New Year, New You, New Season - Part 5

New Year, New You, New Season – Part 5

Praise the Lord, and Good Morning.  We are into part 5 of our New Year, New You, New Season series.  Please turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 22.

Deuteronomy 22

Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother. And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again. In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost thing of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself. Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again. The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God. If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young: But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days. When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence. Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers’ seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled. Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers’ sorts, as of woolen and linen together. Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself.  If any man take a wife, and go in unto her, and hate her, and give occasions of speech against her, and bring up an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid: Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity unto the elders of the city in the gate: And the damsel's father shall say unto the elders, I gave my daughter unto this man to wife, and he hateth her; and, lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city. And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him; and they shall amerce him in an hundred shekels of silver, and give them unto the father of the damsel, because he hath brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days. But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you.  If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou put away evil from Israel. If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbor’s wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you. But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die. But unto the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbor, and slayeth him, even so is this matter: For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.  If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, which is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found; then the man that lay with her shall give unto the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days. A man shall not take his father's wife, nor discover his father's skirt.

This passage of scripture basically talks about doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.  This is a hard subject, because this is what was done back in the day, but some might suggest that they bring it back, because of the craziness that exists in today’s time.  Even though most of us don’t own any livestock, unless you happen to be a farmer, fill in the blanks.  If you see your neighbor’s animal escape from their house, bring it back, and don’t keep it, plain and simple.  Don’t steal the pet because you think you can treat it better, or you don’t have one, so you want to take Fluffy.  You know that’s not right, and the Lord will judge you, even though you want to act dumb, like you didn’t see a thing.

As a matter of fact, if you see anything that belongs to your neighbor, be kind and give it back to them.  You have no idea the importance of whatever the item may be.  God will reward you for caring.

Ok, I’m going to take a deep breath on this next one, because people always want to keep up with the latest fashions.  How many women dress up in a suit and tie?  How many men are wearing the man skirts?  Anyone for cross dressing?  I know that I’m not going to get a lot of amens on this one, because society accepts it, but know that the Lord calls it an abomination.  That’s a gateway, folks, and I’m going to leave that one alone, because we already know.

If you want to build a house in the New Year, make sure that in your construction of it that it’s safe for your contractors, because if they get injured or worse, you bear the liability.  Don’t cut corners in the name of trying to save money.

Here’s another one, and I almost have to laugh, God forgive me, for this one, but here goes.  If a newly married couple has conflict, because the husband for some reason thinks that his wife is not a virgin, and he puts her on blast, and her parents hear about it, they can contest it.  The husband has to bring the proof of his allegation, and the elders of the city or town will bring in the wife’s father with his proof.  If the husband is wrong, he gets chastised.  If the wife is wrong, then she gets stoned to death by the men of the city.

I can hear the collective gasps by the women, but it’s in the word.  But wait, there’s more!  If a man hooks up with a woman to have an affair, they are both killed because she didn’t cry rape, and he knew that she was married, but did it anyway.  If a married woman is raped by a man, and she cries for help and doesn’t get any because no one is around to hear her, only the man is killed.

If a single man finds a single woman and he has sex with her, when the people find out about it, he is required to pay her family and has to marry her, so that she isn’t dishonored.  Finally, a man should not try to hook up with his father’s wife.

There is a lot of sexual sins covered in this passage, and believe it or not it still happens, only not with the consequences outlined here.  The sad part is that what’s different is that people don’t fear God like they used to in bible days, because they think that if it feels good, do it, no matter who it hurts.

I would dare say that almost all of the body of Christ, on the down low, are guilty of this, and if you aren’t, I promise that there’s something that was done that the Lord wasn’t pleased with.  If you’re looking to be a new you with a new season, then this is the time to do it.

Please understand that I’m not trying to make anyone feel guilty about their past.  God knows that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and we don’t have a right to point a finger at anyone.  Just look in the mirror.  If you have done anything against your brother or sister, whether they be in the body or not, apologize.  Not for getting caught, but an apology requires repentance.  Ask the Lord for forgiveness, then ask the individual or people affected by your transgression.

It takes a humble individual to realize their sins and to go to the Father and ask for help and to turn away from wickedness.  It is not an easy thing to do, especially if others don’t know about it.  We have to look in the mirror and recognize that we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity.  For those of us who think that when we got saved, we no longer sin, that isn’t true, and don’t believe the lie of the enemy.  May the Lord bless you, and we’ll pick this up tomorrow, God willing.