Living for God’s Glory, Day 14 What does it mean to live for God’s glory and how do we avoid stumbling? Read Hosea chapter 14. As we come to the end of the book of Hosea, this verse stood out to me today as the culmination of what it means to live for God’s glory. We are to be wise and discerning. We are to focus on Christ and on all that he is. Anything less is stumbling in rebellion. Are we walking in God’s glory each day? Do we move forward in every area that God has for us? Are we living for God’s glory in every area of…

Living for God’s Glory, Day 13 One of the saddest verses. Read Hosea chapter 13. Reading through this chapter today, this verse jumped out of the page at me. What a incredibly sad verse! God provides for his people. When his people receive his provision, they are happy and blessed and satisfied. As they become satisfied, they turned away from God thinking that they don’t need him. This describes the state of many countries and people today. God has done amazing things in their past and shown himself to be the truly awesome God that he is, and as a result the people are blessed and happy. However, they have…

Living for God’s Glory, Day 12 Return. Read Hosea chapter 12. The idea of returning is interesting to me. It implies that at one point we where were we need to be and then for some reason we left. We changed positions or stopped our focus or in some way fell away from what we have been doing. We are to return to God. We know what we are missing and all that God has provided for us because we used to experience it. Yet when we are not following him, we are choosing to go without everything that he provides. We are to return to him. God wants to…

Living for God’s Glory, Day 11 God’s tremendous love. Read Hosea chapter 11. As we read through this chapter, we see the description of all the different things that Israel has done to God. Israel has fallen away from God. Still, God continues to have such tremendous love for Israel. When we think about all the things that we have done, we are truly no better. We have all sinned against God in such horrific ways. However, God continues to love us. God seeks to find ways to bring us back and to get our attention so that we will be made right with him. God wants to have a…

Living for God’s Glory, Day 10 Now is the time. Read Hosea chapter 10. Seek the Lord and recognize that now is the time to come to him. We do not know what is coming next and with all the upheaval in the world today, it is even more apparent that we need him. What are we sowing and what are we reaping? We desperately need to seek the Lord. Please continue to pray for Israel and for the devastation they are experiencing.

Living for God’s Glory, Day 9 Obedience. Read Hosea chapter 9. So many places through scripture we read that God desires obedience more than sacrifice. God wants his people to come to him and to obey him. As we read through this chapter in Hosea, we see so many ways that the people rejected God. As a result, God rejected them. God wants to bring us into relationship with him, but he’s not going to force it. If we don’t want a relationship with him, he’s not going to make us have one. As a result, our obedience is a demonstration of our love of God and it shows him…

Living for God’s Glory, Day 8 Do our creations fulfill their purpose? Read Hosea chapter 8. The people built altars with the original intent of worshipping God. They built these altars so they could bring sin offerings and sacrifices to glorify God. However, these very creations were now being used as a way to sin against God by worshipping other things. Look around our lives at the things we have built or created. Do we use those things for the originally intended purpose? If our desire is to glorify God, is everything in our life being built around that desire to glorify him? Or, are we repurposing some things in…

Living for God’s Glory, Day 7 Arrogance, what does it lead to? Read Hosea chapter 7. It’s one thing to be confronted with the things that we are doing wrong. It’s another thing to be confronted with them but choose to not do anything different. The people of Israel were acting sinfully and arrogantly. However, even though they were being shown that, they refuse to make any change or turn back to God. Are we recognizing when we are sinful and do we make changes based upon what we learn? Are we allowing God to influence what we do so that we learn and grow? God wants to change us,…

Living for God’s Glory, Day 6 God brings conviction and then healing. Read Hosea chapter 6. Throughout this book, we have seen the people of Israel doing things they should not be doing. Part of what Hosea was trying to convey to them with God’s message is that they are wrong and they need to repent. Unfortunately, sometimes God has to bring a measure of judgment to people before they are ready to accept his forgiveness. In this case, the people realize they need to return to him because God will restore them even as he has been bringing judgment on them. Sometimes the difficult things we are going through…

Living for God’s Glory, Day 5 When God withdraws. Read Hosea chapter 5. When we see the people of Israel in this chapter, they have continued to reject God. As a result, God is withdrawing from them. Now the people are starting to realize what they have lost. If we reject God, he will often allow us to experience the consequences of that decision. When God withdraws, he is not protecting us any longer, but allowing us to experience the consequences of our actions. Are we seeking God today?