Jun 23, 2018 - 10. You shall not covet. The danger of coveting. Coveting goes on endlessly from one ... Contemplations o
17 23 June, 2018 You shall not covet, part 2
Cross Talk
1. You shall not worship any god other than Me 2. You shall not make any idols of any type 3. You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain 4. Remember to keep the Sabbath Holy 5. Honor your father and your mother 6. You shall not murder 7. You shall not commit adultery 8. You shall not steal 9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor 10. You shall not covet The danger of coveting Coveting goes on endlessly from one thing to another, causing us to be never satisfied Types of coveting Coveting for food like Esau (Gen 25:29-34) Coveting for possessions like King Ahab (1 Kin 21) Coveting for fame, positions, titles, grandeur, beauty and appearances Coveting for the wrong type of exaltation, the way Lucifer wanted to be like God (Isa 14:13-14). He also enticed Adam and Eve to covet for the same (Gen 3:5) Coveting for destruction on the part of the devil who through his lies leads people to desire the same (Joh 8:44) Defeat coveting Coveting and all evil is already defeated on the Cross, and on the second coming of Christ, it will no longer exist ‘The world is passing away, and
the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever’ (1 Joh 2:17) We are partners in defeating coveting through 1. Our detachment, by being as Jesus said ‘in the world but not from it’ (Joh 17:16) 2. Having our eyes set on eternity 3. Loving others
Humility cures worldliness (Jam 4:1-10) 1. Coveting is an invisible sin, and because it is subtle it can be deadly Society today encourages us to covet by shaping our desires However, the source of the problem is not the media but our human heart Evaluate yourself on the basis of finding out what our desires are, are they holy or not? To what extent do these desires control how we live? How do we relate to others? And how do we spend our money? What are our priorities? What should they be? 2. We must realign our desires (Mat 6: 31-33) Saint Augustine said that our hearts are restless until they find their rest in the Lord Only God can give us lasting satisfaction The only contentment can be found in the relationship with Christ This is how things were made from the very beginning: God desired us, our love and our friendship. God does not want robots or slaves. He wants children who love Him. We were made for Him and to know Him through Christ 3. Keep your heart, mind and will fit In order for us to win the race that Paul talked about (Phi 3:14, 1 Cor 9:24), we need to strive at being spiritually fit Resist the temptation of saying ‘just one more time and I will stop desiring this thing’ Thank the Lord always. In Phi 4:11, Paul the apostle says: ‘…I have learned to be satisfied with what I have.’ Be satisfied with what the Lord has given us Be a wise steward of all that God has given us Focus on relationships rather than on things (Pro 15: 16-17) Ask yourself: How is my relationship with God? How are my relationships with those He had put on my way? Be a giver relying on the Lord (Luk 21: 1-4). The ‘weed’ of covetousness finds it hard to become rooted in the soil of generous heart Bibliography 1. J. John. Ten service Outlines for Church Leaders based on The Ten Commandments (UK: Monarch Books, 2001) 2. Pope Shenouda III. Contemplations on the Ten Commandments, The Sixth Commandment, Do not Murder (Egypt: al-Abbasiyyah, 2012), Vol 3. 13th edition Legend Refers to mandatory readings
Verse to memorize ‘For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the Will of God lives forever’ 1 John 2:16-17 During the coming week, let us pray expectantly 1. seeking the Lord’s will to be done in Lebanon 2. for CrossTalk to find a locale 3. to become more of saints and less of sinners 4. to seek the Lord in every word I say, every act I do and every thought I think 5. to help in building His Kingdom by building His Church on earth 6. to thank Him for creating us and each one around us, on His image and likeness, and choosing us to reveal His splendor 7. to all the sick 8. to all those in prison 9. to the unity of the Christians 10. to one another to be honest and not lack integrity 11. to put all that we have in the Lord’s hands trusting His management 12. to all the Christians who are being persecuted, and to those who are persecuting them 13. to all families, that the Lord unites the parents together in His Name and stops all fights 14. to the situation in Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and the whole region
During this coming week, we will lift the Maronite Church in prayer قانون االيمان نؤمن بإله واحد آب ضابط الكلّ خالق السّماء واألرض ك ّل ما يُرى وما ال يُرى وبربٍّ واح ٍد يسو َع المسيح ﺇبن هللا الوحيد المولود من اآلب قب َل ك ّل ال ّدهور ق من ﺇله ح ّ ﺇله من ﺇله ،نور من نور ،ﺇله ح ّ ق مولود غير مخلوق ،مسا ٍو لآلب في الجوهر الّذي به كان ك ّل شيء الّذي من أجلنا نحنُ البشر ومن أجل خالصنا نز َل من السّماء وتج ّس َد من الرّوح القدس ومن مريم العذراء بيالطس البنطي ب عنّا على عهد َ وصا َر ﺇنسانًا وصُل َ تألّم وماتَ وقُبر وقا َم في اليوم الثّالث كما جا َء في الكتب وجلس عن يمين هللا اآلب صع َد ﺇلى السّماء َ و َ وأيضًا يأتي بمج ٍد عظيم ليَدينَ األحيا َء واألموات الّذي ال فنا َء ل ُملكه ونؤمن بالرّوح القدُس الرّبّ ال ُمحيي ال ُمنبَثق من اآلب واإلبن الّذي هو مع اآلب واإلبن يُس َجد له ويُم َّجد النّاطق باألنبياء والرّسل وبكنيسة واحدة ،جامعة ،مق ّدسة ،رسوليّة ونعتَرف بمعموديّة واحدة لمغفرة الخطايا ونترجّى قيا َمةَ الموتى والحياة الجديدة في ال ّدهر اآلتي آمين
الصالة الربّانيّة أبانا الّذي في السّموات ليتقدَّسْ ﺇس ُمك ليأت ملكوتُك ل ْ تكن مشيئَتُك كما في السّماء كذلك على األرض أعطنا خب َزنا كفافَ يومنا وا ْغفرْ لنا ذنوبَنا وخطايانا كما نحنُ نغفر لمن خَط َئ ﺇلينا وال تُدخلنا في التّجارب ْ لكن نجِّنا من ال ّشرّير َّ ك الملك والقوّ ة والمجد ألن ل َ ﺇلى أَبد اآلبدين آمين
