Read the Rules! – Part 2

Read the Rules! – Part 2
By Shirley Mitchell

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Matthew 22:36-40

Yesterday, I told you about the time that my daughter Mikayla broke one of her brackets on the braces of her teeth. I allowed her to buy rock candy and because neither one of us were familiar with the orthodontist’s rules, her bracket broke. When she told me the bad news, we faced each other and said simultaneously, “We have got to read the rules!”

Sometimes, we need to go back to our Rule Book, too. We may have learned the rules when we were a child or perhaps when we first became a Christian. However, it is easy to forget the rules, and we need a refresher course at times.

Jesus summarized the Ten Commandments, the Law of Moses, and all that the prophets told the people by these two commandments in Matthew 22. Yesterday, we talked about the first four commandments and our relationship with God. Today we will talk about the next six commandments. Jesus covered them by saying “Love your neighbor as yourself.“

God wants us to have esteem and to know that we are dearly loved. Therefore, it is okay to love our neighbor like we love ourselves. If we will take care of each other like we want to be taken care of, then everyone’s needs will be met. If we treat them like we want to be treated, then we won’t break this next list of commandments.

The fifth commandment is to honor our father and mother. It is the first commandment with a promise – that we will live long. We are to honor them regardless of whether or not they are saved. We are to learn to respect their position regardless of whether their characters are worthy of respect.

The sixth commandment is to not murder. This means we are to not intentionally kill another person. It is not talking about acting in self-defense or protecting a nation in times of war. It is addressed to individuals who have hate, jealousy, or uncontrolled anger in their hearts or do not honor the sanctity of human life.

The seventh commandment is to not commit adultery. Oh, my, I have a lot to say about this one. In our sex-crazed society, adultery is prevalent. It is no longer the great taboo. Precious one, we must protect our marriages. Wives, we must not nag but respect our husbands and take care of his needs. Both husbands and wives, we must not put ourselves in relationships with others that create a level of intimacy that belongs to our mates. Remember, precious one, if you get them through adultery, your chances of losing them through adultery is great. An unfaithful heart won’t change without God.

The eighth commandment is to not steal. We should not take something that doesn’t belong to us. If we steal, we are letting satan lie to us for the need for immediate gratification and steal from us our character and hurt our relationship with God. Stealers reject dependency on God to provide our needs and godly desires.

The ninth commandment is to not give false testimony against your neighbor. Simply, we should not lie about each other. I’m also amazed at the wickedness in people’s hearts to hurt others in order to elevate themselves or put that person down. I’m also amazed at how many lies are stemmed from inability to see the truth of situations, the denial of truth, or reliance on our limited perception. I tell my children all the time, there is nothing worse than a liar. A liar will betray friends, twist things in their favor, and eventually lie to herself.

The tenth commandment is to not covet your neighbor’s house, wife, animals, or servants – essentially anything belonging to someone else. I believe this is the biggest sin in our country. We are so stricken with the illness of coveting and longing for what others have. And most of us have no idea that we do it.

Did you notice how many of these are about control and the desire to have it our way? What motivates people to covet? Because they want to create the best life here and control what they have. People steal for the same reason. They want it now, and it doesn’t matter how they get it. Why does someone lie? To control what others believe about someone or manipulate the situation.

As we leave each other for the day, let’s really think about this refresher course on God’s commandments. Let’s implant these commandments in our hearts and be compelled by our love for God and love for people to live by them the best that we can. Let’s relinquish control to God and let His way for our lives win.

Pray with me: Oh, God Almighty, You are so wise. You knew exactly the Ten Commandments that the Israelites and we would need and the two commandments that Jesus used to summarize it all. Help us to love You with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strengths. Teach us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Help us to care about others and to desire to meet their needs as we would meet our own. May we not live in self-centeredness. Guard us from the temptations to dishonor our parents, murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, and covet. Help us to be people who know Your rules. At the same time, may we be motivated by love and not legalism. Help us to relinquish control of our lives to You! It’s in the Name above all names, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.

Copyright ©2009 Christ Compels

Freedom Run

Freedom Run
By Shirley Mitchell

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. "
Galatians 5:1

On the island of Guam, a road approximately six miles long stretches from the east side to the west side. When I lived in Guam many years ago, I told my friends that right before I left the island, I wanted to run that road. My friends Chris and Jean were crazy enough to run it with me. I called this rite of passage "The Freedom Run." It was something that I wanted to prove to myself that I could do before I left the island.

When I returned to Guam for my 40th birthday, I wanted to drive across this "Freedom Run" road. My mind had diminished this feat that I had accomplished because it was only six miles. However, when my rental car had a hard time getting up the hills, I was so impressed with my accomplishment! The inclines were so much steeper than I remembered. I had run six miles up the "mountains" of the island of Guam that is close to the equator and always 90-100 degrees and humid, from the east coast to the west coast.

Then God showed me how in the 12 years since I had run that Freedom Run, He had taken me on a spiritual freedom run. When I lived on that island, my mind had a steady intake of the world - fashion, beauty, fitness, perfection, and materialism. I was so bound up with lies from the enemy about what was important and how a woman was supposed to be. I lived under the tyranny of inferiority and self-centered thoughts like "I'm not fast enough, strong enough, fit enough, tough enough, or smart enough. I'm not beautiful or attractive. I must work on my hair, my tan, my face, and my body." My world revolved around me and what I must do to prove to the world that I was of value. Thus, I fell into a series of bad choices.

Over the past 12 years, God has daily poured His Spirit into me. Through my Bible study and prayer time, He has renewed my mind. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." I stopped conforming to the world and stopped the intake of commercials, TV shows, secular radio, and so on. I sought God through His Word and through others who are further in their walks with Him than I was. I relinquished control of my life and fell under the authority of God. I found freedom when I yielded to His Lordship. I don't live by a set of laws and list of "don'ts." I live under the freely flowing power of the Spirit. By finding spiritual victory, I found God Himself. By finding and experiencing God, I found my identity in Christ. When I settled my value, I was free to pour out the love of Christ to others and serve, no longer living under the pride of thinking so little about myself too much of the time. I found true freedom, and this is the freedom run that I choose to take the rest of my life.

Have you ever been chained by your own mind? Do you live in the oppression of your bad choices? Can you not imagine what it would be like to be free? Can you choose today to daily seek God through His Word, let Him transform Your mind, and to run the freedom run in Christ?

Pray with me: Oh, Lord, we lift up the ones to You today who are under the bondage of sin. We ask You, Lord, to break down gates of bronze, cut through bars of iron (Psalm 107:16), and to release them from the cell. The world sends forth so many lies that we believe. Our value is not based on our beauty to the world. Our worth is not the sum of our parts or determined by judges of a beauty contest. Our worth is based on the fact that we are Yours. We are Your princesses. We are highly esteemed. You fight for us. You guide us, and You speak to us. We ask that You reveal to us where we have withheld any part of our lives from Your authority. We desire to run in the path of Your commands for You have set our hearts free (Psalm 119:32). It's in the Name above all names that we pray, in Jesus' Name, Yeshua's Name. Amen.