Grown-Up and Disrespectful Children by Ashley Acosta
Today’s Passage – Exodus 19 – 21 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Luke 7 – 8; Proverbs 26; Psalms 126 – 130)
Read the “0126 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Read a previous post from this passage – “Come As You Are,“ and “Sound Advice“
“1 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” (Exodus 20:1-12)
“13 Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 Thou shalt not steal. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17 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 20:13-17)
Here we see where God meets with Moses on Mount Sinai and gives the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel. We see the process that goes into them even receiving these words, so we understand the importance of God speaking them. This is such a pivotal moment in the Old Testament. These were the fundamental principles that God sent for them to follow.
For us today the ten commandments are a reminder of the standards of Holy living required by God. Obviously, things are different in the New Testament, and we are under grace and not the Law; but God definitely puts a huge importance on them throughout the New Testament and refers to them often. There are so many nuggets of truth to go through here, but one that God has really been convicting me about is the extreme importance God puts on honoring your parents. Sometimes as an adult we tend to think that this commandment is just for children or teenagers, and we are somehow exempt from this commandment. God has been tugging on my heart recently that I am not honoring my parents today. It’s really sad when you see the older generations being treated so poorly by their children. Once we become adults we suddenly think we really know so much and almost look at our parents as less than, or we have a condescending tone to any of their remarks. Maybe we have been hurt by our parents, or maybe they aren’t walking with the Lord. God doesn’t give us a list of exceptions for not honoring them, He says, “Honor your parents.”
As our parents get older it’s even more important to take care of them and honor them. My husband has parents that are now my parents. I think God wants me to honor and respect them too, and not discourage my husband with any negative thoughts I have. Sometimes, I don’t always agree with things my parents do, but the absolute last thing I need to be doing is talk poorly about them or bash them to other people, even if it’s my siblings. It’s also extremely prideful of me to think that I am perfect and my parents just don’t have it together like me. God put this in the Ten commandments for a reason; it’s important to Him. Let’s stop rolling our eyes or acting like our parents are less than. If we were little children we would be extremely disrespectful in doing that, but as adults we feel no remorse. Maybe, someone is hurting today and your relationship with your parents is not good. Perhaps you hurt them or they hurt you. You need to restore your relationship with your parents before it’s too late. There is also a promise here that God is telling us: IF we honor our parents our days will be long on the earth. He is equating this commandment to Life and Death; that’s how serious it is. Let’s honor our parents in every stage of our life.
Posted in Devotions by Ashley Acosta with 4 comments.
Acknowledging God … by Ashley Acosta
Today’s Passage – Leviticus 1 – 4 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Luke 23 – 24; Proverbs 3; Psalms 16 – 20)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Deuteronomy 32:4
I want to take a detour today into Proverbs. Proverbs 3:5, 6 are very familiar verses to us as Christians. They were some of the first verses I learned as a child, and have helped shape my Christian walk for years. I turn to them often when I feel confused about the future, or not sure what decisions to make. God recently has opened my heart to something in these verses.
“Trust in the Lord with all Thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths“ (Proverbs 3:5 – 6)
I want to focus on the end of verse 5, and beginning of verse 6. “…and lean not unto thine own understanding.” We do get understanding from the Bible, but Solomon is referring to “our” understanding, not wisdom that God has given us. Where did we get this understanding from? We were born into this world with none, so how have we adopted so much of “our” knowledge. Our understanding has come over time from education, experiences, peers, family, social media, news, or even celebrities. Our understanding is worldly and fleshly. Why are we leaning on this worldly and fleshly understanding? Have you ever stood in line at an amusement park on a hot summer day? You lean on the railings, or your friends because you’re so tired of standing. No matter how hard you try to get relief nothing works. Why do we lean on unreliable, faulty things? Priscilla Jane Owens penned the great hymn that says it perfectly
“We have an anchor that keeps the soul. Steadfast and sure while the billows role, fastened to the rock which cannot move, Grounded FIRM and DEEP in the saviors love.”
This brings me to the beginning of verse 6, and the main truth that God has showed me:
“In all thy ways acknowledge him.” (Proverbs 3:6a)
If on Sunday Morning, we all attended church and as Pastor got up to preach we all walked out of the building one by one, I think Pastor would be very confused and hurt. If we all decided that we didn’t acknowledge his position in our congregation, unfortunately he would have to leave and we would have to vote in a new pastor. A definition for acknowledgment is: “to recognize the rights or authority of.” Do I acknowledge God’s position? I have always seen that as acknowledging his presence, but am I acknowledging him as God? If his own children aren’t acknowledging him as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, during this important time in America, how will others acknowledge him? I have been so convicted by this. Is God not God? Is he on the throne or isn’t he? When we lean on our own understanding, we are literally not acknowledging God as God. We are saying no Lord you aren’t powerful; you aren’t mighty, you aren’t all knowing. We are taking him out of his rightful place.
“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matthew 6:27)
“Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.” (1 Chronicles 29:11)
“God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.” (Psalm 62:11)
The verse goes onto to say, and he shall direct thy paths. I think the future gets a lot clearer when we acknowledge God as God, and put him back in his rightful place.
My prayer is: “Lord, I acknowledge your power, I acknowledge your wisdom, I acknowledge your infinite mind, your all healing hands, your almighty truth. You. Are. God.
Posted in Devotions by Ashley Acosta with 3 comments.
I Am Here / Where Are You? … by Ashley Acosta
Today’s Passage – Song of Solomon 1 – 4 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)
(Second Milers also read – Luke 11 – 12; Psalms 131 – 135; Proverbs 28)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – James 4:10
Read the “0728 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice. My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.” (Song of Songs 2:8-14)
When Issan and I were dating, I wanted to be in his presence all the time. Not only in the same room as him, but I wanted to interact and engage him. I truly enjoyed his company, and wanted to talk to him, do new things with him, and most importantly be present with him. Everything we did was so fun just because we were together. I remember when we took a day trip to Valley Forge with my brother. I was thrilled to walk around a field and take pictures. It was like I was in a new world for the first time, taking time for the small things in life. It’s one of those moments I look back on and remember falling more in love with him that day. I was truly present with him, and he was present with me.
Solomon and his wife describe a world of beauty and adventure that awaits them. With excitement and joy, she awaits for her husband. Even Solomon is looking through the window, intentionally, at his wife. He invites her to come with him so they can enjoy the beauty around them. They show us that enjoyment of life can be greatly enhanced through relationships.
This can only be possible when you are present with each other. I looked up the word “present” The definition is “in a particular place” that seemed simple enough, I thought, I’m with my husband a lot. Then the Lord quickly convicted me. “Is your mind there as well?” Am I truly present? Am I waiting by the door, upon his arrival like the woman in this passage? Unfortunately, a lot of the time my mind is absent from him. In verse 10 he says “ rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away” He is referring to physically coming away with him, but sometimes we need to tell our spouses, rise up, my love, and come away emotionally, and mentally. Turn off whatever is distracting you from being present with me.
“78.6% of men, and 91.6 % of women are involved in an emotional affair at some point in their life,” according to fatherly.com. We focus a lot on physical affairs, but do not realize that emotional affairs are even more relevant in our Christian circles; especially with Christian women. We are busy people, and most of our attention is on our ministries. If we aren’t present with our spouses, the truth of the matter is, someone else will be.
This applies to all relationships. It can be with our children, our friends, or family members. We think that the relationships that are the closest to us are the ones we don’t need to be as present with. We tend to turn off emotionally because we have been mentally turned on with so many others all day. What is most important is that we work harder at those relationships. The relationship with Solomon and his wife was an intimate relationship that was truly intentional. Be intentional with your husband or wife. If you’re single, be intentional with the people you love.
Posted in Devotions by Ashley Acosta with 3 comments.