Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:5-6
In the post “Seeking the Best Direction and Guidance”, shared was how spiritual decline led to God’s wrath being poured out on Israel. The Bible gives us a chance to learn from mistakes made in the past and provides a better understanding of the best way to live.
Only God can transform from the inside out; making intangibles like faith, hope, and love into tangible blessings. Today’s video emphasizes this transformation that God can make: Busted Heart – For King & Country.
The charges God brings against Israel as listed in Hosea 5-6 included corruption, arrogance, unfaithfulness, and idol worship. The religious and political leaders were responsible for the spiritual decline as they promoted war instead of peace; worshiped idols rather than seeking direction and guidance from God.
The consequences of their lack of leadership were severe as God’s wrath was poured out. We are told that crops were destroyed from drought, wars broke out, and disease consumed the land. Ephraim turned to Assyria for help rather than repenting and seeking God’s help.
The Bible gives us some amazing information so we can learn from the mistakes made by others in the past. There are things we can learn from history that will help in making decisions in the future. If we can mix in old ways of doing life the proper way with new ways of doing life with God’s guidance, we have a better blue print for the best way to go for the future.
The problems we go through in life are not stop signs; they are guidelines and it is during tough times that God provides sure signs of a brighter future. It’s a lie to say that God is not in control. A lie the world tells us is to do things on your own without any help. But I say, work with others, accept the help God gives in Christ, and accept the obvious as truth.
Lord, we humbly come to You today … thankful for Your Word that teaches us about how to best live life. Just as Israel neglected Your guidance, generation after generation in present times seem to fall into the same trap; being drawn in by the thoughts and ideas of this world rather than seeking Your perfect Way to live out our life. Only You can transform us from the inside out; making the unseen qualities like faith, hope, and love valuable treasures that bless us in this life and beyond. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Let us go back to the Purpose ToolTemplate at this Link. Click on the tab at the bottom labeled List of Dreams and use this to record any other dreams as you spend extra time dreaming and thinking about this list.
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. – Proverbs 4:7
In the post “What’s the Cure”, explained was how the incentives were upside down during Hosea’s time in Israel. Isn’t it amazing that the incentives seem to be upside down in societies throughout our world today! One thought brought out in the post was that governments throughout the world go into debt for rewarding the wrong behavior.
There is an incentive for governments to make people dependent on them rather than God. Even the United States seems to no longer put an emphasis on being “One Nation Under God”. Instead of being wise, being efficient, and productive as individuals, the aim is to promote discontent and chaos. Perhaps the reason is that society is in disarray and laws are not enforced.
When laws are not enforced, there is no accountability in society and a lack of morality is pushed throughout the culture. The worse off the people become, the more government solutions are pushed. Then to support government solutions, people are taxed to support the dependence. This only makes the harmful government institutions grow even larger and more tyrannical.
Over time, governments grow but go into more and more debt. Then governments tax more and this limits what people can create on their own; limiting their gifts to churches and non-profits. The vicious cycle continues from generation to generation. Unfortunately, people then have fewer opportunities to get out of the second-rate living conditions they have been forced into by the government.
The only cure is through accepting God’s grace. The Great Physician diagnosed adultery, stealing, and murder; the prognosis was emptiness, failure, and disappointment. But by accepting God’s grace, there is a cure and His people can also acquire the positive lessons of life through the study of His Word!
God’s way leads to wisdom and understanding. As in this video, God knows how we should live and His Word provides the instruction: He Knows – Jeremy Camp.
Reading in Hosea 3-4, Gomer left Hosea and became an adulteress. In order for Hosea to live with her again, Gomer had to stop being a prostitute and being intimate with other men (v. 3). This type of reunion depicts God’s relationship with Israel as the people would live for many days without a king or prince. Afterwards the Israelites would return; seek the Lord their God and His blessings (v. 5).
Within this passage, we are given an indictment towards Israel and the reason for their suffering. There was murder, adultery, and stealing throughout the land. The leaders gave the people the wrong incentives that promoted sinfulness. Instead of instructing the people towards dependence on God and morality, they led them towards idolatry and immorality.
The more the people sinned, the more the priest received because a sin offering was given to the priest (v. 7). The incentives were upside down much like the incentives are upside down in societies throughout our world today. Think about it, governments are going into tremendous debt throughout the world because they manipulate interest rates to try and stimulate the economy. They also give more incentives to negative behavior rather than to positive behavior.
What’s the cure? Certainly not government. I submit that the cure is God’s grace. Once received, one can gain wisdom to live the way life is meant to be lived. Lord, we come to You today asking for Your forgiveness and accepting Your grace. Without You, our days ahead would look bleak but with You, every trial we go through adds wisdom and every challenge brings triumph. In Jesus name we pray. Amen
