heart.  Seek the truth of who you are in Christ and you will know.  There will be no doubt.  There will be no fear.  There will be no lust.  There will be no desire to go astray.  For the truth opens the eye and allows one to see the light within, the light of life given by Christ Jesus.  Know your light and let nothing take your life from you.  For your light was given to you by your Father in heaven through Christ Jesus.  He loves you.  He will care for you.  He will protect you.  And he will bring you home to be with him for all eternity.

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 18, verses: 35: Forgive from the heart!

Our paragraph topic is:  (The servant's fate) Part 4. 

Pay the torturer.  Christ told his disciples the parable of the settlement of accounts to give them a reference in real life they could understand.  He wanted them to have a complete grasp of the principle of forgiveness.  He wanted them to know the good and bad part of forgiving.  For the Father has forgiven them their transgressions because of his compassion.  Why should they not forgive their brothers and sisters their transgressions since they are forgiven?  Or they could exact vengeance and pay the torturer his due for not forgiving.

This was an important principle for his disciples and for us today.  For we are given from birth that no one should wrongs us.  We are given that we should fight back.  We are given and taught that we should exact our vengeance upon those who wrong us.  We see this daily, in the news, on the TV, in the movies, and we live it in our society .  Yet Christ came along and said that we should forgive those who wrong us.  This is not an easy concept to grasp, not an easy principle to put into practice.  We feel wronged.  We feel vengeance.  We feel compelled to exact revenge.  And Christ tells us that we must let go of those feelings and forgive from the heart.  "So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if you do not each forgive your brothers from your hearts."

What shall we do in the heat of the moment?  Shall we retaliate?  Shall we respond as we feel?  Do we stop and think about what happened?  Or do we think about all the transgressions that we are responsible for against our Father.  How did he respond?  Did he retaliate?  Did he exact vengeance?  Or did he forgive us with love?  We are children of God, created in his image and likeness.  We were not born of darkness.  We came from the tree of life, given physical form that we may live in the physical realm.  Our task on this earth is determined by the understanding of who we are.

Are we alive in the world?  Are we fully committed to living life, being successful, having all that this life has to offer.  Or are we partially committed, wanting all that we see and know but not having the opportunity to gain that which is in front of us?  Are we not committed, angry, willing to take all, by any means, to make us feel what we believe is our right to have?  Our physical desires hide the truth of the spiritual being that we are.  Our passions blind us to the love that our Father has for us.  And our intellect locks us out from the knowledge, the simple truth, that our intellect can not grasp the spiritual being, but the heart knows.

We belong to Christ.  He is our fulfillment.  He gave us new life.  He sacrificed that we might have the choice.  Do we choose the world?  Or do we choose the spirit?  What we see today as spiritual turns us away from ourselves.  For who wants to be spiritual?  Who wants to be religious?  Who wants to be a Bible toting, hell damnation condemning, prophesying, religious person.  That image has been given to us through our personal experiences.  Yet we worship what we do not understand.  The time will come when people will worship God in spirit and truth.  For the Father seeks those who know themselves and worship him in spirit.  For the spirit of Christ will come and abide with those who know.  And it is in the knowing that one understands the truth of who they are.

Our Father is love.  And through Christ Jesus we can become love.  For it is through him and with him and for him that we find our completeness.  The world has no hold.  Sin has no corner.  The light of Christ abides within our hearts and guides the way.  And the completeness of his love overwhelms the soul so fully that nothing else will satisfy.  It is with that knowledge of his overwhelming love that we begin to understand the power of forgiveness.  For we are all one family.  We are all children.  And we all belong to our Father, who provides for us and protects us.  Come!  Let us forgive from the heart.  Let us love with the heart.  Let us become brothers and sisters in Christ. 

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 18, verses: 33: As I Forgave All!

Our paragraph topic is:  (The servant's fate) Part 2.  

How hard it must have seemed for the disciples who were told that they must forgive seventy times seven.  How hard it must have been to understand what Christ was telling them.  They, who had lived by the law, an eye for an eye, had to make a 360 degree turn around in their thinking.  They had to bury their anger.  They had to forget about vengeance.  They had to turn to forgiveness.  They had to love their enemies.  This is like telling a wealthy person that they have to give up all their wealth and privilege.  But this was the concept that Christ was preaching.  This was the belief that Christ wanted his disciples to grasp, to understand, to know.

So he told them the parable to help them understand.  He told them about the "Wicked Servant" who would not forgive even after he was forgiven by his master.  And this was the principle that he wanted them to understand, they are forgiven by their Father as they should forgive each other.  Here is the question he posed to them:  "Shouldst not thou also have had pity on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee?"

I had pity on thee.  God the Father has pity on us as we struggle to live, to survive in this world.  We know not the things that we do.  We understand not the life that we live.  We see not the influence upon us.  We hear not the words that come to us.  Yet we struggle to survive, to live.  Some would say: "I struggle not."  Some would say: "I enjoy my life."  Some would say: "I have more than enough to enjoy this life."  Yet, what has it cost us?  What have we sacrificed?  What transgressions have we made to get to the point in life that we are?

Some are in the world.  Some are from the world.  Some are outside of the world.  And some do not belong to the world.  For the world would have us sleep.  The world would have us become unaware of who we are.  The world would have us not know.  And our Father forgave us all our sins.  Should we not forgive others?  Should we still seek vengeance?  Should we still express our anger, our frustration, our dislike when others wrong us?  Or should we consider our Father who forgave us when we wronged him, when we hurt him, when we transgressed against him?  We are quick to exact an eye for an eye because that is how we were raised.  This is the nature our the world we live in.  This is how we were given to feel what is inside of us. 

Christ asked his disciples to make a 360 degree turn around in their thinking, in their feelings.  He asks us today to do the same.  Forgiveness closes the door to hatred, to anger, to vengeance.  Forgiveness allows the spirit to be free.  Forgiveness allows us to love others as we love ourselves.  For if, we know the truth of who we are in Christ, we would love who we are, love who we are like, and love the savior who gave us new life.  And in that love we would find the love for each other, the love for our brothers and sisters, and the strength to forgive.  Our Father, our God is love.  He provides life for all, including the good and the evil.  He forgave all that we might have the opportunity to choose.

Come!  Choose life!  Choose love! Choose forgiveness!  Choose the one who was the sacrifice for your sins.  Choose the one who loves you most!  Choose to know the life that is within you and see the truth of who you are.  For with this knowledge no one or nothing can turn you away from the truth.  And what the world has to offer becomes meaningless to what your father wants to give you.  Seek the truth!  Seek the knowledge!  Seek the love of Christ and open the door to the Spirit of Christ.  Then your eyes will be opened and you will see the truth of who you are in him.  May the love of God our Father, the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with 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.   

St Matthew, Chapter 18, verses: 28 - 30: Have patience with me!

Our paragraph topic is:  (The servant demands payment)  

The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king who desires to settle accounts with his servants.  This is the parable that Christ told to his disciples as he was teaching them about forgiveness.  He wanted them to have a clear understanding.  He wanted them to know.  He wanted them to feel within their hearts the meaning of forgiveness.  Peter had asked how often they should forgive.  And Christ wanted them to understand that there is no limit on forgiveness.

He told them, when the accounts came to be settled, would it show that they had compassion upon their fellow man as the king had upon his servant.  Or would they be like the servant who had no compassion upon those that owed him?  These are the servants actions.  "But as that servant went out, he met one of his fellow-servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and he laid hold of him and throttled him, saying, 'Pay what thou owest.'  His fellow-servant therefore fell down and began to entreat him, saying, 'Have patience with me and I will pay thee all.'  But he would not; but went away and cast him into prison until he should pay what was due."

What will you do?  Will you be like the servant or will you take the position of the king?  God has patience.  God  has compassion.  God  is forgiving.  God  is all knowing.  Will you be like God  our Father?  Will you forgive?  Will you have compassion?  Will you have patience with your brothers and sisters as they continue in their ways?  Will you have love for them as they struggle through the trials and tribulations of life?  Will you be an example for them, demonstrating the love the God  has for you and the love that your heavenly father has for them?

Our Father waits for us to have knowledge.  Our Father waits for us to understand.  Our Father waits for us to turn to him and believe.  We are drawn by the world and all its glitz and glamour.  For we are given to believe that we are successful it.  We are given to believe that we can have what it has to offer.  We are given to believe that if we only believe hard enough and work long enough that we can have the promises of this life.  And when we try and fail who do we turn to?  Do we change our game plan?  Do we try a different strategy?  Do we push the boundaries in our efforts to succeed?  And yet we are already successful.

For within us lies the truth of who we are in Christ.  And within us lies the truth of our success.  Within us is the light of life given us by our father through Christ Jesus.  And yet we are not aware of who we are in him simply because we are blinded by the physical.  We are blinded by the world.  We are raised in an environment that teaches us the rules of this world and not the rules of the spiritual world.  The two contradict and conflict.  Father have patience with me that I may learn your ways.  Father have patience with me that I may understand the truth of who I am.  Father forgive me my trespasses and help me to forgive others as you forgive me.  Help me to have patience and love that I may see others as you see me. 

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 17, verse: 19d, Impossible Faith.

Our paragraph topic is: (Why the disciples could not cure him) Part 4.  

Christ was teaching the apostles.  They had very little faith.  They practically had no faith because of their unbelief.  Even though they walked with him daily, eat with him, slept with him, breathed the same air with him, they still did not have the faith to carry on without him.  They were children growing up under the protection of their parent.  But the time was coming near when they would have to walk on their own.  The time was coming near when they would have to talk on their own.  The time was at hand when they had to stand on their own and they were only focused on being in his presence now and not on what was coming next.

They needed to believe.  They needed to know.  They needed to have certainty in their lives that they could depend on at all times.  Christ told them that they had little faith.  He told them that their faith was less than that of a mustard seed.  He wanted them to know that they needed to believe more.  He wanted them to have certainty.  He wanted them to be able to stand on their own and know that within was something more than just what they were able to see.  For with true faith comes certainty.  With true faith comes knowledge.  With true faith comes the truth of who they were and with that truth nothing would be impossible for them.  And he told them:
"If you have faith like a mustard seed....   And nothing will be impossible to you." 

Believe and you will achieve.  Such a famous motto, such a famous quote, such a strong foundation to build ones life upon.  Achieve the stars, the moon, achieve success or anything that the heart desires in this world.  For we must be focused.  We must have faith in what we want to achieve.  We must believe that it is possible and that we can achieve it through our efforts and our strengths.  Many a movie star or rock star, or sports star have professed it.  Many an executive has spoken it.  Many a Billionaire have used this as a their belief system and passed it on to others who would achieve the same goals.  Yet is this the meaning of what Christ spoke?  Is this the substance of his words? 

And nothing will be impossible to you, if only you have the faith of a mustard seed.  Humility is a virtue that not many practice.  Our world teaches us that we must be bold, we must be aggressive, we must be daring, unflinching, without fear, to achieve our goals.  There is no place for the humble in this world.  And yet Christ tells us that with faith nothing will be impossible to us.  For through our faith in Christ and through our faith in God our father, all things are possible.  Shall we achieve our goals for our own vanity, to prove that we are the best?  Or through our knowledge and our faith in Christ, believe with the faith of a mustard seed that all things are possible.   Why do we need to prove it?  Why do we need to show it?  Why do we need to demonstrate something that has been given to us through Christ.  If we believe even a tiny bit then we should know who we are in Christ.  And in Christ is the father and through the father nothing is impossible. 

Heavenly Father, we humbly ask that those who read these words may have their eyes opened, their hearing restored and their hearts filled with your spirit that you may grant to them the light of new life.  And it is through the Holy Spirit that they may know the truth of who they are in you.  Grant, Father, that they may know the gifts that you have already bestowed upon them so that they will know that nothing in this world can compare to what you have already given them.  We pray, Father, that for those who read these words, that they may know and see the light within and know the truth of their spiritual life.  Then will they realize the true nature of their being.  Come my brothers and sisters!  God our Father, is a god of love and it is through his love that these words are written.  The door is open.  The path is before you.  Christ loves you and the Holy Spirit awaits 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. 

St Matthew, Chapter 17, verses: 18-19a. Faith is the cure.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Why the disciples could not cure him) Part 1.  

Christ made the demon leave.  He cast it out.  He returned the child to his father and set the guard to prevent the demon from returning.  And the light of Christ shone within the child.  The disciples tried to cast it out.  They made an effort to remove the demon but it would not obey them, it would not leave.  The father pleaded with them for their help.  He begged.  He knew that it could be done.  He heard the word of how others were cured.  He saw the ones who were transformed, the ones who were made whole, the ones who had demons that were cast out.  And he believed that this could happen for his son also.  He had faith in his belief.

The father was persistent.  He was demanding.  He was unrelenting because he loved his son and he knew that if it could happen to others it could happen for him.  He had faith.  So he searched, he traveled, he followed the word.  He listened to all the talk about Christ and what he had done for others.  He believed with certainty that it could happen for his son.  He believed with certainty and he had faith.  But the disciples did not know.  They did not have the certainty in their beliefs, in their faith.  So they could not cure him.  They asked Christ why they could not cure the boy.   Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could not we cast it out?"  He said to them, "Because of your little faith."

They had little to no faith.  They had little to no belief to guide them in their actions.  They were not ready to do great things.  Yet these were the ones Christ chose to follow him.  These were the twelve that he hand picked.  They were the chosen ones that the people would follow after Christ returned to his father in heaven.  When would they get it?  When would they believe?  When would their faith increase so that there was no doubt?  All plans were in place for the completion of the mission and the training time was coming to an end.  When will we get it?  When will we believe?  When will our faith increase so that there is no doubt?

What is faith?  How would we define it: faith is a belief in something?  Would we say that faith is a belief that there is a God, that there is a supreme being, that there is something greater than ourselves?  The question then becomes: Is this God a loving God?  Is this God a caring God?  Is this God a protective God?  Can we believe in this God?  Can we trust this God?  What is it that we believe, as we go through life on a daily basis?  We are taught that there is a God.  We are given the scriptures as a basis for our beliefs.  As children we are taken to church and taught in Sunday Bible study about our God from the scriptures of the Bible.  Is this enough to guide us through life?  Do we continue our beliefs as we grow older and venture out into the world to make our own way? 

The world would change our beliefs.  The world would turn us away from what we are given as children, as young adults.  The world would have us doubt what we are given through the teachings from the scriptures.  It would convert us to its way of thinking and lead us away from the commandments of the Bible.  The world says the Bible is outdated.  The world says the Bible is a book of fiction and not to be believed.  The world says do not follow the Bible but follow us and we will reward you with our riches.  The world says we will make you happy, we will make you rich, we will fulfill your desires, we will provide for you, we will protect you if you only follow our ways and not the ways of the Bible. 

How do we reconcile the difference?  How do we come to terms with what the world offers and what we are taught in church?  On the one hand we have the world that would offer to fulfill our needs and on the other hand we have the church that would have us believe that our needs will be fulfilled.  Do we have the faith to believe?  Do we have the faith to know with certainty that our beliefs are true, our hopes are real, and our desires will be fulfilled?  Only with certainty will we be able to act.  Are you sure?  Do you know?  Have you discovered the truth of who you are in Christ?  Faith is the belief in the desire to be one with Christ, as Christ is one with the Father?  Come!  Open the door to your heart and become one with he who is one with the Father.  And you will know for certain who you are.  There will be no doubt.  There will be no fear.  There will only be you in the truth of Christ and the Holy Spirit. 

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 17, verse: 12, The Vision: The Suffering of Elias and the Son of Man.

Our paragraph topic is:  (On the coming of Elias) Part4. 

The conversation was ongoing as they returned from the mountaintop.  The questions were still in their minds as to what they had been taught all these years about the coming of Elias and the great and dreadful day of the Lord.  Was that day upon them?  Was Elias about to appear?  Would the Lord bring down fire upon the proud and wealthy?  These were the questions that weighed upon them as they returned from the place where they had witnessed the miracle, the vision of Christ, the vision of Elias and Moses.

Christ had forbidden them to talk about it.  He had told them not to speak of it to anyone until the sacrifice was complete and he had risen from the dead.  But they needed answers so they continued to worry, continued to ponder what they would do, continued to think about all the things that were going to happen at the end.  To quiet their minds Christ had to speak with them.  Christ had to address their issues.  Christ had to put to rest the state of things to come.  So he told them:  "But I say to you that Elias has come already, and they did not know him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also shall the Son of Man suffer at their hands."       

The disciples were expecting fire and brimstone.  They were expecting judgment to come.  They were on high alert as to the coming of Elias and the final judgment.  Yet Elias had already come and they did not know, they were not aware.  Where are we today?  Do we expect the world to come to an end tomorrow?  Are we prepared for the final call?  Have we made ourselves ready?

These are the questions that we should be asking ourselves.  Are we ready?  Yet being ready is the last thing on our minds.  We are more concerned about what we are going to wear tomorrow, how we look, wish we could hit the lottery so we could live a life of luxury.  Our thoughts are about playing, and texting, and gaming, and sex and lust, and the voice and American Idol, and who can dance, all the things that we are given by our society.  We are not concerned about dying, and what happens after death and being prepared, and the joy of heaven.  These things are not given to us by the society we live in.  The world does not want us to think about those things until it is too late and then we loose our souls as a result of not knowing, not thinking, not believing.

Elias had already come.  And they did to him whatever they wished.  And they will do to you what ever they wish unless we wake up.  Christ suffered that we might have life.  He did not come and suffer so that we would be lost.  And yet many are.  Many are unaware of who they are and it is up to those who do know to be an example for them.  It is up to those who do know to turn from the ways of the world and be a light unto the darkness.  First we must become a light.  We must open our hearts to the first light, the original light, the light that is and was and always will be that we may know that we are children of that light.  Because it is through Him and with Him that we are.  And it is with Him that we are complete and all our needs and desires are fulfilled.  For there is nothing else or no other, or nothing in this world that will complete us except the one true God, our Father.  

Come!  Know the truth of who you are in Christ.  A path has been given me to pass on to those who want to know, to those who desire, to those who will light up the world like a beacon in the night.  Christ will come to you.  The Holy Spirit will guide you.  And I will walk with you along the way.  I am but a humble light in the darkness, shining so that others may see the light.

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.