today's meditation (Dt.10) The Lord's Requirements of Us

 (Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word...)

(Deuteronomy 10:1-22)  “At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Cut out for yourself two tablets of stone like the former ones, and come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood for yourself. 2 I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered, and you shall put them in the ark.’ 3 So I made an ark of acacia wood and cut out two tablets of stone like the former ones, and went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4 He wrote on the tablets, like the former writing, the Ten Commandments which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them to me. 5 Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, as the Lord commanded me.”

6 (Now the sons of Israel set out from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died and there he was buried and Eleazar his son ministered as priest in his place. 7 From there they set out to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water. 8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to serve Him and to bless in His name until this day. 9 Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance with his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God spoke to him.)

10 “I, moreover, stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights like the first time, and the Lord listened to me that time also; the Lord was not willing to destroy you. 11 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, proceed on your journey ahead of the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.’

12 “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? 14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. 15 Yet on your fathers did the Lord set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day. 16 So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer. 17 For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. 18 He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. 19 So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name. 21 He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen. 22 Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

The Lord is just and shows no partiality and is not prejudiced.  God so loves the world!!!  This does not mean that there are many ways to God.  It means that God desires that everyone would come to Him - as He requires.  We cannot just make up our own "truths" and practice what we deem acceptable or good enough.  All cults and religions are created by mankind and require mankind to (hopefully) earn their way towards some sort of status.  But to get into heaven, we must be perfect, and this is impossible except through Jesus' work on the cross.

All the Lord requires of us is:

- that we FEAR THE LORD OUR GOD with all our heart and soul; realizing that He is the great Almighty Creator and Savior, and with that we should dread His wrath.  Fearing nothing or anybody else but God is to want to be on His side, realizing that the Lord should come first in our lives.

- that we "UNSTIFFEN OUR NECKS" by putting down our pride, humbling ourselves to look to Jesus for our salvation and guidance, and desiring to please God.

- that we CIRCUMCISE OUR HEARTS by asking Jesus into our lives, exposing ourselves to His ways and allowing the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside out, because just going through the motions is an empty religion that does not glorify God... God wants our hearts and souls!!!  What takes place in the heart is evident in our lives.  And this should be evidence to the world that we are set part ("different") because of Jesus.

- that we WALK IN GOD'S WAYS with all our heart and soul, which reiterates the fact that the indwelling Holy Spirit is impacting our motives in order to help us say and do things in God's will and with God's love!

- that we LOVE GOD because He loves us, knowing that He wants the very best for our lives!

- that we SERVE GOD with all our heart and soul, because we love God, and we are allowing the Holy Spirit to move us towards demonstrating our thankfulness and willingness to glorify Him.

- that we KEEP GOD'S COMMANDMENTS, remaining obedient because we trust that God's ways are true and right.

- that we CLING TO GOD, depending on Him for everything, because He is the perfect, loving heavenly Father who shelters, strengthens and equips us.

- that we PRAISE GOD because of all the great and awesome things He has done

- that we SWEAR BY HIS NAME (ONLY), which is opposite of using His name in vain (which is throwing any and all forms of His name around frivolously and abusively).  We should use His name in prayer, and in sharing God's word, and in proclaiming the gospel message, while living what we preach.  This incudes growing to know Jesus so well that we can recognize any person or religion that falsely uses His name, in whatever form (perverting and twisting God's words in any way).  THIS is why it is so important to understand and hear God's Truth and God's way!  Jesus is the only way to the Father.  To say anything differently would be taking God's name in vain.  As ambassadors representing the Lord, we should fully respect His name.  

- that we LOVE ALL PEOPLE ! ! !  This is the outpouring of God's great and impartial love - what I call the trickle out effect - to our family members, our neighbors, the aliens living among us, the government, the poor, the vulnerable, our enemies... everyone!!!  

today's meditation (Dt.9) Hear, Know and Remember

 (Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word...)

(Deuteronomy 9:1-29)  “Hear, O Israel! You are crossing over the Jordan today to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, great cities fortified to heaven, 2 a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’ 3 Know therefore today that it is the Lord your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, so that you may drive them out and destroy them quickly, just as the Lord has spoken to you.

4 “Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. 5 It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

6 “Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people. 7 Remember, do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day that you left the land of Egypt until you arrived at this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. 8 Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you. 9 When I went up to the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord had made with you, then I remained on the mountain forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 The Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written by the finger of God; and on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken with you at the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. 11 It came about at the end of forty days and nights that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. 12 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down from here quickly, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made a molten image for themselves.’ 13 The Lord spoke further to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, it is a stubborn people. 14 Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’

15 “So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I saw that you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you. 17 I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands and smashed them before your eyes. 18 I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the Lord was wrathful against you in order to destroy you, but the Lord listened to me that time also. 20 The Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him; so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time. 21 I took your sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that came down from the mountain.

22 “Again at Taberah and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath. 23 When the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; you neither believed Him nor listened to His voice. 24 You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day I knew you.

25 “So I fell down before the Lord the forty days and nights, which I did because the Lord had said He would destroy you. 26 I prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 27 Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stubbornness of this people or at their wickedness or their sin. 28 Otherwise the land from which You brought us may say, “Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which He had promised them and because He hated them He has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.” 29 Yet they are Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have brought out by Your great power and Your outstretched arm.’

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

This is something we need to hear, know and remember... God is holy and just, and cannot have a relationship with sin.  We are born into sin, yet He still desires that all people turn to Him to be saved.  Jesus didn't pay the ultimate price for our sins because we are so nice and loveable!  It is because He loves us and wants to save us from His wrath!!!  And when we put our faith in Him, God chooses to remember our sins no more.  With this in mind, how could we not be eternally grateful and humbled before our Lord and Savior?

today's meditation (Dt.8) Spiritual Food

 (Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word...)

(Deuteronomy 8:1-20)  “All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your forefathers. 2 You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. 4 Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

11 “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; 12 otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 15 He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. 16 In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. 17 Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ 18 But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 It shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the Lord your God.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

God brought the Israelites out into the wilderness where they would undoubtedly feel vulnerable.  There God allowed them to be hungry, in order for them to be humbled, and to look to Him for their provisions.  God not only demonstrated that He would provide, but that He was faithful.  The Israelites were to realize that it wasn't the manna that saved and sustained them - it was God who provided the manna!  And from this experience, the Israelites were to KNOW and TRUST that God would fight for them as they went forward to enter the promised land.  

God will allow us to go through tests, to humble us and to help us see that He is there waiting for us to go to Him - for everything!  I'm always trying to put the disciplined life into practice to avoid messing up, so God will not have to discipline me with the consequences of my actions.  Obviously, I'm not perfect, and I do still mess up; but part of the disciplined life is to reconcile with God as soon as possible.  Because of God's grace, He will NEVER tire of me running back to Him and confessing!!!  I'm ALWAYS His child!!!  

And as He allows me to go through tests, I know it is only to make me stronger as I choose to lean on Him more.  As well, the healthier I "eat" (of the spiritual food that God gives us in His word), the more equipped I become.  Like staying in shape, I cannot just do something once, or do something occasionally and expect to see results;  I need to be "exercising" consistently.  Every day I need to be in God's word, and in prayer!  God is faithful and will help to produce results!!! 

The key is to remember that God wants our hearts.  Without giving our hearts to God, our discipline will only be an empty religion.  After becoming a child of God, God disciplines us and desires that we live a disciplined life because He cares and loves us.  Discipline might be "painful for a moment", but as I practice the "discipline" of living a holy life, it becomes easier - and SO MUCH EASIER as I lean on God - trusting that He is faithful and will strengthen and sustain me!  

today's meditation (Dt.7) Trust Includes Obedience

 (Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word...)

(Deuteronomy 7:1-26)  “When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, 2 and when the Lord your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. 3 Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. 4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you. 5 But thus you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. 6 For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

7 “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10 but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. 11 Therefore, you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them.

12 “Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. 13 He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren among you or among your cattle. 15 The Lord will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you. 16 You shall consume all the peoples whom the Lord your God will deliver to you; your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.

17 “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’ 18 you shall not be afraid of them; you shall well remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: 19 the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet against them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you perish. 21 You shall not dread them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. 22 The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little; you will not be able to put an end to them quickly, for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you. 23 But the Lord your God will deliver them before you, and will throw them into great confusion until they are destroyed. 24 He will deliver their kings into your hand so that you will make their name perish from under heaven; no man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. 25 The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. 26 You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban; you shall utterly detest it and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

God could have very easily removed all enemies from the promised land immediately, but had He done that, the Israelites would have faced even bigger challenges.  Also, by God doing things "little by little", the Israelites had the opportunity to learn to trust God more, and learn to trust Him for "the day to day".  Notice that (in verses 9, 11 and 12, for example) God told the Israelites that He would work things out for them if they listened and obeyed His commandments.

Trusting God includes trusting in God's timing!  And trusting God also includes being obedient to His will because we trust that all of His commandments are there to bless and benefit our lives.  

I'm very saddened when I hear Christians say, "Everything happens for a reason!  And God will work all of this out for good."  Um... no.  We should never use this catch-phrase as an excuse for our bad choices.  It is a lie.  Satan has influenced the twisting of God's words, which actually say,  "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)

When we sin - it happened because we chose to sin!  God will NOT bless THAT.  It is never God's will that we sin!  And God will allow consequences into our lives because as our perfect heavenly Father, He will discipline those He loves.  He will never reward His children for bad behavior.  

Part of loving God is to love His word!  And like a child who tries to be "just like their parents" because they love them and admire who they are - we should always be striving to be just like our heavenly Father who is holy.  God blesses our persevering efforts in trying to live a life of obedience in His love, strength, wisdom, patience and faithfulness!

today's meditation (Dt.6) BEING a Christian vs Just Acting Like One

 (Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word...)

(Deuteronomy 6:1-25)  “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, 2 so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4 “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

10 “Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, 12 then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. 14 You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, 15 for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise the anger of the Lord your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.

16 “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah. 17 You should diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you. 18 You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore to give your fathers, 19 by driving out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.

20 “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the Lord our God commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us from Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 Moreover, the Lord showed great and distressing signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household; 23 He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.’ 24 So the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always and for our survival, as it is today. 25 It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

We should not put God to the test.  It's so easy to fall into the thinking of - just draw the lines in the sand so I know what not to cross.  The danger with this is that we either start drawing extra lines in the sand, or we desire to get as close to the lines as possible.  And then when we desire to cross over it - just a little bit - we will find ways to justify our behavior.  Any of this will only get ourselves into trouble.  But we can experience freedom and blessings by staying focused on and totally relying on God!

One illustration of this is the idea of budgeting money.  I used to hate this word, because I thought of it in terms of "restrictions" and "limitations".  The danger of that thinking is that you start to tell yourself, "Well, I don't like to feel limited, so I will just spend as I have money, and spend it as I feel."  And the thing that you feared is what will typically happen!  You will suddenly find yourself in financial trouble.  So over the years I have grown to love the word because I chose to see it in terms of "I have THIS much to do this and that"!!!  There is a great sense of comfort and freedom in this.  Instead of a problem, I see the fun challenge of being resourceful and efficient.  (Obviously, my primary comfort and security is in the Lord!!!  And adding God to the financial equation is most helpful!)

Another illustration is like giving speeches.  If you just keep thinking, "I'm going to forget my words... I hope I don't forget my words... I better not forget my words..." you'll probably forget your words.  But if you go into a speech thinking about the words that you are to say, you'll feel more prepared, and you'll do a much better job.  Add God's help to the equation and it's going to be way better!

There is such a freedom when we focus on the Lord with all our heart, soul and might.  This means that we embrace Him emotionally/mentally, spiritually and physically.  The more we fill our minds with God's words and wisdom, and the more we rely on God's strength and guidance, the easier it will be to live as we should, and experience more of God's freedom, blessings and joy.  It is about BEING a Christian, instead of just acting like one.  

today's meditation (Dt.5) Put Expectation on Ourselves

 (Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word...)

(Deuteronomy 5:1-33)  Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them:

“Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your hearing, that you may learn them and observe them carefully. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, 5 while I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. He said,

6 ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

7 ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.

8 ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

11 ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

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 of the Lord your God; in 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 cattle or your sojourner who stays with you, so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

16 ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the Lord your God gives you.

17 ‘You shall not murder.

18 ‘You shall not commit adultery.

19 ‘You shall not steal.

20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

21 ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’

22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the thick gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. 24 You said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives. 25 Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die. 26 For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says; then speak to us all that the Lord our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’

28 “The Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever! 30 Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But as for you, stand here by Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I give them to possess.’ 32 So you shall observe to do just as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left. 33 You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

The Lord brought the Israelites out of slavery, and then gave them the ten commandments to obey in order to have the best life possible.  The Lord never told them to enforce these laws upon other nations.  They were to obey and live these out in their own land, and then the other nations around them would see God's glory.  

In the same way, as Christians, we need to remember that we were once a slave to sin, but Jesus saved us from that.  Therefore, we should not go back to a sinful lifestyle.  Instead we should really desire to remain obedient, giving God the glory, knowing that God's will leads to the very best life possible.

In the Bible, we find various messages repeated, because God knows we are so very forgetful!  We can barely control ourselves in some ways, so why do we think we can control those around us.  It's not our job.  And if we focus on what others are doing (or not doing), we will only exhaust and frustrate ourselves, and provoke and anger "our neighbors".  

The ten commandments were clearly written to "YOU" - (the Israelites, as well as all believers).  We need to teach these to our children, and in church, and encourage other Christians to put these into practice.  And individually, we need to live out these commandments to show the world that there is a better way.  So, instead of expecting unbelievers to do as we should, we need to put the expectation on ourselves!