Tenth Commandment: Be Content

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.”
Exodus 20:17

Advertisements try to get you to break this commandment.  Their whole purpose is make you want something that you don’t need.  “You deserve to enjoy our product.”  “Our product tells people you’re rich and successful.”  “Women will fight over you if you use our product.”

You want a house in a certain neighborhood because successful people live in that area.  You want a car because the woman in a bikini who stood beside it was HOT!  You want to buy clothes at a certain expensive store because people in fashion use that store.   All these things are examples of coveting, which are caused by the advertisement companies.

Even without advertisements we do a good job of coveting.  Just seeing something a friend has bought causes us to envy having it ourselves.  Our neighbor’s new car sets our mind into thinking how nice it would be to have a new car ourselves.  It doesn’t seem like something big to want something we don’t have, but actually, it is a case of not trusting God.

First off, let's remember that Christians do not own anything.  We have the honor to be caretakers for the things God has put into our possession.  We are not our own, and neither are our possessions.  The possessions we have are to be used for His honor and glory, not for ours.

When we covet something, we are saying that we want to own something for ourselves.  We don’t trust God to take care of us, and so we want to have something that will glorify us, make us happy, or make us feel fulfilled.

Our glory is not found in this world.  When we see Jesus face to face, He will shower us with His glory.  Happiness in this world is fleeting, but when we reach Heaven, we will have joy forever.  Fulfillment in this world is temporary, but serving God is eternally fulfilling.

We need to covet only one thing, knowing God.  Desire to love and serve Him with all your heart.  Everything else is garbage.  Be content with what God has placed into your care and use it for His glory.

Photo Credit: The Collection 02 by VOD cars

Technorati Tags: contentment, commandments, revival, renewal, Christianity,

Ninth Commandment: Impress God.

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” Exodus 20:16

Anyone who wants to know God and have Him in their life, should love the greatest creation God has fashioned, your neighbor.  God loves every person whoever lived far more than you have ever loved anyone in your life.  If you want to make a good impression on God, then love your neighbor.  Don’t lie about him.  God hates lies.  He is the God of Truth.


Technorati Tags: liar, lying, commandments, morals, Christianity

Eighth Commandment: Trust God, Be Content

“Thou shalt not steal.” Exodus 20:15

Stealing is not simply a case of taking what someone else owns.  It is taking into your own hands the opportunity to get what God has not said you could have.  In essence, you are saying that God does not understand what you need so you have to go get it yourself.

We steal when we do not trust God to provide for our needs.  We steal because our relationship with God is lacking trust.  If we knew God and how much He loves us, we would never steal.  We would rest on His love and promises.  Stealing is wrong because we are putting ourselves in God’s role.  We are saying that we can do a better job then God.

Technorati Tags: Bible, contentment, scripture, stealing, crime, thief, commandment, God

Appreciate God’s Second Greatest Gift to You in this World.

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14

The greatest gift God has given to us is Jesus.  He is the most precious blessing we could ever have.  Having Him means receiving so many other blessings and gifts but, even without them, He is far greater than all the universe.

The greatest gift in this world I think is God’s word written down in the Bible.  It is the greatest book ever written because it shows us who God is and how we can find Him.  It helps show us how to find Jesus.

The Second greatest gift given to a person is their spouse.  God is entrusting an eternal soul to another person when two people marry.  Each person is to help and encourage the other in this life.  God has given them someone to share the good times and the bad.  Someone to help when one is sick.  Someone to lift up the other when the world seems to be falling apart.

Your spouse is a gift from God, and you are a gift to your spouse.  Believers have no rights to their own lives because they have given their lives to Christ.  Christ in turn gives some of that responsibility and ownership to your spouse.  You do not belong to yourself, but you belong to God and your spouse.

When we start to think about others, in a way that should only be reserved for our spouse, we commit adultery in our hearts.  Our hearts look for someone else to satisfy our desires outside of our marriage.  Doing this, we are telling God that He made a mistake.   “God, this woman (or man) is a better choice for me then the person you gave to me.  She/he can fulfill my desires, and I have decided to do this my way and not yours.”

If you want a relationship with God, where He answers your prayers, then you better be one with your spouse.

“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” 1 Peter 3:7

You cannot expect to have a close relationship with God while telling Him that one of the greatest gifts ever given to you was the wrong gift.  If you are not right with your spouse, you are breaking your relationship with Christ as well.

Technorati Tags: Marrage, wife, husband, divorce, adultery, commandments, love, Jesus, revival, renewal, Christian

Is the Sixth Commandment, Do not Kill?

“Thou shalt not kill.” Exodus 20:13

I have killed people.  Because of me, peoples’ lives have ended.  Does that mean I have broken this commandment?  I was in the US Navy, and I plotted our ship’s course and basically aimed the gun at targets where people were.  They died because of what I did, but I did not break this commandment doing it.

The word “kill” means to murder.  I did not murder because what I did was in an act of war.  God sent armies out to battle.  He would not want anyone to disobey His commandments, so going to war must not fall under this commandment.  He also ordered people to be executed so an execution for crimes is not under this commandment.

This commandment is when a person takes it upon themselves to murder someone else.  They are playing God by deciding when a person’s life should end.  They are ending a person’s chance to know God.

Ending a person’s life is serious.  It means that if they do not know Jesus as their savior, they will never again have the chance to accept him.  If they are believers, it means they will never get the chance to grow closer in their relationship with Christ.  Their opportunity to become more like Christ has ended and to serve Him in this life has ended.

Matthew 5:21-22 Jesus says we should not even be angry without cause or call a person a fool.  The problem is found in our hearts.  It is not just our actions that condemn us but our dark, inner desires.  It is this sinful, self-satisfying, rebellious heart of ours that gets us into trouble.  Our hearts want to rebel against God.  It doesn’t want a relationship with Jesus.  It wants its own way.

We must fall down before God and repent of our rebellious spirit.  We must not rely upon our hearts to lead us, but rather upon Christ.  Murder is an action of the heart.  Faith is a sacrifice of the heart.

Photo Credit: Murder's weapon on the table by VanDammeMaarten.be

Technorati Tags: kill, murder, crime, heart, revival, commandments, christ, jesus, hate, anger

Fifth Commandment: Honor Authorities.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Exodus 20:12

I have a little bit different take on this commandment, but I think a valid one.  I would love to hear what you think.

Our parents are the first authority God places over us.  They are to protect us, teach us, and guide us in how to live our lives.  God has placed on them the heavy task of bringing up an eternal soul in the ways he/she should go.  Parents shall answer to God on how well they accomplish this task.

We as children are commanded to honor this authority who God has placed over us.  I wondered what honor in the Hebrew meant so I looked it up and here are some of the definitions.

To make weighty, abounding, chargeable, glorify, very great, heavy, lay heavily, bring to, come to, noble, prevail, promote, be rich.

What our parents say should hold more weight than what anyone else says.  We are to honor their commands to us.  We are to let their commands prevail in our lives.  The only time we are not to obey them, would be when God’s commands are counter to their commands.

If they were terrible parents who neglected their children or abused them, the commandment still holds.  A Christian is called upon to love his enemies, even if that enemy turns out to be a parent.  That does not mean we get all buddy buddy with them.  It means we recognize them as our parents, and not speak badly of them, we do not seek revenge, and we give them help when possible.  It means letting God judge their actions for abusing the authority they were given.  It means forgiving our parents.  I know it is hard.  I have been there.

The promise to this commandment is that our days may be long upon the land which the LORD our God has given us.  Most people talk about this promise as it is given to an individual.  I see it as given to a nation.  A nation shall fall if its children do not honor their parents.

When a nation of children loses a sense of honor to their parents, they also lose that sense of honor to other authorities over them.  They do not honor and obey the laws of the land.  Police, their boss, government officials, and anyone else over them will be seen as people to be reviled and rejected.  God Himself is also rejected by them.  They become their own law on how to live.  They become their own God.

Our parents start us out in life and release us into the world with our first experience of authority.  How we view their authority effects how we view all other authority. If a nation of children does not respect authority, that nation is bound for destruction.  It will be a nation of self-serving,  godless people who will not be willing to sacrifice for others.

God wants us to honor our parents and in so doing, we will learn to honor Him.  We will then be able to have a relationship where we listen to Him and honor Him in our lives.  The first key (but not the only key) to having a loving relationship with God is learning to honor our parents.  If we do that, we shall live long in the nation that the LORD our God has given us.

Technorati Tags: parents, commandment, Exodus, scripture, Bible, honor, revival, nation

Fourth Commandment: Let’s Get Together After Work

“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Exodus 20:8

In the times of Jesus, if you were to wear shoes with nails in them, you were working because you were carrying nails.  If you lit the lamp, you were working.  If you healed someone, you were working.  Pharisees kept an eye on people, and they especially kept an eye on Jesus.  They did so much work trying not to work that they must have been exhausted by the end of the day.

What they were not looking at was the purpose of this commandment.  Could you imagine what life would be like with seven days of work?  We would be working constantly and even if our bodies and minds could handle it, our spiritual life could not.  We would never have any time for God.  Churches would have to meet in the evenings, and very few people would ever go.  Churches would die out.  Our souls would shrivel up and die because we would not have time for God.

God, in his wisdom gave us a day of rest.  Rest is more than just relaxing.  It means to rest in Him.  It means to be with God, talk to Him, listen to Him and trust in Him.  It means having a relationship with God.  You take one day off so that you can enjoy the blessing God has given you and to show your thankfulness to Him. 

God wants you everyday to be with Him, but if we did not have this one day set aside to specifically be with Him, we would be too busy to ever think about Him.  This day reminds us of His love for us.  It reminds us that He wants us to be with him all week long.

The Sabbath is the day set aside for everyone to pause in their busy lives, look towards God and remember how much He loves being with us.

Technorati Tags: commandments, scripture, Bible, work, Sabbath, Jesus, Pharisees, Love, Rest

The Third Commandment: God is God, and You are Not!

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Exodus 20: 7

The first commandment we looked at (click here) said No spiritual gods, angels, demons or spiritual powers are equal to God.

The second commandment (click here) said nothing material in this world is equal to God.
The third commandment says that you are not equal to God.

Taking the name of the Lord in vain is to try to bring Him down to our level.  His name is Holy and powerful.  When we use it as a swear word or for any thoughtless purposes, we are saying that we have a right to misuse the name of God.  We are just as powerful and as important as He is.  We can do whatever we like with His name.

God is God.  There is only one God and He alone can say how His name is used.  You are not God.  You are his creation.  Misuse of His Name is placing yourself on the throne of Heaven.  This is a very serious crime against the King and ruler of the universe. 

Technorati Tags: Commandments, revival, sin, cursing, swearing, treason, God

We have Idols?

I was looking at quotes about “The Ten Commandments” and I have come to the conclusion that people do not really understand them.  They are not laws set down to tell you what to not do.  God is not an ogre standing over you with a club, to hit you over the head when you disobey Him.  They are a road map to Him.  I will post about each commandment in hopes of showing you what I mean.

Second Commandment:  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;  Exodus 20: 4-5

In The United States, we don’t have idols.  You need to go to India or to some other country where idol worship is found.  Our country has very little of that.  We know that a piece of wood, metal or paper is not God.  We are much too sophisticated for such things.  If you believe that, you’re deluding yourself.

We have made idols of Cobras, Mustangs, Barracudas, Thunderbirds, Sting Rays, Spiders and many other cars.  Some people are more concerned about a scratch on their car then they are for their own souls.  Our possessions can be our god.  We believe the more we have the safer we are and the more we will enjoy life.

To many people they look to the Government as their God.  They bow down and worship a donkey or an elephant.  They find the government to be the answer to all their needs.  They just need to get the right people in office and the world will all fall into place and paradise will come.
There are no possessions you can have, or enough money you can gain to make you safe in this world.  Neither the Government nor any party or person can ever bring about paradise for you in this life.  Movie stars, musicians and other famous people are not to be worshiped.  No one in this world has any real answers to the world’s dilemmas.

The only answer to the problems we face is found in having an intimate relationship with God.  He has the power and wisdom to bring us through anything this world can throw at us.  He and He alone can carry us through every tribulation of life. We need to turn to Him.  Cling to His word and His promises.  He is faithful to hold us safely in His arms.

Technorati Tags: revival, commandments, Idols, religion, Christianity, stars, famous, cars

The First Commandment

I was looking at quotes about “The Ten Commandments” and I have come to the conclusion that people do not really understand them.  They are not laws set down to tell you what to not do.  God is not an ogre standing over you with a club, to hit you over the head when you disobey Him.  They are a road map to Him.  I will post about each commandment in hopes of showing you what I mean.

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”  Exodus 20: 3
 
Bahia is a religion that believes all religions lead to God.   Jesus, Buddha, Allah, and other beliefs are all equal.  God never says that in the Scripture.  It says: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  John 14:6

I am not going to compromise what scriptures say, just to sound nice. If I sound like I accept other's beliefs, I am encouraging them in their journey; which ends in their eternal death.  God wants us to love them enough to tell them the truth.  Accepting their beliefs as equal to Christianity is not loving.

People do not want to talk about politics and religion because it can cause emotional confrontations.  Not talking about religion can cause eternal pain, torment and a very emotional reaction of sorrow to the one who ends up in the eternal lake of fire.  Christians have the answer to that eternal condemnation.  Jesus.

Technorati Tags: commandments, scripture, Bahia, Islam, Buddha, , religion

Fluffy Jesus

My Son-in-law used the word “fluffy” when talking about a certain group of Christians. My mind latched onto that word, and I found it a fascinating description. I thought about this group of fluffy Christians. They would be fluffy only because their Jesus was fluffy. Could my Jesus be fluffy as well? Was my belief a fluffy Christianity?

I look at my life, and I realize that sadly, I am a fluffy Christian.  My Jesus is not the Jesus in the scriptures.  My fluffy Jesus is not that serious about the little sins in my life.  “Don’t worry son.  I know you were in a hard spot and telling that lie just helped make things easier for you.”  “Yes, you sinned, but it's not like you killed anyone.”  “I asked you to tell that person about me, but don’t worry;  I will find someone else to tell them.”

God is a righteous God.  He hates all sin.  To Him a lie is as bad as robbing a bank.  The punishment for both is death.  That may sound extreme but it really isn’t.  Anytime we sin, we are rebelling against God, the creator and ruler of the Universe.  When someone rebels against a king, it is treason.  The punishment for treason is death.

Do you take sin seriously?  Our culture is not the authority on what is right and wrong.  God is.  Premarital sex is sin.  Homosexuality is sin. Abortion is sin.  White lies are sin.  Drunkenness is  sin.  Stealing a pen from work is sin.  Taking extra change accidentally given to you is sin.  Wanting revenge is sin. Cheating on taxes is sin.

It does not matter what your friends say.  It does not matter what your spouse thinks.  What the government determines is legal or illegal is not the final say.  God determines right and wrong, and His word, above all others, is what matters.

He is not fluffy.  He is serious about sin.  He is forgiving and loving, but He is not fluffy.  He draws a line in the sand and says, “Do not cross this line."  I have crossed that line everyday.  I have not taken serious what God takes serious; and worse yet, I have made Jesus into my fluffy Jesus.

Lord, forgive me.  I have looked to my friends, the world and myself for determining what is right and wrong.  I have placed others onto the throne of judgment in my life.  I have allowed myself to think that you do not take sin seriously.  You hate all sin.  You have set you heart like flint against sin. Your desire is to crush sin.

I know that you are a God of love, and I have tried to take advantage of that love.  I have made you into my image.  My fluffy faith has created a fluffy Jesus.  Forgive me and help me to look to you alone to know what is right for  my life.  I ask you to take your rightful place on the throne of my life.  I worship you for who you are and not for who I think you are.

Photo Credit: Jesus by Babblingdweeb

Technorati Tags: sin, forgiveness, revival, Jesus, Christ,