Receiving New Light in the Commandments

Praise the Lord! He is a God who is far beyond our comprehension and imagination. New light in the Ten Commandments from God through Pastor Joshua’s preaching which started in the first week of November 2020 has impacted much our congregation home and abroad. Therefore, we have invited some of the non-Chinese speaking brothers and sisters to share with us how the teaching has influenced and challenged them.

This week, we shall hear from Mr Robert Hoertel from the USA whose mother is a pastor and he is now a 611 Leadership Institute student. He grew up in church and has known the Ten Commandments since a very young age. To him, the teaching is liberating.

“I’ve been enjoying heartifying the Ten Commandments. As Pastor Joshua is spending time on one commandment per month I’m beginning to see some of the deep richness that is in the Ten Commandments. I’ve been reading the Ten Commandments over and over for many years, still I could only see a list of ‘thou shalt do this’ or ‘thou shalt not do that’. My understanding of the Ten Commandments has been stale. Now, I’m beginning to see God is warm and loving and welcoming us into relationship with Him. The fourth Commandment, Remember the Sabbath, is especially meaningful to me for two reasons.

Firstly, I used to see the Sabbath as a heavy burden, like I have to somehow take time from my busy schedule to do nothing on that day. Now, I see the Sabbath as God giving people an opportunity to do things that are difficult to fit into a normal busy schedule. So, this is God caring for us making sure that we get plenty of rest, time to celebrate, and reconnect with Him and people. This tells me God is a God of rest not just work all the time.

Secondly, I can see Remember the Sabbath similar to the way I remembered camping trips I would plan for in the U.S. When I was planning a camping trip I remembered all that I needed to put in order before I left so I wouldn’t need to think about those things while I was gone, e.g. I would do my school work ahead of time. Sabbath is similar because God is asking us to lay down the ordinary things for a day so we can enjoy things that are difficult to fit into normal daily life. Now, I’m thinking during the week how can I finish all I need to do so that on Sabbath day I can focus on resting, celebrating, and reconnecting with God and people.”

Thank God for His revelation to Robert. May we continue to let the Truth sink in and change our hearts and minds so that the Commandments will not only be heartified but also bring long-lasting transformation to our lives.