In the world but not of the world...

1 John 2: 15-16  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

We all live here in the world but according to the Bible, God requires that as Christians we do not become attached to the worldly things that we see around us everyday. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Those are pretty strong words. We cannot be loving the things of this world since then the love of our heavenly Father will not be in us.

Worldliness is the enemy of holiness. God is holy and he wants to make us holy through Jesus Christ.

Worldliness is satan's way. We must not love anything that is in satan's domain. Unbelievers being a part of the world system oppose Christ. This is obvious in their lifestyle - living for self and for the things of the world.  Christ demands our complete loyalty and devotion. We cannot be on the fence with this. Choose to live wholeheartedly for the Lord and do not allow self and worldliness to rule your life. We are living in worldliness when we allow our fleshly desires to control us - that is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. It is an evil attitude, it is a heart that says " I want this for me and I want it now, I don't care if others are hurt by my actions". As Christians we can not be living a life that serves self and the world. Neither can we live in worldliness and live for the Lord Jesus at the same time. There are many things that people will use to try to satisfy themselves, to fill that loneliness and the emptiness of their heart. Examples are money, hobbies, travelling, job, food, sex, music and entertainment. The truth is that Jesus is the only One who can fill that void in our lives.

Proverbs 11:6  The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.

The unbeliever is trapped by his own evil desires. Each of us is accountable to God Himself for our actions. God does not play favorites and each one will receive accordingly to what he or she has done in this life. This is why it is so important that turn our lives over to the Lord and we take our sins to God. We need to confess our sins to the Lord God, turn from them once and for all. He is faithful to forgive us when we come to him in this way. God doesn't give anyone a break or make excuses for anyone's sin - no, he poured it all on Jesus. Jesus took our sin to the cross and died there in our place. Our sin was paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent of every sin and turn your life over to Jesus. May I encourage each of us to CLING to JESUS!!

Ephesians 5:8-10  For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

The Ten Commandments - Ours Today!

The Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses are the basic instructions for living found in the Bible. We are not saved by keeping them. We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross where He died in our place. But the Ten Commandments are still very important because they clearly and simply show us what God expects from a person who says that he belongs to the LORD.  I would like to go through the commands and see what we can learn for our everyday lives.  The Lord Jesus says in Mark 12: 29-31 :  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
³⁰ And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
³¹ And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

So Jesus says we are to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength and we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.  As we look at the Ten Commandments we will see these exact two points over and over again within every one of  the Commandments:
So what are the Ten Commandments and where are they found in the Bible. They are written for us in Exodus 20.

Commandment 1
There is only One God - There is no other
Exodus 20: 2-3  I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me

Commandment 2
Worship only God - God requires our complete devotion and loyalty that is 100%.  We cannot be divided in our loyalty. We cannot love both God and the world at the same time.
Exodus 20: 4-6   Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;    And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 
   
Commandment 3
Keep God's Name holy and with honor. If we are claiming the Name of Christ and say that we are Christians and we still live in sinful lifestyles, we are not giving the Name of the LORD the honor that He deserves nor are we keeping it holy. Also we are not to use the Name of the LORD as a swear word to just to express surprise or horror. We are to honor the Name of the LORD keeping it only for Him.
Exodus 20: 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain

Commandment 4
Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy. Since the Lord Jesus Christ rose on the first day of the week, that is on Sunday, we now have Sunday as our Sabbath Day. It is a day to rest, and to focus on our Lord with more intensity, to be with our family, and to refrain from doing unnecessary work. We are not to work nor are we to have others working in our businesses on a Sunday.  Things that are needed like preparing food or providing medical help or other physical supports for people must obviously continue to be done even in our Sabbath.
Exodus 20: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Commandment 5
Honor your parents - your Father and Mother  Children show honor and respect to parents by obeying them, doing what the parent asks, and not talking back or lying etc. As adults we still need to honor and respect our parents which then looks more like a solid friendship with our parents and we take care of them as they become elderly.
Exodus 20: 12  Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Commandment 6
Never kill another person. This includes things such as abortion and euthanasia or mercy killing. God is the giver of all life and only He is the One allowed to end a life. God does not allow murder.
Exodus 20:13  Thou shalt not kill.

Commandment 7
Do not commit adultery - This is a big one in our day and age. Christians are not obeying Christ in this matter. Men and women while being married are getting involved with another person, affairs and sex outside of marriage. Pornography and lust are also included in this commandment. God will judge those who take part in sexual immorality.
Exodus 20: 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Commandment 8
Do not steal - this speaks very clearly. We are not to take what belongs to another person. This even includes stuff that no one will ever notice such as pens or paper in the office.
Exodus 20: 15 Thou shalt not steal.

Commandment 9
Do not tell lies. Lies are used to cover up. The Lord says that everything will be revealed. There is nothing hidden that will stay hidden no matter how much lying is done to cover it up.
Exodus 20: 16  Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Commandment 10
Do not want or desire anything belongs to another person. This includes many different things - job, possessions, house, car, money, fields, a woman, or a man,
God gives us all that we need and we are contented with His goodness to us.
Exodus 20 : 17  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

So we can clearly see that if we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength and we love our neighbor as ourselves, we will have fulfilled all of the Ten Commandments of God.  If we are living with the love of Christ in our hearts we will not be lying to people or about others, we will not be living in immorality, or taking what belongs to others, we will not be killing other people. So we can see that God's way is truely the right and only way to live a good life.
God has given us these instructions in the Bible in order to help us to live a good life. God's Word helps us to have a more enjoyable and fullfilling life.