{"id":4736,"date":"2025-09-22T09:16:33","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T15:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=4736"},"modified":"2025-09-22T09:16:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T15:16:34","slug":"live-for-the-vertical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=4736","title":{"rendered":"LIVE FOR THE VERTICAL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cI am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.\u201cYou shall have no other gods beforeme.<\/em> Exodus 20:2-3 (ESV)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.\u201d<\/em> Matt. 6:10 (ESV)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          There is an interesting similarity between the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Lord\u2019s Prayer. It is seen in the structure and priority of these two well-known verses. It is seen in the focus on our vertical relationship with the Lord before our relationships with others and our own needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          In the Ten Commandments, our setting aside the Lord first and foremost takes place before the commands that focus on our horizontal relationships with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          In the Lord\u2019s prayer, our worship and the desire for the Lord\u2019s Kingdom and will to be done come before expressing our needs and desires. Our prayers too often begin by jumping into what we need from the Lord. It is when we begin with a focus on the Lord, His presence will guide what we ask for, and we will align our lives with the faith and will to do what we desire from Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Consider this priority in other Bible passages. Psalms 16:8 (ESV) I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. <\/em>In the following verses, David states that the Lord will provide safety, stability, and joy in his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Consider 1 Peter 3:15 (ESV) But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.<\/em> If Christ is not honored as Lord in our lives, our faith just becomes a philosophical argument. This is how Charlie Kirk approached his dialogue with college students. He was first and foremost a believer in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          It is often pointed out that a cross is the intersection of two lines. One vertical and the other horizontal. Through the cross, we are reconciled to God, and through the cross, we can be reconciled with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          I am reminded of the story of a father who was trying to occupy a small child. He tore a page from a magazine with a picture of the world and told the child to put it together. The child came back way sooner than the dad anticipated. \u201cHow did you do this so quickly?\u201d he asked. The child responded, \u201cOn the back was a picture of a man. When I put the man together, the world came together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Henry Varlie, a British Revivalist, once told a young D.L. Moody, \u201cThe world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God\u2019s help, I aim to be that man.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

          That is a commitment to always put Christ first and foremost. It is what gives the Ten Commandments meaning, it is the foundation of the Lord\u2019s Prayer, and it is what enables us to live our lives rightly ordered in this present age.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.\u201cYou shall have no other gods beforeme. Exodus 20:2-3 (ESV) \u201cOur Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.Your kingdom come, your will be done,    on earth as it is in heaven.\u201d Matt. 6:10 (ESV)           There is an interesting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4736"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4737,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4736\/revisions\/4737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}