December 29 – Essential Understanding

“Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.” – Hosea 14:9 (ESV)

For those who need a promise from God that will help them in their daily here’s one found in the book of Hosea. He was the last to prophesy before Israel’s northern kingdom fell to Assyria. In the last verse in the book we find a promise. Like other promises it has consequences or blessings. Many of the promises God gives us in the Bible are instructions regarding how we respond to the wisdom. Hosea cautions us with the this thought, the wise can understand and the discerning can know that whatever the Lord does is right. When we learn from reading or preaching what the Lord wants and promises us, we can know it is right for God does not instruct us to do what is wrong, He cannot. So the conclusion is this: faith believers are upright in their belief and so they guide their lives by God’s instructions. However not all peoples are upright and obedient. Some go their own way plotting their own course and the result is a life of stumbling over the will of God. Why? Because in their refusal and rebellion they fail to understand God’s promises and fail to be discerning.  

 

199

 

January 20 – Sun and Rain

“Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” Hosea 6:3 (NIV)

This was an admonition that was very necessary in the time of the prophet Hosea. God gave the prophet a message to deliver to the people of his day which they needed to hear. They needed to remember that the Lord their God was real. We also need to hear these words and that is why God protected the writings of the prophet and has made them available to us. Yes – we need to acknowledge the Lord. We need to recognize Him in our lives and recognize His desire to be involved in our activities and in our thinking and in our decision making. When we recognize God as He has revealed Himself in His Word, then he becomes real to us. He will be as real to us as the sun that shines on us on a clear day. Recognize him through faith believing today. 

Note on faith believing.