St Matthew, Chapter 18, verse:15a, Fraternal Correction: First: Speak, Face to Face.

Our paragraph topic is:  (Fraternal correction) Part 1.   

Christ has given his disciples the joy and glory that will be celebrated in heaven over the return of a single little one.  He told them that it is not the will of the Father that a single little one should perish.  For God loves all his children and desires that they, will love him when they know him.  But that is the will of the Father.  Man has his own will.  So Christ has given them the opportunity to understand the happiness and love that awaits them in heaven.  He has set the framework around which they can begin to understand what God has prepared for all in heaven.  And the mystery will be revealed.

Christ goes further in teaching his disciples how to love one another.  If thy brother sins against thee, what does one do?  Accuse him/her!  Speak foul of him/her!  Talk with others about their sin when they are not present?  What should one do?  Christ gives his disciples the answer to what they should do.  "But if thy brother sin against thee, go and show him his fault, between thee and him alone."

Consult thy brother face to face, alone.  Seek his/her understanding of the sin without malice or accusation.  Express love for thy brother that he/she may turn away from sin.  These are the ideas and principles that Christ seeks for his disciples to understand.  He spoke these words that they may know how to approach each other when sin comes into a relationship whether it be a relationship  between men or our relationship with God.  When we sin, God comes to us quietly seeking to have us recognize the sin that is within us.  He does not shout it out.  He does not bash us over the head or punish us immediately because of our sin.  He continues to love us until we can recognize the sin that is within us.  For it is his children that he seeks to save, just as it is our brother that we should seek to save.  It is the sin within us that we should seek to expel through the love that is within us for one another.  Satan seeks to divide.  Satan seeks to separate.  Satan seeks to control.  Satan seeks to turn us away from God our Father and to turn us to himself.  And he will seek to do this in any way that he can.

Does thy brother know that he has sinned against thee?  Does thy brother have any conscience of his error?  Does thy brother understand the consequences of his actions?  Does thy brother know that he has opened the door to Satan?  Has Satan taken control and turned him/her completely away from thee?  Love is the key.  Love thy brother/sister, for they do not know what they do.  And if they do know what they do then they do not understand the consequences of what they do.  For no one desires to jump into the fire.  No one seeks to live eternity in damnation, if they truly understand what they do.  Yet many are blinded.  Many are without understanding.  Many have not been made fully aware of what they do.  And yet we all have the capacity to understand.  We all have the ability to make sense of our world.  Yet, in that sense, we choose what path we walk.  We choose what road we travel.  We choose the outcome of what we are.

God has given us a spirit of love.  For he is love.  He is light.  He is life and he has given us life through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus.  His love is so fulfilling that it overwhelms the mind, the body and fills the soul.  And we cannot fully comprehend the complete meaning of his love for to do so would be too much for our being.  Yet he loves us.  He completes us.  He provides for us.  He fills us with a peace that nothing on earth can provide.  Our desires, our passions, our wants, cannot begin to compare to that which he can provide.  No amount of gold, diamonds, jewels or paper money can come close to the wealth that the Father has prepared for each of us.  The choice is ours, provided we understand, provided we can make sense of it all, provided we can believe and receive the spirit that he will send to show us his ways. 

Seek thy brother alone and reconcile thy difference.  Love thy brother as God has loved thee.  When we were in sin, he did not let go.  When we were in sin, he did not turn away.  When we were in sin, he walked with us.  When we were wrong, when we were in the darkness, when we were tempted by Satan, he was still there.  He still loved us.  He still cared for us.  He still allowed us to sin.  By his grace we awoke from our worldly sleep and turned away from sin.  By his grace we were forgiven.  By his love we were cleansed.  By his mercy we will be restored.  By his love we will rejoice at his glory and power and majesty.  Seek to express the love of the Father to thy brother that he may understand.  For one does not desire to jump into the fire if one understands.  Christ loves us.  The Father provides for us.  The Holy Spirit will teach us the ways of truth and light.  Come!  Follow the path before 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: 14, The Lost Sheep: The will of the Father.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The lost Sheep) Part 5.

There will be rejoicing in heaven over the return of a lost one.  For the lost sheep are just as precious in the eyes of the Father as all the others.  They are the little ones.  They are the children that Christ placed before the disciples as an example of what they must become.  For the key to entering the kingdom of heaven is to turn and become like little children who do not worry about the cares of the world, who are not concerned about what tomorrow may bring, who rejoice in the here and now because their father will provide for them.

Christ wanted to teach them about the things of heaven.  He wanted them to know what heaven was like.  He wanted them to have all that heaven has to offer.  But first they must rid themselves of worldly ideas, worldly mindsets, and worldly passions that would prevent them from entering into the kingdom.  For it is not the will of the Father that anyone should perish.  It is not the will of the Father that anyone should be lost.  It is not the will of the Father that anyone should not be with him in heaven.  That decision is ours, given us by our father.  So Christ told his disciples the will of the Father.  Even so, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that a single one of these little ones should perish.

The little ones should not perish, this is what Christ told his disciples.  That is the will of the Father in heaven.  So each and every little one is protected, provided for, and cared for.  But there is evil in the world.  There is desire in the world.  There is lust in the world.  There is scandal in the world and all work towards turning the little ones away from the Father.  For the Father gave man free will.  The Father allowed man to decide.  The Father did not command that we choose.  He gave us the opportunity to make up our own minds, to decide what we wanted. 

Do we know what we want?  Do we see the results of our wants?  Do we understand the consequences of our wants?  For there will be consequences.  There will be repercussions.  There will be judgments.  There will be payments that must be made as a result of the decisions that we make of our own free will.  What do we know?  We believe that we can decide.  We believe that we have the capacity.  We believe that we know.  And we follow what we know.  We follow what we are told.  We follow what we are led to believe based on what we see in the world, what we feel about the world, what we hear in the world. 

We follow the path that is before us, the path that is given us.  And for those that lay out the path, those that create the path, they are driven by what they think is good and right and just in the mind of the market.  But the market is led by greed.  The market is led by desires and passions.  The market is led by the forces of commerce that are driven by the influences of the world.  And there is evil in the world.  Do we believe?  Do we see?  Do we know?  The choice is ours. 

We can sleep in the world or we can awake from the drugged slumber that the world offers.  Christ knocks at the door.  Christ holds your hand.  Christ lives in your heart.  Do not turn him away.  Do not close the door on him.  Do not go back to sleep when he talks to you.  Wake up!  See the being that you are in Christ.  Wake up!  See the light within you.  Wake up!  Know the truth that is within you.  For the Holy Spirit wants to visit you.  The Holy Spirit wants to live with you.  The Holy Spirit wants to know you.  The Holy Spirit wants you to know him.  Wake up and see!  Wake up and know!  Wake up and live in Christ! For it is not the Father's will that a single little one should perish.

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: 13, The Lost Sheep: Rejoicing over the one.

Our paragraph topic is:  (The lost sheep) Part 4.  

The Son of Man came.  He came to reclaim what was lost.  He came to save.  He came to take back the little ones.  For they are the lost sheep, scattered by the evil one.  They are the ones without a shepherd.  They are the loved ones of the Father.  Even though he had many, he came to reclaim the one.  Even though he loved all, he came to find the lost.  Even though he is all powerful, he has mercy.  Even though he passed judgment, he is forgiving.  Even though he issues wrath on those who trespass, he is compassionate.  For Christ came to carry out his father's will, to bring back the lost, to save the little ones.

There will be rejoicing.  There will be happiness.  There will be sorrow.  There will be sadness for each little one that is lost.  But there will be rejoicing at each little one that is saved.  The choice was given to each.  The decision is ours to make.  But the influence leads us in a direction that we do not know.  The turn of the head, the blink of the eye, the sound of the music can lead astray, away from the flock and into lost territory.  But Christ came to save.  Christ came to restore.  Christ came to take back what was lost.  He came to pay the price that we may have life.  And there will be rejoicing for each that returns to the flock, for each that returns to the Father.  "And if he happen to find it, amen I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray." 

And if he happens to find it, the lost one, he rejoices.  Christ tells this parable to demonstrate to his disciples and to us the depth of love that the Father has for his little ones.  For they were created from his heart.  They were created from his love.  They were brought forth from nothing into life that his love and his passion may be shared.  We have a God and Father that loves us deeply.  We have a God and Father that protects us totally.  We have a God and Father that provides for us completely.  The question is will we let him.  Will we seek him?  Will we open our hearts to him?  Will we allow our minds to comprehend that which is incomprehensible to the mind but lies hidden in the heart?

We have all the documentation in history.  We have the facts laid before us.  We have the institutions that help us to understand.  We have the grace of Christ, the love of the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit to provide for us, if we believe, if we seek, if we desire to know, if we love, if.  And it is that if that deters us.  It is that if that delays us.  It is that if that causes us to pause.  It is that if that turns us away.  For that if, is what is used against us in the world. 

Can we not believe?  Can we not see with the eye that was given us, the key to the soul?  Can we not understand that which is within us, within our nature, within our being, within our soul?  If we are told otherwise, we can not.  If we are fed lies, we can not.  If we are deceived, we will not believe.  For deception is the tool of evil.  Deception is the blindfold that allows us to continue to sleep, to turn away, to follow the path of destruction.  But Christ came to save.  Christ came to take back.  Christ came to give new life.  Will you accept it?  Will you believe in it?  Will you be open to it?  Or will you be deceived?  Come!  Follow the path before you.  Seek the truth that is within you that you will know the truth of who you are in Christ.  Believe and you will see.  For he told us how to find the truth that is within us.  He gave us a path to follow.  Will you follow it?  Will you seek to know it?  Will you find you?  Christ awaits.  The Holy Spirit beckons.  The Father will rejoice at your coming.

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.