Finally writing last Saturday's blog >_< sorriez...

-Love, GinniePark

P.S.: Please do leave a message telling me how this Living Life - and others - ever affected you! :)

Not for the sake of comments, but it's good to share testimonies towards other sisters of Christ ^^ Helps with prayer <3

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Memory Verse of [that] Week:

"You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name." - Exodus 20:7

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Two Sides of God - Exodus 22:16-31

Compassionate God

16: "If a man seduces a who is not pledged to be married and sleeps with her, he must pay the bride-price, and she shall be his wife."

17: "If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he must still pay the bride-price for s."

18: "Do not allow a sorceress to live."

19: "Anyone who has ual relations with an animal is to be put to death."

20: "Whoever sacrifices to any god other than the LORD must be destroyed."

21: "Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt."

22: "Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless."

23: "If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry."

24: "My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless."

25: "If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest."

26: "If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset,"

27: "because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate."

 

Holy God

28: "Do not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people."

29: "Do not hold back offerings from your granaries [crops] or your vats [wine]. You must give me the firstborn of your sons."

30: "Do the same with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but give them to me on the eighth day."

31: "You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs."

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Reflection

Compassionate God (22:16-27)

This passage begins and ends with somewhat contradictory commandments. Verses 16-20 contain laws that inflict harsh punishment for certain sins (death for some, and paying the bride price, which was several years' worth of wages, for others). But the rest of the passage shows a very different side of God, namely, His compassion. How can God call Himself compassionate (v.27) and command the death of sorceresses and ual offenders? The answer is that certain sins are so insidious and so contaminating that if they were allowed to exist, they would surely go on to destroy the land. The pagan nations around Israel were filled with ual immorality and witchcraft, and the people in those cultures suffered as a result of those evils. The Israelites, however, were protected from such evil cultures by the Laws of God. In this way, God truly is compassionate, for He stamps out evil and creates an environment where His people can flourish.

 

Holy God (22:28-31)

As compassionate as God is, He is also perfectly holy, and in this He makes no exceptions. God's holiness has been maintained for an eternity already, and He is not about to compromise it now or ever. The beauty of God is that He is both perfectly compassionate and perfectly holy at the same time; one quality does not negate the other. God always extends grace to the needy, the oppressed, and the vulnerable, and He always judges the proud, the greedy, and the wicked.

Whatever God wants, He gets. If He commands tithes and offerings, His people must give them, lest they face His displeasure. For God does not demand what is not rightfully His. He demands what He is due, that is, our praise, our undivided devotion, and our trust. If we cannot trust Him with ten percent of our wealth, how can we trust Him with our lives?

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Application

-Think about the ways God has been compassionate to you. Since we cannot be compassionate to God (because He lacks nothing), the only way to repay His kindness is by being compassionate to others.

-If our hearts are right with God, the thought of God's name dishonored should arouse just as much indignation in our hearts as it does in God's. However, that does not give us the right to judge others.

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"Indignation and compassion form a powerful combination. They are indispensable to vision, and therefore to leadership."

-John Scott

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Justice for the Family-less

The phrase "survival of the fittest" is a popular modern-day ideology. "Survival of the fittest" dictates that only the strongest will survive in the rigors of the world. It stems from natural selection. Coined by Charles Darwin, it says that all creatures must find their niche in the world, or else they will face extreme competiton for resources (and many will die).

The world has long held to a belief that we must rise to the top or be left behind in the dust. Those who reach the top of the social pyramid do so by standing on the shoulders of everyone else. There are people who have been hurt, abused, and abandoned. They are vulnerable and defenseless, and the world will naturally exploit them. God makes it clear, however, that this is not the right attitude.

What we are meant to do is live for justice and righteousness. Matthew Henry's Commentary suggests of Exodus 22:22, "In making just demands from them, their condition must be considered...[They] must be treated with kindness and compassion; no advantage must be taken against them, nor any hardship put upon them, from which a husband or a father would have sheltered them."

God cries out, "Defend the cause of the widow and the orphan! Stand up for those who cannot fight for themselves!" Deuteronomy 10:18; Job 37:23; Psalm 10:17-18; Isaiah 58:10; and Jeremiah 22:16 are just a few of the many verses that point to God's heart for justice for the defenseless. God will see to it that justice is done. His call, His command, is for us to do the same.

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A Letter to God

Father, give me a heart of compassion and holiness.

Teach me to love those who are rejected and ignored by the world.

Teach me also to give You the honor and glory that You are due, even in the face of persecution.

In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.