Hosea 4:12  – “My people ask counsel of their own imagination, and their staff declares to them directions.”

There will be victory for all who do not succumb to deception and chase fantasies.   Those whose total trust is God will endure and produce fruit in a time of deep barrenness.  

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was reminded of something I discovered years ago.   If our hope is in something to happen to change our circumstances, we need to ask, “Am I hoping in this or God?”  Deception convinces us of things that take away from God.  Deception convinces us of fallacy and bleeds into all areas of life.  It will ultimately be the root of our destruction.  Trust must be exclusively in God!

Hosea 4:12 is an interesting passage that provides a much-needed revelation and warning.  “My people ask counsel of their own imagination, and their staff declares to them directions…”   The picture is of a blind man’s staff guiding him.   He can’t see, doesn’t know, but hopes his inanimate staff will guide him rightly.

The word ‘imagination’ could be rendered as ‘idols’ or ‘false hopes.’  We all dream.  The question is whether the dream is God-inspired, God-focused, and produces humility and dependence on God, or elevates the flesh.

The Holy Spirit is tugging at my heart for Total Surrender of everything to God.   My hopes, dreams, visions, ambitions, and all the good I hope to achieve and accomplish.  He wants our Entire Self.   He calls us to die so that we can live.

The question in my heart today is, “Do I truly trust God?”   The answer is in my words, deeds, and dreams.  The answer is in my attitude.  The answer is in my response to everything!   My goal is Total and Complete Surrender of All I am to Him.   Philippians 3:10-11 is my target.   I desire to know Him in… 

“My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, ¹¹ and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

LORD, give us God inspired Hope!

Luke 16:13 – “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, I was drawn to the thought of commitment and service.   As I read in the Book of Daniel, I saw this truth. Daniel, a captive, chose to serve God faithfully, and out of that flowed faithful service to his captors.  His commitment to God produced an unimpeachable integrity.

In Luke 16, Jesus emphasized commitment and service.   He revealed the necessity of choice in verse 13.  In verse 17, He revealed the eternality of God’s Word and the impossibility of God to fail.

Luke 16:17 – “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one letter of the law to pass away.”   Then, He seems to totally go off message in verse 18 – “He who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery: And he who marries the one who is illegally separated commits adultery.”

Is that off message?   No, I believe He was emphasizing the requirements and importance of commitment and service.  First is commitment to God, which translates into service and commitment to others.

Many Christians seem to think they have punched their ticket to heaven by doing their religious duty.   Luke 17:9-10 blows that out of the water.   We think we will get in and be rewarded for the dutiful things we do.   Commitment of the whole self translates into service that reflects the heart of God and is above and beyond.   It is service out of love, not duty or expectation of Reward.

Daniel first gave Himself to God, and then he was able to serve, which brought honor to God and reward to Daniel.  If my whole being is committed to God, it becomes impossible not to serve others.

Luke 17:20-21, Jesus said, The Kingdom is not discovered by what we see or do; it is who we are…“for behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”   What is in us flows out of us and impacts everything!  We win the lost through commitment and service, not eloquence and oratory.

Determine, like Daniel, to give your whole self to God and watch things around you change. It may not become trouble-free, but will be it will be victorious!

Lord help us to be servants even if we find ourselves in servitude!  Help us to manifest the heart, nature, character, and presence of Jesus!

Ezekiel 28:1-2 – The Lord’s message came to me: ² “Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:  “‘Your heart is proud and you said, “I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods, in the heart of the seas”—yet you are a man and not a god, though you think you are godlike.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, my heart experienced extreme heaviness as I contemplated the heaviness, and I began to realize why.   In this hour, the true condition of our world is being laid bare.

Ezekiel 28 addresses the power and destructiveness of pride.  The person addressed (I believe) was the devil.   It could easily have a dual application, but regardless, PRIDE was the culprit.

Pride prevents us from seeing our true condition and needs.  Pride prevents us from seeing the remedy.   Pride shuts off the flow of grace and dooms us to destruction.  Pride and humility are as incapable as light and darkness or oil and water.

Proverbs warns, “Pride goes before destruction…”  Pride dethrones God (to us) and enthrones self.  Pride leads to hell and is itself hellish. Pridefulness knows no peace and trusts nothing and no one.

Jesus came to free us from ALL sin.   He came to transform us into new creations with new hearts, minds, and desires.   He came to free us from the burden of being our own god.  That is a heavyweight. The responsibility is uncarryable.

Could I suggest it is Pride that prevents us from being His witnesses to the lost? Mark 16 gives a description of our commission and the evidence that accompanies it.

Sharing our faith is seldom without challenge.   The gospel challenges Pride in us and others and makes demands.   He gave a vehicle by which His gospel is validated to the doubters.   Mark 16:15-18. Signs and wonders accompany the gospel.  Demons defeated, new tongues, enemies overcome, protection from harm, and the miracle of divine healing are embodied in that commission.

The answer to Pride is Surrender to Jesus.   Surrender demands the abandonment of the self-preservation survival instinct that propels us into trusting self, which is an act of pride.

The fruit of my life is evidence of who I trust.   Is it God and His Word or me?   Surrender or Pride.   Pride cost Lucifer his place before God and will separate us from God and steal hope from many lost souls.

When I realize I cannot save myself and nothing is more valuable than my soul, I lose Pride and surrender.    Then, I become a vessel He can use.   We have a commission and a mission, and time is short.

May God inspire us to fully surrender to Jesus and begin to live the Life that He came to bring with the anointing and power!

1 Samuel 15:13 – “And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of Yahweh! I have established the word of Yahweh.”

As I read, prayed, and contemplated the Word of God today, the word “contrast” would not leave my thoughts.  Contrasts are a constant companion of life.

In 1 Samuel 15, Saul had been directed to utterly destroy the Amalekites.   In verse 9, we read of his disobedience.   In verse 13, Samuel shows up, and Saul says, “I have established the Word of Yahweh.”  That was a distortion of the command. Samuel responded, “Really? Then why do I hear sheep bleating and cows mooing?”

Saul began shifting the blame in verse 20. He said, “I did obey.”   In verse 21, he said, “But the people…”  Samuel gave the familiar treatise in verses 22-23, reminding Saul that God is not interested and will not accept our works or superficial efforts to justify by sacrifice. He demands obedience. The contrast of Saul’s thoughts and God’s commands resulted in Saul losing the kingdom.

The account of David facing Goliath is another contrast.  In 1 Samuel 17:45-47, we have David’s response to Goliath’s taunt.  David revealed his faith in God.  Faith does not come from our confession, but our confession comes from faith.  In this account, it was Faith, followed by confession, followed by action.   Out of David’s faith, he declared and then acted upon his faith declaration.

David’s confidence was in God, Saul’s confidence was in his armor, and Goliath’s confidence was in his size and strength.  The contrast was clear.  David’s desire was that victory would honor God and testify of Him.

Another contrast is in 2 Peter 3:3-4.    Peter reminded us that the delay in the return of Jesus invites denial of His promise to return.    We either hold fast regardless or we lose hope.

Remember, explicit obedience results in explicit blessing. God’s patience and desire to redeem us are the reasons for His delay, not inability or lack of concern. It is because of LOVE!

The LORD directed me to consider the contrasts and make the choices that lead to explicit obedience.   In that place, there is peace, power, purpose, provision, and presence!

Lord, help us to be consistent in our walk with You!

Ezekiel 9:4 – “And the LORD said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and SET A MARK upon the foreheads of the men who SIGH (anguish) and are tormented (deep conviction) on account of all the abominations and evil things that are done in the midst thereof.”

A new day is dawning, and a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit is being prepared.   We have and are because of love.  The love of God to us and through us enables us to love each other with an undying love.

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, something in Ezekiel’s prophecy stirred me to my core.  Ezekiel 9: God gives instructions to six avengers to bring judgment.   Then, another angel was instructed to do something preemptive.

Immediately, America and the church filled my consciousness.   Evil is prevalent, accepted, endorsed, and practiced with no remorse today. The church is not in anguish of soul over sin.  The church gathers in its tribes, sects, groups, and denominations, hurling stones of enmity against one another.  The church today trusts in man and seeks a human savior; there is none!

The church does not lose sleep over what does not affect them directly. Souls spending eternity in hell should torment us.   God marked those whose hearts were crushed over sin and preserved them.  Not just to protect them but because He intended and intends to send a refreshing renewal in revival.

A revival of a New Heart is coming.   Hearts that will feel God’s for the lost.   A heart of obedience and trust.   A heart of total surrender.  A heart, mind, and soul that will teach the wayward God’s ways.

The American church has become more political than spiritual. It has become more interested in the socio-political than the eternal. It has failed to realize that until the heart is changed, actions and ideologies do not change.

If we are truly His body and one with Him, what breaks His heart breaks ours.  We live unaffected lives and are not anguished over the condition of the world enough to act!  God is marking those today who are moved as He is moved. Will He mark us?

Lord, fill us with the awe of You and give us hearts to feel Your pain over the condition of man!   Help us to move into Your outpouring and be vessels You can use!