The Law of Love.

Jesus said…

If you love me, keep my commandments.

Recently studying the commandments of the royal law- the ten commandments written in stone by the finger of God- the ten commandments which Jesus over saw there on Sinai- the ten commandments which Jesus said would not pass away- these commandments given to humanity by our Creator as invaluable knowledge of the God we love and serve, the God who loves us- we continue with the fourth commandment.

Exo 20:8  Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 

Exo 20:9  Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 

Exo 20:10  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 

Exo 20:11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 

Restrictive or freeing?

The Lord gave us this unique commandment signing it with His seal-

Name, Title, Location -  the LORD thy GOD - CREATOR - HEAVEN, EARTH, SEA.

The Seal of God.

Every week in which there are seven days we are given the seventh day to devote solely to God and God's will.  God tells us to not work on this day- not do the very things that are engaged in for self-focus. We work, why? Because we were told this-- 

Gen 3:17  And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 

Gen 3:18  Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 

Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. 

We need to work to live because no longer would sustenance be provided for us.  God did not want us to get so caught up in providing for ourselves that we would lose sight of our need of Him. Truthfully, God created the Sabbath before man sinned because God wanted human begins -those of independent thought and will- to forever enjoy the bond that the Creator wanted to have with His creatures. A special time set aside for the Creator and Creature that nothing could disrupt- no activity whatsoever would interfere with this weekly, full day renewal. When man sinned the need for the Sabbath only became more paramount. The Sabbath is vital for the creatures to keep to be as close as they possibly could be to their Creator in their sinful state.

Commanded to love. Each of the ten commandments reveals the love of God for us. Not a single commandment was given to restrict us in any way, but rather free us in the love of God.

God's love for His creatures is set in stone, renewed in the blood of Christ, our Savior who kept the ten commandments perfectly.  We, if we love Christ, will also keep the commandments, the law of love.

Honor Your Parents.

Honor.

When we honor someone we are giving them great respect and admiration.

We are commanded-

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

And Jesus said if we love Him we will keep His commandments. We are looking at the royal law, the ten commandments that He gave, that He expounded upon, that He lived- fully keeping them all without breaking a single law because we know this--

1Jn_3:4  Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Sin is a transgression of the law.

When you commit NO sin you transgress no law.

There has to be a law for you to be able to transgress it for there to be sin.

Jesus committed no sin.

Jesus did not transgress the royal law.

We are told to honor our father and mother.

We are to give great respect and to admire our parents. We owe our very lives to our parents. And while there are many parents who are abusive, dismissive, loveless, and some who even give up their children so others can raise them, a parent deserves at least the respect and admiration for the life of the child, the existence.  It's hard to admire or respect those who are abusive, very hard but not impossible.

We are to honor our parents and this goes hand in hand with loving our enemies if need be -should our parents be our enemies and yes, they can be.

Mat_5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you

Admire and respect, it's a choice you can make. This choice is easy to make when you have loving parents, but not so easy when you do not having loving parents.

We are commanded to honor our parents because they are our physical life givers. We can do this. Our heavenly Father loves us even though we are very abusive to Him- this is truth.

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 

Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Rom 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

Sinners- transgressors of the law of God, breakers of the ten commandments, and yet, God still loves us.  Should we do any less towards our parents should they fail to treat us with love?

We do know this…

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 

We have a heavenly Father.

Our heavenly Father is decidedly deserving of our admiration and respect.

So even if our physical father and mother falls far short of what one would consider worthy of honor or respect, we honor them because our God would have us honor them. Out of our love for our heavenly Father, we love even those who may seem to be the most unlovable. All through His power, through His grace, through His mercy, through the Holy Spirit, we love, we honor those He would have us honor.

Thou Shalt Not Kill

Killing.

Jesus said- If ye love me, keep my commandments. Joh_14:15 

This is one of those commandments He was speaking about-

Exo 20:13  Thou shalt not kill. 

Jesus also said this about that particular commandment-

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:  But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Mat 5:21,22

Yes, they'd heard about the commandment not to kill, and if they did kill they'd be in danger of the judgement. Now, Jesus is telling them that they shouldn't be angry with someone- without cause.

Being angry without cause is just as deserving of judgement as killing. How is that possible? It's possible because the intent of the heart is what God looks at and it is very possible for a person to have a hatred set in their heart that drives their anger, yet hasn't brought them to take a life. The intent of the heart is so important. We have to take stock of our intentions. We have to give our hearts wholly to Christ. We have to let God create a clean heart in us.

Our Lord tells us if we LOVE Him we will KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS and He can say that to us because those commandments reveal our hearts fully. When we choose to keep the commandments we are choosing to love God and love others in the deepest way we possibly can.

To murder someone is to steal their life from them. Cain, the first human being born to human parents stole his brother's life from him. Cain, followed the Wicked One- Satan. The wrongness of taking life is not something that needs explaining from me, we know it's wrong, we all know murder is wrong. We all know hatred in a heart is wrong, and not of God. We all know we need God to create a clean heart in us, renewing a right spirit in us. We desperately need God to do all for us we cannot do.  If we love Him, we will keep His commandments. We will know the commandments and keep them in our hearts knowing they are guideposts to love, to life, to God. God revealed Himself in His commandments, we have to treasure them, they are eternal.

Lust Hurts.

Jesus said- If we love Him we will keep His commandments.

Exo 20:14  Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

Did you know that even lusting after another person that is not your spouse is adultery?  You don't have to have physical contact to commit adultery. Jesus said it is wrong, and it's the truth. So many people say it's harmless to look at others with lust, it's harmless to flirt, it's harmless to get aroused by others, that it's all natural. Guess what? It's not. It's our flesh nature that has been perverted by sin that has made the unnatural seem natural. Excuse it in whatever way you want to, and people want to, boy, do they want to. Come up with all kinds of reasons, explanations, excuses and so on and so forth that you want, you will NOT alter the WORD of GOD! What has been perverted by sin will never be considered good, never, no matter how many doctors, scientists, therapists, even ministers try to work it around to being acceptable, it is NOT. 

Lust HURTS, lust is SIN! It's NOT natural! We are NOT animals without higher thinking abilities.  We make CHOICES. We CHOOSE between right and wrong. We are TOLD what is right and what is wrong and then we have to choose between them. Lust hurts us, and it hurts others, and it hurts God.

Sin opened the door to the ability to choose wrong over obedience to God. We choose, no one makes the choice for us.

We face the choices and when we try to make our choice of sinning into something acceptable to God we are only being delusional. People have made great strides to call sin good and they've deluded most of the world's inhabitants. Satan, the wicked one, has manipulated people for thousands of years and they have fallen victim to his deceptions. God will allow the truth to be know if a person really wants to know the truth, most do not.

Remember Jesus said--

Joh_14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Do you love Jesus?  Jesus said…

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Jesus took from the royal law the commandment about adultery and expounded on it as He expounded on others. He did NOT do away with any of the royal ten commandments, not one!

Jesus said this-

Mat 5:27  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 

Mat 5:28  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 

You don't have to physically commit the act of sex in order to commit adultery. You simply have to indulge in the lust in your mind and you've committed adultery.

The TEMPTATION towards lust isn't the sin, it's the INDULGENCE, the ACCEPTANCE, the ENCOURAGEMENT of lust that takes the temptation and turns it into sin.

So, if you're watching pornography you are doing so in order to feel the lust you obtain from watching it, and that is sin. If you're married, that is adultery, and if you're not married, it is fornication, both sins.

Sugarcoat it all you want until you twist things to call evil good and good evil, millions upon millions will do just that to their own condemnation.

If you've been caught up in the sins of lust, married or unmarried, you need to REPENT - forsake and give up the sins- and seek forgiveness!

Adultery also has a more far reaching meaning as well… in the example of God and His chosen people-

Jer 3:20  Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. 

Jer 3:8  And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. 

Jer 3:9  And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 

Jer 3:10  And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. 

Rev 18:2  And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 

Rev 18:3  For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. 

We are told to COME OUT OF BABYLON, come out of the lifestyle that calls evil - good and good - evil.

By the grace of God we need to know and follow the truth as God reveals it in His word. We are told to keep His commandments. We are told what the commandments are, and we treat them lightly without looking into the depths of them, into the heart of their truth. We say we keep the commandments all the while we break them over and over again because we do not know the heart of them. God help us all!

May we not be deceived! May we shun the life of modern day Babylonians and not partake of the sins of Babylon. May we NOT receive the plagues that will come upon those who embrace modern Babylon, please, LORD keep us from all evil! 

All through Your love, Lord Jesus, our Savior!

Do Not Steal.

Exo 20:15  Thou shalt not steal. 

We all agree that stealing is wrong. Even criminals who steal know that it's wrong when they do it. Some will justify stealing- the Robin Hood scenarios for one, but they too still comprehend the wrongness of stealing. Stealing is taking something that isn't yours to take.

Stealing.

Dictionary Definition-  Take something unlawfully. Take something furtively. Dishonestly present somebody's work as yours. Sneak, in hopes of not being caught.

Thesaurus terms-  theft, robbery, burglary, larceny, thieving, pilfering, shoplifting, pocketing, embezzlement, appropriation, pinching, nicking.

You can steal more than tangible items. Honor can be stolen. Ideas can be stolen. When you take something that doesn't belong to you in any way, you are stealing. 

Can you steal from God?

Mal 3:8  Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 

If something belongs to God, something is rightfully God's and we withhold it from Him and His purposes, we are truly stealing from God.

Psa 29:2  Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. 

The glory DUE to the Lord's name, the worship DUE to the Lord- people are stealing that as well. It is God's it belongs to Him and to withhold it is thievery of another kind, but stealing nonetheless.

Pro 3:9  Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 

Pro 3:10  So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. 

The Lord gives us blessings untold and we are in turn to honor Him with those blessings, do we?

Mat 22:21  They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. 

Do we render to God the things that are God's?  Do we do this--

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 

We are supposed to do that, but do we, really? Or do we reserve the majority of our heart, soul and mind for others, or even for self?

Rom 2:21  Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? 

We should not steal!

Yet we have agreed that a lot of things really *aren't* stealing haven't we? Taking a little extra when we don't need it really, just because it may be free. Is that thievery? Stealing has been redefined in a lot of ways especially in a world with digital, online, technological stealing. 

If we do not know, truly do not know, if something is stealing shouldn't we err on the side of caution? When the lines are blurred it is best to opt for the -NOT- aspect than the -OKAY- aspect.  The old adage to be safe rather than sorry is truly something we need to consider.

Let's back up a moment to the stealing from God the glory due to Him, the worship due to Him. I can't help but think of the Sabbath, most likely because it is the Sabbath right now. How many people do not honor God's command to keep the day holy and instead steal the day meant for holiness and make it a day like any other for their own whims?

Stealing holy time from God, it is a real thing if we truly stop and pray about it and study His holy word then we'd know the truth of the matter.

The Sabbath was made for us- it was made holy, it was sanctified. When the royal law was decreed by God has He used His own finger to carve the law into stone, we were told to REMEMBER the Sabbath day- to keep it holy. 

It was a day MADE for us to use as God intended us to use it, for His glory and we all know that when we are honoring God, when we are worshiping Him we are the ones who are blessed. God blessed US by setting aside this Holy Time for us, and when we refuse to honor the Sabbath, we steal this holy time meant to be filled with God's blessings and make it unholy.

May God help us to comprehend what it truly means NOT to steal, to know that if we LOVE GOD, if we LOVE OUR SAVIOR, we will KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS- and we are commanded NOT TO STEAL!

God help us towards this end. Help us to know when we are in danger of being deceived by Satan in any way. Help us to comprehend all the truth of Your commandments God, help us to live as You would have us live, to LOVE YOU and KEEP YOUR COMMANDMENTS! We would be YOURS. Forgive us, Lord, please forgive us when we fail you so miserably and so often! Please cover us in Your righteousness, we have none of our own, not a single bit!

All through YOUR LOVE, YOUR AMAZING LOVE!

Do You Love Jesus? Do Not Bear False Witness.

Do you love Jesus?

Joh_14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Do you love Jesus?

Joh_14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Exo_20:16  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Mat_15:19  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies

Mat_19:18  He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness

False witness. Lying. To witness falsely is to lie plain and simple. You lie about another, and when you lie you are given false testimony, false witness. You are being deceptive.  Is there anything good about being a false witness? Is there any good in lying?

Some know firsthand what it means to be falsely witnessed against.  Once the accusations are made you are in shock. You protest you are being falsely accused but it scarcely matters. The words are spoken, the belief of them is out there. Your intense righteous indignation is pushed to the extreme. You want the truth to be out there, not lies.  Some people suffer horrifically under false witnesses. Some have been condemned to death at the mere lying words of another person. Others have ended up in jail for life over lies, unjustly accused and they have to suffer a life time of imprisonment. Bearing false witness is a sin. Every variant that exists connected to bearing false witness, to lying, is a sin in need of forgiveness, of repentance.

Jesus says if we love Him we will not bear false witness against others. Do you love Jesus? Are you keeping His commandments?

Do not sugar coat a single lie! Do not excuse one falsehood spoken against another!

Seek forgiveness!

Repent and give up any lying, do not bear any false witness ever!

Speak only truth of all others, always!

Love Jesus.

Do we think Jesus came to bring peace to earth?  People did, the apostles did, the disciples did, most- if not all- of Jesus' followers believed that Jesus was going to usher in a new era of peace with the Jewish people as the new rulers and the Roman Empire destroyed. Jesus told them that He did not come to send peace on earth. Jesus came with a sword and that sword was Himself, the Word. That sword was one of salvation.

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

Salvation.

The sword of the Spirit, the word of God, the word made flesh. We are given the sword that Jesus came to earth to give.

Our weapon in this spiritual warfare is one of salvation.

Luk 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 

Luk 4:19  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 

Mat 24:14  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 

The gospel of the kingdom.

Mat_4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Mat_5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Mat_5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus came to teach the truth - that we are to live for the kingdom of heaven- not for our temporary existence. The things of the world that surround us, none of those things should mean more to us than the things we CANNOT see, the eternal things, the things that will last forever. We get so incredibly caught up in the temporary life we lose sight of the eternal.

Please Lord, please forever keep the eternal before our eyes, in our minds, our hearts - you are the eternal!