today's meditation (Hos.6) Having a Personal Relationship

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Hosea 6:1-11) 

1   “Come, let’s return to the Lord.
     For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
     He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
2   He will revive us after two days;
     He will raise us up on the third day,
     That we may live before Him.
3   So let’s learn, let’s press on to know the Lord.
     His appearance is as sure as the dawn;
     And He will come to us like the rain,
     As the spring rain waters the earth.”

4   What shall I do with you, Ephraim?
     What shall I do with you, Judah?
     For your loyalty is like a morning cloud,
     And like the dew which goes away early.
5   Therefore I have cut them in pieces by the prophets;
     I have slain them by the words of My mouth;
     And the judgments on you are like the light that shines.
6   For I desire loyalty rather than sacrifice,
     And the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
7   But like Adam they have violated the covenant;
     There they have dealt treacherously with Me.
8   Gilead is a city of wrongdoers,
     Tracked with bloody footprints.
9   And as a band of robbers lie in wait for a person,
     So a band of priests murder on the way to Shechem;
     Certainly they have committed an act of infamy.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing;
     Ephraim’s infidelity is there, Israel has defiled itself.
11 Also, Judah, there is a harvest appointed for you,
     When I restore the fortunes of My people.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

God has very specific plans for Israel, which will only be fulfilled after the Tribulation, when they as a nation believes in Jesus, their Messiah.  During the Millennium, the Lord will heal and guide everyone on the earth.  But no matter which "age" one finds themselves living in, God wants to save us, heal and restore us, and nurture us.  God doesn't care how religious a person is, He desires our hearts and having a personal relationship with us!

today's meditation (Is.34) Opening Our Eyes and Ears

(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)

(Isaiah 34:1-17) 

1   Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, you peoples!
     Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.
2   For the Lord’s anger is against all the nations,
     And His wrath against all their armies.
     He has utterly destroyed them,
     He has turned them over to slaughter.
3   So their slain will be thrown out,
     And their corpses will give off their stench,
     And the mountains will be drenched with their blood.
4   And all the heavenly lights will wear away,
     And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll;
     All its lights will also wither away 
     As a leaf withers from the vine,
     Or as one withers from the fig tree.
5   For My sword has drunk its fill in heaven;
     Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom,
     And upon the people whom I have designated for destruction.
6   The sword of the Lord is filled with blood,
     It drips with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,
     With the fat of the kidneys of rams.
     For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,
     And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
7   Wild oxen will also fall with them 
     And young bulls with strong ones;
     So their land will be soaked with blood,
     And their dust become greasy with fat.
8   For the Lord has a day of vengeance,
     A year of retribution for the cause of Zion.
9   Its streams will be turned into pitch,
     And its loose earth into brimstone,
     And its land will become burning pitch.
10 It will not be extinguished night or day;
     Its smoke will go up forever.
     From generation to generation it will be desolate;
     None will pass through it forever and ever.
11 But pelican and hedgehog will possess it,
     And owl and raven will dwell in it;
     And He will stretch over it the line of desolation 
     And the plumb line of emptiness.
12 Its nobles—there is no one there 
     Whom they may proclaim king—
     And all its officials will be nothing.
13 Thorns will come up in its fortified towers,
     Weeds and thistles in its fortified cities;
     It will also be a haunt of jackals 
     And a habitat of ostriches.
14 The desert creatures will meet with the wolves,
     The goat also will cry to its kind.
     Yes, the night-bird will settle there 
     And will find herself a resting place.
15 The tree snake will make its nest and lay eggs there,
     And it will hatch and gather them under its protection.
     Yes, the hawks will be gathered there,
     Every one with its kind.

16 Seek from the book of the Lord, and read:

     Not one of these will be missing;
     None will lack its mate.
     For His mouth has commanded,
     And His Spirit has gathered them.
17 He has cast the lot for them,
     And His hand has divided it to them by the measuring line.
     They shall possess it forever;
     From generation to generation they will dwell in it.

TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:

No matter who we are or where we come from, we are all born separated from God.  We are born iwth a sinful nature, and God hates sin!  So unless and until we become a child of God, we will face punishment and destruction.  

And still, His desire is that all come to know Him, so He provides the way.  He came to earth to pay the price for all sin, for all people, of all time.  There is no excuse.  All of us can see the truth when we open our ears to hear and open our eyes to see.  And when we open our hearts to accept and believe in Jesus, we will be saved and receive eternal life with Him.  There is no other way.

(John 3:16) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life."