Become A Living Sacrifice

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KJB Daily DevotionFollowing Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Thursday, July 19, 2018
Chapters: Hosea 1-7
Message: Become A Living Sacrifice

Hello My Friend,

The book of Hosea contains fourteen chapters, the author of the book is Hosea and it was written to Israel. The timeline for these events were approximately 790BC to 725BC, same as when Isaiah prophesied in Judah. The purpose of the book was to alert Israel to her sinful condition and bring her back to God. What we are to learn from the book is that, only from affliction can we truly learn of God’s love, mercy, and grace for all who seek and or return to Him. “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.” – Hosea 14:4.

For centuries God dealt with His creation as a whole, but when the world became so wicked that His only option was to destroy everything He narrowed it down to dealing with one family, Noah’s. Of course, it did not take long before the world to get corrupted again, thanks to our sin nature, and God narrowed it down again with one man, Abraham. God promised Abraham that he would have so many kids it would be like trying to count the grains of sand. Of course, more corruption so He narrowed it down even further, the children of Jacob, also known as Israel. God chose to use Israel as an example for the rest of the world to follow, His purpose was to show all nations that He is the only living God, and how blessed they can be by acknowledging, following, and worshiping only Him. And guess what? It worked, many people from other races or creeds chose the only living God and their Creator over their man made gods, but Israel has not always been the best example, in fact, they were even more corrupt than those in the world. To show Israel how displeased He was with them and how much He did love them, God turns to Hosea, a prophet, and has an unusual request of him to show Israel how their state, and what was about to happen to them, He asks him to take a prostitute as a wife.

So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son. Then said God, Call his name Loammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” – Hosea 1:3-10.

that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people,” Whenever God allows a Godly person to interact with an ungodly one you have to wonder what He is up to. The names of three children that Hosea had were Jezreel, meaning, God scatters, a sign of their scattering that is about to take place, Loruhamah, meaning, uncompassionated, a sign of the utterly ruined condition of the kingdom of Israel, and Loammi, meaning, not my people, a sign of God’s rejection of the kingdom. God may have promised Abraham that his seed would be as the sand of the sea, but He did not promise that they would all be His. However, there is hope for them, one day they will be His once again. God laments a bit over the state of His people, as an adulteress woman.

And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now. For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.” – Hosea 2:7-8,14-16,19-20.

For she did not know that I gave her corn,” People are oblivious to the blessings of God. Sadly, more and more children are growing up not even knowing that God exists, and thanks to the world, and public schools pushing evolution as fact, they have no idea that life does not end here. One thing we should realize is that God knows what His people are capable of, when we turn away from Him, He turns away from us, He never leaves us, but He will not watch us living in sin, and will turn His face from seeing it. Again, using Hosea’s wife, God shows Israel that He still loves them and wants them back as she left Hosea and went back to her life as a prostitute.

Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.” – Hosea 3:1-5.

So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver,” Do you see the resemblance here? A husband loved his wife so much that he was willing to pay the debt she owed for her freedom? This is an exact mirror of Jesus Christ, because we are sinners we owe a payment for our sin debt, and that payment is death and hell. However, God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten Son and He made that payment with His blood. One day, all the children of Israel (God) will come together and be with Him in His Kingdom, where Christ will reign as King. In the meantime God chooses to deal with His people as though they are an adulterous spouse, with no remorse for what they have done. Through Hosea, God addresses His not even acknowledging them.

Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God. They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery. I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.” – Hosea 4:1-2,6,12-14.

because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.” People die every single day and end up in hell, even church going, following the rules of their religion people, because they lack the knowledge they needed to know and accept Christ as their Saviour before they died. Ignorance never saves us, and it is not that God does not want to save them, it is because they never took the time to listen to His Word when they had the opportunity. God promised Israel that even though He turned His back to them, He would always be there when they return to Him.

The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water. Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment. Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness. When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound. For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him. I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.” – Hosea 5:10-15.

till they acknowledge their offence,” God wants to help us, He does not want to see us going through unnecessary suffering, but we must first admit our sin and come to Him willingly. Unless they are reprobates, God gives all people the opportunity to learn of Him and turn to His Son. However, those that either trusted in themselves or their religion and die have lost that opportunity. God’s purpose in showing Israel all this was to show them that they were living an adulterous life with the idols they created, He was going to remove Himself from their presence and they were going to be judged and scattered all over the world. Still today, Jews and even Christians are scattered all over the world because of this. God’s gift of free will says that we choose the life we want to live, and if we are going to live in our own will, we will suffer, and while we do suffer from time to time even in God’s will, it is better to suffer in His will than our own. Until we one acknowledge God, and two come to Him through His Son there is nothing He can do to intervene.

Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” – Hosea 6:-3,6.

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice;” God’s desire for us is not that we come to Him with our sacrifices of forgiveness all the time, but that we seek Christ and only Him. Are we perfect? No. Are we sinless? No. God loves us anyway, He sent His Son for that reasons, and if we seek Him His mercy endures to the end, and beyond. God does not want sacrifices, He wants you to give Him your all, and that means giving your life as a living sacrifice. Jesus gave you life through His death, He gave you eternal life through His resurrection, the least we can do to thank Him is being that living sacrifice. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” – Romans 12:1-2.

Jesus Christ Magnified: “Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.” – Hosea 3:5.

Today’s Prayer: God, Sometimes it can be so confusing following Your will because it just seems like something that does not come from You. While we may not always understand Your will, there will come a day when we will see the purpose of it, and if not the important thing to remember is that we trusted You. No matter what we go through, whether it’s joyous or grievous, we will be blessed and find meaning in life as we remain faithful to You. Lord, give us Your power, wisdom, and guidance to live in Your will, help us to understand and know if the things we are doing is in Your will or something we are doing ourselves. Give us Your strength, mercy, grace, and patience as we grow closer to Your Son. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,

Christina

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