06/09/2024 Have you ever stopped to look at the kind of commands God gives his people in the Bible, even from the earlier part of what we know as time, like when Moses delivered the law on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 20 ref.), somewhere around possibly 1446 BC? Because of our sinful nature, when we look at the law before being born again, the commands seem to provoke us in 2 directions. Either we acknowledge those commands, that they are good, and go towards the spirit of God. Or, if not careful, we can be provoked very easily to want to revolt at a God who would “dare” to tell us what to do. Maybe no one else has ever felt this way, but I dare to think its the opposite, that is, I believe that every soul that encounters God and His Word 📖reacts in some similar way. Even before we are presented with the story of Jesus’ death on the cross, and accepting it, we do encounter the idea of God. As much as the world needs regeneration in Christ, and spiritual sight that comes from that, I think there is as much need for the church to realize that there are other “gods” out there, which are demons, and this is taught us even as far back as Deuteronomy with King David in the book of Psalms, before Jesus was born. The other gods of the world, and there are others, are demons. Actually Deuteronomy seems to list different kind of gods:

Deuteronomy 32:17 ✝️

“They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.” (Deuteronomy 32:17) ~ Moses

Again in Psalms we read in Chapter 106 (Referring again to the history of the Hebrews):

36 They served their idols,
    which became a snare to them.
36They sacrificed their sons
    and their daughters to the demons; ~David

It can be insightful to gaze into the past of God’s people, to see how God dealt with their sins, how they dealt with their sins, dealt with the world, and battled the evil one. Our God is a god of peace, order, and blessing! (I know I’m a little beside the point of God’s commands being good, but I’m working towards getting there!)

(Extra Insight: Somewhere along the path with Jesus, I have come to the conclusion, and I think my husband taught me this: that there could potentially be a sin for every demon. And so in this, there is the ability to name the demon based on the sin it produces. If you hear a cuss word from a demon as you are falling asleep go through your mind, you can cast it out in Jesus name’ “Go away in Jesus’ name, spirit of profanity”, and likewise if you saw a person with an addiction to cutting their wrists you could rebuke the demon for it. I know there could be countless examples, but I would personally not be opposed to anyone rebuking an associated demon in Jesus’ name, if it accompanies an addiction. I would say an example could be; “Spirit of alchoholism, I rebuke you in Jesus name’, go away in Jesus name”. We are taught that Jesus drove out “demon(s) with a word” and that if He drives out demons by the Finger of God (some say “Spirit” of God instead of finger), the kingdom of God is among us (Luke 11:20). No matter what the present church, the culture we live in, or our own flesh would tell us, there IS a need to drive out demons in Jesus’ name, and He commanded us to do that!)

Mark 16:12 “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;” ~Peter

The Fruit of Idols is Death

The reason I wanted to go off on a tangent about demons and spiritual warfare, is because demonic activity and demonic evidence is what is the result of serving other gods/idols/demons. And serving other gods is the direct result of not obeying God’s commands. It is the alternative. The same chapter in Psalms referred to above, Psalm 106, elaborates on the type of “fruit” that comes from serving other gods, Our God is the supreme Jehovah God, the God of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will face God in the coming judgment, and though Jesus is Sovereign, involved, and over all the powers, He is the one over all kingdoms and authorities spiritual and natural; and thankfully, we are blessed because they are subject to Him in the kingdom. His kingdom is not of this world and He has all control over it in His great name; and the sooner we can grasp that, the more order there will be in our lives. The same chapter as the above mentioned Psalms 106 has this to reveal to us about what comes about for the Hebrews when they served a god other than the true God:

Psalms 106:

35 but they (Hebrews) mixed with the nations
    and learned to do as they did.
36 They served their idols,
    which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons
    and their daughters to the demons;
38 they poured out innocent blood,
    the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
    and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus they became unclean by their acts,

That’s a look from the Old Testament. Now, in the New Testament, Jesus drove out demons that caused convulsions, foul speech, violent movements and actions, and sickness, and death! I am glad that He is in control, but the reason I wanted to write this article was because I was reading a verse the other day, and it dawned on me suddenly how much care God must have for us. Him who is all-powerful and could destroy us immediately, treats us as sheep with a shepherd. Him who could have decided that we all perish because of the fall in Genesis when Even took the forbidden fruit. Him who could have wanted to give us pleasure now and destroy us later, decided to give us Jesus now, and Heaven later! Sometimes, the biggest blockage we have to being able to abide in God, in Jesus, and in truth, is that we don’t truly believe that God is GOOD. I know I’ve struggled with that, not as much, but I have before.

God’s Intentions Are Still Good

We forget that in the beginning, God created man and woman in the garden, to have all fellowship with him, no mandate to go work, the ability to have babies would have been easy probably, and constantly just hanging out and talking. Basically, he initially ordered that we have “No Work and All Play”! That sounds like a pretty good deal, having all ease and comfort, but we messed it up, and the woman ate the apple, and since then, due to the fall of man we’ve needed Jesus! I’m so glad it worked out so that we could know Jesus! So though the sober truth of sin is real, God has already provided the remedy when He sacrificed His Son for us! God is supremely wise, good, and deep, and knows the things we like. He made us, and so when we serve Him its natural for us to enjoy it, and if you’ve ever thought about the mandates Jesus gives us, like He literally told us, it’s clear He wants us to love one another. If you’ve ever stopped to think of it, you may realize that that is very easy in His strength – to love others, requires basically no effort, is not painful, and leads to all comfort in the emotions, mind, body, and soul. In the end of us all, and when we’re on our death bed, we are surrounded by the ones we love, because in truth, at that point, life and death, love is what mattered after all (1 Corinthians 13).

Here are some of the commands that blow me away in the depth of which God has considered us, when we have done nothing to merit it. His paths are unfathomable and beyond tracing out! (Romans 11)

Romans 5:8 NIV “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

The Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 are also a great example, because they were basically the first written commandments for God’s people. Though there are additional words in the verses for the ten commandments when taken straight from Scripture, here is the main thrust of them that I remember:

Ten Commandments of Moses Delivering the Law

  1. Thou shall have no other gods before me.
  2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image (idol).
  3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
  4. Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.
  5. Honor your father and mother.
  6. Thou shalt not kill.
  7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
  8. Thou shalt not steal.
  9. Thou bear false witness against thy neighbor
  10. Thou shalt no covet thy neighbor’s goods.

I have heard it said that the first 4-5 commandments are with the view of as individuals unto God, like mostly about our relationship with God or our individual souls. And the 6th thru 10th commandments about how to act towards our neighbor. These comments I put following are based on how I feel about the commandments, and are not scriptures but more like observations I tried to make. I wanted to do so as an onlooker, and not coming at it with pat answers. If I notice right off in the first commandment correctly, it looks like God clearly wants us to be in relationship to Him, maybe its because He knows that He is good, and He is the only good god out there. He is actually the only God would wish us life instead of death, and freedom rather than slavery (See story of Moses and Exodus of God’s people from Egypt in book of Exodus, Old Testament, Bible). Commandments 2 and 3 of the Ten Commandments, to me, are about us giving homage to God as a spirit, and not pretending to use His name for falsity or selfishness. Commands 4 and 5 are about us taking care of our families and having rest in God, and giving God rest on the Sabbath by worshipping Him. Commands 6 thru 8 are for us, so that we don’t destroy one another, and can live lives that we are proud of. Command 9 is again for us to uphold and actually help our neighbor, and think about them above ourselves, if necessary, by God’s strength. And command 10 is about keeping our eyes on what God has given us already, and what He can bless us with if we work with our own hands diligently as unto Him. God has gone to great lengths, exhorbitant lengths I should say, to teach us about what He has said as we see it in the Bible, and since we are a communicating race, it makes sense that there would need to be a lot of words to help us in this life. Not to mention, God still speaks today for those who will listen and attend to it, and He blesses according to His mercy.

I encourage everyone who reads this to find the joy in God available through His Son Jesus, by simply asking Him for it. It is good to know that God who dwells on High would take time to communicate to us so clearly through His Word, by His Spirit, and by His love.

⚖️✝️😹😃

God is good!

“There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2).