St Matthew, Chapter 14, vers: 36, The Test of the Heart: the desire of the people

HAPPY HOLIDAYS and MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Our paragraph topic is:  (Other miracles) Part 2.  

The word went out, the healer was in the land.  The holy one was in Genesar.  We saw him.  We walked with him.  We heard him speak.  Tell all.  Bring the sick.  Bring the lame.  Bring the possessed that they may be healed.  For he is the great one.  He is the one who performs miracles.  He is here.  Let the word spread to those who would hear.  And so the word spread by mouth, from person to person, from mother to daughter, from neighbor to neighbor, from traveler to traveler, to all the villages and towns in the district.  All were told about Christ who healed all.

They did not know.  They did not understand.  They only wanted to be healed.  They only wanted to see miracles.  They only wanted to know that there was one in their midst who cared for them and could make a difference in their lives.  Christ came and he taught.  Christ came and he demonstrated the power of God amongst the people.  Christ came and he loved.  For no one had shown love or compassion to the people.  In all his power and in all his majesty Christ showed love for mankind through his actions.  For he came to earth and became man that he may demonstrate God's love for man.  And the people responded to his love for  "They entreated him to let them touch."

To only touch but his cloak.  To only touch but his hand.  To only touch but his garment.  To only be in his presence.  These were the wishes and desires of the people.  They only wanted to be with him, near him, beside him, to touch him, to feel his presence.  Just to touch but the tassel of his cloak; and all who touched it were saved.

The people of Genesar only wanted to touch his cloak.  And all who did were saved.  All who touched him were delivered from damnation.  All who touched his tassel were washed clean and transformed by the healing power of Christ.  Oh, that we could be in the presence of Christ today.  Oh, that we could know the reality of his presence.  For many are caught up in this present world and do not know that he lives.  Many are caught up and do not believe that he exists.  For they travel down the wide path of destruction following the lead of the world.  And the desire of the world is death to the soul.

Christ came to give life.  Christ came to transform.  Christ came to show the love of God to mankind that they may know that they do not exist alone.  To those who will believe and to those who know, God provides, God protects, and God directs their footsteps.  To those who know but do not believe, in their hearts, God provides a way out, God provides an open door, God gives the opportunity to know the truth, here on earth, of his presence. 

Christ came that we may have life and have it more abundantly, here and now.  Do you believe?  Do you know?  Seek and you will find!  Knock and it will be opened!  Ask and it shall be given unto you!  But you must seek with your heart, knock with true belief, and ask with the desire to know the truth.  For we have a loving God and father.  We have a just provider.  And we have the creator of all things to watch over us.  In due time all things will be revealed to those who trust.  Miracles will happen for those who have patience.  And the light of the Holy Spirit will console those who believe. 

We celebrate the coming Christmas holiday for the coming of our savior.  Christ gave up his heavenly kingdom to become man.  Christ took off his kingly crown to accept a lowly position and birth in a manger.  Christ, the Son of God, became man that justice might be served and that the union between man and God could be restored.  The price had to be paid.  The injustice had to be corrected.  The scales of justice had to be balanced.  And Christ came, as a lowly infant to bring mankind back to God.  The door is open.  Seek the way from darkness with a true heart and the light of Christ will come and abide within you.  Faith is the belief in the desire to be one in Christ.  How strong is your desire?  

St Matthew, Chapter 14, verses: 34 - 35, The Test of Heart: the people.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Other miracles) Part 1.   

The disciples were now settled in the boat.  The winds were calm and the waves were flat.  No longer did the waves overtake the boat in an effort to drown it in the sea.  Christ was present and all was calm.  The disciples were in awe at the power and majesty of Christ who commanded Peter to walk on the water.  And he did.  They were in awe of Christ who commanded the waves to calm. And they did.  They were in awe of Christ who commanded the wind to cease and it did.  They worshiped him in the recognition of his kinship to God Almighty.  For they recognized thatChrist was the Son of Almighty God himself.  But in their recognition, did they believe, did they know, did they understand the person who was before them.  Or did they worship out of fear?  

Peter walked on the water and had that unique experience within himself.  No one can take that from him.  It was real and he experienced it himself.  It was real for the other disciples also who witnessed the miracle themselves.  And they all had a common experience to remember and to share.  Was this enough to convince?  Was this enough to make certain?  Was this enough for them to know without a doubt who was this Christ, this rabbi that they followed?  Only time would tell.  So they continued on their journey with Christ,  And crossing over, they came to the land at Genesar.   The inhabitants of that place as soon as they recognized him, sent into that whole country, and brought to him all the sick.

The inhabitants recognized Him.  How did they recognize Him?  How did they know Him?  How did they see Him?  For the news of Him traveled throughout the land and into the countryside, into the villages and towns and neighboring districts.  All heard the story of the man who healed with a touch.  All heard of the blind being made to see, the cripple made to walk, the lame made whole again and the dead coming to life again.  All heard of him who did such miracles.  The disciples knew.  They knew him daily, by the hour, sleeping, eating and in his presence at all times.  But did they believe?  Did they truly know with all their knowledge and wisdom the truth of the person of Christ.  He spoke to them with love.  He told them of compassion.  He gave them of himself that they may believe within themselves the truth of who he was.  But did that truth enter into their hearts?  Did that truth fill them with joy?  Did that truth tell them of who they were in Christ?  Did that truth penetrate to their souls that they were open to the light of Christ?

Do we recognized Christ today?  Are we truly aware of his presence in our lives today?  We can say and speak of him in our churches, in the company of others, in our prayers, at work with our co-workers, in the malls, and at dinner in the restaurants.  We can shout his holy name in our worship, but is he within us?  We can do all the things that indicate that we are true believers, but do we know him as we should?  Christ is the light of the world.  He came that we may have life.  He gave his life that we may find repentance, be justified in God's sight, and have eternal salvation.  He came that we may have life more abundantly.  Do we recognize immediately as the inhabitants did?  Do we believe that he is a healer?  Do we believe that he can make the lame walk?  Was it because of the miracles that Christ worked that we the people, the inhabitants of earth recognize him?  Christ said to the Samaritan woman at the well,   "If thou didst know the gift of God."  Do you know God's gift?  Do you believe?  Faith is the belief in the desire to be one with Christ.  How strong is your desire?

St Matthew, Chapter 14, verses: 32 - 33, The Test of Heart: The Affirmation.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Peter walks on the water) Part 5.   

Peter was sinking into the water and doubt was taking over.  He had questioned.  He had wondered how.  He had opened the door for everything to came in, doubt, fear, anxiety, and darkness.  Christ had said to him, "Come."   And he got out of the boat and he was coming to Christ.  He was walking on water.  He was filled with excitement, joy, exhilaration.  He was walking on water.  But then he began to sink.  He began to fear.  He began to allow doubt to come in.  And he called to Christ for help.  Peter was a fisherman and his livelihood was made in and on the water.  So he was not afraid of water, he knew how to swim.  He knew how to tread water.  He knew how to survive on the water.  But he called to Christ to save him because he was sinking.   

What was the strange feeling of sinking when one has just experienced the feeling of walking on water?  The water was solid as the ground.  The water pushed back when Peter took a step.  The water was hard and firm as a rock.  But then the water become soft.  The water began to give way.  And Peter began to sink.  Why did he fear?  Why did he doubt?  Why did he open himself up to the questions of the flesh when his spirit and his heart were filled with joy?  He called to Christ for help and Christ reached out and lifted him up and together they walked back to the boat.  Together they walked on the water, back to the boat. 

Peter was broken.  He could not understand what had happened.   One moment he was walking on water and the next he was sinking as in quicksand.  You see, with the coming of doubt the water changed from solid to semisolid, like quicksand, and then back to the consistency of water.  It did not change from solid to water at once.  There was a gradual transition which made the sinking feel like quicksand and not like water.  And Peter did not know how to accept this transition.  So he called out to Christ for help.  And Christ admonished him that the doubt was the cause of his sinking.  The doubt opened the door to fear and with coming of fear the miracle stopped.   And when they got into the boat, the wind fell.

Peter was in shock.  His emotions and his feelings were in disarray.  He walked on water.  What a joy!  Then he sank as in quicksand.  He was high one moment and low the next.  He was in joy and ecstasy one minute and deep fear and doubt the next.  How do you experience such extremes?  And yet the miracle took place.  All, witnessed it.  The disciples in the boat were in ecstasy also.  What they witnessed happened before their eyes.  The waves were high and they came crashing into the boat.  The boat was filling with water, more water was coming in than they could bail out and they were afraid of drowning.  And then Christ came walking on the water.  They forgot about the water and watched in amazement as Peter walked on the water.  They also watched in fear as he begin to sink.  But Christ saved him.  And then they knew.  They experienced it within themselves.  No one could tell them otherwise.  They saw it, they believed it and they knew it.   This was the Messiah, this was the Son of God became man.  And they were with him.  They were before him.  They were in him and he was in them.   But  they who were in the boat came and worshipped saying, "Truly thou art the Son of God."
          
That was then, 2000 years ago, and this is now 2011.  Christ left the world and returned to his father and the world returned to itself.  For we are in the world and the world is in us.  From the time we are born the world takes over.  It tells us how to think, how to eat, how to act, how to live, how to love, how to enjoy, how to believe, how to fear, how to doubt, the world is in us and we become the world. 

The young ones grow up with the world in them.  They do not grow up with Christ.  Even though they receive the traditional upbringings in a church or a religious environment, most do not grow up with Christ in them and the knowledge of the Holy Spirit.  For the knowledge of Christ in not in them or in their parents and the joy and love of the Holy Spirit is unknown.  So they are swollowed up into the world and there they remain until they are called. 

Where does it all begin?  Can we look to our parents?  Are we the offspring of our parents, they are in the world and so are we?  Where does the cycle end?  Christ said, "Come!"  Christ opened the door.  Christ is our example and the Holy Spirit is our guide.  The disciples saw it and affirmed the truth.  When will we see it and know the truth.  The spirit awaits your awakening.  Open the door, say goodbye to the world and say hello to him.  Your miracle awaits!  It all starts with you.  Come receive the light of the Holy Spirit and know that he is with you!