PLOUGHING/SOWING/REAPING
Today’s Reading: Hosea 9-10
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
A Farmer at Nazareth Village in Nazareth uses a sickle. Reaping before modern farm implements was a very labour intensive task. Over and over again, the Scriptures make the point that what we sow in our lifetimes, we will inevitably reap as a harvest, as in our key verse, either “mercy” or “iniquity.”
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verses: Hosea 10:12-13a
Sow for yourselves righteousness;
Reap in mercy;
Break up your fallow ground,
For it is time to seek the Lord,
Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.
You have plowed wickedness;
You have reaped iniquity.
In Hosea 9 & 10 the message is clear. A Holy God and sin cannot co-exist. Therefore, sin must be dealt with. The sacrificial offerings were a way of covering sin by the picture they presented of the final sacrifice for sin by Jesus Christ (Messiah) on the cross. We can learn from Hosea. We must determine to live holy lives in order to please God. Every day we are sowing by our actions and we reap in our lives, and in our families, the consequences of sin. Breaking up fallow ground (ploughing) is hard work, requiring firm discipline. “IT IS TIME TO SEEK THE LORD!” Sin almost totally destroyed God’s chosen people. They sowed sin and reaped a crop of destruction and pain. While our sins are forgiven and we have the assurance of eternal life because of the cross of Christ, as long as we are in this life, we hurt ourselves and our loved ones as a result of sin.
Jesus taught about sowing and reaping. When our hearts are hardened by sin, the Lord’s efforts to plant good seed are thwarted. Are there stones that need removal from our lives? Or have thorns grown in our lives which hurt ourselves and others? (read Luke 8:4-15).
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I repent!!! I pray for Your rain of righteousness to fall on me, soaking me with pure and holy living. I seek You, Lord Jesus! Forgive my sin and change my heart and mind! May I take deliberate actions to move away from the occasion of sinning and from those who would entice me to sin. By repentance I break up the hard ground in my heart, and I ask for the good seed of Your Word to penetrate into my innermost being, producing a harvest of holiness!!! In the Name of Your 100% Holy Son, Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!!!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
Here are some random thoughts. Surely Hosea 9:17 has been fulfilled, “They shall be wanderers among the nations.” Until 1948 God’s ancient people had not had a sovereign state for over 2,000 years. They wandered the world over. They are gathered back to Israel, but a national revival of faith in God and obedience to God is still to take place there.
Hosea 10:3b, “As for a king, what would he do for us,” reminds me of President Kennedy’s statement, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country.” It is rather obvious that the people of Israel were refusing to take responsibility for their own lives and wanted big government to do almost everything for them.
The summer I turned eight, my Uncle Harvey Lindsay, on whose farm we lived while my Dad was overseas during the WW2 years, taught me to break up the hard ground with a one-furrow plough behind Mischief, his one and only horse. He reprimanded me whenever I was distracted and took my eyes off the post across the field. By a steady gaze at that post, I was to plough a straight furrow. I’ve never forgotten that lesson. As long as I keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, and by focusing on His unchanging holy Person, I can continue to live straight.
Yours for consistently living a holy life by God’s grace given to us as we plough up the hardness in our lives, sowing daily the seed of God’s Word in our hearts and minds, reaping holiness before our Holy God,
David
We are having a global day of prayer and fasting. It is all for the glory of God that we might be saved and during this crisis of pandemic, we hold onto His cloak ever closer and spend the day in love and worship with Him. Praying all your needs are being met, fellow saints in the Lord. Praying for all my family members who are unsaved, especially holding Christopher, Tony, Jon and Lynlee in His Hands. In Jesus’ mighty Name. Amen!
The Mighty One, God, the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to where it sets.
Psalm 50:1 NIV
Awesome! All Time Gospel Hymns!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTeG2mWMZOc
Today marks 23 years that my beautiful sister, Laura, passed away after a five year battle with cancer. She would have been 70 now! Her spirit certainly is with me, today. ❤️
Thank you for the songs and sharing your thoughts and prayers with us.
You’re very welcome. God bless you Sally!
Thank you and God Bless
I’m sorry for your sadness but your separation is only temporary,Beverlee.This is the ‘artificial’ world,”created” by God and meant to be temporary,where we can build our character…..or dig a pit.Heaven is our real world if we are smart enough to accept Jesus.
You know all of this but it may help to be reminded.
Eternity With You (4 Krissy)
When morning comes I cry again
For you have gone so far away
And tears count the scars of pain
As they chase me through my day.
Each tear sends a kiss up yonder,
Where angels save them for me,
And not one will I squander
This side of eternity.
It’s love that from my heart leaks out
And rolls down my tender face
But I do not have a doubt
That you’re in a holy place.
I know that I will meet you there,
His angels will guide me true,
And with all heaven I’ll share
All eternity with you.
GW(Bill) Marshall/07,Aug, 2015
Written for a single mother who lost her
only child to Leukemia.He looked to be
about 10,6-7 years ago.
Thank you Bill, but I don’t need to be reminded. I am not in a pit and have already developed my character. Nor am I overwhelmed by sadness. It is a special day for me, which I have simply stated. I would appreciate enjoying this special day for my sister and not feeling patronized. God bless you.
Beverlee.. I’d say you have developed strong character!
How beautiful that your beloved sister’s spirit was with you today…our father is so loving and generous to those of us who have a special loved one in heaven!
To me it feels like part of my heart is already there!
Thank you for all your thoughts and the music that you post so faithfully!
I am joining you in prayer for Christopher, Tony, Jon and Lynlee…..along with my much loved son!
Thank you Anne for your comforting words and prayers. I pray for your dearly beloved son. Surely our Father in heaven hears us and will respond to our earnest hearts. Amen, dear sister-in-Christ.
Thank You, Lord God, for all Your people everywhere, the salt of the earth, the light in the darkness. Help each one to keep their eyes on You, to go where You lead, to do as You direct. Bless all those who minister to the needs of others. Let them know You are there, strengthening their hands. I am so grateful for those ambassadors of Christ who represent You so well. May we also be good ambassadors of Christ wherever we go. In Jesus’s great name, amen
Amen!
Amen,Rob.May that be my prayer too.God bless
God bless you Beverlee. Taking part in this national day of prayer. Lord may hearts be turned to you in this country including our leaders at this time when the Lord seems to be speaking to break up the fallow ground as it is time to seek the Lord as Hosea says. Also praying for other members of the family who have not confessed you. God bless you and keep all of you.
Amen,Ger.I keep saying,this plague is just a shaking to get our attention.If enough people don’t turn to Him then he will deliver something else,just as in the OT.
Under God
One nation under God that denies Me,
Will fall apart and be devoured,
If you refuse my love that’s free,
As if I am something now soured.
Your enemies have delivered my warning,
Therefore turn back to find truth,
For the wolves only bring mourning
From the sacrifice of your youth.
Greed is now what too many now preach,
For the demon has reached within,
But you can still change to teach,
So the children may turn from sin.
If you allow the wolves in their power,
To consume with endless thirst,
Then you are guilty at this hour
In helping bring about the worst.
So remove the wolves behind the crown,
For they are deeply entrenched,
And let them and their filth drown
As my laws are tightly clenched.
G W (Bill) Marshall / 11/09/2013
Forgot to mention that this is my dear Mother’s birthday whom I had the privilege of caring for 14 and a half years. Like your sister’s spirit will always be with you Beverlee I can say the same about my Mother who loved us all the same.