Read the Bible in a Year (20SEP19)

DAILY REMINDER – Today, September 20’s Bible reading is Hosea 8-14.

NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, September 21’s Bible reading is Joel 1-3. May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.

HOSEA MOMENT – (20SEP19) “The days of punishment are coming, the days of reckoning are at hand. Let Israel know this. Because your sins are so many and your hostility so great, the prophet is considered a fool, the inspired person a maniac” (Hosea 9:7). Israel had a long history of rejecting the true prophets of God. They despised anyone who would send words of rebuke from the Lord to correct the error of their ways. They preferred the lying messages of the false prophets over the Lord’s true messengers. Any prophet who prophesied about their coming captivity and taught a message of repentance was killed, thrown in prison, and/or mocked. The Lord’s prophets oftentimes led a life of isolation due to the call upon their life; and yet, they remained true to the Lord in delivering His warnings to the people.

Today, we have many self-professed prophets who are prophesying houses, cars, money, and prosperity. They live in fancy homes, drive expensive cars, and wear tailor-made suits. Yet, most of the true prophets of God, in the Bible, did not live extravagant lives. Some may say; “What about Abraham?” Well, Abraham was a prophet who was promised to be the father of many nations, so his blessings were tied into the prophecy that his descendants would be blessed.  “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you’” (Genesis 12:1-3). God’s blessings upon Abraham was for not just for him but for the generations to come through which, the Messiah would be born. The Lord’s true prophets did not look to enrich themselves, but they sought to be obedient to the Lord and warn the people regarding the wickedness of their ways in order to turn their hearts back to Him.

Christians must be careful of the self-professed, modern-day prophets who prophesy nothing but material possessions. If they are not warning people to turn from SIN, then their message may be questionable. There is no doubt that judgment is on the land of America with all the floods, storms, heat waves, wildfires, tornadoes, political criminal activity, suicides, murders, pedophilia, and other things that are taking place in our nation as well as the church. The Lord is exposing as well as warning His people and the nation to wake up and get our houses in order. He has many messengers that are both known and unknown sounding the alarm, but many people are not listening. Let us pray that all ears will be receptive to the blowing of the shofar and turn their hearts to the Lord. Something to ponder….

 QUESTION OF THE DAY - (20SEP19) “Then they will say, ‘We have no king because we did not revere the Lord. But even if we had a king, what could he do for us?’ They make many promises, take false oaths and make agreements; therefore lawsuits spring up like poisonous weeds in a plowed field” (Hosea 10:3-4). During the Prophet Samuel’s leadership, Israel decided that they wanted to be like the other nations and have a king. The Lord, however, warned them of the troubles that would come to them with having a king to reign over them. Nevertheless, they did not want to hear words of wisdom from the Lord and insisted on having a king instead; therefore, the Lord gave them what they wanted. Throughout Israel’s history, they had many kings who were ungodly and led the people astray. They did not follow in the ways of King David but wandered after foreign gods and idols. As a result, the people strayed away from the Lord and brought condemnation upon the land.

We have gone down the same path as Israel of old. We have looked to politicians to solve our problems with all their campaign speeches, false promises, backdoor deals, etc., but the nation has gone further away from the Lord instead of drawing near Him. We have heard the slogan of making America great again when there is no greatness without the Lord. We have seen the politicians claim that they will drain the swamp, but for every exposure, a new swamp creature arises. We have made the mistake of looking for a political solution to a sin problem. The Bible says: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance” (Psalm 33:12). America has been tremendously blessed by God like no other nation on earth has. Unfortunately, we no longer honor the Lord as our God. We have turned to Baal literally and have even erected an arch to Baal in Washington, D.C., a temple was being erected in New York, and lets not forget that in addition to the Satanic churches within the U.S., every Planned Parenthood clinic is a temple to Molech.  Yet, we say that we want a king instead of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. God will be second to no other gods, and he will show our nation as well as the world that He is the Lord strong and mighty. Let us pray for the people in our nation to turn their hearts to Him before it’s too late. Something to ponder….

HOSEA MOMENT – (20SEP19) “The Lord…will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God. He struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there—the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name! But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always” (Hosea 12:2-6). Jacob, Isaac’s son, had honored the Lord with His life. He had not been perfect, but he had been faithful to the Lord, and the Lord changed his name to Israel. The nation of Israel were the descendants of Jacob, but unlike their ancestor, they fell away from God. Instead of wrestling with God for His favor as Jacob had, they turned to worthless idols. Instead of toiling for years to marry their Betroth, they turned from Him and broke their covenant. Instead of grabbing the heel of the enemy, they embraced the enemies of Baal, Molech and Asherah. They did not weep to be in the Lord’s presence. They did not beg for the Lord’s favor in righteousness, they sought after the pagan practices of their heathen neighbors and became like an adulterous wife who was unable to commit to her husband; therefore, the Lord’s judgments were fair in the day that He allowed them to come down. Even so, the Lord was merciful in not destroying them completely, but allowing them to eventually return to their land.

Just as Jacob sought after God, we too are to chase after Him. There is no one who could ever love us like the Lord. Jesus suffered greatly on the cross for our expense and paid a debt that was never His to pay. Yet, He did so because of the love that He has for us. In the end, the Lord will have done all that He could do in order to save mankind. The choice is up to us. The Bible says: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). Can we ask for anything more? Could there be any more proof than this concerning the love that Jesus has for His children? I think not! Let us show Him how appreciative of the free gift that He gave to us by allowing our lives to be a living sacrifice for Him. Something to ponder….