Sun.’s Devo - The Truth

Read: Hosea 6:1-9:17; 3 John 1:-1-14; Ps. 126:1-6; Pr. 29:12-14 God warns a nation of judgment before He actually brings it. He even gives the people little discomforts to turn them and to spare them of greater judgments ahead if they would only repent. When Israel and Judah were in trouble, instead of going to God for help, they hired the Assyrians. This only made matters worse for them. God is a jealous God and He will have no other nations or gods before Him. God was waiting and longing for His people to feel worse about their sins than their afflictions. Then there would be hope for them. The same is true of us and our nation. Until we start turning to God for our answers we are just going to get deeper and deeper into debt, despair, trouble and depression. God is our ticket out! So what can we do as mere citizens in a huge nation where we hold little influence? We can make our voice to be heard on high. It is not the heart or the ear of the President we need to reach; it is the heart and ear of God. And, He is listening. It is so refreshing to hear that God wishes nothing more than that we prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers. He wants us to walk in truth. Lord, thank you that when we walk with You, we walk in truth because You are Truth!

Sat.’s Devo - The Truth and the Lie

Read: Hosea 4:1-5:15; 2 John 1:1-13; Ps. 125:1-5; Pr. 29:9-11 Hosea’s prophecy can be summed up in 4:6. The people of Israel were destroyed for lack of knowledge. Their teachers, the priests encouraged them to worship false gods and led them in idolatry. If they had truly desired to know their God and learned of His ways they wouldn’t have turned from Him to the counterfeit of other gods. Now, they will be judged and their children because they have not taught them the truth either. John makes it clear again that to come to God you have to believe in Jesus and come through Him. If you believe in Jesus then you believe in God but you can’t have God without Jesus. To bless someone’s ministry who doesn’t have this basic belief is wrong. “Coexist” is not Biblical. John says that to bless them is to take part of their evil deeds. Jesus didn’t come to bring peace but a sword that would divide the truth from the lie. (Matthew 10:34) To tip-toe around the lie in the name of peace is to agree with the lie. We have to be bold and live true to our convictions. Lord, help us to recognize the truth and stand firm against the lie.

Fri.’s Devo - Hosea’s Children - God’s Children

Read: Hosea 1:1-3:5; 1 John 5:1-21; Ps. 124:1-8; Pr. 29:5-8 Hosea lived during a time of great prosperity in his nation that led to their down fall. Little by little they started worshipping what their money could buy which led them into idolatry. God sent Hosea to be a picture of his love for them. He was to marry a harlot who would stand for Israel in it’s idolatry. They had a son and named him Jezreel because God said that he would avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu. (2 Kings 9) Jezreel is figurative of the northern kingdom of Israel. When Jehoram was king a prophet went to Jehu and told him he was to be the next king. He and his buddies got all excited and started killing off Jehoram and all his leaders. They should have let God do that. God is the revenger of blood. It is his job to kill and exalt but Jehu took it into his hands. He killed Jezebel and had the idols taken torn down except for the two golden calves which remained and were a snare to the nation. Their second child was a son named Lo-ruhamah which means “not pitied”. Israel was to have no pity for Israel when He judges her. They will be judged in the valley of Jezreel which is another name for the valley of Armageddon. Judah who stands for the church will be shown mercy and they will not be killed in war. (Hopefully the Rapture) Her next son was Lo-ammi which means “not my people”. One day these same people will be God’s children and come out of the land as one. One day they will call God their husband and put away their false gods. In Chapter 3, God told Hosea to go buy a girl out of the brothel and love her as a picture of how God was going to redeem Israel out of her idolatry and love her. Thank you that You have given us understanding, that we may know You as the truth.

Thur’s. Devo - Resurrection From the Dead

Read: Dan. 11:36-12:13; 1 John 4:1-21; Ps. 123:1-4; Pr. 29:2-4 The end of Daniel 11 describes Anitiochus who marched into Jerusalem and twice. The first time he offered a pig on the altar and desecrated the temple. He also killed eighty thousand, took forty thousand prisoners, and sold forty thousand as slaves. The last time he came to Jerusalem he fell on the worshippers in the temple and killed them. Then he proclaimed that he was the Greek god Jupiter and demanded that all people worship him. Once again, he is a type of the Antichrist that will come before Jesus comes back. Daniel 12 speaks of the resurrection of the dead back to life during the final millennium. They will be like the dry bones that Daniel saw coming back to life. Many come back to be judged and others to have the spirit of God poured into them. They will be the ones that shall be purified and made white. John gives a new criteria for being of God…confessing that Jesus came in the flesh. I guess he is implying that if we believe he came in the flesh then we believe that he died for our sins and rose from the grave. The main point of his sermon is if we believe then we have the spirit of truth. Then John encourages us to love one another. Our love is the outward proof of God in our hearts. Lord, help us to love like you love.

Wed.’s Devo - He Has the Whole World in His Hand

Read: Dan. 11:1-35; 1 John 3:7-24; Ps. 112:1-9; Pr. 29:1 The events of Daniel show the timeline of what happened the millennium before Christ came the first time. These are the events of the 70 weeks Daniel spoke about yesterday. The northern kingdom was the Seleucid kingdom of Syria, the southern was the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt. The other powers that are involved are the Jewish Hasmonean dynasty, the Roman Empire, and Herod the Great, the vassal of Rome. Antiochus IV and Herod the Great were antichrist prototypes. This whole scenerio is a picture of what will happen before Jesus comes again. The most important factor is that God is in control of world events. Everything happens according to His plan. I love what our Psalms says today in verse 7 talking about the man who fears the Lord: “He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is fixed trusting in the Lord.” First John brings up some interesting thoughts. When we have the seed of God in us we are righteous because the seed God placed in us is righteous. Cain had the seed of Satan in him so he was evil and wicked. He took life where God gives life. Lord, we live in peace and joy because we know we can rest in Your plan.

Tues.’s Devo - Daniel’s 70 Weeks

Read: Dan. 9:1-10:21; 1 John 2:18-3:6; Ps. 121:1-8; Pr. 28:27-28 Studying end time prophecy can be very confusing because there are so many different opinions out there. I have decided that when God gets ready to tell us what’s right then it will be time to know. The primary focus of Daniel’s prophecy was to tell Daniel when the Messiah would come. It also predicted the Jews’ rejection of Jesus as the Messiah and what that would mean to Israel. Then Antichrist appears in the last 3 1/2 year time period which will usher in the messianic age on earth talked about in Daniel 11 and 13. Then the trumpet will sound and sin will be over and righteousness will reign. John reminded the people that there have been many antichrists that have arisen and will be many more. He tells us that an antichrist is someone who denies God and Jesus, the Father and the Son. He makes it clear that you can’t have God without Jesus which clarifies that God is not Allah since believers of Allah deny that Jesus is God’s son. John really brings it home that Christians do not sin. Not a clear teaching to the body of Christ but none the less it is Bible. Sin died in us the day we accepted Jesus as our Saviour. When we understand this we are unstopable and dangerous to the devil because condemnation is the power he holds over us. When we realize we are eternally justified we are free to walk in righteousness and power. Lord, give us an understanding of the grace and power of the cross.

Mon.’s Devo - The Tribulation

Read: Daniel 8:1-27; 1 John 2:1-17; Ps. 120:1-7; Pr. 28:25-26 Daniel saw this vision while staying at the palace at Shushan, the very palace that Esther became queen. He sees a vision of what will happen in the end days. Even though he was to see the interpretation partially fulfilled in his lifetime, it was a picture of what will happen in the very end during the Tribulation. The antichrist will arise with occultist powers that mimic the miracles of Jesus. His influence that God gives him will seduce and deceive many. He will defy Christ but Christ will win. The Bible teaches us not to sin where we teach everyone has to sin. I’m going with the Bible. Jesus told the woman at the well to go and sin no more as if it was possible. John thinks it’s possible too. But if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ. Everyone sins before Christ, but after Christ we should be obeying God’s commands. Jesus only gave us two: Love the Lord with all our heart and love one another as we love ourselves. We get caught up in the nit-picky things that the devil loves to accuse us of. Let’s just choose to walk in the light. Lord, shine your light on our hearts and enlarge our hearts to love you more.