Hosea 9-11

9/4/2015

My favorite verse (I do not like the term “life verse” because all verses in God’s Word should be for your life) from the Bible is Philippians 4:4. It states, “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again rejoice.” This statement from Paul has taught me that no matter the circumstance in my life, both good and bad, I should have joy in the Lord. This means when my joy rest in who God is for me and the glory I can bring Him, my joy should never be ending or ceasing. But then I read Hosea 9:1. That verse states this, “Do not rejoice Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God…” So how do I reconcile these 2 verses together? Well, God was telling His people not to have joy because they were unfaithful or disobedient. God was telling His people that because they were being rebellious, so they should not have joy and until they repented of that rebellion, they should neither celebrate nor experience any joy in their lives. That told me, to obey the Lord is to rejoice in Him and to have joy in God is to obey what He tells me to do. That challenged me to the fact of obeying God is equal to joy in God. And if I am rejoicing in the Lord, I had better be obeying what He tells me to do. So that has asked me 2 questions that I am thinking about today.

1-Do I obey God with a joyful spirit?

2-If I claim to rejoice in God and enjoy Him only, is obedience a part of that?

2 Comments

Bruce

9/4/2015 06:23:42 pm

To me this book is pretty confusing. I read how God is going to turn from his people then he is not going to turn from them. I understand that people turned from him first and he is going to hold them accountable, as he should. Not getting much sleep lately, so maybe it's just me being tired. I will keep tuning in to see what i can pick up on from others.

Tammy

9/5/2015 04:35:36 am

i agree that it it's difficult....it's warning after warning...but they are not responding to God. They are being reminded of their sin...but it doesn't seem to be doing any good in changing them. This is the pattern for the Israelites. They are Gods chosen people because of the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob....however they are sometimes too confident in that promise to think they can do as they please. Honestly we are just like them.....how many times do we pray only when things aren't going good....or use God like a lucky charm to get what we think we "need". He is always faithful to His children. I believe these accounts are recorded in the Bible to teach us what we already know in our hearts. Our God is there....always....but we have to do our part in obeying His words and we will receive the full blessing He intends us to have. All He's Ever wanted from the beginning is a relationship with us....His creation...because we love Him above all else and want to be with our Father.
I jumped ahead to chapter 14. Verse 9 is a blessing.

Hosea 9-11

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