St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse: 19b; Those with infants.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The destruction of Jerusalem) Part 6.  

Infants and children, those we are, by nature, given to protect, we will do all to save from harm.  We will give our own lives that they might live.  For they are our hearts and souls and to see them suffer or endure harm tears at the very fabric of our humanity.  Yet Christ made his prediction that those with infants would suffer most because of the destruction of Jerusalem.

He spared no one the horror of the coming evil.  He wanted all to know, to become aware.  He, the gentle man of compassion, told the world that Jerusalem would suffer and see destruction.  Imagine the horror and the despair that spread throughout the populace when the people heard of his prediction.  Woe to those with child:  "Or have infants at the breast in those days!"

 Attack the defenseless and the innocent children.  Make them the basis, the foundation of the coming destruction and everyone will understand.  Everyone will believe and know the effect of what was to come.  Prepare now or suffer the little children.  Hear the words of peril; listen and learn or disbelieve and know the truth of the prediction of the words of God.

These were the words of Christ to the people and his disciples that they should know what was coming to their precious city of Jerusalem.  They were proud of their city.  They were proud of what their religion had given them.  The Jews were a proud race of people guided by the hand of God throughout the centuries.  He watched over them, protected them, guided them for many years.  So how could this man, this Christ, say that their city would be destroyed.  They did not know.  They did not believe.  They did not see the writing on the wall that was before them.  The Messiah had come down from heaven just as it had been written by the prophets of old and they did not believe.  It was all there for them to see.  It was there for them to know if they only looked.  But they were a proud people who did not want to give up what they had.  They did not want to change.  And Christ came to bring about change.

Even today we need change, change in our hearts and minds, change in our thoughts and how we live, change in what we believe.  We believe there is a heaven and a hell but we don't know it.  We do not live it.  We do not feel it in our hearts.  We are but shells that carry the true self of who we are but our shells control us and not that which is within us.  

Christ came to give us life, a new life, a more abundant life.  He came that we might not die if we only believe.  And what we believe is life that is within us that is eternal, not physical, not flesh and blood, but created in the image of God the Father.  The light of life is within us if we only believe.  The light of life is within us if we only see.  The light of Christ is given us if we only know that he is with us always.  This is the truth that is with us today, tomorrow and always if we believe. Let nothing or no one change your belief from the life that is within 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 23, verses: 19b; Which is greater?

Our paragraph topic is:  (Their distorted religion) Part 10.  

He called them blind ones because they could not see beyond the physical.  They were the spiritual leaders of the people but they had no spirit themselves.  Their religion was contrived, earthly, physical, without the understanding of the knowledge and wisdom of God.  They had the writings handed down by God to Moses.  They had the writings from the prophets. But they did not have the deep understanding and wisdom that came from the study of the wisdom from God and the Holy Spirit.

Christ came to give understanding.  He came that eyes would be opened.  He came that ears would hear.  He came that joy would be in the hearts of men once again from knowing that there is a true living God in heaven who loves mankind.  He came to show that there is forgiveness of sin for those who seek it.  He came to give clarity to their distorted religion to show:  "For which is greater, the gift, or the altar which sanctifies the gift!" 

The altar is the sacred table upon which we place our gifts of thanks to God for his graciousness of the benefits that he has given us.  For it is by his goodness that we live and breathe and eat and find the many things in life that we have on a daily basis.  The sun shines every day and the rain comes, and the wind blows, and the plants grow from the ground and we have food to eat and the many things that we have that we take for granted everyday that others do not have or that someday may be taken away.  Where would we be without his grace? 

It is through his grace that we live and breathe each day.  The gifts that we give back have no meaning to the one who created them but it is the altar that we place them upon that makes them sacred, that transforms them into blessed gifts coming from the ones that he has created that shows our gratitude to our God for the many, many things that he does for us.  

How can we possibly repay?  How can we possibly make up for all that is given to us?  It is only through these gifts placed upon the sacred altar that are transformed that express our love and thanks for him that is our Lord and Savior and our God.  Thank you God our Father.  Thank you Lord Jesus.  Thank you Holy Spirit for all that you do for us.   

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: 19b, Mustard Seed Faith.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Why the disciples could not cure him) Part 2.

The disciples were disturbed.  They did not understand why they could not do what Christ had given them power to do before.  He sent them out to the villages in pairs of two.  He gave them power to cast out demons and to heal the sick, cure the lame, and perform miracles.  But they could not help this father who pleaded with them for help.  They could not cast out this demon.  Why was it that they could not do this?  Christ told them, they had very little faith.  They performed the miracles based upon the power that he gave them but not upon the faith that they had. 

What would they do when he was gone?  What would they say?  What would they think, after the sacrifice was complete and Christ's, mission here on earth, was complete?  Would they have the faith to believe in his works, to believe in his words, to act upon their belief that he is the Messiah?  If they could only have faith.  If they could only believe without seeing, believe without feeling, believe without having his physical presence before them, then they would come to know far beyond what their physical minds could comprehend.  They would know that there is something more than just the physical realm.  So he told them:  "For amen I say to you, if you have faith like a mustard seed."

It is said that the mustard seed is the smallest seed in the garden.  Yet it grows larger than any other plant.  What is faith?   Would we define it as having a belief in something?   Would we say that faith is a belief that there is a God, that there is a supreme being, that there is something greater than ourselves?  If we believe that there is a God greater than ourselves then how strongly do we believe it?  Do we believe strong enough to act on that belief?  Do we believe strongly enough to follow the commands that have been given to us, pasted down through the generations?  Can we follow the laws of God and the new covenant given by Christ in this modern day and time?  Or are we so caught up in the world that we can not see the importance of God's commandments? 

Do we believe strong enough to not follow the world in its beliefs as to how we should live?  Do we believe strong enough to know that there is the spirit of God that lives within us?  And do we believe strong enough to see the light of Christ that resides within us, the light that guides us, the light that protects us, the light that loves us, the light that provides for us.  We should have nothing to fear, nothing to doubt, nothing to change our belief in who we are in Christ?  For when we know the truth of who we are in Christ then the seed within grows and becomes like the mustard seed.  The seed of faith becomes the largest plant in the garden and our faith becomes the largest belief that we have.

Faith to me is belief in the desire to become one with Christ.  When I am one with Him I have no fear, I have no doubts, I have no situation or circumstance that will change me from what has been given me by his sacrifice.  There is nothing that can change me from the knowledge that I have life in him and he has life in God the Father.  And in that knowledge I abide.  For the light shines within me and I know it.  The light lives within me and I see it.  The light of Christ fills me and I feel it everyday.  I look around and see his presence, I feel his love, I know his protection and I have the faith of a mustard seed, because it has been given me by and through the light of the Holy Spirit.  Come!  Share in the light that is within you.  Come!  Know the truth of who you are in Christ.  Come!  Celebrate the joy of new life.  Christ awaits you.  Christ Loves you.  And the Holy Spirit will guide you.  Follow the path before you and know the truth of life.

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.