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!

Scripture:

Isaiah 26:3-4

"3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock."

Where Do You Find Your Peace?

Isaiah teaches us something so important about something that most of us need in our lives: "PEACE."    I confess that I have not always been good at looking for it in the right place.  Sometimes we look to people for our peace, other times it is in the security of our job, our bank, and still other times it is our surroundings, the time we are in.  But Isaiah says: "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you."  

Peace that He Brings

It is perfect

Perfect Peace: In the original Hebrew, the phrase for "perfect peace" is literally shalom shalom,

peace peace. This repetition is meant to emphasize completeness, soundness, and a deep, unbroken state of mind that isn't dependent on your current circumstances

My Peace is in HIM

A Steadfast Mind: The peace is conditional on the mind being "stayed" on God. This means keeping your thoughts fixed, settled, and focused on Him rather than on worldly anxieties or problems

Trust and Refuge: The foundation for this peace—an ongoing, eternal trust in the Lord, who is the "everlasting rock", the solid ground we can depend on and put our trust in.

Our God-Shot today is that our peace is found in Him.  If you and I want peace, we can find it in Him.   Fixing our thoughts on Him, His way, His leading, He will lead me into places of rest.  As I put my trust in Him, I will find the stability for my life in Him.   

Lord, keep our minds stayed on you and our trust in you.  Don't allow the things of this world to distract us, keep our focus on you, and our paths straight, set on your ways, in Jesus' name, Amen!