Category Archives: Following

Accountability, Bible, Blessing, Choices, Commands, Disciplemaking, Following, Harvest, Judgment, Obedience, Scripture, Surrender

FALSE HARVEST

HOSEA 8:7

“For they sow wind and they harvest a storm. The standing grain has no kernels; it yields no grain. If it were to yield, strangers would swallow it.”

I have mentioned before that I grew up in Southwest Georgia in a very rural community. My Grandma Carter had a farm about 12 miles from our home where we used to go to harvest vegetables from her garden. I especially loved to pick the corn. Sometimes, though, the corn cobs would be underdeveloped. They weren’t good to eat. We wasted all that time in the harvest with nothing to show for it.

Israel was facing the same thing. Because of God’s judgment upon them, they would not be blessed in their harvests. In fact, nothing they did would be productive. There is a cost for rebellion. There are consequences for not obeying the Lord’s commands. They expected blessings but received nothing.

APPLICATION

Perhaps you are wondering why you are not receiving blessings from the Lord. I am not talking about a prosperity gospel. I am not saying we can just name it and claim it. I mean, you are looking for the Lord to bless you, but He isn’t. Why? God wants to bless all His children. I hope you believe that. But maybe you are living in a such a way that the Lord can’t bless you.

God does demand allegiance. Obedience is expected. And when we are obedient, God is ready to pour out His blessings. He blesses us because He wants to. He enjoys seeing us live obedient lives. Because He loves us so much, we should want to please Him.

I want to receive His blessings. I truly desire them. But I have learned through many years of walking with the Lord that those blessings only come through obedience. I know this to be true and still I fall short too many times. But God knows my heart. He lovingly welcomes me home each and every time I come to Him in repentance. Will you?

Thank You, Lord, for sending Your blessings when I come to You in surrender. Your blessings are my desire.

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Abiding, Belief, Bible, Commands, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Faithfulness, Following, Inspirational, Mentoring, Modeling, Obedience, Scripture, Testimony

HANDMADE

HOSEA 8:6

“For from Israel comes even this! A craftsman made it, so it is not God; assuredly, the calf of Samaria will be broken to pieces.”

There is just something about handmade items. I don’t care if it’s a jar of jelly or piece of furniture. There is usually a quality to those items that you don’t get from mass produced items. I can still taste my mom’s homemade mayhaw jelly. Yum! But sometimes, someone’s homemade products just don’t measure up.

That’s the case with this wretched calf handmade by craftsmen. It could never measure up to God. They may have made it to represent a god, but there is only one true God. This calf was not Him. Hosea says it will be broken to pieces. No idol can stand up to the standard of God. It will literally fall apart. It is no god. And it is not God.

APPLICATION

What are you making with your hands for God? I am not talking about using glue and glitter. I am referring to kingdom work. One of the best things we can make is disciples. In fact, we are commissioned to do just that by our Lord (Matthew 28:18-20). Every disciple we make is truly handmade. We do it one by one. We invest in their lives and teach them how to be a disciple maker.

As we make disciples who make disciples, we are fashioning something that is lasting. It is being built upon God’s Word, which we know will never fail. When we teach them to pour into others, we are building God’s kingdom into future generations. That is a quality handmade product. Don’t you agree?

Nothing gives me much more joy than investing in other men. I love watching them grow in their passion for Jesus. I especially love seeing them grow in their passion to disciple other men. I love knowing I had the privilege to pour into them. In a sense, I have laid my hands on them in the name of Jesus. May He be glorified.

Lord, help me continue to hand make disciples for Your glory. I know disciples made in Your name will last.

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Accountability, Bible, Blameless, Commands, Confession, Encouragement, Following, Forgiveness, Godliness, Holiness, Innocent, Inspirational, Obedience, Redemption, Salvation, Scripture

INNOCENT

HOSEA 8:5

“He has rejected your calf, Samaria, saying, ‘My anger burns against them!’ How long will they be incapable of innocence?”

One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is when Moses had gone up on the mountain to receive the ten commandments. While he was gone the people approached Aaron and demanded an idol to represent the god who led them out of Egypt. Aaron gathers their gold and forms the golden calf. When Moses returns, Aaron claims he just threw the gold into the fire and the calf came out.

In today’s verse, Hosea reminds them of this idolatry. God is angry. They continue to sin. They refuse to repent. He says they are incapable of innocence. Don’t forget the decades and decades of pagan worship. Don’t forget how they had turned their backs on the true God, the one who had led them out of slavery and into the promised land.

APPLICATION

But before you start judging the Israelites, look at your own faith walk. You may not have a golden calf in your living room that you bow down to each day, but are you innocent? I bet not (neither am I, by the way). None of us are. But the Lord calls us to be holy as He is. That is only possible as we bow before Him.

As believers, God’s wrath is satisfied. We don’t have to fear His wrath anymore. However, God is not pleased with our sinful behaviors. When we don’t stay “confessed up,” it affects our relationship with our Lord. He cries out to us, “Return to me.” That’s when we need to fall to our knees, confess our sins, receive His mercy and rise to walk in newness of life.

I don’t want to be accused of a lack of innocence. I want to be bold in my approach to our Lord. I want to come into His presence knowing I am living, to the best of my ability, a holy life, transformed by His Word. I want to hear those words, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.” Don’t you?

I know I am declared innocent only because of the blood of Christ. Help me live to honor You.

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Belief, Betrayal, Bible, Choices, Commands, Faith, Following, Idols, Judgment, Obedience, Scripture, Sin

IDOL MAKING

HOSEA 8:4

“They have set up kings, but not by Me; they have appointed officials, but I did not know it. With their silver and gold they have made idols for themselves, so that they will be eliminated.”

Idols come in all shapes and sizes. Now, I am not talking about the little statues that people used to bow down to and worship. I’m talking about all those things we put on the top of our priority list. We put all sorts of things up there and never realize what we’ve done. I’ll get to that in a minute.

Israel had literally made idols for themselves. They had turned to the false gods of the land and worshipped them. They turned their backs on God and decided to go after the newest craze. They loved the pagan worship they witnessed in the land and were drawn into it by the people around them. Idols were everywhere.

APPLICATION

We know that as believers Jesus must be our Lord. Nothing must come between Him and us. But we let things slide in. Many of those things are good things. There is really nothing wrong with them. It’s just we start to put them higher and higher and all of a sudden, they’ve taken first place.

Mom and Dad, are you prioritizing your relationship with Jesus? Do you spend time every day reading and studying His Word? Well Carl, I would but Jenny has dance and Robert has soccer. We are just busy with sports. What have you done? You’ve replaced time with God with busy activities. Anything that replaces God is an idol. Anything!

I am at the age now that I realize just how important time with Jesus is. I desire it so much. For me, first thing in the morning is best. There are fewer interruptions. I don’t let things get in the way of that time. That’s my time with Jesus. How about you? Will you take a look at what is important in your life? Ask yourself if anything has taken over Jesus’ spot in your life.

Father, You must always be the most important person in my life. I vow to put You first and keep You in that spot.

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Abiding, Belief, Bible, Commands, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Faith, Following, Idols, Knowledge, Relationships, Scripture, Testimony

I KNOW YOU

HOSEA 8:2

“They cry out to Me ‘My God, we of Israel know You!’”

I bet you’ve been in a crowd before and recognized someone. You know you know them, but you just can’t place their name. You can even remember where you met them. Their name, however, escapes you. So, what do you do? What do you say when they walk up and call you by name? If you are like me, I say, “Hey, it’s so good to see you again.” I purposely leave their name out of the conversation.

That’s not really knowing someone, is it? The people of Israel claimed to know God. Hey, they even knew His name. But they did not really know Him. They failed to recognize His commands. They ignored His guidance. They chased after other gods. If they had really known Jehovah God, I mean really known Him, they would have followed Him.

APPLICATION

So, do you know Him? Do you really know Him? If you do, you know He is a jealous God. He won’t tolerate us chasing after idols, whatever those are. He wants us to know Him. God isn’t this mysterious spirit hovering over the universe that dissipates every time we look His way. He wants to be discovered by us. The question is do we want to know Him.

If you really want to know Him, then you have to spend time with Him. You have to dig into His Word. You have to make Him a priority. And when you do, He unveils Himself. He says, “Here I am. Come closer. Get to know me.” You discover what He is really all about. Now you can say you know Him.

I want to know Him deeply. I want to experience Him in ways I have never experienced Him before. I want to be just like Him. Don’t you? Don’t you want that? I want to be loving, faithful, compassionate and forgiving. I want all those things. I pray you do, too. Let’s get to know Him together. Ready?

Oh, I want to know You more, deep within my soul I want to know you. Oh, I want to know You, to feel your heart and know Your mind. Looking in Your eyes, stirs up within me cries that say I want to know You, oh, I want to know You, more.

Steve Green

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Accountability, Betrayal, Bible, Choices, Commands, Deceit, Encouragement, Faithfulness, Following, Friends, God's Will, Modeling, Obedience, Relationships, Scripture, Service

TURNCOATS

HOSEA 7:15

“Although I trained and strengthened their arms, yet they devise evil against Me.”

Betrayal hurts, doesn’t it? If you live long enough, sooner or later, someone will betray you. It could be a friend you thought you could depend on. It might be a spouse who betrays your marital vows. However it happens, it hurts. When you put time and energy into a relationship only to have it squashed by a turncoat, it takes a while to get over that.

Ephraim had turned against God. Hosea says here in verse 15 that God had trained and strengthened them. Remember – God had chosen these people. He had made them a great nation. He had protected them from their enemies. He had enriched their boundaries. And yet, they turned. Not only that, Hosea says they “devise evil” against God. Wow!

APPLICATION

I want to ask you a hard question. Have you ever devised evil against anyone? Have you turned against them and tried to make them hurt? Not me, Carl. I am more spiritual than that. Right! Listen, we may not literally plot to do evil, but we have all had bad feelings toward someone and maybe even rejoiced when they fell on hard times.

As believers, our goal should be to lead others to Jesus at all times. That doesn’t give us the right to have any evil thoughts. When we have feelings, other than godly ones, towards someone, that flies in the face of God. How do you think He feels about that person? He desires them to come to Him. He may be wanting to use you to draw them, and you are refusing. You are fighting against Him. That, in a sense, is devising evil against God.

I want to be on the Lord’s side. Don’t you? I want to serve Him by serving others. I want Him to use me to bring His lost sheep home. May I never be found in conflict with God’s plan for the lost. Serving Him is a joy and pleasure. Won’t you join me?

I desire to remain loyal to You, Lord. I want to be on Your front lines serving Your kingdom.

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Accountability, Battles, Belief, Bible, Blameless, Bondslaves, Busyness, Choices, Cleansing, Commands, Confession, Disciplemaking, Faith, Following, Judgment, Obedience, Punishment, Redemption, Repentance, Salvation, Scripture

NETTED

HOSEA 7:12

“When they go, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like the birds of the sky. I will discipline them in accordance with the proclamation to their assembly.

I have never used a net to catch birds, but I have used a cast net to catch fish. There’s quite an art to it. You need to know how to fold it in your hands and swing it just right to cause the net to open as it hits the water. Otherwise, you just have a mess of a net in a wad in the water. When you throw it correctly, you have the potential to catch some bait fish to use later.

The Lord has cast His net over the dove mentioned in verse 11. Ephraim may have thought they could escape capture and judgment just like a dove to quickly fly off and escape. But the Lord’s net it sure. He knows exactly how to throw it. His cast is always perfect. He would hold them down to earth to face the consequences of their sins.

APPLICATION

Oh, be sure, my brothers and sisters, you will not escape the wrath of God. Unless we all turn to Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we will all face His wrath. We will pay for our sins. We have no excuse. We can’t claim ignorance. We can’t say we were too busy and meant to get to it. No! We will face judgment one day.

But thanks be to God, He has provided a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13) for us. All we have to do is turn to Jesus, admit we are a sinner, believe He is the Son of God who died on that cruel cross for us, was buried and rose again. Then we confess our sins and ask for His shed blood to cover them. Then God extends His loving arms to us and grants us forgiveness and gives us the faith to live obediently to Him.

You have a choice today. You can be a netted dove, caught in your sins, awaiting judgment or you can be set free by the blood of Jesus. Which is it? I am so thankful I am free. I am free to live a life dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ. My life is in His hands. I am secure and protected. What a feeling. I feel just like that dove soaring high in the sky, knowing I am protected by my loving Father. How about you?

I am free because of Jesus’ blood. Thank You, Lord, for cutting loose the net that bound me to my sins.

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Accountability, Belief, Bible, Choices, Commands, Deceit, Disciplemaking, Discipline, Faithfulness, Following, Intimacy, Judgment, Obedience, Scripture

SILLY DOVES

HOSEA 7:11

“So Ephraim has become like a gullible dove, without sense; they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.”

There was an Eastern proverb that said, “There is nothing more simple than a dove.” Now being simple, in and of itself, is not bad. But when our simplicity is directed toward God, that is not good. When I first came to Christ in 1977, my understanding of the Word was pretty simple. I simply read it and went on with my life. I didn’t take the time to study deep.

Hosea compares Ephraim to a gullible dove for the same reasons. They did not take God seriously. They believed but simply, without reason. When in trouble, they called on Egypt to rescue them instead of God. As a result, they were carried off to Assyria.

APPLICATION

How do you believe? Do you believe because your parents did? Do you believe because your spouse does? Those are not reasons to believe. You have to develop your own faith. Your faith is your faith, not someone else’s. It takes time to grow your faith. It doesn’t happen overnight. I know my faith has continued to grow these past 41 years. I still have room to grow.

There are some things we must believe just because God said it. I don’t begin to confess that I have God figured out. He still amazes me. His Word blows my mind each day. But there are some things that I just have to accept by faith. I believe Christ’s blood covers my sins. I believe He was resurrected (even though I didn’t witness it) and lives now in eternity seated beside His Father. I just believe those things, but I also study His Word to learn more about them.

I pray you are digging deep. I pray you are sharing that with others. Simple faith is okay at the beginning of your walk with Christ, but you can’t stay there. You have to grow. You have to know who to call on for your rescue. It’s not Egypt or another Egypt look alike. Only He can rescue you.

I will turn to You, O Lord, to deliver me. There is no other person I can call on to rescue me. I commit to grow in Your Word and in my faith.

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Accountability, Battles, Bible, Choices, Deceit, Following, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Obedience, Satan, Scripture, Surrender

PRIDE

HOSEA 7:10

“Though the pride of Israel testifies against him, yet they have not returned to the LORD their God, nor have they sought Him, despite all this.

Pride comes before the fall. Have you heard that? Well, it’s true. We get cocky and arrogant, and before you know it, we fall flat on our face. Pride can be a good thing. We should take pride in our country. We should be proud of our friends or family when they have a great achievement. But pride of self will always bring us down.

Hosea continues to speak against Ephraim and talks about their pride. They are caught in their sins, but their pride will not let them repent. Why should they? Their sins aren’t as bad as the pagans of the land (or so they thought). Surely, God would not judge them. They are special. They are chosen. Wrong! God did hold them accountable.

APPLICATION

How do we fight against the pride of our flesh? There is only one way – we have to die to our flesh every second of every day. I have said that a lot in my devotional blogs. But what exactly does that mean – to die to your flesh? It means recognizing that we are not capable of living a holy life on our own. It means humbling ourselves before Him. It means saying you can’t do this on your own.

When we do that, the Holy Spirit empowers us to do everything we just said we couldn’t. What? Yep! He lives in us and will live through us when we get out of the way. He will control our tongue. He will direct our eyes. He will… But we have to surrender our will to the Father’s Will. Then and only then can the Holy Spirit do those things for us.

Are you tired of your prideful life? Are you sick of picking yourself back up after another horrible stumble? Kill that self pride today. Don’t let Satan have an inch of real estate in your life. Jesus is waiting to give you a victory.

I am so tired of trying to prove myself, Father. I surrender my life to You to do with as You see fit. Use me today to glorify Yourself.

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Accountability, Advice, Bible, Commitment, Deception, Disciplemaking, Faithfulness, Following, Foolishness, Inspirational, Obedience, Perfection, Scripture, Surrender

PANCAKES

HOSEA 7:8

“Ephraim is himself thrown about with the nations; Ephraim has become a round loaf not turned over.”

I love pancakes, those golden brown, circular cakes from heaven. I love to put fruit in mine (blueberries, bananas, coconut). I have made pancakes for decades. My little girl loved them, too. But you have to cook them correctly for them to be good. You have to learn when to flip them on the skillet and cook the other side as well or they are no good. They are worthless.

Ephraim is being compared to a pancake in today’s verse. That round loaf was called an uggah, which literally means disc cake. It was cooked over coals and if not flipped, it would be burned on one side and doughy on the other. Ephraim was compared to this worthless, half-cooked uggah. Not very appetizing and certainly not good to eat.

APPLICATION

We were all like that, before Christ. Our life was centered on ourselves. We didn’t follow the Lord. We didn’t even know we were being scorched on one side like an unflipped pancake. We were destined for the trash can. Our lives, before Jesus enters our hearts, had no real meaning, especially nothing eternal. And we were clueless.

But once Christ enters our lives, everything changes. You see, when we surrender to Him, He watches over us, just like we watch over that cooking pancake. We know when to flip it to bring it to perfection. Jesus knows when to “flip” us to bring us to perfection. But notice something – it requires heat to cook that pancake. Jesus will also apply heat to us to bring us to that point of perfection. I bet you never thought of yourself as a pancake before.

There are worse things to be compared to. Pancakes are warm and delicious, especially after you drizzle a little pancake syrup on them. Man, I’m getting hungry just writing this, lol. The next time you eat pancakes, think about Hosea 7:8. It might just change the way you see breakfast and your life.

Lord, I trust You to “flip” me when it’s time. I know You are watching the heat You are applying to make me more like You.

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