You have most likely heard people saying things like … “I swear on my mother’s grave” or “as true as God I promise you” … or variants of these. The idea is to tell someone that you are telling the truth about something and call upon your mother or God to validate your statement. In […]
Communication
As you read Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount for today, what comes to your mind as to the theme or message Jesus is wanting to convey? Mt 5:33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made […]
Divorce and Marriage
We are, in a devotional way, studying: Mt 5:31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.” But … we […]
Marriage Vows
Their marriage took place around thirty years ago. I was the officiating officer. As a family they have had their fair share of illness and the wife died recently of a sudden and unexpected heart attack. I have married many couples over the years and must say that throughout all the ups and downs this […]
Faithfulness
Friends of ours have a daughter who is married to an American. They have two children who do home schooling. The husband resigned his position of running the catering department for a huge campsite for Christian youth. Their intention is to tour America for a few months to see where they would like to settle […]
Pure and Faithful
We are dealing with one of the most difficult topics. It is the one that falls under the Command … “You shall not commit adultery”. It’s difficult because almost every human being has sensual desires because God created us sexual beings. As good as this is, our problem lies in the distortion sin had introduced […]
Sensuality
God created the human being with a sensual side. By this I mean we are sexual beings. All mankind with few exceptions have an appetite for sexual intimacy. God made us this way. Before Genesis 3 man was sexually innocent and pure. He was not even aware of his nakedness, yet as soon as they […]
Sexual Purity
We are working our way through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5 to 7. Today we come to Mt 5:27 “‘Do not commit adultery.’” Adultery seems to be limited to married people having affairs with someone else. That seems to be what the Commandment means … does it not? Ex 20:14 “You shall not […]
For every problem or conflict there is a solution … the same is true for every sin. Normally we would say, faithfulness in the Scriptures and dedication in prayer is great spiritual medication to overcome sin … yet sometimes it takes more than just knowing what God requires and seeking empowerment from the Holy Spirit. […]
Anger
Too many people want to take the Ten Commandments (God’s Moral Code) only as it’s presented in the Table of Commandments. I would suggest that this was perhaps Israel’s biggest problem in their union with God. Face value without interpretation. Matthew chapters 5 to 7 is Jesus’ exposition of the Ten Commandments. As He looks […]