Month: April 2016

Ten Commandments (5)

 honor-father-and-mother

16 “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Honor denotes distinction and recognition. In this case a recognition of God’s role in the life of a parent or elder. God created hierarchy in His design for our family. A husband leads his wife, parents lead their children, and Christ leads the church. God also refers to the wise man accepting counsel. The missing piece in the minds of followers is the top of the hierarchy. A wife is meant to follow a husband who follows God. Children are meant to follow parents who follow the will of God. The church is headed by Christ who is the son of the Father God. Wisdom is seeing things from God’s point of view. His vision is complete wisdom. Accepting wise counsel requires knowledge of God and a discernment for His will. Following wise and discerning counsel will help a believer grow in spiritual maturity and experience the presence and favor of God in their lives through people God has chosen to put there as guidance for His children.(Proverbs 13:14) 14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.

Upcoming Posts!

 

seeking-god

We have a good list of posts just waiting to be be shared. The list of upcoming topics include: The rest of The Ten Commandments, The Beatitudes, The Plagues of Egypt, and The Fruits of The Spirit. I hope that the elaboration helps all of you see God and His purpose in how He presents Himself to His people. He is presenting Himself to you all the time! Take the time to seek Him so that you find Him at all times!

Ten Commandmenst (4)

thDOUXSAM6

12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave[c] in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

 

The world moves forward in darkness and sin. Part of the life of a believer is to be set apart (holy) as an example for those in the darkness to find the light (Jesus). Although taking a Sabbath day for church activity is the obvious interpretation to this command it speaks to much more. A day to commune in fellowship with other believers is the opportunity to grow in faith and knowledge of the word of God as a member of the church body. A day of rest is also part of keeping the body God gave you and the family God gave you healthy. As the ways of the fallen word creep in we find our health and family relationships suffering due to lack of attention. God desires that we slow down and focus on Him and His provisions for us. Being thankful for what we have and God’s guidance is an important part of the Christian walk. The time discussed here also must speak to the need to be alone and still with God in prayer. This could be taken as a Sabbath time taken each day in fellowship with God who speaks to us in our silence and stillness. This commandment is God’s way of keeping us in pace with Him and not moving in accordance with our desires. The goal is to match the pace and will of God and not the foulness of this world. (Psalm 46:10) 10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

Ten Commandments (3)

thQA1SDE30

11 “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Taking God’s name in vain means to attach His name to an oath or promise that will be intentionally left unfulfilled. Taking the Lord’s name in vain is the worst way to reflect being led by Him. Using God’s name to intentionally deceive someone is completely contradictory to God Himself and a poor reflection of God to this world. If you know God you are meant to reflect His light and shine on a world filled with darkness. This commandment could lead to much more guidance than seems apparent. The words of your mouth show the content of your heart. A changed heart in Jesus should be reflected in the content of your words. Purity of speech shows the outward reflection of a circumcised heart. Clean speech also shows intelligence and self-control. Being led by The Creator means you have the most intelligent guide possible. Evident self-control is not what we should strive for, it’s the relinquishing of control to God who controls all and leads us. Being led by God and giving Him control of our lives will be reflected in pure, controlled, and loving speech. We should have words that build up those around us and honor God. (James 3:2) 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

Ten Commandments (1)

Deuteronomy 5:7

7 “‘You shall have no other gods before me.

Worshipping any other God is worshipping nothing. There is only one God of substance with any real power, He does not want the falseness of the world to creep into His place as The Creator. Many gods were created by man to explain the unexplainable. They created them to establish a false sense of control in a world that is always in the hands of the true God. Examples of this kind of false god worship exist in every culture. The Egyptians had many gods that Yahweh proved worthless in the plagues.  Native Americans dance to false gods for favor, Hindus created many, many gods to get favor in the smallest details. African tribes have fertility gods, and the ancient Greeks and Romans had the famous gods the planets are named after. The list is endless. What is clear is how the creator God put into the human heart a desire for Him and the knowledge of a higher power. It’s amazing how people can deny the existence of God with all of the wonders of this earth and the fact that the entirety of man-kind has searched for something to fill the void left by the fall since the beginning. I’m astonished at the energy and effort required to ignore something so obvious in the midst of the emptiness of this fallen world.(Exodus 15:11) 11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? (Psalm 96:5) 5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

The Ten Commandments Intro

The book of Deuteronomy are God’s rules for His people given to Moses as they enter the Promised Land after 40 years in the wilderness. You could look upon this time as a new beginning for the Israelites. These people had seen the provision of God for His people through His guidance and provision when they were incapable of providing for themselves, as well as His grace and mercy as He listened to their grumbling against Him and their desire to return to captivity.

All of the lessons shown in this book can be applicable today because God’s Word is alive and has no reason to change. As our perspective changes the will of God becomes clear, as does the benefits that comes from leading a life in the way our creator meant for us to live.

God made His way known to His people in the form of laws that kept them safe and unified. These laws were said to honor and worship God but they also served to give them the life that God desired for all of mankind before the fall. The laws were a shadow of God’s revelation of Himself in His son Jesus Christ. God describes the way in the Old Testament and then makes the word flesh in Jesus Christ the foretold Messiah. (John 1:14) 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 

 

Topic Suggestions 

Welcome to the page!

Please feel free to comment with topics you’d like to see researched and discussed! Let’s keep things open to new ideas!

Colossians 2:2     That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery which is Christ