Hosea 6:1-9:17 + 3 John 1:1-15 + Psalm 126:1-6 + Proverbs 29:12-14
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Old Testament – Today we get 4 chapters of Hosea, with pretty much a continuation of prophesying by God via Hosea on what’s going to happen to Israel due to her unfaithfulness and many sins. Hosea chapter 6’s first 2 verses start things off on what seem like a hopeful note. However, commentaries suggest that this was a very shallow pledge by Israel: “Come, let us return to the LORD! He has torn us in pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. In just a short time, he will restore us so we can live in his presence.” Even if this is a shallow pledge from Israel, I do really like verse 3 too: “Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him!” Are we pressing on in our lives to know God? Are we returning to God? Are we seeking to continually live in His presence?
God’s reply to all of this in verse 6 is fantastic: “I want you to be merciful; I don’t want your sacrifices. I want you to know God; that’s more important than burnt offerings.” Are there times in our lives where we try to bring “sacrifices” of prayer or pledges of repentance or works, when really what we should be bringing to God is mercy for others and just simply the desire to know God? Do our “acts” of repentance sometimes get in the way of our actual love relationship with God?
Chapter 7 Verse 16 stood out to me today as well: “They look everywhere except to heaven, to the Most High.” If we are hurting, sad, tired, do we look to things other than God? Do we look to “quick fixes” from things of this world that are not healthy for us? Do these “quick fixes” really fix the problem? Are we looking everywhere except to heaven, to the Most High? Will we look only for the Most High – God?
New Testament – Today we start and finish the book of Third John! Yes, it is quite a lengthy letter… 🙂 This letter, like the 2 before it were written by the disciple John in about 85 to 95 A.D. The purpose of this letter is actually somewhat the opposite of the purpose of Second John. In Second John – see yesterday’s post below – we learned that John was warning against providing hospitality to traveling false teachers. In Third John, John is asking Gaius to show hospitality to traveling teachers – but teachers that are teaching the truth. The unfortunate aspect of today’s letter is that there is a bit of a dictator leading the local church named Diotrephes who is not welcoming in traveling teachers who teach the truth – the Gospel. So, I think we can learn from Second John & Third John that hospitality is obviously a very good thing – though, we should exercise caution with hospitality when there is danger of propagating a false teaching.
~ Third John ~
Author: John the apostle
Place: Uncertain, probably Ephesus
Date: A.D. 85-95
Content: This short letter is a personal note from John the apostle to his friend Gauis, encouraging him to support the traveling evangelists who are preaching the truth. He warns Gauis against such men as Diotrephes who refuse to help in spreading the gospel and commends others, such as Demetrius, for helping.
Theme: Christians are to support one another in the work of Christ. Not to do so is the work of Satan, who seeks to destroy the believers. John stresses that all believers are bound together as Christians and should work for the common good of all. (Above commentary is from Tyndale Publishers “The One Year Bible Companion” p. 34) A great overview of Third John by Daniel Wallace is at this link. Below is a marble statue of John by the artist Donatello from the year 1410 –
Verse 11 stands out in this letter, following John’s writing about Diotrephes behavior – “Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.” Do we have examples of good and bad leaders in our life? Do we follow only the example of the good? Do you believe following the example of people doing good is proof that we are children of God?
Psalms – Psalm 126 has a great verse today. I always love the verses in Psalms that speak about water! I don’t know what it is about these verses, but here’s verse 4: “Restore our fortunes, LORD, as streams renew the desert.” Do you believe that God can restore your life like water restores the desert? Will you allow God’s water into all the nooks & crannies in your life that are in need of renewal?
Do you believe that God is living water? Are you thirsty for that living water in your life? Will you drink the Water?
Proverbs – Proverbs 29 verse 13 is a great reminder that we are all made in the image of God – “The poor and the oppressor have this in common–the LORD gives light to the eyes of both.” Is one better than the other? Are both equal in God’s sight? Should both be equal in our sight?
Worship Video: Today’s readings in Third John remind me of the Charlie Hall song “Marvelous Light:”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAQJKZJB-kE
Are you running in the Marvelous Light? Click here and Run!
Please join us in memorizing and meditating on a verse of Scripture today: “Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.” 3 John 1:11 (NIV)
Prayer Point: Pray that you are not imitating anything that is evil – ever. Pray that you are pursuing only that which is good. Pray that you are pursuing God wholeheartedly.
Comments from you: What verses or insights stand out to you in today’s readings? Please post up by clicking on the “Comments” link below!
God bless,
Mike
p.s. Download our monthly Small Group study notes for our Bible readings at this link.
p.s. #2 – Download a schedule of our Bible readings for the year in PDF format at this link.
p.s. #3 – I would greatly appreciate it if you would pray for this Bible Blog ministry today! Please also consider partnering with us by financially supporting this ministry. Thank you!
BLOG READERS HISTORICAL COMMUNITY COMMENTS:
======= Ramona:
Hosea 6-9:17
COME AND let us return to the Lord, for He has torn so that He may heal us; He has stricken so that He may bind us up. After two days He will revive us (quicken us, give us life); on the third day He will raise us up that we may live before Him. [Isa. 26:19; Ezek. 37:1-10.] Yes, let us know (recognize, be acquainted with, and understand) Him; let us be zealous to know the Lord [to appreciate, give heed to, and cherish Him]. His going forth is prepared and certain as the dawn, and He will come to us as the [heavy] rain, as the latter rain that waters the earth.
(Hosea 6:1-3 AMP)
The above words are convicting especially when you read everything after verse three which is God’s charge against the people who speak these words. I am good at making mental assents to things I need to do, should do; however, doing them is another thing. Talk is cheap and talking is not the same as doing but I want the talking to count as if it was a done deal. As part of my e-mail, personal e-mail, signature I have,
Change is not change until it’s changed. Talking and doing or not doing is like that. Until I walk the walk instead of just talking the talk, I am counted as a hypocrite, Yikes! We want other to give us credit for talking, “Well, you know I said I was going to do it and I meant too …” That is just hot air blowing past a couple of muscles we call vocal cords.
I think so few of us really get into the Bible and read it because it is so convicting. People try to say that this book contradicts itself and that usually means they haven’t read or studied it, I know I use to say that. But it truth, the reading of the Word really contradicts our behavior and that’s not something we find hard to face and accept.
My toes seem to have been stepped on by the Word.
Grace and peace,
Ramona
======= Anthony:
Ramona, Amen to that!!!! The ‘mouth’and the ‘feet’! Have the same experience. I seem to have the ability to get things started, organized, set up, functioning and then that’s it. Works well as the entrepreneur but not so well as the manager of development, spiritual otherwise. Implementation seems to escape me and that is where the ‘feet’ come in. Struggling to deal with lack of follow through is daunting and at times very discouraging and periodically depressing. But, need to keep moving on through all that and pray for help, which in my mind can be interpreted as ‘doing’ something, which it is NOT. Seems like a cycle at times but I’m looking to break out from that and get headed down the road and have a more meaningful relationship with Jesus in a real and practical way. Need a tremendous amount of help though and I suspect that will come with persistence.
Anthony
======= Jan:
This is in regard to what Ramona posted about “talk” being cheap or actually costly to some. I am reading an excellent book, “Breaking Christian Curses/Finding Freedom from Destructive Prayers.” One of my goals for next year is to guard my thoughts & lips; always trying to speak blessing instead of cursing. I don’t think we realize just how powerful the words we speak are toward anyone (especially our family of God). I don’t think we even realize that we are cursing when we do it (not cussing, but cursing)…NEGATIVE TALK OR DECLARATIONS. This book will really open your (mine for sure) eyes about doing such & what it causes in us in relation to both ways; those who speak & those who receive the cursing or blessing. I know it is a lofty goal, but one none the less that I pray to accomplish or at least work on for the next 365 days & on.
Jan
======== Mae:
“Restore our fortunes, LORD, as streams renew the desert.” Do you believe that God can restore your life like water restores the desert? Will you allow God’s water into all the nooks & crannies in your life that are in need of renewal?
~ I absolutely believe that God can restores lives like water restores the desert. He did it with my life. Days before I got saved I was afraid nothing good could come out of my life anymore. I was sorry for Jaden, my son, I felt guilty for bringing him into my life, cause there was nothing left of it. It actually felt like a desert: dry, nothing to grow and boring. The day that I got saved was a wonderful day and I immediately felt the water flowing! I think water and a desert is a good example. Water is healthy, it clears out the body and I truly believe that happened to me when I found Jesus.
Mae
===== Laura:
Mae: Welcome to the family of God. I hope all is well with your son Jaden. Is he saved too? I am sure that you have been a good witness and good mother to him. When you love your family and others, that love will be returned to you. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and are filled with God’s love and Joy.
My sister who is a pastor sent this E-mail to our family. She received it from one of her parishioners. Enjoy:
Subject: A Letter
Dear Children,
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are
taking My name out of the season. Maybe you’ve forgotten that I wasn’t
actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your
predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually
a time of pagan festival. Although I do appreciate being remembered
anytime.
How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most
easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of
your own. I don’t care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate
My birth just, GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Now, having said that
let Me go on.
If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn’t allow a scene
depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen
and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My
followers did that there wouldn’t be any need for such a scene on the
town square because there would be many of them all around town.
Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday
tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can
and may remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if
you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I
am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have
forgotten that one, look up John 15:1 – 8.
If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my
wish list. Choose something from it.
1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My
birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to
soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time
of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.
2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don’t have to know them
personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
3. Instead of writing George complaining about the wording on the
cards his staff sent out this year, why don’t you write and tell him
that you’ll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow
up, and pray. It will be nice hearing from you again.
4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can’t afford
and they don’t need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My
birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your
arms and remind them that I love them.
5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or
her.
6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take
their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless?
Since you don’t know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a
warm smile it could make the difference. Also, you might consider
supporting the local Hot-Line: they talk with people like that every
day.
7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town
calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them
a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren’t allowed to wish you a
“Merry Christmas” that doesn’t keep you from wishing them one.
Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn’t make so much
money on that day they’d close and let their employees spend the day at
home with their families.
8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary,
especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never
heard My name. You may already know someone like that.
9. Here’s a good one. There are individuals and whole families in
your town who not only will have no “Christmas” tree, but neither will
they have any presents to give or receive. If you don’t know them (and
I suspect you don’t) buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the
Marines, the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me
and they will make the delivery for you.
10. Finally if you want to make a statement about your belief in
and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don’t do things in
secret that you wouldn’t do in My presence. Let people know by your
actions that you are one of mine.
P.S. Don’t forget that I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love
Me and do what I have told you to do. I’ll take care of all the rest.
Check
out the list above and get to work; time is short. I’ll help you, but
the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas
with all those whom you love. And remember,
I LOVE YOU.
Jesus
-Laura
======= Sue:
While it seems clear to me that every book in the Bible alludes to this, I was struck in today’s reading with how important it is that we recognize our dependence on God; whenever we attempt to do anything without His leading, without seeking His counsel, and acknowledging Him, — well, we have moved away from Him, and the more independent we become, the less we recognize our need for Him.
Sue
======= Jeffrey:
I see in this portion of Hosea the corruptions of man-made religion. I’m reminded that Jeroboam had set up Israel’s counterfeit religion for fear the people would revert back to Judah if they worshipped together in Jerusalem on the LORD’s holy days. So he had made his own priesthood, his own places of worship, and new days for worship, “like” the true worship in Judah (1 Kings 12:26-33) — and here we see its ultimate fruits, hostility towards the LORD’s true servants (Hosea 9:8), even “gangs of priests” who were murderers (Hosea 6:9)!
In Hosea 9:15 the LORD says “All their wickedness began at Gilgal” — it was there also that Saul’s kingship was confirmed (1 Samuel 11:15) and there Samuel warns the LORD’s hand will be against them if they and their king rebel against the LORD’s commands (1 Sam 12:14-15). There Samuel prayed and ruined their harvest to help them realize it was evil to ask for a human king (1 Sam 12:16-19). At Gilgal Samuel warns, finally, “if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away” (1 Sam 12:29). Ever after Jeroboam, Israel persisted in doing evil and king after corrupt king was swept away and then she was carried away into captivity long before Judah.
From 3 John 10: “When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the wicked things he is saying about us” — my 1984 NIV renders “So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us”, which seems to make more sense. Paul says elders “who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning” (1 Timothy 5:20), an insruction to “keep … without paritiality” (v. 21). I’ve seen great evil ensue in cases where sinning elders weren’t properly publicly rebuked.
Psalm 126:6 “They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest”, calls to mind: “Going forth with weeping, sowing for the Master, Tho’ the loss sustained our spirit often grieves, When our weeping’s over, He will bid us welcome, We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves” — from “Bringing in the Sheaves”.
Jeffrey
======= Joyce:
Mike and everyone,
i’m learning the following from sermonnotebook.org, Hosea 6:1-2, “The Invitation To Contrition” –
“Come, let us return to the Lord…” (Hosea 6:1a)
The phrase “let us return” implies that before, the people had a closer relationship with the Lord.
Yet now, they had become a wayward people.
They were described as –
a, “the morning cloud” and “the early dew” (Hosea 6:4). Their devotion to God might sparkle under the first gleam of the sun, but soon burns away.
b, “a heated oven” (Hosea 7:4). They burned with a passion for sin.
c, “a man whose strength has ebbed away” (Hosea 7:9). As time passed, like Samson, they didn’t realize the LORD had left him (Judges 16:20).
d, “a silly dove” (Hosea 7:11). Instead of looking to the Lord for help, they made covenants with heathen nations (e.g. Egypt and Assyria).
e, “a deceitful bow” (Hosea 7:16). They had been given His Law and His training. They should have been able to hit a bull’s eye by walking with in faithfulness and righteousness. Yet, they missed the target.
Those six descriptive phrases God used to describe Israel, perhaps we can see in our lives today.
Father, please again use Your Words to convict us, remind us, correct us, and teach us! Please continue to use this blog to bring many to know You and revere You more. May Your Name be glorified. In Your Son’s Name we pray, amen.
Sincerely,
Joyce
====== Ashley:
3 John 1:11 really spoke to me as well! It’s so simple and obvious, but it’s easy to overlook the obvious sometimes. Those who are doing good know God and those who aren’t don’t.
Thanks for this blog! I love your comments on the reading and the visuals.
Ashley
======== Monique:
Great word for today. Praying for your ministry.
Monique
======== Karen:
For some reason this verse resonates with me so much today “4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” In addition to my own children, the young lives that God has put in my path over the years, indeed there is no greater joy than to know that they are walking in the Lord when they grow up. Continue to pray for them to yearn for growth in their relationship with the Lord while being bombarded by many competing priorities.
Karen
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