Hosea 4 -- Warning! God Always Keeps His Promises

God conducted a “trial” against the people of the northern kingdom.  He called them out for their disloyalty to Him.  In fact, their basic sin was ignorance of God.  My commentary said, “This means much more than knowledge about God.  The Hebrew word describes a husband’s most intimate relationship with his wife.”  They’d refused to learn about God and forgotten the teachings of God.  In fact, the priests wanted people to sin more so they’d bring more food offerings, giving the priests more to eat!

The effects of this sinfulness on the nation would be disastrous.  Infertility would result from their worship of fertility idols, and their use of temple prostitutes would cause their children to become temple prostitutes.

Something the people were failing to realize was this:  “Whether to bless or to judge, God always keeps His covenant promises.”  That should serve as a wakeup call, but it didn’t.

Father, a lack of knowledge of You and Your holiness is a dangerous thing, and people ignore You at their peril.  I remember too well doing so myself.  My supposed knowledge and wisdom was foolishness because it took me away from You.  Help my sons to understand this and to not repeat my mistakes.  Grow us in our knowledge of You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Hosea 3 -- Buying Back Someone Who May Not Want To Be Bought Back

Hosea’s wife had run off and was living with another man.  Any other man wouldn’t want her back after such behavior, and he certainly wouldn’t pay money to get her back.  But that’s exactly what God told Hosea to do.  The townspeople would certainly take notice, and that’s what God intended.  This was another action sermon to grab their attention.

Remembering that we are like Gomer, we can see that God is showing His love in that, even in the depths of our unfaithfulness to Him, God bought us back – not at half the price of a slave, but at the exorbitant price of the death of His only Son.

God said that, like Hosea told Gomer, Israel would have to wait a long time for renewed intimacy with Him (they are still waiting today).

My commentary said the key word in this chapter is return.  “When Israel repents and returns to the Lord, then the Lord will return to bless Israel.”

Father, I remember how I’d been like Gomer.  I’d broken my fellowship with You, thinking that I knew better how to live my life.  But I was wrong.  You came looking for me despite my rebellion.  You initiated my return, and Your steadfast love, in spite of my actions, drew me back to You.  Thank You for having such love for me, Father!  Don’t let me ever slip away again!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Hosea 2 -- God's Love Doesn't Minimize His Holiness

This new way of looking at Hosea’s words – seeing myself as the unfaithful wife – really gets serious here.  My commentary says that though Hosea speaks so much about God’s love, he doesn’t minimize the holiness of God.  He doesn’t condone sin and pamper sinners in His love.

Hosea saw several areas where God wouldn’t let things slide:

Idolatry:

If the people acted like prostitutes with whatever had become an idol in their lives, God promised to treat them like prostitutes, shaming them publicly.  “Unfaithfulness to the Lord is a serious sin, just as unfaithfulness to one’s mate is a serious sin.  The man who says he’s 90% faithful to his wife isn’t faithful at all.”

Ingratitude:

“One of the first steps toward rebellion against God is a refusal to give God thanks for His mercies.  God will not allow us to enjoy His gifts and at the same time ignore the Giver, for this is the essence of idolatry.”

Hypocrisy:

“How easy it is to attend divine services and go through the motions of worshiping God when our hearts are really far from Him … One of the greatest judgments God can inflict on any people is to let them have their own way.  God is holy and will not permit His people to enjoy sin for long or to live on substitutes.”

God promises His love to His people here by saying:

“I will allure …”  He woos us to Him.  He never forces.

“I will give …”  He’ll take defeat and shame and turn it into victory and glory.

“I will take away…”  He’ll end idolatry among His people.

“I will betroth …” He’ll enter into a covenant relationship with each of us.

“I will respond …”  He’ll send His rich blessings.

“I will plant …”  He’ll sow His people where He wants them to be.

Wow, Father!  I’m so thankful that You wooed me back.  Thank You for giving me victory and for taking away idolatry in my life.  Keep doing that as You see it rearing its ugly head!  Thank You for making an eternal covenant with me and for blessing me.  Plant me where You want me to bless others.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Hosea 1 -- I Didn't Know I Was Gomer

Hosea was given a tough action sermon by God to be delivered through his own life.  He was told to marry a known prostitute, which would be a very gracious act for any man, but particularly a man of God.  What’s worse about it is that God knew she’d be continuing her trade.  Hosea would have to love her despite her actions.  Together, they got pregnant and she had a son, who was named to let the people know that God was about to break the power of the northern kingdom of Israel.

His wife got pregnant again, but unlike the first time, there’s no mention that the child is Hosea’s.  The baby girl’s name meat “unpitied” or “not loved”!  How sad for the little girl.  And how sad for Israel, for God was going to withdraw His love and no longer show them mercy as a nation.

My commentary had a profound comment:  “The expression of God’s love is certainly unconditional, but our enjoyment of that love is conditional and depends on our faith and obedience.”  It’s almost like God was still going to love, but He was applying a Teflon coating to those people so that none of His love could “stick”.

Hosea’s wife gets pregnant again, and again there’s no mention of the little boy being Hosea’s son.  In fact, the child’s name meant “not My people”.  My commentary said, “Not only would God remove His mercy from His people, but He would also renounce the covenant He had made with them.”  Israel would cease to exist.  Yet God does leave a message of hope:  The Israelites would one day again be too numerous to count, they would again be called “children of the living God”, and Judah and Israel would be joined together again when they recognize Messiah and submit to His rule.

The toughest part of this action sermon for us today?  We are to realize that our part is that of Gomer, not Hosea, my commentary said.  God married us, knowing we’d be unfaithful, and sure enough, we have been.  Yet He still loves us.  Our unfaithfulness produces things within us that God abhors, yet He continues to love us, as Hosea did Gomer.  Wow!  We’ll be watching ourselves as Gomer as the story unfolds, also watching God’s reactions to our own unfaithfulness to Him.

Father, I’ve not read this in this manner before.  Help me to be keenly aware of how this describes my own relationship with You; then help me to become much more faithful.  Remove my tendency to stray.  Continue to change my heart of stone into a heart of flesh that beats only for You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Philippians 4:10-23 I CAN, Through Christ!

Paul says here that he can accept all things, he can do all things, and that he has all things.  He wasn’t the victim of circumstances, but the victor OVER circumstances.

“Contentment is not complacency, nor is it a false peace based on ignorance … It’s not escape from the battle, but rather an abiding peace and confidence in the midst of the battle.  ‘I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content.’”  Paul had learned through experiences how to have contentment.

Paul listed three spiritual resources to provide contentment:  The first was God’s overruling providence – God sees to it BEFOREHAND.  Not that He simply knows beforehand.  He works in advance to “arrange circumstances and situations for the fulfilling of His purposes … Life is not a series of accidents, it is a series of appointments,” my commentary said.  I agree!

Another spiritual resource we can tap into is God’s unfailing power.  “The most important part of the Christian life is the part that only God sees … I can – through Christ! was Paul’s motto.”  J.B. Phillips’ translation of verse 13 says, “I am ready for anything through the strength of the One who lives within me.”  “The Christian has all the power within that he needs to be adequate for the demands of life.  We need only release this power by faith.”

There’s one more resource – The Unchanging Promises of God.  The Philippians had sent Paul help, but Paul didn’t see that help as coming just from Philippi.  He saw it as the supply of his needs from heaven.

“God has not promised to supply all our greeds.  When the child of God is in the will of God, serving for the glory of God, then he will have every need met,” my commentary said.

Father, give me Your abiding peace and confidence in the midst of each and every battle.  Help me learn Your contentment in every situation.  You’ve taught me that life is a series of appointments.  Now continue to teach me a new motto:  “I can, through Christ.”  Also, help me to live for You promises.  Let me see their fulfillments as Your supplying of all my needs.  As Your child, keep me in Your will, serving for Your glory, knowing that You’ve got my back!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Philippians 4:1-9 How NOT To Worry

Paul mentioned several things causing him concern, but he did not worry, and here he shows us how to not worry.

My commentary said worry is being pulled in different directions – our hopes one way and our fears another.  “From the spiritual point of view, worry is wrong thinking (the mind) and wrong feeling (the heart) about circumstances, people, and things … The antidote to worry is the secure mind … when you have the secure mind, the peace of God guards you and the God of peace guides you.”

To get this secure mind, we must meet conditions that God lays down here:  right praying, right thinking, and right living.

With right praying, we don’t rush to God and tell him our needs.  Instead, we approach the throne calmly and in deepest reverence and give Him adoration first.  Then we share with Him our needs and our problems.  Finally, we thank Him for His watchcare over us.  We don’t just ask about the big things, either.  We are to take everything to God in prayer, keeping the little things from becoming big things.  Doing this is the first step to victory over worry, I read.

“The peace of God stands guard over two areas that create worry – the heart (wrong feelings) and the mind (wrong thinking).”  About thinking, Paul told us to focus only on whatever is true (not thinking about Satan’s lies;  whatever is honest and just (not focusing on thoughts of dishonorable things); whatever is pure (majoring on high and noble thoughts, not base thoughts); and whatever has virtue (we can’t waste mind power on thoughts that tear us down or tear others down), my commentary said.

Paul also told us to concentrate on right living.  “You can’t separate outward action and inward attitude.  Sin always results in unrest, and purity ought to result in peace … Facts in the head are not enough; we must also have truths in the heart.”

Setting these principles in our lives brings about the peace of God, and “the peace of God is one test of whether or not we are in the will of God … If we are walking with the Lord, then the peace of God and the God of peace exercise their influence over our hearts.  Whenever we disobey, we lose that peace and we know we have done something wrong.  God’s peace in the umpire that calls us out.”

Father, I want a secure mind that causes me not to worry.  Help me to have right praying, right thinking, and right living so that worry will not gain a foothold in my life.  Help me to have Your peace.  I trust You, God!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Philippians 3:17-21 Living In The Future Tense

My commentary calls these verses “Living in the Future Tense” and we find Paul weeping for professed Christians who were living for earthly things.  He said, “Many people are living like enemies of the cross of Christ.”  Paul has been talking about Christians, so something is wrong with Christians here, he says, that will end in their destruction.

First, they are doing whatever their bodies want.

Secondly, they are proud of their shameful acts.

Also, they think only about earthly things.

They were to be spiritually minded – “looking at earth from heaven’s point of view,” seeing things as God sees them.  When we do this, “we stop being attracted by things of this world.  We make decisions on the basis of eternal values and not the passing fads of society.”

We even see today people who profess to be citizens of heaven but whose lives don’t show it – there’s no evidence that the Holy Spirit is controlling their lives.  They’re energized by the flesh and they get all the glory, my commentary said.

In contrast, a true believer crucifies the flesh and the world.  “It is the cross that is central in the life of the believer.”  We are looking for our Savior to return, and “there is tremendous energy in the present power of a future hope.  Abraham looked for a city, so he was content to live in a tent … Because of the joy set before Him, Jesus was willing to endure the cross.”  We should do the same – knowing that He’s coming back for us we should be content to obey, not living for the things of this world.  “What we do today is governed by what Christ will do in the future,” my commentary added.

Verse 21 says Christ will “subdue all things unto Himself.”  My commentary says that means “to arrange in ranks,” and that our problem today is that we don’t arrange things in their proper order.  So we waste energy on useless activities; also we allow our vision to be clouded by these things, to the point that Christ’s return isn’t our primary motivation for living.  It says we have to let Christ arrange the things in life according to their proper rank, living with eternity’s values in view.

Father, allow me to see things from Your point of view every day.  Don’t let me get my priorities out of order from Yours.  Keep me motivated to do what You want me to be doing.  I want that tremendous energy that comes from the present power of my future hope!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford