JMD Devotional 172 Hosea 10:12-15 Patterns of Living

Some people look on their religion as an initiation that they pass in adolescence and then move on to be concerned with other matters. However, the purpose of Christianity is to restore a relationship; and that communion is either fed or starved by how one continuously lives. God does not want to be 'appeased'; we were not 'saved to serve'; but to become His children.

Pattern 1: His Way:
Vs 12 Sow for yourselves according to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); reap according to mercy and loving-kindness. Break up your uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, to inquire for and of Him, and to require His favor, till He comes and teaches you righteousness and rains His righteous gift of salvation upon you.

Pattern 2: Our Way:
Vs 13 You have plowed and plotted wickedness, you have reaped the [willful] injustice [of oppressors], you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your [own] way and your chariots, in the multitude of your mighty men, therefore shall a tumult arise against your people and all your fortresses shall be wasted and destroyed, as Shalmaneser wasted and destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle; the mother was dashed in pieces with her children.
So shall it be done to you at [idolatrous] Bethel because of your great wickedness; at daybreak shall the king of Israel be utterly cut off.

Dear God,
How do you put up with my distorted thinking? Sometimes I have felt trapped and unimportant; because of the methods some churches have used to manipulate my participation: once they had me under control as their 'conquest', I had no significance beyond being a 'worker drone.' Jesus has certainly left me with tasks to do; but I know I am wrong when I confuse my task and my purpose for being. My purpose for being is to know You and to enjoy You for eternity; my task is to build Your kingdom and to make disciples. May I separate the two in my mind. Help me to really believe in my heart that You love me not based upon my performance but because I am Your child so I can be free to do better for the right motives without bitterness. May I eagerly seek Your way as my own because I know and trust Your heart for me.
Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by
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*New International Version (NIV)
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**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

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