Exodus 20:12 - Honoring Father and Mother

Exodus 20:12

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

Message: Honoring Father and Mother

Time: Most likely this book was penned by Moses. The book covers a period of approximately eighty years, from shortly before Moses’s birth (c. 1526 BC) to the events that occurred at Mount Sinai in 1446 BC. The Bible's message of redemption appears in Exodus as well: though the children of Israel were enslaved in a foreign land, God miraculously and dramatically delivered them to freedom, provided the Law, established the system of sacrifice, and gave instructions on building of His tabernacle. God began to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

What the Lord is Saying:

The promise in this verse is what for me has stood out -- that your days may be prolonged. I remember a friend saying that if we were to truly do this command, then the rest of the commands would not be necessary. And in some ways this lays the foundation for all the other commands. 

As all of us begin life, we see that God has established authority in our lives from the beginning. And our first step is to honor our father and mother. More authorities will come in life - in school, jobs, at church, our elected officials and leaders, law enforcement, but it all begins with the command to honor our father and mother and submit to them. 

This text from Romans 13:1-7 has been looked at a lot over the last few years as we think about this virus and our response to it. 

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

I think in these verses is a basic understanding that we are to be in subject to our authorities. Unless we are told to do something that is not in line with God's word. I think we as humans are struggling with this more and more. I have a person right now at work that ignores authority. He is asked to do something and he tells the person "no." It makes me wonder his home life and how he might have learned about authority growing up. 

As I think about this command I see that Paul repeats it in Ephesians 6:1-4 and also repeats that in following it we will live long on the earth. Maybe this phrase is meant to say that our lives will be better. I think I need to look at this as well in my life. Right, I am struggling with the authority in my life at times, not agreeing with my boss, who is about 15 or more years younger than me. I want to be autonomous because of my experience and I need to do a better job of deferring to her. I can tell as I get older and the thought that I am getting wiser that I begin to think that authority is not as important. I fall out of the shadow of my parents and think I am more on my own. 

The verse in Ephesians is also a verse for me as a parent, a parent that is a disciple of Christ and that I need to be teaching my children in the way of the Lord. I think we instilled this in our home. I am concerned that at times it was fear based but hopefully my kids through the Holy Spirit caught onto the importance of this, even now as they are living on their own. 

Summary: Parents are to rear their children in faith, teaching them to respect authority and children are to follow. God orders authority and establishes it. It begins with parents but continues in many other forms throughout our lives. 

Promise: As Tabletalk says, "Teaching children to honor their parents and other authorities is not only right according to God's law, but it is also good for society." 

Prayer: O God, you are a great God. I thank you for this new day, a new day to worship and serve you and walk with You. Lord, I thank you for the parents that you gave me and learning the importance of submission and respect. I pray that you would continue to teach me what this means and you would continue to instruct my children in this even as they are no longer under our roof. Help us all to remember that submitting to authority improves our life. Your commands are there to protect us but also to improve our lives and make life more satisfying and enjoyable. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of July is about the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God. 

Bringing me to Christ

The Restraint of the Law - the law is given for lawless, unholy, disobedient people, to restrain us from acting on our sinful thoughts. Restraint and Guilt - the law is meant to restrain Christians and non-Christians alike; so that others may see Christ. The Law's Revelation of Sin - The Law reveals sin, at times making it more desirable, and show the sin which people commit and the complete standard it expects. The Law and Our Powerlessness - We are powerless over the Law and Sin revealed. It is in Christ that we receive forgiveness and the power to resist sin. The Law our Guardian - The law is not a tool of justifying me, but rather it is an instrument to bring me to Christ and show me my need for Him. 

Guiding our Lives

The Guidance of the Law - The Law is a guide in our lives for what pleases God and what it looks like to walk in holiness. The Antinomian Error - We were slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to obedience and righteousness. Judaizing Legalism - The error of Judaizing Legalism is the idea that obedience brings about God's acceptance of us for salvation. The Deadliest Form of Legalism - This legalism is that one would get too focused on external practices instead of focusing on the heart.

The Law is our Guide

The Centrality of Love - Love and the law go hand in hand. We do not belong to God unless we love our neighbor, and we cannot love our neighbor without knowing and doing God‘s law and loving him. Finding Guidance in the Law - God's Word, all if it, is a guide to my life and I am to meditate on it continually. The One and Only God - I seek to trust and love God above all else today. Images and Idols - Pictures, statues, symbols, art, people are not bad; but be careful about placing too much emphasis on these things I see. Using God's Name Frivolously - Blasphemy or using God's name frivolously are examples of taking God's name in vain. Keeping the Lord's Day - It is vital that we are setting apart a day to gather for worship and fellowship, resting from our ordinary vocations.

Deuteronomy 5:12-15 - Keeping the Lord's Day

Deuteronomy 5:12-15 

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.

Message: Keeping the Lord's Day

Time: This book chronicles farewell messages by Moses, the 120 year old leader of the Israelite, primarily intended for the lay person. It covers about one month, at the end of the forty-year period in the wilderness - 1405 BC. It is a renewal of the old covenant given at Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab.

What the Lord is Saying:

The Sabbath Day has always been to me a very easy command to understand, but a very hard command to figure out how to observe. It seems clear - on the sabbath, do not do any work. Once we were lost (a slave in the land of Egypt), but God rescued us and so we set aside a day, an entire day for him. I've had a few moments in my life I think where I have in fact kept the Lord's Day but it seems rare. I remember having Sabbath days of no TV which seemed more like a punishment than a Holy Day. Sunday's lately have become often a day to help my dad and support him. Before that, they were a TV watching day. In Sunday School yesterday, we read about a Sabbath day's walk which was 6/10th's of a mile or 15 minutes and this constituted the longest one could walk on the Sabbath day. I've always wondered about those in the church as well for the Sabbath day is their busiest day of the week. 

I think the difference, as Tabletalk calls out is some people do work on the sabbath out of necessity. I simply think I need to think about my living practice and always remember the importance of resting. Lately I've struggled with this, working at every moment, either on my job or on ministry. I get burned out easily. I think some cultures might have an easier time with resting, like my friends in India because there normal practice is a 6 day work week. 

My rest though needs to look back to God and to think about what He has done through His death and resurrection. 

Summary: Rest is important. Even taking time to exercise I think is rest. Spending time with You God is rest. I need to remind myself of all that God has done for me and that I do not need to keep working, which lends itself to thinking that God is not in control, but I am. 

Promise: It is vital that we are setting apart a day to gather for worship and fellowship, resting from our ordinary vocations. 

Prayer: O God, you are great and wonderful. I need to remember this continually. Keep me focused on You and what You have done for me, but also what you have done for your people throughout time. Bring back the joy of my salvation continually. Lord, instruct me and guide me in understanding how I need to rest each week from my labor. Give me this understanding and help me prioritize this in my life. Be praised O God. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of July is about the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God. 

Bringing me to Christ

The Restraint of the Law - the law is given for lawless, unholy, disobedient people, to restrain us from acting on our sinful thoughts. Restraint and Guilt - the law is meant to restrain Christians and non-Christians alike; so that others may see Christ. The Law's Revelation of Sin - The Law reveals sin, at times making it more desirable, and show the sin which people commit and the complete standard it expects. The Law and Our Powerlessness - We are powerless over the Law and Sin revealed. It is in Christ that we receive forgiveness and the power to resist sin. The Law our Guardian - The law is not a tool of justifying me, but rather it is an instrument to bring me to Christ and show me my need for Him. 

Guiding our Lives

The Guidance of the Law - The Law is a guide in our lives for what pleases God and what it looks like to walk in holiness. The Antinomian Error - We were slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to obedience and righteousness. Judaizing Legalism - The error of Judaizing Legalism is the idea that obedience brings about God's acceptance of us for salvation. The Deadliest Form of Legalism - This legalism is that one would get too focused on external practices instead of focusing on the heart.

The Law is our Guide

The Centrality of Love - Love and the law go hand in hand. We do not belong to God unless we love our neighbor, and we cannot love our neighbor without knowing and doing God‘s law and loving him. Finding Guidance in the Law - God's Word, all if it, is a guide to my life and I am to meditate on it continually. The One and Only God - I seek to trust and love God above all else today. Images and Idols - Pictures, statues, symbols, art, people are not bad; but be careful about placing too much emphasis on these things I see. Using God's Name Frivolously - Blasphemy or using God's name frivolously are examples of taking God's name in vain. 

Psalm 1 - My Prayer

Psalm 1

Psalm 1:1-6 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.  But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

My Prayer

Lord, when I do not not follow the advice of the wicked it is joy to my soul; when i do not follow the ungodly, the non-Christian, the enemy of You, friends that do not honor you with their lives, friends that serve a different master, and those that make fun out of loving and honoring You. I pray that I will not go along with people that oppose you. 

Conversely, I pray that my delight is in the Law of the Lord, your Scriptures, your revelation to me; that my days are marked by beginning and ending time with You, in Your Word, and having the peace of Christ as I lay my head down at night; May I love Your Scriptures and seek to follow it all the days of my life. Make me like a tree planted along the riverbank, so that the nourishment I need to Grow each day is found in Your Word and my life then bears fruit. May I be one that stands out and looks to the outside world as one that is healthy and aligned with You. As I align myself daily with You and Your word you watch over me; turning my back on You and seeking after human wisdom and worldly ideals will lead me to destruction.  

Lord, there is a stark difference between the wicked life and the Godly life. The wicked grab onto whatever is in front of them and just as they find their security in it, it is gone. There are no good final outcomes for the wicked. The godly and ungodly will be at opposite corners of the ring of life. If I follow You completely, I must realize that the way of the wicked will not be something I ever want to walk. 

Lord, you watch over me as I walk along the edge of a mountain, keeping me close, but the wicked will fall off their paths and are destroyed by a non-holy path. 

--------------------------------

There is joy in not following. Lord, I need to remember this. I need this to shape my life. A happy man is marked by the places he does not go,, the movies and TV shows he does not watch, books he does not read, company he does not keep. Lord, my world is filled with so many choices and options for my time. As I sit down at the TV, the number of different views for my eyes is staggering. There is joy in not choosing to watch voices that do not honor You with their words. They are poisonous and destructive and counter-productive. What they do is bring rest from following You.

Exodus 20:7 - Using God's Name Frivolously

October 28

Exodus 20:7 - “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."

Message: Using God's Name Frivolously 

Time: Most likely this book was penned by Moses. The book covers a period of approximately eighty years, from shortly before Moses’s birth (c. 1526 BC) to the events that occurred at Mount Sinai in 1446 BC. The Bible's message of redemption appears in Exodus as well: though the children of Israel were enslaved in a foreign land, God miraculously and dramatically delivered them to freedom, provided the Law, established the system of sacrifice, and gave instructions on building of His tabernacle. God began to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

What the Lord is Saying: 

I am not sure there is any commandment that is broken more than this one in our society right now. The way God's name is thrown around and used to cry out disgust or as a curse word is crazy. There is a normal exclamation of OM_ which has become a norm as well and I don't get it. It is interesting because I love old movies and using God's name as a curse word was not prevalent before the sixties in movies. Cursing in general was not done. And yet now it is common in books, TV, and movies. And yet there are other words that have now become offensive, but not God's name. 

I'm always reminded that Jews will not even utter God's name and write it out as G-D for it is too holy of a name to even write. Jews view Deuteronomy 12:4 as meaning that we are prohibited from desecrating, destroying, or erasing God's name. Tom Nelson mentioned one time in a lesson that when men copied the Torah they would not copy each word, but copy each letter and if they ever made a mistake on copying God's name the paper would have to be ripped up and start all over. Again, it is amazing to think how far we've come in our use of God's name. 

November 15

Matthew 12:34 - For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.

It is not only cursing, but any use of God's name in a frivolous manner shows disrespect to our creator. I need to watch this in my life as I can often give rise to a joke. 

Summary: Blasphemy or using God's name frivolously are examples of taking God's name in vain. 

Promise: Be quick to repent and let's honor God with our speech and do the reverse of blasphemy and extol and praise His name throughout our lives. 

Prayer: O Lord God, I want you use your name in a way that brings honor to your name and respect. I want to turn from any way in my life in which I do not respect this name. Even in my entertainment Lord help me to stay clear of circumstances and shows and movies that bring disdain to You. Lord, our culture has little respect for you and for their sins and often my agreement or listening ear I ask your forgiveness, for them and for me. Be glorified always. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of July is about the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God. 

Bringing me to Christ

The Restraint of the Law - the law is given for lawless, unholy, disobedient people, to restrain us from acting on our sinful thoughts. Restraint and Guilt - the law is meant to restrain Christians and non-Christians alike; so that others may see Christ. The Law's Revelation of Sin - The Law reveals sin, at times making it more desirable, and show the sin which people commit and the complete standard it expects. The Law and Our Powerlessness - We are powerless over the Law and Sin revealed. It is in Christ that we receive forgiveness and the power to resist sin. The Law our Guardian - The law is not a tool of justifying me, but rather it is an instrument to bring me to Christ and show me my need for Him. 

Guiding our Lives

The Guidance of the Law - The Law is a guide in our lives for what pleases God and what it looks like to walk in holiness. The Antinomian Error - We were slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to obedience and righteousness. Judaizing Legalism - The error of Judaizing Legalism is the idea that obedience brings about God's acceptance of us for salvation. The Deadliest Form of Legalism - This legalism is that one would get too focused on external practices instead of focusing on the heart.

The Law is our Guide

The Centrality of Love - Love and the law go hand in hand. We do not belong to God unless we love our neighbor, and we cannot love our neighbor without knowing and doing God‘s law and loving him. Finding Guidance in the Law - God's Word, all if it, is a guide to my life and I am to meditate on it continually. The One and Only God - I seek to trust and love God above all else today. Images and Idols - Pictures, statues, symbols, art, people are not bad; but be careful about placing too much emphasis on these things I see.

Exodus 20:4-5 - Images and Idols

October 25

Exodus 20:4-5 - “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. 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, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me."

Message: Images and Idols

Time: Most likely this book was penned by Moses. The book covers a period of approximately eighty years, from shortly before Moses’s birth (c. 1526 BC) to the events that occurred at Mount Sinai in 1446 BC. The Bible's message of redemption appears in Exodus as well: though the children of Israel were enslaved in a foreign land, God miraculously and dramatically delivered them to freedom, provided the Law, established the system of sacrifice, and gave instructions on building of His tabernacle. God began to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

What the Lord is Saying:

I've always been a little confused by this commandment. I think one reason is it seems on the surface to be closely linked to the first commandment of having no other Gods. Both commandments seem to be linked by worship. We are to worship only God and not other gods and this includes here gods that we might fashion or make to mirror even a likeness of God in our lives. Now, the first commandment is a little more focused on rival gods that are mentioned at times like the scripture I gave from Judges 2:11-15. Many religions of the world hold to a myriad of gods. There are different gods for different needs. I think overall this is what the first commandment is talking about. 

So in this 2nd commandment, it even more clearly speaks of worship in verse 5. God our Lord is a jealous God and only He is to be worshipped. He says that we are not to worship or serve these carved images or idol that we make. The message is clear and simply - only worship God and only worship Him as He is. 

And yet there seem to be many applications of this verse today. What is key is whether the object we are talking about is worshipped. 

One of the concerns I have had over the years is the Catholic church because it appears that people are worshipping Mary or a Saint. I saw this article and it states that this is not happening but rather what is occurring is revering people for their faith in God. This article asks to consider the context or what was occurring at the time of the giving of these commandments. 

October 26

When the Jews were under the bondage of the Egyptians there was a temptation to worship the animal like gods of the    Egyptians. Many of the Egyptian gods were made in the images of jackals, birds and other animals. In the above text God is making an direct condemnation of this practice when he says do not make a graven image of anything in heaven, the earth, under the earth and in the water.

Now I can't personally think of people right now that are tempted to fashion a god from the image of an animal. Some say that the application today of this command is the way in which we worship idols such as money, sex, status. From that standpoint, I think what we tend to do is instead of making God number one, it seems that money, sex, or status is made number one in our lives. In a way I think there is some merit in these objects being considered as idols. People I think do start to define their lives by these idols of money, sex, and status and think that life can only be good when we have these. 

Going back to examining the context of Exodus 20, the article goes on to say that graven images are not bad always, as it is recorded in Exodus 25:17-22 about the figures of cherubs (angelic beings) that were woven into the fabric of the curtain on the tabernacles. The thought being that the figure was an aid in the worship of God. But others argue that this is artwork and is not the same as having a statue of Mary or wearing a Saint Christopher medal around your next with the idea that the medal will keep you from harm. 

It seems like what has occurred over time is we have started with something that originally was not meant to be worshipped, but over time we have been tempted through practice to focus on the object and therefore turn it into an image or idol that we do in fact worship. And this seems to me to be the intent of the commandment that was given. It is to remind us of our tendency as humans to make something more than it was meant to be and turn it into an object that we do in fact worship. 

October 27

Let's face it, we are visual people and God knew this. Again, as I think of these commandments that He gives us, it is because we need to be confronted with these reminders because our tendency is to do the opposite or to do what we are told not to do. As humans, we like images and like to see with our eyes. God knew this and yet God doesn't want us to try to make something in our life that ends up replacing him. Or take his place. 

I must be careful to define God by His Word. Because I know I have at times expressed to people the God I want rather than the God who is. 

Summary: I need to accept God as He is, and be careful of not making something He is not or placing other things in my life as more important than Him. I must guard against this always. Pictures, statues, symbols, art, people are not bad in and of themselves. They can all help point me to Him, but be careful about placing too much emphasis on these things I see. 

Promise: From Tabletalk -- "In light of the second commandment regarding the prohibition of graven images, we should think carefully about the use of images in all of life. Images can be powerful conveyors of truth or error, so let us consider and be discerning about what we set before our eyes and the eyes of our families at all times."

Prayer: O God, I am continually reminded of how I need to be careful. It is so easy to define you according to what I like or what I want you to be. Lord, there are people that have been swept away in this and have ended up worshipping pictures, people, or other gods; help me God to love these people. Help me to not be critical of them but if they speak to me, I want to be ready to defend You. Keep me going back to Your word to defend You and help me to rightly understand Your word. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of July is about the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God. 

Bringing me to Christ

The Restraint of the Law - the law is given for lawless, unholy, disobedient people, to restrain us from acting on our sinful thoughts. Restraint and Guilt - the law is meant to restrain Christians and non-Christians alike; so that others may see Christ. The Law's Revelation of Sin - The Law reveals sin, at times making it more desirable, and show the sin which people commit and the complete standard it expects. The Law and Our Powerlessness - We are powerless over the Law and Sin revealed. It is in Christ that we receive forgiveness and the power to resist sin. The Law our Guardian - The law is not a tool of justifying me, but rather it is an instrument to bring me to Christ and show me my need for Him. 

Guiding our Lives

The Guidance of the Law - The Law is a guide in our lives for what pleases God and what it looks like to walk in holiness. The Antinomian Error - We were slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to obedience and righteousness. Judaizing Legalism - The error of Judaizing Legalism is the idea that obedience brings about God's acceptance of us for salvation. The Deadliest Form of Legalism - This legalism is that one would get too focused on external practices instead of focusing on the heart.

The Law is our Guide

The Centrality of Love - Love and the law go hand in hand. We do not belong to God unless we love our neighbor, and we cannot love our neighbor without knowing and doing God‘s law and loving him. Finding Guidance in the Law - God's Word, all if it, is a guide to my life and I am to meditate on it continually. The One and Only God - I seek to trust and love God above all else today. 

Exodus 20:3 - The One and Only God

October 20

Exodus 20:3 - “You shall have no other gods before Me."

Message: The One and Only God

Time: Most likely this book was penned by Moses. The book covers a period of approximately eighty years, from shortly before Moses’s birth (c. 1526 BC) to the events that occurred at Mount Sinai in 1446 BC. The Bible's message of redemption appears in Exodus as well: though the children of Israel were enslaved in a foreign land, God miraculously and dramatically delivered them to freedom, provided the Law, established the system of sacrifice, and gave instructions on building of His tabernacle. God began to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

What the Lord is Saying: 

The idea of no other gods could be thought of that there are rival gods to our Lord God and God simply rises above them all. However, I think it is more apt to say that since God is omnipresent there are no other gods that are truly God. What we have is pretenders. What we have are people or things that we sometimes think are gods. 

Jeremiah 23:24

“Can a man hide himself in hiding places
So I do not see him?” declares the Lord.
“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the Lord.

Thus, we are directed throughout scripture to worship only God. And we see that God disciplined Israel when they worshipped other Gods. 

Judges 2:11-15

11 Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals, 12 and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the Lord to anger. 13 So they forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. 14 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, as the Lord had spoken and as the Lord had sworn to them, so that they were severely distressed.

I was speaking to a friend that lives in Kenya and had asked her about her daughter who is 15 and she mentioned that her daughter is not working hard in school and is instead spending much time watching movies and then remarked that because of this she now has ulcers. It was interesting how she so clearly connected these ulcers with her behavior. I have another friend that remarks about this at times when he experiences pain in his life. 

I wonder why in our culture we distant ourselves sometimes from this sort of thinking. But Scripture does paint this picture. And that is that bad things can be the result of His anger against us? 

October 21

So we must focus and look forward to the day when our minds and lives are completely focused on God and loving Him. 

Revelation 7:9-12

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Wayne Watson has a song called "No Other Gods" in which he talks about other gods in his life that he is giving air time to and getting him off track and he can't sleep. Daily I need to renew my mind. 

Summary: It is good to me and my family and life when God is the only that I worship. 

Promise: Tabletalk states -- "We break the first commandment every time we seek our ultimate satisfaction in a source other than God. We keep it whenever we seek to love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength."

Prayer: O Father God, you are holy. I am not. But you have transformed me by saving me and making me your Child forever. Each day I have a choice of where I give my allegiance. Lately, stress has been at the forefront. I've been letting my work commitments get the best of me. I still want you to be number one in my life but Lord I need to act like it every moment of every day. Give me your peace. Thank you for good friends and times of fellowship. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to you God forever and ever. Help me God to not get distracted and to keep You at the forefront of my life. I want to have the strength to do things after my work hours. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of July is about the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God. 

Bringing me to Christ

The Restraint of the Law - the law is given for lawless, unholy, disobedient people, to restrain us from acting on our sinful thoughts. Restraint and Guilt - the law is meant to restrain Christians and non-Christians alike; so that others may see Christ. The Law's Revelation of Sin - The Law reveals sin, at times making it more desirable, and show the sin which people commit and the complete standard it expects. The Law and Our Powerlessness - We are powerless over the Law and Sin revealed. It is in Christ that we receive forgiveness and the power to resist sin. The Law our Guardian - The law is not a tool of justifying me, but rather it is an instrument to bring me to Christ and show me my need for Him. 

Guiding our Lives

The Guidance of the Law - The Law is a guide in our lives for what pleases God and what it looks like to walk in holiness. The Antinomian Error - We were slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to obedience and righteousness. Judaizing Legalism - The error of Judaizing Legalism is the idea that obedience brings about God's acceptance of us for salvation. The Deadliest Form of Legalism - This legalism is that one would get too focused on external practices instead of focusing on the heart.

The Law is our Guide

The Centrality of Love - Love and the law go hand in hand. We do not belong to God unless we love our neighbor, and we cannot love our neighbor without knowing and doing God‘s law and loving him. Finding Guidance in the Law - God's Word, all if it, is a guide to my life and I am to meditate on it continually. 

Romans 6:15-23 - The Antinomian Error (Version 2)

October 13

Romans 6:15-23

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what benefit were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. 22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Message: The Antinomian Error

Time: Paul route to Rome, the city has never visited, from the Greek city of Corinth in AD 57. The rights to a church that he believes needed to hear basic Gospel doctrine. The city was a hotbed of sexual immorality and idolatry.

What the Lord is Saying:

I've studied this passage before. This passage covered 4 lessons I did in September 2014 when I studied Romans. Wow, I did 30 lessons that month. A lesson every day? Whoa. Living Under Grace, Slaves to Righteousness, Slavery to Sin and Its Fruit, and the Wages of Sin vs. The Gift of Life.

October 18

The justified person has died to sin and earlier in chapter 6 Paul is asking whether we continue in sin that grace may increase and the answer is emphatically "no" because sin is dead in our life. That is the way we need to view it because that is the way God views it. And then in verse 15 we wonder that since we are no longer under the law, which was also called a curse, can we sin then? The law never meant to save us, but rather guide us and show us we are sinners. And this still is true today. But the thought was that law living meant complete obedience where grace living is complete freedom so maybe breaking the law is not a big deal. 

And then further in this text in verses 16-19 I learn I have shifted to now being a slave of righteousness. The Christian that walks in a life where God has forgiven him completely and cleansed him from all forms of unrighteousness now walks in righteousness and wants righteousness completely, in all forms of their life. Why? Because any act of unrighteousness in my life is an offense to God; any act is embarrassing to me when it is committed. There is no middle ground. I think we wish there was. But I no longer live in non-Christ like ways, but instead shift to all righteous living. 

This is what I remember from studying these passages. 

An Antinomian is a person that views the law as not applicable anymore in a person's life. This is a person that says the moral law is no longer relevant and obedience to the commandments is no longer needed. Therefore, Christians can live however they want. It is a shift. I was speaking to someone the other day and they remarked that the Law of God is simply there as a nice story in the Bible but we only need to emphasize the New Testament or New Covenant living and yet Jesus in the New Covenant remarked that the Law had not disappeared. 

The Law of God has not been set aside. Instead God sent Jesus to be obedient to it. We were incapable of perfect obedience. Thus, the Law remains what it was - showing us we are incapable of following it. I still need this reminder. 

October 19

Exodus 19:5-6 -- 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

2 Corinthians 6:14 - 14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

I John 1:5-7 - 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.


I John 2:4 - Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,

I John 3:6 - No one who abides in him keeps on sinning

Summary: I think the point of this lesson today is to remind us that the law of God is still relevant in our life today. It remains a guide to our life. It is not to be dismissed. Commandments are still needed in our life. Each of us should be following God's commands and should desire to follow them -- all of them. A slave to righteousness is how I should live. 

Promise: From Tabletalk -- "People who possess saving faith earnestly desire to obey God’s commandments. They do not seek to do so to merit eternal life; they do so in order to thank God and demonstrate the authenticity of their faith."

Prayer: O God you are holy and true. You have saved me from the penalty of living an unrighteous life. In response, help me to continue to want to live righteously. Lord, sin is still present in me. As you know I stumble still. I get tempted and I give into that sin, not trusting in You and Your ways. I am two-faced - one moment saying I will abide in You and then the next moment lying and seeking my own desires. For my own sake, I need to be different. For your sake, I need to honor You with my life and surrender my entire will to you. I say it again - I don't want to be a partner of lawlessness. Thank you for restoring me and making me clean again. Keep helping me evaluate my life and submitting to you. I need your strength in me. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of July is about the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January, the doctrine of God. 

Bringing me to Christ

The Restraint of the Law - the law is given for lawless, unholy, disobedient people, to restrain us from acting on our sinful thoughts. Restraint and Guilt - the law is meant to restrain Christians and non-Christians alike; so that others may see Christ. The Law's Revelation of Sin - The Law reveals sin, at times making it more desirable, and show the sin which people commit and the complete standard it expects. The Law and Our Powerlessness - We are powerless over the Law and Sin revealed. It is in Christ that we receive forgiveness and the power to resist sin. The Law our Guardian - The law is not a tool of justifying me, but rather it is an instrument to bring me to Christ and show me my need for Him. 

Guiding our Lives

The Guidance of the Law - The Law is a guide in our lives for what pleases God and what it looks like to walk in holiness. The Antinomian Error - We were slaves to sin, but now we are slaves to obedience and righteousness. Judaizing Legalism - The error of Judaizing Legalism is the idea that obedience brings about God's acceptance of us for salvation. The Deadliest Form of Legalism - This legalism is that one would get too focused on external practices instead of focusing on the heart.

The Law is our Guide

The Centrality of Love - Love and the law go hand in hand. We do not belong to God unless we love our neighbor, and we cannot love our neighbor without knowing and doing God‘s law and loving him. Finding Guidance in the Law - God's Word, all if it, is a guide to my life and I am to meditate on it continually.