The Simple Life

"See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.” Deuteronomy 11:26- 29 ESVST Simple, simple, simple. Blessings for those who obey. Curses for those who do not. A nation that does not believe this will be proven wrong. Perhaps there is still time for repentance. Perhaps not.   There is a point of no return for individuals and a nation. The theology of God's never-ending offer of mercy and grace is not indicated in Scripture. There is a hell, and those who have ignored God all of their lives will experience such a place. There are wasted lives, purposelessness, and this will lead to depressed lives.   God is patient, not tolerant. His love empowers, but it does not enable. His kindness can be wasted

"You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates…” Deuteronomy  11:18-20  ESVST   Those who are in good relationships are not in those relationships by accident. Those who know God, love God, and obey His voice, and this is not by accident.   Those who love usually talk to and about the one they love. It is natural, most likely not rehearsed, and common. Those who love God talk about Him in a natural way, seldom give the impression of a "rehearsed" relationship, and can be expected to bring His name/presence in all situations.   We would be healthier if we would be more common about our love for God and leave

"And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good? “ Deuteronomy 10:12-13 ESVST   God makes it simple, not difficult. Satan makes things complex, and the more complex things are, the more likely we are to make "loopholes." Apart from redefining words, it is difficult to make a loophole about the simple idea of obeying God. For example, we are told that we should love the Lord our God. Throughout the Bible, we are told that if we love God, we will obey Him. That gives us a simple way to honestly evaluate whether we love God or not.. Are we obeying Him?   Some might say that they are kind of obeying God, but that would not be obeying Him. The “kind of” people are those who redefine things and eventually make it so complicate

“Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 8:20 ESVST   Why do some nations live in peace and prosperity, while others seem to flounder and struggle to even meet basic needs of their people? Why are there nations in a perpetual state of fear, anxiety, and turmoil?   What if the people of the world would love the Lord God? That would mean they would obey God. That would mean that they would be thinking about how to make others successful, rather than themselves. The poor and needy would be cared for by the excesses of the rich, women would not be being auctioned off as property (as they are in places of the world today), and children would be cared for and nurtured.   God did not ask us to do something we cannot do. He asked us to obey His voice. The United States does not seem to want to hear God's voice, much less obey it. We seem to want to make up our own standards. This

“Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.” Deuteronomy  8:17-19  ESVST   We love making things about us. They are not. Satan loved making things about him. Nothing is about him. Those of us who are nothing like to pretend that we are something. It is kind of making something out of nothing. The problem with that is that only God can do that. Really, I am nothing, and only God can make something out of nothing, and He does this with all who call upon His name.   In my "world" I enjoy a certain amount of wealth, power, and comfort. These are truly gifts of God. I must see them and enjoy them in that c

"Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied,, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery….”, Deuteronomy  8:11-14  ESVST   Take care lest you forget the Lord your God. How easy is it to forget the only One whom we should be remembering?   What is it that gets in our way? What things become more important than God? I will bet we will regret whatever it is or was that got between God and us one day. This verse indicates that we forget God when we neglect to keep his commandments, rules, and statues. Perhaps the attention to the details of His commandments, rules, and statues keep us in close proximity to Him

"For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations, and repays to their face those who hate him by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. You shall, therefore, be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today

"Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules —that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.” Deuteronomy 6:1-3 ESVST   The most important thing we do in life is to fear God. The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge. We must know that there is a God, that we are not Him, and that He is the ultimate judge of all things, to whom we will answer.   God desires what is good for His children, but His children need to accept what He has to offer in order to enjoy the good He is of

"And the Lord heard your words when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, 'I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh, that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever! Go and say to them, "Return to your tents." But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.' You shall be careful, therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” Deuteronomy 5:28-32 ESVST   Knowledge is wasted on those who do not apply it. It is not good to know and not do. Ignorant behavior can be corrected with knowledge. Knowledge cannot help those who are intentionally disobedient. How correction take

I do not fear the destruction of life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness but that which leads to the destruction of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I do not fear becoming a murderer, but that which leads one to murder. I do not fear abortion becoming the law of the land, but that which leads to abortion. I do not fear the lack of prayer in schools, but what has led to the lack of prayer in schools. I do not fear giving in to pornography, but what has led to the acceptance of pornography. I do not fear divorce, but that which leads to divorce. I do not fear war, but that which has leads to war I do not fear violent entertainment, but why is it that people are viewing this violence? I do not fear death, but those who live as if death is not going to happen to them I do not fear hell, but what has led someone to choose hell over heaven. I do not fear suffering a heart attack but that I will do nothing to prevent the heart attack and then blame God for my poor health. I do

"'And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.'" Deuteronomy 5:21 ESVST   God created us to love Him and to love one another. He makes it clear that in order for me to love God, I need to obey Him. He does not say to obey in Him in order to love Him. He says to love Him, and I will obey Him.   Coveting puts me against God and the neighbor I am supposed to love, for if I really loved my neighbor, I would be truly glad when they have things that are better than mine, or if they are in situations that are healthier than mine. In fact, how I feel about someone else's success is a barometer as to what is really going on in my life. I cannot love others if I have not experienced the love of God.   Without God, I am left to fend for myself. When I fend for myself, it puts me against you, and the co

"'And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.'" Deuteronomy 5:20 ESVST   Lying seems to be the norm, not the exception. Those who lie are following the lead of Satan and his forces.   Jesus said this about those who were not really part of God's family: "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44 Lying is a very serious problem in that it can injure those around us, and it begins to blur the lines of truth and lies in our own minds. There are many who have lied so often that they no longer know the difference between truth and lies.   Then, you add the many hours that we spend watching pretend plots in movies and television, and various presentations of "truth" on Facebook and YouTube,

"' And you shall not steal. '" Deuteronomy 5:19 ESVST   This is not hard to understand. We should not take things that do not belong to us. Stealing costs the average American family over $400 a year in inflated costs. Businesses must raise the price of items to cover the cost for those who steal.   There is a mindframe out there that thinks that businesses do not really get hurt because of theft, and, in a sense, they are right. Businesses just pass the cost of doing business onto the honest customers. In essence, those who cheat, cheat their friends, neighbors, and ultimately themselves. Those who decided to cheat at work and work hard for seven hours, but get paid for eight are causing the employer to hire more people, meaning that the wages that are spread out over the workforce stay lower because they are spread thinner.   Many students cheat on tests. In essence, they are stealing grades. This means employers need to spend additional time and resources to actual

"'And you shall not commit adultery.'" Deuteronomy 5:18 ESVST   Once again, the commandment is simple, and simple is often ignored to the peril of the one doing the ignoring.   Our culture seems to focus on television, movies, advertisements, and computers that seem to focus on raw, uncommitted, sexual encounters, and then condemns those found guilty of sexual abuse. In times past, there was something we labeled as deviant behavior, but today, we have normalized the deviant and made deviant what should be normal. Then we wonder why we are so depressed, lonely, and angry, and why suicide has such a grip on us.   Christ, in the book of Matthew, focuses on the process, rather than just the action. The process of making deviant sexual behavior normal needs to be addressed, and the end result of adultery will lose its stranglehold. There is a way we were made, a way we were meant to be, and if we abide by that way, we experience a significant and secure life. If we make up

"'You shall not murder.'" Deuteronomy 5:17 ESVST   That's rather direct. When something is this clear, there should be no questions, because there can be nothing to question. The fact that God felt it necessary to tell us this tells us something about us and our capabilities. We are capable of doing terrible things to one another in order to make life the way we want it for ourselves.   Throughout history, people have killed those who they thought were wrong, thinking the wrong would go away. It did not work. Jesus was crucified, and that opened the door to the religious community's problems instead of solving them. Stephen was stoned; it did not work. The disciples were persecuted and killed, and their message lives on.   Jesus, in the book of Matthew, focuses on the process of murder and tells those around Him that those who hate have committed murder in their hearts. It seems as if Jesus was concerned as much with the process as He was the act, for without

"'Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.'" Deuteronomy 5:16 ESVST There is an order to the universe. There is an order to a family. We are told to honor our mother and father. Honor means to give heavy weight to them, or to make sure you seriously consider what they tell you. Blind obedience is not taught. Honor is taught, and obedience is always important to those who have power and authority and are submissive to the absolutes taught in God's Word, for ultimately, we should be obedient to God.   I cannot help but notice that it does not say to honor your mother and mother, or honor your father and father. That would be because God made the marriage union to be between a man and woman who are committed to each other for life.   There actually is a way that it was meant to be. If you fight against the way it was meant to be

"'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.'" Deuteronomy 5:12 ESVST   We are told to keep the Sabbath holy, unique, or different. Is this a law or a relational principle? In order for us to have a relationship with anyone, we need to spend time with them. Husbands and wives would be wise to be intentional about time spent together. Fathers should schedule time to play, listen to, and participate in their children's lives. Intentionality is critical in any relationship, and those hoping to accidentally enjoy a good relationship will be disappointed.   Our lives become hubs of busyness, and busyness becomes distracting rather than distinct, and distinct is what we are looking for. Distinct is recognizably different in nature from something else of a similar type. Distinct is holy, unique, or different.   The world around us is busy living reactionary lives, while we should live responsive lives. The world around us accepts the id

"'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 vain.'" Deuteronomy 5:11 ESVST   Certainly, the use of God's name in a profane way is evil. Using anyone's name to display displeasure with life or circumstances would be to slander or demean that person. However, I think the real abuse of God's name is the constant chatter from Christians claiming authority from God for the things they do, when, in reality, they are bending the will of God to fit their own will.   Countless times young Christians have told me that God told them to go into this career, or to make this move, or to marry this person. I have had those who have worked for us say that God has called them to somewhere else. Immediately, when someone uses the name of God, all others must remain silent on the issue, for no one else has the authority that God has.   Often, I will ask how they know God called them. I seldom get

"'You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.'" Deuteronomy 5:8 ESVST   The people were making things and then worshiping them. We will have a tendency towards such behavior, yet this behavior will destroy us.   It seems silly to carve something out of wood or stone, place it on a pedestal, and worship it. Yet, in another way, it could seem "good" if I can get myself and others to believe that what I made is God. Think of the power I could have if I could make God, control God, and get others to worship the gods of my making. I would, in essence, for a time, be God. Satan attempted to do that, and those who follow him continue to do such things to their demise.   We may not be carving images today, but we are creating "things" that demand our time and attention, and, in essence, control us, even though they are things w

"'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "'You shall have no other gods before me.'" Deuteronomy 5:6-7 ESVST   When God speaks, no one else can validate what is said. God communicates with authority because He is the authority. Those of us who are not the authority would be wise to listen to the one who is the authority.   The Ten Commandments were given to us because we struggle in those areas. If one of my small children is afraid of the stove, I do not make a rule for them to stay away from it, for they are not inclined toward that activity. If I have a child fascinated by the stove, I need to make rules, set a boundary, or give a law concerning their behavior around the stove.   We all struggle with putting other gods before God. We all tend to replace the true and living God with ones that we create, understand, and are tolerant rather than patient. When we replace God with gods, we destroy life'

And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.” Deuteronomy 5:1 ESVST Hearing and doing must go together, or hearing is a waste, and doing becomes foolish or meaningless. "Shamar," the Hebrew word we translated "careful," means "to keep" in the sense of "tending" and taking care of something. An example of its usage would be that God put Adam "into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it." [1] We must carefully tend to the information we receive. I have a responsibility when I hear the words of God, and should I neglect that responsibility, I will never be able to enjoy the life God intended for me. Knowledge should lead to action, growth, and opportunities to share knowledge https://www.podbean.com/relate365

“But from there, you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.” Deuteronomy 4:29-31 ESVST   There is a consistent message in the Bible. When you seek God, honestly seek Him, you will find Him. If you feel distant from God today, it is because you have not and are not seeking Him. If you think God has distanced Himself from you today, that is not the case, for, in reality, you have distanced yourself from Him. He has not moved, for He remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. You, however, are in constant motion.   Whenever we seem lost, it is wise to stop and regain a bearing on what we know. Then, we can start again with a re