St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 27, Leaving All.

Our paragraph topic is:  (A hundredfold reward promised) Part 1. 

Christ made a statement to his disciples to help them understand the nature of God our Father.  He told them:  "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."  He told them this because they were thinking with the minds of men and not with the possibilities of God.  He did not explain the simple example that he gave them with reference to the camel and the eye of the needle.  He did not show them how it was next to impossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.  Instead he gave them this simple example to illustrate to them the physical limitations of this act.

So the disciples were introduced to the unlimited possibilities of God.  Nothing is impossible for God and that was the understanding that Christ wanted his disciples to have.  He wanted them to think with a different mind.  He wanted them to see the power and majesty of the Father.  He wanted them to believe the dangers of riches and how they would hinder one from entering the kingdom.  And then Peter grasping the thought of not having riches and the thought of giving up all asked the question.  Then Peter addressed him, saying, “Behold, we have left all and followed thee; what then shall we have?" 

If we do not have riches, then what do we have?  This is the questions that is on the minds of millions of people today.  What do we get if we do not have the riches of today?  What can we look forward to if we do not have the luxury of today?  Do we get a brand new car in heaven?  Do we get a million dollar home?  Do we have wealth untold in heaven?  What do we get then that we can not have now?  What does heaven have to offer that is far more glorious than what the world offers now? 

We see all the riches that others have that we want.  We see the joy and the happiness that others have that we do not have.  We are constantly bombarded with the images, and sounds, and impressions of the luxury of what wealth and riches has to offer and those are the things that we desire to have.  So we set our minds to going about having those things that are not ours now.  We commit ourselves to doing what it takes now, to get those things that our hearts desire.  And for some the desire is so strong that there are no limits as to what they will do to get them.

Temptation is strong in the world.  The desire and the passion for wealth and riches is nonstop.  We see them in our everyday lives.  We dream of them when we are asleep.  We are consumed with their possession, in everything that we do.  What will we sacrifice to have them?  And for those who believe in the teachings of Christ, what do they want?  What do they get for turning away from the world and turning to Christ?  As Peter asked:  "What shall we have?"

Christ came that we would have life.  He came that we would have life and have it more abundantly.  For those who know this meaning there is joy in their hearts.  For those who do not, the meaning is lost.  What profits a man if he gains the whole world yet looses his own soul?  Better still what can a man give for his soul if it is lost.  There is nothing more valuable in this world than the life that was given back to man by the sacrifice made by Christ. 

What do we get?  We get eternal life with Christ.  What do we get?  We get eternal joy and happiness with Christ.  What do we get?  We get eternal peace here and now with the knowledge of who we are in Him that created us and gave us life.  For he will provide.  He will protect.  He will assure that we will have all that is needed to live and prosper and to carry his message of life and joy and peace and happiness in the Lord.  This is what we get.  And for those who do not understand but want to know, seek him.  Ask him.  Search for him in truth and honesty and you will know what you get.  You get the gift of love that comes from a father who loves you.  You get a gift that is priceless if you know it's value.

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: 26, The impossible is possible.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The danger of riches) Part 5.  

Christ had spoken to his disciples about riches and how they can make if difficult to enter into the kingdom of heaven.  He gave them a simple example so that they would have an understanding.  He told them that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.  With what difficulty one would have trying to get a camel through the eye of a needle, one would also have even more difficulty getting a rich man into the kingdom of heaven.

This was a concept that was foreign to them and even to us today it seems extreme.  Our imagination would tell us that you would have to shrink a camel to less than the size of the eye of the needle to get it through.  In the same sense one would have to reduce the rich man down to nothing to get him into the kingdom of heaven.  Yet Christ wanted them to not think with the minds of men but to understand the power and majesty of the Father.   And looking upon them, Jesus said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." 

Christ gazed upon his disciples and saw that they did not understand his words.  He wanted them to understand the true nature of the possession of riches.  He wanted them to know the dangers of having riches and where they could lead.  Having riches and possessing riches is like a fever.  One wants to keep them.  One wants to hold onto them.  On wants to not loose them for fear.  And yet death is the ultimate divider.  For one cannot take riches after death.  One cannot posses riches after death.  For we are all children of God and in heaven there is no place for pride.

Our Father created us.  He gave us life.  He provided us with a place to live to grow, prosper, and to multiply.  He gave us this realm, the physical.  He gave us the intelligence to use the physical to produce the things that would allow us to live and prosper.  All these things he gave us freely that we may know his goodness and his mercy.  After we had rejected him and turned towards the world he still forgave us.  His love for mankind is so great that he allowed his only son to come and live among us that we may know him.  And he gave his only son that he would come and sacrifice himself to redeem us to give us new life.

With this new life we now are able to enter into the kingdom.  Before Christ came to redeem us, no one could enter into the kingdom.  All had to wait until the sacrifice was completed.  Christ  released all those who were in waiting.  He was the first.  And he is the last.  All things are given to us in his name.  The riches of this world will stop us.  They will hinder us.  They will hold us back from entering into the kingdom.  Possession of riches is not the danger but the riches of possession is.  Remember, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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: 25b, The hearing of the disciples.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The danger of riches) Part 4. 

The disciples heard the words of Christ and they were astonished.  They were in disbelief.  They could not understand what they had heard.  Their minds immediately thought of fear and anxiety.  And their hearts were filled with loss.  For they assumed that all would have access to the kingdom of heaven especially those who had wealth and riches.  But Christ wanted them to know the rules.  He wanted them to understand that the spiritual kingdom was not the same as the physical world. 

In the physical world those who have riches, those who have power, those who have influence are the privileged.  They are the ones who can use their power to get what they want.  But in the spiritual world there are rules, there are criteria by which one is judged before entering.  And the criteria specify that one lives by certain requirements here on earth.  The disciples did not understand the truth of the words that were spoken.  They did not hear with their hearts the meaning of the message.  And as a result they came to the conclusion and said, "Who then can be saved?"

If the rich man has difficulty entering the kingdom, what about the poor man.  Will he be able to enter the kingdom?  Will all those who do not have wealth, those who have means, be shut out of the kingdom?  Who, will be saved, was the shocking question on their minds?  And shocking was what Christ wanted to do.  He wanted them to understand.  For they did not see.  They did not hear.  They did not understand the truth of the kingdom of heaven.  Wealth or power or influence does not of itself open the doors to the kingdom. 

Christ wanted them to understand the difficulty that riches of itself could pose to hinder one from entering the kingdom.  Riches are of the earth.  Riches belong to the world.  Earthly riches are of no value in the kingdom.  Yet earthly riches are what we seek to have.  Earthly wealth is what we all desire.  Power and influence are the things that we wish to possess so that we might walk with those who are rich and famous.  We desire to be seen in the news or on the magazine cover or at a celebrity event.  We seek recognition.

But the criteria for the kingdom is not recognition.  The criteria for the kingdom is not pride but humility.  The criteria for the kingdom is not wealth but poverty of spirit.  The criteria for the kingdom is not hatred but love, not anger but forgiveness, not lust but modesty, not greed but charity.  Christ wanted his disciples to understand these principles just as he wants us to understand them today.  He calls upon us to practice these principles in the here and now so that we will be prepared to enter into the kingdom.  He has given us the blueprint on how to live our lives.

The decision is ours to make.  God is our father.  He knows our needs.  He provides for us daily in every way, if we choose to see and believe.  Those coincidences and circumstances that happen to us, happen by his hands.  Those little things that he gives us, daily, are his provisions, his protections.  If we could only see and understand, how grateful we would be.  For he is our provider.  He is our protector.  He is our source for life.  Our heart's satisfaction is in him.  Our desire to be loved is fulfilled in him.  Our longing for peace is through him and he will give us everlasting peace.  Seek him and you will know.  Ask him and he will provide.  Patience is the key.  Love him and you will know his love for 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.