GOD'S STANDARDS OF LIVING

EXODUS 20:1-17 & DUETERONOMY 5:6-21

The 10 Commandments are holy values designed by God to accomplish amongst humankind a perfect and pleasing peace and harmonious way of living.

“I am the Lord your God which bought you out of the land of Egypt form the house of bondage.” =

The intro to the 10 Commandments starts with God telling us why we should follow his ordinances (his laws, practices, his standards of living). Because we are saved by God when he freed us from the captivity of the devil his expectation is for us to live our life according to the cal of his holy freedom.

God's commandments, his standards of living are designed to guide us away from sin, which we fully understand the consequence thereof is bondage to death and torment in the depths of hell instead of eternal life of peace and grace in the Kingdom of Heaven.

1...You will have/put no other gods before me.

The Lord Jehovah is the Almighty, there is none greater than him that deserves the honor, respect and esteem that only he should be given because he is the Creator and King of all things in the flesh and spirit world from beginning to end.

Self Check – What gods are you putting before the Lord Jehovah? Could it be the God of money, lust, self, pride, family, so forth and so on. A god is anything that has the power to control, anything you give worship/honor and respect to, the person/place or thing that has authority over your heart/mind and soul. The supreme priority of your life.

2...You will not create (with your hands, mind or your heart) any images of fleshly idol (things that dwell in the sky, earth and water) to submit yourself unto in holy reverence.

Why? Because doing this tempts the Lord into jealousy as he is the only one who judges all righteously, loves his creation truthfully, provides grace/mercy and compassion undeservingly, and reigns in the light of glory omnipotently.

How about God is not only our King and creator, but our Father, and just as a parent gives everything to their children because they love them so much, so does God towards us. To put someone or something before the very person that loves us even unto death is a slap in the face and hurtful. Just as we get jealous if the one person, we love with all our heart turns around and loves another more than us, so does God feel this way toward us. Our relationship with God is meant to be exclusive and like none other relationship we have with anyone/thing else.

God created us to love him singularly. Within our heart/the core of who we are, God designed a special place of reverence just for him and to allow someone/thing else to come into that sacred place and receive what is supposed to be set aside only for him is very heartbreaking and heart tasking to God.

Wouldn’t you get jealous too?

3...You will not use the name of the Lord in vain (for selfish reasons, self-esteeming, pride of self, self-importance, fruitless, unproductive, unprofitable, empty reasons).

Vanity. Sin of pride. God is telling us not to use his name in a way that promotes self to be better than, to be lifted or for whatever selfish reason this is wrong and is deserving of righteous consequence. God is a God of truth, righteousness and all that is good and glorious in the Kingdom of Heaven, to use his name for manipulation reasonings is a sin, matter of fact it is the sin that the devil used to deceive Adam and Eve and continues to use to this day to deceive humankind.

What does this look like? People telling people that they come to them in the name of the Lord and because of so I need, or you should do this for me because God said, or I am this or that because God choose me to be (what title a person calls themselves). Vain use of God is never selfless, it’s manipulating, corrupt, deceiving, unjust, prideful, selfish and all that is opposite of the true holiness of God.

4...Remember the day of Sabbath (REST), keep to it and mark this day as a holy.

Sabbath, rest from all work, the day the Lord set aside for a person to relax, breathe and be rejuvenated in him. This day is day we are to sit down, reflect and be thankful for the goodness and glory of the Lord Jehovah in our life from past to present.

Technically the Sabbath lands on Saturday as the week begins on Sunday and ends on Friday, however, due to the changes of civilization the day of Sabbath can be any day the Lord has spoken to your heart to cease all labor and to spend dedicated time with him.

The Sabbath is crucial in the righteous existence of humankind. Society tells us to work, work, work unto the point of unhealthy living, this is not Godly. God did not create our entire being to be workaholics and never giving the heart, the mind, the soul and the flesh a time to sit still and be divinely refreshed. The Sabbath is about divine BALANCE, creating a moment of heavenly peace and harmony for the flesh and the spirit. Taking a break to enjoy the fruits of God’s working.

Being overworked, tired and distracted is a tool for the devil. When a person is in this state where guards are low, this allows for satan to come in and work his plan of deterring us from living in righteousness. Spiritually our minds are weak, our flesh is feeble, our hearts are full of the world’s cares and during these moments satan as clever as he is, knows that a person dwelling in spiritual weakness is a person easy to manipulate and control.

5...Honor your mother and father, that long life may be given you in the places that God leads you to live.

Honor, respecting the conduits which God chose to use to bring forth life into this world. To honor the vessels that bring forth life is to honor God, for it is not man and woman but the word and hand of God that created the seed into existence.

I know there are some grey areas in respect to sinful procreation such as rape, incest and molestation. These are the areas where the Spirit of God must work to bring Godly peace and heart resolution. Here is where one is directed to honor God as the Father not man. For tragedies such as this, it is only God who can bring holy comfort, enlightenment and the ability to forgive and heal past the trauma of sinful acts.

6...You will not kill.

God is the only one who has the power and the responsibility to give and take away life. Remember the sole task of the devil is to steal, kill and destroy the glory of God upon earth. Who are we to raise our hand to take the life of another, the life of a person who God may use to show forth his glory and majesty of his Kingdom.

Sinners can be redeemed, sick can be healed, lost can be found, broken can be restored, and anyone can be delivered and saved. When a person chooses to use their free will to kill, they are in fact moving as the hands of the devil to complete his ungodly task of removing the glory of God upon earth.

Humankind does not have the ultimate God ability to decided when the life of a person is to be taken, only God is the numberer of days, for it is he that has determined the length of life a person is to live from when they were just an image in his mind.

7...You will not commit adultery.

As defined adultery is the act of unfaithfulness, cheating, infidelity. It is a sin to come between any union that the Lord has sealed together. Hence the prefix ADULT, committing sins as an of age person who knows better.

When speaking of union this not only spoken of in terms of husband and wife, but in terms of the relationship between God and person. For someone to purposely try and come between/destroy the relationship a person has built with God for their own sinful pleasures is wrong. Commitment, faithfulness, truthfulness and loyalty are all the important key factors for a strong union between man and woman, and God and person.

8... You will not steal.

To take what does not belong to you. If God is the supplier and giver of all things to his glory, who are we to take what God has decided a person is entitled to have. Remember the sole task of the devil is to steal, kill and destroy the glory of God upon earth.

God in all his infinite wisdom knows what is enough for each and every person according to his plan for their life, this is why he tells us to be content with the sufficiency of the day.

9...You will not bear false witness against your neighbor.

LYING. Lying is a very dangerous and deadly sin, telling one lie can cause catastrophic events in a person’s life that can be devastating. God is a God of truth and if we are created in the image of God then we too are expected to live in truth such as God. Lying is the act of creating a false narrative with the intent of a selfish outcome. The word tells us that the devil is the father of lies, this means that liars are the children of the devil.

10...You will not covet the things and life of your neighbor.

Do no Lust after anything. God is the supplier of all our needs and what God supplies, deems as enough and chooses not to give is to be honored. God sees the core of who we are, God knows us better than we know ourselves, and it is because of this that God says yes and no to the things we need and don’t need. Lusting leads to the act of strange sins for material items. We are to be satisfied with the Lord’s sufficiency, because we know not the price paid, the cost required, the sufferings, the work, the hardships, heartache and the miniscule details of the things or life we covet after.

Not everything we see or want that another person has comes from the hand of the Lord Jehovah, it just might be the hand of satan that blessed your neighbor to keep them living in hidden sin.

And in the New Testament Jesus added two laws of moral and value to complete the whole GODLY standard of living,

Matthew 22:37-40...Jesus said to him, you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, you must love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

(Love, see my other post on loving self according to the way God loves us, so that we can love others the way God intended for us live in love.)

A set of 12 complete, just and holy laws for man to live by as given by the Father and his Son. And if we were to go a step further to make it a complete TRINITY, we would then read Galatians 5:22-23 and add the fruits of the Spirit to make the standards of holy living perfect in all ways.

10 Commandments = God the Father, 2 Commandments of Love = Jesus the Son, Fruits of the Spirit = Holy Spirit of God, and all equal the complete image of God.

To the Lord Jehovah be the glory for the reading and edification of his word, in the name of Immanuel (God is with us), Amen.