God of Promises...10 Commandments

Anchor Verse…Joshua 1:8

Joshua 1:8 AMP

This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.

Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy contain many instructions for living. They can all be boiled down to Ten Commandments. God set down rules so that we’d know how to love Him and others.

Do you like rules? Some people don’t like rules, some people crave them. No matter where you’re at in this, rules are important to have. At least some of them...

In Arizona ... it's illegal for a donkey to sleep in a bathtub.

In Indiana ... it's illegal to ride a horse above 10 MPH.

In Maine ... it's illegal to park in front of Dunkin' Donuts.

In New Mexico ... "idiots" are banned from voting.

While there’s definitely some crazy laws out there, God gave us some really important ones to follow. His laws will help us to be better neighbors, and to better express our love to Him.Like them or not, His laws are there for our own good because He loves us.

So God has delivered the Israelites from captivity in Egypt. They’ve been slaves for 400 years, they’ve had rules and laws inflicted upon them from people that hated them. Israel is going to have to learn to function that has to love and respect one another. God gave them Commandments in order to help them live better lives.

Deuteronomy 5:1–22 AMP

AND MOSES called all Israel, and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances which I speak in your hearing this day, that you may learn them and take heed and do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made this covenant not with our fathers, but with us, who are all of us here alive this day. The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mount out of the midst of the fire. I stood between the Lord and you at that time to show you the word of the Lord, for you were afraid because of the fire and went not up into the mount. He said, I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me or besides Me. You shall not make for yourself [to worship] a graven image or any likeness of anything that is in the heavens above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, And showing mercy and steadfast love to thousands and to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in falsehood or without purpose. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, or your manservant or your maidservant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the stranger or sojourner who is within your gates, that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you. And [earnestly] remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to observe and take heed to the Sabbath day. Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you in the land which the Lord your God gives you. You shall not murder. Neither shall you commit adultery. Neither shall you act slyly or steal. Neither shall you witness falsely against your neighbor. Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife, nor desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his manservant or his maidservant, his ox or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s. These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He spoke not again [added no more]. He wrote them on two tables of stone and gave them to me [Moses].

These may seem a bit like common sense to most of us, but remember they’re coming from slavery. Consider the founding of our great nation. We’ve had some really bad seasons as we’ve grown and learned to love God and each other. We’ve dealt with slavery, equality, etc.. Really we’ve had to navigate these Ten Commandments ourselves.

All of us will struggle with things from time to time. I generally love to have rules or guidelines to live by. Even I struggle though. The rules and guidelines need to make sense to me. If they don’t make sense, I’m probably going to struggle some. To be clear, I don’t necessarily like that, but I know that can be my nature. We all have our hangups and we all need God’s Commandments to remind us how to live. You can see today the struggle of our nation because lawlessness is beginning to abound!

God’s people would often stray away from God and forget His ways, so they would need some specific things in place. These commandments were good for them and they’re good for us today. Jesus came along and simplified them for us...

Matthew 22:36–40 AMP

Teacher, which kind of commandment is great and important (the principal kind) in the Law? [Some commandments are light—which are heavy?] And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. These two commandments sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets.

Today if you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior, please call on Him to save you. He loves you and wants to rescue you from mayhem!

Dear God, thank you for wanting whats best for our lives. Help us to follow those rules that will help us to love you, and others better! Amen.