A GOD HEART

Good day dear friends.

Our sermon yesterday in our series MADE TO COUNT was on discovering our God potential through having a "God heart," meaning one centered and guided by God. We spoke of being "builders" of one another and of God's reign here on the earth.

Here is our study guide for today:

Monday: We’re so familiar with the Ten Commandments as found in Exodus. Did you know they were also in Deuteronomy 5 as well? Please find those and look carefully at the relationship involved in each. See how the fullness of life comes to those who accept and try to live out each of the Ten Commandments.

Here is that passage: Deut. 5:6 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; 7 you shall have no other gods before me. 8 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me, 10 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. 11 You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name. 12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14 But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day. 16 Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 17 You shall not murder. 18 Neither shall you commit adultery. 19 Neither shall you steal. 20 Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor. 21 Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife.

1. I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me. A declaration of relationship. God is ours and we are God's. In this relationship we are in first place with God and likewise we should have God first in our lives.

2. You shall not make for yourself an idol. Nothing irked God more than to see people making idols with their own hands and then bowing down to worship their own handiwork! God cannot be confined to one spot. God is everywhere and an idol or an earthly representation ties Him down.

3. You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God. God's name is sacred and should not be defiled or made unclean by our brining God's name to our level to suit our purposes. God's name is meant to be worshipped and loved. To bring it down in any way is a sin.
4. Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Set aside a day for God. And you. The Sabbath was a worship day and a day of rest. To observe the Sabbath means to keep that day as a day to go to God's house and worship Him and to set time to be restored for the coming week.

5. Honor your father and your mother. Remember the instruction and love given to you by your parents or those who raised you. Hold those memories and instructions in your heart. May your parents always hold a special place in your life. Do not disrespect nor profane the memory of them.

6. You shall not murder. Remember that life is a sacred gift from God. Do not take life away from anyone, including yourself. Seek to build up the life in others with kind words, acts, and thoughts.

7. You shall not commit adultery. If you are married, remember the vows of the covenant of marriage. Seek to hold on to your relationship and find ways for that relationship to grow. Disregard lust and passion and pleasure you think you might find in others.

8. Neither shall you steal. Respect other's property. If someone has something you would like to have, work hard to have it. Seek to have that which you need more than what you just want.

9. Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor. Do not lie against others especially when you know a falsehood would bring harm or injury to someone else. Seek to affirm others and build them up.

10. Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife. WIth a God heart you respect others as being children of the Most High and do not see them as potential objects of pleasure or lust.

God's commandments were meant to affirm life and the relationships that are positive and uplifting between God, us, and others. Seek to have the full potential of life by living a life guided by a God heart.

PRAYER: Grant to me loving Father, a heart like Yours. Let me be guided to the fullness of life through You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.