Hosea 5 - 10.31.23

SCRIPTURE:  Hosea 5:4  "Their actions do not allow them to return to their God, for a spirit of promiscuity is among them, and they do not know the Lord."

OBSERVATION:  The children of Israel had become so unfaithful to God's laws that they had a hard time recognizing truth from error, or good from evil.   Hosea called this a "spirit of promiscuity".   Their heart's had become so hardened that they were no longer even feeling guilty about their sin!

UNDERSTANDING:  God had been so faithful to them by bringing them out of captivity.  He chose them, redeemed them, brought them out of their pagan lifestyle, and gave them promises, but over time their consciences had become seared.  Hosea likened it to a promiscuous wife.

"I will depart and return to My place until they recognize their guilt and seek My face; they will search for Me in their distress."  (v 15).

Hosea directed the nation of Israel to return to the Lord.

Sin has devastating results!  "They knew God, but they did not glorify Him or show gratitude.  Instead their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.  Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.  Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, Who is praised forever".  (Romans 1:21-25).  Paul was addressing this portion of Scripture to the Roman empire, but it also pertains to all societies that have been here since the beginning of time regarding our natural  human tendency to sin against God. We've ALL sinned and fallen short of the glory of God!

APPLICATION:  Even as believers, if we tune our conscience into the value of the world's systems, our heart's will become hardened just like the children of Israel.  In order to properly tune our conscience, we need to turn to God, and apply His Word to our lives.  The goal of God's instruction in love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.  Some have deviated from these and turned aside to fruitless discussion.  They want to be teachers of the law, although they don't understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on."  ( 1 Timothy 1:5-7).

PRAYER:  I pray I will always have the desire to stay close to God and allow His Word to penetrate my heart so that I can be an effective witness for Christ.   I pray I will never deviate from the truth of His Word. 

We have ALL sinned, and have fallen short of God's standard of righteousness, but God, in His love sent His Son, Jesus to become the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  If we accept Jesus as the One Who died in our place, and put our faith in Him, we are forgiven and become righteous in God's sight. 

I pray for the ones who still need to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.  I pray God will use me to share the gospel so they are able to hear and receive the truth that ALL who turn to God, confess their sins, and believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord will be saved!

- Robin Orefice

Acts 20 - 10.30.23

Scripture

Acts‬ ‭20‬:‭24‬ ‭ERV

“I don’t care about my own life. The most important thing is that I finish my work. I want to finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.”

Observation

As Paul says his goodbyes to his friends and church family, he prepares to venture off back to Jerusalem. Now Paul is aware of the trials, jail time, and suffering that lies ahead of him. But, he is more concerned and focused on finishing the task at hand. He wants to finish the mission that Jesus gave him and that mission was to tell others the Good News about God’s grace.

Application

Have a heart for the lost.

A couple of months ago, I watched a video on YouTube about a young man who went on a missions trip to a remote island so he could share the Good News about Jesus with the tribe that inhabited that island. Local governments warned people not to go near that island because the indigenous tribe that occupied it were quite frankly, savage. They had no interest in knowing the outside world and would attack anyone who would dare step foot on their island. But this young man felt the need to share the gospel with these people. So despite the warnings, he went anyway. Now I wish I could tell you that this young man stepped foot on the island and was able to make connections with these tribesmen and they all accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior that day. But, unfortunately the story didn’t end that way. The truth was this young man was killed by this tribe. The truth is that this young man’s death left his parents’ heart broken and bitter about Christianity. But, the truth also is that this young man was willing to risk his life to share with people he didn’t know, about the love of God.

The journal entries of this young man’s final days were later found. Although they showed he was scared, it also showed his desire to share with these people about God’s love for them. He was willing to accept whatever fate was to come of it and as he began realizing his death was imminent, he wrote his loved ones to not retrieve his body and to not get angry at God because of his death. At the end of the day, he knew where his eternal destination laid (with Jesus in Heaven). He just wanted to be sure others had the same opportunity to get there as well.

I find myself challenged today by the likes of this young man and the Apostle Paul. They had such a HUGE heart for the lost. They were willing to go to places where they knew they weren’t wanted. They were willing to endure the pain and suffering. They were even willing to lay down their lives in order for others to hear the gospel message and have the opportunity to be saved. Now that’s commitment! That is love-(the same love Jesus demonstrated for us) and that is now our mission.

“I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.”-1 Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭23‬ ‭

Prayer

Father God, I pray today for a heart to see the lost the way You do. I pray for a compassionate heart, a heart filled with love for them. I pray for a heart that yearns for people that don’t know You yet, to come to know You. Give me the boldness and courage to share with these people about Your love for them. May You soften these people’s hearts and draw them to You Lord. May Your free gift of salvation be a gift that keeps on giving. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. 🙏🏽

-Moses Gaddi

Hosea 3 - 10.27.2023

Scripture - Pick one verse that stood out to you.

Hosea 3:1

The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.”

Observation - What about this verse stands out to you?

This morning as I read Hosea 3:1 I almost inwardly groaned. That is such a tough pill to swallow. And then as I read the second half of the first verse I felt like the Lord lifted that burden from me.I was forced to look for what sacred raisin cakes were and after some very cursory internet research the majority of what I read appeared to point to them being an aphrodisiac.

So to paraphrase, the Lord was telling Hosea to go show love to Homer again (this wasn’t the first time!), who was loved by another man, and who was an adulterer. And to love her as the Lord loves the Israelites (which I have always felt was a weird proxy for humanity but I could be wrong) though they worship idols and love aphrodisiacs.

Application - How will you apply this to your life?

For my application this morning, I feel compelled to repent. Forgive me Lord for sinning against you. I’m not sure I turned towards other gods but I haven’t walked towards you as often as I ought to have. 

I am reminded this morning of my Dad’s advice to me whenever I would get so upset with my brother when we were younger. He would look at me with consternation and with this strained, pleading, yet totally authoritative Dad voice tell me, “Open your heart son.”

Prayer - Write out a prayer.

Help me to open my heart this morning, Lord. Towards, my family, my friends, yikes even my co-workers. Help me to become a man of love like you. A love that is deep and wide, a love that covers the most heinous of wrongs. A love that gave us everything including the life of Your one and only Son, so that we may have the opportunity to be with You. In the name of Jesus do I pray, amen.

-kenneth lee