Monthly Archives: February 2011

Christian Living, The 10 Commandments

Another Look At The 10.

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Exodus 20

You know what is recorded there for us, don’t you?

The Ten Commandments.

And you know why they were given, right? A mirror to show us our need for God. A means for us to realize we need a Savior because perfection is something that we just cannot achieve in our sin nature.

Galatians 3:(King James Version)
23But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

And since salvation, how much attention do we pay to the Ten Commandments? How much time as Christians do we invest meditating upon them?

What if we took another look at them today? To Read them as recorded in the NASB click here or you may prefer to read in your own familiar Text there in your hands. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Good. You’re Back.

See if this bears out with your spirit. Would it not help us if we understood GOD to be saying this to us?

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of slavery to your own sin nature; I saved you and this is what I expect you to learn to do, to practice it faithfully.  I will help you. I have come Myself to help you. I am within you since I saved you. So this is what you must do to be conformed to the imagine of your Savior.

I am your God and you will not have another — you will not bow down to your bank account, your position in the church, your career, your family, your boat, your time, your recreation, nothing – nothing but ME. This is the only way for you to be free. It is the only way for you to have happiness or success as you journey My earth.  You must listen and obey Me because if you do not, your idols will corrupt your children and make it even more difficult for them to come to Me. I don’t want this. You don’t want this.

In all generations, My plan is the same. It will not change. I will show lovingkindness to My children who obey Me and keep My commandments, those that do not — well they will suffer. That is just the way it is.  I am not apologizing for it. It’s best for you and I love you too much to give you a plan that does not work or one that will not make you holy and happy.

You will not take My name in vain. This is more than you just refraining from saying God d__n this or that. This is taking on My name, saying you are Mine and then refusing to obey Me; refusing to be conformed to the image of your Savior.

You need to remember sabbath means rest and you are to rest from your own efforts at trying to save yourself or make yourself good enough for Me to love you. I do. Believe Me. And I expect you to remember this not just on Sunday but every day of the week. And as to work, earning a wage, providing for your family; I expect you to work responsibly. Work enough hours to give balance and order to your family and likewise rest and play too. And yes I expect you and your family to attend and take part in corporate worship with others who believe Me. And yes I expect it every Sunday, unless I let you off for sickness or the like.

I expect you to be kind and gentle with your parents however old, sick or cantankerous you think they are. And if you still live under the same roof and they feed you at their table, you obey them. Your ONLY exception is if they tell you to do something My Word has told you to not do.

Now I am going to give these next ones to you quick because they are really self-explanatory:
Do not murder another human being, period. Inside the womb, outside the womb. And I did say murder, not killings such as in war or threat to life and family.
Do not in your mind fantasize about sexual intimacies with anyone that you are not married to and like Joseph if sexual advances are made toward you I expect you to run for your life immediately!
Do not steal. If it (paper clips, candy bars, Cameros — you name it) ain’t yours by means that you earned it, purchased it or someone gave it to you as a gift — keep your hands off of it! Leave it alone!
If it is not the truth – Do NOT say it! Do not even imply it! Not in spoken or written word, not even your body language. (Not even to yourself about yourself.)Yes! I AM serious!
Do not covet. You will not plot, scheme, cry, pout, or envy ANYTHING that I have given to your brothers and sisters in the Church or your biological family; and certainly that goes as well for anything people who have so far rejected me and yet whom I have allowed, for now, to have use of it.

You practice these things and I promise you, you will be holy in practice and you will be so happy you will have to pinch yourself to make sure you are not dreaming!

I love you. Believe Me.

 This blessed and help me today.  Although it is not as the inspired WORD you have in your home and hands, I do believe it paraphrases pretty good what the Ten Commandments are to be to us Christians here in 2011.

 Praying for These

ABBA, You know my desire here is to help; to encourage myself and others to yield and honor You with our lives. I pray this devotional offering will do that. I am not expecting perfection from anyone, but You, and certainly not from me. You know how messed up in the natural I am. I know that unless You give it and do it there is not one good thing I can do or even think. And so I am grateful for this look at Your Ten Commandments; that they are still vital and helpful to us who by Your Grace have been redeemed. And speaking of redeemed I have some precious ones on my mind today. Thank You for what you are doing to redeem them.  HOLY SPIRIT, thank You that You will leave nothing undone that should be done in order to help them receive repentance and restoration. Thank You for what You are doing for our Praying for These list. And, LORD, we need to add Collin and Elaine and Pamela to this list today. You know the illness, You know the strain and drain not only on Collin but his mother and grandmother. I am so glad You care and You are helping and healing. I pray for willing hearts all around this. And our IDOK Troops, we are mindful of them too this day. Thank You for watching over them, for keeping them safe and we ask for safe returns home for each of them. Thank You for Grands recovery and new life. You have been so good and I know You are not finished yet. Thank You. And now for all our IDOKs I pray for peace and strength and open and willing hurts to be the servants and children You have saved us to be in JESUS Name. Amen and amen.

Until then + + +
Kathie

Christian Living, Forgiveness, Repentance, Salvation

I’m Happy!

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It is Friday morning as I begin to write for our Monday time together. I’ve been in my office (if you don’t know it’s a multi purpose room across the hall from where we sleep. A really easy commute to work :) Know what I mean? Anyway I’ve been here) since 9:25 this morning. Not that all that matters.

So in my on-line Bible study homework, Leah has us studying holiness. She asked that we identify people and/or things that cause us to not practice holiness. Like it or not, the answer is ME. No aggravating soul or malfunctioning piece of equipment can cause me to sin UNLESS I choose  to. I don’t like that much, but facts are facts.

And before coming to the office this morning, DADDY GOD and I were conversing about things and I came to this conclusion: Acting in ungodly ways may be a bit more easy to do than we have previously imagined. Let me explain myself.

We think of ungodly acts as immoral, cruel sins that other folks do. And without a doubt that is true. And before I go on, let me say I am not here to put a guilt trip on anyone — not even my beloved! Without reservation I tell you I am convinced that guilt comes from the devil (Conviction comes from ABBA and there’s a HUGE difference) and any time we, anyone, attempts to use ‘guilt’ to coerce/manipulate man, woman, or child into making changes (even good ones)  or behaving the way we want them to we are using a tool from Satan’s tool box — and we need to put it away and not use it again! ABBA has much better tools for us to use!!

 But back to ungodly being more than we may have until now allowed ourselves to believe it is. Try this on for size.

ANYTHING we do that God would NOT do is ungodly.

Do you really think JESUS left His socks on the floor in the den for His mother to pick up and put in the laundry room? Do you really think when He was finished with the screwdriver, He just laid in down and walked off and left it there for Joseph to put away?  Neither do I! And when we do such things — you got it! That’s ungodly.

I’m just saying. . .  . 

1 Peter 1: (New King James Version)15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

1 John 1: (New King James Version)8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

In these last some odd days or weeks I have become much more aware of the depraved state of the heart of man, particularly my own. It may be surprising to some, I am not depressed about it. Rather, I am rejoicing that I see it!  You see we sin a whole lot more than we think we do. We are much more undone than we think we are. So why am I rejoicing at this? Because more and more I KNOW Romans 8:1 is true. Romans 8: (New King James Version)1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

So when I see and admit the depravity of my own flesh I rejoice all the more that I am forgiven and my precious sweet JESUS is taking great interest in me to crucify my flesh so He can live through me. And to the degree that I allow Him to do so, is the degree that I rejoice the more and more.

I know this makes no sense to the natural mind, but you know what –I don’t care! Because it makes perfect, holy, godly sense to the mind of CHRIST within me. And I’m happy! Actually I’m Asher!!

Thank You. Thank You, ABBA, for making me asher!! And when this post reaches the eyes of our IDOKs I pray they will get asher too! I love You, ABBA, in JESUS Name, I love You. You know our hearts and our prayers for all our PRAYING FOR THESE and our IDOK Troops and this great Nation in need of repentance. Amen and amen.    

Until then  + + +
Kathie

Christian Living

Does It?

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For an update on Betty, please visit Praises-Answers.

Reading my Journey just now  — way late in doing so; this was yesterday’s offering — I read the story of a young woman planning her wedding and she was pretty much turning into Bridezilla. Then a friend said something that all we who are married or want to be married would do well to hear: “Your marriage points to Him [Jesus], not to you.”

Does it?

Truthfully, I am hesitant to offer this Scripture. It is not intended by me and I think not by the HOLY SPIRIT to be a blanket to smother those wives who are married to godless men who are without kindness to them. However, to troubled homes wherein neither spouse is violent but clearly JESUS and His Bride is not pictured in the home, I urge you to come together with this Word and begin now to practice it.  To others I am a firm believer in CHRISTIAN Marriage Counseling and in some cases — court ordered protection!  The intricate workings of marriage is far too senstive and complex for blanket advice — individual counsel is a must.  So when our marriages are not pointing to JESUS — GET HELP!

Ephesians 5:15-33 NIV 2011 15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.  22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

 Praying for These

ABBA, this is not easy to post. I am mindful how sensitive it is; how complex and tender and sore the lives of wives and even some husbands can be out there. I do not want to add pain or even cause inappropriate guilt to be heaped upon dear ones. I desire for Christian marriages to be about YOU, reflecting to the world what You intend – JESUS and His Bride — and if our marriages are not doing that, then to encourage us to get with the Program and allow You to make it so in us. And for those marriages out there that are more like our enemy than anything else I pray for help and relief and repentance and correction and safety and protection for children and spouses alike. Certainly LORD it is my heart for marriages to be saved yet LORD I am so aware that it takes THREE to make a Christian marriage – You, the wife and the husband in love with You and each other. That is what I pray, what I desire for our IDOKs and I pray it be so in JESUS Name. Amen and amen.  

I placed your names (those who sent me a comment) in a cup, my beloved gave me a (verbal) drum roll and he ‘blindly’ drew a name. And it was SUE!  Sue I will be contacting you for your address to get your book to you. I’d so enjoy a brief review of what you think of the book when you have opportunity to read it.   

Sweet blessings, my Friends!

Until then + + +
Kathie