St. Matthew, Chapter 21, verse:16a; The Sounds of Praise.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Anger of the Jewish leaders) Part 3. 

They were angry.  They were furious at him.  They did not know what to do.  They were fearful of losing the power and influence obtained through their positions.  They were never praised as he was.  They were never sought after as he was.  They were never brought the sick and the lame and the cripple to be cured.  They were only the keepers and enforcers of the Law as handed down by Moses.

The chief priests and the elders saw what Christ did for the people.  He helped the poor.  He cured the blind and the lame.  And he did this in the temple for all to see.  He taught them.  He showed love to them.  He cared for them as no other elder or priest had before.  And all loved what they received from him.  Even the little ones felt his influence.  And the priests could not understand:  And said to him, "Dost thou hear what these are saying?" 

Even the little ones were giving praise to him.  They understood.  They knew.  They saw with their on eyes and they believed.  Yet those with knowledge and experience did not believe, did not know, did not understand.  How was it that the babes could see and believe yet those with years of experience and knowledge could not see or believe?  Even today with all the beauty and wonder in the world, how is it that we do not see what is plainly before our eyes?  Are we blind?  Can we not see the wonders of this world and where they came from?  Do we not breathe the air?  Do we not feel the warmth of the sun?  Do we not have food to eat that comes from the ground itself?  Are these not miracles and wonders for us to see and know that we did not create these things?

Our God provides.  Our God protects.  Our God gives us bountiful gifts to demonstrate his love for us.  Yet we cannot see.  We cannot believe.  We cannot know because we are blinded by the world before us.  Science and industry have turned the world around such that we no longer believe that which we are given.  We have devised a system that turns us away from the wonders of the natural world we were given and turns us toward the world that is created by man.  For man, through his own ingeniousness, has changed the world.  Man has created his own world.  Man has made anew a world inside the natural world and now calls this the new world that we live in.

And with this new world comes the influence of evil and evildoers.  With this new world doors are open that should be closed.  Behaviors are common that once were forbidden.  Acts are accepted as commonplace and necessary that were once frowned upon as outside the norm and unacceptable.  And these same acts and behaviors are permeated throughout society for all to see as normal or necessary to succeed.  Black, brown, blue, green, yellow, white, we are all the same, no one above another.  For God is our creator and it is he who judges and punishes for their sins.

We are all created in his image and his likeness.  We are all spirits.  We are all his children.  God is not a physical being with blue eyes, or black or brown, with colored skin.  He is spirit and we are spirit just as he is, not physical.  He gave to us this form that we might live and exist in this physical realm.  But upon our death, we are transformed into the true beings that we are, spirits, and our lives begin on a different plane, a spiritual plane.  And those that have gone before us await our coming.  Even the little ones that were called early are there to greet us.  They were the ones who saw.  They were the ones who believed.  They are the ones who know the truth more than we do today. 

Christ has said that the little ones make up the kingdom of heaven and that no one can enter unless they become like them.  Let us give shouts and praise like the little ones.  Let us see the coming of the kingdom as the little ones.  Let us know the truth of who we are like the little ones.  For theirs is the true knowledge of the kingdom, theirs is the true glory of the kingdom,  theirs is the gift that God has given us to follow and believe.

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:22b, The Cup.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The mother of James and John) Part 6. 

Often times when we come to our Father asking for something we do not have a complete  understanding of what we are doing.  We ask with the understanding that we want what we are asking.  We ask with the understanding that we are worthy of asking.  We ask with the understanding that we will get what we are asking for.  And we ask with the understanding that we will get what we are asking for right now or in the near future, according to our timetable.  It is oftentimes that we learn that our timetable does not matter and that can be frustrating or disappointing.  We must learn patience in order to see that our Father has granted us what we asked for.

It is in the misunderstanding that we get confused.  We do not know the consequences of our actions.  Our Father knows all.  He knows when and how we will get what we ask.  He knows the consequences of giving us what we want.  And he knows what is the desire of our hearts instead of desires of our request.  It is in that knowing, and in that seeing that we are lacking.  He is our Father.  It was in that same unknowing and unseeing that the mother of James and John asked for her sons to sit at the right and left hand of Christ.  They did not know what they were asking.  They only desired to be seated with power and recognition.  They did not understand that there were requirements to obtain such a seat.  This is why Christ asked them:  "Can you drink of the cup of which I am about to drink?" 

They wanted power and recognition but did not know the consequences of what they were asking.  They did not understand what was required of them.  They did not know what they would have to suffer, what they would have to endure, what they would have to battle to be with him.  For surely they would have to battle the forces of evil.  Surely they would have to endure the constant pressure of those who were evildoers.  Surely they would have to suffer the torture at the hands of evil to become like Christ.  But did they understand the cup of suffering they would have to endure?  Did they truly know what they were asking?

One does not suffer in vain.  One does not endure the hardships, the pain, the slings and arrows of oppression without a cause to carry them through.  And that cause must be justified enough to transform the person into something better, something more wonderful, more lasting, more beautiful than what they had before.  For without the cause one suffers in vain.  Without the cause one only endures to a point and then gives up.  But with the cause one is transformed in the person that will endure to the end.  Christ was the cause.  He was the be all and end all that allowed the apostles to be transformed into persons that gave all.

Can we drink from the same cup that he did?  Can we become transformed into new beings that are willing to suffer to the end?  Or are we just those persons that will only go so far and give up without enduring all?  Christ gave his all.  Can we give our all?  What cause do we have that will transform us into new persons that will allow us to give our all to him?  We live in a world that is consumed with self.  We are given to be wholly in this world.  Yet we are not from this world.  We are children of our Father and he gave us the life that we have today, true life, eternal life.  And the knowledge and wisdom of the understanding of the life that is given us is the transforming factor that makes us who we are, not of this world but of a heavenly kingdom.  Do you belong?  Are you of the heavenly kingdom?  Are you transformed?  Then yours is the cup to drink along with all your brothers and sisters.

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.