Thoughts

:) Finally had some time! Next week should be fun... we're heading into some messianic prophecies... :)

Happy studying!

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Hosea Chapters 3 and 4


Hosea 3 and 4

vs. 3:1-3

- Hosea's wife has left again. She has gone after other lovers.

- God tells Hosea to go and love her again. Go get her, bring her home, and love her.

- Now the command to love is not an easy one. We don't have an on/off switch for our feelings. Especially one like love. God was asking Hosea to look at someone who had wronged him, had betrayed him, had broken a solemn covenant with him... to go get her, bring her back... and LOVE her...

- Man, we have a hard time sometimes loving our own family... when they do simple things... we get mad over the smallest things sometimes... and here's Hosea... being asked to love his wife... after a BIG thing. And she's not crawling back on her hands and knees begging either... He, the one who has been wronged, has to go and ask her forgiveness so to speak. Wow. What a picture.

- footnote- “God asked Hosea to do something almost unthinkable—to buy back his adulterous, unrepentant wife and to continue to love her! When those who knew about Gomer's adultery heard Hosea say that God loved idolatrous Israel as much as Hosea loved Gomer, they must have been amazed. The people had heard God's words many times, but they felt the impact of those words when they saw them acted out in Hosea's merciful love for his wife.”

- This is Grace in action. And Hosea did put it in action. He went and payed 15 pieces of silver, five bushels of barley, and a skin of wine, to buy back his wife.

- He brought her home and said “You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time, you will not have sexual relations with anyone, not even with me.”

- There was a price to pay for retribution. She had to give something up... she in essence, had to repent. She had to turn from her ways and make a change in her life...

- Okay, follow me for a minute down the road of speeding... lol (since this is something I have experience with... unfortunately...)

- So this week, I got pulled over... again... At least this time it wasn't that bad... But I was panicking anyway... and he let me off with a warning... and I just about cried when he did... I don't really know why... I mean it wouldn't have been such a huge deal... but mainly... all at once, I got this HUGE picture in my mind of the Grace of God to us all... and that, more than anything hit me like a rock...

- When the cop pulls you over... your life, for that moment, is in his hands. He can choose to exercise grace, and let you go with a warning. Or he can be really mean and nasty and jack up the speed on the ticket... (which has also happened to me)... Or he can follow all the rules and give you your just punishment.

- No matter what happens... he's in charge. Sure you can go to court and contest the ticket or the speed or whatever... but more than likely... the law officer will win out... Simply because it's your word against his... and you're trying to get out of paying a ticket... you'll probably say anything! He really has no reason to lie... so more than likely... the court will rule in the law's favor.

- Now... we as law abiding citizens have a responsibility to follow all the rules. But why? Sometimes the speed limits just seem a little ridiculous. I saw a sign once for a 13 mph speed limit... what in the world is that for!? And whoever heard of a 55 mph on an interstate highway! Geesh!

- However... the limits are there for a reason. They not only protect you from killing yourself... they also protect the other drivers around you. At higher speeds... if random things happen... like an animal running out in front of you... or a tire blowing out... or the battery suddenly deciding to die... or unexpected weather conditions... it's hard to maintain control. There have been times in the winter that even 25 mph is pushing the limits of my being able to control my car on the ice and snow conditions on the road...

- So when the cop pulls you over for texting while driving... or for speeding... or for having a brake light out... it is for your protection... and ultimately for the protection of your family and people you don't even know...

- God's laws are the same... They protect us from ourselves... and others from us... When we sin, our sin effects not only us, but those around us... sometimes people we don't even know...

- And so when God catches us going over our limits (not that He doesn't ever know...) but when He does finally pull us over, He has the same decision to make as our cop from above does. He COULD be really mean... but that's not His character...

- So that leaves us with just punishment, or a warning.

- Grace is that warning. We are always so far over the speed limit that we should lose our license... or have some jail time even... and yet God always chooses to give us a warning and send us on our way with an “I'll be watching” tone...

- Grace is undeserved favor... we never deserve it, but God always gives it...

- Eventually however, we run out of chances. You can only speed along for so long without something bad happening... You hit an animal, or a tree, or miss a turn, or hit an icy patch... and before you know it... you die while speeding along this road... and then... Grace can't save you. Grace is for the living. If you accept the gift of Grace here on earth, then you maintain it after death... but if you continually throw it away... well... you will have to finally face the courtroom... and it will be a righteous judgment. And the court, as I said... always rules with the law.

- Remember the story of Jonah? He went to Ninevah (finally...) preached, spread the word... and they repented. And God withheld His judgment... for a time. But eventually, judgment did come 70 years later. There was a temporary revival of the heart. They were afraid of death... and so they repented of their ways... but 70 years later... they had yet again become the same sinful city as previously. Their sins, old and new, had to be spoken for.

- In Genesis 6:3, God said that His Spirit would not strive, or put up with man for forever. He cut down the lifespan to 120 years... God will fight for your soul... but ultimately... it's your decision as to where your soul will spend eternity.

- Jesus once talked about laying up our treasures in heaven. Godly things that we strive for and accomplish... the things which our heart longs for... those things will be stored up in heaven. The earthly things we possess and desire... will die with us here on earth. They are not eternal.

- So when we throw away or pass over the gifts that God is giving us... we are not storing up those eternal things. We are rather holding onto things that will pass away with us.

- Matthew 6:19-21

- So are you accepting Grace? Are you letting God give you a warning and deciding to change your ways?

- Or are you determined to forever push the boundaries to see how far you can make it?

- Will you store up the heavenly things? Or the things that are fleeting?

- Micah 6:1-7:20

vs. 3:4-5

- Hosea taking back his wife and not allowing her to have sexual relations with ANYONE.... was to show that Israel would go for a long time without a king or a prince... without sacrifices, sacred things, or priests... they wouldn't even have their idols.

- After this time... they will turn and devote themselves back to God and David's descendant (Jesus).

- footnote- “The northern kingdom had rebelled against David's dynasty and had taken Jeroboam as their king (I Kings 12-13). Their rebellion was both political and religious. At that time, they reverted back to the worship of golden idols. “David's descendant, their king” refers to the time of Messiah's rule when all people will bow before Him in humility and submission. Those who won't accept Christ's blessings now will face his power and judgment later. How much better is it to love and follow Christ now than face His angry judgment later.”

- Ezekiel 24:11-31
- Jeremiah 7:1-11:17

vs. 4:1-7

- God is laying out His charges against Israel as you would in a law case. These are His charges:

- There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in the land. They have made vows and broken them. You kill, steal, commit adultery. Violence is everywhere, murder after murder.

- “That is why your land is in mourning, and why everyone is wasting away. Even the wild animals, the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea are disappearing.”

- As I read that part... I was struck with a comparison that I just can't seem to get away from.

- I know some of you may be in other countries, but in the USA lately, there have been these unexplainable things going on...

- There have been thousands of birds just dying randomly... No real cause... They just suddenly drop out of the sky. Thousands of fish turned up dead in one of the bays. Again... no cause can be found. There have been hundreds of tornadoes in the last few months... in places where tornadoes are very uncommon... or have never happened before. Oil spills galore. Hurricanes of massive proportions... In our state, the deer have started to get this disease... a literal wasting away disease. Mad cow disease has been here. It's becoming common to hear of children having horrible diseases and cancer... seemingly with no real environmental cause. We can't turn on the TV without hearing of something horrible... Mothers and fathers killing their children. Children killing their parents. Neighbors killing each other. Random acts of violence. People do horrible things to children... who are supposed to be the innocent ones...

- How much can we relate to that little verse of scripture? How much do we see every day that shows us we are falling, as a nation, farther and farther away from being a nation of God. We have taken prayer out of our schools. We have taken away our children's right to speak as they please to their friends at school. We can't have Christmas programs without somebody thinking we have an agenda. We are held in contempt everywhere we go and seen as raving mad individuals.

- Do you feel like a prophet of old yet? Everybody thinking you're crazy and nobody wanting to listen... even for a second?

- Our world as a whole is turning its back on God. Those in power have their gods of money, of power, of ego... Those wanting to be in power... are worse... Those of us not in power of any sort... have our gods of indulgence, of desire, of sloth, of lust. We can get at anything we want easily and quickly. There is no waiting for anything. The internet has opened up a thousand gateways to new temptations. If only in the form of wasting time away from things that we should be more focused on.

- Proverbs 28:2
- Isaiah 24:1-23
- Zephaniah 1:2-2:3

- In I Timothy 5:18 it says that the workers deserve their pay... And just pay at that... We are a world working toward gaining that which we desire... not toward the things of God. Because of it... our world... is falling apart. Tsunami's of massive proportion. Earthquakes everywhere. Fires raging through forests and towns. Natural disasters galore.

- Somewhere I heard once that the pestilence talked about in Revelation was not a pestilence of insects... but rather that the Greek word spoke of natural disasters... Man are we ever having those...

- We as an international group of people... have been the unfaithful wife. We have turned our backs on the Husband who loves us... and have gone after our other lovers.

- We have no one to blame but ourselves. WE have the unfaithful hearts... God has continually been faithful to us...

- “Don't point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! My complaint, you priests, is with you.”

- Oh so it's the preacher's fault... no... lol sorry... still can't pass the buck...

- I Peter 2:5-9 talks about us being priests. A priest is to be a mediator between the people and God. We as Christians are become that mediator to the lost. Through Christ, we “offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.”

- We are in a place as children and followers of Christ to mediate for the lost... But we don't do our jobs... we get scared of being thought of as the crazy prophet prophesying doom and gloom. We don't think about the consequences to others. Yeah, we might be saved. We have a relationship with God and we'll get to heaven... but that's not what this walk is about.

- Our responsibility as believers is to go to the lost. The Great Commission in Matthew 28 says go to ALL the world and preach the gospel. That was our order. It was given to be followed... Not looked at as a “well if you have time, you might want to do this.”

- We are often lax in our fulfilling of that order. We get comfortable with our lives... we start thinking only about our needs and wants... We get selfish. And we do not tell the people we meet about the love of God. We instead, ignore their need for spiritual salvation and let them continue on their path to eternal destruction.

- “So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night. And I will destroy Israel, your mother.”

- We will fall in front of everyone. Because we have been lax in our priestly duties, we will fall publicly. And those who have been false prophets, have told us that all would be well, have told us that we are in the right to keep to ourselves... they will fall with us. And our nation, will be destroyed.

- God says that “His people are being destroyed because they don't know Me.” All people are God's. He created them all... holds each to be dear... and because they don't know Him... they are dying in their sin... irreparable damage. Beyond His reach as a God of justice. And it's our fault. We have failed to speak as God's mouthpiece.

- Because we refuse to know God as He is and because we fail to take on our duties with zeal... God will no longer recognize us as His priests. “Because you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.”

- “The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. They have exchanged the glory of God for the shame of idols.”

- Hosea here, was writing about golden idols. Idols with temples... but this applies to anything we put in the place of God. Anything we focus our time on.

- I don't want to be the priest that gets cast off because of not fulfilling my duties. I don't want to be found out to be an idol worshiper... a worshiper of money, or material things, or even people.

- I have always thought it odd that, in English, the word “idol” is a homophone (sounds the same as) with the word “idle”. To think of idol worship as being an idle thing. It is something that sometimes is just an idle pastime. Something that we don't even realize we are making an idol... just something that we use to waste away the time with.

- And in the end... it profits nothing... it has just been a waste of time...

- So here we are... exchanging the glory and awesomeness of God... for the idleness and commonality of idols...

- Acts 15:7-21
- Romans 5:12-6:23; 8:31-11:36
- Galatians 5:1-26
- Ephesians 2:1-10
- Titus 3:3-8

vs. 4:8-10

- God next goes on to relate some specifics of the sins of Israel's priests.

- “When the people bring their sin offerings, the priests get fed. So the priests are glad when the people sin! And what the priests to, the people also do.”

- The leadership of the priests was lacking. They were sinning... and the people were following the priests. When the people brought their offerings to the temple for their sin... the priests got to eat... so they were glad that the people were sinning... it meant that they got paid basically...

- It would be like your pastor, taking you to a bar... getting you drunk... and then guilting you into paying him so he could ask God to forgive you... because you sinned... and “you don't have the right to ask God for forgiveness when you sin...”

- We as priests have a responsibility to lead people to truth. Not to sin.

- “So now I will punish both priests and people for their wicked deeds. They will eat and still be hungry. They will play the prostitute and gain nothing from it, for they have deserted the Lord to worship other gods.”

- footnote- “God accused the religious leaders of keeping the people from knowing Him. They were supposed to be spiritual leader, but they had become leaders in wrongdoing. The people may have said to one another, “It must be OK if the priests do it.” Spiritual leadership is a heavy responsibility. Whether you teach a church Sunday school class, hold a church office, or lead a Bible study, don't take your leadership responsibilities lightly. Be a leader who leads others to God.”

- And not just in these things only. Leading in your home can be the most important thing you ever do. Leading with your friends. Leading in your workplace... Even if you're not a pastor, or in a leadership position of teaching at your church... you are still a leader to others.

- I feel that I must say however, that it does not always depend on the leadership. Looking at your pastor and following in his footsteps is fine... but when he messes up... just because it's him... doesn't mean that you need to follow him. If you know something is wrong, you have no excuse for following into sin. You still have a personal relationship to maintain with your own Husband... your pastor, or you parents, or your Sunday School teacher, cannot keep your relationship up for you...

- Ezekiel 34:1-10; 14:1-16:63
- Zechariah 11:4-17
- Malachi 1:6-4:6
- I Peter 5:1-11
- I Timothy 3:1-13

vs. 4:11-14

- “Wine has robbed my people of their understanding. They ask a piece of wood for advice! They think a stick can tell them the future!”

- footnote- “The “stick,” or divining rod, was a way of attempting to tell the future....”

- They have numbed their senses with wine... or other substances... they have gone so far in trying to live life the way they want it without having to think about consequences... that they have dulled their senses. They ask wood for advice. They turn to earthly, man-made things and put them in the place of God. They ask divining rods to look into the future...

- I knew a lady once whose house and burnt down. Everything was gone... except two angel figurines. So in her new house... she had angels everywhere. They were going to protect the house... She literally ended up with hundreds of them.

- She was clinging to something that was fleeting. She let those angels take the place of God, Who is our protector in all things.

- I have nothing against angel figurines... but to set them up as having the power to protect you... is basically setting them up as an idol.

- Today we think “idol” and we think of little fat statues of Buddha with little food offerings piled up in front.

- But an idol doesn't always have to be something that the world sees as a god... An idol is anything we put our trust in outside of God Himself.

- It talks about the people of Israel longing after idols so much that they prostituted themselves...

- “That is why your daughters turn to prostitution, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. But why should I punish them for their prostitution and adultery? For your men are doing the same thing, sinning with whores and shrine prostitutes.”

- footnote- “The chief Canaanite gods, Ball and Asherah, represented the power of fertility and sexual reproduction. Not surprisingly, their worship included rituals with vile sexual practices. Male worshipers had sex with female temple prostitutes or female priests, and young women wishing to bear children had sex with male priests. But God said their efforts to increase fertility would not succeed.”

- “Longing after idols has made them foolish.”

- They were turning to sin in order to worship their idols better... Instead of looking to the giver of all things... the God Who had proven Himself oh so many times... they turned to worship a piece of wood... all so they could fulfill their fleshly desires without the feeling of guilt.

- Judges 17:1-18:31
- Habakkuk 2:18-20
- Matthew 11:25-27
- Romans 1:18-32

vs. 4:14-19

- Because they refused to understand their acts of sin and expected repentance... God said He would destroy them.

- They had proven themselves to be stubborn. They were determined to have their own way no matter the consequences. So should God reward them for their rebellion? No! “Should the Lord feed her like a lamb in a lush pasture?”

- Israel had married herself off to idolatry. She had run from her true Husband only to turn and marry a man she herself built. It's like building a robot and marrying it...

- Israel loved shame more than honor. She turned her affections to her robot god... and left Christ, standing at the altar, awaiting His bride's hand in marriage.

- “So a mighty wind will sweep them away. Their sacrifices to idols will bring them shame.”

- Judgment comes whether we're ready or not. God is not going to let you off after death. There is no pleading your case. “The mighty wind” will come... are you going to have a foundation that does not shake?

- verses 15-17 is a message to Judah and in turn... also to us. Basically God said, please, don't follow in Israel's footsteps. Avoid idolatry. Don't join in the false worship of other things. Leave Israel to herself. Leave her to her sin... Instead, please follow Me. Stay faithful to your Husband.

- When you stand before God, Grace has been offered... will you be in possession of it still? Will Christ step forward and say, “no Father, this one is mine. This one has been bought and paid for and has come home to dwell with Me forever. This one is my faithful wife.”

- Or will the room be silent as God asks “Does anyone speak in this person's defense? Is there any reason that I should not condemn him for his grievous sins?”

- Where will you stand?

- Isaiah 59:1-21
- Jeremiah 5:20-6:21
- Psalm 78; 81
- Matthew 12:31-37
- Hebrews 9:11-28
- II Peter 2:1-3:15

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Hosea Chapter 2


Hosea Chapter 2

vs. 1-3

- God is bringing charges against Israel. She has been brought before the court and found guilty. She is no longer His wife, and He is no longer her husband. She has prostituted herself around enough that He is divorcing her basically...

- And yet He is still full of grace and mercy... He says to “tell her to remove the prostitute's makeup from her face and the clothing that exposes her breasts...” Which doesn't sound so merciful... but then He goes on to say “OTHERWISE, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born...” etc. He's still giving her another chance. Still saying, “I still love you... so if you will do this... I will still withhold My anger... I will still be gentle...”

- However, if she doesn't turn her life around and leave her ways of prostitution, then she will be cast off... and not easily.

- She will be stripped naked. She will have nothing left to her name. Everything will be taken from her. Even the clothes she wears. As she went prostituting herself to the world for worldly pleasures and material things... so they will all be stripped from her.

- She will be left to die of thirst, as if she were living in a wilderness... She will never be satisfied. She will thirst for more things of this world and all the things she used to have... and never be able to have any of them. Can you imagine thirsting, desiring something so much that you can't think about anything else? If you've been outside working in the hot sun, you get thirsty really quickly. When you get something cool to drink... it's like you just can't get enough of it. And it tastes SO GOOD! Even if it's just water...

- Now imagine that thirst... but unquenchable... it's like everything you drink tastes warm... or stale. It's just never quite what you want or need...

- Because of Israel's prostitution, she would worship other gods... and never find peace. She would lust
after material things... and never have enough. She will die in her thirst. She will die always wanting more... die desperate for the things of the world.

- Should we not in turn be desperate for the things of God? If we can be so desperate for the things we desire... should we in turn be desperate for the tings of God? Things that are passing... things that only last a few minutes, a little while... why should they incur our desperation?

- What are you desperate for? What do you find your soul thirsting for? Are they things of God? Or things of this world?

- What does God say about your heart?

- Isaiah 50:1-11; 1:1-5:30
- Jeremiah 15:1-21; 7:16-34
- Joshua 24:14-25

vs. 4-8

- “I will not love her children, for they were conceived in prostitution.” All that Israel has done. All the wealth they have gained, all the treaties they have made... all the cities they have built... all will be done away with... all they did was done in sin. Nothing they had was worth anything in the eyes of God. They maintained peace through treaties with godless nations. They intermarried with pagans. They compromised on everything they were meant to be... just to make themselves more like all the peoples around them. Israel gained... and grew... in shameful ways. It was nothing that honored them or the God they were supposed to be serving.

- Sometimes we get in places like this in our walk. Sometimes it's just lip service. Sometimes we're walking and talking and living the life... while our hearts are so far removed from the things of God... while we're lusting after the things of this world... we're still trying to outwardly live the Christian walk.

- Sometimes... we go past that. After a while... what we do in secret become enough of a habit... that it filters into our daily walk and talk. Israel had reached that point. They gave up trying to keep everything a secret. Instead, they openly walked away from God and lived the lives they wanted to... in open sin. And their sin just increased because of it. It grew worse not only in our minds of what sins are more serious than others... but in frequency and execution as well. Forget prostitution in a secluded place... why not in your home? eh... why not just have a massive orgy in the streets. Everybody's in on it anyway right?

- “She said, “I'll run after other lovers and sell myself to them for food and water, for clothing of wool and linen, and for olive oil and drinks.”

- Israel chose to run after other lovers... chose to leave her husband... and not for great things... just for the necessities... she left for the sake of leaving... not because she wanted something better... she didn't run off with a millionaire... she ran to her lovers and asked for no payment past the necessities.

- Because of this... God said that He will fence her in with thorn bushes. He will cut off her paths. He will prevent her from gaining that which she wants. She will constantly lose her path. She will get lost on her way to her lover's. When she tries to chase her lovers down, she won't be able to catch them. She will search for them and not be able to find them.

- God will never force you to come back to Him... but He will put things in your way to convince you of your error...

- Jonah was there... God put a storm in his way... tried to convince him to turn around... and finally had to put him in the belly of a whale... lowest of the low much?

- “Then she will think, “I might as well return to my husband, for I was better off with him than I am now.”

- I knew a lady once... she had this great husband, great family... but she was determined to have an affair... She wanted the excitement. She was bored with her husband and tired of feeling like she was missing out... and despite having many people tell her how bad that idea was... and being in the church... she finally did leave her husband... she moved in with a man who also left his family. Who is a drunk and who beats her. Does she have regrets? Yeah... will she admit it? Not so much...

- footnote- “Just as Gomer would return to her husband if she thought she would be better off with him, so people often return to God when they find life's struggle too difficult to handle. Returning to God out of desperation is better than rebelling against Him, but it is better yet to turn to God out of gratitude for His care.”

- As bad as it sounds... God wants the best for us... even if it means putting us through the worst first... When we are stubborn and refuse direction... sometimes it takes drastic measures to get our attention.

- There have been times that I know where people are at and they're drifting, or they've completely turned their backs on God and are walking away... that the family sits down to pray about them and we pray that God will bring them back... no matter what it takes...

- that's a hard prayer. Especially if it's family. Or someone you really care for. Praying that God will do whatever it takes to wake them up from their rebellion... sometimes means a lot of pain... and not just for them... but for everybody around them... It's definitely not a prayer to be prayed lightly. There's been times that I have prayed about praying that prayer... because I was afraid that it was going to mean that my life was going to take a hit... I had to really search and make sure that I could pray that prayer and be sure that whatever happened... I myself was ready to help that person through whatever God allowed to happen... or that I was ready to accept whatever came my way as a consequence of that prayer...

- But I have a feeling that somewhere at some point, somebody probably prayed that prayer for me... and I would hate to think that somebody I loved would end up forever lost... just because I was afraid to face what it would mean in my life... me being selfish should not be the cause for someone else's eternal loss...

- But in all this... Israel finally turning back to God out of desperation and saying... “well... might as well go back... cause life can't get any worse...” God says “she doesn't realize it was I who gave her everything she has—the grain, the new wine, the olive oil; I even gave her silver and gold. But she gave all my gifts to Baal.”

- Everything we have is a gift from God. Everything we gain... even in our sin... is a gift from God... think about that for a second. Even when we are far from God... even when we are rebelling... even when we are running away from God... He still gives us good gifts. But when we're in that place of rebelling against God... we turn and give our gifts to other gods. It may not be Baal in this day and age... it may be that we give our gifts to the god of money, or greed, or lust... there's a hundred things that we can worship in this world...

- What are you worshiping? What do you see as important enough to spend time on? What do you make times for?

- What kind of gifts has God given you? Have you passed over some of them? Thinking of them only as little things, or deserved things?

- What have you done with those gifts? Have you given them over to the worship of other things? Or have you used them to in turn worship the Giver of all good gifts?

- Psalm 78
- James 1:12-18
- Galatians 5:13-26

vs. 9-13

- But God says that now, He will take everything away from her. The ripened grain, the new wine... the wool and linen clothes... “I will strip her naked in public, while all her lovers look on.”

- Everything exposed. All the secrets you ever thought you could keep... out for everyone to see. No rescue. No escape. Only you... at the mercy of the hand of Almighty God... thankfully... He is full of mercy and grace... : )

- God says that He will put an end to the festivals, new moon celebrations, and Sabbath days... all the things that they used to celebrate other gods and other religions. He will destroy all the things that they claim their lovers gave them... that really came from Him... “I will let [the grapevines and fig trees] grow into tangled thickets where only wild animals will eat the fruit.”

- Nobody will want this when it's all over. Only the wild animals will want the fruit that is produced by your gifts... they won't be useful for anything else. It will be punishment for all the times Israel burned incense to Baal. All the times she put on her earrings and jewels and went out to look for lovers and forgot all about her husband... now she will be the deserted one.

- Ezekiel 16:1-63; 23:1-49
- Jeremiah 2:1-6:30

vs. 14

- But God is faithful... “I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there.”

- That doesn't sound very romantic... when I think of a man wooing a woman... I think flowers... and dinner... and sweet things... not dragging her out to the middle of the desert...

- However... the desert is a place of seclusion. It's a place where there would be no worldly distractions to pull you away from each other... The desert is the place Jesus went to do his 40 day fast. It was a place of solitude and concentration. He was able to seek the will of God. Granted Satan came to tempt Him... but it was after a time of preparation. After a time of falling in love with the father.

- footnote- “God was promising 1. to bring the people to the desert, a place free from distractions, so He could clearly communicate with them, and 2. to change what had been a time of trouble into a day of hope. The Valley of Trouble is the site where Achan had sinned by keeping forbidden war plunder (Joshua 7). He had brought great disaster to Joshua's troops when they were attempting to conquer the land. God uses even our negative experiences to create opportunities to turn back to Him. As you face problems and trials, remember that God speaks to you in the “desert” and not just in times of prosperity.”

- When there's a drought... plant roots have to go deeper to search for water. When there's a drought in your life... you have to go deeper to find nourishment just like the plants. Deeper in the Word, deeper with Christ... So sometimes... the desert is a good thing... even though it doesn't look like it.

- Isaiah 51:1-12

vs. 15-23

- Once He has Israel in the deserts, He will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of Trouble... into a gateway of hope. (see footnote above)

- Then because of His affection and love. Because she will see how much He adores her and STILL loves her and wants her, she will surrender herself to Him... just as she did when she was young and recently freed from captivity from Egypt.

- “When that day comes... you will call Me “my Husband” instead of “my Master.”

- This is not a relationship that is forced... it is God proving that He still loves you... and you responding in turn to love Him.

- There was a Jane Austen book that centered around this girl who found this man she thought was perfect. They didn't know each other very well... but basically she had a huge crush... and wasn't very concealed in her affection... At the end of the book, the statement was made that “his affection originated in nothing better than gratitude, or, in other words, that a persuasion of her partiality for him had been the only cause of giving her a serious thought.”

- Now in a romantic story... that seems a little cold. But the point is... when we know someone truly and deeply cares for us... it's hard not to return that affection. Knowing that God loves us so much that He cares for even the smallest of things in our lives... just makes Him all the more irresistible.

- When we come back to God... He erases the past. No more do we have to worry about what we have done or who we have been. In doing so, He claims us as His own precious, clean, spotless wife. No matter where we've been or what we've done... how many times or how many ways we've prostituted ourselves to the world... everything disappears. (Granted it may take some time for us to realize that and really believe it's true... but that's exactly what He does.)

- “I will wipe the many names of Baal from your lips, and you will never mention them again.”

- The thing with repentance is... you can't go back. This is not a decision you can only half make.

- Our Pastor this morning read an excerpt from an editorial by A.W. Tozer from “That Incredible Christian.”

- It said there were a few ways to look at the question of “what must I do to be saved.” But all too often, we get stuck on the “just accept Christ” idea. Which is great... except that “It shows Christ applying to us, rather than us to Him. It makes Him stand hat in hand awaiting our verdict on Him, instead of our kneeling with troubled hearts awaiting His verdict on us. It may even permit us to accept Christ by an impulse of mind or emotions, painlessly, at no loss to our ego and no inconvenience to our usual way of life.”

- This walk is not about us. It's about Christ... “There is no craven decision of offices whereby we may acknowledge His Saviorhood today and withhold decision on His Lordship till tomorrow.”

- The problem Israel had was that, yeah, they wanted God in their lives. They wanted His protection and prosperity... but they didn't want to have to follow any of His rules. So they tried to half it. In times of desperation, they would cry out to Him... every other time... they stayed and worshiped their golden idols... because they didn't require anything extra from the people. They didn't require them to go outside of their comfort zone... or outside of their desires. They (the idols) make a way for you to earn your own salvation and leave you in control. It's all about you.

- Our relationship with Christ should be “all-exclusive.” Where He is the center just as the sun is center of the universe... and our lives revolve around Him... not the other way around...

- This is a new beginning. A new start. The past is wiped away and all things become new creations. Imagine... Gomer... starting over as if a new bride. We have that same choice. Will the prodigal come home for his welcome? Or will he stay in the pig pen?

- our Pastor this morning when he was talking about people wanting God in their lives, but also wanting to continue living their own way... compared it to the prodigal, wanting to come home for his welcome and redemption... while staying in the pig pen... it doesn't work that way... We have to let God pick us up out of the muck, clean us up, and bring us home... to stay.

- If we do so, then “I will make a covenant with all the wild animals that scurry along the ground so they will not harm you. I will remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, so you can live unafraid in peace and safety.”

- God was promising to restore Israel and bring her back to the safety of His wings.

- “I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.”

- To KNOW God... not just know about Him, but intimately KNOW Him... inside and out... Wow... To know and be known...

- There have been times when I wonder if anybody really SEES me... I mean I have friends, people know me... but do they really SEE who I am. See everything that I see and know in myself... I don't think I would count many people at all that KNOW me that well... Not in every aspect anyway...

- But GOD! SEES me... and loves me anyway... If only we could SEE God the same way. Not necessarily physically... but in understanding... in knowing His character so well that we can predict His sentences... in knowing His ways so well that we know exactly what He'd do in this situation... in loving and being loved so much that it just poured out automatically to everybody we ever had any contact with at all...

- In that day... God says He will answer the sky as it pleads for clouds... the sky will answer the earth with rain. The earth will answer the thirsty cries of the grain, the grapevines, and the olive trees. They will in turn say “JEZREEL!”- God plants!

- “At that time I will plant a crop of Israelites and raise them for myself. I will show love to those I called “Not loved.” And to those I called “Not my people”, I will say, “Now you are my people.” And they will reply, “You are our God!”

- Is God Lord of your life? Are you growing in Jezreel? Or are you still hoping for rain while keeping God on the peripherals?

- Can you say “Jesus is my LORD!” And really mean that you are submitting fully? Or are you still trying to keep things back from Him?

- God is calling out to you, His people. He is asking us to meet Him in the desert. Will you come for the wedding of a lifetime?

- Isaiah 32:1-20; 54;1-56:8
- Leviticus 26:1-46
- Job 5:8-27
- Zechariah 7:4-8:23
- Joel 2:12-32
- I Corinthians 9:24-27; 15:30-34
- Matthew 25:14-30
- Luke 15:11-32