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Exodus 21

Feb2

Good evening y’all. Today we are looking at Exodus 21. 

I have to be honest I struggled to understand how to apply the scripture to our present lives. After reading over and over and with some commentary and obviously the Holyspirit help, I could come up with the below.

I pray you are blessed 🙂

The children of Israel had just been delivered from slavery and probably had a bad mentality on how to treat slaves and others based on the brutal experience they had in Egypt. God gave the laws to show them how He expects them to behave in the new land he is giving to them as an inheritance.

I broke this down into two parts:

Dealing with fairness and justice

Our God is a just God. He has set rules in place to ensure everyone is dealt with fairly and justly.This way no one will use their power to inflict pain or abuse on  another.

I’m sure we don’t have slaves but the principle behind the laws can be applied to our daily lives especially those in position of authority in one form or the other. God expects us to treat our subjects justly and fairly knowing that God is our Master and He is watching us.

Colossians 4:1 says:
“Masters, be just and fair to your slaves. Remember that you also have a Master—in heaven”.(NLT)

Respecting our parents

Also we are to honor and respect our parents. I noticed God stressed that twice in verse 15 and 17.

“Anyone who strikes father or mother must be put to death.(Exodus 21:15 NLT)

“Anyone who dishonors father or mother must be put to death. (Exodus 21:17 NLT)

Irrespective of what our parents might have done to us or not done, God is saying we need to respect them.

Ephesians 6: 1-3 tells us that if we want things to go well for us then we need to honor our parents.

“Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. “Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”(Ephesians 6:1-3 NLT)

This command can be easy if things are fantastic with your parents but for those who don’t have a good relationship with their parents, God still says we need to honor them. Even if we feel like they have hurt us, we are still not allowed to disrespect them.

Prayer:

Dear Lord we thank you for today. We thank you for your love towards us. Pls help us treat others fairly and in a just manner as you require of us. Help us to respect and honor our parents. Thank you Lord. In Jesus Name we prayed. Amen

Thanks for joining today.

Have a blessed day 🙂

***With God all things are possible***

Exodus 20 – Ten Commandments

Jan30

Good afternoon y’all. Today we are looking at Exodus 20. In this chapter God gives the 10 commandments to Moses and the Israelites.

I often hear people say the 10 commandments are old testament laws, and since we are in the dispensation of the new testament, they don’t apply to us. I beg to differ because the 2 commandments Jesus gave in Matthew 22:36-40 is a summation of the 10 commandments:

“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

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I am going to split today’s blog into 2 sections; our relationship with God and our relationship with others.

Be blessed 🙂

Our relationship with God

“You must not have any other god but me. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love Me and obey My commands. “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse His name. “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy”. (Exodus 20:3-8 NLT)

The first four commandments focus on our relationship with God and they are summed up by Jesus’ words in Matt 22:37:

“Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.”’(NLT)

God longs for relationship with us. He wants to spend time with us. He is also a jealous God. He doesn’t want to share us with any other god. No one or anything should ever take God’s place in our lives. Not even our kids, parents, spouses, career or possessions. God should always come first in our lives. Let’s not forget He was the one who provided all the things in the first place, so why should we place the gifts above the giver? We should know that if we are in good fellowship with the Giver,  the gifts will keep coming.

I want to focus on the second and third commandments.

You shall not make any idol and bow down or serve them:
Sometimes when we hear the word idol, we automatically think it’s an object that we keep sacred and bow to daily. I’ve come to realise that an idol doesn’t necessarily have to be an object. It could be anything from money, tv programs, material possessions, kids, spouse etc. Basically anything that we place above God is an idol. If it’s the first thing we think about when we get out of bed and the last thing before we sleep and it’s all we focus our attention on then I think that is an idol.  Matthew 6:21 tells us that ‘…where our treasure is, there our heart will be also…’. If we treasure our material possessions more than God, then that’s where all our focus will be.  On the contrary, our focus should be on God; and how we can use the material possessions He has blessed us with to further His kingdom.
Today, let’s get rid of our idols and return back to God. Lets love Him with all our hearts, soul and mind.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain:
The message version says: “No using the name of God, your God in curses or silly banter; God won’t put up with the irreverent use of his name“. (***covering my eyes***. I’m guilty of this offence 😦 ). I wonder how many of us use God’s name in vain. ‘OMG’ we say it without even blinking. It’s like a natural response for most of us. Yet God clearly state we shouldn’t use His name in vain. He is a Holy and Great God. We shouldn’t become too familiar with Him that we regard Him in contempt. Yes, He is a loving and kind God but He is also a consuming fire.  Let’s learn to reverence His Name. There is so much power in His name. Jesus said in John 14: 13-14:
“And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it”.(NIV)

Our relationship with others

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”; “You shall not murder.”; “You shall not commit adultery.”; “You shall not steal.”; “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”; “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:12-17 NIV)

The next 6 commandments focus on our relationship with others and are summed up by the second command given by Jesus in Matthew 22:39:
“A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”(NLT)

Imagine how peaceful and lovely the world would be if everyone actually obeyed those commandment and lived by it.
Imagine if:
-we all honored our parents;
-we stop killing one another just for the fun of it;
-we are faithful to our spouses;
-we don’t steal from one another;
-we don’t go round telling lies or giving false witnesses;
-and we are all content with what we have and don’t envy or covet other people’s possessions.

I believe it is possible to live by these principles. God won’t ask us to do them if they were not possible to attain. Thank God for the Holy Spirit. We don’t have to try to live out these principles by our own strength. He is there to help us and supply the grace. Let’s call on Him today and ask for help.

Prayer:
Dear Lord, we thank you for today. Thank you for your unfailing love towards us. We ask for grace to love you with all our hearts, mind and soul, that nothing will ever take Your place in our lives. Holy Spirit, please help us to walk in love daily. Let it be evident in our speech and actions towards our neighbors. Thank you Lord. In Jesus Name we pray. Amen

Thanks for joining today.

I’m blogging through the bible with Good morning girls. Check us out at http://www.goodmorninggirls.org

Have a blessed day and glorious weekend 🙂

***With God all things are possible***