Daily Devotional--1/14/2011

Hosea 6:1-3

¹ "Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
² After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
³ 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."

In this text we see an appeal from God for His people to repent & return to Him.

• What are the two exhortations given to God’s people [v.1a & 3a]?
• What motivations are given by God to His people for their repentance [v.1b-2,3b]?
• How does the word “that” in verses 1 & 2 reveal the loving heart of God who desires the best for His children?
• As Christians we know that God has ultimately healed us through the tearing of His own Son. The punitive judgment of God fell upon Jesus that we might be made whole. Take a moment and thank God for making you whole through the person and work of His Son.

Daily Devotional--1/13/2011

Hosea 5:8-15

⁸ "Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven; lead on, O Benjamin. ⁹ Ephraim will be laid waste on the day of reckoning. Among the tribes of Israel I proclaim what is certain. ¹⁰ Judah's leaders are like those who move boundary stones. I will pour out my wrath on them like a flood of water. ¹¹ Ephraim is oppressed, trampled in judgment, intent on pursuing idols. ¹² I am like a moth to Ephraim, like rot to the people of Judah. ¹³ "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his sores, then Ephraim turned to Assyria, and sent to the great king for help. But he is not able to cure you, not able to heal your sores. ¹⁴ For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them. ¹⁵ Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me."

In these verses we find the consequences of Israel’s unfaithfulness continue to unfold. In this text God likens himself to a moth that would devour, dry rot that would cause decay, and a lion that would destroy His people.

• How long does God say He will bring judgment upon His people? [v.15]
• How does the word “until” in verse 15 give us a picture of God’s redemptive heart?
• God desires His people to turn to Him in faithfulness & love in the face of their judgment. Who do they turn to for help, comfort, & salvation [v.13]?
• Who will you turn to and “earnestly seek” for help, comfort, & salvation when you experience the temporal consequences of your sin?

Daily Devotional--1/12/2011

Hosea 5:1-7

¹ “Hear this, you priests!
Pay attention, you Israelites!
Listen, royal house!
This judgment is against you:
You have been a snare at Mizpah,
a net spread out on Tabor.
² The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter.
I will discipline all of them.
³ I know all about Ephraim;
Israel is not hidden from me.
Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;
Israel is corrupt.

⁴ “Their deeds do not permit them
to return to their God.
A spirit of prostitution is in their heart;
they do not acknowledge the LORD.
⁵ Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;
the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin;
Judah also stumbles with them.
⁶ When they go with their flocks and herds
to seek the LORD,
they will not find him;
he has withdrawn himself from them.
⁷ They are unfaithful to the LORD;
they give birth to illegitimate children.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,
he will devour their fields.

In these verses God announces His discipline upon His faithless people.

• What is the reason given for Israel being unable to “return to their God” [v.4]?
• The text tells us that Israel has dealt “faithlessly” with the Lord [v.7]. This is essentially a reference to Israel’s hypocrisy. She observes the feasts & festivals prescribed in the law, but fails to honor God with her life.
• How might you be guilty of the same hypocrisy?

Daily Devotional--1/11/2011

Hosea 4:12-19

¹² My people consult a wooden idol,
and a diviner’s rod speaks to them.
A spirit of prostitution leads them astray;
they are unfaithful to their God.
¹³ They sacrifice on the mountaintops
and burn offerings on the hills,
under oak, poplar and terebinth,
where the shade is pleasant.
Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution
and your daughters-in-law to adultery.

¹⁴ “I will not punish your daughters
when they turn to prostitution,
nor your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
because the men themselves consort with harlots
and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—
a people without understanding will come to ruin!

¹⁵ “Though you, Israel, commit adultery,
do not let Judah become guilty.

“Do not go to Gilgal;
do not go up to Beth Aven.
And do not swear, ‘As surely as the LORD lives!’
¹⁶ The Israelites are stubborn,
like a stubborn heifer.
How then can the LORD pasture them
like lambs in a meadow?
¹⁷ Ephraim is joined to idols;
leave him alone!
¹⁸ Even when their drinks are gone,
they continue their prostitution;
their rulers dearly love shameful ways.
¹⁹ A whirlwind will sweep them away,
and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

In these verses God continues to bring accusations against His people.

• For what sins does God accuse His people [v.12,13,14]?
• How do we, like Israel, “play the whore” by adopting the commonplace practices of our culture and employ them in the service and worship of our God?
• Essentially, Israel’s sin was seeking that which only God could provide from something or someone other than God Himself. How might you be doing this?

Daily Devotional--1/10/2011

Hosea 4:1-11

¹ Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites,
because the LORD has a charge to bring
against you who live in the land:
“There is no faithfulness, no love,
no acknowledgment of God in the land.
² There is only cursing, lying and murder,
stealing and adultery;
they break all bounds,
and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
³ Because of this the land dries up,
and all who live in it waste away;
the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
and the fish in the sea are swept away.

⁴ “But let no one bring a charge,
let no one accuse another,
for your people are like those
who bring charges against a priest.
⁵ You stumble day and night,
and the prophets stumble with you.
So I will destroy your mother—
⁶ my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.

“Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law of your God,
I also will ignore your children.
⁷ The more priests there were,
the more they sinned against me;
they exchanged their glorious God for something disgraceful.
⁸ They feed on the sins of my people
and relish their wickedness.
⁹ And it will be: Like people, like priests.
I will punish both of them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.

¹⁰ “They will eat but not have enough;
they will engage in prostitution but not flourish,
because they have deserted the LORD
to give themselves ¹¹ to prostitution;
old wine and new wine
take away their understanding.

In these verses God brings formal accusations against His people on account of their unfaithfulness and sin.

• For what sins does God bring these accusations against His people [v.1-2]?
• What consequences does God pronounce for Israel’s unfaithfulness [v.3,6,7,9,10]?
• Where might you be guilty of living as if you had no knowledge of God?
• How has this affected your priestly representation of God before the world?

Hebrews 9:27-28

²⁷Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Reincarnation is the main belief about death for a Buddhist. They believe that people do not have their own individual soul, but that one’s desires and feelings may be reincarnated into another person.

• According to that verse what do Christians believe about death?
• Does it sound like there is any security in what a Buddhist believes about death?
• How would you communicate what you believe about death and eternity?

Daily Devotional--10/14/2010

Luke 3:1-6

¹In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— ²during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. ³He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
"A voice of one calling in the desert,
'Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
⁵Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
⁶And all mankind will see God's salvation.' "

Salvation for a Buddhist is to discover the Eightfold path with the goal of nirvana. Nirvana is to eliminate all desires or cravings. The path is a system to free them from any desire and eventually achieve nonexistence.

• Where will all mankind see God’s salvation?
• Christian view of salvation is very different from that of a Buddhist. How would you describe salvation through Christ alone?
• How would you describe the need for what Christ did on the cross?