The Ten Commandments
Exodus Chapter 20: 2-17
2 I, the LORD,
am your God, who brought you forth from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
We are slaves to materialistic experiences
that feed our pleasures. Our personal land of Egypt is the pursuit of self indulgences we allow to dominate the direction
of each day. We are told, "Follow your dream! You can accomplish anything you desire. Do not let anyone or anything tell you
you cannot do anything you want to do." This gives to us motivations, incentives, impulses, encouragements, and stimulations
which support the giving up of our lives in service to the industrial/technological system of commerce.
It is profitable for our economic system to
promote the casting aside of moralistic and wholesome values to replace them with situational ethics to enjoy the experiences
of pleasures. When God is left out of our intent to accomplish our wishes, we are left with the animistic nature of confusion
called variety. A surety we generally ignore is: God holds Himself to a promise: we should do only what we want to do, while
His desire is that we should want to do His will. Jesus Christ exercised the fullness of God's will in our stead so that we
can, through His authority, have the power to rely in the securities and freedoms of reality.
3 Thou shalt
not have any other gods besides me.
A god is anyone or anything we give our attentions
to in order to reject anyone or anything that opposes our focus. We choose our gods, our delectable favors of influence, as
a positive sort because we need our resentment against the evil of anything we view as offensive. This gives to us the energies
to bolster our belief in the gods we desire. Most of us have so many gods in our attractions and fascinations with the various
offerings around us, to counteract our attempts to reject fear, disappointment, and loathing, that we become a god of mastery
over all we follow and deny.
We become fools for what we allow, by transferring
God's rightful Authority and protections over us, into anything and everything but Him. The god of our gods, most often, is
our love of money. Giving all that we are over to God, by trusting Him to lead us in all that we do, allows us to see our
attachments in a new way. We thank Him for the conveniences and joys available to us while seeing the idolatry of what we
had previously accepted as our right of living as no longer an option within us.
Active obedience to our invitation to share
in God’s creativity changes fear of the unknown into the awe of discovery, disappointment into hopeful expectation,
and loathing into compassion, respect, and loyalty.
4 Thou shalt
not make for yourself an image or any form of likeness that is in the heavens above or that is in the earth beneath or that
is in the waters beneath the earth:
This is the "lost" commandment. It is thought
to be a part of the next commandment concerning bowing ourselves down to worship idols. However, this commandment specifically
speaks of anything of interest enough to us where we spend our efforts, resources, and time in the making of, the manufacturing
of, representations and examples. Vicariously experiencing the fruits of our labors, owning for ourselves the sense of control
over the moment, brings us to believe the works of our hands make us who we are. And, they do make us who we are. We become
owned by the things and activities that we consume and thereby are consumed.
Jesus Christ accepts us as we are. Then, He
rejects whatever is in us that does not conform to His purity and holiness. This can be entirely at once, but usually takes
a lifetime of striving and faithfulness to achieve. Our thankfulness for the transformation into His righteous glory includes
our appreciation for no longer being bound to the influences which brought us into self service at His expense. When we conform
ourselves to anything of His death on the Cross, we die away from the life He obtained for us.
When we tell ourselves God allows this or that
expression of our humanity, because Jesus Christ gives us the freedom to relish in our pleasures, we are accepting the deceptions
of the denial of creation. God's wrath against any infidelity of confusion is brought forth in the letter of the Law to remove
from existence our evils. There is no compromise. There is only our unwarranted and undeserved place of reconciliation to
God as the gift of life through the fullness of Christ's resurrection.
It is His choices to which we humbly respond.
Any reaching out of our own accord, to save ourselves through Him, exploits the very nature of the Work He has accomplished
for us. However, lest it is feared the freedom of the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, becomes a tortured bondage of
torment to us amid our treasured possessions... for God's sake, and the glory of His Victory, we have the unique opportunity
to enjoy to the fullness the items and activities of our choosing.
But, our choosing of items and activities does
take on a particular weeding out of things that are an affront to decency and sense according to God's design instead of our
own. The pride of self satisfaction over our accomplishments, understood in faith, becomes a thankful appreciation of our
blessings. The call of God on our responsibility is not to eliminate our frivolous possessions of images and items, it is
to see our devices for what they are in order to put them to the why of proper use.
Realism is not reality except for the offense
to sensibilities of trust and faith. It is not the physical content of an involvement with images and items that brings evil
into the heart. The diversion from attentions to responsible dignity of purpose becomes frustrated by the influence of distraction.
Of course, what cannot be put to proper use are the things that must be discarded. Proper use does not exclude simple appreciation
and enjoyment, but it does exclude items and images which, by design, are intended for drawing us away from our respect for
what we know is right.
5 Thou shalt
not bow thyself down to worship them nor be led to serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous GOD, visiting the iniquity
of fathers upon sons, unto three generations and, unto four, of them that reject me;
6 but I show
loving kindness and covenant faithfulness unto thousands of generations, of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Generational sin is the changing of, or mutation
of, our physical genes by the idolatries which influence our behavior. The essence of our decisive emotional intent, as affected
by the intrusion of demonic pressures and whims, changes the physical aspects of our minds and bodies. As generations have
progressed through the ages, the accumulative changes in genetic structure have aligned our tainted patterns of inheritance
to more easily be manipulated by forces of darkness. However, Jesus said. "What is the difference whether I say, ‘Be
healed' or ‘Your sins are forgiven you.'"?
No matter who we are, there is a constant destructive
presence working to keep our sights away from the life God created for us to have. Demons role-play a person's personality
to convince them that the thoughts and emotions they have are self-generated. Gradually, through the events of the moments
and through dreams and ironic twists of thought, a demon alters the personality of its host so subtly that the change is not
noticed. Combining this with traumas from other people and the disappointments of the struggles of life, and the God-given
authority to decide righteously the choices before you has been changed into a fantasy of distorted perception.
Using this, a demon will invite more demons
to join him. They intermingle themselves with the person, and at the same time are intermingled with the consciousness of
other demons, who are all controlled by their presence within Satan's being. It is similar to a mainframe computer with many
satellite computers connected through a network. The mainframe has absolute control over the satellite computers, but the
satellite computers can function as separate units while being in service to the mainframe.
Any of the mind-altering substances, poisons,
including marijuana, change the thought processes away from the functions God designed for thinking. People seek the drug
instead of seeking God. "Recreational drugs infiltrate the mind in such a way as to cause the user to contemplate the fascination
with the nature of things. It causes a reactionary fantasy that seems to be real instead of a response to reality.
It is toying with the distortions of a poisoning.
It brings connections with the diabolical collective consciousness that lead to the breaking down of God's grace for natural
living. In some individuals, because each person has a different and specific purpose for their life, a demon of anti-holiness
will infiltrate the person as an angel of light - usually as an angel or Christ Himself. Anything a person pursues to gratify
their senses – to obtain a thrill of experience – is taking the place of God. So, when a demon introduces himself
as a part of God in some way via the intoxication, the individual is convinced the self-indulgence came from God.
7 Thou shalt
not make use of the name of the LORD thy God for falsehood, for God will not let him go unpunished who uttereth his name in
vain.
Spiritual wickedness in high places is when
people fall for the experience, instead of the purpose, time and time again. Results oriented religious pride always opens
the door to a demonic counterfeit. It is a worshiping of creation, in the Name of the Creator, instead of the worshiping of
the Creator. The worship of the Name as a symbol itself is a religious ritualistic act instead of an actual appreciation of
the Holder of the Name. The worship of God's Name is the worship of God's power instead of God Himself.
It is self reflective instead of dynamically
responsive. In everything, it is not a matter of what you do. It is why you do what you do. The use of God's Name, He has
many names in many languages throughout the world, always must center in the reason for using His Name. YHVH is the Holy Name
of God, Joshua or YHVHshua is the Holy Name of Christ, Jesus is the Title of Christ and is, respectfully, the Name used by
the majority of Christians - not always with reverence. Other languages will have other pronunciations and spellings. When
the proper purposes for anything are held in priority, what you do will follow a different pathway.
Many times God's wrath with people, individuals,
and nations, displays His furious anger over what has become of them. It is not a hatred for anyone. He pleads with His children
to turn to Him because of His compassion and concern. Eternity is a very long time to have lost the clothes of righteousness
to a moment's worldly pleasure. Conversely, the joy of righteous living is different, more glorious and worthwhile. Faith,
and the understanding required to be faithful, starts with the meanings of names.
Names
tell who a soul is and the level of the power of authority bestowed upon that soul. To use a name is to exercise the dynamic
essence of the office of the holder of the name. Many of us resent authority, but the chain of command of authorities is the
structure of intelligent living. Authorities and titles are directly recognized by and through the name of the position of
authority.
The name of Jesus is His positional title of
savior. Part of the purpose of language is to utter specific sounds that have a dynamic value. The distortion of the sounds
linked to meaning that make up the symbols of the words of expression is also an avenue of attack, through the centuries,
of diabolic intent. However, the Holy Spirit is in Authority of creative power through the Word of Christ, so in Him, any
faithful utterance is subject to the Power of the Holy spirit of Truth, to make true what is not, within the physical speaking
of any corrupted language.
The taking of God's name in vain is to proclaim
we are His in a hypocritical fashion. The most common reason we have for the taking of God's name in vain is peer pressure.
We want to fit in socially, and we want a justified covering for the darkness we hide in our hearts. We role play our attitudes
and perspectives depending on the setting and the others around us. This is because we are confused about who we are. Since
we are confused about who we are, we are confused about Who God is through Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ does not justify our sinfulness
by justifying us. We are justified in Him according to our accepted gift of His promise - as our strength of faith from Him
allows us the strength of resolve to step aside from the wrongs we have held so dearly and close to our heart. Then, we are
no longer living to please others to please ourselves, we are living to please Him.
8 Remember
the Sabbath day, to set it apart to hallow it:
The "great Sabbath debate" seems to never end.
Sunday is the seventh day of the week. Sunday may be shown on the traditional graph of the calendar in the position of the
first day of the week, but, Monday is the first day of the week.
9 Six days,
shalt thou labour, and do all thy work;
10 but, the
seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD thy God; on it thou shalt do no work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male
servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, nor thy sojourner who is within thy gates,
11 For in six
days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore
the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart and hallowed it.
Under the Law of Moses, we are subject to the
Sabbath day in obedience to God's discipline. Within the fulfillment of the Law of Moses in Christ, the Sabbath is subject
to us in the freedom to regard the day as we see fit. Respect for God's intentions for the Sabbath provides to us a sense
for taking rest and recreation one day a week.
Under the Law of Moses our six day labor is
for our sake while the Sabbath is for God's sake. The fruits of our labor are our own with a first portion set aside for God.
Within the fulfillment of the Law of Moses in Christ, our six day labor is for God’s sake while the Sabbath is our own.
The fruits of our labor are God's with a last portion set aside for ourselves.
12 Honor your
father and your mother, that thy days may be prolonged upon the land the LORD your God is giving to you.
Just as God tends to us, whether we accept
His care or not, our parents tended to us so that we might be successful in life - or perhaps they did not. We did not choose
to be born unto them, they chose to accept the responsibility to choose us to be born unto them. In honor to our parents,
no matter how we feel they have treated us, we are responsible to care for their lives honestly with respect and consideration.
To be sure, if they have made mistakes where we are concerned, it does not discharge our duty and witness to them for God's
sake.
13 Thou shalt
not commit murder.
Murder is an attempt to find life through the
death of one’s own will. Because God gave the commandment to do no murder, the understanding of murder must be from
His perspective. A person has to have murdered themselves before he or she can murder someone else. Murder is the taking of
another's life - it is the stopping of the means of which a person has to survive. The means a man has to survive is his integrity.
A man's integrity is established by the name he has made for himself and the name others have made for him.
This is his reputation. Any destruction of
a man's reputation, by any means, is the murder of the man. The most important foundation of a man's integrity through his
reputation is his marriage with a woman and the children they have together as one unto God. A man's property, his home and
belongings are the extension of his position of character before God and to others and must be respected. A man's employment,
no matter his station in society, is the means by which he establishes and supports the status of the celebration of the awareness
of life given to him by God.
Disrespect for the man, his wife, children,
work, and property through any attack against his rights to honor, is murder. "If everyone always told the truth about themselves
there would never be any conflict." The problem: the previous statement is loaded with the terms: "everyone", "always", "never",
and "any". Fear produced emotional intensity causes us to resent ourselves in a way that expresses exaggeration of our pains
and concerns.
Unable to contain the internal stresses and
pressures, we strike out at others to unload our miseries. This overloads our victim who spills back into us and others. So,
we have produced a scapegoat to accuse, as a confirmation of the weaknesses we then view as not our own. This gives to us
a false sense of strength which increases our inner turmoil. We are born into a life that has its natural frustrations and
difficulties in its design. Properly, these stresses have an avenue of resolution provided by our Creator.
The sharing of sexual intimacy between a married
man and a woman is designed by God to appreciate the joys of procreation and togetherness. It is murder (and suicide) of a
man and a woman to disrespect marriage and the holy bond it represents to relish in the pleasures of intimate union outside
the permanent commitment of marriage. The emotionally conflicting results is often why sex is used as a weapon of manipulation.
In homosexuality, a man is exploiting his own suicide combined with the murder of another man.
The sensual pleasures of the fantasy/emotion/physical
sensations drive into the heart acts of shared self deprecation - a sense of ironical permanence of death in the soul. Murder
is a striking out against the evil in oneself by transferring our inabilities to cope with the pressures of life to others.
Others may be responsible for aggravations and powerfully angering situations or others may just be in the way of our own
will of confused motivations.
Furthermore, others may represent a solution
to offset some sort of overdriven obsession which has found its way into our distortions and desires to offset our wrong with
a greater wrong. To murder another is an attempt to release a pent-up anguish over our own internal death. Usually, the personal
emotional trauma inside was driven into the murderer by the abuse of others directly, or indirectly by the callous or absent
minded disregard for our responsibilities under the hand of God.
Defense of self and family, or any threatened
sanctity of peace and security against an assailant is killing for the sake of protection but it is not murder. Consider the
play process of many video games: The joy of mystery solving (mazes and puzzles) has as its goal to ultimately kill any creature
in the way of progress through the levels of the game. When any target is eliminated the player is paid off with money and
points. The more difficult the prey, the more the payoff. At the conclusion of each level, the skills learned to master the
level are put to the test to kill the boss of the level.
In order to beat the complete game, there is
a "boss of the game" to eliminate. When a video game is concluded by winning the final level, the player has become the boss
over the scenario, through the mastery of the entire game. He or she has the internal satisfaction of conquest combined with
the numbing effect of having just committed psychological suicide because the game teaches that the boss must die. The compulsions
to purchase another game to play are driven by the motivations to escape one’s own demise - to live again through the
exploitation and destruction of other characters not oneself.
The central focus of video game conquest is
to identify what matters most to “antagonists” where destruction brings a symbolically monetary reward. Video
games draw upon internal psycho-emotional instinctual motivations that cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality.
So, players learn to actively respond adversely the same to situations at hand whether in and of the game or in and of the
people they are related to or acquainted with. They are used as “Friend/Enemies (frenemies) to supply fulfillment to
the void left by self-indulgent isolation.
Video games teach a compulsively destructive
spiteful retaliation against anyone and anything in the way of goals to win because the process overtakes the purpose... simply
because it is inconsiderate in denying the created reasons we have protective instinctual motivations. These trained practiced
patterns of repetition reinforce the “conflict as progress” distancing of cares and concerns for oneself and others
to the ultimate demise of our personal respect, and therefore livelihood, for who we and others are.
Murder is to take away a person's purpose in
life. Since every one of us was born into the world at the hands of others, we have a God given purpose in life we are drawn
to seek. To remove the purpose of life from a child not born, through abortion, is murder. Thank God murder is not the unforgivable
sin. But, it is not for us to decide what act (no matter how vile or disgusting), or avoidance of responsibility, is the unforgivable
sin.
Everyone, without exception, has a heart and
everyone, without exception, is being torn this way or that through the torments of evil misunderstanding not human. We should
humbly take note of the results of our indignation over darkness and mayhem finding its way through the works of our fellow
human beings.
14 Thou shalt
not commit adultery.
Adultery is the betrayal of matrimonial trust.
Adultery and fornication are inseparable: Adultery is the casting aside of one’s place of commitment to a spouse whether
past, present, or future. Fornication is a giving of one’s personal attentions to another than one’s spouse whether
past, present, or future. Together, they set aside thankful acknowledgement with sharing and replace God’s leading with
idolatrous adulation.
Admiration of projected iconic possibilities
denies any other person’s reliance in God’s dynamic provisions. Adultery becomes worship, not of any other person’s
actual persona, but of individualistic dreaming possibilities in one’s own imagination. It feigns the expectations of
the faithing risks trusting others in their applied personal will of responses are called to reveal. There are two aspects
of adultery/fornication, spiritual and physical, that can be both intertwined or respectively separate.
The spiritual aspect is the revealing and sharing,
with another not one’s spouse, personal and private cares and concerns. The physical aspect is the revealing and sharing,
with another not one’s spouse, personal and private physical intimacy. Another form of adultery/fornication is found
in the secret self gratification in response to fantasy. Infidelity springs from desires to realize, through service from
others, imaginary wishes to support and verify our personal comforts and securities.
When conflict arises, due to our disappointment
over how we believe things ought to be, we are compelled to be vengeful - to strike out and to punish the source of our frustrations.
When we objectify another, we are turning in upon ourselves. In railing against the failing of another, we internalize the
nature of our difficulties and become the situation we hate. So, to relieve the pressures of contrary loathing, we spitefully
flip the matter to what seems like a positive, by involving our attentions in unsavory pleasurable compensations.
Satan calls himself the master of images. Responding
to the fantasy imagery in your mind and emotions – when you give yourself to imagined ecstasy – the lie of your
involvement is a lie of interlacing yourself with demonic persuasion. The orgasmic results are a feeding ground for the evil
entities that have drawn you away from the glory of God in a marriage. Taking advantage of other’s intimate privacy
by giving yourself to imagination is to steal from yourself the exclusive bonds of faith in active commitment with another.
Just as it is of pornography… it is physically/emotionally
natural to be positively aroused with, and not of, the human form. We are created to respond unimpeded to physical appearances
pertaining to the beauty of human procreation. Self-centered curiosity, desires for companionship inverted and internalized
to self-service, combines with the simple facts that one can never see their own face or back. Confusion sets in where lively
sexual arousal invades, from afar, wholesome realities of a moment’s personal intimacy.
Good together with bad become, as a whole,
either good or bad. Forgotten through diverted attentions in one’s emotional responses to fantasy is the basic reasons
personal acceptance of such acts provide hearty inter-relational appreciation. The only way to stop the pornography industry
is to discontinue buying. Buying includes time. Time spent involved in darkness is time lost from living. The people involved
in production and sales are discouraged and tormented daughters and sons, wives and husbands, sisters and brothers.
Using pornography for self-centered vicarious
feeding on other’s joys distorts one’s own dignity by identifying with the “Look what I can do!” display
of people who have discovered to uncover their naturally expressed sacred holiness. It takes advantage of sincerely focused
private attentions in the celebrations of intimacy and is sharing in the downfall of the souls involved. The downfall involved
is to use the right things for the wrongs reasons. Freedoms to express ones faith were not meant to provide a shield for evil
to hide behind.
We complicate our problems, instead of solving
them, because we identify others by the evil we believe is manifesting itself through them. This causes us to identify ourselves
with the problems and, therefore, the evil is manifested through our own perspective to be free from the evil. The adversary
laughs us to scorn as he has taunted us into blaming and accusing each other into ecstasy for his own works.
We help each other by recognizing the difference
between who we are in Christ unto God and the evils that have invaded our sanctity. This is where we learn to practice seeing
our troubles for what they are as we reverently share in the giving up of the emotional turmoils to God. The conception of
a child is brought about through the will of the people involved. God provides to us the joy of deciding to have children
as we wish. The idea that there is a “meant to be” justification for bringing a human being into the world, through
an act of disobedience, is pure egotistical guilt manipulation.
When one is unable to take responsibility for
their own sins, it is most common to thrust the blame and obligation involved onto God. In marriage between man and woman
there is a God designed glory to be exclusively shared. The Bible declares in several places that the two are united as one.
In this, the wife is unto the husband as the church is unto Christ. But, the Bible goes further and says the man's body is
not his own, but his wife's - and the wife's body is not her own, but her husband's. The commitment of responsibility here
is tremendous and greatly rewarding.
A man must take care of his body for his wife's
sake and a woman must take care of her body for her husband's sake. Just as they must take care of their bodies together for
God's sake to be a witness to each other and a witness to the communities. As we err and make mistakes (whether ignorantly
or intentional) our understanding love and commitment to God through faith in Christ gives to us the opportunity to be steadfast
and loyal in our witness to our spouse; according to our position of authority.
God says the two are one in marriage. He expects
there to be open honesty with no hidden things or motives. This way there will be no barriers of blocks that cause spite.
When a married man and woman keep their personal matters between each other, others don’t become a party to the marriage.
The strength of hope and faith is to be trusting enough to put ourselves completely open before each other with respect to
our created roles. The Grace of God in this faith-action of living, in the responsibility of marriage, brings about trust
and integrity.
15 Thou shalt
not steal.
To give a better sense of meaning, 'steal'
is from the word 'stealth'. The commandment is about how one acquiers what he or she does and not about what is taken. Imagination,
role playing our dreams of various scenarios within our minds to overcome the stark realities of inadequacy, and the emotional
confusions of fear, doubt, and disappointment, cause us to cry out for help to overcome the emptiness we have inside our hearts.
We are embarrassed about our inability to comprehend the strength of peace of honesty. Our fear produced anguish is based
in our attempts to cover our hidden motives.
Stealing represents the knowledge of good and
evil – the fallen ‘nature’ of humanity. There are three types of thieves: Those who will only steal from
people they know and love, those who will only steal from people they do not know, and those who will steal from anybody.
Loosely, stealing only from those who one is familiar (family) is the good side of the knowledge of good and evil. Stealing
is stealing so categorizing who it is that is stolen from is using our gifts of faith in trust God provides for reasons contrary
to why we have those gifts. If we live in a neighborhood, state, or country, we are fellow citizens of those places. Extended,
we all live on the same planet.
Therefore, there is no gratitude for one’s
self when there is no grateful acknowledgement that we would not have the freedoms to not steal if we realize we do not have
the honest freedom to steal. A hit-and -run thief, someone who views their own lack as more deserving of fulfillment than
others, is someone who will identify what he or she wants, become close to whoever it is that owns what is desired, and then
peel out in some kind of feigned indignation, carrying the spoils. A calculating thief is standoffish and aloof, seemingly
dignified… And a compulsive or kleptomanic thief does so for the thrill of getting away without getting caught. One
type of thief leads to another in various ways with different people.
Because we believe our inner turmoil is based
in the pain of uncertainty, we cannot experience, sensibly, a respect for what belongs to others. A distorted sense of fairness
denies the right of others to their possessions because we experience our own awareness more fully than is possible another.
Except for a vicarious attempt at concerned empathy, we thrust our imaginative perceptions of situations we believe should
be onto the responsibilities of the ones around us. Most thieves know what we have because they are close to us in some way.
When we steal, we are exercising a reaching
out of our desire for understanding and companionship in the only way that will not expose our inner lack of viability and
security. But, when we steal, it increases our internal lack and our outer compulsions to ‘fairness' in a way that calls
for more stealing. Basically, we get something out of wronging others and we increase a self perpetuating cycle of persecuting
ourselves.
Combining our self persecution at the expense
of others with anger, resentment, and spite, over the fact that others have actually wronged us, spins the dynamic out of
control and reinforces the driving of our perceptions into ever increased fantasy and negative emotions. The intensities confirm
for us a false reality of self righteous indignation we use to perpetuate our right of acquisition to what does not belong
to us.
We cannot trust ourselves and we cannot trust
others, so we are wary of others because we are wary of ourselves. Thus, we have internal pressures of false justification
which expresses itself in compulsive actions. We cannot control our acting out impulses because we believe our self respect
and our respect for others must come from without - not from within. The more materialistic pleasures we accumulate offset
an increasing terror of failure we are bound to evade. So, we run, escape, evade, manipulate, and destroy to our hearts content.
The source of an honest and right way cannot
be found from deep within ourselves. We have a need to reach out to a Higher Authority because the mess that has control of
us will not let us go until we are completely consumed. This is why we have a God designed family structure to teach us co-dependence,
priorities, degrees and positions of authority, and personal responsibilities.
There were two thieves crucified with Jesus
Christ. One held to his death a mocking self assured resentment over his situation, while the other honestly accepted the
emptiness of his own ways to humbly reach out to the One who provides our reasons and ways for being.
16 Thou shalt
not give a witness of false testimony against another.
Gossip can be considered counterfeit preaching
and is the enemy of privacy. Invasion of privacy brings about negative assumptions that must continue to reinforce negative
assumptions. Assuming opinions in the rating of others creates an awkward knowledge to categorize stereotypes. To accept a
positive through awkward knowledge convicts the heart of the guilt of intrusion and appeals to concern for another - so the
intrusion into other's affairs spins the attentions back to the negative. Mockery of others, in the name of concern, serves
to falsely lift up oneself above personal fears.
This causes a mockery of oneself by what is
believed about another and has nothing to do with who they are. Lying is an attempt to find a position over a perceived intimidation,
and tries to make liars out of others to hide the ploy. Usually the clever use of language will cover a deception because
no one is perfect enough to speak exactly the truth. The nature of words of language leaves enough room for doubt in whatever
is said to give the manipulator what is believed to be opportunity.
Violation of trust comes not as much through
specific words and phrases as it does in not considering who our companions are in God's plans for us all. Respectful mindfulness
of our own family business gives the strength of courage to stand against adversarial attacks from others we are not acquainted.
Confidentiality is not an attempt to hide anything, privacy is a dignified appreciation of the bond of marriage and the children
thereof.
The extended family structure of esteem for
the sanctity of each household, as it is integrated and interacts with the community, is solidified through the dignity of
women honoring their husbands who honor their wives. The covering of the grace of sophistication rests in the containment
of personal matters between husbands and wives, and is extended to their children's reliance in their parents to uphold and
resolve matters of living.
Others, outside the family structure, have
no business outside their own family structure, to meddle in the affairs of the rights of other family's members to the peace
and securities of loyalty and trust. Being honest is not what we say or do - being honest is who we say what we say to, and
who we do what we do with. A lie is not the symbols of words spoken. A lie is concealing and withholding the truth in order
to deceive. All of living existence is, and remains existing, simply because of the Truth of God. Only God is God, so utterances
of humankind are not entirely accurate.
We are created in the likeness, or image, of
God similar to how the moon reflects sunlight, but the moon does not produce the sun’s spectrum of vitality. If we hold
to the limited balance between light and darkness of the light of the moon, our generated expressions are void of the sun’s
vitality, and imagination fills in with contrivances where direct sunlight brings natural growth.
Moonlight is analogous to our physical emotional
nature, with light and dark representing the knowledge of good and evil, and sunlight is analogous to our spiritually responsive
nature, with a range of life giving properties beyond our design to fully grasp – a positional promise in Christ, to
be finished in fullness in the hereafter.
17 Thou shalt
not desire another man's wife, nor should you crave his house, his field, his male and female servants, his ox, his ass, or
anything else which belongeth unto him.
Dissatisfaction with our lot in life is drawn
from, and is in response to, our own selfish desires compared to the position we perceive others occupy. Jealousy and envy
combine to make us greedy for things and ways we do not have. Many times the others we admire for their possessions have an
admiration for our own state in life. When we are able to thank God for the blessings of our neighbor for our neighbor's sake,
we can accept that, no matter our own circumstances, God has not forgotten our situation in all its detail.
As we do what we can, where we can, with what
we have, it is enough to satisfy God's expectations for our life. Many situations and people can, and will, be very difficult.
But, as we have the understanding to help others where they hurt instead of condemning them for their difficulties, we will
be living in the honesty and truth of responding to the moments of life according to God's will, whether we feel like He is
with us or not. Right is right, no matter how we feel about it. But, it is what we do to make a difference for God's sake
that makes the difference.
