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Hosea
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Hosea, a
prophet from the Northern Kingdom, preached in his homeland, which he addresses
as Israel, Jacob or, frequently, Ephraim. Hosea began his mission in a period
of prosperity, the last years of Jeroboam II (783–743 B.C.). This was followed
by a period of internal instability, with intrigues at the royal court leading
to the assassination of several kings. Hosea witnessed the revival of Assyria,
the Syro-Ephraimite war, and the numerous treaties the Israelite kings made
with Egypt and Assyria to survive. Hosea’s long ministry (ca. 750–725) seems to
have ended before the capture of Samaria in 722/721. The only information the
text provides us about the life of Hosea concerns his marriage. Even if we
cannot reconstruct what happened exactly, the text as it now stands speaks of
three moments in the relationship: first love, separation, reunion. This
marriage is a symbol of the covenant between the Lord and Israel. Hosea speaks
about the first love, the short period of Israel’s loyalty in the desert, which
was then followed by a long history of unfaithfulness lasting until his day.
Hosea accuses Israel of three crimes in particular. Instead of putting their
trust in the Lord alone, the people break the covenant: (1) by counting on their
own military strength, (2) by making treaties with foreign powers (Assyria and
Egypt), and (3) by running after the Baals, the gods of fertility. Israel thus
forgets that the Lord is its strength, its covenant partner, and giver of
fertility. This unfaithful behavior will lead to Israel’s destruction by
Assyria, but God’s love will have the last word. The back and forth movement
from doom to salvation is typical of the Book of Hosea. Hosea began the Old
Testament tradition of describing the relation between the Lord and Israel in
terms of marriage (e.g., Jer
3:1; Ez 16:23; Is 50:1). The New
Testament uses the marriage imagery to describe the union between Christ and
the Church (e.g., Mk 2:19–20; Eph 5:25).[1]
WEED DAY another BAAL celebration
Hosea,
Chapter 10, Verse 3
For now they will say, “We have
no king! Since we do not fear the
LORD, the king—what could he do for us?”
Christ is the strength of
the weak and the humble confidence of those who trust in him. Christ says to
us, “My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I
know them, and they follow me. (Jn. 10:27)
Why
does God wish us to pray to Him?
To remind us: 1. that all good
things come from Him, and that without Him we have nothing. 2. That we may
confide in Him and try to make ourselves worthy of His divine grace, by
thoughts pleasing to Him, and valuing more, and using better, the graces we
receive.
Why
is our prayers often not heard?
It is because we often ask for
something that would be more hurtful than profitable to us.
When
ought we to pray?
We should pray at all times, but
especially at, 1, morning, noon, and night; 2, in time of great temptation; 3,
when receiving the sacraments; 4, when about to undertake anything important;
5, at the hour of death.
Which
is the best of all prayers?
The Lord’s Prayer; but though we
say it a hundred times, it will fail to produce its beneficial effects if we
repeat it thoughtlessly, without thinking of its meaning or purpose.
Why
does this prayer commence with “Our Father?”
To encourage us thereby to a
child-like confidence in God. As our Father, Who loves all men, and is ever
ready to help them.
Why
do we say, “Who art in heaven,” since God is everywhere?
We say this to admonish us to
lift up our hearts to heaven, our true home, where God has set up the throne of
His kingdom.
What
do we ask of God in this prayer?
In the first petition, “hallowed be Thy name,” we pray that God may be
known and loved by all men, and that His name may be glorified by a Christian
life.
In the second petition, “Thy
kingdom come,” we pray God to enter and rule in our hearts by His grace, to
spread His Church throughout the whole world, and after our death to award us
eternal happiness.
In the third petition,
“Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,” we offer ourselves entirely to
God, and declare ourselves ready to be subject to the dispositions of His holy
will, as are the angels in heaven, and pray to Him for grace to do this.
In the
fourth petition, “give us this day
our daily bread,” we ask for all things which we need for the body, as food and
clothing, and for the soul, as grace and the divine word.
In the fifth petition, “forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us,” we pray to God for
forgiveness, but only as far as we forgive those that injure us. We must
therefore remember that we shall not obtain forgiveness from God so long as we
have in our hearts hatred against anyone.
In the sixth petition, “and lead us not into temptation,” we acknowledge
our frailty, and ask God to remove temptations from us, or, if He permit us to
fall into those which the world, the flesh, and the devil prepare for us, to
give us grace not to consent to them, but, by combating and overcoming them, to
gain the merit and the crown of justice.
In the seventh petition, “but deliver us from evil,” we pray to God to
preserve us from sin, and the occasions of sin; an evil death and hell also
from all temporal evils, so far as may be for the salvation of our souls.
America is now at
the threshold of history
Like Israel in Hosea’s time America has drifted into
serious sin. According to John Maxwell Israel while in captivity had no real
leadership (much like America) and had broken the “Law of Solid Ground.” The 6th
irrefutable law of leadership—The Law of Solid Ground
states that “trust is the foundation of leadership.” Israel’s leadership made
false promises that had eroded the people’s confidence in their leaders and
people follow only in proportion to their trust in the leader.
American’s are a just people and fair people and our
hearts go out to the world. Yet what are we to do?
Many years ago while reviewing the CIA handbook I
noticed that economically all of the nations that have been giving us the most
trouble militarily were also on the list of those countries with the worst per capita
income: people who make less than 200 dollars a year. I thought rather than do
battle with a number of these people in some way if we were to bring the
economic power of America to these populaces and help them to improve their
lives and rid themselves of the gangs and dictators. Thus bringing up their per
capita income; what would the effect be on those who we may have to embattle? I
questioned would improving their lives in their own country decrease our need
to do battle? I decided to do an experiment. With a little research I invested
in one of the stocks from one of the poorest countries: Zimbabwe. After three
months I sold my stock after doubling my money. My point is perhaps we as
America’s can do more by helping the downtrodden in building up their own
countries.
Weed Day
April
20 has become a counterculture holiday in North America, where people gather to
celebrate and consume cannabis. Some events have a political nature
to them, advocating for the legalization of cannabis. North American
observances have been held at Hippie Hill in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park
near the Haight-Ashbury district, the University of Colorado's Boulder campus,
Ottawa, Ontario, at Parliament Hill and Major's Hill Park, Montreal,
Quebec at Mount Royal monument, Edmonton, Alberta at the Alberta Legislature
Building, as well as Vancouver, British Columbia at the Vancouver
Art Gallery. The growing size of the unofficial event at UC Santa
Cruz caused the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs to send an e-mail to parents
in 2009 stating: "The growth in scale of this activity has become a
concern for both the university and surrounding community."[2]
Daily Devotions
·
Manhood of
the Master-Day 6 week 12
·
Please
pray for me and this ministry
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