Melinda wins the prize for being the first to answer my question about where to find the Ten Commandments! Congratulations, Melinda!
The first four commandments focus on our relationship to God, and the other six focus on our relationship to people. My husband says all the time that God's number one priority is relationship. He created you to enjoy a personal relationship with Him, and He has created a plan for us to enjoy relationships with the people around us.
On a side note, feel free to tell us about how & when you began your relationship with Christ. If you are wondering what it would be like to know God personally, feel free to email me at tydyd_89@yahoo.com.
I found the following summarized list at http://www.ten-commandments.us/
The Ten Commandments of God As Given By Moses
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honour thy father and thy mother.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not covet.
What are your thoughts about why we as Christians observe these 10 commands, but we hardly even read, much less observe, the other laws God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai?
Exodus 20:18-21 The people wanted Moses to talk to God, but they were afraid to have God talk to them personally. Hallelujah! Jesus opened the way for you and me to speak to the Father face to face. Moses told the people that their fear of God would keep them from sinning. For you and me, it is our love for God that should keep us from sinning. The people remained at a distance. Jesus invites us to draw close to Him. I am so grateful to be under the New Covenant of the blood of Christ!
Tomorrow's reading will be Leviticus 1, 10-11, 16, and 25-26. We may break it into a couple of days if needed.
Well, the church answer I believe would be because we fall under the new covenant. So, even though we in essence follow the 10 commandments, we are really following the new covenant commands instead of 1) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and 2)Love your neighbor as yourself. If we follow those 2, we follow the 10 commands. We don't have to sacrifice animals any longer because of Jesus. Thank you God!! Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way.
ReplyDeleteIf you continue reading throughout Exodus, there is great detail about how everything was to be dealt with from property rights to the garments the priests were to wear. I wonder if God wanted to drive home the point, especially to those of us after Christ, of how difficult it was to lead an upright life. Through Christ's atonement we don't have to jump through all of those hoops. We just have to fix our eyes on Him. It IS about relationship, that God wants us to recognize Him and out of that Love, Awe, Amazement, Faith and Devotion we then have characteristics of HIS love that flow from us to others.
ReplyDeleteI think the 10 commandments are an easy checklist that people can go through and answer yes or no and possibly then feel like they are a good person and on the right track. I don't know but I feel like the 10 commandments can just be glossed over especially the first 4. We come up with great excuses for "bending" some of them. Thank God we don't have to follow all of the other commands from the Old Testament, we wouldn't be doing a very good job. Harsh?
I think that in the Old Testament God was more......strict on His expectations of His people. Is that the right word? God no doubt was/is a loving God, but all the sacrificing that He wanted His people to do, they must have been sacrificing everyday. So what would we look like if we had to do that? How would our worship compare to their worship? Sometimes I think I get caught up in the "God loves me know matter what" and I know that He does but I don't take it serious enough and if I had to go out and slaughter an animal (yuck) that, Because God knows how I feel about that, would really say something to Him.
ReplyDeleteWe do hear more about the new covenant, I am not saying that is bad, I am saying that "out of sight out of mind" kind of applies here for the old covenant. The fact that all of this is still so new to me maybe makes me sound kind of silly when I talk about the old testament but it is all confusing. Ok so I will put myself out there and ask this question because I don't know the answer for sure...... Why did God choose to make new laws when His people had a hard time following the old ones? Is there a place that you can direct me to read that would help me to understand. As a new christian, "new" and "old" sound as if we only need to take the new testament serious.... Kind of like lets put the old on the shelf until we need it, and use the new for now.
ReplyDeleteDana in reponse to your question, I believe that Christians observe the 10 commnandments because they are common to us. We grew up hearing them, memorizing them and at one time they were posted everywhere you went it seemed like. But anymore, I wonder how much they are actually observed by Christians these days?! As for the other laws, I think we have a tendency to believe those were strictly for the Jews and they don't pertain to us in any way. I actually wish the laws were followed regarding finances! That would really be something! There is something to be learned from the Old Testament scriptures that if applied I believe we would see big things happen both individually and corporately.
ReplyDeleteI did not ever pick up on the people staying at a distance from God. I wonder why, since God made a way for us to have direct access to Him, we keep ourselves at a distance to some degree? We know that Jesus desires for us to draw close to Him but yet a lot of times we don't. Father help me to see that I need to stay close to you, that whatever I may be trying to keep between You and me You will reveal that barrier and help me to break that down. Thank you Lord that You have made a way when there seems to be no way!!
Since I began my journey in the Old Testament a few weeks ago, the Holy Spirit has caused such a stirring in my soul regarding what you are talking about Melissa. I want to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and body and to love my neighbor as myself. As I ponder these verses I am beginning to understand that I have been doing a lot on my own and that's why I am having such a struggle with some things. As the Lord moves me to love Him as His word commands, takes a lot of readjusting and casting off and it's difficult but worth it! As we shed the old skin to take on the new all I can say right now is WOW! God's journey is truly an adventure of a life time!
Melinda your insight is great on this passage of scripture. And I think it's a message you should shout from the roof tops for all to hear. The yolk of bondage we put around our necks is so unneccessary. We need to stay focused!
Hilary great question, how would our worship compare to their worship? Father forgive me when I take your grace for granted. Help me to consider the cost throughout my day today.
Thank you Dana for following God's lead on this blog and thank you ladies for your insight. God has used each of you to supply me with good food for thought today. Have yourselves a great day in the Lord!
I believe that trying to figure out why God has done certain things can get confusing that is why it is called faith - strong belief, trust, confidence in the LORD. I have a hard time even putting my brain around the awsomeness of creation and then I ask why questions. I think my smoke detectors just went off.
ReplyDeleteJob 28:28 And he said to man, "The fear of the LORD-that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding"
Evil is not shunned in our world and the consequence is that it will cause problems for generations. I love the old testament because of the history, the unfolding of Christs coming and the stories of people, common people who rose to the occasion-like Moses and Esther.
Good thought, Melinda! We can get so focused on the "why" God chooses to do something that we loose where our true focus should be- on praising God for all He's given to us. Are we making all of this way too difficult? Why do we need to know why God does certain things? He tells us what we need to do and we need to do it. Cindy has got it answer- we need to just focus on Loving Him and everything else falls into line. If we love Him with everything we've got, then nothing else will really matter. Do we get too focused on how other Christians are acting? Do we focus too much on how someone has hurt us? Do we focus too much on everything else about being a Christian? All of this takes our focus off of just simply loving our Father. Wow, this has been very insightful. Thank you ladies for the great thoughts! Today, I'm going to try to simplify things and just focus on loving Him first and most.
ReplyDeleteIn reading Lev. 1 I found myself asking several questions:
ReplyDelete1.What’s the significance between the animals?
2.Why burnt offerings?
3.How can something that is burnt be a sweet aroma to the Lord?
As I poured over this passage it began to take shape for me. The animals appear to be indicative of a person’s wealth. And it’s interesting to see the level of involvement one had with the sacrifice that was offered. It’s important to note that the offering was to be without blemish and was to be offered freely. The more you had the more you were expected to give. To whom much is given much is required and it’s important to take note of that when looking at the offerings they were bringing. Christ offered himself freely for our atonement for sin and He was without blemish! We should give freely from a grateful heart at all times!
Burnt offerings are a symbol of what our lives will be without Christ. We will burn in hell! What a sweet aroma as they brought their sacrifices freely to be offered on the altar. What a sweet aroma when we ask Christ to save us, recognizing that we must be covered in His blood, forgiven, in order to stand before God. Accepting His free gift of salvation keeps us from the burning fires of hell and because of that we should be quick to tell others about Jesus! We must take care to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to the Lord on a continual basis. If we will make a conscious effort to do this, then I believe with God’s help we will be able to put out Satan’s fires more powerfully because that’s what God said He would do for us! He will fight the battle for us, with us, through us, in us! He is our shield! HALLELUJAH! PRAISE BE TO GOD FOR BEING THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE! Father, thank you for the provision you have made for those of us who believe. Would you bring someone into our lives that needs to know you as Savior. Help us to be aware of this very thing and may we be faithful to follow your leading! WOW! Isn’t God’s word full of valuable information. Enjoy the rest of your days ladies.
Wow, back to the 10 commandments. I just read Romans 1-5.
ReplyDeleteRomans 3:20 Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
Romans 5:20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Melinda you have just given a word that is an answer to someone's prayer I believe with your passage from Romans. I will let you know how that turns out!
ReplyDeleteTerrific work, Ladies! Again, you amaze me!
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I love your answers and your thoughtfulness today. You are showing true signs of faith and love for Christ. God has welcomed you home with open arms!
Hilary, I think one answer to your question could be Jesus' words in Matthew 5:17-20. He tells his followers that He has not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. He goes on to say that unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees (who made certain they dotted their i's and crossed their t's), that we can never make it into the Kingdom of God.
As you said, there is no possible way any of us can actually follow the law, and that is the point. Only by the blood of Christ can we be made clean. In regard to the old and new testaments, we have to read them as a whole. Without knowing the background of the old testament sacrifices, we cannot fully appreciate what Christ did for us on the cross. That's why I am so excited about this journey we are on to read through the Bible. It will help us to connect the dots and see God's plan for mankind from beginning to end.
Keep it coming, girls! I would also encourage some of you girls who are reading along but not joining in the comments to feel free to share your insight and questions with us. I am finding that as I type, God is really helping me figure out His truth. I am so proud of all of you because when you know what you believe, the enemy cannot deceive you!
I just started this study, and I can't seem to stop. I am receiving so much, not only directly from God's word, but also from everyones comments. I stand in total awe of the works of God. I went on KLOVE to listen online, started researching upcoming events, and ended up in this Bible study. Isn't God awesome!!
ReplyDeleteThat is terrific, Katherine! Are you going to join us for the Beth Moore simulcast on August 1-2? We are so excited about it, we can hardly wait!
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining us and for making comments. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. I too have gained a tremendous amount of blessings from reading others' comments.
Keep reaching for the prize of Jesus Christ!