St. Matthew, Chapter 21, verse: 32b; Believing.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the two sons) Part 6. 

Where would we be without the law.  For the law sets boundaries that we live and breathe by.  The law gives justice to the people who are aggrieved and oppressed.  The law is the standard by which we live.  One cannot say that the punishment is not just if it has not been spelled out for all to see and believe.  For the law sets those standards by which justice is given.  It is a warning to all that these are the boundaries by which you will be judged and by which justice will be dispensed.

John came in the way of justice.  He came to announce the coming of the kingdom of heaven here on earth.  He came as a precursor to announce the law and give notice to all to repent to avoid the punishment of justice.  Many heard his words and believed.  Many heard and did not believe.  And justice came to those who did not believe for they were given the warning and the opportunity to repent.  Christ told the chief priest and the elders:  "But the publicans
and the harlots believed him." 

What was the difference between the priests, the elders, and the publicans and the harlots?  What allowed one group to believe and another to disbelieve?  What stands in the way of those today who believe and those that do not?  Is it just human nature that separates the two?  Is it complete and utter doubt that prevents one from seeing through the inner being who they are?  One has the choice.  One can believe.  One can decide.  But one does and one does not.  Why is the question?

We are in a world that ultimately makes us question our being, our self-worth, our purpose in life.  This world gives us all the opportunity to achieve the desires of the heart through what it has to offer.  The young see a world of opportunity that allows them to be all that they desire.  The old see either those desires fulfilled or those desires fade.  And it depends from which perspective that we view the desires of the heart that tell us who and what we are in this world. 

We judge our self-worth by what we have achieved in this world.  Yet our Lord and Savior judges us by who we are, who he created in his image and likeness.  Even those who have fulfilled the desires of their heart find themselves still wanting more of what this world has to offer but time runs to completion and death awaits.  God is life.  He is the great I Am!  In him is no death.  And in the life he has given us there is no death, only transition. 

We believe or we do not.  We know or we do not.  We seek the truth or we do not.  We are more than what this world has to offer and the life within us is everlasting.  Believing is the key to open the door to that which is within us.  Believing is the path which will lead us to the truth of the kingdom of heaven.  Believing is a leap from the physical to the spiritual that allows us to know the truth of who we are and that truth is in him.  The desires of the heart are in him.  The desires of peace are in him.  The desires of complete love are with him and no other.  Believe and you will see.

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: 14a, Hinder not the children.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Jesus blesses the children) Part 3.

So the children came.  They were brought to him that he might bless them and lay his hands on them.  This was a sight to see, the children in their playful nature around Christ, the savior.  They did not know him.  They heard their parents speaking of him.  They heard strangers and other people talking about him.  But now they had the opportunity to come close, to touch him, to be in his presence.  Oh, what a joy that must have been!

The disciples thought not.  They did not see him having time for little children.  He was the savior.  He was the Messiah.  He was the Lord of all, yet he had time to play with the little children.  They did not understand.  They did not know.  For the disciples and all the others considered that he had other things to do, other things to think about, other problems to solve.  Yet he had time for the little ones.  But Jesus said to them, "Let the little children be, and do not hinder them from coming to me."

Do not hinder them.  Let them be.  Do not disturb them.  Let them play, let them have fun, let them see the world through their eyes, fresh and anew.  For they are the little ones, precious in the eyes of God our Father.  They are the innocent ones, uncorrupted by the influences of the world and of evil.  Their light is bright, new and fresh from the tree of life.  Do not stop them from coming to the light of their creation.  Christ loved the little ones.  He knew them before they were conceived into the flesh and he adored them in their new spirit.

His love was the love of the Father.  His love is the love of a brother.  His love for the little ones is the love of all creation, an all-consuming love.  But the world does not love the little ones.  The world does not know their light.  The world wants to hinder them.  The world wants to turn them away from the light and turn them to the darkness.  For they are the precious ones in the eyes of God.  They are loved.  They are adored.  They are new.  Hinder not the little ones.  

When they are born into the world our hearts are filled with love for them.  When they are first conceived our lives are changed, at least for those who know and who understand God's plan and purpose.  For some it does not bring change.  For some they bring a feeling of a burden upon their lives, they not knowing the joy that will come.  So they turn away from the new life that is given them.  They turn away from the gift of life that is passed on to them.  They do not know the love, the protection, and the provision of the Father that awaits them through this new life.  And then there are those who would hinder the plans of the Father from coming forth, they destroy the new life.  All brought forth through the fear that comes from evil.

Do not hinder the little ones, Christ told his disciples.  Let them be.  Give them the freedom brought forth through God's plan and purpose.  Theirs is the gift of love.  Theirs is the promise of hope.  Theirs is the joy of innocence.  See the world through their eyes and rejoice in their passing back to the Father.  For the transition is a joyous time.  The transition is a time of happiness.  The transition is a time of love for those who have gone to be with the Father.  And the little ones will go without the taint of sin or corruption.  Hinder not the little ones and let them be with the one who gave them life.  For Christ rejoiced in seeing them that his sacrifice would have purpose, his sacrifice would have meaning, his sacrifice would mean love for these little ones who were new from the tree of live.  

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.