Tell them

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”

Joe 1:3
Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation.

Deuteronomy 6:7
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Exodus 13:14
And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

Psalms 44:1
O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old

Psalms 71:18
So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.

Isaiah 38:19
The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day; the father makes known to the children your faithfulness.

Psalms 145:4
One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts

Psalms 78:3
things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.

I don’t know why but the Lord has continued to lay on my heart the need for His word.  He has shown verses of what happens when it is neglected, and as well what happens when it is forsaken.  Do you wonder why He says to teach your children and to their children?  In Judges more than once the results were a total generation that did not know God.  How close are we to seeing this happen in our own families.  He tells us to write them on our door posts, meditate on them day and night, and to teach our children in from morning to night.  Is it possible to teach something we spend little or no time in.  Do we think one morning a week at Sunday school does the deed and we will not be held accountable for neglecting His instruction?  If we don’t spend time in His word how do we hear His voice speaking to our heart?  If we don’t spend time in His word how do we expect to be able to teach our children?  If we don’t spend time in His word how will we be able to make disciples?  We will be held accountable for what we allow to occupy our time away from Him.  Choose to know and understand Him deeper and learn to hear His voice and talk to your children about all you learn .

Return to the Lord

 

“Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!”

Hosea 6:1
Come, let us return to the Lord;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will raise us up,
that we may live before him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.”

Psalms 71:20
You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.

John 2:20
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Corinthians 15:3
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures

Luke 24:46
“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.

In the first 6 chapters of Hosea it talks about the falling away from following God, not seeking to know or understand God, choosing to do what seems right in our own eyes, and the consequence to a nation and people because of it.  Now we read acknowledgement of His hand against them and a plea to return to the Lord. Why?  “That we may live before Him.”  And Hosea encourages with “Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;” We all get busy with life but is this any reason to choose to NOT seek and know the Lord.  Scripture tells us over and over again that in times of peace and prosperity people (us included) choose to seek everything under the sun but God.  We choose sports, relaxation, boats, vacation homes, hiking, work, TV, music, …. and the list goes on doesn’t it. We can always find reasons to be busy and never enough time to seek and know God, however when trials and problems comes our way our focus changes and we seem to find time for God then.  Seems like a very shallow commitment doesn’t it.  Hosea’s word ring loud “Let us return to the Lord, Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;”

Do Not Fall Away

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.

Do you ever wonder why people come to God and receive His forgiveness and then fall away?  Or wonder why others who have been so on fire and thankful for salvation just seem to have little depth in their conviction anymore?  We are to hold dear that which has been entrusted to us.  Which is: an understanding of who God is, our sin, His plan of salvation, the death and resurrection of His Son, our forgiveness, and promise of eternal life.  How is it that we choose to stay so close to the world and what it has to offer and lose sight of the blessings of being a humble servant of His that seeks His will for their life with all their heart, mind, and soul?   I have stated this line from an old hymn before but there is so much truth in it : “Turn you eyes upon Jesus and look full into His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace”.  Let Him be the light of everyday and seek His will for every minute of every day.  Do not be one that is spoken of in the scripture ” went after worthlessness, and became worthless”

Matthew 24:10

And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Revelation 2:4
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

Jeremiah 2:5
What wrong did your fathers find in me
that they went far from me,
and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?

2 Kings 17:14
But they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. They despised his statutes and his covenant that he made with their fathers and the warnings that he gave them. They went after false idols and became false, and they followed the nations that were around them, concerning whom the Lord had commanded them that they should not do like them. And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God

Nothing is Hidden

Everyday we have choices.  We can choose to make a difference in the lives of those we come into contact each day.  We are called to bring hope, kindness, love, joy, help, encouragement, peace… to a lost world.  How many times have do we choose self over others?  We will be accountable for applying what has been given to us. Be a humble servant to others today.
Matthew 10:26
“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops

Mark 4:21
And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

Luke 8:17
For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away

1 Timothy 5:23
The sins of some people are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later. So also good works are conspicuous, and even those that are not cannot remain hidden