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Tuesday, November 5th
2024
The Thirty-first Week in Ordinary
Time
·
Philippians 2:5-14
·
Psalms 22:26-32
·
Matthew 11:28
·
Luke 14:15-24
Christians, consider the extreme change in
tone between the person at the table, saying to Christ Jesus: of the
blessedness of a person that would dine in the kingdom of God, and
Christ Jesus’s reply.
For Jesus Christ did not simply or politely agree with this person,
fawning all over him, saying: yes, indeedy that person will truly be
blessed!
Rather, Christ
Jesus’s reply to him is a stark parable; a parable that addresses
the entirety of the Tribes of Israel – for remember, it was to the
Children of Israel that Christ Jesus was sent to proclaim the good
news of repentance for the remission of sin and then they, the
children of Israel unto the entire world: thus, all the Apostles are
Jewish men – saying, that a certain man gave a great dinner.
Now Christians, we know that Jesus is referring to God the
Heavenly Father, when he says: a certain man gave a great dinner and
we also know that all the people in the parable are the children of
Israel: who were too busy to attend the Covenant made between God
and themselves, the people of Jacob-Israel.
Now Christians, let us afford honor and glory to God the
Heavenly Father, as God, and give him thanks for his most precious
love for us: having given unto the world his only begotten Son, the
Lord Christ Jesus as a sacrifice for the remission of sin.
Christians, this sacrifice on the cross, we do not rightly
understand, being as: it is some two-thousand years since Christ
Jesus walked, on the planet earth, as a mortal man, and therefore,
we do not understand, personally, but only through imagination and
knowledge of things that have past, can we etch out some
understanding; still, this is not first-hand knowledge nor empathy
of understanding.
Christians, we should realize first that all the people in the
middle east are ancestors of Noah: we can surmise the extend to that
flood, but it is only conjecture not actual proof.
Still, the children and people of the middle east: the
Assyrians, Egyptians, the Arabs, all the people around the Tigris
and the Euphrates Rivers, and the people of what is now called
Greece are all descendants of Noah, in one way or another, and his
Sons and daughters in law: so, it is truly more of a family Feud
than anything.
Yes, it
is true that generations upon generations have past, but none the
less: the population of the Middle East sprang from the loins of
Noah.
Now it was to
Abraham that the first covenant between man and God is marked with
circumcision, and at this time of Abraham many of the tribes in the
middle east offer sacrifice to god; although they did not offer
sacrifices to the true God, the God of Jacob-Israel and we know the
truth of this statement: for they carved out wooden images and
gilded them with gold and prayed to graven images and some such
thing; they also gave sacrifice to these images.
Now, at the same time as this was going on with Abraham, in
the Middle East, on the Continent of North America and especially in
the Central American States, human sacrifices were happening – these
people again sacrificing to a god of their imaginations and not the
true God of Jacob-Israel: the word of God the Heavenly Father is how
we know God, the one true God.
Moreover, human sacrifices and other sacrifices were also
prevalent in the middle east.
Now, the true God of Jacob-Israel set Abraham apart from all
people, but as Isaiah the Prophet of God declares: that although an
ox and a donkey knows their crib, the people of Israel do not know
God the Heavenly Father and have not understood.
Christians, we also see this same language testified in the
Gospel of John: Jesus was in the world: and the world was made by
him: and the world knew him not.
Yes, Jesus came to his own: and his own did not receive him.
The point of this meditation is to understand that sacrifice
was a common thing, before Christ Jesus, and as common as seeing
from our eyes the weather of the day.
Now Christians, the point to the sacrifices that God the
Heavenly Father did give to the people of Israel, which none of
these were human sacrifices but were: grain offerings, first fruit
offering, and the sacrifice of an unblemished animal: a lamb, a
bull, a dove, was so they, the Israelites, would make atonement for
breaking the laws of God: the commandments, statutes, ordinances,
and decrees and thus, the individual would grieve the loss of these
gifts from God, possessions, and would also, hopefully realize the
sin, of their sinfulness, and would keep themselves from sin:
behold, the fear of the Lord God the Lord Christ Jesus is wisdom and
to depart from evil is understanding.
Christians, so now, if we sin God the Heavenly Father looks
at his Son, the Lord Christ Jesus and remembers the eternal
sacrifice, and thus, no more sacrifices are required by man, for as
Saint John the Baptist declares: behold the lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world.
Christians, do not be lured by false sentiment: for when The
Baptist, John makes this declaration it means that Christ Jesus has
overcome sin, and therefore, we are no longer slave to the sins of
the flesh: as all people who were before Christ Jesus and also those
who are not baptized in the fire that Christ Jesus brought into the
world: the Gospel of spirit and life.
Christians, Saint John, Apostle testifies: whosoever commits
sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the
law.
Christians, yet how
can this be, since Jesus Christ took a way the sins of the world,
why is Saint John, Apostle telling us if we sin now; truly, it is
because, when Saint John the Baptist declares behold the lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world, Saint John is testifying that
sin has no power over us because Christ Jesus has overcome the world
and the sinful flesh.
Therefore, when we sin now, it is by choice and not because we are
slaves to our flesh: Jesus testifies: if he had not come and spoken
unto them, meaning the Pharisees, Sadducees, Priest, Elders and the
people of Israel, they had not sin: but now they have no cloak, no
excuse, for their sin.
Christians, indeed, at the moment of Christ Jesus’s crucifixion, the
curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom: and the
earth shook and the rocks were split and this symbolizes the veil,
the cloak that was between God and man is gone and we are now each
responsible for working out our own salvation in Christ Jesus.
Moreover, Christians, this working out our salvation is not
the size of the house that we live in, in our material lives, but
this salvation is whether our bodies, the temple for the Holy
spirit, has been washed clean by and in the blood of the lamb,
Christ Jesus: by choosing to repent of our sins or whether, our
house and temple is defiled: by choosing to remain in our sins and
sinfulness, choosing to prefer darkness.
Willfully, Christians do not prefer darkness; rather, first
seek the true light that is the light of men, that being the Lord
Christ Jesus.
Now
Christians, in the name of the Lord Christ Jesus let us pray and be
thankful.
Amen.
Tuesday, November 12th
2024
Memorial of Saint Josaphat, Bishop
and Martyr
·
Titus 2:1-8 & 11-14
·
Psalm 37:3-4, 18 & 23, 27 & 29
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John 14:23
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Luke 17:7-10
Christians, Christ Jesus brought unto
humankind the Gospel of spirit and life, and this Gospel was given
to him by our Heavenly Father, the Lord God creator of heaven and
the earth.
Now
Christians, the more we tend to this word of spirit and life, the
more we are filled with life, truth, love and the hope of eternal
life: the word of the Lord that came to Micah; still, Christians, we
know that Christ Jesus is the Word made flesh.
Micah testifies that the Lord God does witness against all of
humankind: yes, God the Heavenly Father from his holy temple.
Christians, In the Gospel of John, it testifies: that God
sent John the Baptist to bear witness of the light: the true light
that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
Now Christians, in this Gospel of Luke, Jesus is testifying
to how things are!
Christians, our flesh does rise up against the way things are, but
it is because we do not understand that we must cast down all things
that rise up against the knowledge of God and bring them under the
authority, the power, of Christ Jesus’s Gospel of spirit and life.
We are to owe no person anything, other than to love them as
we love ourselves; moreover, we are to realize that Christ Jesus is
the head of government and that individuals do rise up against
Christ Jesus, but they are simply wasting their time: for the Gospel
of spirit and life is declared and it will come to fulfillment;
hence, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Christ
Jesus is Lord.
Yes
Christians, Saint Jude, apostle, disciple and servant of Christ
Jesus testifies: that filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise
dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
Christians, therefore, let us put on our apron, the armor of
God: the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of God’s Righteousness
and Justice, the sword of righteousness – the Gospel of spirit and
life, the shield of faith, a forcefield that does not return hate
for hate, but as Christ Jesus teaches: to those who hate us, do good
-- good being, Christ Jesus’s Gospel of spirit and life and not the
baking of chocolate chip cookies or bringing flowers, and in truth
and life, let us put on the shoes of Christ Jesus’s peace, which is
a peace that goes beyond all understanding.
Christians take note here and do not let Satan trick your
fleshly conscience; whereas, Christ Jesus testifies, when you have
done all you have been commanded, say, “We are unprofitable
servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.”
Christians, let us also be reminded of what Saint Jude
testifies: although you were all once fully informed that God the
Heavenly Father, who did save a people out of the land of Egypt,
afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
Now Christians in the testimony to Titus, disciple of the
Lord Christ Jesus, Saint Paul, Apostle writes about the way, the
truth and the life that is in accordance with Christ Jesus’s Gospel
of spirit and life.
Now
Christians, look at these words that Saint Paul, Apostle is
testifying closely: be consistent in what you say!
Yet, he is also saying: that this consistency must be of
sound doctrine.
Truly, a
people can repeat unsound doctrine, consistently, so that some may
come to believe that the unsound doctrine is healthy, but truly it
is not: time and generations will prove the unsoundness of all lies.
Sound doctrine is this: older men should be temperate!
Christians, let us examine this word temperate for it is
similar to the phrase: being of sound mind and the word: of
self-control.
Now, the
word temperance is also of the same meaning as self-control and
these two are also, one of the same gifts of comfort from the Holy
Spirit: Christians when our flesh rises up and tempts us, with the
many things that the flesh can and does tempt, we have the gift of
the Holy Spirit that we may be given so as to overcome all
temptations.
Now
Christians, do not for one moment think, it is because of your own
personal pride and fortitude that you refrain from temptations: for
Christ Jesus was not crucified, died, buried and rose again, so that
we may now say; it is because of my own will that I have not sinned!
Yes Christians, it is true that we have a choice and that we
may even refrain from sinfulness of one sort, but watch closely that
you do not commit the sin of false pride, while you are resisting
some other sin of the flesh.
Truly, Christians it is idolatry to believe in your own pride
of worth, when it is the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we must seek:
so as not to sin to the left of God’s word nor to the right of
Christ Jesus’s Gospel of spirit and life.
Yes Christians, the older men must be temperate.
They must be dignified; here again, Christians, let us not
define this word dignified, by the way the world defines dignified:
for we can dress up a pig in a suit, but it is still a pig or again,
we can dress up a person with good speaking skills, but that person
may prefer the darkness to the true light of life that being the
Lord Christ Jesus.
Christians a person is known by the fruits of their life and not the
clothes they wear, the skill of their speaking nor the house they
may occupy; therefore, Christians, when we judge dignity let us make
sure that it has the fruits of life that are in accordance with
Christ Jesus’s Gospel of spirit of life.
Christians, Christ Jesus testifies: why do you not judge for
yourselves what is right?
Again Christians, self-control and temperance: these must be
in the spirit and life of Christ Jesus’s Gospel being gifts from the
Holy Spirit, we also must recognize, in our conscience, the many
temptations that we do not act out, which God the Lord Christ Jesus
has blessed us; so as not to be slaves of our flesh.
Now Christians, this next thing that is of sound doctrine is
being sound of faith, but it is not only faith: for the word
teaches; it is faith to faith.
Christians, Saint Paul, Apostle testifies: for therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written,
the just shall live by faith.
Christians, Paul also testifies: seeing, it is one God that
justifies the circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through
faith, we then know, truly, that through Christ Jesus the
righteousness of God without the law is manifested: being witnessed
by the law and the prophets; so too, the law and the prophets
witness the righteousness of God.
Christians, the law is now made manifest through the Holy
Spirit: for the Spirit of truth was given the words of God the
Heavenly Father to now remind us of Christ Jesus’s Gospel of Spirit
and life: be consecrated and sanctified in truth; Christ Jesus’s
word is truth.
Jesus
Christ teaches that now even if a person looks at another with lust
in their heart, they have committed adultery.
Again, Jesus Christ testifies: to all the things that defile
a person.
Still, Jesus
Christ testifies: unless you repent in no way will you enter into
the kingdom of heaven, the Kingdom of God; therefore, Christians
repent and believe in the Gospel of the Lord Christ Jesus, the words
and teachings of spirit and life.
Now Christians, in the name of the Lord Christ Jesus let us
pray and be thankful.
Amen.
Tuesday, November 19th
2024
The thirty-third Weck in Ordinary
Time
·
Revelation 3:1-6 & 14-22
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Psalms 15:2-5
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1 John 4:10
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Luke 19:1-10
Christians, we are to learn, understand,
embrace and then conform our hearts and minds to the Gospel of
spirit and life that is the Word of God, Christ Jesus; therefore, we
sing, the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want: first seek ye! the
kingdom of heaven and the Heavenly Father’s Righteousness and all
things shall be added unto you: the wealthy man, Zacchaeus sought to
see the Lord Christ Jesus; we, too should seek to see the Lord
Christ Jesus.
Moreover,
Zacchaeus confesses to the Lord Christ Jesus of his repentance,
saying; that half of his goods, which we know is a process, that
Zacchaeus does give to help with the needs of his community and as
well, and hear this Christians, if Zacchaeus defrauded any person,
which would include: the poor, the widow, the orphan, the rich, the
self-sufficient, any person that he would repay or restore these
defrauds but not only one-to-one but would repay and restore them
4-to-1; in other words, Zacchaeus restored fourfold.
To wit: Christians, let us seek justice.
Harken Christians!
For when we read the testimony of Revelation, we indeed get
an understanding of how the Lord Christ Jesus perceives the various
churches that are churches within his Church.
Now brothers and sisters putting all facetiousness aside and
juxtaposing the many churches of today, the inferred conclusion
would be: that, if Revelation was written today a many of these
churches would find themselves eternally damned, eternally condemned
and Christ Jesus’s judgement would gather them like chaff from the
wheat and throw them into the unquenchable fire.
Yes Christians, let us speak with the loving harshness or
simple truth of Christ Jesus himself: for in the explanation of the
Parable of the wheat and tares Christ Jesus separates the
goats from the sheep and speaks in the term of the children of the
wicked one and the children of the kingdom; therefore, we too,
Christians are obliged to speak, witness and testify with the same
lovingkindness of truth, life and the way of Christ Jesus, so as to
be faithful to Christ Jesus, and to the testimony: repent and
believe in the Gospel, that is, the Gospel of spirit and life of the
Lord Christ Jesus.
Truly, Christians, if we seek vengeance we are judging and
condemning; whereas, if we seek justice, we are being forgiving, but
with the rod of Christ Jesus’s Gospel we are testifying and living
and being in the righteousness of God the Heavenly Father knowing
that God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit do not let the guilty go
unpunished.
Truly,
Christians, there is a manifest difference between justice and
vengeance; moreover, we are to seek justice, but vengeance belongs
to God the Heavenly Father, the Son the Lord Christ Jesus and the
Holy Spirit and they: will convict and convince humankind of our
sinfulness: because we have not believed in Christ Jesus; the Holy
Spirit will comfort, teach and remind us of God the Heavenly
Father’s Righteousness: because Christ Jesus has gone to Our Father
and is seated at his right hand; and as well, the Holy Spirit
witnesses, speaks, comforts, teaches and shows us that the ruler of
this world Lucifer, the fallen angel, has been condemned, judged,
and is confined – awaiting his final one thousand years imprisonment
in the pits of the unquenchable fires of Gehenna.
Now Christians, do not let the roaring lion of temptation
deceive you: for indeed we are to witness, testify, live and speak
Christ Jesus’s Gospel of spirit and life and it is not Christ
Jesus’s Gospel that offends and it is not Christ Jesus’s Gospel of
spirit and life that is iniquity; rather, Christ Jesus teaches us
the things that offend, as he has taught of the things that defile.
Yes Christians, the tone of the Gospel of spirit and life is
always the same; it is of God the Heavenly Father’s righteousness:
yes Christians, God so loved the world but many, of the world, turn
their backs on God, and when Christ Jesus comes again; it will be of
the Revelation that Saint John, the Apostle testified and a remnant
will receive eternal life in Christ Jesus’s kingdom.
Now Saint John in this revelation testifies: “to the angel of
the church in Sardis” and this angel tells Saint John: be watchful
and strengthen the things which remain, things that are ready to
die.
Christians, these
things that were not dead, but were ready to die, the testimony
says: that the churches, works, are incomplete, in the sight of God,
the Lord Christ Jesus.
Again Christians, the angel tells Saint John to remember, the
beautiful and wonderful counselling which is part of the magnificent
gift of repentance that Christ Jesus did establish for the salvation
of humankind.
Remember,
Christians, all of humankind’s sins can be forgiven with the
exception of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, so indeed: acknowledge
your sins, be assured of forgiveness, turn away from your sinfulness
and go and sin no more, that is, repent.
Christians, we have all been warned and if we go on as living
in sin, to the left of God’s word or to the right of Christ Jesus’s
Gospel, then the sword of God’s righteousness will come down upon us
as a thief in the night.
The word of God tells us that we will never know the hour that God’s
wrath may fall upon us, we can only be assured of what the word
testifies: God does not let the guilty go unpunished.
Truly Christians, the angel testifies to Saint John, Apostle
that the church of Sardis has a few who have not soiled their
garments, and that these will walk with the Lord Christ Jesus
dressed in white, because they are worthy.
Christians, do not be misled: for a person may dress in white
but this does not make that person worthy; indeed, it is Christ
Jesus and only Christ Jesus who rewards us with the crown of life.
Yes, Christ Jesus teaches; fear not those who can mistreat
you, beat you and bruise your body and even kill you, rather, fear
the one that has the power to cast your soul into eternal damnation
after your body is dead.
Now Christians, in the name of the Lord Christ Jesus let us pray and
be thankful.
Amen.
Tuesday, November 26th
2024
The Thirty-fourth Week In Ordinary
Time
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Revelation 14:14-19
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Psalm 98:10-13
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Revelation 2:10
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Luke 21:5-11
Christians, God is
spirit: they who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth:
our bodies are to be temples of the Holy Spirit; there are edifices
that humankind make and then call them churches; and there is the
Church that Christ Jesus is building, which upon Peter did he build
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; yet, we clearly
see the Lord Christ Jesus testifying of the edifice: the Temple that
Ezra help rebuild, the costly stones adorning it and the votive
offerings, they would all be thrown down stone upon another stone;
moreover, Saint John, Apostle testifies: love not the things that
are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the
Father, (God the Heavenly Father) is not in him. For all that is in
the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, is not of God the Heavenly Father, but of the
world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that
does the will of God abides forever. Christians, therefore
understand: with God the Heavenly Father’s input King David designed
a temple and Solomon his son, built this Temple, and then that
temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, but God’s house
remained. Then, after the years of the dispersion had concluded,
the Temple was rebuilt, and it is this rebuilt Temple that Christ
Jesus is alluding too, the Temple that will be thrown down stone
upon stone; nonetheless, these humankind-built structures are not
the Church of the Lord Christ Jesus and it is of this eternal Church
that the gates of hell will not prevail. Indeed, Christ Jesus
testifies: that nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines and
plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs
will come from the sky. Still, Christians, we should not let our
imagination’s run away with ourselves, and also remember that Christ
Jesus said that no sign will be given other than the sign of Noah:
that people will be eating and drinking, given and taken in marriage
as it was with the people of Noah’s time, and then in a flash of
lightning, the floods came, so too will it be with the Son of Man,
Christ Jesus’s return. We should not fear this: nations rising
against nations and kingdom against kingdom for they are portends to
our eternal salvation, nor should we speak it as being one thing or
the other for we know not what exactly Christ Jesus means by these
testimonies, but we should testify Christ Jesus’s Gospel of spirit
and life and remember, that we will be accountable for every idle or
careless word that we have spoken. Moreover Christians, Christ
Jesus has taught us what to fear, and we are to fear, the one who
has the power to cast our souls into eternal damnation and fear
nothing else. Also, Christians, we must remember the parable that
Christ Jesus did utter: that the person who hears his word and acts
upon it, that is, lives according to Christ Jesus’s Gospel of spirit
and life is like the person who has built their home, their lives,
their temple upon a firm foundation and when the storms of life
come, and they will, these storms will not prevail against this
person. However, if you hear the words and teachings of the Lord
Christ Jesus, but then live according to what you may think is right
or the best instead of according to the Lord Christ Jesus’s Gospel
when the storms come much damage will occur. Again, Christians, we
may consider this also from another testimony from the Lord Christ
Jesus; where he tells us: take heed therefore that the light which
is in us is not darkness. Christians, do not be deceived; for when
Christ Jesus tells us that the world prefers darkness and make sure
that your light is not darkness, Jesus Christ is telling us unless
we repent of our sins and sinfulness, we will all perish. Truly,
Christians, Christ Jesus was with God before the foundation of the
world, according to the testimony given to us; therefore, we
understand that when Moses was face to face with God and received
God’s word, it was Christ Jesus that he was receiving – yet at this
time, the word had not been made flesh, but was spirit and
life. Clearly Christians, we know what is sin and what is evil, and
our brother Isaiah the Prophet of God the Heavenly Father says, woe
to the person who calls evil good and good evil. Again, Christ
Jesus testifies whosoever offends one of these little ones who
believes in Jesus Christ, it would be better if a millstone were
hanged about their neck, and that this person was drowned in the
depths of the sea. Christians, testifying to repent and to believe
in the Gospel is not the offending of a person, but is the
testifying: to the way, the truth and the life: it is testifying to
Jesus Christ and his Gospel of repentance for the forgiveness of sin
and sinfulness. Now Christians, the symbolization of this testimony
from Revelation is of life, truth and what is to come: Jesus is
wearing his crown of eternal life and he also has the sharp
instrument that will be separating the wheat from the chaff and the
soul from the spirit. Here again Christians the Lord Christ Jesus’s
way, truth and life is consistent: for Christ Jesus testifies in the
Gospel of John that Jesus Christ was given all power over the flesh,
that he should give eternal life to as many as God the Heavenly
Father did give unto him. Then, Christians, Jesus tells us what is
life eternal; it is so we may know God the Heavenly Father, the only
true God and Jesus Christ, whom God the Heavenly Father did send
unto humankind with the Gospel of spirit and life. Again,
Christians, we see the consistency: for Saint John, on the Island
Patmos had this revelation and we also see the testimony from Saint
Paul, Apostle that the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper
than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing apart of the
soul and spirit and the joints and the marrow, and Christ Jesus, the
word of God, discerns thoughts and the intentions of the
heart. Christians, so, again, one who looks like the son of man,
Christ Jesus is sitting on a cloud with a gold crown of eternal life
and a sharp sickle in his hand, waiting: till the time of the
trumpet to be sounded. Then Christians, another angel came, also
with a sharp sickle and this angel is instructed, by an angel that
came from the altar who was charged with fire, saying: “Use your
sharp sickle and cut the cluster from the earth’s vines, for its
grapes are ripe!” Now Christians, we clearly perceive that this
angel is separating the wheat from the chaff and is rewarding
individuals according to their deeds: to those with good deeds
eternal life and to those with deeds of preferred darkness eternal
damnation; yet, exactly how this is going to manifest and when it is
going to come about is only known by God the Heavenly Father;
whereas, all speculations are of man’s imaginations and these
imaginations may or might not be the case. Christians we might also
remember that Christ Jesus is the true vine and that God the
Heavenly Father is the vine grower, the husbandman. Jesus, the
Christ, testifies: every branch in him that does not bear fruit, God
takes it away; moreover, every branch that does bear fruit, God the
Heavenly Father purges and prunes these branches, so that it may
bring forth more fruit.
Christians, again, Jesus, the
Christ testifies: abide in him and Jesus, the Holy Spirit is to
dwell in our earthly Temples, that is, the word is to abide in us;
moreover, as a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide
in the vine; no more can we bear fruit, unless we abide in the Lord
Christ Jesus.
Now Christians, in the name of the
Lord Christ Jesus let us pray and be thankful. Amen.
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