Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "deuteronomy-5"
Bargain Basement Talk – Part 1
The Lord said to me, “I have heard…the words of this people... They have done well in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always.” [Deuteronomy 5:28-29]
I can recollect days of old (or not so very old), when my kids were in middle school and high school. Every year just before school started up again, I would take them on an excursion through the mall, where they would pick out some clothes to wear that school year.
Here’s the thing. Back in the day I was going through some tough times financially. We were living from hand to mouth. But it didn’t faze the kids. They would always pick out the most expensive clothes anyway! After all, the kids they hung with all wore suchlike duds, so my kids figured they had the right to wear them too.
They were never much impressed when I explained the facts of life to them. It went like this. When you have a hundred dollars, you can spend a hundred dollars. When you have ten dollars, you cannot spend a hundred dollars!
Not to worry. In our house we followed the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rule! I had the gold, so we spent ten dollars and left the hundred dollars to those parents who had it. This led us to the bargain basement section of the stores—you know, the place where sales items and clothes without the interior design label and stitching were kept.
Not that my kids ever went to school looking like tramps, mind you. They blended in quite well and are well adjusted to this day. It was just that outrageously priced clothing didn’t grace their closets. What they wore was neat and clean and stylish, just not extravagant and gaudy.
At Mount Sinai the Lord spoke the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. As He spoke the ground shook violently like a canoe on white water rapids, the mountain smoked and burned like a humongous furnace, and lightning flashed in all directions like some syfy movie where electrical flashes open up a time warp.
When it was all over, the Israelites made a mad dash to Moses and vented their outrage at him. They said, “Listen up, Moshe! Everything the Lord said we will do. No problemento, señor. Only one itsy bitsy favor we request of you. Don’t let the Lord speak to us again or we’ll die! From now on you go hear what He has to say, and then you can tell us and we’ll do everything…everything, we tell you!”
It was at that point of the conversation that the Lord spoke to Moses the words quoted to commence this study. Look at the words once more. Read them to yourself very slowly. Stop and ponder them a bit. Allow them to roll over your tongue, as you sample the taste of each word. Okay, what did you learn?
Did you catch how the Lord contrasted their words with their hearts? Hmm. What does that mean? Well, He liked their words just fine. Every last one was all pretty and cuddly and quaint. No one would have any objection to marrying them and taking them home. They were pleasant to the ear and likeable to the sight.
Oh, but we are out of time today. We’ll take up the issue again tomorrow. In the interim be sure to enjoy your time alone with Jesus. He misses you.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
I can recollect days of old (or not so very old), when my kids were in middle school and high school. Every year just before school started up again, I would take them on an excursion through the mall, where they would pick out some clothes to wear that school year.
Here’s the thing. Back in the day I was going through some tough times financially. We were living from hand to mouth. But it didn’t faze the kids. They would always pick out the most expensive clothes anyway! After all, the kids they hung with all wore suchlike duds, so my kids figured they had the right to wear them too.
They were never much impressed when I explained the facts of life to them. It went like this. When you have a hundred dollars, you can spend a hundred dollars. When you have ten dollars, you cannot spend a hundred dollars!
Not to worry. In our house we followed the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rule! I had the gold, so we spent ten dollars and left the hundred dollars to those parents who had it. This led us to the bargain basement section of the stores—you know, the place where sales items and clothes without the interior design label and stitching were kept.
Not that my kids ever went to school looking like tramps, mind you. They blended in quite well and are well adjusted to this day. It was just that outrageously priced clothing didn’t grace their closets. What they wore was neat and clean and stylish, just not extravagant and gaudy.
At Mount Sinai the Lord spoke the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. As He spoke the ground shook violently like a canoe on white water rapids, the mountain smoked and burned like a humongous furnace, and lightning flashed in all directions like some syfy movie where electrical flashes open up a time warp.
When it was all over, the Israelites made a mad dash to Moses and vented their outrage at him. They said, “Listen up, Moshe! Everything the Lord said we will do. No problemento, señor. Only one itsy bitsy favor we request of you. Don’t let the Lord speak to us again or we’ll die! From now on you go hear what He has to say, and then you can tell us and we’ll do everything…everything, we tell you!”
It was at that point of the conversation that the Lord spoke to Moses the words quoted to commence this study. Look at the words once more. Read them to yourself very slowly. Stop and ponder them a bit. Allow them to roll over your tongue, as you sample the taste of each word. Okay, what did you learn?
Did you catch how the Lord contrasted their words with their hearts? Hmm. What does that mean? Well, He liked their words just fine. Every last one was all pretty and cuddly and quaint. No one would have any objection to marrying them and taking them home. They were pleasant to the ear and likeable to the sight.
Oh, but we are out of time today. We’ll take up the issue again tomorrow. In the interim be sure to enjoy your time alone with Jesus. He misses you.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Bargain Basement Talk – Part 2
The Lord said to me, “I have heard…the words of this people... They have done well in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always” [Deuteronomy 5:28-29].
Yesterday we left off with the Israelites speaking smooth words to Moses about obeying the Word of God. Let’s take a gander at the other side of the coin now. It’s what else the Lord addressed that should have us concerned, dear friends. He put His finger on the real issue by saying, “Would that their hearts were just as sold out to Me!” Yikes! That is not our first choice for what we would prefer to hear from the Lord!
Essentially the Lord said that the Israelites’ words came from the bargain basement section of the store. Their words were cheap, not valuable. This didn’t mean the Israelites were insincere and phony, or that their intentions were underhanded and manipulative. No! They were most sincere and had the best of intentions.
Trouble is, they were sincerely wrong. And they were ignorant of spiritual reality, so their intentions never rose to the occasion. They failed to realize that sinful man CANNOT do everything the Lord says, not even some of the time, much less most of the time, and certainly not always.
Yet the Law—and the Law is exactly what they had committed to do perfectly at all times—but the Law doesn’t allow for violations of any kind ever. For example, if the speed limit is 30 and I’m going 50 and get a ticket, when I go to court the judge cannot declare, “It doesn’t matter. Just go home and have a good life!”
Nix, nix, dear friends. The Law doesn’t work that way. Either the judge decides the evidence doesn’t convict me, in which case he issues a ruling of not guilty, or else he finds me guilty and sentences me. He may be lenient with the sentencing or he may lay down the hammer! But what he cannot do is overlook the law and sweep the crime under the rug.
The Law condemns the guilty. All mankind is guilty of sin. Ergo all mankind is condemned to death. The only way of escape is to flee outside the law, to flee to grace for deliverance. The Law was given through Moses. We must flee from its wrath.
On the other hand, grace and truth wer given through Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins. If we go to Him in faith, go to Him as God’s Word states it, and ask Him to forgive us of our sins, He already paid the penalty and can therefore righteously remove our sins. He is both just and at the same time the justifier of all those who have faith in Christ Jesus. He can be both because he doesn’t overlook our sins: He paid their penalty for us.
This is a fine time to look in the mirror and do a little introspection, a little soul-searching, a little diagnosing of the heart. Does our religion, our faith, consist of bargain basement words? I hope not! Let’s stay on our knees before Jesus until we know for certain. Sincerity and good intentions pave the road to hell. Let’s not be on it.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Yesterday we left off with the Israelites speaking smooth words to Moses about obeying the Word of God. Let’s take a gander at the other side of the coin now. It’s what else the Lord addressed that should have us concerned, dear friends. He put His finger on the real issue by saying, “Would that their hearts were just as sold out to Me!” Yikes! That is not our first choice for what we would prefer to hear from the Lord!
Essentially the Lord said that the Israelites’ words came from the bargain basement section of the store. Their words were cheap, not valuable. This didn’t mean the Israelites were insincere and phony, or that their intentions were underhanded and manipulative. No! They were most sincere and had the best of intentions.
Trouble is, they were sincerely wrong. And they were ignorant of spiritual reality, so their intentions never rose to the occasion. They failed to realize that sinful man CANNOT do everything the Lord says, not even some of the time, much less most of the time, and certainly not always.
Yet the Law—and the Law is exactly what they had committed to do perfectly at all times—but the Law doesn’t allow for violations of any kind ever. For example, if the speed limit is 30 and I’m going 50 and get a ticket, when I go to court the judge cannot declare, “It doesn’t matter. Just go home and have a good life!”
Nix, nix, dear friends. The Law doesn’t work that way. Either the judge decides the evidence doesn’t convict me, in which case he issues a ruling of not guilty, or else he finds me guilty and sentences me. He may be lenient with the sentencing or he may lay down the hammer! But what he cannot do is overlook the law and sweep the crime under the rug.
The Law condemns the guilty. All mankind is guilty of sin. Ergo all mankind is condemned to death. The only way of escape is to flee outside the law, to flee to grace for deliverance. The Law was given through Moses. We must flee from its wrath.
On the other hand, grace and truth wer given through Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins. If we go to Him in faith, go to Him as God’s Word states it, and ask Him to forgive us of our sins, He already paid the penalty and can therefore righteously remove our sins. He is both just and at the same time the justifier of all those who have faith in Christ Jesus. He can be both because he doesn’t overlook our sins: He paid their penalty for us.
This is a fine time to look in the mirror and do a little introspection, a little soul-searching, a little diagnosing of the heart. Does our religion, our faith, consist of bargain basement words? I hope not! Let’s stay on our knees before Jesus until we know for certain. Sincerity and good intentions pave the road to hell. Let’s not be on it.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Bargain Basement Talk – Part 1
The Lord said to me, “I have heard…the words of this people... They have done well in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always.” [Deuteronomy 5:28-29]
I can recollect days of old (or not so very old), when my kids were in middle school and high school. Every year just before school started up again, I would take them on an excursion through the mall, where they would pick out some clothes to wear that school year.
Here’s the thing. Back in the day I was going through some tough times financially. We were living from hand to mouth. But it didn’t faze the kids. They would always pick out the most expensive clothes anyway! After all, the kids they hung with all wore suchlike duds, so my kids figured they had the right to wear them too.
They were never much impressed when I explained the facts of life to them. It went like this. When you have a hundred dollars, you can spend a hundred dollars. When you have ten dollars, you cannot spend a hundred dollars!
Not to worry. In our house we followed the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rule! I had the gold, so we spent ten dollars and left the hundred dollars to those parents who had it. This led us to the bargain basement section of the stores—you know, the place where sales items and clothes without the interior design label and stitching were kept.
Not that my kids ever went to school looking like tramps, mind you. They blended in quite well and are well adjusted to this day. It was just that outrageously priced clothing didn’t grace their closets. What they wore was neat and clean and stylish, just not extravagant and gaudy.
At Mount Sinai the Lord spoke the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. As He spoke the ground shook violently like a canoe on white water rapids, the mountain smoked and burned like a humongous furnace, and lightning flashed in all directions like some sci-fi movie where electrical flashes open up a time warp.
When it was all over, the Israelites made a mad dash to Moses and vented their outrage at him. They said, “Listen up, Moshe! Everything the Lord said we will do. No problemento, señor. Only one itsy bitsy favor we request of you. Don’t let the Lord speak to us again or we’ll die! From now on you go hear what He has to say, and then you can tell us and we’ll do everything…everything, we tell you!”
It was at that point of the conversation that the Lord spoke to Moses the words quoted to commence this study. Look at the words once more. Read them to yourself very slowly. Stop and ponder them a bit. Allow them to roll over your tongue, as you sample the taste of each word. Okay, what did you learn?
Did you catch how the Lord contrasted their words with their hearts? Hmm. What does that mean? Well, He liked their words just fine. Every last one was all pretty and cuddly and quaint. No one would have any objection to marrying them and taking them home. They were pleasant to the ear and likeable to the sight.
Oh, but we are out of time today. We’ll take up the issue again tomorrow. In the interim be sure to enjoy your time alone with Jesus. He misses you.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
I can recollect days of old (or not so very old), when my kids were in middle school and high school. Every year just before school started up again, I would take them on an excursion through the mall, where they would pick out some clothes to wear that school year.
Here’s the thing. Back in the day I was going through some tough times financially. We were living from hand to mouth. But it didn’t faze the kids. They would always pick out the most expensive clothes anyway! After all, the kids they hung with all wore suchlike duds, so my kids figured they had the right to wear them too.
They were never much impressed when I explained the facts of life to them. It went like this. When you have a hundred dollars, you can spend a hundred dollars. When you have ten dollars, you cannot spend a hundred dollars!
Not to worry. In our house we followed the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rule! I had the gold, so we spent ten dollars and left the hundred dollars to those parents who had it. This led us to the bargain basement section of the stores—you know, the place where sales items and clothes without the interior design label and stitching were kept.
Not that my kids ever went to school looking like tramps, mind you. They blended in quite well and are well adjusted to this day. It was just that outrageously priced clothing didn’t grace their closets. What they wore was neat and clean and stylish, just not extravagant and gaudy.
At Mount Sinai the Lord spoke the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. As He spoke the ground shook violently like a canoe on white water rapids, the mountain smoked and burned like a humongous furnace, and lightning flashed in all directions like some sci-fi movie where electrical flashes open up a time warp.
When it was all over, the Israelites made a mad dash to Moses and vented their outrage at him. They said, “Listen up, Moshe! Everything the Lord said we will do. No problemento, señor. Only one itsy bitsy favor we request of you. Don’t let the Lord speak to us again or we’ll die! From now on you go hear what He has to say, and then you can tell us and we’ll do everything…everything, we tell you!”
It was at that point of the conversation that the Lord spoke to Moses the words quoted to commence this study. Look at the words once more. Read them to yourself very slowly. Stop and ponder them a bit. Allow them to roll over your tongue, as you sample the taste of each word. Okay, what did you learn?
Did you catch how the Lord contrasted their words with their hearts? Hmm. What does that mean? Well, He liked their words just fine. Every last one was all pretty and cuddly and quaint. No one would have any objection to marrying them and taking them home. They were pleasant to the ear and likeable to the sight.
Oh, but we are out of time today. We’ll take up the issue again tomorrow. In the interim be sure to enjoy your time alone with Jesus. He misses you.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Bargain Basement Talk – Part 2
The Lord said to me, “I have heard…the words of this people... They have done well in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always.” [Deuteronomy 5:28-29]
Yesterday we left off with the Israelites speaking smooth words to Moses about obeying the Word of God. Let’s take a gander at the other side of the coin now. It’s what else the Lord addressed that should have us concerned, dear friends. He put His finger on the real issue by saying, “Would that their hearts were just as sold out to Me!” Yikes! That is not our first choice for what we would prefer to hear from the Lord!
Essentially the Lord said that the Israelites’ words came from the bargain basement section of the store. Their words were cheap, not valuable. This didn’t mean the Israelites were insincere and phony, or that their intentions were underhanded and manipulative. No! They were most sincere and had the best of intentions.
Trouble is, they were sincerely wrong. And they were ignorant of spiritual reality, so their intentions never rose to the occasion. They failed to realize that sinful man CANNOT do everything the Lord says, not even some of the time, much less most of the time, and certainly not always.
Yet the Law—and the Law is exactly what they had committed to do perfectly at all times—but the Law doesn’t allow for violations of any kind ever. For example, if the speed limit is 30 and I’m going 50 and get a ticket, when I go to court the judge cannot declare, “It doesn’t matter. Just go home and have a good life!”
Nix, nix, dear friends. The Law doesn’t work that way. Either the judge decides the evidence doesn’t convict me, in which case he issues a ruling of not guilty, or else he finds me guilty and sentences me. He may be lenient with the sentencing or he may lay down the hammer! But what he cannot do is overlook the law and sweep the crime under the rug.
The Law condemns the guilty. All mankind is guilty of sin. Ergo all mankind is condemned to death. The only way of escape is to flee outside the law, to flee to grace for deliverance. The Law was given through Moses. We must flee from its wrath.
On the other hand, grace and truth were given through Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins. If we go to Him in faith, go to Him as God’s Word states it, and ask Him to forgive us of our sins, He already paid the penalty and can therefore righteously remove our sins. He is both just and at the same time the justifier of all those who have faith in Christ Jesus. He can be both because he doesn’t overlook our sins: He paid their penalty for us.
This is a fine time to look in the mirror and do a little introspection, a little soul-searching, a little diagnosing of the heart. Does our religion, our faith, consist of bargain basement words? I hope not! Let’s stay on our knees before Jesus until we know for certain. Sincerity and good intentions pave the road to hell. Let’s not be on it.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Yesterday we left off with the Israelites speaking smooth words to Moses about obeying the Word of God. Let’s take a gander at the other side of the coin now. It’s what else the Lord addressed that should have us concerned, dear friends. He put His finger on the real issue by saying, “Would that their hearts were just as sold out to Me!” Yikes! That is not our first choice for what we would prefer to hear from the Lord!
Essentially the Lord said that the Israelites’ words came from the bargain basement section of the store. Their words were cheap, not valuable. This didn’t mean the Israelites were insincere and phony, or that their intentions were underhanded and manipulative. No! They were most sincere and had the best of intentions.
Trouble is, they were sincerely wrong. And they were ignorant of spiritual reality, so their intentions never rose to the occasion. They failed to realize that sinful man CANNOT do everything the Lord says, not even some of the time, much less most of the time, and certainly not always.
Yet the Law—and the Law is exactly what they had committed to do perfectly at all times—but the Law doesn’t allow for violations of any kind ever. For example, if the speed limit is 30 and I’m going 50 and get a ticket, when I go to court the judge cannot declare, “It doesn’t matter. Just go home and have a good life!”
Nix, nix, dear friends. The Law doesn’t work that way. Either the judge decides the evidence doesn’t convict me, in which case he issues a ruling of not guilty, or else he finds me guilty and sentences me. He may be lenient with the sentencing or he may lay down the hammer! But what he cannot do is overlook the law and sweep the crime under the rug.
The Law condemns the guilty. All mankind is guilty of sin. Ergo all mankind is condemned to death. The only way of escape is to flee outside the law, to flee to grace for deliverance. The Law was given through Moses. We must flee from its wrath.
On the other hand, grace and truth were given through Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins. If we go to Him in faith, go to Him as God’s Word states it, and ask Him to forgive us of our sins, He already paid the penalty and can therefore righteously remove our sins. He is both just and at the same time the justifier of all those who have faith in Christ Jesus. He can be both because he doesn’t overlook our sins: He paid their penalty for us.
This is a fine time to look in the mirror and do a little introspection, a little soul-searching, a little diagnosing of the heart. Does our religion, our faith, consist of bargain basement words? I hope not! Let’s stay on our knees before Jesus until we know for certain. Sincerity and good intentions pave the road to hell. Let’s not be on it.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Bargain Basement Talk – Part 1
The Lord said to me, “I have heard…the words of this people... They have done well in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always.” [Deuteronomy 5:28-29]
I can recollect days of old (or not so very old), when my kids were in middle school and high school. Every year just before school started up again, I would take them on an excursion through the mall, where they would pick out some clothes to wear that school year.
Here’s the thing. Back in the day I was going through some tough times financially. We were living from hand to mouth. But it didn’t faze the kids. They would always pick out the most expensive clothes anyway! After all, the kids they hung with all wore suchlike duds, so my kids figured they had the right to wear them too.
They were never much impressed when I explained the facts of life to them. It went like this. When you have a hundred dollars, you can spend a hundred dollars. When you have ten dollars, you cannot spend a hundred dollars!
Not to worry. In our house we followed the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rule! I had the gold, so we spent ten dollars and left the hundred dollars to those parents who had it. This led us to the bargain basement section of the stores—you know, the place where sales items and clothes without the interior design label and stitching were kept.
Not that my kids ever went to school looking like tramps, mind you. They blended in quite well and are well adjusted to this day. It was just that outrageously priced clothing didn’t grace their closets. What they wore was neat and clean and stylish, just not extravagant and gaudy.
At Mount Sinai the Lord spoke the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. As He spoke the ground shook violently like a canoe on white water rapids, the mountain smoked and burned like a humongous furnace, and lightning flashed in all directions like some sci-fi movie where electrical flashes open up a time warp.
When it was all over, the Israelites made a mad dash to Moses and vented their outrage at him. They said, “Listen up, Moshe! Everything the Lord said we will do. No problemento, señor. Only one itsy bitsy favor we request of you. Don’t let the Lord speak to us again or we’ll die! From now on you go hear what He has to say, and then you can tell us and we’ll do everything…everything, we tell you!”
It was at that point of the conversation that the Lord spoke to Moses the words quoted to commence this study. Look at the words once more. Read them to yourself very slowly. Stop and ponder them a bit. Allow them to roll over your tongue, as you sample the taste of each word. Okay, what did you learn?
Did you catch how the Lord contrasted their words with their hearts? Hmm. What does that mean? Well, He liked their words just fine. Every last one was all pretty and cuddly and quaint. No one would have any objection to marrying them and taking them home. They were pleasant to the ear and likeable to the sight.
Oh, but we are out of time today. We’ll take up the issue again tomorrow. In the interim be sure to enjoy your time alone with Jesus. He misses you.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
I can recollect days of old (or not so very old), when my kids were in middle school and high school. Every year just before school started up again, I would take them on an excursion through the mall, where they would pick out some clothes to wear that school year.
Here’s the thing. Back in the day I was going through some tough times financially. We were living from hand to mouth. But it didn’t faze the kids. They would always pick out the most expensive clothes anyway! After all, the kids they hung with all wore suchlike duds, so my kids figured they had the right to wear them too.
They were never much impressed when I explained the facts of life to them. It went like this. When you have a hundred dollars, you can spend a hundred dollars. When you have ten dollars, you cannot spend a hundred dollars!
Not to worry. In our house we followed the golden rule: he who has the gold makes the rule! I had the gold, so we spent ten dollars and left the hundred dollars to those parents who had it. This led us to the bargain basement section of the stores—you know, the place where sales items and clothes without the interior design label and stitching were kept.
Not that my kids ever went to school looking like tramps, mind you. They blended in quite well and are well adjusted to this day. It was just that outrageously priced clothing didn’t grace their closets. What they wore was neat and clean and stylish, just not extravagant and gaudy.
At Mount Sinai the Lord spoke the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. As He spoke the ground shook violently like a canoe on white water rapids, the mountain smoked and burned like a humongous furnace, and lightning flashed in all directions like some sci-fi movie where electrical flashes open up a time warp.
When it was all over, the Israelites made a mad dash to Moses and vented their outrage at him. They said, “Listen up, Moshe! Everything the Lord said we will do. No problemento, señor. Only one itsy bitsy favor we request of you. Don’t let the Lord speak to us again or we’ll die! From now on you go hear what He has to say, and then you can tell us and we’ll do everything…everything, we tell you!”
It was at that point of the conversation that the Lord spoke to Moses the words quoted to commence this study. Look at the words once more. Read them to yourself very slowly. Stop and ponder them a bit. Allow them to roll over your tongue, as you sample the taste of each word. Okay, what did you learn?
Did you catch how the Lord contrasted their words with their hearts? Hmm. What does that mean? Well, He liked their words just fine. Every last one was all pretty and cuddly and quaint. No one would have any objection to marrying them and taking them home. They were pleasant to the ear and likeable to the sight.
Oh, but we are out of time today. We’ll take up the issue again tomorrow. In the interim be sure to enjoy your time alone with Jesus. He misses you.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Bargain Basement Talk – Part 2
The Lord said to me, “I have heard…the words of this people... They have done well in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always.” [Deuteronomy 5:28-29]
Yesterday we left off with the Israelites speaking smooth words to Moses about obeying the Word of God. Let’s take a gander at the other side of the coin now. It’s what else the Lord addressed that should have us concerned, dear friends. He put His finger on the real issue by saying, “Would that their hearts were just as sold out to Me!” Yikes! That is not our first choice for what we would prefer to hear from the Lord!
Essentially the Lord said that the Israelites’ words came from the bargain basement section of the store. Their words were cheap, not valuable. This didn’t mean the Israelites were insincere and phony, or that their intentions were underhanded and manipulative. No! They were most sincere and had the best of intentions.
Trouble is, they were sincerely wrong. And they were ignorant of spiritual reality, so their intentions never rose to the occasion. They failed to realize that sinful man CANNOT do everything the Lord says, not even some of the time, much less most of the time, and certainly not always.
Yet the Law—and the Law is exactly what they had committed to do perfectly at all times—but the Law doesn’t allow for violations of any kind ever. For example, if the speed limit is 30 and I’m going 50 and get a ticket, when I go to court the judge cannot declare, “It doesn’t matter. Just go home and have a good life!”
Nix, nix, dear friends. The Law doesn’t work that way. Either the judge decides the evidence doesn’t convict me, in which case he issues a ruling of not guilty, or else he finds me guilty and sentences me. He may be lenient with the sentencing or he may lay down the hammer! But what he cannot do is overlook the law and sweep the crime under the rug.
The Law condemns the guilty. All mankind is guilty of sin. Ergo all mankind is condemned to death. The only way of escape is to flee outside the law, to flee to grace for deliverance. The Law was given through Moses. We must flee from its wrath.
On the other hand, grace and truth were given through Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins. If we go to Him in faith, go to Him as God’s Word states it, and ask Him to forgive us of our sins, He already paid the penalty and can therefore righteously remove our sins. He is both just and at the same time the justifier of all those who have faith in Christ Jesus. He can be both because he doesn’t overlook our sins: He paid their penalty for us.
This is a fine time to look in the mirror and do a little introspection, a little soul-searching, a little diagnosing of the heart. Does our religion, our faith, consist of bargain basement words? I hope not! Let’s stay on our knees before Jesus until we know for certain. Sincerity and good intentions pave the road to hell. Let’s not be on it.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
Yesterday we left off with the Israelites speaking smooth words to Moses about obeying the Word of God. Let’s take a gander at the other side of the coin now. It’s what else the Lord addressed that should have us concerned, dear friends. He put His finger on the real issue by saying, “Would that their hearts were just as sold out to Me!” Yikes! That is not our first choice for what we would prefer to hear from the Lord!
Essentially the Lord said that the Israelites’ words came from the bargain basement section of the store. Their words were cheap, not valuable. This didn’t mean the Israelites were insincere and phony, or that their intentions were underhanded and manipulative. No! They were most sincere and had the best of intentions.
Trouble is, they were sincerely wrong. And they were ignorant of spiritual reality, so their intentions never rose to the occasion. They failed to realize that sinful man CANNOT do everything the Lord says, not even some of the time, much less most of the time, and certainly not always.
Yet the Law—and the Law is exactly what they had committed to do perfectly at all times—but the Law doesn’t allow for violations of any kind ever. For example, if the speed limit is 30 and I’m going 50 and get a ticket, when I go to court the judge cannot declare, “It doesn’t matter. Just go home and have a good life!”
Nix, nix, dear friends. The Law doesn’t work that way. Either the judge decides the evidence doesn’t convict me, in which case he issues a ruling of not guilty, or else he finds me guilty and sentences me. He may be lenient with the sentencing or he may lay down the hammer! But what he cannot do is overlook the law and sweep the crime under the rug.
The Law condemns the guilty. All mankind is guilty of sin. Ergo all mankind is condemned to death. The only way of escape is to flee outside the law, to flee to grace for deliverance. The Law was given through Moses. We must flee from its wrath.
On the other hand, grace and truth were given through Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins. If we go to Him in faith, go to Him as God’s Word states it, and ask Him to forgive us of our sins, He already paid the penalty and can therefore righteously remove our sins. He is both just and at the same time the justifier of all those who have faith in Christ Jesus. He can be both because he doesn’t overlook our sins: He paid their penalty for us.
This is a fine time to look in the mirror and do a little introspection, a little soul-searching, a little diagnosing of the heart. Does our religion, our faith, consist of bargain basement words? I hope not! Let’s stay on our knees before Jesus until we know for certain. Sincerity and good intentions pave the road to hell. Let’s not be on it.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Exodus: Volume 2 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...
