Scripture:

Isaiah 38:1-4

1 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” 2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

He is Able

What happens when we are faced with trouble, evil days, when things that were not expected happen, when we are in the middle of a storm?   Our knee-jerk reaction  is "what am I going to do?" Panic hits us, fear strikes us, we begin to size up our problem based on our own ability, our own strength, and we decide that we fall short, we are not able, it becomes overwhelming.

But God...

In His hands, everything changes.   Did you know He can add more time to your days (Proverbs 3:2), and here we see He can add more days to your life.  My life, your life, your situation is not determined by circumstances, but rather by the presence of God in it.    God is able to save us, to redeem us from our trouble, from our evil days, from our circumstances.   Hezekiah turned to the Lord and humbled himself before the Lord and cried out, and the Lord heard Him, that is what brings power into your situation.

Our God-Shot today is, don't size your problems up by your ability, your strength; focus on the strength and the power and the ability of your God "who is ABLE."   2 Timothy 1:12  Paul says, "I know the God I serve; He is able."   So today, don't see the size of your problem; see the size of your God, and that will change how you pray, what you see, and what happens next.

Lord, open our eyes to see your great presence, in our need meet us, what seems impossible for us is possible for you, you can hold time back, you can add days to our lives, time to our days, you are able, when we are not, and in your loving kindness, I ask that you would go before us today, conquer the enemy, bring peace in our days, help those struggling to overcome difficulties today, in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

Isaiah 30:15

"For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, 'In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.' But you were unwilling,"

The Lord is speaking to rebellious people, those who stand on self-reliance, who have taken their own path, and forgotten God. He says these words, "But  you were unwilling."   This phrase is heartbreaking as it reminds us that we reject God with our choices; it is our will it is more than a one-time act; rather, it is a series of choices.   

But in God's grace, He provides the answer to this rebelliousness;  He says it is in "Returning" and "Rest" that you will be saved.  Returning/Repentance, changing your mind, choosing to return to the Lord, in "REST": Ceasing from human striving and anxiety, choosing instead to find peace in God's sovereignty.   Instead of choosing my way, finding rest in His WAY.

Our God-Shot today is:   His Way is Better.   When I find myself even in micro-rebellions, I must remember that it is the little things that drag me away, before I know it I will be far from Him, I must pursue the Lord and mind my distance, mind my attitudes and most of all I must find my REST in HIS WAY.

Lord, I pray for those who find themselves distant from you today, that they would turn, that they would change their mind, that they would find rest in your way, and cease striving to be self-reliant, but be God-Reliant, depending on you, pursuing you, trusting in you, in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

Hosea 13:6

When they had pasture, they were filled;
They were filled and their heart was exalted;
Therefore they forgot Me.

"Remember Him"

This verse should sting for all of us, because all of us have prioritized the wrong things in the fat days. When things were going right, we lost sight of the one who provided all that we needed.   Often you see in the Word where men boasted about all they had, or all they had done, and in their feeling of greatness it was there that they fell.    There is this quote by G. Michael Hopf that says: 

"Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times. " 

This is because in hard times we remember where our strength comes from; we depend on God, we push into Him,  and it is in those times that we reap the favor of God, because of our nearness to Him, our pursuit of Him, but then in the blessing like sheep who forget they were hungry after grazing, so we forget our great need of the shepherd.   

The Lord says, "They were filled, and their heart was exalted; Therefore they forgot Me."

Our God-Shot today is that we would remember the Lord always, remember our great need for Him in our lives, that there isn't a time that He is not our provider, our shelter, our strength. This verse is a warning not to let the fat days lead us back to lean days, to draw near to the Lord always.

Father, forgive us when, because of good times, we lost sight of our need for you, where we lived the fire-alarm Christian life.   Let us always remember our great need for you, your presence, your provision; let our hearts and our minds be stayed on you.  When you are our shepherd, we lack nothing, but apart from you, life is a struggle; we pray you keep us near in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

Hosea 3:1-2

Then the LORD said to me, “GO again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the LORD for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans.   So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley.

“Relentless Love”

Hosea is a picture story given by God to the people who were at the time far from Him, lost, separate.   God demonstrates through the Prophet Hosea this relentless love.    It demonstrates Paul's depiction of God’s love in Romans 8:38-39:

³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[a] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~Romans 8:38-39

The Love of God pursues us, even when we are far from Him; He is seeking to “REDEEM” us, to turn our hearts back to Him.   So whenever the enemy tries to convince you that you are alone or unloved, or forgotten, remember this: that He has never left you, never forsaken you, not even when you did, that His love “PURSUES.”

LOVE COSTS

There is a price for Love, and God paid the ultimate price for you and I to redeem us, His Son…  This is the second part of this picture story: that God’s love is “Redeeming” and that it came at a great price (John 3:16), the giving of His Son.

Our God-Shot today is that we are LOVED by God and His love is pursuing us, redeeming us, drawing us back to Him, that we would turn our whole hearts toward Him, in surrender, in completeness, that we would live our lives surrendered to His plan, His way, His love.

Lord, I pray for those who are lost, who with their lives have rejected you, who are wandering in the darkness, that you would redeem them from the pit, that you would turn their hearts back to you, in your great love, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

Scripture:

2 Chronicles 31:21

21 In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.

What Prospers a Man/Woman of God?

Things were in a bad way when Hezekiah began his reign; his father Ahaz had turned God's people away, and as a result were scattered and in bad shape.  2 Kings 18:3 "And He did what was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father David had done."   This verse reminds us that we don't have to repeat the patterns of the generations before us, we don't have to live in the curse of those who went before us that did not serve the Lord, Hezekiah was set on serving the Lord, being different, set apart, so much so that he calls David his father, and Hezekiah would have been a 12-generation grandson to David.

What prospered Hezekiah was his heart for the Lord and his heart not to be conformed to the patterns of the world, nor the generations that preceded him.   

Three things that prosper us:

• Wholehearted (mind, body, soul) devotion to the Lord, giving your whole life not just pieces.
• Obedience (doing what the Lord requires, being in Christ, living out your walk with the Lord, in obedience). The Lord loves obedience over sacrifice.
• Unto the Lord  (In all we do, we must do it for the Lord; our motives should be always to please God)

Our God-Shot today is that our lives prosper as a result of wholehearted pursuit of the Lord, a surrendered life that seeks to do what the Lord tells us, and to do everything with all our heart, mind, and soul unto the Lord.   This is what blesses, what prospers us.

Lord, may they say of us "He/She wholeheartedly served the Lord all the days of their life."  May our portion be in Him, our lives be committed to Him, to serve Him, His purpose, let us not live in the wreckage and mistakes of the generations before us, in Jesus' name, Amen!