FourFifteen

Exodus 20:15 - " You shall not steal. " Unjustified...Always Theft, for any reason , is wrong. - The motive doesn't matter. - The end results don't matter. - The need and desperation doesn't matter. Stealing is always  wrong for this one reason...God said don't do it! It also doesn't matter how  that theft is carried out: - Violent armed robbery - Well-planned, carefully-executed heists - Cheating through deceit - Even voting for the government to take money out of someone else's pocket and give it to you. It's sad to see how many people have turned the "Robin Hood" mentality (that is, " steal from the rich to give to the poor" ) into something noble. It doesn't matter what you do with the loot , stealing makes you a thief, not a hero. In God's eyes Robin Hoods are no better than petty criminals and armed robbers. You may not believe me on this, but I'm telling you the truth: Good motiv...

Exodus 20:14 - " You shall not commit adultery. " This is pretty clear, right? Any married person having sex outside of that two-part  marriage covenant is in clear violation of God's Law . Make no mistake about this: - it doesn't matter  how your spouse is treating you - it doesn't matter  if you've "fallen in love" with someone else - and it doesn't matter what you want or feel Any sexual relations outside of your marriage covenant is wrong! Breaking A Serious Commitment We live in a society that places almost no value on commitment, and way too much  value on emotions. But your covenant with your husband or wife wasn't intended to be based on emotions. Your love - and your faithfulness - has to be based on what you promised , not on what you feel  at the moment. God has a high regard for marriage. It was the last thing He created, and the first human institution He set up. Only in marriage do the man and the woman reflect a...

Exodus 20:13 KJV - " Thou shall not kill. " Correcting A Misconception About Killing The world is under the impression that the Bible condemns any kind  of killing. According to them - and even to some Christians - ending someone's life for any reason breaks the sixth commandment. But God didn't say that here, and the King James translation to "kill" is unfortunate. The Hebrew word that is translated "kill" is ratsach . It's literal meaning is premeditated murder   or manslaughter . In other words, it's the intentional  killing of any  innocent  person. The New King James Version nails the traslation when it says " You shall not murder. " This command does not  include: - soldiers killing in combat - civilians killing in self-defense or defense of others - capital punishment As a matter of fact, there are conditions when someone's actions  require  an authorized killing. You see we were created in the i...

Exodus 20:12 - " Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. " The fifth is another often-quoted , but frequently-ignored  commandment. We as believers need to understand this: God has a high value  for the relationship between parents and children. And why wouldn't He? This is a relationship that has always been eternal ... one that has never had a beginning! God is   the Father. But also, God is  the  Son. He has eternally existed as both  a caring Parent and  an obedient Son. And this unique relationship is a gift that He gave us to imitate. Relationship Producing Obedience As babies, moving into toddlers, we don't really understand the concept of "love". ( Truthfully, as a 35-year old man, I'm still  only now learning about it! ) What we do know is this: We like to be around our parents. We like to talk to them. We like to play with them And we like it when t...