June 19: God is calling your name!
Hosea chapters 10-14, 2 Kings 14:17-15:3, 2 Chron. 25:25-28, chapter 26
Hosea 11:1-12
The Message (MSG)
11 1-9 “When Israel was only a child, I loved him.
I called out, ‘My son!’—called him out of Egypt.
But when others called him,
he ran off and left me.
He worshiped the popular sex gods,
he played at religion with toy gods.
Still, I stuck with him. I led Ephraim.
I rescued him from human bondage,
But he never acknowledged my help,
never admitted that I was the one pulling his wagon,
That I lifted him, like a baby, to my cheek,
that I bent down to feed him.
Now he wants to go back to Egypt or go over to Assyria—
anything but return to me!
That’s why his cities are unsafe—the murder rate skyrockets
and every plan to improve things falls to pieces.
My people are hell-bent on leaving me.
They pray to god Baal for help.
He doesn’t lift a finger to help them.
But how can I give up on you, Ephraim?
How can I turn you loose, Israel?
How can I leave you to be ruined like Admah,
devastated like luckless Zeboim?
I can’t bear to even think such thoughts.
My insides churn in protest.
And so I’m not going to act on my anger.
I’m not going to destroy Ephraim.
And why? Because I am God and not a human.
I’m The Holy One and I’m here—in your very midst.10-12 “The people will end up following God.
I will roar like a lion—
Oh, how I’ll roar!
My frightened children will come running from the west.
Like frightened birds they’ll come from Egypt,
from Assyria like scared doves.
I’ll move them back into their homes.”
God’s Word!
Soul-Destroying LiesEphraim tells lies right and left.
Not a word of Israel can be trusted.
Judah, meanwhile, is no better,
addicted to cheap gods.
The more the Lord called to His people, the more they left Him and went away!
Matthew 22:14 - For many are called, but few [are] chosen.
Matthew 7:13 - Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Matthew 22:14 - For many are called, but few [are] chosen.
Matthew 7:13 - Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
1 Timothy 2:4 - Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Matthew 7:14 - Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Matthew 7:13-14 - Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Matthew 7:14 - Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Matthew 7:13-14 - Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
I've heard some say the God of the Old Testament was harsh but I disagree. He kept drawing and drawing. He was incredibly compassionate with these ungrateful people. Despite the warnings of the prophet Hosea, the people stubbornly refused to turn from idolatry.
Even King Uzziah, who followed after God, failed to remove the high places where the people worshipped the sex gods.
2 Chronicles 26:4-5
Amplified Bible (AMP)
4 He did right in the Lord’s sight, to the extent of all that his father Amaziah had done.
5 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the things of God; and as long as he sought (inquired of, yearned for) the Lord, God made him prosper.
Amplified Bible (AMP)
4 He did right in the Lord’s sight, to the extent of all that his father Amaziah had done.
5 He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the things of God; and as long as he sought (inquired of, yearned for) the Lord, God made him prosper.
2 Kings 15:4
Amplified Bible (AMP)
4 Except the high places were not removed; the people sacrificed and burned incense still on the high places.
Amplified Bible (AMP)
4 Except the high places were not removed; the people sacrificed and burned incense still on the high places.
2 Chronicles 7:14
King James Version (KJV)
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
"Lord, I am finding that even in the Old Testament You kept on giving Your people space to repent. Even as You are doing today. I repent, O God for the sins of my country. I repent for the sins of Your wayward children, O God. It is Your will that ALL come to repentance and ALL see You in the fullness of Your glory. Thank You for continuing to draw and reach and love. Even though many of Your children continue to draw AWAY from Your presence as they did in the Old Testament. Thank You that Your compassion never fails. Help me to continue to draw and reach and love and forgive as You do. I give You the praise and the glory and honor. In Your precious name, Jesus. AMEN."
"Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again." Psalm 78:38,39
King James Version (KJV)
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
"Lord, I am finding that even in the Old Testament You kept on giving Your people space to repent. Even as You are doing today. I repent, O God for the sins of my country. I repent for the sins of Your wayward children, O God. It is Your will that ALL come to repentance and ALL see You in the fullness of Your glory. Thank You for continuing to draw and reach and love. Even though many of Your children continue to draw AWAY from Your presence as they did in the Old Testament. Thank You that Your compassion never fails. Help me to continue to draw and reach and love and forgive as You do. I give You the praise and the glory and honor. In Your precious name, Jesus. AMEN.""Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again." Psalm 78:38,39
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