St. Matthew, Chapter 21, verse:15; Praise and Indignance.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Anger of the Jewish leaders) Part 2. 

He cleansed the temple of the money changers and the buying and selling.  He brought prayer and worship back to the temple.  Christ taught the poor and downtrodden in the temple and he cured all that were brought to him.  He was kind.  He was compassionate.  He was loving to all.  He was the Messiah.

He knew what his actions would bring.  He knew that the scribes and the chief priest would not like that he was swaying the people.  He knew that they would fear that someone else was taking control of the people away from them.  Yet his actions brought praise even down to the children.  But the chief priests and the Scribes, seeing the wonderful deeds that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David," were indignant. 

He came into Jerusalem with praise from the people that caused an uproar to all who did not know him.  He went to the temple and caused an uproar with the money changers and the buying and selling in that place of worship.  He taught the people of a new way, a way of faith, a way of peace, a way of love.  He taught them of the Father and the Father's love for all.  For he came to bring about a change.  He came to renew.  He came that all would know the truth of who he was and that the Father in heaven would forgive all of sin.  He came, to be the perfect sacrifice.

We live today with the knowledge and the words that he left for us.  We live today in the belief that there is more to this life than just what we have today.  We live in this world today with the hope that if we follow his life we will be saved for all eternity.  We live today because he gave to us a church, a temple, a place to worship, a place to belong, a membership in his body in the family of God. 

We are blessed, those who know the truth of who we are in the spirit.  Those of this world do not have the same truths.  Their truth is death.  Christ came and gave us a new life.  He came and gave us a new beginning.  He came and paid for our sins that we would no longer live under the cloud of death.  We are new beings in him.  We are spiritual in him.  We are eternal in him.  We are loved and protected in him.  The world does not know.  The world does not believe.  The world wants to take away that knowledge and change us into the living dead.  The world hates those who know and believe because the world is indignant.

Praise be to the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without end.  Amen.

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 17, verse:16-17; Unbelieving and Perverse Generation: The Cure.

Our paragraph topic is:(Jesus cures him by casting out a devil) Part 2.

They were unbelieving.  They were perverse.  They were scoffing.  They manipulated, lied, cheated, gave false witness, possessed the hearts of men to do the evil that was perpetuated upon the people.  And Christ knew who them.  He saw them for who they were.  He bore witness to their deeds and cast them out of men that they could not continue to do evil.  Yet there were those who wanted the evil to continue.  There were those who were possessed and influenced by evil so much that they perceived that it was right and just.  But Christ was meek.  Christ was mild mannered.  Christ was loving.  Christ was reserved.  He knew that the cups of God's wrath were being filled and the day of judgment was at hand.  But the sacrifice was not made and the justification was not yet complete.

Christ tired of their presence.  He would rid himself of their evil.  He would send them back to the pit where they belonged in due time.  But what was before him was a child.  What was in the child was evil.  And what had to be done was a cure.  So evil had to be cast out of this innocent child.  Evil had to be removed from this child of God so that it would never return again.  And evil had to be expelled so that the child within could be released from the prison where it was being held captive.  " How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to me."  And Jesus rebuked him; and the devil went out of him; and from that moment the boy was cured.

The boy was cured.  From the moment that Jesus spoke the devil left the boy and he was cured, He was free.  He was no longer possessed.  This is the power of Jesus.  He had the power to cure.  He had the power to change water into wine, the power to multiply loaves and feed thousands, the power to raise the dead, heal the sick, make the lame walk, and speak to nature to calm the seas.  Yet the demons continued to pester, to bother, to seek to insight, to do everything that they could to interfere with the mission of Christ.  Christ was loving.  He was compassionate.  He was understanding.  He was forgiving.  And he was patient.  He knew that the people did not understand.  He knew that they did not see with a sense of knowing.  Yet he continued to do the will of God that the love for mankind would be demonstrated in his actions.

The sheep are lost.  The sheep do not know where they are going, so they follow the crowd.  They go where others go and do not know where they go.  Where is the leader?  Where is the one who will turn them around and lead them away from harm?  Where is the one who will be a guide, a protector, a provider, a teacher, and a preacher to the lost sheep?  Christ came that we each would have a choice.  He came and made the sacrifice that we could know the truth of who we are.  Do you know?  Can you see?  Can you believe?  Are you certain of the knowledge and the truth that he has given us?  Do you acknowledge each day the truth?  Do you show the love of Christ that is supposed to be in us to the world?  For they must see.  They must know.  They must understand through our actions that Christ lives, that Christ loves, that they have an all powerful father who loves them.

Come!  Follow the narrow path before you.  If you are reading this page then you have a choice.  Know the truth and awaken from the sleep of the world, or continue to sleep and be led by the untruth that the world offers.  There is power in the truth.  There is enlightenment in the truth.  There is love in the truth.  There is peace in the truth.  And there is reward in the truth, a reward like none you can imagine or that the world can offer.  The devil offered Christ the world if he would only worship him.  Who will you worship?  Whom will you love?  Who will you believe?  It has been given to me that I may pass it on to you.  God loves you and so do I!

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.