Accountable God.

 

Christ Expectations!

 

Come and Dine.

 

Logic

 

Signs

 

Idols- Tear Them Down

 Hos 3:1  Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. 

The Lord told Hosea to love a sinful woman, strange? Very. Yet the reason why the Lord told Hosea this was because it mirrors the Love of God toward his backsliding people.

A wayward husband or wife-- who doesn't know about such things? Some know firsthand how it feels to be cheated on, others don't. Most people know someone who was cheated on. There are way too many divorces from this very thing for people not to know anyone at all who wasn't cheated on. Barring any personal experience with infidelity- either yourself, family members, relatives of any sort, friends, co-workers-- friends of friends … we have television, movies, and books that are filled with this sort of behavior. The truth is, you know about cheating even if you don't have experience with cheating.

Still, and I have to bring this up, right or wrong, many people live in relationships where they say it's fine to look (lust) upon others and find them arousing, as long as they don't touch (commit the physical act) of adultery. It's true, you hear about it all the time. Men will be men, women will be women, and it's all natural to do this, God made us this way, it's normal for human beings to lust after each other that's how the species keeps going, and so on.

When God told Hosea to find… no, that's not right, God told Hosea to go LOVE an adulteress He was telling Hosea to go LOVE a woman KNOWN to stray from her husband.  

God's people then and still right now, are prone to adultery - straying from HIM and taking other 'gods' into their lives that they shouldn't. 

The Book of Hosea tells of how Hosea's love of this adulteress and her continued cheating on him resulted in a very hard relationship. We are shown that Hosea's unrelenting love is just that- a love so deep it cannot be lost. 

Am I saying a person should stay with a cheating spouse? I'm saying if that person desires to stay because they truly love that spouse even though that spouse is unfaithful- well, that's a personal decision the person has to make and no other.

God chooses to stay with His people. God chooses to have a people upon a corrupt earth filled to the brim with mostly cheating people- people cheating on Him. God chooses to believe there will be an adulteress people who will cease their adulteress acts and love only Him, a faithful people.

In the parable of the prodigal son we know that the wayward son returning was more joyous than anything to the father! But, the wayward son was not joyous to the father while he was being wayward, it wasn't until he returned, leaving his wayward existence.

It is extremely hard living in a world so full of evil that only a few out of the many will truly belong to God. We live in a time where God has been altered to fit into a sinful existence. Changing God to suit a sinful life makes it all the more harder to recognize sinning because we no longer recognize the adultery for what it is, we've made what was once considered adultery (straying from God) into something acceptable. Satan has done his job very, very well.  We've erected false idols covered in the apparel of God and bow down to worship them fooling ourselves that we are worshiping God when we aren't. We don't recognize our adultery and this is why when our Lord returns He is going to tell many, many people that He doesn't know them. 

Look at the God you are worshiping very, very closely. Go to God's word and study it like never before! Get on your knees and pray like your life depends upon it because it does. Seek God with all your heart! Search for God with all your heart! God will be found if there is even a sliver of sincerity in our searching, our seeking!

Don't lie to yourself, don't blind yourself to truth, don't stop up your own ears to keep from hearing truth because it might mean destroying the beloved idols of your life. Those idols whatever they are- will gladly holdfast to you all the way to non-existence.

Hosea was told to love an adulteress as God loves his people- God loves his people and wants them to be true to Him, to turn away from the adultery in their hearts, the idols they cheat upon Him with. God wants us wayward people to return to a true love of Him.

God please help us do this, please! Bring our hearts back to the true love of Your love. God, give us all we need to tear down and rid ourselves of the idols in our lives- especially the idols we've decked in the garb of Your appearance. Don't let us fool ourselves any longer that we are worshiping you in truth if we are not! Create in us clean hearts! Renew in us right spirits! Take us back into Your fold, let us filthy, desperate, prodigals come home, show us the way back to You and let us walk in that way while all around us the world wallows in the filth of deception. Let us not be deceived, help us! Save us! We know You love us with an unwavering love, You sacrificed all because You loved us, love us still and always!  

In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, Yours is the glory, the praise, the honor now and forever! Amen!

Innumerable Company of Angels.

 Trapped. No way out. No help to be seen. Can you imagine how this must feel? Elisha's servant felt this way. Elisha and his servant were sleeping and when the servant woke up he went and spied out the land. To his dismay there were enemy horses and chariots all around the entire city surrounding them. With fear filling him to his very core he cried out to Elisha, asking what they were going to do.  Elisha wasn't fearful at all, why? Read the following… 

2Ki 6:15-17  And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 

… FEAR NOT for they that be with US are MORE than they that be with THEM. 

Yet, the servant couldn't see ANYONE on their side, let alone MORE than those that were surrounding the city! Then Elisha PRAYED and asked the LORD to open the servants eyes so he could see.  When the young man's eyes were opened he did indeed see that the MOUNTAIN was full of horses and chariots of FIRE all around Elisha! What a vision to have, what a blessing to see the unseen.

We often feel alone, defeated, demoralized, despairing, ready to scream in frustration as we walk our Christian walk. We, like the servant of Elisha, have no clue what we are going to do in our awful, seemingly unsurmountable circumstances. We long to see the unseen army of angels on our side. We have to walk by faith, not by sight. We have to take God's word into our hearts. God's word is written for US, for our learning! We need to believe in God's word.  Elisha had an army of angels to protect him and his servant. We have angels to protect us as well! We have ministering spirits as we are those who are going to inherit salvation, and those ministering to us are angels, real angels.

Does this mean that in every situation we will be miraculously helped- that we won't go through awful times, horrific trials, nightmarish tribulations? NO! A very resounding NO, it doesn't mean this at all. It means that we have angels on our side and as God wills, and if we aren't meant to endure the trial, we will be given supernatural help. It means that most of our trials and tribulations are refining us in ways we can't comprehend, preparing us for God's kingdom as we hold fast to God in spite of Satan trying his hardest to rip our faith in God from us. We will do a lot of suffering now, but joy will come.

People often wonder how anyone would believe in God after they go through horrific situations, and that person of God will tell them that we live in a Satan ruled world, and God is in control of our eternal life and this is why. We understand that in this world there are going to be lots of nightmares, lots of them, but we also know that in the world to come there will be NONE, not a single nightmare. We know the world to come is for ETERNITY, while this world has an expiration date stamped on it. Knowing these truths, we know that angels are here to comfort us and see us through the trials, to keep us from the despair as they minister to us God's truth. 

May we belong to God when this world expires. May the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be ours now and forever! Al through HIS LOVE!

AMEN!!!!!!!

*******

(Excerpt)

5. NUMBER OF THE ANGELS

The definite number of the holy angels is not given in the Scriptures, yet there are declarations from which we may form an idea of the vastness of this host of God. Jesus said: "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels?" Matt. 26:53. 

John, as he had a view of heaven, the glory and majesty of God, and the vast host of angels worshiping before the throne, spoke of their great numbers thus: "And the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands Of thousands." Rev. 5:11. 

Bengel, in his Gnomon, translates this, "Myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands." He adds the following excellent note: "A myriad consists of ten thousand; myriads, if only two of them are meant, make twenty thousand; a thousand taken twice, makes two thousands. But there are myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, i. e., the myriads are multiplied with each other, and, likewise, the thousands. In order to more easily conceive the meaning, it could be imagined thus: Here is a regiment consisting of ten thousand angels; then there would be ten thousand such regiments, and this not only once, but at least twice. In the same way are thousands to be taken thousand-fold; that is to say, if one counts a thousand angels to one body, then there are of such bodies of thousands (in the plural) at least two thousand bodies. The myriads make two hundred millions, and the thousands two million, a Vast throng!"

While this gives some idea of the greatness of the throng, it is by no means certain that the computation is nearly large enough. Instead of being simply two myriads, as the plural must contain, it may mean many more, which would enormously swell the aggregate. And all these were only those whom John saw worshiping around the throne at one time. We have no language in which to express the number of the heavenly family; we can have no conception of the number. The Bible declares that they are the messengers of God to carry out His will, and it is reasonable to believe that they are His messengers to other worlds. On a clear night view the stars, consider the millions in the milky way, and remember that each one is a sun, with a whole system of worlds revolving around it, and consider that the angels are God's messengers to all parts of His dominions, to all these countless worlds, and then we shall best be able to appreciate the words of Paul, that there is "an innumerable company of angels." Heb. 12:22.

Angels: Their Nature and Ministry

 (Excerpt - for continuing study) Revised by J.H. Waggoner.  1891 by Pacific Press Publishing Co.)