St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 21b, The commandments: If thou wilt be perfect, give to the poor.

Our paragraph topic is: (The rich young man speaks to Jesus) Part 13. 

Christ continues to instruct the rich young man in the things of heaven and of the kingdom.  The young man wanted to know what to do just as we today want to know.  He, however had a burning desire to know.  He came to the one person that he heard would give him the truth.  Jesus spoke the word.  He spoke the word that would reach many ears far and wide.  He spoke the word that would reach the hearts of his people, those who belonged to the Father.  For they came in search of what they had heard.  They sought out the truth of what had come to them via word of mouth and they wanted to know if what they heard was true.  They wanted to see this person themselves with their own eyes.  And they came just as this young man had come.

For the word called them.  The word spoke to them.  The word entered their hearts, their minds, and spoke to the spirit within them.  Christ came to teach.  He came to instruct.  He came that all who would believe would have a reference to the truth of his words, his life, and his sacrifice.  And just as he spoke to the rich young man, he speaks to us today.  Jesus said to him, "If thou wilt be perfect, go, give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.

Christ had already told the young man that he should sell what he had.  He told him that he should divorce himself of that which holds him, that which binds him to the physical.  For the physical is dead.  The physical is imperfect and temporary, but the spiritual is perfect, and everlasting.  So Christ was telling this young man to let go of the physical.  And in this statement he was telling him to give that which he had to those that are in need.  By giving to those that are in need he would in turn gain for himself permanent treasure that is in heaven. 

How difficult is this concept to grasp?  We know of the physical.  We know of that which we can see and feel and touch and taste and smell.  We do not know of that which is beyond our physical senses.  Yet we have something that is much more than the physical.  We have the spirit that is within us.  How can we see the spirit?  How can we feel the spirit?  How can we touch and taste and hear that which is spiritual that is within us?  How can we know that which is proclaimed as part of us and yet have no physical proof?  The simple truth is belief.  To open the door to the spirit within, you must first believe that you are spirit.  You must open the mind and open the heart in order that the spiritual eye within may see. 

You see all science starts with a belief.  We believed that the earth was not flat and set out to prove it.  We believed that the earth is not the center of the universe and use that which we have to prove it.  If we believe that we are physical beings wrought by millions of years of evolution then that is what we will seek to prove and to find.  However, if we search the world around us and see the majesty of its construction and know that this complex and beautiful world did not just evolve from an amoeba, then we allow ourselves to come to believe that there is something that is far greater than ourselves that created the grandeur and majesty before us.  And with that open mind we can begin to see the truth of what we seek.

And if we seek the knowledge and wisdom of God who created us,  we can find the key to the truth of who we are in his instructions, in his words.  Christ came that we would have the word.  He came that through the oneness with the Father we could find the instructions we need to ourselves.  We are spiritual beings.  We belong to the spirit and not to the physical.  The mind cannot see, the ear cannot hear, but the heart can know the truth of who we are.  For through the mind of the heart we open the door to that which is ourselves.  We can see the light of life that is within us.  Through the mind of the heart we can feel the presence of the spirit that will abide within us.  Through the mind of the heart we can know the wisdom that is given us on a daily basis that will be our guide in life. 

Christ tells the young man to give to the poor and he will have treasure in heaven.  Give to the poor and you will find your treasure.  For heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field and once you find it you will sell all that you have to have your treasure, what heaven offers.  For nothing on this earth can compare to the riches that await in heaven.  Nothing on this earth is everlasting as what awaits you in heaven.  Nothing on this earth can fulfill as what awaits you in the presence of the Father in the kingdom of heaven.  And once you taste that, you will long for nothing else here on earth. 

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: 25, Tribute to the kings of the earth: The Exempt.

Our paragraph topic is:  Paying the Temple tax) Part 3.   

  Peter was disturbed by the question asked of him by the tax collector.  When he entered the house, Christ knew that he was disturbed.  So he questioned Peter as to the reason that he was disturbed.  He asked Simon who paid the taxes to the kings of the earth.  Was it the sons of the kings or was it everyone else that bore the tribute to the kings?  And this was the questioned that weighted heavily upon Peter, that everyone else paid the tax while the sons were exempt.

Christ saw the anger and the frustration in Simon and sought to address it.  He knew that Peter was disturbed over this issue.  He knew that the door to anger was being opened in him.  He could see the years of frustration that Peter had experienced with the payment of the tax and he wanted to demonstrate to him the protection and the provision of his heavenly father.  So he questioned Peter on the issue to demonstrate the power of our father.  He asked Peter who paid the tax, was it the sons or others?  Peter responded:  And he said, "From others." Jesus said to him, "The sons then are exempt."

Those that have and those that have not, is a reality that we face each day of our lives.  We all want to be privileged.  We all want to have the things in life that we see others with.  We want to live like movie stars because that is what we are presented with.  We want to live like royalty.  We want to have the things that this world offers to us as things we need to have, things we desire, things that will make us happy.  

The sons of kings are exempt.  They are given the luxuries of this world.  They are provided the joys and happiness that comes with wealth.  They do not have to suffer the trials and tribulation that we all face in our daily lives.  We are given the opportunity to achieve all through our hard work, through our intelligence, through our ingenuity, through what ever means are available to us, even if that means transgressing the natural laws or the spiritual laws of heaven.  We want what we want and this is what we live with daily.

Christ has given us a choice.  He has provided us with an opportunity.   He has opened a door that will lead us to the riches of the universe if we just believe in him.  For our treasure is in heaven and not on this earth.  Our provisions are with him and not with this physical realm that we are faced with daily.  And with our treasure our hearts are filled with his love, his peace, his joy.  And this is a joy that nothing on this earth can compare with, a joy that fills us, a joy that completes us, a joy that is everlasting and not fleeting.  

Fret not upon the things of this world that you see.  Desire not the passions of this life that will lead astray and possess.  Our goal is Christ.  Our passion is his love.   Our desires are his will.  Our peace is his provision.  Our knowledge is his wisdom that comes through the Holy Spirit.  Our truth is our Father in heaven who loves us, protects us, and provides for us.  He calls to you.  He waits for you.  He holds you in his arms.  He will fill you with his love.  Open your heart and see the truth of who you are in him.  See the truth of your light and your life in Christ and you too will know.    

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: 14-15, The Lunatic and his father.

Our paragraph topic is:  (A father asks Jesus to cure his son).  

After all the questions in the minds of the disciples, they finally understood.  They finally had answers.  They finally could make some sense of what they had experienced on the mountaintop with Christ.  But then there came new questions that needed answers.  There came new challenges that required addressing.  There came new prayers that needed answers and new requests from the people that followed Christ that needed help.

Many were sick.  Many were in pain.  Many were without hope.  Many were lost and under the possession of evil.  Those that had some belief came to Christ.  Those that sought help came for help.  Those that heard the word were led by the word.  And those that sought to destroy the word came for destruction.  But Christ knew of their plan.  He knew of their desire to destroy him.  He knew of the evil that was in the world that did not want the people to turn back to God.  So they sought in every way to prevent the people from seeing, hearing, or knowing the truth of Christ. 

And when he had come to the crowd, a man approached him and threw himself on his knees before him, saying, "Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic, and suffers severely; for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water.  And I brought him to thy disciples, but they could not cure him."   

How often have we called upon God to cure our ills?  How often have we asked for help?  How often have we prayed to our heavenly father to solve a problem for us that we have not had  success with.  And then there are those among us who are the disciples of Christ that would give us ways to find solutions.  There are those who would tell us all kinds of things that we must do to find help.  Do they work?  Do we find solutions?  Do we believe in what they give us for our ills and our problems?  Some do.  Some half do.  Some don't believe.  And some scoff at the thought that these men and women of God can give us the help that we need.

Here was a father who believed that his son was a lunatic.  He believed that he had a problem that could be fixed by the modern day solutions that were available to him.  After all, he was told by some authority that his son was mad, a lunatic, not of a normal mind.  But his love for his son prevailed.  For he believed enough, that there was a solution, somewhere, to restore his son to him.  He heard the miracles.  He heard the stories of the cures.  He saw those who were restored and he had hope.  He sought the foundation of hope and he sought Christ.

Christ came that we would have salvation.  He came that we would have redemption.  He came to restore what was lost to man.  He came to bring life.  So the door is open for many to have life and to have it for eternity.  All one has to do is stay away from those things that cause us to sin against God.  Yet we live in a world that is of sin.  We live in a world where sin is interwoven into our daily fabric of life.  We eat, sleep, breathe, see, smell, and taste sin on a daily basis as if it is impossible to do without it.  And there is one that can resist.  There is one that can turn away.  There is one who can help us to be the people that our father wants us to be. 

I write this blog as an invitation to those who would read it.  This is an invitation to close the door to sin, to open the door to the truth of who you are in Christ.  This is an invitation to awake from the sleep of the world and see the light that is within you that you may see yourself as you will be seen and know in heaven.  For you were given life, as a spirit, and brought into this world.  You are a spiritual being and not a physical person.  And when your time has ended in the physical realm you will return to the spiritual being that you are.  So, Come!  Know the truth of who you are and see the treasure that awaits you.  The path was given to me and now I give it to you.  Follow the path and you will know the truth of who you are 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 17, verse: 10, The Vision: The coming of Elias.

Our paragraph topic is:  (On the coming of Elias) Part 2.  

They had witnessed the vision of Christ.  They had seen the vision of Moses and Elias.  They were puzzled by what they had seen and what they had heard.   And yet the disciples knew that they had witnessed a great miracle.  God the Father had spoken to them.  He had  instructed the disciples to listen and hear his son.  He had given them the proof that they needed to believe in Christ through the visions they had witnessed.  So they pondered within their minds the answers as to what they had seen and heard.  But Christ warned them not to speak of it.  He told them not to say what they had seen and heard until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

The sacrifice had to be completed.  The mission had to be finished.  The debt had to be paid so that mankind would be redeemed.  And what they had witnessed must be kept secret until that time.  The disciples were puzzled.  There were questions in their minds.  There were burning answers that needed solutions.  And they did not know how to proceed without answers to those questions.  For they had been taught from childhood by the Pharisees the scriptures of their religion.  They had been drilled as to the passages and the words that were passed down from old.  So they questioned Christ as to the correctness of what they had learned.   And the disciples asked him, saying, " Why then do the Scribes say that Elias must come first? "

Christ had taken three of his disciples up to the mountain that they may experience for themselves the truth of who he was.  He wanted them to know with all certainty that he was the Messiah, the Son of the Father.  So they were there to witness for themselves what they would hold within until the sacrifice had been made and the mission completed.  They asked for understanding.  They sought to know the truth of what they were taught and what they believed.  Christ spoke to them about the raising from the dead, an expression that they did not understand.  And today we ask that same question.

Will we die at the end our last days on earth?  Will we sleep for an eternity when our time comes, only to be awakened at the final call?  What will happen in the end?  Do we go to heaven now and wait for the final judgment to come?  Many have gone beyond death and returned to tell of what lies beyond.  Many have experienced the horrors of hell and come back to warn us of what we will face if we continue in our evil ways.  Does that deter us?  Does that turn us around?  There are many lost souls in the world that do not know the truth.  The message is out there.  We hear it being proclaimed in the background but do not listen.  We have some knowledge of what we are to do to avoid judgment but fail to do it.  We are weak.  We are misled.  We are influenced by the temptations of the world, born into a world destined to lead us away from the truth.

Looking back  on my life, I was lost.  I was misled.  I was caught up in the whirlwind of the world thinking that I had to compete, I had to succeed, I had to win the prize.  Little did I know that I was on the road to destruction.  And if I continued on that road, I would loose my soul and the life that had been given me by the sacrifice made by Christ.  I am grateful that he held on to me.  I am thankful that he gave me life.  I am blessed that he did not give up on me.  Now I know who I am.  Now I have found my treasure.  Now I know with certainty that I am a child of God and my father loves me.  And now I can see me through the veil of the physical and know me for who I am. 

If you are reading this message, come follow the path that is laid before you.  You will find peace.  You will find joy.  You will find happiness.  And you will find the truth of who you are in Christ, here and now.  Be certain.  Be knowing.  Be loved.  Christ loves you, the Holy Spirit will lead you, and God the Father will protect you.  May the gift of God be in your heart.

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!