St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 27b; The Son of Man.

 Our paragraph topic is: (The sign of the last day) Part 9.  

What are we looking for?  What do we search for each day of our lives?  Is it love?  Is it happiness?  is it money, a good job, wealth, success?  Is it peace of mind?  What is it that we want from life that makes us tick?  If we had lots of money would that fulfill our desires?  Would power to do what we want, make us content?  Would the ability to fulfill our sexual desires when and where we wanted, be enough to make us happy, satisfied, pleasured?  We see others with many of the things that we wish we had, that we desire to have, that we strive to achieve in this life.  What do we really want?

Some are fortunate enough to have the things that we desire.  Many are less so.  And it is those few who have, those few we look up to, with passion in our hearts, that we wish to have the same lifestyle they have.  Yet only a few will achieve that life.  Only a few will reach that top.  Only a few will be chosen to have the riches that they see others with.  The many will strive but fall short of reaching that goal.  

Christ told his disciples that life will not always be the same.  He told them that there will come an end to life when all will be destroyed.  He gave them signs to look for, told them what wonders would happen, spoke to them about people who would become false prophets in order to lead many astray.  Yet there would be no secret meetings, no special conferences, no general sessions that only the few would know about.  The end would come for everyone to see, for everyone to know.  He told them, just as the lightning comes from the east and shines even to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  

He came in the beginning as the son of a carpenter, the son of Joseph and Mary.  Yet he came that man would have life, a second chance at life.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only son as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind.  Christ came once to forgive sins; he will come again to end the sins of the world.  What do you want?  Do you want the riches that the world has to offer now, or do you want a second chance at eternal life?  In the end there will be no haves and have nots.  All will see, all will know, all will understand that he is the one who gives life to the world.  

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 23, verses: 39a; You shall not see me.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Lamentation over Jerusalem) Part 6.  

Christ felt a great passion for his city, for his people.  He loved them in all their glory and in all their sin.  His heart went out to them for he foresaw what he knew would happen to them without his protection, without his love.  Evil was waiting in the wings to take over completely.  Yet he was there to fulfill his destiny to pay for the sins of mankind and put a stop to evil.

Still he lamented over Jerusalem.  All the years of work and pain and toil put into making the city as it was, would come to ruin.  This was the city based on the kingdom of heaven, on the measurements of the city of God.  Evil was coming.  You could hear it in the hills.  You could understand what was happening in the courtyards of the rich.  They were selling their souls and Satan was coming to collect.  

Christ knew.  He came to put a stop to it.  He came to end it all.  His new covenant would provide protection and provisions for all mankind who chose to believe and follow him.  So he wept for the city of Jerusalem.  He lamented for the people therein.  He knew that there would be some who would believe and some who disbelieve.  He said: "For I say to you, you shall not see me henceforth."

The time was coming near for his sacrifice, for the payment to be made for the sins of the many.  He would not be available to aid the people in their struggles to come.  He would not heal the sick, cure the lame, open the eyes of the blind, raise the dead, perform all types of miracles as before.  His time was coming to an end.  Yet the people did not know or understand his meaning.

It is hard to believe that such a person walked the earth some two thousand years ago.  Yet we have writings of witnesses of his life and history.  Much is told of Christ over the years.  We have much to read and study of his life, his works, his words, his miracles, interpretations of all that he said and did.  Despite all this, in all that we know ourselves, in all we are taught from early childhood, it comes down to believing what we are given.  We are not scholars.  We have not spent a lifetime studying the books of old to gain the wisdom and knowledge of Christ's life and works.  So we take what is given us in our schools and churches and from our Bibles and Christian readings to help us believe in him.  And yet of this little knowledge the most basic understanding that we can come away with is belief.

Do you believe?  Do I believe?  Do I know?  Yes!  I know within myself, that I live within Christ.  I know within myself that I have life within him.  I know that he lives and therefore I have life because he has given me new life.  Before I was lost in the world, seeking the treasures of the world, not knowing who I am.  But now I seek the treasures of the kingdom of heaven because it is there that I want to be.  It is there that I am from.  It is there that my life originates and not from this world.  

When I seek the treasures of this world I seek darkness.  But when I seek the treasures of the kingdom I seek the light of life that comes from Christ because he has awaken me as to who I am and where I am from.  I am spiritual and not physical and within this flesh lives me, the spiritual being that Christ has awaken and given new life.  My flesh is but dust, but my spirit is alive in him.  Open your heart and seek that which only he can give and you too will know the truth of who you are. 

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 23, verses: 37b; Gathered thy children.

Our paragraph topic is: (Lamentation over Jerusalem) Part 2.  

Christ cried out for the city on the hill, Jerusalem, Oh Jerusalem!  He loved the city and the people within it.  His passion for them was deeply held within him for he knew what was to happen.  Yet with all the effort to stop the trials and tribulations nothing happened.  Messengers were sent, prophets were delivered so that the people would hear the message but the city would not have it.

Christ knew.  He saw the past and the future of the city.  He knew what would happen and his heart wept for the people and especially for the children.  He cried:  "How often would I have gathered thy children together."   The children that he so loved and cared for that he wanted to protect but could not.  The little ones that were so precious to him who's hearts were so full of love who's lives were cut short.   These were the ones that he wanted to protect, to provide for but could not because the city would not.  

Jerusalem, Oh Jerusalem, why did it have to be this way.  Sin City, Sin City, why do you call us to do the things that we do?  Why do you corrupt?  Why do you create greed?  Why do you cause us to slander?  Why do you cause us to loose all our morals just to seek the false glitze and glamour of the bright lights of your city?  Sin City, even the children are brought here to be influenced at an early age.

We cry and we weep for we must have the life that is flashed before us daily, in our lives and in our dreams.  These are our goals.  This is what we live for and what we die for, to live the golden life.  And yet we do not realize that we already have the golden life.  It has already been given us.  Christ came that we would have it and have it more abundantly.  But we do not understand that it is already there for us.  We are blinded by the glitz and glamour of the bright lights of the world and what it has to offer. 

What thing of value can a man offer for his own soul?  There is nothing more valuable in this world than a man's soul.  Lose not your own! 

 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 23, verses: 37a; Jerusalem, Jerusalem!

Our paragraph topic is:  (Lamentation over Jerusalem) Part 1.  

Love hurts.  Those who have experienced deeply the pleasure of love know the pain that comes from rejection, separation, and breakup.  The experience is one that all humans must go through at some point in their life.  It is important to know it in order to know how to overcome the pain and the sorrow.  It is important to know how to overcome that experience in order to know how to go on living.  

We experience love in life and in death.  We love in life and we love lost those that are taken away from us in death.  It is a part of how we live, a part of how we learn to live, a part of how we must grow and accept who we are in this world.  Living is pleasurable but it is also painful in many ways.  Yet it is something that we must accept.  We loose mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, love ones, children, relatives, and yet we must find some way to accept and go on living in this world.  

Christ cried for those that he loved.  He lamented for the many times that he sent love messages that were rejected, scorned, trashed, burned, and ignored.  His passion for those that he loved burned deeply within his soul.  He lamented deeply for the souls of the people knowing what they would do to the people that he sent.  He cried out:  "Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Thou who killest the prophets, and stonest those who are sent to thee!"

We were children together.  We played in the same yard, ran on the same streets, grew up in the same schools, had the same friends, yet you know me not.  Have you become so high and mighty, so proud, so famous, that you do not know from where you come?  Jerusalem wherefore have thou come?  Jerusalem, the high and mighty city on the hill.  The one where kings and rulers live.  Forget not from which from which you have come, for you are but the same as the man in the street or the village down the road.  It is God's love that has brought you forth, that keeps you in the light of time.  It is God's love that will leave you in the limelight and shine on another, least you forget who you are.

We are but children of God, our Father who created us and gave us life.  For he has life within him and it is that life that he shares with us.  We have a choice.  We can choose life or we can choose to remain in death.  The passion of Christ gave us that choice.  Which do you choose? 

 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 23, verses: 28; Outwardly appear.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their hypocritical purity) Part 8.  

Christ came down from heaven to walk among mankind that he might experience the depth of life we live as humans.  He came with a purpose to do his father's will and save mankind from the sin committed by Adam and Eve from the beginning.  No one else was able to do so.  Yet his choice was made at a cost of his life on the cross, a horrible cost of pain and suffering for our sins.  He did not have to pay such a cost but because of his love, his passion for mankind, he wanted to give us a second chance to have life eternal.  

He came and he saw the horror and the iniquity that existed from the evil that had come forth upon the people.  They cried out for his help, begged for his assistance, had assurance in his power to heal, believed in his words of faith.  Yet there was still darkness in the shadows that hid from his brightness.  He saw what men could not see.  He looked beyond the outwardly appearance into the inner heart and soul of those who were full of evil and sin.  He heard the inner thoughts of the influence that evil worked upon those of power and prestige and knew their deepest thoughts and feelings.  He told the Scribes and the Pharisees:  "So you also outwardly appear just to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

You could say he had x-ray vision because he saw what men could not see.  He saw the true filth of who they really were on the inside.  Outwardly they appeared like great men, but inwardly they were filled with dead men's bones and all sorts of ugliness.  Yet these were the men that the people honored and praised.  These were the Scribes and the Pharisees they saw everyday in the market place and the synagogue and places of worship.  These were the men that they idolized and wanted to imitate.  Yet Christ saw the other side, the inside and he called them out.  He told the people who they were.  He let the people know that they were not all they were held up to be.

Faith goes deep within the soul.  It is either there or not there.  It is either believed or not believed.  It is either a part of you or not a part of you.  Sure it can be faked.  It can be put upon like a mask and taken off like makeup.  But real faith, real belief is in the skin, in the bones, in the marrow, in the heart and soul of a person.  They know who they are because they are real.  It does not need to be preached on the corners to have substance.  It does not demand that it is shared with others from a door to door campaign to be real.  It just needs to be lived that others may see the light from which it shines within.  

Let your light shine.  Open your heart to the love that Christ has for you and you will know the truth of the living faith within.

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 22, verse: 15; The trap.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Tribute to Caesar) Part 1.  

Christ is the Son of the Living God who came down from heaven to walk among the people.  He came to teach and to preach and to give an example of how to live according to the commandments of God.  He demonstrated his love and his passion for the people, his mercy and his willingness to forgive the sins of those who sought forgiveness.

But then there were those who were against him, those who sought to tear him down, to destroy him in the eyes of the people.  They wanted to show him as being a fraud and not the genuine article as the real Son of the Father.  They were the ones who were afraid, who feared that he would show the people who they really were.  They were afraid of being fake and not real on the inside as they appeared to be.  Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might trap him in his talk.  

They took counsel among themselves and came up with a scheme as to how they thought that they might catch him in a trap.  They believed that they could trick him.  They believed that they could trap him.  They believed that they could plan a way to bring about his fall, but they did not think that they were dealing with the Son of God who knew their plans before they did.  He saw through them.  He understood them.  He knew where they came from because he knew the influence from which they came.

They could not trap him.  They could not trick him.  They could not harm him in any way.  He came that he might surrender himself for the sins of mankind.  God wanted all men and women, boys and girls to be free of sin, so he gave Adam the choice to decide to obey his commandments.  But Adam was human and Adam came up against the serpent who tricked Eve and brought sin into the world for all mankind.  

Now we each and everyone of us have to make that decision and live by it for the rest of our days.  For Christ came and gave us a new choice, a new life, a new beginning.  He came and freely gave of himself to be our sacrifice, our propitiation, that we may have life and have it more abundantly.  The choice is now ours, individually to make.  The choice is now ours to individually to decide.  The choice is now ours to individually live day in and day out that we may know the truth of who we are in Christ.  He gave us life and it is life that is within us if we choose it.

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, verses: 38; The Inheritance.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The vine-dressers kill the master's son) Part 1. 

They were greedy and full of themselves.  They had beaten the messengers, killed several of the servants, and injured several more.  They were serious about keeping that which did not belong to them.  They were joyous in thinking that the householder would not come and claim his property.  They believed that they had taken what was not theirs and made it there own.

The householder knew that something was wrong.  He offered an opportunity for the vine-dressers to change.  He sent them several messengers to warn them of what they were doing.  He finally sent his son, his heir to be, to claim his rights.  But the vine-dressers had a different plan.  They figured that they could take the vineyard from both the householder and the heir apparent.    "But the vine-dressers, on seeing the son, said among themselves, ' This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and we shall have his inheritance.' " 

So here they were, vine-dressers, filled with greed, thinking that what was not theirs was theirs and willing to go to any means to enforce their claim.  They had killed others before, the servants sent to claim the fruit.  Why not kill the heir since the householder had not come himself?  Maybe he was dead.  Maybe he was ill.  Maybe he was in prison and could not claim his rights.  Or maybe his son was the only other person to have a viable claim to the vineyard.  With him gone there would be no other challenge. 

Greed had taken over.  Lost were they to their passions.  Dead they were to the opportunity to turn around.  Yet they were too far down the road to destruction to turn back.  They were lost.  They were dead.

Today we can think about those who take the same road as the vine-dressers.  Take what is not theirs and die with the consequences.  This is the society that we live in.  Murder, theft, deception, lies, beatings, mutilations, all in the name of greed.  Some may even justify their actions in the name of need.  But what it all boils down to is a turning away from the boundaries given to us by our Father to keep us from harm.

We could say that those laws, those rules favor the privileged people and not the poor.  And yet it is not the laws that we live by in whatever locale we live.  It is the commandments given to us by our God and Father that protect us.  For beyond those commandments lie the influence of the world and the world would turn us away from our Father and toward evil.  The world would have us loose that which was freely given and replace it with eternal damnation.

The Father is patient.  The Father is loving.  The Father is forgiving.  The Father is merciful.  For we do not know what is hidden from us that will influence us to evil.  But the day will come when what is hidden in the darkness will come to light and all will see.  The time is now.  The time is here to know that you are saved, that you are blessed, that you are rich beyond all that earthly desires can fulfill.  For what thing of value could a man give that is more valuable to save his own soul?

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: 16b, Those that are called and those that are chosen.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Parable of the laborers in the vineyard)
Part 25. 

We started this chapter with Christ teaching his disciples about the kingdom of heaven.  He uses parables to get his message across to those who have ears to hear, those who have open minds, those who have not been influenced.  This particular parable is about laborers.  It is about the need for workers.  It is about agreements, and wages or rewards.  It is about generosity, and rights, about influence and anger and disagreements with the one who has the right to make a decision.

God made man and decided to be generous with his grace.  He created the angels and the principalities first before man.  Man does not have the same power and majesty as the angels but God our Father still loves us as he does all his creations.  Christ told his disciples that the kingdom of heaven is like a house-holder who went out to hire laborers to work in his vineyard.  He had a right to do so.  He had a need to do so.  He has the resources to do so.  Yet at the end of the day others decided that he was wrong in the way that he dispensed his generosity.  As the parable ends Christ says that:  "For many are called, but few are chosen."

What does it mean to be chosen?  Who are they who are called and for what?  Does God have a special purpose for each of us?  What is his plan and who are the participants?  These are questions that may come to mind as we think about this parable.  For the words of Christ are living words that have meaning and purpose.  They are written for our direction, for our understanding, for our knowledge and our wisdom.  If we seek to know, to understand, to believe, to trust then we must seek the meanings of these words.  Those meanings will not come from outside.  They will not come from others.  They will only come from the light Christ has given us within the will guide us and teach us on a daily basis.

For we are the children of the living God.  He gave each of us life.  At some point in each of our lives we have contemplated why we are here.  We have asked the question: "Why was I born?"  And we have sought to give meaning to that question that we may live our lives.  For we were born out of love.  We were given life out of grace.  And we were restore to life out of passion.  And yet we live not know the inner self, the inner life, the inner light that comes from the Father.  He is our purpose.  He is our passion.  He is our meaning of life.

And life has no meaning without him.  We can strive for all physical life has to offer.  We can reach the mountain top and live high above all the rest.  We can achieve lofty goals in life only to find that nothing has meaning in the physical.  And if we choose not to recognize, not to understand, we choose to die without meaning, without purpose, without love.  For it is the love of the Father that overcomes all.  It is the love of the Father that fulfills all.  It is the love of the Father that is all to the life that we have.  And without that love nothing has meaning. 

We live and we die and darkness takes the rest.  But with the Father, life continues.  With the Father, love abides.  With the Father, physical life is but a shell that is shed upon death and the doors to the kingdom are open that we may know ourselves as we truly are known, spiritual beings who belong to the Father.  Awaken to the truth of who you are within.  Christ has given us the key.  He has told us how to see.  All we have to do is open our eyes and behold what is within us.  The joy, the peace, the love awaits your awakening.  Come!  Open your eye 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.  

St Matthew, Chapter 19, verse: 19b, The commandments: Love thy neighbor as thyself.

Our paragraph topic is: (The rich young man speaks to Jesus) Part 10.

And now Christ tells the young man to do something that he has not heard before.  He gives him a commandment that is the foundation of all the commandments.  And Jesus said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 

Love thy neighbor!  Who was the neighbor of the young man?  Who was he to love, as he loved himself?  He had sought Christ because he knew that he was a man of truth.  He believed him.  He believed in the words he spoke.  He had come a long way to find the truth, to find what he needed to do to obtain the kingdom.  He wanted to make sure that he had the right information that he could follow.  He did not steal.  He did not kill anyone.  He did not commit adultery.  He sought not to bear false witness against anyone, least of all to be false to himself.  And he honored his mother and father, for he was a dutiful son.  And here he was seeking knowledge from Christ as to what else he should do to complete his journey into the kingdom. 

Love thy neighbor as thyself.  This was the last commandment that Christ gave the rich young man who sought to know what he must do.  The rich young man loved himself but how was he to love others as himself?  How was he to treat others as he treated himself?  How was he to love those who hated him, those who sought to do harm to him?  How would he love the poor, the less fortunate, the laborers, the sick, those imprisoned, those that were Gentile and not Jews?  How was he to do this?  This was a hard thing to think of doing since it meant seeing others in a different light.

Christ calls upon all who read or hear these words to love.  He calls upon us to see others as though we were seeing ourselves.  Despite the race, despite the creed, the religion, despite the crime, the wealth or the poverty, we are to see everyone as we see ourselves.  This is the message that Christ spoke of so that we would all hear.  These are the words that he left for every human being.  But how can we know, how can we overcome, how can we practice love  with all the evil, all the hatred, the envy, the jealousy, all the other barriers that prevents us from doing so?

The barriers in the world are there to stop us from being who we are.  The barriers in the world are there to blind us from seeing who we are.  The barriers in the world are there to prevent us from loving one another as we should.  For we are all children of the Father.  We are created in his image and likeness.  We are spiritual and not physical.  And it is that spiritual being that we are, inside, that we should see.  It is that likeness within that we should know.  It is that love from above that we should feel within, that will allow us to be who we are in ourselves and in others.

Christ came that we would know ourselves.  He demonstrated his passion for mankind that we would see the love that the Father has for us.  He gave his life that we would have new life, in him, for eternity.  And he loves with the love of the Father for each and every one of us, no matter what the barriers.  For we are not black, or white, or Hispanic, or Jews, or criminals, or the poor, or democrat or republican or any other barrier that is placed upon us.  But we are spiritual beings created in the likeness of God our Father.  And in this likeness we are the light of the world. 

Within the physical, through the darkness, inside the spiritual eye, lies the truth of who we are.  The world seeks to deny our nature.  The evil wants to blind our sight.  And the darkness wants to cover the light of Christ that is within us.  Yet each and everyone of us has that same light, that same nature, that same likeness; if we could only see it.  For within, lies the joy, the happiness, and the peace that comes with the knowledge and the wisdom of life in Christ.  And the knowledge and wisdom of Christ opens our minds, our eyes, and our hearts to the true vision to see our neighbors as we truly see ourselves.  And the vision of ourselves and others will overwhelm us with the love that is from Christ.

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: 18d, The commandments: Thou shalt not steal.

Our paragraph topic is:(The rich young man speaks to Jesus ) Part 7. 

The rich young man asked Christ which commandments to follow.  Christ told him which ones to keep: Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery.  The young man knew about the commandments but he wanted to know the truth from the one who had been proclaimed a teacher, a Rabbi, the Messiah.  For the word had come to him that there was one who performed miracles like no other.  The word spread that he was the one who had come to save mankind from the evil of the day.  And he wanted to know what he must do to obtain the kingdom of heaven.

Christ told him simply, keep the commandments.  He told him that these were the essentials to assure that he would obtain the kingdom.  Even though the young man knew of the commandments he was unsure of their importance in helping him open the door to the kingdom of heaven.  Christ wanted him to know all that is required so he gave him another commandment to follow.  And Jesus said, "Thou shalt not steal."

To steal: to take, without permission, that which does not belong to you.  It can take many forms but at its basis it means the same, to take.  We see something that we want, something that we desire, and we take it.  We steal.  We want, we take; we desire, we steal.  Christ tells us that we should not steal.  He tells us that we should not take that which is not ours, without permission.  Yet today we are programmed to want, we are programmed to desire that which we are not able to have.  We see the things, the objects of our desires everyday, every minute of our existence.  Some of those things are within our reach and some are not.  Some are things that we can attain in the future and some are things that we will never be able to have, through our own efforts, unless some fortune of luck passes our way.

Why do we steal?  Why do we have to have all that the world presents to us?  Why are our desires, our passions fed to encourage us to seek, to find ways to have what is not within our reach?  This is the way of the world.  This is what we are given from birth to death, a burning passion of worldly desires that drive us to achieve, to seek success, to have that which others have.  We follow the carrot on the stick, wanting to reach that goal of what has been given to us as a the measure of success.  And yet we are already successful in the eyes of God.  We do not have to take.  We do not have to steal.  We already have all that the world can offer us and more.  We are already given the riches of the kingdom only to give them away for the glitz and glamor that death offers in this world.

If we only knew who we are.  If we only understood the riches that is already ours.  If we could only see the truth of who we are in Christ, we would know the wealth that is ours, a wealth that nothing on this earth could compare.  Christ gave us new life.  He gave us abundance.  He gives us joy and peace, and happiness.  He gives us all, simply for the asking and only for believing in him.  He gives us the light of life that we may know and he gives us the consolation of the spirit to guide us.  And God our Father provides for us, keeps us from harm, protects us.  Yet we turn away from the Father and turn to the world for guidance, for love, for protection.  We turn to the world and away from God that we may have the things that are dying in the world, the things that are of no value.  We are already rich.  We are already kings.  We are already rulers, and priests, and ministers, and lords.  This is the heritage given us from the beginning.  Why throw away all that we already have so that we can steal that which is of no value?  Find your treasure that is within you and you will know the truth of who you are in Christ.  Then you will know that there is nothing in this world that you will want or desire that can compare to what you already have in Christ.  "Thou shalt not steal."  

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.