Meditation

06/26/2020

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:17)

It has been said, and I believe it to be true, that covetousness is the core attitude for stealing is coveting. The inner character damage done by coveting is severe.

The society God intends for His people is based on love for neighbors, not envy. We are suppose to love our neighbors and seek the best for them. Envy would destroy that whole concept and tear apart any neighbor relationships.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY:

Precious Abba, You have taught us and Jesus taught us the value of loving relationships with our neighbors, whether next door, in our work places, or anywhere in our society. We are witnessing this now in our nation, with hatred running rampart, instead of love. Hatred is pouring out of every crevice and we are getting tired of staying home. Precious Abba, we all feel at a loss of normalcy, but even more importantly, we miss worshiping in our churches. We have been patiently waiting, but we do not see opening in the near future. Lord, we lift up this need collectively and are depending upon You to intercede on our behalf to let us open at the right time, in the right way, and all of this is for Your glory alone. It is in Jesus’ precious name that we pray. Amen

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

“People may doubt what you say—-but not what you do!”

KNOWING GOD:

“The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ‘Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the new law.’” (Romans13:9-10)

Beloved, if we could only learn one commandment, this would be a life changer for almost all of us. If we would only stop and think how our next act would affect our neighbors, we would all change most of what we do now.

Of course you must understand I’m not talking about sexual love, I’m talking about “agape” love, whereby we desire to help our neighbors to achieve their goals, truly seeking the very best for them. Conversely, they would be doing the exact same thing for us, and for those we work with, those we play with, those we live with, and so on. This is what God wants for us, yet some will turn away from this type of situation. It has been said, that “they” will know we are Christians by our love, and this is exactly what God is talking about. Are you willing?

I AM:

“Now a man name Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles feet. Then Peter said, ‘Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.’ When Ananias hear this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then the young men came forward wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, ‘Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?’ “Yes,” she said, ‘that is the price.’ Peter said to her, ‘How could you test the Spirit of he Lord?’ Look! The feet of he men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.’ At that momentshe fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ‘Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.’” (Acts5:1-11)

When families come together to deceive God and His people, they bring God’s judgment on the individuals in the family. The social unit God designed for intimacy and sharing can become an instrument for evil and destruction. Material are not the only things we covet. We may more often covet personal attentions, praise, and prestige. To gain these through unethical means such as lying or telling half truths is sinful and merits only God’s judgment.

Second Thought of the Day:

God’s love motivates Christian ethics. Love of the world and desire for its things and ways stands totally opposed to God’s love. Proper love leads one to do God’s will. Our first allegiance is to love God, and all other things second. However, all good stewards are to care lovingly for God’s world. We must not give our first love to the world, and its material goods. The steward’s supreme love is for God only. When the world becomes the object of our loving devotion, we show we do not truly love God.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—-comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lies forever.” (1^st John2:15–17)

The “world” does not refer to the physical creation but to all aspects of reality that we opposed to and separated from God. To get carried away by worldly lust is to move further from God and become a par of that which opposes Him. The environment in which we live leads us away from God to evil. God’s Spirit leads us away from the world to Christ.