Day 111

MY COMMANDMENTS STAND FOREVER

Today’s Text: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)

Today’s Thoughts: God never intended for us to throw away His commandments. He gave them so we could keep them, and continue keeping them. After all – we learnt over the last few days that He gave them for our benefit. Why would He want to take them away?! And more than that – why on earth would we want to stop keeping them if they benefit us?! There is a curse for those who neglect God’s commandments of love, and there is a blessing for those who obey them. The Ten Commandments stand forever. They were written in stone with the finger of God. Let us keep them forever.

Today’s Testimony: Have you ever heard someone say that the Commandments were nailed to the cross? Do you have any idea where they get this idea from? This assumption is taken from a verse in the Bible itself, but it is interpreted out of context. Now I don’t know what you believe about whether or not we should still keep the Ten Commandments, but I’d like to share some Scripture texts with you. If you disagree at all you can either e-mail me or go directly to God Himself seeing I will be sharing purely Scripture. Please read the passages mentioned if you have any problems and also read their surrounding verses to obtain a better idea of what God is saying in these passages.
The text that gives many the idea that the Commandments were nailed to the cross is found in Colossians 2:14, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” Well let’s start by noting that this text does not say Law or Commandments, it says “handwriting of ordinances”, and yet people still assume this text refers to the Ten Commandments. Secondly I’d like to bring to your attention that whatever was nailed to the cross was “against” us, but we’ve just had a look at the benefits in keeping the Ten Commandments. According to this text, something was definitely nailed to the cross, but was it the Commandments?
Did you know that the children of Israel were given other laws besides the Ten Commandments? Our next text is Ephesians 2:15, “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances….” Ok, so this text refers to the nailing as abolishing, but it speaks about the law of commandments contained in ordinances. So, could it be that these laws were what was nailed to the cross? What laws are these then? Let’s take a look at Hebrews 9:10, “Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.” Here we find that these things were “imposed” on God’s people “until” the time of reformation. These were the sacrificial and ceremonial laws – the ones about washing and offerings etcetera. The sacrificing of lambs for one was no longer necessary because the Lamb that it pointed to had died as our true sacrifice.
If you’re still not convinced then you better keep reading and follow carefully. “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1John 3:4). Therefore it follows that “where no law is, there is no transgression” (Romans 4:15). In other words – if sin is the breaking of the law, and there is no law, we cannot sin. Then take a look at Galatians 3:19, “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made….” Once again this is referring to the law that was nailed to the cross. This law was “added because of transgressions”. That means that another law must have been broken first right? Think about it… God’s Commandments of love were broken and He therefore had to put in place the sacrificial laws to point us to our redemption and turn us to our Saviour – the only way we could be saved. These laws were only needed until the real Lamb gave His life for us. Make sense?
God gave us the Ten Commandments because He loves us. They were not nailed to the cross. God knew that life would be far better if we kept each of these simple guidelines to a happy life. I invite you to take another look at the Ten Commandments and ask the Lord to help you to keep them. God has special blessings waiting for you. Trust Him.

Today’s Task: Please give the Ten Commandments a chance. Try keeping them even if you only plan to do so for a while. But remember that God never gave us an option. They were never nailed to the cross and will stand forever. Ask the Lord to help you to keep them. Praise Him for giving them to us for our benefit. God has given you simple guidelines – please follow them.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that You love us so much. I thank You that Your Word can interpret itself. I thank You that You did not nail Your gift of the Ten Commandments to the cross. Please help us to keep them with Your strength. Please forgive us for breaking Your commandments in the past. I thank You for giving us guidelines that will benefit us. Help us to keep them and reap the benefits. We love You Lord. Amen.

Day 110

BE CONTENT

Today’s Text: 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. (Exodus 20:17)

Today’s Thoughts: To covet means to desire something that does not belong to you. It means that we are not totally content with what we already have. God loves us and provides for all our needs. If there is anything we need, we simply need to go to the Lord in prayer – He owns everything. God hears and answers our prayers, but sometimes His answers differ from what we hoped for. God wants us to learn to be content with what He has blessed us with, knowing that He knows what is truly best for us.

Today’s Testimony: God doesn’t want us to covet; He wants us to be content with what we have. If we covet, sooner or later we will be going the next step and breaking another commandment. We may steal, place something else as our god or as an extra god, commit adultery, start living a different life and causing shame to God’s name, tell lies to be popular or “better off” in whatever way, start doing our own thing on the Lord’s day, place ourselves above our parents or others or even kill in order to have a “happier life”. Sin often leads to more sin. The life of sin is not to be coveted, yet so many walk down that road. It is a life of pain, regret and heartache. God has a life of joy available to everyone who follows Him all the way. Yes we will have pain and sorrow in this life, but His peace and strength will see us through, and one day we can enjoy a life free from sorrow with our Saviour in Heaven. I want that life, and it is available to me. I choose to live for my God now. He knows I will be far happier, and I’ve experienced it.
I mentioned once before (Today’s T’s Day 2) that I once asked the Lord to help me to live up to my name. My name, Lindy, means beautiful. I asked the Lord to help me to be beautiful on the inside, but added that I wouldn’t mind if He made me beautiful on the outside too. He changed me inside and outside. I am happy with my physical appearance now. I don’t wear make-up. I don’t feel I need it, but my main reason is simply this: I asked the Lord to make me beautiful and He intervened. In my opinion, for me to now go and wear make-up would be like saying, “Thanks Lord, but You didn’t do a good enough job.” I am content with what the Lord has done with my physical appearance. I have no desire to change it. For me to wear make-up and jewellery would, for me, be an insult to my God, and I therefore stick to displaying my natural beauty that the Lord has blessed me with. I am content.
There is one thing that we must never be content without, and that is the Lord. God is so good and created us that we will never be fully content without Him. Many people have obtained everything that money can buy, but they are still left empty inside because they haven’t met the Lord. Then there are those that try and fill that gap with friends, entertainment, harmful substances and practices, or even work, but they too are left empty. Only God can truly satisfy the longing of our hearts. He created us to be His people, and we will not be content unless we are. But then there are people that “know” the Lord, but still feel empty. Those are the people that have a head-knowledge of God. The people who have a heart-knowledge of God will be content – their longing for God will be totally satisfied. The problem is that so many people either don’t know God or only have a head-knowledge of Him. We need to know the Lord personally and then we will be content no matter who else or what else is in or out of our lives. God will bless us with what He knows we need – all else is unnecessary.
There is peace in being content and not coveting what we don’t have. God wants us to experience that peace, and that’s why He gave us this commandment. If we are unsatisfied, we will never be happy. God can and will provide all that we truly need. We need to learn to trust Him.

Today’s Task: Be thankful for what you have. Don’t look elsewhere to satisfy your desires. If you have desires – look to God, but be willing to submit to His will – He knows what’s best for you. Be content with what you have. God has truly blessed us with so much.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that You provide for all our needs. I thank You that our heart’s desire can be satisfied in knowing You personally. Help us to know You. Lord help us to be content with everything that You have blessed us with and not to covet the life or things that we don’t have. Life is best lived in You – help us to realize that. I thank You that You give us the peace and strength to live a joyful and contented life in You, no matter what. You are all we need. Lord may we know You as never before. Amen.

Day 109

BE HONEST IN ALL YOU SAY

Today’s Text: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
(Exodus 20:16)

Today’s Thoughts: Some translations of the Bible word this commandment: “Thou shalt not lie.” Whichever way you want to word it, it simply tells us that God wants us to be honest in all we say. Titus 1:2 tells us that God cannot lie. According to 1 Peter 2:21, we are to follow in Christ’s steps. For one, let me say that I’m so glad that my God cannot and will not lie. Imagine if we couldn’t take Him at His word?! Imagine if we couldn’t trust Him fully?! God is totally trustworthy. He wants us to be trustworthy as well. He wants to know that we will do all that we say. And He wants to know that we will speak only the truth. Let us only speak what is pure.

Today’s Testimony: Have you ever heard someone say something negative about someone else and then “justify” it by saying, “I’m being honest.” There is a time to be honest and there is also a time to hold back what you feel like saying knowing that it is downing someone else. Never ever gossip about others – you may be sharing the truth, but is your conversation pleasing God? God loves each person that we want to speak negatively about. The truth is that that person is valuable; therefore, if we want to decrease that person’s value we are not speaking honestly at all. We all have our faults. No one likes to be the subject of a gossip session. The Lord wants us to speak encouraging words to and about each other; not break others down.
There are so many testimonies that I could share of how the Lord intervened for me when I was under attack, but I cannot share them because it would break down those who were attacking. The testimonies that wouldn’t make sense by being too vague if I didn’t share details about those tearing me down, I cannot share. These are testimonies that only the Lord and I can share, at least at this stage. Yes if they were shared they would glorify God, and they are true, but sharing would bring negative thoughts about those who were meaning well, but breaking down. My point – only speak what is truthful if it will have a positive result and no negative one.
I once wrote a test and got a really poor mark for it. I then noticed that one of my wrong answers had been over-looked. I then went to my teacher and told her. My mark was dropped even lower, but I had a clean conscience. It is definitely not always easy to be honest, but God requires it of us and the clear conscience is far better than the guilt.
As Christians we need to live as Christ’s followers and not live a lie. On another note it may not always be easy, but we must never be ashamed of our God no matter what the cost of following Him. God will be with His faithful people and will carry them through mild and great persecution. Even if we are tortured till death Christ will still be with us every step of the way. Satan will try everything to get us to bring shame to our God and to get us to forsake Him. Our reward is in heaven; we must be bold Christians who will not shy away from the truth – that we have found a God that it is worth dying for. Christ died for us – let us be bold in following Him and not lie that we are not His people, no matter what the cost.
One benefit of only being truthful is a clear conscience. Sometimes being truthful will bring peace and joy; other times it will bring suffering and sorrow, but God will give us strength to bear it all. God will bless those who are truthful. Some will receive their rewards now; others will receive them in heaven. God wants us to be honest in all we say. Let’s ask Him for the strength to obey His command.

Today’s Task: Be honest in all you say. Ask the Lord for the strength to do so. Encourage others and build them up; don’t tear them down. Be willing to speak the truth at all costs. Ask the Lord to help you discern when to be open and honest and when to refrain from sharing. Thank the Lord that His promises are true. Our God cannot lie – praise Him.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I praise You that You are honest with us. I thank You that Your promises are all true. I thank You that You will always do what’s best for us. Please help us to always speak the truth, but only when You would have us do so. Help us to be faithful examples of who You are. Help us to be unashamed Christians. Help us to follow You till death. Lord we love You. Amen.

Day 108

BE HONEST IN ALL YOU DO

Today’s Text: Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15)

Today’s Thoughts: God has blessed us with everything we need. If there is ever anything that we don’t have but do need, God is able to provide – we just need to trust Him. If there are still things we want, but do not need, we need to learn to be content. There is never a reason to steal. Stealing is taking something that belongs to somebody else. We may think it would not affect that person at all, but God wants us to be totally honest in all we do.

Today’s Testimony: Let me start by sharing something that I found very interesting. According to Leviticus 6:1-7, the consequence for theft was that one had to restore what was taken and add another fifth to it. In Exodus 22:4 we read that the consequence for being found with the theft alive (when an animal was taken) was that one had to restore double. In Exodus 22:1 we read that if one stole an animal and killed it or sold it a sheep would have to be restored four times and an ox would have to be restored five times. Do you have any idea why the consequences were different under different circumstances? Think about it… one is probably an object, one a sheep and the other a cow. Could it be due to the mind’s corruption level? If your mind is evil enough to steal a whole cow, which you can easily get caught with, and then kill the cow that doesn’t belong to you – how corrupt is your mind? That means you had the desire to steal; that desire was strong enough to take something as huge as a cow with a high risk of getting caught; and then you still killed that cow that belonged to someone else. God doesn’t want us to sin full stop. But it must sadden Him so much to see how great our desire to sin can be sometimes. When He sees the risk we are willing to take in order to satisfy that desire to sin it must break His heart. He wants us to be blameless and honest. He doesn’t want us to deceive others and take what is theirs. He wants us to trust Him to provide all that we need and He wants us to learn to be content with what we have.
So what have you stolen lately? Have you stolen respect, affection or anything else that was due to someone else? Have you stolen any of those things from the Lord? The Lord wants to be first in your life – have you stolen His position and given it to yourself, someone else or something else? The Lord wants to be your only God – have you stolen that position and distributed it elsewhere? The Lord wants you to reverence His name – have you stolen that respect from Him? The Lord wants to spend one full day with you each week – have you stolen that day for yourself? The Lord wants you to respect His people – have you stolen that respect from others? The Lord wants you to love His people – have you stolen that love from others? The Lord wants you to keep yourself pure – have you stolen that purity? The Lord wants you to be totally honest in all you do – have you stolen that honesty? The Lord wants you to be totally honest in all you say – have you stolen that honesty? The Lord wants you to be content – have you stolen that contentment from yourself? Is there anything that you have taken away from God, yourself or others that rightfully belongs to the one you stole it from? Be honest with yourself. Be honest in all you do.
Quite a while ago (Today’s T’s Day 34) I spoke to you about returning tithe to the Lord. In Malachi 3:8 God says that if we don’t return ten-percent of what He blesses us with we are actually robbing God. That too is quite a thought. I encourage you to not steal God’s money – He only asked for one-tenth.
The greatest benefit of keeping this commandment is a clear conscience. You will also find that you are a lot happier. God knew that keeping this commandment would spare us a lot of guilt and sorrow and that’s why He gave it. Try it. Take God at His word. He blesses those who trust Him.

Today’s Task: Do not steal anything from anyone. Live an honest life in all you do. Never ever allow your mind’s corruption level to increase – ask the Lord to help you clear your mind of all evil thoughts and intensions. Keep your conscience pure. Whatever you do – do not steal your opportunity to spend eternity with the Lord from yourself. Make sure that you are living totally within the Lord’s will.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I thank You that You care about us so much. Help us to give to You, ourselves and others whatever is due. Help us to never take away what belongs to others. Lord I thank You that You always provide for our needs. Please help us to be content with what we have. Please help us to have pure and honest minds that only do what is pure and honest. I thank You that You are merciful to us. We love You Lord. Amen.

Day 107

KEEP YOURSELF PURE

Today’s Text: Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Exodus 20:14)

Today’s Thoughts: God wants the best for us. He intended for one man to marry one wife and remain together for the rest of their lives. He wanted them to grow in their love toward each other, but sadly, today we see so many discontent couples. Some stick together in spite of the loss of love and affection, but most people today rather choose to end their union. Even worse, some individuals start looking elsewhere instead of trying to patch up the brokenness. God blesses the union of marriage. Let us remain pure and happy in all our relationships.

Today’s Testimony: God wants us all to be pure. Firstly let me speak to those who are not married. He wants us to reserve ourselves for only one person. This includes emotionally – He desires for us to wait for His leading instead of dating without further intensions. Some say, “But how am I supposed to know if he or she is the one if we don’t date?” To that I’d like to say that for starters: pray about it. If you know you would never marry each other, it is in your best interest not to waste your emotions. Be friends first. The one you spend the rest of your life with must be your best friend. If you are not best friends – don’t date. If you are not best friends then what ever you do – don’t marry. The one you marry should be the one you can be “naked and unashamed” with – this is the term I use to refer to being able to be totally open and honest with each other, even about your bad side, and know that you are both still safe and loved. So now you want to know what this has to do with committing adultery. Let me explain it this way…. Do you believe in having only one spouse? That means that you believe that God has that someone special for you somewhere. So if God has a prince or princess that He is preparing especially for you – could we describe it as you already belong to that person in a sense. Now for you to waste your emotions or more on someone before your spouse is stealing affection due only to him or her. Does that make sense? Imagine you meet that prince or princess and he/she has kept himself/herself totally pure for you and you haven’t done the same. Do you think maybe you’d wish you had the same to offer? Every time you get emotionally bonded to someone you leave a piece of yourself behind when you leave. I encourage you to save yourself for the one God leads to. If you have already not kept yourself fully, from now on, I encourage you to keep yourself pure so you can offer your prince or princess as much as possible. You won’t regret it.
Now a message for those who are married…. In an article in one of my exam papers a while ago I read a statement that basically said that the problems that arise in marriages in not due to conflict, but to a loss of love and affection. Think about it, if you focused on nurturing the love you share or on restoring the love you once had, that love and care for each other will hold you together no matter what conflicts you may face. God wants us to be happy and content in our relationships.
Now a message for both the married and unmarried…. As with the sixth commandment, Christ also took the seventh commandment a few steps further (Matthew 5:27-32). He said that if a man looks at a woman to lust after her, he has already committed adultery in his heart. That applies to both married and unmarried and the same goes for a woman thinking lustfully about a man. God wants our hearts, minds and bodies to be pure. He gave us guidelines to keep us happy in our relationships. He doesn’t want us to waste any affections due only to our present or future spouses. He knows the greater joy that can only be found in waiting and staying. Christ also said that those who are divorced should not marry again unless they divorced due to unfaithfulness (the innocent one would be free). This is an extremely controversial subject which I am not going to delve into, but you may read for yourself what Christ had to say in Matthew 19:3-9 (see also Deuteronomy 24:1-4).
Finally I have to mention that God must be our First Love. We must love God above all others and then allow Him to allocate our love where He will have it. Never begin a relationship without the Lord’s guidance. If you are in one that you know He is not pleased with – get out. If you are married or in a relationship under God’s guidance – work on nurturing your love for each other. If that love is lost or maybe never even existed – work on restoring your love for each other or on developing a love for each other. God wants us to be happy. The benefits of keeping this commandment are a pure heart, mind and body and true happiness. Aim for purity.

Today’s Task: Love yourself and your present or future prince or princess enough to keep yourself pure. Don’t wander anywhere else even in thought. Your emotions, affections and body belong to only one. If you are married - be content in the relationship you have. If you are single – wait for God’s timing and leading. If you are in a relationship – continue to ask the Lord to make His will known to you and then move forward or get out as He leads. God wants us to be happy within our relationships; He wants the best for us. He has given us guidelines – let’s follow them. Let us give our love and affection totally to God and let Him lead us in our love and affection for those around us. God loves you – love Him back.

Today’s Thanks: Lord I thank You that even though we have not always been faithful to You as our God, You have been faithful to us and love us with a love that we don’t deserve. You have not divorced us for our unfaithfulness – You are waiting for us to return. Please help us to return and remain in You. Lord I thank You that You have given us guidelines for happy relationships. Please help us to remain totally pure in thought and action at all times. We want to have the peace of knowing that we are living in Your will. Please lead and guide us in our earthly relationships. But most importantly – please help us in our relationship with You. Lord give us a love for the ones you have led us to, or will lead us to, that only You can give. We want to be pure and happy. I thank You that You will help us. Amen.

Day 106

LOVE MY PEOPLE

Today’s Text: Thou shalt not kill. (Exodus 20:13)

Today’s Thoughts: No two people are the same. When someone dies it is a unique life that has gone to the grave. The character of that person is silenced from this world. Life is precious. God gave His life so that we wouldn’t have to die an eternal death. If people were not valuable in His eyes, He wouldn’t have paid our price. God is saddened whenever one of His people dies. He asked us to value life and not kill. He wants us to love His people.

Today’s Testimony: Today we’re not going to discuss the question of whether or not it is ever right to kill; neither are we going to discuss the killing of anything other than people. We’re simply going to dig a little deeper into this commandment and find out more of what the Lord requires of us and then discuss the benefits of keeping it.
Firstly let’s take a look at what Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-26 referring to the sixth commandment. Christ took it a few steps further. He said that we must not only refrain from killing, He said that we must not get angry with others without a cause. We must not call others nasty names either. God doesn’t want us to call others stupid or worthless. Have you ever been called by a nasty name? Did it hurt? Did it “kill” you inside a little? What about when someone has been angry with you for no reason? Did that hurt you too? When last have you maybe killed someone’s reputation by gossiping about them? God loves those He created – He wants us to handle them with care – both their physical bodies and their internal feelings.
Christ also said that He doesn’t want us to have any hatred between us. If there is anything that is not right between two people, Christ wants them to make it right as soon as possible. He wants us to come to Him with a clean conscience knowing that we have nothing against anyone else and that we have not wronged anyone else.
The Lord knows how much guilt comes with hating and hurting others. He knows how much pain it brings. He wants us to be free of guilt and hurt. He wants us to experience the joy of being on good terms with everyone. Loving God’s people and not hating and hurting them has the benefit of a more peaceful, more joyful and more guiltless life. He knows how precious that kind of life is, so He encourages us to have it by keeping this commandment. I don’t want to “kill” anyone – I want to love God’s people and reap the benefits.
Another thing we need to discuss is the slow suicide that many of us commit on a daily basis. How well do you take care of your body? Do you fill it with all sorts of things that will cause it temporary or permanent damage? The food we eat, what we drink, smoking, medication, drugs, over-working ourselves, lack of exercise, what we fill our minds with – all these things have an effect on our bodies and minds. If we are feeding them negatively we will reap a poorer quality of life and shorten our lives. God want us to take care of ourselves so that we can live longer, healthier and happier lives.
This life will not last forever. Are you planning to live eternally? Or are you going to allow yourself to die and have your unique character forever blotted out from existence? The choice is yours – don’t kill yourself. How many people are there that are heading toward selfdestruction because they have never truly met the Lord? Are you going to leave them to die? Or are you going to tell as many people as you can about the great God that we serve. The world is dying in need of a Saviour – and no one seems to care. Do you?

Today’s Task: Life is precious – handle with care. Look after your life and the lives of others. Look after your own internal, external, emotional and Spiritual needs as well as those of others. Life here is short for all of us - let us make the most of it for everyone. God loves you – love His people.

Today’s Thanks: Lord I Thank You that You didn’t leave us to die – You died in our place. I praise You that even now You are with us through this life and haven’t just left us to live this life and die our earthly death alone. You care about us so much – help us to remember. Please help us to never “kill” ourselves or others. You value life and You love all Your people – help us to do the same. I thank You that You want us to live happy, healthy and long lives and have therefore given us simple guidelines – help us to follow them. Lord please help us to save others from an eternal death by telling them about You – the real You. We love You Lord. Amen.

Day 105

RESPECT MY PEOPLE

Today’s Text: Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (Exodus 20:12)

Today’s Thoughts: We need to honour and obey God first above all others, but God wants us to obey and respect our earthly parents too. It’s not always easy to submit to others, but God promises a special blessing to those who honour their parents. God knows that life will be more pleasant if we respect our parents. When Jesus was on earth He honoured His earthly parents – surely we can do the same. True children of God will follow Christ’s example, and they will therefore enjoy a long life – a forever-life – with their Saviour.

Today’s Testimony: God asked us to honour our parents. But think about it… He surely wants us to have a healthy respect for all our fellow man. God has placed certain people in authority over us and we need to give them due respect. Then there are our peers who also deserve our respect. Finally we have those who are less-fortunate than us, younger than us, or those we just feel are on a lower level than us in whatever way that be. The word “deserve” that I used earlier – let me explain it this way: we are all just as human as everyone else right? We are all sinners in need of a Saviour right? None of us really have anything to boast about. People deserve respect – not because of anything they’ve done, but just because they are God’s creation. God loves us all the same. How can we show disrespect and an uncaring attitude toward any one of His loved ones?!
Then there are those who have authority over us but abuse that authority. Do we still need to respect those people? Have you ever read what Jesus did when the people asked if they should pay taxes? He asked them to bring Him a coin and asked them whose image and superscription was on the coin. They answered that it was Caesar’s. He then replied, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” (Mark 12:14-17). God does want us to obey those in authority, and yet only if we are not required to go against what God would have us do. When we feel that our superiors are taking advantage of their authority there’s only one thing to do – take the problem to the Lord. He knows what we are going through. He knows how to help us. God wants us to obey and respect those in authority. They may be in the wrong, but as long as we remain in the right, God will bless us. As the well-known saying goes: “Two wrongs don’t make a right”.
Now I’d like to bring our attention back to respect for everyone. Do you think God is ever happy when we treat others as inferior? We are not alone in this world – we are surrounded by other human beings who are also battling through this life. God created every single one of them. He loves them all. God wants us to respect our fellow man. You’ll be a lot happier if you do. We must never speak badly about anyone else, or treat them poorly no matter how wrong they may be. The benefit of peace and joy always comes with doing what we know the Lord would have us do. We need to patiently await our reward – eternity with the Lord.
You know what I’m thankful for? I’m thankful that this sin-loving world is not the only hope I have. I have a bright future awaiting me – an eternity with a fair and loving God. I want to be there. I might have to submit to ungodly people in this world for a few years – but if I am faithful I can spend all of eternity with my Saviour.

Today’s Task: Honour your father and your mother. Obey and respect them no matter who they are or how they are. Give due respect to all those in authority, knowing that Christ never fought back when He was falsely accused and mistreated by those in authority in the land at that time. Respect all human beings, knowing that God created and loves them all. Show the love and character of Christ to a world that is dying in need of a Saviour. Ask the Lord to help you – He will.

Today’s Thanks: O Lord I thank You that although You have placed others in authority over us, You are still in control. Help us to honour, respect and obey those that You would have us honour, respect and obey. Help us to respect Your people. Help us to remember that a happy eternity awaits all those who live for You. Help us to honour, respect and obey You always as our greatest authority. Lord please help us to do Your will at all costs. We want to live for You. Please help us. We love You Lord. Amen.