St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 11b; Many led astray.

Our paragraph topic is:  (He tells them of trials and hard times to come) Part 8.  

He told them of trials, tribulations, and hard times to come.  He foretold the future to them so they would know what would happen.  Christ knew all things and he wanted his disciples to know also.  More importantly he wanted them to know so they could prepare their followers for what was to come.  He gave them the knowledge so they could pass that knowledge down to their followers and to generations to come.  It is written for us today to know and believe what will follow.

Trials and tribulations and hard times.  These are the things that we will face as followers of Christ.  Yet we have the Advocate to help us.  We have the writings from the witnesses to tell us what happened during their walk with Christ.  And we have the words of Christ to carry with us in our hearts and minds, to keep us on the path to his kingdom.  He told his disciples:  "False prophets will arise, and will lead many astray."

Do not be led astray by false prophets of today.  There are many who would have you believe that they have the spirit of God within them and speak the truth.  One must ask oneself if this is true.  One must question what one hears and what one believes about the prophet that preaches the gospel to you.  The word is written for all to see, for all to believe, for all to know.  There is no need for interpretation.  One can understand by oneself if one desires.  One can know for oneself if one seeks.  One can find for oneself if one has a heart to know the truth of who the true God is and the love that he bears for all.

Christ came to open the door that all may know the Father.  He came to pay the price that all might have the opportunity to share in the kingdom of heaven if one believes in him and the father that sent him.  Love is the key to open the heart and the mind to the truth of who you are in him.  We are but clay vessels waiting to be born into our true selves.  To live is to die for we die everyday that we live.  And when our time comes that our clay vessels brake we burst forth into our spiritual selves be it either the light of life or the darkness of death.  

Christ awaits us with open arms.  His love is boundless.  His charity is endless. His mercy is forgiving.  His passion conquers all.  He is the fulfillment of all our needs and desires if we but believe.  

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 20, verse:21a, A Mother's Hope.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The mother of James and John) Part 3.  

James and John, sons of Zebedee, were followers of Christ.  They rejoiced in him.  They believed in him, for he was the Messiah.  John the Baptist told them that he was the one that they should follow even when they were his disciples.  They believed in John the Baptist and knew that he was a prophet but when he told them that they should follow Christ they rejoiced.

It was a special time for them.  They knew of their history as Jews.  They knew of their tradition.  They knew that God had guided Israel and protected them throughout history for they were a chosen people.  And they knew of the prophesy that the Messiah would come and walk among them.  So they were ecstatic that they had found him and they had the opportunity to live in his presence. 

They told their relatives.  They told their friends.  They told their brothers and sisters and their parents.  They told everyone that they knew about the Christ they followed.  And because of their zeal, and their belief and their hopes, their mother saw the change in them.  She was their mother.  She provided for them.  She raised them, cared for them, protected them and loved them from birth.  And she, more than anyone else, wanted to make sure that they were taken care of.  So she went to Christ.  She desired to know herself that her children would be provided for, taken care of, and that they would have some place in the new kingdom with Christ.  When she came to him,  He said to her, "What dost thou want?"

What do you want?  This is a question that we can ask ourselves, "What do we want?"  What is it that we want.  What is it that we want today?  What is it that we want tomorrow?  As though we had a genie that would grant us our every wish, what is it that we want.  There are many things that come to mind that would answer this question.  We could say money.  We could say power.  We could say fame, or fortune, or riches, or health, or any number of things.  But the real question is what do we really want in our lives. 

We live day to day, going about our daily routines.  We work, we play, we socialize with our friends.  We shop, we cook, we eat, we sleep, we do things to entertain ourselves on a daily basis, but what is it that we really want in this life.  Do we really know the answer to this question?  Do we really know what we want?  Do we really know what would make us happy?

We are presented with ideas of what others do, or have, or want and we think that this is what we want also.  We rejoice over the possibility of how we would feel if our wish was answered, if we won the lottery, or won a car, or won some money.  And the joy of winning would make us happy for a while.  But will this sustain us for life?  Will this joy be with us for eternity?  Will we be happy when we get what we want? 

Each morning we wake up in search of what we want.  Our every thought, our every action, our every belief moves us in the direction of our wants and our desires.  There is something inside that needs fulfilling, something inside that drives us to do what we do.  Christ told us that our Father knows our every need, our every desire.  He told us not to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow has enough worry in itself.  But the Father knows us, provides for us, protects us from harm.  And the Father fulfills us.  For it is with him and through him that we find what we want.  It is in his love that we are complete and desire nothing more.  Through his love our hearts desire is found.  Through his love we long no more.  Through his love we are finished and can rest in peace knowing that he loves us.  What do you want?  I want to be with my Father, my creator, my Lord and savior Jesus Christ.  For through him and with him I want nothing else. 

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 20, verse: 17-18a, Behold: The Prediction of Death.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The third prediction of the passion) Part 1. 

We now begin a new paragraph topic where Christ speaks to his disciples about the future.  He has told them many things in confidence over the past years.  But now he speaks to them about what is going to happen in the future.  He wants them to know.  He wants them to understand.  He wants them to see the plan of the Father.  But they do not understand because they have not yet received the Advocate that will open their eyes to all that he has spoken.

The disciples are followers.  Soon they will become leaders after all that they have learned from Christ.  His journey is coming to an end and theirs is about to begin.  So Christ is preparing his disciples for what is about to happen.  They will be shocked.  They will be terrified at what will happen.  But for now they are being told of the future to come.  And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them,  "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem." 

Behold we are going up to the place where things will happen.  They were going up to the place where all will be revealed, where all will take place, where the end will happen and the beginning will be revealed.  He wanted them to know.  He wanted them to understand what will transpire so that they will understand and not fear.  Christ has taught his disciples through the years.  He has performed miracles, healed the sick, cast out demons, made the lame walk, the blind see, brought back those who were dead.  He completed all these miracles to demonstrate to his disciples that the power of God his Father was with him and that he was the Messiah.

They followed him because they believed.  They knew that he was the Chosen One who had come to save the people.  Yet they did not know how he would save them.  They did not know what had to be done.  They did not know that he would have to die to complete his mission.  And they did not know that he would come back to them from the dead after having been crucified on the cross.

But this was their legacy.  This was their proof.  This was their evidence of who they believed him to be.  We read about this in the witness that has been left for us in the Bible.  We were not witnesses as they were.  We were not there to see with out own eyes, to feel with our own hearts and hands.  Yet we are given this legacy from those who were there, from those who did see, from those who were a part of the truth.  Can we believe?  Can we know?  Can we become a part of their witness, today? 

The truth lies within you.  The proof of who we are has been given us through the legacy left behind by those who were there.  And the witness is that which will come to reside within us.  The Spirit will testify.  The Spirit will enlighten us.  The Spirit will guide, light the way, protect, provide and fill us with the love that comes from the Father.  We are all created in his likeness.  We are all his children.  We all belong to him, if we choose.  We have a choice.  We can choose.  But the proof lies within us if we seek to know.  The truth lies within us if we desire to find.  The truth lies within us if we knock and open the door to the all fulfilling love of the Father.  We are going up to Jerusalem.  Will you come and see?

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 20, verse: 13b, The agreement.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 19.

We have been talking about the laborers in the vineyard and how their minds and their hearts were changed when it came time for payment for the services rendered.  Christ told this parable to his disciples in comparing this tale to the kingdom of heaven.  He said that the kingdom of heaven is like a house-holder who went out to the market place seeking workers for his vineyard. 

Christ was seeking workers here on earth to do the work for his father, the house-holder.  The labor was needed here on earth to carry the message to the people.  Christ would not be here and he needed someone to carryon his work to lead the people and to speak with them about the Father.  He needed followers.  But he wanted those followers to know what he was asking them to do.  And he needed them to understand the reward that was being offered them.  For once the agreement was made then outside influences would enter and seek to change the minds of the laborers just as it did in the parable.  In the parable the question becomes:  "Didst thou not agree with me for a denarius?"

Agree with me.  Let us have an understanding.  Let us come to know each other and then we will have an agreement.  The laborers agreed to the compensation but later wanted to change the contract.  They became angered, and bitter and disgruntled about what they had agreed to and this was the central issue.  They saw that others got more for less work.  They saw that others who came after them received the same amount as they for less work.  They agreed to the amount from the beginning but later wanted more than what they had agreed.

Christ wants his disciples to understand that they needed to have an understanding.  They needed to agree with him on what was needed, what had to be done.  For the work was plentiful but the laborers were few.  And then came the outside influences that would seek to change them, seek to turn them around, seek to change the agreement, change the understanding that they have.  And by influencing the change in the understanding then the door is open to bring forth another mind different from the mind that made the agreement.

The agreement is a symbol of who we are in Christ.  Know thyself.  We are in him and not apart from him.  He is with us and we are not alone.  His love transforms and brings us to the knowledge of who we are.  For we were created in the image and likeness of God our Father.  And Christ is his only begotten son.  And through the passion and the sacrifice of Christ our Lord and Savior we have been restored to life.  Yet the life that we have is not known.  The life we have is not seen.  The life we have is not believed by many and that allows the influence of the outside to come in and seek to change that which is given to us. 

Seek to know thyself.  In that knowledge you will find the truth of who you are in Christ.  We are more than the physical and yet it is the physical that binds us, that holds us, that limits us to not comprehend who we are.  Death has been conquered.  It does not hold us.  It only frees us from the physical and transforms us to our true selves in Christ.  Close the door to the outside.  Open the door to the inside.  And within what is within you will see the truth of who you are in Christ.  For Christ came as a light to the world.  And he left that you may become his light.  Open your heart and see the light that is within you and Christ will send the Advocate to be with you forever.

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.