Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / March 5 - Hosea 12

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March 5 - Hosea 12 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here and it's Thursday, it's the 12th
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  of March. Good to have your company.
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  I hope you're going well, whether you are just bustling
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  with energy at the start of the day or whether you are bleary
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  eyed rubbing sleep out of the corners of your eyes or at the
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  end of the day, you're all done no matter where you are.
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  What's going on? Hey, it's great to have your
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  company. You might be all alone or you
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  might be gathered around with your family.
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  It is so cool that we get to do this together.
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  And when I say this, the thing that we do together is we are
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  able to read this incredible word inspired by the God of
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  creation as a message to us so that we can learn more about
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  him. And haven't we learnt more about
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  him this week? We have seen God's absolute
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  holiness and his intolerance of the worship of other gods.
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  And then we've seen this incredible compassion as God has
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  wrestled with needing to allow the consequences of Israel's
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  behaviour to hurt them when he wants the absolute opposite to
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  bless and to love. Ah, so that is the journey we
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  continue on today as we hear God wrestling with his love and
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  compassion for these errant people who continue to do the
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  wrong thing. Holy Spirit, open up our hearts
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  so that we can learn more about you and your character as we
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  read this today. All right friends, let us read
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  together Hosea chapter 12. The people of Israel feed on the
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  wind. They chase after the east wind
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  all day long. They pile up lies and violence.
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  They're making an alliance with Assyria while sending olive oil
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  to buy support from Egypt. How the Lord is bringing charges
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  against Judah. He is about to punish Jacob for
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  all his deceitful ways and pay him back for all he has done.
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  Even in the womb, Jacob struggled with his brother.
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  When he became a man, he even fought with God.
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  Yes, he wrestled with the Angel and won.
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  He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him.
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  There at Bethel, he met God face to face and God spoke to him.
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  The Lord God of heaven's armies. The Lord is his name.
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  So now come back to your God, act with love and justice, and
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  always depend on him. But no, the people are like
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  crafty merchants selling from dishonest scales.
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  They love to cheat. Israel boasts I am rich, I have
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  made a fortune all by myself. No one has caught me cheating.
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  My record is spotless. But I am the Lord your God, who
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  rescued you from slavery in Egypt, and I will make you live
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  in tents again, as you do each year at the festival of
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  shelters. I sent my prophets to warn you
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  with many visions and parables. But the people of Gilead are
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  worthless because of their idol worship, and in Gilgal too, they
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  sacrifice bulls. Their altars are lined up like
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  the heaps of stone along the edges of a ploughed field.
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  Jacob fled to the land of Aram, and there he earned a wife by
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  tending sheep. Then by prophet the Lord brought
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  Jacob's descendants out of Egypt, and by that prophet they
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  were protected. But the people of Israel have
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  bitterly provoked the Lord, so their Lord will now sentence
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  them to death in payment for their sins.
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  Our Lord, in this reading we hear how You are present in
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  every step of the journey along the way.
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  And Lord, we know that's true for our lives as well.
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  We know that each time we turn a corner, there You are, ready to
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  take that next part of the journey with us.
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  Every time we celebrate a victory, there You are whooping
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  and cheering along with us. When we find ourselves in a dark
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  valley of sadness or loss or grief, there you are,
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  heartbroken, standing beside us. You are a God who travels
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  intimately with us through the ups and the downs of our daily
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  lives. And how that could possibly be.
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  That the God of the universe would be present here with each
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  one of us in our own personal journeys.
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  It blows our minds, but we are so grateful because we know that
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  that is the truth. That is the reality of our
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  experience. And so, Lord Jesus, eternal God
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  and mighty Creator and loving Saviour, we see you, we
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  acknowledge your presence, and we worship you, and we praise
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  you, and we thank You, and we bow down in reverence, and we
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  clutch and hold onto you for dear life.
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  Our beautiful Saviour, You are the best and we love you so
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  much. And we pray all of this in the
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  saving name of Jesus, Amen.