Keeping God's commands is not difficult for us because sin no longer has dominion over us. We have been completely set free from it by the abounding grace of God!

Amazing as it may seem, that's exactly what the Spirit of the Lord called them when I was praying one day. He said, "My commandments are love letters from heaven to you."

Keeping God's commands is not difficult for us because sin no longer has dominion over us. We have been completely set free from it by the abounding grace of God!

For us, the commandments are not harsh and heavy burdens that are impossible to bear. They are wonderful and precious guidelines from God. They are literally love letters from our heavenly Father.

A Different Picture of God
Love letters?

Yes! Amazing as it may seem, that's exactly what the Spirit of the Lord called them when I was praying one day. He said, "My commandments are love letters from heaven to you."

Such an idea would be totally foreign to most people. They think of God's commandments as threats. They think He's just hard-nosed and has to have everything done His way.

They imagine God with a raised, clenched fist demanding, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." But that's not God at all. That's the devil's picture of Him. God is actually good and loving and kind.

While it's true He does expect everything to be done His way, it's not because He is hard. God instructs us to do things His way because His way is right. He knows what works and what doesn't.

He knows the wages of sin is death and the reward of righteousness is life everlasting. He knows what will cause us problems. He knows where the blessing-blockers are.

So He wrote to us and said, "If you'll conduct yourself this way and refrain from doing these things, you'll have a good life. I know what will bring you health and healing. I know what will open the door for My glory to flow through your hands. I know what will cause the dead to be raised when you speak to them. I know what will cause finances to flow to you. I know how to make you a blessing to other people. You don't know, but I know. So just obey Me. Do what I tell you to do and what I know will work for you!"

That was God's attitude even in the Old Testament when God first gave His people His commandments. You can see that for yourself in the book of Deuteronomy. There, just after Moses explained God's commands to the people, he began to talk to them about going into the Promised Land.

In essence he told them, "When you get over there, you'll live in houses you didn't build and drink out of wells you didn't have to dig. You'll prosper in a land that flows with milk and honey. When that happens, be sure to remember it was God who gave you the power to get wealth."

Clearly Moses wasn't talking to the Israelites about a mean, old God with a stick who was ready to beat them. He was talking to them about a God of goodness and love. He was describing a God who was willing to bless them beyond anything they'd ever known.

Stick With Me And You'll Be Blessed
By giving the Israelites His commandments, God was steering them away from things that would separate them from Him. "Don't steal—I'll meet your needs. Don't lie—I'll protect you. Don't murder—I will repay. Don't try to be your own God—don't put yourself outside my protection and provision."

Through His commands God was telling them how to stay close to Him. He was saying, "If you stay with Me, I'll stay with you. I'll make you great. I'll make you the head and not the tail. I'll make you above any nation on the face of this earth. If you'll stick with Me by keeping My commands, you can forget about the devil. There won't be anything he can do to hurt you—when he comes against you one way, I'll run him off seven ways."

When you see the commandments that way, you'll realize they're not given by some hard, demanding, controlling God. They're given by a loving God who cares about you.