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Posts Tagged ‘Ten Commandments’

Key Element for Thriving Relationships-Honoring Parents

October 6th, 2022 No comments

JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Key Element for Thriving Relationships is Honoring our Parents or Guardians.

This is one of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”

Respect for authority starts on the home front. One of the ways we can show respect for Mom and Dad as children is to obey them. The reason for this, according to Ephesians 6:1. is that this is right.

Honoring Mom and Dad expresses gratitude for their sacrifice and support when we were children. First Timothy 5:4 says that “if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family, and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.”

Honoring our Parents or Guardians is a key element for thriving relationships that honor God.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

20/20 Insight-Mount Sinai and the Law

September 11th, 2020 No comments

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Vision, today’s 20/20 Insight focuses on the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai.

In Exodus 31:18, the LORD gave Moses the two tablets of the covenant law. They were tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. Mount Sinai represents the law of God for His people.

On these tablets were written the Ten Commandments. God’s laws were revealing God’s moral standards. None of us have lived up to all the commands all the time. That is why we need grace.  The law reminds us that we have fallen short of God’s glory and need a Savior. We don’t earn God’s love by obeying His laws, but are motivated to obey them because we know that He loves us. At the foundation of following God’s laws is love-love for God and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.

Following God’s laws is not meant to be a reason for pride in ourselves. It is an opportunity to express our love for God. Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commands.”

Focusing on the law of love gives us greater clarity for living out the Christian life.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com

Reason To Believe-Wisdom Of Ten Commandments

May 11th, 2016 No comments

JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Exploration, today’s Reason to Believe is the wisdom of the Ten Commandments.

One of the reasons we have traffic patterns is because of traffic laws. If all motorists completely threw the rules of the road out the window, there would be a breakdown of order.

When the Israelites neglected the Ten Commandments, the nation began to decline. We see this in Hosea 4:1 and 2, where the prophet described their moral vacuum this way: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgement of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away.” The breaking of God’s commands was symptomatic of a society that pushed God away from them.

The Ten Commandments are built on the law of love. Jesus is the fullest expression of love. Following Jesus will move us to honor God’s commands and to share His love with others.

The wisdom of the Ten Commandments is a reason to believe in God’s good news.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com