Promises to All Who Keep God’s Law of Love: We Shall Not Be Covetous

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“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wfe, not his manservant, not his maidservant, nor his ox, not his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbors.” Exodus 20:17

“The last commandment condemns covetousness. Every selfish desire,every degree of discontent, every act of overreaching, every selfish gratification works to the strengthening and developing of a character which will destroy the Christlikeness of the human agent, and close the gates of the city of God against him.

“When. . . angles come to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation, and witness the exhibition of selfishness, of covetousness, of overreaching, and benefiting self at others’ disadvantage, they turn away in grief. . . . In no way could the Lord be better glorified and the truth more highly honored, than for unbelievers to see that the truth has wrought a great and good work upon the lives of naturally covetous and penurious men. If it could be seen that the faith of such had the influence to mold their characters, to change them from close, selfish, overreaching, money-loving men, to men who love to do good, who seek opportunities to use their means to bless those who need to be blessed, who visit the widow and fatherless in their affliction, and who keep themselves unspotted from the world, it would be evidence that their religion was genuine. . . . Those who profess to be waiting and watching for the appearing of their Lord should not disgrace their profession by bantering in deal and standing for the last penny. Such fruit does not grow upon the Christian tree.

“The tenth commandment strikes at the very root of all sins, prohibiting the selfish desire, from which springs the sinful act. He who in obedience to God’s law refrains from indulging even a sinful desire for that which belongs to another, will not be guilty of an act of wrong toward his fellow creatures.”

Sons and Daughters of God, by Ellen White, p. 65, for February 28, 2023.

May God Bless You, and Keep you under His Wings…like a Mother hen. . . taking care of her chicks!

Farmers tend to understand life, by observing their livestock, pets, and fowls. Nature shows a Mother Hen, to gather her children, when it begins to rain…under her feathers. Her natural instincts, show how the chick, might “look up” and drown by getting rain in their nose…

This also shows how “words” change, even writing the word “chicks” can mean something else, to someone who isn’t in the habit of knowing the difference between hens and roosters.

Words change, and mean different things to different people. . . . but God’s WORD, continues to be light in the darkness. . . and we see it in the friendly smile of friends. . . . knowing we can trust them.

A sign along a farm, I saw today, read, “Love you neighbors as God loves you.” God loves you like His sons and daughters, He cares, He hears your prayers, like my daddy did when he knelt down with us by our bed at night to say our prayers.

For some praying, is like talking to God, and He already knows what I need before I pray. . . . He knows my thoughts, my dreams, and I can’t tell Him something He doesn’t already know….because He loves me, and He loves you too!

Jesus is the kind of friend, who would lay His life down for you!

We Shall Not Lie, or Bear False Witness

Who stands outside your door, knocking, wishing to come in?

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” Exodus 20:16

“The nineth commandment requires of us an inviolable regard for exact truth in every declaration by which the character of our fellow men may be affected. The tongue, which is kept so little under the control of the human agent, is to be bridled by strong conscientious principles, by the law of love toward God and man.

“False-speaking in any matter, every attempt or purpose to deceive our neighbor, is here included. An intention to deceive is what constitues falsehood. By a glance of the eye, a motion of the hand, an expression of the countenance, a falsehood may be told as effectually as by words. All intentional overstatement, every hint or insinuation calculated to convey and erroneous or exaggerated impression, even the statement of facts in such a manner as to mislead, is falsehoood. This precept forbids every effort to injure our neighbor’s reputation by misrepresentation or evil surmings, by slander or tale-bearing. Even the intentional suppression of truth, by which injury may result to others is a violation of the ninth commandment.

“He [Jesus] teaches that the exact truth should be the law of speech. “Let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay.” . . .These words condemn all those meaningless phrases and expletives that border on profanity. They condemn the deceptive compliments, the evasion of truth, the flattering pharses, the exaggerations, the misrepresentations in trade, that are current in society and in the business world. They teach that no one wo tries to appear what he is not, or whose words do not convey the real sentiment of his heart, can be called truthful . . .

“Everything that Christians do should be as transparent as the sunlight. Truth is of God; deception, in every one of its myriad forms, is of Satan. . . . We can not speak the truth unless our minds are continually guided by Him who is truth.”

Sons and Daughters of God, by Ellen White, page 64, for February 26, 2023

We Shall Be Pure

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“Thou shall not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:14

“This commandment forbids not only acts of impurity, but sensual thoughts and desires, or any preactice that tends to excite them. Purity is demanded not only in the outward life, but in the secret intents and emotions of the heart. Christ, who taught the far-reaching obligation of the law of God, declares the evil thought or look to be as truly sin as is the unlawful deed.

“When the thought of evil is loved and herished, however secretly, said Jesus, it shows that sin still reigns in the heart. The soul is still in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. He who finds pleasure in dwelling upon scenes of impurity, who indulges the evil thought, the lustful look, may behold in the open sin, with its burden of shame and heartbreaking grief, the true nature of the evil which he has hidden in the chambers of the soul…The season of temptation, under which, it maybe one fall into grievous sin, does not create the evil that is revealed, but only develops or makes manifest that which was hidden and latent in the heart. As a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he”; for out of the heart “are the issues of life.” The heart in which Christ dwells, will be so filled, so satisfied, with His love that it will not be consumed with longing to attract sympathy and attention to itself. And through the surrender of the soul to God, His wisdom can accomplish what human wisdom fails to do.

:So long as life shall last, there will be need of guarding the affections and passions with a firm purpose. Not one moment can we be secure except as we rely upon God, the life hidden with Christ.

“The nearer we live to Jesus, the more will we partake of His pure and holy character,; and the more offensive sin appears to us, the more exalted and desirable will appear the purity and brightness of Christ.”

Sons and Daughters of God, by Ellen White, p. 62, for Janaury 25, 2023

Long Life Promised for Honoring Parents

Luk 2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

“Honor thy father and thy mother: that the days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Exodus 20:12

“Those who would truly follow Christ must let Him abide in the heart, and enthrone Him there as supreme. They must represent Him in their spirit and character in their home life, and show courtesy and kindness to those with whom they come in contact. There are many children who profess to know the truth, who do not render to their parents the honor and affection that are due to them, who manifest but little love to father and mother, and fail to honor them in deferring to their wishes, or in seeking to relieve them of anxiety. Many who profess to be Christians do not know what it means to “honor thy father and they mother,” and consequently will know just as little what is means, “that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God gives thee.” . . . The Heart-searcher knows what is your attitude toward your parents; for He is weighing moral character in the golden scales of the heavenly sanctuary. O, confess your neglect of your parents, confess your indiffernce toward them, and your contempt of God’s holy commandment.

“Parents are entitled to a degree of love and repsect which is due to no other person. God Himself, who has placed upon them a responsibility for the souls committed to their charge, has ordained that during the earlier years of life, parents shall stand in the place of God to their children. And he who rejects the rightful authority of his parents, is rejecting the authority of God. The fifth commandment requires children no only to yield respect, submission, and obedience to their parents, but also got give them love and tenderness, to lighten their cares, to guard their reputation, and to succor and comfort them in old age.

“The fifth commandment is binding upon children as long as their own lives and the lives of their parents are spared.”

Sons and Daughters of God by Ellen White, p. 60, for February 23

Time to Renew

We Shall Not Take the Name of the Lord in Vaii

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“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.” Exodus 20:7

“Thy reason for this comand is given: we are not to swear “by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet: not by Jerusalem, for it the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make on hair white or black.” All things come of God. We have nothing that we have not received; and, more than this, we have nothing that has not been purchased for us by the blood of Christ.

“Burning words of passion should never be spoken, for in the sight of God and holy angels they are as a species of swearing.

“It is not men whom we are to exalt and worship it is God, the only true and living, to whom our worship and reverence are due. According to the teaching of the Scriptures, it dishonors God to address ministers as “reverend.” No mortal has any right to attach this to his own name, or to the name of an other human being. It belongs only to God, to distinguish Him from ever other being. . .”Holy and reverend is his name.” We dishonor God when we use this word where it does not belong. . . . The Father and the Son alone are to be exalted.”

“This commandmetn not only prohits false oaths and common swearing, but if forbids us ot use the name of God in a light or careless manner, without reagard to its awful significance. By the thoughtless mention of God in common conversation, by appeals to Him in trivial matters, and by the frequent and thoughtless repetition of His name, we dishonor Him. “Holy and reverend is his name.” All should meditate upon His majesty, His purity and holiness, that the heart may be impressed with a sense of his exalted character; and His holy name should be uttered with reverence and solemnity.

Sons and Daughters of God, p. 18, by Ellen White for February 21, 2023.

There Was A Farmer. . .

. . . who had an appreciation for LIFE. . . FAMILY. . . FRIENDS . . . and GOD he could thank for what he had. . . not what he wanted to get. . . but Terry looked foward to being in nature, checking the crops. . .even a pumpkin patch that belonged to someone else, make him smile. Sunrise and sunsets he enjoyed to linger longer to watch them come up and unfold in the West. But when Babe the cat, saw him setting in his rocker, he was pleased to know she knew where she could sit . . . in safety, warmth and with a friend.

So today put on the farmers “hat” and see what God has given you to be thankful for. . .

There us an old saying, a joke, about the children of the farmer…

“It’s hard to be a “farmer” I think I ought to know. . . The folks at my my house laugh and laugh, but do you think its funny? I planted a whole hand full of feathers and not a chicken, not one?”

It is in trying to be a farmer their children learned how to not cry over spilled milk, from the bucket, you bring in from the barn, after helping to milk the cows by hand. There are just somethings in life, a farm kid understands. . . there is no way to reclaim milk from the mud.

And in life there is no time left to cry over what cannot be . . .so just be who you are. . . a star to shine in the darkness. . . a light . . .a smile takes a while for those around you. . . to catch on. . . its worth it to be Thankful, for something. . . even it means leaving the warmth of your bed on a winter day. lol It’s time to pray for something to be thankful for!

We Shall Not Serve Any Graven Images. . .

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“Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, no serve them.” Exodus20:4,5.

“Our Creator demands our supreme devotion, our first allegiance. Anything that tends to share our love for God, or to interfere with the service due Him, becomes thereby an idol. With some their lands, their houses, their merchandiese, are the idols. Business enterprises are prosecuted with zeal and energy, while the service of God is made secondary consideration. Family worship is negelcted, secret prayer forgotten. Many claim to deal justly with their fellow-men, and seem to feel that in so doing they discharge their whole duty. But it is not enough to keep the last six commandments of the Decalogue. We are to love the Lord our God with all the herat. Nothing short of obedience to every precept . . . can satisfy the claims of the divine law.

“There are many whoe hearts have been so hardened by prosperity that they forget God,and forget the wants of their fellow-men. Professed Christians adorn themsevles with jewelry, laces, costly apparel, while the Lord’s poor suffer for the necessities of life. Men and women who claim redemption through a Saviour’s blood will squander the means intrusted to them for the saving of other souls, and then grudging dole out their offerings for religion, giving liberally only when it will bring honor to themselves. These are idolaters.

“Anything that diverts the mind from God assumes the form of an idol, and that is why there is so little power in the church today.

“The second commandment forbids the worship of the true God by images or similitudes. . . . The mind, turned away from the infinite perfection of Jehovah, would be attracted to the creaure rather than to the Creator.

“God is a seracher of the heart. He distinguishes between true heart-service and idolatry.”

Sons and Daughters of God, p. 57, by Ellen White, for February 20, 2023.

Promises to All Who Keep God’s Law of Love

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We Shall Have No Other Gods

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3

“There is not a moral precept enjoined in any part of the Bible which is not engraved with the finger of God in His holy law on the two tables of stone. A copy was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The first four commandments enjoined upon man his duty to serve the Lord our God with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the mind, and with all the strength. This takes the whole man. This requires a love so fervent, so intense, that man can cherish nothing in his mind or affections in rivalry with God; and his works will bear the signature of heaven. Everything is secondary to the glory of god. Our heavnely Father is to be ever cherished as the first, the joy and prosperity, the light and sufficiency of our life, and our portion forever.

“Let men worship and serve the Lord God, and Him only. Let not selfish pride be lifted up and served as a god. Let not money be made a god. If sensuality is not kept under the control of the higher powers of the mind, base passion will rule the being. Anything that is made the subject of undue thought and admiration, absorbing the mind, is a god chosen before the Lord.

“Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent, uncreated One, Himself the source and sustainer of all, is alone entitled to supreme reverence and worship. Man is forbidden to give to any other the first place in his/her affections or his/her service. Whatever we cherish that tends to lessen our love for God or to interfere with the service due Him, of that do we make a god.”

Sons and Daughters of God, p. 56 by Ellen White for February 19, 2023

Farmers Need to be able to trust their Neighbors in Good time and Bad Times

Farmers are particular about who they allow on their land, and they know who they can trust to be available when they need a helping hand.

One’s reputation stands out in a field because neighbors help neighbors and they are loyal to an unspoken commitement, of loyalty.

Brace yourself for those praying farmers to be worthy of protecting their heirtage…and their loyalty to God.

Happy Birthday to this next generation of farmers!