The Word of God – Showing us that God is Pure

The-Word-of-God-Showing-us-that-God-is-Pure

Verses for Today

Exodus 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Colossians 3:5 Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and greediness, which is idolatry;

Luke 22:41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,

Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet, not My will, but Yours be done.

Fellowship

The commandment that tells us not to covet reveals that God is pure. Being pure has to do with your inward person. God is pure because within Him there is no contamination, no selfishness, and no evil desire. This commandment shows us that because God is pure, He not only looks at our outward actions but also at our inward motives. You can hide your inward desires from people. But you cannot hide your inward desires from God. God looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7b says, “For it is not how man sees that matters; for man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks on the heart.”

To be pure is related to our motives. A pure person does not do things with an ulterior motive. When this person says something nice about another person he does not say it with the intention of obtaining something in return (Church in Irvine, Lessons, Character – Pure).

Here is something more concerning coveting. To covet means to want something that belongs to somebody else. There is a craving within for others’ possessions. Greediness is very similar to covetousness and includes selfishness. Being greedy means you want things not for the sake of anybody else but for yourself. Coveting others’ possessions includes coveting material things as well as desiring others’ skills, spiritual gifts, and responsibilities.

This commandment is such a high requirement. We should be in awe at how high God is. How noble. How pure. Psalm 113:5 says, “Who is like Jehovah our God.” This God who became a man exemplified the God who is pure. In His human life, Jesus Christ wanted nothing for Himself but only everything for God. He even gave up His own life for God’s will. Before going to the cross He prayed to the Father, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet, not My will but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42)

[The words of Exodus 20:17] also reveal that God is pure. His purity touches our inner being. Whereas the first nine commandments are related to outward conduct, the tenth is related to the sin hidden within us, mainly in our thoughts. Actually, the first commandment is also related to our inward condition. To have another God besides the true God is primarily an inward matter. However, to make an image or likeness of something is an outward deed. Hence, the first commandment touches our inward condition, and the commandment about coveting likewise touches our inward condition. The first and the last commandment together expose the idolatry and covetousness within us. Inwardly we are filled with idols and coveting. Colossians 3:5 says that covetousness [or greediness] is idolatry…

…The fact that we are covetous indicates that we are not pure. Only God is pure, for those who are pure do not covet. We covet because we are impure and unclean. If our heart, desire, and intention were pure in every way, we would not be covetous.

The commandment about coveting reveals God’s purity. Under the light of this commandment, we all need to see that inwardly we are not pure. We all have a certain amount of covetousness. But because God is pure, with Him there is no covetousness (Life Study of Exodus, Msg 51, Section 3).

God’s intention in making Himself known to us through His word is that He would be dispensed into us and make us His habitation, the place where He lives. In order for us to be purified within, we need the God who is pure to inhabit our being and fill all our inward parts. Ask Him to come in. Read His word a little, and ask Him to occupy you more. Our heart can be God’s house.

That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:17a)

Open up all the parts of your heart to God. Let Him do His house work. You can bring your feelings on any matter to God. That thing that you desire, God wants to hear about it. As you tell Him the things, God moves in.

In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; And the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

The Tree of Life – For the Father’s House

In My Fathers House

Wednesday, October 18, 2017, 6pm.

Do not let your heart be troubled; believe into God, believe also into Me. In My Father’s house are many abodes; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will receive you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be. And where I am going you know the way. Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going; how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. – (John 14:1-6)

Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father who abides in Me does His works. – (John 14:10)

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever, Even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer, but you behold Me; because I live, you also shall live. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. – (John 14:16-20)

Jesus answered and said to him, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him. – (John 14:23)

In John 1, God takes a major step to become flesh.

  1. In John 14, Jesus tells His disciples that He is going. What does He say He is going to do?
  2. In His next major step, Christ becomes the life-giving Spirit. How does He do it?
  3. Now the tree of life, Christ as the life-giving Spirit is in you; but where are you?
  4. Briefly describe “the Father’s house”.

Further reading: The Tree of Life, chapter 7, published by Living Stream Ministry

The Tree of Life – A day in Your courts is better than a thousand

A-Day-In-Your-Courts-is-Better-than-a-Thousand-Cropped

Wednesday, September 20, 2017, 6pm.

A-Day-In-Your-Courts-is-Better-than-a-ThousandJesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst. (John 6:35)

As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me. (John 6:57)

And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen. 2:9)

Use these verses (above) to describe God’s intention for man.

They are saturated with the fatness of Your house, / And You cause them to drink of the river of Your pleasures. (Psa. 36:8)

With You is the fountain of life; / In Your light we see light. (Psa. 36:9)

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)

Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)

In My Father’s house are many abodes; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2)

What does the “house” in the verses above refer to? How do these verses relate to each other?

One thing I have asked from Jehovah; / That do I seek: / To dwell in the house of Jehovah / All the days of my life, / To behold the beauty of Jehovah, / And to inquire in His temple. (Psa. 27:4)

A day in Your courts is better than a thousand; / I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God / Than dwell in the tents of the wicked. (Psa. 84:10)

Is there something in these two verses that touches you?

Further reading: The Tree of Life, chapter 4, published by Living Stream Ministry