Beauty For Ashes

  Week 9: Ten Commandments Study, #9, & #10 In this study we will look at the ninth and tenth commandments, we’ll examine the text to provide some additional insight. “You shall not testify falsely [that is, lie, withhold, or manipulate the truth] against your neighbor (any person). Exodus 20:16 AMP To provide a deeper understanding of this commandment we are going to consult preacher and bible scholar Matthew Henry’s commentary on the ninth commandment: “ The ninth commandment concerns our own and our neighbour's good name. This forbids speaking falsely on any matter, lying, equivocating, and any way devising or designing to deceive our neighbour. Speaking unjustly against our neighbour, to hurt his reputation. Bearing false witness against him, or in common conversation slandering, backbiting, and tale-bearing; making what is done amiss, worse than it is, and in any way endeavouring to raise our reputation upon the ruin of our neighbour's. How much this command is...

I’ve been feeling God leading me to get used to having less. I remember literally being moved to tears while listening to one of my favorite YouTubers speaking on her journey with minimalism. My tears the evidence of how strongly God was confirming that I needed to do the same. Suddenly I began to feel weighted down by all of my STUFF and I’m not just talking about the things my husband and I owned but also the feelings of inadequacy I had been struggling with since leaving my job the year prior and the disappointment I was feeling that the blessing of finally being a homeschooling mom (which is something I had prayed for) hadn’t been giving what it was supposed to and then there was the worry over what others thought of me being someone who left a high paying corporate job to start a business that wasn’t flourishing.   I had been praying and fasting about what I needed to do, I had been crying out to God about why what I thought was an opportunity that he had placed before wasn’t...

  Week 8: Ten Commandments Study, #7, & #8 "You shall not commit  adultery.”  Exodus 20:14 AMP In this study we will look at the seventh and eighth commandments, we’ll examine the text to provide some additional insight. With the seventh commandment Yah is commanding us not to commit adultery. Let’s look at the dictionary definition for adultery to gain some clarity. The Oxford Dictionary defines adultery as voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse, while this is also the biblical definition of adultery let’s reference another piece of text where Yahusha (Jesus) speaks on the matter. Matthew 5:27,28: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who [so much as] looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Here Yahusha specifics that not only committing adultery is prohibited but also any lustful, sexually im...

  Week 7: Ten Commandments Study, #5, & #6 “Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged in the land the LORD your God gives you.” Exodus 20:12 AMP In this study we will look at the fifth and sixth commandments. Although these commandments are a bit straighter forward, let’s examine the text to provide some additional insight. With the fifth commandment Yah instructs us to honor our parents and I’ve quoted the Amplified Bible translation to point out that honor includes respect, obedience and care. This is the posture God wants us to have towards our parents and being that He is our heavenly father we should also be showing Him our respect, obedience and care. When we keep this commandment we also learn how to have respect for authority as a whole. This is not the only passage of scripture where we are instructed to honor our parents, another passage where this is mentioned is at Matthew 19:17-19 Yahusha (Jesus) said, ...

  Week 6: Ten Commandments Study, #4 “Remember The Sabbath day to keep it Holy, you are to labor six days and do all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.” Exodus 20:8-11 In this study we will be answering the question of whether modern day Christians are required to observe the Sabbath. We will do this through a series of questions. Q: Isn’t Sabbath an old testament doctrine under the law? The law was done away with, we’re under the new covenant. A: For clarity on this let’s look at Matthew 5:17-18: “Do not think that I came to do away with or undo the [a]Law [of Moses] or the [writings of the] Prophets; I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For I assure you and most solemnly say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke [of the pen] will pass from the Law until all things [which it foreshadows] are accomplished. Here Yahusha (Jesus) himself is saying he didn’t come to do away with the law but to fulfill an...