11/3/11 Hosea 14 Fruitfulness with God

¹ Return, Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall!
² Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him:  “Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
³ Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.”
⁴ “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.
⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots;
⁶ his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree,
his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
⁷ People will dwell again in his shade; they will flourish like the grain,
they will blossom like the vine—   Israel’s fame will be like the wine of Lebanon.
⁸ Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him.
I am like a flourishing juniper; your fruitfulness comes from me.”
⁹ Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand.
The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Thoughts: Verse 4 us the turning point- "I will heal their waywardness and love them freely."  When they bring words of forgiveness into God's presence- asking for his mercy, He will be merciful.  The vision of what happens when we turn back to God is a vision of tremendous fruitfulness.  There is wetness, life, blossom, growth, fragrance from the bloom.  The wise do not seek to rebel against God, but understand that the Lord's ways- found in scripture- is the right way.  Rebels fall tripping themselves up, but those who turn to God are helped.  It is the same today.  If we return to God- turn  back to Him- He will love us so freely and mercifully. 

Prayer: I turn back to you, O Lord.  Cause me to blossom and bear fruit for you. 

John Calvin Abridged: They had not only been deaf to God, but also mute to Him.  So now God bids them to not only be attentive to the word of the Lord, but be prompt to respond.  God is not generous toward people because he expects or demands anything from them (for what can we give/ render to the Lord?).  Yet He still requires thanskgiving- a sacrifice of praise.

10/12/11 Amos 4:6-13

⁶ “I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD.
⁷ “I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another.
One field had rain; another had none and dried up.
⁸ People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink,
yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD.
⁹ “Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, destroying them with blight and mildew.
Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD.
¹⁰ “I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword,
along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps,
yet you have not returned to me,” declares the LORD.
¹¹ “I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire,  yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the LORD.
¹² “Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, Israel,
prepare to meet your God.” ¹³ He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind,
and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness,
and treads on the heights of the earth— the LORD God Almighty is his name.

(Texas drought 2011)

Thoughts: Amos points out that God has tried to stir people up so that they would return to Him.  God is the One who forms the mountains who makes the winds (and rain) gave them famine, drought, mildew, plagues so that they would cry out for help to God.  But they did not.  God would have saved them, but they refused to come- even though they were a burning stick.  God would have snatched his people from the fire. 
     In the past, when there has been an economic recession or depression, people call out to God for help, and the leaders look to God for help as well.  Today, people refuse to call to God.  But help is not found in politicians, or other countries, or from the wealthy.  Our help is in the name of the Lord who made the heavens and the earth. 

Prayer: Help me to always come back to you, O Lord.  For you are my help and strength.