Hosea 6:3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain of the earth.
Well my Friends in Christ, we’ve been blessed with another opportune day on earth, so let’s use it wisely, which means honouring and glorifying the Most High God Jehovah, our Creator, LOVING Father and oh so generous Provider. And how do we do that? Let’s see. I read an interesting Yiddish Proverb today: ‘The people plan, and God laughs.’ Now I guess that’s true some of the time. God might laugh at some of our simple-minded, farfetched schemes that have a snowball’s chance in hell of coming through, but more often I believe He shakes his head in disappointment at our plans, many which don’t include Him, or outright disobey His Word. So the first thing we need to do, in everything we do, is include God. Yes my people, we need to include God in ALL our plans and schemes, whether they be large or small, simple, or complex, to be done today or as a long-term strategy. His earnest desire is to be involved in every aspect of our lives, and until we do that, we won’t be in full compliance of His rules, neither will we have the full benefit of His omnipotence and omniscience, and all the blessings He wants to bestow on us. Now Today’s Bit is a part of Israel’s reply to God’s admonishment. He’d seen their insincere repentance and said: ‘I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge (confess) their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early (diligently). (Hos.5:15) In light of that, the prophet Hosea leads them in a prayer of repentance: ‘Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and will bind us up. After two days he will revive us: in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight.’ (Hos.6:1-2) Oh Heavenly Salvation! Of course this will happen under God’s new covenant with Israel; the coming of Christ, where His laws won’t be written in stone, but in their hearts, their inward parts. (Jer.31:31-34) ‘Then we shall know, if we follow on to know the Lord:’ Yes my people, the only way to know the workings of our God is to continually pursue knowledge of and about Him. In fact it’s only through constant dedication and pursuit that we can increase our knowledge of anything at all. So pursuing and studying information on our God will obviously help us to grow and mature in His Word and also keep us in a right relationship with Him. As Isaiah declares: ‘And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.’ (Isa.54:13) And all God’s people shouted in unison: ‘Glory Hallelujah! For what a day that will be mih breddren when all our children have good, substantial knowledge of their God, which enables them to live in peace. But that won’t happen overnight, or through miraculous works, but only through our teaching them diligently and constantly and living what we teach, showing godly example. That’s the only way for them to truly know or learn about their God. Therein they’ll learn that ‘his going forth is prepared as the morning;’ meaning He’s established, solid, sure, secure, faithful, and will always be there. Just like every morning comes along, regardless of what happens in the world, so will our God be ever present. And some of Bruh David’s last words beautifully address the subject. ‘And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.’ (2 Sam.23:4) Yes my Friends, that’s how our children will visualize our God when they truly get to know Him: like an early morning sunrise in a cloudless sky, or the grass, springing up clean and clear after the rain. That’s our God my people; a bright, shining, clear, clean, strong and majestic deity! ‘And he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.’ Oh Friends, what a blessing that will be! The Lord will no longer treat us harshly, because we’ve sincerely repented, come to a good knowledge of Him and also doing His will. Sol puts it this way in one of only two psalms he wrote. ‘He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.’ (Ps.72:6) In another sense it means He will bring prosperity to the nation(s) that serve, worship and glorify Him. And when Job told how his earlier prosperity caused people to listen to him diligently, to hang on his every word, he described it thus: ‘And they waited for me as the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter (spring) rain.’ (Job 29:23) In an agricultural based society, like Israel of old, rain in the springtime was like gold, cause it ensured proper growth of their crops and livestock, and later on an abundant harvest. That’s why all these old-timers used rain so often as an analogy for God, prosperity and anything good. Nowadays that hasn’t changed, for we still pray for just sufficient rain, not floods, at the right time, to ensure a good harvest so that our communities will prosper. Even so we won’t receive it in the abundance we want, need or desire unless we read, learn, study, obey and live by, in and through the Lord our God. For it is Him who causes us to be prosperous and satisfied, as well as to be poor, needy and not prosperous. And since we’re undoubtedly in a period of great ungodliness, where the Lord is turning a blind eye to our afflictions, and since we know too that it’s only when we dwell in His presence that we prosper, I implore us to do as Hosea implored Israel: ‘Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up…and he shall come unto us as the rain…’ It’s the only wise thing to do my Friends, given our present ungodly state and the trials and tribulations we’re currently experiencing. It’s a plan that our God surely won’t laugh at, but instead make every effort to help us fulfill. Much LOVE! …to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…
Well my Friends in Christ, we’ve been blessed with another opportune day on earth, so let’s use it wisely, which means honouring and glorifying the Most High God Jehovah, our Creator, LOVING Father and oh so generous Provider. And how do we do that? Let’s see. I read an interesting Yiddish Proverb today: ‘The people plan, and God laughs.’ Now I guess that’s true some of the time. God might laugh at some of our simple-minded, farfetched schemes that have a snowball’s chance in hell of coming through, but more often I believe He shakes his head in disappointment at our plans, many which don’t include Him, or outright disobey His Word. So the first thing we need to do, in everything we do, is include God. Yes my people, we need to include God in ALL our plans and schemes, whether they be large or small, simple, or complex, to be done today or as a long-term strategy. His earnest desire is to be involved in every aspect of our lives, and until we do that, we won’t be in full compliance of His rules, neither will we have the full benefit of His omnipotence and omniscience, and all the blessings He wants to bestow on us. Now Today’s Bit is a part of Israel’s reply to God’s admonishment. He’d seen their insincere repentance and said: ‘I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge (confess) their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early (diligently). (Hos.5:15) In light of that, the prophet Hosea leads them in a prayer of repentance: ‘Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and will bind us up. After two days he will revive us: in the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight.’ (Hos.6:1-2) Oh Heavenly Salvation! Of course this will happen under God’s new covenant with Israel; the coming of Christ, where His laws won’t be written in stone, but in their hearts, their inward parts. (Jer.31:31-34) ‘Then we shall know, if we follow on to know the Lord:’ Yes my people, the only way to know the workings of our God is to continually pursue knowledge of and about Him. In fact it’s only through constant dedication and pursuit that we can increase our knowledge of anything at all. So pursuing and studying information on our God will obviously help us to grow and mature in His Word and also keep us in a right relationship with Him. As Isaiah declares: ‘And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.’ (Isa.54:13) And all God’s people shouted in unison: ‘Glory Hallelujah! For what a day that will be mih breddren when all our children have good, substantial knowledge of their God, which enables them to live in peace. But that won’t happen overnight, or through miraculous works, but only through our teaching them diligently and constantly and living what we teach, showing godly example. That’s the only way for them to truly know or learn about their God. Therein they’ll learn that ‘his going forth is prepared as the morning;’ meaning He’s established, solid, sure, secure, faithful, and will always be there. Just like every morning comes along, regardless of what happens in the world, so will our God be ever present. And some of Bruh David’s last words beautifully address the subject. ‘And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.’ (2 Sam.23:4) Yes my Friends, that’s how our children will visualize our God when they truly get to know Him: like an early morning sunrise in a cloudless sky, or the grass, springing up clean and clear after the rain. That’s our God my people; a bright, shining, clear, clean, strong and majestic deity! ‘And he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.’ Oh Friends, what a blessing that will be! The Lord will no longer treat us harshly, because we’ve sincerely repented, come to a good knowledge of Him and also doing His will. Sol puts it this way in one of only two psalms he wrote. ‘He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth.’ (Ps.72:6) In another sense it means He will bring prosperity to the nation(s) that serve, worship and glorify Him. And when Job told how his earlier prosperity caused people to listen to him diligently, to hang on his every word, he described it thus: ‘And they waited for me as the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter (spring) rain.’ (Job 29:23) In an agricultural based society, like Israel of old, rain in the springtime was like gold, cause it ensured proper growth of their crops and livestock, and later on an abundant harvest. That’s why all these old-timers used rain so often as an analogy for God, prosperity and anything good. Nowadays that hasn’t changed, for we still pray for just sufficient rain, not floods, at the right time, to ensure a good harvest so that our communities will prosper. Even so we won’t receive it in the abundance we want, need or desire unless we read, learn, study, obey and live by, in and through the Lord our God. For it is Him who causes us to be prosperous and satisfied, as well as to be poor, needy and not prosperous. And since we’re undoubtedly in a period of great ungodliness, where the Lord is turning a blind eye to our afflictions, and since we know too that it’s only when we dwell in His presence that we prosper, I implore us to do as Hosea implored Israel: ‘Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up…and he shall come unto us as the rain…’ It’s the only wise thing to do my Friends, given our present ungodly state and the trials and tribulations we’re currently experiencing. It’s a plan that our God surely won’t laugh at, but instead make every effort to help us fulfill. Much LOVE! …to know, know, know Him…is to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Him…
SCRIP-BITS 