Believe

Believe, Do You Believe

Beauty indescribable in awe at Your sight
Eternal Undivided, bathed in Your Light
Love unconditional, captured by Your grace
Insecurities unraveled strengthened by faith
Everlasting to everlasting my God You shall reign
Victorious all powerful my Christ, the King of kings
Elevated to all authority, all power is in Your hands

Dancing for You, kneel before You, my allegiance You have
Omnipotent, King of glory, I give You all my praise

You are worthy, oh so worthy, the Lamb who was slain
Omniscient, omnipresent, Your lovingkindness forever endures
Undeniable is Your presence every heart has felt You stir

Believe, oh believe, He is the Alpha and the Omega
Elohim, my Creator, Lord of heaven, Lord of earth
Lifted high, drawing nigh, every man to Yourself
Incomparable You alone are the One Living God
Empowered am I through being justified by Your blood
Validated before my Father, by faith in Your love
Every knee one day will bow, every eye one day will see

But blessings, upon blessings, for those who without seeing BELIEVE

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But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

So the other disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them,

“Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails,

and put my finger into the place of the nails,

and put my hand into His side,

I will not believe.”

 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them.

 Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said,

“Peace be with you.” 

Then He said to Thomas,

“Reach here with your finger, and see My hands;

and reach here your hand and put it into My side;

and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 

Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 

Jesus said to him,

“Because you have seen Me, have you believed?

Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

John 20:24-29

Laying Down the Law

 

Then God spoke all these words, saying,

I am the LORD your God,

who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

out of the house of slavery.

Exodus 20:1-2

 

The people are assembled at the base of the mountain with Moses and Aaron. Can you imagine the anxious expectation that must be in the air at this moment? They have followed this pillar of fire by day and this pillar of cloud by night. They have listened to Moses recall to them what he has told them the LORD has said, but now all the people will hear from their God. Today they will all hear His voice.

In Exodus 19:4-6 we read how God desires to make this stubborn, rebellious, stiff-necked, grumbling people a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This is the purpose of God for the children of Israel. The only stipulation placed on them, “obey My voice and keep My covenant.”

Now this is our God. He is not going to allow this covenant to be delivered second hand. He wants all the people to be aware they are without excuse. He will allow all of them to hear His voice as He delivers the main conditions of this covenant.

We call these conditions the Ten Commandments. These ten commands are the base of the entire Law of God. How fitting that they were given to the people at the base of a mountain. God is showing them this is your solid foundation. This remains a solid foundation for us today as well.    

Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets;

I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.

For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,

 not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments,

and teaches others to do the same,

 shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven;

but whoever keeps and teaches them,

he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 5:17-19

This is what Jesus has to say about the Law of God, therefore, we must not disregard these commands. Jesus came to show us how the whole point of God’s Law was to teach us how to love. The Law condemns us because apart from God we know nothing about real love.

Precious one have you ever considered that every commandment given by our God is for our benefit. Obeying the commands of God and practicing love go hand in hand. The Law actually defines love and how we are to walk it out as children of God.

I came across a wonderful booklet on the Ten Commandments online (www.ucg.org/booklets). This booklet shares how, “For love to be meaningful it must be accurately defined and understood… Love is the centerpiece of all the Scriptures, both the Old and the New Testaments… In Jesus Christ’s own words, ‘abiding in’- or maintaining the practice of- godly love is accomplished by keeping the commandments of God. His example teaches us that obeying and godly love are inseparable. Sin is simply violating love by transgressing the commandments of God. Sin is lawlessness- neglecting or refusing to be bound by God’s rules that define true, godly love.”

In 1 John 5:3 the Word of God declares, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” So for the next couple of weeks we are going to dig into these ten commands of God given at the base of the mountain to the children of Israel one at a time. May we see how they apply to us today as believers and partakers of the new covenant, the better covenant (Hebrews 8:6), in Christ.

Oh Father,

Open my eyes to Your truth. Let me be one who is called great in the kingdom of heaven. Show me Father, how to teach Your Law and obey Your Law in light of the grace and truth that is realized in Christ. Your word says that the Law is holy and righteous and good (Romans 7:12). However Your word also says I am released from the Law (Romans 7:6) in Christ. So show me, teach me what this means, and I will obey and walk in the truth that You reveal to me. 

My Jesus it is in Your name I pray,

Amen