STUDY TWENTY-THREE
Jesus took up His ministry there, among the people of Zebulon, and Nephthalim, oppressed and manipulated as they had been, and He truly became their Saviour, preaching the Word of the Lord, and healing with the Light that comes with the understanding, and abiding, of the Word. Jesus told them all to Repent, for that is the first step to the open gates of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is no myth, for it is close at hand… True Repentance is the key to Heaven, as well as the first step on the journey there… Heaven is like the culmination, the home, the highest evolution, and conclusion, of all things truly good. It is a Paradise where everything is exactly as God wishes it… Pleading to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven will not necessarily get us there. IF we plead, and then, submit, agree, and admit, to what the Lord urges of us, then, standing there before all His glory, we may get in… BUT it is far better/easier to start believing in and listening to the will of the Lord, before that day cometh. For a start, with the Lord by our side, coming from earth unto Heaven will not be such a shock and ‘transition’. The face of the Lord looks back at us from so many points in Creation. So many things are a reflection of Him, and the mirror through which He looks at our faces, and actions, our hearts and lives, that we must stop in our arrogance and ignorance, our blind and misunderstanding faith, to admit Him, and begin to tread the path of real Faith, and true understanding, ALL being gifts that He can bestow upon us (and, boy, will we feel better for it!)… Heaven is our home. We came down from it with a free ‘bus pass’, but we must earn, and pay, for our ticket home. The Lord is the Conductor of this trip, the driver, the ticket salesman. He determines whether or not we are deserving (worthy) passengers’… Accepting the existence of Jesus, the purpose of His birth, life, death, and resurrection, truly believing in the messages each of these events, and He, our Saviour Christ Himself, conveyed, this is STEP ONE of letting God into our lives, and it is a COMPULSORY step… Jesus shall walk the Earth again one day, and, even before, and during, and after that time, He (part of the Holy Trinity) shall know all there is to know about and of mankind. We must show Him our genuine efforts to make Earth in the image of His Kingdom Heaven, for this is, and WILL be, our testimony to (for) Eternal Life… We cannot afford to take this very thing lightly, for the Lord, and His Son, certainly do not, and the Holy Spirit can easily do something to demonstrate that… Heaven is most certainly a place I want to enter into, and, I am more scared by the journey to get there, than by arriving there, one day… Heaven does not seem unfamiliar to me.
I have always felt ‘haunted’ by the barest memory, actual or implanted, and, though I am frightened of my death, I cannot wait for the reward afterward, rebirth, and reunion, with the Kingdom of Heaven, and ALL it hold within… Jesus is saying to me, and to all of us, (in this verse, and continuously…) be sure to get your ticket home. Return to your Heavenly family. There is a place for you here. Someone has kept your seat (be that on the bus, or at His table…) warm for you all these years’. Retire to Paradise…
DAY TWENTY-FOUR
Jesus went walking by the sea in Galilee, and came upon two brothers, Simon, (known as Peter) and Andrew… They were on the shore, tending to their nets and boat, etc, when Jesus spoke to them. He called them to join his cause, the cause of humanity, led by God, and He told them that they would become fishers of men, that people would flock to them as their fish did/were supposed to, and God would use them to teach… That God, knowing their fellow man (and women) would flock to Simon/Peter and his brother, Andrew, would then take advantage of this to make the people listen. As such, they would be doing God’s work, if they bent to His will, and allowed it, in following Jesus now… This, they did allow, and they did want. They left the life of a fisherman, in the traditional sense, behind them… These men were just going about their business, or so they thought, washing their nets not far from shore, but Jesus knew they were there, and the Father knew He could use these men, and so, He did. It was an example of His power, coupled with our need, that Simon-Peter, Andrew, and their friends, went to the Lord through Jesus… We are designed, all, our Father, and ourselves, to need one another… These were ordinary men, open heart and minded, given courage by the Lord… These were men, humble, who knew/sensed there to be something more, and they decided to trust in the Lord to reveal it to them… So, the Lord leant them some of His Holy Spirit to give them bravery, and, they submitted to it, choosing to follow Him…