Book of Hosea

I happen to read this verse...
Hosea 5:4 Their deeds do not pemit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the LORD.

Many of times when I comit sin in my actions... behaviour... being angry..resentment.., It is very difficult for me to return to God. I only simply sit and feel bad...I know that I need to repent... but the feeling comes to my mind.. I feel that I simply do this everytime and this time I dont want to go and ask God for fogiveness.. The thing is when we do wrong in our daily life we dont want to repent or ask for forgiveness because we are affraid if the person whom I am hurting will not fogive me everytime... will not tolerate mistake again... i was just meditation on this verse and thinking to my self. and I continued reading the chapter further...

Vs 15: Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me.

This verse again spoke to me ... "go BACK to my place.... untill THEY ADMIT their GUILT.."
feeling this guilt is not enough.... feeling bad is not enough... I need to ADMIT it..!!

I kept reading though I dnt know the context of this book of Hosea.

Hosea 7: 13: Woe to them, because they have strayed from me!
Destruction to them,
because tey have rebelled against me!
I long to redeem them but they speak lies against me.
14: They do not cry out to me from their hearts but wail upon their beds.
They gather together for grain and new wine but turn away from me.
15: I trained them and strengthened them, but they plot evil against me.
16: They do not turn to the Most High;
they are like a faulty bow.
Their leaders will fail by the sword because of their insolent words.
For this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.

This verse completly describes God's love. He wants me to CRY out to him... not to anybody else..!! not simply wail on my bed. which I do many times and I simply sit on a chair or sleep on my bed and I keep talking to myself or keep thinking and keep wailing about all the deeds I did... and I feel better by end of it...!!! IS IT ALL??? that I need to do ????... NO....!!!
I need to CRY OUT TO THE LORD...!
THE MOST HIGHT...!! HE LONGS TO REDEEEM ME... :)

Then I turned to next page... and I read.
Hosea 10: 12
Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unploughed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, untill he comes and showers righteousness on you.

Once I repent and ADMIT, I need to be righteousness conscious.... I need to sow righteousness... and break unploughed ground... which is my sould.. the seeds of God's word need to be sown deep inside and the ground(my soul) has to be break up.... and I need to SEEK the lord... so that he will SHOWER righteousness on me... and I need to sow that righteousness again... which is a cyclic process..!!

Hosea 11: 2
But the more I called Israel, the further they went from me.

This happens with me everytime... the closer I grow to the LORD... once I feel his presense... something would happen to my spirit and I would feel weak in spirit and always sinned... and I went further from the LORD...

After reading this... I again started realising my sins and I started feeling bad for my self... started hating my self... and I thought that when ever I came close to God, I will go futher far the very next moment...

Hosea 11: 9
I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man - the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.

Such a beautifull verse...
I loved his words soo much...
As I kept reading, and as thoughts came into my mind, so the verses answered my thoughts and questions... SUCH A GREAT WORD - LIVING WORD...

Hosea 14: 1
Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall!
2: Take words with you and return to the LORD.
Say to him: "Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.

4: " I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.

as I went reading further

9: Who is wise? He will realise these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

After reading this, I again read the whole book of hosea trying to understand in when this book was written.
I browsed online to find this extract...

About the book of Hosea

Author: Hosea 1:1 identifies the author of the book as the Prophet Hosea. It is Hosea’s personal account of his prophetic messages to the children of God and to the world. Hosea is the only prophet of Israel who left any written prophecies which were recorded during the later years of his life.

Purpose of Writing: Hosea wrote this book to remind the Israelites—and us—that ours is a loving God whose loyalty to His covenant people is unwavering. In spite of Israel’s continual turning to false gods, God’s steadfast love is portrayed in the long-suffering husband of the unfaithful wife. Hosea’s message is also one of warning to those who would turn their backs on God’s love. Through the symbolic presentation of the marriage of Hosea and Gomer, God’s love for the idolatrous nation of Israel is displayed in a rich metaphor in the themes of sin, judgment, and forgiving love.

Hosea, The Book:A. A unified book in two parts:

B. Chapters 1-3: The illustration of Hosea's family life
1. The unfaithfulness of Israel
2. Baal worship, the prostitution of love due God
3. God's love in the face of rejection

C. Chapters 4-14: Sermons of judgment and grace
1. The severity of the people's sin
2. Condemnation of injustice
3. Fickleness of God's people contrasted to God's steadfast love
4. God portrayed as a forgiving Father
5. The continued rebellion of the people
6. Promise of restoration following repentance

Brief Summary: The Book of Hosea can be divided into two parts: (1) Hosea 1:1-3:5 is a description of an adulterous wife and a faithful husband, symbolic of the unfaithfulness of Israel to God through idolatry, and (2) Hosea 3:6-14:9 contains the condemnation of Israel, especially Samaria, for the worship of idols and her eventual restoration.The first section of the book contains three distinctive poems illustrating how God’s children returned time after time to idolatry. God commands Hosea to marry Gomer, but after bearing him three children, she walks away from Hosea to her lovers. The symbolical emphasis can be seen clearly in the first chapter as Hosea compares Israel’s actions to turning from a marriage to life as a prostitute. The second section contains Hosea’s denunciation of the Israelites but followed by the promises and the mercies of God. The Book of Hosea is a prophetic accounting of God’s relentless love for His children. Since the beginning of time God’s ungrateful and undeserving creation has been accepting God’s love, grace, and mercy while still unable to refrain from its wickedness. The last part of Hosea shows how God’s love once again restores His children as He forgets their misdeeds when they turn back to Him with a repentant heart. The prophetic message of Hosea foretells the coming of Israel’s Messiah 700 years in the future. Hosea is quoted often in the New Testament.

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vzpxqq96CwYC&dq=book+of+hosea&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=XZg2SuKkEoOGkAXHzpyACg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=13

TASTE MY JESUS...!!!

At the University of Chicago Divinity School each year they have what is called "Baptist Day." On this day each one is to bring a lunch to be eaten outdoors in a grassy picnic area. Every "Baptist Day" the school would invite one of the greatest minds to lecture in the theological education center. One year they invited Dr. Paul Tillich. Dr. Tillich spoke for two and one-half hours attempting to prove that the resurrection of Jesus was false. He quoted scholar after scholar and book after book. He concluded that since there was no such thing as the historical resurrection, the religious tradition of the church was groundless, emotional mumbo-jumbo, because it was based on a relationship with a risen Jesus, who, in fact, never rose from the dead in any literal sense. He then asked if there were any questions. After about 30 seconds, an old, dark skinned preacher with a head of short-cropped, woolly white hair stood up in the back of the auditorium.

"Docta Tillich, I got one question," he said as all eyes turned toward him.

He reached into his lunch and pulled out an apple and began eating it. "Docta Tillich.".

CRUNCH... CRUNCH, MUNCH... MUNCH...

"My question is a simple question,..."

CRUNCH... CRUNCH, MUNCH... MUNCH...

"Now, I ain't never read them books you read...

CRUNCH... CRUNCH, MUNCH... MUNCH...

"and I can't recite the Scriptures in the original Greek..." I don't
know nothin' about Niebuhr and Heidegger...

CRUNCH... CRUNCH, MUNCH... MUNCH...

He finished the apple.

"All I wanna know is: This apple I just ate,------was it bitter or sweet?"

Dr. Tillich paused for a moment and answered in exemplary scholarly fashion: "I cannot possibly answer that question, for I haven't tasted your apple."

The white-haired preacher dropped the core of his apple into his crumpled paper bag, looked up at Dr. Tillich and said calmly,

"Neither have you tasted my Jesus."

The 1,000 plus in attendance could not contain themselves. The Auditorium erupted with applause and cheers. Dr. Tillich thanked the audience and promptly left the platform.

Have you tasted Jesus?

Please pass this on Saints! Jesus has risen... and he's coming back one day!

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. If you have, rejoice in the hope of the resurrection that is your faith in Him brings." - Psalm 34:8

Saved by Grace & Blogging about God's word..

I have been thinking to create a blog to put up my thoughts and the way God is speaking to me. I want to review my rendevour with God again and again to be strong in spirit... Though born and bought up in a Christian family and being baptised in 2001 and I never had a personal experience of God's precense... I have MANY times accepted Jesus as my saviour... :D and I knw that he is the way to heaven and I will be only saved by Jesus....but.. but there was still something missing!... the joy!?? His presence!!? yes! Infact I was missing Him in my life!... I really wonder how I have managed to exist.... Always trying to be happy-go types... enjoying life... attending churches... praying now-and-then... listing to sermons and worshiping him.... sometimes trying to hide my self from others... my inner voices... inner grief... some emptiness... just thanking God sometimes for His faithfulness... ! I really used to think Iam saved and now-and-then being in His presence was enough.... It was when I came to blore that I started realising the presence of God in my life!... How wonderful He is... His Love was really pursuing me...!!! I Cried to the Lord in 2009... I realised how I was... how much Sin I had inside me... I donno out of where...!! but yes, I could understand that God was talking to me. I always used to wonder when ppl used to say.... " God spoke to me?" " God told me..." 'God showed me..." well this was one question that I always used to laugh at... One of my friend (now my husband :)) told me tat God speaks through His word,... through circumstances,.... through ppl... Then I started looking at it... and trying to find out what God was telling me???/.... what God was speaking to me... and believe me He does!!!.... In whtever situation I am in... He always speaks to me... through His word... through sermons... We just need to listen to His still voice... Which ever meeting I attended... which ever article I read... He used to talk to me on my situation... Wonderful He is!!!... I started growing closer to my Lord.... having fellowship with Him is wonderfull@!!... :) Read on and get blessed!! Share ur testimonies and comments too....

Father's Love Letter

Got this from one of the blogs...

My Child...You may not know me, but I know everything about you. Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up. Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways. Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image. Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being. Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring. Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived. Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation. Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother's womb. Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born. Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me. John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. 1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. 1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father. Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. Psalms 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you. Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession. Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things. Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires. Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Revelation 21:3-4
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being. Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. 1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. 1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father. Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is…Will you be my child? John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you. Luke 15:11-32
Love, Your Dad.......Almighty God