St Matthew, Chapter 18, verse: 6, Punishment for leading the little ones to sin.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Avoiding scandal) Part 2.   

Christ treasured the little ones.  They were newly born, fresh from the tree of life, given new life by God.  Theirs was the innocence.  Theirs was the beginning.  Theirs was the start of a life in eternity.  For they knew not life.  For they knew not existence.  They were conceived in the being of God who brought forth the tree of life that it may bring forth fruit.

Precious are the little ones.  Happy and joyous are their lives.  Full of questions and curiosity is their life.  Happy in the learning and the experience of all that life has to offer.  And Christ said to his disciples: "He who receives one such little one for my sake, receives me.  Yet there are those who do not receive them.  There are those who would corrupt them.  There are those who would use them for their own means, to serve their own purposes.  The little ones are the gems of heaven.  They are the newborn life of God.  They are the ones to be protected and guarded against the evil of the world.  And for this reason Christ told his disciples:   "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it were better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."

How precious are the little ones.  Look into their eyes and see the light of life that comes through them.  Feel the joy and love that comes through their hearts as they experience the physical life that is theirs.  Through them we become alive and experience the newness of life.  Through their lives we are reborn.  For with them and through them we shape the future of their lives and provide the protection and have the opportunity to set them on a path that they may follow for the rest of their lives here on earth.  We are their foundation.  We are their light in the darkness.  We are their protection as God protects us.

Yet there are those who would destroy.  There are those who would corrupt.  There are those who would lead astray the new life sent to earth by God.  There are those who would turn these little ones away from their true nature and send them into darkness.  Beware, you who corrupt, you who destroy, you who tear down and turn the light to darkness.  Grave is your sin.  And great is your punishment.  Far greater will be your suffering in hell for the sin that you commit hear on earth.  Christ tells you that it would be far better for you to commit the sin of death than to face the sin of corruption of a little one.  For the sin of death is far less a punishment than the sin of corruption. 

Turn away from these acts of evil against the Lord your God.  Seek forgiveness and repent.  Open the door to the light of Christ who forgives the sins we commit.  God loves you.  He created you in his image and not in the image of darkness.  You are life and you are light.  See the goodness within you and know the truth of who you are in Christ.  He has provided the way and the path awaits you to follow.  Come!  Receive the light of the Holy Spirit and you will know the truth of who you are in 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 18, verse: 5, Humility: The door to recieving Christ.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Avoiding scandal) Part 1.    

Christ continues to teach his disciples about spiritual principles.  Humility, he tells them, is the key to entering into the kingdom of heaven.  For it is through the humbling of the spirit and the denial of self serving pride that one enters into the kingdom of heaven.  It is through the knowledge and the practice of humility that one is able to drive out the spirit of pride.  For it is through pride that the door is open for Satan to enter in and influence the physical.  This is the knowledge that Christ wants his disciples to have, the knowledge that he wanted his disciples to practice so they would have a defense against the tricks and traps of evil.

Christ goes on to show his disciples the simplicity of a little child.  For children are under the care of their parents who will watch over them and care for them.  And the disciples are under the care and protection of Christ.  So he tells them that to receive a little child is to receive him, to know as a child is to know him, to be as a little child is to be as he is.  He tells his disciples:   "And whoever receives one such little child for my sake, receives me."   

Receive the little children of the world and you receive Christ.  Receive the innocent of the world and you receive Christ.  Keep them safe.  Protect them.  Watch over them and he will watch over you.  Christ gives his disciples a very important spiritual principle to live by.  This same principle is available for us today.  Protect the little ones.  Guide the little ones.  Love the little ones and you will love him.  For it is through the heart that one receives the little ones.  It is through the love that one receives them and it is through the spirit that one opens up to the spirit in them. 

We are all parents at some point and we know the love and care that we give to our children.  We have a responsibility to them when we bring them into the world.  And for mothers there is a bond that comes with the birth of children.  For a father there is a dome of protection and provision that he provides and with that provision comes a love from the heart.  God has given us the privilege of sharing in the creation of life.  We provide the physical and he provides the spiritual life that comes through our children.  But there is something more than that.  The bond is deeper than just physical.  We respond to the physical touch, smell, taste and feel of our children.  The sight of them brings joy.  The knowledge of them fills our waking thoughts and actions.  They are our hope and our beliefs and our love for the future.

But all that is just the physical and not the spiritual.  For Christ is one with the father and we are one in him, if we choose.  Our children should be one with us spiritually.  For they are the true spirit of life and love that comes from God.  They know not, they are not, and they experience not except what we give them.  And if we give them not of our spirit then they will be not. 

For how can we give of what we do not know?  How can we experience the truth of the joining if we have not joined?  How can we see their light if we have no light in us?  It is through our own light that we can truly know the light of Christ within us.  We are physical beings but even more we are beings created in the image and likeness of our God.  He gave us life.  He created us.  He provides for us.  He protects us.  And it was through the sacrifice of Christ that we are given the light of life renewed.

Receive the little ones into your heart.  Receive the little ones into your spirit.  Receive the little ones into your light for they are new in the physical world and fresh from the tree of life.  Their spirit is strong and their light is new.  It is through them that we can truly see the light of the life of Christ.  Come!  Know the life that is within you.  See the truth of who you are in Christ.  For with the truth you will know who you are.  With the truth you will see the light within you.  With the truth you will have no fears, no doubts, no anxieties, no hatred, no anger, no lust.  For yours is the kingdom of heaven and your father loves you.  Open the door!  Follow the path!  Read the truth before you and receive the Holy Spirit of Christ who loves 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 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 18, verse:4, Pride vs Humility.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Against ambition) Part 3. 

Christ told them that they had to turn.  He told them that they had to change.  He told them that they were in the wrong place and that they had to leave that place and get to another place.  Satan was in their midst and had persuaded them to come to his place.  He influenced them to think about the future, to think about themselves, to think about fame and fortune and greatness.  He influenced them to think about all those things that were of this world and not of the spiritual world of heaven.  Satan wanted to turn them around, to turn them away from Christ.

Christ told them that they had to turn away from where they were.  He told them that they had to see what was needed to enter into the kingdom of heaven and that ambition would not lead them there.  Just as a child had no ambition, so the disciples had to become.  Just as a child had no desires, so the disciples had to become.  Just as a child was full of joy and wonder, so the disciples had to become.  Just as a child was humble, so the disciples had to turn away from pride and become humble.  Christ told them: "Whoever, therefore, humbles himself as this little child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven".

Christ gave the disciples an example to follow.  He showed them the humility of a little child that they would know true humility.  Here they could refer back to this example and remember what they saw and what they felt to know who would be the greatest.  This is a simple example for us to follow if we can.  We live in a world filled with examples of how not to be humble.  We ware fed through all our senses the world's view of how we should live, how we should think and how we should be.  Humility is not a part of what the world teaches us.  Humility is not a part of what we see in the world.  Humility is not a part of what we believe today.

Yet Christ tells us that to be like a child is the key to entering the kingdom of heaven.  How can we do this?  How can we turn from the world and espouse humility?  How can we practice this principle in a world that presents everything to the contrary?  It all starts with the knowledge of who you are in Christ.  What knowledge is this? 

God, our father, created man in his image.  He created man and woman in his likeness as  spiritual beings and not physical beings.  God is not a man.  God is not a physical being.  God is not of this earth.  And yet we are created in the image of our God.  We are spiritual beings and not physical beings.  We belong to the spiritual world and not to the physical world.  Our life and our light comes from the light that was given back to us by the sacrifice made by Christ. 

Christ is the most humble of all.  He gave up his power, his majesty, his glory to become a physical man to save us from destruction.  And it is through his humility that we have life today as spiritual beings not physical beings.  The body dies, decays, and returns to dust.  But the spirit is eternal in Christ, if we choose it to be.  It is our choice. 

It is only that we do not know who we are that we follow the principles and precepts of the world.  For with the knowledge of the light of Christ we know who we are and we can see ourselves as we truly are in him.  Christ gave us the way.  He told us what to do.  He created the path to follow, the path to discover the joy and the peace and the happiness that is ours to have, if we choose. 

Follow the path that is before you.  See the light that is within you.  Know the truth of who you are and the world will no longer have a hold over you.  For you are a child of God, your father, and he will provide.  He will protect.  He will love you as no other can love.  Christ knocks at the door.  Open 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 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.