Hosea 14:4

I will heal their backslidings; I will love them freely; for My anger has turned away from him.
Hosea 14:4

Everyday I wake up I struggle with the whole "sacrifice/die" thing. However, take a close look at this verse- "I will heal their backslidings; I will love them freely." Why wouldn't we want to die a little more each day to our own ways? God loves us so much. He has done so much for us. I know, a lot of these are just short devotions; but sometimes we need to just understand the concept of God- He is Love. He wants You.

Visibility: LOW

"We don't yet see clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright!" 1Corinthians 13:12

I absolutely love this! It is sooo easily understood. We don't understand or see what is happening ahead, but we can fully believe this. God has is under control. Lets try to remember that today! :)

Far from God?

"Go, take to yourself a wife of adultery and children of adultery. For the land has utterly gone lusting away from Jehovah." Hosea 1:2

So many people look at this book in the wrong light. They see a slut. They see a man who loves a slut, who must have a few screws loose to be around her. We miss the meat of the verse though. The NKJV states it this way, "the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the LORD." However, I like how the KJV puts it, "the land has utterly gone lusting away from Jehovah." "Lusting away" is an extremely vibrant yet blunt way of stating what many of us do. One week we are on fire for God and serving Him and then our "lusting" kicks in. Lusting after money, power, fame, popularity, etc. The list never ends! We are chasing everything the world has to offer yet we are getting nowhere. Think of it this way- God wants a relationship with you just as you want to have a relationship with your spouse/girlfriend or boyfriend. However, he wants to have a much closer relationship. He wants to hear about your day- everyday. He wants to hear about your needs- right when you need. If we spent just half the time working on our relationship with God as we do our relationships around us, our spiritual life would substantially improved. Believe me, I struggle everyday in this area. God wants our lives devoted 100% to Him without us running away.

And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 22:39

You just entered a room. There is laughter. People enjoying conversation. People seeing friends for the first time in a while. People meeting people. You take a seat by yourself and immediately someone comes up to you and starts talking to you. You exchange names and begin light conversation. More people begin joining in on the conversation and before you know it, you are exchanging phone numbers and saying your goodbyes. This seems like a perfect setting. A few days later you walk into another building. There is much commotion going on. You hear people talking and laughing. You notice a few smiling faces. You pass a few people who give a polite nod and hello. You take a seat by yourself and an elderly gentleman says hello. He happens to be sitting near you. A little later you get up and leave. No one says bye, no phone numbers exchanged, nothing... just silence as you leave. Sadly enough, I have just compared a church and a bar. The first one is a bar. The second one is a Church. This is what I experience everytime I enter these two establishments. From what I understand, God asks us to love our neighbors as ourselves. My thought is this- everytime we ignore that unknown person in church, is it loving them as ourselves? How do we want to be treated when we walk into church... like we are an outcast or the guest of honor?

Your First Love

But I have against you that you left your first love.
Revelation 2:4

Do you remember the first you received and discovered the love of God? Wow! What an amazing experience! The best day of your life! Things go great for the first few weeks, months, years even sometimes. Then, something happens.... You may get hurt. You might experience a horrible event. Maybe you feel as if there are not any true Christians out there. Maybe you become a little too prideful and God has to let you walk on a path by yourself so that you learn how much you need Him. This is as simple as it gets people. You may be walking down the wrong path. You may be currently serving God in a local ministry, but your walk is not what it use to be. all I'm saying is this... remember your first Love. He is still there seeking you. Wanting you. Loving you. Maybe you've never experienced this love. It is simple. Believe that God loves you regardless of your state. Know that Jesus died for your sins. Know that Jesus' sacrifice makes it possible for you to have eternal life. Ask God to forgive you, to change your life, and become your Savior. It is simple. God loves you. He is waiting for you to come to your first love.....

Fear

But whoever listens to me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
Proverbs 1:33

You ever been afraid of something? I know that there have been many times I have feared the worse, especially when it comes to something that I know I should be doing. For instance: let's say God ask you to go somewhere and be a witness. Do you hesitate because you are afraid of the outcome? It is so easy to say. God simply wants us to listen to Him and trust Him. I like how this says Whoever listens to me shall dwell safely. I understand,theologians, this is talking about wisdom. However, let's just take it from a simple standpoint. If we listen to wisdom- God is wisdom- we will be safe, and we won't be afraid of evil. We will not be afraid of the things that come against us. We will be resting in God and trusting Him to take control of the situation. There is no need to complicate matters, God simply ask for us to trust Him fully. I know I need to work on that. How's your trust in God?

Love Your Neighbor

And Jesus said to him, Go and do likewise.
Luke 10:37

One of the hardest things for Christians to do is to simply love their neighbor. Many of you will argue this point until your death. Many of you will make the assumption that you already love your neighbor because you watch their house while they are on vacation. You are wrong. What if one Christian exhausted the "love your neighbor" idea to the extremes that Christ was talking about? In the parable of the "Good Samaritan," true love is seen. A young man is beat almost to the point of death. Then, along comes the "Good Samaritan." The Samaritan picked up the young man. Bandaged up all of the young man's wounds. Took him to a Hampton Inn in his Lexus, put him in a room, and then gave the hostess $200 and said, "Hey, if he needs anything else- get it for him and charge it to this credit card." This is the ultimate "love your neighbor" scenario! The Samaritan did not know this guy from Adam but still sacrificed all that he could for him. This brings me to this thought: So many times we as Christians think that this only means a physical injury. However, that does not match the other thoughts of Christ. Christ always extended his love and help in all situations. What about the people you know who are struggling spiritually? Do they qualify for the same love and mercy? I guess my real question is this: are you willing to "Go and do likewise?"