O. Addison Gethers
e-mail address [email protected] [email protected] twitter URL http//:twitter.com/OAddisonGethers Messenger contact window live/msn messenger: [email protected] aim: durangoadd64 skype: cowboys62 yahoo messenger: OADDISONGETHERS rs ----- Original Message ----- From: "Donnie Parrett" <[email protected]> To: "Donnie Parrett" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2009 10:47 PM Subject: Daily Bible Reading For Monday September 21 > Day 264 > > Hosea 11-14 (The Message) > > Hosea 11 > Israel Played at Religion with Toy Gods > 1-9 "When Israel was only a child, I loved him. I called out, 'My > son!'-called him out of Egypt. > But when others called him, > he ran off and left me. > He worshiped the popular sex gods, > he played at religion with toy gods. > Still, I stuck with him. I led Ephraim. > I rescued him from human bondage, > But he never acknowledged my help, > never admitted that I was the one pulling his wagon, > That I lifted him, like a baby, to my cheek, > that I bent down to feed him. > Now he wants to go back to Egypt or go over to Assyria- > anything but return to me! > That's why his cities are unsafe-the murder rate skyrockets > and every plan to improve things falls to pieces. > My people are hell-bent on leaving me. > They pray to god Baal for help. > He doesn't lift a finger to help them. > But how can I give up on you, Ephraim? > How can I turn you loose, Israel? > How can I leave you to be ruined like Admah, > devastated like luckless Zeboim? > I can't bear to even think such thoughts. > My insides churn in protest. > And so I'm not going to act on my anger. > I'm not going to destroy Ephraim. > And why? Because I am God and not a human. > I'm The Holy One and I'm here-in your very midst. > 10-12"The people will end up following God. > I will roar like a lion- > Oh, how I'll roar! > My frightened children will come running from the west. > Like frightened birds they'll come from Egypt, > from Assyria like scared doves. > I'll move them back into their homes." > God's Word! > > Soul-Destroying Lies > Ephraim tells lies right and left. > Not a word of Israel can be trusted. > Judah, meanwhile, is no better, > addicted to cheap gods. > Hosea 12 > 1-5 Ephraim, obsessed with god-fantasies, chases ghosts and phantoms. > He tells lies nonstop, > soul-destroying lies. > Both Ephraim and Judah made deals with Assyria > and tried to get an inside track with Egypt. > God is bringing charges against Israel. > Jacob's children are hauled into court to be punished. > In the womb, that heel, Jacob, got the best of his brother. > When he grew up, he tried to get the best of God. > But God would not be bested. > God bested him. > Brought to his knees, > Jacob wept and prayed. > God found him at Bethel. > That's where he spoke with him. > God is God-of-the-Angel-Armies, > God-Revealed, God-Known. > 6 What are you waiting for? Return to your God! > Commit yourself in love, in justice! > Wait for your God, > and don't give up on him-ever! > > 7-8The businessmen engage in wholesale fraud. > They love to rip people off! > Ephraim boasted, "Look, I'm rich! > I've made it big! > And look how well I've covered my tracks: > not a hint of fraud, not a sign of sin!" > > 9-11"But not so fast! I'm God, your God! > Your God from the days in Egypt! > I'm going to put you back to living in tents, > as in the old days when you worshiped in the wilderness. > I speak through the prophets > to give clear pictures of the way things are. > Using prophets, I tell revealing stories. > I show Gilead rampant with religious scandal > and Gilgal teeming with empty-headed religion. > I expose their worship centers as > stinking piles of garbage in their gardens." > > 12-14Are you going to repeat the life of your ancestor Jacob? > He ran off guilty to Aram, > Then sold his soul to get ahead, > and made it big through treachery and deceit. > Your real identity is formed through God-sent prophets, > who led you out of Egypt and served as faithful pastors. > As it is, Ephraim has continually > and inexcusably insulted God. > Now he has to pay for his life-destroying ways. > His Master will do to him what he has done. > > Hosea 13 > Religion Customized to Taste > 1-3 God once let loose against Ephraim a terrifying sentence against > Israel: > Caught and convicted > in the lewd sex-worship of Baal-they died! > And now they're back in the sin business again, > manufacturing god-images they can use, > Religion customized to taste. Professionals see to it: > Anything you want in a god you can get. > Can you believe it? They sacrifice live babies to these dead gods- > kill living babies and kiss golden calves! > And now there's nothing left to these people: > hollow men, desiccated women, > Like scraps of paper blown down the street, > like smoke in a gusty wind. > 4-6"I'm still your God, > the God who saved you out of Egypt. > I'm the only real God you've ever known. > I'm the one and only God who delivers. > I took care of you during the wilderness hard times, > those years when you had nothing. > I took care of you, took care of all your needs, > gave you everything you needed. > You were spoiled. You thought you didn't need me. > You forgot me. > > 7-12"I'll charge them like a lion, > like a leopard stalking in the brush. > I'll jump them like a sow grizzly robbed of her cubs. > I'll rip out their guts. > Coyotes will make a meal of them. > Crows will clean their bones. > I'm going to destroy you, Israel. > Who is going to stop me? > Where is your trusty king you thought would save you? > Where are all the local leaders you wanted so badly? > All these rulers you insisted on having, > demanding, 'Give me a king! Give me leaders!'? > Well, long ago I gave you a king, but I wasn't happy about it. > Now, fed up, I've gotten rid of him. > I have a detailed record of your infidelities- > Ephraim's sin documented and stored in a safe-deposit box. > > 13-15"When birth pangs signaled it was time to be born, > Ephraim was too stupid to come out of the womb. > When the passage into life opened up, > he didn't show. > Shall I intervene and pull them into life? > Shall I snatch them from a certain death? > Who is afraid of you, Death? > Who cares about your threats, Tomb? > In the end I'm abolishing regret, > banishing sorrow, > Even though Ephraim ran wild, > the black sheep of the family. > > 15-16"God's tornado is on its way, > roaring out of the desert. > It will devastate the country, > leaving a trail of ruin and wreckage. > The cities will be gutted, > dear possessions gone for good. > Now Samaria has to face the charges > because she has rebelled against her God: > Her people will be killed, babies smashed on the rocks, > pregnant women ripped open." > > Hosea 14 > Come Back! Return to Your God! > 1-3 O Israel, come back! Return to your God! You're down but you're not > out. > Prepare your confession > and come back to God. > Pray to him, "Take away our sin, > accept our confession. > Receive as restitution > our repentant prayers. > Assyria won't save us; > horses won't get us where we want to go. > We'll never again say 'our god' > to something we've made or made up. > You're our last hope. Is it not true > that in you the orphan finds mercy?" > 4-8 "I will heal their waywardness. > I will love them lavishly. My anger is played out. > I will make a fresh start with Israel. > He'll burst into bloom like a crocus in the spring. > He'll put down deep oak tree roots, > he'll become a forest of oaks! > He'll become splendid-like a giant sequoia, > his fragrance like a grove of cedars! > Those who live near him will be blessed by him, > be blessed and prosper like golden grain. > Everyone will be talking about them, > spreading their fame as the vintage children of God. > Ephraim is finished with gods that are no-gods. > From now on I'm the one who answers and satisfies him. > I am like a luxuriant fruit tree. > Everything you need is to be found in me." > > 9 If you want to live well, > make sure you understand all of this. > If you know what's good for you, > you'll learn this inside and out. > God's paths get you where you want to go. > Right-living people walk them easily; > wrong-living people are always tripping and stumbling. > > > > > > > ~~~~~ > Please join us on Skype Monday thru Friday at 8:00 EST for our Morning > Skype Prayer Time. > Also, follow my tweets on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/Donnie1261 > > > Contact Me At: > Donnie Parrett > 1956 Asa Flat Road > Annville, Kentucky 40402 > Home Phone: 606-364-3321 > Church Phone: 606-364-PRAY > Skype Name: Donnie1261 > Email: [email protected] > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Deaf-Blind Inspirational Life Group" group. 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