Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

The Lord needed only two words to produce the sixth commandment. He engraved into a flat plate of stone this simple statement, “Murder not!” Out of ten words which are associated with killing in the Old Testament, He chose the one which refers specifically to the killing of a human whether that person’s death is intentional (murder) or accidental (manslaughter). He did not use a word that would in...

It’s interesting that the first lesson on learning to love my neighbor as myself has to do with honoring those God has placed in authority over me as a child. And then He bundled into this commandment a warning that says my life expectancy, the availability of His resources and my progress toward achieving His plan for my life are contingent upon my obedience here. This is not easy for me to hear...

So far in our study of the Ten Commandments we first learned that God will not allow other gods in our lives. He forces us to choose whether we want His blessing or the help these other spirits can give. Next, we learned that He measures our love for Him in part by the way we speak of Him. We trouble our lives when we profane His name. If, at times, we feel the need to say something emphatic we’d...

Our mouths expose our hearts. Sooner or later our real beliefs and attitudes pour out of our lips. As hard as we may try to hide them it’s impossible to filter everything, and in those moments when we drop our guard our hearts speak what we really believe. That’s why in these lessons on how to love God (Ex 20:3–11) He draws our attention to how we use His name. His purpose isn’t simply to get us t...

We learned in our study of the “law of Moses” that the purpose of the Ten Commandments is to teach us how to love: first, to love God with all our heart, soul & might (Dt 6:5), and then to love our neighbor as ourselves (Lev 19:18). Considering these commandments as a whole, we see that the first four focus on loving God, and the final six focus on loving our neighbor. Today, we’re going to look m...

The Law of Moses was the code of rules and regulations which Israel agreed to live by as people in covenant with God. Moses didn’t invent these laws, he just wrote them down as God dictated them to him. And the “heart” of these laws is the Ten Commandments which the Lord Himself wrote down on two flat tablets of stone (24:12; 31:18; 32:15, 16; 34:1–4, 28). He gave Israel these laws so they would k...

The word “holy” is a strange word. It’s a word we use all the time in our worship songs and repeatedly ascribe to God, yet if asked to define the word, few would know what to say. We know it’s a good thing and that it applies to God. We may even be aware the Bible says it can apply to us as well, but again, we’re not sure what difference that makes in our lives. Today we’ll investigate this wonder...

The kingdom of God is all about bringing lost people back to the God who loves them. Those of us who love God know this about Him: He’s always reaching out to save more people and wants us to help Him do it. And to Him it’s always an urgent matter because He sees the eternal destiny of people. To be successful He needs to be constantly producing spiritual leaders because without enough leaders His...

No sooner had rivers of water flowed out of the rock at Rephidim than Israel experienced a vicious, unprovoked attack. The Amalekites were distant relatives (Ge 36:12) and therefore should have welcomed the news that Jacob’s descendants had been freed from slavery in Egypt, but instead they sent an army to attack when Israel was “faint and weary” (Dt 25:18). In fact, the Amalekite soldiers deliber...

Jesus Christ did not simply die to forgive our sins. If that were all He did we would still have a wonderful gift for which we would be eternally grateful. But when we believe in Him we also receive another gift. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit who, because we have been made holy by our faith in Jesus, can join Himself to us forever. Not only are Christians forgiven but we are also filled and th...

Using “manna” the Lord taught Israel to depend on Him daily and commune with Him once a week. We no longer get up in the morning to go out looking for manna on the ground, but the spiritual principles modeled in this event should still guide us in our walk with God. In fact, I believe Jesus deliberately drew our attention to the manna when He taught us to pray, “give us this day our daily bread” (...

Most people have no problem theorizing that God is powerful enough to help them if He wants to, but if asked the question, “Does He want to?” their answer is far less confident. Either they aren’t sure whether God wants to help them or not, or they may admit they actually suspect He may be the One who brought the problem upon them in the first place. So when it comes to asking for help, many peopl...

The next day, after Jesus fed about 15,000 people with five barley loaves and two fish, a crowd of people found Him and tried to convince Him to again miraculously provide them with bread. He refused, but picked up on their reference to the manna in the wilderness (vs 31–33) explaining that they had not understood the real message in the miracle of the manna. The real message was that God would so...

  What is worship? Worship is not a means to an end—it is an end in itself. Westminister Confession: What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Those who know God love Him and those who love Him long to glorify Him. It is impossible to be in His presence and not change. We either draw near and listen or harden ourselves and pull away. “In His image”: one person with anothe...

How is it possible that only three days after a miracle of the magnitude of parting the Red Sea that people could fear they would die of thirst? And then only a few days after God turned a briny pond into a pool of fresh water they could angrily complain “…you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (16:3). As we read these accounts the most amazing part i...

On the western shore of the Red Sea Israel could still be considered a band of runaway slaves. It’s true Egypt had “driven them out” to prevent any more plagues, but their army remained powerful enough to recapture their former slaves and bring them back to Egypt in chains. On that side of the sea, Israel’s freedom depended on Egypt’s good will, which of course didn’t last long. But on the eastern...

You’ll notice God didn’t give Israel a map of the wilderness and say, “I’ll meet you again when you get to Mt. Sinai.” He personally led them day-by-day: 1) He protected them: revealing hidden things that would cause them to stumble; 2) He sheltered them: shading them from the glare of the scorching sun; 3) He guided them: leading them with direction and purpose; 4) He comforted them: showing them...

It’s one thing to be delivered from bondage, but it’s another to inherit our promises. It seems there are always obstacles standing in our way—powerful forces determined to prevent us from possessing those promises. In this case it was the Philistine army who stood between Israel and their promised land. God had the power to give them their inheritance immediately, but He knew they didn’t have the...

As Israel prepared to leave Egypt God wanted to make sure they would never forget the important lessons they were learning about Him. He knew human nature tends to quickly forget spiritual lessons and ceases to be thankful. And when this happens people are forced to keep relearning painful lessons, and those who fall into that cycle are prevented from maturing. Forgetting also leads to thanklessne...

Though God’s salvation is a free gift which cannot be earned or deserved, it does leave those who are saved with a great moral debt. We realize we now owe our lives to God. It’s impossible to look at all He has done for us and not feel deep gratitude. Somehow our hearts understand that our only proper response is to give ourselves back to Him. This is the lesson the Lord meant to teach His people...

One of the most fundamental barriers to serving God is our apparent lack of resources. We fear that if we follow where He leads, we will end up destitute. Like Israel we stand on the borders of Egypt and gaze into the wilderness and we see in that barren wasteland no possible way of surviving. We find ourselves caught between God’s call to follow and our own logic which says this is impossible. Bu...

As our nation and the world move toward what the Bible refers to as the “last days” we see disturbing trends around us which leave us feeling confused and alienated. Why are people so committed to tearing down God’s moral standards? Why such hostility toward Jesus Christ? Who in their right mind could be so hateful as to bomb innocent people and then celebrate as if they had done something heroic?...

Every time we deliberately say “no” to God we harden our own hearts, and every time we say “yes” to Him we become softer. By making us in His own image, God has given us the power to choose and that ability means we are responsible for the choices we make. This passage in Exodus concludes with the statement, “But when Pharaoh saw there was relief he hardened his own heart and did not listen to the...

This passage raises a subject which has been debated for centuries. Does the statement that God “hardened” Pharaoh’s heart mean He actually prevents some people from repenting and being saved. Throughout the next five chapters there are repeated references to hardening Pharaoh’s heart along with statements to the effect that Pharaoh then refused to submit to God’s demand to release the Hebrew slav...

There are different levels at which people tend to relate to God: There are those who call on God only when they need help. There are those who recognize their sinfulness and call on God for forgiveness (confess and repent; trust and submit) There are those who regularly meet God personally and fall in love with Him (worship and pray) There are those who let God’s presence transform them until the...