St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 7b; Kingdom against kingdom.

 Our paragraph topic is:  (Christ warns them not to be led astray) Part 9.  

It must have been a bleak picture that Christ painted for the disciples.  He wanted them to understand the totality of what would happen before the coming of the end.  It would not just be in their area, in their region but all over the world, where destruction would take place.  The people would hear the words and become very fearful of what would happen.  

Many would despair.  Many would loose hope and give up their lives.  Others would follow leaders who would come proclaiming they had the answers to the future, proclaiming they knew the way from destruction.  False prophets would come leading many astray as Christ foretold. He told his disciples, do not be led astray for:  "Kingdom against kingdom." 

In the time of despair and chaos all will be lost.  Not many will know what to do or how to survive the impending doom.  Only those who have the faith and the spirit of the Lord will know that he is with them and no harm will come to them.  The Lord will protect those he loves, those that are his children, those that know him and love him.

Even now in this time of confusion and chaos God is in control.  He has a plan for those who know him.  Our job is patience and steadfast trust in his will for us.  Everyday we can see his will working in our lives if we are patient.  Little by little we can see the miracles coming to life in our lives.  It is easy to get impatient but we must constantly remind ourselves that his will be done and not ours on earth as it is in heaven.

We have a purpose here on this earth.  What is your purpose?  What is my purpose?  We each must ask God what is it that he wants us to do for him.  How can we please him?  How can we show our love for him by doing something for him with our lives?  He touched me to show me his love when I was in darkness and did not know the way.  He filled me with his love that I knew him from no one else.  I write now to share that love with you that you may know that he is there for you also, waiting for your call, waiting for your cry, waiting for your need for his love for you.  Call him and he will come.  Cry to him, he will hear you.  And when you least expect it he will be with 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 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 21, verse: 32c; Seeing is Believing.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the two sons) Part 7. 

I remember when I attended college we had to take a required philosophy course.  One of the main questions in that course dealt with the idea of our senses.  Do I exist in this world; what proof do I have?  Can I believe what I see?  What I touch is it real?  How do I know?  Can I believe what I smell?  What is this that I taste, is it real?

We are rational beings.  We order our world so that it makes sense to us.  Those things that do not make sense to us causes confusion and disbelief.  The chief priest and the scribes did not believe that Jesus was the Christ.  They thought he was a charlatan.  Christ gave them the opportunity to believe but they were not open, even after they saw that others were seeing and believing.  He told them:  "Whereas you, seeing it, did not even repent afterwards, that you might believe him." 

They saw the miracles.  They heard the word.  They witnessed the cures of others and yet still did not, could not believe.  What held them back?  What prevented them from believing what they were seeing so that they could repent?  Could they not make sense of what they were seeing?  Could they not understand the reality of what was happening to the world around them?  Or were they so far down the road of disbelief that they could not turn around?

Christ told his disciples that many prophets and kings have desired to see what they were seeing and hear what they were hearing.  They were blessed to be in the presence of the Living God, a privilege that others had only dreamed about.  Yet those who had this privilege did not or could not understand how blessed they were.  Blessed are those who have not seen yet still believe.

Why do I write what I write?  Who will read such?  Who will believe such?  How many will understand?  How many will believe?  At a younger age in high school, I found peace in my life through the church.  I was happy and full of joy.  Yet as I grew older and ventured into the world, peace was something that I could not find.  So distraught and depressed was I that I was  without hope, even to the point of ending the life that was given to me.

Yet a still voice within me encouraged me to seek my answer in the Bible, the New Testament, the words of Christ Jesus.  I had heard those words many times before but not to the extent of the complete reading of it.  And reading the whole Bible, all the words of Christ, I was able to find peace.  I wept.  I cried.  I asked for forgiveness.  For I was lost in the world without a foundation, a rock to stand upon.  Now I have a foundation of grace, forgiveness, and love.  And this foundation gives me peace in the world.  I believe.  I see.  I know.  I am in him. 

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 13, verses: 55 - 56, Jesus in his own Country: Astonishment captures his town.

Our paragraph topic is: (Jesus at Nazareth) Part 2. 

And they were astonished at the wisdom and knowledge of Christ.  They knew him when he was a child.  He did not have the formal education of a scholar.  He did not have the wealth of a rich family.  His father was a carpenter, they thought.  He was a man of common means.  He learned carpentry from his father.  And they were common people.  So how is it, they said, that he has come by these miracles and this wisdom to teach us in the synagogue.  He was just a common man and astonishment had taken over the thoughts and minds of the people.  It had turned them against him that they could not see.  It had closed their eyes and blocked their hearing that they could not receive the message of the kingdom of heaven.

For Christ, the Son of God, walked among them.  Christ, the Son of God, had come down from heaven.  Christ, the Son of God, took the form of a common man and they could not hear his words.  His own countrymen could not understand his teachings.  His own villagers could not listen to the words of freedom given man from the mouth of God through Christ.  Astonishment had taken them.  Astonishment had closed their hearts that they were so shocked at his presences that their hearts could not accept the love that he gave.  For he sought to plant the good seed of God.  He sought to nourish the good seed that it may grow and produce the fruit of the kingdom of heaven.  But the evil one had called astonishment to the scene to corrupt their hearts that they could not hear.

Astonishment had brought forth anger.  Astonishment had brought forth confusion.  Astonishment had brought forth jealousy.  Astonishment had brought forth hatred.  And the forces of evil blocked the message of the kingdom.  The forces of evil worked against the words of Christ.  For the seed was stolen when it was planted and the message lost.  The townspeople said amongst themselves, "Is not this the carpenter's son?   Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Jude?  And his sisters, are they not all with us?  Then where did he get all this?"  

Christ, the common man they saw, was transformed.  Christ was not the person that they knew.  He was new.  He was different.  He was in God and God was in him.  How often today, our own townspeople are astonished.  How often today are our own church members astonished.  How often today are our own family, our own co-workers, our own brothers and sisters, astonished and become jealous at the new person in Christ.  Who does he think that he is?  Who does she think that she is?  How does she come by doing the things that she does?  How does he get all of the promotions and positions that he does?  Astonishment takes over and brings forth seven more demons and spirits more evil than the first.  And our hearts become blocked.  And our minds become closed.  And we do not hear the message of the kingdom of heaven because astonishment has taken over and our hearts are filled with anger, and jealousy, and envy, and hatred, and all manner of evil.  And we become hypocrites even in the worship of God in our own churches. 

Christ brought us a message of love.  He brought us a message of hope.  He brought us a message of new life where we could be transformed from our old selves to new beings in Christ.  Love one another as I have loved you, was Christ's last commandment to his disciples before going to the cross and sacrificing his life for us.  Let us do the same.  Let us love one another so that all men will know that we are his disciples.  Let us open our hearts to the Advocate who will teach us.  Let us open our hearts to the love that is in Christ that we may rid ourselves of astonishment and the other spirits that contaminate us.  Christ offers us new life.  Are we ready to receive it?

St Matthew, Chapter 12, verse: 25, They sought Division.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Christ refutes them) Part 1. 

They sought to divide.  They sought to bring doubt.  They sought to create fear.  They sought to bring Scandal to turn the people away from Christ.  The Pharisees have proclaimed that Christ cast out demons by the prince of devils, Beelzebub.  They want to scare the people.  They want to cast doubt upon Christ.  They want to bring Scandal upon his name.  But Scandal does not come.  Doubt is in hiding.  And fear cannot erase love for the people.  These are the tactics that they use against Christ.  The battle continues.

Christ knows of their desire to scatter the people.  He knows of their desire to cast doubt upon his name.  He knows of their need to bring fear into the people to prevent them from following.  But he deals with their tactics.  He tells the Pharisees,  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand."   Christ demonstrates to the Pharisees and the people a simple rule which they all are aware of and know as truth, a divided house does not stand.  

History has revealed that a divided husband and wife will not stay together.  History has revealed, a divided kingdom with father and sons pulling in different directions will not last.  Treachery and deceit will eventually take over and the house will fall.  History has been written of great cities and towns that have withstood the test of time but fell from the division within its wall and not from the attacks from outside its walls.  Deceit and treachery and larceny and greed take hold and the kingdom falls.  How is it then that the Pharisees speak of Christ as a member of the house of evil when he brings the message of the kingdom of heaven?  The Pharisees do not understand the source of his power.  They do not know how he is able to perform such miracles.  They do not believe that he is the one greater than they, the one who came down from heaven.  For the Pharisees were full of pride.  The Pharisees were full of vanity.  The Pharisees were so drunk with power and authority that they feared loosing it.  And they clung to their positions of authority, refusing to recognize the change that was taking place before their eyes.  The battle continued, they fought for their positions, and they accepted the reasons of the evil one.

On the verge of starvation, Christ was tempted.  On the verge of death Christ was offered the life and riches of this world.  On the verge of separation from his physical body Christ was offered to separate from His heavenly Father.  He was offered division.   Are you divided from God today?  Are you divided from your spouse and do not know how to stop the division?  Are you divided in your church taking sides with others allowing division to come into the church?  Division comes to scatter.  Division comes to separate.  Division comes and brings with it confusion, doubt, fear, anxiety, and loss, spirits of even greater evil.  Christ is one in the Father.  Are you one in Him?  Do you know Christ?  He seeks to know you, if you would only let go of the world and come into His world.  Are you afraid to let go?  If you only knew the difference, you would have no fears, no doubts, no anxieties.  Your joy will be complete.  Your peace will be fulfilled.  Your love will abound and overflow.  For in Him, and through Him, and with Him, we become one with the Father and there is no division!  He fulfills all!